Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Evolve! Day Two
By farb and away this has been the most practical conference I've been to. Moving and encouraging messages at the main sessions and the breakouts equally good. Just heard Gabe Lyons speaking on how culture has come to view us as deviating from the message of Christ. He presented some findings from his book "Unchristian." Along with "Simple Church" this book should be read asap by serious evangelicals.
Evolve!
Today and tomorrow I'm at the Evolve Conference at Mountain Lake Church in Cumming, GA. Very good so far. I began at the pre-conference session on small groups and connecting people. One thing MLC does is that they focus on one curriculum, namely the weekly message. They are very protective of their groups and have asked folks to leave leadership or the church who weren't onboard. Yes, we can and sometimes should do this. The supporting text is Matthew 18. But that is the negative exception. The key thing is moving people into "growth groups" using a simple process. They emphasize having a calendar and regular events, so that all the groups are on the same page. Regular leadership training and record keeping by the leaders round out their approach.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Week 2 in Review
We have covered a lot of ground this week, and it's got me thinking that a week is too long hold off posting, so I'll try to do so more often. Please feel free to add your comments, too. You might like to download the journal pages for the month which you get to from the links on the right.
Old Testament
Our OT readings this week have pointed to God's ultimate role in establishing His people. This first time I read through these verses I was stunned, "What a pack of liars! Couldn't God find anyone better than these people?" Well, no, but then that's not the point. Neither Abraham, Isaac, nor Jacob is able to fulfill God's will on their own; only through the action of God Himself will Abraham's descendents come to possess the land of the Canaanites. So, Sarah has a son when she is well past the age of childbearing; she is in fact post-menopausal, so God provides the child. Abraham purchases the burial plot for Sarah, the land is not given to him. Both Isaac and Jacob marry their cousins, rather than take Canaanite wives (unlike Esau), so they will not receive land through marriage either.
On a side note, the dynamics of Isaac's family is pretty interesting. Keep an eye on Jacob and Esau; we'll be seeing more of them later.
New Testament
We concluded the Sermon on the Mount this week. Jesus points out in several of the readings that it is our inner motives, our heart, more so than any outward expressions or observances that matter to God. Just as we pay extra attention where we step when we hike along a narrow path, so we are to pay extra attention to our motives on our spiritual walk. For instance, are we just doing church, or are we being the Church? Are we willing to go be among the untouchables and "sinners" so that God can use us to bring healing?
Psalms
Throughout this week the Psalms address God's justice in the face of all the seeming injustice in the world. God is particularly interested in the defenseless, and the impovershed. Although it seems that people who take advantage of others get the upper hand, in the end there will be an accounting; God judges the hearts and minds of the wicked and righteous alike.
Proverbs
Seeking wisdom, God's wisdom, leads us along the narrow path. "Honor the LORD with your first fruits" so that He is truly the Lord of our lives. And be patient as God continues His good work in you.
Blessings to you and yours during the week ahead,
John
Old Testament
Our OT readings this week have pointed to God's ultimate role in establishing His people. This first time I read through these verses I was stunned, "What a pack of liars! Couldn't God find anyone better than these people?" Well, no, but then that's not the point. Neither Abraham, Isaac, nor Jacob is able to fulfill God's will on their own; only through the action of God Himself will Abraham's descendents come to possess the land of the Canaanites. So, Sarah has a son when she is well past the age of childbearing; she is in fact post-menopausal, so God provides the child. Abraham purchases the burial plot for Sarah, the land is not given to him. Both Isaac and Jacob marry their cousins, rather than take Canaanite wives (unlike Esau), so they will not receive land through marriage either.
On a side note, the dynamics of Isaac's family is pretty interesting. Keep an eye on Jacob and Esau; we'll be seeing more of them later.
New Testament
We concluded the Sermon on the Mount this week. Jesus points out in several of the readings that it is our inner motives, our heart, more so than any outward expressions or observances that matter to God. Just as we pay extra attention where we step when we hike along a narrow path, so we are to pay extra attention to our motives on our spiritual walk. For instance, are we just doing church, or are we being the Church? Are we willing to go be among the untouchables and "sinners" so that God can use us to bring healing?
Psalms
Throughout this week the Psalms address God's justice in the face of all the seeming injustice in the world. God is particularly interested in the defenseless, and the impovershed. Although it seems that people who take advantage of others get the upper hand, in the end there will be an accounting; God judges the hearts and minds of the wicked and righteous alike.
