When the Church and the world collide...

After reading bout the recent church shooting in Maryville, IL (just outside of St. Louis) I just wonder if the church would be wise to ramp up security. If our goal is to reach those who have issues with the world, people, religion, God, etc. why would we want to keep them out of our churches? If we are to reach out to them, we should let them in baggage and all, right? But we need to be alive to do so. When the world and the church collide on our own turf we get nervous. When the the church and the world collide on 'their' turf, 'they' get nervous.

So, if we have to choose which side on which to be out of balance, too many of them in our house or too many of us in their house, which do we choose? Honestly, I believe that is the wrong question to be asking and we need to find a better one.

Pray for the First Baptist Church of Maryville, IL and the Winters family. Pastor Winters left behind two daughters and a wife who are asking "WHY?"

We should stand out.....so why don't we?

As I read in Romans 12:1-2 and read in the context of Romans 11 it is amazing the grace that God showers upon us. Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How he made possible for us Gentiles to have access to God the father through his son. The manner in which he allows this access is humbling by itself. Giving of a one and only son to save a wretched people....in the words of YS Seriously Ridiculous.

Now in our world today which is so anti God, anti absolute truth, anti standards for those of us who say that we pursue Christ why don't we stand out more? Why don't we look more different? The more I submit to the standards of God, the more the world will not make sense and the more I will not make sense to the world, but I do. I do make sense to the world. Should I?

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed, be renewed, be different. Am I?

What we have been doing for generations is not working. Baby's die in the place that they should be most safe...in the womb. Sin is sanctioned, allowed, legalized, made permissable... Just because it is permitted does that make it right? Since when does a standard of the world trump God's standard stated in his word?

When is it right to say that a person Loves the Lord and reads his word but yet does not do what it says? Especially in such places of leadership and influence where these statements are said, in our capital and in our media. Are we supposed to be doers of the word not just readers of it?

What we have been doing for generations is only sinking us deeper into a pit of sin, sanctioned sin, selfish desires, selfish pursuits...

We who are followers of Christ are supposed to stand out, so Why Don't WE?

ok, just a quickie

So, why would it seem to be appropriate to spend over 100 million dollars (approaching the 150 million) on a big party to celebrate a new president when our economy is so stretched? I am sure a new president deserves a celebration and a party with plenty of good stuff, but why the elaborate stuff and all?

On the same note, why do we pay pro athletes and actors in hollywood so much to act? When an athlete gets a new 130 million dollar contract to play baseball and then the city for whom he plays turns around and asks the community for 300 million to pay for a new stadium for these over paid athletes to play in, and then will charge them a pretty hefty fee to watch the athlete play in that stadium? Seems a little backwards or over the top to me.

I am just sayin.

welcome to 2009

Debbie reminded me that I never update this anymore, so UPDATE!

....ok, I will work on something a little more witty and informative later.

db

Blame God for the Results?

Why is it that when people make choices that are clearly against God's plan they then blame God for the results? We need to recognize that when we go against God's plan or God's standard that we welcome hard times into our lives.

Even worse than that is when we do our best to make it right we still get upset that it doesn't fix everything. An extreme illustration of this is when a person murders someone, then feels bad and confesses to God, family, Police, etc. it will not make the dead person alive again. That cannot be undone. So we make it as right as we can but we must realize that our choices go beyond an easy fix. Our choices start a chain reaction in the lives of others. That reaction can be positive or negative but once it is started it will continue even when we 'make it right'.

But then we get mad at God for the evil in the world as we commit evil acts ourselves. Who is to blame? We are to blame. When my neighbor makes a choice it impacts me. When I make a choice it impacts him. When God made his choice, it impacted the world.

When I make a moral choice and get good results, I can give God the credit because his plan is working. When I make a bad choice and get a bad result I can still give God the credit because his plan still is working and he warned me that it would. The negative outcome is due to my choice and i cannot blame God for that because, like I said, he warned me.

Just a bit of a ramble there.

president?

