Memorial Day Sunday Night at North Church

The Sunday night of Memorial Day weekend is a Bar B Q night for a lot of folks. This week at North Church it will be the same thing, we will start at 6 pm. Tell your friends and neighbors.

There will be a short time of worship outside and a short teaching time outside. We will also serve food and drink. There will be a washers tournament with a gift card collage as a prize. You will be given the chance to beat the Pastors (Rik and Jeff will be a team). It is probability of anyone actually beating them is extremely remote, but you can try.

All are welcome, come and have fun and celebrate that summer is here.

First one since march 24

First of all let me say sorry to month of April for not posting to this blog the entire month. But let me back away from complete contrition and say it is partly the fault of April since it only has 30 days in it.

Typically I will write deep theological stuff on this blog, but today I want to throw some stream of conscienceless stuff out there.

Lost thoughts::

-Please do not be a science fiction story, you are much better than that!
-All the dead people talking make me think this might be the case.
-In what way is Ben playing Locke now, you know he is not giving up that simply by just giving to the role of leader to him. By the way, Ben will wind up being someone we root for.
-Episodes seem to be lacking when we don't see much Jack or Sawyer.
-There will be some hard finger banging when the bad guy from the boat gets his, and I would love for it to be Sawyer that finally takes him out in a Sawyer sort of way.

You really ought to listen this guy thoughts::
-Matt Chandler
-Village Church Dallas (you can find him on iTunes)
-You can click on the title of this entry and go to the resurgence.com text and context site for some good stuff, try his Vision of a church planter message.

Other random thoughts::
-I failed to yield yesterday and then got hit because of it and now my neck hurts and my daughters car is jacked up...interesting considering my note from last night that appears on facebook and my comment on 31 Days of Prayer::Day 8. Go check them out.
-Coop and I will be watching Speed Racer today!
-I miss golf.
-Mars Hill Music iTunes Podcast is recommended for free cutting edge worship stuff.
-I want some BJ's pizza and or some Chicken Parm and Potatoes from Maggiano's.

The Gospel

We all have sin in common, but the death and ressurection of Jesus has redeemed us.

That sin that we all have in common makes us enemies of God. It makes us the object of God's vicious wrath. But the great mercy of God has washed us. Ephesians 2 says that God is rich in mercy. I picture the Niagara Falls, and the 6 million cubic feet of water that fall there every minute. That is rich. It is a picutre of God and Him being rich in mercy.

I have met many people who live in the understand that they have screwed up, but it seems as though there is a large leap to fully embracing the second half of the gospel. We are so completely loved and accepted by this God who we have wronged. We are no longer objects of wrath but objects of love. The God who is rich in mercy and grace and kindness is expressing them all to you.

Look around you today for expressions of mercy and grace and kindness. When you see them breath and take refuge in your Father.

Redemption::The Gospel

This Sunday is Easter. Many of us will be reflecting on the death and ressurection that this holiday marks. At North Church this week we will be relecting on the results of that death and resurrection, that is, we will be lookly at the gospel.

The gospel is many things, but simply put it is understanding that we are more messed up than we ever knew and we are more accepted and loved that we ever dared believe.

We will look at a few places in scripture, but we will land on Ephesians 2:1-10. This is the gospel in 10 verses. Take a chance to take a look at it.

The last few days, I have come to grips with my own sin and my own failures. In midst of that I have felt the provision for my sin and fallen deeper in love with our Savior that we celebrate.

Redemption::Lady in the Water

It is the conclusion of Ruth and we can see the hand of God and His providence working through the events. God brings people together and their lives are impacted and He uses events both good and bad to accomplishes His purposes. We can seethe whole of scripture of God’s grand story of the redemption of our lives. The making us whole. All peoples, all generations are made whole through His grand redemption story, Ruth is just a close up beautiful love story that paints that picture with a great metaphor for His grand design.

That brings us to this clip. We see the redemption of Mr Heep in this clip and see how it effects the ultimate redemption. The injured girl in the movie is Story, she is a narf and she is very important. Her redemption is the ultimate redemption. Several people will play a big role in her grand story. Watch the clip and see the redemption close ups of a few that lead to the greater story of redemption. Everyone has a part, everyone is being redeemed and restored and leading to the final grand redemption.
Mr. Leeds has the great line in this clip, "I wanted to believe that was there was something more than this awfulness around us."

Redemption::Jerry Maguire

You may want to go get some wine or crackers. Better yet, put this clip in the microwave with some chili and get some nachos and chow down.

The point of the clip is a guy with a deep love goes into a potentially volatile situation and lets his feelings be known. He unsure of how he will taken. There is a great potential for humiliation. But the idea of restored relationship is worth the risk.

This is true of Ruth 3 and this clip. Enjoy!

Redemption::Band of Brothers-Why We Fight

Be advised there is some potentially offensive language in this clip.

This is a perfect illustration of redemption. These men have lost much. They lost friends and legs, emotional stability and more. Their fighting hits home in this scene. Their suffering and loss and pain is not in vain.

They are made whole. They are restored. They are redeemed.