It's Been A While

Amy Savage told me to update my blog. Here is the update:

I don't blog very much and probably won't much in the future.

How many Christians does it take to screw in a light bulb?

I saw this posted on another blog and had to share it here:

Charismatic: Only one. Hands already in the air.

Pentecostals: Ten. One to change the bulb and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.

Presbyterians: None. Lights will go off and on at predestined times.

Roman Catholic: None. Candles only.

Baptists: At least 15. One to change the light bulb and three committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad.

Episcopalians: Three. One to call the electrician, one to mix the drinks and one to talk about how much better the old bulb was.

Mormons: Five. One man to change the bulb and four wives to tell him how to do it.

Unitarians: We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your own journey you have found that light bulbs work for you, that is fine. You are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your light bulb for the next Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions including incandescent, fluorescent, three-way, long-life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence.

Methodists: Undetermined. Whether your light bulb is bright, dull, or completely out, you are loved. You can be a light bulb, turnip bulb or tulip bulb. A church-wide lighting service is planned for Sunday. Bring a bulb of your choice and a covered dish.

Nazarene: Six. One woman to replace the bulb while five men review the church lighting policy.

Lutherans: None. Lutherans don’t believe in change.

Amish: What’s a light bulb?

South County

We have been going to Rock Harbor church since they started a South County campus late last year and we love it!

We are very impressed with the outward focus of Rock Harbor and it has stretched and challenged our lives in many, many ways.

We have been encouraged to get out into the community and live outside of our comfort zone. This is something we needed to hear. God is good!

Here is an article from rhsouthcounty.org on living missionally:

On Display

Living life on mission is a familiar idea if you’ve been around ROCKHARBOR for any amount of time. At ROCKHARBOR South County, we are especially excited about the opportunity we have to reach those in our community and form new relationships that may ultimately draw others to Jesus Christ. This has been happening in many ways in and around RH South County, such as one cool experience recently.

One of the people working our concierge table had a unique encounter with a lady who approached the table and began asking some general questions about South County, such as: who we are, why we’re here, and so on. The concierge at that table answered her questions and then asked if she had ever been there before. She said no, but mentioned that she heard about us in a pretty interesting way.

“I purchased a bookcase from the Goodwill store in Aliso Viejo,” she said. “After buying it I realized I had no way to get it home, even though it was only a couple of blocks away.”

“Then, I noticed a man with a truck outside the store and asked him if he would be willing to deliver the bookcase to my house for $10 dollars. He agreed to deliver the bookcase, but refused the payment,” she said.

“I was surprised and asked why, but the man simply said that he just wanted to help me for free,” she said. He went on to say he was part of a faith community that met in Laguna Hills High School on Sunday mornings. His faith community has been looking to serve in the area and share Jesus’ love with others.

She was so impressed with the man’s servant heart that she had to come see what this whole South County thing was about.

This is an awesome display of people at South County being the hands and feet of Jesus to those living in our community. Showing Jesus’ love in tangible ways, even simple and practical ways, can have a huge impact on people. Our willingness to serve others allows God to work through us and effectively draw people into our faith community in South County. So often it’s so simple.

Image Blogging

I am announcing my new effort to blog more often. I don't have a huge readership (more like a non-existent one) so in an effort to gain more readers and have some fun I have decided to blog about the many interesting images I send and receive through email on a weekly basis. Hopefully you will find it interesting as well!

The First Image!
This first image is of a banner I am designing for www.redwinebuzz.com. I am currently redesigning the entire website and the owner asked if I could shop around for a graphic designer to design his newsletter banner. He allowed me to have a go at it and this was the concept I came up with. He was VERY happy with my effort and we are going to iron out some details and finalize very soon. Please keep your eyes out for the re-launch of www.redwinebuzz.com and be sure to sign up for the newsletter if you are interested in the Central Coast wineries of California.

Invitation

A preacher and an atheistic barber were once walking through the city slums. Said the barber to the preacher: "This is why I cannot believe in a God of love. If God was as kind as you say, He would not permit all this poverty, disease, and squalor. He would not allow these poor bums to be addicted to dope and other character-destroying habits. No, I cannot believe in a God who permits these things." The minister was silent until they met a man who was especially unkempt and filthy. His hair was hanging down his neck and he had a half-inch of stubble on his face. Said the minister: "You must not be a very good barber because you wouldn't permit a man like that to continue living in this neighborhood without a haircut and shave." Indignantly the barber answered: "Why blame me for that man's condition? I can't help it that he is like that. He has never come in my shop; I could fix him up and make him look like a gentleman!" Giving the barber a penetrating look, the minister said: "Then don't blame God for allowing the people to continue in their evil ways, when He is constantly inviting them to come and be saved."

