Interesting thoughts regarding the “information age”
http://chronicle.com/article/5-Myths-About-the-Information/127105/

How easter affected one’s atheism
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/04/16/how-easter-killed-my-faith-in-atheism/

40 free tools for writers
http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/40-free-tools-for-authors-by-piotr-kowalczyk/

Thoughts on church history
http://www.mereorthodoxy.com/why-church-history-%E2%80%93-the-cloud-of-witnesses-and-the-body-of-christ/

Why not Wednesday? Embrace complexity

April 27, 2011April 27, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

There is a significant push in life and ministry for simplicity. In our quest for simplicity don’t ignore the complex realities of life. Often in focusing on one thing we forget how it impacts other issues. We often want bullet points, sound bites, or commercials, but what is required is more involved. Here is a short clip that illustrates this:

One another…

April 26, 2011April 26, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

In eternity past God started time when He spoke the world into existence. As His crowning achievement He created mankind-in community- male and female He created them; in His image He created them.

Mankind fell into sin and so the epic struggle against depravity began. But in Genesis three there was prophecy by God of a future savior. Mankind continued to rebel against God. Cain killed Abel, and human government was established. But man, becoming vastly wicked and needed to be wiped out. So came the Flood. God was gracious, he allowed man to continue through Noah. Man, even after the flood, again rebelled against God by not going out, but instead built the tower of Babel.

God in His sovereignty chooses a man, Abrahm. And it was to be through this man that all nations would be blessed. This man’s family grew and ended up, again through God’s providence, in Egypt. While continuing to grow, God’s chosen people underwent bondage. God redeemed them and the nation of Israel was born, and God was to be their king. It was through Israel that all the world was to know God., YHWH, the I AM.

Israel rebelled against God. And God, according to his character and justice, punished Israel and sent them off to captivity- but not without comfort or promise. There would one day be a Messiah. There would one day be a new covenant where Israel would be fully restored and the problem of sin resolved.

The Messiah did come to restore Israel, but Israel rejected him. Not only did they reject him, but they crucified him. “And I delivered unto as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. And that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” Appearing to peter, the twelve and more than 500 hundred at one time. Christ conquered sin and death. But Christ did not remain here on Earth.

When the disciples asked Christ if now was the time to restore the kingdom of Israel, Christ said it was not for them to know “But you will be my witnesses.” The twelve disciples served as witnesses and the foundation of the church, something once hidden but now revealed. The church was born. A growing community of devoted followers of Christ. The success of the disciples is evident, the church is still growing.

When God saved us through His son and sealed us with His Spirit, He placed us into the church, a community of believers. Christ’s work binds us together and it binds us together for service.

For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

Paul talks about it, James talks about it, Peter talks about it, John talks about it, our savior talked about it and lived it. God is concerned about how we interact and minister each each another. It is a responsibility that Everybody has. Church is not the same or complete with out you involved.

Ephesians 4:15-16 “but speaking the truth in love we will grow up into all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted together by what every join supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the whole body for the building up of itself in love.”

It is the work of Christ that binds us together. It is the one another’s of scripture that give us responsibility to each another and it is the growth of us as a community that God has us here. Study the one another’s of Scripture. The health and growth of the community is essential to spreading the Gospel.

Born Again

April 20, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews ; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher ; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old ? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going ; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things ? 11 “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. 12 “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things ? 13 “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven : the Son of Man. 14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 “He who believes in Him is not judged ; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” ~John 3:1-21 NASB

He is ruler & priest

April 18, 2011April 18, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

1 The LORD says to my Lord : “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” 2 The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” 3 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power ; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew. 4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” 5 The Lord is at Your right hand ; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. 6 He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. 7 He will drink from the brook by the wayside ; Therefore He will lift up His head. ~Psalm 110 NASB

Don’t Marry Your Dream by H Hamilton Comings

April 15, 2011April 15, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

… H. Hamilton Comings is a dear friend and mentor of mine. There is great wisdom in connecting with pastors seasoned by life & ministry. This post on dreams is excellent. You can see his blog here…

Dreams can be like a marriage. When that happens we are in trouble. Friendships can exist on different levels and can move away leaving space for replacement. Marriages can only end in the grief of death or the bitterness of divorce.

God wants his people to cultivate friendships with dreams. A life void of dreams is a life mired in the swamp of complacency or stranded in the barren waste of apathy. However, when a dream becomes a marriage it has become an idol. This is true whether it is the dream house, the dream of some particular achievement or even a dream of ministry (perhaps the most seductive of all dreams).

Maintaining dreams at the friendship level requires not only the faith to pursue them but also the faith to let them go if God moves in that direction. As friendships they can be passionately owned, but they must not become possessively owned. In departure, their loss can be grieved, but the grief must not be allowed to fester into bitterness.

The faith to release dreams can accomplish two things. It can free our spirit to embrace the friendship of a new dream; and it can open the way for God, in his time, to bring back the released dream in better ways than we imagined. Elijah is an example of the first in his transition from a national prophet to a personal mentor. Moses is an example of the second in his transition from a premature deliverer of his people to a prepared founding father of a nation.

