Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Jesus Among Other Gods - Ravi Zacharias
Just finished reading the book this past week. An excellent explanation of what makes Christianity unique when compared to other world views and major religions - Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Didn't explain as much about the other religions as I thought it would (it did explain some of the basics and included quite a bit about secularism and humanism), but definately helped me to understand more about Christianity from some different viewpoints. Ravi's writing can be a little deep at times. A friend who is an engineer (not the railroad kind), and has as good a vocabulary as anyone else I know, commented that he kept a pad of paper while he read to write down all of the words he needed to look up at the end of the chapter. Don't let that put you off, just think of it as an opportunity to expand your use of the language. There is a youth edition available also - it may be easier to read. If you want to understand more about the unique claims of Christ and improve upon your knowledge of what makes Christianity special (not all religions lead to God) this book is well worth your while.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Photo Feedback
Apparently my picture is doing it's job quite nicely. It's gotten a few people talking with comments ranging from - "it made me laugh" to "where did you find that? the nuthouse?" Well, before everyone starts to tell me that my current portrait is inappropriate for a pastor or that surely I could find something more respectable, ask yourself - why am I (are you) responding in that way?
The picture was intended to be fun and to signify that I don't take my self too seriously. Hopefully you were able to have a smile and chuckle to yourself. Don't worry if it offends you. It will change soon enough.
You see, all too often I do take myself and my position - as one responsible for facillitating people's connection with God - entirely too seriously. I want to think that everything depends on me and that if I don't do it - no one else will. Nothing could be further from the ultimate truth. Because this life, the church, and pastoring is not about me. It's about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and other people.
God is the one who is in control, not me. That should take some pressure off and allow for us to experience a little fun. Take our hands off the wheel and not be so serious all the time. Afterall, God does have a sense of humor. He created us didn't he? He was the one that came up with the avacado, the platypus, and the wonderful noise that those springy door stops make when you flick them with your foot (my oldest son who is 8 just discovered this and couldn't stop himself while on a recent tour of our new firehouse in Arthur). I think God looks at us scurrying around, being self important and has a laugh - just like we do with our own kids. How could He not?
Life is about Jesus because that's the way we should be living. God came and walked among us in the person of Jesus Christ demonstrating the best possible way to live. Now it's up to us to figure out how to imitate that the best we can in our own lives, while remembering the point above - God is the one who is responsible and in control.
Finally, life is about other people and what we can contribute to their lives. First off, we should be about giving others every opportunity to experience a loving God through us as His representatives here on earth. Demonstrating what a relationship with our Creator through Jesus can be like. The second thing is that we should love others as we love ourselves. I am working on understanding what that fully means and am realizing that I'm not even scratching the surface of it. Definately something to work on.
Sorry if my picture offended anyone. It was just an attempt at a little self humor. Be patient it will change.
The picture was intended to be fun and to signify that I don't take my self too seriously. Hopefully you were able to have a smile and chuckle to yourself. Don't worry if it offends you. It will change soon enough.
You see, all too often I do take myself and my position - as one responsible for facillitating people's connection with God - entirely too seriously. I want to think that everything depends on me and that if I don't do it - no one else will. Nothing could be further from the ultimate truth. Because this life, the church, and pastoring is not about me. It's about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and other people.
God is the one who is in control, not me. That should take some pressure off and allow for us to experience a little fun. Take our hands off the wheel and not be so serious all the time. Afterall, God does have a sense of humor. He created us didn't he? He was the one that came up with the avacado, the platypus, and the wonderful noise that those springy door stops make when you flick them with your foot (my oldest son who is 8 just discovered this and couldn't stop himself while on a recent tour of our new firehouse in Arthur). I think God looks at us scurrying around, being self important and has a laugh - just like we do with our own kids. How could He not?
Life is about Jesus because that's the way we should be living. God came and walked among us in the person of Jesus Christ demonstrating the best possible way to live. Now it's up to us to figure out how to imitate that the best we can in our own lives, while remembering the point above - God is the one who is responsible and in control.
Finally, life is about other people and what we can contribute to their lives. First off, we should be about giving others every opportunity to experience a loving God through us as His representatives here on earth. Demonstrating what a relationship with our Creator through Jesus can be like. The second thing is that we should love others as we love ourselves. I am working on understanding what that fully means and am realizing that I'm not even scratching the surface of it. Definately something to work on.
Sorry if my picture offended anyone. It was just an attempt at a little self humor. Be patient it will change.
Monday, February 07, 2005
Finally up and running
Well, the church website is finally up and running. Hopefully, you linked to this through it. If you found yourself here by another means, you can check it out at www.firstbaptistarthur.com.
I plan on getting a few more things figured out to add to this blog and the website this week, so keep an eye out for changes! The blog will eventually start taking shape as well with things I've been musing about, challenges God's been giving me, and just a deeper look at one person's walk with Christ (mine). Any input or responses you have, please share them with me. Two opinions can simulataneously exist and neither one of them has to be right.
- john
I plan on getting a few more things figured out to add to this blog and the website this week, so keep an eye out for changes! The blog will eventually start taking shape as well with things I've been musing about, challenges God's been giving me, and just a deeper look at one person's walk with Christ (mine). Any input or responses you have, please share them with me. Two opinions can simulataneously exist and neither one of them has to be right.
- john
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