Doctrine: The Holy Spirit - Question

Here is the one question I didn't have time to answer Sunday after the message.

"How do u know its the HS & not just u when u r deciding to do something?"

You know, this is good question and actually a rather common question. Most Christians, myself included, want to know what God wants them to do and struggle with knowing the response.

So let me throw a couple of thoughts out there. The first and most important it to read the Bible. The Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the Bible and so as long as your activities, thoughts, and desires are in tune with Scripture you can know that the Holy Spirit is leading.

My second thought is this: What if in most cases, we are splitting hairs? Here are the words of Jesus to his disciples before his arrest. Now remember, Jesus has been their "Counselor," in the flesh. He has been their rabbi and lead them over the past three years, now he is going and these are his words:
¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” ~ John 14:16-1

This new "Counselor" is spirit in form and will take the place of Jesus--but not just by or with them, but in them; intermingled with their spirit...regenerating their hearts. So what if the decisions and choices we begin to make once we are Christians are already lead by the HS?

For example, you enter into a covenant relationship with Jesus and receive the gift of the HS. Then you decide to join a small group Bible study. Who lead you to make that decision? You hear a missionary speak at church about a huge need in a certain country and you decide to give money toward that ministry. Who lead you to make that decision? Well it was you and the HS. Remember, you have been transformed, changed and so there are a lot of decisions you are going to make that honor God because you have been renewed from the inside...out. You are possessed by the HS and you are going to begin to make decisions simply because of the work of the Spirit in your life. So that is why I say it's kind of like splitting hairs, your spirit and the HS have become one.

Actually the harder thing is saying "no" to the HS or simply not trusting his leading and doing your own thing. Those moments seem to be much more clear in my life. I can count way too many times in my life when the HS wanted me to say something and I chose to be silent. I can think of times when the HS wanted me to intercede and I remained inactive. There have been time when the HS wanted me to confess a sin to someone and I chose to play it safe. If you are like me, it's not so much knowing what the HS wants me to do, it's more of a matter of doing what he wants. I hope that helps.

Doctrine: What the Bible Teaches about Jesus - Question

Today my message at church focused on what the Bible teaches about Jesus. As always I have four or five texted questions that I answer at the end of the service. Here is one question I didn't have time to get to. Check it out:

"How r we 2 know always what is of God n what is us? Just everyday decisions."

First you have to start with the Bible. God's Word provides us with a filter for our lives. We know if something is of God if it matches up with what we read in the Bible. That is why it is so important to read the Bible. (2 Timothy 3:16)

Second God provides us with the Holy Spirit to direct and lead us through life. Next Sunday I will be talking in detail about what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit. From observing my own life and the lives of others, it is very difficult for a lot of Christians to tune into the leading of the Holy Spirit. Part of it is just simply ignoring what the Holy Spirit is leading people to do. But another part of it is the fact that we just don't know how to follow the the Holy Spirit's lead. (John 16:13)

One other resource I would point you to is a book I recently read called, Walking with God, written by John Eldredge. Eldredge gives a practical and real look into his own life of walking with God and how he follows what God's leading...in even the most minute of details. You can read my post about the book here.

Perry Noble Interview: Why New Spring is growing.

I wanted to post this interview because Perry's philosophy for New Spring Church is pretty much the same as mine. The reason why we at IC Church of Christ are experiencing an exciting season of growth right now is because we are focusing on the same basics and working the same strategy. Churches that are laser beam focused on the gospel, streamlined with as few programs as possible, and fluid (most readily able/willing to change to follow God's leading) are churches that are having a big Kingdom impact in their communities.

So, for what it's worth here is an interview with Perry Noble, Lead Pastor at New Spring Church.

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.

Who Do You Design Your Worship Service For?

Tony Morgan writes a blog that I read on a regular basis. Tony is one of the pastors at New Spring Church in Greenville, South Carolina. In this particular blog entry he makes an interesting observation. Let me drop in the interesting part:

"Last Sunday at our Greenville campus, we had an older couple, probably in their sixties, accept Christ. That’s worth celebrating. I love to watch life change happen.

