It's Time to Get Up

I was reading the Bible last night and came across a passage that I thought I should post about. It's not a commonly read passage, so many of you may not even know of it. This year, I'm reading through the Bible chronologically from the New Living Translation (I like to switch translations each year). Last night I was reading the book of Amos.

Now before I get to the passage, let me make a few comments. First, I realize that this is specifically spoken to the nation of Israel. I'm not trying to stretch that. Things are different now. We are not a country or nation set apart by God. Israel is that in this passage, but we are not. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, are a people of EVERY tribe and tongue. And so I am not saying that these words apply to The United States. God was judging His people, so if we want to make the application today, we shouldn't make it to our country but to the church.

But, secondly, oh the wisdom that is to be found in this warning to those Israelites!

Amos 6:4-6 (NLT)
"How terrible it will be for you who sprawl on ivory beds surrounded with luxury, eating the meat of tender lambs and choice calves. You sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and you fancy yourselves to be great musicians, as King David was. You drink wine by the bowlful, and you perfume yourselves with exotic fragrances, caring nothing at all that your nation is going to ruin." (emphasis added)

I will comment briefly. It is time for the church to wake up and be the church that loves God and loves people. That loves, reads, meditates on, believes and lives His word. That exists to glorify God not itself. Be glad! We are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." 1 Peter 2:9

It is not the government's job to legislate holiness. It is the churches joy to live it.

Don't hear me wrong. Jesus loves his bride and so do I. Just a reminder. And an encouragement that we are the bride of Christ. His chosen and precious bride whom He loves. He has covered our sins. The debt is paid. Let us live for the glory of His name!

Wake up, church. We overslept. Darkness has fallen and there is work to be done.

Baptism service

On Sunday, March 15 we had a baptism service at Worthington Christian Church following our regular worship service. Three people were baptized; Alden Hall and Kevin and Sarah Arnold. Here's a video highlighting that service.

The Joy of the Holy Spirit

In yesterday's sermon we talked some about the blessing of having God's Spirit dwelling inside of us. Not a lot of chatter in this blog. Just thought I'd give you some more to rejoice about. Here are some passages and a comment about what we graciously get from having the Holy Spirit. Two thoughts: (1) don't just read the comment; click the link and read the passage. (2) I know there are other passages about the joys of the Holy Spirit; this is just a good start.

(in no particular order)

Galatians 5:16-18 - Triumph over sin
Galatians 5:22-23 - Fruit!
Romans 8:7-11 - Hope and life
John 14:16-17 - Help
John 14:25-26 - More help
John 15:26 - True thoughts about Jesus
John 16:7-15 - Conviction of sin; guidance in truth; the glorification of Jesus Christ!
Romans 8:6 - Life and peace
Ephesians 1:11-14 - An eternal guarantee

Childlike faith, pt 1

Yesterday, at bedtime, Alden was complaining that his ear was hurting. After investigating, it was apparent that he was serious and that his ear was hurting him a lot. He seemed to be in a lot of pain.

So like a good dad, I handed him two junior ibuprofen as he was going to bed. He laid down and I asked who wanted to pray (him or Leif). Alden volunteered right away and I encouraged him to pray about his ear. It was a simple, well-thought (Alden's good about that) prayer.

After he was done, I said to him, "Alden, I want to pray for your ear. I'm going to put my hand on it when I pray." He looked puzzled and asked, "Why?" I told him that the Bible says that if anyone is sick they should have the elders lay hands on them and pray for them. I told him that there was nothing miraculous about what I was doing but that sometimes God decides to heal people when they obey and it was just an act of obedience. He said, "Right now!" (referring to idea that God could heal him right then) I said, "Yes, sometimes God does that and sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes he lets us stay sick and uses that. Alden, do you believe that God could heal you right now if he wanted?" He said, very confidently, "Yes."

So I prayed, as I have done many times before with my kids and others. But when I was done, my sons face was glowing. Like, ready-to-explode glowing. He said, "Dad, my ear doesn't hurt anymore!" I said, "Really?" He said, "No. It doesn't hurt at all!" I encouraged him to pray and thank God. He did. Then I said to him, "Alden, God did something miraculous just now. He literally touched your body and healed you." He said, "I think that's the first time He's ever done that to me."

