The CCJ Blog

How about those Cards?

My friend Jared once again has some brilliant insights to share (this time at a myspace blog entry for his church’s college and young adult ministry found here).

I’m sure most of us at some point have asked God ‘Is this Your will for my life’ about something. Jared says he has a litmus test for these questions:

Here’s my thing: I believe God can be very frustrating, but I don’t believe He plays games with us. At least, not in the way we think He does. So sometimes His silence is not a way of telling us to keep worrying and waiting but is a way of saying, “For goodness’ sake, I gave you a brain; make a decision.”

My litmus tests for making big decisions goes something like this: 1) Is one of these options a sin? 2) Do I have a clear call from God not to choose this option? 3) If the answer to both of those questions is “No,” and options appear equal, it certainly behooves us to pray for peace and direction, but after a while, ask yourself what you are waiting for. If it is a visible, tangible sign from God, He does deal in those sometimes, but not too often.

He goes on to point out that the Bible DOES tell us God’s will for our lives:

The Bible does not always tell us how to pick which circumstances we will find ourselves in; but it does tell us how to live whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

To be open with you, I’m at a crossroads right now regarding career, money, what God wants me to do, etc. I’ve been praying for God to show me His will for me. I think this post may help me along.

I’ve started to realize in the past six years that God will use me wherever I am if I follow Him. It’s not about having a job that will change the world, it’s about me following Jesus and letting Him change the world (in some small way) through me.

One more snippet from the post:

That doesn’t necessarily take the pressure off. But it does put the pressure on the stuff that needs it. Too many are in agony over what God’s will for their life is, and that’s largely the church’s fault for not teaching the freedom from the guilt of just living life. It is just not true that God is at one college but not another or in one job but not another, provided we’re not talking about the University of Satanic Arts or Joe’s Cabaret (see the litmus test). God is omnipresent, and Jesus Christ is alive inside you. So wherever you go, He goes. There’s a dangerous, radical freedom in that truth that is a good and exciting kind of risk.

A preacher I know has a sermon titled “God Grace” from Galatians 1:1-8. He shared it with our preaching study group. It is a great message I would love to share with you sometime. The basic thoughts are grace is illogical yet it is available anyway. It does not make sense that a God who we have betrayed with our lives so much offers us grace but he does. For God so loved the world that He sent His Son so that we can be saved. That is grace!

The cool thing he says though, is that grace does not stop with saving us. Grace is transformational. 1 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” I think sometimes we get the saving grace part and forget that transforming grace. God accepts you just as you are but He does not want to leave you just as you came.

Darrel had a post lately that wanted us to be the church outside the walls. I believe we need to take advantage of every opportunity presented. We need to invite others to events such as our Close Encounter service Nov. 12, or the Bowling Party on November 5. And when we get them there they need to leave knowing we were glad that they came. We need to reach out to those who are hurting — sometimes this means just taking the time to listen or sending a card. People do watch other people so how we act and react to situations outside of church and in the workplace (or with friends or at home) really does make a difference. We sometimes need to put our own preferences aside and do what is best for those God intends us to reach. I know that at times this may be hard — it is for me at least.
We come on Sundays to worship and be fed spiritually — which I believe the worship team does very well. But as Darrel said this is only the beginning. What we do and say in our day to day activities is what others see and respond to. We really do need to be like Jesus — after all we may be the only Jesus some will ever see.

My friend Jared’s church is undergoing some painful times. He has set up a blog to help heal the wounds that exist in the congregation. He has posted a list of 30 or so theses in this fantastic post over at the blog BCC Is Broken.

A brief introduction from the post:

The following is an informal list of basic principles relating to discipleship and “doing church” that I try to think and live by. I share them only because I think, whether I’m right or wrong in my assessments, that the issues themselves are very important. Every generation must wrestle with the way it lives and presents the Gospel to a dying world. Every generation must put walking shoes on its theology, so to speak, and in some cases, helmets and body armor. (And in some cases, take the armor off.) This is my little way, in my little corner of my little world, of nailing my little Post-It to my little Wittenburg door.

