Double Dream Feat

I love this guy!

Persistent Prayer, Person, Promises

On Sunday April 3rd I had the opportunity to preach at my home church, Lawton Evangelical Mennonite Church. I was asked to share from Luke 18:1-8, the parable of the persistent widow. I really enjoyed both preparing and delivering this message. As I re-visit it today, I am still challenged by the things the LORD taught me in this text.

You can listen to the message here. Below are some of the key thoughts that I hit on...

The Parable of the Persistent Widow
Luke 18:1-8

Persistent prayer is fueled by an ever-expanding view of the Person & Promises of God!

(1)The Need for Persistent Prayer

a)Dependence
Widows were helpless and vulnerable…they were completely dependent on others for provision and protection!

“Prayer is the expression of man’s dependence upon God for all things.” - New Unger’s Bible Dictionary

b)Desperation
Luke 18:1-8 = …there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him…yet because this widow keeps bothering me…so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming…

c)Devotion
Luke 5:16-->Acts 1:14; Romans 12:12; Ephesians 6:18; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:17

“A man should pray as often as he has an opportunity; should be constant and assiduous at the throne of grace, and continue putting up his request to God, though he does not presently return an answer.” - John Gill

(2)The Person & Promises of God

(a)His Compassion & Justice

Two of the key qualifications for a judge at that time were the fear of God and the love men!

“This parable is a standard Jewish “how much more” argument: If an unjust judge who cared not for widows can dispense justice, how much more will the righteous judge of all the earth, who was known as the defender of widows and orphans?” - Bible Background Commentary

Psalm 68:5 = Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in His holy habitation.

(b)His Coming Judgment
The Just Judge is coming back to judge the earth. Those of us who have believed on the Gospel should not fear His return, but rather long for his return. Maranatha!

Luke 18:8 = …when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?

Can you see the beauty of the Gospel in this parable?
We are like the widow: vulnerable, needy, helpless, dependent. We were oppressed by our sins, unable to save ourselves. We were dependent upon outside intervention! The Righteous Judge, the Just Judge intervened on our behalf in the person of Jesus Christ. We stood guilty before the Just Judge (for all have sinned and fall short), and God's justice demands that our sins are punished. If God doesn't punish sin, then He is not just. Christ took the penalty for our sins. He took the punishment that we deserved. Christ death satisfied the justice of God. His death on the cross and His resurrection are our source of hope! This work of redemption brought us back to God. We were fatherless, but He is now our Father. We were husband less, but we are now the bride of Christ. Christ is coming back, and because of the Gospel we can long for His return! So let's be steadfast in prayer and faithful service to the King until He comes back to get us!

Cardboard Testimonies of Transformation

My parent's church did a "cardboard testimonies" service similar to the one in the video, and it was a powerful time. This video will definitely make you well up!

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.

Support Japan

I have been looking into how to support Japan during this time of crisis. There are several relief and development organizations on the ground there now. I just wanted to highlight a few of the options that you can send money through:

Samaritan's Purse
For over 40 years, Samaritan's Purse has done our utmost to follow Christ's command by going to the aid of the world's poor, sick, and suffering. We are an effective means of reaching hurting people in countries around the world with food, medicine, and other assistance in the Name of Jesus Christ. Read more here...

In Japan, Samaritan's Purse is "delivering emergency relief supplies, including heavy-duty plastic shelter materials, blankets, water, hygiene items, and first aid kits, to survivors of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan's northeastern coast."

World Vision
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Read more here...

In Japan, World Vision is "is distributing relief supplies to thousands of people devastated by the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11. An emergency response team is on the ground in hard hit areas, providing water, blankets, and other urgently needed supplies to survivors. Ongoing efforts will focus on the unique needs of children, who are the most impacted."

Churches Helping Churches
Churches Helping Churches is a global partnership of church communities who seek to rebuild other churches in the wake of a catastrophic natural disaster. Read more here...