Proverbs
Seeking wisdom, God's wisdom, leads us along the narrow path. "Honor the LORD with your first fruits" so that He is truly the Lord of our lives. And be patient as God continues His good work in you.
Blessings to you and yours during the week ahead,
John
Friday, January 11, 2008
Atlanta Artisans
Blessings,
John
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Week 1 in Review
Brokenness
God made Adam in His image, or likeness, but after the Fall all of Adam's decendents have Adam's likeness (Gen 5:3); that is, humans share the same glimmer of God's image that Adam had as well as a fundamental brokenness that separates us from God, from each other, and from the rest of Creation.
Noah
Ten generations, or roughly 1600 years, pass from Adam to Noah, and the corruption of the earth begun at the Fall continued to the point that God made a drastic decision; He will wipe it all out and start over. God chooses Noah to build a ship that will preserve human and animal life. This part of the story is probably familiar to us: Noah and the Ark. But as we read further in the Bible we see the more "earthy", and sometimes infamous, side of the characters we sang about in Sunday school or colored with crayons. Noah gets drunk and naked. Two of his sons treat Noah with dignity, the other, Ham, thinks it's a riot. Noah loses his temper the next morning and curses Ham, the father of the Canaanites. And lasting bad relations between the family members begin.
Babel
Wouldn't it be great if there were no language barriers? Think of what could be accomplished! But human nature being what it is uses this ability for self-promotion; the residents of Babel start to build a tower in order to make a name for themselves, rather than to honor God who has saved them from total destruction. So, God "confuses" their speech. Interestingly, attempts at a universal language, for instance Esperanto, will eventually fail as well. We need to rely on more than language to relate with others; we need to rely on God and His image that we all share. Talk with someone who has been on a mission trip about how language differences are dealt with.
Sermon on the Mount
This week we began reading perhaps the most important teaching of Jesus in the Gospels; the Sermon, or Teaching, on the Mount. Beginning with the 8 beatitudes, a word meaning supreme happiness, Jesus moves us away from outward observances of the Law, toward inward change. It is from our heart that murder and adultery, big infractions of the 10 Commandments, begin. More than what we can see, or our circumstances, true happiness is to be found in through ordering our inward life by faith in God. We will continue this teaching during the coming week.
Wisdom
Proverbs are part of the Bible's wisdom literature, which includes the Book of James. This week, we are reminded that wisdom is freely available if we will simply choose to use it. When self-caused calamity strikes, then it's too late. Woman Wisdom mocking us, reflects our own feelings of foolishness for not doing the wise thing.
Blessings to you and yours during the coming week,
John
God made Adam in His image, or likeness, but after the Fall all of Adam's decendents have Adam's likeness (Gen 5:3); that is, humans share the same glimmer of God's image that Adam had as well as a fundamental brokenness that separates us from God, from each other, and from the rest of Creation.
Noah
Ten generations, or roughly 1600 years, pass from Adam to Noah, and the corruption of the earth begun at the Fall continued to the point that God made a drastic decision; He will wipe it all out and start over. God chooses Noah to build a ship that will preserve human and animal life. This part of the story is probably familiar to us: Noah and the Ark. But as we read further in the Bible we see the more "earthy", and sometimes infamous, side of the characters we sang about in Sunday school or colored with crayons. Noah gets drunk and naked. Two of his sons treat Noah with dignity, the other, Ham, thinks it's a riot. Noah loses his temper the next morning and curses Ham, the father of the Canaanites. And lasting bad relations between the family members begin.
Babel
Wouldn't it be great if there were no language barriers? Think of what could be accomplished! But human nature being what it is uses this ability for self-promotion; the residents of Babel start to build a tower in order to make a name for themselves, rather than to honor God who has saved them from total destruction. So, God "confuses" their speech. Interestingly, attempts at a universal language, for instance Esperanto, will eventually fail as well. We need to rely on more than language to relate with others; we need to rely on God and His image that we all share. Talk with someone who has been on a mission trip about how language differences are dealt with.
Sermon on the Mount
This week we began reading perhaps the most important teaching of Jesus in the Gospels; the Sermon, or Teaching, on the Mount. Beginning with the 8 beatitudes, a word meaning supreme happiness, Jesus moves us away from outward observances of the Law, toward inward change. It is from our heart that murder and adultery, big infractions of the 10 Commandments, begin. More than what we can see, or our circumstances, true happiness is to be found in through ordering our inward life by faith in God. We will continue this teaching during the coming week.
