extending the Kingdom

The meaning of Christmas

2011-12-23T11:34:00.000-06:00

This is a short article I wrote for the Altona Echo's Christmas edition:

The meaning of Christmas
Pain.
I know, I know Christmas is all about good things and happy times. You know food, family, parties, children’s programs…
But sometimes (often?) it feels broken. Instead of being a time of celebrating that all is good in life, it is a time when one may realize that life stinks. Family relationships are shattered, debt is piling up, and it is kind of lonely.
Merry Christmas!?
But this is what Christmas is actually all about. Christmas is about pain, brokenness and loneliness. We forget that there would be no Christmas if things weren’t messed up. Christmas is a celebration, a remembrance, that God entered into this world as Jesus. And Jesus came into our world not because we are so good and happy but because we are bruised and beat up. Jesus is here to rescue and save those who are wounded and lost.
The good news of Christmas is that God has not abandoned us in brokenness. He is with us. He enters into the mess of our lives. Christmas is God’s response to our brokenness.
The story of Jesus, according to Matthew, begins with the announcement of the birth of Jesus saying that he will be called “Immanuel” which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). It then ends with Jesus declaring “I will be with you always” (Matthew 28:20).
Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is understood in the light of the promise of God to be with us.
Christmas is a time for us to remember that God is with us, not that life is great but He is present. And this is what allows us to say “merry Christmas!”

Men's Breakfast

2011-12-07T11:00:00.001-06:00

On Saturday Jacob and Arlene Friesen shared at a men's breakfast. They did a great job. The theme was guy/girl relationships. They encouraged us to work at answering some questions about the important women in our lives (wife, daughters...).
These questions were taken from Intimate Allies:

In what ways has your relationship with your spouse changed you (for the better)? How has your spouse influenced you to reflect God's glory more clearly?
In what way is your spouse special? How is she like no one else in your life?
Spend 15 minutes thinking about these questions: "What do I know and what don't I know about my spouse? What intrigues me about my spouse?"
What are your spouse's potential, giftedness, burdens and passions? Make a list for each of the four areas.
What is most beautiful and wonderful about your spouse?
What about your spouse makes you thankful?
How is your spouse like Christ?
How can you draw out her uniqueness, to live out God's glory in a way that no one else can?

Connecting with God?

2011-11-25T15:57:00.001-06:00

When is the last time that someone asked you how you connect to God?

The other day I was in a meeting with pastors and church leaders and we were talking about renewal. The leader of the discussion stated the obvious that renewal starts (and ends) with connecting with God. He then asked each person to share how often they intentionally connect with God and what they do? Seriously, we went around the circle and shared. This is the first time I have ever been at meeting where this took place.
Now I should note that the leader did not do this in a judgmental sort of way but just invited people to honestly share.
A few things jumped in my head.

"Boy I am glad my time with God is going fairly well right now." (Interesting how my initial response is worrying about looking weak and broken before others)
Why don't we ask this question more often?
The leader actually assumes that we are connecting with God.

Catacombs

2011-11-02T15:02:00.000-05:00

Persecution.
Not something I truly understand or ever want to actually understand.
Something that many do understand.

There are many reasons why people are persecuted. One of them being religion. As followers of Jesus we are called to remember those who suffer simply because they are Christians.

"Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering." - Hebrews 13:3

On November 6 a drama is being performed, Catacombs. This drama calls us to think about the reality of persecution.

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=274699909227142

The King Jesus Gospel

2011-10-31T11:02:00.000-05:00

The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited

Scot McKnight

Zondervan, 2011

Main points:

The Gospel is: “declaring the Story of Israel as resolved in the Story of Jesus.” (page 79)
The church has lost the gospel having focused primarily on the plan of salvation.

The plan of salvation asks, “how we can get saved?”
The gospel tells a story into which the plan of salvation fits

Scot does an excellent job of showing how the entire NewTestament uses this definition of “gospel” (Paul, Peter, the writers of thegospels and even Jesus). Based on thisScot calls us back to preaching the gospel not simply salvation. He believes that our focus on salvation hasled us to create a culture where the most important thing is to have made a onetime decision to believe in Jesus and have our sins forgiven. This is not wrong in and of itself, it justisn’t big enough. We need to create agospel culture, a culture where the most important thing is Jesus resolving thestory of Israelby being declared lord and messiah through his death and resurrection. We are called to line ourselves up with thisstory, to become part of this story.

Scot suggests a few ways that we create a gospel culture. First, “we have to become People of the Story”(page 153). We need to know/learn theentire story told in the bible. Second, “weneed to immerse ourselves even more into the Story of Jesus” (page 153). Third, “we need to see how the apostle’swritings take the Story of Israel and the Story of Jesus into the nextgeneration and into a different culture, and how this generation led all theway to our generation” (page 155). Fourth, “we need to counter the stories that bracket our story and thatreframe our story” (page 157). Here Scottalks about how we need to counter the powerful stories of our world like individualism,consumerism…

Fifth, “we need to embrace this story so that we are savedand can be transformed by the gospel story” (page 158).

Halloween

2011-10-14T14:03:00.000-05:00

This is a question my church received the other day. Here is answer that the church has written but what do you think?

“What does the Bible say about Halloween and Christians celebrating it? Including but not limited to, trick or treating, costume parties and the like.”

The Bible never mentions Halloween. Therefore it does not specifically tell us how Christians should relate to this day. This has resulted in Christians coming to different conclusions as they seek to take the Bible seriously. There are two streams of thought regarding this issue: 1) Avoid Halloween. 2) Engage in Halloween with discernment.

Avoid Halloween
Some Christians have nothing to with Halloween because they are convinced that this day is a celebration of evil. It appears that the origins of Halloween began with the Celtic celebration of Samhain. This was a pagan festival in which, among other things, focused on warding off evil spirits and ghosts. Even today there seems to be a certain fascination with darkness and evil that is part of Halloween. The Bible does teach that we should not participate in evil.

Engagement in Halloween with discernment
Many Christians believe that we can engage in Halloween with discernment. Halloween may have begun as a pagan festival but today, some 1500 years later, it is radically different. While there is a fascination with evil, many of the things done on Halloween are not evil in and of themselves. There is nothing wrong with dressing up, or giving out (getting) candy, throwing parities… Christians who hold this view believe that we can redeem even parts of Halloween and bring God’s light into this dark time. There is a level of discernment that needs to take place. The Bible does teach us not to fear evil but overcome it with good.

Conclusion
We believe that this is a family decision, not something that the church decides. Each family may choose differently. Some may avoid Halloween completely, others may just hand out candy, while others may attend Halloween alternatives (South Park MB hosts one – Winkler Bible Camp used, not sure about this year), and still others may have parties and allow their kids to trick or treat.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-10-07T15:30:00.000-05:00

With it being Thanksgiving I am going to give a list of things that I am thankful for (in no particular order):

The Holy Spirit's ongoing presence and guidance
Cindy's amazing grace and love
Ariel's passion and creativity
Joelle's love and compassion for others (including animals)
Seraya's ability to be herself and quick smile
Those four women create so much joy in my life
Family who put up with me
Friends who share and encourage me
Place to live
Great food to eat
Jesus' love for me
Amazing place to work
People who challenge me to grow and think about my life, faith
Beautiful weather
Bikes
Books that make me think, smile
Movies
And so much more

Why pray?

2011-09-23T08:57:00.000-05:00

Interesting - the demise of guys?

2011-08-05T15:39:00.002-05:00

I have often heard about the link between porn and guys not functioning well with the opposite sex. But what do you think about his stating that excessive video gaming is just as destructive?

What is your poverty level?

2011-07-25T11:32:00.001-05:00

Broken from Jason Widney on Vimeo.