Fantasy

I stink at Fantasy Football, but wow it is really fun. Why is that? Am I trying to imitate the high paid version of the NFL coach? Do I really think I have it in me at all to manage, organize, create, coach a real football team? I am confident that I would ruin any football team that would put me in charge.

today, I won my first game. It does feel great to win. To nearly crush the opposition. Then to toss a little friendly trash talk their way. Totally forgetting that last week I got totally beat. But last week is so....last week. This is today. This is now. This is what matters today.

But, there is always next weekend where it all gets reset again.

I love NFL Football. Even if I stink at it.

Better to be out, but more painful

Why is it that when you are in a situation you can't see how wrong you are? But once you take a step out, or are asked to take a step out, you see how badly you needed to be out of that situation in the first place.

It seems at some times in life our growth or the growth of an organization is stifled by others that are in control. Once an individual leaves they are in a better position to see this than when they are actually in the situation. The exit is usually painful, being fired or asked to leave or just to leave out of frustration, but wow, the freedom to grow and expand. To follow your passions that for years were being pushed down or stifled by the powers that be.

Then the question arises..... Who guides or tells the 'powers that be' that a change needs to take place in them not in everyone else?

I am happy to be in a place where I am encouraged to grow and the organization grows with me. I write this in response to others who are in a bad place and it frustrates me how they are treated, which is why I am glad that I am not in that place now.

Happy Father's DAY

Found this. Great for father's day. Made me laugh.

Distractions

A book that I am reading has this quote from Hans Hofmann, an artisan born in Bavaria, "If you want the necessary to stand out, you have to get rid of the unnecessary." This quote is shared in the shadow of a story about King Hezekiah and his actions of taking down all that distracted the Israelites from true worship of God the father (2 Kings 18 and following). Then I pondered the many things that are obvious in distracting me from growth and worship.

One fear that I have is that I spend so much time dealing with the large and obvious distractions that I have let creep in the subtle to ruin my growth.

Another fear is that what I have let creep in I rationalize as necessary to worship and growth.

then I am left with a week and stunted spiritual life without the stamina to withstand the struggles that are coming my way. How can I expect myself to grow if I am distracted? How can I remove the distractions if I cannot recognize them or identify them as distractions?

What is the first thing that King Hezekiah does when presented with potential war with the Assyrians? 2 Kings 19:1 "When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord."

Now, of course all of my struggles pale in the light of this potential distraction. I am not anywhere near pondering war, death, battles, surrender, captivity, or the like. I am instead dealing with the subtlety of the unnecessary that ruins my personal growth.

He of course wins in God's great plan and timing.

so, how necessary is the unnecessary? What is unnecessary?

I can point out the obvious. Then the more time I spend with the Lord the eaiser it will be to remove the unobvious and unnecessary.

Drive Safe

What is with that

Why is it tradition or good manners or what ever to tell a person or persons when they part ways to "Drive Safely?" What does that really mean? Would you really want a person to "drive crummy" or "drive wreckless"? I suppose if you just had a fight with someone you may wish them a bad road experience, but the advice to "drive safely", does it really impact the way that I or anyone else will drive? I do not find myself on my way home second guessing my driving decisions simply because my aunt whomever told me to "drive safely".

Anyway, just saw that my blog has not been updated in a while so I thought I would just type out a meaningless rant.

Drive Safe!

EXPELLED

My kid will learn the truth. If not from the school, from his/her parents. I will teach it to him. Some kids don't have the option of a parent to protect them from an agenda. Here is a resource that will mix it up a bit in the scientific world.

This movie looks amazing. Be sure to go and view it. And check out the website for the extended trailer as well.

My First Baptism at Calvary

I had the opportunity recently to do my first baptism here in Calvary E. Free. Very cool and the student getting baptized was VERY excited. Great time!

Don't be Afraid of the Word NO.

I asked on of my students to write a first person point of view of one of the events from my last post titled "FRUIT". Enjoy.

