Ephesians 1 & The Grand Storyline

Yesterday we walked through Ephesians 1. It's so cool that one can draft a storyline (a timeline) of the largest events of past, present & future from this chapter. It's helpful to know The Story, so we can better understand & live-out our stories.
To hear the sermon or see an image of the Storyline click here.

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Thanks

Last night I had the opportunity to say "Thanks" to a group of my brothers & sisters who volunteer their hearts, souls, minds and hands in order to minister to others. It was so much fun to go the extra mile to appreciate them. Do you need to say "Thank you," to someone today? Get on it.

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One Guy Who Gets It

I was always a big fan of David Robinson, who was elected into the Hall of Fame today. Before he won a title, some said he was too nice too win. Those predictions don't look so good now. Apparently, you can be nice and win. In fact, the way he treated others is why the Spurs won. He mentored Tim Duncan to replace him - most guys try to stay on top of the young guys (even when they are on the same team).
Here's a good article that compares Robinson with Jordan. Interesting.
Article

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The Dunk is King

I've had the joy of investing in guy's lives while playing basketball with area guys for the last eleven years here in Tulsa. At times I've been the worst player on the court. At other times I've been the best player. We've had some scrubs play. And we've had lots of college players and one pro player here. The best thing is that basketball has allowed this 34 year old white guy to connect with people that I'd never normally have the joy to know.

So when I saw this dunk that had never been done, I thought about the guys. They'd love this. Note the crowd reaction - it tells you something about how important basketball is to some.
See the dunk

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Book Review: Surprised by Hope

Honestly, it's kind of embarrassing to write this review , because I started reading this book a really long time ago. I think I averaged 6 words a day.
But I'm actually glad that it took me a long time. I think that helps it soak in.
NT Wright's book tries to enlarge our understanding of the resurrection, and then tries to explain the implications. It's really a huge topic that challenges traditional thinking. If you think that when Jesus comes back, he will take us away to heaven where we will dwell in a spiritual form forever, you'd better pick up this book.

One reason that it took me so long was that I did a lot of Bible reading to see if what he was saying was accurate (which good books usually make me do). It also took a long time because Wright can get pretty academic & Anglican - which makes the reading difficult at times. I wouldn't suggest this book for anyone who wouldn't want to really dig deep into the subject. But if anything was ever worth exploring, it's the resurrection (Jesus' and ours).
I'm pretty sure that my reading of this book, along with reading "The God I Don't Understand," will forever change how I view the life to come - and what that means for me today.
I don't agree with every conclusion Wright arrives at, but I agree with most, and I'm deeply grateful that I read it.

P.S. We are leaning towards naming our daughter, who now resides in my wife, Hope. If this holds true, it will not be influenced by this book, but it will be true that with this pregnancy we were definitely "surprised by Hope."

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"Confession" vs "Ah Shucks"

A feeble attempt at confession sounds like this, "And I probably said a few things that I shouldn't have..." or "I might have messed-up a bit..." But are these types of statements what God had in mind when he told us to confess or are they simply said to soothe our conscious or seek forgiveness without admitting that we really harmed anyone?

Proverbs 28:13 says, "He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy."

I think the word "renounces" is significant. True confession admits & renounces wrongdoing. It calls sin what it is - horrendous, despicable & damaging. Consider David laying on the ground, crying out to God. David was renouncing his sins, not covering them, or making them seem mild.

Let's move past the temptation to soften our confessions to God and others. Let's call things what they are, confess our wrongs, call them awful, and humbly admit our need for grace and growth. Isn't that exactly what we need from others when they wrong us? And don't we want to teach others about the significance of sin?

A side note: Jesus lived more humbly than us, yet he never needed to confess anything. That says something about our pride.

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2 People; 1 Story

Have you ever heard a preacher say, "If you were able to help one person follow Christ... and then that person helped one person follow Christ... and then that person helped one person follow Christ... just think about the impact you would have." Well, today there was a teenage girl who was baptized by her brother. Her brother was baptized by his friend from school a few months ago. His friend was baptized by his sister years ago. His sister was baptized by her friend... Wow! It's cool to see that progression.

Also, there was a young lady who accepted Christ in our old baptistry this morning. She mostly learned about Christ by coming to our worship celebrations over the past few months.

Two different people began following Jesus today. They came from to Jesus in very different ways, but both have now joined all of us who are following in the footsteps of Jesus. We are grateful for his sacrifice, and we are thrilled to be part of His story (and the countless stories of others who will find His grace).

