“The apex of glorifying God is enjoying him with the heart. But this is an empty emotionalism where that joy is not awakened and sustained by true views of God for who he really is. That is mainly what the mind is for.” – John Piper. It’s not that we should either love God with the heart or with the mind, rather it is that we should love God with both the heart and the mind.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
It's Helpful To "Be Quiet"
“The first thing that God has to do to save us is get us to be quiet.” –Michael Horton. Horton suggests that we do too much rationalizing and defending of ourselves. The idea is that we need to be quiet, stop making excuses and accept the truth about ourselves that is revealed through God’s word. …Hmm, “be quiet”, huh? That one hits close to home for me.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Love, Forgiveness & Unity
Let’s do this: “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Col.3:12-14
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Be Careful About Trying To Appear To Be "Profound" To Others
“Beware of posing as a profound person—God became a baby.” Oswald Chambers. I thought this was a great quote. I have foolishly tried to impress others many times and it often seems to backfire leaving me embarrassed. It’s a witty and helpful reminder.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Love Is A Conscious Decision
I read a “tweet” recently that said [paraphrase]: “love is a feeling it’s not something we decide to do.” I respectfully disagree. Love involves feelings, but true love also involves a conscious decision. Feelings are erratic, they are up and down, it’s part of the nature of feelings. If love was based solely on “feelings”, most loving relationships would be in deep trouble. We decide to love others because God loved us.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
A Relationship With God That Is Intimate, Meaningful & Personal
In Psalm 23, God’s word tells us about being able to walk through dark valleys without fear because He is with us, beside us—we walk in His presence—this is describing a relationship with God that is intimate, meaningful and personal. Do you have a relationship with God that is intimate, meaningful and personal?
Saturday, September 24, 2011
We Extend Grace Because We Are Recipients of Grace
Because grace, by definition, is extended to a person without the person deserving it, we can sometimes feel foolish extending grace. “Maybe I’m being played for a fool,” we might think. This is why it is important for us to understand that we are extending grace because we have, ourselves, first been recipients of grace.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Jesus Is Lord Of Every Aspect of Life
It is extremely important for followers of Jesus to continue living for Christ after we walk out of the church doors on Sunday morning. There is an inclination to want to compartmentalize our lives in such a way that God’s role in our lives has its proper, limited, time and place. But the correct understanding is that Jesus is LORD of every aspect of our lives.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
An Emphasis On Love... Is It Too Much?
Sometimes people push back on me a little bit because they say I emphasize “love” too much. It’s true that we should speak of God’s justice and truth and other attributes, as well as His love. But I’m not the one who initiated this emphasis on love, God did. “…These three remain, faith, hope & love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1Corinthians 13:13
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Faith And Reason Go Together
“Mainstream Christianity has always emphasized that faith and reason go together. Indeed, biblical faith is trust in God because he has shown himself to be reliable and trustworthy.” McDowell & Morrow. Faith does not include absolute proof—otherwise it wouldn’t be faith—on the other hand, faith does not have to involve an unreasonable, blind leap in the dark.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
We're Looking For Love... That's Why We're Looking For God
What we’re all looking for is someone who really knows us and, yet, still loves us, anyhow. We want to be “fully known and fully loved”. That’s why, whether we realize it or not…we’re looking for God. Because He is the one who knows us completely and loves us totally.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The Church Will Soon Gather... I Love It!!!
I’m sitting in my office doing some last minute preparations. In about 15 minutes the worship team will begin a run-thru and then at 9 o’clock the first of 2 services begins. We will glorify God; we will sing; we will take Communion; we will listen to the teaching of God’s word; we will talk and laugh and love each other. We are not a perfect church, but we are God’s church. I love it!!!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Are You Wholly Available For God's Purposes?
“Our sanctification does not depend as much on changing our activities as it does on doing them for God rather than for ourselves.” – Brother Lawrence. To be “Holy” is to be set aside for God’s purposes. Followers of Christ are called to make EVERY aspect of our life an offering to God. We are called to be wholly available for His purposes.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Are You Willing To Serve Others?
The love of Jesus is genuinely concerned with, “How do I benefit others?” That’s because the love of Jesus is a love that serves. How have you been doing at serving others, lately? Jesus said, “I am among you as one who serves.” Luke 22:27
Thursday, September 15, 2011
To Know Jesus Is To Know God
God has revealed himself to us through Jesus. If you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen God, the Father—that’s what Jesus said. So, the gospels—the accounts of Jesus’ life—provide us with extraordinary information. The gospels give us wonderful, helpful information about God. This is part of God’s revelation of himself to us, through His word.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
I Am Grateful For God's Mercy
When we deserve discipline, or correction, or negative consequences but, instead, we receive love, forgiveness, and kindness, then we have been shown mercy. The good news is that God is rich in mercy. I can honestly say that God has been very merciful to me and I am grateful for that.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Loving God With Our Minds
Thinking, asking important questions, and wrestling with tough intellectual issues are not offenses to the Christian faith. Our minds and our ability to think are gifts from God. In fact, we are specifically called to love God with our minds: “Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…’” Matthew 22:37
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Can There Be Hope In Light of The Events of 9/11?
