Pastor's Reading Group

We're excited about our 2013 Bible Reading Plan! If you'd like to receive monthly updates and encouragement from Pastor John Mark as we read through the Bible together please click here to enter your email address! (choose Pastor's Reading Group)

2013 Bible Reading Plan

Click here to download the 2013 Bible Reading Plan.

AMPLIFY 2012 Begins Wednesday!

Our Fall Amplify begins this Wednesday evening! There are many opportunities for you to get plugged in and we hope that you and your family can join us on Wednesdays this Fall!

• We offer a delicious affordable dinner for your family beginning at 5:00! If you'd like to make a reservation please contact the Church Office at 362-6176 (ext. 221).
• AWANA for our children begins at 6:15 PM. AWANA provides a club atmosphere for your children to learn the truths of God's Word each week! (Did you know that in a recent national survery 93% of AWANA alumni continue to attend church regularly as adults, compared to only 36% of their peers in America?) You can read more here and register your child in their age category. 
• ONEighty happens each Wednesday evening from 6:30-7:30 down in the Refuge for all 7th-12th Graders. It's high-energy, high-impact, and high-fun! You're students don't want to miss it!
• We offer several exciting studies and tracks for our adults including men-specific studies and women-specific studies that run from 6:30-7:30 PM. We even have a Spanish track for you to attend! Make sure to take advantage of these great opportunities to study God's Word!

IT ALL STARTS ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29!

Click here to read more, see photos, and download a pdf with class and track specifics!

The Power of Generativity

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

I recently came across a term that caused me to furrow my brows in consternation (if you've ever seen my eyebrows you know that's quite a bit of furrowing going on). You've probably had it happen to you as well--you're reading, sailing right along, and then all of a sudden you stumble across a word that doesn't register. It happens to me quite a bit. The term this time was "generativity" and while I recognize words like "generate" I had never heard of "generativity" before. It might be made up for all I know and maybe hasn't found approval from Webster, but now that I've run across it I believe it's an important word in the life of a Church.

It was defined in the book that I was reading as "the positive caring for the next generation by giving of self."

How does that apply to the Church?

We have so many opportunities for adults to pour themselves out and give to others in our local Church. There are opportunities for the application of spiritual gifts. There are opportunities for usefulness in the Kingdom of God. Each follower of Jesus is a gifted minister!

The concept of generativity is at the center of the teaching ministry in a local Church where adults are teaching preschoolers, children, youth and young adults the life-changing and worldview-forming truths of the Bible.

As adults, when we accept God's call to teach and lead others we are the ones who grow in Christ. I've experienced it personally in my life, and it's the testimony of many of the teachers in our Children's Ministry. Do you want to grow in your relationship with Jesus? Give yourself away for the sake of others who need you to pour yourself into their lives!

I believe God has called each of us as adults to a self-giving & self-sacrificing ministry, also known as generativity. So, the question remains: how are you giving yourself away and serving others in the local Church? If you're not, it's time, and I'd be more than glad to point you to a few possibilities! Feel free to call me or shoot me an email!

Never Will I Leave You (Part 4)

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

The following is adapted from a sermon by Dennis Johnson on Hebrews 13:5-14 that deals with change and I thought it would be appropriate for us to consider as we transition from Phil (who was with us for 28 years) to a new Lead Pastor. 

So far we've taken a look at incorrect ways to respond to change based on Hebrews.Today we'll take a look the correct way to respond to change: We should respond to change in the following way: Focus our thoughts and rest our hearts on Jesus, our ever-living, never-leaving leader. (You can read Part 1 here, Part 2 and Part 3 here.)


1. Jesus is an Ever-Living Leader.

Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

This statement from the author of Hebrews directly follows a reminder of the church's leaders who have left for various reasons. While they have left the congregation, Jesus has not!

