Deuteronomy Chapter 8

Deuteronomy is one of those books that gets lost in the OT unless you are reading the whole Bible through in a year. I love chapter 8. Check out what big Mo had to say:

Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

I am so glad that this is not true of us today (Yeah right!) In all of our prosperity, we have forgotten the Lord. Before you quickly agree with this statement, understand that you probably have forgotten the Lord as well. I know I have.

A few verses down it is like God knows what is about to come out of our mouths, yeah but ...

You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Everything is a gift from God. May we not let his gifts get in the way of us loving him with all of our hearts and loving those around us.

$3 Worth of God And Two Posts Worth Reading

Worth the read - Jonathan Herron
Check out what Tim has to say about the priority of your spouse
Lastly, here is a great blog entry by Ben Witherington

Quote of the Day-- $3 dollars worth of God

It has been said that too many Americans have been innoculated with a slight case of Christianity that is preventing them from getting the real thing. Perhaps this has something to do with how much of God people really want. Here is a quote from Wilbur Rees to make you think:

"I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please - not enough to
explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of
warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of him to make
me love a foreigner or pick beets with a migrant worker. I want ecstasy,
not transformation; I want the warmth of a womb, not a new birth. I want
a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I'd like to buy $3 worth of God,
please."

I especially like the line 'I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth'. This, I am afraid, is exactly what people want out of their worship and church experiences. Not something that demands them to pick up a cross, make major sacrifices and follow Jesus. Rather, they want something that makes them comfortable with who they already are and how they already are. They want acceptance as they are, not repentance so they can be who they ought to be. Think on these things. (I will be using this quote in an upcoming message for sure.)

Great Day at PNC

Enjoyed a Pirate game last night with the family and about 70 others from Journey. It was a decent game even though the Pirates lost by one. The weather was absolutely perfect, and it was a fireworks night so that was a blast (get it?) You cannot go to a game without eating-had kettle corn, roasted pecans, soft serve, and a large Mountain Dew. Looking forward to Sunday as we jump back into our series, Promises, Promises.

Worship and Our Mission

Yesterday I preached one of the most difficult messages that I have ever preached. Believe it or not, worship is one of the most controversial topics in the church so I spent 60 minutes (which is much longer than I normally preach) dealing with it. My starting point was our mission which is this: Journey exists to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. One of the ways that we try to carry this out is by creating environments conducive for life-change. I spent a lot of time talking about the Sunday morning environment that we are trying to create.

There is always a tension. I want Journey to be a place where we can come and express our praise, worship, and adoration to God, and do it in an exciting way. Being passionate and excited is a great thing, however, we must be mindful of the people we are trying to reach. We must not forget that Sundays are not just about us, and because of this, it is not "anything goes." I believe that it is very possible to find that middle ground where we can be excited and exuberant with our praise and still be mindful of those around us (those who don't yet know God, those who are trying church for the first time, those who have been de-churched, those who are seeking God, etc.)

So my prayer and my hope is that we can be balanced in our approach to worship and that we as a church would remember our mission. May Journey be a church that reflects the heart of God!

Enjoying Spring

Yesterday on the way to church I was appreciating the sunshine. I went down a road where I often see has deer or turkey, and sure enough, there was a turkey who had just stepped off of the road (Why did the turkey cross the road anyway?) While turkeys are not the prettiest of birds, their feathers are amazing. It was beautiful to see the morning sun reflecting off the feathers. I was once again reminded of God's beauty, his imagination, and his creativity. Enjoying the Spring weather ...

Greater Works

We are currently in a series called Promises, Promises, and this Sunday I talked about greater works. The passage that we examined was from John 14. "Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:12-14)

Here is what Jesus was not saying:

Jesus was not saying, live your life for yourselves, ignore my mandate, and ignore obedience, and then ask anything in my name and whola.

He was not saying live a self centered life by ignoring what I have clearly commanded you to do and then try and stand on this verse. Rub the lamp. Doesn’t work that way.

He was saying that as you continue my mission of ushering the kingdom of God into the world by embracing the mission that I have given you:
--I will empower you.
--I will assist you
--I will go before you
--I will demonstrate my power
--I will do what you ask in my name according to my will
--The Spirit of Truth will lead you

Why greater works? Because my plan is to change the world, one person at a time. He was telling his disciples that this was all a part of his plan. He must ascend to the Father so that the Holy Spirit could be poured out to empower believers all around the world so that greater works could be done. I truly believe that God wants us to do greater works through us, but I believe that we will experience them as we are "about the Father's business" to borrow and old school phrase.

I believe that fulfilling the mission/mandate that we have been given goes hand-in-hand with the greater works that Jesus talked about. Something is wrong when we have no interest in embracing the Kingdom of God that Jesus so often talked about and then expect God to come through with "greater works." I believe Jesus validates and puts an exclamation point on our efforts when we are doing the things that he commanded us to do. That is the picture that I see in the NT ... that's the way I see it.

