Try Jesus

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......if you don't like Him the devil will always take you back!

We've probably all seen the bumper sticker. I saw it again the other dayand, for some reason, this time it almost offended me. I was so frustrated at its message that I almost got out at stop light and conversed with the driver of the car about it. The attitude of many Christians simply bothers me.

Obviously if a person has a bumper sticker like this they consider themself a 'Christian'. Also, this is probably considered by them to be 'witnessing', and that is why I'm so angry at the whole situation. It's not consistent with the scriptures. Maybe I'm over-reacting. Maybe the first time it was ever stated it wasn't stated with intention of being contrary to scripture. Maybe it was even 'cute' and 'catchy' to those who initially heard it. However, we cannot use principles which are inconsistent with scripture to further the kingdom of God. Can we?

Try Jesus. Where does this thought come from? I find quite the opposite message in scripture. I don't find a casual approach to the Savior taught. I find things like Luke 14:28-33 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So then, none of you can be my disciples who does not give up all his possessions.

That doesn't sound like a 'give it a try what do you have to lose attitude', does it? Rather, it sounds like an intentional, pre-consideration realizing that once committed its all or nothing. Jesus hasn't called us to 'give him a try'. He's called us to radical discipleship. No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God, He said (John 9:62) Try Jesus? Hardly the message of scripture.
Our churches are full of people who are trying Jesus, and our collective witness is weak because of it. We have been called, challenged, commanded to 'Follow Me'. That means 'forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. If we aren't 'sold out', completely convinced, radical in our 'following' Christ, never will we 'witness' with any power.

So, Try Jesus.....if that's all you're doing, the devil still has you. __________________________________________________

General Update

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I read the book of Nahum this morning. As I was reading there were two phrases that jumped out at me. Before I give you the phrases, let me remind you of the setting of the book of Nahum. Nahum is written about/to Nineveh. Nahum is full of warning, judgement and destruction. However, in the midst of all that God's goodness and favor are still seen. Nahum 1:7 says, The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him. Grace. Favor. Mercy. Nahum 2:2 says For the Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, even though the devastators have devastated them... Grace. Favor. Mercy. _________________________
We went to Mechanicsburg Christian Fellowship yesterday. The service was uniquely interesting. I have never experienced a 'collective worship' service like it before. Early in the service the Spirit prompted different ones to openly confess sin issues in their life. As this happened others spoke truth and life to the issue while still others prayed. We sang, we danced, we cried, we laughed, we prayed, we worshipped, we clapped, we shouted, we wept, we experienced God's body drawing closer to one another through Him.
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Greenville Fellowship had a vision meeting Friday night. Where there is no vision the people perish, and since we don't desire that we came together to again state our vision. The format was more of an open forum. Each person present was given opportunity to share their 'vision'. There was much discussion on celebrating and embracing diversity. Diversity of gifts. Diversity of talents. Diversity of style. Diversity of presentation. Diversity of personality. Diversity of conviction. Diversity of preference. However, as acculturated American anabaptists, I'm afraid (for us) it's easier said than done. As I stated on Rich's site, 'I think it's possible to mistake the ability to articulate a 'vision' for the ability to perform it. Once articulated, a vision must be prayerfully and humbly pursued. NEVER should we rest simply because of our ability to describe a vision in human terms.' Another thought I had during our discussion Friday evening (and Brian eluded to it, but never specifically stated it), 'we absolutely MUST arrest any critical spirit within our hearts if we have any hope of enjoying the blessing of diversity'.
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I can't decide whether God is trying to 'shake up' my dogma (as one brother suggested) or if the devil is trying to hi-jack God's work. Last Thursday nite I began a series on the parables of Jesus at NCCF. The intent was to record each message and make them available through the chapel so those who missed some of them could stay sequentially with the text. After the service we discovered that the recording was empty. 52 minutes of.......................nothing. So we go Saturday with intentions to move to parable #2 and hopes of capturing a recording this time. Saturday we discover that the problem Thursday nite was the mic jack in the new recorder is broken. Also Saturday, we lose over 1/2 of our service time because of an unscheduled 'housing move' and the subsequent security count. This left me in a bit of a lurch. Since I didn't feel like I had time to give the next parable sufficient examination, and due to the recorder issues, I reached way back into the archives and preached a message entitled, 'Will The Worshippers Arise', with a basic call to genuinity of Christian experience. The 22 (as opposed to 122) men who showed up responded favorably.

