Dear Daddy

While I was at the conference this weekend, I decided it would be cool to email my daughters to show them a little love. Here's what I got back in response from my 4-year-old. My wife typed it word for word while Jama dictated:


Daddy
I love you so much and I love you very much and I am sorry I cried last night. I love you so much and I hope when you come back I can hug you. And I love you very much and miss you very much. I hope when you come back you will read us the golden gate bridge book. And I hope you have fun with your friend. And I love you, because I miss you alot and um I hope we have fun only us girls we can go get a movie from the library tomorrow, And I love you very much and I hope you don't spank us when you come home.

And I love you so beary much and I hope you have fun with your friend. I love you so much and you give me joy, I hope you have a good time with your friend. I hope you are not scared, and I love you and miss you.

Love Jama



Wow.

~

WJS

Ancient-Future Group Life Conference Main Session 2

This session had some incredible worship. It really was a good time. After that, this guy named Will Miller went up on stage. I'm still not really sure what he does for a living. I think he said he is a comedian/psychologist/consultant/something else. This guy was hilarious. I had a couple of gut-busters during his talk.

He did have some good points to pass on to us, though. From the social sciences perspective, he told us that what people really need is to be connected in community. It helps with anxiety and depression. It's interesting in light of my last post, that even though there are a few basic tenets of some branches of psychology with which I disagree, psychology and sociology both point to the incredible benefits to mental and emotional health of being in a small group. In other words, having close relationships with other human beings helps with the crap of life that can cause anxiety and depression. So here we have a science once again confirming what the Bible says. Pretty cool.

Main takeaway: Life happens. Be in a LifeGroup.

~

WJS

Ancient-Future Group Life Conference Breakout Sessions 3 and 4

Well, we started today in our various breakout sessions and will end the day all together in the main auditorium. The campus is absolutely beautiful. Here are my main takeaways from the sessions:

Guiding a Group to Spiritual Maturity

Scott Vaudrey

This was my least favorite session. The psychological influence was heavier and more discernable in this session. I suppose this kind of rubs me the wrong way, in that I don't want to see groups become therapy groups. Everyone's got a problem, everyone's got to share it, and we need to create a safe atmosphere where people can people can feel accepted. To me, being accepted is not equivalent to growing into spiritual maturity. I define spiritual maturity this way:

You've grown in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to the point where you can be used to disciple others that are going on toward spiritual maturity.

I suppose spiritual maturity could be defined by 1 Timothy 3 as well.

Now don't get me wrong; people should feel safe enough in a small group to be able to share their struggles, to get people to pray for them, and to be there for them. But should a small group's emphasis be on the people in the group, or on Jesus? I want the point of a small group to be to get to know Christ on a deeper and more intimate level. I want people to know the life-changing truths of the Bible. I want people's lives changed because of these truths. In light of all this, we must keep in mind that it's the Truth that sets people free, not psychological theory. I guess I just don't want to leave people with this impression:

The Savior can only go so far, but after that, you might need a psychologist.

I know, I know, this might actually get a few comments from some random readers. I guess the question is, can something physiologically go wrong with a person's brain, affecting their personalities and their quality of life? Sure. Can we prescribe medicine for this stuff? Probably. But my thinking on it is, mathematical science is a pretty exact science. Biology and medical science is also a pretty exact science. But when it comes down to knowing what's going on in the deepest parts of a human being, I'm not so sure we as humans are equipped enough to understand deep spiritual problems. We must not ascribe spiritual problems (i.e. sin) to psychological underpinnings (your childhood was bad, that's why you do this or that). Jesus Christ is the Hope of the world, not Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung. The church needs to be really careful about this kind of stuff.

Well, enough of my rant. Session 4 was pretty cool. It was all about finding and developing small group leaders. My one big takeaway was this: Make your leaders feel like they are part of something big. This last week I shared at our LifeGroup Fall Kickoff event. All of the small groups were invited to come to the school where we meet for dessert, fellowship, and just kind of talking about this small group thing. One of the things I shared was the picture that you see at the right. I think this week I'm going to follow up with all my leaders by sending them a copy of this picture and just a few words from me. Something like this might do:

"I shared at the kickoff that God is doing some incredible stuff through New Life. The airplane is an excellent picture of where New Life is right now. Well I want you to know that God is doing these big things through you. You are an integral part of the extraordinary life change that is occurring at New Life. We just wanted to say thank you for being a part of something big. Keep looking to God and dreaming big things for New Life."

