Because I said so

Quiet but busy

2009-07-09T12:50:00.001-05:00

Sorry it has been so quiet here on my blog. It's been a combination of preparation for our pending firstborn child (due July 19th!) and the fact that I have been working hard to get a house remodeled prior to that arrival (a rental we own). Things will return to normal soon hopefully, whatever "normal" is with a newborn. We are excited to meet and discover the person God has formed in my wife! We can't wait to see early personality traits etc. So I'll keep trying to come up for air from time to time, but be patient with me, I will return to a more normal posting pattern eventually!

Top Commentaries on Every Book of the Bible

2009-07-02T12:04:00.001-05:00

(HT: Tim Challies)
This was posted on the Ligonier web site:

Over the course of several months, Keith Mathison put together a list of his top 5 commentaries for each book of the Bible. With his recommendations of commentaries for Malachi and Revelation, he has now completed both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Here is a round-up of the complete series.

OLD TESTAMENT:
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 & 2 Samuel
1 & 2 Kings
1 & 2 Chronicles
Ezra & Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Songs
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi

NEW TESTAMENT:
The Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians & Philemon
1 & 2 Thessalonians
The Pastoral Epistles
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter & Jude
The Epistles of John
Revelation

*****

For more recommendations, see our Recommended Reading List.

Logos Bible Software giveaway!

2009-07-02T10:08:00.000-05:00

Logos Bible Software is celebrating the launch of their new online Bible by giving away 72 ultra-premium print Bibles at a rate of 12 per month for six months. The Bible giveaway is being held at Bible.Logos.com and you can get up to five different entries each month! After you enter, be sure to check out Logos and see how it can revolutionize your Bible study.

Confronting others Biblically - Paul Tripp

2009-07-02T00:07:00.000-05:00

(HT: Justin Taylor)

On his blog Thabiti Anyabwile recently posted an acronym from Paul Tripp's book, War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Your Communication Struggles. It's a model of how to think about confronting others biblically:

ENCOURAGE

Examine your heart. Confrontation always begins with you. Because we all struggle with indwelling sin, we must begin with ourselves. We must be sure that we have dealt with our anger, impatience, self-righteousness, and bitterness. When we start with our own confession, we are in a much better place to lead another to confess.

Note your calling. Remember that confrontation is not based on your opinion of the person. You are there as an ambassador and your job is to faithfully represent the message of the King. In other words, your goal is to help people see and accept God's view of them.

Check your attitude. When you speak, are your words spoken in kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, forbearance, compassion, and love? Failure to do this will hinder God-honoring, change-producing confrontation. We need to examine both our message and our attitude as we speak.

Own your own faults. It is vital to enter moments of confrontation with a humble recognition of who we really are. As we admit our own need for the Lord's forgiveness, we are able to be patient and forgiving with the one to whom God has called us to minister.

Use words wisely. Effective communication demands preparation, particularly of our words. We need to ask God to help us use words that carry his message, not get in the way of it.

Reflect on Scripture. The content of confrontation is always the Bible. It guides what we say and how we say it. We should enter moments of confrontation with a specific understanding of what Scripture says about the issues at hand. This means more than citing proof texts; it means understanding how the themes, principles, perspectives, and commands of Scripture shape the way we think about the issues before us.

Always be prepared to listen. The best, most effective confrontation is interactive. We need to give the person an opportunity to talk, since we cannot look into his heart or read his mind. We need to welcome his questions and look for signs that he is seeing the things he needs to see. We need to listen for true confession and the commitment to specific acts of repentance. As we listen, we will learn where we are in the confrontation process.

Grant time for a response. We must give the Holy Spirit time to work. There is nothing in Scripture that promises that if we do our confrontation work well, the person will confess and repent in one sitting. Rather, the Bible teaches us that change is usually a process. We need to model the same patience God has granted us. This patience does not compromise God's work of change, but flows out of a commitment to it.

Encourage the person with the gospel. It is the awesome grace of God, his boundless love, and his ever-present help that give us a reason to turn from our sin. Scripture says that it is the kindness of God that leads people to repentance (Rom. 2:4). The truths of the gospel--both its challenge and its comfort--must color our confrontation.

John Ortberg on Vision and Methods

2009-06-23T11:35:00.001-05:00

John Ortberg wrote the following on the Monvee blog:

Where this vision is lacking, we can try to push people into all kinds of methods of spiritual growth. We can flood them with classes and bible studies and small groups and services, but it is like pushing noodles up Mt Everest.

We might think of four quadrants:

Where people have methods but no correct vision, there is legalism.

Where people have vision but no wise methods, there is frustration.

Where people have neither vision nor methods, there is apathy.

Where people have right vision and effective methods—there is growth.

So I find myself thinking a lot about spiritual vision these days. It poses two questions:

Am I teaching this vision? I’m constantly trying to find ways to teach so that people understand that what Jesus offers really is the only way to what they want the most, in their best selves.

Am I living this life? There is no talk in the world captivating enough to speak louder than my life. It was Jesus’ life that made people want so desperately to hear Jesus’ message.

Best and Worst states to get a speeding ticket

2009-06-20T21:10:00.001-05:00

Here's a piece from MSNBC that lists the worst and best states for getting speeding and other driving-related tickets.

The state ranked the worst based on 17 factors, including:

Speed limits.
The use of red-light or speed cameras.
Laws banning cell phone use while driving.
Whether speeders are allowed jury trials.
The number of speed traps (weighted by population).

The worst five:

1. New Jersey
2. Ohio
3. Maryland
4. Louisiana
5. New York

The best five:

50. Wyoming
49. Idaho
48. Montana
47. Nebraska
46. Kentucky

My home state of South Dakota is #42 and my current state of Minnesota is #44. The only speeding ticket I have received in my 18 years of driving was in South Dakota (1998). I think my wife must be seeking out the police in Minnesota! ;-)

(HT FMF)

Tornados near Waseca and Austin, MN

2009-06-18T14:52:00.008-05:00

The first three photos come from the photo gallery on the Waseca County News website. Photo above by Ginny Bergerson, second photo by Wes Ruedy, third photo by Phil Wala. First picture is the storm cell, second picture is of the tornado North of Waseca, third picture is the same cell I saw the beginnings of a funnel cloud in, and the fourth photo is a captured image from my lightning video #2.

Yesterday was an eventful and long day for me, as anyone following me on Twitter would have seen.

I started the evening off with about 25 or so people from our church at a cookout at Clear Lake Park in Waseca. We gather there each Wednesday for supper at 6:00PM and the church provides the hot dogs, buns and condiments. While we were eating we were alerted by phone (plus by people walking through the park) that we were under a tornado warning - yes warning. The sky above us was still blue, but we could see the storms building both East and West of us. We were sandwiched between two super cells. Around 7:00PM after everyone when home, I ran up the street to our house (we live 4 houses up from the park) and flipped on the TV to see what was going on. TV showed a "hook echo" from the back side of the cloud that was quite literally just in front of our house. So I ran outside, down to the lake front to see what I could spot. About the time I got to the water, the tornado sirens started going off and the wind started shifting. It was mid 80's and dripping wet humidity, with a strong breeze out of the Southeast (rare for this region). Within 5 minutes it dropped to low 70's and about 1/2 the humidity. And sirens were still going off. I could see across the lake to the East that it was raining hard, and I could also see what looked like the beginnings of a funnel cloud, though I couldn't see anything that extended all the way to the ground. This was later confirmed by a trained spotter as a tornado. Apparently at this same time people at the North end of the lake in the clubhouse of the country club saw a water spout out on the lake as well. Additionally, there was a tornado sighting 5 or so miles North and a bit East of our house, on the road towards Morristown, MN.

Then my cell phone rings, not a number I recognize, but I pick up anyhow. It is my 8+ months pregnant wife who is in Austin, MN for a Gifted and Talented Teachers Conference sponsored by Hormel. She says that the hotel they are in just asked them all to take cover and put their heads down in the tornado position in the back of their conference room. She also informs me that she left her phone in the car, and is calling on a borrowed phone. And that she has to get off the phone immediately and she'll call later. Click.

20 or so minutes later I get a call, this time from my wife's phone, and she's doing just fine. A bit panicked, but the building and people are all fine. But they have no electricity in town, and the leaders of the conference she is at will not let her drive the 60 miles home by herself. So she asks that I grab an over night bag for her and come get her. She wants to come home, but also wants to be prepared.

