The Divine Perspective

My daughter, Jessica, is pursuing a Ph.D. in bio-chemistry at Auburn University in Alabama. I am very proud of who she is, the work she is doing, and how she reflects the love of Jesus in what she does. But sometimes when she begins to talk about her work, I am reminded she was blessed with her mother’s portion of brain power.

While on the phone with her the other day, I asked what she had done that week. She said, “Well, I conducted large scale expressions on bacteria to extract KatG protein, otherwise known as catalase-peroxidase protein, using sonification to lyse the cells to extract the proteins that were overexpressed. This was done with multiple varieties of chromatography protocols. Then I tested these proteins using UV-visible spectroscopy and an oxygen sensitive electrode.”

I said, “ummm…OK.” Then in an effort to sound intelligent, I asked, “Why did you do that? What did you hope to accomplish?”

She said, “I did that to determine the activity of a protein that enables tuberculosis to withstand attacks from its host.”

To that, I articulately said, “ummm….OK.” I gave up and simply told her, “It sounds like you had a great week!”

Since I had no idea what she just said, and in attempt to maintain my pride, I said, “Let’s pretend that I had absolutely no idea what you just said. Tell me what you just said in plain ol’ English.”

So, she told me she was analyzing some proteins to understand why tuberculosis sometimes sticks around when it should have been eradicated.

I said, “Oh! That sounds important and worthwhile. Why didn’t you just say that?”

The thing is, I know what she is doing is more complex and profound than what she told me. She just knows that if she gave me more, my mind would literally explode, so she gave me what she knew I could handle for now.

This was not the first time I had been in a conversation where the discussion had been way over my head. Actually, it seems like I am in many of those types of conversations. When I get in those situations, I know what the person is saying is important and I know it is worthwhile, but I also realize they are communicating on such a different level than me, I just have to try to keep up.

It is this way with God sometimes. Many times the core of our problems is our inability to know and understand God’s ways. The Lord said in Isaiah 55:9, “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (HCSB)

Because God works from the divine perspective, there are times we must simply trust His goodness and faithfulness and realize He will show us only what we can handle at the moment.

We make our plans and they go awry, and then we get frustrated and angry because things did not go as we planned. Perhaps, that was because God was working something different than we had imagined. We wonder if God is listening to our prayers because we have been asking repeatedly for Him to reveal His plan for us. When we encounter silence in our prayers, we may be tempted to think God does not care. It might just be that it is not time for Him to reveal His plan to us because it would be incomprehensible at that point in time.

God’s ways are not only higher they are bigger than our thoughts. His thoughts, His ways, and His plans are on another level than our thought process. Therefore, when He shows us a little bit of His plan which He thinks we can handle, it might surprise us. However, we must understand that if God is asking us to do something surprising, something difficult, something different, He is performing a work in our lives we might not even be able to imagine.

Read More

The Million Dollar Highway

Here is a video of our recent trip to Durango. This section of the trip shows Ouray, Colorado to Silverton, Colorado on what is called "The Million Dollar Highway." This is one of the most spectacular drives in the country but in winter, it is a little tricky. This minute and a half video represents about an hour drive. It starts in Ouray at around 7,700 feet above sea level and finished in Silverton at about 9,300 feet above sea level and goes over Red Mountain Pass at 11,000 feet above sea level.

Note that there are few guard rails throughout the drive. It is hard to view the scenery in this video but try to glimpse the view throughout. Note also the condition of the road worsen as we get closer to Red Mountain Pass.

The image below is a graphic from a shirt I own that represents the same drive.

I love living in Colorado and living in this part of Colorado!

Read More

I am Not in Control

I received an iMessage the other day that may be common in the world we live in but one that no father wants to get from his daughter. “My school’s on lockdown. A convict is on the loose and has been seen on our campus.” My daughter goes to school over 500 miles away in that vast wilderness called “Texas.” Of course, there was nothing I could do to protect her, so I began to pray, but I was still trying to figure out what I could do. Maybe I could…no, that wouldn’t work…Maybe I should…no, that is impractical…Maybe I will…seriously, get ahold of yourself – if you are dad, you know how your emotions can spiral a bit out of control when it comes to protecting your children.

That is when God calmed my heart and reminded me of something He has been trying to teach me lately: I am not in control. This reminded me a passage of Scripture.

"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. [12] "Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. [13] "Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name. (1 Chronicles 29:11-13, NASB)

Yes, I am not in control. Why is this idea such an astonishing concept for me to grasp? I am not in control – never have been; never will be. I cannot control whether my daughter will be harmed when she is 500 miles away from me and I cannot control if she will be harmed if she is living in the same town I live in. I am not in control.

In that moment of praying, God gently reminded me of all the things in which I am not in control. I have been at my current church for just over five months and have been to five funerals, three of which I have presided over. I have no control who dies and when. My wife had to have another back surgery this month. While I wish I could take the pain from her and heal her, I have no control over her pain or her healing. For me, the realization that I am not in control is not exactly what I wanted to hear but I am not even in control of what God wants to teach me! (Can you imagine!?)

God did not leave me there, though. In addition to reminding me that I am not in control, He reminded me that HE is – And He always has been! God being in control means that my daughter was not left in the hands of an escaped convict; she was in the hands of the Perfect Father, our Abba – and she always has been! God controlling all things means that my wife is not in left the hands of a fallible surgeon; She is in the hands of the Great Physician who never makes a mistake and uses our weakness for his strength (2 Cor. 12:10) – and she always has been! God being in control means that He will use what He wants to teach me what He wants at the exact time He wants to teach it to me. Frankly, it is humbling, but I could use some humbling on a regular basis to remind me I serve a Sovereign Father who loves me deeply by reminding me I am not in control.

