Conspiracy!

Conspiracy“The one Jesus that skeptics refuse to tolerate is a uniquely divine, miraculous, prophesy-fulfilling, and resurrected Jesus—even if the evidence points persuasively in that direction. After all, that would put them in the place of being beholden to Him. Their personal sovereignty and moral independence would be at risk. The problem is: that’s the real Jesus.” —Lee Strobel 

Jesus was crucified. He was in the grave for three days. Then God raised Him from the dead, fulfilling everything that had been prophesied about Him! That’s the real Jesus!

But those who don’t want to acknowledge those facts have concocted all sorts of conspiracy theories as to His death and resurrection.

On Easter morning, Calvary Assembly of God will be presenting an original drama called Conspiracy! to tackle these conspiracies head-on. The cast of characters is interesting, the dialogue is witty and fast-moving, so this will be a very memorable morning!

Here’s the info:

When: Sunday, March 31, at 9am and 11am.

Where: Calvary Assembly of God.

Cost: FREE but we suggest you get a ticket to make sure you have a seat. You can reserve your spot by clicking here and emailing your ticket request to me.

A delicious breakfast + some uplifting music + a memorable drama = a great morning learning about the risen Jesus. Please don’t miss it!

Keep On Learning

Safe pathDon’t ever think you know it all.

Because you can’t!

There’s no way you can know it all.

So keep on learning.

Keep on digging into God’s Word.

Keep on letting the Holy Spirit teach you.

God is the only Know-It-All.

And He wants to teach you too.

What should a man learn?
Not hard to answer:
steadfastness in holiness,
shortness of words,
gentle brotherliness…
walking in obedience to God…
zeal in prayer…
bringing pride low,
simplicity of heart…
patience in the face of hardship. —Colmán mac Beógnai

 

8 Quotes From “I Never Thought I’d See The Day”

I Never Thought I'd See The DayYou can read my book review of Dr. David Jeremiah’s I Never Thought I’d See The Day by clicking here. These are eight quotes that especially caught my attention in this book. Unless the quotes are otherwise attributed, they are from Dr. Jeremiah.

“I’ve shaken my fist in anger at stalled cars, storm clouds, and incompetent meteorologists. I’ve even, on one terrible day, that included a dead alternator, a blaring tornado-warning siren, and a horribly wrong weather forecast, cursed all three at once. I’ve fumed at furniture, cursed at crossing guards, and held a grudge against Gun Barrel City, Texas. I’ve been mad at just about anything you can imagine.

“Except unicorns. I’ve never been angry at unicorns.

“It’s unlikely you’ve ever been angry at unicorns either. We can become incensed by objects and creations both animate and inanimate. We can even, in a limited sense, be bothered by the fanciful characters in books and dreams. But creatures like unicorns that don’t exist—that we truly believe not to exist—tend not to raise our ire. We certainly don’t blame the one-horned creatures for our problems.

“The one social group that takes exception to this rule is atheists. They claim to believe that God does not exist and yet, according to empirical studies, tend to be the people most angry at Him.” —Joe Carter

“While the atheist arrogantly persists in the delusion that his reason is fully capable of figuring out all that there is, the religious believer lives in the humble acknowledgment of the limits of human knowledge, knowing that there is a reality greater than, and beyond, that which our senses and minds can ever apprehend.” —Dinesh D’Souza

“God brought two perfect, sinless people together in the Garden of Eden, a man and a woman who knew the perfect love of God. They did not get married to find love but to walk together in the unity and purpose God created them to fulfill: the primary task of birthing and raising the next generation. And in the process, love happened.”

“It is significant that while Adam was single, satan did not approach him or tempt him to disobey God. He waited until after Adam’s marriage to launch his attack. You would think it easier to attack one person instead of two, but by waiting he was able to attack not just an individual, but also God’s foundational building block for harmony and stability—marriage. By attacking marriage, he was able to create division and disharmony between humans themselves as well as between humans and God.”

“The oneness found in marriage is the same kind of oneness found in the Trinity.”

“We can be lulled into complacency by adopting uncritically the principle of submission to government on the assumption that the Christian history of our nation makes it safe to let our leaders do our thinking for us. But we cannot do this in our post-Christian nation where God’s Word is being marginalized. Nothing could be more dangerous for Christians and churches than to wander thoughtlessly down this path of increasing biblical indifference—a path that could well lead to a place where the Bible is not merely marginalized, but banned outrightly.”

“If the Church is being ignored because we preach the message of ‘Jesus Christ and Him crucified’ (1 Corinthians 2:2), or because the Gospel has become ‘a stumbling stone and rock of offense’ (Romans 9:33) to the world, that’s one thing. But if we are deemed irrelevant because we’re an anemic version of the world’s entertainment options or because we aren’t playing the world’s game nearly as well as the world does, then that’s another thing. That’s a tragedy.”

“William Tyndale wisely sought to avoid the confusion between ‘Church” and ‘church’ by translating ekklesia as ‘congregation’ instead of ‘church.’ …We must maintain a clean understanding of the difference between Church and church—and the priority of the former over the latter. Church buildings can necessitate huge investments of resources for construction and maintenance, and they are only temporary. Keeping the focus on people is the biblical priority and will result in the Church’s remaining relevant.”

