verse4today: As the Lord said to Moses may he speak to us: "I have seen..., I have heard..., and I have come to rescue you.... (Exodus 3:7-8).
Posted on 2012-02-01 via Twitter
Mention the word "prayer" in a small group of people and you will witness a variety of responses. Even among a group of Christians, we will find those who readily admit that they would like to establish a more consistent prayer life and those who will testify to a pretty diligent prayer life. We will also find some pretty confused about the purpose of prayer and others who aren't always sure God really answers prayer. Here … Read More …
Have you ever been pushed out of your comfort zone? Let me tell you about an unforgettable time when I was pushed out of my comfort zone. I was raised by loving parents in a manner similar to many of you. I was raised a Sabbatarian, that is, I was taught to treat Sunday, the Lord's Day, like the Sabbath Day of the Old Testament. Sunday was a day to attend worship services, both morning and … Read More …
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21) I love those words but still can't wrap my mind around them. Paul seems to be saying that if we can imagine it, we have limited God for He … Read More …
Dear Friends,As the apostle Paul wrote, I thank the Lord every time I think of you. In particular, I thank the Lord for your love for Him and His Church. I also thank the Lord for the privilege of gathering with you each week as part of Living Hope Church. By God’s grace, for nearly three years, we have enjoyed passionate worship, relevant teaching, and authentic community. We have even shared the privilege of partnering … Read More …
It's difficult to keep up with the discussion of what it means to be missional, but I do know this much: it has something to do with Jesus. And, I am thinking it is a pretty safe bet to guess that Jesus is the original missional man. I will venture one more bet and guess that those who claim to be missional must share Jesus' response to the people he encountered during his three-year ministry on … Read More …
Last week I blogged on The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose. In this book Roose tells about his one-semester experiment as a Liberty University student. The book is filled with remarkable insights, including this one on the local church (page 232): "If I had to guess, I'd say the meaning of church is changing for me. I used to define church as a series of events - the sermon, the worship music, the collection, … Read More …
A friend recently pointed me to The Holy Longing: The Search For A Christian Spirituality by Ronald Rolheiser, a contemporary Roman Catholic author who writes for those followers of Jesus who struggle with following Jesus. In this book, Rolheiser, among other things, writes about the current struggle with spirituality, as well as some of its essentials. In the process, he pens a chapter entitled "A Spirituality of Eccesiology." In this chapter, he speaks to my situation as the pastor of … Read More …
A few years back, Stephen Covey published his incredibly popular Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, a self-help book now published in 34 languages. The success of Covey's book has led to copy cats like Seven Habits of Highly Effective Parents or Teens or Freshmen or Consultants or _____________ (you fill in the blank). This past week, while preparing for my "Hope for the Home" series of messages, I ran into an unusual copycat: Seven Habits of Highly … Read More …
I bought into it - hook, line and sinker. I am referring to the 7/24 model of church life which proposes that the church, like a gas station, be open for business seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. In this model, we measure congregational vitality by the number of cars that drive in and out of the church parking lot each week, and also by the number of volunteers corralled to sustain the ministries … Read More …
This past Sunday, 53 pioneers gathered on the campus of Trinity Christian College to pray and think about the emerging Living Hope Church, a suburban, multi-ethnic congregation in the Calvinist tradition with dreams of embodying four specific goals: passionate worship, relevant teaching, authentic community, and dynamic partnership with God. Each one of those goals holds its own set of challenges. In the coming weeks, we will look at each one of them. Last Sunday we … Read More …
Last night I met with 50 people in the Van Namen Recital Hall on the campus of Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights to talk, sing, pray, and dream about a vision for a new kind of church in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. We had a great night. During our time together, which included Pastor Karen Williams (photo) leading us in worship, Pastor Pagel Williams leading us in prayer, Darryl Petty and the band … Read More …