By Kara Dawson
A lot of times we don't ask certain questions because we
are afraid of this little two letter word. That word is 'No.'
Which is not usually the answer we want. That word
tends to prevent so many people from asking questions
for fear that will be the answer. Questions like, "Will you
go on a date with me?" or something more simple, "Will
you go to church with me?" It seems like asking your
friend to go to church with you would be easy. But it isn't
really, because there is that 50/50 chance that the
answer will be that two letter word many of us fear.
I have this friend, she and I are really close. I can ask her
anything. But when it came to asking her if she wanted to
go to church with me, it was a little harder. I finally
decided that I wanted to ask, I wanted to step out of my
"comfort zone" and ask her. I thought about it and the
very worst that could happen was she would say “No.”
Which if you think about it, isn't all that bad. Then I
thought, “The best that could happen, she would say
“Yes!” So I asked her the simple question, "Do you want
to go to church with me?" She replied excitedly, "YES!"
She then told me she had never been to church. Her
family never went and her friends never asked.
The next Wednesday she came over right after school. I
asked her if she wanted to volunteer with me at Friendship
Place before church. She said, "Yeah, that sounds like
fun!" So we did just that. She loved it! Then after that
we went to church! She isn't shy so she played kick ball
with everyone and she had a blast! After youth group was
over and Darin had spoken, she looked at me and said,
"Can I ask that guy if I can have a Bible!" Surprised and
excited I said, "Yes, come here, we will go ask!" She
asked Darin and he went to get one for her. She said to
me that she had never even held a Bible before.
When Darin came back with the Bible, he said she could
only have it if she told him what she thought. She smiled
and said "Okay." He then asked, "Where are you going to
start." She was a little confused, thinking don't you
usually start at the beginning of a book? She replied with,
"ummm, Page 1..." The next day she texted me and
said, “I read Genesis!” I was shocked! She went home
Wednesday night and read the book of Genesis. I asked
her what she thought of it and she said “things made sense
now, the world was created by God!” To tell you the
truth I can't even explain how I felt right then. If I had not
asked her that simple question, "Do you want to go to
church with me?" None of this would have happened! She
now, enjoys reading the bible. She actually said to me one
day when we were hanging out. "Kara, I haven't read the
whole bible yet." I said, "That's okay, You don't need to
feel bad I still haven't read the whole Bible, and I have had
a Bible since before I could read." She was relieved! She
also LOVES volunteering with me at Friendship place,
and she is always excited to go to church with me. All this
happened because I asked the simple question, “Do you
want to go to church with me?”

FRUIT!

In the last couple of weeks I am humbled by how God has used me in the ministry here.

Last week on wednesday night we had our normal night of competition in our gym and worship and lesson up in our Youth center. The lesson was about how we were created to serve, to be involved in the lives of others. I ended with a pretty clear Gospel presentation. Then a girl comes up to me afterwards. She had never been in a church before. One our girls met her in the hospital and invited her to youth group. The both of them had attempted suicide recently and met while in the hospital together. This girl asks me if she can have a bible. I was obviously excited and zipped off to get her one.

When I came back I asked her if she knew where to start reading. She gave me this wierd look and said, "I don't know, I was thinking I would start on page one." I had to laugh. Why do we have to complicate everything. Page 1 is the best place to start.

Several days later i hear through the girl who had invited the guest that they had talked on the phone recenlty and our new bible owner was all excited and said, "Genesis is Awesome. I just read it!" She has had her bible for 3 days and already had read more than some of our churched kids will have read in half a year. then she shows up again to youth group and is taking notes and signing up for our trips and stuff. Amazing.

then last night one of our regular guys invites his friend who he hangs out with all the time and he shows up. He is listening pretty intensly as I talk about how God has created us for a mission and that is to tell others that God wants a relationship with us. Not to talk about religion but relationship. This new kid writes on his form that he would like to hear more about how to begin a relationship with Jesus. HE WANTS TO BE A CHRISTIAN. this is why we do church!