Here’s what’s amazing about stories like that. Our services in Greenville aren’t designed for people in their sixties. Our services are designed for a much younger audience. It’s an audience that loves loud music. They are comfortable with video teaching, because video is already a huge part of their lives. They love the coffeehouse atmosphere.

Here’s what we’ve learned. If we design our service experiences for a younger audience, we’re more likely to reach that younger person and we’ll also reach older folks. The reverse is not true. If we designed our service experience for an older audience, the younger crowd would not show up.

Now, here’s the reality. Most churches in America are designed for an older audience. In fact, the more-seasoned folks in those churches are sitting on committees telling the students and young adults how they can and can’t do ministry. The result? Younger people are leaving churches in droves." ~ Tony Morgan (you can read his blog here)

Morgan's observation is true. From my own experience here at IC Church of Christ, that is essentially what we have done. We set a target age of who we are going after, then we created a venue that connected with that group. However, the means to the end is not the coolness of your venue, or the presentation of video, or even the style of the music. The means to the end is still the power of God, the teaching of biblical truth, the leading of the Holy Spirit, and the focus on Jesus.

The growth and change in our church over the last year has come more from a focus on prayer (the church elders and I pray every Tuesday night over the church & the community) and basic biblical teaching and preaching. I think when I first arrived here in Iowa City I worked too hard on being cute, clever, and practical. So while the messages were all right, they never really connected people to the true life change that comes through Jesus Christ. In looking back at some of the messages they almost came off as being nice, "self-help" type of stuff that didn't even require the power of God in people's life. Now, it probably wasn't that bad, it just seems that way looking back. I've always preached Jesus and always will. It's just that I can tell a change in my preaching and how people have responded since I've changed my focus. Anyway, just a few observations I had that I wanted to pass on to you.

Son of Hamas Leader Talks About Converting To Christianity

I came across this interview. Very interesting stuff.

5 Leadership Lessons - Dave Ferguson

Dave Ferguson is the lead pastor at Community Christian Church in the Chicagoland area (they are a multi-site church). He wrote an excellent book a couple years ago called, The Big Idea. It talked about how Community Christian Church focus on one thing each week--and I mean the whole church, from the little ones all the way to the grown ups. So the entire family walks away with the same principles to apply and live out. So to say they are creative and innovative in their ministry is an understatement.

Anyway, I came across this post on his blog and I thought is was very good and very true. Leadership in the church can be very difficult, confusing and maddening and his post points to some basic truths to keep in mind when working and leading Christ's church.

5 Leadership Lessons - Dave Ferguson

Flood Hero - Jerry Anthony

I wanted to introduce you to one of the heroes of the Iowa City flood. He is an outstanding husband, dad, professor at the U of I, elder of our church and a friend of mine. You can read his story here in the ICPC aritcle that featured him and many others.

Jerry is an outstanding part of our church leadership team and is a big reason why my family is ministering in Iowa City with the IC Church of Christ--at after reading the story you can see why!

Book Review: The Shack

I just got done reading, "The Shack" today so I thought I would pass along a few observations. If you haven't heard about the book, it is a fairly popular book written by Christian author, William Young. You can learn more about the book here.

Let me start by saying that this book is not for everyone. There was a part of the story that was really, really hard for me to get through. So if you are faint of heart or disturbing images bother you, this probably isn't the book for you.

Also, if you are new to believing in God or a new Christian this book will probably confuse or frustrate you. Without giving away the story line, the author dwells a lot on the relationship of the Trinity (God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit). Biblically speaking, the William Young really stretches somethings, but I think he does that primarily to tell the story. I don't think he has an anti-biblical agenda...he's just telling a story and he uses his imagination to fill in some gaps. So if you have heard any negative about the book it has probably been from Christians bashing it because it's not biblical. I think if your well aware of what the Bible says about the Trinity and its relationship with each other, the book provides an opportunity to stretch your imagination into what the relationship looks like between The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. That's my take.