Why give up your Sunday morning? [4]

2011-07-20T14:22:00.002-05:00

In these posts I have been examining the question, “Why should I give up my Sunday morning to attend church?”
So far I have just been discussing worship – a different experience and more than just about me

Worship is pledging allegiance to God.

God is the great King over all creation. He is sovereign, Lord of lords and King of kings. And we are invited to give him our allegiance.
When we worship God we are re-committing, re-surrendering our lives to him. We are entering the throne room of God and declaring that we are his.

The funny thing about pledging allegiance to a king or nation is that it is not something that you do privately. I have several friends who have recently become Canadian citizens. They go through a public ceremony in order to become a citizen. It is not something that is done behind closed doors with no one watching. In fact all of them are very excited and proud to become citizens of Canada. They invite their friends to this ceremony. They want to it to be as public as possible.
Now I know that becoming a citizen is a one time event and we are talking about a weekly experience. But we need to understand that pledging allegiance is public not private. Within our western world Christianity has become something that is suppose to be private. Something that we are suppose to do in our homes and not really bring into the public areas. But the very nature of worship demands that it have a public aspect to it. Please note I am not denying that we need to worship in private. It is just that an aspect of worship is pledging allegiance to God and that has public dimensions.

Another aspect of pledging allegiance to God is that we are also saying that we will not live for the things of this world. We commit ourselves to be under the rule of God, not under the rule of the world. We dedicate ourselves to pursuing God and his Kingdom, not the goals, dreams, hopes and aspirations of this world. I do not have the time/space to even begin to unpack how this might look in action. Let me just say the direction of our lives will (should) be different than those who don’t follow Jesus. The problem is that we are bombarded, enticed, invited to surrender ourselves to the world and its agenda daily.

For myself I find that I need to constantly and regularly re-commit myself to God and his Kingdom. I have to regularly declare to allegiance to God, otherwise I begin to drift and fall under the rule of the world instead of God.

For these reasons I need to publicly worship weekly.

Why give up your Sunday morning? [3]

2011-07-07T08:38:00.003-05:00

I have been exploring the question:

“Why should I give up my Sunday morning to attend church?”

Worship is one answer.

It is a different experience worshiping with others as opposed to worshiping alone, as we saw in a previous post.

Continuing to explore worship:

Worship is about more than just me and Jesus.

We live in a very individualistic society. The ultimate goal is individual autonomy. “In modernity individuals insist on the right, individually and at any time, to do whatever they want or to do the same things as others are doing.” (Hiebert 168) So we talk about self-fulfillment, self-help…

Now I am not about rant about how this is a terrible thing (there are positive and negative aspects of this). All I ask is that we realize that this focus of our society shapes our theology.

One way it shapes our theology is that we believe that the goal of church is to help me personally, individually worship God. We come to the Sunday morning expecting to get some assistance in living out our own individual Christian life. We are there to worship God as an individual not as a community. So worship leaders invite us to close our eyes and imagine that we are alone with Jesus. Some don’t want to greet and shake people’s hands at the start of the service. Not because they are rude or anti-social, it is just that they have come as an individual to worship God.

This is not all wrong, please hear me say that.

But the goal of Sunday morning is not simply to equip us to live out our own individual Christianity, in other words to be able to worship alone. Worship is about more than just me and Jesus.

God desires for a community to worship him. Yes, he wants individuals to worship him. But the overarching thrust of the Bible is the formation of a community that worships him.

In the Old Testament the Jews were commanded to come together a few times a year and worship as community. Notice the command is not just stay at home and worship (though that was also important) it is to worship as a community. In the New Testament almost all of Paul’s writings (those are the books from Romans to Philemon) one of the major thrusts is Jews and Gentiles worshipping together. This is vital to Paul. It is not that they worship alone but that they worship together.

True worship draws a community together. If our worship does not draw and form a community of faith we need to ask are we really worshipping the God of the Bible?

Sunday morning accomplishes God’s will by simply worshipping as a community.

Why give up your Sunday morning?

2011-06-29T14:35:00.002-05:00

Why should we give our Sunday morning’s to attend church?

Worship

Worship is part of our gathering every single Sunday morning. So obviously this is an answer. But do we really need to worship with others?

Before we answer that we need to define worship. I won’t spend a long time on defining worship right now. But a functional definition is “being in active awe of God.”

Can we worship alone if this is the definition? Yes. Yes. Yes.

Of course we can. And we should. Most of our problems would probably cease to exist (including church problems) if we spent more time personally in worship. Allow me to suggest a couple of books to help in this journey: Practicing the Presence, Letters of a modern mystic, Present Perfect

So do we need to worship with others then? Yes.

Why?

It is a different experience

Worshiping alone and worshipping with others affects us differently.

We know that when we do something as a group it does something different to us then when we do it alone. For example I really enjoy U2’s music. But there is a difference between listening to a CD and attending their concert. I love listening to their CDs. I also love standing with 50,000 people watching U2 live. The concert is better (personal opinion). I say this even though when I saw them I was cold, tired, hungry, had stood in line for an entire day, was squished, paid too much money, had drunk people near me acting like drunk people and the music quality wasn’t even as good as my CDs. But it was an experience. An experience that I will never get by myself. Or consider sports. Why is it so much fun to be at a sporting event? Or if you watch it on TV it is better with some friends? Even people who are not into sports get into sports if they are with others.

It is the same with worship. Yes, worship alone but it is radically different worshiping with others.

It is amazing:

To be near someone who is the midst of a battle with caner, who knows they may lose this battle, and worship with them. Their worship strengthens me. And possibly my worship strengthens them.
Or to be in a crowd that raises their voice in unison to the glory of God.
Or to kneel as a community in awe of God.
Or to pray with and for others.
Or taking communion with people I do know and people I do not know. But we are together as one family because of Jesus.

These are a few of the experiences that I can never have alone. Experiences that I need, often.

Do we really need to worship with others just because it gives us a different experience? Yes. That is if you want to experience to fullness of God, and the full wonder of worshipping him.

Launch 2012

2011-06-22T16:23:00.002-05:00

Launch 2012

Two reports. Reports that conflict. Two different stories about the same thing. The church.

One tells a tragic story. The church is in decline. People seem to walking away from the church in greater and greater numbers. Churches are closing their doors because there is no one left.

The other story is fantastic, almost unbelievably so. The church is rapidly exploding. Thousands, no tens of thousands of people are coming to Christ. Churches are multiplying at an amazing rate. In fact there some who would suggest that the church has never grown so quickly.

Both of these reports are true. The first is the story of the western church (including Canada and USA). The second is the story of the church in the rest of the world (including countries that are actively killing Christians).

We live the first story. Oh, some of churches may be growing, though many are actually declining. But we are not seeing thousands of people coming to Jesus, not even hundreds. The majority of church growth comes not from converts but from other churches. In fact many of us know too many who walked away from the church. Most of us are not part of a church that has successfully planted another church in the last 10 years.

Why does God not move in our churches the way he is moving around the world?

There is a group in southern Manitoba that have gathered together to pray, learn, and discern where God is leading us. We believe that God wants to reach the world. We believe that God is able to. And we want to be part of God’s mission.

The other night we gathered in a back yard for the first time. There were about 30 people there from the different churches in the region. We ate together (because after all we are Mennonites). Had an action plan presented. And prayed together in the rain.

