Thursday, May 31, 2012

Scatter Shooting - 5/31

How to Discipline without Provoking Your Children

There is a fine line in discipling your children between running a tight ship and provoking your children.  I found this article extremly insightful.

Kyrie Irving - Old School Baller Pepsi Commercial

This old man has a sick crossover!

Audio Books for the Road

Justin Taylor has a great list of audio books for the kids on road trips over at his blog Between Two Worlds.  I personally listened to the audio book on Dietrich Bonhoeffer when I was a junior in college and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Why Are So Many Men Addicted to Internet Porn and Video Games

Russell Moore, the Dean of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has a very insighful article over on the Desiring God website about why men are addicted to internet porn and video games.  In short, it is because "pornography promises orgasm without intimacy. Video warfare promises adrenaline without danger. The arousal that makes these so attractive is ultimately spiritual to the core." 

Eternity scale

"As a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love" (Ephesians 4:1-2)

"live a life" (peripateō) - to conduct ones life
"calling" (klēsis) - station in life

My church back home has been doing a series on comparison. The more I hear about comparison the more I realize that "comparison kills contentment"(not my phrase, heard it somewhere). So where do we get our value? I know the quick and easy answer to that is "from our heavenly Father," and I can speak "Christianese" with the best of em as well. But when we really sit back and look at our lives, what are we measuring ourselves by? What if Michael Jordan would have only tried to be the best basketball player on his team? Well he would have shortchanged himself because when he becomes the best on his team and then stops working as hard as he can then what? He doesn't reach his full potential because his scale was off. So I'll ask it again, what are we measuring ourselves by? Well... Paul says that we should "live a life worthy of the calling you have received." So that means we shouldn't look around and gauge our successes and failures by whats going on around us but on the "eternity scale."

For me when I put highs and lows into the scope of eternity it has a way of making things shrink. And Paul isn't simply asking this, but he is urging us to do this. But he doesn't just stop there he spells it out for us, "be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love." I think its perfect how the first thing he speaks of is humility. We all know that the more we care about our world the smaller and less important everyone else's world seems to get. Gentleness is next and is not to be confused with weakness, it is just another form of humility. And the last two thoughts in the verse are patience and love, which for me always seem to go together. The longer we spend on something or with something the more we appreciate it. I like the translation of "bear with" and "in love". We need to bear with each other with love, because the "with love" part makes it a lot more complex for me. I can bear with someone while I'm giving them a hard time in my head, but no thats not what we are called to. We are called to a higher standard than that. Its easy to hang out and spend all our time with the people that we enjoy, but lets get out of that cycle.  Lets live worthy of the calling we have received and not by our power but allowing the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us.

- Andrew Kown

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Great worship songs.

Band: United Pursuit Songs: Running in Circles, Story of Grace. Band: Jesus Culture Song: He is faithful.

John Piper - Homosexuality: Bullying and Suicide

I'm not a pro at sharing Youtube videos so bare with me. I'm 95% sure that the link below will get you to where you need to be to view this great John Piper clip. If your time is short fast forward to 15:20 and view from there, John addresses a very interesting topic from two perspectives. Thanks for your patience...

- Ben Julianel






Thursday, May 24, 2012

New baby

Well on Monday May 21st, at 3:20p.m. my son Knox Lage Kown was born. He weighs
7lbs 13 oz and is 21 inches long. Dawn, my wife, is completely healthy and we are getting accustomed to our new pace of life. It was the most unbelievable experience of my life.

Oddly enough one of my first thoughts once I saw that both mommy and baby were healthy was that I am supposed to love Jesus more than I supposed to love my son Knox. Well I'll let you know how that goes over the next week or so Ha.

There will be more to follow.

Andrew Kown

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The Disadvantages of a Plan B

Sure; a "Plan B" is a smart thing to do, it shows that you are a prepared person who has thought out many scenarios. Having a "Plan B" shows that you're a realist and not a dreamer. The idea of having a "Plan B" in your back pocket is American, its a common token of advice. I would not say having a backup plan is a bad idea however let me tell you the possible danger of a "Plan B".

Matthew 13:23 "But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the Word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit an produces some a hundredfold..."