In Japan, Churches Helping Churches is "getting behind a local organization called CRASH Japan, which comprises Japanese missionaries and churches who know each other and know Japan."

Our junior high students at Sunshine are going to begin collecting money this afternoon. We are going to donate the money to Samaritan's Purse, to support their efforts.

Let's all continue to stand with Japan in prayer! Let's pray that God would use this to draw people to Himself there.

One Month To Live

This video is very inspiring and puts things in perspective!

Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

The Gospel

All of us need the Gospel. We need it every day. It exposes and crushes are notions of self righteousness and it reminds of our utter dependence upon the grace of God through Jesus Christ!


1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

I have shared this quote before on my blog, but I think it is worth reposting...
"The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of those who trust him is old news. It is really old, really good news. So what are we aiming for in hearing again and again that which we've heard before? The hope in hearing the old, good news is that it would perpetually break new ground in our lives. Our hearts are like a jungle. There is untamed wilderness and darkness that has not yet been brought, as it were, under the rule of the One who has laid claim to it all. We need to hear the gospel again and again so that the old, good news of Jesus Christ would reach into these uncharted territories of our lives and fly the flag of its dominion. This is how we are "being saved." This is what it means to be overcome by the gospel." - Jonathan Parnell, Desiring God blog

Faithful Eternal Investment

This past year I went to several funerals that have caused me to think on the frailty of life and the shortness of our time here. I feel a renewed sense of urgency to "maximize" my days. During my message on "Faithfulness" I looked at the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25:16-30. It emphasizes faithful service to the King while he is away. The 24th & 25th chapter of Matthew reminds us that the return of our Master is certain and is on the horizon. He has entrusted us with an incredible treasure in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and He has given each of us varying abilities, skill sets, and spiritual gifts to be used for His glory and for the good of others. His instructions were to take the precious message of the Gospel and to invest it in the lives of others, that we might multiply ourselves and gain a return on our investment for the enjoyment of the Master.

We see these instructions given to us in the first chapter of Acts, and in the last chapter of Matthew. Prior to Jesus' ascension in the book of Acts he states, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had finished saying this, "as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight (Acts 1:8-9)." He gave similar instructions to us in the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20 where he said, “All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age." The question now is, are we heeding His instructions to us? In the Parable of the Talents, the servants were to faithfully serve their Master in His absence. Brothers and sisters, are we faithfully serving the King while He is away?? Are we giving our lives away, pouring ourselves out, making eternal investments in the lives of others?

In mid-October my Grandpa Clark passed away. I was honored to have the opportunity to speak at both his graveside ceremony and later at his memorial service that we had here in Lawton. His memorial service especially impacted me. You see my grandpa accepted Christ in his early 20s, and by God’s grace faithfully walked with the Lord for nearly 50 years. Many of those years, my Grandpa faithfully served as a pastor. During the course of his ministry years, he served at five different churches. So at his memorial service, men and women from all of those different churches stood and testified to the impact my grandpa’s life had had on theirs. Many shared that he had led them to the Lord or that he had encouraged them in their faith. It was such a powerful service, and it spoke loudly to me of importance and of the call to all of us as followers of Christ to live of lifestyle of eternal investment. We are to give ourselves to making disciples for as many years as he gives us.

In early January one of my former basketball players, Trevell Martin, was shot and killed outside of a party. His tragic death has pained me for several different reasons. I can’t fully explain all of the things it has caused me to think about. However, one message that the Lord spoke to me through Trevell’s funeral was loud and clear. At the funeral during the open mic time, a man in his 50s took the podium. He said this, “I first want to give respect to Trevell’s mother and his family who are present here today. However, Trevell was also a part of a much larger family. Will all of the Roc Creek family please stand up.” When he said this, more than half of those present in the church sanctuary that day stood up. That experience made my stomach churn, and challenged me in a great way. You see in a sinfully distorted way, the gangs are faithfully present in the streets and they are faithfully “making disciples.”