Jesus is the same yesterday: When he created the universe, when he endured temptation, when he gave his life on the cross and rose again on the third day--He is the same. He was tempted in every way, yet was without sin--he knows what it's like to face change that is threatening! He is the Shepherd of the sheep (that would be us!) who shed his blood of the eternal covenant to make an "unbreakable bond" between us and the Father.

Jesus is the same today: He constantly intercedes for us! "He is able to save completely and forever those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." (Hebrews 7:25) Our former pastor might still pray for us as he did when he was with us, but Jesus' prayers are deeper, more compassionate, wiser and more effective. Jesus preaches to us today! "Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." (Hebrews 4:7) Through our leaders and pastors, Jesus speaks to us through His Word, calling us to persevere and promising the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the same forever: He leads us into the future--the enduring city to come (Hebrews 13:14). The city of the Living God. He is the pioneer of our faith and has secured our victory (Hebrews 12:1-3). We have hope for the future because of his triumph. 

2. Jesus is a Never-Leaving Leader.

Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)

This is a promise that God has made to his people repeatedly in Scripture. Check out Genesis 28:15, Joshua 1:5 or Matthew 28:20. And Jesus' presence with us isn't just him holding our hand through our trials, it is POWERFUL. His presence gives us endurance, courage, and fearlessness.

The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. (Hebrews 13:6)

As followers of Jesus we can respond to change "not with fear, but with calm confidence that our Savior is an ever-present help" in uncertain times! 

(Next week, we'll conclude Part 5 with our last point from Hebrews: If our faith is firmly fixed in Jesus, we can grow when human leaders change.)

Never Will I Leave You (Part 3)

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

The following is adapted from a sermon by Dennis Johnson on Hebrews 13:5-14 that deals with change and I thought it would be appropriate for us to consider as we transition from Phil (who was with us for 28 years) to a new Lead Pastor. 

In this installment we'll take a deeper look at the second of two wrong ways to respond to change based on Hebrews. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.


The second incorrect way to respond to change is trying to insulate ourselves from change through money. This response is addressed by the author of Hebrews in 13:5-6:

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

There are many reasons why people love money. We like the things that we can buy. We like to feel important and comfortable. But in Hebrews God warns us against loving money "as a source of security." Why? Because money may never say to you what God can: "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you."

In chaotic times it's tempting to think that money can be a shield for us. That it can protect us from the hardships of change. But money doesn't last, in fact, Jesus' parable in Luke 12:13-21 is a perfect illustration of this truth. A farmer had no place to put all of his grain and so he he said, "I'll build bigger barns, and then relax and celebrate! I'll be secure for years!" But God said, "You fool! Tonight, your life is mine!" And the farmer died, unable to enjoy all of his money.

Hebrews tells us to not place our faith or our hope of security in money. Or in love and relationships, for that matter. So, if we can't look to those things for certainty during change where can we look? That's where we'll go in Part 4!

Never Will I Leave You (Part 2)

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

The following is adapted from a sermon by Dennis Johnson on Hebrews 13:5-14 that deals with change and I thought it would be appropriate for us to consider as we transition from Phil (who was with us for 28 years) to a new Lead Pastor. 

In this installment we'll take a deeper look at one of the wrong ways to respond to change based on Hebrews. You can read Part 1 here.

The first incorrect way to respond to change is to retreat from change by clinging to the past. This response is addressed by the author of Hebrews in 13:9-10:

It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. 

These ceremonial foods are the sacrificed animals, particularly the animals sacrificed as the "peace offering" that the Israelites would eat in the temple courtyard after the best parts were consumed by fire. It's a reference to what Hebrews has already addressed: "Don't go back into the shadows of Old Testament worship." Don't go back to the old sacrifices, which could never cleanse the conscience and wash away the guilt of sin.

In Chapters 3 and 4 of Hebrews the author encourages the congregation not to be like the wilderness generation of the Israelites who had forgotten the hardships of slavery and instead pined away after the "good old days" of Egypt when they had enough food to eat.