This is our tentative plan:

Prayer

We need God. Prayer is absolutely important

10:2b virus - This comes from Luke 10:2. Jesus calls his disciples to pray that the God would send workers into the harvest field. So we will commit to doing that. A simple way to do this is to set our cell phone's alarm for 10:02. When it goes off pray that God will send out workers.
Prayer meetings - We will meet in local areas to pray together

Meet together

A group will meet monthly to pray, learn and discern

Right now it seems that this group will meet for about one year
There will be no meetings in summer - so the next one will be in September

Learn

During the summer we will read the Gospels and Acts

At September's meeting we will discuss what we have learned

At some point during the year we will be reading Organic Church and Missional Handbook.
Attend "The Church Planting Congress" which is happening in Winnipeg this November
Additional resources: There is No Time, this is put out by Advant and explains their model of "short-cycle church planting" and an issue of Mission Frontiers magazine which is dedicated to church planting

Action

The group is called “launch 2012”. The reason is we are praying and hoping to launch a church plant in 2012.

There are a couple of ways you can become part of this:

1) If you are in the area join us – by attending, praying for this group…

2) Start something like this in your area, church

Why give up your Sunday morning?

2011-06-15T13:51:00.003-05:00

This question has caused some good conversation. Some people have told me that it was actually difficult to answer (which they found a bit worrisome). But there were several reasons give to me on why we should come to church. Here are some of them:

Community

We need others. The Christian life cannot be lived alone. Once we are out of relationship with other believers it seems to inevitable that we will begin to lose our passion
Sunday morning is a scheduled time when we come together as a community. This allows us a place to connect, pray for each other...

Worship

We are able to worship alone - in fact we should be worshiping alone. However there is something special, unique about worshiping God in a community of faith.

Teaching

This is a time when learn. We should be learning on our own but sometimes we just need to learn with others.
Our weeks sometimes fill up and our time with God gets pushed aside - Sunday morning is a time to refocus, recharge.

Doing stuff together

Sunday morning creates a place where we can pool our resources together to do something together
Sunday morning is a time when we can hear about what God is doing in the world through us (also it is a time to just hear what God is doing in the world.)

Why give up your Sunday morning?

2011-06-08T13:54:00.003-05:00

Why should someone give up their Sunday morning in order to come to church?

I would guess that least 95% of churches in the world today ask people to gather together weekly to sing and hear a sermon.

I know that not all of them meet on a Sunday morning. The day or time is not what I am really concerned about, just the reasons why we should come together weekly.

The church's purpose

2011-05-18T13:37:00.004-05:00

My church's purpose statement is: The Overriding Purpose Of The Altona EMM Church Is To Glorify God By Extending The Kingdom Of Jesus Christ Through Discipleship, Evangelism, Worship And Fellowship.
There are two foundational concepts in this statement and one underlining assumption.

The foundational statements:

We exist to glorify God
We glorify God by extending the kingdom of Jesus Christ

The underlining assumption is that this is done by church, a community, not simply as individuals.

What are we getting wrong?

2011-05-11T09:48:00.003-05:00

Interesting video. My favorite line is when Dallas defines the gospel as being about "getting into heaven before we die."

The Missional Manifesto

2011-04-29T16:32:00.003-05:00

Just read the missional manifesto. It is excellent - well worth reading the whole thing (it isn't that long so click on the link and read it). It defines some things at the beginning and then lists a series of affirmations. And this is how it ends:

Because we believe these things, we are compelled to action. We urge God’s people to align around the lordship of Jesus, the missional nature of His church, and the reality of His kingdom. We invite the body of Christ everywhere to see people and the world through the lens of God’s kingdom, to live holy lives as Jesus’ disciples, and to intentionally represent Him together as the church. We affirm that Jesus was sent to fulfill God’s purposes in the world through His perfect life, substitutionary death, and physical resurrection so that redemption could be made available to us. With Christ as our focal point, His kingdom as our destiny, and His Spirit as our empowerment, we accept the privilege and joy of His mission.

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-22T14:30:00.001-05:00

“I am a member of a royal priesthood”

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Peter 2:9

Ask Jesus:

What is a “royal priest”?
What is the role of a “royal priest”?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-21T14:28:00.000-05:00

“I am sent by Jesus”

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

John 20:21

Ask Jesus:

Where are you sending me?
What is my mission?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-20T14:27:00.000-05:00

“I am gifted by God”

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”

1 Corinthians 12:4-7

Ask Jesus:

How have you gifted me?
Why did you gift me the way you have?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-19T14:26:00.001-05:00

“I am the beloved of God”

“We give thanks to God always for all of you...knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you.”

1 Thessalonians 1:2-4

Ask Jesus:

What does it mean to be beloved by you?
Is there some reason that I doubt that I am your beloved?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-18T14:25:00.000-05:00

“I have everything I need for life and godliness”

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

2 Peter 1:3

Ask Jesus:

What do I believe that I am lacking?
What is godliness?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-16T14:23:00.000-05:00

“I am a reconciled to God”

“For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”

Romans 5:10

Ask Jesus:

What does it mean to be reconciled to you?
How should this affect my life?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-15T14:22:00.001-05:00

“I am a fellow heir with Jesus”

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Romans 8:17

Ask Jesus:

What does it mean to be an heir?
What is our inheritance?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-14T14:20:00.002-05:00

"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me”

“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

Ephesians 3:12

Ask Jesus:

What am I afraid of?
What are you calling me to do?
How will you strengthen me?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-13T14:18:00.001-05:00

“I may approach God with freedom and confidence”

“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”

Ephesians 3:12

Ask Jesus:

Is there anything that is limiting my freedom and confidence in coming to you?
Is there anything you want me to deal with?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-12T14:17:00.000-05:00

“I am God's workmanship”

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Ephesians 2:10

Ask Jesus:

What do you want to say to me today?
In what ways have you made me unique?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-11T14:16:00.001-05:00

“I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm”

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”

Ephesians 2:6

Ask Jesus:

What does it mean to be seated with you in the heavenly realm?
How should this change how I see myself?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-09T14:14:00.000-05:00

“I am God’s co-worker”

“As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain ”

2 Corinthians 6:1

Ask Jesus:

How do you want me to work with you today?
How will you help me if I cannot do what you call me to do?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-08T14:12:00.001-05:00

“I am a minister of reconciliation for God”

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ”

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Ask Jesus:

How have I experienced reconciliation in my life?
Where do you want me to be your minister?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-07T14:11:00.000-05:00

“I am God's temple”

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”

2 Corinthians 3:16

Ask Jesus:

What does it mean to be your temple?
How have I experienced you dwelling in my life?
How should this affect the way that I live?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-06T14:10:00.000-05:00

“I am a personal witness of Christ’s”

“ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

Ask Jesus:

What does it mean to be a witness?
Why have you chosen me to be your witness?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

“I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit”

“ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”

John15:5

Ask Jesus:

Why have you chosen me?
How have you used me to bear fruit?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-04T14:07:00.000-05:00

“I am a branch of the true vine, a channel of His life”

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

John15:5

Ask Jesus:

In what ways have you given me life?
In what ways have you used me to show the world who you are?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-02T14:04:00.000-05:00

“I am the salt and light of the earth”

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.”

Matthew 5:13-14

Ask Jesus:

In what ways I am salt and light in world?
In what ways do you want me to be salt and light?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-04-01T14:03:00.001-05:00

“I am born of God; the evil one cannot touch me”

“We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.”

1 John 5:18

Ask Jesus:

Show me your power and glory.

Journal

Jesus told me that if I want to see his glory and power today I would need to keep my eyes open. Specifically I need to pay attention to the people around me. For he will show his glory and power in and through people.

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-31T14:01:00.001-05:00

“I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind”

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”

2 Timothy 1:7

Ask Jesus:

What am I afraid of?
How have I seen your power in my life?
In what ways have I experienced your love?
What does it mean to have a sound mind?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-30T09:13:00.000-05:00

“I am a citizen of heaven”

“But our citizenship is in heaven.”

