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What Is Our Business?
Business management expert, the late Peter Drucker was once asked, “What is the key to the success of the church in the 21st century?” He responded by saying, “The church of the 21st century needs to answer two questions. First, what is the business of the church? And secondly, “How’s business?” In other words, the church needs to understand what it’s purpose is and then be committed to doing it. To forget our purpose would be tragic.
I want you to read a large portion of a blog from James White that relates to this subject and the church. “Eastman Kodak, a historic blue-chip American company, filed for bankruptcy because it didn’t adapt to the digital age. The irony is that it was Kodak who developed digital photography. How can that be? It’s simple. They didn’t know what business they were in.
DOES THE CHURCH MATTER?
“He pressed them, ‘And how about you? Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter said, ‘You're the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus came back, ‘God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn't get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I'm going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.” Matthew 16: 16-19 (Mess)
Jesus lets Peter know that upon this profession of faith in Him, He will build His church. That He wants to build a family from every nation who will love Him and love others. That His agenda in the world is to create a family of faith and as His followers you must take this message to the world. (Matthew 28, 18-28, Mark 16: 15, John 20: 21, Acts 1: 8). This church is to be so expansive with energy and power, so favored by God that not even the gates of hell will keep it out. Wow!! This is Jesus church. It is to be vibrant, alive and on mission. The truth is that there is nothing more important to the heart of God than His church and He showed it because Jesus literally laid down His life for His church. The church is the bride of Christ.
What Did He Say?
In the Washington Times, Joel Osteen who is the pastor one of the largest Christian churches in the country was asked about Mitt Romney and if he thought as a Mormon, Romney was a Christian. Osteen basically said that he thought Romney was because of what he heard him say he believed about Jesus and then made two amazing statements. One saying that Mormonism is Christian even though it is not the “purest form” of Christianity like he grew up with and then implied that the disagreement with Mormonism is like the differences between Catholics, Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists… etc.
For the life of me I cannot understand as a Christian pastor where he is coming from theologically. With all the theological confusion in our culture what he says muddies the water even more and in my view creates some very dangerous confusion.
First of all is Mitt Romney a Christian? I don’t know. I mean according to the Bible a Christian is someone who has admitted and repented of his sin and placed his faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. This is the heart of what is taught in Scripture. (John 3: 16, John 1: 12, Acts 4: 12, John 14: 6, Ephesians 2: 8-9) The truth that Jesus, who is God, is flesh, the second person of the trinity, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, then died on the cross for the sins of the world, was raised from the dead, ascended to be with the father, and one day is coming to judge the word as King of Kings and Lord of Lords is the heart of the Christian faith. Salvation is for those who repent and place their faith in Jesus alone. The truth is God alone knows the heart. So while we can see the fruits of salvation ultimately only God knows the truth about anyone’s salvation.
AWAKENING
In his book, The Kings Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus author Timothy Keller tells about an interview with Andrew Walls a distinguished historian of world Christianity. Walls noted that where other world religions began, that is still there center today. Islam started in Arabia, at Mecca, and the Middle East is still the center of Islam today. Buddhism started in the Far East and it is still the center of Buddhism. The same with Hinduism—it began in India and it is still predominately an Indian religion.
He goes on to say that Christianity is the exception. It’s center is always moving, always on a pilgrimage. The original center of Christianity was Jerusalem, but when the Hellenistic gentiles embraced the faith it moved to the Hellenistic Mediterranean world- to Alexandria, North Africa and Rome and stayed there for a number of centuries. But then the northern Europeans—Franks and Anglo-Saxons and Celts took hold of the Christian faith and soon the center of Christianity moved to northern Europe. There (and in North America through colonization and immigration) the center has rested for a thousand years, but recently it is shifting again.
Walls points out, “In the twentieth century, Christianity receded in Europe, and North America it just barely kept up with the population growth. Meanwhile in Latin America, Asia and Africa, it has been growing at up to ten times the population growth rate. In the past decade a major corner was turned: More than 50% of Christians in the world now live in the southern hemisphere.”
Cohabitation & Divorce
I came across this article from Focus on the Family and I wanted to share it with you….
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BP) -- How many computers or cars do you think Toshiba and Toyota would sell if they didn't let you test them out first? Who in their right mind would make a big commitment of purchase without trying it out first?
