from the out of ur blog
filed in: love, outreach
no responsesInteresting thoughts from a pastors conference. Shane Hipps reminds us that our actions…that you and the way you live your life is the loudest speaking medium for God.
Found on Christainity Today’s blog Out of Ur.
extend a hand – after thoughts for parents
filed in: talks - after thoughts
one responseThis is the After Thoughts for parents in regard to the “Extend a Hand” talk.
Tonight’s talk we are wrapping up our series on love. Our talk tonight will be centered on the text from Leviticus 25: 35-38 with references to Deuteronomy 15: 1-2 and 15: 9-10. The passage speaks of monetary support for those that are in need. However, for the life of a Jr Higher in Glendora, we often are removed from such need except for the occasional homeless person we may encounter. So we are going to apply this idea of support for the poor to supporting those that are poor in other areas. Such as those that are poor in spirit, that are emotionally poor, those that aren’t accepted or loved, etc. We also we talk about the idea of supporting those that are in need. That it is not just giving money/love but that the intention is to pick up that individual and set them back on track – however long that takes is irrelevant.
Questions to continue the talk:
- What were neighbors like in Israel’s day? What does that say about our own relationships with neighbors? Peers? Teachers? Janitors? Strangers?
- How do we care for those that are poor? How long do we care for them?
- Is there a way that I can care for those that are financially poor?
- How do I approach the problem of loving those that are hurting when it is so much bigger than me?
- How do I give freely without expecting anything back and possibly even being used?
Pray for God to give you a giving heart and for opportunities to care for those that are hurting.
sermon notes – lev 25: 35-38
filed in: love, talks
no responsesHere are my notes from my last talk in our Love Series. It’s a talk that I gave to the Jr Highers I work with. I would love some feed back!
Also check out the after thoughts for Extend a Hand – An email that gives a quick synopsis about the talk and questions in attempt to allow parents to continue the conversation at home.
Leviticus 25: 35-38 – Last of the Series focused on Love
“Extend a Hand”Today we are going to learn from an old testament law.
* What did the Israelites do for a living back in the day?
Most were agriculturalists of some sort.You would raise grain of some sort or livestock.
* If this was your job what kinds of things would you be at mercy to? Changes in what would have a profound impact on you?
Weather and the success of the crop.A farmer today has a lot of automation. They have the tractors that till and groom the land, another machine to plant the crop in the ground, more machines that water the crop and another set of machines that can harvest the crop.
However, in Israel’s day everything was done by hand. They groomed by hand, they planted by hand, and they harvested by hand. For water they relied on the land. Meaning once they planted all they could do is just tend to the crop but the rest was up to the land on how well it produced.
- This meant that there were strong possibilities that you could have a bad crop year…meaning a bad crop yield or a drought that lent no yield. Or maybe an attack of insects that ate everything you planted.But bills still have to be paid. But you have no crop to trade with or to support yourself.
* What do you do?*******PRAY*******
* What happens if you are a farmer? What does that mean? Do you move a lot? Do you stick around for a long time? What about those that are around you? Do you know them?
If you’re a farmer once you plant you are stuck in that place. You have poured all your investments into the land and you’re not leaving those behind. Same with those around you. You know your neighbor well. Maybe you even helped each other sow seed or shoot the breeze together waiting for rain. Therefore you know if you’re neighbor didn’t have a good year and is now hurting.
* So what do you do if you had a bad year?
- Read the passage. Lev 25: 35-38
A neighbor is to lend you money. But it’s further and deeper than that:
Deut 15: 9-10
They are to lend it with a grateful heart knowing what they are doing is right. But even more than that:
Deut 15: 1-2
They are to do it knowing that they may even get nothing back!These commands are not about the money. God could care less about the money.
*************************************************
This passage is meant for those that are in need. They are speaking of monetary need. But here in Glendora as Jr Higher’s we don’t often run into those that we think are poor monetarily.
- So how does this passage relate to us? Who else could we apply this too?Being poor is more than just not having money. Being poor could mean you’re poor in spirit. That you’re just broken, hurt, have no hope, unloved, uncared for, or forgotten.
* Has anyone ever been left alone in a store before by your parents? What happened? How did you feel?
That feeling of hopelessness is the feeling that God says we are required to care for. That we are required to hunt down and get rid of. This caring that we show should come from the heart with the expectation of getting nothing in return. Your heart should ache for those that are hurting.
What are some ways that we can do these things? Ways that we can love each other? Is it hard? Could it cost us a lot?
God sent his Son with loads of cash to hand out because he knew that would fix all the problems in the world. NO, God sent Jesus to care for your heart. You’re heart is more important then anything this world has to offer. And so it is our job to also care for each others hearts.
Thanks!
ignorant bliss?
filed in: outreach
5 responses
Is sharing the Good News an important aspect to the Christian walk? I believe it is an essential part to Christianity. However, the way in which the Good News is delivered is what I am more interested in discussing.
If you walk into a Christian book store today you can find all kinds of material on evangelism. Books that teach you how to evangelize in the work place or how to talk to a non-christian about God. The books seem to offer a successful recipe for making the Gospel look enticing to those that don’t have it. They give you leading questions to ask and the material to peak people’s interest. But why? Why do we feel the need to read such material? Why are we creating a formula for evangelism? When we meet a new person and they are introduced as a Christian, do we look at them differently, as if they no longer need the love of Christ?