My daughter was on lockdown for about five hours and then, when it was safe, all the students were released. So she and eleven of her friends went to get pizza – college students…always eating. She was safe and I praised God, not just because my daughter was safe, although that was a major praise, but I praised God because of who God is. The Sovereignty of our God means that He can do what He wants, teach me what He wants, use what He wants, to accomplish what He wants. Like 1 Chronicles 29:13 says, “Therefore”, because You are in COMPLETE control of ALL things, “we thank You and praise Your glorious name.” Thank You, Lord, that I am not in control.

Read More

Urim, Thummim, and the Danger of Misinterpretation

The mystical interpretations some pastors preach never ceases to amaze me.

I was tuned to a different radio station while running late for work one day this week. Because of the later time, I was able to hear a preacher I would not normally catch. I did not know who this preacher was but I was not really surprised that I heard some truly poor exposition that I felt I needed to address for two reasons: 1) to correct the poor handling of Scripture, and 2) to show how a mishandling of Scripture moves the preacher off the topic of Christ. When any teaching is the product of poor hermeneutics, the teaching becomes mystical and the preacher becomes a something of a preaching magician. While the congregation "ooos" and "ahhs" over his magical skills in interpretation they for forget that, like any magic show, it is all just an act.

The sermon I was listening to was being shared by Jon Courson, who I really do not know much about. In fact, I forced myself to listen to the whole program so I could find out who was preaching. I have heard his name but have never really heard him preach before. I am not attacking his person; I know nothing about this man. But I feel I must say something about this teaching. Much like Paul confronting Peter when Peter was wrong, I feel I should do the same (Galatians 2:11-21)

Jon was teaching on the urim and thummim mentioned in Scripture. I say "mentioned" because there are only seven verses in all of Scripture that refer to thummim and/or urim (Exodus 28:30, Leviticus 8:8, Numbers 27:21, Deuteronomy 33:8, 1 Samuel 28:6, Ezra 2:63, Nehemiah 7:65). There is nothing in Scripture that tells us what the urim and thummim were or how they were used. Yet, Pastor Courson provided vivid detail on what these were and how God used them.

He indicated that they were stones on the breastplate of the priest (Exodus 28:30 tells us they were to placed in the breastplate but it does not indicate they were stones). He went on to teach that God would actually light up the stones on the breastplate of the priest as part of the use of the urim and thummim (you can read that at his website here as well). I assume he developed that theory from the literal translation of the names ("urim" means "lights" and "thummim" means "perfection."). The Scriptures says NOTHING about the breastplate of the priest lighting up like "Simon" game (I encourage the reader to take the time to read the seven verses above).

So far, there is no real theological problem with this teaching but there is a big hermeneutical problem. I am not sure why a person would want to invent information about anything in Scripture especially when there is absolutely no supporting evidence for it. The theological problem occurred when the poor hermeneutic produced a poor conclusion. Courson began saying something like this: "Just like the priest's breastplate lit up with lights when God was telling his people what to do, Jesus told us 'you are the light of the world' and therefore we are capable of giving others guidance." In short, I came away from the sermon feeling like he was reducing our ministry, and worse Jesus' ministry, to that of a magic 8-ball.

When Jesus told his followers they would be lights of the world (Matthew 5:14), he was not referring to the urim and thummim, and decision making. He was talking about the light of the gospel going into this dark world (Matthew 5:16). Jesus did not come to help us make better decisions or to help us know what we should do. He came to raise us from the dead and give us life. He came to rescue us from the darkness and transfer us into His Son's Kingdom (Colossians 1:13-14). He came to give His life as a ransom (Matthew 20:28). He came to redeem us and forgive us (Ephesians 1:7). But His purpose for coming was not so we could make better decisions.

Additionally, Jesus did not give believes the ministry of better decision making. He gave us the ministry of reconciling the lost world to God (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). He gave us the ministry of making disciples (Matthew 28:19). He gave us the ministry, as mentioned above, of being lights in the darkness. But the main ministry of believers is not making better decisions.

Yes, the Holy Spirit gives believers wisdom and guidance when making decisions (Galatians 5:25). Yes, Jesus uses other believers to help us when we have difficult choices (Proverbs 11:14). Yes, we all need to make better decisions as believers. But, using the urim and thummim to teach this truth smacks of attempting to impress people with magical hermeneutical skills and, in the end, conveys the wrong message about Jesus' ministry.

For this reason, we must be careful to say what the Bible says about an issue, and remain silent where the Bible is silent. I have no idea what the urim and thummim were or how the priest used them. That is because the Bible remains silent on the issue. A pastor should not have to take an obscure passage or item from the Old Testament to tantalize his congregation. The Word is powerful enough on its own (Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12).

For an interesting on the urim and thummim, this article gives a good balanced approach about this mysterious apparatus of the priests garments.

Read More

The Funniest Thing I Heard Today - 7.28.2014

"Now, back in Fort Smith there's a 'sportin' lady' named Big Faye. She was shot twice with this thing. But....she dresses out at about two hundred and ninety so none of the bullets found their way to any of the vitals. But against ordinary people, this gives good service."

Rooster Cogburn, played by John Wayne, on Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne's second to last film) while talking about the Five-Barreled Ladies Companion gun.

Read More

A New Beginning

Starting today, I am the new pastor at Rosemont Baptist Church in Montrose, Colorado. I am honored that this church has not only voted to have me lead them as pastor, but today the church will participate in an installation service, during which a representative from the church and myself will be signing a covenant outlining our responsibilities to each other. I anticipate being a moving and meaningful part of the service tomorrow.

I will be the one preaching tomorrow so instead of preaching a charge to myself, I will preaching a charge to everyone there. I will preaching from 2 Timothy 3:16-4:5. I will be preaching on four marks of effective ministry.

To have an effective ministry, we must...