In the same way we tend to be wistful and remember the "good old days", even when they weren't particularly good. Our memories get hazy and we tend to "airbrush away the sorrows." The truth is the only good days lie in the future as verse 14 tells us: "for here we do not have an enduring city, but we are seeking the one to come."

When the Hebrews received this sermon, it wouldn't be long before Jerusalem would be destroyed and the temple desecrated and ruined by the Roman armies.

"So don't look back to the past, and don't simply cling to its traditions: there is no security from the threatening changes of the present to be found back there!" 

(In the next installment we'll take a deeper look at the second wrong way to respond to change based on Hebrews.)

Never Will I Leave You (Part 1)

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

The following is adapted from a sermon by Dennis Johnson on Hebrews 13:5-14 that deals with change and I thought it would be appropriate for us to consider as we transition from Phil (who was with us for 28 years) to a new Lead Pastor.

Change is difficult. It takes us out of our comfort zone and ushers in the unknown. Even for the self-professed "change lovers" (like me!) there is still stress involved whether the change is pleasant or painful.

In fact, psychologists have assigned numeric value to the stress caused by different kinds of change. It doesn't matter whether it's getting married, losing a loved one, buying a new home, having a new baby or going through a divorce--all change involves some sort of stress. And if we rack up enough of those "stress points" we start to go into melt-down.

The book of Hebrews was written to a congregation of Jewish Christians who were going into melt-down because of change. They were experiencing change in two different ways:

1. They had grown up in Judaism with its temple centered worship and now they were Christians with Jesus centered worship. (They could no longer touch and feel and see the sacrifices. They were now being fed by the Word of God as their pastors proclaimed the Good News into their lives.) Because of this change, or conversion, they were also experiencing persecution from their family and friends. They were shunned because they believed Jesus was the Messiah.
2. This Hebrew congregation was also experiencing a change in leadership. There was a shift happening from one generation of leaders to the next. And evidently, this new generation of leadership was not receiving the respect of the congregation, which their office deserved. Perhaps the people were saying things like, "We like how Pastor so-and-so used to do things back in the day." Or, "These new guys don't do things like we've always done them." Whatever the reason, there was conflict in the midst of a change of leadership.

So, in the book of Hebrews the Holy Spirit tells us how we should respond to change and how we should not respond to change as a fellowship or a local church.

We should not respond to change in two ways based on the text:

1. Retreat from change by clinging to the past.
2. Try to insulate ourselves from change through money.

We should respond to change in the following way: Focus our thoughts and rest our hearts on Jesus, our ever-living, never-leaving leader.

(In the next installment we'll take a deeper look at the two wrong ways to respond to change based on Hebrews.)

Awe and Wonder

Nathan Stam
Communications/Children's Pastor

When we think about God there should be an appropriate response of awe and wonder. He is, after all, the Creator and Maker of all things. The Master Designer and Author of the Play. Read these words and let the wonders of our God resonate in your heart:

Consider how we perceive the world. What is truly extraordinary is not extrasensory perception, claims for which inevitably dissolve on investigation. What is extraordinary is rather our very ordinary moment-to-moment sensory experiences of organizing formless neural impulses into colorful sights and meaningful sounds.

Think about it. As you look at someone, particles of light energy are being absorbed by your eyes' receptor cells, converted into neural signals that activate neighboring cells, which, down the line, transmit a million electrochemical messages per moment up to your brain. There, separate parts of your brain process information about color, form, motion and depth, and then--in some still-mysterious way--combine this information to form a consciously perceived image that is instantly compared with previously stored images and recognized as, say, your grandmother. The whole process is as complex as taking a house apart, splinter by splinter, transporting it to a different location, and then, through the efforts of millions of specialized workers, putting it back together. Voila! The material brain gives rise to consciousness. That all of this happens instantly, effortlessly and continuously is better than cool; it is truly amazing and bewildering. In explaining such phenomena I empathize with Job: "I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me" (Job 42:3). 