God spoke the same message to me at two very different funerals. His message was clear and concise: Make disciples! Our time is short, and only faithful service to Christ truly matters. Again I ask, are we giving our lives away by investing them in the lives of others? Are we faithfully serving the King, by making disciples, while He is away? May we be a people who will one day here the words, “Well done my good and faithful servant! Come and enter into my joy.”

Faithfulness: See His & Serve Him

The last Sunday in February I had the opportunity to preach at New Hope Fellowship in Lawton, MI. I was given the topic of "faithfulness," and it proved to be a very timely topic for me to study, prepare, and preach on. I am grateful for the way the Lord worked in my own life through the process. This is my outline, and some of my key sermon notes.

Faithfulness: See His & Serve Him

I.See His Faithfulness
• Lamentations 3:23; Psalm 57:10
In the midst of pain, grief, calamity, and the consequences of sin, the author of Lamentations says, "But this I call to mind,and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!


1)In His Salvation
• Hebrews 10:23; 1 Corinthians 1:9

Hebrews 10:23
-->Let us hold fast (cling to)

-->The confession of our hope
Jesus is our hope! The confession of our hope is the Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 10:9-10)!

-->for He who promised is faithful (completely trustworthy)

The assurance of our salvation is based on the fact that God is Faithful!

2)In His Sustaining Grace
• 2 Thess. 3:3, Philippians 1:6; 1 Thess. 5:23-24; 1 Corinthians 1:8

II. Serve Him Faithfullly
1) Examples of those found faithful
• Abraham (Galatians 3:9), Moses (Numbers 12:7), Daniel (Daniel 6:4 & 16), Paul (1 Tim. 1:12), Timothy (1 Cor. 4:17)
*God counted these men faithful, having made them faithful by His grace.

2) Will we be found faithful?
• Matthew 25:16-30; Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:18-20
“Well done, good and Faithful servant”

Are we faithfully serving the King while He is away? Are we giving our lives away, pouring ourselves out, making eternal investments in the lives of others?

Standing With Brian

My sister's husband's brother was recently diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. His name is Brian Schnurstein and he lives in Kalamazoo,MI with his wife Lindsay and their daughter Kylie. This video tells a little bit of their story, and of the battle that they currently face.



Brian suggests ten different ways that you can get involved at the end of the video. He also has a blog that he updates regularly to raise awareness about ALS and to give updates on his progress and perspective.

Please stand with me in prayer for Brian Schnurstein and his family!

Not Safe But Good

Today I enjoyed a rare thing in Chicago...a snow day. It was much needed actually. It gave me time to read and pray and reflect. January flew by. It was full of activity. Overall, it was a good month - in ministry and personally. However, it was also a challenging month in some ways. I consistently battled anxiety and some depression over the course of the month. As I look back on it, I'm thankful for it, as it caused me to press into God. God has proven Himself faithful once again over the course of the month.

I consistently journaled over the course of the month. The interesting thing is that the notebook that I am using to journal in, is actually an old notebook that I partially used back in December of 1999. That month was also an anxious month for me. I graduated from college that month, and stepped out into the "unknown." I didn't have a job lined up, and I wasn't even sure what my "career" would be. I was both anxious and fearful about so many unknowns. I was reminded by the notebook that I attended a Campus Crusade for Christ Christmas Conference that year, that December. One of the main sessions at that conference was given by Pastor James Ford (He is now my pastor here in Chicago at Christ Bible Church!). The message he gave that night was entitled "Hope For The Hood" and it was a call to college students to prayerfully consider giving their lives in service to Christ in the hood. I took a lot of notes during that session, and it spoke powerfully into what God was already doing in my life, and the things He had given me passion and compassion about. Over the course of the next year (2000), I would progressively have an increasing sense of the Lord's leading towards urban ministry. God would continue to reveal this to me in spite of my anxiousness and fear. In the fall of 2001, I would head to Chicago, to Moody, to study Urban Ministry.