A key factor in this faith to pursue and to release our dreams is the recognition that is not easy. For some reason when something is not easy we tend to conclude it must not be right. The path of faith and obedience is rarely easy, and often it is not instinctively desirable. As with any parting of the ways, there will be the need to mourn. This should not surprise us. However, as with any mourning, there will be the need to get up, wash our face, thank God for the things built into our lives through the departed dream and, then accept the tasks at hand even though, at the moment, they may seem like empty husks.

The important phrase in that statement is, “seem like.” While engaged in those empty husks, we can be surprised by the unexpected visit of a new dream. When that happens we must guard ourselves against the temptation to reject it for fear that it, too, will move away unfulfilled. Wrenched away from home and dreams, Joseph, in the book of Genesis, could not have been the man he was in Egypt had he not cultivated the dream of being a man of honor. The testimony of his experience may give us an insight into the direction all dreams take us. Dreams, as with any God-given friendship, ultimately have as their reason for existence the development of nobility of spirit in our lives. When the great testimonies of Scripture are compared, God is not so much the fulfiller of dreams as the grower of souls.

Take a moment to list the dreams which have befriended you. If, in the making of the list, you find a bitterness of spirit at the memory of ones to which you have said “good-bye,” ask God to give you good and motivating memories of those past friendships. As for the dreams which are still part of your life, make sure none of them are things you “cannot live without.” Ask God for the grace to be passionately energized in your dreams because, above all, you are passionately energized by God himself with or without the dream.

Why not Wednesday? iDeas

April 13, 2011April 13, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

The best ideas for your field is often not found in your field. I love collecting proverbs, and this one is a big one. The proverb came from 3 things: Bible, Graphics Arts, and Kelly. If you are stuck, here are some ideas on taking the next step.

Bible
In studying wisdom literature a key theme stands out: wisdom comes from afar. It is a key aspect and pattern. This isn’t a contrast between man and God’s wisdom, but it is a picture of how wisdom is a pursuit. It’s beyond and one must seek it. Between proverbs and Ephesians there is a relationship between godliness and wisdom. One requires and builds on the other. Ephesians describes wisdom as a process. “Be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise.”

Graphics Arts
Some of the best discussions and ‘how to’s’ of collaboration is found in the graphic arts industry. Successful graphic art involves taking complex ideas and making them understandable. It involves merging complexity, essential concepts, and organization. One could define graphic arts as the merging of left and right-brained activities for effective communication. One consistent piece of advice in graphic arts is getting away. Not to learn about their field, but to learn about something unrelated- and there is where some of the best ideas arrive.

Kelly
“Old cars look like wagons.” Kelly and I were walking through the Henry Ford Museum. As we were walking through the cars section we saw the evolution of the horseless carriage. You can see lock in- a car must be a self-powered vehicle to a car being its own thing. Our understanding of technology and life changes things. You can see stages of development. The challenge is how to you get out of your box? The car industry is filled with failures and triumphs. There is a process: discovery, replication, barrier, new discovery.

The bottom line:
If you’re stuck, look outside your field. Sometimes you need a fresh look at something different to help you get to the next step. This is true of many things in life. After all, the Bible tells us to seek wisdom.

Torn & Mended

April 12, 2011April 12, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

This past Sunday was the most amazing life group. A small group, like many things becomes routine. It is part of weekly life. But the benefit of consistent involvement is that one amazing moment you will remember for a long time. This past Sunday stood as a reason of why small groups are important. We discussed the significance of a torn curtain and the mending that it provided.

Rescue not just judgment
In the Gospel we have the convergence of pain and suffering along with beauty and peace. People forget the Gospel is larger than a judicial matter, it’s a rescue form a massacre. Creation is fundamentally flawed. Jesus, by offering himself, resolves more than just the sin issue, He brings promise of all things new. Problems with human depravity and the brokenness of creation will one day end.

Present not removed
As sin alienates us from God, God is present and at work in His silence. God protected Israel while they wandered in the desert. While a curtain separated man from the holy of holies, God the Son was teaching in the courts of the temple. While people made themselves clean for worship, God the Son washed his disciples’ feet. As lambs were made ready for slaughter, Christ died on the cross and the curtain tore. Suffering brought peace.

Theology is practical
It is not proper to share what we discussed. But, the sharing of the Gospel has practical ramifications. It offers perspective, attitude, guidance, wisdom, hope and most importantly; it allows us to see God. Sometimes the most pragmatic thing needed isn’t practical at all. In life’s challenges what we need isn’t always a solution. We need the Gospel. The Gospel discusses our most significant need, the presence of God.

The bottom line:
We are mended through what was torn. And the separation that occurred brings people together. And this community celebrates what can no longer be separated as we look to all things being new.

Manic Monday: One awesome biography

April 11, 2011 · Leave a comment ·

Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

Go for it!

(especially on Monday)