Some Books I have Read or am Reading

October 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Just thought I would shoot out a quick list of some of the books I am reading or have just finished reading.  Not sure who will enjoy these but take a look.

Renovation of the Church: What Happens When a Seeker Church Discovers Spiritual Formation by Kent Carlson and Make Lueken

Recovering the Real Lost Gospel: Reclaiming the Gospel as Good News by Darrell L. Bock

A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible: Playing by the Rules by Robert H. Stein

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

The Gospel and the Kingdom by George Eldon Ladd

The Millennials: Connecting to America’s Largest Generation by Thom and Jess Rainer

Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards

The Homiletical Plot by Eugene Lowery

The Complete Works of O. Henry

No links here, you guys are big boys/girls and Google is your friend. :)

Filed Under: Media, Uncategorized, Work

Wednesday Wisdom: Don’t go there!

October 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Warning: this is a grown up post.

The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.

Proverbs 5:22,23

Sin never looks like sin when you are tempted by it.  It looks exciting!  It looks adventurous! It looks like something you deserve!  The problem is that when it finally gets a hold of you it’s too late to undo the consequences of it and it was all a lie anyway.  Proverbs 5 is ultimately about adultery.  An encounter with a passionate, naughty, sneaky love affair with someone other than your spouse.  The snare is that the fantasy that plays in the mind of someone before they enter into this adulterous act (which according to Jesus, is as damning as the act itself; Matthew 5:27-30) is nothing like the act itself.  The fantasy says the sex will be better than with my spouse, they will truly connect with me, they will understand my needs, they are what I have been missing.  If someone acts on this it is obviously not the case.  Are you aware of any adulterous affairs that end well?  Are you aware of anyone that says that they are glad they chose to compromise their marriage?  Even if someone would say yes to the last question, have you ever known anyone that didn’t experience major private or public collateral damage?  That’s what sin does.  It entangles.  It destroys.  It kills.

What was a fantastic storyline in the head of the one being tempted usually ends with a quick regretful affair at ground zero of a scene of incomprehensible public and private carnage.  You started out with a racing heart and a dream and ended with a different job and an every other weekend visitation plan with your kids.  Don’t do it!  Run from it…and if you have done it, run to the cross.  You will still have the carnage and casualties but the price of death will have already been paid. I can tell you the sin is not worth the carnage. Don’t go there!

For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

Proverbs 5:3,4

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived give birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 

James 1:14,15

*In 1993, at a youth camp in Panama City, a youth speaker with a soul patch, Oakley sunglasses with clear lenses, and a braided belt (which he stylishly tied in a knot) challenged everyone there to read the chapter of Proverbs that corresponded with that day’s date every morning.  I have mostly held up my end of the bargain since then.  I have decided to share my proverb prayer time with you every Wednesday.

Filed Under: Holiness, Marriage, Wednesday Wisdom

A Fresh Start in Stewardship: Day Seven

October 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This post is the last of seven posts taken from the devotional guide for Lyons Creek Baptist Church as part of the sermon teaching series Money Mission & Me.  Feel free to use them in your circumstance as well.  They are not about a specific program at Lyons Creek but a biblical study of stewardship.   The format and some of the content is not original to me or Lyons Creek Baptist Church. 

Day Seven- Investing in the Kingdom

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything” Acts 17:24,25

 “For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the Saints– and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.” 2 Corinthians 8:3-5

Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-5

Apply The often times forgotten truth of God is that he doesn’t really need us. He doesn’t need me, you, or Lyons Creek Baptist Church.  He works in and through whomever he chooses.  My prayer, as the pastor of Lyons Creek Baptist Church, is that he would choose to use us.  The distinction between churches that experience a great move of God and those that limp along in conflict and decline is obedience.  My prayer is that the people of LCBC would be obedient to invest in God’s work and boldly ask God to do his greatest work through us.

