SPUR: Conversation

I'm not sure if you are familiar with The Elephant Room or not. Basically here's how it works. A bunch of ministers/pastors/clergy get together. These individuals may disagree on any number of theologies (minor and major) and approaches to the ministry BUT they are solidly united by the blood of Christ. In that spirit of unity (all unity should flow from the blood of Christ) they discuss and even argue their views. My faith has been challenged by the few videos I have been privileged to watch. 

Here is the SPUR to love and good deeds this week. You are probably surrounded by individuals who claim to follow Christ. Ask questions. 

• What do you believe about the Trinity? 
• What do you believe about the tension of saved by grace and the necessity of works?
• How does salvation work?
• What role, if any, should the church play in politics, sports, school and so on?
• Do all dogs go to Heaven?

Ask questions but more importantly, know why you have the answers you have. 

• Are your understandings/answers/theologies (whatever you want to call it) "yours" OR did you just hear them somewhere? 
• Are they from the Bible or a person or a t.v. show (you know it happens!)?
• Why do you believe what you believe?

When you ask questions and discuss, show respect. As Christians we need to engage each other in these conversations for spiritual growth but we need to do it in the right manner.

Want to learn more about this format or The Elephant Room? Click here.

Taken from the Elephant Room: Round 2 on Vimeo.

And if anyone has the full video set, let me know!

all about Christ,

David

So what are we going to do today?

I have to admit, because of my sons and Netflix, I now have a secret addiction to the Disney cartoon Phineas and Ferb. The premise of the show is to create the best day of summer vacation ever...and they do this each day. I find myself singing the songs and quoting the show at random times to my wife and kids. Every show has a similar flow and one statement that is made in each episode is "Ferb, I know what we're going to do today!"

Well this past week was the last week of school for my boys and I was looking forward to Saturday. It had felt like an exceptionally long week. I was thinking everyone would sleep in on a lazy Saturday morning. My wife works out of town most Fridays and Saturdays and so I have a few extra hours of "craziness" to contend with. My daughter has a 6:30 a.m. internal alarm clock that malfunctioned this past Saturday. It went off at 5:10 a.m. I wasn't ready for that. My sons were both out of bed and ready for Saturday at 6:45 a.m. The cartoons aren't even on yet!

I later asked my oldest, why did you get up so earlier? Why didn't you sleep in? His answer was perfect. He said, "Daddy, it's the first day of summer, I didn't want to waste it."

He nailed it!

Paul tells us not to waste time as well in Ephesians 5:15-17.

There is nothing wrong with resting. In fact we need to have a Sabbath. But we do not need to be wasteful of the time God has given us. Don't waste today! Or maybe the motivating question is what Isabella from Phineas and Ferb always asks, "Whatcha doin'?"

God has and will continue to do His part, now it's up to us. Go ahead and do what you can to make today a great day.

all about Christ,

David

Seven Deadly Sins of Today

I've been working on a modern list of the Seven Deadly Sins. The name, Seven Deadly Sins, comes from the Catholic Church and there is no "biblical" list of seven deadly sins. Proverbs 6:16 does includes a list of 6 sins God hates and 7 that are an abomination and Galatians 5:19-21 includes a longer list of sins (15 specific and a broad 16th). The Seven Deadly Sins, according to the Catholic Church, are Greed, Sloth, Pride, Wrath, Lust, Envy and Gluttony. They are deadly, again according to the Catholic Church, because your soul is in extreme danger if you commit these.

All that aside, sin is sin and any sin separates you from God. What I wanted to do is update the list for today. I will keep the name "deadly" because I believe these sins will KILL the Church if they go on unattended. You will notice some sins on my list are similar to the original. I need help adding the 7th so here are my Six Deadly Sins (just doesn't roll off the tongue). Some of these deadly sins may need to be regrouped with others. Just let me know what you think!

1 - Opinion (Which is nothing more than pride repackaged. Opinion says I'm right, you are wrong so it includes judgment. Opinion is not fact.)

2 - Gossip (This is fake or immature knowledge. When you pass on knowledge/information that is not known or not yours to share that is gossip. If you wonder if what you are sharing is gossip, then don't share it.)

3 - Apathy (Apathy says I don't care. Faith without works is dead. Is your faith active or dead? There is no place for Zombie Christians, they may move but they are actually dead. We must care. We must live out our faith!)

4 - Intentional Ignorance (Some have a fear of being responsible for the knowledge they gain. There is little to no (or know) personal study, no desire for personal growth, always asking others if they ask at all. Grow so you can share!)