That might work.

~

WJS

Ancient-Future Group Life Conference Breakouts 1 and 2

In the afternoon at this conference, we had two breakout sessions. My first one was about coaching life-changing small group leaders. One of my big takeaways was the first essential skill of being a LifeGroup coach: Modeling: Pursue Christlikeness.

In this breakout I was challenged to "take the time and trouble to keep myself spiritually fit." Just this week the though ran across my mind, I'm way too busy. Honestly, I'm surprised I had time to think that. Seriously. I need to make sure I spend time regularly in the Word, not just random 5 or 10 minute spots here and there. To disciple, you have to be discipled.

The other challenge I received was that I need to model "Spirit-filled leadership." I do spend time praying for all my groups, but can anyone really pray too much? I doubt it. Little prayer, little power; much prayer, much power. If we want LifeGroups to be a powerful, an integral ministry at New Life, we need to pray for it constantly.



The next session was "Promoting Growth in Your Leaders" with Mike Hurt. This guy was really good and down to earth. I remember that he articulated a LOT of the same frustrations I had with leading and coaching, especially coaching. Here's the good stuff from that session:

Every leader needs three things from a coach:

1.) Know them personally - This is key. When entering a coaching relationship, we need to concentrate a ton of time on just this. You will not get into the actual "coaching" of the leader for his/her group until this critical personal relationship is established. It just doesn't work any other way. So I guess the first key to just to get to know someone very closely. It will take time.

2.) Encourage them spiritually - "How can I pray for you?" Share with them what God is teaching you. People like to follow godly people. I've personally learned in my own experience that people will eventually respond to stuff like this. "I'm praying for your group specifically this week. What do you want me to pray for?"

3.) Equip them - Everyone needs real world tools. And each leader will have different skills. What one leader needs another may not. What that means for general training sessions for leaders is that you may have to get creative to equip each leader in their own individual needs. If you are doing a training session on something in particular that you know one leader does NOT need, have that particular leader do the training session, then you can also see if that leader could end up being a good coach.


~

WJS

Ancient-Future Group Life Conference - 1 and 2

Today I'm at Willow Creek's Small Group conference, and so far I'm liking it. The first speaker was Scot McKnight, author of The Jesus Creed. He was a pretty insightful and funny speaker. Some of the highlights I got from his talk were:

1.) In one sense, Jesus introduced a new "creed" into the Jewish culture. It used to be that Jewish people would recite the verse from Deuteronomy that says, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord, He is One [interesting communal reference]. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." Jesus also introduced, "And the second command is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself." We should have BOTH at the forefronts of our minds, not just the first.

2.) Create an atmosphere where Christ's Presence is experienced.

3.) Pharisees: If you're clean, you can eat with me.
Jesus: If you eat with Me, I'll make you clean.

4.) Jesus hung with the wrong people.

5.) Allow people to ask the tough questions; you don't have to have an answer, just create a community where people feel comfortable to pose the tough questions.



The second session was a dialoque with Bill Donahue and Henry Cloud. Here's what I picked up:

You're not responsible for others' growth, just responsible to create an atmosphere where people can grow. God will bring the growth.

Five essential practices:

1.) Safety

2.) Be authentic (you don't have to be deep to be real. We don't want people to hide.)

3.) Offer Help

4.) Provide Care-Be careful not to offer the quick fix. Be there. Listen. Soft eyes. Soft heart. Compassion.

5.) Encourage growth - move people toward spiritual growth. Encourage to take risks.



Sitting in that second session, I realized how absolutely critical small groups are. I wonder if we can even do church the MOST effectively without small groups. I sincerely doubt it.

Peter was Sleeping

I was reading my Bible tonight in Acts 12, and something caught my eye. Herod killed James, one of the apostles, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews (apparently there was political motivation behind this persecution), he had Peter put in prison. His plan was to bring him before the people after Passover.

This really is reminiscent of what happened to Jesus.

Anyway, what struck me was this. Peter was in prison with numerous guards watching him. The prospect of death wasn't really that far off base. And what was he doing?

"And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping...." 12:6a

When I read that, I was reminded of what happened in Mark 4. The disciples were with Jesus in the boat, and the storm was raging. Who was asleep then? It was Jesus. The disciples were all freaking out, and Jesus was asleep. So they woke Him up and asked Him if He cared that they were going to die. Then He calmed the storm and said two things to them: Why are you so fearful? and How is it you have no faith?