So, who should read the book?

• People who enjoy seeing God's Story written through the lives of people. I was constantly reminded throughout the book that God is doing something.
• People who are angry with God. If you are upset about things that have happened in your life and you blame God this book will challenge that thinking.
• People who have had to deal with horrible tragedies in their life.
• People who need to forgive someone. There were two moments that I cried while reading the book and one of those moments was a scene of reconciliation. It was very moving for me.
• People who think God is distant and uninvolved in our lives. This book was a great reminder how personal real God is in our lives.
  

If you have read the book or have observations or questions you are more then welcome to share!

What's Hot On My iPod?

Do you know how every once in a while you find an album or a song or two that just sticks with you? Well, that has happened with this album by David Crowder Band called "B Collision." Now, a couple of things before I go any farther.

First, David Crowder's stuff has never really connected with me. Suzi says it's because it has to grow on you. So maybe I don't have any patience. Second, Suzi picked this album up at the last minute as she was shopping at the local Christian bookstore. So in a strange kind of way it was like I was meant to hear this album. (I know, that was sappy!)

So here is why I like this album so much...it's bluegrass. I'm so down with bluegrass right now, what's my problem? Anyway, they wrap up the album with a great rendition of "I Saw The Light." I'm not kidding, without even thinking my right foot begins to tap. Bluegrass has that way of connecting with people. Let me throw this out there for some thought: What if bluegrass is the official music of heaven? I'm serious. Is there any other type of music that brings people together like bluegrass? And here is the cool thing, just about anyone can play it. Each song has three chords to it and the rhythm is always the same.

One last thing. If this bluegrass worship stuff really catches on, I have to give credit to my good friend Steve Allen. About 10 years ago he came up with a gospel bluegrass medley that Suzi and I have used in every church we have been in and it is always a big hit...with all ages. So for me bluegrass is king, at least for now.

"That's My Story" - Resource

I just wrapped the message series, "That's My Story" today (you can listen to it here) and a few folks have asked about some more resources to study and explore the whole concept of God's Story. I first came across the whole idea in a book written by John Eldredge entitled, "Epic - The Story God Is Telling and the Role That is Yours To Play." So I would start by picking up a copy of the book (which isn't very long and easy to read...if you were wondering). Or if you just wanted to take a look at something right now, you can go to the book's website, www.epicreality.com

Hopefully that helps some of you on your journey of joining God in the story that he is writing.

"I had always felt life first as a story--and if there is a story there is a story teller." ~ G.K. Chesterton

Friday Fun: Animator vs Animation

How about a little fun for Friday? Check out this link and enjoy. Someone had a lot of extra time on their hands.

Animator vs Animation

The Oldest Copy of the New Testament Online

Here is a link to the story if you would like to read it.

The following is an excerpt which sums up the main idea of the story:

"The oldest surviving copy of the New Testament, a 4th century version that had its Gospels and epistles spread across the world, is being made whole again — online.

The British Library says the full text of the Codex Sinaiticus will be available to Web users by next July, digitally reconnecting parts that are held in Britain, Russia, Germany and a monastery in Egypt's Sinai Desert.

A preview of the Codex, which also has some parts of the Old Testament, will hit the Web on Thursday — the Book of Psalms and the Gospel of Mark."

My guess is that most of you won't be rushing to the website when it launches to read these ancient words, nor would I expect you too. I wanted to share this information with you as an encouragement that the Bible is God's Word, and it is accurate, and has withstood the test of time. Not to mention the fact that as time goes by more elements continue to appear which only improve the Bible's credibility. So not only do we have this almost complete 4th century copy of the NT, we literally have thousands of other copies which agree on all the same major events and details. There is no other book of antiquity that even comes close.