"X"mas

I used to loathe seeing the "Christ" of Christmas being replaced with the letter "X" until I found out the true origin several years back. It is basically the Greek shorthand for the name Christos just as the Greek letter O with a line across the middle is an abbreviation for Theos - God. R.C. Sproul has a great post about it here.

Here is an excerpt:

"...X can mean so many things. For example, when we want to denote an unknown quantity, we use the symbol X. It can refer to an obscene level of films, something that is X-rated. People seem to express chagrin about seeing Christ's name dropped and replaced by this symbol for an unknown quantity X. Every year you see the signs and the bumper stickers saying, "Put Christ back into Christmas" as a response to this substitution of the letter X for the name of Christ.

First of all, you have to understand that it is not the letter X that is put into Christmas. We see the English letter X there, but actually what it involves is the first letter of the Greek name for Christ. Christos is the New Testament Greek for Christ. The first letter of the Greek word Christos is transliterated into our alphabet as an X. That X has come through church history to be a shorthand symbol for the name of Christ..."

I think I am going to make a bumper sticker that says, "Put the X back in Christmas!"

The Prosperity Gospel (Full Gospel?)

I have always wondered why the Word of Faith movement considers itself faithful preachers of the "Full Gospel." That claim, to me, seems empty at best and deceiving at worst. What is it that their philosophy of ministry has in place that allows them the claim of the "Full Gospel?" In researching this question I stumbled upon a great article by john Piper entitled "Prosperity Preaching: Deceitful and Deadly." This is a concise summary of everything that is wrong with the movement. If you are into Word of Faith teachers like Benny Hinn, Frederick Price and Joel Osteen then I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to the deceitful and deadly philosophy behind it.

Here is an excerpt:

When I read about prosperity-preaching churches, my response is: “If I were not on the inside of Christianity, I wouldn’t want in.” In other words, if this is the message of Jesus, no thank you.

Luring people to Christ to get rich is both deceitful and deadly. It’s deceitful because when Jesus himself called us, he said things like: “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). And it’s deadly because the desire to be rich plunges “people into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9). So here is my plea to preachers of the gospel.

1. Don’t develop a philosophy of ministry that makes it harder for people to get into heaven.

Jesus said, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” His disciples were astonished, as many in the “prosperity” movement should be. So Jesus went on to raise their astonishment even higher by saying, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” They respond in disbelief: “Then who can be saved?” Jesus says, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:23-27).

My question for prosperity preachers is: Why would you want to develop a ministry focus that makes it harder for people to enter heaven?

2. Do not develop a philosophy of ministry that kindles suicidal desires in people.

Paul said, “There is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” But then he warned against the desire to be rich. And by implication, he warned against preachers who stir up the desire to be rich instead of helping people get rid of it. He warned, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Timothy 6:6-10).

So my question for prosperity preachers is: Why would you want to develop a ministry that encourages people to pierce themselves with many pangs and plunge themselves into ruin and destruction?

3. Do not develop a philosophy of ministry that encourages vulnerability to moth and rust.

Jesus warns against the effort to lay up treasures on earth. That is, he tells us to be givers, not keepers. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19).

Yes, we all keep something. But given the built-in tendency toward greed in all of us, why would we take the focus off Jesus and turn it upside down?

4. Don’t develop a philosophy of ministry that makes hard work a means of amassing wealth.

Paul said we should not steal. The alternative was hard work with our own hands. But the main purpose was not merely to hoard or even to have. The purpose was “to have to give.” “Let him labor, working with his hands, that he may have to give to him who is in need” (Ephesians 4:28). This is not a justification for being rich in order to give more. It is a call to make more and keep less so you can give more. There is no reason why a person who makes $200,000 should live any differently from the way a person who makes $80,000 lives. Find a wartime lifestyle; cap your expenditures; then give the rest away.

Why would you want to encourage people to think that they should possess wealth in order to be a lavish giver? Why not encourage them to keep their lives more simple and be an even more lavish giver? Would that not add to their generosity a strong testimony that Christ, and not possessions, is their treasure?