Can I really call some one my brother if they teach another salvation? If they find salvation in the cup are they my Christian twin. If they believe the bread is salvific is there a true spiritual kinship then is thier salvation the same as mine. Is it not grace alone, Christ alone, faith alone?

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of
Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some
who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we,
or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have
preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again
now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he
is to be accursed! - Gal 1:6-9

The Condition of My Heart

Jeremiah 17:9 Esv

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Prayer of Sir Francis Drake

Let this be our pray too.


Disturb us, Lord, when We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.



Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.



Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

just watch

Its beginning to look a lot like Easter

Okay, I know what you are thinking. I also realize that Christmas and New Year's are still around the corner, but I have Easter on the brain.

I don't want to let the cat to far out of the bag (because she have sharp claws), but an airplane is involved.

And now that i think about it maybe a drag strip.

Hmmm...... I wonder.

Stay tuned.

the gospel in motion

Tonight I was reminded again of how great my church family is. I love them and would never trade them.

Sunday morning was off the hook as we covered Luke 1:1-25. We talked about leting God remove the disgrace from our lives. Powerful.

the evening was as nothing to slouch at. Grady McDonald, Student pastor at New Harmony Baptist in Tyler, Tx. His youth ministry, Quest Ministries, did a wonderful portrail of the Gospel and the Power of Christ to a Lifehouse song. I posted a video of this drama done by someone else a while back if you don't have a clue what I am writing about.

After a amazing drama, Grady broke open the Bread of Life like it was a loaf of bread fresh the oven and then he put a healthy heap of butter on it. I love how he worked the text like Randy Coulture does his opponent on the ground.

the goal is ...

“Relevance is not our goal. It is just a tool. Our goal is not to be relevant to culture. We want to be distinct from culture.”

Gary Long, pastor of Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston, TX

on being a man

A man can make a differencein others when Jesus is making a difference in him.

~Roy Lessin~

a sign of the times

Wow what a sign!!!!

five of a kind is afull house

5 Types of Christians were found byt Christianity Today. I won't reproduce the whole article, but I thought the stats were thought provoking! Active Christians 19% Believe salvation comes through Jesus Christ Committed churchgoers Bible readers Accept leadership positions Invest in personal faith development through the church Feel obligated to share faith; 79% do so. Professing Christians 20% Believe salvation comes through Jesus Christ Focus on personal relationship with God and Jesus Similar beliefs to Active Christians, different actions Less involved in church, both attending and serving Less commitment to Bible reading or sharing faith Liturgical Christians 16% Predominantly Catholic and Lutheran Regular churchgoers High level of spiritual activity, mostly expressed by serving in church and/or community Recognize authority of the church Private Christians 24% Largest and youngest segment Believe in God and doing good things Own a Bible, but don't read it Spiritual interest, but not within church context Only about a third attend church at all Almost none are church leaders Cultural Christians 21% Little outward religious behavior or attitudes God aware, but little personal involvement with God Do not view Jesus as essential to salvation Affirm many ways to God Favor universality theology

Eye doll uh tree

A god who let us prove his existence would be an idol



- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Wrapped Crap - watch the vid to get it

A couple of weeks ago a young lady named Jill visited our Church to share her previous mission trip and about her upcoming one. My heart had been both burdened and bothered about Christianity in Africa and Ethiopia. The commonly refer to the theology of Africa as being a mile wide in believers but only a inch deep in teaching, other places the Africa faith is described Spiritually as mile wide and an inch deep. Prosperity is growing leaps and bound, but I am afraid that when the teaching can hold, that Christ followers will turn to Islam as the becoem and gry and feel that Christ has failed them. I am really bothered by this. I have spent some time reading on the net and it only get worse the more I dig. Listen to John Piper as he calls it like he sees it and it is.

Theo-rap

Voice makes Theological History by being the first to ever rap at John Piper's church.

Not only cat he spit, but this cat is flowing some serious doctrine. Forget gangster rap, Doctrinally sound, Theological rap is on the scene. I can't wait to have a big trunk Lincoln roll up on me at the street light bumping and thumping about Justification, Kenosis or propitiation

Nice ...

Temperature Rising


from Jumaine Jones at Limeade…quenching the leadership thirst

I’m in the middle of preparing for Sunday’s message. We will be looking at Ephesians 5:21-33. I was truly awestruck as I read of how Christ sanctifies and cleanses her bride by the Word. As husbands, we owe it to our wives to wash them with God’s Word. We can’t prepare a great meal on Sundays, and leave our homes famished. As the head, the husband establishes the spiritual temperature in the home. Where lives are hurt, the water is too hot. Where there’s distance and lack of intiamcy, the water is too cold. Where there’s unconditional love and true devotion, the water is warm. There’s nothing like having a warm, loving atmosphere!

great quote of the day

William Jay: “They are bad interpreters of the Scripture, who give it meanings which it never had; and by their supposed ingenuity, render its readers uncertain whether it has any proper and determinate sense.”

trust no one and search for yourself

13 Bible Stories You Must Teach Every Child

Tony Krummer of Gospel Driven Children's Ministry writes "The average children’s Bible has about 100 stories. The real Bible has many more. Every story matters. But what are the basic stories kids need to understand to have a full grasp on the Bible? What stories are so basic to the Gospel that omitting them would leave a big whole in their worldview? Here’s what I came up with."

13 Bible Stories You Must Teach Every Child

1. God created the world and everything in contains (including people) for his glory. (Genesis 1-2)
2. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, rejected God’s rule and fell into a state of sin and misery. (Genesis 3-4)
3. God calls Abraham and establishes a covenant with him. (Genesis 12-23, Galatians 3:6-9)
4. God delivers his people from slavery in Egypt and keeps his promises to Abraham. (Exodus, Deuteronomy 26:8-9)
5. God makes David the King of his people and promises a forever kingdom. (1 Samuel 16, 2 Samuel 7)
6. God’s people suffer exile for their sin, but God promises a forever kingdom (2 Kings 17:18-20; 35-41, Romans 11:1-6, Jeremiah 29:10-14)
7. Jesus is born the Son of God, heir of Abraham and David (Matthew 1, Luke 2:11)
8. Jesus dies on the cross to remove the sins of God’s people. (Matthew 27, Romans 5:6-8)
9. God raises Jesus from death. (Matthew 28, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 1 Peter 1:21)
10. Jesus takes his throne in heaven (Acts 1:1-11)
11. The Holy Spirit gives power to the disciples (Acts 2, Galatians 5:22-25)
12. The Return of Jesus (John 14:3, 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10)
13. The Kingdom of God on Earth – New Creation (Revelation 21, 1 Corinthians 15:22-23)

I think he is on to somethign here. Maybe you could do one a month and in just over a year you would have covered these.

He is looking for some feedback so let him know as well as giving me your two cents.

the bumbers

a must see

two things befeor you proceed

1. Warning: this video is honest, abrupt and real. it depicts the violence that thrashes you soul. beaware that you migh cry.
2. Affirmation: this is beautiful, it will encourage you, enlighten you and make you thank God and value the freedom found in Jesus.
   
