Crazy Love

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

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

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!

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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!

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

Summer Ideas

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?

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)

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

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

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.