Questions From The Message - Doctrine: God Part 1

We got off and rolling into this new message series called, Doctrine: What the Bible Says Christians Should Believe. One of the unique facets of the series is that each week during the message people are able to text a question to my cell phone and I answer the question (time permitting).

I promised that I would answer every question, and so the questions I don't answer during the service I will be answering here. So here is the two questions that I didn't have time to answer after the message:

"So if we can worship all these objects (Side note - I mentioned how we all worship something in life besides God) then why do we have a problem when I comes to worshiping God?"

The short answer would be sin. But let me play that out a little bit more and give you three reasons why sin keeps us from worshiping God:

1) The power of sin. Our world is under the grips of a powerful sinful system the permeates every aspect of life here on earth. What sin does is work on our physical bodies which are incredibly weak to the power of sin. Listen to what the apostle Paul writes,
"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness." ~ Romans 6:12,13

Just like water naturally moves downward our bodies naturally gravitate to evil desires. Paul's emphasis is that since Christ died for our sins, new life is available to those who enter into a covenant relationship with him. With that new life we have to chose each day to live for Christ or live for evil desires. Thus it is a daily battle to choose to whom you have sworn your allegiance to.

2) It is Satan's desire for each human being to not worship God. Anyone who doesn't worship God is worshiping Satan, there is no third option. The best example of this is found in Luke 4:4-8 where Jesus is being tempted by Satan. Satan offers all the kingdoms of the world (which he could because he is the prince of the kingdom of this world) to Jesus if he (Jesus) will just kneel and worship Satan as Lord. So understand this: Satan and his forces are set on keeping mankind from worshiping the Creator.

3) We settle for the created. (Romans 1:18-32) A lot of this has to do with the fact that we don't know what true life or joy looks like. So what we do then is settle for things like our favorite TV show, the weekend, our girlfriend, our car, our hobby, pornography, or a cold beer. Why? Because they make us feel good and that is what we think life is all about...to feel good.

True worship of the Living God demands something of us, it demands sacrifice. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:1,2
"...offer you bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

So worship of God is not something that is easily entered into. Paul says that you must daily choose to crawl onto the altar of sacrifice. So worship is a choice. Then he goes on to say that worship of God is doing to demand that you walk away from how the culture views worship. Do not conform to the worship of settling for the created. Instead offer yourself.


"How does the Holy Spirit impact us now? Why is that part of the trinity important today?"

In a few weeks I will be speaking in great detail specifically about the Holy Spirit. So hang in there and we will get to it. However, for the meantime let me give you these tidbits to think about.

• The HS convicts the world of its need for Jesus. (John 16:8-11)
• The HS restores and regenerates our hearts. (Titus 3:5) Technically you could say that Jesus' death on the cross paved the way for the Holy Spirit to save us.
• The HS lives within everyone that has entered into a covenant relationship with God through Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 6:19) Prior to Christ's ascension to heaven this was not available, but know it is available to all those who believe.
• The HS seals/marks us as God's children. (Ephesians 4:30)
• The HS gives us gifts. (1 Corinthians 12:8-10)

There are other aspects that we will talk about later, but these are the major ones. Let me add this as well. From my study of the Bible and how God has been carrying out his plan here on earth one could say that in the Old Testament you see the plan of God the Father unfold and begin to take shape. Now you also see the Son and the Spirit as well, but the Father is the focus. In the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) you see the focus shift to the gift of Jesus and is work, ministry and mission on planet earth. Again, the God the Father is very evident, and the role of God the Spirit is clear as well but the story is about Jesus and his redemptive work and resurrection. Then in the book of Acts and the letters that follow you see a third shift. God the Fathers' plan continues to unfold. The gospel of Jesus continues to be the message to the world. However, all of this comes under the direction of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts, leads, teaches, empower, and organizes the church and the Christians that make up the church to accomplish the mission of the Kingdom of God. So to answer the question, we are living in that age. The Holy Spirit is incredibly active and engaged not only in the world but in your life. What each Christian needs to do is tune into what the Holy Spirit is doing in their lives. Good questions. Hopefully they were adequately answered. If not let me know. Make sure and check back here next week and I will probably be answering a few more questions.

Is The Bible Reliable?

I launched a new message series on Sunday called, Doctrine: What the Bible Say Christians Should Believe. The focus of the message has to deal with the fact that as Christians our doctrine (beliefs/teachings) come from one place, the Bible. During the service, people have an opportunity to text a question to me that I answer at the end of the message. One of the questions was:

"How do we know the Bible is true if men chose what books went into it?"

