Momentum

Martha and Mary Part II

There's a book titled "Living Like Mary in a Martha World."  I don't have the book and I haven't read it, but I think its title is enough.  I've been reflecting on Luke 10:38-42 for two weeks now and I've had many thoughts.  Let me share one of them.

After the message on Luke 10:38-42, there were a few people who wanted to defend Martha.  They said "Hey, someone's got to do the detail work."  I've thought about that defense, and I still can't settle the fact that she was being reprimanded by Jesus.  She was doing too many things and she was worried and upset.  The issue still remains that Jesus' point was, Mary chose a better way.  It's a given that God gives gifts of hospitality and servanthood, but His higher good is always being at the feet of Jesus.  So my take is that declaring yourself a "Martha" still is not good.  She probably was a gifted hospitable person that went too far.

Any thoughts?

14-Day Challenge

In our mini-church last night we had a good discussion about Martha and Mary.  The pace of life often requires us to be like Martha - busy, running from one thing to the next, and – admittedly, sometimes frustrated with those around us who don’t seem willing to help.  But it is the pace of our life that should make us more like Mary – at the feet of Jesus, seeking his peace and direction for our very lives. 

 

All of us in our mini-church have our own personal devotional habits.  We use the daily Bible reading schedule and the Daily Med.  But we admitted that really spending time at Jesus’ feet, like Mary did, might not be so easy.  So for the next 14 days, we challenged each other to spend 15 minutes a day at His feet - in prayer, worship, reading, or in whatever activity draws us close to Him. 

 

I challenge you to join us for the next 14 days.  Let’s see what God can do.  Share your stories on the Hope series blog. 

There once was a pastor named Bob
Whose love for John Calvin matched his job

For John's 500th birthday Bob crossed the sea
So he could walk where John used to be

 If Bob were here for this Reformation
He'd deck out his trunk with John's transformation

He'd grow a long beard and put on a robe
And hand out treats with the patience of Job

But Bob's out of town with his lovely wife Laurie
Celebrating the years ago that they married

So please take his spot
In the Faith parking lot

And make yourself handy
While you pass out some candy!

It's 2:00 pm - Do you know where your children are?

I’m not a technical geek but I must say I love technical gadgets.  My cell phone is a phone, email source, text messaging source, internet source, and a ton more.  One thing my phone can do is also be an alarm clock.  I’ve set my phone alarm to sound at 2 pm every day.  When it goes off, I stop and pray for the unborn.  I guess you could call it my version of an “amber alert.”  Amber alerts are the alarm system for a missing child.  Every day and everywhere there are missing children that are being taken by abortion.  If you would, I invite you to set your cell phone alarm for 2 pm and when it sounds, pray.  Pray for the unborn, the ministries and agencies that help pregnant women, and for all those who assist in the saving of life.

 

When I grew up, each night at 10 pm our local television station would be interrupted by a sound and it would say “It’s 10:00 pm – parents, do you know where your children are?”  My hope is that at 2 pm many Christians will hear the alarm and say “It’s 2:00 pm – do you know where God’s children are?”

 

If you would like to learn more about assistance for the unborn, here are links to two local organizations:

 

PASS Network of Life-Affirming Care http://www.pass-networkofcare.com/

The Women’s Center of Northwest Indiana http://www.thewc.org/

Me 'n Mike

There are a few perks to this ministry job

Like this photo opp with Huck and Bob

 

He came to Faith Dyer to speak for Big Life

A ministry that brings gospel to people in strife

 

I know that he works for the TV news Fox

But please don’t label me and put me in a box

 

I admit that I like him and lean to the right

But I’m not a wacko so don’t get uptight.

Movement

At the Equipping Leaders Network gathering this week, I shared a relatively new teaching thought that I've been working on and tweaking for over a month.  I received a positive response to it and will dialogue about it later.  After I was finished sharing "The 12 Elements of a Movement" one of the pastors asked me which ones I felt were the most important for strong movement in a church or ministry.  Here is what I said:

1. Prayer: Every great movement in the Kingdom of God, from the Apostolic age to the Reformation to revivals and awakenings, was underpinned by intense prayer.  Prayers of every length and kind.  Individual and corporate.  But all really believing that when they pray there is a collision between a supernatural God and natural man.
2. Biblical Orthodoxy:  Every movement was led by leaders that had an unwavering belief in the authority of scripture.  This is key: not belief as in what we want to believe about the Bible, but the Bible - period.
3. New:  All Christian movements embraced the new.  The gospel of Jesus was new.  Before, it was the law; at the cross, Jesus fulfilled the law and became the law.  Grace was radically new.  The Reformation was new.  It was new to a Christiandom that had fallen into old ways of salvation by works and many unbiblical truths added to the truth of Christ.  Even today there are new ways to worship, new ways to function in the community, new ways to lead churches, and there even need to be new ways to be denominations.  There is power in the new.
4. Multiplication and Reproducing:  All movements believed God when He called us to be fruitful and multiply.  This was God's ask at creation and it is God's ask of us at re-creation.  All followers of God have been asked to bear fruit, multiply and reproduce what God has done in us.  This reproduction is commanded for individual Christians, local churches, denominations, ministries, Christian schools, colleges...the sky's the limit.  Can you imagine what the Church of Christ would look like if everyone got this?

