Brothers and Sisters of the Adventist Faith–

May 2012 be the year the Adventist church in North America becomes a movement again!

Let us preach our message in 2012:

“Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand,  he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” –Revelation 14:6-12

It is not a message to be ashamed of but a message to be proud of! “Fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment has come!” And He will come soon and we are prophetically called to share with the world the good news of our soon to come Savior.

Let us plant churches, preach the message to the one or to the many, and let us pray for the revival we talk so easily about but are so scared to embrace!

May 2012 be a year like no other and may Jesus be glorified through His church and His message to this world.

There are days I remember in my life better than others. Days I remember because of events outside the context of my immediate life…

January 28th, 1986:

I was in the 1st Grade our day had just started at Angwin Elementary School. We were sitting in Mr. Crow’s Jr. High classroom and right before our eyes the Shuttle Challenger exploded. It took a second for me as a 1st Grader to register that all those people had just died. I remember the older kids in the room letting out sobs and gasps and our teacher Mrs. Bernard quickly gathered us up and rushed us out of the room. I also remember my parents watching all the news coverage. Magic changed the way we as a country looked at the AIDS virus and he changed the way I looked at athletes.  I still cared a lot for the teams, but as far as the players went, if they were on my team I was a fan, if they weren’t, then I didn’t care.

So that is my jaunt down memory lane…if you came with me…well I hope you didn’t have more important things to do:)

Me I just wore jeans and a sweat shirt (I’m not really a joiner)…maybe if I agree to wear a brown robe next year we can celebrate The Reformation. I think my wife would still be the most beautiful woman in the world even in a burlap type robe!

Another great post from Dwight Nelson’s blog.  The time for business as usual has passed, we must be about the Lord’s work while there is still time! Read and be blessed.

VATICAN TO THE RESCUE?

October 26th, 2011

On Monday Rome issued a bold 18-page response to and proposal for the burgeoning financial crisis engulfing the world. According to the Reuter news agency it calls “for sweeping reforms of the world economy and the creation of an ethical, global authority to regulate financial markets as demonstrations against corporate greed continued to spring up in major cities across the globe” (uk.reutres.com/article/2011/10/24/Vatican-economy-idUKL5E7LO1LS20111024). While a Vatican spokesman clarified that the document is not an expression of the pope or the papal magisterium and does not carry the weight of church dogma, it nevertheless bears “an authoritative note” from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (http://www.newsmax.com/EdwardPentin/Vatican-Global-Finance-Plan/2011/10/25/id/415693).

I have reviewed the document, posted at the official Vatican news website (www.zenit.com). It is laudable that Rome raises her voice over the plight of the economically disenfranchised. In doing so she sympathizes with the populist Occupy Wall Street movement that has gone global over the last few weeks. And it certainly is within the purview of a church body to call the world to economic equity. But central to this Vatican proposal is the formation of a “supranational authority” (also called the “world Authority” in the document) to guide and lead the world toward a more equitable banking and economic policy and practice.

And it is precisely the language of a “universal jurisdiction” and a “central world bank” that concerns me and should concern others who are watching for the apocalyptic endgame. The document proposes that the United Nations become the initial vehicle for economic reform, “on the way to creating a world political Authority.” Who or what that world Authority is beyond the U.N. is not identified in the proposal. But for students of Revelation 13, the prediction that at the end of time there will be a resurgence of the geo-religio-political power of the Dark Ages gives cause for pause. “And all the world marveled and followed the beast” (Revelation 13:3).

Those who suggest the Vatican’s proposal is simply an economic policy recommendation need to reread the document: “In this process, the primacy of the spiritual and of ethics needs to be restored and, with them, the primacy of politics—which is responsible for the common good—over the economy and finance” (Zenit, emphasis supplied). So whose definition of “spiritual” do you suppose Rome envisions for the world, whose “primacy” does she seek to restore?

Cardinal Peter K. A. Turkson concludes this document, surprisingly for apocalyptic watchers, with a discussion of Babel! “The image of the Tower of Babel also warns us that we must avoid a ‘unity’ that is only apparent, where selfishness and divisions endure because the foundations of the society are not stable. In both cases, Babel is the image of what peoples and individuals can become when they do not recognize their intrinsic transcendent dignity and brotherhood” (ibid). But apocalyptic watchers know that Babel is in fact the image of “confusion,” of the human attempt to replace God with itself, of Babylon’s fateful amalgamation of pagan self-worship with a vestige of divine truth. It is that Babylon that Revelation warns will rule the world in the end. And for that reason we who live in the Fourth Watch of history should hardly be surprised with the Vatican’s offer to the world this week. As Jesus warned, “Let those who have ears hear” (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 19; 3:6, 13, 22).

So I’m back on Facebook…how on earth did this happen? Especially after this post? You will notice at the end of that post I did say, “I may be back someday…” but I didn’t expect to be back, in fact my return to Facebook was quite by accident. Our church has a Facebook page, well in order to have a Facebook page there must be another account, a personal account that has set it up. I had that account set-up but had never used it and therefore no one ever asked me to be their friend. Well, I don’t know how, but one day I received an invite from a church member through that account when they invited me to be their friend suddenly I was receiving messages, “We thought you weren’t on Facebook anymore?” “Your name just popped up on my account saying I should be your friend.” “Is this you pastor, there is no picture and I don’t want to ask a stranger to be my friend?” Then I started getting messages as well, folk asking me questions, or just wanting to say “hello”. I finally responded to something and the next thing I know I had 10 or more friend requests and that was that.

