Is the US the beast of Revelation?

An interesting article in “Gods Politics’ blog titled, “Numbers That Mark the Beast”
The writer says,

The Bible isn’t concerned with empire. The Bible takes empire for granted. Humans gather, accumulate, and seek security for themselves and their group. The Bible’s intro (Genesis 1-11) culminates with humans securing a name for themselves. This is the Bible’s way of saying that people will build empires.
The biblical question isn’t if empires should arise but how to manage them once they have. Do they uphold justice or do they preserve privilege at the expense of the weak? Are they built on the backs of the poor or do they distribute blessings abroad?
When enough power is secured that sovereignty can’t be challenged and justice for the weak is denied, the Bible doesn’t call that empire. In biblical language, such a distortion of human community is called a Beast.
And the Bible has special numbers for Beasts.

The writer ask if the U.S. could be considered a Beast. He uses the $700 billion dollar bail out v $600 billion, global giving to Africa since 1960.

You can find the article at
http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=4781&continue

Whatever happened to 'Merry Christmas'?

The last few years there has been a debate (in courts, the media etc) about wishing people a 'Merry Christmas", or so not to offend anyone, "Happy Holidays" when checking out at department stores etc....This year I have noticed that no one says anything. They dont tell you to have a 'merry Christmas' nor have a 'happy holiday'. It is just 'Thank You' or as the Salvation Army kettle man, in front of our neighborhood Wal-Mart, told me today, "Have a nice day".

What is wrong with us? Are we becoming a nation of lunatics or what?

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
God Bless

If God Disappears

In the book, “If God Disappears” David Sanford gives 9 things we can do when crisis, trials, troubles, doubts etc. try to shake our faith.

1. Telling my story to a friend who knows God- sharing my bad experience can help me work through it.
2. Cultivating relationships of humility, trust and submission- Be willing to submit to the advice and counsel of other people. Don’t be a know it all
3. Being courageous enough to make choices based on the truth- Do the right thing regardless of how we feel
4. Experiencing the power of love with grace- Don’t let your feelings of hurt or anger control your actions
5. Reclaiming Gods promises even if I have to wait- Be patient. God will come through.
6. Asking questions, wrestling with doubt and embracing hope. God encourages questions and doubts from a honest and seeking heart.

7. Seeing God as He is and believing that he is working behind the scenes. Romans 8:28
We know that all things work together for the good to those who love God and to those called according to His purpose.
A good verse to have memorized.

8. Rediscovering Gods ideal and allowing him to write a vibrant new script to your life. God is the God of second chances (also third, forth, fifth etc. chances)
9. Awakening to our calling as God’s new prophets to the church. Let God speak through you even if/when you are hurt by a church.

Justice, Human Rights and Kingdom Mission

I have just finished reading the book “On the Side of the Angels” by Dr. Joseph D’Souza and Benedict Rogers, a book that deals with Justice, Human Rights and Kingdom Mission.
They begin by emphasizing that the basic human right for everyone is the right to life. Without the right to life all others rights are non-existent.

There emphasis is a need not just for social action, giving money, but also standing against the evil in social structures. One of their emphases is that Jesus accepted everyone. That is he treated everyone the same: the sick, elderly, woman, and the disenfranchised.

They suggest that we join with other religions in trying to change evil social structures and even suggest that violence may be a last (though a very last) resort in some situations. They cite Dietrich Bonhoeffer as an example. Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor during WW2, who was eventually killed for his plans to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

There are 2 forms of advocacy: private and public, which include prayer, protest (letter writing and demonstration) and provision.

They conclude with the words of a song that says:

I will speak out for those who have no voices.
I will stand up for the rights of all the oppressed.
I will speak truth and justice.
I’ll defend the poor and the needy
I will lift up the weak in Jesus name.

I will speak out for those who have no choices.
I will cry out for those who live without love.
I will show God’s compassion to the crushed and broken in spirit.
I will lift up the weak in Jesus name.

This book was a good and easy read with a lot of contemporary examples of what others are doing along the line of social advocacy.

2 things came to me as I was reading

1.) I feel social action is limited because of our failure to see it. The adage, ‘out of sight out of mind’ plays a part in this. With all of our technology this should not be a problem. I try to encourage the missionaries that come our way to get a video camera and video the work they are doing and send the video to the churches. That will help them to get a feel for what the missionary is doing and also help in raising the funds for the work that is needed. Real moving pictures of hurting people from people we actually know may have a great impact upon our social action.

2) The devil does not want us to love everyone, and I feel he will use anything to cause us not to accept or love other people. With the crime that is affiliated with our neighborhood, it is easy to become cynical and even fearful of those we meet. Personally I do not want to know and encourage others not to tell me who the drug dealers and users are, who the sexual predators are (or have been), who the ones are that are causing trouble. That knowledge does no good other than to tempt us not to love or accept certain people.

