I love driving Ella to preschool three days a week. The conversations we have are usually quite entertaining.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Jessica’s cousin Derek Story is incredibly talented on the acoustic guitar. I was just sent a link to his YouTube channel and had to post a couple of his videos here for your enjoyment:
Visit his YouTube channel here.
Thanks to my buddy Heath Mullikin, I stumbled upon this quick interview snippet from New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright.
My favorite pull-quote from the interview:
“There’s a lot of serious, hardworking, Christian women in (Romans) chapter 16 and I don’t think they were just making the tea after the church worship service either.”
Scripture references from the clip (open them in new-browser-tabs as you watch):
Romans 16
1 Corinthians 14
1 Corinthians 11
John 20
1 Corinthians 15
1 Timothy 2
As a Wesleyan pastor, I’m proud of our denomination and its vocal stance on valuing women in ministry, though I acknowledge that we have a long way still to go.
What are your thoughts?
I’m reading through the Bible in a year using resources from YouVersion on my phone and on the web. I’ve done this before and remember a similar feeling as I approached and began to read through the book of Leviticus a few weeks ago. The feeling can best be described in one-word, “ugh”. I’m not even sure if that’s a legitimate word.
The first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), referred to as “the Torah” represent the Law of God. As a New Testament Christian I usually breeze through the reading of ‘The Law’ and conclude it with a “thank You, Jesus” prayer. I think the common-thought among Christians is one of thankfulness that we’re no longer bound by the Law – but in doing so, we miss the emphasis Jesus placed on it in Matthew 5:17 – “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
So, instead of looking at the Law as something that is no longer relevant (since Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected), we must look deeper into the Law and see if and how it applies to us as Christians today.
Just a week-or-so ago I stumbled on a great article through my good friend Greg Saldi that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It is entitled, “Getting the Most from Old Testament Law, Part 1” and was written by Matt Proctor, the acting president of Ozark Christian College in Missouri.
In the article, Proctor refers often to the book “The Year of Living Biblically” by A.J. Jacobs – a book that has been on my wishlist since its printing in 2008. I have still yet to read the book, but I am consistently intrigued by the questions that arise amongst Christians and non-Christians alike at how important ‘the Law’ is at understanding our place in God’s plan, the role of sacrifice in that plan, and the magnitude of grace.
While I don’t completely agree with everything Proctor purports, there are a few discussion-starting jump-off points that grabbed my attention:
On the purposes of the Law:
“So when God gives the Law, God is totally redefining the Israelites’ self-identity. By establishing a covenant with Israel, he is offering ot extend his protection and care. Suddenly the Israelites were no longer the human garbage of Egypt; they were chosen and privileged! God wanted them! Israel never understood the Law as a means of salvation – hoops to jump through to earn God’s favor. God had already saved Israel in the Exodus, before the Law was even handed down. Rather, after experiencing God’s incredible redemption from slavery, the Israelites understood the Law as another act of grace. It signified God’s desire for an ongoing relationship.”
On the Law looking a lot like works-based righteousness:
“If you’re chosen to play football for Notre Dame, you don’t have to wear a gold helmet and slap the famous “Play Like a Champion Today” sign. You get to. And if you’re chosen as the people of God, you don’t have to obey the Law. You get to. To live within the Law was a privilege – part of a new identity.”
If you’re interested in reading the article by Proctor, it is available here as a PDF. And if you do read it, I’d love for you to add your thoughts/remarks in the comments here on the blog!
On Saturday, as I pulled into the church parking lot at 7:04AM, there was already an early-bird yard sale-er pulling in behind me! With that kind of early-response, it was no surprise that our church yard sale was a huge success! We probably had close to 200-people come through our basement-turned-garage to look through and purchase items donated by our church people, their friends, and family. We sold large and small items and I was surprised how many people also were ready to eat freshly-grilled hotdogs during those morning hours!
The fundraiser took in just less than $450 and we thank God for that! We are already beginning to brainstorm our next church fundraiser that we’re hoping to have in mid-July!
On Sunday, even with moving our clocks forward an hour we had our average Sunday morning attendance as I began a 2-week series entitled “Like Christ”. This week we discussed how Jesus lived ‘behind the scenes’ and how we as His followers need to apply his private-lifestyle into our own routine. I tied in the private-life of Jesus to the realization of Lent being an inward-focus and I closed the service with a video that helps us imagine what Jesus’ 40-day wilderness fast might have looked like:
My sermon can be found here if you’re interested in listening.
It was great having my mother-in-law and sister-in-law in for the weekend visiting our family from Indiana, too! While I was away for many hours, it was comforting knowing that Jess and the kids were enjoying their visit!