But don't we do the same with marriage? We ask young people to make one of the biggest commitments of their lives -- rivaled only by their decision to become parents -- without any prior experience of what marriage is actually like.
More than 60 percent of marriages today are preceded by some form of cohabitation. And 75 percent of current cohabitors enter these relationships with some plans toward marriage, even seeing this live-in relationship as a smart move toward marriage. But does the experience of cohabiting teach couples things that help make them better spouses once they do marry? Does cohabitation contribute to stronger, happier marriages?
Unfortunately, it does not. Not even close!
ABSOLUTELY WRONG!!!!
Pat Robertson, founder and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network, who speaks on "The 700 Club." On Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2011. told viewers of “The 700 Club” on CBN that divorce would be OK in a situation that involves something as terrible as Alzheimer’s. In answering a question of a viewer whose wife suffered with Alzheimer’s said, "I know it sounds cruel but if he's going to do something he should divorce her and start all over again," he said, "[and] make sure she has custodial care and somebody looking after her." The famous evangelist was challenged by his Co-host Terry Meeuwsen, who asked "Isn't that the vow we take when we marry someone, that's for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer?" But Robertson responded, "You said 'till death do us part;' this (suffering from Alzheimer's) is a kind of death.
GETTING READY FOR COLLEGE
As the kids go off to college, I hope parents and college students will read this blog by James White…
According to recent studies, almost half of all American college students will abandon their Christian faith during their undergraduate years.
Half.
The reason why?
It would seem to be far more than simple rebellion against an upbringing, or honest intellectual exploration.
It would seem the school environment itself is the culprit.
WOW!!
First of all let me say that I feel so blessed to be the pastor of Olivet. You are an incredible group of people. I was gone 12 days and our pastors, staff and church family did an amazing job of being on mission for Christ. We saw many people come to Christ and follow in baptism and join our church family. I may need to be gone more often. I am thankful for our church in allowing me to be a part of this great opportunity in Brazil. I don’t know of any place that I would rather be than serving Jesus Christ with you.
Brazil 2011 was an incredible experience. We had a team of about 24 four people from six different churches (five from Olivet) in Oklahoma. We traveled to Porte Alegre and worked in the community of Gravatai. The plan was to divide up our team into groups with several tasks. We all worked together to build a building for the Baptist church in Gravatai, then we worked in groups that were involved in personal evangelism, working in a clinic that provided eye glasses, Vacation Bible School and a soccer clinic through the week. We were also able to preach and share our testimony in several Baptist churches and share in two youth detention centers in the Porte Alegre area.
Religion & Sex Quiz
Religion and Sex Quiz
I wanted to share with you a recent blog written by James Emory White…..
Nicholas Kristof recently wrote an article for the New York Times titled, “Religion and Sex Quiz.” Based on a new book by Jennifer Wright Knust from Boston University, the point was to demonstrate how “murky and inconsistent and prone to being hijacked by ideologues” the Bible can be. Kristof acknowledges “cherry-picking” the questions from a wider quiz, but he wanted to demonstrate that “ambiguity is everywhere.”
Really? Let’s take the quiz, look at the answers given by Knust/Kristof, and then see what the Bible actually says.
Parenting Pitfalls: Friends
PARENTING PITFALLS: FRIENDS
While there are no guarantees when it comes to raising children, I offer these parenting suggestions in an effort to help parents be the best that they can be. The last area of passivity when our children get older is all about friends. It is falling asleep at the wheel when it comes to who our kids hang out with. The bible says “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” (I Corinthians 15:33) That is true for all ages and so is the opposite—that good company strengthens and reinforces good character. As a parent, think of it this way: When your child spends time with another child, it is like letting them go to a movie or watch a video. They are going to hear certain things, be exposed to certain things, be ushered into certain experiences and attitudes, values and circumstances. That is where the analogy breaks down because the impact of their friends is ten-fold the impact of a video or movie.
The truth is kids are incredibly influenced by their peers. As children grow older, particularly into middle school and high school, peers become everything. Now, let me say as a side note, parents of teens don’t give up here and think you have lost your influence because you haven’t. Virtually every study I know of still says you have the greatest influence over you child’s life even if you don’t think so at the time, so stay involved.