   
   
   

life as i know it

• worship is becoming steady at 50 or better
• visitors are also becomming a regular thing
• preached on lust, porn, and bad sex this Sunday and found out it causes arguments and coversation at the lunch table.
• i am slowly moving from tri-vocational to bi-vocational
• one of my youth kids went to jail - i felt guilty, yet they are old enough to be responsible for their actions and knew better
• my wife and i are closer than ever
• currently i am enjoying the new david crowder and chris rice cd's
• i think about going back to school often
• i have been subsitute teaching pretty often
• had a new couple join the the church and they are like fresh, hot cinnimon rolls
• getting ready for our great fall outreach, aka the old time fair and hoping to make contact with 200 to 250 people

a little heritical fun

biblefight



finally Eve gets a chance to redeem herself and whip up on Satan.

Missionary Jumaine Jones who is planting The Bridge knows the guy in this video. Pure smoothness and a funny video too. the guy is very talented and has a great sense of humor to boot!

why the Gospel is important

nuff said

Pay the Fee

I am typing my sermon for tomorrow knowing fully well that i will abandon them at some point and just get "real and honest." so as I am typeing a group called "Fee" comes on that is just rock'n and i felt that i needed to let you know.

Rock on in the Name of Jesus,

Chris <><

bible fight club

in the dank basement of a tattoo parlor believers of a multitude of faiths or the lack thier of gather to duke it out about the Bible and other matters from a Christian view. ink is not require but expect nothing but bare knuckle Bible thumpin'.

http://asap.ap.org/data/interactives/_lifestyles/podcasts/0913asap_BFC.mp3

hmmm

i wonder ..

a multitude of toppings for your worship

Ben is planting a Church in Reston, Georgia and boy is he having fun. NOt only is one of those guys you need to keep up with, but he is definitely in the mix - not hiding from culture behind a cardboard church wall as you will read

Pizza Apologetics


href="http://www.benarment.com/history_in_the_making/2007/09/pizza-apologeti.html">

• Yesterday, I met a fitness trainer who looked like he could bench press my car. He asked about my iPhone, but then noticed my Bible and started talking about his Muslim father and Catholic mother. Said he was neither. He used pizza to describe his religious views...
  "Your god may be pepperoni; mine might be sausage; someone else's, the tomatoes. But we're all mixed together on the same pizza and baked together. We're all eating the same pie."
  Besides getting a little hungry, I was scrambling mentally to keep up with all the inconsistencies. People are so quick to philosophize about spirituality because it keeps God away from our hearts where he can convict us. So we reduce him to a pizza.

I wonder what the diffrent kinds of crust mean to him in regards to spirituality? hand tossed, deep dish, craker crustm, stuffed crust, thin crust ... and the list goes on

one more past

i seem never to post any more, well we have dsl now. now more dial up, yea!! so now i can watch funny things like this and re-post it

Matthew 6:25-34 Gucci or God

Have you ever spent time watching children play Maybe you have watched your child or grand child play on the playground? If you watch these bundles of joy for any length at all you will notice that they are worry free. They run with reckless abandon, not worried about dinner, or how the mortgage payments will be made this month. As they go down the slide and swing from the monkey bars they never stop to count the cost. They don’t rationalize over the jungle gym. No, they let their hair blow in the wind as they run their hearts out never stopping to think about skinned up knees or repairing the brakes on the pick-up.

Well in Matthew Chapter 6, we find Jesus’ cure to the anxiety that tightens up our chest and rules our lives. Join me as we read this great truth together.

Matthew 6:25-34 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? (26) Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (27) Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? (28) So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; (29) and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (30) Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (31) Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' (32) For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (33) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (34) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

As we begin our quest we see that Jesus is meeting us where we live. He addresses our needs. Those things in which we could not survive, he begins with needs because we could not live without them.

The way Jesus is speaking, it would seem to say that we are spending to much time worrying about what we eat an what we wear. Could Jesus really be speaking to our fashion conscious culture? Fashoniestas beware! I mean, really does it matter if your shoes are made by Steve Madden, Kenneth Cole, or Jimmy Choo? No, but we will spend to the name and scoff at the lesser desired brands. We will demand to have such so we can meet the pressure that we feel from our peers. I promise you, Jesus does not care if you purse is Gucci or faded glory. He cares about you, not the clothes.

It is a betrayal of our relationship to with Christ, to worry more about if my meal comes from the trendiest eatery or my clothes from the latest boutique than we do about our walk
as Christ followers.

Jesus turns his attention to nature in verse, (26) Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

He reminds us that birds are not caught up in the trivial worries of life and this world. They simply trust God for their provisions. They are not working eighty hour weeks to get night crawlers. They don’t work high tension, passionless jobs that are robbing them of their joy and time with their family.

God desire for our lives is not to be entangled in worrying about this life. His desire is for us to trust Him like the birds do.

Remember the kids playing in the sandlot we were talking about a while ago. Those kids trust us to take care of them – to provide for them their daily PB&J and deliver them from bullies. God designed that relationship to model His care for us so that we would see our care for our children and know that His care for His Heavenly Children, you and me, is so much greater.

The issue that surrounds us is that our lack of faith in God. When we worry we are having a spirit of distrust about God’s ability to take care of us. We do not trust Him to be the “Almighty,” to be in power and in complete control.

So what does worry do for you? I can not honestly think of one good thing that comes worrying. Worrying robs you of your health and destroys your youthful looks. Worrying decreases your thought capabilities, worrying steals your joy, and worrying sabotages your relationships. But ultimately worry weakens your faith.

So really, what can “worrying” do for you? Jesus said it this way. (27) Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? Worrying will not add years to your life, add hair to your head or increase you looks. As far as I can tell, or research, there is nothing positive or productive about worrying.

(28) So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; (29) and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (30) Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

In these verses, Jesus hits the nail on the head. We don’t have faith. Worry is doubting God, having reservations him and mistrust. Worrying means we don’t trust God, we don’t believe.

My Aunt Sandy is a woman that compared to most of us is a person of extreme faith. But there was a time in her life when she was struggling to make it. The ends just did not meet. She was strapped and did not have the money to pay the light bill let alone buy groceries. So what was Aunt Sandy to do … well she prayed. She sought God for counsel, asked for His direction and prayed for provision.

Later when she was looking in her purse she found a twenty dollar bill. That was the last money needed to pay the light bill. You could say that we had over looked it in her purse, that it was a coincidence but what about the knock on the door.

Oh wait I haven’t told you about that. Later that day, there was a knock on the door and when she made it up from the back of the house to open the door, who do you think was there? No one, but there was two brown paper bags filled with groceries. No, you can’t get me to believe she over looked the bags when she went in the house the day before. That my friends is what we see in Matthew 21:22, “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

So Jesus urges and really He is commanding more than simply advocating, that we stop worrying and stop thinking about things that are out of our control. In verse 31, He says, (31) Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

In Verse 32 Jesus says that the gentiles, or the non-spiritual, non-Christ pursing people, they worry. They struggle to figure out where their next meal will come from, they have no clue when they will need something. But Jesus tell us that God all ready know our need. He is cognizant of our needs when and where we will need food, clothing, for whatever. This is because He is omnipotent, or all knowing. Life does not sneak up on God. You will never hear Jehovah
say “I did not see that one coming” or “what happened here?” He is all knowing and all seeing. Not just of you physical needs, but he sees the needs of out hearts. He knows our need of
Salvation that is why he provided us with Jesus. That is why he created Heaven and crafted Eternal Life.

God knew we needed to be rescued, to be saved form worry and anxiety. So He gave us a cure.

