Posts (page 2)

"What is more... because of the early Christian belief in Jesus as Messiah, we find the development  of the very early belief that Jesus is Lord and that Caesar is not...

But already in Paul the resurrection, both of Jesus and then in the future of his people, is the foundation of the Christian stance of allegiance to a different king, a different Lord. Death is the last weapon of the tyrant, and the point of resurrection, despite much misunderstanding, is that death has been defeated.

Resurrection is not a redescription of death; it is its overthrow and, with that, the overthrow of those whose power depends on it.

Despite the sneers and slurs of some contemporary scholars, it was those who believed in the bodily resurrection who were burned at the stake and thrown to the lions. Resurrection was never a way of settling down and becoming respectable; the Pharisees could have told you that.  It was the Gnostics, who translated the language of resurrection into a private spirituality and a dualistic cosmology, thereby more or less altering its meaning into its opposite, who escaped persecution.

Which emperor would have sleepless nights worrying that his subjects were reading the Gospel of Thomas?

Resurrection was always bound to get you into trouble, and it regularly did."
-NT Wright, Surprised by Hope (HT Bob Hyatt)

Set1_02

Ellie the mini schnauzer passed away tonight about 7PM, being helped over the bridge by her master Sean, and Bunny. Ellie served as constant companion to Sean since he was 10, and provided so much love that no words can capture it.

She was a good dog.

We miss her...

The last couple of days, I've watched the frenzy of college basketball conference tournaments play out. I even found myself earlier today in a sort of basketball twilight zone, where a rabid Georgia Tech fan finds himself rooting for the hated Georgia Bulldogs playing on the GA Tech home court. I've seen young men hit incredible shots to win big games, and I've seen some young men miss shots that could have won games. In the first, the cheering will be with them forever, I'm sure. For those who missed, I hope they can remember the thrill of competition and overcome the bitterness of loss. Because for most people, it's what you do when the cheering stops that is the key.

We are on the cusp of a very special week as I write this. Sunday will begin Holy Week in Christian churches all around the globe. In thousands of languages and dialects, the story of Jesus' Passion will be told. Don't miss it.

John 12:17-19 (Msg) The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, was there giving eyewitness accounts. [18] It was because they had spread the word of this latest God-sign that the crowd swelled to a welcoming parade. [19] The Pharisees took one look and threw up their hands: "It's out of control. The world's in a stampede after him."

If Gallop, Barna, or Harris had taken a poll, Jesus would have been proclaimed king in a landslide that Palm Sunday, as even his enemies admitted that His popularity was at an all time high. People thronged to see Him enter Jerusalem.

But within a few days, people in Jerusalem were crying for Him to be executed as a criminal. And so He was. How did Jesus handle not just a change in popularity, but intense rejection? How can we learn from what He did?

No, we'll never enter Jerusalem at the head of thousands of our followers. But we enjoy being praised, and we like being liked. What happens to our convictions when we aren't? What principle can we look at to guide our way?

What did Jesus do?

John 12:27-28 (Msg)
"Right now I am storm-tossed. And what am I going to say? 'Father, get me out of this'? No, this is why I came in the first place. [28] I'll say, 'Father, put your glory on display.' "

Knowing that this celebration would end, and that the week would find Him bruised, battered, and crucified, Jesus looked not to His circumstances for direction, but to God. It was God's will that He used like a homing beacon. It was His passion to please God and glorify His name that kept Him going.

What are you here for?

Glorifying God. That's why you were placed here in the first place.

Is God in first place within your life?

Take the next week and use it to redirect your focus off the things of this life. Use the lens of Jesus' Passion to help you push toward deeper things - toward God. People aren't going to always be cheering your efforts you know. Sometimes you will miss that shot at the buzzer. Sometimes you'll dribble off your foot.

But God will always be in your cheering section, encouraging you. The cheering may stop here, but heaven will raise a ruckus when you come home.

Grace!

David Wilson

Traditional Hymn by Joseph Hart

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy
Weak and wounded, sick and sore
Jesus ready, stands to save you
Full of pity, love and power

I will arise and go to Jesus
He will embrace me in His arms
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O, there are ten thousand charms

Come, ye thirsty, come and welcome
God's free bounty glorify
True belief and true repentance
Every grace that brings you nigh

Come, ye weary, heavy-laden
Lost and ruined by the fall
If you tarry 'til you're better
You will never come at all

I will arise and go to Jesus
He will embrace me in His arms
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O, there are ten thousand charms

See Him Prostrate in the garden
On the ground your Maker lies
On the bloody tree, behold him
Sinner, will this not suffice?

I'm here on my day off trying to get over a nasty cold and Bunny and Sean have headed out to Destin to pick up a few things. I've had three phone calls from members, read some of my seminary text, and watched a little TV. (Why do we even have TV - there's nothing there)

For some reason I glanced up and saw the books I have here on my desk. Now I have a couple thousand in my office at church, but these here at home are in sort of a rotation. I'm either using them for background information on what I'm currently doing, reading them for what I might be doing, or rereading them because something in them is causing me to think.

I like to think.

So here's the list.