PARENTING PITFALLS: PRIVACY
As we continue to look at this subject of parenting, I want to make a disclaimer. I am blessed to be a parent of two awesome kids but I am still definitely a learner when it comes to being the parent of the teens that God has given me. My goal as a parent is to take God’s Word seriously with the goal of my children to not only come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior but to live out His purpose for their lives. So when I share these ideas it comes from things that I have tried as a parent or need to work on as a parent. It also comes from trusted Christian authors I have read over the years. People like James Dobson, Gary Smalley, Charles Swindoll, Josh McDowell, James Emory White and others. So none of these ideas are original with me but I share these articles to help parents along the journey.
So on to the second area of parental passivity which tends to take place when children get a little bit older. It is the issue of privacy. Today it seems that many parents think that privacy is a right of children—a right that they as parents have to grant. Not just privacy itself, but the ability to pursue certain things in private. Such as unsupervised use of computers, TV’s and cell phones. If you as a parent believe that these items should be pursued without parental involvement and supervision, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!
Parenting Pitfalls: Discipline
We looked at the biblical picture of Jacob as a passive parent. Over the next few weeks, I want us to look at some areas where passive parenting tends to reign. The first area is discipline. We tend to be passive with discipline. Particularly, in the early years, where discipline is actually most needed. I understand that there are differences of opinion on how to discipline a child—some think it is fine to spank a child, others think it is best to use things like time-out. I read about a guy who is the father of four teenagers and his vote was for nun chucks (just joking). The question isn’t how you discipline as much as that you consistently discipline.
Last year I read about a mother who went to a family therapist over her 13 year old son who was rebelling in every way imaginable. Out till 2 in the morning, in trouble at school, her son was on a one way course to self-destruction. The therapist asked if she could remember when it all started and she could. It went back to when her son was less than three years old. She carried him into his room one night and put him in his crib, and he spit in her face. She told him not to do that, but he did it again. So she wiped her face off and tried to explain again, but then he spit on her face a third time. She didn’t know what to do, so she just left him there and ran out of the room. He spat on the back of the door as she left. She said that she never had the upper hand with her child after that night. No wonder.
PARENTING PITFALLS
This month we are in a series called “Can you relate?” about relationships. One of the most important relationships that we have in life is the role and relationship of being a parent to our children. I want to take some time this month and look at some parenting pitfalls.
Before we jump in with our first topic, I want to make some observations. Remember, there is nothing that you can do to ensure that your children turn out perfect. Where they will always do the right thing. Where they never make a mistake. Whey they always honor God in every action. Because… they have a free will. They can make choices. So they will give in to temptation. They will fall. A part of your role as a parent is to give them every chance not to. You can attempt to avoid the pitfalls on your end that will lead them to pitfalls on their end. That is what we are going to think about this month. Parenting pitfalls—the mistakes WE make.
IS GOD GLAD THAT BIN LADEN IS DEAD?
This is the question that is on many Christian’s minds, so I though I would share with you a blog written by John Piper. See what you think.
“God's emotions are complex—like yours, only a million times more. Right now, your emotions about bin Laden are not simple, i.e. not single. There are several, and they intermingle. That is a good thing. You are God-like.
In response to Osama bin Laden’s death, quite a few tweets and blogs have cited the biblical truth that “God does not delight in the death of the wicked.” That is true.
It is also true that God does delight in the death of the wicked. There are things about every death that God approves in themselves and things about every death that God disapproves in themselves.
Is God Double-Minded?
This is not double talk. All thoughtful people make such distinctions. For example, if my daughter asks me if I like a movie, I might say yes or no to the same movie. Why? Because a movie can be assessed for its 1) acting, 2) plot, 3) cinematography, 4) nudity, 5) profanity, 6) suspense, 7) complexity, 8) faithfulness to the source, 9) reverence for God, 10) accurate picture of human nature, etc., etc., etc.
So my answer is almost always “yes, in some ways, and no in other ways.” But sometimes I will simply say yes, and sometimes no, because of extenuating circumstances.
