Additionally from Sunday's message...

In regards to the challenge to see eternity as a reality and that Christ followers live today in ways that echo into eternity, Former Anglican Bishop N. T. Wright of Durham has written:

“The whole point of what -Jesus was up to was that he was doing close up, in the present, what he was promising long-term in the future. And what he was promising for that future and doing in the present was not saving souls for a disembodied eternity but rescuing -people from the corruption and decay of the way the world presently is so they could enjoy, already in the present, that renewal of creation which is God’s ultimate purpose —  and so they could thus become colleagues and partners in that large project.”

John Piper's Passion of Jesus Christ

I just finished this short book this morning and found some powerful statements that I just wanted to share:

p49 being sanctified means that we are imperfect and in process

p59 don’t follow a defeated foe.  Follow Christ.  It is costly.  You will be an exile in this age.  But you 

will be free.

p62  Christianity is not first theology but news.

p87 Christ-inhabited, Christ-sustained, Christ-strengthened (self) - That’s what a Christian is.

p94  Christ died to create comrades on the Calvary road.

p117 Paradise will not be a hall of mirrors.  It will be a display of majesty.  And it won’t be ours.

Here is a link to the book:  https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Jesus-Christ-ByJohn-Piper/dp/B003AUD338

Learning to coach

I have recently been through an 8 week crash course in learning to be a life coach and it has really opened my eyes to a reality of our human condition.  We don't like to be told what to do!  In fact, in a recent post by one of the teachers of the crash course, he writes, "it goes against human nature to accept someone else’s ideas in place of our own."

Jesus wasn't ignorant of this.  I think of all the times that He coached people to discover truth by simply using really good questions.

I am on a new mission to give less advice and trust that by using good questions, people can discover some great solutions for life.  Wasn't it James that told us to be "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry"?  Good words there!

Strange word from 1 John 2:2 explained...

In the text we studied in our 2nd message in the series “Overcomers - The Letter of 1 John” we didn’t talk about a strange word John uses in 2:2 that the NIV and the ESV English versions translate as “propitiation”.  In context, John writes, 

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

The word comes from a Greek term that signifies an ‘atoning sacrifice’ (for sin) or an ‘expiation’ of sorts.   Ok, those terms may not help us much. The term has been defined like an ‘appeasement of wrath by an angry diety’ but, this is the true picture for the story we find in Christ.  As John Stott puts it, 

There can, therefore, be no question of human beings appeasing an angry deity by their gifts. The Christian propitiation is quite different, not only in the character of the divine anger but in the means by which it is propitiated. It is an appeasement of the wrath of God by the love of God through the gift of God. The initiative is not taken by us, nor even by Christ, but by God himself in sheer unmerited love. His wrath is averted not by any external gift, but by his own self-giving to die the death of sinners. This is the means he has himself contrived by which to turn his own wrath away (cf. Pss 78:38; 85:2–3; 103:8–10; Mic. 7:18–19).

Stott, J. R. W. (1988). The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 19, p. 92). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

So, God is the one who not only pursues us fiercely because of His love, He actively paid for our sins Himself to satisfy and fulfill all righteousness.  It is ALL ABOUT GOD here!  That is some GOOD news!

Pastor Ben

Rain falls

So the Bauman family had a tough day yesterday as Dylan was pre diagnosed with moderate Chron's Disease.  We are sad and shocked by the news and are now reading and learning all we can about this condition.  We are also just praying for God's comfort and presence with Dylan as he wrestles with the reality of this news.  Lord, have mercy on us.

Hitting 9

This past weekend Dallas Church reached a milestone - 9 years old and counting!  I had a lot of mixed emotions heading into the weekend.  Overall, I wanted to see the church still engaged in our community, still interested in seeking people far from the Lord and building a community of faith that puts faith and love into ACTION!  

The message Sunday was simply the story of how God created Dallas Church.  It was a personal, risky and at times scary journey for my family and others.  Here are a few things I also wanted to communicate Sunday...

Taking a cue from the story of the sheep & goats (Matthew 25), we find that love without action is sentimentalism; actions without love is cold legalism, but, love flowing through action is beautiful.  

So, the big question is, what is God calling YOU to do?  What are your resources, gifting, talents and passions pointing YOU to?  It may not be to move across the country and start a new church like the Baumans, but, there is a role for YOU to play in growing God's kingdom and network of love here in our world.

