…Justin Thomas, CBG’s Worship Pastor, is now blogging. He only has one post so far, but that’s OK…you have to start somewhere. Go over and check out his new blog. If you feel led, give me some encouragement to keep the posts coming in his comment section. You will be blessed by what this guy has to say!
Archive for April, 2008
And it’s official…
April 30, 2008Puppies & the Gospel?
April 28, 2008
Melissa, my wife, and I have two Chihuahua’s (Parker and Abby) that we got from a breeder out in Arkansas. Every once in a while we check their website to see what new little buddies they have available. They are too cute!!!
Anyway, as we were checking out the site tonight, we noticed a contest to win a free puppy. There are various ways to earn entries into the contest, but we were surprised to see one that had to do with a person’s salvation. Essentially, Scott and Farica are attempting to start a spiritual dialogue with people who browse their site. For 1,000 entry points, all you have to do is answer three questions:
- If you died today, will Heaven or Hell be your eternal home?
- Would you like Heaven to be your eternal home?
- Do you have any prayer requests?
Now, I have no idea what Farica & Scott’s response will be to those questions. I assume they will follow-up with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Farica does say that she will pray for each individual request that comes in.
Although I don’t know the whole story yet, I commend Scott and Farica for their attempt to connect with people. God is using people all over this world in all sorts of ways to get His message out. It excites me every time I hear of something like this. I will follow-up with any info I receive from them. Until then, if you are looking for a great dog from a reputable breeder, try Scott’s Puppy Palace! Melissa and I were very pleased with Scott and Farica and would highly recommend them.
UPDATE: I received an email from Scott and Farica with the info they send out to people. It is basically the Romans Road method of sharing the Gospel. That is awesome!
LOST…Back on TOMORROW…
April 23, 2008
New Desktop Blog Editor..
April 21, 2008
I just downloaded ScribeFire. It is a Firefox plug-in that will allow me to write and post blog entries without actually going online. I am going to test it out and see how it goes. Hopefully, it will make posting to my blog a lot easier. I will let you know!
UPDATE: OK…maybe I still have to go online since it works with Firefox. However, I don’t have to actually go to my blog to post anything. We will see if it makes it any easier!
Lifehouse in Concert…
April 16, 2008My wife, a group of our best friends and I saw Lifehouse at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale last night. The concert was pretty good.
The Culture Room is a decent venue. Pros: It is not a huge place. At best, there were 400 people in the room. We were like 30 feet from the stage. Cons: It is general admission and has no seats. We stood there for 3 hours listen to the 2 opening bands and then Lifehouse.
Lifehouse played a pretty short set…maybe 7 songs. They played a couple of their classics (which they have to hate by now) “You and Me” and “Hanging by a Moment.” They also played their new song “Whatever It Takes.” However, they didn’t play 2 songs I wanted to hear: “Everything” or “Take Me Away” (at least while we were there…we left with one song to go…).
Lifehouse is one of the “Creed-type” bands to me. Their lyrics are somewhat spiritual (or can at least be taken that way). In fact, I have heard a couple of the band members (lead singer, Jason, and bass guitarist) are Christians. I have even heard from someone that they were/are worship leaders at a church (not confirmed and probably not true I am guessing). If they are Christians, after seeing last night’s show, I would say that they are probably not “practicing.” They didn’t do anything “Christian” (whatever that means), but they didn’t do anything “non-Christian” either. That can’t be said of their opening bands though. Both drank and used words I would have had my mouth washed out with soap for saying as a child. It seems to me that there might be some disconnect somewhere.
I honestly don’t know what to do with bands like Lifehouse and Creed. I can see their reason for not wanting to pigeon-hole themselves as a Christian band. I know that does put some distance between them and some who would listen to their stuff if they weren’t carrying such a label. However, if you are a “band” and are a “Christian” but are not calling yourself a “Christian band” to reach an extended audience, I think you need to take advantage of the opportunity. I am not sure that spiritually-charged lyrics are enough. I think if you have a captive audience of mostly non-Christians for over an hour, something more needs to be said or done. I am not saying that they should open the Bible and start reading it, but I think there are ways of communicating the Gospel message (at least planting a seed) without putting-off your audience completely.
I am not trying to hate on Lifehouse or bands like them, I just wish they would really take advantage of the opportunity that God has given them. With that said, I know their music ministers to people. It does to me.
