That was the title of my message on Sunday. At the end I encouraged those who wished to dig deeper into this matter, to read the book by Stanley Grenz entitled, “Welcoming but not Affirming: An Evangelical Response to Homosexuality“. In my opinion, it is a response based on grace and truth.

Tim

Listen to the message here:

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This is the prayer from my message today that I challenged us all to pray this coming week,  on a daily or even an hourly basis.

“Lord, I pledge my allegiance to you today. Enable me to have the discernment to walk in obedience, to sense wrong when I encounter it and to stay away from it. Keep me strong when temptations come. Guard my tongue from saying the wrong thing or saying too much or speaking too quickly. Enable me to resist outbursts of anger. Fill me with Your Spirit. I want the fruit of the Spirit and new nature (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) to show in me today. Take my eyes, my tongue, my emotions, my will, and use me, Lord. Amen”

May we all see evidence of the Spirit in our lives as we invite him to control our lives!

Tim

Listen to the message here:

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This is the poem I ended my message yesterday with:

You are who you are for a reason.
You’re part of an intricate plan.
You’re a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God’s special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb,
You’re just what he wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones he chose,
And no matter how you may feel,
They were custom-designed with God’s plan in mind,
And they bear the Master’s seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so;
But it was allowed to shape  your heart
So that into his likeness you’d grow.

You are who you are for a reason,
You’ve been formed by the Master’s rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God!

-  Russel Kelfer

Listen to the message here:

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Today’s message was based on Psalm 139:13-14,  “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

My challenge for the coming week is to thank God each day for some aspect of the wonderful design of our human bodies:

Monday: thank God for your sight,

Tuesday: thank God for your hearing.

Wednesday: thank God for your legs, feet, arms and hands.

Thursday: thank God for your sense of smell & taste.

Friday: thank God for your sense of touch.

Saturday: Thank God for your vital organs: Brain, liver, heart, stomach, lungs, and kidneys.

Tim

Listen to the message here:

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In order to help prepare yourself for the Easter Celebration please read the following Scripture sections in a reflective way:

Monday: John 13

Tuesday: John 14

Wednesday: John 15

Thursday: John 16

Friday: John 17

Saturday: John 18-19

Sunday: John 20

Remember the times for the Easter services: 8:30 – 9:45 – 11:00!

Tim

In my series to begin the new year, I am using five parables of Jesus as the biblical foundation for five New Year’s Resolution challenges. Here are the ones I have give so far:

From the parable of the four soils in Luke 8:4-15 the first New Year’s Resolution: “I will read my Bible regularly with an open and receptive heart and mind.” 

From the parable of the loaned money in Matthew 25:14-30 the second New Year’s Resolution:  “I will be a good steward of the skills and resources God has entrusted to me and I will serve in causes in this world that matter to God.”

From the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 8:1-8 the third New Year’s Resolution:  “I will pray regularly and persistently because I believe that God will answer my prayers and because I believe that praying regularly and persistently will make me a more mature Christian.”

From the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21 the fourth New Year’s Resolution: “I will choose to live below my means so that I am able to give generously to the causes that matter to God.”

From the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son in Luke 15 the fifth New Year’s Resolution: “I will befriend people who need Jesus.”

“True followers of Christ who really get it right, give themselves to people. Most importantly, they give themselves to pointing people to faith in Christ. That is the highest and best use of a human life – to have it serve as a signpost that points people toward God. If you really believe in the redeeming and transforming power of God’s presence in a person’s life, then the single greatest gift you can give someone is an explanation of how to be rightly connected to him.” – Bill Hybels from Just Walk Across the Room

Tim

These are the three books I mentioned in my message on Sunday. If you want to be motivated to a more consistent and meaningful prayer life, any of these books will do that for you.

Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels

Prayer, The Great Adventure by David Jeremiah

Prayer, Does it Make any Difference? by Philip Yancy

I have read all three and can say that they are all worth reading!

Tim

I am reading Andy Stanley’s new book called Deep and Wide and I just read the following statement:

“Either you were a mess, are a mess, or are one dumb decision away from becoming a mess. And when you were your messiest version of you, you weren’t looking for a policy, were you? You needed somebody to take you just as you were. That’s what Jesus did for me. That’s what Jesus did for you. That being the case, it seems to me that’s what we should be about as the local church.”

What a convicting and challenging reminder to me!

Tim

Someone sent me this statement today and I thought I would pass it along to you as a reminder of what is true:

“America’s hope is not in a donkey or an elephant but in a lamb.”

Tim

Here are the quotes I used in my message on Sunday:

“There are scars on my faith, but underneath those scars there are no doubts. Christ has me with the consent of all my being and with the corroboration of all my life. The song I sing is a life song. Not the temporary exuberance of youth that often fades when middle and old age set in with their disillusionment and cynicisms – the days when one says, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’ No, I’m eighty-three, and I’m more excited today about being a Christian than I was at eighteen when I first put my feet upon the way.” E. Stanley Jones

“The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven’t yet come to the end of themselves. We’re still trying to give God orders, and interfering with His plans in us.” A.W. Tozer

“The historic church taught that the chief end of man was to glorify God and enjoy him forever; the modern church too often teaches that the chief end of God is to gratify man.” Larry Crabb

“The question is not ‘how much pleasure am I getting out of life?’ the question is ‘how much pleasure is God getting out of my life?’  Genuine surrender says, ‘Father, if this problem, pain, sickness, or circumstance is needed to fulfill your purpose and glory in my life or in another’s, please don’t take it away.” Rick Warren

Tim