Philippians 3:20

Citizens have rights and responsibilities.

Ask Jesus:

What rights do I have as a citizen of heaven?
What responsibilities do I have as a citizen of heaven?

Facebook Depression

2011-03-29T13:12:00.001-05:00

Interesting article about kids and online social networks.

http://www.livescience.com/13431-social-media-kids.html

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-28T08:56:00.001-05:00

“I am hidden with Christ in God”

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”

Colossians 3:3

Ask Jesus:

What does it mean to be hidden with you?
How should this reality affect my life?
What are you trying to tell me?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-26T08:54:00.000-05:00

“I am established, anointed and sealed by God”

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

2 Corinthians 1:21-22

In the Old Testament to be anointed meant to set apart. The priests and kings were anointed. Now in Jesus we are anointed, set apart.

Ask Jesus:

How have you anointed me?
In what ways should this anointing affect my life?
Why would you anointed me?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-25T08:52:00.001-05:00

“I cannot be separated from the love of God”

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:31-34

Sometimes we are afraid that if people really knew us they would not like us or love us. The good news is that God knows you fully (including all the bad) and still loves and likes you.

Ask Jesus:

Why do you love me so much?
What do I fear will separate me from your love?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-24T11:48:00.000-05:00

“I am free from any charge against me”

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”

Romans 8:31-34

Ask Jesus:

What charges do I believe are brought against me?
How am I free from any charge against me?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-23T09:46:00.003-05:00

“I am free forever from condemnation”

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

Romans 8:1-2

God convicts us of sin but does not condemn us.

The difference is that conviction is action based - “I did this – specific thing – wrong”.

Condemnation is character based – “I am useless.”

Ask Jesus:

When in my life have I believed that it was you speaking to me when it was really either the devil or myself?
How do you view me?
What condemnation lie am I holding on to in my life?

Journal

As we have been walking through this freedom material for Lent I have started to realize that a lot of my life is shaped by a negative self-image. I thought I was freer than I am. For example today Jesus pointed out that I accept a lot of condemnation in my life. I often say to myself that "I am useless, worthless and can't do anything." The reason that I am convinced about this is that I believe a lie. I know that when I do something I am not the best at it. Now that isn't the lie, it is true. In fact sometimes what I do is terrible. The lie is that because I am not the best or what I do is not that great there must be something wrong with me. There are so many problems with that line of thinking. But the one thing that I realize is that I need to get my worth from Jesus not from the things that I do - not just intellectually but also emotionally.

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-22T13:53:00.000-05:00

“I can find grace and mercy in time of need”

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Hebrews 4:16

Grace is a free undeserved gift.

Ask Jesus:

Is there some area in my life where I need your grace?
What is grace?
Where in my life have I experienced your grace?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-21T10:58:00.000-05:00

“I am complete in Christ”

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.”

Colossians 2:9-10

We find fullness and completeness is Jesus.

Ask Jesus:

Jesus where am I feeling incomplete?
How do you want to fill my life?
What does it mean to be complete and full in you?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-19T09:43:00.001-05:00

“I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins”

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Colossians 1:13-14

Forgiveness is not something that we earn it is a gift from God.

Ask Jesus:

Is there anything I am holding onto, refusing to believe that I am forgiven?
Is there some reason I am not accepting your forgiveness?
Thank you Jesus for forgiving me.

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-18T09:26:00.002-05:00

“I have access to God through the Holy Spirit”

“For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”

Ephesians 2:18

You can come to the creator of the world just as you are, with all your hopes, dreams and fears.

Ask Jesus:

Jesus what do you want to say to me today?
Jesus what am I afraid of?
What are your hopes and dreams for me?

Journal

Jesus revealed to me that I am scared that my best is not really that good. I am scared that I am simply average and there is nothing that special about me. This fear plays it's self out in two ways.

One I am afraid of doing my best. In fact Jesus showed me that I will purposefully sabotage my own work so that I have an excuse why it isn't my best.

Two I protect my image. I create a mask and hesitate to allow people to see the real me. I shy away from exposing my weaknesses for fear that people will just see me as an average person.

Jesus wants to set me free from this fear. You see I believe that lie that my worth comes from what I do. I need to believe that my worth comes from Jesus. Then as Tony Horton says I can "do my best and forget the rest."

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-17T09:45:00.001-05:00

“I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child”

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will”

Ephesians 1:4-5

Ask Jesus:

Help me rest in the fact that God has chosen me.
How should this reality shape me?
What am I chosen for?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-16T11:34:00.001-05:00

“I am a saint”

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus”

Ephesians 1:1

We often view ourselves as sinners who could not possibly be a saint. But Jesus declares that you are saint.

Ask Jesus:

What does it mean to be a saint?
Do you really declare me to be a saint?
Jesus isn’t it arrogant for me to say that I am a saint?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-14T10:38:00.001-05:00

“I have been bought with a price and I belong to God”

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

We are precious enough to be bought by God.

Ask Jesus:

Why would you buy me?
What are the implications that you have bought me?
What can I do today to honour you with my body?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-12T11:53:00.000-06:00

“I am Christ's friend”

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

John 15:15

Friend (dictionary.com)

1. one attached to another by esteem

2. acquaintance

3. one that is not hostile

4. one that is of the same nation, party, or group

5. one that promotes something (as a charity)

6. a favored companion

Ask Jesus:

How have you been a friend to me in the past?
How do you want to be my friend today?
How have I been your friend?
What does it mean to be friends?

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-11T09:41:00.002-06:00

“I am united with the Lord (one spirit)”

“ But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit”

1 Corinthians 6:17

Ask Jesus:

What does it mean that I have been united with you?
How should this change the way that I live?

Journal

Some days I just don't hear anything. So I guess there will be days when I don't have anything to really journal about.

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-10T09:07:00.003-06:00

“I am justified”

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”

Romans 5:1

We have a change in legal standing before God. Before we were condemned as unholy sinners but now, because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are declared righteous in God’s sight.

Ask Jesus:

How can this fact that I am justified change the way I pray to you?
Why do you justify me?
What does it mean to be declared right in your sight?
Is there something in my life that I don't have peace about with you?

Journal:

As I prayed this morning I became aware of some of the garbage in my life and I confessed to Jesus "I am so wicked."

And Jesus respond "actually you are justified."

Re-Born Free - prayer guide

2011-03-09T11:35:00.003-06:00

“I am God's child”

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”

John 1:12

Ask Jesus:

Jesus what does it mean to be God’s child?
God what benefits do I get as a child?
How does being your child affect my life? Work? Family? Friends?
Whose child was I before I believed?

Journal:

As I talked with Jesus about these questions I realized something. I don't want this to be simply an exercise for my theological brain. Very easy for me to go there and not do anything else. Emotions need to be a part of this. Encountering and living in relationship with Jesus is the point - even more than being free (though relationship will lead naturally to freedom).

So as I asked these questions of Jesus he reminded me of a point when he claimed me as his own. It was many years ago. I was at a retreat sitting in the back when I felt God's hand reach down and grab me and he said "you are mine." This experience has shaped my faith more than all my study and research. I belong to God. I am his child. Not because I did anything to deserve it (I was a mess). Not because I am going to do anything to deserve it. Yahweh simply claimed me as his child.

Lent

2011-03-09T11:28:00.002-06:00

Today is the beginning of Lent (the 40 days before Easter, well actually 46 but Sundays don't count). This year our church has decided to focus on freedom for Lent. The theme is "Re-Born Free". I know the name is cheesy.

We are encouraging people to do a few different things:

Read Neil Anderson's "Who I am in Christ" list every day
Work through a prayer guide every day
Attend a bible study (either on Sunday morning or Tuesday evening)

Jesus did come and live and die and came back to life so that we could be free. Let's live in that freedom.