Read verse 33 along in your Bibles with me... (33) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Jesus’ solution is to redirect you life; to calibrate it completely in a new way. Jesus charges us to focus upward instead of inward. So it is a sight issue. With all the stimulating things in the world we get distracted. We get blinded by the Hilfiger and the Hurley, the Ford and the Ferrari, the Gucci and the Guess.

Our eyes get pointed toward thing here on Earth, those things in the “here and now, and we lose sight of the everlasting and eternal.

Jesus’ answer is simple – Pursue the Kingdom – and He will take care of the rest. “Keep your eye on the prize,” He says, “and I’ll provide everything else.”

Seek His Kingdom, seek His Righteousness, seek His Holiness, seek His Purity, seek His Truth and seek the meaningful Eternal Things. When you do everything else will fall into place. Other things will seem trivial, non-essential things will fall away like leaves from a tree. So many things that once ruled your life will no longer find the same importance. Pursue Him and He will add to you and He will supply your needs.

So what are we to do. Well there is one more verse that we need to deal with (34) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Trust Him and never turn back. Let each day come and go a stop worrying about what is going to happen. Stop letting worry destroy your life and take each day, one day at time, with the help of God, with His care and Provision for you. Let Jesus take care of the things you can not, and start living the life God has called you to.

Psalm 78:70-73 Greatness starts in the Pasture

Note: as always this is what i started with , but what happens in the pulpit is not ways waht is written down. for some reason i used the words "deep doo doo" and wmy wife and daughter feel that is not very pastoral. oh well. here is the "doo doo" free version.

When you woke up this morning, did you have a sense of awe? A feeling that God was going to something awesome n your life? Did you feel that sense of purpose ready to burst forward in your life.

Well, most of us feel that are lives are boring. Hum-drum. Nothing special about them. We get up brush out teeth, get dressed, have a little breakfast and drive to work. We toil at work, have some lunch, go back to laboring, and drive back home. Nothing special about it. Nothing to write home about. Nothing newsworthy.

For David his days were pretty much like this too. He got up, washed up at the brook, had a little something for breakfast and watched the sheep. Sometime in the day he would find a shade tree and eat some leftovers for lunch. Afterward he would go back to watch the flock. Talk about unexciting, dull, lack luster, dreary task.

Occasionally he would chase off a predator or have to track down a way ward sheep. But that is about it. For David this was about dull as a job on the manufacturing line. Over and over it was pen the sheep, chase the sheep, herd the sheep, protect the sheep, water the sheep, feed the sheep, and do it all over again. But this servant sheep herder had a future that was beyond his belief and a destiny to fulfill.

I bet some of you feel taken for granted. You feel that what you are doing does not matter. And maybe your not even sure that God is on your side because you have no clue what you are suppose to be doing let alone how he is working in your live. The Bible tells us that if our victorious God is for us then who can be against us. The problem seems to be that we will not release ourselves to him and allow him to work. We tend to want to fight Him instead. We try to do own, we say we that we can do it, but we really can’t

Listen to a simple sheep herder turned king as he write a quick summary of his life and how God worked in it.



Psa 78:70-72 He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; (71) From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. (72) So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

So do you know where you are going in life, what your destiny or God’s plan is. Probably not, most of us are just floating along. But I feel that we can learn from David that we need to take the time to prepare for the greatness God has for us even when we don’t know what it is. Through faithfulness and obedience we will be prepared for the opportunities that God ushers us forward into. If we rush, and hurry, and push when it is not there then we will miss out on the little things that count as well as the important opportunities that we desperately need

But, we won’t be able to make the most of them and enjoy the blessing if we rush by. We will miss the little things and we will lose out on the important ones too. It’s like the song that the music group Alabama sings “I hear a voice It says I'm running behind I better pick up my pace It’s a race and there ain't no room for someone in second place I'm in a hurry to get things done Oh, I rush and rush until life's no fun All I really gotta do is live and die But, I'm in a hurry and don't know why”

You might not be sure of what you are doing with your life, where you are going or what your purpose is. I ask you, be patient. Be patient and don’t force the issue.

Moses was a man who forced the issue. Go had a plan for Moses life, but Moses just could not wait. He was in a hurry and tried to push God’s time line ahead. In the process he ended up killing an Egyptian man had to flee for his life and his freedom. By the time he was able to fulfill God’s will for his life he was now 80 years old. Don’t be in such a hurry that you take short cuts that will cost half your life and make you wait 40 years before you can do what you need to. Just because everything is not popping and zooming and happening just like you think it should, does not mean that God has lost sight of you. God know where you are at and what is going on. You are not insignificant or meaningless; you are his creation that he bought back with the blood of His only Child, Jesus. You matter and everything you do matters

We must realize that nothing God has you do is inconsequential, it all matters. Who you date, what you do, where you work, how you life, who you marry, how you treat others, where go, what you buy and most importantly, what or should I say, who come first in you life.

David’s skills were learned in a season when did not have the most glamorous of jobs. Every talent and ability that David needed for his future kingship he honed in the meadows and pastures. In those fields of green filled with grazing and bleating sheep he was not only learning to be the Shepard of the flock but the Shepard of a nation.

So do you know where God is taking you? Probably not, but if we don’t take the time to prepare and make the most of the opportunities to we won’t be ready for the big break in life that God provides. We will not be able to enjoy and make the most of the blessing that God presents us with.

Let me share Psa 32:8 with you,”I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.”

We need to understand that our vision is limited, but our Eternal God is able to see all space and time. God knows where the pitfalls of life are and he can guide us through life if we are will trust Him and not fight Him to have our way. God, as a loving heavenly father will direct us, he will instructing us and show us our life’s path.

But in the process of waiting to see God’s plan revealed and the details come forth, we must all so be very care full that we don’t develop and attitude that we are owed something by God. That we have something due to us from Our Creator, the one who gives us each breath and gives us faith. I want to share with you a lesson that a gentlemen, Mr. Patterson ad retired military trainer, taught me while I worked with juveniles. His wisdom to me was that there were only two things I had to do in life. Stay Black and die. All we have to do is be ourselves and die. Just be you, and I’ll be and live to the end. I don’t have to be popular, successful, fruitful, famous, or glamorous. God owes us nothing, but he gave us everything in Jesus and his death you us. God’s treatment of you and me is way better that we honestly deserve.

As David was stepping in sheep manure, he was earning lessons not just it sheep care, but lessons that taught him to be as strong and compassionate leader.

For me I didn’t learn lessons in the pasture, I learned them in prison. I would have never believed you if you would have told me that I would be training to be a pastor when I enrolled to correctional officers academy for TDCJ. But it was there that I learned lessons that molded me as a pastor and improved my shepherding skills. God used some of the worst people in the state of Texas to teach me life lessons about people that come in really handy. Oh, and the inmates were not that nice either.
I would have never thought welding would teach me about marriage of that, sacking groceries would help me as a father, but God did. He knew.

Look at the last verse - So he shepherd them - He performed toward them the office of a shepherd.
According to the integrity of his heart - literally, “According to the perfection of his heart.” That is, he was upright and pure in the administration of his government. Deal fairly, and rightly. Treat people right
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands - literally, “by the understanding of his hands” - as if the hand had been endued with intelligence. The skill he needed to be king, he learned in the field.

