Archive | November, 2007

Thoughts on Critics

12 Nov

I am taking a little break from sermon prep for my next Sunday Morning opportunity.  Part of the sermon is talking about Jesus’ response to the Pharisees’ question about paying taxes to Caesar.  I love the fact that Jesus doesn’t play their games.  He doesn’t allow himself to come down to the the level of the critics and instead stays focused on what God has called him to do.  And that’s really his response to his critics.  Brilliant!

As a pastor I have to deal with criticism.  No one (that I know of) is trying to kill me.  But it seems like everyone knows how to do my job better than I do.  And the thing that I constantly have to come back to is what has God called me to do?  What am I to give back to God?  That is the ultimate thing that I have to be focused on.  Critics come and go and they have their opinions but those are not the most important opinions.  God’s is the only opinion that matters.

What are the critics saying to you?  What is God calling you to do?  If you are following God you will always have critics.  Something about God moving in people’s lives drives the religious or the stubborn crazy.  So be kind and respectful to your critics but don’t let them change your path.  Don’t let them trip you up.  And most importantly don’t fight with them, don’t play their games.

Sunday Morning Creps

11 Nov

That’s not a typo.  I  just read this post from Earl Creps and I thought I would share it.

Leadership, Followership, and Mission

Enjoy!

Everyday Heroes

8 Nov

So tonight we are talking about everyday heroes – serving the least of these.  And the point is that Jesus commanded us to serve people and how do we do that.  This is huge for the church because people want to see us change the world.  They have seen how the church votes politically, how we protest the things that we are against and what they want to see is how we actually care about people.

Somewhere the church (universal) lost sight of this and it’s time that we bring it back.  so we are going to start with our students tonight and we are going to start purposefully providing opportunities to serve and places where they can love Jesus by loving others.  I honestly think that’s what the world is looking for.

this is just a bit ranty but I think it’s important.  I think this is the way that the church can change the world.  I read about how the early church during the plague in Rome actually stayed in the city and cared for the sick while everyone else fled.  That’s the kind of thing that the church needs to be known for.

Live the life

7 Nov

“There is nothing more powerful than the Christian life lived out in obedience; there is nothing worse than a flat, self-righteous form of faith that parades around in Christian clothes.”

              David Kinnaman – unChristian pg 83

Thoughts on Self-Preservation from Rev. Furtick

6 Nov

Hey I just read this post from Steven Furtick.  Interesting thoughts and I think it’s a good reminder that Jesus actually called us to die to ourselves.  hmm.

The limitation of self-preservation

A focus on self-preservation
is the greatest limitation
on the momentum of a movement.

Holly and I were watching an episode of 24 a few months ago, and I realized what makes terrorists so powerful and so dangerous.
They have absolutely no regard for self-preservation.
Their only obsession is the cause.
And they are committed to the cause regardless of the personal cost.

Thus, this possibility haunts and inspires me:
How powerful-
Even dangerous-
would the Church be if our only obsession was the cause of Christ?
If concern for self-preservation gave way to radical commitment to the Gospel?
We might just make a splash in our cities for the glory of God through aggressive love and generosity.
The momentum of the movement would reach a tipping point, and the effects would be undeniable.

Obligatory Disclaimer:
(I’m not advocating Christian terrorism.  I’m advocating radical love for people, and contrasting that to the radical hatred of terrorists.  You might think a disclaimer like this would be unnecessary, but you’d be surprised.)

The Way I See It #267

6 Nov

A lot of the starbucks cups have been lame lately but when there is one that I like I feel compelled to share it.  Today i received one such cup

“Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears – it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear.  But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more – it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life.  For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity.”

-Oliver Sacks, Neurologist, Author.

New Series and stuff

5 Nov

Hey Everybody,

last thursday we started a new series called Everyday Heroes.  We looked at 1 Timothy 4.12 (one of my life verses) and we talked about setting the example as the first step to being an everyday hero.  You can download it here.  It was good times.

Hey while you are downloading stuff check out the creekside cast.  And download some great sermons from our church’s sunday morning gatherings.   We have been going through the Gospel of Matthew and it has been a blast so check it out.

Also I promised I would share this video on here, we played this before the sermon on Thursday.  Enjoy!

I Miss Yac

1 Nov

Mike Yaconelli was an incredible man.  His book Messy Spirituality rocked my world.

enjoy this video montage

Why, why, why?

1 Nov

yesterday was halloween.  And the christian music station in our region Spirit 105.3 decided to boycott Halloween by playing Christmas Music.   Who’s dumb idea was that?  Why not just let the day go instead of doing the lamest protest ever?

I just had to get it off my chest.  So annoying!

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 398 other followers