So what am I doing so that Facebook won’t once again become a vacuum of my time. Two main things:

1. On days that I at work and am in the office, I am only checking Facbook in the morning and in the evening.
2. I am not adding a Facebook app to my iphone.  I found this to be the largest contributor to wasted time of anything. I became available 24/7 to the Facebook world because of my phone. So now if I’m not at a computer I am not accessing Facebook and this is saving me lots of time.  

What I missed about Facebook while on my hiatus & what I found to be the great benefits of Facebook while I was away:

1. I missed connecting with a few friends that I found I never am able to connect with in any other way. That is really all I missed.
2. I found that Facebook is literally the easiest way to communicate with a number of folk in my life, including church members.
3. Facebook greatly increases my blog activity and I am grateful for that.
4. Facebook provides greater access to getting the word out about events and happenings going on in the church, and this is very needed especially as our church grows!  

So I’m back, but hopefully not as imbedded in Facebook as I was last time.

Did any of you ever hear the words, “Don’t do as I do, do as I say!” What a dumb statement!  The other day my colleague Pastor Carron Kuns made the statement to me, “We ask kids to do things we won’t even do.” I began to think about that statement and realized how true it is.

Let me give you a few examples:

At our church we start with an announcement time, this time is casual, but still in the sanctuary and part of the Sabbath morning activities. For this time it takes a lot to get the ADULTS to settle down and pay attention, they love to gab (which I have to say I have been in churches where no one talks to each other, so I would rather have our problem). Here is the thing though, I was taught as a kid and I see most adults at least that I am around still teaching their kids. When someone else is speaking, whether it be in a small gathering or a large gathering with someone up front, the kids are expected to be quiet and listening. We ask the kids to do it, but we don’t do it very well ourselves.

Here is one I really struggle with. Looking at folk 100% of the time in the eye when I am talking to them. Today, I said to Dayton (my almost 3 year old) two times, “Dayton look at them when you answer.” We ask kids to do it, but we don’t do it very well ourselves.

Another one is that I see a lot of parents encouraging their kids to be friendly, to make friends with other children. I am around young parents all the time and I hear this statement constantly, “Go say ‘hello’. Be nice. Tell them what your name is.” We love to encourage our kids to make small talk and to try and develop friendships or at least acquaintances. Very few adults will randomly introduce themselves to a stranger on the kids playground, but we encourage our kids to. We ask kids to do it, but we don’t do it very well ourselves.

Some others. “You need your sleep.” “Don’t eat that, it’s not good for you.” “Say please.” “Smile.” Respect your parents. “You’ll never know if you can do it ’till you try.”

We ask kids to do it, but we don’t do it very well ourselves!

What are some other things you could think of?

Sabbath afternoon our church plant/second campus is officially LAUNCHING! That means beginning on a weekly basis (we’ve been having preview services). 

I’m nervous, not in an ego, what if it fails or it must succeed, kind of way. Nervous in that this is a God thing, and God things are completely unpredictable and beyond our control.

We’re going against traditional church planting logic: “start with a series about a felt need” like family stuff or finances…nope we’re launching with prophecy, yep a prophecy series, why? That is what God showed me to do…not what I probably would have chosen, but God things are unpredictable.

I’ve been told by the head of the church planting coaching network, that he has never seen a church plant really thrive and explode exponentially that isn’t meeting Sunday mornings, (“because even non-Christians understand that church is on Sunday morning. I just don’t think it can work.”) We’re meeting Saturday afternoons, also known as The Sabbath, at 4:30 p.m.. God things are unpredictable.

I have no idea what we are going to do for music after this Sabbath. We have Josh and Jackie Cunningham this Sabbath…but beyond that…God things are unpredictable!

I’m excited, because God things are unpredictable! 

Please be on your knees for The Ark Church

About 3 months ago I said I would probably never run a marathon (26.2 miles) again. As of today I’ve changed my mind. I would like to give Pheidippides journey at least one more try. In order for this feat to be accomplished I’ll need my body to cooperate (especially my nagging hip injuries) and my mind to cooperate (much discipline is needed).

I am feeling the itch again though! It has been almost a year since I have done any serious distance running, that I’ve even run over 5 miles, and I am really missing it! 

Running is a great blessing in my life. The benefits are enormous:

• I sleep better
• I am happier
• My life is more balanced
• I weigh less:)
• I feel Spiritually stronger (mind, body, spirit)

I know I could run 5k’s and 10k’s and get all these benefits as well (and I plan to run some of those in the meantime), but for me the race of choice is the Marathon!  I’ve run 3 of them and I cherish the memories and the journey leading up to each!

My goal is to run my 4th marathon in May! 

I solicit your prayers for a strong body and mind!

And I’ll see y’all out on the roads!