What are you thankful for this year?

This year at thanksgiving around the table I asked my kids to come up with two things that they were thankful for.  One had to be about God and the other could be whatever.  My boys both said, "I am thankful that Jesus saved my sins and for my family",  and my daughter said, "I am thankful That God made me and the Bible."  What did your family say?

Comment below....

What is the Gospel and how has it changed your life?

I was recently reading  an article in a journal about the number of college students who grew up in the church that were unable to answer the question, “What is the Gospel?”  The professor at this Christian university knew she might get a few different answers but expected to hear some similar themes but was surprised to hear some students answer this question with the simple “be nice to others.”  Now obviously Jesus did teach to be nice to others by stating love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39) but that is so far from the fullness of the Gospel and that knowledge alone would not be enough to bring salvation to the person.  So then I began to wonder how many of the parents of these students would be able to give a definition of the Gospel? 

At the beginning of the school year I spent a few weeks in our 9th and 10th grade Sunday school class unpacking the Gospel and was still a little surprised at how gun shy our students were to answer the question of what is the Gospel even after I had just given a definition.  Even right after I gave a definition (minutes after) the students were all still so gun shy to proclaim this gospel to a class of churched peers.  What is it about the Gospel that causes us to have a mental block to speak it out?  Why is our confidence in the Gospel so shaken?  Obviously there is a measure of spiritual warfare that tosses doubts our way but is there something more?

Now, if a person is unable to define the Gospel then how will that person live according to it?  Is there a sense of life change that needs to take place in order for the full understanding of the Gospel to take root?  Is there a sense that in our culture our students have not seen the life change in the adults around them to give them a sense of confidence that the Gospel is life changing and worth repeating or proclaiming?  If the Gospel has not made a change in my life then do I fully understand what the Gospel really is?  

This season of Christmas coming upon us is a celebration of the Gospel, the word, the begotten coming to take the form of a human to ultimately become our rescuer.  It is our sin that separates us from our God and it is our sin that causes us to need a rescuer.  The baby Jesus which is the Christ, the messiah, has come to bring salvation to those who believe.  He will experience birth, life, ministry, death and the resurrection.  All those who trust in him alone will receive life that is eternal and will get to be with Jesus forever.  This message of redemption and rescue should be life changing as we spend the rest of our lives doing our best to work out our salvation.  Once we see our sinful state and see the need for a savior and then receive this gift of salvation (Romans 6:23  ) our lives should be different after.  Are our lives any different?  Have we truly embraced the freedom that comes from salvation (Galatians 5:1).

I want to hear more about this from you so I have set up a blog for you to post how the Gospel has changed your life.  Let our students see it, hear it and learn how powerful (Romans 1:16) the Gospel really is so they will have the confidence to proclaim it and live it out.  How has the Gospel changed your life?

Other great links related to the Gospel
Awesome presentation of the GOSPEL

Incredible ministry training teens to share their faith

Founder of the Dare 2 Share organization

Volunteers for ministry...

Had an epiphany recently.  Call it an AHA moment.  Each year we pastors scramble to recruit or 'invite' others to serve in our area of ministry.  This is always a stretch and there have been seasons where I panic a bit as I will have way more students in our ministry than I have adults willing to mentor or disciple.  I see this in our children's ministry a lot as well.  So many kids wanting to participate and we have so few workers to develop the next generation of church leaders.

So, now enter the epiphany.

Matthew 9:35-38..
(from youversion.com)

35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."


The epiphany comes from the first words in v. 38. "Therefore pray earnestly...."

Yes it is a pastors responsibility or obligation to train the saints to do the work of the ministry (See Eph. 4) but at the same time, since the harvest is so plentiful we hear from Jesus that there is reason to pray and not just pray but pray EARNESTLY that the lord will send out the laborers into his harvest. Is it my harvest? NO. Do I care more about the harvest than the Lord? NO. Will not the Lord send out the leaders where he knows the programs are humble and ready to submit to His will, His leadership, His provision? YES

So, enter guilt trip for me. How often to I pray earnestly for the laborers to come? How often do I pray for the Laborers that have come and helped to work the harvest?