Middle East

2011-03-03T09:41:00.001-06:00

Interesting talk about what is happening in the Middle East:

Sunday's sermon

2011-02-16T16:01:00.003-06:00

Sermon text: Matthew 10:32-39

This little passage raises some really interesting questions.

Jesus says that his acknowledging of us in heaven is based on us acknowledging him here on earth. That sure sounds like salvation by works?
Jesus says he did not come to bring peace but a sword. And here I thought Jesus would always bring peace where ever he went, after all he is called the "prince of peace". Conflict may be from God?
Jesus says he came to divide families. What not to unite them? Instead of "the family that prays together stays together", Jesus is saying "the family that prays to me will be split"?

Now I want to run and solve these questions. But I have found that if I run and try and make everything fit together too quickly I just end up ignoring what Jesus is saying.

What is he saying?

Sunday's sermon

2011-01-26T16:25:00.003-06:00

Text for this Sunday's sermon: Matthew 10:1-15

I saw something in this text that I had not seen before. And it will take some more study before I am fully convinced that it is present. But it was intriguing enough that I thought I would share it here (most likely will not pick this up Sunday since I am fully convinced of it).

Leadership is to be primarily mission orientated.

This is the first time that the 12 are mentioned in the book of Matthew. Within this context they are summoned and called to engage in missions.

Yes, there are a lot of other things going on here - for example the number 12 being very significant due to the fact that there were 12 tribes of Israel. I am also aware that Mark and Luke do not place the calling of the 12 in this context. But here are some reasons I feel that this idea may have merit:

First, at the end of all the gospels Jesus specifically commissions the church to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. This is the specific mission of the church. Since this is the mission of the church shouldn't the leadership be actively engaged in it.

Second, the 12 seemed to believe that missions was a vital part of what they were to do. Which is why after Jesus ascended to heaven the apostles end up personally travelling to most of the known world preaching the gospel.

Third, in the book of Acts when some widows in the church are being neglected the apostles insist that someone else be appointed to help. They refuse to get involved in this good work of caring for the people in the church. Instead they argue that they should pray and continue serving the word - which within that context carries a mission aspect to it.

I know this needs more study but it interesting because if this is true it changes many things. Often people feel that leadership in the church is primarily about caring for the people on the inside. In fact it has often been argued that we can't do missions until we take care of ourselves first. Now I am not advocating that we stop caring for each other - our greatest testimony to the world will be the love that we show one another.

But is it possible based on why and how the 12 were called that missions should become a great priority for leadership within the church today?

The Man Box

2010-12-10T13:17:00.001-06:00

So does the church culture promote "the man box"? Or are we helping men step out of "the box"?

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

2010-11-10T09:52:00.002-06:00

My whole family is involved in our community drama. If you are around you should come and check it out.

Glorifying God

2010-10-28T14:48:00.003-05:00

"If your church ceased to exist would your community care, or even notice?"

A couple of years ago a visiting speaker asked the church I am part of this question. We weren't sure how to answer. Would they? Do they care? We want to say of course they would. But are we certain that they would?

This question has continued to surface occasionally over the past couple of years. It has been a really good question that has helped us look beyond ourselves and into the community. Are we a blessing to the people around us?

Today a thought struck me. Isn't this question really self-centered? Doesn't imply that what matters is if the community notices us and cares about us? And how does this question fit into the teaching that Jesus gave us that we will be persecuted if we are his disciples? Is our primary mission about blessing others?

It seems to me that our primary mission is to bring God glory (and yes this does include blessing others just like Jesus did).

So, perhaps a different question we could ask is:

"If our church ceased to exist would God receive less glory in our community? Or would we just receive less glory?"

Sunday's sermon

2010-10-13T11:25:00.002-05:00

The text for this coming Sunday is: Matthew 9:2-8

In this text we see Jesus' authority to forgive our sins. One of the striking things is that Jesus offers forgiveness outside of the temple. The normal way for a Jewish person in the 1st century to obtain forgiveness was in the temple. This man however did not need to jump through any "hoops" to get forgiveness, Jesus simply declared him forgiven.

This made me ask a couple of questions:

What "hoops" do I feel that I have to jump through in order to get forgiveness from God?
What "hoops" do I expect others to jump through in order to forgive them?

Every Man's Battle

2010-10-08T13:23:00.003-05:00

Every Man’s Battle by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker

A book that deals with sexual sin head on is very refreshing. The authors pull no punches when talking about a man’s battle for sexual purity. They also pull no punches when talking about noting how men often fail to be pure sexually. And for them sexual purity means:

“You are sexually pure when no sexual gratification comes from anyone or anything but your wife.”

Stephen and Fred offer very practical advice to men on how move to sexual purity. They state it all begins off with deciding to fight for it – and it may be a big battle. Once you have engaged they talk about training your eyes and mind. And end off with encouraging men to cherish their wives.

It is fairly well written and is easy to read. So guys get the book and read it.

Radical

2010-10-05T16:37:00.001-05:00

Sunday's sermon

2010-09-21T13:43:00.003-05:00

The text I will be preaching on this Sunday:

Matthew 8:23-27

Things to consider:

Why does Jesus tell his disciples that they have little faith? After all in their panic they turn and call out to him.

The two questions in this passage I have found very provoking:

"Why are you afraid?"

"What kind of man [Jesus] is this?"

The crucified God

2010-09-20T14:45:00.002-05:00

Been reading the book The Crucified God by Jurgen Multmann. My intent was to blog about this book as I read it. However I am going to have to put that plan on hold. The reason is that I took this book out of the library. And this created a problem for me. The book is absolutely fabulous. Now that isn't the problem. The problem is that it is a large book and deserves a careful read. Which I can't do because I have to return the book. Also I am getting in the habit of marking up good books. So this book now goes on my list of books I need to buy and read.

Baptism

2010-09-16T11:38:00.002-05:00

This Sunday my church is having a baptism service. There are three people who are going to get up and testify to what God has done in their lives and publicly commit to following Jesus. I am very excited.

The service starts at 10:45am and everyone is welcome to attend.

LifeLight Festival

2010-09-08T16:14:00.003-05:00

Last weekend my family and I went to the LifeLight music festival. We camped with a couple friends.

Positive things:

Camping with friends
David Crowder Band was great
Need to Breathe and Group 1 Crew also rocked
I did enjoy Family Force Five's acoustic set - though they sure did not seem like they wanted to be there
It was amazing seeing people make/renew commitments to follow Jesus
The speakers emphasized surrendering our total life to Jesus - what a great focus
Famous Dave's pork sandwich

Things I didn't enjoy so much:

Screaming bands - which we could hear very well at our campsite, and which went on till about 2am. Though I did find it humorous trying to fall asleep to band screaming "Die, die, die, die..." Glad my kids had fallen asleep by then.
Sometimes it felt a bit like a Christian pep rally
The concert wasn't really free - we were guilted into giving money

Over all it was a good experience. The best part was hanging out with friends. Will see if we go next year.

Fair Trade Coffee?

2010-09-01T16:21:00.003-05:00

Now I am not really coffee drinker (have the occasional cup here at church during coffee break). At home we rarely have coffee unless we have guests over (we either drink tea or 'mate'). With that being said as a family we have decided to (for the most part) buy fair trade coffee (usually from MCC).

However I just recently came across this "should-we-buy-fair-trade-coffee" post at the blog Jesus Creed. It states that buying fair trade coffee may not be the best.

Reading it makes me want to throw up my hands in disgust and give up trying. But that is not a good solution. I am reminded though that life is complicated and simple solutions aren't always the answer.