Racial Reconciliation in Apex: So What? (Part 4)

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

In the last blog we discussed the concept of holy folly (going against the grain of popular culture) and some general responses to the Gospel in regards to racial reconciliation including the need to form multiracial, multiethnic congregations as well as living our loud as believers in a theater of reconciliation.

I'd like to share in this final part a few practical suggestions (not exhaustive by any means!) for how racial reconciliation could look and be lived out in our local church. This is the So What? aspect of the challenge to grow in ethnic diversity and Christ-honoring love:

• Craft a mission statement that reflects the need for racial reconciliation in our community.
• Let our music in worship services reflect a variety of ethnic expressions, sounds, and genres.
• Preach and teach on the issue of racial diversity and harmony on Martin Luther King weekend.
• Support and become actively involved in Christ-exalting urban ministries.
• Hold panel discussions with different ethnicities represented to explore in front of our fellowship the experiences people have at Apex Baptist and how we might be more welcoming.
• Hold celebrations with other ethnic churches to worship together throughout the year.
• Help fund transracial adoptions in our congregation.
• Be strategic about where we live. Be incarnational and live where needs are, not where we are the most comfortable.

Let me conclude, as Piper does, with a quote from Shelby Steele:

What both black and white Americans fear are the sacrifices and risks that true racial harmony demands. This fear is the measure of our racial chasm. And though fear always seeks a thousand justifications, none is ever good enough, and the problems we run from only remain to haunt us. It would be right to suggest courage as an antidote to fear, but the glory of the word might only intimidate us into more fear. I prefer the word effort--relentless effort, moral effort. What I like most about this word are its connotations of everydayness, earnestness, and practical sacrifice.

Racial Reconciliation in Apex: Holy Folly (Part 3)

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

In the previous post, we introduced the concept of the local church as a "theater of reconciliation,"and asked the question, "How do we perform our understanding of Christ's cross?" specifically regarding racial reconciliation in Apex, NC. Because Christ, through his death on the cross, has brought near those who were once far off by His blood. How do we live all this out in our daily lives and local church?

In our final post on this issue next week we'll look at some practical suggestions for reconciliation, but here are a few general categories of response to get us thinking (taken from Vanhoozer's Drama of Doctrine):

1. One concrete way to address this issue is to establish multi-ethnic churches. Vanhoozer writes, "In a world torn by ethnic strife, there is perhaps no more dramatic display of peace won by Jesus Christ than the life of multiracial, multiethnic . . . congregations." The three dimensions of theology also come into play here:
2. Prosaic theology leads to lives of believers "engaging in everyday practices that exhibit and foster social, racial, and ethnic reconciliation, especially in the church."
3. Prophetic theology leads to believers making "financial and cultural sacrifices, not to mention moving out of one's comfort zones," as they live in a theater of reconciliation.
4. Phronetic theology leads to believers dismissing the pragmatism of men's wisdom and living as a community of "holy folly" where the formation of multiethnic communities might seem like nonsense and impractical to outside observers.

How about it? Are you up for being a community of holy folly? For making sacrifices for the sake of Jesus? Are you up for being a minister of reconciliation? In your heart of hearts, are you willing for ABC to be a multiracial, multiethnic local church?

Five Prayers to Pray

Here are the five prayers Dr. Heisler gave for our fellowship to pray concerning our next lead pastor. These come from 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12:

1. Pray for a Pastor who has pure motives.
2. Pray for a Pastor who has a God-centered ministry.
3. Pray for a Pastor who leads with integrity.
4. Pray for a Pastor who has a heart to be: gentle, incarnational, hard-working, above reproach, and edifying.
5. Pray for a Pastor who challenges you to walk worthy of God for the glory of God.

Check out the video of the sermon here if you didn't get a chance to listen yesterday!