One last thing. With the power of the internet, any one with internet access can read any version of the Bible online for free. And now, if they now koinia Greek they can read the NT in it's earliest written form. Do you think that God is doing something in this world?

Just a thought, why not take a break right now and settle into your favorite reading chair (with a cup/glass of your favorite beverage) and crack open your Bible and read through the Gospel of Mark. It won't take you very long and I promise that you will be glad that you did.

California Vacation

I have been a horrible blogger for the last two months! It is time to do some catching up. Here are a few pictures from our summer vacation. My parents were able to get my family together with my sister and her family in Ceres, California along with my brother. We had a marvelous time and made many great memories. Here is a small smattering of pictures highlighting some of my favorite moments. Enjoy!

My sister and brother-in-law have a pool at their house and we used it a lot. Here Alex, Samantha and I jump in together...with Suzi taking the picture of course.


One of the days we went to Yosemite and did some hiking. Here was my favorite moment of the day. We had hiked up to Mirror Lake only to find that the lake was mostly gone. So I took my kids and my niece Faith and nephew Deacon and went wading in the ice cold water. The view was spectacular!


On our last day in California, my family took the day and went to San Francisco. Here is my wind blown and cold family posing with the Golden Gate bridge in the background.



Here is my favorite picture of the trip...for obvious reasons. I kissed my beautiful and wonderful wife Suzi while overlooking the sun setting on the Pacific Ocean. My son Alex took the picture (and did a nice job) and I think that he was just a little embarrassed.



The same day we were in San Francisco we were able to make it to the beach and of course we had to touch the Pacific Ocean. Alex and Samantha turned it into a game of trying to out run the incoming waves--obviously they lost.



We wrapped up our vacation at my parent's house, the old homestead. We took this picture on one of the rocks that made up the foundation for the old barn.

All in all it was a great vacation! A special thanks to my parents for getting us all together, without them it wouldn't have happened (in many ways). Also, many thanks to my sister Rebecca and her husband Kirk who put up with a full house for seven days.

What The World Eats

My friend Jon first posted this over at his blog mythic reality and I was so intrigued by the whole notion. TIME magazine pulled these series of pictures from a book called, Hungry Planet depicting what different families around the globe eat in a week. I'm putting a link here to the pictures so you can go through and see each family unit for yourself.

Here are a few observations that I made and I would love to hear what you thought about the pictures too.

• This planet is able to produce so much food! How is it possible that anyone could go hungry...yet so many do. Does there need to be any more proof that we live in a sinful, selfish world?
• Westerners don't eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables.
  
• For obvious reasons, modern cultures has a lot of packaged meals.
• The Germans sure do drink a lot of beer!
• Americans drink a lot of pop!
• The families with the least seemed to have the biggest smiles. The family from Ecuador seemed to really be enjoying themselves.
• These pictures make the world smaller and more real to me.
  

Do you really want to be blessed?

How do you feel about blessings?

Personally, I like them. At least I think I do. Blessings can come in the form of a tax refund check, a raise, a healthy baby, a home to live in, or lower gas prices. So essentially we view blessings primarily as something that makes our lives easier…right? So is it possible that a blessing may require more of you? Let me direct you to an incident that took place in the early part of Jesus’ ministry. He has yet to officially fill his disciple roster, but that is about to change as he walks the beach near Capernaum. Read the event that takes place for your self.

“When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” ~ Luke 5:4-11

The point of focus in these verses is that Peter is a professional fisherman—the dude had seen it all. Then Jesus shows up and, after an unproductive night of catching nothing, asks Peter to go out again. Peter I’m sure doubts the fishing expertise of this landlubber, but obeys none-the-less, only to be amazed by the catch of his life…maybe even the catch of the century. It is such an amazing catch that it requires extra boats that end up being so full they are all on the verge of sinking. Peter is not only amazed, but is convicted as well. He realizes that he is in the presence of someone who possesses the power of God, someone who might even possibly be God. When invited to join Jesus as a disciple, Peter doesn’t even hesitate. He simply walks away from his lottery earnings to follow Jesus.