I don't know if these are the best top four, but what I do know is that they're Biblical, historic, and I hope, relevant to you.

Hoop Dreams

When I was young I used to shoot hoops in my driveway day after day, hour after hour.  I played so much that once in a while the neighbor, a good man, would tell us we needed to quit for the night.  I would shoot and shoot and shoot.  I would also dream.  I would dream of someday playing basketball in the NBA like Oscar Robinson, Jerry West, Pistol Pete and many others.  I never accomplished that dream, but it was fun anyway.

I have a friend, Kevin Korver, who is one of seven pastors I am with for three days in a Equipping Leaders Network meeting.  Kevin is living the dream.  He and his wife have four boys.  All four are playing basketball at NCAA Division I level or professionally.  Talk about a dream come true.  Their oldest son, Kyle Korver, is an outstanding NBA player for the Utah Jazz.  I have followed his career through his years at Creighton University, to the Philadelphia 76ers, and now to the Jazz.  I have 25-30 different NBA cards of Kyle, some signed, and even a piece of his jersey.

The greater dream come true for Kevin is that all four of his boys know Jesus.  Big time college hoops, cool.  NBA player, cool.  Eternal life and the glory of God, priceless!

I have one more hoop dream, that the Chicago Bulls would trade for Kyle or one of the other three Korver boys.  That way I could live my dream through them J.  Plus, I would invite them to Faith Church and then to Bouwers for lunch.  After lunch I might have to show him a few moves around the hoop.  Dream on, Bob!!

Hope...Full

There's a buzz around Faith Church.  The buzz is the Hope series.  If you're not from Faith Church and are reading this, I hope your church will consider a series on hope.

Our Hope series started last weekend.  Over 3,000 people of Faith Church, adults, children, junior high, high school, Catalyst 20-30somethings, at three locations, all began studying hope from God's Word.  The buzz has been about the video testimonies, the worship, the teachings, the community being built, the songs that were written, and quite frankly the whole thing.

This is my prayer: (1) that God does way more through this series than we ever imagined; (2) that people open up and grow in their mini-churches; (3) that people meet Jesus; (4) that the Kingdom of God is revealed; (5) that lives are changed; (6) that people go to the Hope series blog; (7) that other churches use this material down the road; and (8) that God is really, really, really glorified and we become more hope...full!

Ally, Not Foe

Pictured is my dentist, friend, and co-leader of Faith Church's amazing ministry called Celebrate Recovery, a ministry for people who struggle with life-controlling habits and hangups.  Recently I had a small chip on one of my teeth, so Dr. Bill Slavin took care of me. 

Bill and his wife Lori are precious people to God, me, and Faith Church.  Nine years ago I approached them with a "chip" that needed to be filled at Faith Church.  I asked them if they would lead, study, and launch a Celebrate Recovery ministry here.  Thankfully they said yes and since then, thousands have come through this ministry and found hope, healing and most of all, Jesus Christ.  Last Tuesday night, I attended Celebrate Recovery's Celebration Night where we worshipped, heard testimonies, saw a fantastic drama, and watched many people receive coins to commemorate the days, months and up to 20 years of freedom from habits, addictions and hangups.  I left in my truck praising God for Bill and Lori, the leaders of Celebrate Recovery, and all the participants. 

Some people see dentists as foes, people to be avoided, or people who inflict pain.  I see Dr. Bill as my ally, my brother in Christ, and a great guy.  Laurie and I love him as a dentist as well.  His philosophy is to inflict as little pain as possible!  That makes us smile and show our pearly whites.  J

Blogless

It has been quite a few days since my last blog entry.  I miss blogging.  I hope some of you miss them as well (otherwise it’s a waste). 

The reason I have been blogless was because I was at a conference called John  Calvin in the Theater of God.  Laurie and I went with two couples that are friends of ours and had a delightful time.

The conference was the “deepest” conference I have ever been to.  I tend to enjoy all conferences but this one was so unique. We had lectures over an hour straight on various topics about John Calvin.  Some of the topics were John Calvin on Scripture, suffering and pain, Government and business and the future hope.  I will share soon a summary of the teaching in a blog.  Also, in November we are going to celebrate John Calvin’s 500^th birthday for 3 weekends.  I hope to be able to pass on the depth and knowledge of the greatness of God through the biblical teaching of John Calvin.  Stay tuned.