The Crucified God

2010-08-27T14:04:00.004-05:00

I have started to read the book The Crucified God by Jurgen Multmann. And I thought I would share some thoughts on the book here.

Chapter 1: "The identity and relevance of faith"

Multmann begins off by stating that theology and the church has a crisis of relevance and identity. If the church strives to become more relevant they are faced with the crisis of identity. For example if we work with and for the poor how is our work "Christian" as compared to some other non-Christian group? On the other hand if a church works at stating their identity they run into a crisis of relevance. If a church identifies itself based on dogmas, rights and morals they are really stating how they are different from the world, and therefore how are they relevant?

These two crises are seen working in the debate about social gospel or evangelism.

“In many Christian churches, similar polarizations have come into being between those who see the essence of the church in evangelization and the salvation of souls, and those who see it in social action for the salvation and liberation of real life.” (page 22)

Multmann says that we need to be involved in both:

“Personal, inner change without a change in circumstance and structures is an idealist illusion, as though man were only a soul and not a body as well. But change in external circumstances without inner renewal is materialist illusion, as though man were only a product of his social circumstances and nothing else.” (page 23)

At the end of the chapter Multmann suggests the way out of these crises is to recognize how we are different and still creatively love those who are different.

“But for the crucified Christ, the principle of fellowship is fellowship with those who are different, and solidarity with those who have become alien and have been made different. Its power is not friendship, the love for what is similar and beautiful (philia), but creative love for what is different, alien and ugly (agape). (page 28)

Gungor

2010-08-19T15:41:00.001-05:00

Here a cool video a friend just showed me:

Burma

2010-08-17T14:48:00.002-05:00

In June as a family we travelled to Burma (also called Myanmar). There seems to be little awareness of this country in Canada (I knew next to nothing about this country before we decided to travel there).

Here are some quick facts:

It is in South-East Asia, bordering Thailand, India and China.
For the past 61 years it has been at civil war.
The government is a military dictatorship.
The primary religion is Buddhism.
There have been several movements that have attempted to bring freedom into the country (all of which have been harshly put down by the government)

I sat with my family eating breakfast, the same breakfast we had for the past nine days, in a small dining room in our 8 bedroom hotel. There is no air-conditioning outside of the rooms so there are fans hanging on the walls giving a bit of a breeze. We haven’t checked the temperature since we arrived in Burma, internet at the café across the street is too slow to waste on things like that. It is hot and humid, most likely somewhere in the high 30s, and knowing the exact temperature would not really help cool off anything.

We here a gong sound indicating that the monks are soon going to be passing by collecting their daily offerings. Apparently whatever food they collect is the food they eat for the day.

We have to encourage the kids to eat, as usual. They only seem to want to eat at the western restaurant that we found near our hotel (which we ate at for six days in a row).

Later on in the day we would travel 2 hours in an old mini-van to a home for orphans. Once there we would play with the kids, Cindy would do some painting, we would just hang out. Sometimes if feels like we aren’t accomplishing anything. We aren’t building anything or preaching, we are just being with the people and playing with the kids. But perhaps this is enough. To just be with them, to be shaped by them and to love them. The kids at these homes are amazing.

Back from Sabbatical

2010-08-12T14:45:00.002-05:00

Well I am back from my sabbatical. It was an amazing three months. Time went by very fast. Now I am trying to get back into the routine of life. Over the next while I share some stories about my time away.

Sabbatical

2010-04-30T15:46:00.003-05:00

Today is the last day that I am in my office before I head on a three month sabbatical. Looking back I realize I have not been very faithful about blogging the past few weeks. It has been interesting getting things ready to be gone for three months.

So what will we be doing as a family?

To start I will be taking some courses at CMU (Canadian Mennonite University). The two courses I plan to take are one on leadership and one on Jesus. Should be lots of fun studying. While taking the one on Jesus I get to car-pool with a former colleague - looking forward to that.

In June my family and I will be heading to Asia. Here we will be visiting a couple of different countries. Our plan is not totally finalized yet. But we do know that we will be visiting some homes for orphans. Cindy plans to do some art classes with the kids.

The final part of the sabbatical will be spent in BC. Here we are planning on doing some reflection on our experiences, spend time with family, among other things.

I am not sure how much I am going to be blogging during this time (probably none when we are overseas). But will try and write somethings.

City boy in the country

2010-04-19T11:53:00.004-05:00

I have lived in a small town for 7 years now. And I love it. However occasionally I still find myself acting like a city boy.

The other day, for example, my wife had gone for a run down a trail near our house. After about an hour I drove out to see how she was doing (she was doing great and did not need a ride). At the trail head I found a dog leash just lying there. It was in great condition so I picked it up and brought it home.

That evening my wife saw the leash and asked where this came from. So I told her. She looked at me completely horrified. I wondered what was wrong.

Apparently someone had been walking their dog down the trail. And they had dropped their leash off at the trail head. People in small towns do this kind of thing. Leave stuff on the side of a trail and pick it up on their way home.

So now as a pastor I had stolen someone's leash. What to do?

Cindy had meet this person on the trail but did not remember their name. So she asked some people if they new a blond lady who had a black dog. And yes, without too much difficulty we found the owner of the leash and returned it. Though I do have to admit that I felt really silly.

Sunday's sermon

2010-04-19T11:18:00.002-05:00

The passage for this Sunday's service is: Matthew 7:7-12

Other passages:

Luke 11:9-13

Mark 11:22-25

John 14:12-14

Some questions:

Why right after talking about prayer does Jesus then talk about doing good to the people around us?

Do we really believe that God gives good gifts to his children?

Baptism

2010-04-16T09:10:00.002-05:00

This weekend is a really special time for my church. On Sunday night we having a baptism service. I am very excited. Over the past couple of months I have had the privilege of walking with the people who are getting baptized. It has been totally awesome.

Hearing how God has worked and called people to him is amazing. And then seeing people stand up and publicly say that they have decide to live their life for God inspires me. Through their stories I am reminded how God works in my life.

What happened to last week?

2010-04-12T16:15:00.002-05:00

Wow did last week fly by. I had the opportunity to be involved in so many great things that I did not even get a chance to blog.

Two of the biggest highlights for me were:

"Quiz Night". Every year my daughter's school hosts a quiz night for a fundraiser. These events are a lot of fun. You come in teams of eight and play trivia against teams through out the evening. There is also great food. Some teams dress up. This year there were 31 teams - this event has really become a community event not just a fundraiser.

"SEEDS of Hope". We had John Chalkias come out to our church and share about SEEDS of Hope - an organization that runs homes for AIDS orphans. It was awesome.

Holy Week - Friday

2010-04-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

Reading: Matthew 27:45-56

Today is Good Friday. The day that we remember the death of our messiah Jesus the Christ.

This morning I will go to church. Together as a community we will sing, pray, celebrate communion as a way to tell the story of Jesus's death.

A few days ago I was involved in a story time at the church. It was lots of fun. I ended up telling a couple of silly stories (some of the others told more serious stories - good to have both). But as I got ready I wanted to tell a story about Easter. The problem was that I could not find a good kids book on it. Oh there were lots on Christmas. There were just lots of good children's books. But there was this major hole - very few were on Easter. Easter the most important time for us who follow Jesus.

In fact we looked at one children's bible. It talked about creation, the flood, David and Goliath, Daniel and the lions den, Christmas, some of Jesus healing, and then nothing. No mention of Jesus dying.

My wife asked can we really even call that a bible. After all it missing the key story.

So today don't forget the story of Easter - the real one.

Holy Week - Thursday

2010-04-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

Reading: Matthew 27:27-44

Why did Jesus die? This is one of the most pivotal questions in history. I believe that something amazingly mysterious happened. Jesus took on the sin of the world, he became sin, so that we might experience salvation and enter into a real loving relationship with him, the Father and the Holy Spirit.