Now the point I want to direct your attention is this: Did Peter receive a blessing from God? That blessing of fish was unforeseen, unbelievable, and once in a lifetime, it was literally off the charts. But what did that blessing cost Peter and his employees? I’m sure that there were some rope burns, cuts, scrapes, pulled muscles, torn nets and damaged boats. Not to mention a whole lot of work cleaning fish, but isn’t that what they wanted? Wasn't that a fisherman's greatest dream? Yet it was a blessing that came with a price.

The same thing can be said for anyone who has had a baby. A baby is considered a blessing, a gift from God. But those blessings demand a lot from their parents don’t they? Late night feedings, dirty diapers, uncontrollable crying, did I mention late night feedings? Blessings require something of us don’t they? I know what some of you might be thinking: “Maybe I don’t want to be blessed.”

Now the reason I bring all of this up is because God is clearly blessing our church family. We have an incredible renovation-taking place to our building. We have new faces visit each week and a lot of them are sticking around, even choosing to be a part of our family. People are making decisions to enter into a covenant relationship with Jesus. The list could go on, but I think you get the picture—God is blessing our church. But each of these blessings requires something of you. We have a building that needs work done on it to complete its makeover. We will need continued muscle to keep it sharp and ready for action. We have more adults and kids to minister to. All of these things will require our time, energy, and love. Oh, and along the way we will have bumps, bruises, scraps, hurt feelings, spills to clean, and things to fix. But isn’t that what ministry is all about? Isn’t that what we have been praying for? Isn’t that what our purpose is?

So here is a practical plan of action. When you get down on your knees to clean up the carpet, thank God that He has blessed our church with people to get it dirty. When the preacher’s kids dart in front of you (let me know, they’re not supposed to be doing that), thank God that we have kids in our building to dart. When you see a glaring need in our ministry lineup, thank God that He has given you the ability to fill that need. I’m sure that you get the picture. So join me in digging down a little deeper with time, energy, patience and love. Oh yeah, don’t forget to thank God for His blessings! God is good, all the time!

When We Need To Know, "Why?"

This post is a summary of the sermon I preached on March 30^th regarding the recent murder/suicide tragedy that took place in Iowa City. A man beat his wife and four kids to death in their home before killing himself on I-80 by ramming his car into a concrete barrier. The Iowa City community was left with many questions in trying to deal with the horrific outcomes of a "good family." I decided to preach a sermon dealing with the two most common questions our community had regarding the tragedy and what God's Word had to say. So here are the main points and the Scriptures that go with them.

Question 1 – “Why did this murder/suicide happen?”

One word: sin. We live in a world system that from the time of Adam and Eve has been dominated by sin—the choosing to operate in opposition to God’s law and purpose. The result was and has been evil, selfishness, pain and suffering and the apostle John was right in describing the condition as darkness. The apostle Paul agrees about the state of our world by saying:

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” ~ Ephesians 5:15,16

This condition is not limited to a select group of people or places; instead it is inclusive and complete. Sin and evil are equal opportunity employers. The Bible makes it crystal clear, in both testaments, sin is a curse for all people of all times (Isaiah 53:6; Psalm 130:3; Romans 3:23; Galatians 3:22). The only way to break free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2) is to change the way you live, believe in Jesus Christ, and enter into a covenant relationship with him through baptism. When this takes place, our sins are forgiven and God puts his Holy Spirit within us to restore and redeem our lives. Many of you who are reading this, live as testimonies of the power of God in this dark world. There is but one hope for this world and that is the one true light…Jesus Christ.

Now what I have just told you flies in the face of today’s secular humanism that teaches this truth: the world and humanity is good. Secular humanism’s solutions to the problems of the world are education and talking. How many times in your life have you heard the phrase, “If we could just sit down and talk we could work things out.” Listen, there is but one hope for this world and it starts with Jesus Christ. The problem is that we have bought into the idea that we can manage, control, or hide our sins—even those of us who are Christians. We forget the power of sin. Sin is never personal, sin is not just our own. When you sin, it affects your spouse, kids, family, and co-workers. To get a good example of this read about David’s affair with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 & 12. The more David tried to manage and hide his sin the more people it affected.