While you may realize it, God is preparing you through various life experiences to be victorious in life and to minister to others. He is preparing you to lead others through seemingly normal situations. In the every day life scenario of wake up, brush teeth, got work, eat lunch come home, eat dinner, wash clothes, go to bed and get up and do it all over again – in the middle of what you think is a boring, tired routine – God is fashioning you for greatness and service.

bam

i get upse set at what i call the "Redistribution of the Kingdom." Many people will talk about a growing Church that is nothing more that the flavor of the month. It is just the latest place to be. in truth thier is no real growth at a great many churches only transfer growth. Personally, I don't count this as growth. with that being said let me share a post i read at vinceantonucci.com.

Lobby Tests and Fabric Stores
Maybe I’ve been to your church. Maybe not, but I’ve visited a lot of churches – and I usually try to visit those that are supposed to be growing and doing exciting things, or churches that are very new. So if your church is supposed to be growing, doing exciting things, or is new, maybe I’ve been to your church. If so, here’s what I did …

Whenever I go to a church I do my “lobby test.” I walk around wide-eyed and gawking like an amazed tourist at Disney Land. I walk up to people and say, “Wow, this church is amazing. Do you go here?” When the person proudly answers in the affirmative, I ask, “That’s cool! How long have you attended this church?” After they answer, I ask, “What church did you go to before this one?”

That question was the whole point. I want to find out: Was this person regularly attending a church before attending this church?

The answers are absolutely depressing. In one church I asked forty-two people and every one of them quickly identified their previous church. In every church where I’ve done this a huge majority of the people had come from other churches. And, remember, I only do this in churches that are growing, exciting, new, cool.

Often after they tell me the church they used to attend I ask one more question. I say something like, “Oh. Well this church you’re attending now seems awesome. If you weren’t going here, would you go to that last church, or if not, what church would you go to?” At this point they’re looking at me a little weird, because I’m asking more questions than Judge Ito at the O.J. trial, but still they answer. And, in almost every case, they name a church. Not the church they used to attend; they name a different church they would attend if they stopped going to their current church.

Okay, so you can correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m thinking that if you reach a truly lost person: (1) They wouldn’t be able to tell you what church they were attending, because they weren’t, and (2) They wouldn’t be able to name what other church they would attend. (Like, if for some reason you found me at a fabric store, and asked me which fabric store I would go to if not this one, I would say, “How the crap should I know? I don’t go to fabric stores. It’s weird that I’m even in this one.” If I quickly told you the other fabric store alternatives, you would have to assume that my being in this fabric store was not that surprising).

Am I wrong?

And if I’m right, isn’t this just more evidence that, as I said in my first post: “We absolutely suck at reaching people who are far from God. There are lots of things our churches do well, but if we’re being honest, leading lost people to Jesus is not one of them.” (I have decided to make it a habit to quote myself. Someone has to quote me!)

So enough bad news, I’m even making myself miserable. Next time I’ll start telling you a little about me, and about my church, and sharing some of what we’ve learned about not sucking at reaching people who are far from God.

Until then … blog naked!


- Featured on newchurches.com

Focus - Psalm 119:1-3

When I was a kid, I used to love to watch wild like shows like Lorene Green’s Wild Kingdom and Marty Stouffer’s Wilds America. I was hooked on that stuff way before there was ever a Discovery Channel or Animal Planet. They would film all of the wild animals in God’s creation. African lions, Mountain Lions, River Otters, Big Horn Sheep, little birds, you name it. They would get you as close as possible and when the wild life went crazy, you were right there with them.

One of the hardest things I think for the camera operator to do is to keep their subject in view when all the craziness was taking place. Think about it. You trying to focus in on a lion as he is victorious over his prey, but you have to be wary of the lion’s pride or some other creature sneaking up on you. But life is a lot like that too. In our fast paced lives if can be easy to get distracted and lose sight. We try to keep everything sighted in but then something moves, we hear a noise and we lose what was in our view.

This happens in the spiritual aspect of our life just like it does in any a part. We have God in center view of our lives and something comes into out lives and we lose contact with God. He was there but now He is out of our eyesight. And often we don’t notice right away that we are losing sight of God. That He is not in the middle of our view finder.

It is so easy for this to happen. King David was a man who truly loved God and found himself in difficult positions because he lost sight of God. He got involved in an affair. He had a man murdered. He was lax as a leader. . He was prevented by God from building the temple because he messed up. He was rebuked by Nathan, God prophet for wanting to do things David’s way. He spent time on the run, as he found himself on the wrong side of the law as a fugitive. Yet he was always trying to pursue God. Time and time again he found Jehovah was in the review mirror and not out in front of him.



Listen to David as he talks to us about this about what he has learned from his mistakes - Psa 119:1-3 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lord! (2) Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart! (3) They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.

David certainly knows what it is means to be obedient and blessed as he has walked on both sides of that street. David understands that if we are faithful to God there is a rich life store for us. He begins the first two verses begin with the word “Blessed.” David tells us to be blessed, to be made happy, we need to do this. Our happiness as well as our joy is dependant up this our focus upon God and His ways.
• So, our goal David tells us is to be undefiled in our ways. To have integrity to our actions, the ways of our daily life.
• In the next verse he adds to it by saying if we live our lives so the not only are full of integrity but they honor the Testimony of who God is.
• Simply enough. Right? Well it might sound simple but if we have a life that is cluttered and you are distracted then you might have a hard time seeing God and seeing what David is talking about.
• But the back halves of these verses are what we need to look at if we find our lives are not where they should be.
• The “Blessed, David says, are those who keep who walk in the law of the Lord. Those that live in the truth of His teachings. Those who not only know but carry out his, but are immersed in it. Those who are not just swimming in God’s words, but they are deep sea diving in. David is referencing those who live in the word.
o You might not see it this way but this has a lot to do with the car you road or drove in today. Cars are better engineered to day. They are stronger and impact resistant. Several years ago Denise was parked in a mini-van and another car backed into her. When she got out of the car and looked to see the damage, but none could be found. But the other car had a huge dent in their chrome bumper. The car maker had manufactured our car in such a way that there was not any damage. The plastic had bounced back and the car was still road worthy
o The same goes with God. If we seek Him and let Him engineer us thought His Word, when Satan backs into us, their will be no impact in our lives. No damage will take place. We will bounce back like the bumper and we will keep on trucking.

• Furthermore David declares that if we keep God’s testimonies – keep His statues, follow His directions in this Life Guide, or as we know it the Bible and completely pursue Him with our heart … Then you will be blessed.
• with the whole heart, that is passionately pursue him like a boxer after the Belt and the Title, like the hunter trailing after a trophy buck, go all out, spare no expense, and all or nothing, go for broke in your Chase for God and His blessing on your life. Don’t stop, Don’t give up, Don’t give in, don’t quit, chase Him, Hunt, stalk, hound, shadow
• So what are you chasing instead of God that is so important? Listen to Solomon, David’s son, a guy who has seen it all, had it all, done it all and left hollow because of it.
• Ecc 1:1-9 - These are the words of the Teacher, [1] King David's son, who ruled in Jerusalem. (2) "Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "utterly meaningless!" (3) What do people get for all their hard work? (4) Generations come and go, but nothing really changes. (5) The sun rises and sets and hurries around to rise again. (6) The wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere. (7) The rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows again to the sea. (8) Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. (9) History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.

• Solomon is a guy who got caught up in all the trappings of the world and had completely lost sight of God. He was so deep in sin and was so out of focus that he had to get a periscope just to peek up a Jehovah. And when He tried to do it his way, and tried every luxury and tasted every sin. He found that it was all a waste of time and it meant nothing.

