individuality, cooperation, and worship

just spent some time preparing for our kidstuff lesson tomorrow. figured i'd share my thoughts with everyone. if you think about it, please pray for these kids, that God would move in their hearts and minds and lives, that they come to know and love and run after Him with all their hearts, minds, souls, and strength.

Hey guys,

So today, we’re finishing up the month by talking about worship. What do you guys think about worship? Any idea what it means?

Let me tell you a little about worship. But first, let me connect a few dots for you, before we wrap this up.

Do you guys remember what we talked about last month? It starts with an “I”. Individuality, that’s right. And individuality means discovering who you were meant to be so that you can make a difference. And what about this month we just finished? It starts with “C”. Cooperation, good job. And cooperation is working together to do more than you can do alone.

I want you guys to see how this all fits together. First off, just like everything else in our lives, this comes down to the Gospel. Do you guys know what the Gospel is? (let them explain)…

So the Gospel is the Good News we have, which is that God is alive, and He loves us, and He is here for us. He’s the best friend we could ever have. You see, we all have this sickness that we struggle with, called sin. It’s like a really bad head cold, only it never goes away. It’s really bad.

Do you guys know what a cold feels like? What are some symptoms of a cold? (unproductive, no fun to be around, not good friends, always think about themselves, don’t want to help or play, feel like they are not themselves).

And the problem with this sickness is it makes us unproductive, and lousy friends, and grumpy, and makes us think about ourselves (because we are sick, and we’re focused on getting better because we don’t like being sick).

But, praise God in the Highest, He made a way for us to not be sick. It means we have to have a new life, because the old one wasn’t working. So, He allowed Jesus to take on our old sinful lives, die, and come back to life with a new life that’s way better than the other one. And all we have to do if we want this new life is to ask Jesus for it, and He would love to give it to us. He already paid the price, so it’s free for us. And, with the holidays coming, it’s the best gift we could ever get….better than a Wii.

So, OK, now that we’ve clarified the Gospel, and it’s importance, let’s wrap this up and talk about worship. See, when Jesus saves us, He actually does two things. One, He saves us from Hell, which is the place where sick people go (and where we would go without Jesus – no sick people allowed in Heaven). Two, He saves us to a new life, and to good works.

Now, these works that He has saved us to won’t save us – after all, we couldn’t do them without Him saving us. But they do help us live this new life that God wants us to live. And this is where worship comes in.

In Romans 12.1, God urges us through the apostle Paul to “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship”. “Bodies” here can better be thought of as “lives”. God wants us to give Him our lives. That is worship. It’s more than singing. It’s our whole life – our thoughts, actions, words, time at school, time with family, time with friends, homework, football games, cheerleading practice – everything. It is all worship.

So the reason we are telling you this is because, as we see in Acts 2.42-47, it is a beautiful thing when individuals worship God together. You can see that some were apostles who taught everyone, some were businessmen who made money to support the group, some were really good at making food and practicing hospitality (so they fed everyone). So some taught, some bought food, some made the food and fed everyone, but they all, as individuals, worked together in an atmosphere of worship. And that’s what we want for you guys.

So here is what I want you guys to think about:

1. How has God made me? I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139), I am purchased by the blood of Christ (Acts 20.28), and I am made in the likeness of Christ (Ephesians 2). As so, I have certain spiritual (and natural gifts) (Romans 12). What are they?
2. How can I worship God? Can I teach others, and help them understand God? Can I play an instrument, and help others make a joyful noise to the Lord (Psalm 100)? Can I simply serve, maybe make food and help others fellowship well?
3. What am I not so great at, that I could appreciate others for? Maybe I am not so great at praying, and I am encouraged to pray when I am around others who pray a lot. Or maybe I don’t read my Bible as much as I know I should, but I read and learn when I am around others who like to learn.

