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Max
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Good News!
The staff at CLC is reading a book by Phillip Cary entitled "Good News for Anxious Christians: 10 Practical Things You Don't HAVE to Do" that I want to recommend to you. I will try to give you a summary over the next few weeks.
What Cary sets out to do is combat many of the false teachings that have infiltrated Evangelical Christianity over the last decades. I have heard each of these misunderstandings from people as well. Sometimes it's good to evaluate what we are being told in Christian circles.
#1 You Don't Have to Hear God's Voice in Your Heart
It is very rare in Scripture that God spoke directly to someone's heart. God used prophets to bring his message to the people. The prophets never told the people to listen for God in their hearts. What they had was God's Word. It's the same thing we have today. He still speaks to us in His Word.
If we hear voices inside, we may think God is telling us to do something. Can God talk directly to us? Yes, he can do whatever He wants. Does God talk directly to us, inside our hearts? Maybe, but how can we be sure? The only way to be sure we are listening to the voice of God is to allow our own hearts to sound like God. And how do we do that? We read His Word! The more we are in God's Word, the more our own hearts sound like God.
When we go to God's Word, we don't have to question whether or not it's God's voice we are hearing. God has promised to always speak through His Word. He never promises to speak through our hearts. Actually, scripture says that out of our hearts come things that are quite the opposite of God and his ways. (Matthew 15:19) But as we are shaped by God's Word of revelation, He enlightens our hearts. (Eph 1:18)
More to Come...
What Cary sets out to do is combat many of the false teachings that have infiltrated Evangelical Christianity over the last decades. I have heard each of these misunderstandings from people as well. Sometimes it's good to evaluate what we are being told in Christian circles.
#1 You Don't Have to Hear God's Voice in Your Heart
It is very rare in Scripture that God spoke directly to someone's heart. God used prophets to bring his message to the people. The prophets never told the people to listen for God in their hearts. What they had was God's Word. It's the same thing we have today. He still speaks to us in His Word.
If we hear voices inside, we may think God is telling us to do something. Can God talk directly to us? Yes, he can do whatever He wants. Does God talk directly to us, inside our hearts? Maybe, but how can we be sure? The only way to be sure we are listening to the voice of God is to allow our own hearts to sound like God. And how do we do that? We read His Word! The more we are in God's Word, the more our own hearts sound like God.
When we go to God's Word, we don't have to question whether or not it's God's voice we are hearing. God has promised to always speak through His Word. He never promises to speak through our hearts. Actually, scripture says that out of our hearts come things that are quite the opposite of God and his ways. (Matthew 15:19) But as we are shaped by God's Word of revelation, He enlightens our hearts. (Eph 1:18)
More to Come...
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Worship Dialogue
I'm working with a group of worship leaders to develop a support structure for Lutheran worship leaders. Check out our site... www.walionline.com
We are having a worship summit in Houston TX on June 2-6 for leaders and volunteers. All the info is on the site.
We are having a worship summit in Houston TX on June 2-6 for leaders and volunteers. All the info is on the site.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Gen 4:3 "And it came to pass..."
So that's how I sign off on my emails now. You may ask, "why?" I borrowed the phrase from Mark Lowry . As he explained, as Christians we have the confidence to know that in life, this too shall pass. When things are feeling really bad and you are low, it will pass. When you are flying high and everything is right...it will pass.
We can't count on our emotions or life situations to always be great. We can put our confidence in nothing else than in Jesus Christ and Him crucified! And that resulted in His resurrection. We too have the confidence of the resurrection someday. We don't even have a promise that things will EVER be good in this life. All we can know is that God loves us and sent His son to die for us.
"Jesus loves me, this I know..." and that will NEVER pass!
We can't count on our emotions or life situations to always be great. We can put our confidence in nothing else than in Jesus Christ and Him crucified! And that resulted in His resurrection. We too have the confidence of the resurrection someday. We don't even have a promise that things will EVER be good in this life. All we can know is that God loves us and sent His son to die for us.
"Jesus loves me, this I know..." and that will NEVER pass!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
No New Thoughts - or not...
If I really have something important to say, I will post to my BLOG. You should be thankful that I have not written anything because I don't have anything to say. So maybe it's important that I tell you that I don't have anything to say, which is really something after all.
I'm looking forward to blogging about worship in the future. I've been interested in putting some thoughts down about what it is to worship, what makes worship "Lutheran", and if there really is a distinction in God's eyes between Lutheran and non-Lutheran worship. There really should be only true-worship, right? Hopefully we believe that as Lutherans we are doing what is most faithful to scripture. So in that sense, we would also be worshipping in what we would believe to be "true-worship", so no real need to call it "Lutheran Worship".
See what just happened? I thought I had nothing to say and I couldn't help myself. Let that be a teaser for a future discussion on worship.
I'll let you know when I have nothing to say again...
I'm looking forward to blogging about worship in the future. I've been interested in putting some thoughts down about what it is to worship, what makes worship "Lutheran", and if there really is a distinction in God's eyes between Lutheran and non-Lutheran worship. There really should be only true-worship, right? Hopefully we believe that as Lutherans we are doing what is most faithful to scripture. So in that sense, we would also be worshipping in what we would believe to be "true-worship", so no real need to call it "Lutheran Worship".
See what just happened? I thought I had nothing to say and I couldn't help myself. Let that be a teaser for a future discussion on worship.
I'll let you know when I have nothing to say again...
Thursday, June 11, 2009
The REAL World
Have you ever heard someone say the phrase "out in the REAL world"? Or maybe you've even said it yourself. It is usually spoken in reference to secular culture or the workplace, and often separated from the "church" world. Maybe you've heard it said like..."you don't know what it's like in the REAL world!" As if life within the church or a Christian family is somehow less than real, perhaps even fake, or at least sheltered.
Is it really the "REAL" world that people speak of? Who is the one to define the terms? We as Christians believe that the one who made the world also gets to define it. Is the phrase "the REAL world" talking about God's view of things? Usually not. So why do we settle for defining life by the standards of those outside of a relationship with God?
The "REAL" world is defined by God and HIS WORD. It is there that we see what the "REAL" world is, and it looks much different from what the secular culture would have you believe is real. We find what "REAL LIFE" is about no where else. What the standards and life of the world looks like outside of the church is FALSE and a poor imitation of how life should be.
The "REAL" world is what we experience in church and in worship. It is there that the Word of God is spoken, the TRUTH, and we respond back with those same words from His Word. If you want to experience the "REAL" world, spend some time in worship and in God's Word.
The next time you hear someone say "When they go back to the REAL world" or "I want my child to have some REAL world experience" remember where the REAL world exists. Don't settle for a cheap imitation!
Is it really the "REAL" world that people speak of? Who is the one to define the terms? We as Christians believe that the one who made the world also gets to define it. Is the phrase "the REAL world" talking about God's view of things? Usually not. So why do we settle for defining life by the standards of those outside of a relationship with God?
The "REAL" world is defined by God and HIS WORD. It is there that we see what the "REAL" world is, and it looks much different from what the secular culture would have you believe is real. We find what "REAL LIFE" is about no where else. What the standards and life of the world looks like outside of the church is FALSE and a poor imitation of how life should be.
The "REAL" world is what we experience in church and in worship. It is there that the Word of God is spoken, the TRUTH, and we respond back with those same words from His Word. If you want to experience the "REAL" world, spend some time in worship and in God's Word.
The next time you hear someone say "When they go back to the REAL world" or "I want my child to have some REAL world experience" remember where the REAL world exists. Don't settle for a cheap imitation!
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