Month: February 2012

Eyes open Prayer-walk

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Three more days to go! I will begin my 40 days prayer for community in three days and will continue to share articles, prayer tips and encouragement from SeekGodfortheCity. Today we are going to focus on prayer-walking or praying near the people you are praying for. There’s a story rolling in everyone’s life. God has done and will do good things in people’s lives. He does good things long before anyone opens their life to Christ. It’s the kindness of God that leads anyone to repentance (Romans 2:4). Meeting, following and serving Christ is always a lifelong story. The typical stories have multiple encounters and experiences that turn people closer to or further from Christ. Someone researching effective ways to lead people to Christ found that most people have no less than five significant encounters in which the message of the gospel registers at the heart level. On the verge of something good. As we connect with people in practical ways, those deep heart connections increase rapidly. I love to assume that God is on the verge …

Prayer, share, care!

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I’m excited about the next 40 days of prayer starting in five days! My prayer as a pastor in the community I serve is to see God move incredibly in the lives of people. Yesterday we talked about how to co-work with God in sharing his love and kindness. Today, we want to see how that actually works. I am going to use another article from seek God for the city to help us put that into perspective. Caring prayers, tangible kindness and well-timed words. Think of your prayers for others as accelerating what God has already been doing. Since God’s work is always a story, your best praying will be part of an ongoing story. We know that prayer is more than some kind of quick-fix for problems. It’s confusing to think of utilizing prayer as a procedure that, if performed correctly, will bring about “results.” Instead, God delights in our praying as a way of enlisting us into His work and His purpose. Prayer is a way of collaborating with God. God is already on the move. Prayer does not …

Co-Work with God!

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I downloaded an app unto my iPad today to help plan, pray and make daily progress in my up coming prayer effort for my community.  Beginning February 22 through April 1 – I will begin a forty day prayer journey asking God to fulfill His purpose in my community. The app makes it very easy to do it. While I was browsing, I came across this little article that I thought would be a blessing to you as it was to me. It is about how we can partner with God in sharing His love and kindness. ______________________________________________________________ Co-work with God Co- work with God in the story of His love. The story started early. When did God begin to do good things in your life? Was it only after you became a Christian? Actually, the Bible is very clear about God doing good things in people’s lives long before they even know about Him. There’s a story of kindness in every person’s life. God delights in showing His premeditated, forever love with tangible acts of kindness. …

There is hope for all Benchwarmers!

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For the past 12 or more days the story of a young man named Jeremy Lin continues to build and captivate the sports world. The story is fascinating because just a short while ago no one was talking about him and his untapped potential. In fact he was an unknown benchwarmer who was often mistaken for a trainer by Madison Square Garden security guards. But today, the 23 year old has become an overnight sensation, and even Taiwan and China are both claiming him as their own. We have seen this same scenario before – people who have been over-looked, benched and passed over many times only to somehow rise and shoot for the stars. Jennifer Hudson, for example didn’t even make the top five when she competed on American Idol and got booted out only to go on to win an Academy Award for best supporting actress, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, an NAACP Image Award, a Screen Actors Guide Award and a Grammy Award. Tom Brady is another example. He got passed over for …

Pursue Love

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Love is patient and kind Love does not envy or boast Love is not arrogant or rude Love does not insist on its own way Love is not irritable or resentful Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing Love rejoices with the truth Love bears all things Love believes all things Love hopes in all things Love endures all things. Love never ends …Pursue Love… Scripture Reading from: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; 1 Corinthians 14:1

I will not Recant!

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The Diet of Worms, held in the spring of 1521, was thus in one sense little more than the backwash from a ship that had already set to sea. The Holy Roman emperor Charles V (who was also Charles I of Spain) had never been in Germany. He called the Diet, or meeting, in order to meet the German princes, whom he scarcely knew by name and desperately needed to court. But this friar by the name of Luther also needed to be addressed. Luther left Wittenberg to attend the Diet convinced he would finally get the hearing he had requested in 1517. As he was ushered into the Diet, Luther was awed to see Emperor Charles V himself. He was surrounded by his advisers and representatives of Rome, Spanish troops decked out in their parade best, electors, bishops, territorial princes, and representatives of great cities. In the midst of this august assembly sat a table with a pile of books. Luther was asked if he had written the books, and if there was a …

You are a precious jewel

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“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:45, 46 Ways that Christians are like jewels: (GUZ) ·        They are hard and durable ·        They are prized for their luster ·        They are prized for their rarity ·        They are made by God alone ·        They are of all different sizes, yet they are all jewels ·        They are found all over the world ·        They are associated with royalty ·        They are protected ·        Some are hidden and undiscovered ·        Some are not yet polished “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his …

The Ethics of Birth Control. Part 4

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  This post concludes our four-part series on the ethics of birth control. Here, Mark Driscoll discusses five “levels” of birth control and the biblical and scientific amorality of each of them. Adapted from Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions. There’s no doubt the Bible says children are a blessing, but the Bible doesn’t seem to address the specific topic of birth control. Is this a black-and-white topic, or does it fall under liberties? Level 1: No Birth Control At the very least, every Christian married couple should cover every aspect of their marriage with prayer, including future children God may bless them with. Through prayer, the Christian couple is demonstrating faith in the goodness and sovereignty of God over all of life, including the womb. Some Christian couples determine to use only prayer in their family planning. As a result, they simply enjoy normal marital sexual relations and trust that if God desires that they have children, he will provide according to his timing. When a Christian couple chooses this approach, trusting that whatever happens …

The Ethics Of Birth Control. Part 3

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  Content adapted from Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions by Mark Driscoll. There’s no doubt the Bible says children are a blessing, but the Bible doesn’t seem to address the specific topic of birth control. Is this a black-and-white topic, or does it fall under liberties? Mark Driscoll provides some thoughtful responses to common anti-birth control arguments. Does God command people to have children? It is argued that God commands his people to have children, yet in Genesis 1:28 we read, “God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.’” Children are a blessing, not a command. Were we commanded to have children, then those who never marry, like Jesus, and those who are barren would be in sin for not obeying God’s command. To turn a blessing into a command is a common error of legalism, which twists something we get to do in delight into something we have to do in duty. Christian married couples typically should desire and pursue children, either on their own or through adoption or fostering, and …

The Ethics of Birth Control Part 2

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Today we’ll continue the conversation with insights from Mark Driscoll, looking at 16 biblical truths that impact how we should view this issue: The Bible says children are a blessing, but the Bible doesn’t seem to address the specific topic of birth control. Is this a black-and-white topic, or does it fall under liberties? Nowhere in the Bible do we find terms such as contraception, birth control, or family planning. Still, the Bible does speak to those issues in principle. Therefore, to best answer these and other questions, we have to begin with a Christian worldview and then explore how the Bible principally establishes ethical guidelines by which contemporary birth control questions can be answered. The biblical worldview necessary for answering this question is comprised of sixteen truths. Truth 1: God is the Creator and author of human life. (Genesis 1–2; Deut. 32:39; Ps. 139:13–16) Truth 2: God made humanity in his image and likeness, which means that human life is unique and sacred. (Gen. 1:27; James 3:9) Truth 3: God intends for human beings to fill the earth. (Gen. 1:28; 9:1) Truth 4: …