But as I read the text today I wondered did he have to experience the mocking and the slander? I mean everyone slanders him - the soldiers, the priests, the by-standers, those killed with him. Why did he have to go through all of that? Couldn't God organized his death in a way that would allow him to die in peace?

I don't have nearly all the answers to these questions. But I did have a thought.

What if the cross did more than just purchase us salvation? What if through the cross God was exposing the wickedness and depravity of humans?

After all I am fully convinced that God can do more than one thing at a time.

The cross truly does expose the wickedness of humans. Jesus has been beaten, mocked, spit upon, is now dying and people still mock him. It seemed that it was not enough to kill Jesus there was a desire to publicly humiliate him. Even the ones dying with him joined in the mocking.

The cross shows us that humans have a great potential for evil - we don't want to just kill our enemies we want to humiliate them.

Save me Lord Jesus from the evil in my heart.

Holy Week - Wednesday

2010-03-31T11:36:00.003-05:00

Reading: Matthew 26:36-46

I love to watch Star Trek. One favorite characters is Spock. Spock is half Vulcan and half human. Now Vulcan's never display any emotions. One of the sub-plots in Star Trek is Spock learning to deal with his human emotions. Spock often works at suppressing his emotions so that he is totally calm and logical.

This is how I have often pictured Jesus. Always calm and logical.

For this reason I have often struggled with this passage in Matthew. Here we see Jesus being deeply distressed and even agitated. Look at how he prays. Jesus knows that it is the Father's will that he die in Jerusalem. After all that is one of the reasons he came to earth. But he prays from his emotions that God find a different way. This is not being calm. I am not sure it is even logical to ask God to do something different when you know what his will is.

Jesus prays with his emotions. He does not suppress them. Perhaps Jesus is fully human (and not half Vulcan). Of course Jesus does remain submitted to God.

When we pray do we pray with our emotions? Or do we sometimes just suppress them and pray what we think God wants to hear?

Let us pray from our hearts, well remains fully submitted to our loving Father.

Holy Week - Tuesday

2010-03-30T16:28:00.003-05:00

Reading: Matthew 26:17-29

Today is passover. For the past number of years my family and I have celebrated the passover. We walk through a Messianic Seder. It is amazing. Every year I learn more about my faith and more about my messiah.

As I read the story of Jesus' last passover with his disciples I noticed how he gives thanks. It is his last night on earth. One of his disciples is about betray him. Another going to deny even knowing him. The rest are going to abandon him. He is going to be tortured and killed. And yet he gives thanks. How different I am.

What things do you have to be thankful for on this passover?

Here is a list of some of things that I am thankful for:

Salvation
Family
Friends
A safe place to live
A nice place to live
my health
Freedom to worship
Access to the bible
nice clothes
Great food (and lots of it)
my wife
my kids
a real relationship with God

Holy Week - Monday

2010-03-29T11:20:00.003-05:00

Reading: Matthew 20:20-28

As I prepare for Easter I have been reminded that my goals are often not in line with my messiah's goals. In the Matthew passage Jesus is heading to Jerusalem to die for the world. And here just before he enters the city James and John (two of this followers) are seeking positions of power and influence.

How many times in my life have I headed down a path that appears like it is for God's glory but it is really all about me? It is a way for me to have power and influence, to look good.

How many times have I avoided the way of a servant?

How many times have I been content with comfort instead of following Jesus (which may lead me to suffer)?

Orientation to prison

2010-03-24T16:35:00.004-05:00

Prison ministry is something that my church has become passionate about.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a orientation meeting at the prison for the volunteers.

There were three things that they emphasized.

Nothing in and nothing out - which means exactly that.
Talk to the leaders if you have questions/concerns.
Being there makes a difference.

The guys doing the orientation had both spent time in prison and they really stressed the last point. Just showing up makes a difference in the inmates lives.

A few ways it makes a difference:

The prisoners experience love. They discover that someone actually cares for them. Many of the people in prison have come from terrible homes and/or have been cut off from family once they got in. And society in general does not demonstrate a lot of love toward them. But we come in and care about them.
We bring hope. The reason we volunteer is because we believe they can change. God works miracles, he transforms people's lives.
Our relationship with each other models a different world. So many people in prison have come from a broken background. The we relate with the other volunteers (and with them) shows them that there is actually a different way to live.

The Prodigal God

2010-03-18T15:58:00.003-05:00

The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, by Timothy Keller

Should I just tell you to go out, buy the book and read it? That’s what I want to tell you. But that feels a little cheap. A review of a book should give you more than just a recommendation to buy it. And to be honest most of people wouldn’t buy it just because I said buy it.
However to give a full blown review, like the ones that are written for school, would rob you of the joy of discovering this book for yourself.
So what should I do? Well let me say some of the basics.
This book is for those who seek after God. It is for both those who are not Christians and for those who have been Christians for most of their life. Personally I fall into the later group and found this little book spoke powerfully to me.
The Prodigal God is an exploration of Jesus’ parable that is often called “the prodigal son”. Timothy claims that he has “seen more people encouraged, enlightened, and helped by this passage, when I explained the true meaning of it, than by any other text.”
Timothy’s book is really about the gospel (which is what the parable is about). However Timothy points out we have often only read part of the parable and therefore have only heard part of it’s message of good news.
This book draws us to God’s wonderful grace. A grace that Timothy says we have to keep drilling into heads again and again. It is something we have return to, be inspired by, and be filled with every single day.
So now that I have given a little review go find the book and read it.

Does God break us? - part 2

2010-03-17T16:06:00.002-05:00

This is a continuation of the post “Does God break us?”

Instead of viewing tragedy as the direct work of God on our lives I believe that all tragedy is the result of sin. Sin is anything that is opposed to God, which is why I say that tragedy is not the direct work of God. (Is there a difference between tragedy and change? Yes. In the future I would like to discuss this difference. For now I am viewing tragedy as the bad things that happen to us.)

There are three basic convictions that I hold to: God is good, God loves me, and God is great.
Anything good in my life is a gift from God (it is grace) – James 1:17. I do not have so many good things in my life because I am so good, or worked so hard or am so smart. I am blessed because God is good.
The creator of the universe loves me. In fact he loves me so much that willingly died in order to be in relationship with me. Instead of beating me over the head to crush me into submission Jesus lovingly invites me to be with him.
And the God who is loves me and is good to me is not powerless and weak. He is the creator and sustainer of everything. And there is nothing that rivals him.
If this is true why do Christians suffer?
Because humans and some angels have chosen to reject God and live for themselves. The result is that we live a broken planet. We could explore the idea of a broken planet, however I would like to get more personal.
Why do I suffer? Because I reject God and live for myself. Now I am a follower of Jesus. But it is amazing how many times every day I end up living for myself instead of God (Praise the Lord that he is so gracious and loving that he keeps holding me close to him, forgiving me). And when I live for myself I make a mess of my life.
Instead of tragedy being something that God brings on me, tragedy is something that I bring on myself. I know this is not the answer for all evil, but it does explain a lot of my suffering.
Tragedy is often the result of God removing his hand blessing from me allowing me to experience the consequences of my actions/thoughts/words. It is not God beating me over the head.
Does God use tragedy to change me? Absolutely. He is that amazing. He can take something evil and still work good. But that does not mean that he was the author of evil.

Picturing God in this way I am more prone to thankfulness and prayer. I want to be close to him.

Women tempting men

2010-03-17T09:30:00.002-05:00

Found a fascinating blog post written by Carolyn James about men and women called The devil's Gateway. Thought I would throw it up here to see what you thought about it.