The whole drive from Waseca to Austin was a veritable fireworks show of lightning. Literally not a moment where some lightning wasn't flashing in front of me. I left Waseca just at dusk, and it was dark out before I made it to Owatonna. What I could see though was as I got closer to Owatonna, the ditches became more and more full of rainwater. And there was standing water in the fields as well. And this during a period of drought throughout this region. I made my way toward Austin via Blooming Prairie on Hwy. 218, stopping to record some video of the lighting for a few minutes. As I passed through Blooming Prairie I could see into the firehouse, and all the trucks were out of their stalls. A short while later I passed all the trucks returning to the fire station from somewhere the direction of Lansing, just North of Austin.

As I got near to Austin, it became clear that the whole region had lost power. All the farms were dark, and there was no glow from the city to guide me in. As I crested a small hill, I saw flashing lights ahead on the road. As I got to the lights I discovered the road was closed to both Southbound and Eastbound traffic into Austin. I asked one of the support workers and he suggested some back roads that would bring me into town. So I turned around, and managed to maneuver my way down some narrow and very soft/muddy country roads West of Austin. Eventually I snaked my way into the West side of Austin and then blindly worked my way to the hotel my wife was in. It was very difficult to find the hotel, because there weren't any lighted signs to see where thing were located, no moon light, nothing. Pitch black. I managed to accidently find the back side of the parking lot, and after circling the building my wife saw my headlights and confirmed I was at the right place. It was spooky dark out, just a notch above the back of the cave with no flashlight dark.

My wife informed me upon my arrival that we are staying the night in the hotel. Great. I didn't pack anything for me, but she's 8 months+ pregnant, I'm not dumb enough to argue. So we get the last room with a king bed (I need a king bed BTW!) and one of the maintence staff gives us a handful of tea light candels plus a book of matches, and with his flash light leads us through the building to our room. It was a quiet evening, obviously. No lights, no AC or anything. We managed to get hot showers since I figured by morning the water will have cooled or run out.

This video is of the Austin, MN tornado:

This video shows the cloud rotation quite nicely:

BTW, there is nothing really special in these videos, but since I took them I figured I'd include them.

Video #1 - taken from the side of Hwy. 218. I tried to talk but the wind and thunder, and occasional car make it about impossible to hear much of what I was saying.

Video #2 - same clouds, just zoomed in a little bit. I know, I don't have a high quality recording setup.

New Amazon Store!

2009-06-16T17:56:00.006-05:00

I have created an Amazon Store where I will keep a list of some of my favorite resources. It is very book heavy, but there are movies, a camera and some other odds and ends as well. These are products I really have used and liked and have no hesitation recommending. Click Here (or see the sidebar on the right) to check out my store!

New books by Albert Mohler, Jr. and Jud Wilhite

2009-06-16T16:18:00.005-05:00

I got some new books in the mail a while back that both look to be very interesting. I will hopefully be reading them both later this summer as time allows. Unfortunately my current schedule with a baby due in 4 weeks has kept me from doing more than thumb through them. But both books look like excellent candidates for Father's Day gifts if you don't know what to get good 'ole dad this year. Click either of the book titles to find out more and/or purchase from Amazon.com.

The Disappearance of God
By Dr. R. Albert Mohler

“Great biblical truths are meant not only for our intellectual acceptance, but for our spiritual health.” –Dr. Al Mohler

Summary:
More faulty information about God swirls around us today than ever before. No wonder so many followers of Christ are unsure of what they really believe in the face of the new spiritual openness attempting to alter unchanging truth.

For centuries the church has taught and guarded the core Christian beliefs that make up the essential foundations of the faith. But in our postmodern age, sloppy teaching and outright lies create rampant confusion, and many Christians are free-falling for “feel-good” theology.

We need to know the truth to save ourselves from errors that will derail our faith.

As biblical scholar, author, and president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Albert Mohler, writes, “The entire structure of Christian truth is now under attack.” With wit and wisdom he tackles the most important aspects of these modern issues:
Is God changing His mind about sin?
Why is hell off limits for many pastors?
What’s good or bad about the “dangerous” emergent movement?
Have Christians stopped seeing God as God?
Is the social justice movement misguided?
Could the role of beauty be critical to our theology?
Is liberal faith any less destructive than atheism?
Are churches pandering to their members to survive?

In the age-old battle to preserve the foundations of faith, it's up to a new generation to confront and disarm the contemporary shams and fight for the truth. Dr. Mohler provides the scriptural answers to show you how.

The Disappearance of God for your Kindle.

Eyes Wide Open
By Jud Wilhite

Summary:
I had it all backwards. The main thing was not my love for God, but his love for me. And from that love I respond to God as one deeply flawed, yet loved. I’m not looking to prove my worth. I’m not searching for acceptance. I’m living out of the worth God already declares I have. I’m embracing his view of me and in the process discovering the person he created me to be.

In Eyes Wide Open, Jud Wilhite invites you to discover the real you. Not the you who pretends to be perfect to satisfy everyone’s expectations. Not the you who always feels guilty before God. Not the you who secretly feels God forgives everyone else but only tolerates you. Not the you who looks in the mirror and sees a failure. The real you, loved and forgiven by God, living out of your identity in Christ.

A travel guide through real spirituality from one incomplete person to another, Eyes Wide Open is a book of stories about following God in the messes of life, about broken pasts and our lifelong need for grace. It is a book about seeing ourselves and God with new eyes–eyes wide open to a God of love.

Eyes Wide Open for your Kindle.

For more info on either of these books check them out at Random House Publishers:
The Disappearance of God Eyes Wide Open

This final book I haven't yet decided if I will read or not. I enjoy fantasy, but right now my schedule is so full that I am not doing a lot of leisure reading. I'll save it, and hopefully will have more time for it down the road.

Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart
By Chuck Black

Summary:
Sir Dalton, a knight in training, seems to have everything going for him. Young, well-liked, and a natural leader, he has earned the respect and admiration of his fellow knights, and especially the beautiful Lady Brynn.

But something is amiss at the training camp. Their new trainer is popular but lacks the passion to inspire them to true service to the King and the Prince. Besides this, the knights are too busy enjoying a season of good times to be concerned with a disturbing report that many of their fellow Knights have mysteriously vanished.

When Sir Dalton is sent on a mission, he encounters strange attacks, especially when he is alone. As his commitment wanes, the attacks grow in intensity until he is captured by Lord Drox, a massive Shadow Warrior. Bruised and beaten, Dalton refuses to submit to evil and initiates a daring escape with only one of two outcomes–life or death. But what will become of the hundreds of knights he’ll leave behind? In a kingdom of peril, Dalton thinks he is on his own, but two faithful friends have not abandoned him, and neither has a strange old hermit who seems to know much about the Prince. But can Dalton face the evil Shadow Warrior again and survive?

Study links teen depression to bedtimes

2009-06-11T09:47:00.001-05:00

From USA Today:

By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY

Teens whose parents let them stay up after
midnight on weeknights have a much higher chance of being depressed or
suicidal than teens whose parents enforce an earlier bedtime, says
research being presented today at a national sleep conference.

The findings are the first to examine bedtimes'
effects on kids' mental health — and the results are noteworthy.
Middle- and high-schoolers whose parents don't require them to be in
bed before midnight on school nights are 42% more likely to be
depressed than teens whose parents require a 10 p.m. or earlier
bedtime. And teens who are allowed to stay up late are 30% more likely
to have had suicidal thoughts in the past year.

The differences are smaller but still
significant — 25% and 20%, respectively — after controlling for age,
sex, race and ethnicity.

A team led by Columbia University Medical Center
researcher James Gangwisch examined surveys from 15,659 teens and their
parents who took part in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study of
adolescent health. Previous research has established a firm connection
between teens getting less sleep and feeling depressed or suicidal.

The NIH survey found that kids whose parents
called for a 9-10 p.m. bedtime said they were in bed, on average, by
10:04 p.m. They slept for 8 hours and 10 minutes on average, compared
with 7½ hours for kids allowed to stay up past midnight.

The lesson for parents is simple, Gangwisch
says: Try as much as possible to sell teenagers on the importance of
getting enough sleep — even if it seems that they don't need as much as
younger children (actually, they need as much — about nine hours — but
usually get only 7½ hours or so, according to the NIH).

"We feel like we can just eat into our sleep time," he says, "but we pay for it in many different ways."

The new data come from analyses of NIH surveys
from 1994 to 1996, but Gangwisch believes the disparities between teens
with and without prescribed bedtimes are even greater today, given
greater distractions in their lives. In 1996, for instance, teens
couldn't stay up late texting friends and checking Facebook pages.

"I would guess that there are more kids getting less sleep," he says.

Gangwisch is presenting the findings in Seattle
at SLEEP 2009, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep
Societies.

READERS: Does your teen have a bedtime? Did you? How can you enforce it? Would you like to see school start times pushed back?