Understanding Sexting

uKnowkids logoSexting is something parents MUST be aware of. It is beyond unhealthy and unsafe, it is an outright danger to your son or daughter!

In case you haven’t heard the term before, sexting is the sending of suggestive sexual messages, or suggestive, nude or semi-nude pictures via text. It galls me to think that we’ve given our kids cell phone so we can keep them safe, and that same cell phone is being used to rob their innocence, put them in embarrassing situations, and placing them in very dangerous places.

In Understanding Sexting I read some alarming statistics:

  • 28% of teens admitted to having sent a sext
  • Three-quarters of teens that sext also admitted to having sexual intercourse
  • Kids involved in sexting are twice as likely to experience psychological distress, including thoughts of suicide
  • Sexts are quickly becoming the preferred way of cyber-bullying

uknowkids.com has made available a very easy-to-read guide on the topic of sexting. Understanding Sexting can be read very quickly, and it will help you as a parent to be aware of the dangers your kids face, give you some discussion-starter ideas with your kids, as well as sharing some technology tools we can use to keep our kids safe.

“The single biggest deterrent to this risky behavior is parental involvement.” Understanding Sexting

Understanding Sexting is a FREE e-book from uknowkids.com. Click here to be taken directly to the download page.

Don’t turn a blind eye to this dangerous use of technology that your kids are probably holding in their hand right now. Read this book and talk to your kids. Let’s keep them safe!

You may also be interested in my book review of From Santa to Sexting.

I Never Thought I’d See The Day (book review)

I Never Thought I'd See The DayThe subtitle of Dr. David Jeremiah’s book is the most telling—I Never Thought I’d See The Day: Culture At The Crossroads. It is true that our American culture is at a crossroads, and decisions will have to be made now that could very well effect the direction of the church, and of this nation.

As a side note, I have a bit of an issue with the title of the book. To think we’d never see the day where our culture was sliding away from God’s standard is a bit of hyperbole. Any student of history knows that cultures have always gone through such things many, many times. What is true with American culture now has been true with other cultures, in other eras, on other continents. However, this by no means that Dr. Jeremiah has misdiagnosed where America is now.

Before a cure can be realized, a patient must first know he is sick. Then he must go to a doctor and be willing to follow the prescribed course of treatment. In many ways, Americans know something’s “not quite right” with our society, but have been unable to pinpoint the root cause. Dr. Jeremiah correctly diagnoses an American culture that has become increasingly humanistic, antagonistic toward Jesus, pluralistic, and obstinate toward the teachings of the Bible. In each chapter, Dr. Jeremiah diagnoses one symptom of our disease, and lays out a God-honoring cure.

Here’s the million dollar question: Will we follow the course of treatment?

In the last chapter, Dr. Jeremiah says,

I am pessimistic about man’s ability, independent from his Creator-God, to solve the problems he creates—especially problems of enormous scale such as those our nation and the world face today. I am, however, an optimist about God. And it is toward Him that we must turn our attention….

I Never Though I’d See The Day is a sobering read. Each chapter shows us just how far from God we’ve slid (that’s the pessimistic part), but then Dr. Jeremiah lays out a plan to bring us back to a God-fearing society (that’s the optimistic part). It’s a very interesting read which I especially think church leaders and God-fearing civic leaders must read.

I am a Faith Words book reviewer.

Check out some quotes from this book here.

Love Is… (part 2)

Love is… worksheet 2We are taking a practical look at the incredible definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13. We’re doing this in the context of learning how to love the “unloveable”—or maybe I should say, loving those who are the most resistant to real love. If we can show them love, how much more will the love of Jesus be seen!

All of these verbs are present tense verbs. That means they aren’t exhausted in the past, and they aren’t waiting for future conditions to improve—they are in operation NOW.

Far too many people know Christians more by what we’re against than by what we’re for. So where the biblical text say “love does not” or “love isn’t,” I’ve changed it into the positive “love is.”

You can read about the first five attributes love love by clicking here.

The next five attributes are:

Love is graceful

  • The root word means something that should be covered up, or something we’re ashamed of. Because our words and actions are graceful, they are things we wouldn’t have to defend, or explain, or apologize for later. They are words and actions that wouldn’t embarrass us.
  • Agape will do nothing that misbecomes it.” —Matthew Henry

Love knows our relationship > my rights

  • True love “does not demand its own way” (New Living Translation) nor does it “insist on its own rights” (Amplified Bible). Instead it always seeks ways that the relationship can be repaired or enhanced, even if that means giving up something I consider to be “my right.”
  • NOTE: I’m not saying that you become a doormat. This is not a license for someone to abuse you, but it is a call for us to balance our responses. Romans 12:18 says as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
  • Here are some great balancing verses. Balance Proverbs 26:4-5 (here is a video where I expand on this idea), and then balance Philippians 2:3-4.

