Doing God's work, one step at a time

It's times like these that we struggle through the 'why did this happen' questions. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to the motives of a tragedy of this magnitude. Even if the authorities do come up with a motive as to why, it still isn't enough of an answer. Nothing seems to fit the why...until you stop to think of the mission God has us on. Make disciples and Love God, Love others. This is our mission. Satan is going to do everything he can to distort, discourage, and dissolve anything God has planned. Nothing, however, is unexpected with God. He knows all...and through it all, even the killing of innocent children in Newtown, Conneticut. So, then we have another why? Because through this tragedy, God will be glorified. How? Brotherly love. Through this many chances to witness to unbelievers will come of this. My guess is that as a result of this tragedy, like 9/11, many converts to Christianity will be won...and that is what it is all about. It is obviou

"A House divided against itself cannot stand." This quote is most famously attributed to Abraham Lincoln. However, he got it from a specific source...the Bible...in a few different places, Matthew 12:25, Mark 3:25 and Luke 11:17. Here's the thing. Jesus was the one who spoke these words. How true they are. Abraham Lincoln was President of these great United States of America during the Civil War. It was a house divided then...and honestly...has been since. The South is very much different from the North. Now I have lived in both areas...and I can tell the difference. Yeah, demographics have a play in it...times have changed...but have they? We are a nation a week past an election. By the look of the county breakout of the 'red' and 'blue' counties, there are far more red than blue. Yeah, those red parts are open country and the blue ones are concentrated population, which is where a good percentage of the population live. But here's the problem. We a

Mountains are something. I remember going through the Western United States in 1994 via a family vacation. I remember how flat the plains were... I remember what the mountains looked like in the distance...sooooo beautiful. However, I can also remember the trek up the mountain, being on top, and then the subsequent journey back down again. Sometimes you were going uphill when it seemed you were going downhill and vice versa. I love the mountains. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking. I write today on mountains and valleys, because it seems that I am experiencing one now. What I thought was a trek down the mountain was actually a trek up and what I thought was a trek up the mountain is actually a trek down to a valley. Mountain top experiences are fantastic. We're close to God...we're on our game, doing the very things that we've been called to. But then comes the valley...perhaps the season has changed...perhaps we have something new to learn...something new to venture

What is it about a good book that always seems to keep you reading? When you get to the end of a chapter, you just can't wait to start the next chapter! It always seems to keep you interested. In Lima, a chapter has ended. The Federated Church of Lima, although not 'official' yet, has voted to merge with The Crossing. Thus, a chapter has ended. A congregation that has been dying for quite a while has chosen to close one chapter out and start a new one. For me, the dream God gave me back in March has come to fulfillment. The Federated Church of Lima has ceased to exist. Part of me has had a real hard time watching all this come around. Part of me is very sad that it had to come to this. However, part of me is excited to see what happens in the next chapter. The Crossing will come in and change everything. I doubt there will be much recognizable as the 'old church' in a year...if that long. What I believe will change the most, which by the way is the most important

This title is the title of the book I am going to write. It is a combination of "The Lukewarm Christian Epidemic" and the Relational Discipleship kick I have been on for a year or two now. God has given me 4 sections, 17 chapter headings and a preface. Of course, as everyone knows, this is subject to change as the Spirit leads. At first I thought this book would be a short thing. However, the more I get into it, the more I see this thing is really going to be a 'book'. I am eagerly awaiting God's lead in this and am excited to see this project really take form. So many churches need to hear what this book is going to talk about...so many people need to hear it... It isn't just derived from my experiences with the churches I've been at. It is derived from those experiences, but a wider trend through other churches as well. It isn't limited to rural churches, urban churches, small churches or large churches. It is a problem that occurs in many diffe

Leadership is a funny thing...some leaders are after the power or control, some are in it for the service. But the problem is...are we willing to do what we are being called to do by God? For some, I question whether or not the motives are pure. For some, I wonder if they are answering God's call or the call of their ego. I have had the pleasure now of being a part of 3 wonderful churches in a ministerial capacity. All of them are filled with wonderful, God-fearing people. However, I've noticed a trend. One of my friends and mentor, Casey Scott once told me that leadership will make or break your ministry. The best laid plans are great...but if you don't have a strong leadership behind you, you'll have a much harder job. Boy Casey was so right. I've noticed that leadership in the churches usually is an indication of how strong the congregation is. One of the churches I was in the Leaders were a great group of people...but steeped in tradition a little hard as w

Now that I am living in the land of Hurricanes and Tropical Storms, it seems my attention has been drawn lately to Tropical Storm/Hurricane Isaac. I find myself watching "The Weather Channel" for the updates on how the storm is progressing. Because of the nature of our culture, we tend to put stock in the Weatherman and the software designed to predict the outcome of a storm. This isn't the point of why I wanted to write today, but just a little side note to keep in mind how much stock we put in computer programs and weather predictions. Trust in God, He is the one who has the control of everything at His fingertips. The point I wanted to get at today has to do with this storm brewing out in the Gulf of Mexico. Do you remember around this date back in 2005? I do because my daughter was born that year around that time. It was really scary because New Orleans had dodged bullet after bullet with Hurricanes, avoiding direct hits. It was like the boy who cried wolf. They'

