Thursday Thinking

2012-01-19T11:33:00.000-05:00

Back for more of Revelation. Today we dug into Revelation 1:9-20. In this passage John describes his encounter with Jesus. I broke John's vision of Jesus down into 3 groups here (all relate to Jesus): His voice, His appearance, His action. Here is what we discover:

His voice: v. 10 - like a trumpet, v.11 - gives John instruction to write, v.12 - speaking directly to John, v.15 - voice sounds like rushing waters, v.16 - like a two-edged sword

His appearance: v.13 - like a son of man, long robe, golden sash around chest, v.14 - white hair, eyes like blazing fire, v.15 - feet like bronze growing in a furnace, v.16 - holds 7 stars, words/mouth like a sword, face like the sun shining in full strength

His action: v.10 - speaks to John, v.17 - touches John and tells him to not be afraid, v.19 - tells John to write down what he is about to hear

There is great news and what a revealing of God's Son! Wow! Could you imagine encountering Jesus in this way? John's response is, "I fell at his feet as though dead." Would you do that? Jesus tells John to not be afraid. This section reminds me of something I read on how to correclty read Revelation. One of the main points was that the central image of Revelation is Jesus. This book is a revealing of Jesus. In other words, don't get caught up in trying to figure out what events are next or when exactly it is Jesus is going to come back. Get caught up in Jesus. Look at what John writes about Him and worship Him. Praise Him. Let this book give you a new vision of Jesus.

Praise the LORD for this new vision of Jesus.

2012-01-05T17:52:00.000-05:00

Revelation 1 again this morning with a good friend. We read aloud the greeting and doxologysection (1:4-8). Some good stuff hereabout Jesus’ identity and our identity and purpose. We are moving very slowly through thisbook. I read somewhere that the best wayto read Revelation is slowly and with a lot of prayer. How do you read it?

In the followingverses (4-8) Jesus is described as:

· Him who is, who was, and who is to come

· The faithful witness

· Firstborn from the dead

· Ruler of the kings of the earth

· Him who loves us

· Him who has freed us from our sins by his blood

· Alpha and Omega

· The Almighty

Man, look at this list describing Jesus and His identity! Great stuff! What a vision John had of Jesus.

Our identity andpurpose

· Freed from sin by His blood

· Made us to be a kingdom and priests

Look at this list of what He has done for us and what Hehas given us to do! We have freedom fromsin and we have purpose (to be a part of the kingdom and to be priests). Questions I'm thinking about?

What does it mean to be a part of His kingdom?

What does it mean to be priests?

2011-12-31T10:11:00.003-05:00

We took a day off from studying Revelation yesterday. I did look again at verses 1-4 in chapter one. Love the prologue!

This Sunday I begin a mini-series (2 weeks) on the top 10 things to commit to for 2012. This Sunday we are looking at just 5 of those. They are:

1. Read through the entire Bible
2. Memorize new scriptures
3. Become a member of our church
4. Help 1 person become a follower of Jesus
5. Invest your life in somone else's

I think these are some great things to commit to for the New Year! For the first one, (read through the entire Bible) Olivet Nazarene University was gracious to give me 200 Bible reading plans that tuck nicely into a Bible. Thanks Olivet! We will pass these out to whoever would like to commit to reading through the Bible this coming year and wants a reading plan. They are nice reading plans and mix things up a little so you aren't doing just a straight read through.

I'll be back back next week with more thoughts on Revelation.

Revelation Study

2011-12-22T22:46:00.000-05:00

Back to Revelation 1 again this morning with a good friend. This book is certainly an amazing book andoffers me a fresh vision of Jesus.

Why does that matter?

Because we need vision to drive us to live like Him. Keeping a vision before, and in, one’s mind candrive the transformation process. It’swhat drives a person to run, run, and run for running a race. Want to get in shape? Set before yourself a vision of what yourlife and your body could look like in shape. Want to become a great quarterback? Watch last season’s Colts games when Peyton Manning was playing ;-). Vision drives us. Of course the Spirit does the transforming,but we certainly get to help and push the process forward to a certain degree.

So, Revelation begins by telling us what this book is allabout. There are a couple of differentways to interpret the beginning words of this book.

NIV 84: ¹The revelation of Jesus Christ

NIV 11: ¹The revelation from Jesus Christ

ESV: ¹ Therevelation of Jesus Christ

NLT: ¹This is a revelation from Jesus Christ

Obviously the words of/from are debatable to scholars andthis is reflected in the different translations. Is this a revelation of Jesus or is it fromJesus? I’m not falling off the log forone or the other, but satisfied to say it’s both. This book is certainly a revealing of Jesusand the Lamb slain since the foundation of the world. It is also a revealing by Jesus. He is the revealer of God’s plan. The incarnation teaches us that. Jesus tells us He has come to do the Father’swill and part of that will is to reveal the Father and His plan to us.

Someone said we should read Revelation prayerfully. So, I close with a prayer.

Reveal to me Your word, Father.

Reveal to me Your Son and give me a fresh vision of Him.
My heart is open to obey and respond to You.
Give me understanding and wisdom.

Amen.

2011-12-15T08:02:00.000-05:00

Studying the book of Revelation with a friend from church this morning. Excited! Great things in store.  Is Revelation an ignored book in your church?  Why is it that the only ones in churches talking about Revelation are the crazy ones who seem to be just concerned about the rapture and the global wars that are soon to take place? Is this what Revelation is concerned with?

This morning we hung out on verse 1 (really the first part of verse 1), "The revelation of/from Jesus Christ."  My reminder in this first part of Revelation is that this book is all about Jesus as the Lamb slain. He is the central figure of the book.  The Christians in John's day needed an encouraging message. They needed a fresh vision of God and His kingdom to keep them going and seeking Him amidst suffering and persecution. Revelation gives them that. It gives them/us a fresh vision of Jesus. I'm excited and pray that God would give me a fresh vision of Jesus.

More details to come...

2011-09-22T15:09:00.001-04:00

Wow, didn’t expect to be this busy. Since beginning my adventure as a lead pastorat Northside I’ve been on the move. I’vehad down time, but I just haven’t had a desire to write/blog anything. Here’s a brief update:

Stepping into a lead pastor role has been great! I’ve loved it! I feel I’m right where God wants me. That is a great feeling. A lot of challenges come with moving to a newplace and starting a new job. You haveto find all new places to shop and buy groceries. Fortunately, there are plenty of great spots(easy to get to too) to grab a burger at around here. We have a Jimmy Johns 2 mins away.

I recently invested in Richard Foster’s new book Sanctuaryof the Soul (Journey into meditative prayer) and Scot McKnight’s The King JesusGospel. I’m looking to use bits andpieces of each for upcoming sermon series. Speaking of that, I’m really enjoyed preaching on a weekly basis. Is it challenging? Yes. But I feel it is helping me mature and draw closer to God. I’ve started a series at Northside on thechurch. We are using Paul’s letterEphesians to find out what the church is. There have been some great discoveries for me about the church. I’m loving what I’m learning as I live withGod’s Word for this study. We have spentthe past 3 weeks in chapter 1 of Ephesians and will be moving into chapter 2 ina week. Some rich stuff here!

Well, I hope I can get back to a more regular groove againwith blogging. Until then, it may besporadic.

God bless!

2011-09-05T22:41:00.003-04:00

Thursday Thinking will be back on schedule this Thursday. It’s been difficult to keep up with all the changesthat have recently taken place. Untilthen, here’s a brief update on my life.

It has been a while friends! There has been a lot of newness in my lifethese past couple of weeks. New city. New home. New friends. Newresponsibilities. A lot to take in. As most of you already know, I've accepteda call to lead pastor at the Elkhart Northside Church of the Nazarene. Theseare wonderful people and they have been so good to us in this transition. I’m looking forward to this journeytogether.

This past Sunday was my first official Sunday as lead pastor. It feltdifferent, but also like I was right where God wanted me to be. My first message was on Jesus changing waterinto wine from John 2. Do you remember that story? Great message to preach in a denominationthat takes an abstinence approach to alcohol, huh? My thoughts were on the deeper truth John iscommunicating here about Jesus’ identity. The connections John makes to the Old Testament prophecies about the comingday of God’s salvation are amazing! Thatday is described as a wedding feast with an abundant amount of wine (see Isaiah25 and Joel 3). It just struck me asinteresting and it reveals Jesus’ identity. It answers the question, “Who is this guy?” The day of salvation is here. The Messiah is among us.

My office

2011-08-04T09:16:00.000-04:00

Here’s the place where I spent a good majority of my time at Bluffton Nazarene; my office. I did a lot of plotting and planning in here over the years. I also had a good number of you come and sit in here with me for conversation.

Well, here are a couple of pics for your viewing pleasure.

Change

2011-07-28T10:10:00.001-04:00

A change is coming!

This past Tuesday I tendered my resignation to the Bluffton First Church of the Nazarene. It was bittersweet. The Elkhart Northside Church of the Nazarene in Elkhart, IN has extended to us the invitation to come and be their lead pastor and we have accepted it. You can be sure that much prayer was involved in this decision. I have been sensing the call to preach for a little over a year now.

I have been a part of the Bluffton Nazarene family for a little over 10 years. I have been on staff full-time for a little over 7 years. It has been a wonderful experience. I started as youth pastor and 4 ½ years later made the move to discipleship/sr. adult pastor. Kind of an interesting transition of going from teens to sr. adults. I did discover that most of the things you can do with teens you can do with sr. adults (dodgeball not being one of them!). It has been such a fun journey and the Bluffton Church is made up of incredible people! We have so many good friends that we have made over these years at Bluffton. We are very excited about their future as a church. They are a mature bunch and will handle this transition very well. I feel towards Bluffton the very words Paul penned in his letter to the Thessalonians,

“Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.”

We have shared our lives with Bluffton and it was a great joy. I want to thank the Bluffton Nazarene Church for their kindness and love over these years. You have a special place in my heart and will be greatly missed.

Sermon Prep

2011-07-22T14:25:00.000-04:00

I'm going to be preaching the next two weeks. So, thought I would share a pic of my notes and let you see how I prepare my messages for the delivery. I've developed a system where I use an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper folded in half with notes on both sides. Amounts to 4 pages. I have it formated so I can print both sides and just fold in half like a small booklet. I can usually fit a whole sermon on the 1 sheet. I've had a couple of messages that I had to add extra pages to, but try to just have the 1 sheet folded in half. Most of what I say is on this sheet, but some things like illustrations are just mentioned (they take up a little less space if I just title them and don't write them out). Anyways, here's a look:

Help With Waiting

2011-07-20T09:34:00.001-04:00

I think I might have figured out my blogger troubles. Anyways, had a post ready to go last week and had trouble getting it to show up. Well, wanted to share a few things to help you cope with the waiting as you wait.

Prayer

Prayer is a huge help in a time of waiting. Each time I find myself in a time of waiting I find myself praying. Waiting has a way of forcing you to call upon the Lord. Those times can enhance your prayer life if you let them too. One of the things I’ve learned about myself during times of waiting when I’m praying is that I’m not a good prayer. I admit I have much to learn. So, what has helped me learn and grow as a prayer? The Psalms. I’ve come to really enjoy praying the psalms. Psalm 27 is a great psalm to pray. When you pray the psalms they teach you how to pray. Their language is rich. As Jesus was hanging on the cross waiting to die he prayed/called out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That is a direct quote of Psalm 22. Jesus prayed the psalms. Jesus used the psalms as a tool of prayer while He waited. Use the psalms as prayers. Commit them to memory.

Stay involved in ministry

We have been commissioned by Jesus to make disciples. We have something we can be doing right now for the Lord. I have a sister waiting to adopt a baby. It’s a difficult time for her and her husband. They are just waiting and hoping for a phone call. In the meantime they are staying involved in ministry. They are staying connected at their church and both have sa ervant’s hearts. Many times waiting paralyzes us. All we can do is wait and nothing else. Have you ever felt like that? Do you know someone in that type of situation? I’m glad Paul didn’t allow times of waiting to paralyze him. While Paul was in prison he wrote and gave us Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.

Know the Holy Spirit is helping you

A part of the fruit of the Spirit is patience. God knew we would need patience and find ourselves waiting. Since this is a fruit of the Spirit it means we don’t have to produce it in our lives. God does!

Blogger will not let me post anymore...thoughts?

2011-07-20T09:17:00.000-04:00

Help As You Wait Upon The Lord

2011-07-14T09:55:00.000-04:00

The Waiting Game (part 3)

2011-07-07T10:49:00.003-04:00

What I meant to say in the last post is that God can use waiting to build character. This is just another example of how God can work good out of a bad situation.I don't think the waiting itself does this and felt I might have miscommunicated that. Sorry! Another way God uses waiting for good is…

2. As a testimony to others of hope in Him

Word Study
The word “wait” used in our psalm can mean to:

- Put hope in, Expect, To be eager, To put trust in

This word “wait” is sometimes used synonymously with the words “trust” and “hope.” To wait is to trust. To wait is to hope. An author I recently read said, “To wait for God is the ultimate expression of trust and hope.”

Example of This
The best example of someone who believed and lived this out is found in the life of our Savior Jesus Christ.

I was thinking of His temptation in the wilderness. He was fasting and Satan came to Him and tempted Him with food. He waited. After seeing that that didn’t work he tempted Him in regards to trust in God. "Throw yourself down" and God will save you. He waited. After that didn’t work he tried offering Him all the kingdoms of the world. What does Jesus do? Jesus waits and places His hope and trust in the Lord.

There was a lady I became close friends with several years ago. She has since gone to be with the Lord after losing her battle with cancer. She was a special and awesome lady! She was a great friend to many. She was so full of hope and trust in the Lord. Even to her last minutes on her deathbed she remained hopeful in the Lord. She had to wait upon the Lord and she did it with happiness and joy. Can you wait upon the Lord like that?

I was also thinking about Jesus in the garden the night before His death. Remember that story? Do you remember Him as He was anxiously waiting? He was in prayer and he was deeply disturbed, but He found strength to pray, “Not my will, but Thine.” Reminds me of the of the song:

Not my will, but Thine; not my will, but Thine;
Not my will, but Thy will be done, Lord, in me.
May Thy Spirit divine fill this being of mine.
Not my will, but Thy will be done, Lord, in me.

That is the testimony of someone waiting upon the Lord. Through all of this Jesus testified to trust in the Father. His disciples saw this just by His waiting upon the Lord in different situations. They learned that God is faithful and can help us in the wait.

So, reminder of 2 ways God uses waiting for good in our lives.

1. God uses waiting to build character

2. God uses waiting as a testimony to others of our hope in Him

The Waiting Game (Part 2)

2011-06-29T11:19:00.001-04:00

Hey, it's not Thursday, but I just couldn't wait to post a blog on waiting. ;-)

Despite what you might think, or hear others say, there are good things that happen while we wait. Waiting does a couple of good things in our lives and I want to share with you one of those things to encourage you in the Lord.

First…Waiting Builds Character

David was familiar with waiting. He had to wait on God to sort out all the mishaps and confusion with his rise to kingship. Do you remember his story? A lot of tension existed between him and King Saul. There were times when David had to literally get out of dodge, leave Jerusalem, because his life was in trouble. He had Saul’s men looking for him to kill him. During that very difficult time David learned to wait upon the Lord. David also had opportunity to speed up the waiting process. David could have ended the waiting. In 1 Samuel 24 we read that David, while hidden deep within a cave, had a perfect opportunity to kill King Saul.

Read 1 Samuel 24:1-4

David chose to wait upon the Lord. The waiting process for David built character in his life. It made him a better person. David’s men saw this opportunity as a God-given moment. Remember they said,“This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” But David said to them in verse 6,“The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the LORD.”

Think of the respect David’s men gave him that day because he chose to wait upon the Lord. Would you have been able to do that?

