Currently Working On...

Right now I am gearing up for a few things. My study is broad so I will just key you in on the majors.

For youth group I am working on a series on prayer that will carry us through the summer. I am very excited about this topic because it will force me to pray more diligently. One of the many pitfalls of working at a church is that I fall into a professional type of Christianity that de-values prayer, not in profession but in practise. I have periodically fallen into the habit of only praying in public or during preparation and have neglected a healthy communication with God apart from my responsibilities as a pastor.

At first, this was going to be a series called Praying with Paul, where I would walk them through the prayers of the Apostle Paul. But, I am looking into maybe some Old Testament prayers because I have been Paul heavy lately.

For Camp: The theme for the year is extreme and with the help of some of the Outdoor Outreach staff we landed on Extreme Acts! This means I am working on 5 talks from the book of Acts. Extreme Change (Acts 9), Extreme Calling and Preparation (Acts 13), Extreme Worship (Acts 16), Extreme Community (Acts 16-18), and Extreme Task. This is getting me pretty excited. We chose an illustrated bible and just got it in the mail. It is awesome!

Lastly, I am working on a talk for "big Church" this August. The assignment for those of us that are preaching while David is on break is to tackle the questions that came from our recent Habakkuk Series. These questions are really tough! It will be a student led weekend so I want to tie it all together. Therefore, I am leaning toward doing a talk entitled, Teaching Students to Suffer Well. Problems are coming. Soon these students will be adults asking the same difficult questions our congregation is asking. So, do they have enough bible to keep them afloat when Satan pounds on them? Can they with stand the life that is going to happen to them? Are we giving our students enough of a foundation to help them navigate the storms or are we just having pizza parties? I can answer those questions confidently that we are giving them what they need... a healthy diet of rock solid biblical truth straight from the Word of God!

Acts 10- Consistency

In Acts 10 we are introduced to a man named Cornelius who was devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly (vs. 2). He had a vision and an angel of the Lord spoke to him.

How is your consistency? If someone were writing a description of you would those be things that would stand out and make the cut? Do you give generously? Do you pray regularly? This is a huge aspect of Christianity... consistency with God. 

My challenge to you today is to make it consistent. Do what ever it takes to give generously. Cut back on frivolous spending so you can give. Find a mission organization to give to or simply give more to the local church. Be known for your giving. Secondly, pray regularly. I am not talking about praying before you chomp down on a burger or once you are in bed and toss up a quick prayer to God while you fall asleep. I am saying, block out a chunk of time and pray to God. Start a prayer journal with pressing things that need to be brought before the Lord. Pray before you read scripture and then search for verses that you can pray back to God. Sit still for a little bit. Don't just talk until you are out of breath then peace out. Give God a little time and just sit at His feet. 

I want to be like Cornelius. I want to be described as giving generously, praying regularly, being a devout and God-fearing man.

Jesus the Hero

During my quiet time today I was reading in Romans... and the thing that I was being hammered with today is that humanity is so sinful. That is a vague and general statement but when you apply it on a personal level it begins to make sense; I am sinful. You are sinful.

Paul puts it like this in Romans 3 where he quotes the Psalmist, "there is no one righteous, not even one; no one seeks God... there is no fear of God before their eyes." There is not a person on the planet now or ever that can get the title righteous (except One). And when we look at the Law we are brought to the realization that we are sinful, I am sinful and God would be just in punishing me severely. So, what do we do? We look to our Savior. We look to Jesus to be our remedy.

But, that is not so easy. It is humbling for people to say to themselves that they are 'wicked' (quoting Paul again) and that they deserve punishment. It is so hard to submit to that truth and I would say even harder for 'religious' people that attend church and tithe and go to small group and what not. It is harder for them to see that they are sinful because after all they are good people.

Mark Driscoll puts it like this in his book Vintage Jesus, "religious people often read the bible looking for ways to be the hero of their own life rather than reading it to see themselves as the villain and Jesus their hero." And that is the truth that hit me this morning. I am a villain and Jesus is my hero. Jesus rescues me from my self. Jesus takes my punishment by faith and gives me His right standing with God by faith and justifies me before the Father by faith. But, I am a thief that doesn't deserve any of those things!?

What a humbling and liberating truth! Jesus is my hero. I'm a crook but Jesus is my hero.

