Joe Carter's Open Letter to the Religious Right

An Open Letter to the Religious Right - the evangelical outpost

Joe is pretty much spot-on in my book. Take a look and see the common sense approach to politics that Joe is advocating. I especially agree with him in regards to Ann Coulter.

Wrapping Up Simplify

A few weeks ago I mentioned a series called "Simplify" from Pastor Doug Kyle at Green Valley Church. During that period a couple of cardiologists read me the riot act about my health. So, I took a lot of what Pastor Doug talked about in my life. I've really worked hard on simplifying my life. Much of it has to do with how I have a tendency to have my plate too full at work, Little League and a travel ball team. In the last two months I've resigned from a few positions and "simplified" these areas. I've needed to do this in order to provide proper spiritual, mental and physical focus. I've lost 15 pounds and have been exercising at least 4 times per week. Thanks Pastor Doug for the "Simplify" series.

Pastor Doug Kyle - Simplicity Series: Feature Creep

eCouragement: Feature Creep

Pastor Doug from Green Valley Church has started a new series called "Simplicity". So far, so good. I know I consistently have the need to simplify things so I'm excited about this series.

Tammy Faye - RIP

Televangelist Tammy Faye Messner dies - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com

Tammy Faye Messner, who as Tammy Faye Bakker helped her husband, Jim, build a multimillion-dollar evangelism empire and then watched it collapse in disgrace, has died. She was 65.

A family service was held Saturday in a private cemetery, where her ashes were interred, he said.

Tammy Faye was quite the character but now she's gone. Her long battle with cancer was dignified and inspiring. She's healed now.

Just Finished - The Coffeehouse Gospel

I just got done reading:

It's a very small and easy read. The basic premises of the book are that the Gospel of Jesus needs to be shared, Christians need to know the Gospel and Christians need to get past the gimmics and be human. Every human has a story and we need to LISTEN to what other folks have going on in their lives. We don't need to go up to folks and go "Hi, do you know you are going to hell?". We need to build friendships, LISTEN and share our lives. The era of the Christian sales pitch and talking over people is over, it doesn't work. It's time to move into our communities and build unconditional relationships. This means we need to build friendships with everyone not just other Christians.

I hope I take my own words to heart.

MSNBC - Pope Says Only True Church Is Roman Catholic

Pope: Jesus formed 'only one church' - Focus on the Vatican - MSNBC.com

Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches.

At least the pope is being honest. I don't agree with him but it's true Roman Catholic teaching.

Another Thin Jesus - The Progressive Jesus

Continuing the theme of discovering more "Thin Jesus's" (check out the No Thin Jesus series) we are going to take a look at the Progressive Jesus. Now, let's first be up front and recognize that the Progressive Jesus is really the Liberal Jesus but Progressive isn't as alarming.

The Progressive Jesus seems to care only about social justice. The idea of salvation is a secondary concern and living a holy life isn't as important as being edgy. The Progressive Jesus mocks people who wear suits to church or only listen to Christian music. He doesn't seem to care about marriage too much and isn't concerned about abortion. In fact, He won't support restrictions on abortion unless folks on the other side stop supporting the death penalty.

The Progressive Jesus really loves people that only go against the grain when a Republican is President. Those are the true patriots because they disagree. He is sending George W. Bush to hell because he hates the poor and is a warmonger. Pulling the American troops out of Iraq is a top priority for the Progressive Jesus; it doesn't matter that the country will be a total mess and murders will be even more frequent without anyone else watching. All that matters is that the evil Americans are out of Iraq.

The Progressive Jesus believes that raising awareness of issues will solve the worlds problems and will cause brutal dictators to become peaceful. All we need to do is call our leaders, put a banner on our web site and have a rock concert. Not only will peace come but the environment will be cleaned up. No real work is really required. It is best that multi-millionare entertainers try and raise funds instead of giving the money away themselves. The Progressive Jesus really can't live without their wisdom. It is really too bad that rock 'n roll and the internet weren't around in the 1930's and 40's because World War II would have never occurred.