Recognize the Character of the Bible (3:16-17)

• It is inspired
• It is profitable
• It equips us

Recognize the Character of Your Ministry (4:1-2)

• Our ministries must be bible-centered
• Our ministries must be prepared
• Our ministries must be discipling
• Our ministries must be patient
• Our ministries must be instructive

Recognize the Character of the Culture (4:3-4)

• The culture rejects sound doctrine
• The culture gathers false teachers
• The culture only hears what pleases them
• The culture refuses to hear the truth
• The culture follows myths  

Recognize the Character of the Minister (4:5)

• We must be counter-cultural
• We must be serious (taking the things of God seriously)
• We must endure hardship
• We must be evangelistic
• We must fulfill our ministry

I pray that God will speak through me during the sermon and that He will be glorified.

Lord, let my beginning and entire ministry at Rosemont lift you up and bring you the honor you deserve. Let the ministry here bring many people into Your Kingdom for Your glory. Thank for you privilege not only to serve you, but to serve you here. 
 
I am looking forward to this new opportunity to serve Christ by shepherding the wonderful people who make us Rosemont Baptist Church. It is my desire to post regularly here in order to encourage the body of Christ at Rosemont as well as anyone else who stops by.

Please post here if there is anything you would like to me to address of even if you just want to say "Hi". I would love to know if anyone is encouraged by this blog.

Read More

Removing the Dead Wood from Our Lives

We are messy when we start.

I have been removing dead trees from our land for about a month or so and it strikes me this job is similar to the work Christians must tackle in their own lives.

We had some dead, rotting trees standing, and in some cases, laying on or beside healthy, green, growing trees. When the two exist together it is messy, ugly, and, frankly, a bit dangerous. Rodents or snakes could live in the mess laying on the ground. Winds can cause trees to fall over and harm others. It is eyesore for the neighbors. In short the dead must be removed for the healthy to continue to grow and to improve the aesthetics.

Similarly, when we come to Christ, we have sin littering our lives which must be aggressively removed if we are to grow and become healthy Christians. Paul makes this point in Colossians 3. In this part of his epistle to the church in Colossia, Paul first instructs his readers to "set your mind on the things above" (3:2). He then charges believers to put to death our worldly nature (3:5). He lists a sampling of what the worldly nature looks like (I will link to the Greek word used): immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed - greed is like idolatry. These are what the old, worldly nature produces and they should be like dead trees in our lives. They need to be removed.



Making progress

Paul goes on to say that we are to throw away the old self (3:9). He characterized the old man with this list: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech. He also includes a ban on lying to one another. These all, and anything else produced from the old nature must be removed because through Christ, we have put on the new man. When we do not remove the old and dead from our lives, our lives become messy, ugly, and frankly, a bit dangerous.

This is not work we must do ourselves. In fact, it is impossible for us to do this work ourselves. It begins when we have made alive through Christ (3:1) and the work continues as we are renewed the more and more we know Christ (3:10). In short, it is the work of Christ on the cross that allows us to be able to remove the old nature from our lives.

Like removing the trees, removing sin from our lives is hard work. It may take some time to get the job done in the manner it needs done. It may be costly but it is worth the cost. You may need the help of a friend to get to the job done. The point is that we must remove the sin from our lives no matter what. The ugly death in our lives must be removed so we can walk as Christ intended us to walk.

Matthew Henry challenged his readers to remove sins from lives. He said,

Mortify them, kill them, suppress them, as weeds or vermin which spread and destroy all about them ... It is necessary to mortify sins, because if we do not kill them, they will kill us.

Finished for now

These were the thought running through my head as I was cleaning out these old trees. More specifically, I began to wonder what were the dead trees in my life that are not only cluttering up my life, but are allowing death to remain in the new life Christ has given me. I would ask you the same question. What dead trees from your old worldly nature is still hanging around in your life making your life messy, ugly, and dangerous? Are you willing to allow Christ to work in you and are you willing to do the hard work to remove these sins from your life?

If you are struggling in an area and would like some help, please comment below or email and I will be willing to pray with you and help you with your questions.

Read More

Changes to The 2 Timothy 2:2 Objective

Today I have integrated the 2 Timothy 2:2 Objective website and the blog into one web presence. It is my hope that this change will provide users with more information than just the blog. The website was not being visited very much and additionally the hosting service literally disappeared (and took my website with it).

Over the coming months, I hope to add more information to the pages of this website. I would like to have more relevant postings on the blog (although, I will still post random things as well). Eventually, I would like the user to listen to some sermons through this site as well as help pastors in preparing their sermons. Please continue to check back often for any updates.

Currently, our Study Links page has information on it which should helps those interested in digging deeper into Scripture. If there is something you would like to see included on the 2 Timothy 2:2 Objective Website, please feel free to post a comment here and let me know how this site could help you.

You can now access this site by using the simple web address of www.2t22.org. 

Let me know what you think of the new look!

Read More

Gathering Illustrations

In a previous post, I wrote about sermon preparation and the importance of the sermon illustration in that process. Sermon illustrations are pretty easy to come by if one is paying attention. The problem for me has been how to keep track of the illustrations I have found along the way but have not been able to use yet. How can I file those illustrations to be used in the future? What system is the best way to access my sermon illustrations?

In my thinking and experimenting to find the best system, I also found myself in an interesting situation. A fellow minister and friend of mine passed away not long ago. His family very generously and very kindly gave his collection of sermon illustrations to me (this collection is seen in the image above). I was very honored to receive this collection of illustrations that represent hundreds of hours of collecting, filing, and then using the illustration in various sermons. This was a very personal, very important, and very valuable gift. I was quite moved by this family's kindness in their time of grieving.


Evernote

Recently, I have come across an application named Evernote. My finding Evernote is not an epic discovery, as many have already found an use Evernote regularly. But for me, it was a great way to easily collect, store, and retrieve sermon illustrations. If you are looking for a way to make a personalized sermon illustration storage system, this is a very easy process.