In light of 9/11 we ask, is there any possibility of hope even in the context of hurt, tragedy and sadness? I have to believe that there is. Where is that hope found? It’s found in the reality that there is Someone even bigger than the hurt, tragedy and sadness. And the joy, peace and love that is found in Him is known and understood from an eternal perspective.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Love And Joy
Jesus spoke of love as a command that he has given us and he said that he spoke of this “so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” John 15:11 There is a connection between fulfilling Jesus’ command to love each other and the experience of true, complete joy. Do you want to feel joyful? Loving others is an important part of that experience.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Look Around... There Is A God
One of the most basic ways that we know about God is to simply walk outside, open our eyes, and look around. “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” Rom.1:20
Thursday, September 8, 2011
E-Flash From Dan, September 8, 2011
Dear E-Flash Friends;
“…[If] God does not exist, then life is objectively meaningless…” – Theologian & Philosopher, William Lane Craig
“‘Everything is meaningless,’ says the Teacher, ‘completely meaningless!’” – Solomon, Ecclesiastes 1:2
Hmm, what do you think? Does life really have objective meaning and value? That is one of the key questions we will be addressing in the new series we begin this Sunday, September 11, 2011, services 9am and 11am. It’s our Fall Kick Off and our new series title is: The Meaning of Life. We’ll be studying highlights of the biblical book of Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes is, among other things, a study on the meaning life. It was written by Solomon. The Bible calls Solomon the wisest man who ever lived (that doesn’t include Jesus). Solomon was also loaded. By that I mean really, really, reallllllllly rich. So, he had the practical savvy and intelligence along with the financial resources to make a very thorough investigation of this critical question in life.
I’m excited and I sure hope you are planning to be here on Sunday. We’ll spend our time together worshiping God and learning from His word. It’s going to be fun, exciting, interesting, helpful, inspirational, really irritating and meaningful!
(I’m kidding about it being “really irritating” …just wanted to see if you were still paying attention.)
There’s still time to invite someone to the services. Would you take a risk and extend an invitation?
I have been praying for our Kick-Off Sunday and for this whole series. I am expecting God to do good things. I hope you are, too!
Love and blessings,
Dan
The Connection Between Love and Joy
Jesus spoke of love as a command that he has given us and he said that he spoke of this “so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” John 15:11 There is a connection between fulfilling Jesus’ command to love each other and the experience of true, complete joy. Do you want to feel joyful? Loving others is an important part of that experience.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Does It Bother Us To Think That We Can't Save Ourselves?
The gospel actually has the potential of being offensive because it may bother us to think that we do nothing to redeem ourselves and make salvation possible. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8&9.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Why Should I Have To Forgive First?
Sometimes when we realize that we need to make the first move in trying to reconcile a broken relationship, we feel frustrated and think, “Why should I have to be the one to make the first move? Why should I forgive first, instead of him/her?” In those times, it can be helpful to remember that you and I are not forgiving first. Jesus forgave first.
Monday, September 5, 2011
We Need Each Other
“Countless studies have found that social relationships are the best guarantee of heightened well-being and lowered stress, both an antidote for depression and a prescription for high performance.” – Shawn Achor. We need each other! “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…” Hebrews 10:25.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Does Anyone Really Have Permission To Tell You The Truth?
When we really love someone, we give the person permission to tell us the truth. People know that they have permission to tell us the truth by the way we respond when they do tell us the truth. If we respond angrily and defensively, they realize they don’t really have permission. If we respond gently, thoughtfully, and humbly they understand that they really do have permission to be honest with us.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
The Pesky Truth About The Truth
THE TRUTH has this pesky little quality of being what it is whether we like it, or not. So, the truth can sometimes be great news and it can sometimes be bad news. It can sometimes be something I’m happy to acknowledge and it can sometimes be something I don’t want to acknowledge. But the truth is what it is.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Respecting The Basic Dignity of People
One of the ways that we can express love to others is to respect the basic dignity of who they are as persons. This willingness to show consideration or courteous regard to a person can be done even if we disagree with some of the things the person says or does. “Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king.” 1Peter 2:17 [NLT]
Thursday, September 1, 2011
It's Better To Cultivate A Relationship Than To Do A Religion
Christianity is more a “relationship with God” than a “religion”. Some people tend to gravitate toward Christianity as a religion, though, because it can be easier to do religion. A relationship takes time, it takes a commitment, the relationship must be continually cultivated. Cultivating an authentic relationship with God is not easier, but it’s better than doing a religion.
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