To be like Jesus we must love those who are dirty, sick, retired, those who have no jobs and aren’t interested in finding a job, the teens that walk our streets, the druggies, the drunks and any other than may seem to be obnoxious to us. Anything less is most unlike Christ.

Give a Gift of Death

Planned Parenthood is selling gift certificates this Christmas that can be used for abortions...
God Help Us.

http://www.lifenews.com/state3669.html

SKA ANYONE

One of my favorite local bands, Send Out Scuds, who have played here at the church a few times are in the middle of some transitioning and looking to fill some positions. Let's pray that things go well with the band. Their newsletter is as follows

Hey Everyone,Welcome to the Send Out Scuds Newsletter!
We are setting up this newsletter to keep you informed of shows, events within the band and events within the lives of the individual members.
There has been some recent changes in the Send Out Scuds line up. We are in the process of looking for a new trombone player, sax player (preferably tenor sax) and possibly a singer.
For those of you who are curious as to why we have had this change it has been agreed that this small split is for the best. Some members are interested in pursuing different styles of music. We are all still really good friends and will continue helping them with new projects.
If you are interested in filling one of these positions or know someone that would be please contact us at:
sendoutscuds@gmail.com ***Serious replies only, please
This is a ministry and if you have a willing desire to serve God, please contact us and we will set up an audition.
Thank you all for everything and please pray for us during this transition.
At this time we aren't going to be playing any shows until these positions have been filled. In the mean time we will be writing new music and working on the new album that we will be releasing on Blood and Ink Records. We hopefully will hit the studio as soon as possible. We also will be getting a new myspace up in the next few weeks. You will be able to order our merch through a special webstore and use some cool new banners! FireOutside Media has done a great job on all of our shirt designs, stickers and more! You should check out all the other things they have done!
Please keep checking back for updates on www.myspace.com/sendoutscuds or just send us an email and we will be glad to answer!
Thank you again for all your love and support!
-Jeremy, Kim, Brennen, Dustin, Josh and Josh

Since we have been talking about faith and culture in our Wed. night services and how to reach our surrounding culture. I thought this blog by Fred Peatros fit well.

Beta Church Embraces Third-Place Communities

Being earthed in today’s culture and realities is about being connected and not separated, inclusive and not exclusive, being aware and not ignorant to issues our culture is facing. It invokes God’s people to learn again what it means to be salt and light.

A former Southern Baptist preacher, dismayed at failed attempts to establish a thriving new church, set up a retro shoe store. It soon became a popular establishment among the varied community of gay couples, artist, and aging hippies. The former preacher simply allows his ability to collect and sell shoes help him establish meaningful relationships. As a preacher turned spiritual explorer all his time is now spent with non-Christians (the people Jesus misses). This is his church, firmly rooted in the realities of the 21st century.

More and more of Jesus’ apprentices are beginning to see church this way, not a physical place to attend every Sunday, but a network of relationships and groupings that enable God’s people to build genuine community within its host culture while following Jesus. It’s a more informal, fluid approach to church that builds on interest and relationship networks already in existence. One anticipated fear of such a church model is that there will no longer be definable physical space around which to be church....
Whatever church model evolves, God’s people must find alternative ways of walking to the beat of God’s kingdom while connecting with God’s world. It can’t be about polarized, separate communities. It’s about reconnecting with the freedom Jesus gave us to go out into the world with his good news and to stop getting all worn out with building churches and programs.

Quotes regarding the Church

Attraction to the Christian life occurs when one can see a concrete community of people living out salvation, living reconciled and hopeful lives in the midst of a violent world. Rarely are people converted by well-argued theories.

People are usually converted to a new way of living by getting to know people who live that way and thus being able to see themselves living that way too. This is the way God’s revolution works. The church is meant to be that community of people who make salvation visible for the rest of the world. Salvation is not a property of isolated individuals, but is only made visible in mutual love. (”The Church as God’s Body Language”)

Book Review "Me-Ville"

“Deliver Us From Me-Ville” a book by David A. Zimmerman is a book that I will have to read a second time. He says a lot of good things that need to be re-read, thought and prayed about.

The book is about our self-absorption. The writer likes the word superbia which is the Latin word for pride or an inordinate sense of self regard. The book is about ‘escape routes’ for this sense of pride and its subtleties in our life. As the writer says, “Our way out of ourselves will involve Jesus coming to us and displacing us.” He says Jesus enables us to go from, ‘me-ville to thee-ville’

He uses Peter as an example of this self- regard and also quotes alot from Bonhoeffer. Both of which fits good with his points.

He also uses another Latin word, agere contra, which means to “act against”. The self seeks that which is most comfortable and we need to fight against it. I am reminded of one of my fellow students at Bible School, when he stood up in chapel and made the announcement that “he and the Holy Spirit have declared war against self.”

