There has recently been a lot of discussion generated by my questions about the creation account.  It has been fascinating and frustrating at the same time.  Some find these things to be an unnecessary discussion and some see it as part of the mission.  Personally, I just like to read the evidence that others have for their views.  I don’t believe any of my main readers are experts in some of these things and I know I am not.

We can all learn something and we definitely need to know why we believe what we do.  These discussions are not just to argue.  They are to help all of us think.  God gave us a brain and unfortunately very few seem to use it for the advancement of the Kingdom.  Instead we seem to trust whatever persons views already line up with our own.  I want to invite all to discuss the issue today.  And I would especially like to hear form any who have a Background or training in these areas.

The last heavy discussions lead to some comments about the age of the earth.

How old do you think the earth is?

What evidence do you have for your answer?

How are you able to justify your dismissal of the other side?

And once again, does it really matter in the light of God’s grace and mercy in the reconciliation of mankind to Himself?

I also love the increase in commentary so if you are tired of reading and discussing these things, comment on some of the other posts that have largely went ignored.

Love you all

Tags: Creation, creation account, Discussion, God, Kingdom, Mercy, mission, Personal, town hall, Tuesday

Just a few things I want to say.  This is the tagline of this blog.  A tagline is a brief description of what a blog is about.  When I started this blog I really did not know for sure what direction I was going to take with it.  Was I going to try to teach biblical concepts?  Was I going to comment on the church?  Was I going to reflect on my personal walk with Jesus?  Was I going to be serious or sarcastic?  I decided to use the tagline I did because frankly, I was not sure.  But I did know that whatever I said here would be my own thoughts, my own opinions.  It is still that way.  It has not changed.  What I say here is not necessarily backed up by my wife, family, friends, church, or anyone for that matter.  I do ask the Holy Spirit for guidance but that is in no way saying for sure that God is okay with it either.  It is simply just a few things I want to say.  And so is the following.

I really don’t understand how so many people can read something and not have a clue what the writer was trying to say.  Take for example the last post that I wrote.  It was about the need for all of us to grow in our relationships with each other.  I used a real group in my church, The Bridge, to start it off but that was not the focus.  But some readers went no further than that.  Instead, someone, and maybe more than one, took it as another opportunity to see me in a defensive position, trying to take up for this new group.  They took it upon themselves to put into action some things that hurt at least two people.  Since these are supposed to be my family, also followers of Jesus, this simply saddens and amazes me.

I do not have to defend this fellowship of young adults.  The evidence that it is good and godly comes directly from the attacks that have been launched against it already.  It is evidently offensive in some way to others.  And Jesus warned us of these things.  So my question is simple.  Who exactly is trying to cause division here?  The Bridge has brought a couple of people back into the fold already yet the verbal attacks from others have almost sent a couple of members in my church fleeing.  Who is on track as far as the mission is concerned?

When are we going to stop feeling threatened by things that are outside of or do not include ourselves?  When are we going to realize that we have to sacrifice some things that maybe we are a little too dogmatic about to reach our kids and grandkids?  When are we going to realize that relevance is not synonymous with degradation as concerns the gospel?

I am at a fork in the road as it concerns my own future already.  There are some very important decisions that I am about to have to make: decisions about life, both secular and spiritual.  I wish that the people of God would not keep on adding to it like they seem to be at the moment.  I wish my “family” would make it easier instead of harder.

You may think that I just say this out of habit but it really is from the heart.  I…

Love you all

Tags: blog, Church, Holy Spirit, jesus, Love, mission, Personal, Relationships, Relevance

I don’t feel like I am doing much of anything.

I asked some questions on Tuesday that hit close to home.  I believe that we all have problems fulfilling the great commission.  If we think we don’t we are probably deceiving ourselves.  I have been serving Jesus for seven years now and I have personally not had one person that I have asked actually come to my church.  I have not personally led anyone to accept Christ as Lord of their lives.  I can’t even convince my kids that God is worth serving.

With my limited ability I do my best to teach two classes a week at church.  I read the bible a lot, read all sorts of forums and blogs and try to interact with both Christian and non Christian to a degree.  I pray.  I will discuss God and the Kingdom with anybody at anytime.  I write these blog articles and try to promote it and my brother’s blogs also.  I pray before meals in restaurants and in hospitals while visiting family.  I try my best not to even make a promise that I am not sure I cannot keep, much less lie.  I am not ashamed of the gospel or my Savior in any way.