They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.
• You can’t two-time God. You can’t be dating evil and try to kiss God good night. I’ just can’t work out.
• Look at it this way. You are crossing over an icy lake. With every step you take you can hear the ice grown and creek. The ice underneath you is cracking. Suddenly right a long crack separates the ice into two halves. But you don’t know which side to go jump over to. You just stand there with one foot on each half as they began to separate. You could go to the left, where the ice not as strong looking, but your not sure. You could step to the right, but it might not be a strong as it looks. And while you wait inch by inch the toe pieces of ice float apart. If you don’t make a decision you will go into the freezing water and possible die.
• That is our dilemma. Trust God and what seems too good to be true. Or keep on doing what we always have and that has never worked. But you can’t both.
• Matthew says is this way - Mat 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
• You can’t serve both God and this world; you can’t split time with God and yourself. You can’t be the person that says I don’t believe in abortion, but work at the abortion clinic. If you believe in God then pursue him, chase him, run after Him. Get Him in you sights and scurry after Him. Get Close to him, Get him in your view, adjust the focus of your life on him and find the blessings you desire and he has planned for your life.

So where are you? Are you trying to straddle the fence. Are you pushing you luck hoping you can keep standing on both pieces of ice. If continue like you are you will end up falling in, getting all wet, getting hurt, embarrassed, and in difficult and compromising situations.

Focus - Psalm 119:1-3

When I was a kid, I used to love to watch wild like shows like Lorene Green’s Wild Kingdom and Marty Stouffer’s Wilds America. I was hooked on that stuff way before there was ever a Discovery Channel or Animal Planet. They would film all of the wild animals in God’s creation. African lions, Mountain Lions, River Otters, Big Horn Sheep, little birds, you name it. They would get you as close as possible and when the wild life went crazy, you were right there with them.

One of the hardest things I think for the camera operator to do is to keep their subject in view when all the craziness was taking place. Think about it. You trying to focus in on a lion as he is victorious over his prey, but you have to be wary of the lion’s pride or some other creature sneaking up on you. But life is a lot like that too. In our fast paced lives if can be easy to get distracted and lose sight. We try to keep everything sighted in but then something moves, we hear a noise and we lose what was in our view.

This happens in the spiritual aspect of our life just like it does in any a part. We have God in center view of our lives and something comes into out lives and we lose contact with God. He was there but now He is out of our eyesight. And often we don’t notice right away that we are losing sight of God. That He is not in the middle of our view finder.

It is so easy for this to happen. King David was a man who truly loved God and found himself in difficult positions because he lost sight of God. He got involved in an affair. He had a man murdered. He was lax as a leader. . He was prevented by God from building the temple because he messed up. He was rebuked by Nathan, God prophet for wanting to do things David’s way. He spent time on the run, as he found himself on the wrong side of the law as a fugitive. Yet he was always trying to pursue God. Time and time again he found Jehovah was in the review mirror and not out in front of him.



Listen to David as he talks to us about this about what he has learned from his mistakes - Psa 119:1-3 Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lord! (2) Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart! (3) They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.

David certainly knows what it is means to be obedient and blessed as he has walked on both sides of that street. David understands that if we are faithful to God there is a rich life store for us. He begins the first two verses begin with the word “Blessed.” David tells us to be blessed, to be made happy, we need to do this. Our happiness as well as our joy is dependant up this our focus upon God and His ways.
• So, our goal David tells us is to be undefiled in our ways. To have integrity to our actions, the ways of our daily life.
• In the next verse he adds to it by saying if we live our lives so the not only are full of integrity but they honor the Testimony of who God is.
• Simply enough. Right? Well it might sound simple but if we have a life that is cluttered and you are distracted then you might have a hard time seeing God and seeing what David is talking about.
• But the back halves of these verses are what we need to look at if we find our lives are not where they should be.
• The “Blessed, David says, are those who keep who walk in the law of the Lord. Those that live in the truth of His teachings. Those who not only know but carry out his, but are immersed in it. Those who are not just swimming in God’s words, but they are deep sea diving in. David is referencing those who live in the word.
o You might not see it this way but this has a lot to do with the car you road or drove in today. Cars are better engineered to day. They are stronger and impact resistant. Several years ago Denise was parked in a mini-van and another car backed into her. When she got out of the car and looked to see the damage, but none could be found. But the other car had a huge dent in their chrome bumper. The car maker had manufactured our car in such a way that there was not any damage. The plastic had bounced back and the car was still road worthy
o The same goes with God. If we seek Him and let Him engineer us thought His Word, when Satan backs into us, their will be no impact in our lives. No damage will take place. We will bounce back like the bumper and we will keep on trucking.

• Furthermore David declares that if we keep God’s testimonies – keep His statues, follow His directions in this Life Guide, or as we know it the Bible and completely pursue Him with our heart … Then you will be blessed.
• with the whole heart, that is passionately pursue him like a boxer after the Belt and the Title, like the hunter trailing after a trophy buck, go all out, spare no expense, and all or nothing, go for broke in your Chase for God and His blessing on your life. Don’t stop, Don’t give up, Don’t give in, don’t quit, chase Him, Hunt, stalk, hound, shadow
• So what are you chasing instead of God that is so important? Listen to Solomon, David’s son, a guy who has seen it all, had it all, done it all and left hollow because of it.
• Ecc 1:1-9 - These are the words of the Teacher, [1] King David's son, who ruled in Jerusalem. (2) "Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "utterly meaningless!" (3) What do people get for all their hard work? (4) Generations come and go, but nothing really changes. (5) The sun rises and sets and hurries around to rise again. (6) The wind blows south and north, here and there, twisting back and forth, getting nowhere. (7) The rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows again to the sea. (8) Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. (9) History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.

• Solomon is a guy who got caught up in all the trappings of the world and had completely lost sight of God. He was so deep in sin and was so out of focus that he had to get a periscope just to peek up a Jehovah. And when He tried to do it his way, and tried every luxury and tasted every sin. He found that it was all a waste of time and it meant nothing.

They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.
• You can’t two-time God. You can’t be dating evil and try to kiss God good night. I’ just can’t work out.
• Look at it this way. You are crossing over an icy lake. With every step you take you can hear the ice grown and creek. The ice underneath you is cracking. Suddenly right a long crack separates the ice into two halves. But you don’t know which side to go jump over to. You just stand there with one foot on each half as they began to separate. You could go to the left, where the ice not as strong looking, but your not sure. You could step to the right, but it might not be a strong as it looks. And while you wait inch by inch the toe pieces of ice float apart. If you don’t make a decision you will go into the freezing water and possible die.
• That is our dilemma. Trust God and what seems too good to be true. Or keep on doing what we always have and that has never worked. But you can’t both.
• Matthew says is this way - Mat 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
• You can’t serve both God and this world; you can’t split time with God and yourself. You can’t be the person that says I don’t believe in abortion, but work at the abortion clinic. If you believe in God then pursue him, chase him, run after Him. Get Him in you sights and scurry after Him. Get Close to him, Get him in your view, adjust the focus of your life on him and find the blessings you desire and he has planned for your life.

So where are you? Are you trying to straddle the fence. Are you pushing you luck hoping you can keep standing on both pieces of ice. If continue like you are you will end up falling in, getting all wet, getting hurt, embarrassed, and in difficult and compromising situations.

