A Tale of Three Teachings
All alliteration aside (see what I did there?) I recently was given the great opportunity to speak at a local church for 3 weeks. It was an incredible experience where I met some people who are going through struggles greater than my own, those who are struggling with living out faith, and others who just needed to hear what God had to say through my messages.
Click on the audio players below to hear each message.
Why vs. What (11/22/09) – A look at Job and what God can do when we stop asking “Why” bad things happen and start asking a better question.
Muddy Roofs and Miracles (11/29/09) – When a paralyzed man and his friends come to Jesus, He offers the man something completely different than what he hoped for.
Relational Evangelism (12/06/09) – If Christians should be sharing Jesus with others, then why isn’t the “finger pointing” movement working? We look at Acts 17 and a message of Paul’s that shows evangelism isn’t pointing a finger and shouting at the world “Good luck in hell!”
*Thanks to Brandon Larkin for helping me through some of the audio hosting issues.
All I Want For Christmas is a Goat.
Carrie and I received our favorite Christmas catalog a few weeks ago. It wasn’t the Toys ‘R Us Wishbook, though it is fun to go through with the boys. It wasn’t the Best Buy catalog so I could drool over a Mac Book. It was a book from World Partners. The people who help third world children get their basic needs met.
In the effort of continuing to present people with ways to honor Christ during Christmas, I present to you the World Vision Catalog. In this catalog you can buy gifts that people will still be grateful for 6 months from now.
In sounds crazy, but for Christmas you can give a family a goat…and it would be considered the greatest gift ever.
Advent Conspiracy
Ok, friends… it’s time to put up or shut up. I’ve heard many people say that they want CHRIST in CHRISTmas. Well, if you really mean that, then here is just one of many ways how.
Read on to see another video and get a link to the Advent Conspiracy website.
Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays
With Thanksgiving comes my favorite sporting tradition and no, it’s not watching the Lions get spanked again on national television. It is an event unlike any other. A battle so heated and a rivalry so strong that even the Wolverines and Buckeyes think it is too intense.
The battle ground is check-out lines across America. The game is brutal as it will last from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve. Watching the players as the defend their position is like a chess match. What is this epic contest over?
The phrase “Merry Christmas”.
Retail programing on what to say this Christmas season?
“I Had Cancer for a Day”
Recently, Carrie and I have had a chance to live out our belief that God is more concerned with spiritual outcomes than with physcial health.
the lovely and talented Carrie on the San Francisco coast
Shortly after Ethan was born 8 years ago Carrie’s doctor found a mass on her thyroid. They did a biopsy on it, and it was clear. For the past 8 years she has had to go to a specialist every 3 months to have it checked and everything was fine… until 3 weeks ago.
Best Reads from the Summer
Me circa mid-August
If reading books made you crazy, then call me Napoleon because this was a crazy summer of reading. Between school, assessment recommendations, and personal reading there was a lot done. Here’s a brief list of some of the better books I read and why you should read them too. Choo-choo! All aboard the crazy train!
Fleeces: Faithful Prayers or Our Doubt?
Gideon is often considered one of the great heros of the Bible. In the Biblical book of Judges we see Gideon doing a couple of amazing things (I’ve included online links to those stories at the bottom of the blog post) that point to God’s amazing power. However, I think there may be a part of Gideon that we take too much stock in, and that’s the process of the fleece.
Updates, Planting, and a Trip to California.
Not exactly how a church plant works.
Over the past 2 years, God has really changed my life and in the way I present him to the world. Perhaps in a future blog I can dive into more of that, but for now know that over this time HUGE changes have taken place.
Going back to last May, I felt a call on my life to move into full time ministry. This wasn’t because I wanted to make some money off of Christianity, but I felt it was a calling because I want to share the life changing message of Christ with everyone, all the time: through action and words. The only problem we had was that there were still these pesky responsibilities called “bills” that apparently needed to be paid. So pursing full time, vocation ministry was a decision made in name only. A financial means to a spiritual end.
Read the rest of this entry »
I Am Second
Here is an awesome site with incredibly inspiring stories. It is a site dedicated to showing how putting ourselves second behind Jesus Christ can help you overcome most anything. I can’t recomend these videos enough.
You can head to the site from the links on the left of the page or simply visit iamsecond.com
Here are a couple from Jason Castro of American Idol fame and Brian “Head” Welch formerly of Korn.
Church is for Losers.
23And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25“For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? — Luke 9.23-25
The Bible is filled with these wonderful, counterintuitive statements. Death brings life. Lead by serving. To gain life, you must lose it. So what does that exactly mean?