What this all means is that as long as there is sin in the world, even hidden and managed sin, people are going to be hurt. Sometimes even innocent family members, friends, or just plain bystanders. Our job as believers in Jesus is to help people find the answer for the sin in their lives. Our job is to point them to Jesus so that the light of the world may shine his light into the dark places of people’s lives.

Question 2 – “Where was your god on Monday morning?”

This was an actual question from our community that showed up on the IC Press Citizen comment board. As you can tell, it was written in a condescending fashion, but it is a legitimate question none-the-less.

Well, to answer the question, “Where was your god on Monday morning?” I would have to say without a doubt that God was there. He was in the room, totally aware of every little detail that took place. I know this because Jesus said nothing happens on earth that God doesn’t know about. He even knows the number of the hairs on your head (Luke 12:6,7).

So why didn’t our good and loving Heavenly Father do anything? Think of it this way. What if God was superman and every time there was an atrocity against an innocent person he flew in and rescued them and punished the perpetrator? That means every single one of us would stand guilty of harming an innocent person. We all have lied, stolen, gossiped, slandered an innocent person and sometimes even worse. Not one person would escape the punishment. So God waits and watches.

What is God waiting for? He is waiting for his followers, the ones that he put his Holy Spirit in to make a difference. You see, it’s not that God isn’t engaged in what is happening in this world; He’s very much engaged. It’s just that he is working through his people. Why do you think the church is referred to as “the body of Christ?” We are his hands and feet here in this world, and so our love, ministry, compassion, service, and prayers make a huge difference.

What this means is that everyday you lock eyes with a broken, hurting, confused person who is in need of Christ’s love. The people living in the beautiful homes in your neighborhood--they may be hurting. The person with the nice SUV full kids may be extremely broken. The person in the cubicle next to yours may be at the end of their rope. You have been commissioned by Christ to communicate the Good News in whatever way possible, to who ever you connect with. Your Spirit filled life makes a difference in this world!

Maybe our failure to “see” has kept us from realizing the impact of Christ in this dark world. What if God removed his presence from this world? What if he removed his Word, his people, and his Spirit? Then the murder/suicide tragedy our community experienced wouldn’t be a once every twenty year event, instead it would be a daily experience. Maybe since these kinds of tragedies don’t happen everyday is proof that God is working in this world and that his people are making a difference—just something to think about.

Let me leave you with this parting thought. Horrific tragedies are going to continue to happen. Innocent people are going to continue to be hurt and taken advantage of or worse. However, don’t forget this one truth: one day Jesus is coming back. (Take a moment and read Revelation 19:11-16 to get a picture of what it will be like.) When Christ comes back every wrong and atrocity will be made right and everyone who knows Christ and has a relationship with him will be shown much mercy and grace. But to those who don’t know the King, they will receive a wrath and vengeance unlike anything known here on earth. God is watching and he knows what is taking place and one day it will be made right! So the question you need to answer is this: “Do you know Jesus?”

The Bible: Still America's Favorite Book

Here is a story that I found at USAToday that is rather interesting. It focuses on a recent poll regarding America's favorite book...The Bible.

By Brittani Hamm, Religion News Service

The Bible is the favorite book of all time for American adults, regardless of demographic group, according to a new 2008 Harris Interactive Poll.

Researchers said it's rare to find such consensus among Americans, regardless of gender, education level, geographic location, race/ethnicity or age. Yet, more than 2,500 Americans surveyed in an online poll greed that the Bible is their No. 1 favorite book.

The poll also found that political affiliation did not affect novel preference — Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike agreed on The Bible and Gone With the Wind as their top two favorite books.

