Phil preached this weekend on 1 Thessalonians 5:1-12 and spoke about walking in the light. We also looked at Ephesians where Paul instructs us to "wake up!" It reminded me of this past Fall Retreat for the ABC Youth where they used the theme of "The Awakening". I just wanted to share with you quickly a couple of different places that inspired that theme for the retreat with Matt Orth and company:
1. The first is from Paul who wrote in Ephesians 5: "Wake up, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you." He's instructing the Ephesians to be imitators of God and to walk in the light and not in the darkness. Expose the works and the deeds of darkness by the light! (This is the one that Phil mentioned on Sunday)
2. The second came from a study done on dolphins and sleep. Check it out:
"On land, human beings and other mammals breathe involuntarily: If we don't make a decision to breathe or not to breathe, our body will take in air automatically. Because of their undersea environment, whales and dolphins must be conscious breathers. They have to actively decide when to breathe. Consequently, in order to breathe, they have to be conscious. This presents a problem, since mammalian brains need to enter an unconscious state from time to time in order to function correctly.
There's plenty of time for a dolphin to catch a catnap between trips to the ocean surface, of course, but this isn't a viable option. When you're a conscious breather, it's just not feasible to be completely unconscious -- what if you don't wake up in time? The solution for whales and dolphins is to let one half of the brain sleep at a time. In this way, the animal is never completely unconscious, but it still gets the rest it needs.
Scientists have studied this phenomenon in dolphins, using electroencephalography. In this process, electrodes hooked up to the head measure electricity levels in the brain. The resulting electroencephalograms of dolphin brains demonstrate that in the sleep cycle, half of the the dolphin's brain does indeed "shut down" while the other half is still active. Researchers have observed that dolphins are in this state for approximately eight hours a day.
We can't really know what this rest state feels like, but we can make a good guess. It is probably something like the semi-conscious state we experience as we begin to fall asleep. We're pretty close to unconsciousness, but are aware enough of our surroundings to wake up completely if we need to."
The point here is, as believers, we sometimes exist in this semi-conscious state and live our lives moving from moment to moment with no intentionality and urgency of the Gospel. We're just in "survival" mode and are doing nothing to help advance the Kingdom of God. We need an AWAKENING!
3. And the third place was from a quote from John Gillies (that we featured in The Awakening Promo Video). Here it is in its entirety:
"The world is still sleeping its 'sleep of death.' It has been a slumber of many generations--sometimes deeper, sometimes lighter--yet still a slumber like that of a tomb, as if destined to continue till the last trumpet sound; and then there shall be no more sleep. Yet God has not left it to sleep on unwarned. He has spoken in a voice that might reach the dullest ears and quicken the coldest heart. Ten thousand times has He spoken and still speaks. But the world refuses to hear. Its myriads slumber on, as if this sleep of death were the very blessedness of its being."
Let's wake up, ABC, and be a light that shines in the darkness! Let's walk in the light and see God do amazing some amazing things in our Church! The AWAKENING!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Mark of a True Believer
In Matthew 24:13 Jesus makes an interesting statement:
"But the one who endures to the end will be delivered." Or "be saved".
(He's speaking in context of predicting the destruction of the Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70 and then moves to predicting what it will be like on the earth before the Second Coming.)
But his statement is an interesting general principle referring to salvation that we also find throughout the book of Hebrews. Several times in Hebrews the author repeats the following truth:
"For we have become companions of the Messiah if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start."
"Let us...run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus..."
It seems like it should be an obvious statement: that the one who loves Jesus genuinely won't ever stop loving Him, but we always find ourselves wondering, "How do I know if so and so is a believer?" or "I'm not sure if they love Jesus or not?" or "How do I know if I'm a believer?" Well, here's the answer to these questions for us: we know if we endure to the end! (The author also adds another mark of a true believer that if we're not being disciplined by God we're not true children of God.)
With that being said, a believer can sometimes fall into sin and wander from God, but he or she will be under too much conviction to stay there for long. He will always return.
It's the mark of a true believer!
"But the one who endures to the end will be delivered." Or "be saved".