I love how in the midst of a period of anxiousness, entering a new year (2011), I would grab an old notebook to remind me of God's faithful presence and persistent pursuit of me over the last ten years or so. God is stretching me and pushing me out of my comfort zone as I head into a new year with Him. As I continue to seek to follow close after Jesus, I'm reminded that He is not always safe but He is always good. A co-worker reminded me of the following dialogue in the Chronicles of Narnia.
Lucy, the little girl, when speaking of Aslan to Mr. Beaver, says "Then he isn't safe?" "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver, "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the king I tell you."

So as we continue on in this new year, let's seek the King and His Kingdom even when it's hard and uncomfortable. And may He be "the stronghold" of our lives (Psalm 27:1) as we face the inevitable coming unknowns.

The Legacy of King's Message

Philip Yancey, an author I greatly respect and admire, wrote the following excerpt in his book entitled "Soul Survivor." This excerpt is a powerful tribute and reflection on the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. It is long, but it is well worth the time to read! You can check it out here.

Remembering Trevell

(Trevell is the player to my left, technically off my right shoulder)


(Trevell is in the blue polo shirt. He and Baby T were rapping at our hip hop service).


On the late evening of Friday January 7th (or possibly into the early morning of Saturday January 8th) 18 year old Trevell Martin was gunned down outside of a party in the south suburbs. He was shot 3 times in the chest and 1 time in the back. There are different stories and theories circulating as to what led to his shooting. It is believed to have been "gang related." However, the particulars that led to his death seem almost trivial when I reflect on the tragedy of a high school senior with so much potential losing his life in the midst of the senseless cycle of violence that is claiming so many young men's lives on the streets of Chicago. Another sobering detail of Trevell's death is that he is survived by his twin brother Terrell. However, Terrell is currently serving a 9 month sentence in Cook County Jail. I traveled to the prison with another neighborhood pastor to deliver the news to Terrell, that his twin brother Trevell had been shot and killed the night before. Pastor Brad had to yell "the news" through the prison glass as Terrell sat and cried into his prison uniform.

I first met Trevell during the summer between his 7th and 8th grade year. That summer he played for our basketball team in the Miracle League. That same summer he also spent a week at Sunshine Cove with the rest of his teammates (His mother recently told me, that week really impacted he and his brother.) That next school year I would attend 4 or 5 Fiske grade school basketball games to watch Trevell and the other guys (Terrell, Baby T, Pierre) play in their regular season and then playoffs. Later that spring I attended Fiske's 8th grade graduation. Over the next 3 summers I would coach Trevell and the guys in the Miracle League. During the summer of 2009 Trevell was even interviewed and featured as part of our web site and Sunshine's blog. That same summer, I also did a blog entry highlighting my Miracle League players.

I wrote the following about Trevell in that particular blog entry...
Trevell "I Need More Touches" Martin - After one of our first games, Trevell told me and his teammates that we would be better off if he just "got more touches." As the season progressed I believed him. Trevell is a streaker shooter with 3-point range, and an ever-improving mid-range jumper. He models his game after his idol, Tracy McGrady, and he continues to develop his game each summer. Trevell will be a junior at Team Englewood High School this fall.
I remember Trevell consistently reminding me with his big smile that he had NEVER missed a practice during ALL his summer seasons with the Sunshine Warriors. Trevell loved the game of basketball. He loved playing with his "guys" from Fiske. He loved to laugh and clown with his teammates. On the court, he played intense defense and was a streaky perimeter shooter. I could count on Trevell to motivate his teammates in a positive way.

This past summer, I dropped down and coached a junior high team. My high school players continued to play in the league with Sunshine, but they played for some different coaches. Every time I would see Trevell at Moody's Solheim Center (where the league games are played) he would approach me with a big smile and say, "Coach Dave we need you to come back." Even as recently as the week after Christmas he had created a "Bring Back Coach Dave" Facebook page. He had invited Pastor Brad and all of the former players to the page, and was trying to convince me to come back and coach the high school team for one more season.