After I looked at some videos about the basics of Evernote, I began the process of collecting my illustrations. To begin with, I created a "notebook" entitled "Sermon Illustrations." Second, I create a new note in that notebook. Then, I use the very cool function in Evernote in which one can take a picture with the "document camera," which takes a picture of the text and then makes that text searchable. I add a title to this picture, and at the bottom of the note, I make a quick notation regarding the source. Finally, and I think this may be the most important, I create some "tags," which are essentially subject labels, for this note.

Once entered like this, you can search the "tags" for a topic search, as in "I would like to see all the illustrations about forgiveness" or you can search through the notes for a keyword, as in "I would like to see all the illustrations that have the word "love" in them.

All my illustrations are stored on the Evernote cloud, which has 60 MB per month free. This means that I can access my notes from my iPad, my PC laptop (there is an Evernote for the PC), or even any computer that has web access, because there is a web-based client as well.

I would recommend Evernote for this type of work. I can also see the benefits of this application in collection of receipts for ministry and a vast array of information gathering. For now, Evernote will be serving as my main storage space for my sermon illustrations.

Finally, I will have an image below of what my Evernote on my PC looks like (it is a large picture so you may need to scroll around to see it all). I hope this information has helped. Please leave some feedback to let me know!

Screen Shot of Evernote - Click to Enlarge

Read More

One. Weird. Day

Confession. I did not go to church yesterday. Not really. Instead, I had the weirdest...day...ever. Let me start from the beginning. My wife and I had some work we HAD to get done around the house and we were not going to be able to do it anytime in the next three weeks or more. We attempted to do the work on Saturday but, without going into a myriad of details, that was not successful...at all.

Sunday was a warm day and I viewed it as "having an ox in the ditch" and proceeded to take care of the work. So, we woke up and watch the worship service of the church we have been attending (they have a Livestream of their worship for those who cannot make it. I realize this is no substitute for the gathering together of God's people for worship and encouragement but for this day, it helped us). After the service, we began our work.

We had several dead trees on our property by the road and a couple had fallen over with some strong winds (see the image - it is pretty blurry. The red circle indicates the problems we had). We had one tree fall half-way down, and this winter another one fell completely down (you cannot see it in the picture). In short, we needed to clean these up so we did. As the first picture and the picture below shows, these trees were completely dead and I was able to push over the last standing tree.

So, we got that completed and made a nice pile of firewood for someone (see below). By the way, that is my daughter's dog, Scout, who must be everywhere I am helping me however he can. He is a good boy!

After completing our job, we went to lunch at our local diner. While there, we encountered a family whose vehicle had broken down - they had an "an ox in the ditch" also! So, in the course of our discussion with them, I offered to drive them home.

When I got home from giving them a lift, my wife was doing some laundry. We began to smell a strong bleach smell and she was not doing a load of whites. We looked in the laundry room, and the bleach had tipped over and spilled on to some wool socks. For those of us who forgot everything we learned about chemistry, bleach mixed with wool creates a chemical reaction called a neutralization reaction. Not only did the bleach-soaked wool socks get incredibly hot, it also created an almost unbearable stench in the house. We opened the windows and left the house for a little bit, making sure the dogs were in the garage so they would be safe.

There were a couple other events yesterday that I won't talk about that made the day just one of those strange days that seem to stand out. Nothing bad happened but just enough unique events to make one wonder what God was up to yesterday.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Read More

22 years and going

Today is my wife and I are celebrating being married 22 years. Technically, it is our 5 1/2 anniversary (we were married on Leap Day) but it has been 22 years nonetheless. We were married when were 22 years old, so I have been married to my wife as long as I have not been married to her. From here on out, I will have been married to her longer than I was not married to her.

My wife is an amazing woman. She is incredibly intelligent, she is very hospitable, she is a great mother, she is amazingly beautiful, and she is the kindest woman I know. I am not only blessed to be married to her, but I would not be who I would be without her influence in my life.

I love you, Rhonda!

Read More

A Tough Decision is Coming

I usually do not spend my time dealing with political issues but today I need to post about an upcoming issue I believe each American Christian will have to deal with in the near-future.

I am sure many of you have heard that today Arizona's Governor has vetoed a bill that would have allowed business owners to refuse service based on religious conviction. This law was written to allow business owners to express their First Amendment rights. This proposed law was bound to be introduced after a Colorado baker would not bake a wedding cake for two homosexual men who came to him to make them a wedding cake. The baker now must make the cake or possibly face jail time.

Never mind that Colorado's constitution defines marriage as between a man and woman.

Never mind that AT MOST 3.5% of the population of our country (roughly the population of New Jersey) who claim to be homosexual are shifting the entire culture to their agenda no matter the cost.
 
Never mind that science seems to point to homosexuality as a choice rather than an inborn trait and, as such, would nullify the claim of homosexuals being a "minority group."

However, these are not the points I want to dedicate this post to today. Instead, I want to challenge the reader with the idea that within, I believe, five years the American Christian will have to choose if they will be American OR Christian. In other words, they will have to choose where their most basic, foundational loyalties lie. This is because I believe within those five years it will impossible to be faithful to both. Well, maybe not impossible, but I am trying to make a point.

My point is that very soon Christian's will not be able to uphold the Laws of the Land. For example, parents homeschooling their children may eventually have to break the law if they teach their children homosexuality is a sin (it has already happened in Canada). Biblically-based churches will possibly lose their tax-exempt status a punishment for their stand on homosexuals. With some new bills about bullying and cyber-bullying just around the bend, posts like this one could end up coming with a fine or punishment. There is a good chance pastors who preach against homosexuality could end up jailed (it has already happened in Sweden). These and more will be serious religious and spiritual issues that the unsuspecting church will have to deal with sooner than they think.