You see I didn’t understand waiting when God first called me into ministry. I was on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic when I answered God’s call to ministry. I didn’t think waiting would be a part of that call. I guess I thought I would answer the call to ministry and have a job preaching the next day. Little did I know that it would be 6 long years before I entered the ministry fulltime. You see God needed to build character in me because I was a character. God used that time to shape and mold me into the man He wanted me to be. He's not done either. I had to wait and I like to think that something good happened because of it.

I believe David became the greatest king Israel ever had because he was described as a man, “after God’s own heart,” but he was also a man who knew how to wait upon the Lord.

I know this is a bit of a re-hash of what I said last week, but I'm stuck on it.

The Waiting Game

2011-06-23T08:20:00.003-04:00

Psalm 27:14 reads,

Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

Background
The Psalms in general deal a lot with waiting. Have you caught that as you are reading them? They deal a lot with waiting. Waiting is a theme for a lot of the Psalms. More so than any other book in the Bible. In the NIV you find these verses in the Psalms that talk about waiting on the Lord:

- Psalm 5:3
- Psalm 27:14
- Psalm 33:20
- Psalm 37:7
- Psalm 37:34
- Psalm 40:1
- Psalm 38:15
- Psalm 119:66
- Psalm 130:5
- Psalm 130:6

This is the case with the ones written by David; Israel’s shepherd-king. David was familiar with waiting. He had to wait on God to sort out all the mishaps with his rise to kingship. There was a lot of tension between him and King Saul. There were times when David had to literally get out of dodge, leave Jerusalem, because his life was in trouble. He had Saul’s men looking for him to kill him.

During that very difficult time David learned to wait upon the Lord.

David also had opportunity to speed up the waiting process. David could have ended the waiting. He had a chance, while hidden deep within a cave, to kill King Saul, but he chose to wait upon the Lord.

- Would you have been able to do that?
- How do you feel about waiting upon the Lord?
- How do you handle it?

Another great morning prayer

2011-06-09T09:12:00.003-04:00

Another great prayer from the Psalms. This one is Psalm 27 from the ESV translation.

Psalm 27
The LORD Is My Light and My Salvation
Of David.

1The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh,my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.

3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.

4 One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek after:that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to inquire in his temple.

5For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.

6And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies all around me,and I will offer in his tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy;I will sing and make melody to the LORD.

7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!

8You have said, "Seek my face."My heart says to you,
"Your face, LORD, do I seek."

9 Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!

10For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the LORD will take me in.

11 Teach me your way, O LORD,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.

12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.

13I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living!

14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!

Prayer for Today

2011-06-02T09:38:00.002-04:00

A great prayer here.

Psalm 13
For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 How long, LORD?
Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

3 Look on me and answer, LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,

4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

6 I will sing the LORD’s praise,
for he has been good to me.

Book Review: A Walk Through The Bible

2011-05-26T10:13:00.002-04:00

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Leslie Newbigin’s little book A Walk Through The Bible. This very easy to read book is only 79 pages and can be purchased at The House Studio or other book distributors. I strongly recommend it. I was able to sit down and read through it so quickly that I didn't even have time to add it to my shelfari bookshelf.

This book basically sums up the entire message of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. You are swept through each book of the Bible quickly (some are just mentioned) and given the big idea of each book and how it fits into the rest of the Bible. You get to see the big picture of the Bible. Here are the 8 chapters and what books of the Bible they cover:

1. A Unique Account (Genesis)
2. Chosen By God (Genesis through Deuteronomy)
3. Judges, kings, and prophets (Joshua through 2 Chronicles)
4. Return and Renewal (Ezra through Malachi)
5. God’s Kingdom and Jesus (Gospels and Jesus’ life)
6. Sacrifice (Gospels and death, resurrection, ascension of Jesus)
7. New life, new communities (Acts through Jude)
8. Future revelation (Revelation)

Sometimes we miss the big picture because we focus in on one book or one verse. I thought this book would be excellent Sunday School/Small group material. Every Christian should know the big picture of what the Bible is all about and the story of the Israelites. Why? Because this is our story too. We have been grafted in to this God chosen people and share their history through our faith in Jesus. So, if you want an easy to read big picture of what the Bible is all about read A Walk Through The Bible.

The Great Banquet; Are You Coming?

2011-05-12T09:35:00.000-04:00

Just to let you know that all scriptures used on this blog from this point forward unless otherwise noted come from the NIV 2011 (Which is a great revision!).

Luke 14:15-24 is an interesting passage of scripture. Here Jesus tells a parable about a man throwing a huge banquet and inviting many guests who later turn the invitation down due to other important things.

Luke 14:15
After telling those gathered around the dinner table (see 14:1 for context) to invite those to dinner who cannot pay you back, one of the guests says, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” This line allows Jesus to throw out a parable about the feast in the kingdom of God.

Luke 14:16-17
A great banquet is set and guests, it seems, have already been invited. When it comes time for the banquet the host sends out his servant to announce that the banquet is ready.

Luke 14:18-20
At the time of the banquet several of the invited guests find excuses for why they cannot come to the banquet. You could argue that these guests are somewhat wealthy by what they are buying (land and oxen). One has bought land and needs to go and see it. One has bought five yoke of oxen and needs to inspect them. Another has just gotten married. They seem like legitimate excuses, right? Some scholars have said that only the last excuse is legitimate. They say no one would buy a field without first seeing it. No one would buy oxen without first trying them out. So, what’s going on here? Do the guests not want to attend the banquet? Even the marriage excuse is still just an excuse. Marriage could only exempt you from war, not dinner parties.

Luke 14:21-24
The servant returns to tell the master what has happened with his guests. In response the master opens up his fancy dinner party to those who were not originally invited. The master says, “Go out quickly and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” After hearing that there is still more room the master sends his servant out again to the “roads” and “country lanes” to compel more guests to come. A final statement from the master closes this parable, “I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.”

Application
The idea behind this parable is that the salvation Jesus’ coming brings, along with the kingdom of God He is preaching, is a lot like the master who has thrown the great banquet. Isaiah himself describes God’s salvation as a great banquet when he says, “On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.” (Is. 25:6)

Unfortunately the leaders of Israel who the banquet was prepared for and who were invited to the banquet have come up with excuses for why they cannot attend. They are going to miss out on God’s salvation because, you could say, they are too busy with life to notice the importance of what is taking place around them.

Ever find yourself guilty of that? Ever wonder what kind of things in our day and age keep us from attending the banquet? What kind of things today so preoccupy us that we miss getting involved in what God is up to? What kind of ministry opportunities at your local church are you turning down week after week because you are too busy with those things? Is it worth it to live in such a way? In the end will you eat at the feast in the kingdom of God or will you be too busy to attend?

Loving our enemies

2011-05-05T09:25:00.001-04:00

Just curious as to what you think of Luke 6:27-36 in lieu of this week's events?

Luke 6:27-36 (TNIV)
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Any thoughts?

The Great 50 Days

2011-04-28T10:39:00.006-04:00

Finishing a project makes you feel good! I had the responsibility this year of coming up with, writing, and designing a 50 day devotional guide for the Easter season for our local church. I love doing this kind of thing! This is where my heart is. The title, The Great 50 Days, is a name given to the period of time starting Easter Sunday lasting until Pentecost Sunday (50 Days).

This isn’t as much of a devotional book as it is a devotional guide. A devotional book would have more reading and would have taken me way longer to complete. No, this is a devotional guide to direct a person along a certain path. Each day you are asked/directed to read a scripture, to pray in a certain way, and/or fast something. We are attempting to prepare our people’s hearts and minds for Pentecost Sunday.

Well, here’s some pics of my work.

The Guest Room

2011-04-21T08:59:00.003-04:00

Well, today is the day the disciples and Jesus celebrated Passover. It also marks the first communion. If you follow Mark’s account (14:12-26) it seems Jesus and His disciples are celebrating an early Passover. Scholars tell us Jews would have observed Passover on Friday. Ben Witherington III suggests the idea of the disciples and Jesus sneaking into the city under the cloak of darkness to celebrate the Passover early. They would have to be somewhat quiet about things if they were doing this meal early. I was also thinking of all the commotion Jesus stirred up by entering Jerusalem and clearing the temple. The religious leaders are chomping at the bit to get at Him. So, if they are celebrating an early Passover they probably don’t want to draw a lot of attention to themselves.

It seems Jesus has set up a place, a “guest room,” (TNIV) to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. To me it seems obvious He has made some pre-arrangements for it (14:13-15). If they are trying to be sneaky about this whole thing, because they are doing it a day early, then the signal Jesus gives to the disciples; “A man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.” makes a bit more sense. This is going to be a very special meal. Passover is a meal about freedom. It was the last meal the Israelites ate before leaving Egypt. It meant God had acted on their behalf and was rescuing them from bondage in Egypt. Their God was showing that He alone is the only true God.

While eating Jesus predicts He’s going to be betrayed by one of the disciples (14:17). Jesus had spent 3 years of His life with Judas and I’m sure He was on to his crooked ways. What’s surprising is that none of the other disciples know its Judas. Their response in verse 19, “Surely not I?” indicates they are more worried about it being themselves than someone else. Judas fooled the disciples but not Jesus.

Somewhere towards the end of the meal, Jesus asks His disciples to eat bread that symbolizes His body and drink wine that symbolizes His blood which will be “poured out for many.” They then top off this new meal by singing a hymn.

Some questions I was thinking about with this passage:

- I wonder what the disciples were thinking as they listened to their teacher talk about what each of the elements meant?

- Did they really understand that Jesus was going to die and give up His life?

- Did they think He would die a heroic death by the sword?

- What were they thinking?

- What do you think they were thinking?

Lenten Prayers

2011-04-14T09:42:00.009-04:00

Thought I would share something near and dear to me with you today. For Lent this year I've been using the prayers offered in 3 Simple Rules by Rueben P. Job. At the end of the book they have morning prayers, afternoon prayers, and evening prayers. This has been a great guide for me in prayer. I have found that I need and benefit in my prayer time from structure. The book itslef is a great little book by the way too! A very easy read. This morning I want to share the prayer of invitation from the morning prayers. I encourage you to make it your prayer today. Prayer of Invitation Loving Teacher, come and make your home in our hearts this day. Dwell within us all day long and save us from error or foolish ways. Teach us today to do no harm, to do good, and assist us so that we may stay in loving relationship with You and our neighbor. Help us today to be an answer to another's prayer so that we may be one of Your signs of hope in the world You love. What a great prayer! I've been trying to pray it every morning and really like the part about God saving us from error or foolish ways. I need that! If you think you would benefit from a structured prayer guide this book offers some wonderful guidance.

Rob Bell's Love Wins (Part 2)

2011-04-07T09:30:00.003-04:00

Problems

There’s a fog that has descended on our small town this morning. It seems this fog might be a good metaphor for the book I just read called Love Wins by Rob Bell. What’s normally seen clearly by many has been enveloped in a fog. There’s uncertainty all around. The big idea of this book is that God may actually give individuals who reject Him on earth a chance in hell to choose Him. God loves us and wants all people to love Him and this book explores the idea or speculation that God may extend His love to those in hell so that in the end love can win.

One of the problems with this book is that its theory of love winning is based on theological speculation about certain passages in God’s word. One thing to keep in mind is that Rob believes in a hell and never really says he holds to the position he presents in this book, but he still presents it and tries really hard to back it up with scripture and reason.

I thought some of the exegesis done in this book was weak and left much to be desired. It seems Rob breaks down a Greek word that is not the correct Greek word in Matthew 25:46. He says this word can mean a period of time or a time of pruning, but the definitions given for the specific adjective used by Matthew clearly carries with it the idea of something that goes on forever or from everlasting to everlasting. This is how every translation translates this word. So, the question is did the many translators translate it wrong or did Rob translate it wrong? There is no direct evidence in scripture to support the idea of those who didn’t believe in Jesus while on earth getting a second chance in the afterlife or hell. Actually, the evidence seems to point in quite the opposite direction. 2 Peter 3:9 actually says God is patient with us so none will perish. Perish? Perish from what? This doesn’t mean none will perish, but that some will perish and God is doing everything possible to prevent that and He is “not wanting” (the word used in the NRSV) and hoping none will perish. What does that mean? Does it mean some will perish? God couldn’t say that if people didn’t really perish could He?

I have several good friends I meet with on occasion and we dream, speculate would be a better word, about certain things in God’s word and what’s to come. It’s fun and makes for great conversation. We ask things like; did angels really have sex with humans and create a superhuman race (see Gen 6)? Will God allow us to rule over planets in the life to come? How will we travel back and forth from those planets? Could Jesus have gone and died for life on other planets? Will we talk to animals in the New Jerusalem? These are things we talk and wonder about amongst ourselves. While it may make for interesting conversation, it’s not something we go out teaching to others. It’s just theory and guessing. What could we base it upon?

I feel as a pastor I have to be careful not to teach speculation, but truth. I felt as if Rob was trying to teach something based upon speculation. While the idea of everyone eventually coming to Christ is appealing, you just can’t find much scriptural evidence to back up such a thing. You get one life to live and amidst that one life you have to make a decision: will you follow Jesus or reject Him? There's no fog about it.

Any thoughts from those of you who have read the book?

Rob Bell's Love Wins

2011-03-30T23:34:00.006-04:00

There are a plethora of good reviews on this book available. I highly recommend Ben Witherington’s reviews here. He’s da bomb when it comes to things like this. However, some of you wanted to know my thoughts on this book and so here they are (part 1 of 2).

I enjoyed reading and thinking about Love Wins by Rob Bell. There’s been so much controversy (I’m sure more is to come too!) swirling around this book that I felt a little naughty just carrying it around. I enjoyed it for several reasons. First, it left the impression on me that God has done something really big in our world through Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead. This was one of the big positives going for this book. Do we truly understand the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection? Individual salvation through Christ is just the beginning of what God has done through Christ for us. There is so much more! Anyways, Rob sees and presents the big picture of what God has done through Christ and it’s great to be reminded of that every once in awhile. Christus Victor!

Second reason I enjoyed reading this book is that it’s good every so often to read a book you may disagree with. I don’t do this nearly as much as I should. If you’ve ever found yourself in a debate, you know that such a challenging time can help solidify and develop your beliefs more fully. You have to really think about what you believe and lay it on the line. If you’re challenged on it, you have to think of why you were challenged on it and why such a challenge is even a challenge in the first place and how to combat such challenges. Jail ministry has really helped develop my faith and solidify what I believe for just such reasons. Those we visit in jail aren’t afraid to ask tough questions that might normally seem off limits in a Sunday School class. That has forced me to be ready in season and out of season to explain what I believe using more than just my personal experiences.

This book has caused me to think about and examine what I really believe about heaven, hell, and the afterlife. Reading it is helping me fully develop and build a foundation for my thoughts about end things (eschatology is the big theological word for this). Another good thing about reading a book like this (a friend just reminded me of this in a recent discussion) is that you find yourself searching and studying the scriptures. So, find a book you know you won’t agree every once in awhile and read it. It will bring growth to your life.

Next week I'll discuss some problems in this book.

Sloth

2011-03-24T09:52:00.004-04:00

Well, I've been slothful in my blogging the last couple of weeks. Sorry to the 5 of you who read this weekly. Here's what I've been up to:

- Writing a devotional that starts on Easter Sunday and ends on Pentecost. It's called the Great 50 Days. Don't hope to find it in any bookstores, it's just for our church. It has been a great learning process and a lot of fun. The most time consuming part of it has been the page layout and organization. Too bad I can't just type the thing and send it off to an editor and have them organize it.

- There's some other discipleship things I'm putting together for something our church will be doing down the road. Exciting stuff!

- I just bought Rob Bell's new book Love Wins. Reading it now. I've had several ask me about it and I feel I cannot honestly say much without reading it. So, I ordered it and have begun reading and hope to post on it in the next couple of weeks or so.

- Preaching. Several opportunities have come up recently giving me a chance to preach. As an associate pastor I do not get to do this too often, so I'm really enjoying it.