Here are a few big sky dreams I believe God may be calling us all to...WHAT IF:

We were a catalyst for arts in our community?

Our worship gatherings were more dynamic, engaging, challenging, inspiring were people were spontaneously praying for each other in our gatherings; encouraged one another - challenging and supporting each other?

We were all having meals and connecting w/ friends, neighbors who are not part of a church?

Our disciples went into the US south/Bible belt to plant new churches?

We were known by our love of people and our devotion to prayer and we had an undeniable hunger & thirst for the Lord & His kingdom?

God performed miracles in and through us as we prayed hard for His will daily?

Our faith was so strong in the Lord that we could indeed move mountains?

Marriages in our church were stronger than ever?

Our generosity reached such a level that we changed some people's lives forever?

It's time to keep dreaming about what God could do in and through us in 2017!

Join me in the journey!
Pastor Ben

What fills your tank?

I've heard people say this in the treatment of burnout, stress and even depression, but, I rarely hear much about HOW you figure out what fills the tank.  Today I found this article and though I'd post it...I like the idea of trying out some new stuff!

http://www.ibelieve.com/health-beauty/keeping-your-emotional-tank-full.html

Prayer lifts us up!

Good quote today...

Gregory Palamas, a fourteenth-century monk of Mount Athos, said, “This is the nature of prayer: that it raises one from earth to heaven, higher than every heavenly name and dignity, and brings one before the very God of all.”

Seasons

As the mornings grow a bit colder and the evening comes quicker, I have been reflecting on the last several weeks.  I've handled about 4 funerals.  I officiated a wedding.  I'm facing my last class needed to complete a Masters degree and my daughter got married.  My son will have his license soon and he's got a car.  In all this, my wife is back at full time work and we're getting more used to our new smaller house.   Tomorrow I'll have another coaching session with a guy who moved his family to New Zealand to plant a new church.

In the midst of all this I realized that I have probably prayed more this year than any previous year.  God is still in charge and He still speaks in the quiet.

What will the fall season bring?  This past Sunday, in speaking about being devoted to prayer, I shared this statement taken from Paul E. Miller's book A Praying Life:

If you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money and talent are all you need in life. (p49)  This is functional atheism.  You simply cannot do this life alone.  Jesus knew this, so, MAKE TIME TO PRAY.

Whatever comes, I know that staying close to the Lord in prayer will be the rock for this guy!

On Prayer...can't lose!

There was a TV series a few years ago that was about high school football in a small town in Texas called Friday Night Lights.  I don't really remember much of the individual episodes but one mantra was repeated by the coach and the team before every game.  It was:

CLEAR EYES, FULL HEART, CAN’T LOSE! 

Now, if you were to ask me what spending time in prayer does - well, that might be my answer most days.  The Holy Spirit just resets my life in those moments...

Preparing for September's Prayer [devoted to] series...

In Paul E. Miller's book, A Praying Life, he notes how prayer is essentially getting to know a person (God), and, in our fast paced culture, he writes, "Learning to pray doesn’t offer us a less busy life; it offers us a less busy heart." (Miller 2009, 23). 

So, we lean in to discover the heart of God Himself.  Exciting journey ahead!

On Prayer...

I have been reading a few books for the upcoming sermon series on prayer and I loved this statement in the discussion of just praying during our ordinary, everyday work lives..."In a world in which Winning Through Intimidation is the order of the day, I am attracted to people who are free from the tyranny of assertiveness.  I am drawn to those who are able to simply meet people where they are, with no need to control or manage or make them do anything." (p. 174)

Yup.

Thanks Richard Foster for your book Prayer!

Words from Martin Luther King...

I read this today and was challenged about what it means to develop colonies of heaven in every place Christ followers live...

Martin Luther King Jr. said this: “There was a time when the church was very powerful. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being ‘disturbers of the peace’ and ‘outside agitators.’ But they went on with the conviction that they were ‘a colony of heaven,’ and had to obey God rather than man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be ‘astronomically intimidated.’ They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest.”

She met Jesus (literally)

This morning I spent time in silence, prayer and meditation on Scripture and I read John's account of Jesus speaking with a woman in Samaria (John 4).  It is a fascinating conversation that centered on water and worship and Spirit.  At the end, she tells him (an interesting stranger to town) that one day the Messiah/Christ will come and will tell her and the world all things.  In a rare moment, Jesus identifies Himself "I who speak to you am he."