Three years ago, Kim and I made what seemed like a long drive to 9235 Strawberry Plains Pike to “check out” the church that had contacted me about being their pastor.  As we drove around the well-maintained, clean, beautiful facilities I was so excited to see the potential available to a group  of Christians who would beg God to use them.  I went home and wrote out  a special prayer for LCBC that started with these words, “Why not us, why not here? God please choose this church as one who can see you do a  great work, make Lyons Creek a church that loves you more than they love themselves.”  Churches aren’t buildings, they are people, faithful people who invest in the work God is already going to do.(Ephesians 2:10)

The third of our four strategy statements is this:

To INVEST our life, time, and resources in helping others meet Jesus.

The Church in Macedonia was begging for the opportunity to invest in the work God was doing. I pray we would all do the same.

Pray about your stewardship giving to Lyons Creek, ask God to challenge you to be an INVESTor in his work.

Do Read and complete the worksheet on the next page.

Day Seven- Investing in the Kingdom continued

A Summary of Needs

I have removed the details of this because in a sense it would be like opening up our checkbook or family budget.  If you are a member of Lyons Creek, all this information is available to you in the Connector.  If you are a member of a different local congregation, I encourage you to take a look at you body’s financial situation and assess how you can help through your strategic decision of generosity.

How You Can Help

You should have already established a level of personal spiritual discipline in giving.  This decision should have come on day four of this devotion guide.  I point that out now to emphasize that I am much more concerned with you examining your personal stewardship before we talk about the needs of Lyons Creek Baptist Church.

Once that has been done, take the next moment to see how you can help further the work of your faith family.  Tomorrow, October 2, 2011, we will be asking all members of the Lyons Creek family to begin A Fresh Start to Stewardship with an INVESTment offering and commitment service.  The challenge is for everyone to begin anew on the first Sunday of the month, the same commitment or greater commitments than they have made in the past.  You as a family should consider at this time how you would like to give.  After following the example, take a moment to calculate your INVESTment offering amount.

 Example of Annual Gross Income= 50,000

% back to God =10% (5,000)

Weekly Contribution= $96

% to pay off debt= 2% (1,000)

Weekly Contribution= $20

Total Weekly Giving Amount= $116

Check submitted during the INVESTment offering & subsequent

Sundays = $116

 

Example of Annual Gross Income= ______________

% back to God =_____% (__________)

Weekly Contribution= $_________

% to pay off debt= _____% (__________)

Weekly Contribution= $_____

Total Weekly Giving Amount= $_______

Check submitted during the INVESTment offering & subsequent Sundays=$______

Filed Under: Holiness, Money, Theology

A Fresh Start in Stewardship: Day Six

September 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This post is the sixth of seven posts taken from the devotional guide for Lyons Creek Baptist Church as part of the sermon teaching series Money Mission & Me.  Feel free to use them in your circumstance as well.  They are not about a specific program at Lyons Creek but a biblical study of stewardship.   The format and some of the content is not original to me or Lyons Creek Baptist Church.

Day Six- Reaping the Benefits

 “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” 2 Corinthians 9:6

 Read  2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Apply God promises that he will pour out even more bountiful grace into our lives to the degree that we commit to him.  This doesn’t mean that God pays us back with interest. If we give God $100 he may not give us $1000 back, as some people have misunderstood this passage and others when dealing with money.  However, when we do give to God generously he does give us something.  He gives us himself.  Giving builds your relationship with God. Giving builds trust, hope, faith, belief, commitment, and understanding in our relationship with God.  This happens on many levels. When an individual, a family, a church community is faithful they gain a deeper level of God’s presence in their lives.

Paul also says that the opposite is true.  Whenever an individual, family, a church community hold back their giving or generosity they damage their relationship with God.  They act without faith or courage and deny God’s goodness. Many of us have been part of church communities during a season of difficulty and wondered why.  I think Paul would tell you that in some direct or indirect way it always involved how they handle money.

Do you give because you are motivated that God will reward you in this life somehow? Or does something else motivate your giving?

If you were generous, but your financial situation stayed the same (or became even worse), would you stop trusting God? Why or why not?

Looking back on this week, what has been the greatest lesson that you’ve learned? How do you think and act differently toward God?

 Pray for a renewed church, full of people with renewed hearts, that is free to risk everything for the sake of the Gospel.