Robert Schuller Starts Television Program

2009-06-10T19:10:00.000-05:00

Rev. Robert A. Schuller, son of Crystal Cathedral founder Rev. Robert H. Schuller, announced that he has formed a partnership with his son-in-law, Chris Wyatt, to acquire AmericanLife TV to broadcast "family-friendly" programs. Wyatt is the founder and former CEO of GodTube.com — now known as Tangle.com. Schuller says that his new program 1s "not going to be a preachy show," but will "challenge and motivate people to want to act like Christ."

Hayford Will Not Seek Second Term as President of Denomination

2009-06-08T19:07:00.000-05:00

Pastor Jack Hayford announced last week, during The Foursquare Church's convention in Anaheim, Calif., that he will not seek a second term as president of the denomination. Hayford was elected to serve as president in June 2004, then 69, becoming the fourth person to hold the title. Hayford said God helped him realize that commitment to another full five-year mission as president would be "unwise" for him to attempt "with all else that is before me at this point in life." The board will appoint an interim president to serve until the next convention when a vote will be conducted to select a president. [StreamingFaith.com]

Ministry Expansion May Lead to Growth - LifeWay Research

2009-06-06T19:05:00.002-05:00

A new survey conducted by LifeWay Research shows that the majority of Protestant churches (65 percent) have expanded their facilities, increased their presence on the Internet or added worship services within the past five years.

The study, "Effects of Ministry Space and Outlet Expansion," was based on interviews with 1,000 pastors in February of this year. According to the research:

28 percent of the pastors interviewed said they added an additional worship service or venue on site.
28 percent of the pastors said they participated in starting a new church.
27 percent of the pastors said they built new or additional ministry space at the same site.
14 percent of the pastors said they began offering streaming video of the worship service on the Internet.
10 percent of the pastors added an additional worship service off site.

The research also attempted to determine if the changes made at the churches represented in the study, led to attendance growth. LifeWay discovered that:

Overall, 44 percent of the pastors that engaged in ministry expansion experienced an increase in worship attendance of at least 10 percent in the past five years.
Among churches that were not engaged in ministry expansion in the last five years, only 34 percent experienced attendance growth, 37 percent had no change in attendance and 29 percent experienced decline.
Of the new attendees who came in the last five years, the pastors in the study estimate that 49 percent have transferred from other churches, 32 percent were unchurched and 19 percent were children born to current members.

"Many churches who do not take steps to expand are struggling," said Scott McConnell of LifeWay Research. "Pastors of churches who take the same message to more people through new methods and new media are expressing the positive impact of these steps of faith."

For further details about the study, visit www.lifeway.com.

Pastor James MacDonald with some preaching advice

2009-06-02T11:34:00.002-05:00

Pastor James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Fellowship has some wisdom for new and young pastors about preaching. I'm totally feeling him on the time limit, as that is one I try to keep in mind (usually). This Fireproof series has killed my time limit, but I intend to keep my messages more compact for the rest of the summer. It is clear when I run over and loose my audience. Some of that is me, some of that is the culture of our church, but either way I have to keep it in mind as I prepare my sermon for the week. And he's right, preaching is definately learning via trial by fire, and thankfully my church has been quite gracious with me.

Pastor MacDonald writes:

One of my greatest joys these days is working with young preachers
trying to ‘fast track’ them through some of the lessons I have learned
through almost three decades of preaching. I was blessed to attend some
great schools, but truthfully most of the bit I have learned about
preaching came from painful Sunday afternoons of lamenting the ‘getting
it wrong’ and determining to do it better next time. I am humbled and
blessed by the thought that my lessons learned through much travail can
be given to hungry young preachers just starting out.

Ok so here’s some of the mistakes I made and observe:

A clear and concise confession of faith

2009-06-01T11:03:00.002-05:00

The following serves as the confession of faith for both The Gospel Coalition as well as for the ReTrain wing of Resurgence ministries out of Mars Hill Church and Acts29 Network in Seattle. It is a very clear and concise document that reflect very well my own personal beliefs. Credit to these men for writing it, and I am adopting it personally.

______________________________________________________

As part of the founding council of The Gospel Coalition, Pastor Mark Driscoll was honored to participate in the authoring of the following confession of faith along with men such as Don Carson, Tim Keller, John Piper, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, CJ Mahaney, Joshua Harris, and James MacDonald. This confession serves as the doctrinal statement for Re:Train.

The Triune God
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another. This one true and living God is infinitely perfect both in his love and in his holiness. He is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy to receive all glory and adoration. Immortal and eternal, he perfectly and exhaustively knows the end from the beginning, sustains and sovereignly rules over all things, and providentially brings about his eternal good purposes to redeem a people for himself and restore his fallen creation, to the praise of his glorious grace.

Revelation
God has graciously disclosed his existence and power in the created order, and has supremely revealed himself to fallen human beings in the person of his Son, the incarnate Word. Moreover, this God is a speaking God who by his Spirit has graciously disclosed himself in human words: we believe that God has inspired the words preserved in the Scriptures, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, which are both record and means of his saving work in the world. These writings alone constitute the verbally inspired Word of God, which is utterly authoritative and without error in the original writings, complete in its revelation of his will for salvation, sufficient for all that God requires us to believe and do, and final in its authority over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks. We confess that both our finitude and our sinfulness preclude the possibility of knowing God’s truth exhaustively, but we affirm that, enlightened by the Spirit of God, we can know God’s revealed truth truly. The Bible is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it teaches; obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; and trusted, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises. As God’s people hear, believe, and do the Word, they are equipped as disciples of Christ and witnesses to the gospel.

Creation of Humanity
We believe that God created human beings, male and female, in his own image. Adam and Eve belonged to the created order that God himself declared to be very good, serving as God’s agents to care for, manage, and govern creation, living in holy and devoted fellowship with their Maker. Men and women, equally made in the image of God, enjoy equal access to God by faith in Christ Jesus and are both called to move beyond passive self-indulgence to significant private and public engagement in family, church, and civic life. Adam and Eve were made to complement each other in a one-flesh union that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women, such that marriage ultimately serves as a type of the union between Christ and his church. In God’s wise purposes, men and women are not simply interchangeable, but rather
they complement each other in mutually enriching ways. God ordains that they assume distinctive roles which reflect the loving relationship between Christ and the church, the husband exercising headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ, and the wife submitting to her husband in a way that models the love of the church for her Lord. In the ministry of the church, both men and women are encouraged to serve Christ and to be developed to their full potential in the manifold ministries of the people of God. The distinctive leadership role within the church given to qualified men is grounded in creation, fall, and redemption and must not be sidelined by appeals to cultural developments.

The Fall
We believe that Adam, made in the image of God, distorted that image and forfeited his original blessedness—for himself and all his progeny—by falling into sin through Satan’s temptation. As a result, all human beings are alienated from God, corrupted in every aspect of their being (e.g., physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually) and condemned finally and irrevocably to death—apart from God’s own gracious intervention. The supreme need of all human beings is to be reconciled to the God under whose just and holy wrath we stand; the only hope of all human beings is the undeserved love of this same God, who alone can rescue us and restore us to himself.

The Plan of God
We believe that from all eternity God determined in grace to save a great multitude of guilty sinners from every tribe and language and people and nation, and to this end foreknew them and chose them. We believe that God justifies and sanctifies those who by grace have faith in Jesus, and that he will one day glorify them—all to the praise of his glorious grace. In love God commands and implores all people to repent and believe, having set his saving love on those he has chosen and having ordained Christ to be their Redeemer.

The Gospel
We believe that the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ—God’s very wisdom. Utter folly to the world, even though it is the power of God to those who are being saved, this good news is christological, centering on the cross and resurrection: the gospel is not proclaimed if Christ is not proclaimed, and the authentic Christ has not been proclaimed if his death and resurrection are not central (the message is Christ died for our sins . . . [and] was raised”). This good news is biblical (his death and resurrection are according to the Scriptures), theological and salvific (Christ died for our sins, to reconcile us to God), historical (if the saving events did not happen, our faith is worthless, we are still in our sins, and we are to be pitied more than all others), apostolic (the message was entrusted to and transmitted by the apostles, who were witnesses of these saving events), and intensely personal (where it is received, believed, and held firmly, individual persons are saved).

The Redemption of Christ
We believe that, moved by love and in obedience to his Father, the eternal Son became human: the Word became flesh, fully God and fully human being, one Person in two natures. The man Jesus, the promised Messiah of Israel, was conceived through the miraculous agency of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the virgin Mary. He perfectly obeyed his heavenly Father, lived a sinless life, performed miraculous signs, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven. As the mediatorial King, he is seated at the right hand of God the Father, exercising in heaven and on earth all of God’s sovereignty, and is our High Priest and righteous Advocate. We believe that by his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus Christ acted as our representative and substitute. He did this so that in him we might become the righteousness of God: on the cross he canceled sin, propitiated God, and,
by bearing the full penalty of our sins, reconciled to God all those who believe. By his resurrection Christ Jesus was vindicated by his Father, broke the power of death and defeated Satan who once had power over it, and brought everlasting life to all his people; by his ascension he has been forever exalted as Lord and has prepared a place for us to be with him. We believe that salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved. Because God chose the lowly things of this world, the despised things, the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, no human being can ever boast before him—Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.