Well, just an excuse, or update on my slothful blogging habits. Be back next week!

Lent

2011-03-10T09:33:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. I've blogged on what that is before in the link below if you're interested.

Ash Wednesday

I have several things I'm doing differently this year for Lent including a focused reading and re-reading (maybe even memorizing?) of Mark 11-15. Want to join me in reading this? I'm going to save the resurrection chapter (16) for Easter Sunday. After so much time and focus on Jesus' death, I figure I'll be pretty excited and anxious to get to the resurrection that it will seem extra special when I do get to read the good news of Jesus being raised from the dead.

I've also accidentally (or was it?) come across a great little prayer book to help me start times of daily prayer for Lent. The book is Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living by Rueben Job. In the back of the book I found prayers for morning, midday, and evening. They are very simple to follow which is good because having daily prayer times will be something new to me and my daily agenda. Why am I doing this? I want to try and practice daily prayer times like Jesus and His disciples did (see Acts 3). I'm loosely following their practice of prayer at 9am, 3pm, and 6pm. I feel I'm going to learn a lot about prayer and myself as a I take this journey of daily prayer.

So, I'm curious as to what some of your practices are for the Lenten season? Care to share?

Easy Salvation

2011-03-03T08:58:00.004-05:00

Well, sorry to not post last week. I was in TN with family. We go there every year and rent a cabin in the smokies. Great time! I learned some awesome new board games (Carcassonne). As usual I scored several new books at some of the discount bookstores down there. It was fun. I'm talking better deals than what you find on Amazon. Well, back to Willard's book on how the spiritual disciplines work.

Chapter 3 of The Spirit of the Disciplines deals with salvation as a life and not just a point in time. Can you remember when you first received Jesus into your life? As one coming from the Wesleyan tradition I relate well to the idea of salvation as a journey.

“Salvation is a journey.”

This is what one of my Profs from IWU would say in almost every class and then ask the class to repeat out loud with him. Thanks for reinforcing that great truth Chris Bounds! More than just the journey, this chapter deals with how faith affects our bodies. What does it mean that we can experience eternal life right now? If you read Acts you will notice that there was a power moving in the Christians in the New Testament that turned them into new creations, helped them rise above sin, and have victory over evil. Are you experiencing that? If not, maybe it’s time you start exploring the spiritual disciplines.

This chapter is a precursor to the next 3 chapters that deal with the theological basis for the spiritual disciplines.

Easy Theology

2011-02-17T08:34:00.002-05:00

Thus men will lie on their backs, talking about the fall of man, and never make an effort to get up. (Henry David Thoreau)

Did you know each and every one of us is directed by a theology? Theology is simply what we think about God. Even atheists have a theology guiding them. So, how’s your theology these days? Where’s it leading you?

Chapter 2 of The Spirit of the Disciplines is about having a theology that leads/aids us in making change. To run with the quote at the beginning, it’s about making the effort to change. We know Jesus has commissioned us to make Christlike disciples in the nations (this includes making disciples who follow Jesus and who become like Him in character), but do we know how to go about it? This is where training in the spiritual disciplines comes in. A great quote from John Wesley was used to support bringing discipline into the Christian life:

It was a common saying among the Christians of the primitive church, “The soul and the body make a man; the spirit and discipline make a Christian:” implying that none could be real Christians without the help of Christian discipline. But if this be so, is it any wonder we find so few Christians, for where is Christian discipline?

The spiritual disciplines aid us in offering our bodies as living sacrifices to God (Rom 12:2). Willard closes the chapter by saying, “Full participation in the life of God’s Kingdom and in the vivid companionship of Christ comes to us only through appropriate exercise in the disciplines for life in the spirit.”

Do you agree/disagree with this?

Easy Yoke

2011-02-10T08:33:00.003-05:00

Chapter 1
Do you consider following Christ to be easy?

Chapter 1 of The Spirit of the Disciplines is called The Secret of the Easy Yoke and is about the easy yoke of following Christ. Dallas contends in this chapter that there is something easy to following Christ. Do you believe that? Jesus says in Matthew 11:30, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Did you know He said that? Most of us, when it comes to thinking about following Jesus, imagine it involves just doing what He did. This is the popular WWJD that we see so many teens advertising across the wrists. To a certain extent we want to do this, but following Christ is so much more. Dallas says, “To live as Christ lived is to live as he did all his life.” This is a great point and maybe why so many have trouble living as Christ. Do you live every moment of your life like Christ? We think we can just behave like Him in an instant when we haven’t been behaving like Him for the rest of our lives.

I love the quote by Oswald Chambers that Dallas uses, “The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of principles to be obeyed apart from identification with Jesus Christ. The Sermon on the Mount is a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is getting his way with us.”

Dallas concludes this chapter by reminding us that we can only act like Christ if we learn to live our total lives in the way He did. “The secret of the easy yoke, then, is to learn from Christ how to live our total lives, how to invest all our time and our energies of mind and body as he did. We must learn how to follow his preparations, the disciplines for life in God’s rule that enabled him to receive his Father’s constant and effective support while doing his will.”

What do you think?

2011-02-03T09:58:00.003-05:00

Did you survive the blizzard?

I've been doing a lot of snow shoveling the past couple of days. My neighbor has a snow blower and it looks nice, but I would rather do it the old fashioned way and burn some calories. It's a bummer when you get things cleared out and then a snow plow goes by creating a small mountain around the cars you just cleared out.

Well, enough of that. Next week I'm going to start a series of notes and reflections from Dallas Willard's book The Spirit of the Disciplines. This is a sweet book! I just started reading it this week and had to read chapters 1 and 2 twice. Some really good stuff in there. If you have read this already I would appreciate your 2 cents as I truck through this book.

Memorizing Scripture

2011-01-27T08:37:00.002-05:00

I have been thinking a lot about Scripture memorization this week. My mom has been working through a book called 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart (Robert J. Morgan). She's been working on her scripture memorization skills. There was also an article in the new Christianity Today on this very topic. So, I’m curious as to your thoughts on scripture memorization. Some simple questions I would love to have you answer.

Does anyone memorize scripture anymore?

If you do…
How do you memorize scripture?
What are your secrets?
What helps you?
What advice would you offer?

If you don’t…
Why don’t you memorize scripture? Age? Memory?

Hearing God

2011-01-19T23:09:00.004-05:00

Every once in a while I read a book that captures my attention for about a month or two. Ever come across a book like that? The Shack falls into that category for me. Then, even better, I will read a book that captures my attention for a year or two (maybe even longer?). This has been the case for Dallas Willard’s book Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God. This has been a very meaningful book to me in that it has opened my eyes to just how conversational our God is. It has me expecting clear communication from God. As the title suggests, this book is about hearing from God. Even more, it’s about developing a conversational relationship with God where you speak to Him and He speaks to you. Do you think something like that is possible?

I’ve blogged on this book before here:
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Today I re-visited chapter 2 (Guidelines for Hearing from God). Great chapter! A side note: this whole book would make for some great sermons. In this chapter Dallas lays out 3 guidelines to hearing from God that need to be kept at the forefront of our mind. They kind of help to keep us in check so we don’t end up acting like David Koresh or Jim Jones. Here are the guidelines in a nutshell:

3 Guidelines to Hearing from God

Guideline 1
Hearing from God is intended to draw us into a relationship with Him. This whole hearing from God thing is to be sought as part of a life that is in a relationship with His Son Jesus. This is the whole, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” from Revelation 3:20. It’s about fellowship with Jesus. Real fellowship involves conversation. If you enter into a relationship with Jesus you will hear Him speak to you. Think about that.

Guideline 2
Hearing from God in ways that individuals in the Old Testament and New Testament did is possible in our lives. We must have faith that God can and still does speak to us in similar ways. Willard encourages us to, “pray for faith and the experiences that would enable us to believe that such things could happen to us.”

Guideline 3
Hearing from God doesn’t automatically make us right with Him or right. Just because God speaks to us it doesn’t mean we are special. There is a certain amount of humility involved in our relationship with God. Also, because we have a fallen nature we may misinterpret God’s voice and what it is He’s asking us to do.

What do you think about these guidelines for hearing from God?

Time with God

2011-01-13T09:13:00.002-05:00

I have been studying Mark 1:35-39 in anticipation of preaching on it. I got sick the night I was supposed to preach so never had that chance. Now I have a sermon in by back pocket ready to go. So, I thought I would share a bit of what I've been learning in this passage here. Actually this is just a look at verse 35.

Verse 35
The scripture tells us it is very early in the morning, in fact it is still dark out. Jesus wakes up and goes off by Himself to a solitary (lonely) place to pray.

This is at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry that Mark mentions this in his Gospel. Why? I think he wants us to know Jesus’ commitment to time with God and prayer. This is a key characteristic of Jesus – One who spends time with God and who prays. Listen to what these other scriptures say about Jesus:
- Matthew 14:23 – Jesus goes off alone to spend time with God and pray.
- Luke 5:16 – He withdrew often to lonely places to spend time with God and pray.
- Mark 8:6 – Prayer before feeding the 4,000.
- Matthew 26:36 – Spending time with God and praying at Gethsemane.
- John 17 – Prayer for disciples and us.

Time with God and prayer are key components of Jesus’ life. This is why He can speak as if He knows what God the Father is up to because He does. Time with God and prayer are evidence of a relationship.

Questions
- If someone were to evaluate your life would you be described as a person who spends time with God and who prays?
- How important is it for you to spend time with God each day?
- How important is prayer to you and to your day?
- Does your family see you spending time with God
- Do they see you as a prayer warrior?
- Do they know that you spend time with God and in prayer?
- Do they come to you and ask you for advice on how to spend time with God and how to pray?

Application
Here’s my advice if you want to become a person who spends time with God and prays: Practice it! Mark off a time during the day or week in your calendar when you will do it (even if it’s only 5 minutes!). Ask someone to hold you accountable to times with God and prayer. Start a time with God and/or prayer journal where you write down your experiences and/or prayers and how God answers them. To not practice it would be like wanting to ride a bike all your life and not ever getting on one.

Any thoughts to add?

helpful Bible study technique

2011-01-06T10:01:00.001-05:00

Here is something I’m planning on really committing to this year.

I’m using the NLT Study Bible to aid me in my read through of the entire Bible. I’m not so much reading the NLT Bible as I am reading their book introductions for each book (then I read the Scripture out of my TNIV). This is a fantastic study Bible (NLTSB) and a secret weapon for me as a preacher and teacher of God’s Word. There is so much good and useful information presented in an easy-to-read format. Pairing this with the easy-to-read translation of the NLT has made for the perfect match. Anyways, I’m taking what I learn from the intros in the NLTSB and rewriting them as a book profile in my TNIV. It’s nothing long, but just a quick snapshot of the basics (who, what, where, when, why) for each book of the Bible.

For example, here is the profile (including an outline) I created for 1 Kings (I write this at the top right corner of my TNIV). This is what it looks like in my Bible (should have put a pic here).

Profile:
Celebrates Solomon’s reign as king. Also warns of preoccupation with luxury, fame, self, and security. 1 Kings concerned with Israel’s spiritual condition and the covenant they have with the Lord. Date: After 586 BC (1 Kings covers the period of 973 BC to 853 BC).

Outline:
1-11 Solomon’s reign as King
12-16:4 Early Divided Kingdom
16:3-22 Israel’s 3rd Dynasty

The reason I like creating a profile and outline for each books is that it helps me learn it. I have to create an introduction and outline and put it in my own words and I remember it better. This is making good use of all the information packed into the NLTSB. I’m hoping as I read through the entire Bible this year to make my own introductions for each book and write them down.

Any thoughts on this method?
Do you do anything like this to help you study the Bible?

The new year is coming!

2010-12-30T08:39:00.001-05:00

Christmas has come and gone! Can you believe it? Wow, that was fast. Seems like it was just yesterday (more like 2 months ago!) that I was telling my daughter people would be putting up Christmas lights soon. Despite some stomach flu I had a great Christmas. How about you? All I wanted for Christmas this year was just some time with family and rest.

Well, New Year’s Day is coming. Any goals to set for this next year? I’ll be working on mine today. I think it’s good to set goals. Gives you something to aim at and it can be a humbling and fun experience to look back and see how you did. One of my goals last year was to read the Bible through from Genesis to Revelation. I did not achieve that one. I’m still reading (in 1 Kings), just that things are going a little slower than expected. One of my goals for next year is to finish reading through the Bible.

Well, I would love to hear some of your New Year’s goals and maybe how you did last year. Care to share?

2010-12-23T09:26:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas!!!

The Catholic Mary

2010-12-16T09:26:00.003-05:00

Finished the 3-week series on Mary last night. It was interesting to talk and discuss what the Catholic Church teaches about Mary. I pulled all this material from Scot McKnight's book The Real Mary. Thought the book was an easy read and very helpful in laying out what Catholics really think about Mary. So, we will start with some similarities bewteen Catholics and Protestants.

Similarities
- Would believe with us Protestants in the supernatural conception of Jesus
- Would believe with us Protestants that Mary is the mother of God

Differences
- Believe Mary was sinless (still had to grow and mature, just never chose to sin, sinless because God enabled her to be)
o We, in the Wesleyan camp, believe a person can live above sin and not choose to sin, we believe that such a life is only possible because God enables it.
o This could be a good stepping stone to talking about Christian Perfection, or entire sanctification.

- Perpetual virgin (so did Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley)
o Arose around the time when the commitment to celibacy was thought of as noblest form of the spiritual life.

- Immaculate Conception – Mary, the moment she was born, was made sinless by God.
o In our view of sinlessness we would disagree because we believe heavily in choice in regards to these matters.

- Glorious Assumption – Mary taken to heaven with God. The stories tell that she died in the presence of others and was placed in a tomb, when they checked on her, she was gone. Believe this because they say Mary was not affected by Original Sin (aging, death, decay, etc.)

- The Mediatrix – Catholics pray to Mary by asking her to intercede for them.
o From incident in John where Mary intercedes on the behalf of others for her Son to make wine.
o Catholics do not look at Mary as an idol (though we may think they do).
o Believe so strongly in the fact that there is life after death that their prayers are heard by saints in heaven.

That is a summary of Catholic teaching on Mary. Any thoughts?

Mary's Servant Attitude

2010-12-09T09:53:00.004-05:00

I've been learning a lot lately about Mary (mother of Jesus). Of course teaching a series on her forces learning. But, there's one verse, from her story as a teenager, that has been particulary challenging. It's Luke 1:38 (just the beginning portion). It's her response to the angel after he announces she will give birth to the Messiah.

It reads,

I am the Lord's servant.

Questions to ponder

- Can you say this to Jesus today and really mean it?

- What does it mean to say something like this?

- What doesn't it mean?

- What kind of life would one have to live to say this and mean it?

Could the real Mary please stand up?

2010-12-02T09:06:00.002-05:00

I began a 3-week series with our adults last night on Mary. Advent is a great time to look at her story and hope-filled life. Along with Scripture, I’m using The Real Mary by Scot McKnight for fodder. Great book! Scot is a great New Testament scholar and friend to the church.

In this book Scot presents to us evangelicals a Mary we appreciate and learn from. To be honest, when I think of Mary I think of a young woman kneeling beside a baby. It’s the classic nativity scene Mary. This book has caused me to look again and dive into the scripture to see the real Mary.

This book does a great job of laying out the historical context to Mary’s story along with the overall mindset of those in the First Century. You’ll get a great amount of easy-to-read exegesis on passages pertaining to Mary in this book.

One thing unique to this book (at least I thought it was) is the emphasis on Mary’s role as Jesus’ teacher. Of course she was His mom, but have we given much thought to the fact that Jesus was fully human and had to learn in the same way we learn? His mom played a key role in his upbringing and training in the Old Testament stories. If you doubt Mary knew much about the Old Testament compare her song in Luke 1:46-55 to Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel. Mary had a huge influence on Jesus and His teachings.