Let us Pray ...

Father, let today be a great day for you as you claim victory in the lives of your people. Let us shine not so people will be pleased by and attracted to us, but that you will be pleases and others attached to you. Let the ice in our hearts melt and our voices praise you. Remind us of your glory and let it be heralded across the nations. Shake us to our core and fill us with your fire. Let us sins be forgive by your mercy and our trespasses erased for ever. Grace us will the fullness of you and break us before you. Be blessed by our worship as we praise you alone. Hear our prayers for those who are physically ill and those who are spiritually sick too. Supply our needs Lord and grow our faith. We ask this because of our living relationship with Jesus the eternal, Amen.

God ...

God never get beat in overtime, He is never on the Disabled List. He never pulls a hamstring or is late to training camp. He never holds out for a better contract and is not seeking a shoe deal. He never steps out of bounds or drops the ball. Jesus never trades you or wants to restructure your contract. He never wants you to bunt and always wants you to swing for the fences. He provides the equipment and the training so you know how to play. He cheers you on as you run and is waiting at the finish line for you. God is all of these things

back to life

it has been a while since my last post. first, i became really busy. It is amazing how much work a wife can add to your life. "^) Second, the old laptop died. no computer, no post. enough said. And finally, i am lazy. oh well ....

Citizen Bezner: The Problems with Prayer

This is a super hot great post. any time you place spinal tap and a spiritual matter togather you have a winner!! please do check this one out. if not for the insight, the the humor or creativity of such.

Citizen Bezner: The Problems with Prayer

pastoral theology

a pastor will do well to live this....

Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Last Weekend

Last Saturday I graduated from The Baptist Missionary Assocation Theological Seminary with a Master Of Arts in Religion. Whew! Am I glad it is over with, yet i wil miss it. One of my professors told me I will be overwelmed with depression in a few weeks because I will not be around anyone who will beable to discuss theology with me at the level I am used to. I pray not.

I will post a photo or two soon.

So much has happened since and I have been worn out by all the stuff since. Boy, am I tired.

WHERE DID THEY COME FROM???

When and where did Baptists originate. Where did they come from and are the so gosh-golly-gee great anyway. Well the last part will not be answered but I would like to turn your attention to part of Dr. Phillip R. Bryan’s thesis from 1966. He later did his Ph.D. work at Baylor under. Dr. Ray Summers.

Dr. Bryan is currently the President Emeritus at BMA Theological Seminary and teaches Theology. He will was part of the planning committee for Baptist History Celebration that will take place in Charleston, S.C. and was invited to lecture at this meeting

Successionist Theories

The oldest and most generally accepted theory of Baptist origins has been the successionist theory. Essentially the view is that Baptists have had a continuity of existence since the days of Jesus' ministry. William Wright Barnes has differentiated four variations of tho theory: (1) church succession, (2) apostolic succession, (3) baptismal succession, and (4) spiritual succession. He has maintained that one extreme form of church succession is the same as the Roman Catholic theory of church succession. Although four types are delineated, "the first three theories or emphases are logically related and historically associated." All three maintain that "a valid church must validly authorize a minister in order that a baptism may be valid." Representative Baptist historians who have advocated succession are:(1)Thomas Crosby, (2) G. H, Orchard, (3) J. M. Cramp, (4) William Cathcart, and (5) John T. Christian.
Professor William Morgan Patterson of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was apparently the author of the only extensive critique and analysis of the successionist theories, although other less extensive studies have been made. He has concluded that successionist writers wrote from an apologetical and polemical approach and that their conclusions were based upon a priori reasoning and not scientific methodology.

Anabaptist Spiritual Kinship Theory

A theory "held by those who trace a spiritual relationship of Baptists through the long line of Anabaptist sects, such as German, Dutch and Swiss Anabaptists, the Waldensians and Petrobrusians, the Henricians, the Novatians, and the Donatists," is the Anabaptist spiritual kinship theory. While no direct organic continuity between these various sects is verifiable, the adherents of this interpretation have asserted that throughout history such minority groups have practiced believer's baptism and therefore, have a "spiritual kinship." As related to Baptist practice, such a view precludes the necessity of organic continuity in either baptisms or ordinations for baptism to be valid. Representative historians maintaining the Anabaptist spiritual kinship view have been: (1) David Benedict, (2) Richard B. Cook, (3) Thomas Armitage, (4) Albert H. Newman, and (5) Walter Rauschenbusch. Apparently no critical analysis has been devoted per se to the spiritual kinship theory except for the points questioned by the historians who have advocated the English Separatist descent theory.

English Separatist Descent Theory

Briefly, the chief affirmation of the English Separatist descent theory is that only those to whom the name Baptist was actually applied should be so considered and that "the Baptists originated with certain English Separatists who were congregational in polity and who had come to consider believers' baptism alone as valid according to the Scriptures." This interpretation is compatible with the view that only the proper candidate (professed believer) and proper purpose (public testimony) are necessary for valid baptism. Although numerous articles covering various aspects of this theory have appeared in scholarly journals, apparently no single monograph has been devoted exclusively to a critical analysis of the theory. The present investigation, therefore, is an effort to provide such an analysis. Several variations of the Separatist descent theory have emerged since the 1880's.

hand it to them

We have been talking about bulletins at Church recently. Some would like to have custom printed ones, but the price is just to much for our small Church. I personaly think we should go with one design for a quarter and then switch to another. Or go with a dynamic looking monthly service. below I have listed a couple of links for advertising and better bulletins.


Branding through the church bulletin

A Better Bulletin

How to Create Buzz

Church Bulletins That Don't Suck

Bringing sexy back to the Church

The week @ Church, we talked about sex. You should have seen the faces. Some people decided to not come even because of the topic. Thisis the overview of what I said. I know I said more, but I don't have those notes.

• We removed the kids this morning for a children’s worship experience, not because we are going to be graphic, but so they don’t ask you questions when you look so nervous and so you can give full attention to Scripture.


• There will be very little application or how to, we will not be giving you a put tab “A” into slot “B” kind of sermon.


• I will not be sharing personal testimony or giving cute illustrations. We look at the Scripture and let it guide us now matter who scary it is.


• Take a trip down to the local grocery store and you will see magazine after magazine with articles about sex. Women’s magazines, Men’s magazines, automobile and even music magazines are filled with sex.


• Turn on the television and you will be bombarded with inappropriate ideas of sex.
  Flip the TV off and the radio on and you hear songs like Salt b’ Pepa singing “let’s talk about sex baby, lets talk about you and me” Or how about Color me Badd with their song about song called I want to sex you Up. Those are some older ones an I understand that David Allen Coe had some that the Cowfolk like that are very raunchy in there lyrics. And Justin Timberlake had is song where say he is bring Sexy Back.


• They world is educating us and our young people on sex, but this is not right. This is not the way it should be.


• God created it but for the most part His Church is quit on it. It is time that the Church let God bring sexy back so we approach sex the right way, because if all the Church does is point their collective finger and tell you how not to have sex, then who will teach them what it the right way to have sex.


• So here is the deal - Singles people are having sex while Married couples are not. We pray teens are not having sex, but their grandparents are since the invention of the little blue pill. Viagra had changed the age range of sex lives


• In truth sexual transmitted disease statistic are rising the fastest in the senior population because they are having sex. So this message is for all of us.