She met Jesus LITERALLY.  Her life and apparently a whole town's future was changed by this divine meeting.

What could change in our world if those of us who've met Jesus simply talked Him up a bit more?

Prayer Trumps Activity - it is THE Activity!

I read this statement in a doctoral dissertation:  "God’s glory is revealed when weak servants submit to his supernatural power through prayer."

 

Here's the link to the paper:  http://place.asburyseminary.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1273&context=ecommonsatsdissertations

Prayer is crucial.  Why do modern Christians do so little of it?

Power of Forgiveness

An old friend showed me this article from the Mayo Clinic about forgiveness and what it means to offer it when we are offended or hurt by someone else.  There is power in this act!  Jesus said it best in the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18 - forgive often and authentically!

Here's the article:  http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/forgiveness/art-20047692

Creating

In reading Chris Guillebeau's book Born for This, he quotes an artist named Leonie:  "Done is better than perfect."

How many things to I (we) leave undone?

God has a good memory

Jeanne Jugan has written, “Go and find -Jesus when your patience and strength give out and you feel alone and helpless. He is waiting for you. Say to him, ‘-Jesus, you know exactly what is going on. You are all I have, and you know all. Come to my help.’ And then go and don’t worry about how you are going to manage. That you have told God about it is enough. He has a good memory.”

Prayer of Humble Access

This prayer is often used early in the church worship gatherings to help prepare people's hearts for worship in the Anglican and some Catholic traditions:

he 1552 revision (in the modernised spelling of the 1662 Prayer Book) reads as follows:

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.

Prayer for Father's Day...

Reflecting on this prayer from common prayer.net today:

Lord, wherever there is mercy, justice, freedom, and kindness, we know your good news is echoing in human history. Give us ears to recognize the sound of glad feet coming and grant us grace to join you wherever you are moving. Amen.

Commanded to delight?

I was reflecting on this prayer this morning:

"Shine your light on our darkness, Lord : and teach us the duty of delight."

Psalm 37:4English Standard Version (ESV)

4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

When we gather as a church...

I read this prayer today and thought about how powerful it is when we make the time to meet together as a church - especially on Sunday mornings.  With the tragedy in Orlando last week we were able to pray just hours after the horrible events happened asking for God to empower His people in Orlando to love on the victims and their families.  God moves when we meet!

Ignatius of Antioch said, “Take heed, then, to come together often to give thanks to God, and show his praise. For when you come frequently together in the same place, the powers of Satan are destroyed, and his fiery darts of sin fall back, worthless. For your unity and harmonious faith prove his destruction, and the torment of his assistants.

Taking note...

I have been thinking about this statement made by the religious establishment in the first century toward followers of Christ as recorded in Acts 4:

13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Later these guys would celebrate the fact that were given the 'privilege' of suffering for the sake of Jesus' name (Acts 5):
41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

Makes me ponder my own life in Christ.  Can people tell I've been with Jesus?  Do I consider suffering something to rejoice over?  

Bless us with discomfort...

God, give us discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that instead we may live deep within our hearts. Grant us anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of -people, so that we may wish for justice, freedom, and peace. Bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen.

Prayer for the day...

Grow us slowly, persistently, and deeply, Lord, to be -people who watch without distraction, listen without interruption, and stay put without inclination to flee. 

Amen.

Being a MENSCH...

Just read Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki and he speaks of, in leadership, we ought to be aiming to be not just good leaders but great humans that attempts to make the world a better place and give people the benefit of the doubt.  Good thoughts!

Becoming the Answer...

Fresh off of Memorial Day, I thought this recent article from commonprayer.net today was relevant for those who are part of the community of Jesus Christ...

Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: A Few Ideas

1.   Wash your clothes by hand and dry them on a line. Remember the 1.6 billion -people who do not have electricity.

2.   Learn to sew. Try making your own clothes for a year.

3.   Eat only one bowl of rice a day for a week. (Be sure also to take a multivitamin.) And remember the twenty-five thousand -people who die of malnutrition and starvation each day.

4.   Keep the Sabbath holy. Rest one day a week this year — ​don’t answer the phone or the door, and don’t use the internet. Do something that brings you life that day.