A DISCERNING DISCIPLE
In our master-life group there has been a lot of discussion about discipleship and specifically what it means to be a disciple. I just read a blog from a pastor in another state who wrote about how important it is to be a disciple that is able to discern the truth in the culture we live in. This blog by James White is so true I wanted to share it with you:
“The word “disciple” is an interesting one. It is used in four primary ways:
First, it is a generic term referring to a pupil or follower of any teacher or school or religion.
Second, as a name for those who followed Jesus during His life and ministry, and specifically the twelve He handpicked to pour into for leadership.
Third, it is also the term for anyone who chooses to follow Christ. In this sense, all Christ followers are “disciples.”
Finally, it is used as a verb, such as someone being “discipled.” This refers to someone being mentored into the life of discipleship.
But what does this word mean?
EASTER AT OLIVET
Can you believe it? We are only a few days away from celebrating Easter. It is going to be a great time of celebration for the Olivet family. I wanted to let you know about the exciting events the week of Easter.
First, the Passion Play at CPHS April 22-24. 2011 is the 25th rendition of this powerful presentation of the gospel of Christ through music and drama. This year all of the performances will be at 7:00 p.m. Make plans to come and bring a friend, our people do an awesome job of presenting the last week in the life of Christ.
Second, Easter Sunday. I am looking forward to the Resurrection Celebration we have planned for you and the friends you’ll bring with you this year. I want to encourage you to make plans to come and bring your friends to Sunday School on Easter. It will be a great time of fellowship and celebration. Let me give you some things you can do as we prepare to celebrate the wonderful things that God has done.
TRUTH
A few years ago, one of the best selling books for about a month was called A Million Little Pieces by James Frye. It was in Oprah’s book club. It was supposedly the story of this guy, a biography of his life. Then all of a sudden people did a little checking and found out it was all a bunch of lies. Just made up. He had to go back on Oprah. Oprah apologized and everybody was upset. How dare this guy write fiction and call it fact!
Yet at that same time no one seemed to be upset at Dan Brown and the Di Vinci Code? He says it’s a novel. But on the first page he says this novel is based on all these true facts. The truth is every one of those facts is a lie. They’ve been disproved. There was a two hour documentary of it on the Discovery channel, not necessarily a Christian station, debunking every one of the things that Dan Brown said was fact. But nobody seemed upset. Why? Because it’s ok to lie about Jesus in our culture. It’s ok to lie about the Catholic Church. It’s ok to lie about Mary Magdalene. You can’t lie about other things but you can lie about Jesus. Also implied in the books were doubts about the trustworthiness of Scripture and some “lost” books of the bible in the form of Gnostic gospels supposedly omitted from the canon.
iPhone Confession
According to Reuters there is a new iPhone app for a 1.99$ to aid in confession. It is designed to help Catholics through the sacrament and contains what developers call a “personalized examination of conscience for each user.” Here are some of the features cited:
- Custom examination of conscience based on age, sex and vocation (single, married, priest or religious),
- multiple user support with password protected accounts
- ability to add sins not listed in standard examination of conscience
- confession walkthrough including time of last confession in days, weeks, months and years
- choose from seven different acts of contrition
- custom interface for iPad
Angry at God
I want to share with you an edited version of James White’s blog. I think it is relevant in our modern world where so many claim to either not believe in God or not believe in your God (meaning the Christian belief in God). This may give insight as to where some of them are coming from and hopefully cause you to think about your faith.
A new set of studies in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology find that those who are atheists and agnostics are also those who are most angry at God.
The irony, of course, is how an atheist can be mad at someone who, in their mind, doesn’t actually exist. But there’s a more serious question in play: How much does that anger fuel their stated disbelief?
Quite a bit, I would think.
As Bruce Springsteen plaintively sings in The River, “Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true, or is it something worse?” With God, many would say, “something worse.” People who are angry at God feel deceived by the promise of goodness and love matched with the reality of a life of pain and loss.
But can there be another response?
A LIFE-CHANGING NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION
I love it. It is that time of year again. We are going to lose weight, exercise more, get out of debt, stick to a budget, stop smoking, save for the future, spend more time with the family.
