What's up dudes? me, i'm sittin here watching 300...getting absolutely fired up, and packing for a long season...hopefully longer than most. My topic today is inspired by a Bible study that i'm in right now. I'll will be writing of The Traits of a Legacy Builder and "What does it take to be the Real Deal"? Guys i came up with as examples right out of the shoot were athletes: Smoltz, Peavy, Jordan, Tiger. Then i thought of Godly real deals:Ravi Zacharia, Rick Warren, Billy Graham, and Joe Stowell.
Here are some of the traits of being defined as the REAL DEAL: unselfishness, servanthood, sacrifice. We are called to be unselfish players, and servant leaders on Gods team as well as ours. Real leaders lead the way by going first, by going further, and by giving maximal sacrifice. Just like Leonidas. Well...when you put it that way...guess who defined that best? Jesus Christ. He was the perfect servant leader.
Studs...are we making our teamates the most important on the team or are we making ourselves that way. God has given us an ultimate playbook called the Bible. He has given us a Mentor in Jesus and he has given us teamates and coaches that we can desciple and teach with our walk as Christian servant leaders.
So, sounds good...sounds easy...but heres the challenge. To lay aside our selfish ambition and needs and follow Him. Again, that sounds easy but to do this it takes total Trust in God. And in doing so we must not try to Control Him. Sometimes, most times actually, i think i'm in perfect control of everything...what an idiot. We must be obedient, and properly use the tools he has given us. He wants us to succeed to give Him glory on the best platform.
Instead of focusing on what we want...i wonder if its possible to focus on helping others. Is it possible to treat others just as Christ would treat them? It'll be hard thats for sure...but heres to trying and heres to the process.
-waino
PS.. we do that....and we'll be The Real Deal in Gods eyes...and that is all that matters.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
God Made me Fast, and when I Run I Feel God's Pleasure
Have any of you seen the movie Chariots of Fire? It is a true story about two English men in the early twentieth century who were Olympic runners. Eric Liddell was a Christian who was also a runner. Harold Abrahams was a runner, that's it. That was who he was. In fact, that was his life. It was his identity.
Have you ever met someone, who wrapped up all that they were in baseball. Everything else took second place including God. Normally, not always, these players are kind of high strung, on edge, as if their life depended on going 3 for 3 because the big dogs were watching, or who have their whole identity so wrapped up in baseball that they obsess over their ERA. Every night tallying up the numbers to see where their numbers were. They are the ones who show up the shortstop who kicked the ball with two outs and as a result you gave up four runs and were pulled that same inning. They might act like team players, but deep down they are me-monsters, because baseball is their god and they don't like to disappoint their god. By the way, I am all up in this illustration as many of you know. This was Harold Abrahams. This was the opposite of Eric Liddell.
Back to the story. There was a point in the movie where Harold said that his next ten seconds were going to define his life. He was about to run the hundred in the 1924 Paris Olympics. Everything about who he was was riding on those next ten seconds. What a tragedy! Do you think he enjoyed the journey? No way! He was probably a wreck!
Now let's look at my man Eric Liddell. Eric, by the way, refused to run on Sundays, which cost him medals and his reputation. Anyways, Eric's sister was a missionary in China and was annoyed that Eric would waste his time running. She knew he was called to the mission field in China, so one day she had had enough and confronted Eric about this. She asked him (my paraphrase), "why in the world are you fooling around with this kid's stuff when there are kingdom things to be done?"
Listen to Eric's words and let them sink deep within your soul (actual quote), "God made me fast, and when I run I feel God's pleasure." One of the greatest quotes of all time! How did Eric reach the highest level of track & field and win a gold and a silver medal? Because in his life God was God and running was just a means to bring Him glory and pleasure.
May all of you who are still playing get to the point where you can say, "God made me a pitcher, and when I pitch I feel God's pleasure." "God made me a hitter, and when I hit I feel God's pleasure." May all the rest of us get to that same point in whatever God has gifted us to do.
Have you ever met someone, who wrapped up all that they were in baseball. Everything else took second place including God. Normally, not always, these players are kind of high strung, on edge, as if their life depended on going 3 for 3 because the big dogs were watching, or who have their whole identity so wrapped up in baseball that they obsess over their ERA. Every night tallying up the numbers to see where their numbers were. They are the ones who show up the shortstop who kicked the ball with two outs and as a result you gave up four runs and were pulled that same inning. They might act like team players, but deep down they are me-monsters, because baseball is their god and they don't like to disappoint their god. By the way, I am all up in this illustration as many of you know. This was Harold Abrahams. This was the opposite of Eric Liddell.
