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Showing posts from 2008

An Evangelical Bridge Too Far

from Townhall.com -- goes along with my talk today: An Evangelical Bridge Too Far David R. Stokes Sunday, December 28, 2008 The recent furor over President-Elect Barack Obama’s selection of California mega-church pastor Rick Warren to pray at the January 20 th inauguration yields a few clues about what evangelicals can expect during the next four years.   On the surface, playing the Warren card appears to be a masterstroke by Obama – one that further demonstrates impressive political skills.  A day or so after the election, I was asked by someone about what Mr. Obama would do to prepare for his administration.  I replied that I thought he would demonstrate significant savvy by – at least for the time being – ignoring the clamorous pleas from core constituencies, the kind of people who will support and vote for him no matter what.  And I suggested he would reach out to those who view him with fear – or at least mild suspicion.  That’s pretty much what number 44 has done.  He has confoun

Short Term Missions

Check out this article about short term missions trips (I'm not completely confident in the link so I apologize if it gets removed at some point) by Jim Lo . Pretty good stuff.

Beginning, End, Beginning

I was in the lobby of a Doctor's office on Friday and bored stiff, and saw one of those little kids picture bible's on the coffee table. I decided to read it to pass the time. It only covered Genesis, but it was fun because of the way they elaborated everything to make it appealing to kids and with lots of pictures. But sure enough, it got me to thinking about a few things. Let's talk about creation for a minute. God starts creation, and knows exactly what He's doing doesn't He? He makes light and dark, makes the atmosphere, and then rises up dry group out of the sea and grows every living plant on it all in the first three days. We don't have to think hard about all the benefits to human life that come from his plan even from the first three days! The atmosphere makes it so that we can breath, burns up incoming celestial junk, and protects us from the Sun. The Sun wasn't even created yet! God didn't create the sun, stars, and moon until the fourth day.

Post from Victor

Victor made a post on his blog yesterday afternoon concerning the election. I thought I'd mention it to you guys so you can go read it. I thought it was very well written. Just so you know, his post is mostly concerning Republican's disappointment with the outcome. To be bipartisan, I am claiming no party affiliation by sending out this notice. I just thought that the hope that Victor displays in our Lord was very encouraging. For the man charged with sheparding our church, he does a great job of saying (paraphrase): "Our Lord is here in our lives, our Lord is coming, and why would you not have faith in the plan that he has set for our lives? Our Lord is victorious!". To read it go ahead and visit the church webpage at http://www.calvarybaptistonline.org/ . In the bottom left square you will see a tab called "Pastor's Blog". The link to his blog is http://victorstanley.blogspot.com/ , in case you want to go directly there and make a comment. Love y'a

Look Up

Every so often, while you're outside, it might be a good idea to just look up. It is nearly impossible to not be blown away, to not recognize the beauty and the magnificence of the sky. I know when I look at the sky it sets my mind on things above, both physically and spiritually. For me it is very refreshing and I hope it can be the same for you.

In the Quiet

Jesus often went off to a mountainside to be by himself to pray. Matthew 14:23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. Elijah waited to hear God and He came not by a loud wind, a raging fire, nor a violent earthquake, but by a whisper. 1 Kings 19:11-13 11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."       Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mo

Factors associated w/ children embracing the their parent's faith

Tim Keller supervised a doctor of ministry student studying the factors associated w/ children embracing the Christian faith of parents. 6,000 15-16 yr olds surveyed at a huge youth event in Philadelphia. Among other questions, they were asked: Are you on your way to embracing your parent's faith? Do you think 10 years from now you will be a Christian going to church? Christian School v. Home School v. Public School, family devotions, youth group, were not factors in whether kids were more likely to embrace their parent's faith. Kids who said "my parents understand the real world, and they understand my world, and I think if I had a problem they'd understand it" were much more likely to embrace their parent's faith. Thanks to Stan Gibson for sharing this interesting study! The church and the home must be a place where kids (and adults) can ask the hard questions. No question is too hard for God. Jesus is alive and practical "I have come that they may have

