A Reasonable Faith

Recently, I have been facilitating a crash course on Apologetics. In this age, I am convinced that is no longer enough for Christians to know that they believe, but to know why they believe. The two common errors Christians can make in this arena are really two extremes. the first, is the non, or anti intellectual approach. This means that our faith is something spiritual, invisible, and cannot, and should not have to be explained, or examined in a reasonable, or rational way. The second error, is at the other end of the spectrum. These people will generally make the mistake of ruling out the “mysterious” elements of our faith, and rely completely on reason, hard science, doctrinal logic and even the senses, thus leaving no room for the trancsendancy of the Holy Spirit. My attempt, in bringing this course, is to give these new believers some real, tangible, and exciting facts, that can bolster their faith, and equip them to share the gospel in such a way as to entice people to not just make and emotional decision for Christ, but also an informed one.

In the course, I walk the students through a series of lectures and we cover many topics in our Q and A such as:

How can I know that jesus actually lived in History?

Is there evidence for the resurrection?

What about evolution?

What about all the other religions in the world?

How can I know the Bible is trustworthy?

etc. etc. etc.

If you are interested in hosting a seminar at your church please contact me: darrelllahay@gmail.com

I am available to conduct seminars ranging in length from 3 hours to two days. new beleivers, youth, seniors and students would all benefit from this fast paced and exciting course!

Your Christianity is boring

When God exposes himself to us, we become, at that very moment, responsible.. When God reveals himself to us, we are obliged to respond to what has been revealed. Be careful when you pray; “Lord show me your glory!” What if He does? Do you really think you want the responsibility? The Christian life that is devoid of spiritual revelation is also conveniently devoid of spiritual responsibility isn’t it? What life do you want to live? One of ease, comfort and predictability?  Or one of danger, risk and revelation? The choice is yours pilgrim. You can be radically changed by the doctrines of the church, or you can become embalmed by them.

dl

5 Reasons To Read The Bible

 

Hey pilgrims…some of us are prepared to read through the New testament in 60 days…In january, many of us plowed through the New testament in 30 days…Although there was not much time afforded to stop and meditate on so much important passages, the benefit was to step back and see a “big picture’ of the New testament gospel message…Starting on Monday, February 28th, we will begin following the reading plan again…If you are interested in receiving daily emails with the passages for each day just contact me  darrelllahay@hotmail.com

It is tragic, and all too obvious that our generation is becoming more and more biblically illiterate. For many wrapped up in modernity, Christianity has been demoted from “The Way” to a mere “spiritual life choice”.  Reading the Bible has become like an elective in Christianity 101..Lame..

Here is a handful of reminders of why reading the Bible is discipline of the greatest importance….

1. It is the only inspired book you will ever read on the earth.

God wrote the Bible. Penned by the faithful under the very guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Scriptures are the reveal the very heart of God. The poetry, chronicles of History, and Prophecies and exhortations are authored specifically for all believers for all time by Jesus Himself. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

2. It will grow your faith.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God: Romans 10:17.  As the words of scripture begin to settle in your mind, Your very though life begins to be renewed. Deliverance, healing and encouragement can’t help but happen.

3. It will change your life.

The book of James describes the person who reads the Bible to be like a person who looks in a mirror and see’s their reflection. The bible tells the truth about our nature. It convicts us of sin, shines light into darkness, and exposes the frailty of our humanity. the bible shows us what we really look like, and then challenges us to change into the image of Christ. (James 1:23-25)

4.You will become disciplined

By getting into the “habit” of reading scripture, you develop your spiritual reading muscles. At first, the bible may seem overwhelming in size, archaic in context, and loft in philosophical terms..However, as you press in and read past your comfort zone. the Holy Spirit begins to reveal the truth of scripture to you in ways you never experienced before. Where before there was no appetite, there is now a thirst for the Bible. Reading the bible becomes a “must do” rather than a “I probably should” thing.

5. Jesus expects us read it.

Seriously, if you knew that the creator of the universe took the time to embark on a couple thousand-year writing project and put together a compilation of written works especially designed to instruct, inspire and bless you, why wouldn’t you take time every day to read it?

a handy little church history chart

 

Here is an interesting chart I came across in Wikipedia..Take a glance at it, and feel free to let me know if you have any questions..After looking at this chart, I’m sure Jesus Himself might have some questions for us!

Some interesting statements about the “preservation” of Israel

 

 

 

  

Right now I am enjoying the task of reading through the New testament in 30 days. To my embarassment, I can’t remember the last time I sat down and read a Gospel from beginning to end in one sitting! I am amazed by some of the things I have discovered..Some of these are:

-How Jesus was quite clearer about contraversial subjects than we give Him credit for..

-How much Jesus talked about hell, wrath and judgment. (hey grace people. Don’t freak out, He still loves you!)

-How little I know, compared to how much I think I know…

-How interesting Paul’s personality and way of thinking was..

-How unique, mysteious and special the land, nation, history, and future of the people of Israel is to God…

   

“Stranger still, the ancient religion of the Jews survives, when all the religions of every ancient race of the pre-Christian world have disappeared. Again it is strange that the living religions of the world all build on the religious ideas derived from the Jews” - The Ancient World, Professor T.R. Glover

“According to the materialistic and positivist criterion, this people ought to have perished long ago. It’s survival is a mysterious and wonderful phenomenon demonstrating that the life of this peopleis governed by a special predetermination…”
- The Meaning of History, Professor Nicholas Berdkilaev of the Moscow Academy of Spiritual Culture

“It was Judaism that brought the concept of a God-given universal moral law into the world…the Jew carries the burden of God in history and for this he has never been forgiven” - Distinguished Catholic Scholar Edward H. Flannery

 

What are your thoughts?

