Christian Living

Have You Really Met God?

Chris

If you have spent any amount of time in the church you know something about God. You have heard and sang songs, sermons have come to you from the Holy Bible, you partake in the bread and cup of Communion, and you have heard innumerable prayers. While all of these have a valuable place in our spiritual lives, you may enjoy them regularly and never experience the most important part of Christianity.

As the worship portion of our service ended on Sunday, in that transition time before the message that I have to make on those days when I lead worship before speaking, I felt the need to ask whether or not we have really met God.

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Bible

Planning for the Future (Hebrews 11:22)

Chris

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones. (Hebrews 11:22)

What do you plan for? How far down the calendar do you look from day to day? What do you know is coming, even when it feels very far away in terms of months, days or hours?

In this way, all of our future planning is based on faith. We have confidence in what we do not see: time. We are sure of what we hope for: that day or season that we love. God wants us to plan for our futures with faith in Him and His promises to us.

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Ministry

My L.I.F.T. Experience

Chris

300x250_WebBannerGrowth. It is one of the seven indicators that something is alive. We grow physically and we grow spiritually. One of my commitments to myself and the people that I lead is that I will continue to grow personally and professionally.

But how do you do that? Do you read everything you can get your hands on, whether new or used? Yes. Do you travel all over the continent to hear every speaker at every conference? Do you sign up for a Master’s or Doctorate program at a seminary where they have residence requirements, not to mention tuition and other costs? Now we’re talking about time, finance and location factors that a great majority of pastors cannot work within. At least, I can’t.

This summer I was invited to take part in an incredible program from the Willow Creek Association: the Leadership Institute for Transformation (LIFT). If your situation is like mine where you want to grow, are looking for something timely and relevant, but you have limited resources (or even if you have lots of time and finances), LIFT may be just what you need.

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Christian Living, Church Life

Sermon Series: The Next Level

Chris

This week we finished a series based on most of Mark 6, “The Next Level.”

In Mark 6 we see find the Disciples hearing and obeying Jesus’ call to the next level, and also an example of when they missed His call. Like us, the Disciples were not perfect. We can learn what kept them from embracing and seeking the next level in their lives, and examine how missing one vital lesson from Jesus affected the Disciples and the lives around them.

You can download all four MP3 files as a compressed .ZIP file by clicking on the Next Level image below.

Book Reviews

Book Review: “I Am Second” (Thomas Nelson)

Chris

ias-bookThe Bible is more than a bunch of stories gathered over time. It is a historical record of people from the beginning of time to the end of the first century or so. It talks about how people related with God and how He intervened in their lives. There are success stories and there are failures.

At times we pick up the Scriptures and wonder if the stories of lives that are thousands of years removed from our own will be able to speak to us. If only we could see how God relates to us in our time, with our problems. Maybe we can finally believe that He is real and that He wants to be part of our lives.

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Bible

“A Holy Adoption” (Hebrews 11:21)

Chris

Like his father, Isaac, Jacob understood the power of God’s blessings and covenant. As he neared his own death he made plans to pass along God’s covenant to his own sons.

Jacob, though, was already seeing the blessing take shape. Where his grandfather, Abraham, had passed the promise to his one son of promise, Jacob had twelve sons. Though Isaac had blessed one son over the other and foreseen two separate nations, Jacob looked at his sons and saw the fathers of one nation.

But the book of Hebrews does not address the blessings and prophecies spoken by Jacob over his sons in Genesis 49. Instead we are pointed towards a special blessing given to two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph.

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