Taco Night

I was reminded recently at the memorial service of a long time family friend of mine Bob Swain, that we used to have taco nights when I was little. Our families would get together at each other's houses regularly and our dads would see who could eat the hottest peppers and sauces. Crying wasn't necessarily a sign of weakness, but it was a goal to be achieved. Hankies were used for their noses and their foreheads.

I remember hanging out in the houses of each of our friends and playing games with their kids and playing hide and seek outside. I remember that there were certain men that my dad was friends with that must have had permission to discipline me if my parents were not close enough to see me step out of line. Even into my teenage years, if those men spoke to me, I'd listen. Not out of fear, but respect. Those men helped shape me.

Recently, my parents were commended in front of me on how they raised me. Of course, my dad gave honor to God because he knew that like many others, they had no clue what they were doing most the time. (In their humble opinion)

But as I, a young parent, put these pieces together, I see a connection. God gave each parent the authority and responsibility to raise their own children. It is also natural for children to be drawn to other adults as mentors and influencers. As parents, we need to look around in our circles to see what kind of adults we are placing in front of our children as mentors. Are they living their lives in a manner you approve of? Are they hard workers? Are they wise? Do they seek wise counsel? Do they put others needs before their own? Do they look to God for those things? Or, are they selfish? Do they complain a lot? Are they always looking to get something for nothing?  Do they seek the easy way out?

Our kids are going to look to other adults for guidance throughout life. It is our responsibility to give them some solid options.

10 Lies The World Will Try To Cram Down Your Mind! (Part 1)

So this week, Pastor Dan asked if he could teach the youth on Sunday night. He then said he had a message floating in his head that he felt needed to get out. He started with a scavenger hunt to find index cards numbered from 1-10. Then at each location was a poster with common beliefs that our world tries to teach our teens that contradict the Word of God. We only made it through the first 6 locations because of the amount of discussion happening on each topic. So, here is the list.

1.  There are no universal truths.  Every person has their own truth.  We can’t tell someone else that their beliefs are wrong.

2.  Figuring out how to get money is the best use of your time.  Serving others is dumb.

3.  All religions basically say the same thing.  There is no one religion that is true.  Everyone’s religion is right.

4.  Your body is going to live forever.  You don’t need to think about religious stuff.

5.  The Bible is an unreliable way to know the truth.

6.  People evolved from monkeys and weren't created by God.  We are just animals, not special.  We are here by an accident of nature, not by the special design of God.  All life can be traced back to swamps, not to the hand of God.

How Do I Pray?

 

Most often in our society, we have made prayer out to be a request line. After all Psalm 37:4 says Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.

Luke 11:5-13  He also said to them: “Suppose one of you^[f] has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶ because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’^{[g] 7} Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s persistence,^[h] he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹ “So I say to you, keep asking,^[i] and it will be given to you. Keep searching,^[j] and you will find. Keep knocking,^[k] and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ¹¹ What father among you, if his son^[l] asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give^[m] the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

People take these verses and run with them making it seem that if we pray and ask God for something that He will just provide it. Then when it doesn’t really work out that way, they try to discredit God and the Bible. The 6dont understand that there is more to those verses than just getting what you want out of life. Yes, God want to give us the good things in life, but there are conditions mentioned in the passages.

The point of prayer, I would think, is to be one aspect of communication with God. We have the Bible, which is Gods spoken word to us, and we have prayer, which is our spoken words to Him. A conversation, of sorts. Before we had instant messenger, or texting, we had email. We would send someone an email of thoughts or as an update. Then they might check their email a few later.  Then it might take them a few days to respond. So then 5-7 days later, you'd get a response.  God's Word was written about 3500 years ago, but we can read it now and we can pray to God and the same God who inspired the words in these pages hears our prayer today.  So how can we get a proper idea of how to pray?

