God amazes me with the gifts he gives people. This clip is my friend playing his bass in the Teen Challenge Chapel in Chilliwack. I am stoked to have him playing bass with the Chop Liver Band this year at Blues fest!
Archive | July, 2009
Mark 5:35-43
25 Jul
Okay, you gotta read this:
Mark 5:35-43
35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ 36But overhearing* what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ 37He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ 40And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ 42And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. 43He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
Obviously so much can be said about this portion of scripture. I am intrigued by what Jesus teaches us about faith, I am amazed at the super natural healing tendencies of God, and I am also tempted to comment on the compassion Jesus has for children in particular.
The point I do want to highlight, is the “practicality’ of Christ. Not only did He miraculously heal this little girl from sure death, but he also commissioned those adults around her to care for her by giving her food. Here we can observe at least two facets of healing. The miraculous, supernatural, and also, the very human discipline of serving one another, and the very ‘earthly’ benefits of a good diet.
I don’t know if you will find this as intersting as I do, but I am continually blown away by this person, Jesus Christ!
Back To The Blues Festival, July 31-Aug 2, Chilliwack BC
24 Jul
Come on down for this years Blues Fest! I will be playing on the Saturday with the Valley Famous “Chop Liver Band”!
This festival is in it’s 6th year and going strong. Come on down, bring your tent and lawn chairs and support a good cause!
Here is the website: http://www.back2blues.com
More to come later. Shalom!
I Will Provide
17 Jul
It has been a stressful week at the Lahay camp. Our current family van is a peice of junk. I’m not trying to sound ungrateful, but in all honesty, I wonder how the good people at Chrysler sleep at night, knowing that they make and sell future jalopies to families everyday!
Anyway, the transmission in our mini van has been getting sick for a while now. We had a look at it, and brought it in to a shop, and the diagnosis was grim. In the words of the mechanic:
“Yeah, it’s hooped!”
After that we drove it each time expecting it to be the last.
We’ve been ferociously shopping online, in hopes of finding a used and newer import van that would fit our meager pastor’s salary. Needless to say, it’s been tough to find just the right one, while three little boys who want mommy and daddy’s attention are running a muck!
Well, last night was the final run for our green van. I dropped my oldest off at VBS, and pulled into the driveway at our home. When I went to put it into reverse, there was nothing. The transmission was just slipping and slipping whilst shards of metal rolled around inside it.
“No worries, we can do this” said my wife. “We can make do without a vehicle for a bit.”
I hooked up the bike trailer and rode across town to pick up my son. I was thinking about the hour bike commute I would have to make both ways the very next day.
Here is the main point of this blog: This morning, I woke up with a vivid phrase running through my mind. It was so clear that I swear I could alomost hear it. I believe it was the voice of God.
“I might bring you cedars and gold, or I might feed you with birds, but I will provide.”
I knew right away Who it was, and what it meant.
In the Bible, we read of King Solomon, whom the Lord blessed with absurd wealth during his reign in Israel. The bible recounts how he would have the “cedars of Lebanon”, and the “gold of Ophir” imported to Jerusalem from afar off.
In another part of the bible is the story of a poor, wandering prophet named Elijah, who found himself hungry and desperat one day. The Lord led him to a humble brook of clean flowing water, and cause ravens to come to him daily with bread in their beaks to sustain Elijah.
Both of these are stories of God’s provision. I know in my deepest parts, that God is my father, and He will take care of me. It may be with luxury and mind blowing abundance, or it may be the simplicity of finding exactly what I need just in time each day, but, God will never leave me destitute or hungry. He is my provider.
A Prayer Request
16 Jul
Last night I was on my way to drop off my 6 year old son at VBS. (Vacation Bible School). we were going over his memory verse. Romans 12:2 says “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind.”
My son asked: “What does transformed mean?”
I was glad he asked. I certainly don’t want my boy to simply memorize a whole bunch of scriptures, but have no understanding of how they “fit” into his young life.
