Chris

onebigthing No one was created to be mediocre. God does not intend for us to sit on the sidelines or to be a copy of someone else. We are all unique, and uniquely created for greatness. We have passions and ideas, and they don’t fit into each other’s molds.

So why do we feel so forgotten? Why do some shine while others feel inept and invisible? We have lost sight of ourselves, our true selves. We have settled for next to nothing when anything is possible.

We can achieve the greatness that awaits us. Our purpose, our destiny can be fulfilled. It is possible to see our dreams and visions realized. There aren’t so many voices or hurdles to our goals if we focus and determine to make one thing happen. One Big Thing.

Continue reading “Book Review: “One Big Thing” by Phil Cooke” →

Christian Living

Have You Forgotten? (a poem)

September 3, 2014August 28, 2014 Chris

It was a lifetime ago,
the days when we were together;
excited about God,
hearing His Word for our lives
and growing in Him.

The world was simpler then,
when we thought anything was possible;
dreaming of the future,
full of hope for each day
and trusting His promise.

Have you forgotten those days?
Are they far from your mind?
What caused you to turn from those dreams
and abandon your hope?
What drove you so far
that God is lost in the distance?

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Christian Living, Church Life, Ministry

Calling Off “The Preacher Hunt”

August 27, 2014June 15, 2020 Chris

You have probably found yourself in one of those conversations. The internet is all abuzz because someone figured out that a certain preacher is mixing his theologies. He said something questionable. It’s time to burn all of his books and denounce any pastor or church that has them in its library.

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Maybe you know those kind of people. They scour the internet for everything they can find to discredit a well-known preacher of the Gospel with a mega-church and book deals. To have that many people in their church, so many followers on Facebook or Twitter, they must be watering down the Gospel. “Let’s expose them and tear down their empires,” is the war cry of these people.

I’m hesitant to call them Christians. Sure, they sound like they are sold-out, radical, gung-ho for God and the purity of His Church. But if they were to take some time and read their Scriptures instead of countless articles on the internet, they might be surprised how unbiblical and unChristian they are acting. They are hunting preachers instead of sharing Christ.

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Bible

Devotion: Perfectly Made

August 7, 2014 Chris

The Bible tells us that God created all of the world, all of the creatures in our world, and all of the universe around us in seven days.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

posterlux-faraut_philippe-xyz13433 — Artist Philippe Faraut at work, via posterlux.ru

Every world was made different from the others. All of the stars in the sky are different. He made many types of trees, bushes and flowers. With His imagination God created all of the various kinds of birds, fish, animals, and even the bugs. And when He was finished with all of His creating …

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good … (Genesis 1:31a)

Have you ever tried to make something and then decided to start over? I did that as I prepared to share with you today. I began on one sheet of paper and ended up crunching it all together and throwing it away.

We don’t always get it right on the first try, do we? Some-times we work on a project for a long time, and when it is finished we don’t see what we hoped for. So we throw it away or pack it up and start over.

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Christian Living, Ministry

The Spiritual Side of Singing in the Church

June 3, 2014June 11, 2020 Chris

In a previous post I began writing a response to a popular article floating around the internet. In one of the weekly e-newsletters I received today, another article just posted as another chain in the dialogue this topic has created. Though many churches maintain a high caliber of musician and vocalist for the churches, there continues to be a percentage of our congregations that are not participating in this very biblical portion of our services.

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The first post talked about some practical ways to create an environment that invites as many as are willing to join in worship. That is just one side of the coin when it comes to this concern. Quite often, this is the only side that is addressed in these internet articles. Change the key; stop singing “girly” love songs; make church “manly” again. Some of those ideas are great ideas. But addressing the practical issues of singing in our churches is only half the battle.

Worship is a spiritual act, after all. While it involves physical rules like musical scales, keys and chords, it is a spiritual offering from a spiritual individual to the only true God. Therefore we have to examine whether there are any spiritual reasons for the lack of participation in worship.

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Christian Living, Ministry

The Practical Side of Singing in the Church

May 30, 2014June 11, 2020 Chris

This week I was asked to comment on an article that has found its way around the internet again. The article itself is a few years old, but like all hot-button topics on the web, it comes and goes in cycles. Having seen it pop up again recently on Facebook, it was already on my radar. It is one of many that question some of the practices and mindsets regarding contemporary worship in our churches, and seeking to explain why many aren’t joining in congregational singing.

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Normally I stay away from discussions like this. I don’t jump in and make a lot of noise where others are already having too much fun doing it. But I don’t see anyone making the same observations I am. As a pastor and worship leader my perspective is different from the pew.

Not that the writer of the article is out to harm anyone. On the contrary, I have seen and listened to him teach in person. He genuinely wants to help Christians, specifically men, find and assume their Scriptural place as part of the Body of Christ. Still, there is always more to any situation than just one of us can see. So I’d like to offer some “real” reasons people are not joining in when the music starts at church.

To help us out I’d like to break these reasons into two categories. We will look at one in this post, and the other in a follow-up.

Continue reading “The Practical Side of Singing in the Church” →