I have just finished studying through the book of Mark in very broad survey sort of way for the purpose of having clear direction for our new series on the book.
There are many big themes that I have seen and hope to bring out. One of those themes is how Jesus was always serving. This is a clue we can take from Jesus as we lead in the ways that God has called us to lead.
If you are reading this, chances are you know that the major theme of my life and my church is to emphasize and teach on the importance of Biblical marriages, and for men to rise up and lead their families well. So many times we misunderstand what it means to lead our wives. We see leadership as a strong hand. We can take an attitude that says, "this is how it is going to be, I am the leader".
There is an old saying that goes something like this..."The sexiest thing a man can do is wash the dishes." My wife has confirmed this saying, and I can confirm through experience that she actually believes that to be true. But do not lose the Biblical truth in there. When we serve we bring out our wives. My wife knows that I love her most when I am serving her.
The same principle applies to my kids and to the people that call North Church home. They all feel loved when I am serving them. Find the areas in your life where God has made you a leader, then act like Jesus to them and serve them.
Images of Jesus
On February 8 we will being a new series called Images of Jesus. In it we will look at histories most influential figure. Whatever you think about Jesus, his legacy is and name are more widespread than any other figure in history.
Mark is the author the gospel. Mark never met Jesus face to face, but he uses the apostle Peter as his source. In the Biblical accounts of the life of Jesus, there are none closer to him than Peter. Of all those who knew Jesus none knew him better than Peter. Mark's gospel is the product of following Peter and listening to him tell stories of the man Jesus.
"The soul never thinks without a picture" -Aristotle
This is at the heart of our motivation for this series as we attempt to connect with the things that Jesus did.
Mark is the author the gospel. Mark never met Jesus face to face, but he uses the apostle Peter as his source. In the Biblical accounts of the life of Jesus, there are none closer to him than Peter. Of all those who knew Jesus none knew him better than Peter. Mark's gospel is the product of following Peter and listening to him tell stories of the man Jesus.
"The soul never thinks without a picture" -Aristotle
This is at the heart of our motivation for this series as we attempt to connect with the things that Jesus did.
Something from my brain
I have been reminded a lot lately of a couple of phrases. “Brokenness always precedes redemption” and “In the midst of brokenness look to the coming redemption.” The truth of this is astounding and we must grab onto it.
“See the bird with a leaf in her mouth, after the flood all the colors came out. It was a beautiful day, don’t let it get away.” -Bono from “A Beautiful Day”
Even in the midst of the flood, do not let the day that all the colors will come out get away. It is coming.
I have been over come by this passage for about a week now. It is a familiar passage. Those are the most dangerous passages, because we think that we know them well. We think that we have learned all that they can say to our souls. We are wrong if we think that. So read this passage and read it slow. Read it really slow. Stop on one word if it attacks your heart. Live at that one word all day, or all week.
1Co 13:4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
1Co 13:5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
1Co 13:6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
1Co 13:7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
These words cut me to core. There are four people/groups of people that I want to love. The first is God. The second is my bride. The third is the people in my church. The last is everyone else.
I love none of them in this way. Yet my God loves me with all these attributes. He does so in spite of me.
“See the bird with a leaf in her mouth, after the flood all the colors came out. It was a beautiful day, don’t let it get away.” -Bono from “A Beautiful Day”
Even in the midst of the flood, do not let the day that all the colors will come out get away. It is coming.
I have been over come by this passage for about a week now. It is a familiar passage. Those are the most dangerous passages, because we think that we know them well. We think that we have learned all that they can say to our souls. We are wrong if we think that. So read this passage and read it slow. Read it really slow. Stop on one word if it attacks your heart. Live at that one word all day, or all week.
1Co 13:4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
1Co 13:5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
1Co 13:6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
1Co 13:7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
These words cut me to core. There are four people/groups of people that I want to love. The first is God. The second is my bride. The third is the people in my church. The last is everyone else.
I love none of them in this way. Yet my God loves me with all these attributes. He does so in spite of me.
This post is really not all about football
I really hoping that Oklahoma wins the College Footbal National Championship game tommorow. Mostly because I have some friends who are big OU fans. But, my mind is begining to change.