We make resolutions because we want to bring change to bear on our circumstances. We want to improve ourselves and our quality of life. The top three resolutions, for most people tend to revolve around the same three issues: money, health and family. But this year I want to challenge you to make a spiritual commitment that will revolutionize your life and make a positive impact on your life in every way. I want to encourage you to make a commitment to SPEND TIME WITH GOD ON A DAILY BASIS IN 2011. At Olivet we call it a quiet time, or some call it a time out with God, or devotional time. It does not matter to me what you call it, I just encourage you to commit to it. When I was a sophomore in college at OBU, I had a friend to encouraged me to develop a daily time with God. That year, I began to do my best in making time with God a daily commitment, and it radically changed my walk with God. I want to encourage you to do the same
The Christmas Story
While at home the other day I was watching a Christmas move that was a part of ABC’s family networks “25 Days of Christmas.” I don’t know all the details but from everything I could tell it was all about 25 days of Christmas movies until Christmas. I began looking through the channel guide for that day and noticed the movie line up for that day and the next. I noticed that while most of the movies were heartwarming cultural stories about the Christmas holidays, none that I could see were about the true meaning of Christmas.
A local church did some man on the street interviews asking people the question “What comes to mind when you think of the Christmas story?” The number one answer was “The movie.” You know it. The 1983 “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid” tale from 1940’s Indiana of a nine-year old boy’s desire for a Red-Ryder Carbon-Action 200 Shot Range Model Air Rifle BB-Gun (and yes, with a compass in the stock).
America’s Four Gods
I wanted to share with you a book review written by James Emory White. I believe his thoughts on this book and the application to our lives as to how to reach out to the unchurched around us is really relevant to our lives. His review is of the new book America’s Four Gods, written by authors Paul Forese and Christopher Bader draw on the Baylor Religious Survey and Interview project to determine the extent to which people believe 1) God loves the world, 2) God judges the world, and 3) God engages the world.
From this, they suggest that the American public can be split into four theological camps in terms of their belief about the nature of God:
1. The Authoritative God (a God who is both engaged and judgmental).
2. The Benevolent God (a God who is engaged, yet nonjudgmental).
3. The Critical God (a God who is judgmental but disengaged).
4. The Distant God (a God who is nonjudgmental and disengaged).
A TIME FOR THANKS
Do you feel any stress getting ready for Thanksgiving? Travel plans to be made, packing the clothes, getting the meal together, coping with some family issues you may need to deal with this time of year. I know for me, that sometimes I get so stressed out about life, and the pressure of a busy schedule that I rarely stop and take time to say “Thank You” to God. I hate to confess to you that often I stop and try to convince God I need a little more to make my life easier. I battle an ungrateful spirit instead of giving to God a spirit of thanksgiving.
This year I am making a daily commitment to honor God by thanking Him for what I do have and not worrying about what I do not have. Thanking Him for how He has blessed me with an incredible wife to share life with, kids that I love more than I thought I could love anyone, awesome people in my life and I serve the greatest church family on the planet at Olivet. I have the joy of a personal relationship with Jesus that gives me real life today and the certainty of an eternity with Him. How could I ask for more… I am truly blessed.
If you are feeling the blues or thinking your life would be so much better if you had a little more. I want to share with you what I read a few weeks ago.
WHY? AND HOW?
Have you noticed that life is not easy? Often unfair? And doesn’t always make sense? When we face tragedy and loss like we have seen in our community we wonder why? Why has this happened? The truth is the why question has been asked for centuries and no clear answer has come. I mean we know that we live in a fallen world and bad things happen to good people and life does not always add up. We are reminded almost daily that this is earth, not heaven. I have discovered that while God did not promise to tell us why things happen the way they do, He has promised to walk with us through every circumstance of life if we trust Him. I have also learned that while God is not in the business of explaining, He is in the business of sustaining us. While we want to know why, I don’t’ think knowing the why’s of life would ease our pain but I know God can help us through our pain.
So I am not going to give a pastoral answer to the why question (because I don’t have all the answers), I will tell you what I do know. I know that God cares. He cares about our pain, He cares about our loss and He cares about our tears. David the psalmist, who himself knew pain and loss in life said this “The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” It seems that the best thing we can do with our questions, pain, hurt, anger and loss is to give them to the Lord. When you are in pain, tell Him. When you hurt, share it with Him. When you are angry, (even at Him) let Him know. By the way, it won’t shock Him, He already knows. You might say, pastor I can’t tell God what I really think it might offend Him. Listen, He already knows how you feel and He can handle the hard questions, read the minor prophets they told God exactly how they felt. Let Him know about your loss, He can bring healing.
