Daily Scripture Readings Leading to Sunday April 23, 2006
Monday:
1 John 1:1-4 In the Beginning
Consider these words as a new beginning. Easter is our first day toward a new life in Christ. This passage is a great place to start.
Tuesday:
John 20:19-23 Jesus Appears to the Disciples
John offers the events of the first days. Notice how many times Jesus offers peace to the disciples. This must be very important.
Wednesday:
Psalms 133 Joy in Family
Hey this is one of the shortest Psalms. You have time to read this one. It is only three verses. However, they are mighty. READ IT!!
Thursday:
John 20:24-31 Doubting Thomas
The disciple named Thomas has some doubts and wants to see for himself before he will believe. How many times have I wanted the same thing from God before I would believe and trust? I fear it is too many to count. Thomas is one of us.
Friday:
Acts 4:32-35 Sharing Our Possessions
Disciples act as one body in the use of their possessions. Even today we share with others out of the blessings God offers to us, so that all might see and know the goodness of our God. Share so that not one of us might boast of our individual achievements. The goal is one heart, one soul.
Saturday:
1 John 1:5-2:2 Lessons on Sin
God is light, there is no part without light in God. Meditate on this idea of God as being totally pure and holy. When or as we connect with God we also partake or become holy.
The passage is clear we all sin. Equally clear is God’s Justifying grace offered through the blood of Jesus to cleans us from all sin.
How do we do this? What do we need to carry with us on our life journey to accomplish the task of living a life in grace? Focus on only today and consider your needs. Lets start there.
Sunday: Reflect and Worship
Scripture: John 1:1-2:2
Sermon Title:
“Nobody Said It Was Going To Be Easy”
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
A Little Closer to Home...
A Little Closer to Home….
Over the next few weeks we will see the church mobilize and come to arms. Dan Brown’s book The DaVinci Code has made quite a stir. I understand Ron Howard has taken the book and made it into a major motion picture. I have read the book. It is quite good. Dan Brown is a very talented writer and story teller. The book however is foolishness and is based on the idea that Jesus did not die on the cross, but married Mary Magdalene and moved to France where his royal linage still survives today. The idea of the book is to place a modern day murder mystery in the midst of this fictional series of events. Brown artfully mixes just enough of the factual with the make believe to pull even seasoned Christians off their path for a few moments.
The reaction to all this by many in the church has been a strong and well defined defense. Over the next few weeks we will likely see many pastors preaching on the evils of The DaVinci Code. We are likely to see churches support studies where the underlying premise of The DaVinci Code is proved false and why. I know of many studies that are for sale already. Now I ask you, what should we make of one who attempts to make a profit from this? I believe we are going to hear more about this book and movie from the church than probably any other source.
Here is my question. Why is the church always against something? Why not be for something? Why not study something good, like the Gospel of John for instance? I am not asking us to put our heads in the sand. For heaven’s sake read the book, it is a good book. But lets spend our precious time and energy making good things happen for the all the people of God. We in the church waste too much time fighting the wind. I think Jesus would laugh about the DaVinci code and then invite us to break some bread and fish to feed the hungry in our midst.
Let’s not be fooled about the mission of the church. God has never asked us to defend the church. God will take care of these issues. Rather we are called to be the Body of Christ; willing to move faithfully in service and love in the midst of a hurting and searching world. They will know us by our love, not by our defense of the church.
Over the next few weeks we will see the church mobilize and come to arms. Dan Brown’s book The DaVinci Code has made quite a stir. I understand Ron Howard has taken the book and made it into a major motion picture. I have read the book. It is quite good. Dan Brown is a very talented writer and story teller. The book however is foolishness and is based on the idea that Jesus did not die on the cross, but married Mary Magdalene and moved to France where his royal linage still survives today. The idea of the book is to place a modern day murder mystery in the midst of this fictional series of events. Brown artfully mixes just enough of the factual with the make believe to pull even seasoned Christians off their path for a few moments.
The reaction to all this by many in the church has been a strong and well defined defense. Over the next few weeks we will likely see many pastors preaching on the evils of The DaVinci Code. We are likely to see churches support studies where the underlying premise of The DaVinci Code is proved false and why. I know of many studies that are for sale already. Now I ask you, what should we make of one who attempts to make a profit from this? I believe we are going to hear more about this book and movie from the church than probably any other source.
Here is my question. Why is the church always against something? Why not be for something? Why not study something good, like the Gospel of John for instance? I am not asking us to put our heads in the sand. For heaven’s sake read the book, it is a good book. But lets spend our precious time and energy making good things happen for the all the people of God. We in the church waste too much time fighting the wind. I think Jesus would laugh about the DaVinci code and then invite us to break some bread and fish to feed the hungry in our midst.