Not Enough. If I was praying enough (how do you measure enough prayer???) then I would not be panicking but waiting with expectation for the answer to the prayer (Psalm 5:3).

Loyalty

When did this new business model of rewarding new customers begin to take root and grow?  What ever happened to rewarding the loyalty of the customer that has been around for a long time?  I see it every where and it irritates me.  All these introductory discounts that only last for 12 months and then go way up.  I don't want to keep changing my services to keep my budget manageable.  IT is so annoying.  Even with my Cell company I can't get the best new phone because I am already a current customer so I have to pay more for it.  If I was a new customer the new cool phone would be free with my two year service agreement.  I would rather stay with a service that really wants me to stay and respects me for using their service for a long time.  Where is the loyalty and why should I be loyal to any service if they don't really care about it?

Anyway, short rant.  If you actually read my blog, let me know your thoughts.

Why do folks leave the church after youth ministry?

Youth ministry creates a certain feeling of community, once the students leave the youth group setting they search for that same feeling of community and cannot find it in adult ministries.  Adults are boring and the students fear that once they leave.  Youth ministry tends to have a more accurate sense of family found in Acts 2 where we share what we have together, go on trips together, go to school together so they are with each other most of the time, share meals together and are generally more involved in the lives of each other.

Thirsty in the normal and the mundane.

In Psalm 63:1-2 where David is in a dry and desolate place and is physically in need of thirst quenching water and yet he thirsts for God.  Am I Thirsty like that?  How do I develop that kind of thirst?  How do i orient my life in such a way that I develop that kind of thirst?  To take that feeling of absolute thirst for water and crave God even more.

Yes I need to have a hunger and thirst for righteousness (matthew 5:6), but on a deeper level I feel like David had a better focus.  To have an intense thirst for God, the creator of righteousness and to recognize his ultimate authority over my life is something to pursue. 

When I am sick and have that stomach thing that feels so awful and like there is nothing to do to fix it.  Then is when I cry out to God for help.  When I am in complete sorrow and feel sadness over the loss of a loved one then is when i cry out for God to come to me an be by my side and give me comfort.  How can I create that same craving in me on the other days?  The days when I lose no one to tragedy, how can I have that same craving?

Often i will run to him in praise when the great things happen.  On the days where he answers a prayer the way I want.  when I get the mysterious check in the mail to help with my family needs I give him praise and thanks.  When I get a note of encouragement from a student impacted by my lesson, words, ministry or whatever.  I then say a thanks to God.  But what about the normal day.  Do I thirst on those days?  Do I have the constant sense of awe in how great God is that the sun is shining or the sky is raining?  Do I appreciate the fact that he is performing miracles on the other side of the planet while I am answering emails in this side?  Do I realize the impact on life that He is Holy, that he is almighty, that he is loving, that he is?  I recognize this on the ups and the downs, but what about in the middle?

I want to crave him, thirst for him in the normal and mundane. 

Just a thought

As churches grow they seem to lose sight of the lost as well as the community in which they serve. At some point many churches will reach a size large enough to the point where there are enough frustrated congregants who notice this and do something about. They refresh the flame of serving the community and go at it as if it is a brand new idea that they came up with when really it is just a recycling of what they intended to do to begin with.

Now the task is to figure out how to drop the middle of all that and just stay the course doing what we intended to do in the first place.

Memorial Day

I fear that the sacrifices made by all of our soldiers in the past will be 'messed' up or forgotten by the behavior of politicians. Each time I sing the national anthem or see the flag fly or see movies like 'Saving Private Ryan' I remember and feel a deep sense of gratitude for all the lives sacrificed to keep us safe and free in the USA. Thank you so much for your sacrifice and the sacrifice of your family. Many of us remember what you gave so much for. Thanks.

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.