BIG QUESTION: DOES GOD EXIST? Pt. 2
It is important for believers of every generation to think about their faith. We need to be able to defend what we believe. The truth is you do not have to commit intellectual suicide to believe the claims of Scripture. God’s Word has and will stand the test of time. With that in mind, I want to continue our thought about the existence of God. We are really looking at arguments that believers over the centuries have held as to why they believe in the biblical affirmation that God does exist.
Last time we looked at the “cosmological” argument or the law of “cause and effect”. That if we see the effect then there must be a cause. The truth that when we see and experience creation it is reasonable to believe in a Creator, in fact, creation cries out to us that our God is real (Romans 1: 19-20).
The second argument we will look at has been called by theologians the “teleological” argument or sometimes called the design and order principle. The essence of this challenge is found in a very important question “How do you account for the intricate design of the universe?” This though was first articulated by Plato but made popular by William Paley. This argument is pretty simple. All design implies a designer. If you find a watch, you would understandably imagine a watchmaker: …if you see a building, you would assume an architect; …if you view a painting, you would take for granted that there was a painter. In fact, the greater the complexity of the design and order of something the more a Designer begs to be recognized. I once read it this way, “ it is one thing to see a log jam and wonder if there was a beaver behind it; …it is another to see Hoover Dam and question whether there was intentionality and purpose behind its creation.”
BIG QUESTION: DOES GOD EXIST?
Journalist Christopher Hitchens has written that God did not make us, but we made God and that religion poisons everything. Scientist Richard Dawkins calls God a delusion and one of the more irrational beliefs imaginable. Author Sam Harris wrote to a “Christian nation” in order to “demolish” its “intellectual and moral pretensions.”
Yet at the same time there is writer A.N. Wilson’s return to Christian faith after a season of outspoken skepticism, and the champion of atheism and Oxford University professor Anthony Flew has a new embrace of God. So the truth is the debate over God’s existence has never been more public, than now.
Because of that, there is a new generation of people and spiritual seekers that are asking the foundational questions about the existence of God. The idea that you have to put your brain on the shelf to believe in the existence of God is just simply not true. While belief in God is a faith decision, it is a very reasonable faith decision. We live in day when many Christians do not speak to these issues or feel intimidated to state their faith in public, as if there is no intellectual basis for their beliefs. The truth is God’s truth has and will always stand the test of time so we need to be prepared to share it. We need to think through our faith so we can discuss it. So I want to share with you some of the thoughts that have led pervious generations of those seeking God to come to a deep abiding faith in our Creator.
Strippers Going to War
Once again I read James White’s blog on reaching our culture and I saw this post. As we have been talking about how to engage our culture with the Gospel, I want you to read this.
Pastor Scott
Strippers Going To War
Sometimes I think I should start a new file: really dumb culture wars that do more harm to Christianity than good.
Two came up this week. The first courtesy of New Beginnings Ministries Church in Warsaw, Ohio, that has taken it upon itself to travel seven miles down the road each weekend in order to visit the Foxhole strip joint. Once there, they block traffic, take photos of the license plates of customers, and then post them on their “shaming” site. Apparently there’s a fair amount of condemnation and verbal insult offered in the process.
To Live w/ Someone for 80 Years
I read this blog written by James Emery White and I thought it was awesome. He gives such a clear biblical message about marriage in the face of our culture which just doesn’t get it. Enjoy
Who Wants to Live with Someone for Eighty Years?
In a recent interview, actress Cameron Diaz made it quite clear that she is content to be – and intent on being – a serial dater.
In an interview with the UK’s Stylist Magazine, she says, “I think the big misconception in our society is that we’re supposed to meet the one when we’re 18, and we’re supposed to get married to them and love them for the rest of our lives.”