So what's the picture? Freaking out in your situation = having fear and no faith. Sleeping (having so much peace and rest that you DON'T freak out in your situation) = having faith and no fear.

Oh that God would move me more toward having faith and no fear.

~

WJS

Leadership Summit: Session 7

John Ortberg

Well, I've never heard this guy speak, but I've seen his name on a few books. I never read any of his stuff either...but he was good. He said:

"Leadership is disappointing people at a rate they can stand."

That was pretty good.

Anyway, he basically gave a sermon on Esther. The funny thing is, it didn't feel like a sermon. There were a lot of good things he pulled out of that text. The whole basis of his talk was this idea of having a shadow mission. A shadow mission is basically something that has a bit of a resemblance to what we are really called to do. It's parallel to our real mission, but it's dark, shadowy, selfish, and evil. In other words, my mission in life might be to be a full-time pastor. So my real mission is to love people, to teach the Word of God, and to help people through that to become free. My shadow mission might be then to use my gifts to create a name and reputation for myself, to sell books and make money, and win people's admiration and respect. The thing about that is, while it may look like I'm accomplishing my real mission, I'm accomplishing my shadow mission. The thing of it is, other people are at the heart of my real mission, while I am at the heart of my shadow mission. Pretty creepy, huh?

Here are a couple of things Ortberg posed to the crowd:

What is your depraved shadow mission?

What is the shadow mission of the church?

Who's the Mordecai in your life? Who's ready to challenge you when you're about to slip into your shadow mission?

Chronic sense of soul dissatisfaction: will you name and challenge the shadow mission of the people you lead?

Are you trying to figure out some less costly way than the cross to fulfill your mission?

**God is at work behind the scenes.**

Leadership Summit: Session 6

Bill Hybels interviewed Colin Powell during this session. It was pretty good. The thing that struck me most about Colin Powell is that you could see clear decisiveness in his demeanor. He seemed to be a no-frills guy. 'Here's what's going to happen and how we're going to do it. Go do it.' He wasn't in the least bit wishy-washy like I can be sometimes.

Here are a few highlights:

Allow a Clash of Ideas
-take advantage of differing viewpoints and experiences

Only People Get Things Done
-you can sit around and talk, plan, strategize, etc., but people get things done

Reward Best Performers, Get Rid of Non-Performers

Be Prepared to Disappoint People
-check ego at the door; don't wear your heart on your sleeve

Have Fun along the Way

Perpetual Optimism is a Force Multiplier
-things always look better in the morning
-people will see your attitude and trust you

All of us have a debt of service we may not be able to repay.

~

WJS

Leadership Summit: Session 5

Ok, well, this is a couple of days after the fact, but I thought it would be good to go back over my notes.

During session 5, Michael Porter, a Harvard business professor, gave a talk on how important it is for us to think strategically when it comes to philanthropic efforts. When it comes to business, we have things down to a science, quite literally. We desire to maximize our profits while minimizing cost, and therefore we think very strategically as to how we might accomplish this goal the most effectively and efficiently. Porter's argument was that so often this type of strategic thinking is not applied to our wanting to serve in the community. And so what happens is that what we do is not done efficiently or done with excellence. He spoke of "adding value" to our efforts. We do that in the business world, and how much more important is that in the world of helping those in need? In other words, for our efforts of service and giving to be "worth" anything, we need to think strategically on how to get things done with excellence.

Here are some steps to help along the way:

1.) Have we really clearly defined our goals? What are our goals for this particular endeavor?

2.) What community needs are we going to address? Is more better? No. We probably won't be able to address everything. So we need to pick something and do it. We prefer results, not just activity.

3.) We need a clear strategy on delivering value.

4.) We need alignment in the organization.

**We need a sustainable solution model--something that will meet long term needs.**

Now here are some off-the-cuff notes that I jammed into my notebook. They are really good questions to consider:

Goals-need to be very clearly defined
-obligation to create value
-social benefits per dollar expended
-obligated to use resources well

Worthiness of the cause is NOT the basis for choosing a project
-look at sustainability and commitment to the project
-where can you add the MOST value?
-where can you do the most good with the resources you have available to you?

What does the congregation/community need? What are the most pressing needs?

What organizations are available for these needs? Are they doing this work just fine? Should we just support that organization?