Other heroes of the Progressive Jesus are living and dead communists and anyone who takes the side of the Palestinians. For the Progressive Jesus the only thing as bad as America is Israel. Things such as supporting the country you live in is below the standards of the Progressive Jesus. People need to have a view of the complete world as there really aren't good or bad countries as only conservatives are evil. Heck, the Progressive Jesus loves Castro more than Bush because Fidel provides great health care in Cuba.

So we've covered the Republican Jesus and now the Progressive Jesus as we are in search for the real Jesus. He's out there somewhere but I'm not sure where to look next. I know that there are complete religions based on differing views of the "Thin Jesus". I just wonder what box Jesus fits in.....

One View of a Thin Jesus - The Republican Jesus

One of the things I'm going to do in following the No Thin Jesus series is to define different versions of a "thin" Jesus. The first will be the "thin" Jesus that I've followed for a lot of my life; Republican Jesus. The Republican Jesus is basically the one who is pretty harsh. He is the one who is known as being anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage. He really only cares about getting people into heaven not too much on what we do during the rest of our life as long as we don't have illicit sex, curse or vote for a Democrat. He also doesn't care much about the arts and wants us to only listen to Christian music. The Republican Jesus cares about whether we smoke or drink but doesn't care about the abundance of church potlucks and other gluttonness behavior.

Salvation for the Republican Jesus means going forward and saying a prayer. After that the Republican Jesus expects you to read the Prayer of Jabez and the Left Behind series. From that point a follower of the Republican Jesus will equate the Israili flag with the American flag and will only see the side of Israel. They believe that Palenstinian people need to leave Israel and that God is directing America to help Israel have the Old Testament borders. The Republican Jesus focuses on His second coming and doesn't teach much on helping the poor. The tithe check covers that so nothing else is really needed.

The Republican Jesus also cares only about the Christians on the winnng team of the Super Bowl. He cannot survive without athletes and celebrities who follow Him. He really needs some big-time pastors to get on TV to help Him elect people who follow exactly what God wants them to. If anyone deviates then a vote for the person who is a true believer is required. It doesn't matter if that vote helps to put someone else in office who is even worse. The follower of the true Republican Jesus will vote for Joe Rightwing instead of Rudy Giuliani even if it means Hillary Clinton wins. Then that follower will spend the next 4-8 years hating Hillary.

Regretfully, my "Thin Jesus" is pretty close to what I've believed and followed for a lot of my life. Obviously, that's not the real Jesus. The next "Thin Jesus" to be examined will be the "Progressive Jesus".

No Thin Jesus - New Series

I'm following the new series at North Coast Calvary Chapel called "No Thin Jesus". To check out the messages and follow along go here. I'll be writing up some entries based on this series. The recommended readings are:

Jerry Falwell Dies

When I was 16 I learned about abortion from watching Jerry Falwell on TV. It was life-changing for me as I learned what a horrible thing abortion truly is; the taking of human life. That time really helped me to learn that there are issues that do matter. I have never agreed with everything Falwell did or said but am grateful for his life.

As Jerry Falwell has now left this life I choose to remember him for the lessons I learned from him way back when I was a teenager. I believe that his death must have been amazing for him. He went from working in his office to seeing Jesus face to face.

Warren Invites Obama To AIDS Summit

Pastor Defends Invitation to Obama - AOL News

Obama did not respond to interview requests. But he issued a written statement saying while he respects differing views on abortion, he hopes for unity "to honor the entirety of Christ's teachings by working to eradicate the scourge of AIDS, poverty and other challenges we all can agree must be met.

So Pastor Rick Warren, Mr. Purpose Driven Life, has invited a pro-abortion person, Sen. Barack Obama, to an AIDS summit. Well, GOOD! Unity over fighting AIDS is needed and it is possible for Christians to have differing views on abortion. I'm pro-life but I don't consider that to be an essential in determinig what is orthodox Christianity.

Is Mormonism Christian?

Hat Tip: The Corner on National Review Online

Check out this excellent article by Richard John Neuhaus on the question "Is Mormonism Christian?". I think if Mitt Romney becomes a legitimate presidential candidate in 2008 then people will want to know more about Mormonism.

John Fischer - Fellowship among foes

Fellowship among foes

Following Christ is not about joining a look-alike contest; it is finding out the joy of discovering our oneness in Christ in spite of our many differences. This is the challenge of the day.

