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.

Play Day

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

- Chapter 1

- Chapter 2

- Chapter 3

- Chapter 4

Sabbath in beauty, sensuality, and feasting

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!

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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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?