Do Evaluate your giving since you became a Christian, write out your primary motivation for giving. Then write out how or if that motivation has changed.

Filed Under: Holiness, Money, Theology, Uncategorized

A Fresh Start in Stewardship: Day Five

September 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This post is the fifth of seven posts taken from the devotional guide for Lyons Creek Baptist Church as part of the sermon teaching series Money Mission & Me.  Feel free to use them in your circumstance as well.  They are not about a specific program at Lyons Creek but a biblical study of stewardship.   The format and some of the content is not original to me or Lyons Creek Baptist Church.

Day Five- Can You Out Give the Giver?

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse… thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” Malachi 3:10

 Read  Malachi 3:8-12

 

 Apply  God loves you.  You know that, right?  In fact, God loves you so much that  he dares you to trust Him in giving.  He shows us how recklessly generous he is and then he challenges us to do likewise with the resources he gives us. What we are talking about really is trust and treasure.  The Gospel is a combination of trusting God more than we trust anything else including ourselves and treasuring God more than anything else including ourselves.  The more you do this, the more you will gain courage that can withstand trials.

Jim Elliot, a missionary killed taking the Gospel to the nations, said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.”  You can never out give God.  Try it.

How does the passage address your life today? Have ever tried this principle in your life?

 What are some ways God has acted in your life once you made a greater commitment to him and greater offering of yourself?

 Pray for a renewed church at Lyons Creek (or whatever local body you attend) that hungers to give and that sees God’s remarkable overflow of his favor and blessing.

Do Take God’s dare.  Give away at least ten percent of your gross income.

 

Filed Under: Holiness, Money, Theology

A Fresh Start in Stewardship: Day Four

September 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This post is the fourth of seven posts taken from the devotional guide for Lyons Creek Baptist Church as part of the sermon teaching series Money Mission & Me.  Feel free to use them in your circumstance as well.  They are not about a specific program at Lyons Creek but a biblical study of stewardship.   The format and some of the content is not original to me or Lyons Creek Baptist Church. 

Day Four- A Great Place to Start

 “For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord.” 2 Corinthians 8:3

 “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse…” Malachi 3:10

 Read Leviticus 27:30-33; 1 Corinthians 15:58-16:4

Apply In the Old Testament, all believers were required to give a tenth of their income to God’s work.  The tithe is still the minimum guideline for our giving.  Now, at this point some Christians begin to feel guilty.  Guilty, because they aren’t giving ten percent of their income away. Guilt is never part of the Gospel but conviction is.  Relative to the wealth placed in our care by God, we should feel conviction when we neglect to live a life of generous sacrificial giving.

The moment we understand the difference between guilt and conviction comes when we give a tithe or more to God.  The tithe serves as an excellent starting point for our understanding of God’s grace.  Much has been sacrificed by God so that we can know him.  The tithe is not a rule to make God love us.  It is a proof that we need Jesus’ death on the cross to set us free from our greed.  The tithe helps us worship. Few in the early church would ever consider a gift of less than ten percent a consistent sacrificial option for grace giving.

That is why Paul advised the Corinthians to offer their gifts as an act of worship on the first day of the week (on Sunday as part of worship). Having a regular planned offering ensured not only the right proportion of generosity, but also a praise filled response to grace. We give because we know we are greedy, our giving shows we don’t want to be, and giving at least ten percent makes both of those concepts and Jesus’ work real in our life. 

Is your giving regular, sporadic, first? How would regular giving increase both the proportion and the joy of your generosity?

Do you tithe your income? Do you give away more than ten percent, or less? No matter the percentage, what would it take to move your giving up one level, giving away a few percent more next year?

Pray for an understanding of your sin that moves your giving up in biblical proportions, from nothing to tithing to beyond.

Do Take the next few minutes and fill out the worksheet on the next page

Day Four- A Great Place to Start continued

Grace Giving is Strategic Giving

This principle has a lot more to do with you than it does Lyons Creek Baptist Church.  My desire is that you, within your family and life, will make stewardship (grace giving) something more than giving to our church budget, building program, or mission offering.  This must begin on a level of family worship that sets its focus on worshipping God with generosity that is strategic and consistent.