The Justification of Siners
We believe that Christ, by his obedience and death, fully discharged the debt of all those who are justified. By his sacrifice, he bore in our stead the punishment due us for our sins, making a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice on our behalf. By his perfect obedience he satisfied the just demands of God on our behalf, since by faith alone that perfect obedience is credited to all who trust in Christ alone for their acceptance with God. Inasmuch as Christ was given by the Father for us, and his obedience and punishment were accepted in place of our own, freely and not for anything in us, this justification is solely of free grace, in order that both the exact justice and the rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners. We
believe that a zeal for personal and public obedience flows from this free justification.

The Power of the Holy Spirit
We believe that this salvation, attested in all Scripture and secured by Jesus Christ, is applied to his people by the Holy Spirit. Sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, and, as the other Paraclete, is present with and in believers. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and by his powerful and mysterious work regenerates spiritually dead sinners, awakening them to repentance and faith, baptizing them into union with the Lord Jesus, such that they are justified before God by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. By the Spirit’s agency, believers are renewed, sanctified, and adopted into God’s family; they participate in the divine nature and receive his sovereignly distributed gifts.
The Holy Spirit is himself the down payment of the promised inheritance, and in this age indwells, guides, instructs, equips, revives, and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

The Kingdom of God
We believe that those who have been saved by the grace of God through union with Christ by faith and through regeneration by the Holy Spirit enter the kingdom of God and delight in the blessings of the new covenant: the forgiveness of sins, the inward transformation that awakens a desire to glorify, trust, and obey God, and the prospect of the glory yet to be revealed. Good works constitute indispensable evidence of saving grace. Living as salt in a world that is decaying and light in a world that is dark, believers should neither withdraw into seclusion from the world, nor become indistinguishable from it: rather, we are to do good to the city, for all the glory and honor of the nations is to be offered up to the living God. Recognizing whose created order this is, and because we are citizens of God’s kingdom, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, doing good to all, especially to those who belong to the household of God. The kingdom of God, already present but not fully realized, is the exercise of God’s sovereignty in the world toward the eventual redemption of all creation. The kingdom of God is an invasive power that plunders Satan’s dark kingdom and regenerates and renovates through repentance and faith the lives of individuals rescued from that kingdom. It therefore inevitably establishes a new community of human life together under God.

God’s New People
We believe that God’s new covenant people have already come to the heavenly Jerusalem; they are already seated with Christ in the heavenlies. This universal church is manifest in local churches of which Christ is the only Head; thus each local church” is, in fact, the church, the household of God, the assembly of the living God, and the pillar and foundation of the truth. The church is the body of Christ, the apple of his eye, graven on his hands, and he has pledged himself to her forever. The church is distinguished by her gospel message, her sacred ordinances, her discipline, her great mission, and, above all, by her love for God, and by her members’ love for one another and for the world. Crucially, this gospel we cherish has both personal and corporate dimensions, neither of which may properly be overlooked. Christ Jesus is our peace: he has not only brought about peace with God, but also peace between alienated peoples. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both Jew and Gentile to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. The church serves as a sign of God’s future new world when its members live for the service of one another and their neighbors, rather than for self-focus. The church is the corporate dwelling place of God’s Spirit, and the continuing witness to God in the world.

Baptism and the Lord’s Super
We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordained by the Lord Jesus himself. The former is connected with entrance into the new covenant community, the latter with ongoing covenant renewal. Together they are simultaneously God’s pledge to us, divinely ordained means of grace, our public vows of submission to the once crucified and now resurrected Christ, and anticipations of his return and of the consummation of all things.

The Restoration of All Things
We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ with his holy angels, when he will exercise his role as final Judge, and his kingdom will be consummated. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, as our Lord himself taught, and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness. On that day the church will be presented faultless before God by the obedience, suffering and triumph of Christ, all sin purged and its wretched effects forever banished. God will be all in all and his people will be enthralled by the immediacy of his ineffable holiness, and everything will be to the praise of his glorious grace.

(This version was taken from the ReTrain Catalog)

Fireproof - Free movie showing at First Congregational Church of Waseca

2009-05-30T13:42:00.000-05:00

Sunday, May 31st, 2009 First Congregational Church of Waseca is hosting a FREE showing of the movie "Fireproof" from 6:00-8:00PM in our sanctuary on the big screen. There is no charge. We do request that those attending be at least 13 years old as the movie covers some adult topics and is rated PG. BYOP - Bring your own popcorn!

First Congregational Church
503 2nd Ave. NE
Waseca, MN 56093
Ph. 507-835-4548
http://WasecaChurch.org

We realize that showing a movie called "Fireproof" on Pentecost Sunday is somewhat ironic, but fear not, we desire that the flame of the Holy Spirit come upon all the world! :-)

Up - the movie

2009-05-30T00:13:00.003-05:00

Tonight I met my wife in Faribault, MN to go to a movie. We decided "Up" was the best of the available options, and boy were we right!

I had heard it was good, but it far exceeded my expectations. I don't want to give the movie away, but it had romance, drama, tragedy, adventure, fantasy, comedy and has a great redemption story line. Keeping promises is a big theme, as is loyalty, friendship, and creativity.

There are some sad layers early on in the movie, but they are a great set up for the remaining 75% of action packed entertainment.

Disney Pixar has yet again hit a home run. This isn't surprising, but I am joyed that they can keep churning out high quality pictures with great story lines and excellent values - and be rewarded at the box office for those labors.

I would probably put the movie at 8 and above for an age range. There is some sadness and serious issues they address as the movie gets rolling, as well as some animated violence (though NOT graphically animated) that younger kids might be disturbed by.

Two thumbs up!

Churches Decrease Radio, Expand Internet

2009-05-29T11:48:00.000-05:00

Many churches are cutting back on their radio broadcasting time to tap into endless opportunities the Internet offers.

Churches seeking to expand their reach are taking advantage of what they already have an abundance of--content. Sermons and other teachings and presentations can be recorded and posted to a church’s website. Web tools and sites are making it easier for ministries to manage their materials at a fraction of what it would cost for a radio broadcast. The Internet allows even small ministries to reach international audiences.

According to a Pew Internet & American Life Project survey, 19% of all Internet users say they have downloaded a podcast so they can listen to it or view it later. This is up from 12% in August 2006, while 17% said they downloaded a podcast in a typical day.

Many churches expect those numbers only to increase as more people use broadband Internet, download more mp3s and buy mobile devices with increased online capabilities.

Some ministries that are already posting audio online are planning to expand to stay on par with technology trends. Nearly 6.9 million iPhones were sold during the last financial quarter, compared to 1.1 million just a year ago, which has more ministries targeting mobile technology.

(HT Leadership Network Advance)

Rick Warren - How Jesus Reached Out to Others

2009-05-29T10:25:00.002-05:00

Below are my notes from yesterday's online session with Rick Warren, which was an extension off of Saddleback Church's Purpose Driven Network Summit last week. I was unfortunately unable to participate for the whole event, so my notes are incomplete (missing the last two points and anything Pastor Warren said after that). If you or someone you know have the remain notes, I'd love to get them and would post them here on my blog with full credit to you if you are willing to share.

5/28/09

“How Jesus Reached Out To Others”

THE P.E.A.C.E. PLAN: JESUS’ STRATEGY

Promote reconciliation

Equip servant leaders

Assist the poor

Care for the sick

Educate the next generation

“I have become a servant of everyone so that I can bring them to

Christ… When I am with those who follow Jewish laws, I do the

same, even though I am not subject to the law, so that I can bring

them to Christ. When I am with Gentiles I fit in with them as

much as I can. so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not discard

the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. When I am with those

who are oppressed, I share their oppression so that I might bring

them to Christ. I try to find common ground with everyone so that

I might bring them to Christ. I do all this for the sake of the Good

News, and in doing so I enjoy its blessings. 1 Cor. 9:19-23 (NLT)

Rick's messages on The Jesus Model

- How Jesus Handled Ministry Temptations

- How Jesus Handled Ministry Stress

- How Jesus Made Disciples

- How Jesus Made Disciples - The Laws of Spiritual Growth

- The Ministry Model of Jesus

- The Mission Model of Jesus

Luke 10

HOW JESUS REACHED OUT TO OTHERS

The Jesus Model

Rick Warren

“In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them

a mission in the world.” – Jesus John 17:18 (Mes)

PEACE PLAN “10 by 10” GOALS

Local: Have every member participate in a local PEACE activity.