According to the survey, America's favorite books are:

1. The Bible

2. Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell

3. Lord of the Rings (series), by J.R.R. Tolkien

4. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling

5. The Stand, by Stephen King

6. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown

7. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

8. Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown

9. Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand

10. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

After reading the article here are a few thoughts that I had:

• Wow, The Bible is still important to people.
• Wouldn't it be great if there was a place where people could get together with a few other people and talk about the Bible over coffee or some other beverage?
• Wouldn't it be great if there were venues where large groups of people could gather to hear men and women articulate the teachings of the Bible in real and practical ways?
• Wow, The Bible is still important to people!
  

Pastor's Challenge Shocks Congregation

I read this story and was inspired on many levels. Take some time and read this story and see the power of the Gospel at work in powerful, practical and creative ways.

By HELEN O'NEILL,

AP

Posted: 2007-12-22 07:00:06

CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio (Dec. 20) - The Rev. Hamilton Coe Throckmorton shivered with anticipation as he gazed at the loot - wads of $50 bills piled high beside boxes of crayons in a Sunday school classroom.

Cautiously, he locked the door. Then he started counting.

It was a balmy Friday evening in September. From several floors below faint melodies drifted up - the choir practicing for Sunday service.

Throckmorton was oblivious. For hours, perched awkwardly on child-sized wooden stools surrounded by biblical murals and children's drawings, the pastor and a handful of coconspirators concentrated on the count.

Forty-thousand dollars. Throckmorton smiled in satisfaction as he stashed the money in a safe.

That Sunday, the 52-year-old minister donned his creamy white robes, swept to the pulpit and delivered one of the most extraordinary sermons of his life.

First he read from the Gospel of Matthew.

"And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his ability."

Then he explained the parable of the talents, which tells of the rich master who entrusts three servants with a sum of money - "talents" - and instructs them to go forth and do good. The master lavishes praise on the two servants who double their money. But he casts into the wilderness the one so afraid to take a risk that he buries his share.

Throckmorton spends up to 20 hours working on his weekly homily, and his clear diction, contemplative message and ringing voice command the church. Gazing down from the pulpit that Sunday, Throckmorton dropped his bombshell.

Like the master, he would entrust each adult with a sum of money - in this case, $50. Church members had seven weeks to find ways to double their money, the proceeds to go toward church missions.

"Live the parable of the talents!" Throckmorton exhorted, as assistants handed out hundreds of red envelops stuffed with crisp $50 bills and stunned church members did quick mental calculations, wondering where all the money had come from. There are about 1,700 in the congregation, though not everyone attends each week.

The cash, Throckmorton explained, was loaned by several anonymous donors.

In her regular pew at the back of the church, where she has listened to sermons for 40 years, 73-year-old Barbara Gates gasped. What kind of kooky nonsense is this, she thought.

"Sheer madness," sniffed retired accountant Wayne Albers, 85, to his wife, Marnie, who hushed him as he whispered loudly. "Why can't the church just collect money the old-fashioned way?"

In a center pew, Ann Nagy's eyes moistened as she considered her ailing, beloved father, his suffering, and the song she had written to comfort him near death. She nudged her husband Scott. "Give me your $50," she whispered. Nagy knew exactly what she would do.

Throckmorton wrapped up his two morning services by saying that children would get $10. And he assured the congregation that anyone who didn't feel comfortable could simply return the money. No consignment to outer darkness for those who didn't participate.

Throckmorton is warm and engaging and approachable, as comfortable talking about the Cleveland Indians baseball team as he is discussing scripture. At the Federated Church, he is known simply as Hamilton.

But as church members spilled into the late summer sunshine that morning to ponder their skills and their souls, there were many who thought: Hamilton is really pushing us this time.

"There was definitely this tension, this pressure to live up to something," said Hal Maskiell, a 62-year-old retired Navy pilot who spent days trying to figure out how to meet the challenge.