The Beauty of DJ Reading Plan

When I first read through the bible in a year several years ago it was because my parents got me a One Year Bible for Easter. It was awesome. In fact that is where my focused time with God was spent for a couple years... When I was in Florida I would just leave my bible opened to the appropriate date on my desk... It was easy. I just plopped down and read. When I missed a day I would skip it and turn to where I was supposed to be. I got familiar with the Bible over those years.

But, I love the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan for many reasons... one is I am very likely to miss a day. So, instead of having to make it up if I want to understand the story, the DJ plan only has 25 readings a month. So, I can miss a couple times and still not get behind. Then if I keep up I have extra days that I can do any number of things with. I can meditate on a verse, I can take a question that came up earlier in the month and pursue it deeper. I can study a book in the bible that I haven't read in a while, etc...

That's a great reason but the real reason why I wanted to write this is... when you read the DJ reading plan you start with a gospel every day all year. So, your mind is thinking Christ at the very beginning. Then you begin to see Him in every verse that you read. So, when you are reading in Genesis and seeing the wrath of God being poured out on say Sodom and Gomorrah you are thinking about the grace of Christ and the extreme patience of God that He didn't do that to everyone. We are wicked like them but you have been spared because of the Grace and provision of Jesus. I think it is so important to see the thread of Jesus in the whole bible. Jesus when talking to his disciples on the road to Emmaus, "explained to them what was said in the all the scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24: 27). So, Jesus points out that all the scriptures are talking about and directing us to Himself. Then when Jesus is refuting the Jews he says, "you diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life" (John 5:39-49). There is a way to read scripture without seeing Christ and coming to Him. And, that is the wrong way. All the Scriptures testify about Jesus. Every single verse in the bible is meant to direct you to the Messiah on the the Cross. Jesus poured out. Absorbing the full wrath of God and providing a way to connect us with God.

So, as you read I hope you are blessed to have the right perspective. I hope you can see God's redemptive plan from even before creation. His absolute sovereign Grace weaved through the whole narrative of the bible. Be blessed friends. Drink deep in the well of the Word and pull out the richness of Christ and the magnificence that the Cross achieved for you.

Bible Reading- Spiritual Steroids

This year we are working through a bible reading plan as a church. I am not sure how many people are actually committed to this but I would be a miss if I didn't at least encourage it from every angle possible.

Let me just say that over the years having a bible reading plan has helped me immensely. I used to think that reading needed to be loose and free from any restrictions that would hold it back. I used to think that if you had specific things that you had to read it would become legalistic or a religious check mark... I will be very real in saying that those are very fine sounding arguments that Satan helped me form.

Free from structure is another way of saying not going to happen. If you have no game plan for what you are going to read then realistically you will habitually miss days. When you have no plan it is easy to slip. Days become weeks and then months and you actually end up signed on to a bible reading plan.... it's called not reading.

So, first off lets just put our reservations aside and try it. Give it a week and see if you don't feel swept up into the courts of heaven. You will be surprised at how quickly this will have an effect on your soul!

Here are some links lest you read this with good intentions of starting and then Satan distracts you before you can make it to your bible....
http://www.hopeingod.org/resources/images/1224.pdf
http://harvestnetinc.com/files/Downloads/BIble%20Reading%20Plan.pdf

A Walk With God

How do you keep from getting jaded? I'll be honest being elevated to the status of Pastor is one of the most unique and special things that I have been called to. In the words of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones; 

[it] is the highest and the greatest and most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called.... [it] is the most urgent need in the Christian Church today; and as it is the greatest and the most urgent need in the Church, it is obviously the greatest need of the world also.- Preaching and Preachers pg. 9

The Christians Ministry is a heavy calling. And, as I realize more and more the weight of my calling(the most important job in the world according to Lloyd-Jones) I am forced to employ every resource available to me to achieve the end to which I am called. I do not want to be a lazy worker. I do not want to peddle the word of God for a profit, either monetary or popularity. My aim to which I strive every day is a commission that Paul gave his apprentice Timmy, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)" In the King James it says to study... Do your best; study. So that is what I do. I dive into books and commentaries and the bible in hopes that I will know and understand the bible which is a mystery because I am seeing that there are so many paradoxes and so many people shipwreck their faith and their congregation because of a misunderstanding or a misappropriation of the word of truth. So, I study and study and study. It also says, rightly handles or divides the Word of Truth. So there is a right way to handle the word. There is a way in the words of John MacArthur, 'to cut a straight line through the bible.' So to that end, I am trying to handle the word of truth to be presented before the King a worker that needs not be ashamed. Not a run of the mill 9 to 5 I got myself into. And, many would say, 'you are taking this too seriously.' Which I believe is the reason why so many churches are dead. They fail to take seriously the most serious Deity there is.

