Random Shots

The above shot is some crazy guy having fun in Brazil with his fellow preachers and teachers of the word.

The next two are taken at Bison Daze at Harding University. Wild times they were!!

This one is from the Family Pumpkin Fest that Northside hosted.
Here is a shot of an extremely happy mommy and girlie bee!

Verse Memorization

Work on this verse for the week. I will be back tomorrow to share some long awaited pictures with you from our recent activities here at Northside.

Romans 13:14
"Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

Positive

I read this on Jim Gardner's blog this morning and thought that you would like to read it, too. It serves as a great reminder to us all that encouragement works better than hard criticism any day. How are you doing on this topic? Are you more prone to criticize or are you more likely to lift up? If you, like I, want change to occur in a person or program, try putting the positive foot forward first. Here are Jim's thoughts:

"How much slack are you willing to give to your ministers/elders?

This week has been like an epidemic. A wave of phone calls have poured in to me from friends and colleagues throughout the country struggling under the weight of criticism. Most of it is couched as "constructive criticism," but it is criticism nonetheless. The critic often never understands the depth of the wound inflicted on the man of God wholly devoted to the ministry.

When was the last time you expressed your gratitude to your spiritual mentors? When was the last time you told your minister you appreciate him? When was the last time you took an elder and his wife to lunch as an expression of appreciation for their spiritual work?

The words of Chuck Swindoll are ideal for this circumstance: "Be tolerant with your (shepherd). A better word is patient. Try your best not to be too demanding or set your expectations too high. Multiply your own requests by however many there are in your church, and you'll have some idea of what the shepherd of the flock must live with. Be very understanding...Pray for him! Encourage him! When you do, you'll find him all the more willing to serve the Lord among you" (Hope Again, p. 226).

Is your minister not your ideal guy? Cut him some slack. Are your elders stuck in neutral? Try encouragement rather than criticism. As we Fresnans can attest, lofty expectations can be an ideal setup for great disappointment. Rather than cutting critique, why not try a compliment or two? As one who's blessed by a congregation with an unusual measure of encouragement to me, I can testify that it does a minister of the Word wonders.

Give it a try with your leaders beginning this Sunday!"

Quote Of The Day

"The gospel is not after-death fire insurance, nor is it merely personal peace and serenity in the here and now. More, the gospel invites us to participate in the kingdom of God, that long-awaited rule of God, in which the rebellion, with its corollaries of lust and violence and greed and self-seeking, is undone. The gospel invites us to follow in the way of Jesus, who embodies for us the way of the kingdom." Lee C. Camp

Out of the Woods

Well, I'm finally back to somewhat of a functioning order now that my bout last week (from Wednesday afternoon to Friday evening) with a nasty stomach virus is over.

Just to catch you up:

Had a great Bible study tonight at my house with 20 God-hungry students. Very thought-provoking stuff tonight.

For those of you keeping up with memorization, here it is:

Matthew 11:28-30
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Of Donkeys And Elephants

The party lines have been drawn. Are you blue or red?

It's more than that, though. I believe that making Christian choices runs deeper than either party or the platform on which they stand.

I'm not endorsing McCain in this blog.

I'm not endorsing Obama in this blog.

I'm endorsing Christ.

We Christians, if we truly follow Christ the way He wants, will not take a "top down" approach with the government leading in His power, but will take the hearts of servants and serve our neighbors, enemies and any that fall between these two areas (Mark 10:42-44).

The American mantle of power should never be used by those truly seeking to be disciples of Christ. It is not The Way.

I will post pics and stories of the weekend later on but for now I will leave you with the words of minister Bill Tibert about how we should be as American Christians.

"During the 1960s and '70s there was an antiwar slogan that asked, "What if they gave a war and nobody came?" The point was what if there was a declaration of war and all the people just refused to participate? What if there were abortion clinics but nobody went in? What if abortion was a legal choice, but it was a choice nobody took? Changes in the law, blocking abortion clinics, demeaning name-calling will not stop abortions. The history of the church through the ages has been the history of changes brought about in society through the church demonstrating and living an alternative vision of life. We need to stop telling our nonbelieving neighbors how wrong their way of life is, and we need to start showing the power of the gospel in the way we live....Let me ask you: Which has greater power? Ten thousand people who fill the streets in front of abortion clinics and shame those seeking abortions, or ten thousand people in California who take to the state capital a petition they have signed stating that they will take any unwanted child of any age, any color, any physical condition so that they can love that child in the name of Jesus Christ?"