Racial Reconciliation in Apex: The New Humanity (Part 1)

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

This is the first of a series of posts on the issue of racial reconciliation and how that could take shape in Apex, NC. John Piper recently published a book entitled Bloodlines, which is worth your time to read. In fact, you can download the PDF for absolutely free by clicking here.

I wanted to begin this series by summarizing one of Piper's chapters on race. In his book, he has already established that the mission of Christ was closely tied with the end of ethnocentrism (defined as "feeling that one's own ethnic group should be treated as superior"). He continues by investigating the text of Ephesians 2:11-22 (read the full text here). Piper proposes that Jesus ends ethnocentrism and creates a new people of God who are defined not by race, but by faith in Christ through his death on the cross. A new humanity. He writes, "horizontal reconciliation between alienated peoples happens through vertical reconciliation with God through the blood of Christ."

An amazing idea with astounding implications!

A few thoughts from Bloodlines and Ephesians:

In verses 19-22 we read that the Gentiles are now fellow citizens with the saints and part of the same household of God.

1. In verse 14 Paul tells us that Christ came to die for sinners and by his death on the cross to give Jews and Gentiles one way to God through faith.
2. Then Paul adds in verse 15 that Christ's aim was that he might make one new man. "The church is a single person." Jesus is our common identity. By "our" I mean all believers regardless of ethnicity. We see this thought continued in verse 16.
3. The "mystery of Christ" we read about later in Ephesians 3:4-6 is that Gentiles and Jews are now one person in Christ. 

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:13 that we are "Brought near by the blood of Christ." Piper adds, "Brought near to God and therefore brought near to each other. By the blood. . . . if one design of the cross of Christ is to reconcile alienated ethnic groups to each other by reconciling them to God in Christ, then will we not display and magnify the cross of Christ better by more and deeper and sweeter ethnic diversity and harmony in our corporate and personal lives?"

We'll talk more next week about how these thoughts could be fleshed out practically in our lives. In the meantime, let's examine our hearts in the light of God's Word and strive to bring glory to Jesus in our attitudes and in the habits of our hearts!

The Privilege of Journeying to the World's End

Nathan Stam
Communications/Children's Pastor

We began Reconcile yesterday afternoon and I wanted to share a quick reflection with you based on a book I'm reading entitled CrossTalk.

I quickly forget in my own life what a privilege it is to be a "minister of reconciliation" and to be part of God's mission. A privilege!

One of my favorite books is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis. Read the way King Caspian responds and encourages his weary sailors and friends as they debate the pros and cons of journeying to the World's End.

"Friends," he said, "I think you have not quite understood our purpose. You talk as if we had come to you with our hat in our hand, begging for shipmates. It isn't like that at all. We and our royal brother and sister and their kinsman and Sir Reepicheep, the good knight, and the Lord Drinian have an errand to the world's edge. It is our pleasure to choose from among such of you as are willing, those whom we deem worthy of so high an enterprise. We have not said that any any can come for the asking. That is why we shall now command the Lord Drinian and Master Rhince to consider carefully what men among you are the hardest in battle, the most skilled seamen, the purest in blood, the most loyal to our person, and the cleanest of life and manners; and to give their names to us in a schedule." He paused and went on in a quicker voice: "Aslan's mane!" he exclaimed. "Do you think that the privilege of seeing the last things is to be bought for a song?"

We are co-laborers with Jesus our King, and it is a privilege and honor to come alongside him and plead for the world to be reconciled to God! It shouldn't be a duty only, or something that we check off of our list each week. This is no onerous chore. This is a high and holy calling for children who have been adopted into the family of God through the blood of Jesus Christ and his resurrection from the grave!

This is a glorious task! Let us "press onward and outward, expressing our love for others in sacrificial ways."

(If you'd like to get plugged in to a Reconcile Team please contact Tim Shaw.)

Reconcile Begins This Sunday!