The Shack

I decided to read "The Shack" by William P. Young, based on an intruiging article in Newsweek ( http://www.newsweek.com/id/156370 ). What a blessing! A Google search quickly reveals a variety of opinions on this book, from rave reviews to cries of heresy. While I do not agree w/ all the theology expressed in this book, much of the dialogue between God and Mack is insightful and moving. Here are a few quotes that really hit home for me ... "You don't need to have it all figured out. Just be with me." p.178 "For you to know or not, has nothing at all to do with whether I am actually here or not. I am always with you" p.195 "It is true that relationships are a whole lot messier than rules, but rules will never give you answers to the deep questions of the heart and they wil never love you." p.198 I'd put "The Shack" in the same category as "Joshua" (Joseph Girzone) and "The Martyr's Cry" (Ted Dekker). Each o

Worship Blog

I have been reading some blogs from Bob Kauflin on his website worshipmatters.com.  I have really enjoyed them so I decided to share them and we can maybe discuss some of them. Defining Worship  several parts I think I enjoyed 3 and 4 the best Expressing Love to God  dealing with the issue of "God is my girlfriend songs" How Do We Grow in Physical Expressiveness in Worship  some of these things could(should) be said at church.  I thought part 4 was good

Egypt

I was reading the 10 commandments the other day, and there were two things that struck me that I thought I would share. Interestingly enough, this is my second post on this blog about the 10 commandments. I don't read them every day, and this is the first time I've read through them since my last post. Don't ask me why I did, I just felt like reading them, and God showed me something. The part I read started out in Deut 5:6 and it reads: "I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt. That is the land where you were slaves." Immediately after reading that I thought, "Now what does that have to do with me? Why am I even reading the 10 commandments again anyways?" Well, after I finished my reading I realized something. I was in Egypt, and God rescued me. This is no new theological truth, and I'm sure I'm not breaking new ground here, but for some reason the connection finally clicked. Egypt was a land of slavery for the Hebrews, and t

Walking on Water

Matthew 14:22-33 22Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but the boat was already a considerable distance [ a ] from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. 27But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 29"Come," he said.    Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried o

Would the community weep....

Would the community weep if the church were to pull out of the community? http://www.christianitytoday.com/outreach/articles/isyourchurchagoodneighbor.html What should be our churches role outside of the four walls? What are some local organizations that we can be involved with to serve the community....is that something we should do. If not then what can we do to be involved in the community.

Greater Things

The title of our blog is “Greater Things.”  I figure I ought write a post explaining why. John 14:5-14 5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" 6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know [ b ] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." 8Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." 9Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least be

Identity

I've often thought that Christians needed a new name. Not that being "little Christs" is not something worthy of being associated with, but all the negative connotations that come with the title have muddied the name. As I've sought for a new way to identify myself as one who follows Christ without at the same time associating myself with all of the muck that is out there, I have noticed some things. Christians have been looking for new names for a long time. In fact, they have found many of them, and have always needed to revise them. That's essentially where most of the denominations have come from. That's how plastic stick-on fish and WWJD bracelets came around but since then have become some of the fastest ways to buy your salvation. That's how the term "born-again Christian" came to mean someone who is a real believing Christian and not someone who is merely nominal and celebrates holidays. But what I realized, is it's not the nam

Everyone’s Going to Heaven

At least that’s what the majority of Americans seem to believe: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/us/24religion.html?hp That’s a little discouraging.

Giving

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121418580830795863.html?mod=googlenews_wsj The article says that US citizens gave over $300 billion to charities. Giving to religious organizations is up over 4% and totaled over $100 billion. The crazy thing is that in the US, collectively, $300 billion is a drop in the bucket, as the article says, it's only 2.2% of our GDP.

Who Stole My Church?