Back to the story. There was a point in the movie where Harold said that his next ten seconds were going to define his life. He was about to run the hundred in the 1924 Paris Olympics. Everything about who he was was riding on those next ten seconds. What a tragedy! Do you think he enjoyed the journey? No way! He was probably a wreck!
Now let's look at my man Eric Liddell. Eric, by the way, refused to run on Sundays, which cost him medals and his reputation. Anyways, Eric's sister was a missionary in China and was annoyed that Eric would waste his time running. She knew he was called to the mission field in China, so one day she had had enough and confronted Eric about this. She asked him (my paraphrase), "why in the world are you fooling around with this kid's stuff when there are kingdom things to be done?"
Listen to Eric's words and let them sink deep within your soul (actual quote), "God made me fast, and when I run I feel God's pleasure." One of the greatest quotes of all time! How did Eric reach the highest level of track & field and win a gold and a silver medal? Because in his life God was God and running was just a means to bring Him glory and pleasure.
May all of you who are still playing get to the point where you can say, "God made me a pitcher, and when I pitch I feel God's pleasure." "God made me a hitter, and when I hit I feel God's pleasure." May all the rest of us get to that same point in whatever God has gifted us to do.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Just Do It
Hey, this just came to me so I wanted to bring it up. We started earlier last week to talk about what we can do to reach out to those in need in our communities and now we've moved into more theological debates. Now don't get me wrong here because I'm possibly the biggest fan of anyone here of Biblical wisdom and theological discussions. For that reason alone, I was surprised that this message was laid on my heart so strongly. I strongly feel that I am supposed to right this message to keep us from being distracted. First, I want to say that let's please continue the revelations study because I'm really loving every bit of it. I just want to add to it by continuing to discuss what we each can do to start some kind of e-fellowship ministry. We got so close to getting something started with the sleeping bag idea and the baseball camp idea and talking about Nolan's thing that maybe Satan is glad that our attention got diverted to a theological discussion. Satan would much rather us be hearers and talkers of the Word as opposed to being doers of the Word. So let's keep both topics (Revelations & e-Fellowship Ministry) going side by side. Should we all pick a day and actually carry out the sleeping bag idea on the same day but in our own cities? That might be kinda cool to know that we're all doing the same mission work but in several different cities at the same time? What can we do guys? Let's do something.
-TEvans
-TEvans
Preparing For Eternity (part 3)
Preparing For Eternity (Part 3)
So on Sunday we saw how God will pour out His wrath on a Christ rejecting world (chapter 8 and 9),that is what chapters 6-19 basically cover (there really is no basic about it because there is so much detail but it is hard to interpret by ourselves). I will try to scratch the surface and get us through 19 so bare with me.
Chapter 10 is a sunnier chapter that follows 9’s dark and dismal setting. We have an angel come down from Heaven (has taken on many of God’s attributes because he has been with Him for so long) and a rainbow is on his head.
Revelation 10:1 “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head…”
Verse 4 brings about much speculation but we need to understand a few things.
Revelation 10:4 “And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.”
Why would he (John) mention something and then not explain or tell us? The Seven day Adventists and Mormons have a lot to say about these thunders sealed message, but in my book that is adding to the script because my Bible (all Bibles) is mute on this point. Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to Me, says the Lord.” So here is Jon Courson’s stance on the blessing of not knowing what the thunders said.
Not knowing keeps us:
Humble- we are humble when we don’t know everything, pride is a beast and usually shows up in a guy with a wealth of knowledge “know it all”, don’t they erkk you! Sadly that can be me to often.
Useful- keeps us focused on what He has blessed us with knowing, “stay focused man!”
Stable- God gives us a peace that passes our understanding (Phillipians 4:7 /thanks Blake). Focus on Him and we have peace but when we try to figure the world out we have anxiety.
Chapter 11 – about the halfway point of the tribulation
Revelation 11:1 “…rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.” This implies that the temple (4th) will be rebuilt at least before the middle of the tribulation. Revelation 11:3 “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” This verse is introducing the fact that there will be two witnesses on the earth who will be doing major work for the kingdom, hollering out “Repent and be saved”. If you read on you see that God gives them great authority and power to bring down plagues and shoot fire from their mouth to devour their opposition. So you can imagine that all the pagans (non-believers on earth) will hate these two (I have been taught they will be Elijah and Moses) witnesses for convicting people and bringing in intense plagues. Verse 7 we see Satan come from out of the bottomless pit and battle these two (like Darth Vador verse Obie One) and be victorious. The witnesses then will lie dead in the street for 3 ½ days while the inhabitants of the earth party all around them, rejoicing that the devil killed them. Then in verse 11 God’s spirit enters them and they stand up infront of a crowd of people only to have a voice from heaven say “Come up here”. Prompted by the Spirit and the voice they ascend to heaven miraculously blowing the onlookers minds, can you imagine? The chapter goes on to convey God’s wrath through an earthquake, lightning storms, and hail storms. The people who corrupt and pollute the earth will be destroyed while the witnesses who serve God will be saved. Unfortunately in verse 18 we read that “and the nations were angry” implying that instead of worshipping God for His power and sovereignty they are mad and hate Him, weird.