Let’s not be fooled about the mission of the church. God has never asked us to defend the church. God will take care of these issues. Rather we are called to be the Body of Christ; willing to move faithfully in service and love in the midst of a hurting and searching world. They will know us by our love, not by our defense of the church.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
The Gospel of Judas
A note to my son about The Gospel of Judas,
This is not news, in the sense that it just happened.
This “breaking news” was offered one week before Holy Thursday; the day Judas is traditionally credited for betraying Jesus. This does not feel like coincidence to me. I believe someone has offered this Gospel of Judas precisely at this time to make sure it would be noticed. It worked.
The fact is there are hundreds of early church related manuscripts. Literally hundreds.
Almost all are reputable and have been verified as authentic. This does not mean they are helpful or even truthful in their witness to the events. Each of these bodies of work were known and available at the time of canonization of the scriptures and were not chosen to be a part of the corpus of the body of work we know as the Bible. Why were they (or this) manuscript not included?
My guess, probably because the message is not consistent with the other witnesses. When hundreds of people see the same event someone is going to see a shot from the grassy knoll, even if there was none. We must go with the majority of the witness, the ones which come from reputable sources. By the way, The Gospel of Judas comes from the Gnostic community. My New Interpreters Bible Dictionary offers that the earliest testimonies for the existence of Gnosticism (Gnosis = knowledge) “comes from the second century, from heretical groups rather loosely related to the Christian Church. To fully understand this document we must also understand the context, both historically and theologically. Gnostic beliefs may appear closely aligned to our orthodox Christian beliefs, but in closer examination I find that while appearing similar they are not of the same substance.
My point is simply this. This gospel of Judas has merit. It is worth studying. It has been, and will continue to be interpreted by scholars and those who work in the area of textual studies. It should not however be cause for alarm or a revision of our current Bible. If this news event causes us to reach further into our own study and contemplation of the events of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ then this media event has proved worthwhile. If on the other hand the Christian community allows the gospel of Judas to be elevated to a position of equality of witness along side of our current Bible by a post modern society who wants to believe there is an ongoing large conspiracy surrounding the historical Jesus (example: The Di Vinci Code) than we will have failed as a society and become no more than the Biblical portrayal of Judas in the betrayal of our savior.
I remember studying heretical groups and textual sources while in seminary. I remember thinking this would never be useful, because in my personal experience I had not encountered a society willing to re-think these already discarded ideas. I was wrong, as we now live in a new post–modern society who is very willing to renew and repackage some ancient ideas as new information.
So, we need not run for our lives. The sky is not falling.
Love, Dad.
This is not news, in the sense that it just happened.
This “breaking news” was offered one week before Holy Thursday; the day Judas is traditionally credited for betraying Jesus. This does not feel like coincidence to me. I believe someone has offered this Gospel of Judas precisely at this time to make sure it would be noticed. It worked.
The fact is there are hundreds of early church related manuscripts. Literally hundreds.
Almost all are reputable and have been verified as authentic. This does not mean they are helpful or even truthful in their witness to the events. Each of these bodies of work were known and available at the time of canonization of the scriptures and were not chosen to be a part of the corpus of the body of work we know as the Bible. Why were they (or this) manuscript not included?
My guess, probably because the message is not consistent with the other witnesses. When hundreds of people see the same event someone is going to see a shot from the grassy knoll, even if there was none. We must go with the majority of the witness, the ones which come from reputable sources. By the way, The Gospel of Judas comes from the Gnostic community. My New Interpreters Bible Dictionary offers that the earliest testimonies for the existence of Gnosticism (Gnosis = knowledge) “comes from the second century, from heretical groups rather loosely related to the Christian Church. To fully understand this document we must also understand the context, both historically and theologically. Gnostic beliefs may appear closely aligned to our orthodox Christian beliefs, but in closer examination I find that while appearing similar they are not of the same substance.
My point is simply this. This gospel of Judas has merit. It is worth studying. It has been, and will continue to be interpreted by scholars and those who work in the area of textual studies. It should not however be cause for alarm or a revision of our current Bible. If this news event causes us to reach further into our own study and contemplation of the events of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ then this media event has proved worthwhile. If on the other hand the Christian community allows the gospel of Judas to be elevated to a position of equality of witness along side of our current Bible by a post modern society who wants to believe there is an ongoing large conspiracy surrounding the historical Jesus (example: The Di Vinci Code) than we will have failed as a society and become no more than the Biblical portrayal of Judas in the betrayal of our savior.