Reconcile, our weekly community outreach, begins this Sunday, January 15! We're so excited to have this opportunity to love on our community for Jesus and so far we have around 60+ folks from ABC participating! 

How about you? Would you like to get involved in something special? Here are some FAQs:

When is Reconcile?

Reconcile meets from 4:00-5:00 each Sunday afternoon. We currently have eight teams and your commitment on a team would be for one Sunday each month. That's right: one hour one Sunday a month!

Where does Reconcile meet?

We meet in the Fellowship Hall at 4:00 and then split up from there.

What will I be doing?

When you check in at the Fellowship Hall you'll sign up for various options: emailing, letter writing, note writing, phone calls, visits, prayer, childcare. Whatever you feel like doing that particular afternoon.

Who will we be contacting?

None of these contacts are cold calls. Everyone we will contact has had a touch from ABC or visited ABC previously. We will also be ministering to those in the community who have recently lost loved ones.

Why is this ministry called Reconcile?

Great question! The name comes from Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 5. "That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us." Paul goes on to say that we are ambassadors and that God appeals to the lost through us "to be reconciled." What a calling and a charge! Our hope is that through the ministry of Reconcile we can be a part of peoples' stories as they come to know the mercy and grace found through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

What happens when there are five Sundays in a month?

During that month we will be involved in some sort of community project. It won't necessarily be on the last weekend or on a Sunday, but we'd love for all the Reconcile teams to be involved and anyone else from our Fellowship to come alongside as well. i.e. April has 5 Sundays so we will be organizing Project Reconcile (formerly known as Operation Inasmuch) on Saturday, April 21.

Do you have other questions or would you like to sign up for a team? Contact us here!

Why Pastors Should Bless Interracial Marriage

We'll have a few more posts on racial reconciliation in the next few weeks, but first check out this video from John Piper.

Resonate

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

I wanted to share a few quotes with you today from Kevin J. Vanhoozer.

The Collins English Dictionary defines resonance as "the sound produced by a body vibrating in sympathy with a neighboring source of sound." I think this concept has a lot of wonderful implications for the church!

Listen to what Vanhoozer writes:

The faithful church resonates the Word of God to the extent that it continues to sound deeply and clearly the divine voice speaking in its holy script. . . . Resonance is not repetition. To live biblically is not to re-create the past but to resonate in the present. The church 'resounds' to God's glory not by replicating the self-same sound again but by filling space and time with booming echoing sympathetic vibrations--sound and shock waves from the big bang of resurrection.

What a metaphor for our church! Let us resonate the Word of God in our present context as we hold out the Word of Life to our community and urge people to be reconciled to God. Let us set off some "shock waves from the big bang of resurrection" in Apex!

Thick Headed and Hard Hearted

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

Have you ever felt thick headed and hard hearted? 

I am mentally raising my hand. And I usually don't recognize it's the case until after the fact; when it is too late for me to do anything about it.

Confession time: I'm extremely thick headed in my marriage. I'll have a plan that I've worked out, but have not communicated adequately, and then when the said plan gets nixed I have a hard time being flexible. (The reason why my plans get nixed is usually because there is a better, more efficient plan that actually makes sense!)

If you feel like I do, you are not alone. The Israelites were some of the most thick headed and hard hearted people around. Just read the book of Joshua sometime.

You know the Exodus 32 story: Moses had been gone some time on the mountain and the people become impatient and demanded Aaron make a golden calf they could worship as the one who delivered them from Egypt. How stupid was that?

It comes as no surprise that God, in Exodus 33, refers to the Hebrew people several times as "a stiff-necked people." (I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want God to think of me in those terms, and at the very least not to make it public for millions of people over the centuries to read.)

"[Go up] to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way."

Of course, Moses intercedes for the people, and God in his graciousness forgives them.

