Charlie bit my finger - again !

Triple dog dare you to watch without smiling.

Triple dog dare ya...

Just try to watch this all the way through without smiling.

Overcoming Limitations

It has been one hectic week and weekend, and tomorrow it starts all over again.

I was sitting in my chair unwinding and thinking about how good God is.

Everyone has limitations but God gives us the power and incredible ability to receive His glory in spite of them.Tonight, I am thankful for the Holy Spirit that He has given me. I have so enjoyed my preparation and study of Acts 2 for this week's sermon and will take with me, into this week, the great assurance that His Spirit is within me, though I don't deserve it; That He will use me, though I am so very limited in my abilities; and He will receive glory from me, though I am merely human.

Have thine own way Lord, have thine own way!

Sacred Cows and Other Things We Like to Milk (Pt.1)

OK, I should be writing a paper tonight about how to witness to Hindus and Muslims for my class at the cost of some needed sleep, but instead I am going to start this series of posts and pay for it in the morning....why you ask?.....I have no idea, but here it goes:

In the event that you are wandering by my blog for the first time....let me clarify, as a preface, for you that I am a "to the bone" committed student to orthodox exegesis in regards to the principals of the Scripture...my paraphrase: "Don't jack with The Book, or God will jack you up!" But I am tired of many things that I see that are not scriptural based, but traditionally based, and held to the same level and reverence as if they were born in the scripture themselves and serve as a standard for faith and practice. Well, guess what? Many are not. It is not that I consider myself to be any sort of scholar or authority, but I do know that those who do not know history are destined to repeat it. And in the past God pronounced His severest judgements on those who knew their traditions, but did not know Him or His Word. So over the course of several post under this title I will be revealing the orgin of many of the traditions that we hold so tightly to that our knuckles turn white, but have absolutely no foundation in Scripture. Don't shoot the messenger! If you get bent at some of the things I am writing about, please don't hold it against me. God's work is so much bigger than the things we hold to dogmatically....isn't that great news!?! And for heaven's sake, don't take my word for any of it...search it out yourself....be noble like the Bereans.

One last disclaimer, if you understand the origin of what I am sharing and at the conclusions have no qualm with the practice...that's cool. Most of these things I'm addressing are not bad. I don't have a problem with many of them either...that is until people put them on the same plane as something authoritative. I like what Augustine said, "In the essential unity, in the non-essentials liberty, but in all things charity" So I hope you find these history lessons informative and challenging to "old" views. Here it goes...

SACRED COW #1 - Our Worship and Practice Closely Resembles the Early Church

There are two pivotal moments in church history: 323-327A.D. and October 31, 1571 and we are going to be referring to both in many posts to come. Out of those two points in time have flowed the vast majority of the practices of present-day Christianity. I did not say its theology, but its practice. VERY IMPORTANT DISTINCTION!

So what was the early church like? Well you have read about the persecution that began in Jerusalem beginning with Saul in the books of Acts. The persecution was assumed also by the Romans and carried on with Nero. It was bad! To give you an example, the Roman historian Tacticus wrote that Nero would bind Christians, paint them in tar and hang them from poles in the streets of Rome. If that wasn't bad enough, it was disturbing for the citizens to hear them in agony, so they began the practice of sewing their lips shut. At night, Nero would have the bodies of the living victims, set on fire and the streets of Rome were lit with burning of Christians. Why was this done? Simply because they worshipped the risen Christ.

During the next 250 years the early church experienced tremendous growth, but in the midst of tremendous periods of persecution.

The climax came on February 23, 303. On that date Emperor Diocletian, signed the first general edict against Christians. The edict mandated that all copies of the scriptures be burned, that all Christian worship be banned, all meeting places closed, and all leaders rounded up and be forced to recant. The torture and bloodshed were so bad that even the Romans were sickened and repulsed. The result was the it left the church without leaders, setting the stage for 313AD, but that will be in the next post.

So to dispel the first sacred cow, unless you sit in the pew of your church with the thought that at any moment a dispatch of Roman Centurions is going to bust down the plate glass door of your foyer to haul you off for lunch with a lion, you probably do not possess the same mindset. If you are sitting in a building architectually designed for your comfort, you are not in a similar place Finally, if your commitment is not one of total heartfelt devotion in your worship; if you are not committed to doing everything you can to encourage and ensure those around you stay strong in their faith through the battles in the coming week; if you aren't singing that hymn or chorus as if your life depended on it; if you're not clinging to every word of the message from the scripture without facing the reality and making a choice that you will do what it says at the cost of your own life; and if you're not surrounded by a group of people who feel and live the exact same way, what you are a part of is a far cry from anything that resembles the early church, so please don't say it or act like it.

Embrace the mission He has for you in this age He has called you to and be real! Love Jesus and make him the center of your affection not traditions and not religion. Sacred Cow #1 down, bring in the next one...

Sweeping Under the Doormat...

I was reading tonight some material and came across the story of a young woman who was attempting to join Spurgeon's church in London one day, and she was asked, "What makes you think you have become a Christian?" Not understanding all the Bible doctrines of conversion and regeneration, she simply responded, "Because now I sweep under the doormat!"

I really like that answer. The walk we are called to is not about the appearance that we can put on, as if by any stretch you or I could do anything to impress God. So who do we put those famous Sunday appearances on for that we hold to so tightly? Why do you insists on wearing that suit and tie on Sunday? Who are you hoping is going to be "scoping" that new Easter dress and hat you just purchased? Does God marvel at those things? Is he impressed? I talked with another man this weekend, who told me he couldn't go to church this past Sunday because his only pair of jeans have holes in them and they are grease stained. I don't blame the man for that (though we spoke about it in length to correct his thinking) but what is wrong with this picture?

I read the report that was released concerning the state of the church and guess what, WE'RE LOSING! What does it take to really stir our hearts? Does the fact that someone would miss hearing the preaching of God's word because of the condition of his clothes, upset you and I more than, the fact that he knows in his heart that we would look down on him if he came in the clothes he had? If we are really going to impact our world, we must start looking beyond what people are seeing and focus on how we are going to deal with what only we know is really under the mat. I am excited because I see this happening all around me and I am encouraged because I know that Revival is coming!

I'll admit that for me to say that "WE'RE LOSING" is probably misleading and really to get more of a rise out of you than anything. Because the truth is that Christ's true church is thriving. He himself has promised that even the gates of hell will not prevail against it. God will preserve the church. However, in saying that, I'm nearly certain that He will not preserve the "church" culture that well intentioned folks have created, to cushion and isolate themselves from the world.

I'm so excited about the new series we are starting this week at Cornerstone. Over the next 13 weeks we are going to be teaching from the book of Acts. Of course, Acts is the short name we have given for the book that is really titled "The Acts of the Apostles", which could better be called the "The Acts of the Holy Spirit as He Worked Through the Lives of the Apostles as they Confronted the Culture of Their Time", but I guess that would be a little too long, huh? It is pretty exciting stuff to study the first and true "missional" church, the very thing we are suppose to be continuing even to this day. I eagerly anticipate the fact we are going to be challenged to move into the marketplace, schools, workplaces, etc. of our area, and to take the Christianity that we profess out to confront the culture that is around us. "A faith that is not tested, is not worth holding".

So if you're in the neighborhood on Sunday and only have a pair of grease stained, holy, jeans please come worship and study with us at Cornerstone. We will have the welcome mat out for you and it has been well swept underneath.

My friend Pam

Check out my friend's blog....she just threw up her first post. Stop by and say hi at I Don't Know Yet.