Trevell had aspirations to play college basketball. He would have graduated from Team Englewood High School this spring.

It really hurts my heart as I reflect on his life and on his tragic passing. I do know that we had Gospel conversations over the course of the summers that I coached him. I know that he consistently heard the Gospel each week during the Miracle League season. I wish I could say with confidence that Trevell had believed on the Gospel, but I can't. I only know that IF he did, there is eternal hope.

Trevell is the second of my players (who I began with in the summer of 2006) to lose their life to gun violence. Damian Turner was also tragically shot and killed late last spring. They are certainly not the only young men whose lives have been claimed by violence over the last year. It just doesn't make sense. The youth homicide statistics in Chicago right now are sobering. These "numbers" are personal to me now. I know this ongoing violence breaks God's heart. I am asking Him to continue to break my heart for my young brothers who are caught up in the streets, in search of identity and community in the wrong places. More importantly, I am asking God to break the Church's heart for these same young men. May we not view them with suspicion or fear or self-righteousness, but may we view them through the lens of Christ so that we might respond with compassion and courage.

Please continue to pray for Trevell's mother Pat, his twin brother Terrell (who is scheduled to be released in May), and for his many friends!

Jesus: Servant & Savior (Blog #2)

Here is the second part of my message that I shared. If you have not read the first part, you should read it first in order to understand the context.

II. Jesus came to Save

I want us to think about each of these examples for a minute. For we should be able to see us in each of the people that I just went through…

Children - We are like children in that we have no social status. We have no standing on our own before God. But yet Christ receives us. We have standing before God because of Jesus’ status (Paul learned this, and shared it in Philippians 3. Jesus is our list!). We are defenseless and in need of a spiritual Father and a spiritual adoption. We need God to become our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ (John 1:12).

Lepers – We are like lepers. We are unclean because of our sins. Our sins separate us from a Holy God (Romans 6:23). We too are in need of the cleansing touch of Jesus. We are in need of His work on the cross, and for His blood to wash us clean. Without Christ, we find ourselves "outside of the camp" in need of the fellowship and intimacy with God that Jesus offers.


Tax collectors – We are also like the tax collectors. We may not be hated by men, but we are enemies of God – unless we have received the reconciliation that Christ offers according to Romans 5:10. Through the Gospel we are transferred positionally from being "objects of wrath" to being seated with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:1-10).

Women & Samaritans – We too are like the women and Samaritans of Bible times in that while society might not esteem us as having value, Christ paid the ultimate price for us on the Cross (Romans 5:8). Christ says we were worth dying for. He obtained us with His own blood(Acts 20:28).

Our rescue by the Great Samaritan – Finally, in the story of the good Samaritan we can find ourselves in the man who was beaten and left by the side of the road. The man in the story was completely helpless, there was nothing he could do…he was stuck…he was beaten down…he was exposed…in fact, if someone didn’t intervene, he would have been in a potentially very dangerous situation…he needed treatment and help to get back to health but he couldn’t afford the payment…he needed someone to pay for his treatment, someone else had to pay to restore him.

We are the man found beaten and left for dead on the side of the road…
-we were not deserving of help
-we were completely helpless
-there was nothing we could do
-we were stuck
-we were beaten down
-we were exposed
-we were jacked up
-we were in a dangerous life and death predicament

But Jesus…
He came to our rescue, He left His comfort, He came down and identified with us, He selflessly sacrificed His own life in place of ours. He paid a debt that He didn't owe, and that we couldn't pay. He paid for our restoration.

The Gospel is such a beautiful message! We need Jesus as our Savior. And it’s only through the transformation that His grace and His love brings, that we can love and serve others after His example.