Words such as this are very liberating. Groups seem to want to make sure everyone else is like them. Make sure we all listen to the same music, read the same books, educate our kids the same way, have the same view on eschotology, and the rest. God is bigger than these and He wants our focus on Jesus. He's the great uniter. As a friend of mine says "keep the main thing, the main thing".

Faithful, Fearless, Contentment, Disciplined == Surrendered

At North Coast Calvary Chapel the pastor is doing a series on the Invasion of the Soul which is dealing with the transformation of us into the people God wants us to be. At the same time I'm re-reading Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul. The key to transformation always comes down to surrendering to God and I've discovered four key words that I need to focus on being:

What Is The Answer To Real Pain

blog.myspace.com/towriteloveonherarms - just take a look. So many of us want formulas to heal but that's not the way God works.

Joseph Smith Arrested?

This Warren Steed Jeffs guy gets arrested for doing a lot of the same things that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young did in the 1800's until 1890 when God changed his mind due to government pressure. All the polygamy and marrying young girls was done by Joseph Smith himself, founder of the Mormon Church.

Just calling it as I see it.

Newsweek Article on Billy Graham

Billy Graham's New Thinking on Politics, the Bible - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com

It's great to ready of what Billy Graham thinks is important. Take a look for yourself.

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper to build teen center - Celebrity News - MSNBC.com

"We're not going to beat them over the head with a Bible," Cooper said. "But we're certainly going to be available to tell them that that's available to them."

Yes folks, Alice Cooper is a Christian. Check out his foundation. I love it.

Gibson Apology

CNN.com - Gibson: 'I am not an anti-Semite' - Aug 1, 2006

See the full apology here. Other people in the public and learn from this. This actually seems like a real apology vs. what we've seen in the past. Gibson takes full responsibility and reaches out for help from the people he offended.

Transformation

My coastal pastor is speaking on transformation for the next few weeks. It's not just enough to get saved but, as the song says, "we were meant to live for so much more". The pastor first went over many types of things we try to use for transformation but in the end fall far short of what God wants to do in our lives.

I look forward to this study as the first step mentioned towards transformation is understanding "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" (from Ephesians 3:18). This is something I intellectually understand but mostly haven't known it experientially. I believe it but don't feel it. I know that God is good as He's proven that to me over and over. My prayer for myself, as I desire more transformation, is to experience "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ". I want to do more than just take that love for granted but really know that love. I really want to get to the point where true surrender can occur and true surrender only really can occur via real love, not just intellectual understanding. I need to go further and accept Christ's love for me.

UPDATE: Here's the notes and the audio.

International Justice Mission

Hat tip to Bobby from This Holiday Life.

Go check out this site about the International Justice System. They go into countries to intervene to help individuals that can't help themselves. It looks like they specialize in rescuing children from sex trafficking.

13 Paradigm Shifts - Donald Miller

Donald Miller has some great words of advice on doing Christian ministry in a pagan environmnet. These are words for all environments, not just pagan.

To Write Love On Her Arms

To Write Love On Her Arms is a very intesting story. A friend of a young lady who's going through recovery from addiction and cutting took up her cause. It's an inspiring story of hope and well worth reading.

A Great Response to "Da Vinci Code"

FOXNews.com - 'The Da Vinci Code'
A Positive for Christianity - FOX Fan - Take a look at what Father Jonathan Morris has to say about "The Da Vinci Code". I like his reaction.

Breakpoint - Apostle to the Irish

BreakPoint | Apostle to the Irish - Check out Chuck Colson's quick history lesson of St. Patrick.

The Daily Psalm - Ash Wednesday

The Daily Psalm - Psalm 51 - I know many Evangelicals in America don't even care about Ash Wednesday as it is not really something taught in many of our churches. Take a like at what Mark Roberts has to say about it.

HH - DNA and the LDS

Hugh Hewitt: February 12, 2006 - February 18, 2006 Archives - Hugh discusses an very interesting story about how some DNA studies might shake up some of the missionary work the Mormon church does in South America. Hugh has an interview with the author here.

Technorati Tag

Let's Help A Burned Church

Rehobeth Baptist Church in Lawley, Alabama: Our Story of the 2006 Alabama Church Fires

Here is an opportunity to help one of the churches in Alabama that was burned down.