The end of each chapter has some questions and exercises for self-examination. And he closes the book with a discussion guide that could be used with a small group or SS class.

Good Post Election Thoughts

Here are some good post election thoughts from David Fitch a pastor near Chicago

www.reclaimingthemission.com

Types of Government

The four types of government compared, using two cows.
SOCIALISM would have you give one of your cows to your neighbor and keep the other. COMMUNISM would insist that you give both cows to the state, and occasionally you might be fortunate enough to get a little milk or butter.
NAZISM would shoot you and take both of your cows.
In a DEMOCRACY you would sell one cow and buy a bull.

Political Thoughts

One of the things about the political candidates that bothers me, along with many of their pundits, is no one seems to really get what I believe is the main economical issue. That is, how can you get those millionaire CEO's to pay their workers a living wage?

John McCain wants to give them tax breaks to start new jobs. But what good is a new job that pays only $7-8.00 per hour. You cant hardly find a affordable place to rent for that much.

Obama wants to increase their taxes and then the government spread the wealth. The problem with that is that the government will end up with the most of it.

I think the solution, at least from past observation, is that we need to unionize. The companies need to bring back unions. I know the unions have their own problems, they are carnal organizations, but the bottom line is it is the only way to force greedy CEO's to give a liveable wage to their employees. With a non union job you can make $7.00 per hour with a union job you can make $20.00 per hour, which would you prefer?

new worship band

Here is a link to hear a new band called Zehnder, who are twin brothers


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osdw6XBQjys

Not the Religious Type

I recently read a book by Dave Schmelzer, a pastor in Boston, titled “Not the Religious Type:Confessions of a Turncoat Atheist.” Schmelzer was an atheist turned Christian.

The book is divided into 4 sections: The Universe, God, Happiness, Welcome to Your Centered-Set Life

In the first section you realize that Schmelzers’ emphasis is not on being a church member or being part of Christianity as a religion, but a concern for following Jesus.
In one story he relates how a Jewish man came to him saying that he was going to die a Jew and there was no need in trying to convert him. But as the man had been attending the church, because of his girl friend, he noticed something that seemed miraculous happening in his life. Where previously he had a terrible problem with anger, it now seemed that his anger had left him. When asking the pastor about it, with emphasis upon not being converted, the pastor asked if it would be alright, without trying to convert him, to say that all the “good things that were happening in his life was because of Jesus?”

The second section deals with the more subjective aspects of our relationship with God. Does God really speak to us? Again the author is trying to focus upon our relationship with God (Jesus) vs. just being religious.

The third section, which I enjoyed the most, dealt with our pursuit of happiness. He references a book by Darrin M. McMahon titled, Happiness a History. In which the author brings out that during the first 100 yrs. after our new republic, Americans had filed more law suits per capita than had ever been seen. That being the result of our right to pursue life, liberty and happiness. Evidently we thought someone, somehow, owed us happiness and we were not getting it. So someone had to pay.
His point here is that following Jesus should bring a sense of happiness (joy) to our lives.

In the final section he emphasizes our need to be heading toward God (Jesus) instead of away from him.

The author summed up the book this way, “I’ve become less interested in ‘objective truth’, if only because it seems to me that the only person who could claim such a thing is God….So we’re living in a time of newfound interest in subjective truth, of truth as we-fallible humans that we are-experience it.”

Following Jesus is not just a belief but a experience. Believe it and enjoy it.

Faith and Culture

We have begun a seris titled "Faith and Culture" on Wednesday nights. The question I want us to think and pray about is, "If no financial or personnel limitations, what is one thing you would do to change the culture of our community?" or "How can we create a new culture?"

tragedy

There was another murder in our small community this past Sunday. The churches here in town needs to work and pray harder to see a turn around. There is no reason that our town could not see a real revival......

Top 10 Manliest Shows

http://newmanmag.com/e-magazine/102208/story1.php

Quote from Bono of U2

Bono speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative talking about the $700 billion bailout.

"It is extraordinary to me that you can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can’t find $25 billion to save 25,000 children who die every day of preventable treatable disease and hunger. That’s mad, that is mad."

Naive Christians

In a fallen world Christians will tend to be naive and gullible. We are lovers of people and some of the characteristics of love is that we "think no evil,...beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. (1Corinthians 13 KJV)

We will assume that the person trying to sell us something is telling us the truth about what they are selling, we assume that they are not trying to cheat us, we assume that the person we are talking to is of high moral character. We will believe the best of that salesman, even when his intentions may be dishonorable. We trust that person, for that is what love does.

With that said many of us have learned the hard way. All people do not necessarily have good intentions and thus they may be out to cheat us. Thus we must take heed to the words of Jesus found in Matthew 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Are Christians naive?

Naive Christians?? In the novel, “The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher”, by Rob Stennett, the main character is a real estat broker by the name of Ryan.