Matthew 20:18 ...the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

Jesus: Servant & Savior (Blog #1)

On the second Sunday in January, I got to share the following message with some of our families and staff at Sunshine. This is the first part of the message...

Jesus Part 2: Servant & Savior
Matthew 20:18 ...the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

I.Jesus came to Serve

(1) Children
Background:
-Children were people of no social status. In other words, they were socially powerless and dependent.
-There was a high infant mortality rate. One scholar recorded that only half of all children lived beyond the age of 8. Poorer Gentile families often discarded babies if they felt that they couldn’t afford them. They would simply place them out with the trash to be taken to the dump. It was not uncommon for such children to be taken home by the worst kind of people, who molested the children, sold them into prostitution, or forced them into slavery.

But Jesus...
-Jesus treated children differently. He valued them. He welcomed them.
-Even Jesus’ birth was significant in this. He came as a child. He was born into poverty to a young mother. He was seen by many children in tragic circumstances as giving them both dignity and hope. As Marc Driscoll states, “By coming as a child, Jesus honored childhood.”
-Children were the recipients of Jesus’ miracles – Matthew 9:23-25; Matthew 14:21; Matthew 17:14-18.
-Jesus spoke of the importance of both having the humility and faith of a child in Matthew 7:11; Matthew 11:25;Matthew 18:1-4.

Luke 18:15-16 Now they were bringing even infants to Him that He might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to Him saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."

 
(2) Lepers
Background:
-Lepers were those who suffered from various skin diseases.
-They were not only sick and dying, but they were the outcasts of society.
-Leprosy made a person ceremonially unclean and thus excluding him from communal life (Lev. 13:46).
-They were looked down upon, abandoned, and socially isolated.

But Jesus…
“Jesus not only met their need for physical healing, but reached out His hand and touched them, giving them their first human contact in years.” - Tim Keller in Generous Justice
-In other accounts throughout the gospels Jesus can be seen eating in the home of a Leper, in fact is even mentions that he touched lepers, something that you just didn’t do because touching a leper made a person ceremonially unclean (Lev. 15:7).
-In Luke 7 and Matthew 11:4-6 – Cleansing lepers is noted as part of Jesus’ ministry
-In Matthew 8, Mark 1, and Luke 5 – Jesus heals a man with leprosy and touches him.
-In Matthew 10:7-9 – when he sent His disciples out, He told them to heal/cleanse lepers.

(3) Tax Collectors
Background...
-Tax collectors were employees of the Roman Government. The Roman government was brutally oppressive and known for corruption and excessive greed and injustice.
-Tax collectors were bitterly hated by their own countrymen and regarded as little more than traitors.
-They taxed people excessively and kept many people living impoverished while they lived well and passed part of their profits back to the Roman government.

But Jesus…
-Jesus chose a tax collector, Matthew to be one of His disciples. Jesus visited the tax collector Zacchaeus in Luke 19 and ate with him in his home.
-Jesus was criticized by the religious leaders of His day because He ate with tax collectors and sinners - Matthew 9:10-12.

The “Table Fellowship” of Jesus: Jesus intentionally reached out broadly to all He encountered, inviting them to participate in the life of his “congregation” of followers. This is most apparent in what scholars have called his “table fellowship.” Table fellowship symbolized those you found to be worthy of inclusion in your social circle. Whom you ate with made a statement about who where your friends. The Pharisees were considered a “table fellowship sect.” They used table fellowship to maintain the purity of their nation as well as to model what they believed should be the exclusive ethnocentric identity of Israel. Jesus disturbed and disrupted religious leaders of his time because he used table fellowship to model what he believed was the future of God’s people (and who were included in that group). -United By Faith pg 16


(4) Women
Background...
-In many ancient cultures women were essentially regarded as property of their husband.
-Women were generally omitted from theological instruction.
-Women’s testimony in court was not accepted/admissible.
-Women were not to be spoken to in public.
-Jewish men had a practice of praying and thanking God that they weren’t a Gentile and that they weren’t a woman.