(He's speaking in context of predicting the destruction of the Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70 and then moves to predicting what it will be like on the earth before the Second Coming.)
But his statement is an interesting general principle referring to salvation that we also find throughout the book of Hebrews. Several times in Hebrews the author repeats the following truth:
"For we have become companions of the Messiah if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start."
"Let us...run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus..."
It seems like it should be an obvious statement: that the one who loves Jesus genuinely won't ever stop loving Him, but we always find ourselves wondering, "How do I know if so and so is a believer?" or "I'm not sure if they love Jesus or not?" or "How do I know if I'm a believer?" Well, here's the answer to these questions for us: we know if we endure to the end! (The author also adds another mark of a true believer that if we're not being disciplined by God we're not true children of God.)
With that being said, a believer can sometimes fall into sin and wander from God, but he or she will be under too much conviction to stay there for long. He will always return.
It's the mark of a true believer!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Jean Valjean
Bishop: Now Don't Forget, Don't ever Forget, you've promised to become a new man.
Jean Valjean: Promise? What, Why are you doing this?
Bishop: Jean Valjean my brother you no longer belong to evil. With this silver, I have bought your soul. I've ransomed you from fear and hatred, and now I give you back to God.
I've always loved this story. It's powerful, moving and a testimony to the grace of God demonstrated in our own lives. (Here's a link to the first 10 minutes, by the way, if you've never seen the scene between the Bishop and Valjean.)
Grace is a powerful force and Valjean's life is transformed by a single powerful act of mercy. His life is redeemed and he commits himself to serving God and to being an agent of good in the world. And that commitment is put to the test over and over again as he's pursued interminably by Inspector Javert!
Philip Yancey, in What's So Amazing About Grace?, wrote: "The world thirsts for grace. When grace descends, the world falls silent before it." The Apostle John wrote that Jesus was full of grace and truth and if that's true then no wonder the world was turned upside down by his life and death! He was the Rescuer! The Deliverer for a people enslaved to sin, death and to false religion!
Victor Hugo writes at the end of Les Miserables that as Valjean died: "the light from the candlesticks fell across him; his white face looked up toward heaven." Those candlesticks, which represented Grace to Valjean, were present all throughout his life, even to the very end. What a picture of salvation!
Bono once wrote this about Grace: It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma...Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff.
Jean Valjean: Promise? What, Why are you doing this?
Bishop: Jean Valjean my brother you no longer belong to evil. With this silver, I have bought your soul. I've ransomed you from fear and hatred, and now I give you back to God.
I've always loved this story. It's powerful, moving and a testimony to the grace of God demonstrated in our own lives. (Here's a link to the first 10 minutes, by the way, if you've never seen the scene between the Bishop and Valjean.)
Grace is a powerful force and Valjean's life is transformed by a single powerful act of mercy. His life is redeemed and he commits himself to serving God and to being an agent of good in the world. And that commitment is put to the test over and over again as he's pursued interminably by Inspector Javert!
Philip Yancey, in What's So Amazing About Grace?, wrote: "The world thirsts for grace. When grace descends, the world falls silent before it." The Apostle John wrote that Jesus was full of grace and truth and if that's true then no wonder the world was turned upside down by his life and death! He was the Rescuer! The Deliverer for a people enslaved to sin, death and to false religion!
Victor Hugo writes at the end of Les Miserables that as Valjean died: "the light from the candlesticks fell across him; his white face looked up toward heaven." Those candlesticks, which represented Grace to Valjean, were present all throughout his life, even to the very end. What a picture of salvation!
Bono once wrote this about Grace: It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma...Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff.
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Resurrection According To Job
Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor
I love these powerful words from Job in Chapter 19:
Children/Communications Pastor
I love these powerful words from Job in Chapter 19:
"But I know my living Redeemer,
and He will stand on the earth at last.
Even after my skin has been destroyed,
yet I will see God in my flesh.
I will see Him myself;
my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.
My heart longs within me."
and He will stand on the earth at last.
Even after my skin has been destroyed,
yet I will see God in my flesh.
I will see Him myself;
my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.
My heart longs within me."
Does your heart long within you for that day?