So think about all this. I really challenge you guys to consider how you can worship God as an individual, but also how you can cooperate with others to worship God as a community. Let’s pray.

grace, and our part in it

on my mind today has been understanding grace more fully. i'm trying to solidify my theology, and currently it is the theology on grace. not sure if i will ever fully understand grace, though i want to. i think grace plays one of the most important parts in our lives. after all, God, through paul, in ephesians 2 tells us that we are saved by grace, and this is through faith. it is not by works, so that no one can say 'i am better than you', because we have all sinned and fall short of God. (romans 3.23). us being saved is a gift from God. this gift, as are other gifts, is grace.

it's the fact we are undeserving of anything good. we are, by nature, children of wrath. we were once God's enemies. i know people don't like to hear that, but the reality is that is true. our default position is bad. and i am trying to wrap my mind around how bad we really were (or still are, if we haven't yet come to faith in Christ). i can not see my/our response to seeing how bad we were compared to how blessed we are now that we are in Jesus as being anything less than praise and worship. for we were once dead, now we are alive. once enemies, now friends. once damned, now loved fully and incomprehensibly.

i'm hoping to develop my view on grace so i may see so much more of my life (maybe all of it?) is grace. for example, as i am praying for a certain job that i want to see God use me in, or even praying for a wife, understanding that it is grace, as those are both gifts. and not only do i see these as grace, i thank God for this grace.

the flip side of that, maybe, is understanding my role in all of this. how do i still pursue a job, a woman, whatever it may be (these are two easy examples), and to what extent do i pursue, and to what extent do i surrender? it is as it was when i came to faith -- it is more about surrender, and surrendering to God, and trusting. "for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith..."

can we substitute "been given this job, been given this wife (husband for the ladies reading this)" for "been saved", so it becomes "for it is by grace you have been given this job, through faith, not by works so that no one can boast, rather it is a gift of God"? is that theologically accurate? "for it is by grace you have been given this woman, through faith, not by works so that you can not boast; rather, she is a gift of God..." that's what i'm praying through/trying to understand right now.

something else i'm reading...a lot of times, in his letters, it seems like paul says something to the effect of 'grace and peace be with you', or 'may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace'...what does that mean? it seems he is expressing a desire for his brethren to be blessed, which sounds like the result of grace. i think the result of grace is always blessing. we are never worse off than we were before grace occurred; we are always changed for the better. right?

so anyway, this is what i'm thinking about right now. hopefully i'll write more later, b/c i gotta jet in a bit. thanksgiving dinner with the roomies in a bit. later, folks...

light of salvation by desperation band

been listening to 'the desperation band' this morning, and i'm really loving what God is proclaiming through this band. it surely doesn't hurt to truly hear a joyful noise being made to the Lord. i wanted to share some lyrics that are on my heart right now. they are from the song 'light of salvation'. you can listen to the song on youtube here.

VERSE 1
All around the world
You hear now's the time
Break the chains and hold them high
Hold them high

We were made for such a time as this
To make a difference
In the world we live
Now we live

CHORUS
Who's dancing who's singing
Who's living a life worth living
We are we are we're shining
The light of salvation
Who's running who's loving
Who's breaking the doors wide open
We are we are we're shining
The light of salvation

VERSE 2
Old has turned to something new and beautiful
Broken dreams are coming true
They're coming true

CHORUS 2
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
We're shining the light of salvation
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
We're shining the light of salvation

BRIDGE
We have made our choice we are
We are a generation with one voice to shout
Of Your salvation

i am especially feeling the chorus and bridge. i want to believe that is God's heart for His people. and i think one reason a lot of people aren't into church and, more gravely, Jesus, is because we who are called by God don't always live a life worth living. we're not always singing, and dancing, and running after Jesus, and loving like Jesus. i know i am not.

so this is an apology to all of those people who have been hurt by christians, or people who say they are christians. i am personally sorry for not loving like Jesus loves. true, in my frailty i do not expect to fully love like God loves, but that's still no excuse. since God, in His infinite wisdom and grace, has decided that it is up to us to be 'Jesus to the world', to be Christ's ambassadors, we are the ones others look to to see what God is like.

and i'll finish, just saying, i hope and pray we are a generation, a people, that the lyrics paint the picture of us being; that we are singing, and dancing, and living a life worth living. that's my prayer for right now.

cooperation, the Gospel, and Jesus healing a paralyzed dude b/c he had some sweet friends

long title, yes. deal with it.

this upcoming week in kidstuff, we're teaching the kids about cooperation, and we're using the passage where Jesus heals a guy who is paralyzed after the dude's friends carry him to the roof, dig a hole, and lower him down through it. the account is found in luke 5.17-26 as well as matthew 9.1-8 and mark 2.1-12. it goes like this...

The Paralytic Healed

When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men.

Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying.Je

And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, "Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts? "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven'; or to say, 'Get up, and pick up your pallet and walk'?

"But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home."