So i know that these two guys are going on a trip to Colorado for a ski weekend so i call the dad this morning who is on the way to the airport to drop them off. I tell him what was on the card. He then takes it from there as they drive. The son (the regular guy here) is sitting in the passenger seat and is hearing all this as dad talks to the friend in the back seat. Then he tells his son that he can tell his story about how and why he is a Christian while they are on this trip. The son says, "yes, I can do that."

So, now one of our sophmores is now on a ski trip with his friend with the mission of telling him how to meet Jesus.

FRUIT!

One girl who knows Jesus but is having some tough issues meets a girl in the hospital and is helping her to find Jesus.

One guy who knows Jesus and is about to share with his friend over a ski weekend and will be helping him find Jesus.

Ordinary, uncomplicated, sincere, this is how it is supposed to be done.

Thanks God for using my talents and words to equip and challenge these students to share you with their friends as they live their life.

Another rambling

Yes, it has been nearly two months since i updated this. I don't blog much. Maybe it is because I don't think much, but i have to think to function or maybe I don't. What if life is all automatic and we could just coast through it. Then there would be no challenge, no purpose, no fun, no responsibility. Would that make our emotions automatic as well? If we did not think could we truly love?

But contrary to all that we, most of us, can think and love because we were made in God's image. Some of us think and love more than others, but we all at some level both think and love. I think therefore I am is only part of it. And that I love is still only part of it. I am loved is a major part of life. I am loved. Loved by my creator. Loved enough to die for.

So, if I am loved, and I can think and express love, why don't I? Or maybe I do, I just think about and love me more than I think about and love my creator. The more I dwell on, love on, think on Him, the more alive I truly am.

bitter sweet

today we said goodbye to our guests from Ecuador that had been staying with us for the Samaritan's Purse Children's Heart Project. Little Ariana who is two years old came to the Mayo Clinic to have heart surgery. Her mother and a translator came as well. They arrived back in Nov. for the surgery. We got to know each other real well and our family grew as we adopted these new friends from another country. they will be greatly missed by my wife and I, but especially by my kids. they became really close over the last several weeks. Now as they are on the plane to go home to their actual family we pray that Ariana will stay healthy and that the reunion with her daddy will be sweet. Sad to see them go, but glad to know they are going home.

Always go fishing with a buddy!

Great movie

You gotta check this movie out. I was at a pre screening of this film and it is a great story. Very moving. Find out how you can support this movie.

The 2:10 to Nowhere

As I was reading through Judges recently I kept thinking back to a verse that almost haunted me with the weight of responsibility and the ball that was dropped by the Israelites lead by Joshua. They went through so much in the years leading up to the conquering of the land. They were taught many things and saw God do amazing and miraculous acts. Things that would be talked about for centuries. Once they were confronted and set back on course after stumbling a bit we read that they served the Lord until they Died (Judges 2:7). Then they bury their great leader which must have been a sad and difficult thing to do. But what follows next is what haunted me.

In Judges 2:10 it says this, “ After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.” How could this be? How could this young generation grow up around parents and grand parents who had seen the great acts of God and not know about them? How could they not know or hear about or be taught how awesome God is and how He helped them conquer lands, win battles, throw down kingdoms. How could this be!?!

Then it hit me. As I looked at the generation of kids around me I asked, “how am I doing at making sure that they know the greatness of our God? Am I living out my faith in front of them so that they will see by my life that God is worth serving? That this thing called the church, the bride of Christ, is truly the hope for the world.”

It is our responsibility as Christ Followers to put it upon ourselves to be sure that this generation follows the God creator not the godless world around them.

In James 2:10 there is another verse that my son recently memorized for AWANA and it speaks about the importance of obedience. “ For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” Another great 2:10 that we as a generation need to communicate to the youth of our day.

It matters not if you are a parent. If you are a Christ follower it is your responsibility, as it says in Titus, to help bring up the young ones in the ways of the Lord so that they will be fit for doing good.

Don’t take the 2:10 to nowhere.