All of the above was an attempt to help you see this point that I think applies to each of us; In my opinion it is rather easy to become jaded when you put that sort of effort into your faith. Sure I could become jaded because I am a pastor but the danger falls on you as well. The danger is that it is easy to become a pharisee. To have a knowledge of God but no relationship. That is a scary thing. We each can read the bible and not experience God. It can be a duty. We can read Christian authors and never encounter God. So, what is the remedy? I believe the remedy is found in the life of Enoch in chapter 5 of Genesis. He walked with God. He was a man that lived and walked and loved and worked with God by his side. He had a relationship with the Almighty that resulted in God 'taking him away.' Literally the bible says that Enoch, 'was no more because God took him away.' I want a relationship with God like that. One that results in the blessing of seeing God. Going to be with God. Getting to look on His glory. So, I have to ask myself, and you my friend, are you walking with God? When is the last time that you spent with Him? Not praying, not having a quiet time, not reading about Him in the bible. But actually with Him. But Cory! How do I walk with Him if not in my 15 minute quiet time? 

Have a date. Block off a day with God. Spend some time with Him. During this time you can read, pray, meditate, but more than anything realize that the end to which you are striving is Him. Try to engage the Almighty. There is a reason why He calls the church His bride. Intimacy. Are you known by and knowing God? Are you intimate? Let's try to achieve this today. A walk with God. 

Go to God... Your Other God

That is supposed to be a parody on the saying, 'go to your right... your other right.' We generally say that when giving directions and the person doesn't know their right from left. So we have to jokingly redirect them. That is why the title of this article is 'go to God... no, your other God.' Not that there are two Gods, but when I say go to God where do you actually go. You probably take a turn in the wrong direction. So this morning let's try to get on the right path.

As a reader of these articles I am concerned for you... one reason is because I worry about steering you astray. It is a dangerous thing to publish ideas on the interweb when it is early in the morning and the proper amounts of caffeine aren't pumping through my system yet. But, the other reason why I am worried about you is because Satan is very tricky....

I am learning lately that for me the problem is not that I waste my time going to smutty places like television or questionable websites. I don't waste my time by having pointless conversations when I should be working. (There are still struggles but when they are obvious like that they can be delt with quickly) I actually have a hard time with spending too much time on good things. Let me try to explain. When you want to encounter God do you pick up a good christian book? Do listen to a sermon online? Do you journal about God? Do you surf to this website or other christian websites?

I do all of those things to some extent... Here is the tragedy, I can spend all my time talking, thinking, and writing about God and not actually spend time with God. The analogy that I came up with is this; I am in a room with my family and friends eating dinner. I love my dad so I begin to talk about him to my friend Jake. "Did you hear that dad started a new project this week? He has been working really hard." Then I proceed to talk about all these things that my dad is doing and that I admire. Here is the tragedy... my dad is at the other end of the table. Even though it might be flattering that we talk about him, he wants us to talk with him. And as Christians we can do this to God. We can talk about him, we can read about him, we can write about him in our journals. But what God really wants is for you to be with him. To talk to him not about him.

So, as a reader of this website my hope is that you don't come here to meet God. Maybe you need a little pointer to find out which direction to go and I hope to do that for you. But, this should not substitute your time with him. Please make an effort to spend time with Him. That is his desire. And while your hanging with Him tell him to make sure that I am spending time with him too! Tell him to break my Internet for a day if I don't schedule a date with him. Tell him to make me sick so I lay in bed and talk to him. Tell him to do whatever it takes to make sure that I am spending time with him. I am being selfish I know but I love my time with Him!

Let me end with a quote from an amazing man that lived long ago and started many orphanages. He didn't have lots of money and he wasn't some amazing leader. He was a man that enjoyed his fellowship with God and he believed that it was by prayer and fellowship with the word of God that great things are accomplished. George Muller said this, “I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord.” Are you doing that friend? Are you making sure that your soul is happy in the Lord? Are you spending time with him doing that? I can promise you that no christian book or website or preacher can make you glad in God quite like God himself can. Spend a little time with Him today.