He was still beaming! Shawna went in after I left and he told her everything. She said that he was just so excited. Could hardly contain it.

I learned a few things through this that I want to share... as if the story isn't enough.

1. Doubt. Sometimes my faith in what I read, doesn't match the faith I live. When Alden told me his ear was better, I immediately began to reconcile this with my doctrine, debating in my mind if it REALLY happened. Maybe some of you are doing that now?

2. Childlike faith. I am amazed at the faith of this 7 year old. He trusts the Lord as much as I want to. I see what Jesus meant by the whole faith of a child lesson.

3. Thankfulness. I know God hears me when I pray. However, it is amazing when He chooses to do something that proves it!

There's more to the story. I'll post it as part two.

Winning with Discipline

This past week I turned a new page in my life. Running. Some would say that it's a page revisited, because I've started running before. The last time I tried was two years ago. I made it a couple weeks and then stopped. No excuses, I just stopped.

That's why I'm calling it a new page. I have too. I'm turning 36 this month and if I don't start now and keep going, I'll probably never do it. I have a friend who is keeping me accountable, so I'm hopeful. Plus, I'm running in a 5K in May, so I've got to keep going.

Last night was my third run. I started off last week running 1.2 miles. Not that impressive, but to my out-of-shape body (especially in the area of cardio) it seemed like a marathon. I wish I could say that I didn't have to stop and walk some, but I did. On Saturday, my second run, things seemed worse. I think I walked more then than the first time.

But last night was different. I started off at a good pace and when I reached the spot where I wanted to quit the last two times, I felt fine. In fact, I kept feeling fine. I ran the whole 1.2 miles without a stop.

I have to tell you, it was encouraging. I felt like I got passed the "why in the world am I doing this" stage. I'm not saying that it will be that easy from here out... but I felt great and was glad to be a runner.

It made me think of what we've been talking about on Sundays. This past week I mentioned that we've got to be devoted to God's word. Not just 20 minutes a day, but as much as we can. We'd never say that 20 minutes a day with our spouse will cut it, so why are we patting each other on the back when we finally reach 20 minutes with Jesus?

It may seem like a marathon to set aside that much time each day at first, but soon you'll feel the value of time with the Lord. It will not only become easier, you will want it. You'll miss it. You'll look forward to being with the Lord. You'll wake up excited about your time with Him.

I'm finding that myself. How sweet it is to open the word and hear the voice of Almighty God!

I'll leave you with something God said to me, today:
"I count the stars and call them all by name. How great I am! My power is absolute!" Psalm 147:4-5 (first person)

Change!

Don't miss church tomorrow! Change your clocks. They go forward tonight. I realize that means you miss an hour of sleep. But it also means you don't miss church. Seems like a pretty good trade-off.

Ingrown Hairs

I think I have four ingrown hairs on my face and neck right now. I hate those things. I mean, it's a pretty simple concept. If you're a hair, you're supposed to have a root that is firmly planted in the right direction while simultaneously growing out of the face. Pretty simple.

When hairs do the right thing, they look nice. I mean imagine what your head would look like if the hairs all rebelled and grew inward. Not pretty. On the other hand, when they all come out, whether through the top of the head or the face, it really can be quite pleasant (assumed grooming here).

Pleasant doesn't describe the circumstances I'm facing right now. Because when hairs decide to grow in, they really irritate you. They fester and cause pain... eventually either disappearing (for the life of me I can't figure that out) or exploding, which is painful.

This past Sunday I preached about our responsibility to be proclaimers. I feel like the church has a lot more ingrown hairs than ones growing the right direction. Apparently, from the Bible's perspective, we're supposed to have a root that is firmly planted in the right direction while simultaneously growing outward. We weren't meant to sing really loud inside a church building and then hide our faith from the world.

Don't be an ingrown hair. If you are, you might be irritating and you'll probably end up either disappearing or exploding... and that is usually pretty painful.

How has God used you to proclaim his greatness?

Article on the Assurance of Salvation

I came across this old article by John Piper today and thought that it might be an encourage to some of you.

Click Here to Read

Be encouraged. God is gracious!

New leaf

Okay. So I'm reopening the blog file.

I'd like to make this more useful for the Cornerstone Ohio community. Come often. I'll be using this as a follow up to Sunday sermons as well as other thoughts and even questions.

Please, get involved in the conversation!