Now I know it’s time to put away the Christmas tree, bring in the lawn ornaments, and take down the colored lights and deal with the cold of January. All the hype of Advent is passed and we are left with the depressing reality of life getting back to “normal”. But what does NORMAL mean […]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7uBmqzPCaU&hl=en&fs=1] This is a must see for Training Greeters. Related posts: Haiti Mission Society Video My First Commercial Should Churches do Commercials? Our 2012 Family Video
Thinking about critical issues for churches today, I started making a list of questions churches should be able to answer. It seems to me that all churches, regardless of size, need to be able to offer compelling responses to these questions. Here they are: Meaning: How do we see life and our place in it? […]
This week’s reading is from Jeremiah 3:11-22. It is the story of God, speaking through Jeremiah, pleading for the people to return to Him. As I read this passage as part of this week’s Lectio Divina, I was caught most not by the words of God, but by the voice of Jeremiah. Who is Jeremiah […]
Church is unlike any other organization on earth and yet we try to apply principles to the church that are inconsistent with it’s purpose. It’s like trying to play football on a baseball field with hockey sticks. You’re like to come away with a lot of bloody and very confused players, to say nothing of […]
Step One The church must decide if it really wants to grow. If the church is to grow, there’s a price: Change. If the church doesn’t want any change or can’t tolerate it, it will not grow. Its that simple. Is your church ready to grow, change, and transform? Let’s test the waters, shall […]
Lectio Divina Isaiah 43:15-21 I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.” This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: […]
Lectio Divina Reading: Matthew 12:9-13 Jesus left there and went into their synagogue, where there was a man with a crippled hand. They were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they asked him, “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath day?” Jesus answered, “If any of you has a sheep, and it […]
Lectio Divina Tuesday August 5, 2008 Read slowly Exodus 4:1-5 Exodus 4 (NIV) Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The LORD said, “Throw […]
Lectio Divina Read John 13:1-5; 23 What would go through your mind, your heart, and your soul if you were able to reclining at the table with Jesus like John? Your head resting gently on His chest, feeling each breath, listening to the beat of His heart, feeling the closeness and His acceptance? How would your […]
Lectio Divina Listening to Psalm 23:1-6 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. Supply – There is only one Shepherd and it is the Lord! What could I possibly every want or need that God cannot supply. More importantly, there are things that I want that God knows I shouldn’t […]
Lectio Divina Read Hebrews 4:12-16 Read this passage slowly three times. What phrase lingers in your mind? Which parts do you want to read through quickly as if they aren’t there? Let Jesus read the passage to you? Where does He stop and linger? So much of our lives is spent covering up past mistakes and […]
Lectio Divina Today’s Reading is from Isaiah 6:1-8 Take time to read the passage 3 times. What words, phrases, or images from the text jump off the page to you. What “me” phrases are filling your life today? Isaiah had a God shaped vision that changed his life. The seraphs were crying, “the whole earth […]
Lectio Divina This morning’s mediation is from Jeremiah 31:16-25 The weeping prophet speaks of hope and of a Father that does not forget his children. The Father has spoken of the pending disaster that comes to those who reject Him and speaks of the folly of youth. I certainly have been guilty of my share […]
Enjoy! http://picasaweb.google.com/steve4040/VBSVideo?authkey=PCcpY8_e0fM Related posts: Life in a Six word Summary 2010 Asbury Seminary Graduation Video Best VBS Moment…. Our 2012 Family Video
For the next 30 days I will be taking the Lectio Divina Challenge. Praying through and listening to God through the Scriptures. I hope you will look for updates and begin a dialog about the Scriptures. Luke 8:4-15 (NIV) While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, […]
Please share with us your Favorite Vacation Bible School moments. Read the stories from others and share your stories. I hope they will encourage you and remind you that in all things chaotic and otherwise, God is Good All the Time, All the Time, God is Good. So Speak Out! Related posts: Why VBS? The […]
Have you ever found yourself in the middle of something so bizarre that you wonder how you ever got there? Sometimes those moments are tragic and find yourself just hanging on day by day. Sometimes they are golden moments of joy that reminds us that God comes to us in the most amazing ways and […]
As part of a course I’m taking at Asbury Seminary, I’ve been engaged in a personal journey through the ancient practice of Lectio Divina or Sacred Reading. Lectio Divina assumes that the scriptures want to speak to us personally, not just teach us, but through God’s voice of compassion and conviction engage us and love […]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaObvOYaTSA] Opinion n belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge Truth n the state of being the case : (2): the body of real things, events, and facts What you choose to believe about Jesus and what he shows us about life is the most important decision of your life. When Jesus says, “I […]
I am a pietist. I once tried to recover from my pietist upbringing, trading it in for something more grand (like Eastern Orthodoxy). Alas, I can not help myself. I am a pietist in my bones. It was bred into me, and I don’t think I could ever divest myself of my pietist heritage. But […]