I am not attempting to be an alarmist. This is just the reality we live in today and there will be no turning back this tide. Yes, we should continue to evangelize those who pride has hardened their hearts to the point where God has left them to their own sinful desires (Ezekiel 16:49-50, Ephesians 4:17-19, Romans 1:18-32). Yes, Christ is stronger than any political agenda (1 John 4:4). But the cultural shift has already happened. The question is, "How will the believer respond?"

Nor am I advocating that Christians just "give up." Obviously, the church will not stop doing what it has been commissioned to do by Christ (Matthew 28:18-20). We must continue preach Jesus and salvation He provides any sinner through His blood and we must preach this no matter the cost and without regard to those who tell us to stop (Acts 4:18-20). The Church must remain faithful in spite of the pressure to compromise (Revelation 3:8).

So, with this in mind, the American church will have to come to realization that a converted soul is more important than a conservative vote. Believers must acknowledge that the nation in which they live is not an extension of the church. The Church must come to understand that our politics, which is based in the concept of compromise, do not mix well with our faith, which based in absolute truth.

Christians around the world live in country that is out-right hostile to the Christian faith. This is nothing new. If you are believer reading this, then I just would like you consider the idea that this may be coming sooner than you might imagine. What will your response be?

Posted with Blogsy

Read More

Seven Months of Reading

Over the last seven months, I've had some time to catch up on some of my reading. Since it is the end of the year, I thought I would give a run down of the books I have completed and those I am still working through and will complete in January 2014. It has been a while since I shared the books I have read over a period of time (here is my last post about that). For what it is worth, here they are (pages include footnote, which I normally read). The books are in alphabetical order by author's last name in each section.

Pastoral/Preaching (completed)

Title: 12 Challenges Churches Face
Author: Mark Dever
Year: 2008
Pages: 192

Title: Pastoral Leadership Is...:How to Shepherd God's People with Passion and Confidence
Author: Dave Earley
Year: 2012
Pages: 310

Title: And the Place Was Shaken: How to Lead a Powerful Prayer Meeting
Author: John Franklin
Year: 2005
Pages: 195

Title: Preaching with a Plan: Sermon Strategies for Growing Mature Believers
Author: Scott Gibson
Year: 2012
Pages: 141

Title: Spirit-Led Preaching: The Holy Spirit`s Role in Sermon Preparation & Delivery
Author: Greg Heisler
Year: 2007
Pages: 156

Title: Vertical Church: What Every Heart Longs For. What Every Church Can Be.
Author: James MacDonald
Year: 2012
Pages: E-BOOK

Title: I am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference
Author: Thom Rainer
Year: 2013
Pages: 79

Title: Preaching with BOLD Assurance: A Solid and Enduring Approach to Engaging Exposition
Author: Hershael York and Bert Decker
Year: 2003
Pages: 275

Pastoral/Preaching (In Progress - to finish in January 2014)

Title: Ministry Is...:How to Serve Jesus with Passion and Confidence
Author: Dave Early and Ben Gutierrez
Year: 2010
Pages: 313

Title: The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership That Matters
Author: Al Mohler
Year: 2012
Pages: 220

Christian and Non-Christian Fiction (Completed)

Series: The Book of Mortals
Author: Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee

     Title: Forbidden
     Year: 2011
     Pages: 376

Series: The Thrawn Trilogy
Author: Timothy Zahn

     Title: Heir to the Empire
     Year: 1991
     Pages: 404

     Title: Dark Forces Rising
     Year: 1993
     Pages: 439

     Title: The Last Command
     Year: 1994
     Pages: 467

Series: Quadrail (Since May, I read the last 3 of this 5 book series - I have read the first 2 previously)
Author: Timothy Zahn

     Title: Odd Girl Out
     Year: 2008
     Pages: 387

     Title: The Domino Pattern
     Year: 2009
     Pages: 382

     Title: Judgment at Proteus
     Year: 2012
     Pages: 513

Christian and Non-Christian Fiction (In Progress - to finish in January 2014)

Title: S.
Author: J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst
Year: 2013
Pages: 456 + Inserts

Series: The Book of Mortals
Author: Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee

     Title: Mortal
     Year: 2012
     Pages: 418

Title: Sargasso of Space
Author: Andrew North
Year: 1955
Pages: E-BOOK

Miscellaneous

Title: History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time
Author: Brad Meltzer
Year: 2013
Pages: 152 + Inserts


Throughout the year, I read more books than these, but these all were since the end of May. Some that I read earlier in the year are worth noting (The Painful Side of Leadership by Jeff Iorg, and Who Stole My Church by Gordon MacDonald) but this post is concerned with those book I have read since the end of May.

I have really enjoyed reading the Dave Earley books (Pastoral Ministry Is..., Pastoral Leadership Is...). I have a couple more in this series and will continue with them. I read a chapter a day after my Bible time.

Also, if you have not read "S." by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst, it is the most unique book I have ever seen. If you like the T.V. show "Lost", you would like this book. The authors do the equivalent of flashbacks in the margins of the book you read, which is not a real book - you just have to see the book to understand. I got a copy for my daughter and a copy for me both at Sam's Club for about $20. It is worth it...so far.

2014 should usher in another great list of reading. I already have a few books burning a whole on my night stand ready to get started. And when I get through them, I will post them. Maybe even some reviews. I hope this has been helpful.

Read More

Book Review: Pastoral Leadership Is...

Christian Leadership is always a sticky subject to handle. We know as Christian Leaders we are to be different than the world so "baptizing" secular leadership principles, which usually focuses on the personality of the leader, does not always seem the best way to go. However, there is a need in 21st century churches for biblical, pastoral leadership. So how should one lead biblically? What does it mean to be a pastor in the post-modern, Western world? Dave Early had addressed these issues in his book "Pastoral Leadership Is...: How to Shepherd God's People with Passion and Confidence." 