Memorize and Recite

I will be back tomorrow with thoughts and pics about the long weekend and my birthday. In the meantime, while I spend some long needed time with my wife and daughter, meditate on these verses and commit them to memory.

Psalm 139:23-24
"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."

Strive to Transcend the Quarrel

I have been thinking about this for several years and wanted to share this with you now. My friend, Allan Stanglin, has blogged about this in the past few days and I want to post them here. I do this simply to elicit a response from you, dear readers. Let me know here or by email or even by facebook as many of you have in the past.

(A Spirit Of Unity)
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” ~Romans 15:7

Romans 14 gives us the background for the above exhortation from the apostle Paul. There are two groups of Christians in this church in Rome. Weak and strong. Paul’s words. The weak believers are vegetarians. The strong believers enjoy a good steak. The weak brothers keep all the Jewish holy days. The strong brothers don’t. The weak Christians are developing all kinds of elaborate worship and lifestyle theologies and drawing lines in the sand over what’s right and what’s wrong. The strong Christians don’t have very many lines and they’re not as concerned about which worship and lifestyle practices are right or wrong. The weak are criticizing the strong for being spiritually insensitive. The strong are looking down on the weak for being spiritually immature and inferior. The strong proclaim freedom in Christ. The weak say that doesn’t mean anything goes. The weak tell the strong, “You’re wrong.” The strong tell the weak, “Grow up.”

Over what?

Over food. Over days. Over worship styles and traditions. The use of technology. Women’s roles. Alcohol. Praise teams. Divorce and remarriage. Clapping. Creeds. Dancing. Songleaders. Preachers(!) Small groups. Bible translations. Politics.

Are you a weak Christian or a strong Christian? Again, these are Paul’s words. Is your faith weak or is it strong? According to what Paul’s talking about in Romans 14, which are you? Are you the one who worries and frets and draws lines in the sand and develops intricate tests of fellowship for other Christians? Or are you the one who has a total grasp on our salvation in Christ and understands that the things we argue about and worry about don’t really matter at all? Are you the weak brother or sister? Or the strong?

What is it that makes you strong? What is it that makes you weak? If I were to ask somebody else about you—whether your faith is strong or weak in this context—what would they say about you? Why would they say it? What do they see or experience in you that makes them think that way?

Romans 14:1-4 > Nobody looks down on anybody. Nobody condemns anybody. For God has accepted him. Accepted whom? Who has God accepted? The brother or sister or groups of brothers and sisters who disagree with me on this church tradition or who don’t see eye to eye with me on this disputable matter, this matter of opinion that should not in any way divide the Lord’s Body. You’re not his master. Christ Jesus as Lord is his master. Not you. Whether he stands or falls is up to our Lord. Whether he’s right or wrong is up to our Lord. And Paul goes ahead and makes the call. He’ll stand! Whether he agrees with you or not. Whether y’all are on the same page or not. He’ll stand because he’s in Christ. So, you accept him because Jesus accepts him. Christ died for him, Paul says. What are you doing?

Romans 14:5-8 > Each of us should be fully convinced in our minds that what we’re doing is the right thing to do in the eyes of our God, but don’t bind that on another brother who doesn’t feel that way. If he practices something different, we assume we’re both doing it to the Lord, before the Lord, in the presence of the Lord with a clear conscience. We assume that my sister with a different belief or a different practice is not believing flippantly or practicing casually. She’s doing it with careful study and reflection and prayer and conviction. She’s fully convinced in her mind that she’s doing the right thing. So everything’s OK.

Paul is calling for unity in Spirit here. Not unity in opinion, not unity in practice, not even unity in belief. And he’s dealing with what at this time in the Church were huge issues. Unity comes with where your heart is. What’s your motivation? What drives you? Who are you thinking about?

Paul clearly identifies himself as one of the strong. But it’s interesting to me that he doesn’t say the weak need to change their minds or their opinions or their practices. In fact, he goes so far as to command them not to change their practices unless their minds are fully convinced. Paul’s prayer is not that all the Christians in Rome come to the same opinions on these things. No. He’s praying that they may possess a spirit of unity that transcends the differences.


(A Spirit Of Unity, part II)
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~Romans 15:5-6

“Has it ever occurred to you that one thousand pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one thousand worshippers meeting together, each one looking to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become unity conscious and turn their eyes away from Jesus to strive for closer fellowship.” ~A. W. Tozer

What if we’re talking about a “salvation issue?”

