Have a look here.

What do you think?

Labels: god, pray, Spiritual Thought Of The Day, stewardship

There's a great discussion going on over at the 'Shlog' about worship.

People are basically arguing about the question, "What is worship?"

This video from Sermon Spice takes a good stab at it:

Labels: god, music, perspective, Spiritual Thought Of The Day, worship

I was bored and looking around on facebook just now, a I read this in someone's profile:

I've been a Christian for 9 years. Went to church for about 8 of those years and then realized that God was calling us to something different - something out of the box. We have a small home group that meets at our house now and I don't think we will ever attend an actual modern day church again - Love Jesus just don't love what church has become.

I know this person. I know that she loves Jesus. I don't want to judge her heart or her motives. I just want to ask the question in the title of this post.

What do you think?

Labels: god, perspective, Spiritual Thought Of The Day, worship

I was just listening to Driscoll teaching on rest and sabath.

Here are some highlights:

"Religious people freak out, because religious people want to do the work of the Holy Spirit and the conscience...
We don't like religious people because they're not any fun at all.... Religious people are the kind of people who, if you gave them a sucker, they would flip it around and stick the stick in their ear. That's just the kind of people they are. They do everything wrong..."

Labels: god, musings, Spiritual Thought Of The Day

About 16 months ago, I began my relationship with Abundant Life Fellowship.
Though some would say that it was luck or chance that I even heard of the church, I know that it was God’s providence, and looking back to June of 2006, I see His fingerprints all over the time since then.

When I found out about Abundant Life and started spending time with Pastor Ted and hearing him talk about his heart and vision for the fellowship, I got really excited. Having been overseas for the previous year, I had a lot of new thoughts about what ‘church’ should be like. The thought of coming back to the tradition heavy, religious ‘south’, and leaving the small, Acts 2-esque experience of a third world was discouraging to me. After spending some time with the folks from Abundant Life, I was truly blown away by the uniqueness and effectiveness of the whole experience. This is a fellowship that is personal, committed, involved, vulnerable, and free in many ways that other groups are not.

After enduring four years of high school in Oxford without a good church home, and praying the whole time that God would raise up a good church where I could grow and see lives changed, it was amazing to have the opportunity to be involved with the very answer to that prayer.

I dove in head-first. I had lists of all the stuff I wanted to do and to plan. I started listening to a lot of teaching about church planting and youth ministry. I began spending my Tuesday nights getting ready to teach the youth on Wednesday. I got to church an hour early on Wednesday nights so that some of the youth could come learn how to play instruments, and even though it was off in the distance, I saw the possibility to have an awesome worship team of teenagers who could bless people all over Granville county. It was a really fun and exciting kick-start back into ministry after being overseas and away from everything for a year.

So of course the question is, “What changed?”

The answer is, “Everything.”

Though I didn’t know it from the beginning, this season of time with Abundant Life was only a temporary learning experience for me. From the very beginning, God has lead me away from settling in at this stage of life. Once I began serving the church, I prayed and prayed for a job that would be compatible -- something near the church that was only part-time. Weeks went by and I got deeper in debt, and the only opportunities were full-time positions far away. So I bit the bullet and took a job in Durham -- 50 hours less to work with.

My family situation got more intense. I came home to a world of changes in my family, and lots of opportunity to serve them, given that I make time for it.

Then God gave me Stephanie, and soon I had very little time to invest in the church.
Even with all the commitments and changes, I tried to force the time to do everything I wanted with the church. Even while courting my wife 200 miles away, I planned events and used our ‘date time’ to do ‘church stuff’.

Even after she had moved to Creedmoor and was living alone in an apartment, and trying to cooperate with her mom and plan a huge wedding, I was still busy and asked her to be busy with me.