Well I failed at getting us to chapter 19 and you can see why, Revelation is filled with too much meat. I don’t want to fill you all up too much it takes time to digest this stuff. I once again hope you all are enjoying this. There is a powerful witness in being able to explain the contents of this book and like Tyler said, we will all be blessed for reading it (Rev 1:3).
So on Sunday we saw how God will pour out His wrath on a Christ rejecting world (chapter 8 and 9),that is what chapters 6-19 basically cover (there really is no basic about it because there is so much detail but it is hard to interpret by ourselves). I will try to scratch the surface and get us through 19 so bare with me.
Chapter 10 is a sunnier chapter that follows 9’s dark and dismal setting. We have an angel come down from Heaven (has taken on many of God’s attributes because he has been with Him for so long) and a rainbow is on his head.
Revelation 10:1 “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head…”
Verse 4 brings about much speculation but we need to understand a few things.
Revelation 10:4 “And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.”
Why would he (John) mention something and then not explain or tell us? The Seven day Adventists and Mormons have a lot to say about these thunders sealed message, but in my book that is adding to the script because my Bible (all Bibles) is mute on this point. Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to Me, says the Lord.” So here is Jon Courson’s stance on the blessing of not knowing what the thunders said.
Not knowing keeps us:
Humble- we are humble when we don’t know everything, pride is a beast and usually shows up in a guy with a wealth of knowledge “know it all”, don’t they erkk you! Sadly that can be me to often.
Useful- keeps us focused on what He has blessed us with knowing, “stay focused man!”
Stable- God gives us a peace that passes our understanding (Phillipians 4:7 /thanks Blake). Focus on Him and we have peace but when we try to figure the world out we have anxiety.
Chapter 11 – about the halfway point of the tribulation
Revelation 11:1 “…rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.” This implies that the temple (4th) will be rebuilt at least before the middle of the tribulation. Revelation 11:3 “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” This verse is introducing the fact that there will be two witnesses on the earth who will be doing major work for the kingdom, hollering out “Repent and be saved”. If you read on you see that God gives them great authority and power to bring down plagues and shoot fire from their mouth to devour their opposition. So you can imagine that all the pagans (non-believers on earth) will hate these two (I have been taught they will be Elijah and Moses) witnesses for convicting people and bringing in intense plagues. Verse 7 we see Satan come from out of the bottomless pit and battle these two (like Darth Vador verse Obie One) and be victorious. The witnesses then will lie dead in the street for 3 ½ days while the inhabitants of the earth party all around them, rejoicing that the devil killed them. Then in verse 11 God’s spirit enters them and they stand up infront of a crowd of people only to have a voice from heaven say “Come up here”. Prompted by the Spirit and the voice they ascend to heaven miraculously blowing the onlookers minds, can you imagine? The chapter goes on to convey God’s wrath through an earthquake, lightning storms, and hail storms. The people who corrupt and pollute the earth will be destroyed while the witnesses who serve God will be saved. Unfortunately in verse 18 we read that “and the nations were angry” implying that instead of worshipping God for His power and sovereignty they are mad and hate Him, weird.
Well I failed at getting us to chapter 19 and you can see why, Revelation is filled with too much meat. I don’t want to fill you all up too much it takes time to digest this stuff. I once again hope you all are enjoying this. There is a powerful witness in being able to explain the contents of this book and like Tyler said, we will all be blessed for reading it (Rev 1:3).
Great Quotes on Honesty
Here are a few quotes from godly men to go along with Blake's excellent post.
"No honest man ever repented of his honesty." - Anon.
"If faith does not make a man honest, it is not an honest faith." - C.H. Spurgeon
"One's mere word should be as trustworthy as a signed agreement attested by legal witnesses." - Curtis Vaughan
"No honest man ever repented of his honesty." - Anon.
"If faith does not make a man honest, it is not an honest faith." - C.H. Spurgeon
"One's mere word should be as trustworthy as a signed agreement attested by legal witnesses." - Curtis Vaughan
Monday, January 26, 2009
Be a man of your word.