The Lord's prayer is like a form letter, you know what those are? A document or a form that you fill out online, it says "first Name here" and you click on it the words go away and the cursor pops up flashing. The Lord's prayer was not meant just to be a recited prayer during Church, it was intended to be a form to follow, insert your real information here.
So let's look at where the Lord's Prayer is mentioned in His Word.

Matthew 6
1“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

5“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation,^a but deliver us from the evil one.^b ’
14For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

 1. Declare Gods Greatness - Spend a few minutes focusing on who you're talking to

2. Surrender your will - His agenda must come before mine. If this scares you to say, then you are taking it seriously. Surrender happens when our faith intersects with His faithfulness

3. Acknowledge dependence on Him. - Provision, forgiveness, protection

The purpose of prayer is to bring our wills into alignment with him.

Why The Cross?

I ask that for 2 reasons.

1. Why did they have to use a cross to kill Jesus?

2. Why did Jesus have to die?

First things first. Why was a cross used in the death of Jesus? From about 600 years before Christ was born through 400 years after, the cross was viewed as death. It was the most torturous form of capital punishment known to man. A person was nailed or bound to the wooden beams and left hanging there until they lost the air in their lungs. The term excruciating actually means, out of crucifying. For those being crucified, it actually became so difficult to breathe, that they would try to push themselves up with their feet to open up their lungs to get another breath. I can't imagine the pain you would endure in order for that to happen. The weight of your body on the bone or cartilage that is resting on that little nail poking through your 2 feet together.

The Passion of the Christ, Crucifixion scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CpQie8ks4c

Paul Washer describes why the cross was necessary. (We only showed from 1:40-5:02)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXOWyjB7d24

Because of the sacrifice that was made on the cross, those who place their faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation are guaranteed eternal life. John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life."

Mathew 16 , ²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. ²⁶ What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done. ²⁸ I assure you: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ^{[k] 20} and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body,^[l] I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Paul Washer ends by saying that we need to repent. So what does it mean to repent? To repent is to turn from something. To make a 180 degree about face. To repent of our sins is to turn from them. If we're doing something that is sinful it's like we are walking away from God, but if we repent, we turn and are now walking back toward God and closer to Him.

We all have stuff in our life called sin, that is keeping us from walking toward God. The cross made it possible that we can turn from that stuff and be welcomed into the arms of God, for eternity.

Who is Jesus?

What do you think of when you hear the name Jesus?

Many people believe in Jesus as the Son of God, a great teacher, a prophet, or the Savior of all mankind. But many do not believe that he is all of these. Although, throughout the scriptures, he is described as each of those. So, then the question you must ask your self is do you believe the Bible to be completely accurate. I believe this book is God's word and that it is accurate. It can be perceived many different ways, but how do you view it? What do you believe?

C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity writes the following: “I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [Jesus Christ]: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to.”
Who does Jesus claim to be?

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+8%3A42-59&version=HCSB

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+10%3A30-42&version=HCSB

Jesus claimed to be one with God, and the Jews tried to stone him for it, but each time he "eluded their grasp." Mainly because, it wasn't His time yet.

Jesus was a man that many people prophesied would be born. He was born to a woman that had never had sex, and she was completely beside herself when she was told about it. I guess id be a little shocked as well, if my daughter told me she was pregnant, but that she had never had sex with anyone. I wouldn't believe her, would you? no one in their right mind would because we know what has to happen in order to give birth to a child. We have baby's in our world that are known as miracle babies. babies that should not have been born, let alone still be alive.  the birth of Jesus is something that cannot be explained by science. There were a few things that had to happen in order for Jesus to be born. Counting of the people and traveling and where he was to be born.

There are at least 44 different prophesies that the life of Jesus fulfills.

http://christianity.about.com/od/biblefactsandlists/a/Prophecies-Jesus.htm

After the birth of Jesus recorded in the Bible,

 There was no more mention of him in the scriptures until he was about  age 12, where he disappears from his family and is found having a conversations about God, his father, with the religious leaders in the temple. After he was found in the temple, there is again nothing mentioned about him in the Bible until he is about 30.  

