The past two days I’ve had to eat my words…but in a good way. I’ve been talking a lot lately about the importance of love and how effective it is to simply be a friend to people. Yesterday, we were sitting on the deck reading (I was being especially holy because I was reading the Bible). A moving truck pulled up and a young couple got out. The next thing we know this couple begins unloading the truck all by themselves.
So Mishaela nudges me and tells me I should go offer to help. This is going to make me sound the world’s biggest hypocrite, but I’ve never done anything like that before. I talk a lot about doing things like that, but I’ve never actually followed through with it. But this time, I did…
Here’s the thing, I don’t want to make too big a deal about something relatively small, but I can’t help but notice just how easy it really is to begin a relationship with a non-Christian (and yes, I am pretty sure that this couple does not go to church). It’s also worth emphasizing that I am not doing a “bait-and-switch” here; these people are genuinely worth getting to know. I can easily see us hanging out with these guys on a regular basis.
A simple act of helping new neighbors move in has resulted in two things worth noting: the suggestion of getting together for a BBQ, and a visit earlier this evening from our new neighbor to drop off a six-pack of local beer as a thank-you gesture.
I suspect God is teaching me something…If I’m going to plant a church I need to get use to doing this stuff. So this is a learning experience – an opportunity to be used by God to minister to others and to learn what it means to love someone.
Crazy huh?
Filed under: Christian Living, Evangelism, Ministry
So I finally finished this thing…not feeling great about it, but I don’t have a lot of time to do any revising. I think the basic message is good, I’m just not sure about the way I presented it. This was a struggle for me as I tried to make an extremely theological passage not sound like a seminary theology lecture. I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow morning, eh? Happy reading…
Paul’s letter to the Romans is a book that is rather difficult to study if you start in the middle like we are this morning. If you’ve ever read through this book you may have noticed that nearly every chapter – and in some sections every paragraph – begins with the word “therefore.” That seemingly insignificant word carries a tremendous amount of weight when it comes to talking about theology. When Paul uses this word, he’s essentially telling his readers that what he is about to say, depends on what he just said in order to make sense.
Out text this morning – Romans 6:15-23 – is no different. But here, Paul doesn’t use “therefore;” rather, he starts with a question: “What then?” This questions basically acts like a “therefore” in that it points us back to what he just said. As far as Paul is concerned, Romans 6:15-23 makes very little sense without 6:1-14. Even chapter 7 – the next passage – has something to bring to this table.
So Paul begins by asking “What then?” This sets us up for where he’s going. But the only way we can be set-up is if we respond by asking “‘What then?’ what?”
Prior to verse 15, Paul has been talking an awful lot about sin. Verse 14 is a good summary of what Paul is trying to say…READ 6:14
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Filed under: Bible Study, Christian Living, Christianity, Preaching, Sermon, Theology
I started a new book yesterday, Searching For God Knows What by Donald Miller. I haven’t read anything form Miller since Blue Like Jazz, and that book was awsome so I decided to pick this one up over Spring Break and I’m just now getting around to reading it. Here’s an excerpt from chapter 1. The set-up is that Donald attended a Christian writer’s seminar in Memphis where he learned that the key to writing a successful Christian book is to follow one of two “formulas.” Follow these formulas and people will be hooked and you’ll make lots of money. So that’s where we pick up…
I returned home and began poring over the Bible, looking for formulas I could use for my book of daily devotions. And I have to tell you this was much more difficult than you might think. The formulas, in fact, are hidden. It seems when God had the Bible put together, He hid a lot of the ancient wisdom so, basically, you have to read into things and een kind of make up things in order to get a formula out of it…
Of course, I got frustrated. And it really got me thinking that, perhaps, formulas books, by that I mean books that take you through a series of steps, may not be all that compatible with the Bible…It made me wonder, honestly, if such a complex existence as the one you and I are living can really be broken down into a few steps. It seems if there was a formula to fix life, Jesus would have told us what it was…
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Filed under: Christian Living
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