A Saturday Morning Cartoon
Ah… Saturday morning cartoons. One of the finer memories growing up was watching SuperFriends, Scooby Doo, the Snorks, or any of the dozens of other great (but often short lived) programs. They became a part of my day off from school.
Continuing in that tradtition, I’m bringing Saturday morning cartoons back!
read on to get my take on the deeper truths of this video…
All Who Are Thirsty
I’ve told congregations in the past that what I learn in school will sometimes be what they hear that week. It was a joke, but sometimes what I learn through my education is so timely for me that I feel God wants me to share it with the local church as well. Maybe its just the saying that “misery loves company”; if I have to get beat up, then I want everyone to feel the pain with me.
These 2 messages are perfect examples. I’m in a Fundamentals of Christian Counseling course right now and to my surprise it has forced me to see myself in a way I never expected or wanted to admit. So why keep the pain and hurt joy of seeing how deep my sin is it to myself?
This two part series focuses on making sure that we have our priorities straight: first things first, second things second. Quite honestly the first week shocked me.
As a speaker (be warned, I’m going to be rather transparent here) there are times when I feel like I have “good stuff” prepared and times when I feel “meh” about my messages; it’s what I feel God wants me to share, but it feels “off” somehow. Funny thing is, almost as a rule, when I think I have a home run message it falls flat and when I am scared about a message the Holy Spirit shows up.
I think God does that to remind me that what I have to say is just commentary; his Word and his Spirit are the only things that can speak to a room.
This first week was no exception. I was worried that it was the wrong message, but the music leader shared about a desire to keep God first (even reading from A.W. Tozer) and I got at that moment the sign from God that said “See… It’s like I know what I’m doing.”
The second week deals more with how our relationships will change when we repent of self-protection (the chief of second things) and learn to love as we were meant to.
I know simply telling someone to “love more” seems impossible because you can’t force yourself to love, but you can remove the road blocks that keep us from loving God and loving others as we are supposed to.
Please feel free to ask questions or post comments at the end.
All Who Are Thirsty Week 1
All Who Are Thirsty Week 2
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.
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