"Just say a simple, 'Yes, I will', or 'No, I won't.' Anything beyond this is from the evil one."-Matthew 5:37 NLT
"But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earthy or with any other oath. But let your 'yes' be 'yes,' and your 'no,' 'no,' lest you fall into judgement." -James 5:12 NKJV
"When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said."- Numbers 30:2 NIV
"Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsover it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him:when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these." -Leviticus 5:4 KJV
"Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool." -Proverbs 19:1 NLT
"Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant He had made with David..." -2 Chronicles 21:7 NKJV
"The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men that are truthful." -Proverbs 12:22 NIV
"Put on your new nature, created to be like God-truly righteous and holy. So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body." -Ephesians 4:24-25 NLT
Truth is in God's word. Sorry for the late bread...
Dailey I commend you for being a light to me and being a man of your word. You walk it brethren!
Blake
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Preparing for Eternity, Part Deux
Fellas,
I love this subject, but I also know how daunting it can be. I am going to play this like an artist in concert. I will give you something you like (radio hit), then you give me something I like (side B garage lost single). So, this post will keep things splashy and normal, then on part 4 I think things are going to get weird.
Revelations is extremely complicated with so much sssssyybolism of lions with 7 heads and crowns and beasts with 7 horns and white robes and doom and gloom. It becomes very easy to tune out and head back to John 3:16 for your comfort scrip. The verse in the bible that keeps me coming back to tough interpretations is 2 Cor 4: 8-10..."we are perplexed, but not in despair" Yes, the bible is tough at times to fully comprehend and it is easy to get bogged down in theories and texts. But, we must remember that this is not in despair or waste. Or how about this scrip to keep you coming back (Rev 1:3) "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near". Wow! That is an intimidating text. We might be confused, but we aren't lost. Keep your heart, 3 stacks. Keep your heart.
Ok, onto where Jules left off (or where I'm taking this) CAN CHRISTIANS BECOME TOO HEAVENLY-MINDED?
The short answer is NO CHANCE! This is what we are called to do says Paul (Col 3:2) "Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things"
Jules hit on Revelations 3: 10-11, which is our greatest promise from the Lord, "...since you have kept my command, I will keep you from the hour of trial...." ( I will talk about a snippet of that trial in closing of this post)
This is the dilemma that happens to many of us when we become Christians. We get the message, it finally rings true and we sit on it. We forget to share the good news. We just found a new toy and don't want anybody to play with it yet, not yet... let me hold it for awhile until I'm ready. Or we might get caught up in escapism. Or, the idea of just sitting in your rocking chair and waiting for the rapture. You got the message, it was right there for everyone else. Might as well not stress over this world, right?
Sorry kids, we don't get to do that as warriors of the Word. We are called to get the good news out. That is our job while we are here. Take this sentence to heart, "We don't escape this life by dreaming of heaven, but endure this life because of the certainty of heaven"
Ok, I say that to remind you to be thankful for the time God gave you to turn from sin. We need to use that time to work to help others turn as well. I want to wrap this up by showing you some of the horrors that await non-believers to jump start your drive to help out that co-worker, teammate, parent, sibling less they have to go through this.
Sounding the 7 trumpets...please, please don't skip this. Gotta open your bibles to Revelations 8:6-12 about the first 4 trumpets. I'll wait....ok now read on to 13. Those weren't even the bad ones if you can believe it. One point I want to make is that the next 3 horns cause spiritual harm. It talks of the "inhabitants" of the earth. I think these inhabitants are the non believers. There will be believers created immediately after the Rapture. Can you imagine being someone who went to church and went through the motions, but never believed? When you see people disappearing it is going to give you a quick realization that Jesus is real and things are about to get terrible. But, with the last 3 trumpets I don't think that the believers left on earth go through them because God has guaranteed believers protection from spiritual harm (Rev 7: 2,3)
Revelations 9:5-6 (speaking of the 'locusts' from the Abyss. Most believe these are demons) "There were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them."
A sobering lesson for us that feel strong in our faith, but haven't spoken up to that certain someone that is on our minds. The person that we KNOW if they died today would not be heading to paradise.
I remember reading chapters 8 and 9 of Revelations and having to put the bible down and take a second at how scary it was and how relentless the Judgement was.
I don't know where Jules wants to go from here. I was all over the place on this one. If you are confused or want to expand on a certain part of Revelations after reading it a little, hit up a comment and Jules can run with it or I can in part 4. I know there is always debate on the Tribulation, Birth Pangs, Daniel prophecy connection, 144,000 saved, Olivet Discourse, etc...
ONE.