". . . you are the devil's gateway. . . you are she who persuaded him, whom the devil did not dare attack. . . . Do you not know that you are each an Eve? The sentence of God on your sex, lives on in this age; the guilt, necessarily, lives on too."

—Tertullian

The view of woman as "temptress" has early roots and is alive and well today both in the wider culture (see links below) and sadly also in Christian circles.

I was a speaker at a gathering of pastors who were interested in doing a better job of utilizing women's gifts. The first question asked during the open forum afterwards stunned me, "If we work with women, won't we be tempted?"

What followed was not a candid discussion about the heart and where is the real problem when there is a moral failure (as in as what goes on behind closed doors when a man is alone with his computer), but a laundry list of precautions to safeguard oneself from moral hazards when working or dealing with women.

Women find this kind of thinking offensive, and rightly so. This low view of women conflicts with the Bible's high redemptive view of us. What strikes me as I think about this, however, is that this negative view of women also reflects badly on men as testosterone driven, morally weak, and unable to control themselves. This is not to say that our sex-saturated culture doesn't create serious problems for everyone. But it is one thing to think wisely about modesty and conduct and quite another to view women as seductresses.

So here are my questions:

First, are men also outraged by the temptress view of women—because of what it implies about them? And second, is it possible to hold a low view of women without degrading men?

Your thoughts?

Funeral

2010-03-16T16:40:00.003-05:00

Today I was privileged to be part of a funeral. One of the things I find fascinating about funerals is some of the practices that we do. We have traditions I am sure most people are not even aware of. Even if they have been to lots of funerals they may not be aware of some of the communities traditions.
Today I learned about a tradition we do when we bury people. Now I have known that we bury people with their feet facing east. This is because the bible tells us that Jesus will come in the east. And when he comes those who have died in Christ will be resurrected. Having our feet facing east means that we will be raised facing him.
The tradition I learned about today is that the husband is always buried to the north of his wife. This is so that man will shelter his wife from the cruel north wind.
Interesting traditions.

Preaching on the Lord's Prayer

2010-03-16T11:45:00.003-05:00

This Sunday I am going to be preaching on the Lord's Prayer:
Matthew 6:7-15

Other passages to read:
Luke 11:1-13

Things to consider:
This prayer is very well known. I grew up saying it every day in school. How deeply does this prayer shape the way that we pray?

Should we pray these very words? Or is that just vain repetition?

A while ago I posted an adaptation of the Lord's prayer

This too shall pass

2010-03-12T16:22:00.000-06:00

A very cool video.

Does God break us?

2010-03-09T16:32:00.004-06:00

When we experience pain and suffering in our life is that God working to get our attention? Is it God's way of removing things to insure that we become more dependent on him?
Sometimes we say things like "I am so dense God has to hit me over the head with a two-by-four to get my attention." What we are saying is that the tragedy we are in right now is God's intentional act to get our attention. I grew up believing this.
But is this right? I am not so sure.
Today I want to explore some of the difficulties that I see with this view. In a couple of days I want to explore a different way to view tragedies.

In this belief God is the author of tragedy, loss, suffering and pain. And I am the worker of good.
Think about it. This view believes that God intentionally brings tragedy to help me see him. The tragedy is the work of God.
Now the fact that God had to "hit me with a 2-by-4" indicates that I was not paying attention to him. And the fact that the tragedy is God's action means that my life was going quite well without him. I wasn't experience pain/loss/suffering. Without God I was doing very good - thank you very much. And along comes God and messes it all up. As a good Christian I am suppose to be thankful to God for this.

What seems to happen then is that I seek God in my tragedies. I need his help to get out of them (he should be able to help since he brought it on me). But that is it. My faith dries up when the tragedy is over. I don't need God any more. Oh I may try and pay attention to him in order to avoid getting hit again. But I don't need him. And my relationship with him becomes weaker and weaker as I improve my life.

Giving, fasting and praying

2010-03-09T14:39:00.003-06:00

Text for Sunday's sermon: Matthew 6:1-18

Other passages: Hosea 6:4-6; Jeremiah 14:11-12; Matthew 3:1-12

Questions to consider:
In Matthew 5:16 Jesus tells his followers to let the world see their good deeds. But now he is telling them to do them in secret and not let anyone see them. Why? This is in the same sermon.

In the previous part Jesus has been inviting people to learn a new way to relate to others. How does this section on giving, prayer and fasting flow from that?

Friday

2010-03-05T13:59:00.005-06:00

I have to confess that I have felt a little blah all week. But here are a couple of fun things I came across this week.

Freemind - mind mapping software. Finding useful in preparing sermons.

'Proverbs 31 husband' justifies beer habit - Lark News is satire, so consider yourself warned.

Tomorrow is a bike race here is town - AWBF (ABES Winter Bike Festival)

God centered living

2010-03-03T16:30:00.002-06:00

How does one live a radically God centered life?
Over past number of weeks I have been preaching through the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7). And has it ever been challenging me.
I have become convinced that Jesus is not giving us a bunch of rules we now must obey. Rather he is inviting us to live a new way, to relate to others in a new way. Jesus is not calling us to change a few things in our behavior. It is about becoming a totally different person.
I am a very selfish person. I discern everything from my perspective. The unconscious questions that affect what I do are: does this give me pleasure (then do it) or does this cause me pain (then avoid it). Even my moral behavior is filtered through these questions. I often behave morally because of deferred pleasure (which means I will get more pleasure later) not because I am not thinking about myself.
And Jesus invited me to move from having myself at the center of my life to having God and others at the center. So how do I do that?
It begins with confessing and praying (like Peter commented last week). After all this is a work of the Spirit not of me trying harder.

Resisting an evil doer?

2010-03-01T11:41:00.003-06:00

Text for Sunday's sermon: Matthew 5:38-48

Other texts:
Romans 12:14-21
Exodus 15:1-18

Questions to consider:
What does Jesus mean when he says "Do not resist an evil doer?" Does this mean we don't call the police when we are wronged? Does this mean we should not stand up for the defenseless? How does this fit with the rest of the bible?

Go Canada!

2010-02-26T16:45:00.004-06:00

I have an addiction. My whole family has an addiction.

For two weeks now we have been addicted to the Olympics. The TV is on almost all the time. We eat in front of it. Spend our evenings in front of it. Rearrange our lives around it.
And we love it.

My family, in a true Canadian spirit, have focused a lot on hockey.

It was great to see our girls win gold yesterday. They are truly amazing athletes.

We are also really rooting for our boys to do the same. It was exciting to see them dominate the Russia game. We are really looking forward to the rematch against the US this Sunday (we are totally assuming that they will win tonight and on Sunday).

Pride

2010-02-25T14:49:00.004-06:00

Been reading the book Becoming a True Spiritual Community by Larry Crabb. At one point in the book he says that there is an wickedness that dwells in each one of us. In one of the stories he shares about himself he highlights the issue of pride. And I realized that his story was mine.

Pride infects everything that I do. I wanted to write almost everything, but wasn't convinced that would be true.
When I preach pride lurks right there. I desire for people to think that I am smart and a good preacher.
It is there when I lead bible studies. I want people see me as wise and deeply connected to God.
It is there when I resist temptation. "Aren't I so good or holy!"
It is here as I write this post. I want people to see that I am humble and growing closer to God.
Pride infects everything that I do.

Now pride isn't the only thing I feel. I do truly want to give God glory in what I do. I really want to help people because I love them and God.
But pride hovers there in every good (and bad) thing that I do.

Crabb points out that I need to realize that this is evil. Too often I have been content with my pride. Actually many times I have seen no problem at all with my pride. I need the Holy Spirit to show me how wickedly rebellious my pride is.