Amazing Words Before Communion

Right before we took communion tonight at North Coast Calvary Chapel the pastor said this:

"What we hold in our hands is the focal point of eternity."

Nothing else needs to be said.

The Muhammad Cartoons

There is a blog burst going on about the Muhammad Cartoons but I have a bit of a different take than the main thread.

I completely agree that the cartoonists should be able to do what they are doing and would even support their right to mock my faith. My difference though is that I think it is morally wrong to mock someone's faith like that. How many of us Christians have been offended by people who mock our faith? Of course the difference is that there are threats on the life of the people drawing the Muslim based cartoons. That is hugely wrong and those people are terrorists and should be treated as such. There is nothing wrong with being offended or protesting but to threaten someone is disgusting.

I'm all about supporting Denmark and the right to be offensive but I don't support the actual cartoons. How would us Christians respond to a cartoon depicting Jesus blowing up an abortion clinic? Yes, the target of the cartoon would be the extremists but it paints with a broad brush stroke. What purpose is there in mocking other faiths? For us Christians, how should we behave?

UPDATE: Reeza at TenNapel makes some good points. Hat tip to Hugh.

Technorati Tags: jyllands-posten mohammed

PodCast of North Coast Calvary Chapel

If you have iTunes please check out the Podcast of North Coast Calvary Chapel. If you don't use iTunes then use the following link to subscribe: http://www.northcoastcalvary.org/ccnc.xml.

Hurt, Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Resolution

There are many ways people get hurt, including Christian to Christian. One of the ways is, even in the best of intentions, our words from ones mouth to another person gets twisted and perverted by the Dark Side (the Devil and his minions). We all have our weaknesses and the Dark Side knows how to exploit it. Sometimes the arrows hit us and we don’t even know it. We are walking wounded. The wounds go deeper and deeper and we don’t even know how it is hurting our heart. As time goes by those wounds don’t heal on their own. The wounded needs to deal with those wounds or our hearts get harder and harder. After a while we don't even know why there is hurt; we just know we hurt.

Even when Christians have hurt each other they do need to reconcile. In some cases resolution is not possible. This is where forgiveness and grace really need to kick in. People suck and we are terribly flawed but we are called to love each other. We will not always be able to see eye-to-eye on a disagreement but that doesn’t mean reconciliation is not possible. See this previous blog entry for more.

Thoughts derived from The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God and The Purpose-driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?.

Cloudbreak Church Goes Full-Time Now

If you are an Inland North County San Diego type person then please consider checking out Cloudbreak Church. This is the first Sunday of the church in full operation. Please feel free to contact me if you need more info.

Reading Scripture While Trying To Forget What You Already Have Learned

A few years ago I made a consious decision to try to read the Bible without leaning on some of the things I've learned in the past, especially when it comes to eschatology (the study of end-times). In my Bible study I attend we've been studying Micah. The last 2 weeks we've studied Micah 4 and I've found it very hard to understand prophecy beyond the deliverance from Babylonian captivity. If you have a certain view of eschatology then you'll take one path versus another. I'm pretty sure that Micah 4 has some type of eschatological effect but I am not sure what it is. I'll try and keep digging.

Another thought but not quite related:

I believe that the Left Behind theology has invaded the American churches too much, even though I still hold that same view. There is now an over-emphasis on the study of eschatology and I guess I've rebeled a bit and have really put it on the back burner. There are enough items for me to study and really get my arms around than something in the future. The eschatology studies are interesting and it tickles the ears but there is just too much emphasis on it. In some churches every sermon will touch on the end-times. That's not a balanced view of Scripture. Teach it all and keep focused on the Scripture at hand. If the Scripture points to future prophecy then it needs to be followed but not every passage deals with end-times.

John Fischer - On Parade

Purpose Driven Life - On Parade

Part of our mission is consciously telling people about Christ. Another part of it is unconsciously telling people about Christ. This is the unconscious part Paul is talking about here. This is the part of our mission that goes on all the time, and it is one of the reasons God wants us out in the world and not isolated or only associating with believers.

Click on the link above to read the full entry by John Fischer. It's a great argument against hanging out exclusively in the Christian Ghetto.