Ryan makes the decision to sell real estate specifically to Christians. One of the reasons being that Christians are naïve.Is this a true assessment of Christians? Are Christians gullible and easy to persuade? My thoughts to come in a day or so.

Why we are in the financial mess we are in

A good article by Ken Blackwell

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/01/addicted-to-debt/

Home Schooling

Since our attempt to start a Christian School here in our neighborhood did not come to fruition, we decided to home school my daughter. This is our first attempt at home school and this first week went fine. We are using curriculum from Alpha and Omega press. (www.aophomeschooling.com) It is totally computerized, easy for dad to figure out and (at least for this first week) enjoyable for my daughter to use.

I will try to keep updated on how things go.

Prayers God Answers

I recently have read, “Six Prayers God Always Answers” by Mark Herringshaw & Jennifer Schuchmann.
Interesting in the fact that the writers make an argument of answered prayers, that there may be some of those prayers that we might not want answered. So the title could have easily been, “some prayers you do not want to pray” or “be careful what you pray for”. Some prayers that we ought to be careful in praying are

1. bargaining prayers-those are the prayers where we make deals with God, “Lord save my childs life and I will serve you.” The problem may be that at times we get more than what we bargained for.
I think of King Hezekiah who became sick and God told him that he was going to die. Hezekiah begged for more time and God granted him his request. But during that extrat time Mannasah was born who became the most wicked king of Israel up to that time.
A bargain that would have been better off not made.

Another prayer that God answers but that we need to be aware is ‘questioning prayers’. The problem with those prayers is that the answer that we sought is not the answer we always get. So then the question goes back to us, What do we do with the answer once we get it?

A third prayer that God answers but we might want to be careful in praying, is the prayer for justice. Do we really want what we deserve? or would we prefer mercy? I am afraid too many times we want justice to be shown toward others and mercy toward ourselves.

3 other type of prayers that the writers mention God always answers are: Desperate prayers, Audacious prayers, prayers of Beauty and Happiness

Great Story

I love this story from the book “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan.

He tells the story of a 14 yr. old girl named Brooke Bronkowski, who started a bible study on her school campus while in junior high. She would save her lunch money to buy bibles for the kids who did not have any. When she was 12 yrs. old she penned these words.

“I’ll live my life to the fullest. I’ll be happy. I’ll brighten up. I will be more joyful than I have ever been. I will been kind to others. I will loosen up. I will tell others about Christ . I will go on adventures and change the world. I will be bold and not change who I really am. I will have no troubles but instead I will help others with their troubles.

You see, I’ll be one of those people who live to be history makers at a young age. Oh, I’ll have moments, good and bad, but I’ll wipe away the bad and only remember the good. In fact that’s all I remember, just good moments, nothing in between, just living my life to it’s fullest. I’ll be one of those people who goes somewhere with a mission, an awesome plan, a world changing plan, and nothing will hold me back. I’ll set an example for others, I will pray for direction.

I have my life before me. I will give others the joy I have and God will give me more joy. I will do everything God tells me to do. I will follow the footsteps of God. I will do my best!!”

While a freshman in high school, at the age of 14, she was killed in an automobile accident.
Aprox. 1,500 people showed up for the memorial service in which all spoke of her example and joy. Many read poems that she had written about her love for God. The gospel invitation was given and over 200 kids came forward to give their lives to Christ. Afterward the ushers passed out bibles that Brooke had bought to share with her unsaved friends.

The question I ask myself is, what kind of influence am I having on those around me?

Sad Story

What legacy are we leaving our children and grandchildren? When we die what is it that our children and grandchildren will remember about us?

The following is a legitimate obituary published by a paper in San Fransico. Before publishing the obituary the paper wanted to see the death certificate, to be sure that this was not just some sort of joke.

SFist: R.I.P., Dolores Aguilar

jobs with high prestige

Results of the annual Harris Poll that measures the public's perceptions of 23 different professions and occupations indicates that the profession of clergy ranks in the top 10 most prestigious occupations.

Of the 1,010 U.S. adults who were interviewed in July of this year, 40 percent said that the role of Priest/Minister/Clergy had "very great prestige." The top ten occupations ranked by perception of very high prestige were:

Firefighter: 57%
Scientist: 56%
Doctor: 53%
Nurse: 52%
Teacher: 52%
Military Officer: 46%
Police Officer: 46%
Farmer: 41%
Minister/Clergy: 40%
Engineer: 40%

Of the 23 professions that were ranked, Banker, Stockbroker and Real Estate Agent took the bottom three spots, with only six percent of respondents saying that Real Estate Agent was an occupation with "very great prestige." It's also interesting to note that, according to the Harris Poll in 1977, the occupation of Clergy was seen as having "very great prestige" by 41 percent of those who were questioned. That number rose to 46 percent in 1998 and dropped to 32 percent in 2004.
For the complete report, visit http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/ and search under the listing of the 2008 polls.

scary story

sometimes I read short stories or illustrations that literally scare me when I think of all its implications....Here is such a story


There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She told her boyfriend, 'If I could only see the world, I will marry you."One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend.He asked her,'Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?'
The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him. Her boyfriend left in tears and days later wrote a note to her saying: 'Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.'