But is any of this in any way really going out and making disciples?  Is it still possible to even do that in the hustle and bustle of life in the good ole USA?  (Read Mikes comment on the previous post.)

To answer my own last two questions from Tuesday is inextricably tied into my own personal mission.  If I am not doing it then to some degree my church is not and if it is not then we are not seeing the growth we should.  We will knock the seeker sensitive churches, and rightly so in a lot of ways, but if they are growing by the thousands and our growth is in single digits, what is really so bad if only ten percent of their growth is real. Ten percent of thousands is much more than 100 percent of nothing or even ten.

We live in a world and at a time that is way too busy.  But Jesus did not say “go when you have the time.” He said leave it all and follow Him before we are told to go.  Have we and are we willing to strip down to the necessities and fulfill our mission?  Are we really ready to forego some traditions and styles if it will keep the few visitors we have long enough to start the discipleship program?  I just don’t know.

Shannon talks about relationships more than anyone I ever met before.  He has it right.  In his last comment on my site he brought up the thoughts about being the church instead of doing church.  This the biblical approach.  I think I had a post in the past also about this but you will have to search the archives.  Being the church is relational at the very core.  Going out to make disciples is relational.

So I do know that it starts with relationships.  We absolutely must start new ones and grow deeper in the relationships we have.  And since we must do everything on the go, we must figure out how to do relationships on the go.  How and what would that look like?  Here is some food for thought.

The most obvious is right here.  The internet.  Reach out with blogs and forums.  There are loads of free resources out there.  Satan definitely uses the internet in a number of ways but why can’t we use it to reach out all over the world and talk about the fact that Jesus is King.  That is the heart of the gospel.  Satan has no control except when we let him.

Look at all the ways we stay in touch with everybody, all the time.  Are you texting, tweeting, IMing, emailing, etc.?  Are any of those instant communications about Jesus’ love?  Could they be?  We must engage the communications mediums of the day and learn to use them effectively.

When you go in a store or a restaurant, do you greet the cashier or waitress or do you sort of just ignore them?  These are relationships even if they are only momentary and temporary.  Being a witness, the traditional understanding of what we are to be, is much more than just praying before that meal while eating out.  Being a witness is also relational.  Letting someone know that you notice them and appreciate them is one way to impact the world even if it seems so small.  But add them all up.

Does anybody even know their neighbors name anymore?  Do we care?  There are relationship opportunities all around us.  At the mailbox, at the gas pump, at the dry cleaners, at the ball parks.

We have to develop strategic approaches to create relationships in the world of today.

Going and making disciples in our busy world will not look like it did a hundred years ago.  Life is tremendously full and busy and time still passes by at the same pace it did thousands of years ago.  I, for one, wish I had more even though I have a lot at the moment.  We have to get creative in our methods of fulfilling our mission.  We cannot afford to just let it go as we have been.

And I must start, myself.

Love you all

Thanks to Shannon and Mike for much of this post.

Tags: blog, Christ, Christian, Church, great commission, King, Kingdom, Lie, Life, Love, mission, neighbor, Personal, Relationships, traditions, USA

It seems to me that maybe I have been a little bold lately in some of my posts.  Commenting about controversial issues and even getting a little harsh is some responses.  Some of this stems from a passion for Gods truth while some may just come from that confrontational part of me that I just wrote about and am truly trying to tame.  But it is not tamed and there are good reasons for some of what I ask.  I really am still learning myself.  And one of the ways to learn what we believe is to bounce those beliefs off those that others hold.  So the questions for today may spark more controversy.  I hope not and I really do not want any heated arguments or words of offense.  But I do want to know what you think.

We also touched on this topic a while back in some of the comments.  That post was not about this exactly and really had another focus.  So if you replied there about this topic you can fell free to comment again here.

The bible is pretty clear about Gods views on drunkenness.  Most people do not see such clear lines about alcohol consumption though.

What do you think the bible says about consuming alcohol?

What do you personally think about consuming alcohol and why?

Please keep it civil but tell us what you think.

Love you all

Tags: alcohol, Belief, consumption, controversial issues, drunkenness, fruit of the vine, Personal, town hall, Truth, Tuesday