My first response as a pastor would have been somthing like..”Well you see, the word transform in the ancient greek is the verb ‘metamorphis’ which means to change something completely, in a perpetual tense..bla bla bla..”
Instead, i put it to him something like this:
“Well, buddy, this verse reminds me that god wants to ‘change’ me. He knida wants to make me like a ‘transformer’. Not only did God save me, and not only does He love me, but He can ‘change’ me too.”
“Change you into what?”
“Well, into a better person. You see, the world give us message evey day. Magazines, flyers, TV, radio commercials, and people around us tell us all kinds of messages that influnec the way we think. Sometimes these messages are actually lies like: I’m not handsome enough, or I’m not strong enough, or I’m not rich enough, or I’m not cool, or I don’t have enough toys and stuff..When I spend too much time listening to these messages and don’t take time to listen to God’s messages, I usually end up feeling sad, or dissatisfied, or discouraged or angry.”
“Do you feel like that today daddy?”
“Yeah buddy, I do. i know that I need Jesus to help me. I need to listen to God’s messages by reading the Bible, listening to my Christian friends, being quiet and praying in the Spirit. I need God to come and renew the way I think so I can be TRANSFORMED into a better person. I want God to help me be a better man, a better husband to Mommy, a better daddy to you guys. I want to be a peaceful, loving man who will be remembered for generations to come!”
“Daddy?…… Can you pray for me so that Jesus can do that for me too?”
Of course we prayed together, ad it was a real special moment. As my son walked into the church, I sat for awhile and thought to myself in the parking lot. I don’t mind if my boys find out that thier Daddy is weak, as long as they know that Jesus is strong.
Shalom!
Mark 4:1-20 (sermon notes: the parable of the farmer and his seeds)
15 Jul"A farmer went out to plant some seeds.." Jesus of Nazareth
These are simply my notes on a sermon I recently wrote on this subject:
July 14/2009
THREE FOES AND THE HOLY GHOST
Genesis 3:6
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”
Notice the three attributes of the fruit that intrigued Eve so much as to disobey God, and eat the fruit.
1. It was good for food.
2. It looked pleasant to the eyes.
3. It had power to make one wise. (like God)
Lets look at Luke 4:1-13
This is the account of Jesus temptation in the desert. The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. We see three specific methods used by the devil in the text. The first one was to tempt Jesus to give in to His flesh and eat. (Jesus was fasting) The devil tempted Jesus to turn the stones into bread and feed Himself, to which Jesus refused, quoting the scripture Deuteronomy 8:3, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word of God.”
The second area Satan tries to tempt Jesus in is by taking Him up to a high mountaintop and supernaturally showing Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All these I will give to You, if You will only bow down and worship me.” It is interesting to note that Satan actually has the status to give someone these kingdoms shows that he must have been given some authority to possess them. Jesus refuses the trick by quoting another scripture from Deuteronomy 6: “Get behind me Satan! It is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve!”
The third and last attempt is when the devil tells Jesus to prove Himself by showing some supernatural miracle. He tempts Him to jump off the highest point of the temple, in a very public place, and stop in mid air before He hits the ground, in this way publicly displaying His power to all the leaders in Jerusalem. Jesus, knowing that the time had not yet come for His identity to be made public, refuses the trick, and rebukes the devil, quoting from Deuteronomy 6:16 ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God..”
Let’s move to another passage now in Mark’s gospel.
Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed (Mark 4:1-20)
1Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore. 2 He taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables, such as this one:
3 “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. 4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 but the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” 9 Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
10 Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant.
11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret[a] of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, 12 so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:
‘When they see what I do,
they will learn nothing.
When they hear what I say,
they will not understand.
Otherwise, they will turn to me
and be forgiven.’]”
13 Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables? 14 The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. 15 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. 16 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 but since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. 18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. 20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
The first part of this passage contains the actual parable, and the second part is Jesus’ explanation of it. The story is about a farmer sowing seeds. The seeds represent God’s word, they can also represent our potentially abundant life in Christ, should we desire to be discipled by Him, and grow up spiritually. I want to quickly look at the three hindrances to the seeds potential.