Well, I’ve still a couple chapters left in this book and will post more about Mary next week. If you have any thought would love to hear them.

A Sweet Tune!

2010-11-18T10:12:00.003-05:00

Going to be teaching a short 3-week series in December on Mary (mother of Jesus). Keeping things nice and simple today. Wanted to share her song with you from Luke's Gospel (1:46-55 TNIV).

Mary’s Song

46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has been mindful

of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me

— holy is his name.

50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,

from generation to generation.

51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones

but has lifted up the humble.

53 He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful

55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as he promised our ancestors.”

Any thoughts on Mary and her song?

Crazy Love

2010-11-11T07:54:00.002-05:00

I’m just a couple of chapters away from finishing Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Here are some initial thoughts on the book.

I see the book as challenging and pointing us to live a sold-out-life to Jesus Christ. Each chapter builds on that idea in a way. Topics like prayer, death, holy fear, and love are explored to help one understand them in a Christian context. There’s a call to live excited and expectant as we follow Christ each day. The thrust of the book is a call to live a holy life. It’s what we Wesleyans call entire sanctification. I’ve heard some that have read it ask the question, “Is it really possible to live this way?” With God all things are possible. What do you think?

So, I’m curious if any of you have read it and have thoughts to share on it?

Away for a couple of days

2010-11-04T09:46:00.002-04:00

Not much thinking today. Trina and I are at the Minister' & Mate's retreat this week. This is an annual 2-3 day getaway for pastors. It's great!

Tuesday night we attended a free showing of an upcoming Christian film called the Gracecard. I gave a B+. It was a step above Fireproof in acting and storyline. The movie was written and directed by a man in the Nazarene church (they even mentioned the Nazarene Church in the unedited version we saw, hopefully they don't cut it out!). This was one of the reasons we wanted to see this movie. A guy down in TN walked out of the movie Fireproof and decided he had a story to tell and wanted to make a movie. You can go to their website and see more info on it. I would encourage you to go and see it when it comes out. You won't be disappointed.

Witchy Woman

2010-10-28T11:08:00.001-04:00

I’m revisiting a favorite passage of mine from the Old Testament this Sunday evening at church. Our senior adults will be acting out the story of the Witch of Endor from 1 Samuel 28. I'm kind of thinking out loud here about this passage. If you haven’t read this story you need to. It leaves you scratching your head and questioning why it’s in the Bible. Kind of an odd-ball story. I’ve posted some thoughts on this before.

Part 1
Part 2

Today, I’m looking at what lessons can be learned from this story. What can we, who are Christ-followers, learn from such a story? Is there anything to learn?

As I have been thinking of this story I have come up with some application. A brief background to the story is that king Saul is about to fight against the Philistines. Saul is terrified (v.5). Samuel the prophet, his long time advisor and friend has died. Samuel also knew God personally and communed with Him. Because of this he could discern God’s voice in certain situations. Because Saul relied on Samuel’s encounters with God and did not have the personal relationship with God that Samuel had, he could not hear God’s voice speaking as to what the Israelites should do about the coming battle with the Philistines. So, Saul tries the usual and appropriate ways of communicating with God. He hoped to hear from God via dreams, casting lots, and/or prophets. However, none of these methods worked. God’s voice was not heard and Saul became desperate.

Ever find yourself in a desperate situation? If you have you know how strong the temptation is to go out and do something drastic and irrational. This is the situation Saul is in. He desperately wants to hear from God, yet he doesn’t have the kind of relationship that would allow a person to hear from God. He hasn’t kept in step with God. He hasn’t obeyed God (look at Saul’s actions in 1 Samuel 15). So, in this dark hour Saul turns to a practice that is forbidden in Israel; communication with the dead. Saul is trying to force the voice of God in his situation. Have you ever tried to do that? You just want so bad to hear God’s voice in a situation that you do something crazy to try and get Him to speak. Saul found out through the ghost of Samuel that his disobedience to God and His commands had fractured their relationship. This disobedience had caused the voice of God to disappear from Saul’s life. This is just further evidence of the fact that there was no relationship between God and Saul.

The most important lesson to learn from this story is the connection between obedience and relationship. Can you have one without the other? Good relationships require obedience even if you don’t feel like it. But maybe there is a deeper truth here. Let me illustrate it this way. As a parent, I have rules and laws that I expect my children to obey. Could I expect obedience from them if I wasn’t available to be in a relationship with them? Should I expect obedience from them if I’m not a presence in their lives? Good and healthy relationships are dependant upon obedience. However, you can switch this around and say that obedience is dependant upon a good and healthy relationship. With my kids I’m expecting them to obey me because of the relationship I have with them. God the Father does the same with us. He expects us to obey Him because of the relationship He has with us through His Son Jesus (John 15:10, 14). Obedience is to flow from the relationship.

So, more important than, “How are you doing at obeying God?” is the question, “How are you doing in your relationship with God?”

It looks as if King Saul needed someone to ask him such a question.

A great book on communion!

2010-10-21T09:00:00.003-04:00

I thoroughly enjoyed Making a Meal of It: Rethinking the Theology of the Lord’s Supper by Ben Witherington III. This was one of about four books I read this summer.

The book, which is somewhat small in page numbers, is a pretty heavy read. In it, Ben explores the history of what many of us call communion. He begins with a study on the Passover. Why? Well, it seems it was on the night of Passover (very early, maybe even pre-mature to when Jews celebrated Passover) that Jesus introduced the Lord’s Supper.

Bonus Thoughts
Each of the sections in this book could be crafted into sermons. You could do a whole series of sermons based off of this book. Great sermon fodder here!

He sets off exploring what Passover meant to the Israelites in Egypt. Why did God give them this meal? What was its purpose? Some might suggest Passover dealt with Israel’s sins and their need for forgiveness. Ben challenges that thinking by asking us to look at the texts on Passover and the context. When this meal was given the priesthood was not established. Atonement for sins came through the sacrifices and shedding of blood made by priests. How can you have that if you do not have the priests? As for context, the different texts on Passover (e.g., Ex 12, Lev 23:4-8, Nu 28:16-25, Deut 16:1-8) do not mention anything about forgiveness or sin. So, if Passover is not about forgiveness or sin, what is it about?

Passover was a reminder meal with a bit more. It was the meal that reminded Israel of how God stepped into their world and rescued them. It was the meal that reminded them of how quickly they exited Egypt as free men and women. It was the meal that reminded Jews several hundred years later that this was their story too. Jews continued this meal up to, and maybe even after, the time of Christ to pass this great story on to the next generation. This meal helped the Jewish people grow closer together. This meal stood as a bit more than just a reminder meal in that it took Jews back, in a figurative way, to that first Passover in Egypt and allowed them to see that it was their story and that they were a part of the exodus of Egypt. This meal celebrated freedom from oppression and deliverance from God. A whole new way of life (the Jewish calendar) emerges in the context of the first Passover.

Well, I’m going to keep it short and cut things off here. I’m only touching the tip of the iceberg here, so much more to this book. However, this was probably more than most of you cared to read. This is a really good book. You will walk away feeling like you have a greater understanding of communion and its purposes if you commit to reading this.

Questions about church (Part 4)

2010-10-14T09:43:00.003-04:00

Today we wrap up the series Questions about church. A big thanks to Angela for the idea for this (hope this helps answer some of your questions too). There is, of course, a lot more to say on this subject, but this should at least help us get started and moving in the right direction for answers.

Next question:

Did he (Jesus) tell us that we should be connected locally somewhere?

I wish there was a verse in the Gospels that said, “You must commit yourself to a local fellowship,” but there isn’t. What we do have though is probably just as good. Context. First context shows us that Jesus was connected locally to the Jewish people and practices. He went to the synagogue regularly. He participated in the Jewish festival and feasts. His life reveals that He was connected locally. Furthermore, context tells us that the Gospels were written to local churches. For example, the Gospel of Mark was a written to a local church in Rome. If it were not for people committed to meeting locally then our New Testament would not be what it is today. The audience of the entire New Testament is the local church.

The Gospels helped people know how to live. It helped them see what they could become by looking at Jesus. It gave them the vision for the type of life they could have as Christians. They were helpful personally and corporately. They revealed how true brothers and sisters in Christ should live with one another. If these early Christians were connected to a local fellowship they would haven’t heard the Gospels because they were usually read when the church gathered. People didn’t have the luxury of taking a Bible home with them. They had to be connected locally to hear the Gospel. Again, context helps us understand this.

When Paul wrote to a church the letter he was writing was first and foremost to that church. Just look at the beginning of his letters. Usually he was addressing problems or answering questions. When he used the word ekklesia (church) he had a specific and local church in mind. Usually it would be the one he was writing to. Church wasn’t an abstract group of people all over the world who believed in Jesus. Church was a group of Christians assembled together in a particular place (usually a house because there was nowhere else to meet) to worship God through Jesus.

Think about this, how do you really minister to someone if you don’t show them commitment on your part to be connected to a local church? If you are not committed you won’t be able to build quality relationships with others. If you don’t build quality relationships with others then you won’t really get to discover their needs and how to really pray for them. You lose your ability to help in a helpful way. Maybe such thoughts are what led the author of Hebrews to write, “Let us not neglect our meeting together”.

Questions about church (Part 3)

2010-10-07T08:26:00.004-04:00

Did he (Jesus) have any roots?
This was another question asked and I'm taking it to mean: Was Jesus connected to a local church?

One of the things we must always think of when reading scripture is context. So, how does that help us here? Well, Jesus wasn’t attending church, as we know and think of it, each week, but He was involved in the Jewish practices of Israel. He was committed to daily times of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting. These were Jewish practices. Jesus was a Jew. He lived like a Jew and practiced Jewish things. He was connected to a local synagogue and a local gathering of people. People knew Jesus because He lived among them. He was a faithful Jew.

Jesus’ disciples probably met him and heard about Him long before He called them to follow Him. Jesus did not just appear out of nowhere and start teaching something contrary to scripture. As a matter of fact, in His own sermon on the mount, He says He has come to fulfill the law. Because of that and His Jewish roots Jesus lived according to the law.

Now something similar to a revolution begins to occur when Jesus calls 12 men to follow Him and then later appoints them as apostles. I guess you could say the church as we know it starts with Jesus. Some might be tempted to think Jesus is breaking away from Judaism and Israel. He is not. He is attempting to bring reform to Israel. Martin Luther and John Wesley weren’t attempting to start new denominations. They were attempting to bring reform to the church they grew up in and loved.

Jesus was rejected by so many Jews because of the message He brought. The incarnation (God coming to live among us) is simply amazing! It is also hard for some to believe. However, isn’t it interesting, that despite the heavy conflict among the Jews over Jesus and His message, that He didn’t leave Judaism and go off and start a new religion? Now, that has happened (i.e. Christianity), but that was not what Jesus was intially trying to do. He stayed. He lived as a Jew and He died as a Jew.

When conflict in our church arises we get upset and leave. Some of us never to return again. Some of us to start a new church. Jesus did not do that. He had strong roots to Israel and an even stronger commitment to God the Father. So yes, Jesus had roots and was connected to a particular people (the Jews) in a particular place (Israel).

Your thought?

Questions about church (Part 2)

2010-09-30T00:00:00.003-04:00

Continuing our series...

What does Jesus teach us about this topic?

Unfortunately the word “church” is rare in Jesus’ teaching and the Gospels. The word church only appears 3x and it’s in the Gospel of Matthew (Greek ekklesia = meaning a gathering) in two chapters (16, 18). Despite this, there is plenty to be learned about church from Jesus. Jesus’ life and ministry teach us what we need to know about church. Jesus defines in the Gospels who is in and who is out when it comes to the church. You enter into this group by repenting and believing in Him (John 3). He wants a group of people committed to following Him. He even says that if people follow and obey Him they are His true brothers and sisters (Mark 3:35). In regards to His followers, He says in Matthew 26:18 that hell won’t even be defeat them. Reassuring words.

The Sermon on the Mount gives a foundation for life in the church. It gives instruction on how to live as individuals and how to live as a community of believers amongst each other. So, while there isn’t direct mention of church, there is plenty of teaching on what this group of Jesus followers will do and act like.

Next week: Did Jesus have any roots? Was He involved locally as we are today in our local churches?

Questions about church (Part 1)

2010-09-23T08:18:00.005-04:00

Some questions about the church were asked a couple of weeks ago. This new series is my attempt to answer those questions. Your feedback and insight would be appreciated.

Over the next 4 or 5 weeks we are going to discuss the church. Here is what I have come to believe about the church. I owe a great deal of gratitude to IVP’s New Dictionary of Biblical Theology as it has greatly helped in shaping my view on the church and what it is.

Origins
Before we get to the questions let’s start at the beginning. Because we serve a God who is 1 God in 3 Persons we have been made for community. Our completeness if found in God and others. God, as seen throughout the OT, wants a people/community that is His. He did make us. Understanding this leads to a clearer understanding and appreciation of what God was attempting to do with Israel in the OT. He wanted a community of people to be solely dedicated to Him, to worship Him privately and together as the true God, and to share Him with others. These scriptures of God speaking to Israel help us understand this:

Exodus 19:5 says,
Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation. This is the message you must give to the people of Israel. (NLT)

Joshua 22:5 says,

Love the LORD your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul. (NLT)

Notice that these commands are given to a particular people. They are for the community. This is important because a lot of what God was trying to create with Israel is seen and adopted (there is more to it though) by New Testament writers as what God wants to create with His church as it begins with Jesus in the New Testament.

Next week: What does Jesus teach us about this topic?

So You Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore (Part 2)

2010-09-16T09:43:00.003-04:00

We continue with the review of So You Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore?

To be truthful, it’s precisely this kind of view (the one held by the character John in the book) that weakens the overall body of Christ. I found this view to be extremely selfish and built around the individual. There’s no commitment to your fellow brothers and sisters with this view. It’s all about you. You want to go to the 10am worship service, fine. You don’t, fine. Sure, it’s ok if they go to church and do church stuff, but they have no place telling you that you need to be there too. You have freedom in Christ!

This re-defining of what church is wouldn’t fly with the real New Testament authors (John being one of them). Their letters are written to local churches (which have structure and leaders) to strengthen their commitment to Jesus and each other. Paul even says in Romans 5:5 that believers belong to each other. Don’t tell me he’s just referring to the too-big-to-see Body of Christ and not the local church. He's writing to a local church. A statement like that implies obligation to your brothers and sisters in Christ because of your relationship with Christ. One couldn’t just drift off for a few weeks and not be held accountable for such an action. The early church depended on its members showing up.

By the way, there’s an extra section in the back of the book that is an article about why the author doesn’t go to church anymore. If you read it you’ll notice it sounds just like his character John.

Angela asked some great questions on last week's post that I wanted to re-post here and answer next week. They are:

Angela asked,

- What does Jesus teach us about this topic?

- Did he have any roots?

- Did he tell us that we should be connected locally somewhere?

- With the same people every week?

We'll answer and talk about those next week.

So You Don’t Want To Go To Church Anymore? (Part 1)

2010-09-09T09:09:00.001-04:00

I love sitting down with a warm cup of coffee to read a good book. Mostly I read books by authors I like and agree with. However, it can also be enjoyable to read books by authors you don’t know or who you don’t agree with. This can help strengthen your own faith and beliefs. That is the case for me with the book So You Don’t Want To Go To Church Anymore?.

At first I liked the emphasis in this book on life being all about living in a fresh relationship with God the Father and about hearing and responding to Him daily. That is so important and more Christians need to live like that. However, there comes a point where the discerning can see that the author(s) are trying to push their own agenda to the forefront in this book of what church should look like and be. At first they lead you into thinking that maybe house church is the answer, but that notion is quickly beat down. So, what is the answer to church? You can most clearly see that by looking at one of the main characters of this book, the apostle John.