What capabilities/resources/skills/relationships/companies do we have access to? Where can we do more than just giving money and providing unskilled labor? Do we have the resources available to us to give somewhere in a unique way?

***Do too many things and you'll have limited impact!***

Be careful not to underutilize volunteer capabilities

We want to strategically streamline the delivery of our services. This will increase effectiveness and deliver value to our "customer base."

Here's what holds us back

Multiple/Conflicting/Unclear Goals
Personal Preferences and not Value
No Attempt to Measure Performance
Inability to Stop Mediocre Efforts

Wow....again, these are pretty much a copy of my notes. It's a little disorganized, but I felt like I was in college again. There are definitely some good things to consider here.

~

WJS

Leadership Summit: Session 3 and 4

Session 3:

Not much that I remember here. Could it be the after lunch slot?

Session 4: Marcus Buckingham

I have to say, this guy was good. He was humorous and very engaging. His talk was all about strengths. What we need to do is identify our strengths and work on those. So often we concentrate on our weaknesses because we feel that's where we have the greatest potential to improve. Perhaps that's true, and we definitely do need to address our weaknesses, but we need to cultivate our strengths first and foremost. We need to make a contribution around our strengths.

Probably the most impacting statement for me was the third myth he addressed. That myth is: a great team member puts aside his strengths for the good of the team. I've thought this exact thing. I'll serve where there's a need. But the truth of the matter is, God is assembling the team as He wants it, and He is gifting each individual to serve best in each area of need. We need to leverage our strengths and give around those things, rather than serve where the team needs.

Actually, now that I think of it, I just read this concept in Acts: "Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists,because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, 'It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.'" Acts 6:1,2

It just simply was not a good strategy to have these guys leave teaching the Word of God to take care of these widows. I'm not saying that this type of ministry is not important; it is. But God had other people in mind to take the lead on this and do it with excellence. Their strength was teaching the Word. Someone else's strength is helping with the daily distribution. Let's get the right people in the right spots on the team.

All in all, I think this was my favorite session yet.

~

WJS

Neat Quote from Bill Hybels

Saw this in the intro to the Leadership Summit:

"The best leaders I know are incurable learners. They have an insatiable appetite for leadership development and relentlessly pursue ways to stretch their minds, broaden their horizons, and expand their hearts. They're only satisfied when they are getting better, because they know the cause of Christ demands it!"

-Bill Hybels

~

WJS

Leadership Summit: Sessions 1 and 2

Today I'm hanging out at Granger Community Church, a satellite location for the Leadership Summit. Leaders from around the world convene in early August to engage in some awesome leadership development opportunities. So far we've gotten through sessions one and two, hearing from Bill Hybels (one of the pastors of Willow Creek) and Carly Fiorina (former CEO of HP). So far here's what I've gleaned from the talks:

Session 1: Vision

"Nothing matters more than the ownership of a vision."

The idea here was that, with widespread ownership of a vision, the organization, institution, or orgranism (as is the case with the Church), can move forward with quality people on board. Everyone is working toward common goals and the accomplishment of a common vision. How can this be accomplished? We need to take the team approach when it comes to forming a vision. Get the team, get key leaders, get input from a lot of people when it comes to forming a vision for the people you lead.

When leading, people will know if you're a true leader or just a hired hand. Ultimately what it comes down to is this: are you willing to pay a very heavy price for the vision God birthed in your heart? People will follow and pay a high price for the realizing of a vision if they realize that you would pay the price first.

It's kind of crazy, but I started to think of some of these principles and how they apply in my classroom (I'm a high school math teacher). I have a vision for that classroom: I want the kids to be able to think for themselves, to reason things out and figure things out for themselves. I also want them to come into class each day and just do a good job. However, I've never communicated this vision to a class. And I'm sure that some of the kids' visions of math class are quite different. I'm wondering if I can do something about this.... The last thing I want is a repeat performance of the mediocrity I've seen in the past.

Session 2: Carly Fiorina

This was basically an interview between Bill Hybels and Carly Fiorina. She said some cool things about leading corporations and stuff like that: leading with integrity, honesty, respect, innovation (which I thought was cool), and a few others. But a random thought passed through my mind as I sat there. I don't know where it came from because it was somewhat unrelated to what she was talking about, but here it is:

Be a good leader in your family.

I need to work on setting the example in my family.