Ty
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Saturday Night Live...in Him
Alright, so my 21 day fast and read is almost over. today was the last day, and let me tell you something...the devil is alive and menacing. My wife Jenny and I gave up fried foods. As i said before, it doesn't sound like much but the south is a fried food culture. Never in my life have i been presented with so many chances to eat something fried. At one restaurant the owner even went as far as to surprise us with an appetizer...usually very welcomed, but he brought out a plate of tempura fried snapper with a sweet and sour glaze. I had to let that beautiful appy sit on the table as i told him thankyou but i would have to pass....and i sorta felt like i had kicked his puppy. But, as my wife reminds me, it was also an opportunity to tell him why we were takin a pass on his generocity. We as Christians are to be bold with our faith and not shy away from opportunities to grow the Kingdom. Not to be overlooked in this experience was the routine that my wife and i got into. As i said, we read a chapter of John everyday of the fast and although it seems kinda amateur, we found it kinda enlightening. Its not that we haven't read John before, its that we enjoyed the accountability of the whole process. It was kinda cool to say no to all the fried foods...and each night the first question we asked each other as we climbed in bed was "Did you read yet". Just five minutes ago she asked me what book we were going to read next. I'm fired up for this time in our marriage. We are growing closer to God together, and closer to each other in the process. Here is the final line of the book of John25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen. John 21:25 Jesus is doing so many things in our lives ...the most we can give him is a few minutes a night.
just sayin
waino
just sayin
waino
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Great Exchange
"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:21
What this verse is talking about is what theologians call, "The Great Exchange." Christ took upon himself our sin, and in exchange we received his perfect righteousness. How does this transaction take place, by faith, not by works. This is the pure, unadulterated Gospel at its best. This is what we are to shout from the rooftops! In Christ there is reconciliation with God! In Christ there is forgiveness of sins! In Christ we are we are regarded by God the Father as righteous! No condemnation! No shame! No guilt! Christ took it all!
Why did he do it? This verse says, "For our sake." Who's initiative was this wonderful plan? Some would say Jesus because the Father is an angry Judge who Jesus finally convinced to go through with the plan. Wrong! It was the Father's initiative. The verse say "he made him." Who is he? The Father.
Jesus knew no sin the verse goes on to say. Has there ever been a time in your life where you were mistreated unjustly. I remember to this day my first night in Peoria with the Chiefs. We had a banquet to kick off the season and our fearless leader, Joe C., who frequented the titty bar nightly we came to find out, started introducing all the players. It was a dark and spooky banquet hall across from our hotel. Think "The Shining." Anyways, he rattles off all the position players names, talkin 'em up, feeding there egos and he doesn't call my name (middle infielder). So I think maybe he will get me after the pitchers and so he goes through the pitchers and then the show is over. Everybody around me begins to look around awkwardly, while my host family is wondering whether I am really a player. So, to make a long story short, someone whispers in his ear, "you left out Tyler," and he then talks about how happy he is I'm on the team....REAL HAPPY. Yeah right.
It was embarrassing, I felt wronged, and I felt I wasn't taken seriously. But I am still a sinner. I have done the same to others before. "He made him who had no sin," the verse says. Jesus was sinless. Of all the people in the world who deserved better it was him. But he was spit on, stripped naked, beaten to a bloody pulp, laughed at, mocked, put to shame. What worse, it was on a cross. The was shameful death you could die. Why did he not call down ten thousand angels and destroy these people, and make them pay for putting to shame the one who created them and will judge them in the end? The answer: for our sake he didn't. That is for those who repent and believe in him for their salvation.
For his sheep, he bore there sins upon that bloody cross, but he did more, he gave us his perfect righteousness. We have become the righteousness of God.
Let's now live like it.
- Durham
What this verse is talking about is what theologians call, "The Great Exchange." Christ took upon himself our sin, and in exchange we received his perfect righteousness. How does this transaction take place, by faith, not by works. This is the pure, unadulterated Gospel at its best. This is what we are to shout from the rooftops! In Christ there is reconciliation with God! In Christ there is forgiveness of sins! In Christ we are we are regarded by God the Father as righteous! No condemnation! No shame! No guilt! Christ took it all!
Why did he do it? This verse says, "For our sake." Who's initiative was this wonderful plan? Some would say Jesus because the Father is an angry Judge who Jesus finally convinced to go through with the plan. Wrong! It was the Father's initiative. The verse say "he made him." Who is he? The Father.
Jesus knew no sin the verse goes on to say. Has there ever been a time in your life where you were mistreated unjustly. I remember to this day my first night in Peoria with the Chiefs. We had a banquet to kick off the season and our fearless leader, Joe C., who frequented the titty bar nightly we came to find out, started introducing all the players. It was a dark and spooky banquet hall across from our hotel. Think "The Shining." Anyways, he rattles off all the position players names, talkin 'em up, feeding there egos and he doesn't call my name (middle infielder). So I think maybe he will get me after the pitchers and so he goes through the pitchers and then the show is over. Everybody around me begins to look around awkwardly, while my host family is wondering whether I am really a player. So, to make a long story short, someone whispers in his ear, "you left out Tyler," and he then talks about how happy he is I'm on the team....REAL HAPPY. Yeah right.