National: Send members to 1,000 U.S. churches as PD ambassadors.

Global: Send a PEACE Team to every nation in the world.

JESUS’ INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS TEAMS

(PEACE PLAN PRACTICES- LUKE 10:1-9)

1. COOPERATION: ________________________________

“The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out two by

two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.”

Luke 10:1 (NIV)

Who?_________________________

The principle of cooperation

-Get a partner

-God didn't intend for you to fulfill your life purpose by doing it yourself

-The first thing Jesus did in ministry was start a small group

-Paul always traveled with a group

-Jesus regularly sent out groups

-More effective and more confident in a group

2. EXPECTATION: ________________________________

“Do not take a purse...” Luke 10:4a (NIV)

“Do not take along any gold or silver or copper.” Matt. 10:9 (NIV)

"Take no money in your pockets.” Mark 6:8 (NCV)

Don’t just give money

-help create jobs

3. SIMPLIFICATION: ________________________________

“Do not take a traveler’s bag or even an extra pair of sandals..”

Luke 10:4b (NLT)

What distracts me?

The principle of keep it simple

-Travel light

-not there to impress people

-it’s not how you look, it is how you love that matters

4. CONCENTRATION: ________________________________

“And don’t stop to great anyone on the road.” Luke 10:4b (NLT)

Concentration

-Stay focused on your purpose

-not a gospel tourist

-not about you

-don’t waste precious time

- #1 reason don’t fulfill their life mission is because they get distracted.

-what distracts you most from the suffering in your community?

5. AFFIRMATION: ________________________________

"When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If a man of

peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.”

Luke 10:5-6 (NIV)

“The PERSON OF PEACE”

Who could I bless this week?

-Always begin with a blessing

-principle of affirmation

-Who is a person of peace?

-Find the person of peace

-They are open to the gospel

-They are influential

-Respected and receptive

-Offer a blessing and see if they respond

-A look, a word, a touch

6. INCARNATION: ________________________________

“When you enter a town, don't move around from home to home. Stay

in one place…” Luke 10:7 (NLT)

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have

seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the

Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (NIV)

-Join in and become part of the local group

-Settle in and don’t move from place to place

-This is how you build relationships

-This is the presence principle

-If you want to affect people you have to show up and stay put

-You have to be with people to win people

-Ministry has to be not just high tech but also high touch

7. ACCOMMODATION: ________________________________

"Eat and drink whatever they give you... When you enter a town and

are welcomed, eat what is set before you.” Luke 10:7-8 (NIV)

“I try to accommodate everybody in everything, not looking for my

own advantage, but for the advantage of everybody else, so that they

may be saved.” 1 Cor. 10:33 (NJB)

-Adapt to local tastes – food, dress

-Muslims find tattoos offensive

-Africans consider tattoos to be an idol

-if Jesus didn’t think it was important, he wouldn’t have told us this.

-Americans do not understand the importance of food in other cultures

-food is a key element in other societies

-if you are poor, when you share your food, you are sharing your life

-fastest way to build a bridge is to eat a meal with someone

-1 Cor 9:19, 22

8 ALLEVIATION: ________________________________

“Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is

near you!'” Luke 10:9 (NIV)

9 MOBILIZATION: ________________________________

“These were his instructions to them: "The harvest is so great, but the

workers are so few. Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest,

and ask him to send out more workers for his fields.” Luke 10:2 (NLT)

“If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who

throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News

will ever know what it means to really live.” Mark 8:35 (LB)

Resurgence Training Center (Re:Train)

2009-05-28T22:39:00.003-05:00

Launching Re:Train

Mars Hill Church of Seattle is excited to be opening their new Resurgence Training Center (Re:Train) in Seattle—courses begin this August. Initially, the school will offer a Master in Missional Leadership (36-hour graduate program), with much more to come.

I am pleased to announce here this incredible lineup of instructors:

Bruce Ware (teaching Missional Christology)
Greg Allison (Missional Ecclesiology)
Ed Stetzer (Missional Missiology)
John Piper (Leader as Prophet)
Sam Storms (Leader as Priest)
Rick Melson, Executive Director of ReTrain (Leader as King)
Mark Driscoll (Missional Practicum)

This is a premier opportunity, but enrollment will be limited to 50–60 students during the ‘09–’10 school year. Applications are due July 1 and will be available this Sunday (5/31) at theresurgence.com.

I'd consider crawling on my knees all the way to Seattle to get into this. Hopefully it'll be at the right price and time, and I will get selected - though I suspect small church & small town pastors might not be high on their priority list. Worst case is they'll say no. I do already have a M.Div. but this quality of instruction cannot be passed up.

God of This City lyrics - Chris Tomlin

2009-05-22T10:19:00.000-05:00

“God Of This City” was written by Bluetree during a mission trip and while the band was on stage performing worship songs in the Climax Bar, a club which doubles as a brothel in the Red Light district of Pattaya, Thailand. The song became a message of hope for the people of Pattaya and is now being sung in churches across the world, with the Willow Creek Association recently concluding its worship pastor seminar with the song. It was further recorded and made popular by Chris Tomlin and became the name and theme for the latest Passion project and world tour. This song was performed by the worship team at Eagle Brook Church for the Relevance Conference and brought tears to my eyes - I love this song!

God of This City

[Verse 1]
You're the God of this City
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are

[Verse 2]
You're the Light in this darkness
You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless
You are

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

[Chorus]
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater thing have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City

[Verse 1]

[Verse 2]

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

[Chorus]
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here

There is no one like our god
There is no one like our God

[Chorus]
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here

Purpose Driven Network Summit - Session 5 Notes

2009-05-21T21:43:00.003-05:00

The following notes were taken and generously shared by Phil Wheelehan. I spent the day at Eagle Brook Church's Relevance Conference listening to Bill Hybels and Bob Merritt talk shop, so I didn't get to attend the Purpose Driven Network Summit. Phil also said that next Thursday Rick will be doing 3 more sessions, as he felt the need to extend this event to share more stuff. I will post my notes from the Relevance Conference when I get a few minutes to type them up.

Saddleback Session 5

May 28th Webcast next week…

The Jesus Model

Files.techartsteam.com/notes.pdf more notes for today’s sessions

Session 5

Rick doesn’t respond to criticism anymore… Like Nehemiah said “project is too important for me to come down to your level” they answer them for what he was doing.

Billy Graham said, “if you wrestle with a pig… you are both going to get dirty… but only one of you are going to like it!”

Rick was highly criticized by those on the right and left for accepting the offer to pray the Inaugural Prayer… but he saw it as an opportunity from God… an open door to PEACE Plan because all the world leaders would be watching…

Rick made a commitment not to say a word about it until it was over… no one ever called him personally…. but many commented publicly about it. He didn’t know why, he just figured that, “ they didn’t want to know my motive.

Rick never realized when he wrote the words, “It’s not about you” that he would be tested on it many times. God always test you on what you say… Like praying to be more patient… then God puts you in situations to show your whether you really meant it.

The Christ Like Ministry of Jesus…

Rick is going to do the rest of the messages in regular webcasts… starting next Thursday… 3 more messages in the series he wants to share with us… next week he will share How did Jesus do Missions. Remember He told the disciples… “Don’t take a purse…” in other words don’t throw money at stuff.. we have tried to throw money at everything… even missions, but it doesn’t work that way…

You are going to do in the next life… what you are to do in this life… you will have far more time in eternity… God put the church here to help us do the 5 purposes.

God wants you practice here what you are going to do there…

In heaven you are going to love… God wants you to love in the real not in the ideal… when God wants you to love … he puts you with unlovely people…

Jesus spent a year before he publicly announced his Goals

There were 3 balanced areas to Jesus Ministry

* Proclamation
* Education
* Ministry

Preaching – Teaching - Healing

Jesus said teach them to do… not do it for them… most modern mission projects is in doing it for them…

During the first year of His ministry Jesus is in Galilee and becomes very popular.

Then returns to His hometown… he is now famous… the homeboy coming home…

Goes to home church…

They all know him and have heard about what he had done…

It is in this setting that Jesus decides to announces his goals… to his home church…

This is His inaugural address… 1st sermon

Was his custom… yes you need to go to church… if Jesus did… you sure do.

