New Sermon Series
I was reading a post from a church leadership group and there was an article on Sermon Series — 10 Things. Well, I preach in series, so I opened it up and thought I would check to see if I am doing things right. Most of the points were really good and things I already follow. But one point said that we should aim at preaching topics that are where people live. I agree. The next thing is what threw me. He said that a friend of his often checks with the woman magazines to see the topics and then designs his series to answer those questions.
So — here is my next series:
1)How to lose that flabby butt in five days.
2)How to make your man happy in the bedroom.
3)Three secrets to getting that man to commit.
4)Styles that make you look thin.
5)How to talk to him when he won’t talk to you.
What do you think? Aren’t those winners!
Extra Stuff From Sunday
My sermon on Sunday was on idolatry and money. The series is Little Gods and it has been difficult or me to keep my sermons under thirty minutes because this topic is where God is teaching me right now and I am rather passionate about it. The money topic is one that is rather touchy and I thought that the message was received well — although it was rather quiet. Sometimes it is hard to tell if they are just bored or if the Holy Spirit is working.
After church as I was taking a trailer back to the lot I listened to Dave Ramsey like I usually do on the radio. That guy continues to amaze me in terms of his wisdom and depth. He said something that really made a lot of sense and he said it so easily and quickly that I imagine a lot of people missed it. I have taken his Financial Peace University course and I did not hear him say it in that. Here it is. Ready? He said that money makes more of a person, either good or bad. His called was asking if she should help a son who was in his twenties who had a lot of problems — drugs and other stuff. To her, Dave gave that response. Money makes more of person. So if a person is wasting money, money makes more of that and money won’t help them at all. They will waste it. If they are generous, then money will make them more generous. Do you understand?
I am convinced that he is correct and that the sentence should be repeated to others many times. Money makes more of a person — either good or bad. Think about that. I have never known a time in my life when that was not true.
Starting Over
I really like starting a new year. It is kind of like starting a new grade in elementary school. Remember what that felt like? New notebooks, new pencils (no bite marks), new clothes (the jeans were stiff), new desk, new books, new kids, new teacher – new, new, new. It was one more attempt to improve your permanent record. The reality was and still is though – the old patterns were the same. By the second week of school the teacher discovered who you really were, the pencils were missing the erasers, everyone had seen your new shirts, and things were pretty much the same as they had been before. It is very difficult to change yourself. Self-help gurus make millions promising to teach you how to change – but we know that it very seldom happens. It is difficult. I once read an article about the low change rate in heart bypass patients. Over 90% did not stop the behaviors – smoking and bad diet – that had caused the heart attack. That is shocking to those of us who have not gone through that, but it is accurate about just how deep-seated our patterns of life (sins) are.
The world is divided on the issue as to whether people can change or not. Some say “No – no one ever changes.” The best to hope for is to “move on and not judge.” You are who you are and we can’t help it, so no one should be accountable for their actions because they can’t help it. Now I am obviously not in that camp, which you can discern by the way I presented that opinion. The reason why I am not in that camp is because I have experienced change myself and have witnessed real change in others. Why people change is debatable or perhaps a real mystery. Some say that we are totally incapable of changing by ourselves, that only God can change us. They usually will use the phrase “total depravity” which means that we have no good in us and that we are completely at the mercy of God for any improvement. There are others who focus more on the human side of the change equation and stress discipline, education, community, and other things to aid one’s endeavor at improvement.
I do not feel the need to defend a doctrine on this matter or to get my dog in this fight. What I know for certain is that I am not fully who God made me to be and I am not yet who I want to be. I know that God has drastically and miraculously changed parts of me, but there is still left a resistant piece of my core that defies my attempts at compliance. Being correct in my doctrine does not fix my defects. My pencil will still be missing an eraser by Feb. 1st. I will copy something out of the World Book Encyclopedia for that assignment. What I am certain of is that God sees me being better than I am today and God’s plans for me are much higher than I can imagine. For some strange reason, God has chosen me and promised His faithful love. He calls us higher. He calls me to be like Him. How I am going to get there is pure mystery to me. It may be transformational and instantaneous, or it may involve discipline, education, and community. Or – it could be God’s combination of all of that. In the end, I will not be writing a book about how I did it, but content to stand next to the One who did. If that makes me totally depraved – well – I have been called worse.