5 - Cultural Attrition (The culture has a definite affect on us. The culture determines for too many people what boundaries they can and cannot cross. The nation becomes more sexual, our language deteriorates as we sound more like flash celebrities and theology is replaced with philosophy.)

6 - Habitual (So many buy into the "healthy habit" lie. Habits are broken all the time. We don't take habits serious. People say, "I got out of the habit of 'prayer', 'church', 'study', whatever…these are not mere habits, these are lifestyles that must be lived.)

7 - 

Well, as you can see 7 is blank. Help me out.

all about Christ,

David

Martin Luther King, Jr.

A little late on getting this post up. Brian and I had talked about paying tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr on our blog, but we also, as always, wanted to spur you on.

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent."

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and

conscientious stupidity."

These quotes are attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr. There are a few things I have learned about him I want to pass on to you (I found these on the Twitter stream of @ShaunKing). We know Martin Luther King, Jr is a larger than life legend, but in truth, he was only 5' 5". Shorter than the average man. In school, at Morehouse College, he was an average student, not an academic elite.

Martin Luther King, Jr was just 39 when he shot. So he lived a relatively short life, at least by American standards. He was 26 when he LED the Montgemory Bus Boycott! TWENTY-SIX!!! He was only 34 (I'm 32) when he gave his most famous speech, a speech that has been heard around the world, "I Have a Dream".

The most inspiring thing, to me, about Martin Luther King, Jr was that he let God use him. You don't have to be a giant, an academic elite, wait till you are older. No, in fact, it can all start RIGHT NOW if you let God use you. Then you too will have a dream.

Let me close with one of the more painful (spurring) quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr.

"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

Have you discovered something you are willing to die for?

all about Christ,

David

Spur...

Following Brian's post yesterday

We should spur one another towards taking your Bible with you everywhere, especially to church (more on that in a moment). In college, I had a couple of off campus jobs that allowed for me to have some break time. I had an old pocket edition NASBu that I carried with me in my back pocket. I would pull it out and read and study if I had the opportunity while on break. I was never without it. I even found myself taking it to church along with my regular study Bible.

As a preaching minister, I wonder why people don't bring their Bibles to church, or if they do why they don't use it? In an effort to help thwart that trend, I ask that our main text not be displayed on the screen (ie. PowerPoint) because I want people to get into God's Word. I want them to know where books of the Bible are (love the sound of pages flipping...could YouVersion add that sound to their mobile apps please). I want their Bibles, your Bible, to be well worn. I was once told, "show me a Bible that is falling apart and I will show you a life that is not."

Ultimately, to me, it doesn't matter if someone is getting into a physical Bible or a digital Bible. God's Word is spiritual and it affects us on a spiritual level. I see good in having both physical and digital Bibles but I see more good in applying what is found inside God's Word.

all about Christ,
David

Think Spur Love - It Begins

Let me introduce myself, I'm David. Brian came to me with this idea of a team blog approach. I said great. This is a place for thinking, spurring and loving. As our first blog we each decided to talk about an event or person that affecting our faith by causing us to think and spur towards love.

For me, an event occurred in my life a few years ago that changed me. I was laid off from a church I was serving. I had been over small groups and education for about 4 1/2 years. One of the small group leaders at that church knew of another church that was looking for a preaching minister and it was only a few blocks away from my house. She said there was only one problem, it was a Baptist church. This is a problem because I'm not Baptist.

I begin to think about unity in the Body. In Heaven there will be no "non-denominalists" there will also be no "denominationalists" there will only be Children of God. Jesus, in John 17, prayed that we, His followers, would be one as He and the Father are one. Unity is what Christ wants for His followers and what He wants from His followers. God began to teach me it is essential to the Body of believers. I decided to look at them as Children of God.

I preached and was invited back again and again there. Over the next couple of months I had a few interviews at other churches but they had me back several times. I learned a lot about unity and the Body as a whole. Unity has been a lesson that has stuck with me today. It impacts my ministry in the community I currently serve in.

I wish I could say they never had a problem with me not being a Baptist, but the truth is, I got "fired" from that church because I wasn't Baptist. One person raised a stink about me not being Baptist. So I was asked to no longer preach on Sunday mornings but was asked to keep coming back on Sunday nights (because apparently Sunday nights were optional attendance).

In the end, I realized I had to think about unity and reverse some of my theological issues (not stances) for the sake of unity in the Body. The process of thinking on it, spurred me to action, to love for other believers. Today, I have the privilege of being involved with 3 different multi-denominational community ministries, 2 of which I lead. I don't always like the way God teaches, but I love the lessons I learn in His class.

all about Christ,
David