 Below is a chart that will assist you in beginning the discussion of what stewardship will look like in your family.

Example Annual Gross Income= $50,000

% back to God         Annual Contribution          Weekly Contribution

3%                                     $1500                                               $29

5%                                     $2500                                               $48

7%                                     $3500                                               $67

10%                                  $5000                                               $96

12%                                  $6000                                               $115

After looking at the example, use the next chart to calculate your current percentage of giving, as well as help you estimate a potential higher level of giving

Your Family’s Annual Gross Income= __________________

% back to God         Annual Contribution          Weekly Contributions

3%                                    ______________                        ___________

5%                                    ______________                        ___________

7%                                    ______________                        ___________

10%                                  ______________                        ___________

12%                                   ______________                       ___________

Commit to giving that regular amount as worship, doubling on Sundays before/after you are out of town.  Giving by check instead of cash helps keep a record of your consistent generosity to give you feedback on your goal. A simple way is to also fill out a giving envelope.  Money placed in a completed giving envelope will provide a record of your contributions that we will provide for you at the end of the year.  Recorded charitable contributions are tax deductible.  The envelopes are available on the back of the seat in front of you every Sunday. (For self-employed, commission, free lance people, you may need to base giving only on a set percentage as your income arrives).

Filed Under: Holiness, Money, Theology, Uncategorized

A Fresh Start in Stewardship: Day Three

September 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This post is the third of seven posts taken from the devotional guide for Lyons Creek Baptist Church as part of the sermon teaching series Money Mission & Me.  Feel free to use them in your circumstance as well.  They are not about a specific program at Lyons Creek but a biblical study of stewardship.   The format and some of the content is not original to me or Lyons Creek Baptist Church. 

Day Three- The First Fruits in Worship

“On the first day of the week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.” 1 Corinthians 16:2

For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord.” 2 Corinthians 8:3

 Read Deuteronomy 26:1-4, 9-11

Apply When do you determine to give to God? The Israelites were consciously saying that all their labor and the fruit of it came from God. They determined to not only give back to God to show their appreciation but they saw the need to do it sacrificially.  They chose to give the best, the first fruits of the harvest.

Giving the first fruits meant a clear change in how they lived.  The first fruits were considered the best fruits of the harvest.  They could be sold at a higher price.  This willing act of sacrifice is also a bold act of worship.  It is a grace filled effort to strategically put God first.

Jesus modeled this in his life on earth and in his teaching to us.  “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) Christians are called to follow Jesus’ example by giving first and sacrificially in all things. This proves our trust that the Lord has provided and will continue to provide for us.

What would be the ‘first fruits’ of your life, your income, your investments, your time, your abilities? How are each of those a gift from God? 

 What kind of a plan could you create to give first to God in everything?

 Pray for a renewed mind that looks for opportunities to give God the first of everything in your life.

Do Look forward to future opportunity financially or otherwise.  Develop a plan of how you will create firsts fruits offering out of that opportunity.

Filed Under: Holiness, Money, Theology

A Fresh Start in Stewardship: Day Two

September 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This post is the second of seven posts taken from the devotional guide for Lyons Creek Baptist Church as part of the sermon teaching series Money Mission & Me.  Feel free to use them in your circumstance as well.  They are not about a specific program at Lyons Creek but a biblical study of stewardship.   The format and some of the content is not original to me or Lyons Creek Baptist Church. 

Day Two- Who Owns What?

“Beware, lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth…” Deuteronomy 8:17-18

“For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” 1 Corinthians 4:7

Read Psalm 50; then reread verses 7-15

Apply  The “bigness” of God is overwhelming sometimes. God is the creator of all things. The world, everything in it, even our very lives were created by God.  He alone is responsible for every circumstance of your life, every talent you have, every big break you have ever gotten has been orchestrated by his sovereign hand.  This also means every resource is always his.

That means that “the silver is mine and the gold is mine.” (Haggai 2:8)  When we look at our finances, we often times go to God as if he owes us something.  We can only take that perspective when we forget that He is the sole ruler of the whole world. We can only take that perspective if we forget the very Gospel that saves us.