Even after we were married and bought a house with grass that needed cutting and boxes that needed to be un-packed, I asked her to wait for me while I took the youth to camp.
‘Righteousness’ is the act of valuing1 rightly. My pride has led me to treat my church responsibilities unrighteously. I communicated to everyone around me that ‘my ministry’ is more important than anything else. I taught my wife that I love her and appreciate her, but she’ll have to take my word for it because I have these other important obligations. I watched my sister get married to someone who I couldn’t make the time to disciple.

On top of all this, we have really suffered for lack of fellowship our age. We rarely get to spend time with other young married couples, and it has really made our adjustment to married life stressful. Even when Stephanie asked me if we could start going to events at other churches to meet people, I asked her to ‘grin and bear it’ a little longer. I asked her to sacrifice her own walk with the Lord so that I could feel like something special.

So our decision to move on has been a long time coming, and it has nothing to do with Abundant Life. Really, more than anything, we need to be free from responsibility for a season so that we can give unlimited attention to our marriage -- to each other.

Through hard times of prayer together and apart, and even weeping at the high cost of this decision, we have learned a lot. In fact, I am certain that God planned this season in our life to teach us. In the past year and half I have become almost certain that I want to devote my life to building the Church -- in America and abroad, and I have also become confident that I’m not ready to that. I have a lot to learn. We have a lot to learn. And thanks to our time here at Abundant Life, we have a better understanding of what we have to learn.

They say that 80% of pastors don’t make it. I believe that God, in His grace, is forcing the brakes in our lives so that we will make it, in His time.

So we’re going to take a break. Take some trips. Get some rest. And then, prayerfully, we’re going to look at the possibility of me going to school for an extended season of learning.

We love the youth here. It has been a heart-breaking decision to step back from teaching them, and learning from them. And we hope that God will give us creative ways to stay involved in your lives...

Labels: family, god, introspective, news, worship

I've been listening to Mark Driscoll a fair bit lately. (I highly recommend that you subscribe to the podcast)

Today I was listening to a teaching about scripture -- where it comes from, how to approach it, etc.

Here's a rough quote:

I listened to several hours of 'christian' radio last week. I don' t do that very often because then I say things that I have to repent of.

He made me chuckle because I understand where he's coming from.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

Labels: god, music, musings, poll, Spiritual Thought Of The Day, worship

Here's a great explanation of some confusing terms from a very trustworthy dude:

Labels: god, missions

You've probably never heard of Keith and Kristyn Getty.



But you've probably heard of the song "In Christ Alone", which they wrote and which has become famous all over the world...

Stephanie and I went to chapel at Southeastern yesterday (that's an entirely different blog post... I'll have to keep you in suspense for a while :0), and lead worshiper went on and on about the power and beauty of the hymn-like songs that the Gettys have written. He lead us in a song called "O Church, Arise". I was blown away. You could tell me that it was written 200 years ago by Charles Spurgeon and I wouldn't think twice. When I got back to work, I immediately downloaded it on iTunes, and listened to it about a dozen times while I worked.

The chapel speaker yesterday, Dr. Akin, got me really excited when he said that every great revival in history has been accompanied by powerful, theologically sound hymns (that's the word he used, though I guess 'songs' would be more fair). He also said that a new generation of worship music is on the rise...

I think he might be right. Check out this first verse from "O Church, Arise":

O church, arise and put your armor on;
Hear the call of Christ our captain;
For now the weak can say that they are strong
In the strength that God has given.
With shield of faith and belt of truth
We'll stand against the devil's lies;
An army bold whose battle cry is "Love!"
Reaching out to those in darkness.

I would post the rest, but I guess that would be illegal, so follow the links and see for yourself.

Aslan is on the move...