A new book by Gordon McDonald confronts the generational differences that affect the church - ours is not the only one who will be going thru this change. Y'all have heard me say before that we have to be ready to turn over leadership to your generation. The elders will all be reading this book in preparation for our leadership retreat in Sep. One of the main sticking points is the differences in music style between the generations. You guys will not remember because you weren't born yet but the explosion of contemporary christian music started in the early 80's with Keith Green. When he was killed in the plane crash others stepped up to continue the musical renaissance. But we can't neglect the older generation and forget to use music that resonates with them so that they can enter into worship. Take a look at this video posted on crosswalk.com and see if we aren't all guilty of the same attitude when our particular style of music isn't being used: http://www.c

Shrewdness

Luke 16 The Parable of the Shrewd Manager 1Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.' 3"The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg— 4I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.' 5"So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 6" 'Eight hundred gallons [ a ] of olive oil,' he replied.       "The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.' 7"Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?'       " 'A thousand bushels [ b ] of

WWJD?

I should probably put this on my personal blog, but whatever. Check out this passage from Luke 7:33-34: For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.'  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' What would Jesus do?  Drink alcohol, apparently.  What this means is what my dad has taught me all along; drinking alcohol is not sinful, getting drunk on alcohol is. The Pharisees quickly labeled Jesus a "drunkard," though he wasn't.  I bet Jesus would be labeled the same by some of today's churchgoers.  Those same churchgoers should probably have a look at that passage.

Appreciation

Here is a snippet from a much longer post on my personal blog.  I felt it would appropriate for this blog too.  If you want to you can read the whole blog post at http://mindtravellers.blogspot.com/ . ... As I walked to the car the wind blew.  I felt it all over, it unsettled my hair and gushed across my arms, it rippled my clothes.  Alive.  I realized then and there what a joy it was to experience the wind, experience God, experience worship.  I wasn't singing, I was existing in God's grace and attributing to God the beauty of the creation; worship, in spirit and in truth. ...

Give

Relient K has a song called "Give Until There's Nothing Else."  Go to http://www.myspace.com/relientk and list to the song called "Give."  Here is the chorus: Give give give (until there's nothing left) Give my all (until it all runs out) Give give (and I'll have no regrets) I'll give until there's nothing left to give Give give give (until there's nothing left) Give my all (until it all runs out) Give give Give until there's nothing left I'll give

Cracking CBC's DNA

A lot of talk now going on in church leadership journals about determining your fellowship's DNA -- what makes your fellowship unique. Check out www.theckn.com and search on dna or code for a great article on it. So using that as a framework what do you think CBC's DNA is? What makes us unique and is our particular bent in doing ministry? This is extremely important to determine because if we try to do things that are outside our DNA the "organism" will reject it as foreign. They do make the point that you can change your DNA - mutate as it were. Here are a few things I think are part of our DNA. 1. We are a racially, ethnically and generationally diverse fellowship. 2. Because of this we are a fellowship were interracial couples are comfortable and accepted. 3. We don't say "we don't see color" -- We see color in all its glory as a reflection of God's creative power and we celebrate our differing viewpoints and diversity as a "little t

The Future

At the conference last week in Indianapolis, Rex Miller gave a keynote address.  Rex Miller is a "futurist" and the author of a book called The Millennium Matrix .  In the book  he explains how the major technology or medium of the day influenced life and the church.  According to Miller we have moved from oral transmission and the printing press, to the Internet.  Those born before 1992 are considered "Digital Immigrants"; that is to say that those born after 1992 have existed entirely within a world influenced by the Internet.  According to Rex Miller this new technology will cause a drastic change in society.  Because of this, Miller suggests that businesses, organizations, the government and the church need to  adjust the way things are done to ensure survivability and efficacy. He explained that the current model for businesses and churches is "attractional" in nature.  He describes the model as being and effort by churches (and organizations) to

If you build it, they will come?

