Jesus is the ultimate fighting champion

My Year Listening to God continues with my thought that Jesus is the ultimate fighting champion.

This mornings readings convict me. i feel a sense of guilt for my sinfulness. In the New Testament portion, Jesus continues his discourse at the sermon on the mount. The second half of Matthew 5 Jesus pulls no punches.

photo from Leopard Box Club

Like a heavyweight pugilist, he strikes one blow after another into the heavy bag of my heart. He strikes me with jabs directly in the jaw. Then Jesus catches me off guard with a punch in mid-stride with his right fist. He has stunned me, but continues to bob and weave, circling around me, then unloads his best and powerful punch to the face of my heart, where I am down for the count.

I want to thank Keith Pascal for his insight into hitting a heavy bag. but as I observe a fighters' workout. I find it insightful how Jesus addresses his audience in the sermon on the mount.

Jesus is the Ultimate Fighting Champion. His teaching creates a standing eight count in my life. Then as I reflect on its impact in my life. I continue the bout and next thing you know, I 'm on the canvas, mouthguard dislodged, and portruding from my lips like a damaged straw.

I take liberties with this analogy to make the point that God's Word brings to my attention my sinfulness. I used to view this process of convcition as merely a guilt trip. But now as I mature in the Lord, I discover it as a catalyst for deeper commitment to God. Rather than immobilze me, guilt can motivate me to adjust my life to God's standards. With His help, I can improve. Conviction of sin can lead to full devotion. I want to be fully devoted to God.

The knockout punches in this passage are lust, integrity (when I say yes, then follow through, or when i say no, then stand firm), generosity (even when it feels like you are being taken advantaged of--give to the one who asks you), and friendliness (greet everyone, not only the ones who you know).

So I will protect myself from lust. I will keep my guard up against a lack of integrity. I will counter-punch to be more generous. I will bob and weave by greeting everyone I meet. May God speak to you as He speaks to me.

My Year Listening to God

On my forty-third year of life I intend to read through the Bible this year. I believe the Bible is the words of God. According to II Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is God-breathed," i.e. spoken or breathed out and recorded for me and anyone to read the very words of God--His revelation to humankind. Thus I intend to read the whole Bible, "listening" to the words of God throughout my forty-third year of life on this earth.

In my readings I will share what thoughts are prompted. Today I marvel at how God works in people's lives. I consider Joseph who made a decision to quietly divorce his betrothed bride-to-be to avoid a public spectacle. But God spoke into his life and redirected that decision to marry a pregnant maiden in spite of the public scandal.

Joseph chose to follow God's direction in spite of his logical conclusion or the proper and accustomed mores in his culture. He obeyed God even in the midst of an apparent scandalous circumstance--a betrothed fiancee was now pregnant; pregnant not by him, but by the Holy Spirit. He obeyed God's way.

Joseph was a fully devoted follower of God. My! how I fall short. I wonder if I'd be willing to do what God wanted even when following God meant it went against the grain of my own thinking and conclusions, and even when the culture would affirm my actions as proper.

When God reveals his truth to me, then I enter the arena like Joseph. I become a gladiator to do battle with what God prompts or to slay the promptings within my own heart for the alliance with the new truth of God, prompted from the Bible. Or do I draw the sword against the culture in which I live to defiantly and passionately align myself to God's truth. I wonder whom I engage in battle. The choice of engagement is mine. I wonder who you'd engage. Let me know what you think--I hope to add to this post as I pause to muse over this conflict throughout my day, the first day of my forty-third year.

Engaged in battle, Daron

Advancing missions today and beyond

IG has challenged my thinking again as I consider my role as Cross-cultural Missions pastor. From their May 12 email newsletter, I need to discover how to depict missions in a way that will stir viewers' souls, captivate vast human audiences, and eventually gives missions the spotlight it deserves. IG featured three things that I could see emerge in my area of ministry as my storyline for the future: produce or access mission-themed documentaries for church-wide and FGBC release, a missions network about people where the drama of people on-mission draws others to stay for the foundational biblical principles for our strategic, epic trips, harness strategic trips to the fields where we partner with missionaries so that a growing audience of church attendees can satisfy their curiosity of those far-off places and with the weak economy we can't afford to acutally make the trip. I need to muse about this some more, "wallow" in these thoughts.