I remember studying heretical groups and textual sources while in seminary. I remember thinking this would never be useful, because in my personal experience I had not encountered a society willing to re-think these already discarded ideas. I was wrong, as we now live in a new post–modern society who is very willing to renew and repackage some ancient ideas as new information.
So, we need not run for our lives. The sky is not falling.
Love, Dad.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Daily Scripture Reading Leading to Sunday April 2, 2006
Daily Scripture Readings Leading to
Sunday April 02, 2006
Monday:
Proverbs 2:1-22 The Search for Wisdom
Consider these words as a path upon which we might walk toward wisdom in our lives.
Tuesday:
Acts 21-23 Understanding Paul
Paul shares the story of his conversion. Notice how Paul uses the gifts offered to him by his upbringing and family. Also notice the gifts Paul uses offered by the Holy Spirit, such as boldness in speech.
Wednesday:
Acts 24-26 Paul and the Early Church
By reading through this trial of Paul with all the twists and turns, we can see the hand of God working to offer faith and grace to even those who stand in a place of judgment. If you like, continue reading and finish the book of Acts.
Thursday:
John 21 Epilogue to John’s Gospel
This fishing story has always offered great hope to me. I find my place among the disciples, as we toil away the hours not seeing the harvest we expected. And all the time Jesus is watching and appears when we are at the end of our wits offering a new plan, a new path and a bite to eat.
Friday:
1 Timothy Paul Instructs Young Timothy
Paul takes Timothy under his wing and offers sound advice. We can also learn from Paul’s lessons.
Saturday:
2 Timothy Lesson in Leadership
Timothy is leading a group of churches and will be charged in keeping them from destructive influences and theological problems which might arise from within. He is not alone in this task.
I want to center my thoughts on Sunday in the first five verses of Chapter four. We must focus our message to the world in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why is so much of our lives spent off working in a dark corner on a marginal project. While real needs go without.
It seems so easy to focus our Christian walk in ways and places that require almost nothing of us. I can talk the talk and then go hide in the weeds, really not living in the very power I claim. Stay on task. Know the primary goal. Offer the main message of salvation.
Sunday: Reflect and Worship
Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:1-5
Sermon Title: “Don’t Wander Off”
Sunday April 02, 2006
Monday:
Proverbs 2:1-22 The Search for Wisdom
Consider these words as a path upon which we might walk toward wisdom in our lives.
Tuesday:
Acts 21-23 Understanding Paul
Paul shares the story of his conversion. Notice how Paul uses the gifts offered to him by his upbringing and family. Also notice the gifts Paul uses offered by the Holy Spirit, such as boldness in speech.
Wednesday:
Acts 24-26 Paul and the Early Church
By reading through this trial of Paul with all the twists and turns, we can see the hand of God working to offer faith and grace to even those who stand in a place of judgment. If you like, continue reading and finish the book of Acts.
Thursday:
John 21 Epilogue to John’s Gospel
This fishing story has always offered great hope to me. I find my place among the disciples, as we toil away the hours not seeing the harvest we expected. And all the time Jesus is watching and appears when we are at the end of our wits offering a new plan, a new path and a bite to eat.
Friday:
1 Timothy Paul Instructs Young Timothy
Paul takes Timothy under his wing and offers sound advice. We can also learn from Paul’s lessons.
Saturday:
2 Timothy Lesson in Leadership
Timothy is leading a group of churches and will be charged in keeping them from destructive influences and theological problems which might arise from within. He is not alone in this task.
I want to center my thoughts on Sunday in the first five verses of Chapter four. We must focus our message to the world in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why is so much of our lives spent off working in a dark corner on a marginal project. While real needs go without.
It seems so easy to focus our Christian walk in ways and places that require almost nothing of us. I can talk the talk and then go hide in the weeds, really not living in the very power I claim. Stay on task. Know the primary goal. Offer the main message of salvation.
Sunday: Reflect and Worship
Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:1-5
Sermon Title: “Don’t Wander Off”
Thursday, March 16, 2006
A Little Closer to Home...
A Little Closer to Home…
Have you noticed the little growth spurt Salem is experiencing? Our worship attendance will average over 425 per Sunday for the first quarter of 2006. This is the first time in the history of the church Salem has been over 400 for an entire quarter. The odd thing as I look at the data is that Easter, with it’s traditionally large numbers, is not until the next quarter. This growth is happening without either of the big holidays of Christmas or Easter.