I suppose I'm just learning what it means to relinquish control to the One who IS in control.
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It's Me, O Lord....Standin In The Need of Prayer

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I am saved by grace, apart from works. I am born-again. I am a child of God. I am 'in the kingdom'. I am saved forever because Jesus lives and is making intercession on my behalf. No one can pluck me out of His hand.

I am spiritually arrogant.

Since all of the above quoted verses are true, I find my flesh becoming bolder and bolder in its cries for attention. What does it matter? Oh, sure, I shouldn't 'continue in sin so that grace can be seen in abundance' but grace will abound if need be.

Simply put, I have become calloused toward the depraved, sinful nature of my heart.

I beg each of you to pray that God will, by His Spirit, break my heart over the exceeding sinfulness of my own heart.
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Attn: Church

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I ran across this post in another blog. I think it's our wake-up call. Remember what Nathan told David after his sin with Bathsheba? Wake up, church, sure we're 'saved by grace apart from works', but our neighbors/friends/acquaintances/co-workers/enemies are watching how we live. They are looking for a 'religion' which will positively affect those areas in their life in which they recognize genuine struggles. Read.

How I Stopped Being a Christian
from tolerance_for_all

I was raised a Christian and up until the age of 15 was definitely a strong believer. Church, youth group, mission trips, you name it, I was there. My youth pastor, a man I'll call Jeff, was a trusted mentor and someone that really gave me a lot of my ideas and beliefs about God and following Jesus.
Imagine how surprised I was when I get a phone call saying that Jeff had resigned and was being investigated by the FBI. It turns out that pastor had been involved in recieving and distributing child porn for a long time. As you can imagine, all my ideas about Christianity were sort of blown out of the water. How can I follow the teachings of a man who can't practice what he preaches? At that point, I didn't turn my back on God but I did decide I needed to step away from the church. After having someone else tell me what to believe my whole life, it was time for me to start figuring it out for myself.
During the following years, I went to church occasionally and had nothing against those that did, but I knew that I really needed to find my own faith. I needed to question to be able to grow. So upon entering college, I did not join a church. The hypocrisy and intolerance were things I really didn't want to be around, and I saw no problem with taking a little time to do some soul-searching.
Well, I met a Christian boy at school, and even though I consider myself agnostic I didn't think it mattered. Let me just say that I do not drink, I do not do drugs, I do not sleep around, and I am headed toward medical school so that I can become involved in Doctors Without Borders. He, on the other hand, drank, smoked pot, and was with many girls. But he informed me, often, that I was headed straight for Hell.
When I saw that those who I was learning from weren't exactly taking me down a path that made sense, I started to study things for myself. I studied the Bible in depth, as well as the Koran and Torah, and I am still learning. So these inconsistent men didn't necessarily drive me away from Christianity, but they did cause me to take a deeper look, and I didn't like what I found.
You can question how strong my faith was in the first place since I fell away, but I can honestly say that I hope to never have a "strong" enough faith that I continue to blindly follow, even when things are clearly not as they should be.
So those were the two main situations that made me step back and say 'Wait a second, this religion isn't making a whole lot of sense'. I think that too often, people use religion as a reason to persecute other people and preach lives they aren't living. I don't want to be told that I need church in my life, or told what to believe - nobody has the moral authority to decide what is right for anyone else. Maybe, just maybe, it's time for the Christians to step back, and examine how they are living their lives before they condemn someone else.
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Schedule on a Crash Course

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I am facing a ministry dilemma. My dilemma is this, I believe in and am committed to expositional preaching/teaching; not only expositional preaching, but preferably sequential expositional preaching; line upon line, precept upon precept, verse by verse, thought by thought through the writings of Scripture. What does all this have to do with my dilemma? This...

Recently, at the prison where I minister, there have been significant scheduling changes. These changes have divided the entire population into three groups for all activities (chow, rec, religious services, commissary, school, etc). These three groups have religious services on a rotating schedule week by week. One week group one will have services Sun 10 am and Wed 7 pm. The next week group 2 has that schedule and group one has services Sun 2 pm and Thur 7 pm. The next week group 3 has the first schedule, group two the second schedule and group one has services Sat 2 pm and Tue 7 pm.

My ministry team has two services a month. Our service schedule is the second Saturday at 2 pm and the third Thursday at 7 pm. Here's the dilemma, two services, three groups. In any given month, because of their schedule, I'll minister to two of the three groups. On the next month I'll minister to one of the groups from the previous month and the third group. Add to this confusion a fifth Thursday (or a fifth Saturday) and suddenly I've seen one group twice before seeing another of the groups again.