Biggest Loser

I watched the Biggest Loser last night and it was the second to last episode. Next week we find out who the biggest loser is. Last night they went back to week one and reviewed the last four contestant's progress. I must say, it was incredibly emotional to see how these four people's physical lives have been transformed which affects them as a whole. There is something very powerful about transformation whether it be physically, emotionally,spiritually, or all three. Even if you haven't watched the show, I encourage to tune in next Tuesday to see the finale. It will encourage you that you can do anything that you set mind to do. Watching the show and seeing their progress inspires me to stay in shape and try to eat healthier (man is that hard). As we watched this show in bed, I split a Twix bar with Patsy all the while knowing that I shouldn't eat it (I got the exercise part down, it is the junk food that is killing me). Journeying to better health ... one day at a time. A friend of mine has a great blog about fitness and exercise-check out Brian's blog.

Listening to the Word

I have often recommended it, but never really practiced it until recently. I was behind on my Bible reading so I thought that I would try listening to it in order to catch up. I have a couple of different versions on my Ipod but haven't really listened to them. I decided to try listening to the Message Re-Mix, and I found that I really liked it. It was completely different than reading it, and it was a nice change of pace. I did find that it required concentration-in order to really listen I had to sit down and focus on what I was listening to. Whenever I tried to multi task I found that I was not getting anything out of the message.

Most of us are creatures of habit, and I am convinced that anything new in time gets old, especially our routines. My suggestion, mix it up. Time of day, different Bible version, listening vs. reading, change of location, etc.

Reading the Word is of utmost importance and yet I must admit there are times when it has become "stale" to me. When this happens, I try and vary my routine. Reading a different version has really helped keep his Word fresh. Any other ideas for mixing things up a bit?

First Ever "Emerging" Amish Church

According to JesusManifesto.com, the first ever “emerging” Amish church launched recently just outside of Columbus, Ohio. The church, calling itself “Solomon’s Barn” blends cutting edge worship with Amish sensibilities. Its pastor, Jacob Yoder (who prefers to be called “Jay”) believes that the Amish can learn from emerging styles of worship. “We’re ready for something new…something fresh,” says Pastor Jay.

When asked about his sources of inspiration, Pastor Jay (who wears a soul-patch instead of a traditional Amish beard) responded by saying: “I mean, there I was, settling with ‘church as usual’ when I stumbled upon the writings of Brian McLaren. I felt like his words were coming right from my own head, you know? I realized that I was a postmodern Amish person…I needed to reject pre-modernism for a more authentic faith.”

Worship at Solomon’s Barn reflects Amish traditions…for example, the men and women are seated separately, but instead of pews, the congregation sits on couches in their worship space–a renovated barn. Women still wear head coverings, but many of the coverings have patches sown into them that say “another world is possible” or “jesus was homeless.” Many of the worship songs are simply contemporary Amish pop tunes with worshipful lyrics added. And while Amish worship services have always used candles–or lanterns–this new hip, Amish church drapes black cloth around their makeshift sanctuary.

Oprah's Influence

There is an interesting clip on YouTube regarding the message that one of the world's most influential women is spreading. Oprah does a lot of good things with her show-this is not one of them. Check out her views on God, Jesus, and humanity. Increasingly, we are becoming a society where "anything goes." As long as you believe something, it is good enough. This is not a new thought, however, it seems that this view has been building steam over the last several years, and Oprah is doing her part to spread the wrong message.

Memory Overtaking Imagination?

I love reading what other leaders are blogging. This entry was Mark Batterson's blog. He pastors NCC in Washington DC and has some great insights. He writes:

Neurological studies have shown that over the course of time, there is a cognitive shift from right-brain to left-brain. And if we don't find a way to stop the shift, memory overtakes imagination. We stop creating the future and start repeating the past. We stop innovating and start imitating. We stop doing ministry out of imagination and start doing ministry out of memory.

A few years ago I read something R.T Kendall wrote that impacted me: "The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday."

I don't want that to be me!

One of the byproducts of the neurological shift away from right-brain imagination toward left-brain logic is that we become too logical. And it seems fitting on April Fool's Day to say that great leaders are illogical. The people God uses the most are people that aren't afraid of looking foolish. In fact, if you aren't willing to look foolish you're foolish!

I Corinthians 1:27 says that God uses foolish things to shame the wise. Nothing has changed. He still uses fools. So maybe the church should adopt April Fool's Day and make it a holy day!