I'm here in Indianapolis at a church facilities conference (wfxweb.com).  There are some impressive and expensive church buildings in this country.  I toured one yesterday that was finished last year and cost $30 million.  It was stunning to say the least, and most definitely useful. There is an emphasis on meeting the needs of today's American culture.  An increasingly connected, visual audience apparently (based on the conference) "needs" multimillion dollar, multimedia experiences driven by the latest technologies. The four of us attending the conference have talked over meals and during breaks about CBC.  We've identified that there are definitely things we can accomplish in our current facilities and as we dream we wonder what we could accomplish in a new building. Should we build a new building?  What would a new building have?  How can we best reach Woodbridge?  What is the purpose of a church building?  How can we do church most effectively? There

Is church too "clean?"

Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God - the LORD, the God of his fathers - even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary." And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people. -2 Chronicles 30:18-20 I read this passage during my daily Bible reading today (Thank you, Richie!), and this verse got me to thinking. It is story of the celebration of the Passover by Hezekiah. In fact, it was the first mass celebration of the Passover in quite some time. What is interesting to note is that Hezekiah had sent out couriers to the the whole nation of Israel, including the northern kingdom, inviting them to come celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem. These Israelites from the northern kingdom were the ceremonially unclean refere

Use us or Lose us

Ok my younger brothers take a look at the following blurb (and I will have more after the quote) Use Me or Lose Me Recent surveys indicate that more than half of the baby boomer population wants the rest of their lives to count for something more significant. They want to invest the rest of their lives for the betterment of their families, their communities, and their world. This cohort of people is not only huge, but more than half of them want to give back to others. For the church that is aware of these realities, the boomer could well represent the largest labor force for the kingdom that the church has ever seen. These men and women will probably willingly serve in the traditional ways (ushering, greeting, sitting on boards, teaching classes, etc.), but if these are the only offerings you have then many of them will find greater opportunities to give back to the community outside the church. This is what the Baby Boomer means when he says to the church, “Use me or lose me.” He or

Bridge Mix

Here are some quick things that I've run across lately that I've been thinking about. - The 5th commandment to Honor your Father and Mother was given to however many hundreds of thousand former Hebrew Adult slaves (with their respective kids), not only to an elementary school-aged Sunday school class. - About the whole masculinity issue that the church has been fighting lately to get Men involved and inspired in the church: Jesus was not a wimpy hippie. He flipped tables. He was a carpenter and most likely had a moderate muscular physique. He bore a cross after nearly being beaten to death. He even still had the strength to tell another man he would be in paradise after being beaten and hung by his hands and feet. Jesus didn't hesitate to tell the truth in the face of murderous crowds. He conquered death for goodness sakes. If that's not inspiring to Men, I don't know what is. Go Jesus. - I read an article at ChristianityToday about the story in John 7-8 about the

Intelligent Design and Expelled

Dinesh D'sousa comments on Expelled. This is the point I've been trying to make about evolution and ID in general. Why should we concede the point on evolution. Paul tried to be everything for every man so that he might win some but I don't believe he sacrificed truth.. Ben Stein Exposes Richard Dawkins By Dinesh D'Souza Monday, April 21, 2008 In Ben Stein's new film "Expelled," there is a great scene where Richard Dawkins is going on about how evolution explains everything. This is part of Dawkins' grand claim, which echoes through several of his books, that evolution by itself has refuted the argument from design. The argument from design hold that the design of the universe and of life are most likely the product of an intelligent designer. Dawkins thinks that Darwin has disproven this argument. So Stein puts to Dawkins a simple question, "How did life begin?" One would think that this is a question that could be easily answered. Dawkin

From Church Leaders Intelligence

04.16.08 Church Growth Barriers As megachurches grow larger, smaller churches are struggling. Many churches deal with the same inevitable growth barriers that keep them from filling their pews and reaching more for Christ. “They essentially find themselves stuck,” says Nelson Searcy, lead pastor of The Journey Church in NYC. The most fundamental barrier churches face is space. When a room reaches 70% of its seating capacity, it’s full. Searcy observes that most churches face growth barriers when attendance reaches 65, 125, 250, 500 and 1,000. The second barrier is self-development. If the church’s leaders have stopped maturing spiritually and progressing personally, the congregation is not far behind. Barrier #3 is focus. Churches stop growing when they become inwardly (instead of outwardly) focused. Healthy churches should have a 5:100 ratio of first-time guests to regular attendees. Weekly worship service can be growth barrier #4. Searcy calls it “the front door” through which people

Count Your Blessings

http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2008/04/does_counting_your_blessings_r.php Interesting article, though I always wonder how accurate these "studies" really are.