Sometimes dreams are "Plan A", they are the thing that we shoot for, go big for, an opportunity where we step out in faith and try to make it happen. Chasing down a dream (when really taken on as an effort) causes people to get outside their comfort zone and grow as a person. It is in those moments that many great attributes are formed and or realized. When we embark on these quests we leap out in faith and are forced to think on our feet and react to scenarios that we ultimately learn a great deal from. I feel that in these uncomfortable moments our hearts can be like fertile soil (hence the above scripture) where the Lord can plant and water seeds of goodness (hard work, perseverance, loyalty, courage, faith, love, passion, etc...). More importantly we are met with opportunities where we can't do it alone and we are in need of intervention from a divine third party. We are forced to make a choice on whether this effort is really worth it and what we want to do with our lives. The question rises in your brain "are you all in?" and you have to make a decision, there is no more toeing the line. What do you do? Your whole world is in the balance of this decision, things will never be the same... We hit our knees and pray and PAUSE! Right there at that moment we either experience God in a new way or we turn and run for safety, a worldly safety.

Here is my story:
My dream was to play a professional sport, I chose baseball or maybe it chose me. During my 9 years people were constantly asking me "how long are you going to do this for", "when are you going to get a real job?". Those questions made me feel like I was being a reckless dreamer so I decided to finish my bachelors degree and when that was over I moved on to a master's degree, all because I wanted to have a "Plan B" for other people. I knew I could play ball for as long as I could throw however this "Plan B" made me feel safe at night when the demons crept out of my closet. You know the demons that talk to you after you just had a bad game and tell you "you're career is over so get prepared buddy". So I reflect on my opportunity and how my heart was so fertile in my playing days, I was really on the anvil (so to speak). I was in a such a place of uncertainty that I had to come to the Lord daily for strength. It was scary but I loved it, He would show up in so many conversations and scenarios, it's crazy to look back and see how much He loved on me. All the bible studies with teammates, the nights on my knees in tears, the workouts and games where I did something I didn't know I was capable of, and the all the great men who discipled me in those days. Life is different now, so many more distractions, its more difficult to find that intimate time with Him. No regrets but if I could throw a letter to my brothers who are still in the game it would say this... Go all in, God has a "Plan B", don't entertain any thoughts that suggest that you're not a ball player. Be 100% ball player and have faith in your opportunity to live your desire/dream. If you think about "Plan B" you will become your "Plan B" soon enough. As God's humor has it I fully prepared for a "Plan B" with degrees and a beefy resume that has zero application to my current business (career). God is your "Plan B" so live your dreams with tremendous faith and trust Him to be all you need in and out of the game.

God please send this message out to the men and women who need this encouragement and please make it about You and not about me. My ego gets in the way and wants to brag about things that I can't take any credit for. Lord we need You and we are humbled that you consider to use us for Your glory. Amen!

P.S. I'm not saying a plan b is bad, I'm saying it can be distracting if you never go all in.

Jules

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Duck Dynasty

I wanted to take some time today to share with everyone an article I found on Phil Robertson. He started the multimillion dollar company, Duck Commander and is one of the stars on my favorite television show, Duck Dynasty. The show is just wrapping up its first season and has become a hit with most everyone I've talked to about the show. New episodes of Duck Dynasty air every Wednesday night at 10:00 p.m. EST on A&E. Whether you like the show or not the following article on Phil Robertson is worth reading. From being a former quarterback over Terry Bradshaw to starting a multimillion dollar company this man of God who lives his faith out loud has a very interesting story. Hope you enjoy.

http://www.christianchronicle.org/article2158637~He_walks_like_a_Christian,_calls_like_a_duck

With peace,

Terry Evans

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Josh Hamilton's Journey with Christ

Great little post over at Desiring God on Josh Hamilton and the means of grace.