Labels: god, music, musings, news, worship

Lately, I have been seeing Biblical Truth everywhere I look. EVERYTHING seems to point me to the reality of my own deficiency -- along with everyone else's -- and the glory of God's incredible redemption story. (So far, nothing touches 'Lost' for a wealth of information about how EVERYONE has a story)

A few weeks ago, Steph and I went to see the latest Bourne flick. We loved it, and I had some neat thoughts about the spiritual parallels, but this morning I found a great post that says it much better than I ever could.
Have a look over at the 'jolly blogger':

http://jollyblogger.typepad.com/jollyblogger/2007/08/two-ways-of-see.html

Labels: god, introspective, musings

*Let me begin by clarifying that by putting quotes around ‘Palagian heresy’, I’m not saying it isn’t heresy, and by referencing Erwin, I’m not affirming that everything he teaches and believes is good and true. Follow me through this series of posts, and if you have concerns at the end, I most definitely want to know.

It’s as if life and reality are becoming a little clearer every day... I’m becoming more alive. And I’m trying to figure out whether I like this process.
About three weeks ago, Steph and I were at one of our favorite high-end restaurants, Chic-fil-a, and we saw this woman walking through the parking lot, who was obviously homeless. This isn’t a shocking site in Durham or Raleigh, but it’s actually pretty rare in Henderson, which is where we were visiting my folks. We decided to chase her down and buy her lunch in the hopes that we could talk to her a little bit -- learn from her, pray for her, and hopefully even share the Gospel with her.

I’ll spare you the long version of the story, mostly because I never read long posts and I don’t expect you to either... but the short version is that this woman was OUT THERE. She told us that her name is ‘walking song’. She is a spirit collector. She sees these spirits sitting on people’s heads. They go from person to person, and some people have more than one. She collects them. She believed in Jesus, but said that there are many Jesus’. The one in the Bible is different than the one who will come back some day. And there’s another Jesus still who is alive in the world today.

Now, depending on who you are, you read this encounter differently. My belief might surprise you: I believe she’s right, in a way... not about the different Jesus and stuff, but I believe that when she says ‘spirit’, she means ‘demon’, and that she is possessed by many of them, and sees them active in the world.



If you were to paint this hypothetical situation for me, and ask me what I would do, I would probably say, with sincerity, that I would preach the Truth to this woman. I would pray over her and cast the demons out of her. I would bring her to Jesus to be healed and delivered.
But you know what: I was there, and more than anything, I just wanted to give her a hug. I wanted to cry. And -- brace yourself, here it comes -- I think that’s because I’m just a little more like Jesus than I used to be.

Labels: god, introspective, perspective, Spiritual Thought Of The Day

Hey folks,

I just received this email from a leader in our church. Please don't get distracted by how long it looks. It took me 2 minutes to read it.

Please stop and take 5 minutes to lift this guy up in prayer:

Please pray that he will live long enough for me to see him in the hospital. Pray that he will live long enough to make that trip to our home. Pray that salvation will over take him when I share with him. Pray for Delores, too.

Labels: god, perspective, pray, stewardship, worship

This is a letter to the editor of the N.C. State newspaper, the Technician, that I wrote several years ago when I was a student there. I'm posting it because I reference it in the post below, "So Far, Pt. 1", think of it as a footnote, except above instead of below. The discussions I've seen lately about being 'good' makes it particularly relevant these days. What prompted me to write this was an article by a student who basically made the argument, "Wasn't Jesus a liberal?" This is my response:

I am writing in response to Isaac Tripp’s article, “Liberals have morals, too”, from February 23, 2005. I think he makes an important point, and as someone who classifies himself as a conservative Christian and a supporter of our president, I agree with the majority of his argument. I applaud the way he stated his point and, for the most part, managed to avoid unnecessary, overstated remarks about those who don’t share his opinion.
I am not writing in defense of the ‘moral right’ or the Christian faith, but I do feel compelled to point out a miserably unfounded statement that he made that I feel reflects a common misconception about the teaching of the Bible and it’s subject, Jesus.
Mr. Tripp begins his article by presenting his working definition of liberalism as: "a political philosophy based on the belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties." That’s fair enough, but then he asks a semi-rhetorical question, which is what I’m responding to, “After all, wasn't Jesus the ultimate liberal?”
Now, before you break out your iBook and start writing me an email, allow me to clarify: I don’t care about the word ‘liberal’. That fact that Mr. Tripp links Jesus to this word is not what bothers me. Nor am I claiming that ‘liberal’, as defined, is not something good. My problem is precisely this: Jesus, and the entire Bible for that matter, taught and continues to teach almost the exact opposite of ‘the belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual…’.
The fundamental teaching that true Christianity is founded on is that man is not essentially good. Quite to the contrary, in Jeremiah 17:9, it says, “The heart (of man) is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? And the prophet Isaiah declares in Isaiah 64:6, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” The entire book of Romans, particularly chapters 5-8, is an exposition of how it is absolutely impossible for man to be good in God’s eyes.
To those who would object that we are made in God’s image, I point you back to the garden of Eden. Up until the day that Adam and Eve dropped the ball for all humanity, the definition of ‘liberal’ above was fairly accurate. But since that day, it simply doesn’t work.
As Easter approaches next month, let us not forget that Jesus Christ came to earth and died the barbaric death He endured precisely because it was the only way we could ever be ‘good’. As the Apostle Paul explained it in Romans 5:18-19, “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”
In closing, I offer a strong challenge from the bottom of my heart to the ‘moral right’ and particularly to the Christians on our campus: Liberals, non-Christians, homosexuals, and anybody else you want to throw into that pot are not good… And neither are you… And neither am I. There are two types of people in this world, those who have chosen to be forgiven, and those who haven’t. When the ‘moral right’, and (my own opinion here) Christians in general, are known more for what we are against and who we condemn, than what we believe and stand on, something is very wrong. I would venture to guess that this is sitting in print next to another response to Mr. Tripp from a well-meaning Christian that basically says, “We’re right, you’re wrong, and you don’t know what you’re talking about because you don’t know what the Bible says.” I can’t wait for the day when that energy and time goes into serving someone instead.

-Zack Riesland
Senior, Computer Science

Labels: god, perspective, worship

*I usually don't have time to write anything very meaningful, and I want to force myself to, because I think it's a really healthy exercise, so this is part one of what I think will probably be a lengthy series of posts. The title is 'so far', because with every day I live, I see things just a little differently, and this is what I see, so far. I would LOVE to hear your feedback/thoughts! *end disclaimer

I’m not sure what my goal is writing this right now. It seems like I haven’t had time to even think insightfully in a long time, and I think that somehow, writing makes it easier.
...well, I suppose that’s not true. I’ve been thinking a lot lately. I think I just don’t have time to think all the way through anything. In fact, I’ve been wrestling with this suspicion that if I did think through this stuff to the logical end, my life would probably get turbulent... again

I’m happy to report that I feel very alive these days, also very human. I’m less happy to report the ‘human’ part. It’s a very bittersweet thing, being human. Lately I’ve been reading and hearing about this ‘Palagian heresy’. In short, there’s this dude from history who didn’t like Augustin’s prayer, “Lord, command what You will, but grant what You command.” He said that’s it’s an absurd prayer, because God puts in all of us the innate ability to accomplish anything that God commands from us. And he even goes a step further and says that that means that we all have some good in us. And that’s where the ‘heresy’ comes from. Many people today -even followers of Jesus - believe that humans, deep down, are good, or at least we have some good. I actually wrote an editorial in the NC State newspaper about this when I was in college. The Bible is clear that there is no good in us. None whatsoever.
But that’s all kind of a rabbit trail. My point in diverging is that as I get a little older, and hopefully just a little bit wiser, I’m learning that theology doesn’t meet reality as simply as we would like it to. I most truly believe that there is no good in any of us. And yet, to steal the imagery from Erwin McMannus, I have these cravings inside of me that honestly feel like there is some good in them. And I see them in other people too.
To be continued...

Labels: god, introspective, musings, perspective, Spiritual Thought Of The Day, stewardship, worship

I have a friend who I spent a good chunk of time with when I was in Central Asia. His name is...