Brick Walls and Trampolines

I just finished reading the section in Velvet Elvis about the Brick Walls and Trampolines, which Terry referred to in this post . Here are my thoughts: Lets not discredit Rob Bell for using the virgin birth as his example for the brick analogy. He openly states on the very next page, "I affirm the historic Christian faith, which includes the virgin birth and the Trinity and the inspiration of the Bible and much more." But the meat of the matter is his analogy of the brick wall and the trampoline. For those of you who have not read this section, the analogy is two parts. Brick Wall: He is observing that many Christians' faith is brick-like. In other words, one belief is a brick, and each brick sits on top of another brick. My take: In many ways, this analogy rings true. How else would we have so many different denominations? I think of it as a Lego brick wall. Presbyterians and Protestants might have very similar walls, with a few different colored bricks in the top, middl

Expelled

Ben Stein's movie Expelled comes out some time soon.  I just recently finished reading an article critiquing the film and here is the third to last paragraph in the article.  "The weakness of the logic of Expelled is beside the point, however. No one who accepts evolution as fact is likely to leave the theater shaken. Some people with looser understandings of the science or the legal issues might buy into its arguments about "fairness" and protecting religion against science. Expelled is nonetheless mostly a film for ID creationism's religious base. That audience has seen one setback after the next in recent years, with science rejecting ID as useless and the courts rebuffing it as for a constitutional violation in public education . For them, Expelled is a rallying point to revive their morale." For the full article (it's kinda long) go here http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=ben-steins-expelled-review-john-rennie . I think I'm just posti

Variability and God

This is a topic that I find very interesting. There are definite truths in both sides as far as I can tell, but I'm going to present you with both to generate discussion. I don't know if there is any other documentation on this topic, but it's something I think about a good bit. A discussion Richie, Terry, and I had last night reminded me of it. Here it is: Could God have made any of his choices differently? On the surface it seems like an easy question: "Of course. He's God, he can do whatever he wants." But on the other hand: "Of course not, He's God." Here's what I mean: Every decision God makes is made by Godly discernment. Therefore, every decision God makes is just, wise, true. The properties of these decisions make every other dicision unjust, unwise, and untrue. We could even add other descriptors there, but those are just the ones that came to my head. God can't act against himself because that would be sin. This could even tie i

Now this is just silly - and does make us look like nuts

Quote REEDSBURG, Wis. (AP) - An elementary-school event in which kids were encouraged to dress as members of the opposite gender drew the ire of a Christian radio group, whose angry broadcast prompted outraged calls to the district office. Students at Pineview Elementary in Reedsburg had been dressing in costume all last week as part of an annual school tradition called Wacky Week. On Friday, students were encouraged to dress either as senior citizens or as members of the opposite sex. A local resident informed the Voice of Christian Youth America on Friday. The Milwaukee-based radio network responded by interrupting its morning programming for a special broadcast that aired on nine radio stations throughout Wisconsin. The broadcast criticized the dress-up day and accused the district of promoting alternative lifestyles. "We believe it's the wrong message to send to elementary students," said Jim Schneider, the network's program director. "Our station is one that