Using Exodus 18:19-23 as the main basis for his thesis, Early teaches that the main three aspects of biblical leadership is prayer, preaching, and raising up new leaders (or discipleship or equipping - however one wants to label that). These three facets of biblical, pastoral leadership also provide the main structure for the book.

The book is divided up into 5 sections of 6 chapters each. This provides the reader with a nice format for using this book as a daily devotion, which is suggested by Early. This is how I utilized this book and when I am at a church with pastoral staff members, we will use this book as a devotional guide in staff meetings. Going through the book over 5 weeks allows the reader to think through each topic addressed and time to incorporate suggestions given in the book into the reader's life.

The first section of the book is about the internal man. Pastoral leadership begins with a personal relationship with Christ that is growing and constant. Addressing issues as the call to ministry, spiritual warfare, purity, and other topics, the case is made that leadership begins internally and flows outward. A leader is a lifelong disciple of Christ, always growing in Him.

The section part of the book deal with the first of the three facets of pastoral leadership. Prayer should be paramount in the pastor's life. Moving again from the internal to the external, Early deals with the pastor's personal prayer life and moves to leading the church to be a house of prayer.

Thirdly, Early writes about preaching. Here he moves from theoretical to practical. Beginning with the importance of preaching and moving to some basic "how-to" chapters, the author helps the reader understand that the pulpit cannot be neglected when it comes to pastoral ministry. One of the best ways pastors care for their flock is a strong sermon from the pulpit every week.

Part four of the book approaches the topic of equipping the people of God to do the work of God. Early focuses on the investment a pastor can make in the lives of a few men so they can go and do more work than one man can do. Additionally, these faithful men can go and invest in more men to do more of God's work. This is obviously a model based on 2 Timothy 2:2, which is near and dear to my heart.

Early finishes the book with a very practical section on shepherding God's people. These 6 chapters deal with issues like how to resolve conflict in the church and how to council people all the way to how to do a wedding and funeral. These are filled with very practical helps for any pastor, but especially those new to the pastorate.

Overall, this was an excellent read and may be the most helpful Pastoral Leadership book I have read. Pastoral Leadership Is... is filled with verses providing biblical instruction, and Early has given many practical helps to make sure the theory is put into the practice of the lives of pastors. For example, at the end of the chapter entitled "Training Yourself for Godliness," the author provides a simple and straightforward way to make some personal growth goals, ranging from mental, to physical, to spiritual, and then a quick guide on making these personal growth goals into a plan. Personally, I have adopted this plan and have been working to implement this into my life. Each chapter in this book is like this: filled with biblical instruction and practical help.

As stated, I incorporated this book into my personal devotion time. After time of bible reading and prayer, I would read a chapter of this book, marking any significant information that would stir my mind that day. I found that I was looking forward to my quiet time not only to hear from God through His word, but also to spend time reading and thinking about pastoral leadership. I would recommend this book to ANY pastor. If you are looking for a gift for pastor appreciation month, this would be a nice gift to your pastor.

2t22 rating:

Read More

Wait for It...

After a few posts of eclectic topics, I wanted to get back to posting about Nehemiah. In Nehemiah 2, we see the movement of Nehemiah from Babylon to Jerusalem, from servant to leader, and from consuming sadness to consuming vision.

The chapter begins with Nehemiah standing before the most powerful man in the world and being asked by this powerful leader for anything Nehemiah wanted. When asked what Nehemiah wanted, Nehemiah went to someone more powerful than any man - He went to the God of Heaven. God would lead him to ask the right thing from Artaxerxes. I am sure Nehemiah had many thing pop into his mind about what he wanted but he allowed his will to be bent to God's will concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem. After all, according to Nehemiah 1:10, they were God's people and He would be the one taking care of them.

Nehemiah requested to travel to Jerusalem and for material to rebuild. He was given these things, not because of who Nehemiah was, nor because the king was so generous. He received these things because God's hand was on him.

After getting to Jerusalem, the Lord laid a direction on Nehemiah's heart. Nehemiah did not immediately share this with everyone but inspected the work to be done so that he would understand what God was asking Him to do. Eventually, Nehemiah shares what God was doing in Susa, how God provided for the work, and what God was asking them to do. They all jumped on board - "Let us arise and do this good work" (Nehemiah 2:18).

Immediately, conflict and opposition arose. The enemies of God and His people began mocking them and attempting to discourage them from the work God had called them to do. Nehemiah assured the enemies of the success of God's people, not because of their resolve but because it was God's plan and he was sure it was God's plan.

A few lessons from this chapter stand out to me. First, when confronted with a very important decision, Nehemiah prayed. It should be noted that this was done out of habit. He did not pray because it was important decision and all important decisions were prayed on. His habit was to go to the Lord and so when this pivotal moment came, Nehemiah did what he did habitually. The result of his faithful prayer was that "the king granted" and "God strengthened" (Nehemiah 2:8 - See the HCSB).

Second, when God granted the request, there were two reactions. The king sent reinforcement even though they were not requested by Nehemiah. God gave more than requested through the king. God knew Nehemiah would need some back-up and gave generously. Additionally, the enemies of God and His people were greatly displeased. When God's people begin to move toward God's plans, and God grants the prayers of His people, the enemies of God and His people will begin to get irritated.

Finally, when the time was right, Nehemiah shared with the people what God had been stirring in his heart for a while. God began a moving in Nehemiah's heart back in Susa. Then Nehemiah gave his request. Then all the supplies had to be gathered for his trip. Then he traveled to Jerusalem. Then, after being there for three days, he inspected the scope of the work. It was only after all of that that Nehemiah began to share the vision God had placed in His heart. It was only then that he had the full story of what God had done, what the king had said to him, and enormity of the task at hand so he could lead the people to participate in the "good work," which they were eager to do (Nehemiah 2:18).