I was convicted of these things as I’ve continued to read unChristian. I often remember the non-christians more then the Christians, almost as if I now have another person on my list that I must see come to Christ. I start to think about their likes and dislikes in attempt to figure them out quickly so I can shove Christ into their lives. I believe the minute we start to read books on how to share our faith is the moment we stop deepening our faith. It’s when we start turning people into conversion possibilities instead of relationship possibilities.
Sharing the Good News isn’t a moment or specific time. There’s no step by step process for the right way of doing it. Sharing the Gospel takes time. It takes investment. It takes trust. It takes vulnerability. It takes RISK. What if we decided to become ignorant to the tactics of sharing the Gospel and just lived the Gospel instead. Let Jesus be the tactic. Lets focus on a lasting relationship rather than on converting non-christians.
Virtual Community?
filed in: opinion
3 responses
Today, the new big thing is social networking. Facebook allows you to keep in contact with old friends. Twitter allows you to know what people are doing from the cool things like “I get to fly a plane today,” to the t.m.i. “I’m wiping out my toe cheese” status updates. However, the Out of Ur blog from Christianity Today has been raising the question, is there such thing as virtual community?
What do you think? Do you think the popular social networking sites are capable of creating community? Or are they just merely simplifying communication/connection?
forgiveness – a pastors view
filed in: forgiveness, letting go, past, self
no responsesRob Bell, the pastor of Mars Hill in Grandville, MI and speaker in the Nooma videos, presented some interesting thoughts at the National Pastors Convention (NPC). Bell spoke on the tiny paper-cuts that a pastor receives through-out ones ministry. I won’t go into much detail about his thoughts here, but you can checkout a quick synopsis on the Out of Ur blog.
Bell’s thoughts resonate with my own feelings in ministry. Often you forget or brush aside positive comments. Not because you disagree with them or don’t think they are important. But instead because, like Bell says, the negative comments just seem to speak louder and resonate more then the positive ones. It’s so easy to forget about the positive things people say and only play back the negative ones.
Bell’s thoughts were addressed to pastors, however, I believe everyone deals with these issues. The feelings may be magnified for those in ministry but I think everyone has to deal with negative comments. Bell says we need to practice forgiveness. Here are his thoughts on why (keep in mind that he was speaking to pastors):
1. We will hold back from our prophetic calling. We won’t exhibit the courage our calling requires to speak the necessary but difficult things. If we’ve been wounded in the past when we’ve been vulnerable, honest, or challenging, we’ll be less likely to do it again. We will have learned “the painful reality that sheep have teeth.”
2. We will begin to list and label people in the church as being for us or against us. This, he says, doesn’t honor people and creates unhealthy divisions in the church.
3. We’ll indirectly seek revenge. It may come out as humor or sarcasm, or even covert gossip, but we’ll want to inflict some vengeance on those who have hurt us.
What are your thoughts?
*Thanks to the Out of Ur blog for the post on Rob Bell’s talk
The H-word
filed in: letting go, self, transformation
4 responses
Hypocrisy. David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons call it the H-word in their book unChristian. How many times do we struggle with saying one thing but find ourselves doing something completely different. As a youth pastor I examine my own life as I write lessons and I often find that I fall short of what I preach. How do we live up to the things we say? How do we become the image that we preach?
Kinnaman and Lyons have found that the H-word has left a very poor taste for Christianity in many non-believers lives. The H-word has even left a poor taste in many believers mouths. Just about half of all believers see Christianity as hypocritical. Have we relied to much on the grace of Christ in our walks? Our God is a forgiving and loving God but he also requires action and change.
Have we relied too much on the Word to speak for Jesus while we go on living our lives unchanged. We preach that Jesus loves and that He transforms, but do our own lives reflect it?
I love what Kinnamon and Lyons say on the subject, “By our words and actions, are we boosting the reputation of Christianity, or are we unwitting accomplices in presenting an unChristian faith to outsiders?” Page 43
We preach a God who transforms lives. Have we allowed this God to transform our lives or are we preaching from other peoples experience. If we have, do our lives reflect that change?
what are you 4?
filed in: letting go, opinion
3 responsesI’m reading a book called unChristian. It’s a study done by the Barna Group focusing on societies view of the church.
In their research they became aware of how many things people mentioned the church stood against. “We have become famous for what we oppose, rather than who we stand for.”
Right now lets list what we stand for rather than focusing on what we stand against.
PG Nights
filed in: miracles, past, pg nights
4 responses
I lead a weekly bible study with a few high school aged guys. It all started after a life-changing mission trip to the Philippines last summer. While in the Philippines we would have nightly talks, what we called PG nights, meaning Philippine Guy nights. That later became the title of our bible study. At our last PG night we discussed the first part of Mark Chp 5, where Jesus and the disciples encountered the demon-possessed man in Gerasenes.
Our first question after reading the passage was, “What the heck?!?!” Then we had the wise crack, “It was the original Bay of Pigs.” Get it? That’s a Kennedy Joke.
Anyways, the next question was, why, after such a miracle, would the people choose to send Jesus away? And not just a please be on your way. But it says that they began to plead with Jesus to leave, almost as if someone was saying, “you don’t understand how much you need Him.” But they still beg him to leave.
Why?
the ten
filed in: love
3 responses
This New Year we are walking through the Ten Commandments on Sunday mornings. You know, the 3 hour special that is on tv once a year with Charlton Heston, “Let my people go!” and then off to the mountain they go to meet God.
Well last week ago or so we looked at the 1st Commandment. Before jumping into The Ten I decided to do a quick scene setup. While looking at the events leading to The Ten a new outlook of them popped into my head.