But Jesus…
-He often challenged social taboos regarding women and in so doing honored them.
-Some of Jesus followers and supporters were women - Luke 8:1-3
-Jesus allowed Himself to be anointed by a sinful woman – Luke 7:36-50
-He used women as examples of persistent faith and radical generosity (Luke 18:1-5; Luke 21:1-4).
-He visited the home of Mary and Martha and spent time with them – Luke 10:38-42.
-Jesus appeared to women first after His resurrection – John 20:11-18.

In John 4:4-26 Jesus intentionally had a conversation with a Samaritan woman who was caught up in an immoral lifestyle.  


(5) Samaritans
Background:
-Jews often avoided Samaria by crossing the Jordan and travelling on it’s eastern side.
-Jews did not associate with Samaritans, they despised Samaritans.
-The normal prejudices of the day prohibited public conversation between Jews and Samaritans.
-The Jews held that Samaritan women were unclean from birth.

But Jesus…
-He approached the Samaritan woman in John 4 in humility, spoke with her, and told her of the living water that He had to offer her.
-In the Parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke chapter 10, Jesus made the Samaritan the "hero" of the story, and exhorted others to follow his example (Go and do likewise!).

As followers of Christ, we need to really think about the example of Jesus in how He loved and served others (1 John 2:6 on em!).

The Best Books I Read In 2010

I am doing some year end analysis/reflection/prinking and I thought I would share the top books I read in 2010. I would recommend any of these as solid reads!


"Transformation: How Glocal Churches Transform Lives and the World" by Bob Roberts
(I am finishing the year with this book, and it is a great one to finish on)



"Vintage Jesus" by Marc Driscoll



"Leadership As An Identity" by Crawford Loritts



"When Helping Hurts" by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett



"Forgotten God" by Francis Chan



"The Cross Centered Life" by CJ Mahaney


What were the best 3 books you read this year?

Best Video of 2010

This is the best video I have seen this year. Double Dream Hands...nuff said.



Thoughts? Reactions?

Kingdom Investments In 2011

I posted these questions in January of this year, but to be honest I really didn't put any "feet" to these questions after I posted them. I have printed them off for myself this year, and I hope to spend some time in the next two weeks thinking and praying through them. These were initially shared on Floyd McClung's blog (he is a missionary who currently serves in Cape Town, South Africa).

In 2011...

1. What’s one way, you could utilize time, to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. Who are three people you can disciple more intentionally?

6. What is the most helpful way you can build community with a few other followers of Jesus this year?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. Who is the person you most want to encourage this year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing can you plan to do this year that will matter most in ten years? In eternity?


**Note on picture: I had not caught a fish in Montana in approximately 7 years, so the fact that I caught one in 2010 is a great accomplishment! So...

Christianese

I'm not sure who put this together, but I think it definitely rings true. It definitely made me laugh!



What do you think?

Love For The City

I have been reading through "Vintage Jesus" by Mark Driscoll and have really been blessed by it. Today I was reading through the chapter entitled "Where Is Jesus Today?" and I appreciated the perspective he shared on our glorious "urban future" and our current perspective on an ever-increasing urban world and its significance to Gospel mission. Driscoll states the following on pp 156-158,

"As an aside it is important to note that the new creation will not be the idylic rural lifestyle that has dominated so much American vision of faithful Christianity. Rather, at the center of the new creation will be a grand metropolis from which Jesus will rule over the earth 30. The entire storyline of the Bible is not from garden to garden, but rather from garden to city. The Bible opens in its first few pages with a beautiful garden. But the Bible closes in its final few pages with the vision of heaven as a dense city filled with people - the ultimate goal of creation is an urban paradise.

Practically speaking, a city is marked by both greater density and diversity than suburban and rural areas. For the first time in the world's history, roughly half of the world's population is urban. That number is expected to swell to 60 percent by the year 2030.