(Luke 4:18-19)

He takes the scroll and opens to Isaiah 60… “the Spirit of the Lord has anointed me…” if God has appointed… you have been anointed…

1. To preach the gospel to the poor;
2. he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
3. to preach deliverance to the captives,
4. and recovering of sight to the blind,
5. to set at liberty them that are bruised,

(Luke 4:19) To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Jesus sat down… eyes were fastened on him…

Then he said… Today! This is fulfilled…

Air sucked out of the room…

Jesus is reading the prophecy of the Messiah…. He is announcing his goals… then tells them… you know what you have been looking for… I am it!

Jesus is quoting… 60 but adds in a phrase from Isaiah 58

Announces his goals a year after he had been doing it…

He preached what he already practiced! For a year!

Who Jesus came to minister to… What he came to do… How he did it…

Groups … Goals Focus… Features… Target … Tactics…

He focused on 5 categories of hurting people…

1. The Poor… have-nots
1. Material poverty – half the world (3 billion people) live on less than $2.00 a day. 1billion live on less than 1 dollar a day

i. There are 2000 passages in the Bible about the poor…

ii. Poor people have to pray… the rich don’t think they have to depend on God…

2. Moral poverty… reprobate mind… all about me…
3. Spiritual poverty… most people are spiritually poor… they don’t know God…
1. The Broken hearted… the let down…
1. Broken heart?… psalm 69:20… insults broke my heart

Note: There is a medical condition called, “broken heart syndrome”… major trauma… the brain releases chemicals that weakens the lining of the heart…

2. Rejection causes a broken heart… resentment … and disappointment…
2. Prisoners… the locked up…

Note: In prison rights are taken away… 2.5 million in jail in America… Prisoners once saved seem to become radical disciples

1. Addictions and Compulsions… lock people up and keep them from living free
2. Secrets imprison us… you are only as sick as your secrets…

i. If you can’t talk about it… it is out of control…

ii. Confess… to one another… revealing your feelings is the 1st step to healing

3. Ignorance imprisons us… most of the world is uneducated (illiterate)
4. Fear imprisons us… it is a self imposed prison
3. The Blind… the shut out…

Note: A blind person is shut out of the light… and left out…

1. Physical blindness… 50 million blind in world…
2. Relational blindness… clueless about what is causing the mess in their relationships… you are common denominator in each failed relationship

Note: Women relationally wired… men are achievement wired…Teach men about relationships… husbands don’t get it…

3. Spiritual blindness.. close our eyes to the truth of God…
4. The Oppressed… the kicked around…
1. Political oppression.. much of world struggles with it… 36 million refugees… can’t go home..

Note: 27 mil people who are slaves… in world… today… more now than before the civil war! More slaves now than ever in history in the world… The number one cause… sex slavery! Where are the abolitionist today?

2. Cultural oppression

i. Especially women… 2 million girls a year are forced into the sex trade…

ii. Honor killings.. in some societies where it is ok to kill your wife because you feel she dishonored you. (10.000 killed last year in Pakistan)

iii. Spiritual oppression… comes from Satan… depression… suppression… obsession…

Jesus announces Relief, Release, Recovery… something to Rejoice about…

The year of the Lords favor! Year of jubilee… a law God established… He didn’t want you to be overworked… 6 day work then take a day off… Sabbath year… year of rest… after 50th year… a year of jubilee…

1. every debt is forgiven… 0 balance

2. all slaves are free

3. all prisoners let go completely forgiven

4. every thing reverts back to original owner

a. Why did god do that?

Three reasons…

1. He said, I don’t want you to forget it all belongs to me… not yours.. you get to borrow it… on loan

2. I don’t want you to forget I did all these things for you… what I have done for you … you do for others…

3. I don’t want you to trust in your own ability only…

Note: Israel never practiced the Year of Jubilee! God gets so ticked… He sent Jeremiah to tell them … because you have not done this… you are going back to slavery so you can remember what it was like! They spent 70 years in slavery!

While they were in slavery. Isaiah writes a book and says… one day… a Messiah will come… Isaiah 60… now do you understand the significance of what Jesus did and said when he read that passage… I am it!

What do we learn from Jesus’ Ministry Model?

1. It’s all about helping hurting people… Healing hurts in others…
2. Jesus preached to felt needs… He always began with a hurt…
3. A hurt, a need, a question… everyone came to Jesus through one of these… except the ritualistic religious, they came to trap Him..
1. Some people criticize us for preaching to felt needs… Here are the two words for those people… “ Christ Like” Do you want to be like Jesus or some great theologian or popular preacher?

A list of the type of people who Jesus came for..

Chewed up, crossed out, freaked out, left out, locked up, let down, mixed up, picked on, pinned down, run down, run over, screwed up, shut in, shut out, strung out, turned off, turned out, used up, walked over, washed out, written off, … wow… for you and me…

Evangelism starts with friendship… love doesn’t put down… or criticize the other person

The people out there… are who he came for…

If you want the blessing on your ministry then do it like Jesus and it will be… Follow the ministry of Jesus, He said, I have given you an example… follow it…

Features of Christ like ministry…

He listed the 5 most important things to do in ministry… if there was more… I would have told you…

1. Preach Good News… you don’t have to make people feel guilty… they already feel guilty … they just try to rationalize it… people know it when they are not living right… start with EVANGELISM!!! Good News… their biggest need is a savior! Share the good news…
1. Keys to a person’s heart … their needs, their hurts, their interests.

Note: We are not to put them under conviction that is the job of the Holy Spirit

2. People are most receptive to the gospel when they are:

i. Under Tension or in Transition.

2. Heal broken hearted… ministry is about all 5 of the goals Jesus announced to bring comfort
1. Preaching… Three types of sermons…

i. Build up – fire up – hold up… people need a diet of all three…

1. Edifying messages educate people biblically and doctrinally

Note: Saddlebacks, “Foundation Course”

2. Encouragement messages bring comfort, relief, release, recovery and hope.

3. Fire up messages challenge them… let’s go do it!

4. You can’t shear sheep every week… but must feed them every week…

a. You need balance on all three…

Note: only comfort messages and they will remain weak, only fire up messages and they will burn out, only edifying messages and they will blow up… (with pride)

3. Proclaim freedom… (Do you want to know what to preach on?) Just ask people if they feel trapped? Stuck? Or locked up…
1. What do you do with people locked up in fear… Two things…

i. One teach them to practice presence of Christ… talk to him… his presence and power… you lose your fear when God is near…

ii. Second teach them to move against the fear… do the thing you fear! Step and then it will part… Jordan… different from Red Sea…

1. God does not remove the fear first…

4. Recover sight of blind… how do you help them do this? Offer insight to people… help them see what they are doing…
1. Friends don’t let friends mess up! Or do stupid things… confront…
2. Young people … plan your date… if you don’t let your plan lead you … your glands will!

5. Release the oppressed… those who are taken advantage of… picked on … made fun of … abused…

Our Goal at saddle back to get every one in the Peace plan…

Promote reconciliation… to God and others… it is the Great Commandment…

Equip servant leaders (that is what Jesus did)

Assist the poor (first message of Jesus)

Care for sick (physically, emotionally)

Educate the next generation (so the work can continue)

5 World Problems… PEACE is the solution…

The Spiritual poor… people are without God in their lives

Self centered leadership… little dictators, turf protectors… position seekers… power seekers…

Extreme poverty... the examples mentioned earlier

Pandemic diseases… we still have problems… though we have the solution to many…

Daily 30,000 children die of preventable diseases… we don’t have leaders that say… “We have got to stop this!” Here is where the Church steps up!

Good water would help… Malaria, we solved this a long time ago and the fix is not expensive. No one in America gets malaria, yet 500 million people still get it… again it is not the responsibility of Government… Here is where the Church steps in!