Here are some of my favorites (but be sure to go over there and read them all as (I think) all of them are valid and spot-on.

1. Discipleship is designed to be experienced in community. God saves individuals, but He does not save them to an individual faith but to a kingdom life populated with other citizens who share that faith.

2. The Bible designates one vessel to hold this kingdom community, and it is The Church. You might fraternize with other believers in coffee shops, informal communes, online chat rooms or forums, blogs, bars, or the big outdoors, but only biblical churches satisfy the discipleship need for The Church.

…

5. The reason you should not give up on church or The Church is because Jesus did not give up on you. And if He calls the church His Body, giving up on it means giving up on Him.

6. There are no perfect churches, especially if they have people in them.

7. Expecting a church to Â?fitÂ? you or to always be comfortable or catering to your needs is arrogance and foolishness.

8. You can pick your friends and you can pick your church, but as in all families, you donÂ?t get to pick whoÂ?s in The Body. Only God can do that. And when you decide certain people (or certain churches) are not worthy of your presence, ask yourself if you are worthy of GodÂ?s. (Hint: YouÂ?re not. But he came into your life anyway.)

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10. If the entirety of your churchy desires consists of filling a seat to experience a good service, you are not a congregant in a church but a consumer at a concert.

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12. Church leaders donÂ?t really need to choose between fidelity to the Gospel and engaging the culture. They just need to make sure they put them in order. First things go first and inform secondary things. Fidelity to the Gospel should inform your cultural engagement, and not vice versa. If your first aim is to please man, you will please some god, but it wonÂ?t be the God you want to please. But if your first aim is to please God, you will please some men.

13. Some men wonÂ?t be pleased if your first aim is to please God. This is called Â?the scandal of the cross,Â? or Â?the offense of the Gospel,Â? and it canÂ?t be helped if you are faithful to GodÂ?s Word.

14. Decide if youÂ?d rather give people what they want to hear or what they need to know. People need to know they are sinners in need of a Savior. People want to hear that deep down theyÂ?re okay and their good buddy J.C. affirms them in their okay-ness, which is b.s. that helps nobody.

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18. It is okay to think about numbers and numeric growth. Beware of church growth philosophy extremes. But the litmus test for whether something should be done in or by a church should never be Â?will it increase attendance?Â?. Naked ladies giving away free Krispy Kremes will increase attendance. Hiring Oprah Winfrey to speak (preferably clothed) on self esteem will increase attendance. It is okay to think about and strategize for numeric growth. But when you cut corners on the Gospel or pander, you are not trusting God for that growth; you are trusting yourselves.

(Daniel’s note: Go read that one AGAIN)

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30. Worship is about connecting with God, telling Him and your fellow worshippers how much He is worth. You can just as easily do that with loud drums and electric guitars as you can an organ (and vice versa), provided your heartÂ?s in the right place. It has nothing to do with style and everything to do with substance. You know you care more about the former than the latter when you start thinking more about performance than praise.

31. Worship is not just something you do to music. The quality of the Christian life is one of worship.

Seriously, go read it all (and read the comments as he expands on some concerns some others have). One of the things I’ve been struggling with over the past several years is that Jesus isn’t a segment of my life that I file away for when I need it. He IS life. The whole thing. He should shine through in everything I do whether I’m in the church building or out of it.

ESPN and other have their weekly NFL power rankings based a lot upon computer rankings. So I thought I would give my power rankings after the first few weeks of this NFL seasons. Why? Because this is the blog world where everybody can have opinions.

1. Chargers - I know you bears fans will be going crazy. But the chargers have the best O and D lines in football right now and they have better skilled positions then the bears. (Keep in mind Marty will find away to blow it. This is just to this point).

2. Bears - Yes they looked vulnerable against a bad Arizona team. But everybody gets a let down and hey they are still undefeated.