Velvet Elvis

I just scanned several pages of the book on google books and would like to read the whole thing. I did stumble on the brick analogy and the virgin birth pages and am very concerned about his thinking. It is one thing for an unbeliever to not understand the nuances of the virgin birth and not believe that by faith because he has none. It is quite a different thing for a believer to buy into his argument. If you want to have these discussions in a theology class that would be the place to do it but to continue to doubt the fundamental tenets of the faith that set it apart from other faith systems is to call God a liar. We've heard all these arguments before: the word translated virgin could mean young woman -- the context of Isaiah make that interpretation improbable. Then you have to throw out the whole speech of the angel to Mary when she questioned him by saying "how can this be since I'm a virgin?" and the explanation to her by the angel. Some of this argumen

Live the Life

Preach the gospel to all the world, and if necessary, use words. -st. francis of assisi Were passengers aboard the train Silent little lambs amidst the pain Thats no longer good enough And when its time to speak our faith We use a language no one can explain Thats no longer good enough And God knows its a shame As we look to pass the flame We are not the worthy bearers of his name Chorus: For the world to know the truth There can be no greater proof Than to live the life, live the life Theres no love thats quite as pure Theres no pain we cant endure If we live the life, live the life Be a light for all to see For every act of love will set you free Theres something beautiful and bold The power of a million human souls Come together as one And each in turn goes out to lead Another by his word, his love, his deed Now the circle is done It all comes back to one For it is he and he alone Who has lived the only perfect life weve known -- Michael W Smith Interesting discussion today at men&#

Finish the line...

Rudolph the red nose reindeer.... Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks.... I can't get no.... Hit me baby.... Jingle bells, batman smells.... Melts in your mouth.... Like a good neighbor.... Help I've fallen.... Thy word have I hidden in my heart.... Good maybe you got that one Sanctify them by the truth.... Maybe that one was harder Think about all those songs and jingles that you know all the words to, you have them memorized because we hear them over and over again. We spend time listening to them and looking at them and dwelling on them so that we have these statements in our head that we can spit out. What if we could do that with scripture, if we meditated on it so that someone could start a verse and we could finish it. All of this came from a Francis Chan sermon (part of a series he was doing on Intimacy With God). Psalm 119:11 says I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. So much of Psalm 119 talks about that, the idea of medi

The Evolution of Man

A fierce debate rages in today's America about the origin of life.  It is an incredibly important debate that I don't believe can be won by arguing scientific theories (e.g. Intelligent Design, Darwinian Evolution.)  The primary reason it can't be won on scientific evidence is that people have made their minds up on the topic already and can support their position with science.  What I believe Christians should do is focus on the implications of an origin without God and realize that God is bigger than this debate. 1. Implications of life without God What is inherently better about "life"?  What incentive do I have to preserve my existence or the existence of those around me?  Why is preserving of a group of molecules that have somehow become self-aware more important than not?  A true atheist has no answer.  Any attempt answer that and you leave the realm of the natural and enter the super natural. If we are unable to answer that question, then everything f

Relationships

At the risk of stating the obvious, God uses relationships to build people. This is clear from Jesus' ministry (time spent w/ his disciples), Acts 2:42-47 (the word "together" is used repeatedly to describe their fellowship), and all of scripture. God didn't need to make it so. How could have made us to be lone rangers, but he didn't. Ecclesiastes 4:12 explains "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." I recall Chuck Swindoll sharing a story about a Marine Corps buddy of his who found more sincere relationships in a bar than in the church ( http://tatumweb.com/blog/2007/07/22/church-bar/#comment-67001 ), and frankly I can relate. When I came to faith in college through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, I belonged to strong fellowship and it made all the difference. In the 12 years since then, the depth of my relationships have been on a steady decline, for a number of reasons (most of whic

Confidence

1 Sam. 10:5 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. That verse is taken from 1 Samuel 1o and is spoken by Samuel concerning Saul's anointing.  In that chapter Samuel tells Saul that when he meets up with other prophets, the Holy Spirit will come on him in power and that when that happens he is to " do whatever your hand finds to do ." If each of us as followers of Christ have been granted the Holy Spirit then don't we have the same charge?  Haven't we been given a Spirit, not of timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline?  Isn't faith being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see?  Do you believe the Holy Spirit is directing you?

