Like Jesus
Nov 12, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
I am stoked about the new series I am launching this weekend at Riv. It’s called “Like Jesus” and we are looking at several of the areas where it is very difficult to be like Jesus. Please be praying for several things:
1) That I will not be too jet-lagged. I don’t head home from San Diego until tonight and I arrive in the wee hours tomorrow.
2) For the right people to be at the services. We always have an ebb and flow of people throughout the year. Pray that those who need to hear these messages will make it to the services.
3) Pray that people will be able to hear, understand, and move based on the challenges we will get from the Word.
4) In that vein, pray that God will work in spite of me and all my short-comings.
Thanks and we’ll see you this weekend!
False Gospels
Nov 11, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
I have blogged before on the topic of two popular false teachings, but I watched a video recently that caused me to get angry about them all over again.
The first is the “Poverty Gospel” and it’s becoming popular in countries like the United States. It says, “it is more godly to give everything away and live in a box than to drive a Camry and live in a subdivision.” You can read an old post of mine on this here.
On the other side of the world, however, the opposite false teaching is taking root: “Prosperity Gospel.” This teaches that if you have enough faith, you will be materially blessed by God. I talk more about this here.
Talking with missionaries and church planters from around the world, I am seeing more and more the devastation this teaching is having around the world. Watch this video for a first-hand glimpse of its effect:
The Prosperity Gospel from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.
Please Pray For Me
Nov 10, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Today I am heading to San Diego to hang with a bunch of pastors for a few days. This is a group of guys who have been very instrumental in helping me process a lot of stuff in my own life and in the life of Riv over the past two years. They have had a greater impact on Riv than anyone will ever know. Many kudos to Leadership Network for putting us in the same room.
This is the last time that we are gathering together formally and I am really looking forward to learning a ton and dreaming about next steps.
Please be praying for us!
Is the Bible hooey?
Nov 9, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
When I was a student at MSU, I encountered people with an opinion I had never heard before: they believed the Bible was hooey.
Growing up I had always seen the Bible as God’s Word, even when I lived a life that rejected its teachings. This new viewpoint I was exposed to sent me on a bit of a tailspin. But it was in a history class, when we were examining the proofs for the authenticity of a historical text that I began to become personally convicted that the Bible was indeed the Word of God. It was a variation on this chart that blew my mind:
Since then, I have loved reading about how we got the Bible that we have in our hands today. You can read the transcript of a message I gave on this once here.
Perhaps this is why I devoured two books over the last week that many would find boring. The first is “The Canon of Scripture” by FF Bruce:
This is a great book for any history buffs who are wondering how we got the Bible in the form we have it today. A ton of time is spent on the first few centuries of the church, which is awesome. Most people who dispute the historical validity of the Bible tend to repeat the common (yet historically inaccurate) mantra that the New Testament wasn’t seen as Scripture until the 300s. This book soundly defeats that position and includes more historical references and footnotes than any non-nerd has time to look up.
This is largely a historical book, focusing on the dates, places and people. The second book, “Inerrancy” edited by Norman Geisler, takes a different approach
This book hits on more of the theological / philosophical issues people have with the Bible. It tackles perceived inconsistencies, human / divine authorship, and stuff like that.
If you are wrestling with the hooeyness of the Bible, I highly recommend these two resources.
Friday Random Linkness
Nov 6, 2009 Friday Random Linkness
Happy Friday Everyone! Here’s some random link love.
__________
Amazing belt buckle.
If that’s not your jewelry taste, how about gold plated staples? Yes…they are meant to be jewelry.
Fun with transparency.
When geeks have twins.
When apple geeks have twins.
OK…this is my new favorite site: My Parents Were Awesome.
This isn’t going to cause any problems at all.
Man Up
Nov 5, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
I was telling my wife a story yesterday about a guy I was talking with and she said, “he needs to be a man!”
Earlier this week, I walked by a crew from our Welcome Team who were talking about the free stuff we give new people at Riv. They were looking at coffee mug options and one of them said, “we need to make sure this is manly enough…right Noel?”
Both of these moments made me smile. Why? Because men are missing from the church and when they do show up, they are (inadvertently) taught that being a man is a bad thing. Dare I say, the church has been sissified.
That’s why I loved this article I stumbled onto recently: What Men Need in a Church. Here’s a little excerpt:
A 2005 study, proved men need church. Since then not much has changed. In the study by Barna Research, 61% of men make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ whatsoever. That means that barely a third know who He is. What’s worse is that only one in seven of those men are plugged in to some type of discipleship program. And that would mean only one in eighteen men in America as a whole.
He then goes on and gives advice to churches on what men need to see in their church. Awesome stuff.
Oh, and on a related note, check out the marketing of this free small group book. Haven’t read it, but I’m going to. It actually looks like the kind of small group I would want to be in.
Oh, and on another related note, watch this:
ONLINE MANCAVE TRAILER: MANSWERS FOR LEADERSHIP AND LIFE from Deadly Viper on Vimeo.
Imitate Me
Nov 4, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
I have been working on my new series for Riv and I stumbled onto something I hadn’t noticed before. The Apostle Paul makes a similar comment in 6 places in the New Testament. Check this out:
“I urge you to imitate me.” – 1 Corinthians 4:16
“And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 11:1
“Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine…” – Philippians 3:17
“Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing.” – Phillipians 4:9
“For you know that you ought to imitate us.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:7
“But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance.” – 2 Timothy 3:10
“Imitate me…pattern your life after mine.” Could you say this in good conscience? Paul (the self-proclaimed Chief of All Sinners) could say it. If you couldn’t say that, what in your life needs to change so you can lead others and tell them to live the way you live?
UPDATE: I found yet another example from Paul: “Acts 20:35 And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