And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this."

here are some thoughts i have on it all.

first, cooperation is not the main point of the passage. we would be foolish to not focus on God's ability to heal and, more importantly, God's concern with our hearts more than our outward, physical, and external appearances. we can be in perfect physical shape, but if our hearts are astray, it means nothing.

let this be a reminder to us that outward appearances are secondary to the condition of our hearts. a few weeks ago, we talked about individuality, which is how God made each of us unique so He can use us to accomplish different things. the important thing is that our hearts are chasing after Jesus, so that in the hands of the Potter, we can be used to do great things.

for some of us, that means glorifying God through music. still others will be a Christ-follower in the marketplace, or a man after God's heart working for peace as a CIA agent. maybe one or two of us will go on to be Jesus to a football team. God makes us each to glorify Him where He places us. and we can't lose sight of that.

we also need to think about this when we deal with others. we need to encourage each other in our gifts. we also need to treat others with respect and in a way that points them to Jesus. for guys, we can treat the ladies in a way that encourages them to run after Jesus and not concern themselves with how they look. love Jesus first, not the outward appearances. sometimes, the 'prettiest' (quote, end quote) girls don't love Jesus, and they lose all their beauty that way.

i'll use myself as an example. i've never been the biggest guy, or strongest guy, or physically anything special. quite the contrary. and that always kinda hurt b/c i wanted to be. but God showed me through years of seeking my identity in physical things that really, my identity is in Jesus. i shouldn't look to my gifts or abilities, but solely to Jesus being my righteousness.

so now that we're clear on the main point of the passage, here are some other things God showed me...

*****

we're talking about cooperation, which we have defined as working together to do what you can't do alone. and here is what we are trying to teach the guys this week. as we look at the passage, we see a few things going on:

(a) Jesus is teaching a crowd; (b) a guy who is paralyzed wants to hear and be healed; (c) problem: he can't do it alone (he is paralyzed); (d) solution: his friends who have faith find a way (by working together) to get him to Jesus

result? "seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, 'my child, your sins are forgiven'"

did you notice that? because of their faith, his sins were forgiven. and who is 'their'? his friends!

and that's what we want these guys to see -- that friends, who trust God together, change lives. this isn't just some catchy phrase, it's true. we see that faith drove actions, which led to God healing.

faith was first. we need to believe Jesus is powerful, and mighty to save, and he can heal and forgive. and really, it all comes down to the Gospel. it always comes down to the Gospel.

it comes down to the fact that we can't do it on our own. the good news is that we can't do things alone, and this points us to others and, of utmost importance, to Jesus. once we realize that we are not perfect, that we have a problem of sin, we see that we need friends, and we need a Savior, to help.

so we're going to explain to the little bros that Jesus wants to, and will be, our best friend. our very best friend. and if we let him be our best friend, we will see God do some amazing things. if this is what we want to see, all we have to do is ask. and if we ask Jesus to be our best friend, and mean it, He will. all it takes is asking, or what we call praying, something like this:

"Jesus, thank you for wanting to be my best friend, and showing me you love me by giving up your life for me on the Cross. how cool that is! i know i mess up sometimes, but you say you love me even still, and i believe that. i want you to be my best friend forever. then we can hang out all the time, and you can help me more, because i need it...

...so please forgive me when i do things that hurt your heart and make you cry. i don't mean to, i really don't. i know already that you do forgive me, because you say in your word that if i confess my sins, you are faithful to forgive me, and you will (1 john 1.12). thank you for that. please be my best friend forever. i love you Jesus. in your name, amen."

and so that's it. be praying that God uses this time, and works in these little dudes' hearts. they are some sweet bros, and i really see God using them for some awesome stuff. God Bless guys, thanks for reading...

thoughts on the Sabbath

the past two weeks in church, we have been talking about the Sabbath: what it is, what it is not, what it looks like, why God commands us to do it. i have learned a lot, things i needed to learn (things i think we all need to learn), and i have tried putting those in practice lately. i still have a lot to learn, and a long way to go, but we made some headway, and i'm excited about that.

here's the passage in exodus 20 where God gives the commandment regarding the Sabbath:

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy."

we discussed the idea of 'remembering' at church yesterday. i never caught this before, but i'm thankful God saw fit to illuminate it to me. you see, one of the reasons for the Sabbath was so that God's people could remember what He had done for them. for the israelites, this was nothing small -- the plagues in egypt, the parting of the red sea, the provision in the desert -- this was huge. and God wanted them to remember so that they would not doubt Him or turn from Him. i think that's partly done to encourage us to 'press on toward the goal', as paul speaks of in philippians 3. i think it is also done to keep us form becoming exceedingly arrogant or prideful, b/c we will remember that it was God who delivered us, not ourselves.