~

WJS

A Problem of Ethics

Recently my brother got into a bit of an email debate with a former science teacher of his about origins. I've seen and heard some of these kinds of debates before: the Christian adamantly asserting a young earth and pointing out common flaws in the theory of Evolution, and the Darwinist begging the Christian to leave behind antiquated superstitions in the name of scientific reason. My brother wanted to make sure the teacher knew of his conversion to Christianity and the seeds of doubt planted in his mind with regard to the truth of Christianity in this class. And boy, did he let him know!

One of the arguments brought up in the discussion was that of morality and ethics. My brother made the argument that, given Darwinism, morality (or at least the idea of universal right and wrong) could NOT have "evolved." In other words, if we are just advanced animals, how can anyone claim murder in the human world, when murder is is a preposterous claim in the animal world?

This science teacher retorted that morality did evolve, or at least appeared at some stage in our "evolution," and that morality is just evidence of our becoming more "fit" for the "survival of the fittest" game each species is playing.

I disagree with this. The following (between the asterisks) is what I believe would be a reasonable extension of this guy's reasoning about morality.

*

If we were to take a completely Darwinian approach to our species, I claim that the illusion of morality keeps us from evolving faster. In the survival of the fittest doctrine, if it is the fit that survive and the less fit that eventually fizzle into extinction, thus leaving the "better" species to inherit the earth, then I maintain morality is holding us back.

For instance, I think we need to manage the species, in much the same way we manage renewable resources. We always want the best resources, and so those inferior resources that keep the best from thriving need to be eradicated. So I say we need to figure out everyone's IQ and eradicate everyone whose IQ is less than say, 115. We should also eradicate everyone who is old, handicapped, and carries a gene mutation that is not helpful but harmful to our species. Over time (and if we do this right, over a much shorter period of time than if we left it to nature's course) we could do a great deal of improvement to the overall gene pool, thus furthering our species and making it even more "fit" for survival.

Now it is unfortunate that "morals" and "ethics" have been introduced into our species, be it through religion, superstition, or evolution, because a great number of folks would disagree with my plan based on the idea that eradicating those with inferior genes is not "compassionate" or "just" or "right." These folks hold us back from evolving, because these inferior genes will either never go away, or it will take an incredible amount of time for them to be "naturally selected" out of the gene pool.

*

What a disgusting line of reasoning this is! Nevertheless, if you subtract any spectre of justice, morality, ethics, right and wrong, compassion, and love from the picture, this line of reasoning is not all that unreasonable. And yet, an overwhelming majority of people would be absolutely appalled at just such a suggestion. Why would that be?

~

WJS

If Anyone Serves Me, Let Him Follow Me

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

John 12:24-26

Jesus said this after He arrived in Jerusalem shortly before His crucifixion. I think it's pretty plain what the first sentence implies. Jesus is speaking of His death, saying that it's necessary that He should die in order to produce much grain. What is that grain? It's nothing less than our life...both abundance of life here on earth, and also that eternal life we all look forward to. The fruit that His death brings is the reconciliation of man and God, the defeat of the sin and death that separates us from Him.

As an aside, I find it very interesting that in the gospels Jesus explained deep spiritual truths using pictures here on earth. At this time Jesus was hinting at His crucifixion and ultimately what it would accomplish...so what does He do? He tells them a little story about farming to convey this truth. This is the mark of a brilliant communicator: using simple illustrations to make very complicated and abstract truths accessible (and applicable) for the average person. No one was (is) better at it than Jesus.

As for the second sentence in our text, I wanted to see if I could get a little more out of the verse by looking up some words in the original language. Sometimes doing this will yield a certain richness in the verse, something that is hard to pick up due to a deficiency in the English language. The only thing I really found was this: in the first two instances of the word "life," the Greek word "psuche" is used, but the last instance where Jesus speaks of life eternal the Greek word "zoe" is used. What's the significance of this? I don't know...at least not yet. And that's another aspect of studying the Bible: sometimes to unlock certain mysteries in the scriptures that you don't understand takes awhile. I think it stems from the fact that we don't need to know everything before or while we follow Jesus. As a matter of fact, there will be things we don't quite get that we just have to take by faith. Perhaps we don't understand this or that, but we just have to trust Him.