Education… half the people in the world can’t read or write…

Who can make the difference? Ordinary people, empowered by God making a difference where ever they are…

The Peace Plan is a lifestyle… not a program… exact opposite of missionary work today… we do it for them… it should be… how can we help you do it…

Organizations won’t last many won’t be here in 20 years… Nations don’t last, many have come and gone… but as long as there is an Earth there will be the Church! Everything is here for the Church…

We want to get our churches healthy so we can do the ministry of Jesus…

What we need to do … to do what Jesus did… the next generation is the kingdom of God…

Acts 1:8 local, national, global… it is not for you to know when… but You will receive POWER… Evangelism… Jesus said that is your priority…

Note: not sequential but simultaneous…

The only sign… World evangelism… gospel preached to all nations… ethnic groups… people groups… then the end shall come…

The answer is the Church… Don’t Give Up! Treat everyone like Christ… but Move with the Movers…

We are not in Competition… We are in Cooperation…

Rick Prayed for us…

Purpose Driven Network Summit - Session 4 Notes

2009-05-20T14:43:00.000-05:00

Session #4 - Rick Warren

THE LAWS OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH HE MODELED
1. SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS INCARNATIONAL
-Spiritual growth is not by imitation but by inhabitation.
“ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in my body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave himself for me.” Gal. 2:20 (NIV)
“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” 1 Cor. 3:6 (NIV)
“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Phil. 2:12-13 (NIV)
FACT SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS BOTH MYSTICAL AND PRACTICAL

2. SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS INTENTIONAL
MYTH: GROWTH IS AUTOMATIC
REALITY: WE GROW BY MAKING COMMITMENTS
“COME & SEE” to “COME & DIE”
“Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground and building lives of
obedience into maturity until finally we all believe… and become full-grown in the Lord-- to the point of being filled full with Christ.” ph.. 4:13 (LB)
TOOLS WE USE:
1. A weekly commitment card - commitment is how people grow – draw the net closed!
-Need a “next step” in every sermon – Will You ______? (application)
2. Covenants – membership, maturity, ministry, mission
“Because of all this, we again promised to serve the Lord! And we, and our princes and Levites and priests al; put our names to this covenant. I, Nehemiah signed this covenant. The others who signed it were...”
Neh. 9:38-10:1 (LB)
3. Message notes – we forget most of what we hear
“The man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:25 (NIV)
8 reasons to use an outline/sermon notes in preaching
1- Increases attention
2- Increases retention – the shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory
3- Increases participation
4- You can cover more scripture in less time
5- You can review the message for years to come
6- It can be the basis for small group discussion
7- It allows you to use multiple translations
8- Unbelievers don’t bring Bibles to church

3. SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS INCREMENTAL
MYTH: GROWTH IS INSTANT
REALITY: WE GROW THROUGH a step by step process
“...our lives are gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.” 2 Cor. 3:18 (Mes)
There are developmental stages to spiritual growth too!
Knowing Christ, Loving ,Growing, Serving, & Sharing
TOOLS WE USE: THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE DEVELOPMENT CLASSES (101/201 etc. classes)
-Purpose Driven is a catechism for the 21st century.

4. SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS PERSONAL
REALITY: WE GROW ACCORDING TO OUR S.H.A.P.E.
Spiritual gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experiences
TOOLS WE USE
1. S.H.A.P.E. interview
2. Spiritual Help Assessment
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves.” 2 Cor. 13:5 (NRSV)

5. SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS HABITIAL (disciplines)
REALITY: WE GROW BY developing good habits
“Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more...” Hebrews 10:25 (TEV)
-Character is the sum total of your habits.
-You must teach them the habits (class 201)
TOOLS WE USE:
1. Assign homework
2. The Purpose Driven Life and Journal
3. Drive time devotions
4. Email devotions
5. Guide to fasting
6. Podcasts, internet resources etc.

6. SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS Relational
MYTH: CAN ATTAIN MATURITY BY YOURSELF
REALITY: WE ONLY GROW in community
-You cannot grow without the church – you can get knowledge, but not maturity.
“Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to
do good. Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing.
Instead, let us encourage one another all the more...” Heb. 10:24-25 (TEV)
-58 One Another’s in the New Testament
TOOLS WE USE:
1. Small Groups
2. Retreats
3.
“By this time you ought to be teachers!” Heb. 5:12 (NIV)

7. SPIRITUAL GROWTH Multi-dimentional
MYTH: MATURITY IS MEASURED BY YOUR BIBLE KNOWLEDGE
“Tell believers to live the kind of life that goes along with accurate teachings.”
Titus 2:1 (GW)
-You only believe the part you do.
REALITY: IT TAKES ALL 5 purposes
Warmer through fellowship
Deeper through discipleship
Stronger through worship
Broader through ministry
Larger through mission
“Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.” James 1:27 (NLT)

8. SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS Seasonal
“As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night." Genesis 8:22 (NLT)
REALITY: WE GROW in spurts
THE TOOLS WE USE: Spiritual Growth Campaigns
I WANT TO GROW
I LOVE MY CHURCH
MILLENNIAL MEMBERS
BUILDING FOR LIFE
40 DAYS OF COMMUNITY
40 DAY OF FAITH
40 DAYS OF PURPOSE (Personal Renewal)
40 DAYS OF LOVE (Relational Renewal) FALL 08
40 DAYS OF MISSION (Missional Renewal)
40 DAYS OF PEACE
FIVE REINFORCEMENTS:
HEAR IT!
READ IT!
TALK ABOUT IT!
MEMORIZE A VERSE!
DO IT!
THIS NEXT YEAR:
Fall 09 LIFE’S HEALING CHOICES
Christmas 09 THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTMAS
Spring 2010 GOD’S ANSWER’S TO LIFE’S DIFFICULT QUESTIONS
Summer 2010 PILGRIM’S PROGRESS
Fall 2010 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD!

Purpose Driven Network Summit - Session 3 Notes

2009-05-20T13:33:00.000-05:00

Session #3 - Rick Warren

The hope of the world is the church. It isn’t politics, the media etc. We need to put the church back in its rightful place in the center of society.

How is it someone can be in the church their whole life time and not grow up?
-Eph 4:14
-Every single conflict in your church is caused by spiritual immaturity
-The proof of spiritual maturity is not seen in knowledge but in relationships
-1 Cor 13
-James 3:17-18
-Romans 8:29 –Spiritual maturity is Christ-likeness

There is a retention issue as well as a rebellion issue – people remember only 5-10% of things they hear 72 hours later.

It is a myth you can grow spiritually by just attending church.

Teaching less, but embedding into hearts more.

God has not called me to be original but to be effective.

If you can’t learn from other people you have an ego problem.

1 Peter 5:2
Proverbs 27:12 – know the condition of your flock

Do you know the 3 biggest sins in your church? That is what you should be preaching on.
-Why would God give you a message totally unrelated to the needs of your congregation?

You don’t have to have a perfect congregation to have a mature congregation.

As a pastor you live between the tension of the real and the ideal.

How do you know when a church is spiritually mature?
-mature churches have the same characteristics of a mature plant
– they bear fruit
-having babies – planting other churches
-Matthew 7:17-20
-John 15:7 – bring glory to God by bearing fruit
-God expects more than faithfulness, He expects fruitfulness.
-Jesus cursed the fig tree because it didn’t bear fruit.

How do we produce spiritual fruit in the lives of our church members?
-John 17 – 8 things Jesus did with his disciples to grow them

The Jesus Way
1. Jesus led them to salvation – the starting point of discipleship ministry is evangelism
2. Jesus taught them the Word of God – v. 8, 14 – Word of God is the foundation
3. Jesus prayed for them – Pray with them and for them
4. Jesus checked up on them – kept them accountable
5. Jesus sent them on mission – going on missions changes people
6. Jesus expected reproduction – John 17:20 -
7. Jesus focused on character – after we train them they need to be more like Jesus, otherwise we missed the point
8. Jesus loved them – v. 23 –
9. Jesus gave them an example to follow – model don’t tell
10. Jesus challenged them with a big purpose
11. Jesus encouraged them – a look, a word, a touch
12. Jesus trusted them – he gave them permission to serve
13. Jesus believed in them – I believe you can do this
14. Jesus treated them as equals

Rick Warren’s method on how to talk to anyone:
S – Story – tell me your story
P – Passion – what are you interested in – what gets you up or motivates you – what do you love to do?
E – Encourage – Do you know what you’d be good at?
A – Assistance – How can I help you out? How can I serve you? What can I do for you?
K – Knowledge – who do you know that I need to know, and what do you know that I need to know?

Maturity is always for ministry and mission – not an end to itself.

Most people do not have the faith to believe in the dream God has given them.