In his new book, “What is Your Church’s Personality? Discovering and Developing the Ministry Style of Your Church”, Philip D. Douglass defines eight different types of church personalities. Here they are: Fellowship Churches are conscientious, hard-working, orderly, and sensitive to the needs of the people in general, but especially those who are members of their […]
65% of Churches Have a Big Screen, Up Just 3% from 2005 Mark Driscoll has said that every church will be cutting edge of some year. Some churches are the cutting edge of 2008. Others are the cutting edge of 1954. Yet others are the cutting edge of 1875. No matter what, your church is […]
Grace is not a philosophical construct that you can mentally get you head around [ you can’t] and say you understand it [you won’t]. Grace is beyond our understand and is totally illogical that’s what makes it so wonderful. God bypasses the “what ifs” and the “yea but…” and “but how…” and appeals to the […]
We talk alot about church growth, about motivation of the frozen chosen, and living as faithful discipleship in the post-modern world. All good questions to be sure, but I have come to believe that the questions behind all other questions is “why are we here?” It seems simple enough really. Surely everyone knows why they are […]
We make fun of Methodists for their blandness, their excessive calm, their fear of giving offense, their lack of speed, and also for their secret fondness for macaroni and cheese. But nobody sings like them. If you were to ask an audience in New York City, a relatively Methodist-less place, to sing along on […]
#15 – No one is ever challenged to radically rearrange their lives to be a part of what God is doing. #14 – God hasn’t asked you to give something up. #13 – Everyone in your church is perfect. (If you are truly reaching lost people then you will discover that ministry is messy.) #12 […]
Isn’t it amazing how different words take on different meanings to different people? I suppose that’s because our different backgrounds and experiences color our point of view and we just “see” different means. The problem arises when we assume our interpretation is the only one there is and that others should see the world as we do […]
I think everyone, deep inside, is looking for the promised land. It’s a place we dream of, a place where home means is more than a mortgage and community is more than a stop on the career path. For some it is a metaphor for heaven, a place we only realized upon death; for others it is […]
You’ve heard of the formula E=MC2. It is the equation for the relationship between mass (physical stuff)and energy (spiritual stuff). This isn’t exactly how Albert Einstein described it, but it still suits for our discussion. But have you heard of E=MC3 ~ the Self-Esteem Equation? If you have, it probably wasn’t in science class. Let […]
“… and enlarge my territory!” Jabez not only asks God to bless him, but to enlarge his territory. How big is your sphere of influence? Whose lives do you impact and why? Do you just touch the lives of family or are your reaching beyond? A plea for more territory is a plea for God to enlarge your […]
Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.” 1Chronicles 4:10 Imagine you went to your mother and asked for more chores […]
Who doesn’t want to be blessed and have God’s favor? Those who received the blessing of the Lord in the Bible seemed to have amazing lives and were able to touch other’s as a result. Where will we be if we just ask God every now and then for His blessing? I’m not talking about […]
Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me […]
The Prayer of Jabez Breaking Through to the Blessed Life, by Bruce Wilkinson (Multnomah, 2000) This simple little book caused quite a stir a few years ago. Anything popular does. Is it theologically based or driven by a desire to manipulate God into responding to a formula we say like a mantra? Well, like all […]
The HOT topic among the Asbury students this January is PROSPERITY GOSPEL. If you aren’t familiar with Prosperity theology here it is in a nutshell: the Wikipedia definition. Prosperity theology, also known as prosperity doctrine or the Prosperity Gospel, is the doctrine that prosperity, particularly financial prosperity, and success in business or personal life is […]
If you’ve ever had the joy of travelling with kids on a long trip then you know the monotonous question that is always on their lips, “Are we there yet!” Most little kids don’t fully realize that a 10 hour trip is necessary for getting to the beach. They aren’t acquainted with the discipline to make […]
First from the prophet Jeremiah who speaks of being called, being forced to become a prophet of God, despite his strongest protestation: If I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I […]
Lewis is a big supporter of the notion that all human beings have within them a twinge of the Divine spark that helps us recognize the difference between right and wrong behavior. There are some differences to be sure, just like there are differences in people who have the ability to be muscially inclined, but […]
“Suppose We really Found Him?” “There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? We never meant it to come to that! Worse still, supposing He had found us?” – Miracles Lewis suggest that for the most part we’re just playing around […]
I’m not really a big one for resolutions. Usually because I make loft commitments that I think sound good on paper, but which I really don’t intend to keep. Still if you don’t make any resolutions then you are either (1) Perfect – I don’t need to change anything and everyone else can learn from […]