From Mike Adams on Townhall - the Audacity of Hope

I think this is the kind of stuff you guys are talking about when "doing church". While we don't know what God would do if we stepped out in faith -- we really aren't that concerned about numbers other than the fact that more folks means being able to do more but read the following: The Audacity of Hope 127 By Mike S. Adams Tuesday, March 18, 2008 Just a few years ago, Pastor Jackson got on a plane from Africa to come to the United States of America. He felt led to reach out and form a partnership with a small but growing church in Wilmington, NC. He sold his car in order to purchase the plane ticket. He put his trust completely in the Lord. When he arrived unannounced at the airport in Baltimore, MD, he called the office of the church asking for someone to come and pick him up. They had to give him the bad news that the Baltimore airport was close to Wilmington, Delaware but not anywhere near Wilmington, North Carolina. But they managed to get him on a bus to North

Role of the Elders

I made a comment in my previous post about about "one guy" doing all the preaching. I wonder why that is the model. In the Scriptures elders/overseers were responsible for the teaching and spiritual oversight. Have a look at Acts chapter six. There, some of the apostles were being bogged down by distributing food; so much so, that is was interrupting their ability to share the word of God. Seven servants/deacons were selected to take this over, thus freeing up the apostles to spread the word. And spread the word they did, as many came to be followers of the Way. I would suggest that the bulk of the teaching should be coming from all the elders of a body. Elders according to Paul (1 Tim) should be able to teach so the argument that someone isn't gifted in that way shouldn't be an issue since it is a foundational criterion for an elder. How would that look at our church?

The Sunday Morning Crowd

Let me start by saying that blogging by nature is slightly less formal than full-on essays, so please forgive my lack of a degree in English. Also, I can't say that I've fully thought through everything I say here. Finally and most importantly, my hope is that by getting ideas out there we will collectively come to the right conclusions. Our comments/discussion has shifted to being primarily about the Sunday Morning Service and it probably deserves it's own post. I believe the meeting on Sunday mornings in a building with a sermon from one man each week definitely has its place within the church, but I believe it to be only a part, maybe even small part, of what church more generally is and should be doing. Who is the audience? What role does it play for the audience? What role does it play in the church? What are the goals? (tightly related to the previous two questions) What elements should there be based on the goals? How did it come to be what it is? What factors influe

How would you "do church" if you had a blank slate?

We're not told a lot in the new testament "how" to do church. Sure there are a few things such as the reading of the word; singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs; the Lord's supper; teaching. We also see glimpses of the temple worship and worship around the throne in Revelation so that has to have some bearing on what we do. What about synagogue services since that would have been the model the early church practiced? I'm a firm believer in not doing things because "that's the way we've always done it". Sunday school did not exist 100 yrs ago. Wednesday night or Sunday night services didn't exist either I don't believe -- never have really thought about it or done the research. We as Elders intend to review the ministries we have and see where they fit into the vision of CBC...Glorifying God....Making Disciples. If they don't fit or arent effective they must be replaced with something that does or is. Ok - so what would yo

My Vision For This Blog

I will try to sum this up and keep it short. Earlier this year I read a book called Kingdom of Couches written by an author that is on staff with Cru. It was a book about having a communal faith and living out your relationship with God in the context of people or a community. Throughout the book the author included excerpts from a blog he had with some of his good friends, some of which were pastors. They would just share things that God was teaching them and present questions as well. More recently I have been listening to a lot of sermons from a lot of different pastors (Mark Driscoll, Francis Chan, Tom Nelson, John Piper, Tim Keller). The sermons have brought up lots of things that I have and would like to continue to discuss. So with this blog I would love to have some guys like Tim, Chad, Neal, maybe Greg, and some other "more elder" leaders at church be apart of this. With a good number of people involved in this it would keep it fresh and updated and give somet

A Blog

Welp, here it goes.