1. Hard Soil: this represents hardness of heart (sklerocardia). This is the heart condition that is not a welcoming or fertile place for the seed to penetrate. The seed cannot find a place to reside (to die) in this soil, and usually ends up just sitting at the surface of the soil where it can be easily plucked off by birds. These birds represent demonic forces. Forces outside ourselves that come to prevent the seed from taking root and sprouting. The birds represent the devil, and his demons.
2. Rocky Soil: Like the hard soil, this also is representative of our heart. Rocky soil is initially suitable for a seed to be planted, but it lacks the nutrients to sufficiently support the plant, and can only provide a place for a very shallow root system. Thus, causing the plant to have a very quick but short life span.
3. The Thorny Ground: The thorns and weeds that come to choke out the new growth of the seed represent the cares of the world. The temptations, spoils, and fleeting pleasures that the world can offer, will often work against the growth of the good seed in us. It often grows up beside the good plant unnoticed until it slowly and subtly wraps itself around the good plant, choking out its life source.
Three foes:
Our heart Condition,
The Devil and his demons,
The cares of the world
Let’s look at 1 John 2:15-16
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father, but is of the world.
We all wrestle with these three areas. As believers, we can apply the Holy Spirit it minister to each specific need.
“The fruit was good for food” /
“Turn these stones into bread /
the Lust of the Flesh/
“The fruit looked pleasing to the eye” /
“Look at all the kingdoms of this world”/
the Lust of the Eyes/
“The fruit had power to make one wise” /
“Throw Yourself off the temple and let angels rescue You publicly” /
The Pride of Life
Three areas of need are: HEALING, DELIVERANCE, DISCIPLESHIP
Our Heart: rocky or hard soil. It is our responsibility to cultivate the soil of our heart and guard it, but sometimes there is a need of HEALING that will soften it enough to receive the word of God.
The Devil: the birds that come and steal are sometimes invited, but often could be beyond our control. Sometimes a believer may need to experience DELIVERANCE. This may come in many forms; the actual casting out of demonic spirits, the breaking of strongholds, the breaking of generational curses, the renouncing of sins and the closing of spiritual doors that have been a foothold for satanic oppression.
The World: The world will always be a source of temptation and distraction. It is often a current that flows against the life of a godly man. The bible tells us to be in the world but not of the world. Obviously, we are not called to all become monks and hide under a rock. We are called rather to infuse the world and culture around us with God’s goodness flowing through our lives. Yet, at the same time, being non-conformist to the pleasures, and system of the world. We must always be aware of the deception that the world can offer us in the guise of temporary pleasures and fulfillment. Only a life lived out in God’s specifically designed calling for your life can be truly satisfying.
Applying Christian disciplines can train us to live in a godly way as lights in a darkened world. Prayer, fasting, worship, fellowship, love, service, study of the scriptures and generosity are only a few of the habits we must learn in the process of DISCIPLESHIP.
HEALING, DELIVERANCE, DISCIPLESHIP
These are at least three areas of need I see in new believers. It‘s also important to notice that although these are all necessary, they are not essentially established in this order. The process is different for each individual. Often a new believer may need to experience DELIVERANCE before he or she can be free enough to be discipled. Likewise, a person may need to find HEALING through forgiveness before DLEIVERANCE can happen totally. Also, a new believer may first need to have some time of DISCIPLESHIP (instruction, Bible Study, church experience) before he or she is ready to make an educated decision to take the steps of DELIVERANCE or HEALING.
Let’s Pray
I'm a pastor in the beautiful Fraser Valley, a husband of one, and a father of four kids with Hebrew names. This blog is collection of thoughts, and posts about spiritual issues, lessons from full time ministry, life at large, philosophy, and apologetics. Read! Comment! Be blessed! Etc!