She is one anointed lady!
Note that this myth is not so much about a personal faith in Jesus Christ as it is about the growing perception in America that the church is irrelevant. Reasons given for not attending church is include that the church is boring, filled with hypocrites, and is judgmental.
In a recent poll by the Barna Research Group, information was gained that speaks question of just how large this group is. The Barna data indicate that 28% of the adult population has not attended any church activities, including services, in the past six months. That translates to nearly 65 million adults. When their children under the age of 18 who live with them are added to the picture, the number swells to more than 100 million people
One of the biggest surprises to some people, however, is that a large majority of the nation’s unchurched population is drawn from the sector comprised of people who consider themselves to be Christian. In the United States, 83% of all adults label themselves “Christian.” The percentage is lower among the unchurched, but such self-identified Christians still outnumber those who do not embrace Christianity by a three-to-two margin (61% vs. 39%).
Demographically, the self-identified Christians among the unchurched stray from common assumptions. Within this group, women outnumber men; Boomers and their elders outnumber the young; downscale adults double the number of upscale unchurched; conservatives are more common than liberals; and whites outnumber minorities by nearly a three-to-one margin.
Read the entire Barna article here.
So we have a huge group of people who have faith in Christ, but do not consider church participation to be important. Do we need the church in order to follow Jesus Christ? Can we fulfill his commandments by ourselves? Is being a Christian a matter of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ and nothing else? Good questions that we will consider this Sunday.
Where Is Our Boldness?
Early in the life of the church Peter and John, the leaders, were arrested and warned by the men who had crucified Jesus that they were to never preach anything about him again. (Read the entire story in Acts 4:1-31.) Remember that Peter had denied Jesus three times. John had never been an outspoken leader but referred to himself as the “one whom Jesus loved.” In other words, he was closely attached to Jesus and was not seen as a visionary leader. When the two men were warned, they returned to the other believers and told them what had happened. You would think that they would be terrified. What they did remains as one of the most brave and Spirit-filled responses. Immediately, everyone dropped to their knees and began praying. Notice the heart of their prayer, what they requested: “Now Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to…(what? How they finished this is how we know their plan, their chief focus)…to speak your word with great boldness.” (Acts 4:29) When the Holy Spirit filled that room, the disciples “were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (v. 31). Clearly, this means they spoke it into the community, the world around them, and not just to one another.
Where is our boldness today? Boldness is not rudeness or being mean. Boldness comes from the Holy Spirit. Most of American Christianity has become complete entertainment, lacking real spiritual truth and power. The general excuse today is that we must everyone believe what they want to believe and not be intrusive. Had that been the practice of the early believers we would never have had the opportunity to believe because the gospel would have died right there with that first threat. The scene from Acts took place in the midst of a very pluralistic society. The Romans had their gods and the Jews had perverted the practice of worship of Yahweh to the extent that it was but a form of religion. We seem to think that we must only be bold when we speak to Christians for fear of offending someone. Hell is very offensive. Bondage and suffering are offensive. Let us pray “Lord, give us the power to speak your word in boldness.”
The world is being shaken. Every day there is news of another crisis or trauma, some human-made and others natural. The Bible tells us that these are like the labor pains of a woman. They will produce something, and we should heed the signs. They may subside for a season, but they will return and increase in intensity. These are not times to be playing games with church. These are times when Christians must take the souls of those they knew seriously. There does come an end to the day of salvation. Time does expire and it is too late. Pray for boldness!