Why did all this happen?
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+5%3A21-32&version=HCSB

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+19%3A1-10&version=HCSB

Jesus lived, so that, the spiritually sick would have healing, and that the lost would have a new direction. 

Where's your focus?

This past Sunday night we pulled a quick change of plans maneuver. We attended a rally put together by an organization of youth leaders called Connect designed to promote the Rock The Lakes event coming up this weekend. I'm so thankful our teens, parents, and our volunteers were so willing to be flexible. 

This rally was a great way to get our teens excited about going and bringing friends with them. We were taught that we can focus our lives on protecting ourselves from what Gods Word says is inevitable or we can focus on reaching others with the gospel. Rock The Lakes is focused on reaching others with the gospel. 

What is the Church?

The Church is the body of believers who have committed their lives to Jesus Christ and through evangelism, community, and discipleship. This short video linked below, describes discipleship according to Jewish custom.  
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1333325384809&comment_id=464517&offset=0&total_comments=2

After Christ was crucified, he rose from the dead. Before he could challenge his followers, who would lead the charge of starting His Church, he had to reveal himself to them.

Luke 24:13
¹³ Now that same day two of them were on their way to a village called^[d] Emmaus, which was about seven miles^[e] from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ Together they were discussing everything that had taken place. ¹⁵ And while they were discussing and arguing, Jesus Himself came near and began to walk along with them. ¹⁶ But they^[f] were prevented from recognizing Him. ¹⁷ Then He asked them, “What is this dispute that you’re having^[g] with each other as you are walking?” And they stopped walking and looked discouraged.

¹⁸ The one named Cleopas answered Him, “Are You the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that happened there in these days?”

¹⁹ “What things?” He asked them.

So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, who was a Prophet powerful in action and speech before God and all the people, ²⁰ and how our chief priests and leaders handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified Him. ²¹ But we were hoping that He was the One who was about to redeem Israel. Besides all this, it’s the third day since these things happened. ²² Moreover, some women from our group astounded us. They arrived early at the tomb, ²³ and when they didn’t find His body, they came and reported that they had seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they didn’t see Him.”

²⁵ He said to them, “How unwise and slow you are to believe in your hearts all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Didn’t the Messiah have to suffer these things and enter into His glory?” ²⁷ Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

²⁸ They came near the village where they were going, and He gave the impression that He was going farther. ²⁹ But they urged Him: “Stay with us, because it’s almost evening, and now the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.

³⁰ It was as He reclined at the table with them that He took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him, but He disappeared from their sight. ³² So they said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts ablaze within us while He was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?” ³³ That very hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those with them gathered together, ³⁴ who said,^[h] “The Lord has certainly been raised, and has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵ Then they began to describe what had happened on the road and how He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

I think this portrays several ideas. I believe this shows us the importance of relationships for a couple of reasons. 1. He was so enjoyable to be around that these two guys invited him, who they thought was a stranger, to stay with them in their home. 2. When they sat down to eat, he helped himself to the bread, but when he broke off some for them, their eyes were opened to who he was. like that was a magical moment.

The people of the church should be the type of people that other people like to be around. hospitable, friendly, easy to laugh, willing to change their plans.

Matthew 5:13-16
 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ...

Up until Jesus' death, the church had been a building called a synagogue. A place to go worship God with teaching and animal sacrifices. but when Jesus was killed on the cross, a new church was formed. The salvation that Gods people were waiting for had arrived, and grace had replaced the bloodshed of animals with the bloodshed of the savior. Since Adam and Eve committed the first sin, God had required bloodshed for worship and the cleansing of sins. Bloodshed showed sacrifice. Animals were a sign of wealth. the purpose of sacrificing that animal was a way of giving back a portion of your wealth to God. Where did you get that wealth anyways, right? They received that from God. God replaced those actions required for worship and salvation, with grace and mercy by allowing His son to be the ultimate bloodshed for the forgiveness of sins eternally.