What’s a “salvation issue?” Will somebody please tell me what a “salvation issue” is? We get into discussions about “salvation issues” and we start ranking things in order of importance to God, in terms of what’s going to save us or condemn us. And we’ll talk about baptism and church and the authority of Scripture and worship practices. But we never talk about helping the poor or being kind to our enemies. Scripture says those are actually the weightier matters.

They’re all salvation issues! Everything we do is a salvation issue! That’s why the heart is the most important thing. The attitude is the most important thing.

“The Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.” ~Romans 14:17

As children of God and followers of the King, we take our example, we take our inspiration and motivation, from Jesus. The Son of God is the one who motivates us to live with each other the way we do. We realize that Christ Jesus never once did anything to please himself. Instead, he gave up everything, he sacrificed everything, to benefit and build up others. And by choosing to serve others instead of please himself, Jesus sets the pattern that we must accept as our own. Putting others first. Putting the needs of others first. It’s never about me. It’s always about you.

It’s not about hands. It’s about hearts. It’s never about hands, whether they’re raised or clapping. It’s always about hearts, whether they’re pure and holy.

And Paul puts it on the strong. It’s up to the strong, not the weak, to make sure this happens in God’s Church. It’s on the strong to bear with the failings of the weak brother. That’s hard. It’s up to the strong to make the sacrifices and concessions to our weaker brothers and sisters. That’s not easy. It’s easier to be the weaker Christian, drawing lines and insisting everybody cater to me. It’s the strong, Paul says, who are able to grasp the truth that our love and mercy and grace to others is Christ-like.

Here’s what separates the strong Christians from the weak. Bottom line. Here it is. Strong Christians with strong faith realize that the more you sacrifice and the more you give up for others, the more Christ-like you are. The more you insist on your own way and the more you assert yourself for your own interests, the less like Christ you are. Pretty simple.

So if all of us, all thousand of us here at Legacy, all-how-ever-many-there-are at your church, if all of us to a person decided right now today that we put ourselves at the end of the line, that we would all bend over backwards to make everybody else happy and sacrifice our own feelings and desires in order to build up others—if we all did that—wow! If we all accepted each other just like Christ; if we all bore the failings of the weak just like Christ; if we all pleased our neighbor for his good just like Christ; it still wouldn’t result in a perfect church. It won’t eliminate our differences of opinion. It won’t do away with all arguments and debate. But it would mean figuring out how to live together. And we’ll know for sure that the Christ who unites us is greater by far than the differences that may divide us. And our grace-filled conversations and our mercy-laden interactions with each other will reflect that conviction."

Knowing His Word

I have been listening to the thoughts and sermons of Ray Van Der Laan recently and have found them extremely inspiring. One of the great thoughts he discussed (not original with him-I believe it came from a prolific Rabbi named Akiva) was the fact that it is important for us to promote memorization of God's word with our teens, students and adults. The idea is not that rote memorization, in and of itself, is to be pressed, but that knowing God's word inside and out is!

I have heard all this before. Here is what hooked me in, though. Akiva said that we should take one passage (and I believe we can be free with our interpretation of that word-whether it mean book, chapter, small paragraph or single verse) and work on memorization all day long. If we remember it the next day after all that work, then that's great and we've got it. If, however, we do not remember it we don't need to worry. Let God worry about that because it's in there somewhere and He will pull it out for us when we need it the most in our lives.

What do you think about that?!? God knows what He is doing. And if we truly work on remembering His word each day, He will take care that it is at our fingertips when we need it the most.

So work on what you can and I mean work at it and let God take the rest.
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If you would like to do this with us, I will post the verse every Monday starting next week. Here is the verse that the Meat Eaters group worked on Monday night.

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

Cleaning Out The Inside

I started a new study with my teens at Meat Eaters (an evening of digging into the deeper meat of the word) tonight. We are looking at the book 'Renovation of the Heart: The Student Edition' by Dallas Willard and Randy Frazee. I have to say that it was one of the best studies we have had in a long time. There was a lot of discussion. Even some of my quieter students jumped into the conversation. I am very excited about what happened tonight and I look forward to what will come in the nights ahead!! I will blog more about this tomorrow.

Bison Dazed and Confused

Here at Harding University with some teens for Bison Daze (a great way for 9-12 graders to get to know HU and all it has to offer) weekend which actually coincides with Homecoming as well!! We have been having fun but today will be the best because we get to catch the family picnic on the GAC lawn as well as the football game this afternoon with a capping off of the evening with the Harding Theatre Homecoming Production of "Oklahoma." I am looking forward to it!!!! Be back later some time with pics.