As promised from last week, here are the categories of people on their Spiritual walk. Notice these are only characteristics, however, they should help determine where you stand. Also note this: this is the 'sermon notes' that I preached from yesterday. There were way too many notes to put in the bulletin, so what follows from here is going to be very 'incoherent' and could possibly be 'hard to read', simply because they are my notes to remind myself of the subjects I was going to talk on. To listen to the audio sermon, please go to this is my YouTube Channel where I post all of my audio sermons. The characteristics are found in these 'sermon notes.' The following sermon that I am about to preach is adapted from Dr. Roger Barrier’s article, “The Greatest Tragedy in the Christian Church”. It has been modified a bit by me, but most of the credit goes to Dr. Barrier. Without looking at the Sermon Notes, I want to take a poll. How many think they are sp

Relational Discipleship is just what it says it is. Making Disciples relationally. Terry Bowland has written a book called "Making Disciples" published in 1999 by College Press Publishing. In a sermon not too long ago, I addressed Bowland's book frequently. I am currently reading this book and am forming ideas for making a "Discipleship Class". My goal is to gear it toward the various stages of believers and where they are at currently in their walk with Christ. I am not sure when this will be ready, but know that I have the idea in the works. If the Bride of Christ is going to experience a growth spurt again, relational discipleship is where it is going to begin. Here is the problem...and I have met with some resistance with this idea: every child who grows up in the church should have the knowledge equivalent to a Bachelor's Degree in Genral Biblical Studies by the time they are 18. Someone told me this isn't possible. Unfortunately, they don't k

It's been a while since I posted on the blog. Many things have been going on...my apologies. One of the things brewing for the past bit is the direction of the church here in Lima. Do we rely on God and do the work ourselves or do we give it to The Crossing and let them take it on. Well, here's my take. Either way, it's our responsibility. That is simply the crux of the matter. No one can work out your faith and relationship in Christ for you. YOU must do it. Simply put, we don't want to put in the time it is going to require in order to disciple someone. It is a difficult task, full of pain, strife and time. Yet, it is the most rewarding time too. To see someone go from milk to meat is something that in the Christian walk, means the world. Every time I go to serve others, it is THEM who minister to me. My eyes get opened to things that I hadn't seen before...ears to things that I hadn't heard, and my feet take me places I never thought possible. Oh yes, chang

I have a few things on my mind as service rolls around for Good Friday. Within the church here at Lima, the wider church in our country, and the Church worldwide, I'm noticing more recently a lot of division, dissention and discord among believers. Particularly because I just got done with "History of the Christian Church", which opened my eyes to the division we truly do have in Christianity. Not just of different sects such as Eastern Orthodox and Catholicism or the Church of England and Baptist, but within denominations too. Not only that, but within particular groups of believers. It grieves me so much that people argue and fight over things that, in the grand scheme of things, don't matter to a hill of beans. The trouble is, we all agree on the one thing necessary...that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and our Personal Lord and Savior. That is what matters...not the direction of a church, the policies adopted by a denomination or even the days w

In Bingham’s book, chapter 7 starts out by posing this statement, “Another major issue in the reformation was the doctrine of the church” (pg. 121). This stirred my thinking because Bingham continues on to discuss how the early church fathers recognized that the church was the people and not a building as such, but that it had gotten lost in the institution (pg. 121). As the Reformation began, re-emphasizing the believers being the church was one of the greatest importances. However, as time has passed since the Reformation, it seems the same problem is happening again. Let me explain. A while back, there was some emphasis being done about maintaining the church and how vital it is to do. In addition, there were arguments about a movie being shown in the Men’s group. Discussions followed about the ‘church building’ and respecting the church property and of course, the other side of the argument, that the people are the building and if there is an issue, we need to do it personally, b

So....the first two weeks were a bit challenging...even for me. Stretching our thinking, stretching our actions. Have you been inspired to do something about your walk? How has this sermon series changed the way you view worship and discipleship? Perhaps it has confirmed what you always thought. The key, however, is that we here in Lima must face up to truth. We have a reputation of being divisive...things aren't nearly as divisive as they used to be, but still, this is the way we are seen. Where do we stand about our worship? Praise, Prayer, Communion, Offering, Proclaiming the Word...are you authentic in your worship? If not, why? What's holding you back? On that note, how about your discipleship? Are you coming to church to visit, be seen or to 'do the right thing'? Are you applying the Scriptures being taught or do they fall flat at the door? We have great people here in Lima...but it's time we start doing more than just coming to church, helping with church d