Last year Florida's QB (Tim Tebow) won the Heisman trophy. In my head he was the product of the system that was designed to run up the score and get him lots of touchdowns, plus my guy was Chase Daniel, from Mizzou, and I was biased againts Tim because I wanted to Chase to win it. But my mind has defeintely changed.
Read these quotes from Tim Tebow. Read them and then think about him being a young BMOC at the university of Florida with the world at his finger tips. Read them and think about how you steward your gifts. (money, talent, time, energy etc.)
"You know, everybody, they can look and say how easy it is. But it's definitely not that easy. The difference is 'cause not many people want to wake up at 5, go through workouts, go speak to young kids, go back, eat lunch, go to class, go to tutoring, go speak at a prison at night, come back. I mean, more people would do those things; they just don't want to sacrifice.
"You know, there's a lot of leaders out there. But, unfortunately, there aren't a lot of good ones. So that's always been my dream and my goal, is to be someone like Danny Wuerffel was to me, to be someone that a parent can say, 'Hey, this kid did it the right way.' That's always been my dream and my goal more so than winning a trophy or winning a championship.
"So if it's cynical or whatnot, that's fine. If people don't believe it, that's fine. There's always going to be naysayers, people that are going to say it's fake. But that's fine because you can't control everybody. But I can control what I do, my attitude, how I approach the situation. So how I approach the situation is I want to do everything in my power that football gives me to influence as many people as I can for the good because that's gonna mean so much more when it's all said and done than just playing football and winning championships."
Last year Florida's QB (Tim Tebow) won the Heisman trophy. In my head he was the product of the system that was designed to run up the score and get him lots of touchdowns, plus my guy was Chase Daniel, from Mizzou, and I was biased againts Tim because I wanted to Chase to win it. But my mind has defeintely changed.
Read these quotes from Tim Tebow. Read them and then think about him being a young BMOC at the university of Florida with the world at his finger tips. Read them and think about how you steward your gifts. (money, talent, time, energy etc.)
"You know, everybody, they can look and say how easy it is. But it's definitely not that easy. The difference is 'cause not many people want to wake up at 5, go through workouts, go speak to young kids, go back, eat lunch, go to class, go to tutoring, go speak at a prison at night, come back. I mean, more people would do those things; they just don't want to sacrifice.
"You know, there's a lot of leaders out there. But, unfortunately, there aren't a lot of good ones. So that's always been my dream and my goal, is to be someone like Danny Wuerffel was to me, to be someone that a parent can say, 'Hey, this kid did it the right way.' That's always been my dream and my goal more so than winning a trophy or winning a championship.
"So if it's cynical or whatnot, that's fine. If people don't believe it, that's fine. There's always going to be naysayers, people that are going to say it's fake. But that's fine because you can't control everybody. But I can control what I do, my attitude, how I approach the situation. So how I approach the situation is I want to do everything in my power that football gives me to influence as many people as I can for the good because that's gonna mean so much more when it's all said and done than just playing football and winning championships."
Stewardship From Saving Private Ryan
Dave began a series for us last night in which he talked about Stewardship (The link to the audio can be found on our website). During the message my mind was taken to this scene. (click on the title to link to it on youtube)
Dave talked mostly about everything that we have is a gift from God. From our possessions to our relationships, everything that we have is a gift. Even your very life is not your own, but it is a gift that you have been given.
The back story to this clip is that Private Ryan's (played by Matt Damon) brothers have been killed in battle and a platoon of men have gone in search of him to take him home. That platoon is led by Tom Hank's character. Several men have died trying to find Private Ryan. Two more of the leaders of the platoon die in this scene.
We, just like Private Ryan, have been given a great gift of our lives. I hope that you connect with this clip and the stewardship message that Dave is bringing us from scripture.
Dave talked mostly about everything that we have is a gift from God. From our possessions to our relationships, everything that we have is a gift. Even your very life is not your own, but it is a gift that you have been given.
The back story to this clip is that Private Ryan's (played by Matt Damon) brothers have been killed in battle and a platoon of men have gone in search of him to take him home. That platoon is led by Tom Hank's character. Several men have died trying to find Private Ryan. Two more of the leaders of the platoon die in this scene.
We, just like Private Ryan, have been given a great gift of our lives. I hope that you connect with this clip and the stewardship message that Dave is bringing us from scripture.