How does this apply to me? I've heard it said that as a person grows older they either age like a fine wine or they stink like old cheese (that's my paraphrase). God help us to grow in grace and to not become thick headed and hard hearted and stiff necked in our relationship with our Lord and Savior and brothers and sisters in Christ. Instead, teach us to be flexible, bearing each other's burdens, and forgiving wrongs out of love.

May our necks be loose!

Fall 2011 Reading List

Here are a few books recommended by some of our staff for Fall reading! Enjoy!

1. Eugene H. Peterson's book, Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading, will take its rightful place on my list of twenty must read books for any Christian, even though I don't agree with every point made in it. Peterson wants to make reading the Bible personal, relational, and transformational. Instead of someone being lord of the text, examining it as if in a laboratory or solely coming to it for information or with a desire to build a dogmatic belief system, he wants the reader of the Bible to submit their life to the transforming, power-filled, recreating, inspirational thoughts of Scripture. He wants us to read the Bible in everyday language and metaphors that helps us relate to, understand, enter into and live within God’s currently unfolding story.
   
2. Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch's book, The Faith of Leap, is a convicting read dealing with the theology of risk and adventure in the church. This book is a corrective to the dull, adventureless, risk-free phenomenon that describes so much of contemporary Christianity. It explores the nature of adventure, risk, and courage and the implications for church, discipleship, spirituality, and leadership.
3. D.A. Carson's book, The God Who Is There, is an excellent introduction to the God of the Bible for both seekers, new believers and those who need to go back to some foundational principles. In this basic introduction to faith, D. A. Carson helps readers to know what they believe and why they believe it. A wonderful read!
4. Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle's book, Erasing Hell, addresses the deepest questions you have about eternal destiny. Like you, sometimes the authors just don't want to believe in hell. But they state up front, "We cannot afford to be wrong on this issue." This is not a book about who is saying what. It's a book about what God says. It's not a book about impersonal theological issues. It's a book about people who God loves. It's not a book about arguments, doctrine, or being right. It's a book about the character of God. 

Praying Without Ceasing

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

We could learn quite a bit from the Celtic missionaries of the 7th, 8th and 9th Centuries. Although they were monastic they didn't sequester themselves away from the world, but traveled all over Europe sharing the Gospel with the barbarians--daring to pioneer the way into uncharted and dangerous territories. And scores of them paid with their blood.

One of the many beautiful legacies they leave us today is that of "contemplative prayer." Their concept of prayer fulfilled Paul's admonition to "pray without ceasing." George G. Hunter III writes that contemplative prayer "is an ongoing, or very frequent, opening of the heart to the Triune God, often while engaging in each of the many experiences that fill a day."

The Carmina Gadelica gives many examples of these prayers, including prayers "to accompany getting up in the morning, for dressing, for starting the morning fire, for bathing or washing clothes or dishes . . . and for going to bed at night." Here's an example of one for starting the morning's fire:

I will kindle my fire this morning
In presence of the holy angels of heaven,
God, kindle Thou in my heart within
A flame of love to my neighbor,
To my foe, to my friend, to my kindred all,
To the brave, to the knave to the thrall . . .

These prayers engaged people's imaginations, and contemplative prayer could be a useful tool for many believers today. Not as mantras, but as a way of turning our hearts to God throughout our common activities. Ray Simpson has written a book, "Celtic Blessings for Everyday Life," which includes prayers for the every day workings of a modern world. It even includes a prayer for taking an exam! Check this out, and if you're a student this prayer might behoove you to focus your thoughts on Christ before you plunge in to filling in bubbles on the Scantron or writing in your Blue Book, and totally change your thinking on tests!

I bless this exam

in the name of the Designer of truth.
I bless this exam
in the name of the Protector from ill.
I bless this exam in the of the Spirit who guides.
Open my eyes to see how this subject
reflects something of you.
Aid me to understand this subject
with my heart as well as with my head.
Give me
Wisdom to know the nub of things,
Strength to recall what is useful,
Peace to leave the result to you.