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You Are Never Out Of God’s Reach

// January 7th, 2010 // No Comments » // Sermon Video, spiritual growth

Saul, hated Christians. He hunted them down, broke up families, threw them in prison, and even had them killed. However, God had a plan and even Saul was not out of God’s reach. That is something I think we can learn from Saul (we know him better as Paul). No matter how devastating the path of destruction trailing behind us is… we are still within God’s reach.  There is hope, and that is what the sermon below is about.  In this message I review Paul’s conversion story verse by verse through Acts 8-9.  Hopefully you find it encouraging.

Saul, hated Christians. He hunted them down, broke up families, threw them in prison, and even had them killed. However, God had a plan and even Saul was not out of God’s reach.

Do You Have A Bible Reading Plan?

// January 1st, 2010 // No Comments » // free tools, spiritual growth

Norman Vincent Peale said,

Plan your work – work your plan. Lack of system produces that “I’m swamped feeling.”

I think we can also get that feeling when we are not grounded in the one thing that gives us a glimpse into the way God sees the world.  Regular Bible reading can not only be a source of comfort during tough times but also a source of direction when making choices and wisdom in daily living. However, when some people look at the Bible the just don’t know where to start and that is where You Version can help. On their website You Version says,

We aren’t just building a tool to impact the world using innovative technology, more importantly, we are engaging people into relationships with God as they discover the relevance the Bible has for their lives.

Technology really has made reading the bible easy.  After creating your account (which is free) you choose your plan and begin the readings for that day.  There are over 20 reading plans to choose from, to view them click here. After you choose you plan you can get started today! They’ve also made it easy to read on the go.  You Version can be accessed easily through your web browser, cell phone, blackberry, and i-phone (or i-pod touch).  They have lots of different apps to make it easy.  So, hopefully you’ll join me in choosing a plan for reading the Bible this year! Here is a video that gives you an idea of how easy it can be…

Are You Afraid To Let Go?

// November 2nd, 2009 // 1 Comment » // life struggle, ministry, spiritual growth

A couple of years ago I remember taking my son to a birthday party, and it was at this party where he acquired one of his first addictions… BALLOONS! As we approached the park where the party was hosted his big brown eyes saw balloons of all colors tied to each picnic table in the pavilion. He had a smile from ear to ear and immediately ran to a paired set of red and blue balloons shouting, “Boom, boom!” because he couldn’t quite say balloon yet.

Michael wasn’t strong enough to rip the strings from the table so he just stood there holding these two balloons tightly, giggling and happy to be holding such a prized possession. He had no idea that there was so much more to the party that he was missing out on. There was another whole world of slides, swings, tunnels, see-saws and wooden towers to explore right next to the pavilion where he stood with a tight grasp on his balloons.

I think at times we do this in our relationship with God. There is some area of our life we think we need, but we are afraid of letting go. We are scared to let go of that something that has got our attention and that distracts us from the awesome deep relational connection he desires us to have with him.

The funniest part of all this is Terri, one of my coworkers, cut the string and he still didn’t realize he was freed from the table! He stood there playing with his balloons never leaving to explore the rest of the party or the playground.

When we decide to do life God’s way (early Christianity was actually called “the way”) we are set free. Much like Michael was set free from the limitations placed on him by the string. We get so engrossed in our selfishness that we are blind to what God has for us in this existence. Sometimes the challenges we face seem insurmountable.  We ask ourselves, “How could God allow these things to happen?” Or our pride gets in the way and we wonder, “How could God let this happen to me? I don’t deserve this?”

When in fact, we really deserve nothing.  Our own selfishness keeps us tied down and blinded to the world God wants to open up for us in the future.  Hopefully I can stop acting like a two year old and open my eyes to the things God wants to show me.

Tony Campolo At CCV – Video

// August 31st, 2009 // No Comments » // my church, spiritual growth

Just in case you missed it I wanted to be sure to post the video of Tony Campolo’s recent visit to CCV.  Not only is the guy cool cuz he’s bald like me… but he really was an inspirational speaker. I’ve seen him on CNN, The Colbert Report, and he’s even appeared on Bill Maher’s show, at the time it was Politically Incorrect. My favorite quote in the video below is when he speaks of a phrase that the Orthodox church community uses to speak about Jesus and our relationship with Him, “He became everything that we are, in order that we might become everything that he is.”  Below is the video of Tony, check it out:

Monvee – Custom Designed Spiritual Growth

// June 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // spiritual growth, technology

John Ortberg says, “Disciples of Jesus cannot be mass produced – they have to be hand crafted.”  As church leaders we often take personal responsibility for mass producing disciples from our congregations.  The challenge is that discipleship requires an individual to take personal responsibility for their development and a leader to provide individual attention, accountability and feedback.  Monvee may be a new tool that could help.  What is Monvee?

From what I understand so far, Monvee is a spiritual formation program that custom designs a path of spiritual growth based upon an individual needs through a pretty cool electronic evaluation tool. Here is how they describe it,

Monvee is designed to quickly discern how people learn, how they relate to God, and where they are on their personal spiritual journey. monvee™ produces a customized spiritual formation plan designed just for them. In other words, monvee can help you do what no one person or group of staff people can do. Think of monvee™ as “spiritual formation staff” for your church. If you have spiritual formation staff, monvee will help them accomplish what they cannot accomplish by themselves.

Check out what some other church leaders are saying about Monvee – I think I’m going to keep my eye on how this new tool develops,