I answered the question but I promised to make resources available to further study. So here are some links to a website put together by a professor I had at Nebraska Christian College by the name of Chuck McCoy. He describes in depth how the Bible was put together and how it has been preserved over the years.

Cannon (How the books in the Bible were determined)

Preservation

Translation

"Blood Is Thicker Than Water"

I'm sure that you have heard this saying, "Blood is thicker than water." Maybe you have said or someone in your family has said it to you. It's usually used to make someone feel guilty if they have made a choice that goes against the family (insert your Godfather voice here).

Well, I was doing some research for my Adult Bible Fellowship Class and I came across the meaning of this popular saying. Here is what I found:

"The old adage that 'blood is thicker than water' (originally intended to advocate that family ties are stronger than the ties of baptism into the spiritual family of God) is wrong!" ~ Paul T. Butler, The Gospel of John

According to Jesus (Luke 8:21) we are to align ourselves most closely with those who hear God's word and put it into practice. So for what it's worth, now you know what that saying is all about.

New Computer Game, "Spore" Inspired By Intelligent Design

I came across this article in USAToday about a new computer game that has launched called, Spore. The creator of the game, Will Wright is probably best known for his very popular role playing game, Sims. Here is a description of the new Spore game:

"But Wright is far from finished. His long-awaited game Spore (for Windows and Macintosh PCs) engages players with a variety of gameplay features from first-person shooters, strategy games and, of course, simulations."

The writer from USAToday goes on to interview Wright about the game which allows players to create their own creatures which is turning out to be a very popular aspect of the game. This particular question and response intrigued me:

Q: There has been some discussion online about whether the game promotes evolution or intelligent design. What would you tell people interested in either side of that discussion?

A: I think the game is really trying to give an overview of evolution in a way that is very toy-like and caricature-like. We put the player in the role of an intelligent designer. When we first started the prototypes (of Spore) that wasn't the case. We had the game carefully mutating things and it just was not emotionally engaging. When we put the players in the role of intelligent designer then people were much more emotionally attached to what they made.

We live in a culture that has removed the possibility of an intelligent designer resulting in people acting toy-like and caricature-like. Truth be told there is an intelligent designer who is engaged in his creation. So much engaged that he will do whatever it takes to bring them back to him.

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." ~ Genesis 1:31

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." ~ John 3:16

You can read the whole story here.

Milestone Day At IC Church of Christ

Suzi and I have been ministering here in Iowa City for 3 years and 8 months. It has been a ministry of ups and downs(as any ministry is), but God has been patient, faithful and very good to us. Yesterday we were able to rededicate the church building which was built in 1991. We rededicated it because we recently completed a $300,000 remodel project which began the day after Easter. In my very humble opinion the building looks marvelous, it is really an extreme makeover!

To make our rededication complete we invited Merv Moberly back to preach the sermon. Honestly, I don't know Merv like I wish I did. But from what I have picked up, he is quite church planter, leader, and preacher. He was instrumental in planting churches in Ames, Fort Madison, and here in Iowa City. There maybe be more, those are just the ones I have picked up on. Merv was with the Iowa City from about 1988 to 2001. During that time the church was able to grow enough to step out on faith to purchase land on the east side of Iowa City and build a church. If you would like to hear the story yourself you can listen to Merv tell it here, it's really quite a story. It's really so humbling to hear the sacrifices that so many people gave just to get the church from infancy to establishment. God works, but he works through the faithfulness of people. For example Merv and his wife moved out of their house and into the church apartment and paid rent just to help the church make their mortgage payments!

Anyway, it was a wonderful service. The worship team was awesome! They opened with my favorite bluegrass medley...loved it! We packed the place out, 188 by far the largest crowd for a worship service since I have been in Iowa City. To think that we were averging in the 80's when I first came back in '05...wow we have come a long ways. Then to wrap up the service we had two people come forward to join our growing church family. God is good!

To top off the day we had a feast outside under a big tent. The only problem was the tent wasn't big enough, but surprisingly we had plenty of food and the weather was perfect. So what have I learned from all this? God is good! If you keep doing the right things, remain faithful, and keep doing whatever it takes to bring people to Jesus, God will empower you and bless you more then you can ever imagine!

Here are a few pictures from the day.

A Loving Husband Defined

glumbert - A Warthog Emergency

What's Hot On My iPod: In The Name Of Love

A lot of you know that I'm a huge U2 fan. I love their sound and the message of a lot of their songs. Anyway, so Suzi is listening to this Christian radio station that recently came to our attention here in IC. While listening see comes into the kitchen (where I am) and turns on the radio and says,

"You have to listen to this!"