TOP TEN
This morning before I came to the office, my son stopped and said, “Watch, it’s the top ten plays.” This is an important daily ritual at my house with ESPN. It is really important stuff, because it would be devastating to miss any awesome play that might make ESPN’s daily top ten. You now have some insight as to what is important with the Palmer men. In our culture, we are definitely into lists. We follow the leader board in golf, the rankings in football, the points in Nascar and the percentages in baseball. We look for the top ten books, top grossing movies, and most visited websites and then many people can’t wait for David Letterman to give us his top ten list before we go to bed. I read that there is actually a book that was published in the 1970’s called The Book Of Lists and it became a number one bestseller. It sold over 8 million copes, and it came out in a new, revised edition within the last couple of years because people are still buying it.
EASTER 2010
Can you believe it? We are only a few days away from celebrating Easter. It is going to be a great time of celebration for the Olivet family. I wanted to let you know about the exciting events the week of Easter.
First, the Passion Play at CPHS April 2-4. As usual, it will be a powerful presentation of the gospel of Christ through music and drama. This year all of the performances will be at 7:00 p.m. Make plans to come and bring a friend, our people do an awesome job of presenting the last week in the life of Christ.
Second, Easter Sunday. I am looking forward to the Resurrection Celebration we have planned for you and the friends you’ll bring with you this year. I want to encourage you to make plans to come and bring your friends to Sunday School on Easter. It will be a great time of fellowship and celebration. Let me give you some things you can do as we prepare to celebrate the wonderful things that God has done.
Read the Bible in One Year
It has really been exciting to see how many people are starting the Journey through the bible together this year. We have run out of copies of our bible reading plan the last two weeks and we are making more copies so you can get one this week. Also, there have been many people tell me how their journey is going whether they are reading with the hard copy or online. I want to encourage you to keep at it and find a partner who can keep you accountable to stay with it. I know that God will bless your commitment. I have discovered that often when I least feel like having my time with God is actually when I need it the most.
NEW YEAR, NEW BEGINNING
I love the beginning of a new year because it is a time to get a fresh start. I want to encourage you to get a fresh start on spiritual growth in 2010. As a church family I pray that this year will be a year of spiritual growth and maturity. One of the things I encourage you to do this year is to read the bible through this year. I mean make a commitment to read it cover to cover over the next 12 months.
40 Days of Love
Wow! 40 Days of love has been an awesome experience for our church family. I have heard stories of many people who made some first time steps of growth. Some began a daily time with God over the last six weeks, some have discovered the power of being in a small group Sunday school class, or the difference it makes to memorize God’s word. There have been many who have shared the joy of serving our community together through fall fest. It made an impact in the lives of over 2500 people in our community. The past few weeks have been a blessing. Basically, we have been working on the habits that are essential for spiritual growth and health. It really is the purpose that God has called us to as a family of faith, helping people KNOW GOD, SEEK HIM, SERVE HIM AND SHARE HIS LOVE.
When Is Something “The Church?”
James White said that he recently sat in a board room with a prominent Christian businessman who proclaimed that his business was just a much the “church” as any other enterprise.
Here was White’s answer. “I thought to myself, ‘Um, no, it’s not.’"
Why Do Bad Things Happen
Over the centuries and especially in the mind of the 21c person, probably the most often asked question is “If God is all powerful, why do bad things happen?” The why question is something that probably all of us have dealt with in one way or another. I recently came across this video by Voddie Baucham who gives a biblical perspective on the subject that you don’t hear much today. I encourage you to watch and think…
(To view the video visit http://www.Tangle.com click on the video under Dr. Voddie Baucham Jr., called If God is all powerful, why do bad things happen?)
How to Take the Bible Literally
As I begin this blogging adventure I wanted to deal with a subject that should be important to every believer. How to interpret the Bible correctly?
I read a fellow pastors blog and he referred to a recent article by a professor at IIiff School of Theology. “No one reads or interprets the Bible literally—regardless as to what they profess. To do so is simplistic, if not dangerous. All of us read our bias, our theology, and our social location into the text. There is no such thing as an objective reading; all readings are subjective.”
But wait, it gets worse.
Why I Decided to Create a Blog
There are really two reasons I wanted to post a blog from time to time. First of all I wanted to share news about what is happening at Olivet. There are certain opportunities or ministries or events that we don’t really have time to thoroughly discuss the value or hear about the great things that God is doing. Our schedule just does not allow us enough time. So I hope the blog can be a way to communicate to our church family and those not in our church families about the great things that God is doing at Olivet.
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