so this got me thinking, as i try to remember God's story in my life. i started thinking about where i came from, and the change i have seen. it can become so easy to forget after awhile, and for me it has been almost a decade since my conversion. so really, for me, it truly has been a transformed heart and mind, which has led to a transformed life.

i grew up with two amazing parents (still are -- thanks mom and dad!!). they are still together after almost 30 years (someone remind me next may that it's their 30th anniversary...wow). they raised me super-well, taught me a lot of great things, and modeled a lot for me as well. they taught me a lot of 'churchy' things, but we never went to church. so, i knew a lot of right things, how to live a good life, be a good person, and things like that. and i was a good kid, i don't think many will argue. heck, i was in detention like once i think. but there was still something missing.

when Jesus stepped into my life my freshman year of high school, i still looked like i used to. it wasn't until He really grabbed a hold of my heart that i became His. what i have noticed the most is the joy in my life. i have seen this as a heart and attitude change. whereas before, my confidence was in my abilities (being a 4.0 student lent to pride pretty easily), now it is in who i am in Christ. i am not the smartest guy in the world; no problem. i am not the best athlete; that's ok. i'm not that great of a musician; that's alright as well. b/c i know who i am in Christ -- a child of God, forgiven of all things unclean (and there are plenty of them), no longer condemned, blessed with the Holy Spirit, just to name a few. and the Holy Spirit brings about all types of change -- just look at galatians 5, where you see that the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. and that's not gonna happen apart from Jesus.

and there's so much more. we can all think back to the things we have struggled with that God has delivered us from. i may even share some of these sometime. but for now, i have a double-header in soccer to finish our season. sad to see it end, it's been fun. hopefully we'll go again in the spring.

off to the game in a sec, grace and peace be with you all...

a new little brother!!

one of the things i love helping out with is kidstuff (my church's children's ministry). i was grabbing breakfast with some of my friends from kidstuff this morning and we were talking about why we serve in this manner. i was reminded of one of the coolest things ever from a few weeks ago.

it's not every day that you get to engage a half-dozen elementary-age dudes with the Gospel. i think sometimes we think that being a christian means being nice and going to church and doing a lot of things, but that's not it at all. too often, we take the emphasis off of Jesus, and that's a grave mistake. everything we know (and tons of things we don't know) are about Jesus. it's all about Jesus.

so you can only imagine how awesome it was to share this crazy-sweet news that God loves us, and Jesus was willing to give up HIs life for us, so that we could all hang out with Jesus forever, in a place much better off then what we got going on down here. this is how it all went down...

one of the guys in my class, j-money, mentioned that we need to know the good news so we can share it with others. as we started talking to the little guys, God placed the following words in our mouths:

"it's like, imagine we are over in austin, texas, and God is chilling over in europe. He wants us to come over and be with Him, right? but there's this pond in the way, ya know? now, do any of you guys think that you could make it over to europe without a lifeboat, water, food; do you think you could make it all by yourself? (they all answer no)...

...well guys, that's what's going on with us spiritually. all throughout the Bible, especially in Romans, it talks about how we are all sinners. even if we don't mean to, we still have accidents sometimes and hurt God's heart. and the thing is, because we all sin, we separate ourselves from God, like the atlantic ocean. and just like we can't make it to europe on our own -- we'd probably die of hunger, thirst, or get eaten by a shark -- we can't make it to God on our own.

but the sweet news is, God loves us so much that He decided to eliminate the ocean between us, and come get us, since we couldn't get to Him. so He sent Jesus, His Son, to make a way to Him. Jesus did this when He died on the Cross. you guys know that story? (they all say yes) yeah, well Jesus did that because we were going to be in trouble and have to die for our sins, and God wouldn't want that. so Jesus died for us, because that would give us a way to be with Him forever.

and all Jesus says we have to do is want Him to be our best friend, to be our Savior, and He will. He knows we can't swim the ocean on our own, and we can't make it to Him alone. so, have any of you guys asked Jesus to be your best friend? (a few say yes) does anyone want to ask Jesus to be your best friend? (most keep coloring and making paper airplanes....they're like 7, you gotta remember)...