There will be a bodily resurrection when God remakes the world. That's the promise of Christian resurrection!
Paul writes in Philippians 3 that his goal is to know Jesus and the power of His resurrection...assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.
How about you? Will your eyes look at God, and not as a stranger, on that day?
There will be a bodily resurrection when God remakes the world. That's the promise of Christian resurrection!
Paul writes in Philippians 3 that his goal is to know Jesus and the power of His resurrection...assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.
How about you? Will your eyes look at God, and not as a stranger, on that day?
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Computers, Mosquitoes and the Virtual Spirit of Humanity?
This sign (courtesy of some friends in Thailand) totally reminded me of our days in East Asia and all the crazy translations (or mis-translations) that we would see! Check it out!
Any ideas what in the world it could be referring to? It kind of reminds me of how I feel whenever I'm watching Lost.
Friday, March 5, 2010
The Mysterious Name of God
Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor
It used to be that the meaning of names meant everything. That's not so much the case anymore in our culture, but a quick study of the Old Testament will show you the importance of names.
After Israel has been delivered from Egypt through the Red Sea they sing a song of deliverance called Israel's Song.
One verse in particular stuck out to me:
Earlier, when God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, this is the name, Yahweh, that he gave to Moses when Moses questioned whom he should tell the Israelites had sent him.
Yahweh, the covenant name of God. Full of so much mystery we can't even come close to grasping its many meanings:
1. It literally means: I AM WHO I AM or I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE.
2. It means that God is the self-existent one.
3. He depends on nothing for his existence.
4. All things depend on him for their existence.
5. He has no beginning and no end.
6. He doesn't exist in any category; he is his own category.
N.T. Wright writes that by the time of Jesus Jews would not say this name of God out loud. There was only one exception, and that was by the High Priest, once a year, in the Holy of Holies.
Because the name Yahweh couldn't be spoken the Hebrews developed a way to avoid speaking it when they came to this name in the Scriptures. In its place they would say ADONAI, which means the LORD, a tradition that continues in most english translations to this day.
Regardless, it is the covenant name of God--special and sacred.
It's hardly surprising that in John 58 when Jesus said to the Jews, "I assure you; Before Abraham was, I am!" they immediately picked up stones to kill him. He was claiming to be the self-existent one, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
It's no wonder that Israel's Song continues with these lines:
If Yahweh, the one whom we can't define, who doesn't fit into any of our categories, who has no beginning and no end, decides to free his people and lead them with His faithful love who can stop Him? Could Egypt or Satan or the schemes of wicked men? No, nothing can thwart the purposes of God.
And that is just a part of the very definition of his Name.
Children/Communications Pastor
It used to be that the meaning of names meant everything. That's not so much the case anymore in our culture, but a quick study of the Old Testament will show you the importance of names.
After Israel has been delivered from Egypt through the Red Sea they sing a song of deliverance called Israel's Song.
One verse in particular stuck out to me:
"The Lord is a warrior;
Yahweh is His name."
Yahweh is His name."
Earlier, when God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, this is the name, Yahweh, that he gave to Moses when Moses questioned whom he should tell the Israelites had sent him.
Yahweh, the covenant name of God. Full of so much mystery we can't even come close to grasping its many meanings:
1. It literally means: I AM WHO I AM or I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE.
2. It means that God is the self-existent one.
3. He depends on nothing for his existence.
4. All things depend on him for their existence.
5. He has no beginning and no end.
6. He doesn't exist in any category; he is his own category.
N.T. Wright writes that by the time of Jesus Jews would not say this name of God out loud. There was only one exception, and that was by the High Priest, once a year, in the Holy of Holies.
Because the name Yahweh couldn't be spoken the Hebrews developed a way to avoid speaking it when they came to this name in the Scriptures. In its place they would say ADONAI, which means the LORD, a tradition that continues in most english translations to this day.
Regardless, it is the covenant name of God--special and sacred.
It's hardly surprising that in John 58 when Jesus said to the Jews, "I assure you; Before Abraham was, I am!" they immediately picked up stones to kill him. He was claiming to be the self-existent one, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
It's no wonder that Israel's Song continues with these lines:
"You will lead the people
You have redeemed
with Your faithful love;
You will guide them
to Your holy dwelling
with Your strength."