When they will not come

Taken from the blog www.reclaimingthemission.com

When They Will Not Come
Monday, August 04, 2008
A lot of my interaction with students, pastors and church planters is over the issues of post-Christendom and the revolutionary change required of us who seek to engage those outside Christ with the gospel. It truly is stunning to recognize how things have changed in this country over the last fifty years. Over and over again I hear the stories of churches and the lament "all we're doing is shuffling discontented believers from one form of church to another." Or I hear "another mega church has moved into the area and emptied out three traditional local churches." It's post Christendom and we're competing for customers.For those who refuse to enter this ugly frey, we are left to plant churches and think about the Christian life in a different way.

There simply are not a ready made group of people out there ready to join your church-plant in just a few months of your beginning (hallelujah). Salvations don't just fall out of trees (read here for my case on this) and disciples take several years to grow. There are no simple techniques or boot camps. I'm ok with this. For indeed church planting now has to be life on life - sustainable over many years.This is the situation of "when they will not come." It is church planting, church pastoring and church life as it is after the "attractional" nature of the church has disappeared. Now all we have left is "us."Church in post-Christendom therefore is nothing less than a chosen way of life. It is choosing a way of being together. This way of being together encompasses how we worship, how we share and eat food, how we pool together resourses to help the poor, how we get together and hear Scriptures read and teach our children how to listen for God in that. Forgiveness, patience, care, speaking truth in love, is part of this way of being together. In this way of living, career and making money is more about taking care of one another and giving glory to God than personal aspiration. And God inhabits this way of being so that miracles, blessings, sustaining times in life and death become a part of everyday life. Mission becomes our rhythym.

When those outside of Christ will not come to our church services no matter how professional they might be, when they will not come to our special out reach events, when they will not come for Sunday school for their kids, or movie night or whatever other crazy fanagled way we dream up to get people into our church, then we must somehow rethink the orientation of just about everything we do in church. This would include worship, community and fellowship, discipleship, preaching (part of worship), children's ministries, leadership, evangelism, justice and of course church-planting.....

Book Review

Book Review of "HOLY FOOLS" By Mathew Woodley

As I began to read I was thinking that this book would have been an introduction of some of the early Christians that were called ‘desert fathers and mothers’. It was more of how studying the desert fathers have affected the author. The author then goes through a list of ‘spiritual disciplines’ that were practiced by the fathers that he himself has tried to put into practice.
The 4 main sections of the book are 1.) Awakening to a Life of Compassion 2) Awakening to a Life of Vulnerability 3) Awakening to a Life of Discipline 4) Awakening to a Life of Spiritual Passion. Each section has either 2 or 3 chapters.

A few of the points the writer brought out that I thought were beneficial were:
-When having a party we should invite those who would normally not be invited. Those who are on the outskirts of society.

- In one chapter he talks about repentance and says this, “The point of repentance isn’t just to make us feel bad; it infuses us with hope and desire, specifically the hope and desire that God can change us, that God’s mercy is available to us, that every breath we take is a gift from a merciful God” p.67
That thought gives a positive aspect to repentance instead of the negative tone that we usually associate with the idea of repenting.

-He stated that the desert fathers emphasized a balanced approach to practicing spiritual disciplines. Noting that not every spiritual ‘program’ fits every human being. p.183

Though there were some good things said I believe I would have enjoyed the book more if it had been an introduction to the desert fathers themselves. I am not sure that another book on the spiritual disciplines is necessary, when there are quite a few others out there that are better than this one.
One thing that bothered me was the seemingly shallowness of some of the examples the writer gave in trying to imitate the desert fathers from a suburban landscape. One such example was that he equated waiting in line at a fast food restaurant equivalent to living in the harsh realities of the desert. Though waiting in line may be a good test of our patience it hardly equates with leaving suburbia and heading off to live in the desert. A book that I would recommend to this author would be “Death by Suburb” by David Goetz.

I would give this book 2 ½ stars.

photography

My nephew is into photography and takes some really nice pictures...check out his website at

www.bblovephotos.com

what is a real meal?

What's a Real Meal?
A Real Meal isn't a thing – it's a person.

It isn't food that perishes. It is “soul food.” It is free, but it costs you everything. It doesn't fill you up; it makes you hungrier. It makes you want more; it brings you back again and again. But rather than drawing you back alone, it calls you to bring others. A Real Meal is best experienced in community – a community that lives for a purpose greater than its own survival. A community whose fuel is the Real Meal and whose purpose is inviting others to the Real Meal.