Crazy Ebay Story

BIG TIMBER, Mont. - Without their consent or knowledge, a pastor in rural Montana has sold his church and congregation on eBay for $3 million.
"I finally got good and sick of them," says Tad Marshall, pastor for 15 years who completed the secret sale last week. "This serves them right. All of them."
But many in the church are stunned by the Marshall family's sudden departure.
"We had such a good relationship," says Winifred Barnes. "Whenever I called him in the middle of the night to pray for my psoriasis, he was happy to help. I'm surprised he would treat us this way."

Others expressed similar feelings.
"We would stop by for surprise visits every time he had a day off, and his wife was always quick to put a pot of coffee on," says Fred Souther. "We'd sit there and chat for hours. Those were wonderful times."
One woman recalls how Pastor Marshall responded to her plea to visit her ailing mother every day during her prolonged illness at a hospital 78 miles away.
"I don't think he did it because we threatened to quit the church. I think he was genuinely concerned for Mother even though she was in a coma," she says. "We would sit with her for hours singing hymns to her. I could tell he was blessed by it."
Another longtime member recalls the day a group of women surprised the pastor's wife with an impromptu shopping trip.
"It was clear she was unable to afford modest clothing, so we charged right in and threw away everything in her closet," she says. "Then we bought her new ankle-length dresses with long sleeves. She cried tears of joy that day. She kept saying, 'I can't believe you're doing this.' It was a bonding moment for all of us."
Even the board, which had its share of differences with Marshall, recalls him fondly. They say he happily abided by the church's Dress and Grooming Code, kept sermons to 23 minutes as the board required and even abandoned his use of the New Living translation on Sunday morning.
"Once he understood it is a devilish translation that twists the words of the original spoken English, he said he'd be happy to go back to using the Authorized King James Version," an elder says. "That's the way Tad was. A real go-along guy."

Friends from out of state say Marshall came to rural Montana hoping to find a friendly lifestyle where he could help good-hearted people grow closer to Christ. Instead he found "an enclave of faux-Christian Pharisees" who demanded he serve their every whim, says one seminary buddy. One day while selling old exercise equipment on eBay to supplement his church income, which had been docked by the board because a service had gone too long, Marshall decided to rid himself of the congregation in a creative way.
His eBay listing emphasized the positive: "This delightful country church sits on 2 acres of land. Comes complete with congregation and 35 regular tithers! Sunday school wing, no mortgage. Bids start at $200,000."

Recent Bible college graduates bid first, hoping to gain a built-in congregation on the cheap. Then several entrepreneurs with ministry ambitions swooped in, driving the price up. Kevin Silver, a 39-year-old former Internet company founder, won with a last-minute bid. He is looking forward to "leaving the spiritual corruption of the big city behind" and taking the helm of the rural congregation.
"I always wanted to serve at a little country church where decent people just want to pursue God," he says. "My wife and I are looking forward to settling into community life and getting to know these wonderful folks. This will be a great second chapter of life for us."

APRIL FOOLS!

Expelled Enlivens Blogosphere

There is a lot of buzz about this upcoming film. Here is an blurb from Christianity Today.

Controversy over new documentary is most blogged-about topic online; film draws praise from creationists.

Reel News has been reporting about the upcoming documentary Expelled and the controversy it's generated for weeks now, but we're hardly the only ones. Last week, Expelled was the most blogged-about topic on the Web, says BlogPulse, a Nielsen service.

Though the Ben Stein-narrated movie doesn't open in theaters until April 18, it has already become the most controversial movie of the year after noted atheist PZ Myers was booted from a recent screening of the film in Minneapolis. Associate producer Mark Mathis sees some irony here. "It is amazing to see the reaction of PZ Myers, Richard Dawkins and their cohorts when one of them is simply expelled from a movie. Yet these men applaud when professors throughout the nation are fired from their jobs and permanently excluded from their profession for mentioning Intelligent Design."

"I hope PZ's experience has helped him see the light," Mathis continued "He's distraught because he could not see a movie," noted Mathis. "What if he wasn't allowed to teach on a college campus or was denied tenure? Maybe he'll think twice before he starts demanding more professors be blacklisted and expelled simply because they question the adequacy of Darwin's theory."

Executive producer Logan Craft added, "We can't wait for all Americans, including our friend PZ Myers, to see the film when it opens. We'll even throw in some free popcorn for PZ if he'll tell us which theater he'll be attending."

While Dawkins, Myers and other atheists continue to speak out against the film, evangelical publications like WORLD champion it. Marvin Olasky writes that the movie "should be rated R not for sex or violence but for being reasonable, radical, risible, and right." He goes on to say that the movie is perfectly fair to Dawkins and his colleagues, and that the movie's comparison of "Darwinism's stifling of free speech" to Communism is legitimate.

Meanwhile, the Acton Institute says Dawkins and the movie's other detractors are being unfair to creationists, accusing them of failure "to educate themselves on the official position of the Catholic Church in regards to science."

Check out the trailer.