Turns out it is the song, Beautiful Day by U2, but it's not U2. I did a quick Google search (love The Google) and discovered that it's this group called Sanctus Real. After a little more looking around it turns out that a few years ago a group of Christian bands (Jar of Clay, Audio A, Toby Mac) covered about 10 U2 songs for a project called, In The Name of Love: Artists United for Africa.

So of course I went to the iTunes store and within minutes had it on both our iPods. If you are a U2 purist, I'm sure that this album is not for you. Me, I just love good music and these bands give a fresh sound to these familiar songs. A few of my favorites are: Sunday Bloody Sunday (Pillar), Beautiful Day (Sanctus Real), Mysterious Ways (tobyMac), Pride (Delirious?), One (Tait), When Love Comes To Town (Todd Agnew), and Where The Streets Have No Name (Chris Tomlin). And that is what's hot on my iPod!

The Forgotten Christian Discipline: Studying

You know, it has really been a good summer…minus the flooding of course. Summer did what summer was supposed to do. It gave us relaxation, adventure, some surprises, and a time to get out of our regular routine. With the start of school, in many ways it feels like a fresh start (new classes, new grade, new school) and a return to routine. So with that in mind, I want to throw a thought your way. Here goes: Every Christian should be in a routine of studying God’s Word.
We talk a lot about the faithful Christian, the praying Christian, and the giving Christian, but what about the studying Christian? During the summer I was doing some reflecting on the message series I was planning for the fall and it occurred to me that I probably haven’t talked enough nor pushed enough on the importance of studying the Bible. So since I have your attention for a moment let me give you a few reasons why it would be beneficial to add into your regular routine the discipline of Bible study.

• Jesus said, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’” (~ Mt. 22:37) So what you do with your mind is important when it comes to loving God.
  

• “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (~ 2 Timothy 2:15) To be the most effective workman you need to be able to handle the Bible correctly.
  

• “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” (~ Romans 10:17) If your faith is wavering or weak the best thing that you can do is listen to a sermon, or listen to teaching in an Adult Bible Fellowship class or a small group.
  

• “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” (~ Revelation 1:3) John writes that those who read the words of Revelation will be blessed. Not so much that everything will go right in their life, but they will better understand what God is doing and what their purpose is.
  

• “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (~ Acts 17:11) Human nature is notorious for trusting what the talking head says (yes I know I fall into the “talking head” category). What sets our church apart is the fact that you can study, read and hold me accountable because you have the text right in front of you.
  

• “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (~ Psalm 119:11) Although it is never popular, memorizing Scripture can be a powerful encouragement and defense in a variety of difficult and trying situations.

Now, remember that I share this information with you NOT to guilt you into Bible study but to simply remind you that it is a powerful tool in growing, defending and sharing your faith. So many of the questions you have or the situations you face on a day-to-day basis are answered or dealt with in the Bible. And while it may be easy to just talk to the pastor, there are a lot of things you could answer yourself if you study the Bible.

Book Review: Walking With God

John Eldredge talks an elusive topic in a way that only he can do. If you are remotely familiar with Eldredge he presents Christian teachings in ways they are rarely communicated. For example he is big on communicating the Gospel as "The Story," and he does a fantastic job of doing so in his book Epic. So what Eldredge does in his book, Walking With God is communicate what it looks like to live in relationship with God through story. More specifically, his story. What you get when you pick up the book and begin to read are John's journal entries from one year of his life. The idea it to paint this picture about what his relationship looks like in real and practical terms. This is not a, "How to do it" book or "Three steps to following Jesus" instead it is one Christ follower revealing how he walks with God.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It pushed me in some areas I had never ventured, in particular listening to God...especially in the insignificant details of my life. I have always been the type who figured I could handle the little things in life and I would let God take care of the rest. I have never thought that God wants to lead every part.

Another area was the idea of listening to God. Now, I don't want to freak anyone out but after reading the book and doing some journaling of my own I'm fairly convinced that God does have a word for each of us. Let me clarify by saying that first and foremost God speaks to us through the Bible and everything that is communicated to us must be filtered through the truth of God's Word. With that being said, when we are quite and ask God and if we listen I, really think that he has something to say to us. Maybe in the future I will share a couple of recent personal examples.

Not really any negatives except it drags in spots, but if you think about it what do you expect when you are reading another person's journal. There are spots that are very intriguing and spots where you kind of skim. Aside from that I would recommend finding some time to read Walking with God. If you would like to know more about it you can listen to a podcast of the book if you are a subscriber to iTunes. Just go to the iTunes store and search John Eldredge or Walking with God. The book also has a website that serves as a great resource as you read the book. You can check it out here.