I would be interested in hearing what you have to say…shoot me a comment!
Side Note: After the concert, we all thought that one of the opening bands, Matt Nathanson, put on the best show. He was funny. I checked out his stuff on iTunes this morning. The band was definitely better live, but a couple of their songs are still pretty good.
Ben Stein…seriously???
April 12, 2008There is a new movie, Get Expelled, that will talk about the Intelligent Design theory hitting theaters on April 18th.
Honestly, I am glad that there are people out there who want to discuss ID as (at least) a possible theory in support of creationism, but the best face you could get is Ben Stein??? I don’t know much about Ben. I don’t know much about his religious views either. I see him on the news every once in awhile, and I typically agree with what he says. But this is Ferris Bueller’s economics teacher most notably known for: Bueller…Bueller (said in the most monotoned voice one can achieve).
Why not William Hung instead…at least William is entertaining…
Seriously, if you are looking for a book on the topic, the best one I have read is The Case for a Creator by Lee Storbel. I give copies of this book away to people who express interested in the topic. I think it’s that good! You can get a paperback 6-pack edition for like $25.
TGITM #4 > Homosexuality
April 9, 2008Specifically, the church having a proper response to the issue.
Let me be clear: God has called all Christians to “hate the sin, but love the sinner.” I am sure you have heard that before. The sad part is that Christians have traditionally had a HORRIBLE response to the topic. While we openly embrace people who battle with lust, adultery, over-eating, addictions of all sorts, lying, cheating and stealing, homosexuality is like the black plague to Christians. That is WRONG.
To be honest, there was a time in my life when I was that Christian. That was unfortunate for me. It is something I have repented from.
In recent days, God has put people in my life that battle this sin. One close, personal friend of mine recently confided in me about his battle with same-sex attraction. After spending a large amount of time battling God and himself over the issue, he decided to get some help. He enrolled and graduated from a program sponsored by Exodus International. He admitted to me that it was the hardest thing he had ever done. I can only imagine. However, the place he is in right now with both God and himself are indescribable.
Since graduating from the program, my friend has had opportunities to debate secularists and speak at pastor’s conferences and churches on the topic of homosexuality. In fact, he has been given the opportunity to lead a Bible study in a place where homosexuality thrives. God is using this guy in huge ways! He has never been more excited and uncomfortable at the same time.
During a conversation with him, he said, “I no longer blame God for the desires I have. Instead, I now consider myself privileged that God has blessed me with such a burden. I now have the opportunity to tell a bunch of people about my experiences and how I overcame them by the Grace of God.” Sounds crazy and fictional, but it’s true. If you didn’t read it above, let me reiterate: God is really using this guy.
One glaring difference between this friend of mine and many other homosexuals is that he had the love and support from a couple of his Christian buddies. They accepted him for who he was. They loved him for who he was. They encouraged because of who he was. What is/was he? A creation of God that is prone to sin just like you and I. My friends admits that if it wasn’t for these close friends of his, he doesn’t know where he would be today.
This is an example of how the church should respond to any sin. We respond in love. We offer encouragement and support. We don’t love and encourage the sin, but we love and encourage the sinner.
Are you a Christian who battles with how you are going to respond to homosexuality in your community, church or ministry. If so, I would encourage you to do some reading on the topic. Pray about your attitude and response. Build-up, don’t tear down. Know going into it that you are going to make mistakes, respond wrong sometimes, and royally mess up. However, it will get better. God will use you if you open yourself up to the possibility.
Here are some resources to check out (these were passed on to me by my friend):
- Exodus International – one of the leading resources for individuals looking to overcome homosexuality in their life.
- Worthy Creations – a ministry that uses the Exodus International material as they minister to homosexuals and other people dealing with sexual addiction-type sin in South Florida.
- Homosexuality 101 – a professor from Palm Beach Atlantic University discusses the cause of homosexuality. I know there are differing opinions on the subject, this is just one of them…one that my friend recommended that I check out.
Matt Boone’s Blog…
April 6, 2008So our Student Pastor, Matt Boone, started a blog when I did in October 2007. I added him to my blog roll because he typically has good things to say. However, he hasn’t said anything at all on his blog since…ummmmm…October 2007. I threatened to remove him from my blog roll in response to the inactivity. However, he has recommitted himself to blogging…we shall see won’t we.
I think we should all help keep him accountable by “harassing” him on his blog. Post a comment when you get a chance!