Who is the Real Meal? Jesus Christ is the Real Meal. In John's report of Jesus' ministry, he records Jesus saying these words in John 6:35 “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

from www.realmealministries.org

cook out and concert

Wednesday, July 2, at the church we will be holding a community cook out and concert. The cook out will begin at 6:00 with the concert starting at 7:00.
The band will be the kids band "affinity". (with my daughter Adrienne the one doing the vocals. I just had to add that :))

You can check them out at www.myspace.com/affinityfl

The economy

While many of us are feeling the pinch of rising prices, some of us are trying to make a difference....by building a hydrogen type of contraption that will increase gas mileage....and building another type of contraption that will save on heating our water.
I will let you know how things go as we progress. If we start saving gas we will share the information and know how to our community here in Intercession City.
Pray for our efforts

For us baby boomers

http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-walt-babyboomers-blurb,0,1036393.blurb

Two Thoughtsfrom Leonard Sweet

Street evangelism. Think about a typical street evangelist on a soapbox, with some kind of megaphone and he's handing out tracts. Wesley and some early Methodists in the late 18th, early 19th century invented street evangelism and they would attract these huge crowds; people were getting converted and there were these huge revivals! We do it today and it drives people away! It's not turning people to Christ, it's driving them away from Christ. Why? It's the wussification of the church, and the wussification of the church's mind and mission.

In the 1790's, a book was equivalent to one month's salary, so people didn't have books. And they didn't have literature in their homes. So pamphlets and tracts were the cutting edge hardware of the 18th century. Literally, a book is one month's salary, and you're on a street evangelism team giving out books and tracts and pamphlets. Well, hello! In the 1990's the computer was equivalent to one month's salary! And here we are still giving out tracts, which our ancestor's did, but if we were doing what they did, we'd be standing on street corners passing out Palm Pilots, PCs. You want to talk about crowds that would wait in line and listen to what we have to say?

Now, of course, that hardware would have to come with spiritual software. The early street evangelists just didn't have pamphlets, they had chapters from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, or Fox's Book of Martyrs, or Thomas A Kempis' Imitation of Christ. So you just don't pass out Palm Pilots, you put Bible software on them, if you're passing out PCs, you put the whole Scriptures in there! We're such wusses! We're still passing out tracts. I mean, in the men's room they put tracts on the urinals. And this is evangelism?! Who's gonna pick it up? It's the wussification of the church's mind and mission, and it's embarrassing. Let's do for our day what our ancestors did for their day - is that too much to ask?

quote

In the words of Dorothy Sayers: "To do them justice, the people who crucified Jesus did not do so because he was a bore. Quite the contrary; he was too dynamic to be safe. It is has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have declawed the Lion of Judah and made him a housecat for pale priests and pious old ladies."

RiceBowls.org

We have collected our rice bowls that we have been filling up with change over the last 6 weeks. The total was around $313.00 we thank everyone who collected. The money will be sent to
ricebowls.org to help feed orphan kids in Africa, India and Haiti.

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"Christianity is the story of how the rightful King has landed, you might say in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in His great campaign of sabotage." --C.S. Lewis

The Paradox of Free Will

The Paradox of Free Will By Keith Giles

As human beings we strive to understand the world we live in. I believe our Creator built into us a healthy level of curiosity which compels us to seek answers and strive for knowledge. Our inquisitive nature is a large part of what makes us human.

However, there are some things we cannot fully know or understand, particularly when it comes to God Himself. In these instances the best we can do is to accept what He has revealed to us about His nature and leave it alone. We cannot fully comprehend a being who has no beginning, or imagine an entity with no boundary or limit. In those areas where our ability to comprehend is challenged we simply have to take some things on faith, whether we understand them or not. In fact, we have to accept these truths as being true even though we know we are currently incapable of understanding at all.

Whenever we encounter an aspect of God's character which defies the bounds of our reason we call this a paradox because it involves one or more seemingly contradictory conditions at work.

This phenomenon isn't limited to the spiritual realm, by the way. In the world of observable science we encounter several examples of seemingly contradictory facts and conditions which we must simply accept as being true whether or not we can understand or explain them in common terms.

One such example is the nature of light. Scientists who were attempting to determine the nature of light tried several experiments with the smallest unit of light (a single photon) in order to answer the riddle of whether or not light was a wave (a frequency within a spectrum) or a particle (made up of many photon-bits).

Their experiment proved that light was a wave. It also proved that light was a particle. Depending on the experiment they performed and the conditions of the test, they got both answers. This lead to the new idea that somehow light was actually a wavicle (part particle, part wave). Of course, no one has a real definition of the properties of a wavicle, and other than light (apparently) nothing else exhibits these qualities or conditions. Yet, we all still believe that light exists and scientists still continue to talk about light and to manipulate it even though they still have absolutely no idea what it really is.