My question is this, how does one maintain consistency of sequential exposition to any (and all) given group within the chaos of that particular service schedule?
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Can You Disagree?

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Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.
-Walter Lippmann

That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost certain to be false.
-Paul Valery

The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.
-Sir Richard Francis Burton

Anybody can observe the Sabbath [or any of the other 'letters' of the Law for that matter], but making it holy surely takes the rest of the week.
-Alice Walker
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Pondering the Deep Thing of Life!

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Is atheism is a non-prophet organization?

Why do phone companies give you a number to call if your phone doesn't work?

If the universe is everything, and scientists say that the universe is expanding what is it expanding into?

Corn oil is made from corn, Olive oil is made from olives, so what does baby oil come from?

Why don’t roman paramedics refer to IV's as "4's"?

Why do you often see a shoe lying on the side of the street?

What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant?

Why is abbreviation such a long word?

Why do we put suits in a garment bag and garments in a suitcase?

If a cow laughed would milk come out its nose?

Why do they sterilize the needles for lethal injection?

How come you never hear about grunted employees?

If a parsley farmer is sued can he garnish his wages?

Did Washington just flash a quarter for his ID?

Could it be that all those trick-or-treaters wearing sheets aren't going as ghosts but as mattresses?

Why do we have to dry raincoats?

Does chewing gum lose its flavor on the bed post overnight?

Why do doughnuts have holes?

Why is there an expiration date on SOUR cream?

How can there be self-help groups?

Why does your nose run and your feet smell?

Why do we call it a hamburger when it is made from beef?

Why do they call it quicksand when it sucks you down slowly?

If you're born again do you have two belly buttons?

If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill himself, is it considered a hostage situation or a murder?

Why do corn flakes and Sugar frosted flakes have the save number of calories per serving?

Where do all the missing socks go?

Why does the psychic hotline ask for your credit card number? Shouldn't they already know it?

Why does slow down and slow up mean the same thing?

If air travel is so safe, why do they call it a "terminal"?

Since light travels faster than sound, isn't that why some people appear bright until you hear them speak?

Just before someone gets nervous do they experience cocoons in their stomachs?

Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?

What does the Q in Q-tip stand for?

If a mute swears does his mother wash his hands with soap?

Why doesn't onomatopoeia sound like what it is?

If the cops arrest a mime do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?

How do they get deer to cross at the yellow sign?

What would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?

If something was miss-spelled in a dictionary how would we know

Where do swear words come from?

Was the only reason God gave us a shin is to find things in the dark?

Why is it that when you transport something by car it is called a shipment but when you transport something by ship it is called cargo?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Does a fish get cramps after eating?

If fire fighters fight fires and crime fighters fight crime, what do freedom fighters fight?

If you're an atheist and swear on the bible, have you committed perjury?

If horrific is akin to horrible, why isn't terrific akin to terrible?

Why is it when a door is open it's ajar but when a jar is open isn't not adoor?

If it is zero degrees outside today and it is supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be?

If nothing ever sticks to Teflon, how do they get Teflon to stick to the pan?

If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

If someone with multiple personalities robs a bank who is charged with the crime?

Why do old men wear their pants higher than young men do?

Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

If you're cross-eyed and have dyslexia can you read all right?

Why is yawning contagious?

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Why do banks charge you a " non sufficient funds" fee on money they already know you don't have?

If quitters never win, and winners never quit, than who is the fool who said, "Quit while you're ahead"?

Is there another word for synonym?

Would a fly without wings be called a walk?

If a man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?

Why don't we get goosebumps on our face?

Should you trust a stockbroker who's married to a travel agent?

Why is it when you get from here to there, you're still here and not there?

What are preparations A-G?

Why do men's bicycles have crossbars?

If vegetarians eat vegetables what do humanitarians eat?

What is the purpose of that little ball on top of the flagpole?

Why isn't there mouse flavored cat food?

Why are there flotation devices under plane seats instead of parachutes?

Why do they call them straight jackets when they are never straight?

If 75% of all accidents occur within 5 miles of home, why not move 10 miles away?

Why is it that when you are driving and looking for an address you turn the radio down?

How does the guy who runs the snowplow get to work in the morning?

If a person kills their clone is it murder or suicide?

Can your face actually freeze while making ugly faces?

Why do they say new and improved? It can't be new if it was improved can it?

Why do they report power outages on TV?

Why isn't 11 pronounced onety one?

If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?

Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

If trailer parks didn't exist would tornadoes exist?

If WalMart is lowering prices daily, how come nothing in the store is free yet?

If you can't drink and drive why do gas stations sell beer?
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