Love is even-tempered

  • The Amplified Bible says it well: love is not touchy or fretful or resentful.
  • This Greek word means not getting stirred up or exasperated. So we need to lighten up!
  • There are some places where we’ve become too sensitive, too touchy, too short-fused. The fire of hurt has replaced the fire of love. So Matthew Henry advises us: “Where the fire of love is kept in, the flames of wrath will not easily kindle, nor long keep burning.”

Love is forgiving

  • The New International Version says love keeps no record of wrongs.
  • This Greek phrase speaks of an accountant tallying up the hurts (where there is an overdrawn account), seeing there is a debt to be paid back, and then appointing himself as the bill collector. True love cancels those IOUs.
  • We don’t forgive others because they deserve forgiveness, but we forgive others because we received forgiveness from God that we did not deserve!
  • For if you forgive people their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], your heavenly Father will also forgive you. (Matthew 6:14 AMP)

Love is God-honoring

  • Agape loves what God loves and hates what God hates.
  • Agape loves when people find God’s truth, and hates anything that blocks that pursuit.
  • Agape loves the sinner and hates the sin.
  • “The sins of others are the grief of an agape spirit [not] its sport or delight; they will touch it to the quick….” —Matthew Henry

Here’s where the real test comes in: How will you apply these attributes of love to someone in your life? More specifically: to someone you think is “unloveable”?

I know you have someone in your life that you think is unloveable. With that person’s face clearly in mind, how will you fill in the blanks:

  1. I can be graceful in…
  2. I can give up my right to…
  3. I need to lighten up in this area…
  4. I must forgive them for…
  5. I need to pray for a breakthrough in…

If you would like a downloadable PDF of this worksheet, click here –> Love is… worksheet 2

If you missed any of the messages in our Loving the Unlovable series, you can check them all our here.

Don’t Unchristianize Your World

This morning I shared this quote from Henry Drummond. He absolutely nails it when he says our temper can unchristianize the societies in which we live and work.

“The peculiarity of ill temper is that it is the vice of the virtuous. … No form of vice, not worldliness, not greed of gold, not drunkenness itself, does more to unchristianize society than evil temper. For embittering life, for breaking up communities, for destroying the most sacred relationships, for devastating homes, for withering up men and women, for taking the bloom of childhood, in short, for sheer gratuitous misery-producing power this influence stands alone.” —Henry Drummond

May God help us eliminate our unchristianized tempers!

No Presumptions

George Mueller

George Mueller

I’m a planner. I like to plan out my personal schedule. I also like to plan out my preaching schedule. Near the end of each calendar year, I spend an extended time in prayer asking God to show me what He would like me to share with my congregation in the upcoming new year.

By no means should this override being Spirit-directed in the moment. I need to remain sensitive to the “course corrections” that the Holy Spirit wants me to make, but I also think planning ahead is using His wisdom as well.

As I approach each week’s message preparation time, there is a temptation to just stick with the plan, no matter what. After all, I know what I’ve prayerfully planned, so I can just get down to the business of crafting a sermon, right?

This wise counsel from George Mueller—a pastor that was preeminent in prayer—helps me to check my impulses…

“Rather than presuming to know what is best for the hearers, I ask the Lord to graciously teach me the subject I should speak about.”

My prayer goes something like this: “Lord, You know I will be speaking this Sunday; You know each person who is going to attend our service this week; You know exactly what they have been going through and what they are about to go through; You know exactly what they need to hear this week, so speak those words to me now.

How arrogant for me to say, “Lord, here’s my sermon. Please bless it.”

Instead I need to pray, “Lord, what message will you bless? Please speak those words to me.”

Pastor, please don’t presume to know what is best for your congregation, but ask the One who truly knows to give you His timely word.

Beautiful

Plumb beautifulLove is not an emotion. Real love is a commitment. Real love discovers beauty in another that they couldn’t even see themselves.

Guys, this song from Plumb is written from a woman’s perspective; it’s what she wants you to see in her. Valentine’s Day is a great day to start discovering, appreciating and celebrating the beauty in her… but don’t let it stop there. Let it become more beautiful every day!

Thursdays With Oswald—Unchecked Imaginations

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible.

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

Unchecked Imaginations 

     The day we live in is a day of wild imaginations everywhere, unchecked imaginations in music, in literature, and, worst of all, in the interpretation of Scripture. People are going off on wild speculations, they get hold of one line and run clean off at a tangent and try to explain everything on that line, then they go off on another line: none of it is in accordance with the Spirit of God.

From Biblical Psychology

We must be so cautious about not reading into Scripture what we want it to say. In other words, we cannot say, “This is what I believe to be true, now let me find a verse or two that will support that belief.” Instead, we must let the living Word of God speak. As the prophet Samuel approached God, so must we with the humble attitude, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10).

Jesus said the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. The truth into which He will lead us is objectively true. That means it’s not true because we think it’s true, but it’s true because it’s God’s Word.

Make sure you don’t interpret Scripture through your feelings, or through the commentary of another human; rather let Scripture be its own commentary on other Scripture, and let the Spirit guide you. I love this insight from the habits of the Berean Christians—

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11)

Watch your imagination. Don’t get caught up in others’ ideas of what God said. Read the Scriptures—or better yet, let the Scriptures read you—with the help of the Holy Spirit.

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