Harding and Meat Sauce

A great saying that I saw on a T-Shirt at my cousin Kristen's soccer game over the weekend:

"Vi Vill Vinna,
Vi Vill Ta Dem,
Vi Vill Gora Kott Sas Ote Om Dem!"

Translation from Swedish to English:
"We Will Win,
We Will Take Them,
We Will Make Meat Sauce Out Of Them!"

I want that shirt!!
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A group of teens are going with me this weekend to Bison Daze at Harding University. It will be great to catch a few games, sit in on some classes (including Keith Stanglin's Comparative Theology or something by him), and hang out with some weird people!

Family Pics

Here are some great weekend pics of family that I promised!!

The whole group from left: Kristen, Kameron, Misti, Dad, Jeff holding Brenden, Uncle Dave, Me and Mom!

At the Soccer field in Dallas watching Kristen and the girls from DePauw University in Indiana dominate the girls from TX!! Dad's nickname for the weekend was 'Rorb' for wearing those awful, Roy Orbison glasses. And Jeff is not my brother-in-law/He is my sister's husband!!!

On the field after the game!

A.M. Worship Service

I preached this morning from Mark 8 and I have to admit that I feel pretty good about it. I also must tell you that I stole shamelessly from my friends Jim Gardner and Allan Stanglin as well as other great speakers I don't know: Ray Van Der Laan and Rob Bell. The combination was powerhouse! When I have it on mp3 format I will put it here for any family that would like to hear it.

Kevin Smith brought his powerful voice in to lead us in worship. Kevin is a low Bass, but he is also able to take it on up there to the roof! He has quite a range and for that I am jealous.

All in all, I would say this morning was a nice time of worshiping our God.

Family

Early Friday morning, I left for TX to have a nice, albeit short, visit with my family including my Uncle Dave and Kristen, who I have not seen in many years. I will blog later with stories and pictures of the family gathering.

Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University

Something has happened in our (El and me) lives that has changed us completely. Three words sum it up: Financial Peace University! Ever since we started this program in August, we have been changed in many great ways.

First, I (the Free Spirit of the family) have become frugal. Let me type that again. I have become a frugal spender! Anyone that knows me and my burning pockets would be skeptical of this transformation but it's true. And El can attest to that. I don't buy anymore. I just don't do it.

Second, El and I have put our heads together in such a big way on spending and budgets and cash flow and snowballing that we can see more than a glimpse of light at the end of the debt-laden tunnel. Our relationship to money is being reshaped into something I thought would never be. Amazing stuff!

Third, and most importantly, we have grown even closer together in this process. We are not the well-oiled machine that we can be, but we are mighty close. We are not only pumped about debt reduction but also about our sudden renewal in relationship!! We work together. On it all!! I can't even touch the hem of the garment with this stuff, I tell ya!

If you have the chance to be part of FPU, jump on it. It will make all the difference in the world. Is it easy? No. Does it work in such a big way that you are changed and left wondering why you never did this before? YES!!!
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All of this brings me to the other thoughts that are being formulated about the world and money. I will be back later in the day with that.

I'm Not A Big Fan of Bumper Stickers But...

I read this one the other day and agreed heartily:
"When Satan Reminds you of your past, Repent and Remind him of his future!"
Pretty cool and accurate.
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I read an article today about exorbitant salaries and am now formulating my thoughts for tomorrow's blog.

Pic Gallery

Some Pics of the Youth Loft before we begin construction on it this week!

Northside Youth Loft

I am so glad to say that the unfinished room upstairs in Northside's Outreach Building is going to soon become the Youth Loft! 8 hard-working souls made it up to the building this morning to clean out what will soon be our new space for teen (7-12) class, devotionals, meetings, playing and just plain hanging.

I knew the number would be low with Race For the Cure and Silver Dollar City Church of Christ Family Weekend going on, but it is the second Saturday and I wasn't able to go to either of those, so I thought it would be a great time to get this thing shaped up! We worked hard for a little over 2 and a half hours and...we got it done!!!!! YEAH!!

Big thanks to Stephanie Howell for doing some work earlier this week. Also to Chad McNew, Brad Ferrell, Leavon Bowers, Melita Porter, Logan Porter, Elizabeth Mitchell, and even little Boodle! I thank you from the bottom of my heart! So does the rest of the youth group and parents.

I will post pictures as the new Northside Youth Room progresses.

I'm In The Mood To Read

I would like to know, by you Christian scholars and readers out there, what your top 5 picks are in Christian books. Now, they can be anything-technical, doctrinal, devotional, fictional, etc. Just let me know by comment or email what you would consider 'must-reads' in this arena. I can't wait to hear from you!!