It was embarrassing, I felt wronged, and I felt I wasn't taken seriously. But I am still a sinner. I have done the same to others before. "He made him who had no sin," the verse says. Jesus was sinless. Of all the people in the world who deserved better it was him. But he was spit on, stripped naked, beaten to a bloody pulp, laughed at, mocked, put to shame. What worse, it was on a cross. The was shameful death you could die. Why did he not call down ten thousand angels and destroy these people, and make them pay for putting to shame the one who created them and will judge them in the end? The answer: for our sake he didn't. That is for those who repent and believe in him for their salvation.
For his sheep, he bore there sins upon that bloody cross, but he did more, he gave us his perfect righteousness. We have become the righteousness of God.
Let's now live like it.
- Durham
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Mission Advice
I just got through reading "Under The Overpass" by Mike Yankoski which has given me great insight and conviction towards helping the poor and the homeless. Basically, this author, Mike, and his buddy Sam decide to live the life of two homeless men for about 6 months. They take nothing with them but their guitars and the clothes on their backs and travel to 5 different US cities as homeless men. The are forced to panhandle, sleep outside buildings, and eat from the dumpster at times. They were able to take two showers during this entire journey. A little crazy, I know, but they forced themselves into a extreme situation where they were forced to trust in their Lord for daily provision much like the Israelites were forced to do during their 40 years in the wilderness. They learned a lot about themselves through this journey and met some very interesting people. They also obviously learned what its like to look at society and the church through the lens of a homeless man. Anyway, I'm done selling this book to you guys but I wanted to include some advice that they gave toward the end of the book that may help us with our mission work.
1. Do more than just give some homeless man some cash because you don't want to be supporting any alcohol or drug habit he might have. No surprise that tons of people on the street have temptations they struggle with just like us. However, in light of the situation, their temptations are more obvious to the everyday observer.
2. "Go downtown with a friend or friends (never go alone). Buy cups of coffee or a bag of take-out food, find a homeless person sitting around asking for money, share your gifts, and enjoy a conversation. No agenda, no plans, no purpose other than to be with that person. You'll be amazed at what unfolds." - they found that more than anything most homeless people enjoy a simple gesture or acknowledgment of their existence. they are ignored over and over again day after day that whenever someone takes time to treat them like a normal human being it brightens their day. this should be a no-brainer but how many times have we ignored the guy on the corner instead of smiling and saying hello?
3. "Is it cold outside? Go to your closet and grab the sweater, sweatshirt, or coat you keep telling yourself you'll wear sometime but know you won't. Call up four friends and tell them to do the same thing. Then go downtown and hand out your warm clothing to the men or women huddled under the overpass or in a doorway."
4. Become a spokesperson in your community and church for those who have no voice. Be relentlessly suspicious of your comfortable life, and of the comfort zones that render so many Christian fellowships insensitive and ineffective in our communities. God calls us to do more than talk."
I could keep going but this is already longer than most of you may like so I'll wrap it up. Lets turn e-fellowship into a ministry that reaches out to the hungry and the needy. We also have a valuable resource in Nolan and his ministry to reach out to those living less comfortably than we are. Nolan can use our help in many different areas of his ministry. His doing big things so lets follow in his footsteps. I'm also thinking that as we do something like Tyler's sleeping bag mission lets talk about what we did and how it went. I'm not saying we should add up our fruit but lets talk about what we've done and what we're doing in a way that encourages all of us to keep doing more. Ok, we can continue this conversation later since I've talked enough. I love you guys. Thank you Jesus!
-TEvans
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Preparing for Eternity
Preparing for Eternity
Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work God does from the beginning to the end.”
God has put a yearning for eternity in all of our hearts; it gives us hope for more because this world often seems so shallow and broken. We all sense that there is something more after this life and we may not be able to describe why that is but we sure can feel it. The worst fear that I have for many non-believing friends (praise God I no longer have to worry about some closest to me) is that they will die and not have prepared themselves for eternity. The focus of this study is eternity and how God’s word is real and He has given us ample information on how to prepare and what to expect when the end times are coming. It isn’t possible for me to cover all of Revelation but I wanted to touch on some of it. This book scares a lot of people because they say it is so difficult to understand but the word itself (revelation) means the unveiling, the revealing. God has blessed men with an understanding of these scriptures and fortunately I have been blessed with a Bible commentary that is pretty good with it.
Chapter 1- discusses the reality of the Resurrected Christ.
Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” … “who is and was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Chapter 2-3 – Things which are, Jesus gives seven messages to seven churches, wherein lies the chronological flow of church history from the beginning of the early church to the present.