my co-leader and i thought that was that. we were thankful to share God's great news of salvation with these children, and trust Him to use it. little did we know, God would move that very night.

as i understand, j-money and his little bro weezemeister (not their real names, privacy reasons duh) went home and were sharing with their parents what they learned, and what we talked about. daddy dubs asked the little bros what it all meant. weezemeister stated he wanted to be a disciple of Jesus and wanted to know what that meant. daddy dubs shared the Gospel, again, and explained what it meant and how weezey could be a disciple of Jesus.

in HIs mercy and providence, God opened a way for weezey to understand the Gospel and come to a point of accepting Him. just like we all have to accept Jesus for ourselves, so did weezey. and that night, on a beautiful october evening in austin, lil' weezey asked Jesus to be his forever friend.

how awesome is that!! the body of Christ just got a new little brother. and i feel so humbled to even be a small part of it. it's amazing how God works, especially since that day in kidstuff was completely of the Spirit's work. for one, my normal co-leader got sick right before, leaving us short-handed. another guy stepped in, and our plans fell apart, so we had to let God lead. and lead He did. so cool how God moves!

to finish the story, weezenator got baptized a few days ago at our monthly prayer and worship gathering. i love that Jesus is stirring the hearts of the children to be a generation after His own heart. i'll try to keep y'all posted on any more awesome stories from kidstuff.

till then, grace and peace be with you. praise God, walk with Jesus, and rejoice in everything...

why 'the jeremiah 29 chronicles'

it seems right to begin this adventure with a story. so, here's the story...

i'm not originally from austin (but then again, who is?). i came here on a limb back in august '08, with nothing more than a sense that this is where God wanted me. as i walked with Jesus, prayed for guidance, and realized i had nothing to lose by journeying down south, i decided to leave my home state of ohio, hop in my '98 lumina, and come down.

funny, i never knew life would change like it has.

my original plan was to pursue filmmaking (screenwriting, specifically). austin is a great place for that. people are rad down here. austin is weird, and there's a huge push to keep it that way. no beef against ohio, i'm thankful for the times and friends and lessons and love that God showed me up there (and, yes, i miss you guys), but austin is my kinda of place. i guess some parts of ohio are as well, especially short north (?) in columbus, but i was born in texas, so i guess this is God bringing me home.

so i moved here, and realized that the whole filmmaking idea may have just been something to get me here. i love how Jesus leads us, knowing what will get us to move. i love how He doesn't reveal everything to us, so we need to constantly chase after Him. i love how He has the world in HIs hands, so we really have nothing to fear.

as i settled in, i heard a sermon from jeremiah 29.4-7, which says:

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,

Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease.

Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.'

in the original text, the word for welfare is 'shalom'. it means so much more than peace (as in, no fighting). it's more like the all-encompassing, holistic well-being and flourishing of a person, family, city, community, culture. the crazy thing is, verse four says that the LORD, the God of Israel, sent them into exile. they just didn't end up there; God sent them.

now, it would be so easy to think that this is mean, as in 'how could a loving God do that?'. but the more i understand how God works (which is still little, being that He is God), i see that God sent them into exile so that they could be a blessing and a witness to the city. it was up to them to seek the redemption, renewing, and restoring of that city. it was up to them to be Jesus to the city, to love the city, and to work for it's universal flourishing.

and so, that's why i'm in austin.

i'm currently helping out with an organization called mobile loaves and fishes, which aims to provide opportunities for the less privileged and homeless to get into permanent housing and fair wage jobs. we're working to establish community gardens all over the city, which will afford job creation, fresh produce, and sustainable development (not to mention, gardens are a beautiful picture of restoration, turning old crack lots and garbage dumps into places beaming with produce and flowers). i'm really excited about that.

i'm also involved in the austin stone community church, helping with the children's ministry. if you are looking for a church home, you're totally welcome. if you have a church home, that's not the austin stone, that's awesome. get involved, serve the church and the city. if you are running after Jesus, and you're part of the body of Christ, then we're on the same team, and i don't care which 'church' you attend.

i'm planning to focus my energies with the poor and children. i work at the melting pot downtown (stop in and ask for frank, i'll make you some cheese and chocolate), which i love. my coworkers are some of my favorite people in the world, and it's a joy to work there. you can let them serve you as well, they're ok folks haha.

so that's the basis of the story. that's where we begin. i hope you join me as i seek the shalom of austin. i'll try my best to keep you entertained along the way.