My sermon on Sunday

I got the opportunity to preach this past Sunday. Pastor Nick Cleveland teamed up with me. Together we took Hebrews 12:1-3 as the text for challenging people to keep on running in the race of faith. There are obstacles, hinderances that need to be thrown off to run well.

Five things need to be left behind to keep running the race of faith: worries, wounds, my way, ungodly wants, and wrongs. The remedy for each are: leave behind worries by praying; leave behind wounds by forgiving; leave my way by humbling myself to go God's way; leave behind ungodly wants by training; and leave behind wrongs by confessing.

It is going to be difficult. I have found it challenging to run the race of faith everyday. I struggle with worries. I confessed that getting my house ready for sale is my weighty hinderance that I need to cast off. When I feel in my heart that I can't control the situation, I know in my head that God is in control. Still, I must cognitively act upon what the Bible says in I Peter 5:7, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." The verb there is a participle (it talks of an ongoing action, not a one-time decision). Every time anxiety grows within me, I can cast it upon God as anxiety emerges. There is no time when I will be worry-free. Not for an extended time. In reality, worry pops up a lot. However, God is truly there for me. I praise Him that He cares for me. Yes, following God as His disciple is challenging, but its benefits truly make it more than worthwhile.

Keep on running,

Pastor Daron

How to Share Your Faith Using Amy Winehouse's Rehab - Dare 2 Share Youth Ministries, International

How to Share Your Faith Using Amy Winehouse's Rehab - Dare 2 Share Youth Ministries, International
This resource may give you an opportunity to be bold witness for God. I trust you can reflect on the article's questions. I find it challenging to consider how to use the culture as a springboard to bring God up. May this article help you in your quest to being a fully devoted follower of Christ.

Important Issues we face

I read from the Pastor's Weekly Briefing Jan 25, 2008 provided by Focus on the Family Pastoral Resources where a new Barna Group report outlines, "What concerns Christians the most? The following new study from The Barna Group reveals the top 10 perceived important issues in the here and now:
(1-3) Three types of issues are of particular concern, perceived as "major" problems facing the country by three-quarters of the population. These include poverty (78%), the personal debt of individual Americans (78%) and HIV/AIDS (76%).
(4-7) A quartet of issues emerged as moderate concerns, including immigration (60% of adults said this is a major problem facing the country), global warming (57%), abortion (50%) and the content of television and movies (45%)."

I wonder if these are important to those who attend Wooster Grace. If these perceived important issues reflect most Christians then how am I helping to equip believers to address these issues and to teach them what God's word says. We are launching a two-week message series on prayer. I wonder if we could incorporate daily prayer themes through the month of February by taking the top seven issues and praying over them each day. For example on the first I would pray for the poor, on the second i would pray for personal debt, etc. I just might incorporate these requests into my prayer time.

We already offer a money management seminar. We offered a seminar on HIV/AIDS and regarding immigration or ethnic diversity we conduct an Internationals class on Sunday mornings as well as on March 1 we are offering a seminar on how to show Christian love to Muslims. So I believe we are helping to equip God's church to be people fully devoted to Jesus Christ.

Short Term Missions Trip Redefined

I subscribe to an email newsletter, TrendCentral. In the October 3, 2007 issue I came across an emerging trend called vagabonding. TrendCentral is created by the The Intelligence Group which is a trend-forecasting and marketing consultancy focused on Gen X, Gen Y and Tweens (people ages 14-34).

VAGABONDING: This growing trend in travel is changing the way people think about using their vacation days. The concept suggests that long-term travel is more meaningful and memorable than the 1-2 week vacation that’s standard in Western culture. Through taking extended (and often times independent) vacations in out of the way locales, vagabonders can recharge by discovering and experiencing the world on their own time. Apparently it’s not as difficult as it sounds to take a couple months off from one’s normal life. There are books, guides and online communities that offer tips on everything from how to manage travel funds to how to find a safe subletter to help with the rent.

TrendCentral describes a growing trend among these young people about travel which I think may be applied to missions. I could see this becoming another way for short-term teams 2-4 people travel around ministering to our missionaries or even starting new works wherever the Holy Spirit causes them to land. It is a risky option but one to possibly consider after much prayer and input from God's people.

I could see these "teams" going for a summer. They would be teams selected by the participants, not gathered by the mission organization. I could see them vagabonding for Christ starting churches. I wonder what this would look like. I need more time to think and to dream.