Category: Ministry

All things regarding church, ministry, and religion

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Events Ministry

Online Bible Study Group

Ok – It’s been a while since I’ve pushed any of my friends to read through the Bible with me.  The wait is over!  I got a lot of feed back that reading the Bible cover to cover in six months was just too much (don’t get me started – 7 chapters a day = 30 mins of reading, ANYWAY…), so for those of you that said you just couldn’t study the bible ‘that fast’ – we are slowing it down.

Starting July, we are reading the New Testament in six months – that’s right, a mere 1.5 chapters a day if you wanted to read straight through.  You won’t get a better deal than that!  Ok – I’m making light of the situation, however we are going to ‘study’ the word and not just read it, so there may not be a set ‘reading’ schedule per se, but its all still being worked out.  One suggestion was that we group the books together and pick blocks of time to cover a group – for instance, July and August we could dedicate to reading the four gospels, but not have a rigid chapters per day set.  You could read the gospels in parallel and compare them, or read quickly past the ‘begets’ and spend days on the beatitudes.

As always, we are going to log our thoughts, questions, revelations online with my good friend Jason Fisher’s website: http://www.blog.godfidence.org/bible/

If you have thoughts or questions on a reading schedule, study pattern, or just how to get started, please visit http://www.blog.godfidence.org/bible/, sign up and post!  I look forward to reading with you!

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Family Ministry myThoughts

Father’s Day Thoughts

Today we celebrate fathers – I think. I’m not sure I would call it celebrating. On Mother’s Day, the church is full with standing room only in the back. On Mother’s Day, pastors across America talk about treating our mothers with respect, and even give alter calls to unsaved children. On Mother’s Day, we wake Mom up with breakfast in bed, or nicely wrapped presents. On Mother’s Day.

But on Father’s Day – its a different story. Lunch at a BBQ restaurant and a tie are among the highlights. Then there is the church service. This morning at church, we had a guest speaker. His message was from Matthew chapter 5. Actually it was only verse 7 – “Blessed are the merciful…” His point – Fathers need to be merciful. The real kicker for the sermon was the illustration at the end – he told a story about a man that had his only daughter late in life. She was killed by a neighbors dog in a vicious attack right in front of her father. This was not a story that I wanted to hear about on Father’s Day. The point of the story was the mercy this now childless father showed the owner of the dog.

Another preacher I know preached “12 things fathers should do, IF they want their children to be delinquents.” I don’t think we could get away with that on Mother’s Day. Could you imagine a sermon titled, “Why it’s your fault that your children aren’t saved, Mom!” Don’t get me wrong – I’m sure those sermons – as well as the many others like them have value and purpose. I just don’t see them as celebrating Fathers.

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Ministry myThoughts

Where Ever We Go

I’m listening to the Newsboys song “Where Ever We Go” right now thinking – this is how its supposed to be…

Wherever we go, the dumb get wise
And the crime rates drop
And the markets rise
It’s a curious thing
But it’s just our thing

The song is upbeat and fun to listen to, but the words are more than just a feel good ditty – I believe they are annointed! This is how it’s supposed to be – wherever we go, the world is supposed to notice. Our job isn’t as hard as we’ve made it – we are a light in a dark place. No matter how dark the room is, when you strike a match, the flame does its job – the room lights up!

Wherever we go, the dumb get wise, the crime rates drop,the markets rise — its just our thing! Lets begin to do just that! The bible says that whatever we put our hand to will be blessed – our workplaces should be blessed, our neighborhoods should be blessed, our schools should be blessed. When we get hired, business is good, when we move into the neighborhood, the home prices rise, when our kids are enrolled in school, bullies repent, teachers get saved, revival breaks out!!!!

This is what is should mean to be a follower of Christ – we stir things up and make things better. We don’t blend in, we don’t fade into the back ground, and we don’t look like those around us. We stand out – not because we don’t wear makeup, or cut our hair, not because we don’t cuss or laugh at dirty jokes – we stand out because we belong to the living God – and wherever we go – that’s where the party’s at! We are the light – reflecting our King – and while we may not laugh at dirty jokes, we do laugh and sing and shout because we are His, made in His image, reflecting His Light, bringing goodness into the world with force, on purpose, intentionally!

This is not a mistake, we don’t fall into this roll – we take it! We are the Children of God and wherever we go – That’s where the party’s at. Man, this song has me pumped!