Maskiell's passion is flying a four-seater Cessna 172 Skyhawk over the Cuyahoga County hills. He decided to use his $50 to rent air time from Portage County airport and charge $30 for half-hour rides. Church members eagerly signed up. Maskiell was thrilled to get hours of flying time, and he raised $700.

His girlfriend, Kathy Marous, 55, was far less confident. What talents do I have, she thought dejectedly. She was tempted to give the money back.

And then Marous found an old family recipe for tomato soup, one she hadn't made in 19 years. She remembered how much she had enjoyed the chopping and the cooking and the canning and the smells. With Hal's encouragement Marous dug out her pots. She bought three pecks of tomatoes. Suddenly she was chopping and cooking and canning again. At $5 a jar, she made $180.

"I just never imagined people would pay money for the things I made," Marous exclaimed.

Others felt the same way. Barbara Gates raised $450 crafting pendants from beads and sea glass - pieces she had casually made for her grandchildren over the years. Kathie Biggin created fanciful little red-nosed Rudolph pins and sold them for $2.50. Twelve-year-old Amanda Horner pooled her money with friends, stocked up at JoAnn's fabric store, and made dozens of colorful fleece baby blankets, which were purchased by church members and then donated to a local hospital.

And 87-year-old Bob Burrows rediscovered old carpentry skills and began selling wooden bird-feeders.

Read the rest of the story here.

Experts: World Population Will Explode by 2025 with Influx of 'Megacities' of 10 Million People or More

When most people see headlines like this, they usually think of global warming or the exhausting of natural resources. Personally, being a follower of Christ it reminds me of his command to "make disciples of all nations". This massive global urbanization is going to provide and incredible opportunity for the Gospel to be preached and the Kingdom to grow. However, it also provides an opportunity for the Enemy and the Kingdom of Darkness to wreck havoc on humanity. We live in unstable yet exciting times! Read the article and tell me what you think.

"It's the frightening stuff of science fiction.

You'll walk out of your cramped city apartment every day into a sea of people, and you'll be sandwiched among them as you go to work or buy food at the market.

You'll see scores of homeless people sprawled on the same jam-packed city streets. The ones who are lucky enough to have roofs over their heads will be living in shacks and shantytowns.

In the world's largest urban areas, that scenario is less than 20 years away, according to population experts. By 2025, they say, the number of so-called "megacities" — those with more than 10 million people — will balloon from the current 20 to as many as 40.

In 1980, there were only 10.

"The explosive nature of urbanization on the one hand has some hopefulness, but largely it contributes to a significant increase in suffering, extreme poverty, social disease and social disintegration," said Dr. Werner Fornos, president of the Global Population Education think tank and the former head of the Population Institute in Washington, D.C.

The world population, Fornos predicted, will swell from the current 6.5 billion to 9 billion by 2050.

"If we continue to grow at this rate, what this will do to our natural resources ... Population is still the most significant issue, and because of politics and religion, we're not able to come to grips with it," Fornos said.

The consequences of such a rapid rise in city inhabitants are dire, since so many megacities will be in the two poorest continents, Africa and Asia. Researchers predict mass homelessness, poverty and unemployment; a dwindling fresh water supply; a sharp increase in air pollution; the spread of disease; and a spike in crime. Most of the cities' governments won't have even close to the resources needed to handle all the people." You can read the rest of the article here. (Thursday, December 20, 2007 -By Catherine Donaldson-Evans- Fox News)

Here are a few observations in no particular order:

• India and Africa standout dramatically.
• Isn't it interesting that in Genesis 11, when mankind unifies and desires to build one big megacity, that God confuses their language and thus scatters people all around the world. Now that the Christ has come, the New Covenant has been offered, the Holy Spirit has been given, the Word of God is available to the world, and the church is established the world is beginning to come back together. Interesting.
• The sharing of the Good News about Jesus is going to require more then just a Bible and a laptop. It is going to require: doctors, farmers, engineers, well diggers, business men, teachers, and generous givers.