Revelation 2:11 “…He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” This is talking about the great white throne judgment for the non-believers who rejected Christ and because of their actions they will cast to outer darkness away from God forever (Rev 20:6-15).
Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to preserve, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” Believers will be raptured to heaven and not have to endure the trials of the tribulation (seven year period where antichrist rises to power on earth).
Chapters 4-5 – Things which shall be hereafter… The church is raptured and taken to heaven for a seven-year “honeymoon” with the Lord.
Revelation 4:1 (part D) “Come up here…” This verse helps support the verse from Thessalonians (4:16-18) which explains that the believers will be brought up to heaven in the clouds to meet with the Lord. I can’t wait to hear Him say “Come up here”, I know I’m going and so should this group. Heaven is real and so is hell, we all need a savior to save us from ourselves and give us a pass to fly with Jesus in heaven for that honeymoon (7 years) and then to reign on earth for eternity, more on that later.
This is the 1st of a four part series that Tyler Parker and I are going to do on the end times and Revelation. So look forward to Sunday like I am to hear what God is going to speak through Parker. I hope this is intriguing to all of you.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work God does from the beginning to the end.”
God has put a yearning for eternity in all of our hearts; it gives us hope for more because this world often seems so shallow and broken. We all sense that there is something more after this life and we may not be able to describe why that is but we sure can feel it. The worst fear that I have for many non-believing friends (praise God I no longer have to worry about some closest to me) is that they will die and not have prepared themselves for eternity. The focus of this study is eternity and how God’s word is real and He has given us ample information on how to prepare and what to expect when the end times are coming. It isn’t possible for me to cover all of Revelation but I wanted to touch on some of it. This book scares a lot of people because they say it is so difficult to understand but the word itself (revelation) means the unveiling, the revealing. God has blessed men with an understanding of these scriptures and fortunately I have been blessed with a Bible commentary that is pretty good with it.
Chapter 1- discusses the reality of the Resurrected Christ.
Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” … “who is and was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Chapter 2-3 – Things which are, Jesus gives seven messages to seven churches, wherein lies the chronological flow of church history from the beginning of the early church to the present.
Revelation 2:11 “…He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” This is talking about the great white throne judgment for the non-believers who rejected Christ and because of their actions they will cast to outer darkness away from God forever (Rev 20:6-15).
Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to preserve, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” Believers will be raptured to heaven and not have to endure the trials of the tribulation (seven year period where antichrist rises to power on earth).
Chapters 4-5 – Things which shall be hereafter… The church is raptured and taken to heaven for a seven-year “honeymoon” with the Lord.
Revelation 4:1 (part D) “Come up here…” This verse helps support the verse from Thessalonians (4:16-18) which explains that the believers will be brought up to heaven in the clouds to meet with the Lord. I can’t wait to hear Him say “Come up here”, I know I’m going and so should this group. Heaven is real and so is hell, we all need a savior to save us from ourselves and give us a pass to fly with Jesus in heaven for that honeymoon (7 years) and then to reign on earth for eternity, more on that later.
This is the 1st of a four part series that Tyler Parker and I are going to do on the end times and Revelation. So look forward to Sunday like I am to hear what God is going to speak through Parker. I hope this is intriguing to all of you.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Impact Church
Dublin, GA
Dear friends and family,
I am excited to finally write you again and let you know about the recent happenings of Impact Church. Since our last correspondence alot has happened.
In my last letter I listed a few things and I asked you to help me pray that God would reveal himself in these matters…well He has!!! Since August, when my last letter was written, pretty much all 4 of the listed prayer requests have been answered and continue to be answered. I knew that God was calling me to start a church, but I didn’t have lots of clarity as to what that would look like and I also didn’t have much direction either. Today, I’m excited that I know exactly where God wants me to start building His church.
It is a long story so I’ll spare you all the tiny details that God has used, but He has confirmed that I should start His church in an “inner city” community. Translation…I LIVE in a house in the middle of the ghetto, across from a drug house, kids running everywhere, neighbors smoking crack, obvious poverty and they are even poorer spiritually. I have already had incredible opportunities to build relationships and meet needs in the community. God has been real to me in revealing His will for my life and giving me clarity and direction for this ministry. I am going to begin having meals in my home for the folks in my neighborhood…through this I will build relationships so that they know I’m not treating them as a “church project”. Eventually, sooner rather than later, I will be starting a Bible study in my home so that I can share the AWESOME news of the Gospel with them. Thank you so much for your prayers…this is just the beginning.