Urban Legends #2: God Helps Those Who Help Themselves
This Sunday is the second in the series of Urban Legends: Debunking Spiritual Myth
“God helps those who help themselves.” — the Good Lord. “That has to be in the Good Book somewhere.” Just one example of how a simple false-belief that we may want to be true can lead us into trouble. Being self-reliant and independent are not worthy goals. We were created as dependant creatures — on God and on each other. If we don’t learn that truth early, it can come as a difficult and painful lesson.
In a Rolling Stone interview, Trent Reznor, the lead musician of the rock band Nine Inch Nails, muses on how his anti-religion stance helped lead him into his lapse into depression:
In my head, that spilled over into an utter-chaos outlook: “I don’t need anything, I don’t need anyone, and I don’t need to believe there’s any reason to anything.” It was a pretty self-centered approach. I was lonely and had a bleak outlook on everything. I think people have an inherent need for belonging, to feel they are part of something.
Anthony Bozza, “The Fragile World of Trent Reznor,” Rolling Stone (10-14-99), p. 140;
Tiger’s Great Omission
Tiger Woods
Today he officially plays his first round of golf after his “mistakes” and “great disappointments.” Everyone has an opinion of what has happened and what we have been subjected to in the news since last Thanksgiving. Most of the concern has been focused on how much money it has cost him, the PGA, and his sponsors.
This morning the new Nike ad was previewed in which Tiger is asked questions by the voice of his deceased father about if he had learned anything. Tiger is listening to his conscience, which was supposed formed by his father Earl. It is obviously a brilliant move by Nike to save their commodity and will endear much of the public to Tiger as they assume that Tiger has an active conscience.
Now, before I make about half of you angry, let me state that Tiger’s sin really has nothing to do with any of us. He did not sin against me. He did not “let me down” (often stated in the news as some terrible, almost unforgivable sin.) It seems that everyone has an opinion on Tiger. Even the chairman of Augusta had some scorching comments yesterday on how Tiger had let us all down, especially our children and grandchildren. Let’s have a reality check here. If our young people are modeling their lives after millionaire athletes and celebrities, their parents should redirect their lives to models who are more reliable and will form character and virtues like honesty and humility. If we allow or encourage young people to follow their “stars” we cannot blame the celebrities when their lives are exposed for what they really are.
I watched the thirty-minute interview/speech that Tiger gave a month ago. He was contrite for he stated that he had betrayed the trust of others. He had disappointed himself, his wife, his family, and his friends. What he has never said is one word – sin. He does not have any acknowledgement or apparently any understanding of sin. In contrast, I think of King David and his adultery. King David was every bit as famous as Tiger and a celebrity in his own right. And yet, when confronted with his sin he was first concerned about the one to whom we all ultimately answer – God.
Psalm 51:1-4 (NASB95)
1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge. (emphasis added by Don Vanzant)
What is missing from Tiger is any recognition or knowledge of a god beyond himself. He says that most of all, he let himself down. So, according to Scripture, he has not been washed from his iniquity (as King David put it) and he is still guilty of his actions. Nothing has changed. His father Earl evidently did not teach his son the most important lesson of life – that he is made in the image of God and his life is to be lived to the glory of God.
Oh – and I really don’t care if he wins or loses.
Basic Jesus At The Gathering
Okay — so you have your resolutions — or at least your intentions. You are going to watch what you eat. You are going to work out. You are going to read more. You are going to stop *%$#@((&.
All of that is about you. What about God? What about that still small voice who waits for you to find time for Him? It is time to follow Christ! How?
First, you forget the past efforts and failures. Paul had it right.
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (Phil. 3:13-14 NLT)
Second, you reconnect with the Body of Christ. We at the Gathering are excited about what God is doing with us and we have tangible ways to foster spiritual growth.
Come to the Gathering this week. Start 2010 off by focusing on Jesus Christ. He will help you with the workout, the eating, the reading and the *%$#@((&.