I share all of that with you so that my next section won't sound like convenient wordplay. There really are elements within our known sphere of understanding which are beyond our comprehension and classification. Paradoxes are common. They are not evidence of some faulty bit of logic or a failure of the mind to connect the dots.

In Christian theology we must become comfortable alongside some paradoxes such as the Trinity (Christ, the Spirit and the Father are all referred to as the One God, and yet they are not each other, nor are they three Gods, but the One). We cannot understand how this can be so, but we must accept the nature of God as He has revealed Himself to us through His Word and declare that, somehow, someway, even though we are powerless to understand or define or comprehend it, God is a being beyond our complete understanding. His very nature defies our limited capacity for apprehending Him. We can only accept what we know by faith.

Alister E. McGrath has a wonderful way of communicating this ineffable quality of God's nature by demonstrating that none of us, using mere language, could ever describe to someone who had never tasted coffee exactly what it tasted like. Unless they were to taste coffee for themselves, the conversation would be endless and our descriptions useless. However, once we have both tasted coffee we can talk all day about it and both us will have a common ground to understand what the other is saying, but our inability to explain the exact quality of the flavor of coffee using human language will remain outside our feeble grasp.

One of the oldest, and most bitter and brutal debates that has divided Christendom since around 400 AD is the one surrounding the doctrines of free will and predestination.

On one side we have the Calvinists who represent the predestination side, and the Arminians who represent the side of free will.

Without going into a lot of detail about the history and the various nuances of each side and their arguments regarding the best way to believe on this issue, let me make things very simple. Those on the side of predestination feel that for God to know the end before the beginning, His sovereignty must be greater than our frail human will and therefore God has already determined, before the beginning of time, who will be saved and who will not.

Those on the side of free will, the Arminians, feel that God cannot decide beforehand to create beings whom He knows are destined for an eternal hell, and therefore are convinced that man ultimately must decide for him or herself whether or not to accept the free gift of salvation. Both sides offer copious amounts of Biblical text to support their view. To be sure, the Scriptures contain very plain and direct language to support the theory that God knows the end from the beginning and even that God "predestined those He foreknew" (Romans 8: 28). However, there are just as many scriptures to support the idea that God allows mankind the freedom to choose for themselves whether or not to follow Him and to love Him. We know that God does not create robots who are hardwired to love Him any more than He creates beings for the purpose of destroying them.

Both doctrines are Biblical. Both doctrines seem to contradict one another. We cannot possibly see how one could be true if the other were also true. This leaves us with a conundrum of sorts, or a paradox. Somehow God is able to see into the future and to know, in advance, the outcome of our choices which are based on free will.

However, because God knows in advance what you and I will freely choose to do, it does not necessarily follow that His foreknowledge of our choice is what caused us to make this choice. For example, if I am watching someone from a distance and I know what they are about to do, I am not held accountable for their actions when they carry out the action I predicted.

So, does God know in advance who will choose to follow Him? Yes, he most certainly does. The scriptures support this and we should embrace this truth. But, does the Bible also teach us that we are accountable to God for our own decisions and actions? Yes, it most certainly does. We alone are the ones who must choose to accept or reject the love of God that has been offered to us. The scriptures teach us this and we should embrace this truth as well.

This is a paradox, like many other paradoxes of faith, where we are called upon to exercise our faith in God and take Him at His Word. For those Calvinists who argue that the doctrine of Free Will encroaches upon the sovereignty of God I would point out that there are many doctrines where God limits Himself for our benefit. For example, God is omniscient (knowing all things), but we also know that, for our sake, He willfully forgets our sins once they are forgiven. He surrenders His infinite knowledge of all things for our sake and tosses our sins into the sea of forgetfulness. Why would we be surprised that, in order to preserve our freedom of choice, God might surrender His power of sovereignty?

For those Arminians who argue that God's foreknowledge of an event determines the outcome, let me point out that knowing something will happen is not the same as making that event turn out a certain way. As this is a subject where the scripture is less than crystal clear, where those on both sides of the issue have ample scriptural evidence for their position, let us agree that this is not something we should divide over.

"God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election, predestination and the divine sovereignty. The best and safest way to deal with these truths is to raise our eyes to God and in deepest reverence say, Oh Lord Thou knowest. Those things belong to the deep and mysterious Profound of God's omniscience. Prying into them may make theologians, but it will never make saints." – A.W. Tozer

Our love for one another, as brothers and sisters in Christ, should never suffer due to our petty disagreements. Nor should we ever allow differences of opinion over the doctrines of baptism, or the end times, or the way we worship, or speaking in tongues, or what have you, to separate us from one another. We are the Family of God and we are called to love one another, in fact, we've been commanded to love one another. It is not optional for us.

In His Grip, Keith Giles http://www.keithgiles.com

Taken from "Subversive Underground"

Seeking God?