The character that represents the apostle John is a drifter. He comes and goes as he pleases. He’s not connected locally to anything. No roots. He’s a sojourner who shows up unexpectedly to offer his wisdom and advice on how things should be done. You can challenge him all you want but he will have an answer to your questions. So, it’s no surprise that John has a dim view of the way church is done today. Church to John is all about hearing and responding to the Father. Sounds good right? Well, because of that John thinks you don’t need to attend a local fellowship that has worship services every Sunday at 10am. You just have to be listening for the voice of God and be obedient. Maybe God will speak to you in a coffee shop while with friends and then you can share that message with them and *poof* you have just had church. Maybe you’re at the bar and you start talking to someone about God’s love and *poof* you have just been in church.

Do you see anything wrong with this view?

Next week we’ll talk more about problems and implications of this view of church.

Enjoying the Sabbath

2010-09-02T08:23:00.004-04:00

I return to Sabbath by Dan Allender today. This was a great read this summer. More than anything it gave me new ideas about how to make celebrating the sabbath fun and refreshing for the whole family. Here's some review of chapter 7.

Summary
Chapter 7 focuses on abundance (previous chapters can be found below). There are a couple things around us that keep us from entering abundance.

1. Emptiness of an uncertain future.
2. Emptiness of an unrealized present.

Allender sees these as problems because, he says, “we are a nation that lives beyond its means, doesn’t provide for its future, and banks on its past to live excessively in the present.” True statement and why we live with uncertainty. We also feel like we are not living out the American dream, maybe we think we don’t even have the freedom to dream anything other than the American dream, so all that leads to an unrealized present. Together these two breed the trinity of envy, striving, slavery. This trinity leads us to, “envy them (those who have what we want), strive after our version of success, and slavery to the system that debases us.” Is there hope? Yes, the Sabbath can help free us from these.

This chapter is about abundance and abundance is about gratitude. God is sovereign and the giver of good gifts. Our good fortune is from Him. Are we grateful? Do we see the things we have been given as gifts from Him? One way Allender suggests that we can bring gratitude into our Sabbath is by writing or calling those who we have gratitude for and thanking them. Another idea to celebrate gratitude is to hear what your spouse or children have been reading in scripture the previous week. Ask them and allow them to share it with you. You can also show gratitude by preparing a meal as a family the night before the Sabbath and using the leftovers for your meals on that special day. The key is to be grateful for the gifts of food, friendship, and conversation. This chapter closes with Jesus’ words in Mark 2:27, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

Thoughts
I don’t know about you, but I have so much to be thankful for. I’m thankful for:
- the world around me
- the trees
- the air
- the stars
- the sun
- animals
- the variety of life around me.
- my family
- my wife
- daughters
- mom and dad
- my wife’s family.

All of this is such a gift! I need to enter the Sabbath with this kind of gratitude. I have been given so much by God. I really liked the idea of writing/calling someone you are grateful for. I was thinking I could rally the entire family together on the Sabbath and we could make a special card for a family member or friend we want to show gratitude to. A great time together and a great way to reach out as a family in gratitude.

Previous Chapters
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6

Worship as a discipline (part 2)

2010-08-26T11:21:00.002-04:00

Worship takes preparation. When the early Christians gathered together to worship God they were expecting something BIG to happen. They were expecting God to act on their behalf. Do you expect God to act when you gather with your community to worship? Here are some ways to prepare for worship during the week.

Learn to practice the presence of God during the week.
- Imagine He is right there with you in person.
- How would you live if He were right by your side 24/7?

Brother Lawrence, who wrote a book called Practicing the Presence of God, learned that because he experienced the presence of God in the kitchen, he knew he would meet God in the worship service as well.

Learn to praise God.
- The Psalms speak mostly about praising God. Read them. Memorize them. Use their language when you talk about God.
- Singing is a way to learn to praise. It can help us focus on Jesus.

Learn to really prepare for the worship gathering on Sunday morning.
- Prepare in a special way Saturday evening (prayer, bible reading, etc.).
- Develop an attitude of expectation for this time of gathering.
- Come early and seek God in prayer.
- Prayer for your pastors and SS teachers (God glory would surround them).
- Look around at people as they enter. Do they seem burdened? If so, lift them up in prayer.
- Think about this statement by Foster before a worship gathering, “If Jesus is our Leader, miracles should be expected to occur in worship. Healings, both inward and outward, will be the rule, not the exception. The book of Acts will not just be something we read about, but something we are experiencing.”

Of course there is much more about worship, but this is just some of what I’ve been chewing on since teaching on it a few weeks ago. The preparation for worship has been heavy on my mind. I’ve been evaluating how I prepare for the community worship time that takes place Sunday mornings. Here are some questions I’m asking/wrestling with:

- What are some ways I could better prepare for worship?
- What kind of things would take place during community worship time if I was prepared?
- What do I miss because I enter community worship time rushed and scatter-brained?

Any thoughts?

Worship as a discipline

2010-08-19T08:55:00.002-04:00

I thought I would share with you a little bit of something I’ve been doing all summer long here at my church. I’ve been teaching a series for adults on the spiritual disciplines. Of course the book I’ve been leaning on for this series has been Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. Wow, this book is a classic and must own! I’ve read it before, but continue to grow in knowledge when I return to read it again. I’ve also used With Unveiled Faces by Keith Drury (which has been extremely helpful and insightful too).

The one discipline that challenges me most is worship. Here’s what I’m learning about worship.

Worship is not…
- When God’s people gather together
- Raising one hand and loudly saying, “Amen!”
- Singing
- Raising two hands in the air while closing your eyes and gently swaying back and forth.

According to Foster, “Singing, praying, praising all may lead to worship, but worship is more than any of them.”

So, what is worship?

Worship is our response to the great love from the heart of the Father. It is the human response to the divine initiative (definition from book).

Are you responding? God’s love demands a response. God didn’t send Jesus for us to just look at Him. We are called to decide if we will place faith in Him or not. We are called to respond. That response is worship. If Jesus is to be Lord of your life, worship must become a priority. Why? It’s the first call to Christians that is mentioned in Mark 12:30. Part of loving Him with everything is that we worship Him. We worship the Lord not only because of who He is, but also because of what He has done. Foster ads, “Our lives are to be punctuated with praise, thanksgiving, and adoration.”

Why should I practice this discipline?

In John 4:23-24 Jesus calls us to it. He doesn’t suggest worship as an idea, but as a way of life. Because God is Spirit, we must worship in spirit and truth. What does that mean? At the center of who you are is your heart (not the physical thing). Your heart (which can be thought of as your will and spirit) is thought of as the place, or the executive center, of where decisions and choices originate. Jesus backs this up with His statement in Mark 7:21-23.

Worshiping in spirit means we are making a decision to worship God. It’s not something that is being forced upon us. We are doing because we are moved by His love for us. The Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God wants people that will worship Him because they want to. He wants people to worship Him for who He is (the truth part to this passage).

How do I begin and/or prepare for practicing this discipline? Come back next week for that.

Sabbath Purpose (ch. 6)

2010-08-12T08:42:00.003-04:00

I'm back. I know many of you have been waiting all summer for this. Some of you have even put your vacation plans on hold just to make sure you could be here for this. Thank you, ha!

It's been a fun summer for me. I've had a chance to sit down and really read and evaluate some good books and some not so good books. I hope to share some of those findings with you over the next few months. I'm starting, or picking back up, with a book I started reading last spring; Sabbath by Dan Allender.

Previous Chapters (summary and thoughts if you are interested)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Summary
Chapter 6 begins the second part of the book which is on Sabbath purpose. What is the purpose of the Sabbath? Allender sees the Sabbath as a day of peace and reconciliation. On the Sabbath we are to be reconciled to our brothers and sisters. If we are at war with them we stop. No fighting. Nothing. We pretend all is well even if it is not. We, “celebrate the newness of life, created, redeemed, restored, and set free.” Later Allender asks, “How would you live if there were no wars, enmity, battle lines, or need to defend, explain, interpret, or influence another to see anything differently?” This is how we try and live on the Sabbath. We don’t push our enemies to the back of our mind, but we pray for them. We wonder what it would be like to be at peace with them. Prayer for our enemies is encouraged. Doing this allows us to practice eternity when wars will cease and peace will reign. To help us get there Allender suggests we need curiosity, coziness, and care.

Curiosity is to be seen as a gift of the Spirit and a great aid to help us practice eternity. We imagine what life would be like if Jesus was here on Earth ruling. We imagine what it would be like to be at peace with oneself and one’s enemies. Be open to where your curiosity takes you on the Sabbath. Let it run wild.

Another purpose of Sabbath is to get “cozy”. This is more than just rest and relaxation. This is giving our mind over to curiosity and allowing our imaginations to run wild. When is the last time you did that? When is the last time you imagined what lies at the farthest end of the galaxy? What is the realm of angels and demons like? On the Sabbath allow your mind a chance to explore these things.

Another thing we need to help us practice eternity is care. We need to give and receive care on the Sabbath because there is a promise of peace. True care is really paying attention to your spouse or kids to see what their real needs are. We notice things about others and try our best to show them love.

Thoughts
I like the idea of thinking about what life would be like if God’s peace reigned. What would life be like if I was at peace with my worst enemy? To me this chapter revealed the important role imagination plays on the Sabbath. How good of an imagination do you have? Logic takes a back seat to imagination when we think of Jesus’ return and what life will be like when He renews the Earth and makes all things new. Try thinking about that logically and you don’t get very far. Some practical ideas sprouted in my mind as I read this chapter for celebrating the Sabbath to really practice eternity:
- Going to the library before the Sabbath arrives and getting books or magazines on subjects I wouldn’t normally stop and read about (e.g., space, dinosaurs, scuba diving, and woodworking) and perusing the pages with my kids. We would see new things and visit new worlds in the coziness of our home.
- For care, we could go as a family to a nursing home and spend the day with someone. We could eat together, sing together, and just enjoy each other’s company. A simple way to put caring for others into practice.

How about you, any ideas on how you would practice eternity on the Sabbath?

Enjoy the summer, see ya soon!

2010-06-24T10:33:00.003-04:00

Thursday Thinking is taking a break this summer. Will resume with regular Thursday posts August 12th. Hope you have a great summer!

Summer Ideas

2010-06-11T11:53:00.002-04:00

Been slacking a little on the blogging since spring hit. Sorry. I'm keeping things simple today with just one question.

What do you do in summer for fun that you don't normally do the rest of the year?

For me, and since I'm a big fisherman, I love summer fishing. I love fishing for smallies (smallmouth bass), panfish (bluegills, crappie), and largemouth bass. it helps that summer is a great time to catch them. I plan on doing some of that real soon. I've already been out once and caught a few panfish, but I'm hoping better days lie ahead.

So what about you? What are you going to be doing?

So You Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore?

2010-06-03T11:47:00.002-04:00

My uncle Rick recommended a book to me a couple of weeks ago. It’s made for some fun spring/summer reading so far. It’s called So You Don’t Want To Go To Church Anymore?. It puts a spin on the passage of scripture in John where Jesus tells Peter that if He wanted, He could keep John alive until He returns. The spin? What if John the Apostle is still alive? What if he never died? Well, it looks like that is exactly who the main character in this book meets. The character (Jake) meets John at various points in his life and they talk about knowing Jesus.

There’s a really big emphasis on the relationship we have with Jesus and how one really lives out that relationship. According to Jake, (this is not verbatim from the book, just my reflection) John lives like He is best friends with Jesus, like he knows what Jesus would do in every situation. To Jake, being with John is like being with Jesus. We are called to live like that too. Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:1 come to mind, “Imitate Christ”. Another example of this call for our lives in found in the Old Testament. Remember Abraham and Moses? There were times they acted out God’s actions on behalf of God for other people. They were in some mysterious way God to others around them. I’m not saying they were actually gods, but that God allowed them to act out the incarnation (which He did Himself later).

I like the emphasis on the relationship between a person and God because that is such a big part of what this life is all about (fulfillment of the Great Command). You gotta have the relationship with Him to really find out what life is about and what you are about.

I’m enjoying this book so far, still got a little more to read. More thoughts when I finish.

PALCON Session #1 (David Graves)

2010-05-27T09:46:00.002-04:00

As promised last week, here some notes I took from our first plenary session at PALCON last week.

Session #1
Speaker: David Graves (new General Superintendent)
Scripture: Genesis 12:1-9

Notes:
Verse 1 – God spoke to man (to Abram), God still calls us.
- When did He call you?
- Are we ready to listen to God?
- He wants to bless us, we need to respond to Him. He wants to speak to us right where we are at.

Abram’s call was to give up all and follow God. It was a call to relinquish (2 things related to that):
To give up everything. Mark 8:35
It’s a call to go. Matthew 28:19. It’s not just a lay person’s job to be discipling. Pastor’s must do this. How? Develop friendships with people. Look for people you run into over and over (e.g. barista at a coffee shop).

We need to make sure we are staying connected to Him. How? Listening, talking, growing, learning, and becoming true disciples.

God’s call also includes a tremendous promise:
Verses 2-3 – I will bless you, I will make your name great, I will make you are great nation, I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.

Verse 4 – Abram’s response (he obeyed).

PALCON

2010-05-20T10:28:00.002-04:00

Attended a pastor's conference called PALCON this week. Got back late last night. I plan on posting some notes from the experience later today/tonight. Really good stuff!

All good things come to an end

2010-05-13T07:27:00.003-04:00

This road has come to an end. This Saturday I graduate. I’ve been working the past 4 years on a MA in Discipling Ministries from Huntington University. It's been a long road (thank you Trina for being patient and editing practically all of my papers). This particular program and grad school have been exceptionally helpful over the years. The friends and experiences have been priceless. I actually found out about this program while at a Youth Specialties conference (exhibit halls). I thought it was really unique in its focus. It caught my attention.

As I prepare to graduate here are some things I’ve come to learn while in this program:

- How to teach in a way that engages the student and challenges the learner. Before beginning this journey I looked at teaching as dumping as much information as possible on someone (maybe they would get something?). This is primarily what our public schools do and it works to a certain degree. However, it leaves a lot of people out and misses true potential in a lot of individuals. Think about Jesus. He taught in a way that challenged and engaged His listeners. He let them practice what He was teaching and see if it was actually true (that’s a great idea!). He didn’t stand idly by when His students were spewing wrong thoughts or doing wrong things but found opportunity to teach them about God and man. I could easily go off on a 20-page tangent here, I won’t.

- Discovering the “big idea” of a passage of scripture can help you teach it better. What is the “big idea”? It’s the particular truth of a particular book, passage, and/or verse of God’s Word that the Spirit give you that makes you think, “This is what God is trying to teach here! This is what this passage is all about!” Once you find the “big idea” your job is to create a learning experience that leads your students to discovering “it” for themselves. A very engaging way of teaching (even preaching). The downside? It takes a lot of study time and prayer time to discover “big idea”, but it is well worth it in the end. I consider this a downside in part because of all the demands on pastors that don’t allow them time to really study and pray over a passage.

- People learn differently. There are different ways to teach that if used properly can reach more people. Some people benefit most from just reading something, others hearing it sung, still others by drawing a picture of it, and some by being challenged to teach it themselves.

- Spiritual formation and the discipleship process involve God the Spirit, us, others, and work. God’s Spirit is there ready to work a change in us, but there has to be intention on our part. We have to do something. I'm not saying we are saved by our works, that's by grace through faith. I'm talking about what happens afterwards. We get the privilege of working with God in shaping and molding our character. How exciting is that? It also takes community. We join a community when we become Christian. We become a part of the Body of Christ known as the church. Each part has a role and function. Have you found yours?

Well, I stop here for now. There’s more I learned, but I’m still processing it.

Play Day

2010-04-29T09:09:00.005-04:00

Chapter 5 (titled Play Day) was a fun chapter in the book Sabbath by Dan Allender. If you missed chapters 1-4 see links below. Here are some of the highlights straight from Dan:

- Sabbath is a play day. A day to celebrate the superabundance of God’s creative love and glory.

- Sabbath redefines how we work, why we work, and how we create freedom through our work.