This week we begin a new series, Basic Jesus, which looks at the core teachings of Jesus that changed the world.Jesus said a lot of things, most of which were not in agreement with His contemporaries. There are some things that he said that went against the flow and today are still not practiced by the majority of Christians. These things make up Kingdom teachings — core beliefs and actions that identify us as followers of Christ and make us a part of His Kingdom.
This week we look at “The Last Will Be First.”
Who Is Your Jesus?
The greatness of God is most clearly displayed in his Son. And the glory of the gospel is only made evident in his Son. That’s why Jesus’ question to his disciples [in Matthew 16] is so important: “Who do you say that I am?”
The question is doubly crucial in our day, because [no one is as popular in the U.S. as Jesus]—and not every Jesus is the real Jesus. …
There’s the Republican Jesus—who is against tax increases and activist judges, for family values and owning firearms.
There’s Democrat Jesus—who is against Wall Street and Wal-Mart, for reducing our carbon footprint and printing money.
There’s Therapist Jesus—who helps us cope with life’s problems, heals our past, tells us how valuable we are and not to be so hard on ourselves.
There’s Starbucks Jesus—who drinks fair trade coffee, loves spiritual conversations, drives a hybrid, and goes to film festivals.
There’s Open-minded Jesus—who loves everyone all the time no matter what (except for people who are not as open-minded as you).
There’s Touchdown Jesus—who helps athletes fun faster and jump higher than non-Christians and determines the outcomes of Super Bowls.
There’s Martyr Jesus—a good man who died a cruel death so we can feel sorry for him.
There’s Gentle Jesus—who was meek and mild, with high cheek bones, flowing hair, and walks around barefoot, wearing a sash (while looking very German).
There’s Hippie Jesus—who teaches everyone to give peace a chance, imagines a world without religion, and helps us remember that “all you need is love.”
There’s Yuppie Jesus—who encourages us to reach our full potential, reach for the stars, and buy a boat.
There’s Spirituality Jesus—who hates religion, churches, pastors, priests, and doctrine, and would rather have people out in nature, finding “the god within” while listening to ambiguously spiritual music.
There’s Platitude Jesus—good for Christmas specials, greeting cards, and bad sermons, inspiring people to believe in themselves.
There’s Revolutionary Jesus—who teaches us to rebel against the status quo, stick it to the man, and blame things on “the system.”
There’s Guru Jesus—a wise, inspirational teacher who believes in you and helps you find your center.
There’s Boyfriend Jesus—who wraps his arms around us as we sing about his intoxicating love in our secret place.
There’s Good Example Jesus—who shows you how to help people, change the planet, and become a better you.
And then there’s Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Not just another prophet. Not just another Rabbi. Not just another wonder-worker. He was the one they had been waiting for: the Son of David and Abraham’s chosen seed; the one to deliver us from captivity; the goal of the Mosaic law; Yahweh in the flesh; the one to establish God’s reign and rule; the one to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, freedom to the prisoners and proclaim Good News to the poor; the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.
This Jesus was the Creator come to earth and the beginning of a New Creation. He embodied the covenant, fulfilled the commandments, and reversed the curse. This Jesus is the Christ that God spoke of to the Serpent; the Christ prefigured to Noah in the flood; the Christ promised to Abraham; the Christ prophesied through Balaam before the Moabites; the Christ guaranteed to Moses before he died; the Christ promised to David when he was king; the Christ revealed to Isaiah as a Suffering Servant; the Christ predicted through the Prophets and prepared for through John the Baptist.
This Christ is not a reflection of the current mood or the projection of our own desires. He is our Lord and God. He is the Father’s Son, Savior of the world, and substitute for our sins—more loving, more holy, and more wonderfully terrifying than we ever thought possible.
Kevin DeYoung, “Who Do You Say That I Am?” from his DeYoung, Restless, and Reformed blog