For those of you who were not with us last week, we were going through “The Life of Christ” and we had our course corrected by God. We started looking through this idea of “Why do YOU go to church?” What is it that brings you to church service on Sunday morning? We went through some various reasons why, but we came to the conclusion that we are supposed to be here first and foremost to Worship God only. That’s why we’re here. Today we are looking at the 2nd reason why. This week was my final week of Intro to the Pauline Epistles. I had to do a research paper on a certain passage from one of the letters of Paul. As I started to dig into the passage, 1 Timothy 3, which is the leadership passages, I discovered that Timothy was located in the church at Ephesus. We also have Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church in our Bible as well. The Ephesian church was being warned by Paul to repent otherwise there will be some dire consequences from their actions. This Ephesian church was extremely div

Is everyone ready to be thrown off today, because I am preaching from the pulpit this morning? It is not something I normally do, but it is something that I felt I needed to start doing. Before I begin, the past week and a half for me has been extremely difficult, but extremely spiritual. I have come across some things and made some discoveries that I believe everyone needs to hear. On Monday, I was in my office and I was very depressed. I wasn’t feeling the spirituality. I was just very down. I was talking with a colleague of mine that day and he is having trouble in his ministry too, so we were just patting each other on the back, trying to give another look on the situation. It can be very helpful to have another opinion. While we were talking, we decided we needed to go back to the basics and reexamine what “The Reproductive Church” looks like. So, we sat down and came up with this model of the “Acts 2 church”. I know I’ve said it before, but it is the church described in Acts 2 th

This week for the blog, I am going to post an answer I gave for one of my assignment questions this week. After this post, I will make a few more comments. Now, if you are unfamiliar with the word 'cruciformity', it merely means 'crosslike'. So, if I were to state that we should live a 'cruciform' lifestyle, that means that we need to live a 'crosslike' lifestyle, in other words 'formed to the image of Christ'. 2. Which of Paul's big ideas (chapter 6 in Gorman) do you find most compelling for the church to grasp or grapple with at this time? Choosing between two of these is going to be difficult. The reason being is that two of these, in my mind, go hand in hand. Gorman lists #9 as “Cruciformity, or The Law of Christ” on page 140, and #11 as “The Church as Alternative Community” on page 141. The way I see our culture is that we are self-centered, pied-piper following groupies. Most people go to church on Sunday to get their “get out of he

God is good. God is faithful. Just when we are having issues with certain things, He prompts us with beckonings of the Holy Spirit to guide us in our thinking, walk and lifestyle. I was having lots of issues this week with direction for the church when I listened to a sermon today on "Confusion". Ooooooh goodness...basically it stated that "oneness" can be a good thing, and it can be a bad thing too...Just because we unite together in a church, doesn't necessarily mean we are doing God's Will. Only by seeking His face through the disciplines will we see the direction He is calling us. Unity is a good thing...we just have to be sure we are all united on God's path, not our own particular desires. So, what's the direction for our church? Well, it's gonna start with prayer, fasting, solitude and sacrifice. We will then realize the goal for our little church in due time. I can guarantee it doesn't involve only sustaining the church. It involved g

Here lately, I have seen a rash of people hanging onto what I would call 'half-truths'. What I mean by half-truth is this: what they say is partially the Truth, partially a lie. My friends, a half-truth IS a lie. The enemy uses half-truth's to steer us away from the salvation we gain through Jesus Christ. Here are some of the examples of half-truths that I have seen: "Homosexuality is not a sin." "Faith is an individual thing, there isn't one path that is exactly the correct way to get to heaven..." "We have to do works of The Law (Hebraic Jewish Law) and keep the entire Law in order to be saved in addition to believing in Christ." "Why would a woman want to keep a child of a rape??? Abortion isn't wrong in this instance..." "I'm a good person, that's enough to get me to heaven." "Religion is just a system of control on society." These are just a few of the various things I have seen.

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Here is the link to the Audio sermon! Copy and paste this into your browser and check back to give your feedback! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cDdth7qw9k&feature=plcp&context=C3df2c60UDOEgsToPDskIgyiqCiHIxbluINuTevBjh

Today we are going to start a 14 week sermon series entitled “The Life of Christ”. This is by no means going to be a comprehensive study. There is no way we can look at the life of Christ in 14 weeks…it’s impossible. There is simply just too much information. I actually did this class in 6 weeks in school. It was REALLY intense. I actually had two textbooks for this class; “Four Portraits, One Jesus: An Introduction to Jesus and the Gospels” by Mark L. Strauss & “The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is” by N.T. Wright. Both of these books are great reads, however, very intense. I have a couple copies of each of these books if you would like to be challenged and grow your faith. But over the next 3½ months, we will only be able to hit the highlights, obviously ending our series on Resurrection Sunday, April 8th. Between Christmas and Resurrection Sunday every year, there is roughly between 10 and 18 weeks between the two, depending on the year. However, before I