One way I’m going to meet a need in the community this summer is by building a playground in an old, trashed, vacant lot nearby. Believe it or not…almost every time I drive up to my house there are kids playing amongst broken liquor bottles, on old furniture and nasty mattresses that were thrown back there when someone in the neighborhood was evicted from their home. It will be a great way for the church to show that we care about these kids.
I can go on and on…whether it’s telling you about taking a group of 3rd and 4th graders to Chick-fil-a for only the 2nd TIME IN THEIR LIVES, or taking a single mother to the gas station and being able to bless her with a gift from God in the form of petroleum.
You may be asking yourself how can I get involved??? Good question…support me and this ministry in prayer FIRST. With fixing meals and taking hungry kids to eat, the costs are beginning to add up. You can send gift cards to Kroger, Wal-Mart (I do all my grocery shopping at one of these two stores) or you can send gift cards to any fast food chain (McDonalds, Chick-fil-a, Dominos, Zaxby’s, BK, etc.). It is hard to tell them that God will provide their needs when they are hungry…that’s something that God has enabled us to be able to do.
By the way…I’m in the process of filling out all my 501c3 papers to become an official non-profit organization. I know I’m going a little long, but I gotta tell you about this one. The lawyer that I am using to get this done, who was a complete stranger, has offered to do this for me pro-bono. This is a total God thing because there’s no telling how much it would cost to pay this out of pocket. God’s will, done God’s way, never lacks God’s provisions…
Thanks again for being a part of this ministry. Please continue to pray that God will do huge things in Dublin through the ministry of Impact Church…
In Christ,
Nolan Gottlieb
e-Fellowship USA Tour
Alright, Sam started this whole idea and I stayed awake most of the night last night thinking this over. We can make this thing happen but we got some serious brainstorming to do if we are going to do this right. For those of you that have no clue what I'm talking about, Sam brought up the idea of touring the country and putting on camps/missions in our local areas. Personally, I feel this is the direction e-Fellowship could succeed in going. So here are some questions that I came up with that we need to be thinking about. Please don't just read this particular post and not comment because we need everyone's opinions and ideas to make this thing work efficiently.
What is our camp/mission format?
Who are we trying to reach out too? (this could change each mission)
How do we fund this? Donations? Should we ask for donations at each camp to fund the next one?
Do we need a non-profit status?
How do we plan to advertise these missions?
How are we going to schedule these based on everyone's availability?
How many people do we need per mission to run a successful operation?
What is our roster of people who are in and where do they live and what are their resources?
These are what I came up with last night but I know there are many more things we need to consider and figure out. But lets get this thing heading in the right direction by talking about it and sharing opinions and ideas. Consider this post an e-Fellowship board meeting. Also, there is going to have to be someone who steps up and takes the reigns of this operation. Someone in this group needs to be the leader who organizes this whole thing and keeps this process running efficiently. Last question.
Who wants to be the leader of the e-Fellowship Tour?
I love this group and the possibilities that are soon to be presented. Use us our Lord and King!
-TEvans
The Shack
It's an interesting book to say the least. It's killing in the book stores and I was reading on the plane last night and I had to share this with you. It's a fiction book and this is a conversation between Jesus and a guy named Mack.
"Do you think humans were designed to live is the past, present, or future?"
"Where do you spend most time in your mind and imagination? "
"I live in the present! Not the past. All though much can be learned from the past, but only for a visit, not an extended stay. And for sure I do not dwell in the future you visualize or imagine. Mack, do you realize that your imagination of the future which is almost always dictated by fear of some kind... Rarely if ever pictures me there with you?"
Why do I do that?-Mack
"It is your desperate attempt to get some control over something you can't. It is IMPOSSIBLE for you to take power over the future because it isn't even real. Nor will it ever be real! You try and play God... Imagine the evil that you fear becoming reality and then you try and make plans to avoid what you fear."
Why do I have so much fear?-Mack
"Because YOU DONT BELIEVE! You don't know that we love you. The person that lives by there fears will not find freedom in my love. You sing about it, you talk about it, but you don't know it! "
"I live in the present! Not the past. All though much can be learned from the past, but only for a visit, not an extended stay. And for sure I do not dwell in the future you visualize or imagine. Mack, do you realize that your imagination of the future which is almost always dictated by fear of some kind... Rarely if ever pictures me there with you?"
Why do I do that?-Mack
"It is your desperate attempt to get some control over something you can't. It is IMPOSSIBLE for you to take power over the future because it isn't even real. Nor will it ever be real! You try and play God... Imagine the evil that you fear becoming reality and then you try and make plans to avoid what you fear."
Why do I have so much fear?-Mack
"Because YOU DONT BELIEVE! You don't know that we love you. The person that lives by there fears will not find freedom in my love. You sing about it, you talk about it, but you don't know it! "
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