This second sentence though did remind me of another verse. I went searching for it and actually found it in two different places in Matthew:

"He who finds his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." Matthew 10:39

"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:24-26

Although the wording of these verses are slightly different than the text in John, they convey the same truth. I find it significant that these verses are found in the same gospel. When things are repeated like this, it's good to pay a little closer attention.

I take these verses to mean that as a person lives his life for himself, consumed by his own pursuits, his life is shallow and hollow, having little meaning or significance on the eternal scale of things. But as a person lives out Romans 12:1,2, presenting his life to God for His use (thus dying to his own pursuits), it is then that he finds out what it means to truly live. His life, being found in God, has true meaning and significance.

As a school teacher, I see a lot of young people get encouraged to go for this dream or that dream, get asked, "What do you want to do with your life?", and so on. But for me, it's not so much a matter of "What do you want to do with your life?" as it is God speaking, "I want to do something with your life. Do you trust Me to do it? And do you believe that if you die to your own pursuits, you will find out what it means to truly live? And if you do this, do you believe that you will bear much fruit?"

The last sentence of our text in John says that if anyone wants to serve Him, let him follow Jesus. Where? Follow Him into death. It then goes on to say that the servant will be where the Master is. Where is He? His death led to His resurrection: He came into that true life He had been speaking about in the previous sentences. And as the servant follows Him into death, so also will the servant be following Him into life. And if anyone serves Him in this fashion, we have the promise that the Father will honor that servant.

A number of years ago my wife and I felt a call to go to California to Bible college. Living in Indiana that was a big thing for us. We were just starting out in our married lives together. We had bought a house, I had a teaching job, and she had a job doing hair. So what did we do? We got rid of our car, our house, and our jobs, bought an '83 Coachmen motorhome (complete with orange shag carpet!), and moved to California. On the way out the engine blew and we had to spend over half of what we had saved to buy a new engine. Nevertheless, we got there and lived in that thing for several months.

We believe God honored us greatly because of that act of faith (which on the outside looks like a really stupid thing to do). We now live in a house that I built (one of my childhood dreams was to build a house) that is three times as large, I have that same job back, and my wife is blessed to be working with her mom at her business. We have truly been honored for our obedience.

~

WJS

Anyone who Trusts in Him is Acquitted

When studying God's Word for treasure, it can be really helpful to look at other translations. Lately I've been mosying through John, looking at some difficult scriptures, thinking them through, and trying to get an idea of what Jesus is saying. Oftentimes I find myself saying the same thing as Nicodemus: "What do you mean?" (John 3:9, NLT)

Check out what The Message (more or less a paraphrase rather than a literal translation) says in John 3:17, 18:


God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

Wow! What a cool way of putting it: anyone who trusts in Him is acquitted. The phraseology actually reminds me of the fundamental teachings of Romans. How cool.

Here is a definition of acquitted I found on www.dictionary.com:

"declared not guilty of a specific offense or crime; legally blameless"

How awesome it is to know that as I put my trust in Jesus that I'm acquitted of all I've done. His blood causes me to be "legally blameless," and because of that, I can enter into the kingdom of God!

~

WJS

A Prayer

In Acts 6:7 it says (in the KJV): "And the word of God increased; and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly...."

Lord, I ask that Your word be increased here in this area...and may New Life Fellowship be a part of that. Lord, use us to increase Your word greatly in this community, and as a result, may the number of disciples in Lagrange county multiply greatly. We look to You in humble dependence to do all these things through us, as we can, of ourselves, do nothing.

~

Whatever He Says to You, Do It

As I was reading John 2 this morning, I thought about Jesus' miracle at the wedding feast. It was there that He performed His first miracle, turning water into wine for a wedding party that had run out.

Mary came to Jesus and told Him about it. Jesus said something to her about it not being His time to be revealed. Then Mary turned to the servants who were in charge of serving at this feast and said something very simple, yet profound: "Whatever He says to you , do it."

I love what is written next. Jesus said, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim.

What a neat little picture of full and complete obedience. Jesus said fill them up, and they did....not halfway, not 3/4 full, but up to the brim.

In the NLT, the verse that follows says, "He said, 'Dip some water out and take it to the master of ceremonies.'" So they followed His instructions.

~

Obedience is easy to talk and write about, but when Jesus gives us a directive, how incredibly difficult it can be to listen and obey! May our hearts be similar to those servants' hearts; not asking questions, not doubting, and doing what we've been asked to do with full and complete obedience. May we also follow His instructions as He gives them to us. May we say to our Lord, 'Yes, I'll do it," and then actually do it.