- There should be more risk and danger on the Sabbath than any other day.

- To see the day as a day of play we must give ourselves to something or someone totally. This can be seen as both a pledge and a betrayal. We are pledging ourselves to God and rest while betraying our commitment to work.

- To get more out of the Sabbath we must learn to desire more. We get of God what we desire. How much of Him do you desire? The more we desire, the better the journey.

- Sabbath doesn’t deny death, it seeks to celebrate life.

Short and sweet. Good stuff here.

Previous Posts

Sabbath in beauty, sensuality, and feasting

2010-04-22T09:40:00.004-04:00

A lot going on in life right now. It seems I've had a real taste of what it means to be a pastor these last few weeks. A wedding, several funerals and hospital runs have kept me moving. I now return to a book I'm slowly working my way through. Here are the previous posts from the previous chapters if you need to catch up.

Previous Posts
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3

Chapter 4 looks at Sabbath as a day to enjoy communion with God, others, and creation. It’s a day where we live out Psalm 34:8. Dan wants the Sabbath to push us towards nature and the examining of God’s creation in such a way as to take our breath away. To really understand this Dan explores a theology of beauty, sensuality, and feasting.

Beauty – True beauty, according to Dan, reflects the unity and diversity of the Trinity. Three distinct persons, but one God. Something different, but something uniting in each. There is an ultimate form of beauty that helps us understand what true beauty is; Jesus Christ. The incarnation is a beautiful thing! Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension are to be marveled at. To really appreciate the beauty of God becoming man, along with God’s creation, we must approach with awe. Awe as a sense that this is something very special. This is a gift I’ve been given. All this wonder and awe over something so beautiful should lead us to desire God more. Sabbath is a good place to seek beauty, which in turn could/should lead us to seeking God.

Sensuality – Dan contends the Sabbath should be the most sensual day of the week. What does he mean? All our senses should be aroused. The Sabbath should be a celebration of smell, touch, hearing, seeing, and tasting. We might be a little suspicious about such talk. After all if it feels good it’s gotta be sin, right? We can’t trust our bodies because they are sinful. If we suppress our senses by not letting them enjoy Sabbath, and consider them unspiritual, and pay no attention to them, we end up neglecting our whole self. If we do that we lose something of our true selves and what it means to be human. Didn’t Jesus tell us to love God with all heart, soul, mind, and strength (our physical bodies where our senses are)? The Spirit living in us is there to redeem our physical bodies too (which includes our senses), so why not open them up to the best and give them a Sabbath to enjoy?

Feasting – Our meal times during the Sabbath can remind us of the great wedding feast coming when Christ returns. We will sit at a table with Him and our fellow brothers and sisters and share a meal together. Our times around the table on the Sabbath can foreshadow this if we let them. This doesn’t necessarily mean we have to sit around and talk about Jesus’ return or communion, but that we sit around and enjoy each other’s company. We talk. We tell stories. We listen. We laugh. We cry. We take great joy in just being gathered together. This is feasting on the Sabbath.

Reflection
This book has me excited about finding ways to really enjoy and celebrate a Sabbath day. I have all kinds of ideas churning in my head. The hardest part is implementing them. It always is when you try and put anything in scripture into practice. This is why Sabbath is considered one of the spiritual disciplines. It takes work to make it work.

- Anything special your family does for your Sabbath day?
- Any special meals you eat?

Praise the Spirit. He is moving!

2010-04-07T21:54:00.001-04:00

We had an incredible worship service on Resurrection Sunday (Easter). Six gave testimonies to Christ’s transformative power and were baptized, the Gospel was preached, and communion was served.

He has risen!

I was curious about how things went for you this past Sunday? I’ve heard a lot of good stories from different churches and I’m excited about what the Holy Spirit is doing. He is on the move. Would love to hear what happened at your church.

The Blessings

2010-04-01T10:55:00.001-04:00

For Lent this year I’ve been trying to read the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) at least once a week. No doubt most of you are familiar with the beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-10 that kick-off this sermon. You could probably throw verses 11 and 12 in there too, but they seem to just add to verse 10.

3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

My questions for you are:

- How do you interpret the beatitudes?
- Are these attitudes we should strive for as Christians?
- Are these attitudes we have to have to be Christian?
- Do these even have anything to do with our walk with Christ?
- Is there another way to interpret and look at these?

Sermon on Mark 1

2010-03-25T09:13:00.003-04:00

Preached on Mark 1:1-8 Sunday night. My big idea for the message was that repentance plays a key role in preparing us for Jesus and change. Here is a snippet of my message for those of you interested (or for those of you needing a sermon for Sunday, ha!).

- What does it take for you to get ready for change?

For me, I like to have a heads up. For me to get ready, I want to be prepared and know about the change. Knowledge is power, right? But even that sometimes isn’t enough. When Jesus comes He brings change. He brings radical change. 2 Corinthians says, “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the new has come and the old has gone.” Jesus brings change.

- What does it take to get ready for the Lord Jesus and the change He brings?
- What does it take for you to get ready for the Lord’s coming? (When He comes He brings a renewal and a revival to our hearts.)
- What does it take to get ready for a revival? To be awakened to the fact that God’s kingdom is here. It’s all around us just waiting for us to enter into.
- What does it take?

How many of you find it pleasant to be woken up by an alarm clock? I haven’t found an alarm clock yet that has a pleasant sounding alarm. Your dreams are usually interrupted abruptly by the brash beeping telling you loudly that a new day is here. Wake up! An alarm clock is a great symbol for change. There is a new day here. The old day is gone. Change has come. An alarm clock is also a great symbol for John the Baptist and his ministry spoken of here in the Gospel of Mark.

Before we get into talking about John the Baptist, Mark makes it clear in the first few verses that what we are about to be woken up to is very important. This is what was promised in the Old Testament. It is very good news.

Verse 1
That’s the word used in the opening line here (the Good News/Gospel). In Jesus’ time to announce the Gospel was to announce the arrival of the Messiah. The arrival of God’s Anointed One. The Jewish people of Jesus’ day would have known with the arrival of the Messiah comes freedom. Freedom from Satan and his kingdom and the dawning of a new kingdom. This word is just loaded with meaning and good news. In a nutshell it means the good things God has done through Jesus. It means a change is coming and something new is brewing.

Verse 2 & 3
Mark goes on in verse 2 and says this was written in Isaiah, but this is actually a mixture of Isaiah and Malachi (common practice in those days to just mention more prominent prophet). He wants us to know that this Good News is something God said He would do and promised in the Old Testament. The most important day in history, and in the world, is when God took on human flesh and made His dwelling among us. What’s about to happen is more important than any day we have (e.g., landing on the moon, 4th of July, September 11th discovery of America, discovery of electricity, etc.).

Think about this day like this. If your favorite actor/athlete came to town and no one told you about it, you would be bummed and feeling like you missed out on something special. Thankfully, the Jews had someone to give them, and us, a heads up about this important day. The alarm clock is buzzing very loudly to wake them up to this new day. His name is John the Baptist. Verses four through eight tell us about this man and his ministry.

Sabbath (pt 3)

2010-03-18T09:27:00.002-04:00

Chapter 3 of Sabbath by Dan Allender investigates the issue of time and how it can be made holy. One important note brought out in this chapter is that Sabbath was given before the Fall and as a commandment to the Israelites. God takes Sabbath seriously. Why? One marvelous quote at the beginning of this chapter answers, “Sabbath is not merely an event that happens in time; it redefines the nature of time and how we are to live it.” To me that sums up why Sabbath is so important. It leads to a proper perspective on time.

To really get at what it means to practice this Sabbath keeping in a God-honoring way we must first look at what we believe about time. What are our preconceived notions about time? What does America think about time? Allender shares some stats here that aren’t too surprising when you consider how prideful we are about work in this country.
§ 1 out of 3 is chronically overworked.
§ More than half of white collar workers log more than 40 hours a week.
§ 75% of these white collar workers work on the weekends.
§ 37% of Americans take fewer than 7 days off per year.
§ Only 14% take vacation of two week or longer.
§ Americans take shortest paid vacations in the world.
§ 20% of those who do take vacations report to stay in touch with the office.

Are these stats due to faulty thinking of time? Most people think they need more time, can make more time, can steal time, and spend and use time. This chapter points out that time is actually beyond our reach and control. Sure we have watches and alarm clocks, but they don’t really control time, they just control us. Time is, “to be breathed like air.” A proper way to think of time is to look at it as a gift and to honor it. Then we can enter the Sabbath and see it as, “the day that bridges two great events in time; creation by God and the re-creation of the new heavens and earth by God.” Sabbath is a day to play. To have fun. To see something beautiful happening around you and just sit back in your recliner and watch it.

Entering into Sabbath requires three things: receiving the day, intending the day, and protecting the day. When we receive the day we prepare and anticipate her arrival. We are excited about what is to come. Intending the day means we do all the necessary preparations for our activities so we don’t have to work on the Sabbath. If we are going to eat stew we buy the ingredients the day before and put it in the crock pot to cook so we don’t have to do anything. Protecting the day means we do whatever we can to keep the day set apart as special. If we have to turn off our cell phones we turn them off. If we avoid TV we avoid TV. The point is to have a plan to make this day truly unique and different from the other six days of the week.

Any thoughts?

Start Here book

2010-03-18T09:25:00.003-04:00

About This Book
You want to do hard things.But you don’t know where to start. You are changing the world around you. But you are tired and burned out. You feel called to do the extraordinary for God.But you feel stuck in the ordinary. Do Hard Things inspired thousands of young people around the world to make the most of the teen years. Now Alex and Brett Harris are back and ready to tackle the questions that Do Hard Things inspired: How do I get started? What do I do when I get discouraged? What’s the best way to inspire others? Filled with stories and insights from Alex, Brett, and other real-life rebelutionaries, Start Here is a powerful and practical guide to doing hard things, right where you are. Are you ready to take the next step and blast past mediocrity for the glory of God?

START HERE (click for book link).

Sabbath (pt 2)

2010-03-11T09:32:00.004-05:00

Chapter 2, titled Sensual Glory, explores the connections between this holy day and sensuality. Delighting in God’s creation involves all our senses and it must be preceded by awe and gratitude. Allender points out that God’s creation is truly the work of an artist. Good art requires us to sit back and take it in. To appreciate what is before us.

I was just in the Smoky Mountains staying in a cabin with a beautiful view of the mountains. It was delightful and inspiring to look out from the back porch of our cabin each day and give thanks for the masterpiece that was before me. It was fun to just stand and stare. We are encouraged at the end of this chapter to surround ourselves on the Sabbath (whichever day that is for us) with beauty. We are to plunge our senses into magnificent colors, fine textures, great smelling fragrances, soothing sounds, and good tastes. This is enjoying and delighting on the Sabbath.

So, what do you think?

Sabbath

2010-03-03T23:46:00.006-05:00

One of the books on my Shelfari I’ve been working my way through is Sabbath by Dan Allender (part of the Ancient Practices Series by Thomas Nelson Publishers). I picked this book up for next to nothing on vacation last week in TN. I'm glad I found it. This series focuses on learning and applying seven spiritual disciplines. This particular book is on the discipline of Sabbath.

Chapter 1 (Highlights)
Here are some thoughts and reflection from the first chapter.

Chapter 1 examines why we don’t Sabbath. So, why don’t we? For one, we live in a culture that takes great pride in work. Those who work hardest are most respected. We are proud to work 14-16 hours a day. Pride is actually what leads to this unhealthy work ethic. Even more dangerous is that this newly-developed pride can lead us to start thinking we can control time and do what others cannot or have failed to do. This thinking keeps us going and going and going. Dan Allender’s main reason for why people don’t practice Sabbath is that they struggle to believe that God wants them to have a day where they just sit around and bask in the pure delight, wonder, and joy that is all around them. This seems like a waste of time to most people.

Another aspect touched upon in chapter 1 is defining what Sabbath is. Sabbath is more than rest because we are tired because God rested on the seventh day and He doesn’t get tired. Good point. Something I never really took into consideration when reading that passage in Genesis. So, if it’s not just rest because we are tire, what is it? Allender believes on the seventh day, “God celebrated and delighted in his creation.” A good illustration of what this rest is like is given in the paragraph that follows. Allender uses pregnancy and the time after the birth to describe what God’s rest on the seventh day was like. First mom and dad wait patiently while the baby is being formed in mom. Then, one day the baby is born and becomes a separate and distinct thing. It’s a new life. We can see her. We can touch her. Now mom and dad begin bonding with this new life they have created and a fellowship begins among them that could last for eternity. Maybe God’s rest on the seventh day is like this. It’s the point in time where He begins building the relationship with His creation and enjoying His work. It had to be beautiful (still is, but sin has tainted things from what they used to be). He sees what has only been an idea in His head take shape and form and become reality.

Reflection
Some questions I’m thinking about are:
- How hard is it for me to break and Sabbath from work?
- How do I define Sabbath?
- How do you define Sabbath?
- How do I celebrate Sabbath?
- Is there anything I can improve upon with this discipline?

- How do you celebrate Sabbath? Do you?

Some good books and good coffee (UPDATED)

2010-02-25T08:47:00.006-05:00

It's snowing up in the Smokies today. The view from my window is nothing but snow covered trees and mountains. Beautiful! What's even better is that I'm warm inside our cabin drinking fresh ground coffee. In case you were wondering about the view here you go.

One of my favorite places down here is a discount Christian bookstore. They have some great deals. I scored a few good ones the other day. Here's what I got (I hope to return and find a few more good deals).

I had to hit another bookstore down here and spent a little more money. Actually, I felt a bit like I was stealing these books because I got them for so cheap. Two of them are commentaries, one about studying the bible, and one on discipleship. You would be amazed at how cheap books are at these stores. It's awesome!

Bible Reading Habits

2010-02-18T08:41:00.004-05:00

These go with some questions I asked a couple of weeks ago.

1. How do you go about reading your Bible? Do you read whole books? Small chunks? One verse? What do you do when you read?

2. Do you read in the morning? Afternoon? Evening?

3. Do you read every day? Every other day? A couple times a week? How often are you reading your Bible?

Any thoughts?

Love & War

2010-02-11T09:15:00.004-05:00

What a beautiful Thursday morning. Snow all over. I love it. John and Stasi Eldredge have co-written a new book about marriage. Love and War: Finding The Marriage You’ve Dreamed Of is the book. I haven’t been blown away or had any “Aha! That’s what I’m doing wrong!” moments while reading it (maybe I need to read it again), but my wife sure has liked it. Nevertheless there is a lot of good points and material covered. Like what?

Main points from first half of the book:

- You and your spouse live in a love story that is set in the middle of a very real war.
- Marriage is from God, it is a picture of His love to the world and to help us.
- Your marriage is a perfect storm because we live in a fallen world and we all are affected by sin. Yet, God uses marriage to transform us.
- The greatest gift you can give your spouse is to have a real relationship with God.
- If you have to choose between companionship and eros, go with companionship. It is the bedrock of marriage.
- You have an enemy, and it is not your spouse. The sooner you realize this, the better.
- God has rigged this world for adventure. You have a mission, your spouse has a mission, and your marriage has a mission.

These are just some of the highlights from the first part of the book. All pretty good stuff as you can see. Guys, this might be a good Valentine’s Day gift for your wife. Ladies, this might be a good Valentine’s Day gift for your husband. It's at bookstores and online now. I hope you all have a happy Valentine’s Day!

See ya next Thursday.

Angels (Book Review)

2010-02-05T17:33:00.004-05:00

I was originally supposed to post this yesterday, but forgot.

There’s a great book out by David Jeremiah entitled Angels (Who They Are and How They Help…What the Bible Reveals). This is an easy read and I recommend it to any one out there curious about angels and their role. If you happen to have a friend who is asking questions about angles this would be a good book to give them. Be sure of this, there’s a lot of garbage out there right now that incorrectly portrays angels (good and bad), this book will help set people straight. Anyone who has watched the new movie Legion should read this book as quickly as possible.