The Gospel itself is a gift.  We have done nothing to earn it and we can do nothing to un-earn it. God did all that needed to be done in Jesus.  He died for his people and his people know that he owns their lives and everything in them. Therefore if everything in this world belongs to God including our own lives, wouldn’t it change the way we look at our material possessions? Could you still treat all your resources as yours alone?

Do you think that God owes you something?

Would you treat your things differently if they belonged to someone else? What if you acted as if God owned everything you have: your home, your clothes, your furniture, your time, your money?

 Pray through the words of Psalm 100.

Do Think about how knowing God owns everything changes the way you do things: your Christmas present choices, your vacation planning, your giving.  Think of the last 5 big purchases you made, mentally label them “PROVIDED BY & BELONGING TO GOD. FOR HIS USE ONLY.”

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

A Fresh Start in Stewardship: Day One

September 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The next seven posts, beginning with this one, are taken from the devotional guide for Lyons Creek Baptist Church as part of the sermon teaching series Money Mission & Me.  Feel free to use them in your circumstance as well.  They are not about a specific program at Lyons Creek but  a biblical study of stewardship.   The format and some of the content is not original to me or Lyons Creek Baptist Church. 

Day One-  Follow the Leader (Sunday September 25th, 2011)

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21

Read Matthew 6:19-24

Apply Nothing could be more telling about your true love in life than looking at how you spend your money.  Jesus tells us in this passage that our money and our heart go together.  The difficult part of reading this is that Jesus confronts us.  He confronts us on a “checkbook” level.  He equates your spending with your worship.  This my friends is a dangerous truth.

None of us can deny the powerful pull of money, possessions, and status in our lives.  The challenge for a Christian is in putting their beliefs in action contrary to the pull of our sinful hearts.  Christians claim to live for God’s future Kingdom in the present, but our bank statements really reveal what we really live for.  Jesus wants us to see if we put our money where our heart is or our heart where our money is.

Where is most of your treasure? Is that where your heart is? 

When you give, does it frighten you, frustrate you, or excite you?

Why do you think you feel that way about giving?

Pray For strength to tell your treasure what to do, not more treasure that tells your heart what to do.

Do Look at your bank statements, credit card statements.  Specifically, where does most of your money go? Ask yourself, are those really my priorities in life?

Filed Under: Holiness, Money, Theology

Grace makes Happy Property

September 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:8-10

Being an investor is a powerful position.  Whether in a business, a charitable cause, or a personal relationship, when someone is an investor they have leverage and influence.  Investors have rights.  Investors have power.  This idea can even be extended into the structure of a government tax system.  Tax payers have rights, they have power, and they have influence.  Most people see a relationship with God as the same structure.  A pay-in system.  ”I have invested my good works in my approval with God.”  That is what makes the Gospel such an offense to people.  Now most of the time I have always heard people present the passage above as a blessing to have salvation as a gift…and it is a blessing.  But it is also an extremely scary concept.  If you think deeply about it, to have done nothing to earn salvation you can make no demands of the family in which you have now been adopted into.  Grace is a surrendering of rights.  I don’t have the right to go to God under grace and demand a certain level of professional success or a certain length of life.  I must just accept that my life, in God’s grace, is surrendered to the maker.  I have no rights.

 Now before you start thinking that I have gone a little overboard in my hyperbolic interpretation of “by grace, through faith”, take a look at the last phrase of the passage above.  God created us for good works so we say, “great, I get to serve God on my terms.” Nope!  These works are prepared beforehand.  These works are grace works.  The works done by God are more than enough for your salvation, you have no rights or requirements in your relationship with God.  Once that takes place, you belong to God.  Grace is the most powerless position you could ever be in.  It is scary and great all at the same time.  We are not investors in a relationship with God.  We are happy property.  We do nothing and gain everything, but every bit of the “everything” is on God’s terms from that moment forward.   You could only want this if it had been given to you already.  If God’s grace is in your life, you belong to God.

Paul, a servant (literally “slave”) of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. Romans 1:1

Filed Under: Holiness, Theology
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