HOW JESUS MADE DISCIPLES
The Jesus Model – Part 3
Rick Warren
THE METHODS he USED
JOHN 17 and other passages
1. Jesus led them to salvation – the starting point of discipleship ministry is evangelism
“For you granted him authority over all men that he might give eternal life to all those you have given to him.”(v 2)
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world.” v6)
2. Jesus taught them the Word of God – v. 8, 14 – Word of God is the foundation
“For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.” (v. 8)
“I have given them your word…” (vs 14)
3. Jesus prayed for them – Pray with them and for them
“I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, for they are yours.” (v 9)
“I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail." Luke 22:32 (NIV)
"I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe
`in me because of their testimony.” John 17:20 (NLT)
4. Jesus checked up on them – kept them accountable
“While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the child of hell so that Scripture would be fulfilled.” (v 12)
5. . Jesus sent them on mission – going on missions changes people
“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” (v 18)
6. Jesus expected reproduction – John 17:20 -
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.” (v 20)
7. Jesus focused on character – after we train them they need to be more like Jesus, otherwise we missed the point
“I have given them the glory that you gave me…” (v 22)
8. Jesus loved them – v. 23 –
“…you sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.” v 23)
9 Jesus gave them an example to follow – model don’t tell
“I have given you an example to follow. Now do as I have done to you.”
John 13:15 (NLT)
“Don't lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your
good example.” 1 Peter 5:3 (NLT)
“…set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in
purity.” 1 Tim. 4:12 (NIV)
10. Jesus challenged them with a big purpose
“Go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you’ll have
treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” Mark 10:21b (NJB)
“Jesus sent the disciples out with these instructions… “Go announce the
Kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with
leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!”
Matt. 10:58 (NLT)
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I
have commanded you." Matt. 28:19-20 (NIV)
11. Jesus encouraged them – a look, a word, a touch
“Jesus looked steadily at him and he was filled with love for him.”
Mark 10:21a (NJB)
“Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even
greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12 (NIV)
“A word of encouragement does wonders” Pr. 12:25 (LB)
12. Jesus trusted them – he gave them permission to serve
“I am giving you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you lock on
earth will be locked in heaven, and whatever you open on earth will be opened
in heaven." Matt. 16:19 (NLT)
“Whoever can be trusted with a little can also be trusted with a lot.”
Luke 16:10 (NCV)
“If you love someone ... you will always believe in him, and always expect the
best of him...” 1 Cor. 13:7 (LB)
13. Jesus believed in them – I believe you can do this
"It was because you do not have enough faith," answered Jesus. "I assure
you that if you have faith as small as a mustard seed… you could do
anything!" Matt. 17:20 (TEV)
“Don’t use harmful words... Use only helpful words, the kind that build up...”
Eph. 4:29 (GN)
14. Jesus treated them as equals
“I do not call you servants… Instead, I call you friends.” John 15:15 (TEV)
“When Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will
share in all his glory!” Col. 3:4 (NLT)

Purpose Driven Network Summit - Conference notes

2009-05-19T14:48:00.004-05:00

Update: These are the new and improved notes with some things I missed added in from Phil Wheelehan's notes for session #1

Session #1
Rick Warren - The Jesus Model
-A crowd is not a church
-It took Rick 30 years to grow a healthy church

Jesus Model
-Consistent growth for year after year
-Rick had an intentional strategy to send those God sent his way into the world to make a difference.
-You measure a Churches size is in its’ sending capacity not seating capacity… not how many you have in the mess hall… but how many you have on the battlefield…
-Growth thru evangelism not from other churches just because you are the hottest show in town…
-Test of ministry… not how big it is but does it last?...
-You cannot surrender the vision of your church to small thinkers or whiners.
-When I wanted to give up, Jesus held on.
-We don’t deserve it - God just does it - no such thing as paying your dues - that is the worlds way.
-Before He began His public ministry, Jesus was sent to the desert - God is more concerned about who you are than what you do - He wants to show you what you really believe because you always behave what you believe
-Many want to be used more - but God is using you all He can - the desert is where you get clear and clean…
-God uses all kinds of vessels - the only vessel God won’t use is a dirty one.
-The dessert makes you decide you want to impress in life…

Growth is Seasonal
-hang on, Spring will come again
-Colossians 2:6 - same way you get saved is the same way you walk in Him - Trust in His Grace

The enemy isn't other believers

People most often come to Christ in times of transition and tension

Too many people are concerned on being cool over effective.

I want God's blessing more than I want to get even.

3 Temptations:
-Passions of Life
-Positions of Life
-Possessions of Life

-Sex/Salary/Status pitfalls (Passion/Possesions/Position)

Jesus' Model - if you do it Jesus’ way, you will be criticized.
-Jesus had to go through the desert first - Matt 4
1. Led by spirit… it is spirit who leads you to the desert
2. God will give you the resources you need, the people you need and the opportunities to get His mission accomplished through you. Devil will tempt you to misuse each!
Note: You can’t lead till you know what is inside of you - your weaknesses - your strengths
3. 1 John 1:5 Love not the world… Lust of the flesh, Lust of eyes, Pride of life.
a. Lust of flesh - temptation to feel
b. Lust of eyes - temptation to have
c. Pride of life - temptation to be noticed
-Advertisers use these three temptation as a strategy to get people to buy things

Adam fell to all 3 temptations. Moses walked away from all 3.
-Note: but when Adam ate, he became unlike God -He hid, He lied, He blamed others.
-He died spiritually and didn’t even know it!
-In the wilderness God allows you to see you from His point of view.

Jesus Tempted:
-Pain & Pleasure test
-Maturity is the ability to endure pain & delay pleasure

If you are a young leader you need a Godly mentor (all leaders need a mentor).

Satan doesn't just tempt us in our weakness, but our strengths as well - he corrupts the good.

I will be tempted where I am gifted.

Temptation to not wait & trust God is one of the easiest temptations.

Praise & Popularity test reveals your integrity
-Jump off the temple Jesus...
-Right thing @ the wrong time in the wrong way.

Jesus' glory was to come on the cross, not through showing off.

Jesus did not come to do the spectacular but to do the sacrificial.

Will I use my ability to serve others or to gain prominence & approval?

Materialism - Lust of the eyes

The Good News is only Good News if it gets there in time!

Antidote to materialism is GIVING.

Integrity, generosity, humility
-your sin ALWAYS hurts other people
-never hurts just you.

I have one motivation in life - to know Christ and to make Him known.

Lust of Flesh - antidote is integrity
Pride of Life - antidote is humility
Lust of Eyes - antidote is generosity

The Temptations…
Lust of Flesh… hedonism
1. If you are Gods man…turn stone to bread… pain and pleasure test… maturity is the ability to endure pain and delay pleasure…
a. Delay is not denial… God is building you…
b. Tempted to use his abilities for personal gain… we are by our tempted with our strengths at a weak moment… You will be tempted where you are gifted…
c. Tempted to not trust God by thinking of yourself first… we are to learn to not meet our needs ourselves…
i. Note: even an Olympic champion needs a coach…
ii. God is testing to see if you really are going to put Him first
iii. Antidote – Integrity – doesn’t mean you are perfect but you are who you appear to be…
1. Living a non compartmental life…
2. Separating the Spiritual from the Secular… this is foreign to God
Pride Of life… humanism
2. If you are… praise and popularity test… integrity… beliefs match behavior… same in private as in public
a. Integrity means wholeness…
b. Temptation to presume upon God’s grace… God you have to do this! God is not a genie… it is not Him serving you… but you serve Him… like kid and bicycle with statue of Mary.
c. Tempted to do right thing in wrong way or time… (God’s glory was to be through suffering not spectacular) pride of life… showing off… do you love the people… or just love a crowd… without the motive of love nothing you say or do counts.
i. Temptation to take a short cut… will I use my abilities to serve others or serve myself…
ii. Antidote – Humility – is understanding your weaknesses and depending on God… do not take offense… at criticism… become dead to it… realize the what you are doing is more important than what people think of you.
Lust of Eyes… materialism
3. If you are Gods man… then shows all the kingdoms… worship me and it is yours… Lust of eyes…
a. Life is about people… not about possessions (Stuff) note: remember: world is passing away…
b. Antidote for materialism – is Generosity - giving yourself, your possessions, your gifts…

Session #2
7 Principles of Leadership based on the model of Jesus
1. Principle of identification
-Know who you are
-Leaders don’t look to other people for validation
-John 8:18

Twin deadly sins of ministry are comparing and copying
-Comparing leads to two dangerous paths – discouragement or pride.
-Don’t copy anybody, but learn from everybody.

2. Principle of Clarification
-Know what you want to accomplish
-John 8:14
-What are we doing by faith? Where are we taking risks?

3. Principle of Motivation
-Who am I trying to please?
-Don’t let others define your ministry, that is for God.
-If you don’t know your calling, others will try to define it for you.

4. Principle of Collaboration
-Build a team
-Matthew 26:8

5. Principle of Importance
-Focus on what is Important
-If Satan can’t get you do wrong, he will just wear you out doing good.
-Jesus was focused like a laser on his calling.
-Simple Church – stay focused, and keep getting better at what you do, not add more.
-When you have focus things continue to get clearer, and you become more effective.
-Know exactly what God has called you do and don’t get distracted from it.
-Luke 9:51

6. Principle of Meditation
-If you want a Christ like ministry, you must listen to God continually
-Mark 1:35
-Spend some time alone with God – put away the Computer/Phone/TV/everything and get with God.

7. Principle of Relaxation
-You need a Sabbath – don’t take a day off, you’ll cheat. Take a Sabbath.
-Divert daily, withdraw weekly, Abandon annually
-need something daily that helps you relax
-Pastors do most of our work with our mind, so do something manually to decompress/de-stress
-Withdraw weekly – take your Sabbath.
-Abandon annually – take vacation and don’t check voicemail/email etc.