Gen 2:21-5 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

• Gen 2:21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. We see the Work of Creation being continued in God’s creation of a wife for Adam in from of Eve.


• Gen 2:22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. As Jehovah has removed the rib, He has created the most beautiful woman that Adam had ever seen. Then he brought this stunning creature to Adam. We see God playing suitor here.


• Gen 2:23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." This is now bone of my bones – Eve was something that Adam had longed for and God had provided.

• John Calvin put it this way, He said “Adam indicates that something had been wanting to him; as if he had said, now at length I have obtained a suitable companion, who is part of the substance of my flesh, and in whom I behold, as it were, another self.”


• Adam is in complete understanding that Eve is not only part of his body, but she is a part of his life.

Gen 2:24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

Leave and cleave is how we have traditionally talked about this.

• Be leaving they are making a public commitment of loyalty of their love.


• By leaving they are making a commitment to intimacy.


• For Real intimacy to happen there needs to be alone time if you know what I mean.


• Real Sex needs real privacy –away from family and work and kids and what have you.


• Become one flesh –they joining of two, the tender, God glorifying love between husband and wife.


• This is the union of two souls being knit together


• The Hebrew word behind this means to intertwine or to mingle together.


• This is intimacy, closeness and understanding


• Intimacy needs communication. When there is poor communication there is poor physical relations.


• Even the world know that sex is communication- they use the euphemism – that they “knew them Biblically”


• To know some one you have to have communicated with them


• Communication is talking and it being in contact, being in touch


• 1Co 7:3-5 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. (4) The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. (5) Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.


• We need to be wary of not having intimate relations between husband and wife because not only do you belong to your spouse, but we are warned that Satan will use it marital celibacy as a weapon of evil.


• Paul says this because, if natural lustful man is left alone he will defile the marriage bed some how some way.


• Pro 5:18-19 - Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love.


• 1Co 6:18 - Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.


• When you flee, you need to run right it the arms of your spouse.


• Paul encourages sex between husband and wife because of the intimacy, because of the communication, because of the please and because of procreation.


• Gen 2:25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.


• Read S.O.S. 7:1-10


• This is a wisdom book in the Bible, the guy who wrote proverbs, Solomon, wrote this to.


• Hebrew teenage boys were not allowed to read this. Some people wanted to remove it from the Bible, other people try to say that it is about Jesus and the Church


• Son 7:7-8 make this hard to believe, yet we always say we believe the Bible is literal
  
  Don’t forget the closeness and intimacy of our marriages is a representative of the deeply personal relationship we are to have with the Lord spiritually.
  
  Go and honeymoon again and return to an intimacy between husband and wife that honors Christ and His death.

10 Factors for Higher Attendance in Church Plants

10 Factors for Higher Attendance in Church Plants

The Center for Missional Research conducted a study led by Ed Stetzer and Phillip Connor to research what characteristics were shared by growing churches plants. They discovered 10 factors associated high attendance. Ps. thanks Kent Shaffer for pointing this out.

Location

>> Church plants that begin in school facilities have some obvious benefits, such as visibility, access, parking, classroom/worship space, and usually low costs.

>> Longer-term—after the first year—church plants meeting in both schools and movie theaters exhibit higher attendance. They find these locations conducive to reaching people and accommodating continued growth.

Ministry

>> High attendance church plants know that reaching children is one effective way to reach families. Special children’s events such as a fall festival or Easter egg hunt help church plants gain and sustain attendance.

>> High attendance church plants also conduct block parties as an evangelistic outreach.

>> High attendance church plants use holidays or other opportunities to attract people and to be attractive to those who are already attending.

Promotion

>> High attendance church plants mail invitations to services, programs, and events. They keep community awareness high, which keeps their visitors, attendees, and members involved and informed.

Training

>> High attendance church plants provide training for new members and communicate clearly the expectation that they participate.
Expectations

>> High attendance church plants require new members to sign a church covenant. They know that it’s imperative for new members to take their commitment to the church seriously as soon as they’ve committed their lives to Christ.

Financial

>> High attendance church plants are very intentional about financial stewardship.

>> High attendance church planters receive financial compensation and health insurance, allowing them to focus on the church’s growth, not their own basic needs.

Staff

>> High attendance church planters are assessed for their suitability and are full-time, not part- or half-time.

>> High attendance church plants have multiple staff from the beginning, facilitating steady and more sustainable growth.

Missions

>> High attendance church plants look for missional opportunities and start at least one church within three years of their own plant.

Leadership

>> High attendance church plants conduct leadership training, build their leadership base, and delegate leadership roles to church members.

Achievement

>> High attendance church planters have a vision of what God wants to do, and they don’t get distracted from the accomplishment of that vision.

OH, BTW

Today is my birthday and I am now officaly 31.

Jesus in a Pink Dress

Anthony Bradley has a serious of posts that speads of where America is in the Gospel converstaion and where we really need to be. He goes under cover so to speak and I love that he is where the heathen is and not expecting he heathen to show up at Church.

Read these in order.

Jesus In A Pink Dress Overlooking The Grateful Dead, Part 1

Jesus in a Pink Dress, Part 2

Rain, Rain go away

it is raining hard and all i wished is that it looked like this

Ten fold ministry

A preacher's work is never done and often misunderstood. Take a look at this Brit's blog about Ten propositions on being a minister by Kim Fabricius. You will cheer, you will cry.

The Preacher's Coffee or Scriptural Baptism

The Preacher's Coffee by Ben M. Bogard

I have a pleasant story, which I wish to tell in rhyme, About a circuit preacher who lived in recent time. He was a circuit rider for good John Wesley's brand; And rode the finest circuit in all the blessed land.

At one of his good charges, some members, not a few, Became quite sorely troubled about the word "into". The Good Book says quite plainly, in Acts in chapter eight," They went down into water," as Baptist people state.


The preacher preached a sermon of extra zeal and might; And to his satisfaction, he set the passage right." 'Into' does not mean 'into,' but only 'at' or 'nearby'. They went down to the water and got a small supply.

"But near the place of worship, there lived a sister Brown. And for her splendid cooking, she'd gained a great renown. Her yellow-legged chickens, her lucious cakes and pies, Had often made that preacher roll up his weeping eyes.

And her delicious coffee! In all the circuit round, The preacher oft admitted, its like could not be found. So when he preached his sermon with extra power and length, He loved at the Brown's table to revive his ebbing strength.

But sister Brown was a Baptist, the strongest in the land; She oft reproved the Methodists for changing God's command. She heard the preacher's sermon, and thought the subject o'er. Then asked him home for dinner, as she oft had done before.

She ground her good brown coffee, her kettle steaming hot, And put it "at" or "nearby" the famous coffee pot.S he poured her guest a cupful (I think it was no sin),"But you forgot, dear sister, to put the coffee in."

"No, no, dear sir, that's coffee; I ground a good supply, And put it "at" the kettle ('into' is 'at' or 'nearby'). By the logic of your sermon (I thought it rather thin), If 'at' or 'nearby' is 'into' I put the coffee IN.

"So if you will truly promise, no more such stuff to teach, I'll go and make some coffee, in line with Bible speech. And this time I will follow instructions to the dot, And put the coffee INTO, not 'at' or 'near' the pot


Ben Bogard pastor, semiarian, writer,founder of the American Baptist Assocation, preeminent assocaitional baptist and was one of the greatest debaters in the Baptist Church during the first part of the 20th Century. Bogard debated men from several denominations and a woman (Aimee Semple McPherson)

Grudem on Seminary

Thinking about going to seminary? Well maybe Wayne Grudem could help you in your descision process.