BUBC

I would like to take this time to shamelessly promote something that a good friend of mine and I have been working on since this offseason. Wes Hodges and I attended the PAO (Professional Athletes Outreach) conference this offseason in December down in Orlando (For more info visit www.pao.org). The conference was unreal and needless to say some life change happened as a result of the conference. I won't go into detail as to what all happened because I don't want to steal Wes' thunder but it was significant. Wes and I had the opportunity at the end of the conference to ride back to Atlanta together because we were running a baseball clinic the next day. During that drive back we were trying our best to verbalize the intense feelings that we had just experienced. As we were bouncing ideas and thoughts off of each other a phrase come up that had been mentioned by Braden Looper who was in the small group that I was in. We went to these small groups after the messages to talk about what we had just heard and grow with other men. The phrase that Braden mentioned was "be uncomfortable being comfortable and be comfortable being uncomfortable." I knew immediately when Braden said that that was a phrase that was going to stay with me for a long time, but at that moment I did not know in what capacity. So now back to the car ride, Wes and I began talking about doing something to "keep the momentum going" (as Wes says). So somehow we stumbled on the idea of making a shirt and selling those shirts and then that money would go to charity. So the idea was born. I could go on and on about all the little things that happened during the potential launch of this shirt and the countless witnessing opportunities, but I won't right now. Needless to say its been a very interesting process and great to be a part of. So..... Heres the deal. We are selling the shirts and all the money (once we make some) goes to www.honoringthefather.com. This is the ministry that Braden is involved in. If you are interested you can reply to this post or email me and we will get you a shirt. FYI the shirts are made out of workout clothes material. Thanks for reading.

- Andrew Kown (Andrewkown@yahoo.com)

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Glorify God in Body and Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:20 
"For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and spirit, which are God's."

The verse says to Glorify God not just with your body but also in your spirit. What does that look like for you?

Monday, May 14, 2012

Tough Question

I was talking with a good friend and teammate of mine during our game on Saturday, and we started discussing a very difficult question. I thought it was worth sharing, and I want to attempt to provide an answer that is in harmony with what we know about God.

Q: There are so many genuine, good people in the world that do so many good and charitable things that it is hard to believe that a loving God could not accept them just because they don't follow Jesus?

I'll attempt to provide an answer by asking another question. I agree that there are many great people in this world that exemplify what it means to love your neighbor much better than many people who claim to follow Jesus. They do so many loving and great things for their fellow man that if there was a popular vote among their peers on whether or not they should go to heaven, they would certainly unanimously be voted in. However, I think we all know that our eternal destination is not decided by a popular vote (I know of no theory or doctrine ever proclaiming such). God is the one who decides. It is Jesus who will judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1).

With that being said, lets think about this on a more personal level. Suppose I was guilty of a certain crime and the punishment was an excruciating painful death. However, you (the reader) decided that you would take my place and experience this excruciating death in order that I may live. After doing this, I decide to go on living my life without ever expressing any gratitude or acknowledgment of what you did for me. I live a long healthy life but now as death confronts me, it is your vote that determines my destination. Are you now to extend even more grace than you already have when you gave up everything and died a selfless undeserving death on my behalf? Why would you?

Now, let me be the first to admit that this example is not a sufficient example to actually explain God's grace and righteous judgement. I am simply trying to make this somewhat relatable on a personal level. We can be a very loving and honorable person while at the same time completely dishonoring the one in our life we should love and honor the most. I would venture to say that you would find my complete disregard and ungratefulness toward someone who selflessly died to save my life completely repulsive and offensive. Do we not do the same thing toward Jesus?

With peace,

Terry  

Sunday, May 13, 2012

The Proposal


"You yourselves can testify that I said 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him'. The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom awaits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegrooms voice. That joy is mine, and now it is complete. He must become greater; I must become less". (John 3:28-30)

I started thinking about the dynamics of the relationship that John the Baptist is describing here. There are many different illustrations that describe our relationship with our Heavenly Father, but I really liked this one. The bride being followers of Jesus, the bridegroom being Jesus, and the friend who attends is here John the Baptist, the best man. The more I went down this trail the more real and alive this relationship became. I applied this to my life to fill in the appropriate roles for my relationship with God, and how the bridegroom proposes to the bride. He chose me!  I proposed to my wife Katie and asked her to marry me. She didn't propose to me! (even though she was putting the Rick Pitino full court press on) I pursued her just like God pursued me. 

John 15:16 says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last". I feel as American believers we get jaded to the idea that He chose us because we grow up for the most part hearing about Jesus and still rejecting Him. Since John the Baptist was the best man for Jesus who prepared the way for Jesus' ministry, I started thinking of the best men in my spiritual wedding with Christ. A lot of emotion came over me reflecting on how Christ proposed to me, and who was standing up at the alter supporting me or helped me get to that point of surrender. I have had several best men in my life who have helped prepare the way for my relationship with Jesus. 