Shalom.. pastor darrell

 

 

 

December 31st | The feast of St. Sylvester

 

Today is Decemebr 31st. New year’s Eve. the beginning of a new year, and a chance to celebrate for many. Around the world, to many who acknowledge various liturgical calendars, today is the feast day of someone a little less popular than Father Time..

Sylvester was ordained bishop over the church in Rome in the year 314.  This Christian brother served the church at a time when the Arian heresy and the Donatist schism had provoked great discord. After the peace of Constantine, he contributed greatly to the expansion of the faith throughout the Roman world.. Below is a reading I borrowed from a Catholic Missal:

Collect:
Lord,
help and sustain Your people
as in the days of Bishop Sylvester.
Guide us always in this present life
and bring us to the joy that never ends.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-16
“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I Myself will search for My sheep, and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some of his sheep have been scattered abroad, so will I seek out My sheep; and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the fountains, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and upon the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on fat pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I Myself will be the shepherd of My sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will watch over; I will feed them in justice.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 16:13-19
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

T.S. Eliot: Murder in the Catherdral

I’ve just finished reading this short 1935 play by T.S. Eliot based on the murder and of Thomas Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury. I just realized that today, December 29th, is the actual day that the murder happened in 1170.

This was a short , but good read that so elloquently displays Eliot’s genious for symbolism and sentiment. Here is a portion of script from the First and Third Priests after the murder of thier beloved archbishop takes place..

First Priest:

O father, father
Gone from us, lost to us,
The church lies bereft,
Alone,
Desecrated, desolated.
And the heathen shall build
On the ruins
Their world without God.
I see it.
I see it.

Third Priest:

No. For the Church is stronger for this action,
Triumphant in adversity. It is fortified
By persecution: supreme, so long as men will die for it.
Go, weak sad men, lost erring souls, homeless in earth or heaven.
Go where the sunset reddens the last grey rock
Of Brittany, or the Gates of Hercules.
Go venture shipwreck on sullen coasts
Where blackamoors make captive Christian men;
Go to the northern seas confined with ice
Where the dead breath makes numb the hand, makes dull the brain;
Find an oasis in the desert sun,
Go seek alliance with the heathen Saracen,
To share his filthy rites, and try to snatch
Forgetfulness in his libidinous courts,
Oblivion in the fountain by the date-tree;
Or sit and bite your nails in Aquitaine.
In the small circle of pain within the skull
You still shall tramp and tread one endless round
Of thought, to justify your action to yourselves,
Weaving a fiction which unravels as you weave,
Pacing forever in the hell of make believe
Which never is belief: this is your fate on earth
And we must think no further of you.

December 17th | Daniel and The Three

Dan The Man

 Today, the Eastern orthodox Liturgical Calender highlights the feasts of Daniel and The Three Young Men. This is observed in conjunction with the Feast of The Nativity. Daniel’s prophesy regarding the stone which smashed the idol (Daniel 2:34-35) is often used in Orthodox hymns as a metaphor for the Incarnation: the “stone cut out” being symbolic of the Logos (Christ), and the fact that it was cut “without hands” being symbolic of the virgin birth. Thus the hymns will refer to the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) as the “uncut mountain”

Reading:

Daniel 1:8a:  “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the kings delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank.”

Daniel 1:20 “And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in his realm.”

Application:

Like Daniel, we need to realize that God has not only saved us for a future in heaven, but also for our present time on Earth. Pilgrim, be acutely aware that you are set apart, in the world, yet not of it. A shining light, in a sea of darkness. Ask yourself, what delicacies have I defiled myself with? Talk to God about this.

The Bible says that the secular “experts” were shamed by the savvy and skill of Daniel and his friends. We live in a world where so many people are seeking truth, and desperately looking for answers. may you, and we the Church, be able to give an answer. may god’s anointing rest upon us so much so that we will have “power” to heal, disciple, and serve the lost in the name of Christ. People are not looking for programs, they are looking for power. Let us not be like those false brethren Paul warns Timothy of as “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof”.

Prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank you for your holy word. Thank you for the example set by the Prophet Daniel and by his friends. help me Oh Lord, to be separated from the world, morally; yet help me to remain connected to it by way of ministry. Grant me pardon for my trespasses and forgive me for defiling myself with the king’s delicacies. Grant me an anointing to live  Holy life, endowed with Your very power, not just my empty religious words and intentions.

Blessed be the name of the LORD! In Jesus Name, Amen

The Spread of Major World Religions

Check out this video pilgrim! It put’s some history in perspective:

The Church Of The Future…..

Dr. Ted Roberts is an american pastor, and also the founder of Pure Desire Ministries. I have been reading his book and came across this great, straight forward statement on the church…If you are a Pilgrim, well, c’mon and check it out…

“Therefore, the Church of the future, if it is to be effective, must become a place of practical grace. It must be a place where hope is the dominant theme, and denial, especially religious pretending, is nowhere in sight. That’s a challenge for those in leadership, because personal vulnerability is the key issue. Leadership must be characterized by personal honesty that is open and forthright about their own struggles, yet at the same time able to speak from personal experience of the overwhelming victory available in Christ. In other words, servant-leadership will need to be New Testament to the core.”

What do you think the Church of the future should look be like? Leave a comment.