I like the way the book is broken up and there is even a scripture index in the back if a certain passage comes to mind that can quickly take you to the author’s thoughts/commentary on that particular passage. Here are the chapters of the book in case you are wondering what’s in it:

1. What in the world are angels doing?
2. In the presence of angels – part 1
3. In the presence of angels – part 2
4. The angels and God
5. What angels are
6. When angels appear
7. The angels and us: How much alike?
8. Angels you’ve heard about (and more)
9. The greatest angel
10. Showing us how to worship
11. Showing us how to work
12. Coming to carry me home
13. Hell’s angels
14. The angels and Jesus

Dr. Jeremiah is very conservative in his approach to Genesis 6 and rejects the possibility that angels could have had sex with humans and have created a hybrid-superhero race of people (see Gen 6:4). He does not want to touch this and quickly skimps over it brushing the “sons of God” off as just mortal men. I was kind of bummed and expecting a little more here because 2 Peter and Jude allude to angels doing something really bad before the flood.

Not enough to make me not use this. I will keep this in my library as a handy resource on angels in case I’m ever asked about them. Pick yourself up a copy and you’ll be equipped to answer any questions thrown at you too!

A couple of questions

2010-02-04T08:31:00.003-05:00

After a week of sickness I'm back. That was not fun. Keeping things short and sweet today. Just a couple of questions to throw at you.

- What kind of Bible do you use?

- Why?

Conan and the Tonight Show

2010-01-21T09:41:00.002-05:00

Things have really heated up on the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. The NBC bashing on last night’s show was just as funny as it was the day Conan stood up to NBC and said he wouldn’t move to 12am. What is it about all of this that we tend to like? Why have most people sided with Conan? Why are we cheering him on? I think it’s the fact that an underdog is standing up for himself against a money-hungry god named NBC. We love cheering for the underdog and seeing him or her stand up for themselves. There is an instant recognition that something is unjust and unfair here. We want something done about it. Conan is doing something about it and this makes us cheer and laugh.

Now pretend for a moment Conan is an evangelical Christian. Would it be appropriate to make fun of and rip NBC in the way he has been? Why or why not? What would be a correct Christian response to such a situation? How would you want him to respond if he were a Christian? What do you think?

A Couple of Bible Studies I've Written

2010-01-14T08:02:00.008-05:00

I’ve been working on a MA degree in discipleship the past three and half years. I’m very close to being done. The degree has focused on how leaders of a church can help assist their church grow in their walk with the Lord through various activities and teaching. We’ve spent a lot of time on curriculum design and how to gear curriculum to making disciples. Some of the fruit from this labor I now humbly lay before you.

Over the past couple of years I have written a couple of Bible studies (I turned these in as projects for a class) that pull from some of the various things I’ve been learning in class on how to teach in a way to make disciples. I wanted to put my best foot forward when I was turning these projects in so I had them bound in book format.

The first one I wrote was on the book of James. It’s called Walking James. Both are available for purchase at LuLu (just click on a link). It was an incredible learning experience for me to have to write a study on a particular book of the Bible. I really enjoyed doing it.

After James I moved to Luke’s Gospel, and to keep the series going, I named it Walking Luke. They can be used by individuals but I designed them to be used in small groups. The James study is 15 weeks and Luke is 9 weeks. I had a former teen (Dion D) design the covers of these. He did an awesome job. I also had a brother-in-law help with the interior layout. So, if you are really bored and have a lot of time on your hands here is something for you.

New Year's Goals

2010-01-07T07:29:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are into the New Year. Can you believe it? I have some goals for myself this coming year. Thought I would share a few with you.

- I’m working on becoming a morning person. Notice the time stamp on this blog? I usually stay up late and sleep in, but I’m working on changing that for 2010. The past couple of weeks I’ve been getting up at 6:30am. It has been nice to get up before everyone else (including the kids) and have some quiet time.

- Read the Bible through in a year using the NRSV translation. I’m off to a really good start on this and have a bit of a reading pattern down. I’m not following any year plan or anything, just reading five to six chapters a night. I’ve been using the NRSV lately and have come to like it.

- Continue exercising and eating right. Not that I was doing a good job at this before, but I did start working out last summer and have been able to continue that (November and December were bad months. Too much food and candy!). I’m actually going to be starting a 90 day challenge with our youth pastor this next week that will help me with the eating right. We want to see how good of shape we can get in by April.

There are a few of my goals for 2010. How about you, have any you care to share?

2 Questions

2009-12-31T07:39:00.002-05:00

Keeping it very simple today. Just a couple of questions I'm curious about.

1. What was your favorite moment this past Christmas?

2. How do you take in the New Year? Do you go to a party? Sleep through it? What?

Primal by Mark Batterson (Book Review)

2009-12-17T09:29:00.003-05:00

I’ve been working my way through Mark Batterson’s new book Primal this past week. Thank you Multnomah for the complimentary copy! The book is a very easy read and I think someone with ADD would really like it because Mark jumps around a lot telling different stories.

In this book Mark focuses on getting back to the basics of Christianity. Getting back to what is primal. What is primal? What is left of Western Christianity after you strip it of all the fancy bells and whistles? It’s about loving God and loving others. Mark then examines the great commandment of Jesus in Mark 12:28-31. Mark will seek to answer the questions: What does it mean to love God with our heart? What does it mean to love God with our soul? What does it mean to love God with our mind? What does it mean to love God with our strength?

It’s a quick easy read and it doesn’t get too complicated. However, I wished there was more depth to it. I don’t think Mark fleshed out enough what it means to really love God with all your heart and soul (the other chapters weren’t bad). There just wasn’t enough to really help a person understand what the heart is and what the soul is. Those chapters left me wanting more and a bit confused about the heart and soul of a person.

Again, if you like a lot of stories or need some good illustrations for your sermon pick this book up. If you really want a solid explanation of what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength buy, read and study Dallas Willard’s book Renovation of The Heart.

The Good and Beautiful God (Chapter 2)

2009-12-10T09:17:00.009-05:00

Chapter 2 – God is Good

In this next chapter Smith writes to convince us of God’s goodness. Smith lost a 2 year old and the experience has shaped his theology of God and suffering. He shares a little about getting through that difficult time of grief. The most haunting thing is a story where a pastor friend of his blames his daughter’s death on some kind of sin he or his wife must have done. This brings a lot of confusion and soul searching to his life. Thankfully he emerges with a pretty solid view of God’s goodness and that God is purely good and has our best interests in mind.

I like this being a Wesleyan. We affirm the goodness of God and the goodness of creation. We start with Genesis 1 and 2 instead of Genesis 3. The Bible doesn’t start with sin; it starts with God the goodness of His creation. He created a perfect world and called it good. Sin is why we have all the imperfections and problems. Sin was never a part of God’s creation or plan.

Smith shares some thoughts Augustine had in regards to why bad things happen to good people and vice versa. Ultimately there is a trust we are going to have to have in God to set the world right and bring the justice we so eagerly desire. He concludes the chapter with the thought that we will know why such bad things have happened when we see Jesus.

Chapter 2 Soul Training Exercise

How do we experience God’s goodness? Two spiritual disciplines are recommended, silence and awareness of God’s creation. It is recommended that we take 5 minutes a day and sit in silence. This is a pretty easy challenge, but still a challenge because of the fast paced mentality of our world. We are always on the move. To practice awareness of creation Smith asks us to take a walk or just look at nature and praise God for its beauty. Again, very simple. These things together help us experience God’s goodness because we sit in silence knowing God is in control. The stillness helps us know God is good. and we become aware of His creation knowing He made a good world.

The Good and Beautiful God

2009-12-03T15:07:00.003-05:00

The Good and Beautiful God
James Bryan Smith

Here are some notes I’ve gathered from the first chapter of The Good and Beautiful God by James B. Smith. If this first chapter is any indication of what the rest of the book will be like, this is going to be a fun read!

Chapter 1 – What Are You Seeking?

How do we change? How do we become the type of person Jesus talks about in His Sermon on the Mount? Is that even possible? Smith believes it is and declares that we change through training our soul. Smith was mentored by Dallas Willard and Richard Foster and a lot of their influence is seen (read?) here in this first chapter.

Is change in our lives brought about by willpower? Is that what it takes to change? Smith points out that our will actually has no power, but is controlled via our mind, engaging in the spiritual disciplines, and participating in the church, and the Holy Spirit. I like what he is saying here. Of course change in our lives involves God, but it also involves us working with God. Smith is not promoting salvation by works in any way, he is focusing in on how we Christians can live as Christians and be transformed by God’s grace in this wonderful process of being made holy. In this first chapter he asks us to rethink our lives and the stories that form our lives, to examine what we practice in regards to spiritual disciplines, and observe who we hang around with and what we are learning from them.

Chapter 1 Soul Training Exercise

Each chapter has a soul training exercise that is designed to engage you in the transformation process promoted in this book. The first exercise: sleep. We are encouraged to get a full day of rest. Smith pushes us to try and sleep until we feel we are fully rested and we couldn't possibly rest anymore. That’s it. It starts out that simple. This first chapter ends with a couple of reflection questions about what you experienced while trying to rest your body.

You need to check this book out. This book is designed to be used within a small group and I believe God will use this book and the activities in it to bring about transformation to those willing to give it a try.

Your thoughts?

Top 10 Things I'm Thankful For

2009-11-25T15:13:00.003-05:00

Turkey day is almost here. Thought I would release this week’s Thursday Thinking a day early. I’ll be spending tomorrow with family eating and watching football. So, here are some of the things I want to express thanks for.

My Top 10 things I’m thankful for

1. That I live in one of the greatest countries in the world. Come on, despite the changes and crazy stuff happening, you have to admit we live in an awesome country!

2. Jesus Christ, the Father, and the Spirit and all they have done and continue to do on my behalf. The Trinity is sweet!

3. My wife who makes me a better person. So much of who I have become is because of her and I’m very thankful for that (this line should get me some brownie points! Ha!). She’s also in love with Jesus and that’s hot!

4. 2 beautiful daughters. Kids are awesome. It was fun being one, but I think it’s more fun raising one (it’s also tough). Now you get to laugh at all the silly things they do and tell all your family about it and hear, “You used to do that too!”

5. God’s Word because it reveals to us Jesus and teaches us everything we need to know about Him and the kingdom of heaven. You gotta love the Bible!

6. All my family (in-laws and out-laws). They really exemplify Christ-like love in all they do and say. We all get along very well and enjoy hanging out with one another. How many people can say that about all of their family?

7. Great friends. I have so many wonderful friends. Funny thing is I don’t deserve such great friends because I have really failed at friendship (Would I really want to become friends with me?). I love meeting and hanging out with them. I have friends that belong to Christ and some who don’t. I learn from both.

8. Cooler weather. I enjoy autumn and winter. I’m not a big fan of warm weather, so this is my favorite time of year. There’s even a song that supports my view and sings, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”

9. Christmas lights. They’re pretty and my daughter gets excited whenever she sees them. All the new LED lights can be spotted a mile away and they draw you in like a bug zapper. Awesome lights!

10. Vehicles. It’s so great to be able to drive around to work, home, bookstore, etc. We usually are only thankful for our vehicles after they break down and we get them fixed. Before that happens to me again, I want to say I’m thankful for it while it’s still running. Could you imagine doing all we do today on horseback or in buggies?

When and where do we pray? (part 2)

2009-11-19T10:04:00.003-05:00

Nelsman did a superb job in summing up the way we should view and interpret Jesus’ teachings on prayer in Matthew 6 (from the comments last week). Here is his comment in regards to praying in public and if it is ok or not:

Sounds like it on the surface, but Jesus prayed in the presence of the disciples in John 17, gave thanks for food for the 5 thousand in Mark 6:41, prayed for Lazarus in front of others in John 11:41. So this reads more like a warning to not turn a prayer into a performance "to be seen by men". Maybe Jesus is leading us into private prayer so we will not be tempted to go beyond a one on one relationship with the Father

It's some great thoughts on this matter. The key is the heart. What is the heart? It’s that area where choice and will come from. It is our motive for why we do what we do. If you read the first verse of Matthew 6 you can see that Jesus is talking about motive. Matthew 6:1 (NRSV) reads,

Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heave.

I think it’s ridiculous and wrong to interpret Jesus’ teachings on giving, prayer and fasting apart from this first verse. It clearly connects to everything that follows. Jesus clearly teaches that it is all about the heart. He is telling us it is all about our motive.

I’ve heard Christians tell me that it’s ok for Muslims to pray in public but Christians are to go to a private place and pray. I’ve even heard some people say it’s wrong to do public prayer in church. Those two comments are examples of how NOT to interpret Matthew 6. If your reason for wanting to pray in public is ok you can pray whenever and wherever you want. Jesus has given us freedom to do that! Nelsman gave some great examples of Him praying in public.

So, if you ever hear someone state Christians are not supposed to pray in public you have opportunity (maybe even responsibility?) to correct them and bring them back to the heart of the matter. Take them to Matthew 6:1 and make sure they catch and understand the phrase “in order to be seen by them”.

When and where do we pray?

2009-11-12T09:43:00.002-05:00

Sorry to miss last week, was in class all day Thursday and Friday. Matthew 6 is a fun passage of scripture to read. I’m curious as to how you interpret Jesus’ words in verses 5 and 6 in regards to prayer? So, here are a few questions to get you thinking.

- Is He saying we should never pray in public?
- What about praying publicly when the church is gathered?
- Does this mean Christians should stop praying for their meals while out to eat?
- Is Jesus saying God only hears our prayers when we pray in secret?

What do you think?

Big fish, small picture

2009-10-29T11:16:00.003-04:00

In case you were wondering if I caught any fish last week (it's not my proudest moment!).

Caught few little largemouths. Using pumpkinseed Triple Ripple from Bass Pro Shops. Salt Creek was a really neat place to fish. I would have loved to have had a canoe and a whole day to explore and fish it.

Ministers & Mates Retreat

2009-10-22T09:33:00.010-04:00

Down in beautiful Nashville Indiana for our District’s Ministers & Mates Retreat this week. the leaves, the hills, the perfect weather. Wow! Our first session was Tuesday at 5:30 at Salt Creek (just a stone’s throw from where we are staying, pictured above). What was the lesson? How to fish for bass in Salt Creek. Here’s some pics from that adventure.

We are having a great time. The kids are with grandma and grandpa. We started missing them as soon as we left.

In case you are wondering we did go to the sessions. They were good and focused a lot on building up your marriage. It's been fun!

Mary & Martha (part 2)

2009-10-15T09:26:00.003-04:00

This story also teaches us about social boundaries in the kingdom of God. We may unintentionally decide who is “in” and who is “out” when it comes to the kingdom of God. We may think a particular person, because of their social status, probably won’t make a good follower of Jesus. Jesus challenges that type of thinking here when He allows Mary to sit at His feet and learn. In Jesus’ world of the first century it was men who would sit at their teacher’s feet and learn like disciples. Women were to keep busy in the kitchen or with raising the children. It was somewhat shocking for a woman to sit at a man’s feet. In the first century men were at the top of society and ranked higher than women. Here, Mary is acting like a man and it upsets Martha because it goes against the grain of society. Society tells Martha that her sister shouldn’t be doing this.

Jesus’ response to Martha indicates that there is something different between the social boundaries in the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. Jesus doesn’t mind a woman sitting at His feet learning. He doesn’t mind a woman being His disciple. As a matter of fact, when you read through the Gospel of Luke you see that Jesus extends the invitation to follow Him to anyone willing to count the cost and follow Him. There are no social boundaries in the kingdom of God. Everyone is invited in.