Well, let's call him 'Bob' just to be safe (in the picture above, 'bob' is on the right, and yes, believe it or not, I am on the left).

'Bob' was faithfully discipled for over a year after he gave his life to Christ, and for a while, he was bearing all kinds of fruit.

But when pressure from the oppressive government of his country started to cramp down, he really backed off. He started dating a non-believer, and recently he sent me an email and said that he is now married to her.

Here is the response I received ('Dad' is how we write about God):

Do you remember Manzura?! Is this she whom I got married .

I will send you pics. I am still in '_______'.

I work at Tour Agency. I'm doing well.

Walk with Dad not so well man, ask Him to be better.

With his love, love you.

Labels: god, introspective, missions, perspective, pray

Have you heard about Ben Stein's new movie coming out next year? It's called 'Expelled'.

If you go to the website, the flash intro has this quote:

If people think God is interesting, the onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about. Otherwise they should just shut up about it.

So I'm sure the first thought through your head is, "Great, another movie bashing the intelligence of those who believe in God."

But it's actually just the opposite.

It's about how people in scientific community who question Darwinism are immediately 'expelled'. Noone is allowed to consider Darwinism.

I'm really excited about it!

There's also a blog devoted to it here

Labels: creation, god, news, perspective, pray

This guy (I seriously don't know who this is, just a link of a link of a link) has a really interesting, creative post called "Excuse me while I single-handedly neutralize al-quaeda".

See if you can figure out what he's hinting at:

http://branthansen.typepad.com/letters_from_kamp_krusty/2007/08/excuse-me-while.html

Labels: god, introspective, perspective, Spiritual Thought Of The Day

Here's a story from Forbes that adds a little perspective on where our hope lies, and gives me yet another reason that I'm so thankful to have been born and raised in America.

Zhang Shuhong ran a toy company in China that sells in America under the name Fisher-Price. Thousands of their toys had to be recalled recently because of huge amounts of lead found in the paint on the toys. The pressure and humiliation that this created for him led him to suicide.

Read the story, and as you do, ask yourself the questions:

Where did his hope lie?

Where does mine?

Labels: god, introspective, news, perspective, Spiritual Thought Of The Day

That's a quote from Piper in his sermon "Where Is God", which is a response to catastrophic occurrences like 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina.

Piper is the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minnesota. They are so close to the bridge that collapsed that you can see the lights of rescue crews from the church.

They sent their video crews out to capture some of what's going on out there, with some audio from the 'Where Is God' sermon spliced in. Here's an excerpt:

Famines, pestilence, persecution -- these happen so that the world will see that followers of Jesus count Christ more precious than everything they've lost -- and discover that He can be that for them, because one day they're going to lose everything. Everybody loses everything on earth, some day.

Labels: god, introspective, news, perspective, piper, pray, stewardship

I don't know if you've read this anywhere, but a couple dozen Korean missionaries to Afghanistan have been held hostage for several days now, and at least two of them have been killed.

The deadline that their kidnappers gave has come and gone, which leaves their fate uncertain (from a worldly perspective).

Please keep them in prayer:

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200708/200708010038.html

Labels: god, missions, news, perspective, pray

Check out this awesome article. It really highlights what's involved and at stake for many Central Asians.

Here's an excerpt:

When Sherzod, who recently graduated from Jacksonville (Ark.) High School, telephoned his Muslim parents in Uzbekistan to tell them of his newfound faith, his father disowned him, making it clear he was no longer welcome in his home and was never again to speak to his mother or his siblings. He withdrew all funds from Sherzod's U.S. bank account, arranged to cancel his son's U.S. sponsorship and college scholarship and even drew up legal papers declaring Sherzod is no longer his son.

As devastating as that must be for an 18-year-old, Sherzod remains strong in his commitment to Christ.

"I am not sorry I accepted Christ," he said. "I am not sorry for getting baptized. Even though my parents did that, I am not sorry for anything that happened."

Labels: god, missions, news, perspective, pray