30 Days With Jesus

30 Days with Jesus Jan. 8 - Feb. 6, 2006 Green Valley Church

One of the churches we attend is having a 30 Days With Jesus study. It looks like a great way to start the new year. You can listen in at Green Valley Church and follow the readings at the above link. Of course, the goal is to have a lifetime with Jesus but the immediate goal is to go from a "fuzzy faith" to something much more real.

The Daily Psalm - New Mark Roberts Web Site

The Daily Psalm for January 1, 2006 - A great way to start the new year would be to go to The Daily Psalm every morning. This is a new web site by Mark Roberts so you know it's gotta be worth reading.

I Guess I Won't Be Buying These Jeans

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Features -- Anti-Christian jeans are hot trend among youth in secular Sweden

The jeans' makers say it's more of a joke, but the logo's designer said there's a deeper message.

Atldax insists he has a purpose beyond selling denim: to make young people question Christianity, which he called a "force of evil" that had sparked wars throughout history.

Very interesting to see folks making money off Christianity even when they are anti-Christian. Nice!

Affirming My Sons

One of the things that I'm getting out of Wild at Heart (and a reminder from a friend of mine) is to continue to affirm their maleness. So many forces are against boys being boys and I need to affirm to my young sons that they are boys and it's OK to act like a boy. I'm also learning to let them be a bit more adventerous and not mother hen them. One of the biggest issues with anyone raising kids, especially boys, is there are so many things to do inside. I'm getting them outside and having them try some new things or retry some old things they've not had much success with.

A Bible Study Resource

How Can I Understand the Bible? - Just stumbled upon this in Our Daily Bread.

Barbara Walters Interviews Maria Shriver on Heaven

So Barbara Walters is interviewing Maria Shriver about heaven and what it is like? It's kind of amazing that anyone would take Maria Shriver seriously when discussing theological issues. It's great that Mrs. Terminator has a point of view but the only reason she's got a platform is because of her relatives. It's interesting what the media elites see as people with an opinion that matters. This is not a slap at Shriver but at Barbara Walters for treating Maria as an expert.

A Man From Moldova

At the Coastal Church a guest from Moldova came. His name is Vasile and he had an amazing story. The bottom line is he's using the Inductive Bible Study method to train up Moldovians to be disciples of Christ. Vasile is a Tae Kwon Do master and teaches it but before the TKD lesson there is one hour of Bible study. He has teachers who teach computers and he integrates a Bible study into it. The Moldovians go to him for training because of the excellence he provides.

Be in prayer for me as I was asked to go there to teach Java for 2 weeks sometime in June. There are many obstacles so we'll see if God wants me to go. I'm open about it.

Tell Corporations You Like Christmas

AFA - American Family Association - Companies Ban 'Christmas,' Not Worried About Backlash - Many companies choose to take our money to buy Christmas presents and decorations but want to call it "holiday". Sign the above petition to tell them you are shopping for Christman not "holidays".

What Is God's Will?

As I was heading home from a discipleship meeting at the Coastal Church I was listening to a CD from the Surfing Pastor and the scripture was I Samuel 22:6-23:29. The title of the message was "Righteous Rebels/Faithful God (Do What's In Front of You)". The sermon and notes will be online soon and I will post a link when it is.

The interesting nugget from the teaching is asking the question, "what is God's will?". Many times we ask should I live here or there, take this job or that job? Really though, 99% of the time scripture talks about God's will as making the right moral choice or being obedient to God at a specific moment. Isn't that cool?

I guess God cares about the car we drive but it's the choices we make on the way to getting that car. How much debt are we taking on? Does it suit our needs? Once I have it am I generous with it? You can plug in your job, house, clothing or anything else. The moral choices we make along the way and once we have made a decision are really what matters to God. Are we doing, AT THIS VERY MOMENT, what God wants us to do? That is the question we must ask ourselves.

Turn Off Your Cell Phone In Church

This morning, while the pastor was asking people about making a decision for Christ, someone's cell phone started to ring. It was real loud and just not good. Please turn off your electronic equipement before going into a house of worship. Even better, leave them in your car.

