Here's an excerpt from Martin Luther, "The Freedom of a Christian" that I thought was worth sharing.
"The 3rd benefit of faith is that it unites the soul with Christ as a bride is united with her bridegroom. By this mystery, as the Apostle teaches, Christ and the soul become one flesh. And if they are one flesh and there is between them a true marriage...it follows that everything they have they hold in common, the good as well as the evil.
Accordingly the believing soul can boast of and glory in whatever Christ has though it were its own, and whatever the soul has Christ claims as His own. Let us compare these and we shall see inestimable benefits.
Christ is full of grace, life and salvation. The soul is full of sins, death and damnation. Now let faith come between them and sins, death and damnation will be Christ's, while grace, life and salvation will be the soul's; for if Christ is bridegroom, He must take upon Himself the things which are His bride's and bestow upon her the things that are His.
If He gives her His body and very self, how shall He not give her all that is His? And if He takes the body of the bride, how shall He not take all that is hers?
Wow!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Consumed by Fear?
Undoubtedly, if you hang around church people or are a church person yourself, you have heard or thought things like this:
-The liberals are threatening the Christian foundational values of our nation.
-Legalizing gay marriage will erode the moral fabric of our society
-If we don't fight evolutionism and promote the literal creation story of Genesis 1 and 2, then the Bible will lose all its authority
-A Christian should never vote for a candidate who is pro-choice
-If there is no eternal damnation in hell, then there is no reason to live for God today
-The government shouldn't help poor people, but individual Christians should. We need to fight the poor's sense of entitlement or our American, capitalist society will fall apart.
-The gospel is first and foremost about personal, individual salvation. The salvation of creation, culture, and the world is secondary, or a byproduct of the 1st salvation. If we confuse this, then we will lose the gospel entirely.
There are many more thoughts that are similar in the evangelical church today. I'm not here to argue whether or not these statements are true or false. But the overwhelming sense I get from all of these discussions is that we, the american church, are consumed with fear. We don't know how to talk about these issues without getting really nervous, argumentative, and afraid of people who have different views than we do. This is very unfortunate, since these are very important topics. We need to talk about these things! But we need to talk about them without fear. God is not too small to handle our questions and disagreements. We can't be afraid of people who think differently than we do. We need to trust that God is sovereign - He alone holds the world in this hands and He alone is the head of the church. He will not cease to be good, and the Bible will not lose it's power if people in the church have these discussions. We need not be afraid!
"Perfect love drives out fear" Let's strive to love more, and argue with fear less.
-The liberals are threatening the Christian foundational values of our nation.
-Legalizing gay marriage will erode the moral fabric of our society
-If we don't fight evolutionism and promote the literal creation story of Genesis 1 and 2, then the Bible will lose all its authority
-A Christian should never vote for a candidate who is pro-choice
-If there is no eternal damnation in hell, then there is no reason to live for God today
-The government shouldn't help poor people, but individual Christians should. We need to fight the poor's sense of entitlement or our American, capitalist society will fall apart.
-The gospel is first and foremost about personal, individual salvation. The salvation of creation, culture, and the world is secondary, or a byproduct of the 1st salvation. If we confuse this, then we will lose the gospel entirely.
There are many more thoughts that are similar in the evangelical church today. I'm not here to argue whether or not these statements are true or false. But the overwhelming sense I get from all of these discussions is that we, the american church, are consumed with fear. We don't know how to talk about these issues without getting really nervous, argumentative, and afraid of people who have different views than we do. This is very unfortunate, since these are very important topics. We need to talk about these things! But we need to talk about them without fear. God is not too small to handle our questions and disagreements. We can't be afraid of people who think differently than we do. We need to trust that God is sovereign - He alone holds the world in this hands and He alone is the head of the church. He will not cease to be good, and the Bible will not lose it's power if people in the church have these discussions. We need not be afraid!
"Perfect love drives out fear" Let's strive to love more, and argue with fear less.
Monday, November 28, 2011
I love my imperfect church
I'm taking a course at seminary this semester called "Seminar in Congregational Studies: Learning to love the local church, warts and all." Every church has warts. There is no such thing as a perfect church. At least, I have never been to one. The same applies to marriage. There are no perfect husbands, and no perfect wives, yet we still fall in love, and still commit ourselves to our spouses.