Wisdom
Proverbs are part of the Bible's wisdom literature, which includes the Book of James. This week, we are reminded that wisdom is freely available if we will simply choose to use it. When self-caused calamity strikes, then it's too late. Woman Wisdom mocking us, reflects our own feelings of foolishness for not doing the wise thing.
Blessings to you and yours during the coming week,
John
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Perfection and the Fall
Yesterday's readings were my favorites. There are new beginnings; a created world in which everything exists in harmony; truly, it's all good! God is with us, first in the Garden, then in Bethlehem. The book of Tobit, in the Apocrypha, informs us that Galilee was a center of idol worship just before the Exile (which we will read about later on). This sheds some additional light on Jesus' birth. God not only chooses to dwell among the poor, but in the midst of the spiritually misguided. We can find great hope in this. Psalms and Proverbs point the way out; we find our guidance in God's Word and Wisdom.
But life in the idyllic Garden of Eden is short-lived. More important to me than "who" was the first to sin was the way it came about - doubting, self-justifying, committing, and then acting out of shame. The serpent twists the command of God around such that Eve takes a second look. The fruit seems good; what's all the fuss? Then it becomes pleasing to the eye; well, maybe just a little won't hurt. So, she eats then Adam eats and then...they cower from God. This is not the same as "the fear of the Lord" in Proverbs, which is awe; this is fright and shame. Sin, disobedience to God, has now entered Creation and everything is affected, even the earth itself becomes "cursed." And human relationships are corrupted, as evidenced by Cain's cold-blooded killing of Abel out of jealousy, and, in the New Testament, the mass-murder of innocent children by order of an earthly king who fears losing his power.
Yet, God still cares for His creation, sowing together clothes for Adam and Eve which they will need now outside the Garden. But mostly, we see God's care and love for us through the sending of His Son to a humble couple who respond obediantly to God. Psalms assures us that we have not been forgotten by God, despite the raging of the nations. And Proverbs reminds us that the "fear" that is, the reverence, of God is the beginning of the way back, the source of wisdom. Happy, indeed, are those who take refuge in God!
But life in the idyllic Garden of Eden is short-lived. More important to me than "who" was the first to sin was the way it came about - doubting, self-justifying, committing, and then acting out of shame. The serpent twists the command of God around such that Eve takes a second look. The fruit seems good; what's all the fuss? Then it becomes pleasing to the eye; well, maybe just a little won't hurt. So, she eats then Adam eats and then...they cower from God. This is not the same as "the fear of the Lord" in Proverbs, which is awe; this is fright and shame. Sin, disobedience to God, has now entered Creation and everything is affected, even the earth itself becomes "cursed." And human relationships are corrupted, as evidenced by Cain's cold-blooded killing of Abel out of jealousy, and, in the New Testament, the mass-murder of innocent children by order of an earthly king who fears losing his power.
Yet, God still cares for His creation, sowing together clothes for Adam and Eve which they will need now outside the Garden. But mostly, we see God's care and love for us through the sending of His Son to a humble couple who respond obediantly to God. Psalms assures us that we have not been forgotten by God, despite the raging of the nations. And Proverbs reminds us that the "fear" that is, the reverence, of God is the beginning of the way back, the source of wisdom. Happy, indeed, are those who take refuge in God!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Through the Bible in 2008!
Reading through the Bible in a year is a very doable goal. The purpose of this website is to help you by providing resources and a place to talk about what you will read, as well as ask questions and share insights. We'll be doing this together.
Just so we're on the same page, no pun intended, we need to follow a common schedule or reading plan. The one I will be using here is the popular One-Year Bible reading plan. If you do not have one of these Bibles, I'll list the readings for each week. Also, there are journal pages available in PDF format.
Another resource that you'll want to know about is the complete "Message" Bible in a daily podcast format. You can add it through itunes, or feedburner.
Blessings to you and yours during this coming year!
John
Just so we're on the same page, no pun intended, we need to follow a common schedule or reading plan. The one I will be using here is the popular One-Year Bible reading plan. If you do not have one of these Bibles, I'll list the readings for each week. Also, there are journal pages available in PDF format.
Another resource that you'll want to know about is the complete "Message" Bible in a daily podcast format. You can add it through itunes, or feedburner.
Blessings to you and yours during this coming year!
John
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