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When We Are the Church

I've seen the church at it's best this week. In the wake of a horrible accident that has greatly impacted many of my brothers & sisters in Christ, the church has been in the middle of it. Here's are a few things that I've seen (most in an ICU waiting room): Meals delivered & lined-up indefinitely, tons of people coming to pray & hug, a hotel manager giving us a great rate & people helping us provide rooms for the family for as long as needed, counsel, laundry taken home & brought back clean, local churches partnering, cash brought by a couple, and a church in Italy calling to see how they can help. The situation has been awful. But it's been a joy to participate in what God has called us to.
I hope you can Be the church this week. And as you do, please lift up Kevin Crosser and his family. Kevin remains in a coma after a wreck.

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When Ethiopians learn English do they sound Italian

Shurabe started saying a phrase this weekend when my parents were here, and it's so funny to hear. If you see her in the morning, you might hear her sound quite Italian as she says, "Good-duh morning."

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Beth, Ray Ray & India Arie

Beth & I took Ray Ray to a concert last night. It was an early birthday present (about 3 months early). The highlight of the concert was listening to India Arie. Her music was amazing, easy & had a lot of depth to it. We definitely became big fans.
We had a great time with Ray Ray. I'm so thankful that God placed her in our lives. She is a joy. She is also someone that I often point younger girls towards and say, "Live like her. She's the Godly woman that I want you to be." No, Ray isn't perfect, but she's striving for it.
Ray Ray, we love you.

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Atheists for Jesus

I've spent the afternoon studying for Sunday's sermon and read about a website that I had to check-out (and that I had to share with you): Atheists for Jesus. Yes, it's for real. They embrace Jesus' message of love & kindness but reject that He was God or that the church is His people. It's sad that the founder arrived at these positions because of evil acts committed by people claiming to be Christians or by church institutions. He notes the crusades and inquisitions. He also believes that Paul's NT letters are contrary to Jesus' teaching (Thomas Jefferson felt the same way).
Personally, I'm not sure how Jesus' teachings on love can be embraced and then his teachings on God could be rejected. Would you embrace the teachings of a madman? A liar? A fool? Apparently, this group is OK with that.

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Scriptures

I'm amazed at how relevant things written thousand of years ago can still be to our lives today. I mentioned a few Scriptures yesterday that I was asked to pass along, so I will do that below. We'll have the audio online this afternoon. You can listen to it here.
Scriptures for more study:
I Corinthians 5 & 6
Proverbs 5 & 6
Genesis 39
(There are lots more, but these are the ones that I referenced yesterday.)

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Three Letters

This morning we talked about a subject that has three letters. We wanted to show this video, but had some technical difficulty. As it turns out, we didn't really have time for it anyway, but it's one we showed to the teens a while back - just to have some fun with them.

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Words

I was eating some cereal and reading Proverbs when Levi sat down next to me with his pancakes. He asked me what one of the highlighted verses meant, so I told him it was one that I really liked to remember. It was "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger" (Prov. 15:1). We talked about that for awhile. This is one of those verses that is so true yet so difficult. Why is this truth so easily seen yet so seldom practiced? Maybe it's because our pride makes us want to prove ourselves right, or better, or superior. Or maybe it's because we don't have reasonable things to say, so we figure we're gonna have to win the argument through intimidation. Or maybe, we parents, have been inconsistent or lax in disciplining our children, so we have to yell to get their attention.
There are probably lots of reasons. But maybe today we can ask God to help speak gently to each other. Deal?

p.s. Later, Levi saw that I had highlighted a verse with a pink highlighter (the other one was yellow & I just use whatever highlighter is close by). But he asked, "Since the yellow ones are the ones you like, are the pink ones the ones you don't like?" Good question. There are certainly plenty of Scriptures that I haven't liked at first read (because they've convicted me). Maybe I'll start highlighting all of those pink.

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Why Suffering?

Our Sunday morning began with my talented friend, Kevin, singing REM's song "Everybody Hurts." Not only did he do a great job & capture people's attention, he set the stage for our whole morning. Lane did a great job preaching. He asked two questions: #1. Why does God allow so much suffering? #2. If God knew that people would choose to not love Him, why did He follow through with creation? To hear the sermon, go here.

I also recommended a book on Sunday that is one of the best that I've read with this topic. It's both insightful and enjoyable. To read the review I wrote about it, go here. You can also pick it up downstairs in our Soul Cafe.

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Suffering & Worship

I am so thankful to worship a God (and The God) who understands suffering better than any of us. That thought leads me to worship.

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Our World

My good buddy, John, sent me a link to a video that shows how enormous our world is - and how small Earth is. We showed a small clip of a similar video on Sunday. I'm trying to figure out if I should stay up & try to watch the meteor shower tonight. Will I honor God more by marveling at nature or resting so I'm not worthless tomorrow?
I think you'll also love the background music in the video. It rocks.
Watch "Our World" Video

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