I love my church. It is not perfect. I love my wife. She is not perfect. What a beautiful picture of grace. God loves us, and we are not perfect! I'm thankful for these powerful pictures in my life that remind me how God loves us. At our Thanksgiving service this past week, I was reminded again why I love my church. We shared a friendly football game, ate donuts, and enjoyed spending time together. There was anticipation and energy before the service started. People came ready to meet God in worship. We were encouraged and challenged by God's word. We shared stories of gratitude because of God's goodness in our lives. We shed tears. We laughed. We celebrated. It's easy to love a church like this.
But it's not that easy. People let us down. There are disagreements. We get hurt, and most likely we are involved in hurting others too. But let's not forget that we love each other. And that means grace and forgiveness must define our relationships. Jesus loves us even though we are not perfect. And that is why I love my church, her warts and all.
I love my church. It is not perfect. I love my wife. She is not perfect. What a beautiful picture of grace. God loves us, and we are not perfect! I'm thankful for these powerful pictures in my life that remind me how God loves us. At our Thanksgiving service this past week, I was reminded again why I love my church. We shared a friendly football game, ate donuts, and enjoyed spending time together. There was anticipation and energy before the service started. People came ready to meet God in worship. We were encouraged and challenged by God's word. We shared stories of gratitude because of God's goodness in our lives. We shed tears. We laughed. We celebrated. It's easy to love a church like this.
But it's not that easy. People let us down. There are disagreements. We get hurt, and most likely we are involved in hurting others too. But let's not forget that we love each other. And that means grace and forgiveness must define our relationships. Jesus loves us even though we are not perfect. And that is why I love my church, her warts and all.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Chaotic Week
I woke up Monday morning and said to my wife, "this is going to be a crazy week...I'll see you on Friday." Here's why:
Monday: Class all morning, work all afternoon, homework all evening
Tuesday: Work all day, class in the afternoon, more work all night
Wednesday: Class all morning, Work all afternoon, rehearsal all evening
Thursday: Attending a conference in Chicago all day, leaving early, getting back late.
Friday: Class all morning, work all afternoon. FRIDAY EVENING is FREE!!!
No doubt, weeks like this are tough, but thankfully they don't happen every week. Although, most of this stuff is great, and I'm looking forward to it, it is tough to not feel guilty for neglecting my wife and son. (That's because I am). Here's to looking forward to next week: no school, Thanksgiving dinner, extra sleep, and extra time with family. To my generous and supportive wife, and to my amazing son, I love you both dearly, and I am so thankful you give me grace when I'm not around as much. I miss you and I'm looking forward to spending time with you this weekend and next weekend!
How about you? How do you survive long weeks and chaotic schedules?
Monday: Class all morning, work all afternoon, homework all evening
Tuesday: Work all day, class in the afternoon, more work all night
Wednesday: Class all morning, Work all afternoon, rehearsal all evening
Thursday: Attending a conference in Chicago all day, leaving early, getting back late.
Friday: Class all morning, work all afternoon. FRIDAY EVENING is FREE!!!
No doubt, weeks like this are tough, but thankfully they don't happen every week. Although, most of this stuff is great, and I'm looking forward to it, it is tough to not feel guilty for neglecting my wife and son. (That's because I am). Here's to looking forward to next week: no school, Thanksgiving dinner, extra sleep, and extra time with family. To my generous and supportive wife, and to my amazing son, I love you both dearly, and I am so thankful you give me grace when I'm not around as much. I miss you and I'm looking forward to spending time with you this weekend and next weekend!
How about you? How do you survive long weeks and chaotic schedules?
Friday, November 4, 2011
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...
Some may say Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, and while Christmas is wonderful, I'll take Autumn, thank you very much! Take a look:
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
A Song for My Family
The lyrics to this song overwhelmed this past weekend.
Still letting it sink in.
This is a song for my family
Outside the walls of Sunday morning
Outside the walls of Sunday morning
from some within.
This is a song to confess our sins,
Lay it all out, and try to begin again.
To hope again.
Please forgive our ignorance
In looking down on you
Please forgive our selfishness
For hiding in our pews while the world bleeds
While the world needs us to be what we should be
This is a song for my family who
Just can’t believe in the Jesus that you’ve seen
on Sunday morning.
This is a song for the cynical saints.
The burned out and hopeless.
The ones that we’ve cast away.
I feel your pain.