Letter to a Prospective Seminarian

Getting My Praise On

This weeked was a great one. This is what happened

• Saturday
• I say my daughter play soccer and do an awesome reverse kick at just the right time to make a big play.
• I asked a local man that had surrendered to preach but has not been allowed to preach to fill the pulit next weekend
  
• Sunday
• Baptized a young man by the name of Zane with the heater in the baptistry out. invigorating.
• Preached on parents and children in the morn and church re-emergring in culture in the eve
• Had members stay at Church for hour and talk. They are excited and so am I. There is a great sprirt of fellowship.
• Had a lady, all but surrender to teach a Sunday school class. I think she will, it seems that the Lord is working on her. Besided she is too cool not to teach and he has the Bible brains to do it. I look forward to seeing her grow by leading. Btw, we have five Sunday school classes and we have never had more than two that anyone can remeber.
• Taught Sunday school to youth. Dealt with stuff in thier lives and showed the Bible really does apply to what is going on. Everthing from Prom to dealing with Grandmothers.
• We also had a lady return to worship that has been in the hospital. God care for us is amazing.
• Monday
• Had a member do some work at the Church with our being harrassed and he served with a sense of delight - worked on septic system, fixed the light in the baptistry, tried to fix the hating element and he even mowed the church lawn. Awesome guy. He and his wife are too cool and they really dig Jesus and His Word.

I know I am leaving something out, but it might be because of praise overload. You know, when you are just too blessed.

Getting My Praise On

This weeked was a great one. This is what happened

• Saturday
• I say my daughter play soccer and do an awesome reverse kick at just the right time to make a big play.
• I asked a local man that had surrendered to preach but has not been allowed to preach to fill the pulit next weekend
  
• Sunday
• Baptized a young man by the name of Zane with the heater in the baptistry out. invigorating.
• Preached on parents and children in the morn and church re-emergring in culture in the eve
• Had members stay at Church for hour and talk. They are excited and so am I. There is a great sprirt of fellowship.
• Had a lady, all but surrender to teach a Sunday school class. I think she will, it seems that the Lord is working on her. Besided she is too cool not to teach and he has the Bible brains to do it. I look forward to seeing her grow by leading. Btw, we have five Sunday school classes and we have never had more than two that anyone can remeber.
• Taught Sunday school to youth. Dealt with stuff in thier lives and showed the Bible really does apply to what is going on. Everthing from Prom to dealing with Grandmothers.
• We also had a lady return to worship that has been in the hospital. God care for us is amazing.
• Monday
• Had a member do some work at the Church with our being harrassed and he served with a sense of delight - worked on septic system, fixed the light in the baptistry, tried to fix the hating element and he even mowed the church lawn. Awesome guy. He and his wife are too cool and they really dig Jesus and His Word.

I know I am leaving something out, but it might be because of praise overload. You know, when you are just too blessed.

Decoding Culture - Acts 17:16-21

Act 17:16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.

• His spirit was provoked within – I pray that this will happen to us.
• We will be aggravated, annoyed, irritated, goaded, forced to deal with the issues at hand, or that we see through believing eyes
• given over to idols -

Act 17:17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the

• He reasoned with them. He got in the mix. He rubbed elbows and traded words, he conversed, and like race fans put it- he traded paint.
• He discussed, disputed and preached to them
• At times it was logical reasoning and at moments it was hot debate
• marketplace daily – real ministry is not done behind white clapboards or with red bricks and white columns.
• Agorah is the Greek term- in the middle of the people
• Agoraphobia, literally translated as "a fear of the marketplace
• An agoraphobic does not fear people: he or she rather fears an embarrassing/dangerous situation with no escape.
• Some people with agoraphobia are comfortable seeing visitors, but only in a defined space they feel in control of.
• Such people may live for years without leaving their homes, while happily seeing visitors and working, as long as they can stay within their safety zones.
• We Are Stuck In Our Safety Zones

Act 17:18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.

• Paul was in a place of many philosophies and ideas, not one truth, real truth was lost and what ever was good got you was your personal truth.
• They found our God foreign, alien, new, & strange.
• This was a different teaching and the concept of this God was far and distant.
  It is our Goal to be the salt and the light -Mat 5:13-16 "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. (14) "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. (15) Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. (16) In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
• How can we do this is we are not around the people
• If we are not in the marketplace then how can we affect the people that Jesus loves, because Jesus loves the reprobate too?

Act 17:19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?

• They wanted to know the who and the what about what Paul have being talking to them about
• They were hungry to know what he was talking about, Jesus and His Grace have become such a foreign concept that it is becoming new all over again.

Act 17:20-1 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” (21) For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

• There was a time, just a few centuries ago, when nautical maps of Europe had legends that included the location of churches on land and church steeples doubled as navigational tools for ship captains. Churches were typically built on choice real estate in the center of town or atop the highest hill. And in some places, there were ordinances against building anything taller than the church steeple so it would occupy the place closest to heaven. Nothing was more visible on the pre-modern skyline than church steeples. And in a sense, church steeples symbolized the place of the church in culture. There was a day, in the not too distant past, when church was the center of culture. Church was the place to go. Church was the thing to do. Nothing was more visible than the church steeple. Nothing was more audible than the church bells. And it might be a slight exaggeration, but all the pre-modern church had to do was raise a steeple and ring a bell. Is it safe to say that things have changed?
• The church no longer enjoys a cultural monopoly.
• We know Scripture, but we're out of touch with the times. We are well studied in Sunday school we don’t know our neighbor
• The end result is a gap between theology and reality called irrelevance. Things that are ill relevant are insignificant, unimportant, worthless, inconsequential, trival – the Church was not called to be this
• Eph 5:35 says that he gave his life for it.
• We're out of touch with the very people we're trying to reach--the unchurched and dechurched. We've got to exegete our culture so we can close the gap. That's what incarnation is all about.
• The post-Christian church needs a revelation: irrelevance is irreverence!
• The church has four options when it comes to engaging culture: 1) ignore it, 2) imitate it, 3) condemn it, or 4) create it. And each option leads in polar opposite directions.
  
  
  • We can ignore culture, but the byproduct of ignorance is irrelevance. The more we ignore culture the more irrelevant we'll become. And if the church ignores the culture, the culture will ignore the church.
    
  • We can imitate culture, but imitation is a form of suicide. Originality is sacrificed on the altar of cultural conformity. If we don't shape the culture, the culture will shape us.
    
  • We can condemn culture, but condemnation is a cop out. Let me just call it what it is: condemnation is spiritual laziness. We've got to stop pointing the finger and start offering better alternatives. If the church condemns the culture, the culture will condemn the church.
  
  
• Those three options will lead the church down a dead-end road to irrelevance, but there is another option--the only option if we're serious about fulfilling the Great Commission and incarnating the gospel. We can compete for culture by creating culture.
• In the immortal words of the Italian artist and poet, Michelangelo: criticize by creating.
• At the end of the day, the culture will treat the church the way the church treats the culture. And we're not called to condemn. We're called to redeem.

i woudl liketo say thanks to Mark at Evotional as he was able to put my thoughts on culture into for andhe didn't even know it. drop by his blog and be amazed