They Like Jesus, But Not the Church - Dan Kimball
unChristian - Kinnaman & Lyons
The Cross and the Prodigal - Ken Bailey
Searching for God Knows What - Donald Miller
Breaking the Missional Code - Ed Stetzer
Matthew - the Holman NIV Commentary - Anders
Matthew - the Communicators Commentary - Augsburger
The Jesus Creed - Scot McKnight
An Unstoppable Force - Erwin Mcmanus
The Jesus Way - Eugene Peterson
Communicating for A Change - Andy Stanley
The Present Future - Reggie McNeal
Christ Plays In Ten Thousand Places - Eugene Peterson
Living the Questions In Matthew - the Navigators
Crossing Cultures - Lane
To Follow Him - Mark Bailey
A History of Christianity - Paul Johnson
The Moody Handbook of Theology

Man, I need to go find some good fiction. LOL

Give thanks to the God of heaven. His faithful love endures forever.

Psalms 136:26 (NLT)
We've been meeting during the weeks leading up to Easter in a special time of worship on Sunday nights. The object is to grow closer to God and each other as we explore just what Easter cost God and just what it means for us. So I've planned each service with the aim to do as much as we can together. No sermon, more sharing.

Each week I've used certain symbols to remind us of what God has done. We had "veils" of paper that we tore as we contemplated what God did through Jesus' death on the cross in tearing the veil in the temple that separated the people from the presence of God. We had bread baking one night in the sanctuary as we celebrated communion. We wore name badges last night that proclaimed us "guilty" that we took off and affixed to the cross to testify that through Christ's death, we were made right with God.

And I've used many different videos - both music and drama, to help us grasp how wide, and how deep the love of God is for us.

My hope is that we have experienced the presence of God together these past few weeks.

But last night, I think I heard Jesus' voice.

I had passed out a sheet of paper which had on it a list of Scriptures that told of God's love for us. I began by reading the first verse, and then each person to my right read the next verse.

Sitting there in the stillness, hearing the voices of these people I've grown to love so much read the words of God's love letter... just took my breath away. Each person read. Some have strong and clear voices, and you could hear the conviction in them. Others spoke softly, but clearly in love. Our friend Allan uncharacteristically stayed to worship with us. He's developmentally disabled, but can read. With the help of his friend Joe Stoy, Allan became a part of our expression of love for God. Then the wavering voices of Robert and Virginia Hughes, aged saints among us were testimonies not just to the lives they have lived, but for Who they have lived them.

It was an experience with the Body of Christ I will never, ever forget.

At the end of the circle was Ian, the youngest among us. The number of verses ended with two repetitions of "His love endures forever." His mother and then his father read those. Ian looked at the paper and at his parents and then spoke "His love endures forever."

Yes it does. And through the voices of God's people, young and old, I think I heard Jesus.

The day the time changed.

My pastor friends were asking, "did the time change hurt you guys?" My answer was "maybe, but people out sick and out of town hurt more." There's so much lingering sickness in the area, still.

Beautiful day.

Our music today:

The Heart of Worship - classic to prepare to be in God's presence
True Worship Song - really enjoy this one
Your Name - awesome song
Come Thou Fount - tied in so well with the message
I Surrender All - all

And a special musical offering by our littlest praise team members: "I'll Fly Away".

The message came from Matthew 7:13-29 - the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus was testing His congregation to see if they understood what He was asking them to do and challenging them with choice and consequences. I really felt that God was dealing with some people as we went through the wringer together.

Sunday night: We continued our special worship meeting for pre-Easter. I distributed several pieces to be used in worship. "Guilty" name badges, a stripe of red ribbon, and a sheet of Scriptures telling of God's love for us. The name badges were placed on at the beginning of worship and taken off and placed on the cross as we came to take communion. The ribbons were to represent the "stripes by which we are healed".

EVENING WORSHIP MARCH 9, 2008

Worship Theme: “Loved”

Opening Prayer

Intro: “The Truth” - (grabbed this video off Youth Specialties site - very impactful)

By Any Means Necessary – Reading 1

Hosea 1:2 says: When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord."

Video – “How Deep the Father’s Love” - Fernando Ortega - You Tube

Go, show your love again – Reading 2

Hosea 3:1-3 says: The Lord said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes."
[2] So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about [10 bushels] of barley. [3] Then I told her, "You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you."

Video: What does Love Sound Like? - Worship media purchase - worked well

Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. [7] Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. [8] But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 4:9-10 (NIV)
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. [10] This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

What does love look like?
(Now we focused on the stripes)
John 15:13 (HCSB) No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.

PRAYER BEFORE COMMUNION

Video: In Christ Alone - Great hymn set to images from the Passion of the Christ - You Tube

PERSONAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

EACH PERSON COMES AND TAKES COMMUNION WHEN THEY ARE READY. TAKE A PIECE OF BREAD AND TAKE A CUP OF GRAPE JUICE. WHEN WE ALL HAVE THEM, WE WILL FIRST EAT THE BREAD, THEN DRINK THE JUICE.

1 John 4:16a (NIV)
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.

To wrap things up, I played a video of a guy who calls himself "Juan Mann" who goes to public places offering "Free Hugs". I prefaced it by saying "love wins". Great and inspiring. - You Tube