Say 'No' to Fear on Halloween

Purpose Driven Life

This much I know: Regardless of where you land on the trick-or-treating thing, if there is anything believers should not participate in today, it's not trick-or-treating: It's fear. Christians have no business being afraid today or any day. We worship the God of the universe who is over all powers and authorities and rulers on earth, above it or "below" it. If we as Christians show fear to the world, it comes as a disgrace to God. What does it say about the reality of God in our lives when we allow fear to motivate us?

John Fischer bringing the wisdom again.

A New Church in Rancho Bernardo/4S Ranch

I met with the pastor yesterday and this sounds like a great church for the future. The first service is this Sunday, October 23, at 10:00 AM at Turtleback Elementary. We'll be there and, if you are in the area, give it a shot.

Robertson: Disasters point to 2nd Coming

WorldNetDaily: Robertson: Disasters point to 2nd Coming

"It seems clear that the prophetic times I have been expecting for decades have finally arrived. And even worse, it appears that the judgment of America has begun," Lindsey said on the Sept. 9 broadcast of the "International Intelligence Briefing" on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. "I warn continually that the last days lineup of world powers does not include anything resembling the United States of America. Instead, a revived Roman Empire in Europe is to rule the West, and then the world. "

I'm just wondering what the readers think about statements like this?

Outward Transformation - Life Impacting Sermon

One of the reasons we continue to drive out to the coast to the Coastal Church is because of the amazing teachings of the Surfing Pastor. His goal is to make sure that the teaching from the pulpit is aimed at working our hearts to live in Christ and to live out Christ. The teachings our awesome but sometimes they reach the level of standing out. Last Sunday was one of those times as he just wrapped up a series on "lab time"; covering 7 essential aspects to being a Christian. Those 7 include worship, prayer, study of Bible, fellowship, ministry, training and "outward transformation". It is Outward Transformation that this entry will focus on.

The pastor was struggling to categorize the final aspect of the 7 essential aspects. The first option was to call it evangalism or preaching or missions but those were too limiting. The scripture used was Matthew 5:13-16 which is the salt and light parts of the Sermon on the Mount. The pastor stated that the church is really good at getting people to Christ and telling them about the end but asks "what about the middle"? What are the best selling books about? What do we do in the meantime? What is the role of the Church? The role is to "bring the nature and message of Christ individually and corporately into every part and person of society. We are the fingerprints of God in culture." This means that we don't wait for someone to get saved before we engage them. This means that we don't make friendship conditional on them accepting our message. This means we need to be "in, but not of" and if we don't have contact with non-Christians we need to re-think our place in the Christian Ghetto. This means we get involved in everything, corporately speaking. We shouldn't run away from society then complain about it or even worse, we just don't care and just focus on the return of Christ. Again, if you are a Christian and don't have contact with non-Christians.... well, think about it.

I really believe we should developing unconditional friendships of all kinds (yes, even if they reject our message) as I find people are terribly interesting. They are all immortal and will live forever. As a church we need to break out of the Christian Ghetto and truly impact our society, not by puting up little Bible verses at work or dropping 4 Spiritual Law tracts into a mailbox but by engaging people and organizations at all levels of society. We cannot wait for the world to be saved, it's our job, as the Church, to try and save it. We are all called to do something! Find a place to feed the hungry, talk to someone you've never spoken to before (saying "hi" doesn't count), find a short-term mission trip, join the PTA, coach or umpire Little League, and so much more.

Listen here and notes are here.

One True God Blog

One True God

Hugh Hewitt has created OneTruGodBlog that has five heavyweight theologians to answer various "God" questions. Looks good!

Forward Thanking

From the pastor of one of the churches we attend:

I believe that all of life should be lived the way we say grace at the dinner table: giving thanks ahead of time.

In John 11:41 we find an amazing prayer. Jesus prays, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me." A closer look reveals that this prayer came right before God did one of the most spectacular miracles in the Bible. God brought Jesus' friend, Lazarus, back from the dead.

Now, when Jesus prayed this prayer, Lazarus was still in the grave. The thanksgiving comes before the miracle. It seems backwards. You would think the thanksgiving would come after the resurrection. And no doubt there were plenty of shouts of thankfulness after Lazarus was brought back to life. But Jesus did a very odd thing. Jesus thanked God before it happened.

