Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Some Reasons for Unanswered Prayer


1. Doubt James 1.5-8
2. Asking with wrong motives James 4.3
3. Treating your wife poorly 1 Peter 3.7
4. Praying for Show Matthew 6.5,6
5. Unforgiveness Mark 11.25,26
6. Lack of persistence Luke 18.1ff
7. Pride Luke 18.10
8. Unbalanced life John 15.7
9. Vain repetition Matthew 6.5
10. Not according to God's will 1 John 5.4
11. Not understanding Jesus' Name John 14.13,14
12. Rebellion Mal 3.7
13. Lack of Unity Matthew 18.19
14. Loving Sin Ps 66.18

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Counsel, Anyone?


So you think you might need counseling, eh? Last night I realized that after listening to peoples issues most of my counseling comes down to one of 6 responses. Take a look- maybe you don't need my counsel at all!

1) God is good. Life is sometimes hard, though. Live and act in direct correlation to the simple truth that God is good. If he directed you to do something hard, to give generously, to love the unlovable... trust his goodness- you will, ultimately, be blessed for it! (Not to mention the personal development of the holy habits formed)

2) It's not about you. Sometimes we have our own pain and struggles so close to us that we suffer from a sort of spiritual myopia. We forget that God loves others and is working on them too. We need to be anxious less about our own self (our comfort, our agenda, our plans, etc) and look to find a way to bring the will of God into anothers life.

3) Just stop it. There is no easy way to say this but your overeating, your binge drinking, your drug habit, your nicotine issue, your obssessive/compulsive behavior, your sexual acting out, and all other self destructive behaviors are all under YOUR control. With God's help (and forgiveness) you can overcome them. And it begins with an ending. So knock it off!

4) Quit crying over spilled milk. Frankly, what you upset about is completely out of your control. It happened so long ago, or it wasn't a big deal to anyone but you. So it is time to get over it. Man up, get perspective, and move on with God's grace.

5) Read and Pray. 95% of all situations are answered in the Word of God. Dust off that Bible and get into it. Develop a godly routine in your life of prayer and the Word. His voice will direct, confirm, and speak to you as you faithfully develop these two most basic Christian disciplines.

6) Give it to Jesus. It is over, its it the past... or maybe it's just too much for you. Your worry won't change a thing, your fretting is killing you and interrupting all your relationships. Head to the altar and give it to your Savior. He cares for you.

There you go. Pick the one that is the most applicable and do it. You can send me the $95 counseling fee in the mail (smile)

Thursday, September 09, 2010

9-11 Tribute?


I am worried about the unreasoned and reactionary responses from some Christians with regard to the Mosque 2 blocks away from the 9-11 site. The way I hear many Christians talking it seems like they think the government should somehow forbid this. Listen people - the last thing we need is government intrusion into religion! While I am no friend of Islam, I am a fan of freedom of religion.

Now this nucklehead pastor in Gainsville FL is buring the Koran. Exactly how does that make christians different than the flag burning terrorists? How does that even remotely honor the dead of the Trade Towers. Come on people... get a grip!

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

What is KILN?



The concept of KILN comes from Jeremiah 18.1-10. KILN is a place of reforming and reshaping then being placed into the fire to be set and made ready for service. KILN is a time of soaking in the presence of God and asking God to change us, his church, and make us useful for his purpose. This Sunday night will be our first KILN mtg this fall. I invite you to come out Sunday Evening at 5:30 PM for this special time of surrender and prayer.

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Jesus Saves! and so should you!

Too many of us are living on the edge of economy. We are over indebted. We borrow too much money. We owe, we owe so off to work we go!

But in an economy that is fragile a great number of Christians are reviewing their budgets. I have often preached the 80-10-10 budget. We should be living off of 80% of our income, tithing 10% to the Lord through the local church and stashing 10% of our income into a savings account. At minimum we should do this until there is 3 months salary in a savings account.

It seems to me that the Lord has been warning us recently (with the fragile economy, etc) that we must get ourselves into a solid place financially. Are you hearing that in yoru prayer time too?

Thursday, September 02, 2010

God No Longer Needed????


Stephen Hawking, the eminent British theoretical physicist says in his new book that God did not create the universe and the "Big Bang" was an "inevitable consequence of the laws of physics". In his previous writings Hawking was careful not to tread to harshly on the doctrines of the church and it's doctrine of God as the Ultimate Cause. He warned that the theory was incomplete. Hawkings surety and dismissal of God as Ultimate Cause and Creator is shocking in that he has not advanced the theory of the "Big Bang" cosmology much farther than in his previous works. certainly , not to completion.

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist," Hawking wrote. So how can a thinking Christ follower hold to the doctrine of creation?
1. Hawking, like Sagan and many along side him- does not explain where things came from, only how that which is could have come to be. His elaborate explanations of theory, while fascinating, are incomplete. Where did the universe come from? Like many before him, he treads the path of shoulder shruggers and best-guessers and claims the universe is all that ever was! In effect, the universe is eternal (though existing in many forms over time).

2. Hawking speaks of spontaneous creation as if he has seen it. But of course, no one has seen this happen and never will. just take a moment and think of all the other things that have spontaneously created over time... ur, I guess that is a short list of zero isn't it. (the thing in the back of the fridge was already something before it became the fuzzy stuff that it is now!)

3. This is based upon multiverse theory. This is the theory that there are many universes and we just happen by coincidence to occupy the one-in-a-billion universe that could support life. Of course, there is no evidence of these supposedly plentiful universes out there. The argument basically says that there must be billions of attempts to make universes that are all arranged differently and (licky us!) we get to be the ones who popped out of the primordial soup! So your life is meaningless- a cosmic accident without purpose. Enjoy! Even so, the multiverse may have been God's idea in the first place! listen to Dr. Don Pages "Does God love the Multiverse?"

4. And what of this gravitational phenomina? Are we to conclude that the gravitational rate is random? Check this out The precision of gravity is so amazing that I don't understand how anyone with half a brain could believe otherwise. And what of other fine tuning? Nathan Schneider of Seed magazine writes, "Scientists now recognize that if space were expanding at a slightly different speed, or if the strong nuclear force were just a little off, our universe would be a hydrogen mush incapable of supporting life. The chances that the cosmic conditions needed for even a single living cell would come about in a random toss-up are astonishingly low, often called the 'fine tuning problem.'" Certainly Hawking must see that? Coincidence? Mistake?

5. Ultimately, we must determine what and who to trust. Hawking is a brilliant and compelling mind but God is eternal and all knowing. Why would we trust anyone but God? Hawking is a flawed and fallable human. And if history of science tells us anything his writings, like his most recent opinion will change. But there is one that never has to adjust his theory... he is the Truth and the Way.

In the beginning God...