We see in this passage the journey a leader takes when leading the people under his care in a direction God has put in that leader's heart. God has to be working in the heart of the leader, and God has to be working out the circumstances in order for the people to get to where God wants them. When the leader waits until he has the whole of what God wants him to communicate to the people, it benefits the people and encourages them to participate in the plan of God.

Verse to remember: Nehemiah 2:18 - I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king's words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, "Let us arise and build." So they put their hands to the good work.

Read More

Unique Trains - Addendum

In the previous post, I have pictures of some unique trains. My friend, Brian, who works for the railroad, informed me that I was close on my guesses of what these strange machines actually do. However, I was not exactly correct and he guided me to understand each piece. I wanted to share that information for my memory and for anyone else interested.

I guessed the first engine, which was unusually long, cleaned the rocks that lay in between the rails. This is, in fact, what that machine does. It picks up the rocks, cleans them, and then returns them back down on the track (it is this last part I was not sure of). Because of the coal dust or other grime that may make the track less effective, they clean the rocks.

I speculated that the second device was a tamping tool, since that was written in large letters on its side. I said I thought it straightened the ties or made sure the ties were secure. This part was wrong. Brian indicated that this device picks up the rail, shoves the rocks under the rail, and then make sure the rail is level. That impressed me! I wished I had gotten a better video of that process.

Finally, the last car did what I deduced it did. It moves the rocks all back into place so that the rail is secure and the rocks are not scattered everywhere.

Again, I am not a train enthusiast, but maybe someone reading this is and did not know about these type of trains. I hope this has been educational. I know it is not all that spiritual, but it is at least fun!

Read More

Another Funeral, Another Road Trip, and Unique Trains

I attended another funeral today in Sterling. Since the lady who passed was the wife of a fellow pastor in my Association, I went to support him. Sterling is only about an hour from my house, so it was nothing close to my 970 mile trip in my previous post. However, whenever I go on some sort of road trip, I have been trying to take my camera because I always see something I want to remember or something unique. This road trip did not disappoint.

When I got close to home, I saw some very unique equipment running along the railroad route which runs through Wiggins. I am not exactly sure what they are but I can guess on a couple. If you know what these are, please post so we all can be educated.

First on the track, I saw this contraption. It was so long, I had to take it with a panoramic setting (with all the following, click image for larger picture).

 

Ok. So this fascinates me. My guess, in the context of the following pictures of vehicles, this digs up the rocks found between the tracks so it will expose the ties. It looks like these rocks are maybe shuttled up a conveyer and then through another conveyer to a container? I am not sure. Maybe the rocks are getting cleaned and the residue is going to the container? I have absolutely no clue but I am putting my money on that this may be a machine to remove the rocks from the between the rails. This is due to the next piece of equipment.

 

 

 

The key to this piece is the orange apparatus located on the front end. This is obviously a Dynamic Tamping Express. I know this because...

 

 

it says it right on the side of the machine. It is my guess that this interesting looking engine straightens out the ties and make sure they are securely in place. Perhaps it just beats the nails, or whatever holds the ties in place, so they are secure. I liked watching this process. Here is a video.

 

 

This looks like some sort of sci-fi, robot, construction device or something. I love the way it moves. Finally, following these two distinctive pieces of machinery was a final mystery.

 

 

 To me, this mechanism looks like it takes the rocks and moves them back on to the ties. I have a video of this process as well.

 

 

 I have no idea what these are (Brian, if by any chance you read my blog, let me know what these are!) and I guess that is what interested me in these. I am not a train enthusiast, per se, but trains are an integral part of our country's economy. It seems like these strange looking pieces of technology help those trains keep running. Or not...I have no idea.

 

Read More

A Funeral, Swink, and a Sleeping Indian

I recently took a 970 mile road trip which covered three corners of Colorado. I left on a Friday morning to go to La Junta to attend the funeral of my friend's father. I did not know him but I wanted to support my friend. His father was a church planter, a pastor, and essentially a missionary in Eastern Colorado. It was encouraging to hear everyone speak of how he led through prayer, raised up leaders, and served the Lord all his life.

Because the next day I needed to be in Creede, I did not go home but instead went to my in-laws in Colorado Springs. So, on my way home, I went through Swink (click image for larger picture). I took a picture of the town's water tower with my phone on the fly so it is not the best picture but OK. When I was in La Junta, I stopped at the local Wal-Mart and picked up a Swink Lions shirt (click here for my post about high school mascots). I also stopped in Rocky Ford and picked up Meloneer shirts for my wife, my daughter, and myself. It was good to drive through some of these small towns I have not really heard of before.

Saturday, I headed out for Creede, as I was to preach there on Sunday morning. It is about 4 hours from Colorado Springs but I was going to take my time. It was a beautiful trip. If you have not been to the Southwestern part of Colorado, I would encourage you to take some time and visit.

The church had me stay with a very nice couple. They had a lovely cabin (click image for larger picture). They had a fantastic view from their front porch. The husband pointed to a formation of mountains and said, "They call that 'The Sleeping Indian'. Can you see it?" I indeed could see why they called it that. Here is a picture of that formation (click image for larger picture).

I preached Sunday morning for a great group of folks from all over the country. They all come and spend the summer in Creede and then go home for the winter. It was a good group of folks. They were very receptive to the message and were very gracious and hospitable. I also preached Sunday evening for them. There was a good group who came back for Sunday Evening worship, which I thought was impressive. Here is the church building (click image for larger picture).

After church the husband drove me around the area for a little bit. He showed me some of the sites and gave me some great history of the area. He was quite the historian and knew the place very well. The leaves were not quite their brilliant color they would normally be this time of year, but they were still an amazing display of God's creativity. Here are a couple of pictures of the landscape (click images for larger pictures).