Sadly, most Christians associate the city with vice, not virtue. In truth, cities have long been seen as a haven for violent crime, sexual sin, and drug abuse. But sin is often most clearly seen in the city because it is more concentrated in the city than in suburban and rural areas. As a result, the related need for God is most clearly seen in the city. The rawness of the city makes it exactly the kind of place that God would use to convince people of their need for Him. Furthermore, by revealing the unveiling of the city upon His return, Jesus intends for Christians to love cities in the meantime.

Unlike today where Christians have largely fled the cities in favor of homeschooling about the rapture amidst large stacks of canned goods readied for a hunkering down at the unleashing of Armageddon, Christianity has historically been an urban religion. A reading of the history book of the early Christianity, Acts, reveals that Christianity began as an urban movement led by Paul, whose itinerant church planting ministry was almost exclusively urban as he moved from city to city and bypassed the rural areas.

Indeed, God's people should bring the gospel to any place where there are people, because God loves all people. But since there are more people in the city, it also makes sense that bringing the gospel to cities would be a priority.

One of the reasons Christians in our day are to love the city as they await the unveiling of Jesus' city is that the city is the most strategic place for Christians and the gospel. If culture is like a river, then cities are upstream, creating culture that then flows downstream to the masses. Because government, law, education, healthcare, information, media, arts, sports, entertainment, trade, travel, population, and industry are concentrated most in a city, cities are the fountains from which culture flows. Therefore, for Christians to flee from cities then to only complain about the kind of culture that is flowing into the culture from the cities is both foolish and hypocritical. The answer is for Christians to love the city, move to the city, pray for the city, and serve the city until Jesus returns with His city from which all culture will emanate throughout the new earth."

My former urban ministry professor Dr. Fuder used to share with us that he prays that more men and women would give their lives in the city for the sake of the Gospel! Amen.

I'm The AWANA Game Director, So...

(The above picture is our AWANA Sparks - 1st & 2nd graders - and their leaders.)

Every Monday evening I "man the whistle" at our AWANA club at Sunshine! Our AWANA night is a Bible outreach club for 1st through 8th graders. Our night contains a few elements: opening prayer/announcements, song time, Bible time (where Pastor Pete teaches a weekly lesson), handbook time (where the kids work on memorizing verses), and game time. AWANA is an acronym that stands for "approved workman are not shamed" - which is taken from the Scripture verse 2 Timothy 2:15. The main emphasis of the program is encouraging, teaching, and inspiring our young people to memorize God's Word.

This is our second year running our club, and it has been a very enjoyable outreach for us. Although we have the occasional behavior challenges (every youth/children's ministry does!), our kids are thinking about the Gospel and its implication for their lives, they are growing in their identity in Christ, and they are memorizing large portions of Scripture. I was personally involved in an AWANA club when I was in 1st through 5th grades at my childhood church. I have good memories of my days at AWANA. Not only that, but when I began reading the Bible again, during my freshman year of college, I would repeatedly read verses that I had memorized at AWANA. Those verses never left me. I may have not been able to recite them word for word from the King James like I used to be able to, but the foundation was there.

Game time and the AWANA game circle is my domain. On some Mondays I wear my game whistle all day, just to set the tone and prepare myself mentally for the evening (because let's just say you can't just turn on the "intensity switch"). We play various dodgeball games, beanbag games, balloon games, and the classic AWANA relay races. I try to emphasize competing hard, while maintaining a good attitude. I encourage good sportsmanship and the importance of both winning and losing with graciousness. These are not easy lessons for those who are competitive, but slowly some of these character traits are sinking in. I thoroughly enjoy the various perks of being the game director: wearing and using a whistle, utilizing a "5 count" to keep the kids on point, pretending to view an instant replay of controversial calls, and being humored by both the leaders and kids as they compete.

Here is a "snapshot" of our Trek (6th-8th graders) relays...


And here is a small taste of our T&T (3rd-5th graders) relays...