So, after Jesus' death, he came back to life. He reveals himself to his disciples, and now he is telling them that he is going to leave again. But what he says to his disciples are the commands he wants them to live by after he's gone. those commands are then passed on to us through God's word and through this idea of discipleship.

Great Commission:

Matthew 28:16  ¹⁶ The 11 disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped,^[e] but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples of^[f] all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember,^[g] I am with you always,^[h] to the end of the age.”

Discussion

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. ²⁶ Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die—ever. Do you believe this?”
  ---  People are the seeds of the new church which sprouted into thousands when the Holy Spirit came upon them, enabling them to carry out the mission Jesus gave them.

This is where the Church went from being a synagogue to a group of people. This is where rules and standards were replaced by grace and mercy.

what do you view people of the church to be like?

Are they hospitable? friendly? Trustworthy? Are you?

Why do you think Jesus had to die instead of continuing with animal sacrifice?

How is it that the Church has spread from then until now?

What does it mean to make disciples?

Got Questions?

I believe that something we should always do is ask questions. I question everything.

But eventually we will need a standard. Something that we know and believe is set in stone that we line our questions up against. For me, that standard is God's Word. I believe this to be true and I line up my questions against this truth. Some questions don't pertain to this standard and so I don’t need to bounce the questions off this truth. My neighbor taught my daughters a song called Grey Squirrel. You can watch the video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1U5i_scF_M So questions like, why don’t squirrels smell with their tail? That has nothing to do with this book. But I'm still curious. As big and bushy as a squirrels tail is, you'd think it would be a better sniffer than that little nub on the front of their face. But questions about life, nature, people, those questions can be answered by this book. One of my biggest questions has been, How am I to relate to other people. I'm mostly introverted, I don’t always like people. I like to be alone, in the quiet, or somewhere where I don’t have to talk to people. Like at a UFC event, or a movie. Still not sure why I allowed my wife to talk me into having kids. we have a 4 and a 2 yr old. They are not quiet. The scream, they cry, the talk your ear off, and that’s just the older one.  But I love my kids to death and I enjoy watching them grow and develop.
But that leads me to ask even more, what am I to do with these relationships that I cannot seem to escape from. There are people everywhere, especially in my home. What do I do with that. And so I take what I know about this book and find out what all it says on the matter and I apply it to my life b/c that is how I will have life to the fullest. Things like teach your child the ways they should go so when they are old they will not depart from it. And that we are to love our neighbors. I also believe that we are to live in community with others and so that often forces me to go outside of my comfort zone and talk to people I don’t know. And most of the time, I enjoy getting to know people. And after I have talked to people and spent time getting to know them, I am glad I did. I have just found that being alone recharges me so that I can go back out and communicate with others.
So, most real, relevant questions can be answered by reading and studying Gods Word.  

Fresh start

I am excited to be at a new place in my life. Life comes with some very major decisions that affect more than just ourselves. Some times these decisions are made for you and sometimes we have the opportunity to plan and choose which direction makes the most sense for us. A couple of years ago a decision was made for me that completely changed my life. Fortunately, God spoke to my wife and I and we were encouraged that one day I would be back in the ministry of a local church. God used that circumstance to redirect my life and teach me a few lessons along the way. It was through that experience that I developed a new plan for my life in ministry. It is clear to me that God used that experience to reassure me of His purpose for the Church and that somehow it's direction has veered off course in many situations. I've heard many times that the main problem with the Church is that it is so full of people, imperfect people. And that's true. Yet even in the irony of that statement, we place the imperfection of people onto the reputation of the Church and say that we're steering clear of that place. But you need to realize that God is bigger than imperfect people. His love covers a multitude of sin, yours and theirs. I believe the people in church need to focus more on love and less on judgment, more on community and less on just showing up. If you have a negative view of the church. How about offering them a fresh start by showing up this week.