Please forgive the wastefulness of all that we could be
But don’t forget, there’s more than this
Her beauty still exists
His bride is still alive
His bride is still alive
His bride is still alive
His bride is still alive
His bride is still alive
This is a song for my family inside
The walls of Sunday morning.
Be what you should be.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
aaaaannnd I'm back
So ya, it's been a few months. I needed a break. But now I'm back, for now.
I went to the David Crowder concert this past weekend. Wonderful time! I'm sad to see this group of creative, musical, socially awkward, clever, entertaining guys break up. But I'm thankful for what they've produced over the last 11 years. Plus, I always love me some sweet face melting solos...
Gungor opened for *DCB and they were spectacular as well. I mean, come on, a cello player beat-boxing at the same time? Seriously awesome!
That's all for now. Happy October everyone!
I went to the David Crowder concert this past weekend. Wonderful time! I'm sad to see this group of creative, musical, socially awkward, clever, entertaining guys break up. But I'm thankful for what they've produced over the last 11 years. Plus, I always love me some sweet face melting solos...
Gungor opened for *DCB and they were spectacular as well. I mean, come on, a cello player beat-boxing at the same time? Seriously awesome!
That's all for now. Happy October everyone!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Things I've thought about blogging about...
I know...I've been absent for awhile. It's not that I didn't have topics that I wanted to blog about, but sometimes it's wiser to remain silent. Here's a list of topics I thought about commenting on.
-The End of the World/The Rapture (Which didn't happen today, by the way)
-Obama's speech about Israel
-Rob Bell's book, "Love Wins"
-The death of Osama Bin Laden
-The state of MI cutting state funding for public schools
-My brother's wedding
-The Royal Wedding
etc... But really, who cares!
Now for some real news. MICAH IS WALKING!!!
-The End of the World/The Rapture (Which didn't happen today, by the way)
-Obama's speech about Israel
-Rob Bell's book, "Love Wins"
-The death of Osama Bin Laden
-The state of MI cutting state funding for public schools
-My brother's wedding
-The Royal Wedding
etc... But really, who cares!
Now for some real news. MICAH IS WALKING!!!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Lots of Foto's for Friday
We are very blessed to have moved into a new duplex in Kentwood. We spent a lot of time and energy removing wallpaper and painting to make it our own. Here are some "before" and "after" photos of the progress.
Isn't the wall paper lovely? Don't worry. It's all gone. Here's the "after" photos.
I'll try to add more pics later that include the furniture, window treatments, and wall art, etc... Until then, thanks to all of you who helped or wished you could help with the move!
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| Dining Room |
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| Kitchen |
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| Border in the Living Room and Hallway |
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| Micah's Room |
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| Master Bedroom |
 | |||
| Bathroom |
Isn't the wall paper lovely? Don't worry. It's all gone. Here's the "after" photos.
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| Living Room looking into Dining Area |
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| Hallway from Living Room |
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| Master Bedroom |
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| Micah's Room |
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| Bathroom |
I'll try to add more pics later that include the furniture, window treatments, and wall art, etc... Until then, thanks to all of you who helped or wished you could help with the move!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Choir
Tonight, for the first time in my life, I will be directing a choir. I'm not gonna lie... it makes me both nervous and excited. I've sang in many choirs, but never led one. So this will be stretching me a bit. We will be learning "My Savior Lives" and "Mighty to Save," both in preparation for Easter. Easter gets me pretty pumped. It's like the super bowl for worship leaders. Not because it's a competition, or a performance, but because there is nothing more exciting the celebrating Jesus raising from dead! So in that sense, I'm excited about tonight; excited to sing with a group of people about the power of the resurrection. But sometimes choirs get a bad reputation. Sometimes choirs can butcher some really great songs, some times they're distracting, sometimes they're boring, and sometimes they are just bad.
There is a pretty cool choir found in the bible. Revelation chapter 5
"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:
'Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!'
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!'"
Wow! I hope our choir is like that!
Join us. The next 3 Wednesday's from 6:30pm-7:15pm at Hillside Community Church.
There is a pretty cool choir found in the bible. Revelation chapter 5
"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:
'Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!'
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!'"
Wow! I hope our choir is like that!
Join us. The next 3 Wednesday's from 6:30pm-7:15pm at Hillside Community Church.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Long Overdue Update
I'll break this up into categories to make it easier to read:
New Job:
I love my church. I love my job. It is not perfect, and it is not free from challenges, but I love it. I once heard a pastor talk about why left a thriving, successful, wonderful church that he had invested his heart and life into for many years to accept a call at a church that was broken, recovering from scandal, and hurting. He said he knew God had called him to the new church because God had given him a love for the people of the new church. It wasn't a perfect church, or his "dream job," but God called him there and he new it, because he had an unexplainable love and compassion for the people.