WJS

A Noisy Life/A Silent Night

The other night I had to go out to the shop to do something at about 10:30. I finished what I had to do and started to go back home. As I was going, I was struck by how silent the night was. I looked up, and all I could think was, "I wonder how much we miss in the noise of our lives." I wondered about all the people I've heard say things like, "It's so hard to hear from God." I wondered about my struggle over the years to hear God's voice. I wonder really how loudly He is speaking. But we've got so many things going on in life.

I saw a shooting star that night. A tree was in the way...I think I'm going to cut that tree down so I can see it next time.

I wonder how many things we have growing in our lives that get in the way of seeing God's glory.

We should be more like Moses who said, "Show me Thy glory." I bet that's a prayer we will get a positive answer to. I know I have.

The Word

John 1

The Word

As I read through chapter 1, a question came to mind. Why is Jesus called, “the Word”? Two things came to mind:

a.) Genesis 1 – Something about this chapter strikes me as quite incredible. I count at least five times (in the NKJV anyway) the phrase, “and God said…and it was so.” And God said, and it was so…. When God speaks, there is incredible power; power of which we are not aware. It’s power that has created the universe and holds the universe intact (see Col. 1:17 – in Him all things consist, or are sustained, or are held together in composition “by the word of His power”, Heb. 1:3). When God speaks, we can bank on it as being 100% accurate and true. Jesus is the express image of this truth and power. He spoke with His mouth, and He spoke with His life. He spoke with His miracles and healings. He is how God communicates and imparts His love for us.

Along these lines, I’m reminded of times when Jesus performed certain miracles. Matthew 8:7 records the words of the centurion looking for healing for his servant: “But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.” Jesus marveled at this guy’s faith. He knew what kind of power His word had – and Jesus said, and it was so.

In another instance, Jesus rebuked the storm: “Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, ‘Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’” (Mat. 8:26, 27) So Jesus spoke, and there was a great calm. This should tip us off as to who Jesus is, who commands even nature and nature obeys immediately. It was God who spoke the universe into existence in the first place; here we see Jesus commanding authority over it once again.

Also, as an aside to this, I find it quite intriguing that although God can and sometimes does speak into this creation His will and it obeys immediately, that He still allows man his free will, his will to say “yes” or “no” to God as it were.

b.) Hebrews 1:1-3 – Whereas in times before God spoke to man through other men, known as prophets, God is now here speaking to us by His own Son. He is the Word of God to us, as God, in these last days, is making His final attempt to communicate His message of love, righteousness, and holiness to man. Who God is cannot be made any clearer than by looking at Jesus, His life, His words, His miracles which attest to His incredible compassion, and His death, the ultimate communiqué of His love for us. If you want someone to tell you what God is like, look to Jesus.

Personal Application

Here’s a personal application I see:

When God gives me a promise, like “I’m going to do this or that through you,” I can bank on it that God will bring it to pass. Abraham had to wait a long time for his son, but he finally got him. Interestingly enough, he got his son when it was physically impossible for Abraham and Sarah to have a son. But God is the God of the impossible. Sometimes it goes down that way so that it’s clear to everyone, including the recipient that God is behind it.

Cart Ride

The other day I mowed my grass for the first time this spring. I also happened to have the cart hooked up behind my riding lawnmower, allowing my two older daughters the opportunity to ride along with me.

I started along the edge of the yard by the house, which is an easy part to mow. Then I moved to the north side of the property that borders a wooded area. There are a lot of briers and tree branches that hang out into my property.

As I looked back at my two daughters, I could see fear in their faces; they were afraid of getting snagged by the briers and slapped by the tree branches. They were scared, not knowing exactly what would happen, or how long this ordeal would last. I kept driving the lawnmower because, after all, the grass on the edge of the property had to be mowed. Then a thought came to mind...

This is somewhat similar to the ride we are all on with the Lord. At times it's really fun, but at other times, it can be scary. The whole time I was driving that mower I knew that my two daughters were safe, although the ride was a little scary for them. I was never going to let anything happen to them, be it getting scratched up by the briers or slapped pretty hard by a tree branch. Even if they never knew it, they were safe the whole time. And when we are on a ride like this, with briers and tree branches threatening us, He knows exactly where to go and how fast to go. We are safe the whole time, even though it may not feel like it.

~

WJS