3. Colts - Hey they may not be pretty but they are undefeated and have found new ways to win.

4. Carolina - After a slow start they are healthy again. They are on a roll.

5. Saints - Say what you want but Drew Brees and Sean Pathon know their stuff. The schedule favors then continuing to do well.

That’s my top five. I think the Steelers are on the rise and people better watch out. They have a softer middle schedule. The Cowboys are going to be fine as well.

Ok kids…I’m not giving up on this game quite so easily :).

You’ll notice that over to the right our lovely (in a completely masculine sort of way) webmaster has placed a link to the “Most Popular Post EVER”. Click on there over to the right as the “Random Lines” game is continuing.

The last line was posted by Daniel and is as follows:
“A man with priorities so far out of whack doesn’t deserve such a fine automobile.”

In case you’re new to the game here are the rules. There will be one random line from a movie in question at the time. Feel free to post a guess as to what movie it came from. Once it’s confirmed (or you just know full well that you got it right), it’s then your turn to post a random line for someone else to guess.

Have fun!

Okay so I am going posting nuts. This makes three in a week and I have one more. According to Dr. Robert Lowery Martin Luther once said, “If Christ were coming tomorrow, I’d plant my garden today.” In other words people should avoid obsessing on how current and future events fit into Revelation.

It isn’t that the teacher discards signs, evil and the potential of a Second Coming of Christ. Lowery states he is sure Jesus is the Messiah (the Christ), he resurrected, ascended into heaven and will come again to judge, vanquish evil and reward the faithful.

And the Second Coming of Christ could indeed happen very soon, even tomorrow, he added. It’s just that Lowery intends to plant the garden today. You see Revelation is not meant to prepare us for something but is meant inspire God’s people to do what they’re supposed to do. The point of the book is to tell Christians who are facing the evil of this world to finish strong because we win in the end.

To read more get a copy of “Revelation’s Rhapsody: Listening to the Lyrics of the Lamb; How to Read the Book of Revelation.” by Robert Lowery, Dean of Lincoln College Seminary.

Its that time again. Time to think about creative ways to reach outside our walls and made a differnce in our culture. We are not just here to sing songs on Sunday and then go on with life. The church is a team of people on a mission to follow God and change the world. How can we do this more?

Mark Twain said, “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the flower leaves on the heel of the one who crushed it.” Andy Stanley said, “If you are a Christian, you are not expected to treat others the way you’ve been treated by others; you have been called to treat people the way you have been treated by your Father in heaven. You don’t forgive because the other person deserves it; you forgive because you have been forgiven.”

This week in one of my moments when I get really frustrated with people and the way they act and how much trouble it is sometimes to deal with people, I thought “Oh that must be how God feels in dealing with me.”

It is only when we really realize how much God has forgiven us that we can truly forgive others.

I have a problem the chuch has a 15 passenger van
we have 22 people going to SIXFLAGS
can anyone help me find another van??
if you can help
call 812582-1178
or
screm77@insightbb.com

Apparently Gregg Kieffner posted on YouTube a bit of the band goofing around at the Strassenfest Parade back in August.

We mock the roll calls, play the blooze (sloppily), and get rolling. It’s kinda a big file so hit play, then pause, then just let it load.

Poll:

Do any of you stream the sermon audio from ccjasper.com? NOT downloading the mp3, just using the streaming option?

That’s the title of a story on the New York Times’ Web site (I hope this link works):

Go here.

What do you think? Is it true?
What about around here? And if so, what do we do about it?

as we all know Vickie Freyberger and chaz lost ther home this week. But after talking to her tonight I found out they didn’t have insurance….!
so ther is no fast recovery from this
Jill And I thought it’d be cool to if we could all band together and find an apartment for them here in huntingburg get them moved in and get a few months rent paid for so they can get back on ther feet.
we should take them to walmart to get some new clothes
heck my youth class said they wanted to pay for his ticket to Sixflags so he could relax for the day…how cool is that!
all the little things will help get them back on ther feet
tanks
kdog
ps mark m call me 812-582-1178