I can relate to that. Hillside isn't perfect. But I love the people here, and I can't wait to walk this journey, with these people, in this place. Lord, have your way with us!
Micah:
Thinking back to 7 months ago when we were new parents and Micah was a few weeks old seems like ages ago. I am almost in shock as to how fast he has grown and developed. It has been a blur! He is loving to eat all kinds of new foods, crawling all over the place, grabbing everything, pulling himself on his feet, walking along side of the furniture, and from one side of the room to the other in a matter of seconds. He is so happy, and goofy, and I love his laugh, and even when he cries he is adorable, and I love it when he falls down and bumps his head and then reaches his arms up to his daddy with tears in his eyes, knowing that in my arms, he is safe, and the pain will go away soon. I love him.
Family
We are still living in my parents basement which is going as well as can be expected. We look forward to the day when we will live in our own home again, but we are very grateful to have our families close by and supporting us. Nicole is mostly enjoying being at home with Micah, but she did start sending out resume's and filling out applications this week. We are hoping she can at least go back part time for now, so pray for a good opportunity for her to open up.
Snow
It's snowing. I love it. It's beautiful. I'm still waiting for that big winter storm though.
Weight Loss
I didn't do very well through the holiday season, so I have joined a "biggest loser" challenge here in Grand Rapids. My goal is to lose 20 pounds in the next 10 weeks during this competition, but then to lose another 20 pounds in the 12 weeks following that. I'm back to counting calories and exercising more regularly. I'm excited because I know I can do it. I've done it before. (For those you who don't remember, in 2008-2009, I went from about 245 down to 170. Now I'm back up to 210, and want to get down to 170 again)
Thanks for reading. I pray that 2011 will be a joy-filled year, even in the midst of struggles, and that you will experience God's presence daily. Have confidence as sons and daughters of the King.
New Job:
I love my church. I love my job. It is not perfect, and it is not free from challenges, but I love it. I once heard a pastor talk about why left a thriving, successful, wonderful church that he had invested his heart and life into for many years to accept a call at a church that was broken, recovering from scandal, and hurting. He said he knew God had called him to the new church because God had given him a love for the people of the new church. It wasn't a perfect church, or his "dream job," but God called him there and he new it, because he had an unexplainable love and compassion for the people.
I can relate to that. Hillside isn't perfect. But I love the people here, and I can't wait to walk this journey, with these people, in this place. Lord, have your way with us!
Micah:
Thinking back to 7 months ago when we were new parents and Micah was a few weeks old seems like ages ago. I am almost in shock as to how fast he has grown and developed. It has been a blur! He is loving to eat all kinds of new foods, crawling all over the place, grabbing everything, pulling himself on his feet, walking along side of the furniture, and from one side of the room to the other in a matter of seconds. He is so happy, and goofy, and I love his laugh, and even when he cries he is adorable, and I love it when he falls down and bumps his head and then reaches his arms up to his daddy with tears in his eyes, knowing that in my arms, he is safe, and the pain will go away soon. I love him.
Family
We are still living in my parents basement which is going as well as can be expected. We look forward to the day when we will live in our own home again, but we are very grateful to have our families close by and supporting us. Nicole is mostly enjoying being at home with Micah, but she did start sending out resume's and filling out applications this week. We are hoping she can at least go back part time for now, so pray for a good opportunity for her to open up.
Snow
It's snowing. I love it. It's beautiful. I'm still waiting for that big winter storm though.
Weight Loss
I didn't do very well through the holiday season, so I have joined a "biggest loser" challenge here in Grand Rapids. My goal is to lose 20 pounds in the next 10 weeks during this competition, but then to lose another 20 pounds in the 12 weeks following that. I'm back to counting calories and exercising more regularly. I'm excited because I know I can do it. I've done it before. (For those you who don't remember, in 2008-2009, I went from about 245 down to 170. Now I'm back up to 210, and want to get down to 170 again)
Thanks for reading. I pray that 2011 will be a joy-filled year, even in the midst of struggles, and that you will experience God's presence daily. Have confidence as sons and daughters of the King.
Friday, January 7, 2011
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