I seek God in beautiful wealthy countries; God seeks me in unattractive poor countries.
I seek God in noisy downtown cities; God seeks me in quiet old forests.
I seek God in big famous cathedrals; God seeks me in small unknown churches.
I seek God in rich families; God seeks me in penniless families.
I seek God in genius persons; God seeks me in humble persons.
I seek God in attractive young persons; God seeks me in neglected old adults.
I seek God in potentate adult; God seeks me in powerless babies.
Days after days; months after months; years after years;Seeking God all my life, I am getting extremely tired without meeting Him.
God and I have kept seeking each other for ever if I kept seeking Him as I did.Wait a minute … If I seek Him where He seeks me, I will meet Him soon.Where???
In poor countries, penniless families, humble persons, neglected old adults, powerless babies, etc.O God! I must live sacrifice to be with them.Jesus said,
“Whatsoever U do to the least of my people, you do it to me.

The worst part of all is that no one noticed.
That's what happened when the DJ on a small independent radio station in Britain spent an hour talking on his breakfast show without pressing the button to make his show live.
As a result, listeners could not hear him.Andy Greener is a volunteer DJ at Radio Teesdale. Instead of his show, listeners heard 60 minutes of music and jingles as an automated back-up system kicked in to prevent radio silence, according to a BBC news story.
The station manager, listening at home, tried to call in, but Andy was too busy talking – to no one in particular – to answer the phone for quite some time. Eventually he got through and Greener began broadcasting again.

Talking while no one is listening? Preachers can sympathize.

Good or Bad?

For the first time in U.S. history, more than one of every 100 adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report documenting America's rank as the world's No. 1 incarcerator.

Missionary Speaker

Crystal Williams a young lady who is planning on going to Bosnia as a missionary will be with us on Sunday morning March 16. 10:30am

Ricebowls.org

We will be passing out our plastic rice bowls this Sunday, to collect our loose change in. The money is used to feed orphans. You can check out this organization at ricebowls.org
If you would like a bowl to help in this endeavor let one of us at the church know. We will be collecting funds up through the end of March

It would be great if we could collect $600.00 dollars!!

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I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. –Mohandas K Gandhi


"If Jesus saw what is going on in his name he'd puke."
Woody Allen

homeless

channel 6 recently did a seris on homelessness in central florida. The news video can be seen at

http://www.local6.com/news/15102052/detail.html

Childrens Hope Chest

Tom Davis operates this group that works with orphans...I am reading his book "Red Letters".
He is presently on a trip to Swaziland. This is a letter from his trip. Read it and have your heart broken


Happy New Year from Swaziland! We've been here for about a week now and this is some of the hottest weather I've ever experienced. It's snowing in Colorado, but over 100 degrees here in the southern hemisphere where it is summertime. I'm trekking through Swaziland with 25 people from all over the U.S. and Canada. God is moving in their hearts, and it looks like at least two more carepoints will get sponsored.

On this trip, I saw Jesus suffering in the eyes of an orphan named Nothando living in extreme poverty. She's also malnourished, uneducated, and has little hope of a future. Then, I saw the face of Christ in a man who is dying of AIDS. He cannot get up and lives in a 4 foot by 4 foot shack with nothing to eat - just waiting to die. It broke my heart.

Part of our tean visited eight orphans living all alone: no food, no water, and little hope. Two of these orphans are crippled and sit in the dirt all day. The widow who was taking care of them just passed away two weeks ago, now it's just the children.
The needs of Swaziland are so many. The pastor who preached on Sunday morning entitled his sermon, "We are dying like flies." They are. It would be hard for me to believe if I wasn't here and seeing it with my own eyes.
The hope here comes in the form of the faith you see in the people. The pastors, like Pastor Walter and Pastor Sam, who are being Christ to these orphans and widows. They are planting churches in places everyone else refuses to go. They take food to the hungry, everyday and as church they do home visitations to the dying as a congregation on Sunday mornings before service begins. Amazing people who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Please pray for us. The ministry here is heart breaking, but our presence here is important and needed. God is doing great things in the midst of the poor in this country. Thanks for your love and prayers. Internet is bad here, but I'm updating my blog when I can (www.cthomasdavis.com).

Thanks,

Tom Davis
President of Children's HopeChest

Next Week is Sanctity of Human Life week. It is recognized as the infamous 'Roe v. Wade' Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. One of many good websites is
www.beavoice.net

2007 Book Recommendation

Here are a couple of the books I read this past year that I would highly recommend

"The Forgotten Ways" Alan Hirsch- calling the church back to what it should be

"Surfing the Edge of Chaos" Richard Pascal - a book on leadership. Being balanced (equalibrium)is not a option but a sign of death

"Lexus and the Olive Tree" Thomas Friedman this book is a few years old His new one "The World is Flat" I believe covers some of the same material which I have yet to read. This book deals with globalization

"Jesus Secret Message" Brian Mclaren. That message is not the church but the Kingdom of God. Good read I have just started his new book "Everything Must Change"