Jesus reveals a great approach to life. Become a forward thanker. Become someone who thanks God for what He’s going to do before it happens. Not that we tell God what to do, but we thank Him for whatever He will do, knowing it is for our good and His glory.

This summer I’ve made it a habit to approach each day like I approach each meal. I give thanks ahead of time. I call it pre-gratitude. In the process, I have found that I am much more aware of what God is doing. Sometimes they are simple things, like dolphins dancing in the waves, or a special conversation with one of my kids. I realize these are some of the very things I was thanking God for earlier. Even during difficult situations I am more inclined to look for God in the midst of it. And to know there is a hidden blessing I’m suppose to discover.

If you want to experience a thriving faith each day, become a forward thanker.

I tried this a bit last week but didn't totally follow through. I did notice that when I did "forward thank" that I did have a different perspective. My mind seemed to react a bit different to situations so I'm going to try it a bit more.

WorldMap - Salting Hollywood

Tip to TenNapel

World Magazine - Weekly News | Christian Views - Check out this article about Christians in Hollywood. Here's the key point:

In Behind the Screen, Mr. Derrickson—maker of the upcoming The Exorcism of Emily—describes his various efforts over the years to answer the question, "What is the duty of a Christian in Hollywood?" Finally, he said, "I realized that my primary duty as a Christian in Hollywood is the same as the primary duty of the Christian at Microsoft or UPS or the police department. My primary duty as a Christian in Hollywood is to do my job well."

AMEN!

"That's My King" - The Best 3:32 EVER!

Yesterday at our Local Church a small sermon by SM Lockridge was played and it really touched my heart. To see what I saw, go here and get blown away.

"Worship Etiquette" from Doug TenNapel

TenNapel.com - Home of Doug TenNapel - Tomorrow is Church... - Some pretty good stereotypes of what might actually be seen at church. The man speaks a lot of truth. You always hope that anything that is done during worship is to either please God or to truly worship Him and hope folks aren't making a "look-at-me-worshipping" scene.

I know that I don't like to be told to raise my hands or clap (I think in most cases clapping just doesn't sound pleasant). During the worship sessions I believe people should just put the focus on God and don't distract others from their time of worship.

A Bit of What Heaven Might Be Like

We've started attending another church closer to home for reasons such as our kids being in a group where the kids are more local. Just a note, our primary church still remains (and will remain) NCCC but we'll be doing some double duty. During the service this morning I was reminded of a time long ago. I don't know why God brought this to my mind as I dwelt on it thoughout the service but here it is.

When I was a pre-teen (11-12) my parents decided to switch churches because the church we were going to was pastored by a man who really didn't seem to be a Christian. The new church was a Baptist church. The thing that got me thinking about my old church was the first song played during the service today. I'd never heard it but thought back to the old Baptist church were the first song was always "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name". You could always count on it and I now had a longing for a different time and place. I then started thinking about some of the folks at the service. Harry, a towering man, leading the congregation in the singing. The pastor, Harold, and his associate, Doug, on the side bench. The organist, Sue, just powering through the song. The choir (with two 6' 8" guys in the back) in their 70's colored robes (they actually still looked good into the 80's), led by Amanda. This is the church where I first heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, where I responded to this good news and was baptized.

As I thought of this point in time I had to keep from breaking into tears through the whole service today. Some of the folks had such a great impact on my life. This was a slice of what heaven will be like; people who love Jesus, gathered around singing "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name". Some of the folks mentioned above have already began gathering and are waiting for the rest of us. I can't wait until the folks from this small church, from that point in time, can sing it one more time. My longing will be fulfilled.

Sore Loserman in San Diego

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Politics -- Soledad cross measure wins; issue will still head to court

Attorney James McElroy, whose client filed a lawsuit challenging the presence of the cross on city land in 1989, called the vote meaningless.

"It still doesn't mean a damn thing," he said. "Voters should have never voted on it. It's a waste of taxpayers' money."

Speaks for itself.

The Cross Stays

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Politics > Results-- City of San Diego - It likes the cross on Mt. Soledad in La Jolla will stay. I'm extremely glad that it stays and it just shows that the loud but small minority needs to just accept this and quit being offended by a simple War Memorial. If there was a Star of David on city property that commerated the war dead then I'd want that kept also. Thank goodness for common sense.