My good friend Andrew and I were discussing this past off-season a similar comparison. Andrew was talking about when you go to the Atlanta Humane Society to adopt a dog how the puppy room is the main attraction. The majority of people who get dogs there get puppies. They're cute, new, you can train them, and they are in good health. I have walked in the other room with the other dogs that are two years or older and nobody is over there. These dogs are old with health conditions, skin diseases, bad hips, and probably  a case of hardenheart worms. These dogs just look like they have had a "RUFF" life. (I may have lost all creditability with that one) Cool thought to think that God adopts those dogs as well, bad hips and all. I definitely wasn't a saint my entire life, and it is still awesome to think how God pursued me bad hip and all much like I pursued my wife Katie.

- Wes Hodges

** Wes is currently playing in the San Francisco Giants organization 

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Whatever...

"Whatever happens conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ" (Philippians 1:27) Enough said.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Jesus is Enough... Write That Down

Why, Lord, do I continue to look at the world as if it is here to serve me. I am only placed on this earth to glorify God's Holy name. Jesus, you are enough. Apart from you I am nothing. Why do I barter with you Lord when I know that you could take everything or give anything that you want. Everything I have you have lent me. Lord please overtake me with your spirit and guide my life and relationships. I think I need to constantly remind myself that you did not create me to fulfill you. I am not the missing piece of you. You have no missing pieces and have no needs. You don't need anything I have, because you already have it! I do not like what Satan is trying to do to me. He is wretched and evil. I know he wants to see me fall. Lord allow me the strength to beat back the darkness. Give me the desire to pursue you. Amen.

I don't know about y'all, but I communicate better with God on paper. Sometimes my prayer life struggles, and I wander off when prayers last more than 30 seconds. My ten cent brain is easily distracted, and i'm sick of it. When I write I feel like i'm really connecting. Has anyone else tried this? I recommend it. What are some other ways you have found that work when fellowshipping with God?

3 THINGS THAT WORK FOR ME (and I wish that number was bigger!) 1. Pray at least once a day without asking for anything (thanks Jules) 2. Write down prayers/conversations with God 3. Have spiritual mentors who can guide you and train you, and that you can ask tough questions. Number 3 is key i think. We should never stop pursuing Christ. Fellowship with brothers is a great way to grow in Christ and have accountability. And remember... Jesus plus nothing is enough. He is all we need. 

-waino

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Remain in HIM

Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, and not for men."

John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

These are two of my favorite verses. I like the first one because it simply states that half hearted doesn't cut it and that our focus should be on God.
I like the second verse because it emphasizes that on our own we can do nothing, but the promise of bearing much fruit if we remain in Him and He in us.

If we "remain in Him" the byproduct of that is bearing fruit because our goal is not to bear fruit but to "remain in Him" and glorify Him. Thats when we are living in the overflow, and just reflecting His glory.

Our best efforts in and of ourselves will return void. So understanding that in all that we do we should work at it with all our heart as working for the Lord and that "our" works are fruitless unless he is the source.

Thoughts?

Andrew

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Recruiting

Have you ever been recruited for anything? Do you remember how it felt to have somebody want you? Do you remember how significant you felt and how it boosted your confidence, making you feel like you had something to offer the world that now was being recognized?

I woke up this morning and popped on a podcast from one of my favorite pastor's and he mentioned the idea that God sometimes woo's us into a state of wondering "what is that?, so we will press in to Him". He has done so many things just with creation alone that make the common human being question their belief about life and existence. God also shows up in many other ways and for believers I think it's often the Holy Spirit. Have you recently felt something in your soul that tickles you with a "wow, that worked out just perfect" or maybe it was this thought, "no way that just happened like that, that can't just be a coincidence". The point I'm making here is that God is a relentless recruiter for His kingdom, He wants you, matter of fact He wants us all very badly and He has paid a tremendous cost for us. How good does that feel? You got a full ride, the wheel barrel and all. The God of the universe wants you on His team! It's not just  any team, this is the dream team, this team is the team that WILL win the ultimate championship. I don't know about you but I'm in, tell me where to sign, tell me how to train so I can have an impact on this team. Maybe more importantly tell me how I can get to know the Coach, learn his game strategy so I can play my role to help the success of this squad. Are you in? I'm in!

Ben

Church Clothes - Lecrae