As you know this church has been on a pretty steady growing curve for over five years. In fact most everything that really matters, from the attendance, to the finances, to the building has about doubled. I believe all this activity is really a function of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. I believe it is our relationship with Jesus Christ, each other, and our neighbor which is the real muscle at work behind the scenes. Yet what we can measure, which surely must reflect the Spirit, are things like attendance and giving.
All churches go through seasons of up and down. Salem has not experienced a spike of growth every quarter, some are more level and adjusting than other quarters. But just know that this past quarter has been very special. As we look to the future we see the Children’s Worship Design Team hard at work. We know that the JAM (Jesus and Me) children’s worship beginning this September will also offer further growth into our congregation. We see that the Manna Project continues to offer grace and love into the community and the path towards establishing a more permanent ongoing presence offsite in Manawa proper may be only months away. That will also mean a new and different type of growth for Salem. Did you know Salem is in the preliminary stages of visiting with our architects again to vision a new Sanctuary for our current setting. This three to five year project will accommodate our continued growth and spur on additional new growth. We are currently working with the SPRC to add additional staff to keep up with the changes taking place. We are also very interested in ways to assist the membership to grow in their leadership. We will need to grow more leaders and provide opportunities to experience ministry firsthand.
This June, I will be finishing six years as your pastor. When Cheryl and I arrived the worship attendance was about 180, today it is over 425. We continue blessed and amazed at the ways God works through this congregation. When we arrived in June of 2000, the budget was about $190,000 with no apportionments paid for the year. Today our budget is about $475,000 (with much of this going directly to missions) and all the bills are paid. And as a note, Salem is making good and steady progress on the building loan. Our financial position is as strong as anytime in the last six years.
All this to say, “God is not done with us yet.” We will continue to grow and reach out and gather in the Holy name of our Savior Jesus. The vision I have been given and offer to you is a church preparing to become more than we ever imagined. We are going to reach 500 new folks for Jesus by the year 2010. It is to this end we pray, and plan, and prepare. And we acknowledge it is not in the attaining of our goals in which we are given new life, it is the blessing of the journey together. This expanding relationship is where we will find our real growth that the numbers will never be able to discern. This is going to be something! See you on Sunday. Dave.
Have you noticed the little growth spurt Salem is experiencing? Our worship attendance will average over 425 per Sunday for the first quarter of 2006. This is the first time in the history of the church Salem has been over 400 for an entire quarter. The odd thing as I look at the data is that Easter, with it’s traditionally large numbers, is not until the next quarter. This growth is happening without either of the big holidays of Christmas or Easter.
As you know this church has been on a pretty steady growing curve for over five years. In fact most everything that really matters, from the attendance, to the finances, to the building has about doubled. I believe all this activity is really a function of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. I believe it is our relationship with Jesus Christ, each other, and our neighbor which is the real muscle at work behind the scenes. Yet what we can measure, which surely must reflect the Spirit, are things like attendance and giving.
All churches go through seasons of up and down. Salem has not experienced a spike of growth every quarter, some are more level and adjusting than other quarters. But just know that this past quarter has been very special. As we look to the future we see the Children’s Worship Design Team hard at work. We know that the JAM (Jesus and Me) children’s worship beginning this September will also offer further growth into our congregation. We see that the Manna Project continues to offer grace and love into the community and the path towards establishing a more permanent ongoing presence offsite in Manawa proper may be only months away. That will also mean a new and different type of growth for Salem. Did you know Salem is in the preliminary stages of visiting with our architects again to vision a new Sanctuary for our current setting. This three to five year project will accommodate our continued growth and spur on additional new growth. We are currently working with the SPRC to add additional staff to keep up with the changes taking place. We are also very interested in ways to assist the membership to grow in their leadership. We will need to grow more leaders and provide opportunities to experience ministry firsthand.
This June, I will be finishing six years as your pastor. When Cheryl and I arrived the worship attendance was about 180, today it is over 425. We continue blessed and amazed at the ways God works through this congregation. When we arrived in June of 2000, the budget was about $190,000 with no apportionments paid for the year. Today our budget is about $475,000 (with much of this going directly to missions) and all the bills are paid. And as a note, Salem is making good and steady progress on the building loan. Our financial position is as strong as anytime in the last six years.
All this to say, “God is not done with us yet.” We will continue to grow and reach out and gather in the Holy name of our Savior Jesus. The vision I have been given and offer to you is a church preparing to become more than we ever imagined. We are going to reach 500 new folks for Jesus by the year 2010. It is to this end we pray, and plan, and prepare. And we acknowledge it is not in the attaining of our goals in which we are given new life, it is the blessing of the journey together. This expanding relationship is where we will find our real growth that the numbers will never be able to discern. This is going to be something! See you on Sunday. Dave.
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