As leaders we need to be looking at people with Jesus’ eyes and always be extending the invitation to enter God’s kingdom. Society may tell us there is a difference socially and in status between a garbage man and a doctor, but we need to remember that Jesus allows both to be His disciples and learn from Him. Will we play the popularity game and only allow people like us to be Christians or will we open the doors as Jesus did for all to come? Will our church be open to bankers and lawyers as well as alcoholics and drug addicts? As one commentator said in regards to Mary and Martha, “this story is about the boundary-breaking call of Jesus.” We cannot let social status keep us from sharing the Gospel and our lives with others. Jesus has commissioned us to make disciples out of all kinds of people regardless of where they rank in society. Being a disciple of Jesus is more important than anything else and the invitation is (or at least should be) open to all.

Mary & Martha (What can we learn?)

2009-10-08T12:58:00.004-04:00

Paul writes in Philippians 3:10a, "I want to know Christ."

How do you get to know Jesus?

The story of Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) gives us great advice on this and a great first step to take.

Step 1 – We listen to His Word. We read and hear the scriptures. Even if we don’t feel like it we still do it. Even if it is a passage we have read a million times we humble ourselves and listen. How often are we doing that? What is the ratio of hearing TV to hearing God’s Word in our lives? What is the ratio of hearing our children/spouse/others to hearing God’s Word? How often are we hearing from Him? Do we even sense that it is important?

Are we like Martha who is so concerned with the things needing to be done in this world that we neglect to spend time with the One who made this world? He said to Martha, “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it.” (NLT) Ouch! That had to sting a little for Mary.

As leaders we need to know and be familiar with God’s Word. We need to be able to answer our people who have questions. We need to be able to answer our people who are misinformed about what God’s Word really says. We need to be able to answer our critics. We need to be able to answer our family. My advice is to shut the TV off, step away from the computer/internet, go to a place of silence, and open your Bible and start reading. Hopefully, we will discover, along with Martha, that it really is important to listen and spend time with God.

Part 2 to Mary and Martha coming next week.

The Wesley Study Bible (Review)

2009-10-01T09:00:00.005-04:00

Here is an item worth your time and money.

The *New* Wesley Study Bible. This is an awesome tool to add to your repertoire of good Christian resources. The Wesley Study Bible has been out about a year and is well worth buying and reading. Top Old Testament and New Testament scholars (e.g. Ben Witherinton III) have contributed to the study notes. This Bible also systemizes Wesleyan theology through a series of Core Terms boxes that are scattered throughout the Bible and indexed in the back. So, here are some of my thoughts on this Bible. We will start with the negative and move to the positive.

Cons
- Would have been nice to have some cross-references. There are hardly any (occasionally one is thrown into the study notes).
- Would have been nice to have some kind of concordance in the back to use for looking up words.
- Kind of big and bulky. Could it be offered in a smaller size?
- Book and chapter headings are in the middle of the page so it makes it a little more difficult to find things quickly.
- Promotion for this Bible has been very minimal (at least in my denomination). Is there a fear that it won’t be accepted or that we aren’t sure of it? What's going on? When I was at General Assembly this past summer in Orlando the Nazarene bookstore in the convention center had several copies of the Wesley Study Bible out and they were drawing quite a crowd. When I came back the next day they were gone! These things sold like hotcakes at General Assembly!

Pros
- Content is awesome. The book introductions, study notes, and Wesleyan Core Term boxes are top quality. This Bible helps you understand Wesleyan theology and thinking and how it is exegeted from scripture and applied to life.
- The amount of scholars that contributed to this Bible is amazing! You can find a full list on the site. Here are the actual names.
- NRSV translation is a pretty trustworthy translation. It has been a lot easier to read then I initially thought it would be. At first I wasn’t too impressed with it, but it has grown on me. I have started to like it a bit more the more I dig in and read/study it. It uses “brothers and sisters” when writers use the word “brothers,” or “brethren”. It is not quite as user-friendly as the NLT, but it works.
- The references throughout the Bible to Wesley’s notes and various works are helpful.
- Easy to read font size and style.

It is great to have a study Bible from our heritage. I just saw the other day that Cokesbury will be offering this in a genuine leather special edition which is now available (I think it’s priced at $67). This would make for a great gift for a discipleship and senior adult pastor (hint hint :) ).

If God is Good book

2009-09-26T09:29:00.003-04:00

This will be short and sweet because I’m in class this week and limited on time.

If God is sovereign and good we have nothing to worry about it, right? Randy Alcorn’s latest book If God is Good examines suffering from a Reformed Christian perspective. There are a lot of good things about this book and it may help many of you who struggle with the question of evil and suffering in this world.

I was reading Paul last night in 2 Corinthians 1:5 and he confirms the fact that suffering will be in our lives. How will you respond?

Malachi profile

2009-09-17T15:11:00.004-04:00

Working on a profile for Malachi. First set of slides (revamped this a little):

Prophets had an interesting role. It seems the prophets (e.g, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malachi) of the OT had a unique and distinct role.

Do we have prophets like that today?

Type-A Personalities

2009-09-10T08:21:00.004-04:00

I'm re-discovering the joy of getting up early. My oldest daughter has been assisting me with that in that she usually wakes up first (6:30am) and then comes and wakes up daddy to help get the Care Bears DVD started. She watches the same DVD every morning over and over! I figured this morning since I was already up, I would stay up and come in and work out in the morning instead of the evening. Early morning workouts are brutal!

Anyways, I've been studying the Minor Prophets. I started with Jonah a few months ago and have now jumped to the last of the Minor Prophets, Malachi (that's a pic 14th Century pic of him to the right). What a relevant message for us today. Here is what I have discovered so far about the author of this last book of our OT.

The Author
- Malachi means “my messenger” and some have presumed this a cover for the letter being anonymous. The majority of scholars believe the letter is from an actual man by the name of Malachi and the meaning of his name is his function. He is the Lord’s messenger and he has come to bring the Israelites a message (NRSV “an oracle”) from the LORD.

- The person Malachi seems to be a Type-A personality. To me, Malachi is the type of guy you would want on your side in a debate, but when the debate ends you would want him to go directly home because he would probably annoy you if he hung around. He’s confrontational and in your face and his character really gives the book Malachi some distinction and uniqueness from the other Minor Prophets (will discuss this more in a later post).

- Malachi was the right man at the right time because his audience was a group of people who can be described as: disillusioned (1:3), contemptuous (1:7, 2:2), callous (2:16), unfair (3:5), unconcerned (3:14-15), doubters and skeptics (3:16-18), and really immoral (4:1). It takes a Type-A personality to break through to such a group. Malachi’s in-your-face-combative-style caused ears to perk up and listen.

Any thoughts?

NIV Revisions & a hateful pastor

2009-09-02T17:15:00.006-04:00

This is actually 2 news stories (neither are related).

Story 1
Just got word that the popular NIV translation is going to be getting a facelift. A newly revised NIV will make an appearance in 2011. Will you be ready? Here is the info straight from Zondervan's site.

NIV Revisions

To me, it just sounds like the revised version of the NIV is going to be the TNIV in disguise. What do you think? I hope so, because I really like the TNIV and think it is one of the best translations available today.

Story 2

There is an Arizona pastor that looks and even sounds like Jack Shepherd (sp?) from Lost that is preaching and praying that Barack Obama will die and go to hell. Here is the story:

Pastor hopes Obama dies

I remember seeing a youtube video of this guy several years ago preaching a sermon about how real men pee standing up. I kid you not this was a whole sermon!

So, what are your thought about this all?

Jonah (Intro stuff)

2009-08-27T11:14:00.004-04:00

For the past several months I have been studying the book of Jonah. It has been an eye-opening and heart-warming (to use some Wesleyan terminology) experience. There is the Jonah I remember learning about in Sunday School and now the Jonah I'm re-learning. For the most part what I remember of the story of Jonah still stands true, but what I've discovered about the person Jonah is a whole new story. He is quite a character. I always thought Jonah was running away from the LORD because he didn't want to accept his call to preach, turns out he didn't like the people God called him to go and preach to.

Anyways, I've created a profile for the book to help me remember its context. Here it is:

Basic info
- The book of Jonah falls into the category of the Minor Prophets. There are 12 of them. 8 of the prophets prophesied before Israel went into captivity, 1 while they were in captivity, and 3 when they returned to their land under the Persian king Cyrus.
- The book of Jonah falls in with the 8 that were before Israel was captured and taken into captivity by the Babylonians.

Background
- When God called Jonah to go and preach in Nineveh, things were going very well politically for the northern kingdom of Israel. There was a lot of political zeal in the land. Their leader, Jeroboam II helped restore the land to what it was under King Solomon. So, many of the Israelites at this time were a happy group of people. They were proud to be Israelites. Who knows? They may have even had a great health care plan that everyone was happy about. It was good!

- However, things were not going well spiritually for them. Underneath all the patriotism the poor were being oppressed and betrayed by their own government. 2 Kings 14:24 says Jeroboam II did “evil in the sight of the LORD”. It also says he didn’t repent of the sins of their former leader (Jeroboam I), which was idolatry and abandoning God. Jeroboam II oppressed the poor and hoarded wealth for himself. His government was corrupt. So, it was not a good situation for every Israelite living in the northern kingdom of Israel during this time. It was a really dark time in Israel’s history. That usually happens in a country when you have no one seeking God and people worshiping idols.

- And it just so happens that during all of this the Israelites enemies, the Assyrians (which is who the Ninevites are), were loosing some of their power and beginning to fall apart and unravel. This was a big encouragement to the Israelites. It was all very good and wonderful to them that their enemies were losing ground and falling apart. It’s during this low point in the Assyrian Empire, and also the low point spiritually in the northern kingdom, that God calls Jonah to go and preach repentance to Nineveh (this key city in the Assyrian Empire), which is right smack dab in the middle of the Assyrian Empire.

Book Outline
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Jonah here is the story of Jonah in a nutshell. If you are familiar consider this a refresher.

Chapter 1 – God’s call to Jonah to go and preach repentance to Nineveh and Jonah’s response. His response was to run away from the LORD and not go to Nineveh because he didn’t like them. These are Assyrians and the Israelites don’t like Assyrians. He tries running away from God by boarding a ship bound for Tarshish and ends up being tossed overboard and swallowed up by a great fish.

Chapter 2 – Jonah is inside the great fish and we find him praying to God Chapter 2 is his prayer to God and ends with the fish vomiting Jonah onto dry ground.

Chapter 3 – God’s call to Jonah to go and preach repentance to Nineveh and Jonah’s response. This time he listens and goes to the great Assyrian city of Nineveh and they listen to his message and repent. As a result, God relents from destroying them.

Chapter 4 –Jonah becomes angry because God had compassion on them. God rebukes Jonah for being angry with Him for sparing the Ninevites.

Any additional thoughts or comments about this introduction stuff is welcome!

Back at it!

2009-08-21T10:24:00.003-04:00

I'm trying to get back in the saddle after a week of vacation. I really don't have anything to report or share this week.

We had a blast up in Michigan. I really enjoyed taking Claire swimming in Lake Michigan. It was a great time.

We went to Mars Hill (Rob Bell's church) on Sunday. That was a quite an experience. I'll have to share more later.

I'm going to be preaching again this Sunday. I'm actually preaching twice, once out at our State Park for a service and then in our regular AM worship service. I'm still studying the book of Jonah and will be preaching from chapters 1 and 3 on hearing God. Some really good stuff in the book of Jonah when you really dive into it.

Vacation time!

2009-08-13T08:42:00.003-04:00

I'm on vacation this week. Taking the family up to Lake Michigan to do a little swimming. I'll be back next week with a message from Jonah 3:10-4:4.

Prayer & Times of Trouble

2009-08-06T09:40:00.006-04:00

Here's part 2 of what Jonah learned about prayer while in the belly of the fish.

What do we do when we find ourselves in troubling situations? How do we respond? Do we pray? Why is it that in times of trouble we find it easy to pray?

Read Jonah 2:1-7.

This leads to the second thing Jonah discovered about prayer:

Times of troube are great times to pray

In his time of trouble Jonah called (or prayed) to the LORD (v.1). I think he learned that times of trouble present us with great opportunities to draw near to God.

I was thinking about our situation in America right now with so many people being out of a job and/or laid-off of work. These are times of trouble. We are in a belly of the fish moment. Could it be that God has allowed this to happen (He hasn’t caused it) because He wants us to seek Him out in prayer? He knows that if we are in times of trouble, or in the belly of a fish, we will hit our knees in prayer. We have become so busy (with our work and activities) that we just haven’t had time to seek first the kingdom of God, so He has allowed us to be swallowed by a great fish. Like Jonah, He is allowing and giving us time (Jonah had 3 days of solitude in the belly of the fish) to spend seeking Him through prayer. The question is will we take advantage of it? Will we let these times of trouble drive us to our knees or drive us further away from God? I hope we will respond like Jonah and seek God in prayer.

Sometimes I think we feel guilty because we only pray in times of trouble. We use God like a band-aid. We only turn to Him when in trouble. I’m not saying we should continue to live like that because we miss out on so much, but I think God lets us use Him in that way to draw us near to Him and help us see that He can be trusted. That He is a good God. He has our best interests in mind.

Times of trouble are great times to pray. I hope and pray that during those times you can discover what the psalmist of Psalm 139 discovered.

Read Psalm 139:7-12.

Re-cap of what Jonah learned about prayer from his time in the belly of the great fish.

1. No matter where we are God hears our prayers.

2. Times of trouble are great times to pray.

The Belly of the Fish as a House of Prayer

2009-07-30T09:49:00.006-04:00

I'm preaching today at a local nursing home on Jonah chapter 2 (I also preached this message last Sunday night at my local church). Here's part one of this message, I hope to post part 2 next week.

What Jonah Learned About Prayer in the Belly of the Fish

Opening: I want to focus in on what Jonah learned about prayer when he was tossed overboard into the sea and swallowed by the great fish that the Lord provided. Read Jonah 2:1-10. The first thing Jonah learned about prayer was that…

1. No matter where we are God hears our prayers.

Read Jonah 2:2. The Lord heard Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the great fish under the sea. Jonah thought he was getting away from the Lord. (cf. 1:3). Imagine his surprise to find out God could hear him from inside the fish?

A monk (Cassiodorus) from the 5th Century said this about Jonah’s predicament (being in the belly of a great fish). “The great fish was a house of prayer for the prophet, a harbor fro him when shipwrecked, a home amid the waves, a happy resource at a desperate time. He was not swallowed for sustenance but to gain rest.”

I wonder how many times we end up in the belly of a fish, a bad place, but a place that has potential to become a house of prayer if we let it but we don’t realize it? Our house of prayer could be a hospital bed. A wheel chair. An empty room. A waiting room. A long car ride alone. Jonah’s situation, being in the fish’s belly, teaches us that all of these places can become a house of prayer if we let them. Are we willing to let them? The secret is that no matter where we are, our prayers reach God’s ears.

I’m reminded of the children of Israel and their captivity in slavery to the Egyptians. In Exodus 2:23-25 it talks about them praying and God hearing their prayers. The next chapter in Exodus is about God calling Moses from the burning bush. God hears our prayers. There are Christians right now, around the world, which are in dungeons, holes in the ground, and prisons, whose prayers are being heard by God.

A Roman senator (Paulinus of Nola) and Christian poet who lived during the 4th Century wrote this about Jonah’s time in the fish, “His body was constrained by the great body of the fish, but the bonds of earth did not constrain the flight of his mind. Though enclosed in that belly, he broke out of his prison by prayer and reached God’s ears.”

Some places (like my church’s prayer room) can be better suited for prayer, but the truth of the matter is God can hear us anywhere.

The Early Christians (Acts 2:42d) understood you could be heard by God anywhere. They were no doubt familiar with the story of Israel in captivity and how God heard His people's prayers and the story of Jonah's prayer from inside the fish. I love the story in Acts 16. Re-cap some of the events leading up to this story. Paul and Silas are thrown into the inner cell of prison and what do we find them doing in verse 25? Praying. We know God heard their prayers because there was an earthquake and a jailbreak.

God hears us anywhere we are. Do not forget that. If you do, go and read Jonah 2:1-10.