After Last Sunday's Disaster

Go here to read about my horrible church experience last week but this week was an amazing contrast. At my church one of our associate pastors gave a trip report about 170 of our congregants going to Africa with Dream for Africa. I just can't explain the impact of the stories and the pictures that were show. Bottom line, the church in America has a golden opportunity to make a huge impact on this world.

Our people met with black people who'd never met a white person. They planted thousands of gardens and showed the love of Christ to the people of South Africa. Here's the amazing thing, do you want to see Jesus? These people did see Jesus by helping these people learn how to feed themselves:

'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

I know that I'm always wondering when God will touch me. Instead I need to go seek Him and one way is to serve Him by serving the poor, imprisoned and the sick. As a friend of mine once said, sometimes God just tees up some extremely obvious things and waits for the Church to take Her shot. Now is that time. There are many opportunities to serve the poor, sick and imprisoned. If your congregation doesn't offer any type of service opportunities to help the "least of these" then the church needs to be fixed. If you are not hearing about the "least of these" every once in a while from the pulpit then talk to your pastor. Let's not wiff at this one.

What Is It About "End Times"

Today we went to a different church a little closer to our home to check out the youth group for our kids. We'd like them to find a group where they've got kids that go to the same school. So we went to our normal church last night and went to the other service this morning. Today, the main pastor was out so they had a guest who was brought in to talk about the evils of "replacement theology" (the belief that the Church has replaced Israel as the apple of God's eye). So the sermon starts and things get a bit crazy pretty quick. By the end of the sermon I saw President Bush slandered, America of today being equated with pre-WW2 Nazi Germany and people who hold to "replacement theology" as being under threat of judgement for not believing Israel is in God's future.

Let me say first, I am not a "replacement theology" believer. I'm a strong defender of Israel and believe God isn't through with her at all. That being said, can't there be honest disagreement on an issue that has ZERO affect on anyone's salvation or how we live our daily lives. This is an issue that has a ton of different slants and, in all honesty, I'm not willing to go to war over a point of view that is very divided among many Christians.

Bottom line, I was sickened by what I heard and by the applause throughout the service. It was a service that I would not want to bring a non-Christian to so they could get to know Christ. There was some truth thoughout the service but the emphasis on things that have ZERO effect on our lives, in terms of our relationship with Christ. This stuff should not come from the pulpit as it is based on much speculation and some twisting of Scripture to make it fit a certain point of view.

Why is it that some pastors must always diverge into end-times stuff in each sermon. Why can't they focus on the topic at hand and quit trying to tickle our ears? Quit going after my fears and try and touch my heart. Try and inspire folks to do good works, not walk out all pissed off at other Christians because they don't hold the same point of view on a topic that is not a major issue, but is difficult, controversial and not possible to be completely right about. I think God wants so much more from us like making sure we are loving towards our neighbors, giving, doing the right thing and most of all, seeking Christ constantly. In Matthew 24 and 25 Christ doesn't talk about being judged by our view of Israel but how we deal with Him and others. Why has a certain part of the Christian Ghetto decided to draw the dividing line on how we deal with end-times issues? My heart was broken today by what I heard.

FURTHER THOUGHTS: I do want to make it clear that I do support Israel in every way. I believe that they have a right to exist and that President Bush is wrong to deal in the land-for-peace arena. It hasn't worked yet and I'm not comfortable in it working this time. Does that mean I can now question the faith of President Bush? Of course not, but I do disagree with him. At the same time, my support of Israel does not mean the plight of the Palestinians can be denied. God lives them as much He loves the people of Israel or Christians. When it comes to who He wants to save I really don't think He excludes certain people.

The label I heard thrown around today a lot was "anti-semitic" and that's a big and scary word. The implication being that people who supported certain policies went against the Christian Ghetto view then they were being anti-semitic. Our words are dangerous (see James 3) and a preacher from the pulpit has great responsibility to measure what they say. Heck, I have to measure what I say. I plan on sending letters to the appropriate people (that's why no names were used) to voice my concerns.

Books About Christianity

I'm posting this to point folks to some good books about Christianity. Any other suggestions?