A new podcast is up on the talkshoe widget on the right. Join Noah, Ryan, and I as we talk about our stories, what we have learned from our Epic retreat, and where God is leading us in evangelism. Leave some comments about the podcast and give us some more ideas where we should head with our evangelism! Check out Episode 4.
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8:25 PM
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The 5-year-old daughter of contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman died after being struck by an SUV in the driveway of the family's Nashville-area home late Wednesday afternoon (May 21). Maria Sue Chapman was playing in the area with several other children. Her teenaged brother did not see her in the driveway when he struck her with the Toyota Land Cruiser he was driving. A spokesman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol termed it "a terrible accident" and said no charges are expected to be filed. The child was the youngest in the family and one of three daughters adopted by Chapman and wife Mary Beth. The entire family was home at the time of the accident. Steven Curtis Chapman, 45, has won 51 Dove awards from the Gospel Music Association and five Grammys.
Let us all pray for their family and just offer to their family that we are sorry to hear about their loss. I have a 7 year old, and I really don't know how I would handle something like this.
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2:27 PM
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What are the misconceptions we have about our church and about our pastors? Listen to Mark, Kirby and I discuss what some of these common misconceptions are, and how we debunk them. Check out my podcast and give a listen in...
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8:08 PM
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If these statistics are true, then I'm really starting to get worried. I think part of it is, we all think, but I'm just one person. And rather than laying down our lives for God, we would rather take the easy way out, and say... eh... someone will talk to them and help them. But, why not us? Shouldn't our duty be... to love God first.... and then... and only then, to love our neighbor as ourselves?
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sad'ducees, they came together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."
I just had one thought come to mind. Notice that verse 39 says, "and a second is like it". Wow, that is very different than just naming the second as loving your neighbor as yourself. To me, that is saying that you shall love your neighbor in similar fashion to loving God. I won't say it's the same, but I will say it is... "like it".
We have some guys in our group at Westlake (and a few who don't attend out church) who are having struggles. To admit that I don't have any would be stupid. But, I'm taking a stand with them. I won't sit idly by and just watch them go down in flames. With every fiber of my being... I'll do whatever it takes, I'll go where God wants me to go, but I will take a stand. I ask that you all stand with me. Let's stand in the gap and reach the lost, and reach these kids who have no clue what is going on. Let's reach these broken families that Satan is tearing apart. Go to battle with me and with your God!
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8:16 PM
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Kirby sent me a text message telling me to read this scripture the other day, and it couldn't have applied more to how I felt at the time. It's funny how God is really allowing me to open my eyes for the first time in a long, long time. What you read below is Romans 7:14-25, and it couldn't be more relevant to how I was living my life three weeks ago.
14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
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6:45 PM
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And so the battle begins or I guess you could say, “Once upon a time”. This is a new day for me. It’s a new morning, a new night, and a new beginning all together. I’m excited yet nervous. I’m wondering, “What will my story tell now?” One thing is for sure, I won’t be going back to where I was before. Not if I have anything to do about it. I’m giving my heart, soul, mind and strength to God to lead me where he wants me to go. That is the hard part really. I don’t know where he is leading, but it’s going to be an awesome ride. I love the idea of God using me to go into battle. Up to this time I’ve been in a dream that played out like I didn’t even realize there was a villain. Now I know better and I would say that makes all the difference.
I was reading in Matthew the first couple of chapters today. After reading the genealogy of Jesus, I realize for him to be here, some really amazing things had to happen along the way. One mistake and we have no Joseph. Now, I get that God could have used anyone… but this was the way he was supposed to come. It can’t just be a coincidence that Jesus lineage actually came that far, and that somehow he actually had Joseph and Mary be the mother and father that Jesus was to have. Again, it was all part of God’s plan.
And so what about my story? What is it going to bring? The fact is, I can’t see into the future of what it holds, but I can tell you this. There will be an epic story. I’m going to have family, friends, and even the Holy Spirit by my side to go into this battle.
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5:07 PM
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