5.   Go to a city council meeting. Pray. Speak as the Spirit leads.

Where does help come from?

I read and pondered this Psalm today.  When we are in need, where is the first place we turn?  To Jesus or to friends, family, the church, government, etc.?  We are tempted to try and either fix it ourselves or find the easiest short term relief.  Yet, the psalmist gives us something else which echoes Jesus telling us to seek first His kingdom and righteousness and all these things will be added to us.  The hymn tells us plainly, "I lift my eyes up to the hills.  From where does my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth."

Lord, teach us to come to You first.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+121&version=ESV

Lectio Divina or Sacred Reading

In the last few years I have become aware of some ancient practices that have helped followers of Christ for centuries and some have been helpful for me.  One of those is called 'lectio divina' or the practice of sacred reading.  The idea is simple but powerful.  It breaks down like this:

Preparation - find a quiet place, take deep breaths, and relax.  To help quiet your mind you might recite the Jesus Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner) or simple phrases like "here I am Lord", "Speak Lord for your servant is listening" or even just "come Lord Jesus".

Read - now you read and ponder a passage of Scripture - Psalms are great for this.  Listen for a word or phrase that you sense God directing your attention to.

Reflect - you now meditate and consider what this passage is saying to you? How does it connect with your story and life right now?

Respond - what can you speak back to the Lord based on what you have encountered?

Rest - coming back to square one you settle back down and rest in God's Word.

Resolve - pray and begin to live out what God's Word spoke to you.

Summer teaching series on Galatians is heating up folks!

I'm so excited to be going verse by verse and drawing out what the Lord wants our church to hear this summer in the letter of Paul to the Galatians!  I've been studying up for awhile on this 6 chapter letter and have enjoyed NT Wright's work on the letter.  In fact, when this series kicks off in June, I'll be departing from my usual use of the English Standard Version and using his translation of Galatians as our key text!  You can get a copy via Amazon if you so choose...it is a nice addition to other translations.

Here is a sample from HarperCollins:

Return to the Psalms

I just finished another class towards my master's degree from Hope International University, and, it was a great class focused on Psalms.  What struck me about the class was the reality that a good portion of the songs, hymns and poetry of the Psalms comes in the form of lament.  When do we lament in our corporate worship gatherings on Sundays?  Where do we voice our honest complaints and concerns to God corporately?  Ancient Israel didn't seem to shy away from such raw emotion - why do we?  Isn't God big enough to handle our frustrations that the world is not quite what it is supposed to be?  I'm pondering how to put more of this ancient hymnbook into our modern worship environments...

Oh, this was a great article I read today...http://worshipleader.com/worship/the-psalms/

Ben

Old School Devos...

I often post prayers and thoughts from this website resource that I discovered a few years back after reading some of Shane Claiborne's work.  He wrote The Irresistible Revolution and Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals.  It might help spark some new thinking in your devotional life.  Here is the website:  www.commonprayer.net.

In Christ!
Pastor Ben

The Jesus Prayer

I've used a simple prayer from the early days of the church that some call The Jesus Prayer.  It is a simple prayer that helps me center my focus on Jesus in our crazy, busy, noisy world.  It goes like this:

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy On Me, A Sinner."

No, it is not some kind of magical formula or touchy-feely mantra to repeat over and over but a way to refocus a wandering mind in prayer.

I hope that helps you as much as it has helped me to be more prayerful this year!

Pastor Ben

Spring Madness!

TIME FOR A BLOG UPDATE...Well, it has been an interesting year for my family to say the least!  As of last week, we are relocated into a new (to us) home in Dallas.  I am also happy to be in the last phase of finishing up my Masters of Ministry from Hope International University.   Our daughter Emma will turn 20 in July and get married to her fiancé Tyler the first week in August at my parents' farm near Sheridan, Oregon.  Dylan is becoming quite the musician, singer and actor while also getting back into pitching baseball for Dallas High School.  Jackie and I celebrated 23 years of marriage.  She is still my sweetheart.  Dallas Church celebrated 2 years of being in our own facility last weekend.  I bought a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and sold my trusty old 1951 Chevrolet Pickup.  American politics are weird right now.  Feeling like God is maturing me this year as my ONE WORD for the year (instead of a list of goals) was "prayerful".  All in all, I know God is in control and He is truly good!