You have redeemed
with Your faithful love;
You will guide them
to Your holy dwelling
with Your strength."
If Yahweh, the one whom we can't define, who doesn't fit into any of our categories, who has no beginning and no end, decides to free his people and lead them with His faithful love who can stop Him? Could Egypt or Satan or the schemes of wicked men? No, nothing can thwart the purposes of God.
And that is just a part of the very definition of his Name.
Coming To God His Way
Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor
It's been a while since we've updated this blog, but since we started our Going Deeper: Reading Through the Bible in a Year, I'm going to try to write more often based on some of those passages that we're going through each week.
Recently, we dove into the book of Exodus and one of the central themes of the Bible that runs from Genesis to Revelation has really stood out to me during the story of the Passover: If we're going to come to God it has be His way. It can't be our way, or a way that we've made up. It's either God's way or nothing.
Remember how God refused to accept Adam and Eve's clothing that they made for themselves in the garden? Or how he refused to accept Cain's offering? God gave Noah specific instructions for building the ark. And he gave specific directions to the people of Israel in Exodus for the 10th and most devastating plague found in Exodus 12. Here are the some main points taken from Trevor McIllwain's Firm Foundations:
1.They had to choose a lamb without blemish.
Think back to the ram that was caught in the thicket and was sacrificed in the place of Isaac. He was caught by his horns so that he would be an acceptable sacrifice.
2. They had to kill the lamb.
Its blood had to be allowed to flow out and was a reminder to the Israelites that the punishment for sin is death.
3. They had to place the blood on both of the doorposts and above the door.
It was the blood on the doorpost that would save their firstborn from the judgment of God during the night.
4. They had to stay inside the house until the morning.
They couldn't leave the house where the blood had been applied to the doors until the morning.
5. They couldn't break any of the lamb's (or goat's) bones.
This last point is important later on in Scripture. We'll probably get there in a few months!
God kept his promise and he passed through Egypt during the night executing judgment upon the land. All of the Israelites who followed his instructions were spared the lives of their firstborn.
And God hasn't changed! We can't come to God our own way or by our own means. It has to be by the way that he has instructed.
And, for us, in 2010 Apex, NC, that way is Jesus Christ.
Children/Communications Pastor
It's been a while since we've updated this blog, but since we started our Going Deeper: Reading Through the Bible in a Year, I'm going to try to write more often based on some of those passages that we're going through each week.
Recently, we dove into the book of Exodus and one of the central themes of the Bible that runs from Genesis to Revelation has really stood out to me during the story of the Passover: If we're going to come to God it has be His way. It can't be our way, or a way that we've made up. It's either God's way or nothing.
Remember how God refused to accept Adam and Eve's clothing that they made for themselves in the garden? Or how he refused to accept Cain's offering? God gave Noah specific instructions for building the ark. And he gave specific directions to the people of Israel in Exodus for the 10th and most devastating plague found in Exodus 12. Here are the some main points taken from Trevor McIllwain's Firm Foundations:
1.They had to choose a lamb without blemish.
Think back to the ram that was caught in the thicket and was sacrificed in the place of Isaac. He was caught by his horns so that he would be an acceptable sacrifice.
2. They had to kill the lamb.
Its blood had to be allowed to flow out and was a reminder to the Israelites that the punishment for sin is death.
3. They had to place the blood on both of the doorposts and above the door.
It was the blood on the doorpost that would save their firstborn from the judgment of God during the night.
4. They had to stay inside the house until the morning.
They couldn't leave the house where the blood had been applied to the doors until the morning.
5. They couldn't break any of the lamb's (or goat's) bones.
This last point is important later on in Scripture. We'll probably get there in a few months!
God kept his promise and he passed through Egypt during the night executing judgment upon the land. All of the Israelites who followed his instructions were spared the lives of their firstborn.
And God hasn't changed! We can't come to God our own way or by our own means. It has to be by the way that he has instructed.
And, for us, in 2010 Apex, NC, that way is Jesus Christ.
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