I believe this is the San Luis Valley. The river is the Rio Grande, whose head waters are close to Creed. It flows from here all the way down to form the border between Mexico and Texas. This was such an expansive view, showing the river and the valley, the hills and the mountains, I had to stop and take a shot.

I took this shot down one of the roads we were traveling. I am pretty sure the mountain is Bristol Head Mountain. I liked this picture of the road, the trees and the mountain in the back ground.

I traveled back to Colorado Springs that Sunday evening, and the back home the following day. All in all, I drove 970 miles in 4 days to 3 corners of this beautiful state I live in. I had the privilege of attending the funeral of a fine man of God, and was able not only able to enjoy some very scenic views, but was able to proclaim the Word of the One who created all of this and allows us to enjoy it. It was a good weekend!

Read More

Mine! Not Yours!

The first chapter of Nehemiah plunges us right into the story of God's people about 100 years after some of the people had returned to Jerusalem. Even after so many years, Jerusalem was exposed and vulnerable to attack because the wall had not been rebuilt. We are immediately introduced to Nehemiah, the one God will use to change Jerusalem's condition.

When Nehemiah heard there was trouble with the people of God, that is, the wall had still not been rebuilt, he first went to God. He stopped what he was doing, wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed. God's people were in "great trouble and disgrace" (1:3, HCSB) because the wall was in disrepair. There was no protection there.

Nehemiah had genuine concern for God's people and this led to an impassioned prayer to God. He began his prayer by acknowledging God's greatness and His love for His people - No one loves God's people more than God does. Nehemiah asks God to hear his constant prayer on behalf of God's people. Next, he begins to confess the sins of the people including himself in that group. Accompanying the confessions is a request for forgiveness, specifically, for God to remember His gracious words to Moses.

Nehemiah then comes to the truth about God's people: "They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand." Again, Nehemiah's concern does not and cannot outweigh God's love and concern for His own people. Nehemiah finished his prayer with another request to be heard and that his plan will be successful.

This chapter teaches me several lessons. First, it teaches me that those who God calls to shepherd His people must have a genuine concern for them. Nehemiah shows a real investment in God's people by asking about their condition, being emotionally and spiritually moved by the report, and then acting to help their condition (note that he saw the best thing he could was to take this burden to God).

Second, Nehemiah 1 teaches me that shepherd should passionately pray for God's people. Understanding that the pastor is in the same boat spiritually, so to speak, as the rest of God's people, the he is to carry the burdens of the people to God, who is the only one who can do anything about their situation.

Finally, I see that the shepherd must keep in mind that no matter how much he begins to love the people of God, God loves them infinitely more. They are HIS people who are to serve HIS desires. HE redeemed them by HIS great power and HIS strong hand. In the Old Testament, this is referring to God freeing His people from slavery from the Egyptians through Moses and from slavery from the Babylonians/Persians, which is the current context. In the New Testament, this is referring to God freeing us from the slavery of sin through His Son, Jesus. God has given His people the True Shepherd in the person of Jesus Christ (John 10:1-18). While He has given pastors the job of watching over His flock, and they are to care for His people (1 Peter 5:1-4), none of them can come close to the love God has for His people.

In this passage, I hear God reminding us through Nehemiah that His people are His. I hear Him reminding pastors "They are Mine; Not yours. Treat them as such." This is a good lesson to remember.

Verse to Remember: Nehemiah 1:10 - "They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand."

Read More

Keys to Remember Nehemiah

I have been spending a lot of time in Nehemiah in my personal time with God and I have truly been growing through this great book. One of the tools I have been attempting to utilize is identifying a key verse for each chapter so it would be easier for me to remember the flow of the book. I want to post these verses first, for me so I can see them laid out in order to see if they indeed work as mnemonic devices. Secondly, I would like to have any feedback you may have about them.

I will be the first to admit that I am sure many scholars would disagree that each of these are the key verses found in Nehemiah. My goal was not to necessarily find the theological key verse or the structural key verse but instead find the verse in each chapter that I could easily memorize, that would help me remember what that chapter was about, and that I could use in my Christian walk. With that said, here are the 13 verses I think summarize Nehemiah:

Nehemiah 1:10 - "They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand."

Nehemiah 2:18 - "I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king's words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, "Let us arise and build." So they put their hands to the good work."

Nehemiah 3:20 - "After him Baruch the son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section, from the Angle to the doorway of the house of Eliashib the high priest."

Nehemiah 4:17 - "Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon."

Nehemiah 5:8 - "I said to them, 'We according to our ability have redeemed our Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations; now would you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us?' Then they were silent and could not find a word to say."

Nehemiah 6:9 - "For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, 'They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done.' But now, O God, strengthen my hands."

Nehemiah 7:2 - "then I put Hanani my brother, and Hananiah the commander of the fortress, in charge of Jerusalem, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many."

Nehemiah 8:8 - "They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading."

Nehemiah 9:17 - "They refused to listen, And did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not forsake them."

Nehemiah 10:39b - "... Thus we will not neglect the house of our God."

Nehemiah 11:2 - "And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem."

Nehemiah 12:43 - "and on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy, even the women and children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar."

Nehemiah 13:14 - "Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services."

I will post more about each chapter and why I chose these verses but for now I would simply ask the question, "If you have read the book of Nehemiah a couple of times and then memorized these 13 verses, do you think you would be able to remember the book in general in the order in which it was written?" I am attempting to memorize these 13 verses and thus have a better understanding of this important book.

In the upcoming days, I will be posting a brief summary of each chapter and lessons we can take away from the chapter.

Let me know what you think of these verses, or, if you have a different verse from a particular chapter, let me know why you would choose a different verse.

Read More