It is interesting what comes to our minds as we read the Bible and how different thoughts and convictions hit us today I read these verse in the midst of my devotional time,

“O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your dwelling places.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.” -Psalm 43:3, 4

And my heart began to praise God that He has given us music as an expression of response to Him, His truth, His light, His love! The Psalms of course are a collection of songs, so of course David would use song often to respond to the Lord, but throughout the Bible a natural and God given response to the moving of the Divine is through song. Consider this moment from the New Testament,

“After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” -Matthew 26:30

This text follows the story of the Last Supper–what we call Communion–at the end of this gathering, this time with Jesus…they sang a song. To the secular mind that is completely random and weird, but to the believer it should be one of the most natural components of our relationship with Jesus.

Which is one of the reasons why I find it so sad that so many people show-up to church after the music has finished and leave before the music resumes. Why would people rob themselves of this gift, this natural spiritual gift of expression God has given to His children. David said in response to the light of the Lord and the truth of the Lord he would go to the altar (the church) of God and celebrate with music.

Maybe this struck me this morning in a special way because when I woke at sunrise today my heart was anxious for the presence of God and the reminder of His love and so I stuck in my headphones and listened to the following song,

There are many leadership lessons and just good life lessons in this reading, but the one that spoke to my heart most of all, as it so often has in the past is the story of Saul in the cave and David refusing to end his life.

David knew the moment Saul died that he would be crowned king of Israel. He knew that he would no longer have to be a nomad, running from shadow to shadow to spare his own life. Yet David would not move ahead of God. This is perhaps one of the hardest disciplines in all of life and leadership, to know what the inevitable outcome of a situation is and yet have the patience to allow God to bring about that outcome in HIS time.

David’s restraint would have been impressive even if he didn’t know he was to be king, simply the self-control to not destroy his enemy and bring freedom to his life, but that he did so knowing there was great reward on the other side and that reward was God’s ultimate will, this is truly a miracle only achieved through a consecrated heart.

David again showed the same patience of waiting on the Lord in the story of Nabal and Abigail. This time though he demonstrated another gift of leadership, he was not going to show that patience, but he was willing to receive counsel. He didn’t care that the counsel came from a woman or from an unknown source, potentially even a biased source (his enemies wife), what mattered to him was the counsel. He recognized the counsel was right and true and that was enough to heed it.

Both great lessons that eventually led to God’s willing being accomplished in God’s time!

Tomorrow’s Reading: Psalms 42-44

I know that I am several days behind in my blogging. I am going to use some down time I will have in the evenings next week to catch-up. Thank you for your patience…and remember the ultimate goal is not reading this blog every day, but reading our Bible’s every day!

Exodus 5-8

I was thinking on these plagues spoken of in Exodus 5-8 and I wrote this notation in the margins in relation to chapter 5 verses 1-23.

“Just prior to deliverance difficulties will increase for God’s people.”

The persecution that the Israelites experienced just prior to their deliverance from Egypt will, though not in the same manner, be experienced by God’s people in the last days of earths history just prior to our deliverance.

It was not until the plague of flies when the Lord said,

“I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will occur.”’” -Exodus 8:23

Does this mean that the plagues of blood water and frogs effected both God’s people and the Egyptians?

Among the Egyptians there were believers in the midst of all these plagues we discover this truth,

“The one among the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses;” -Exodus 9:20

In the ninth plague–darkness–I see a beautiful metaphor for God’s people as this world comes to an end. Just as there was physical darkness in Egypt there will be great spiritual darkness at the end of time. But may the following be said of our homes…

“They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings.” -Exodus 10:23

Let us worship the God of that light as we enter into the Sabbath!

Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Samuel 21-25

I am pleased to announce that our church board, in support for our renewed focus on evangelism, has approved a plan to develop a full media ministry here at the Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church.

On February 22, 2016, our church board heard presentations by Spencerville members, Brad Thorp (Hope Channel) Andre Brink (Adventist Review), and Dan Weber (NAD Communications). Brad and Andre shared a variety of media ministry opportunities that would expand the reach of Spencerville Church, both locally and globally. Whether it’s through the 20 million DirectTV subscribers that receive Hope Channel in the United States, the 10 million Roku users, or the billions of individuals that visit YouTube daily, Spencerville Church could impact all of these with high-quality, Christ-centered media.

Not only would this ministry reach out, it will also reach in, sharing God’s love with specific groups within our own church family via live-streaming. As an example, we currently have more than thirty homebound members unable to worship with us in person on a weekly basis. We also have members who have moved away but still think of Spencerville as their home church. And we regularly hear of church family members that are sick or traveling, but would like to join us for worship on Sabbath. Possibly members who’ve become disconnected would consider coming back after first reconnecting with us in this way. We could serve all these groups more effectively through the portals of media.

Dan Weber, who is serving as chair of our Media Ministry Committee, then presented a $300,000 media ministry plan whereby we would successfully accomplish a media installation without negatively impacting the beautiful aesthetic of the Spencerville Church sanctuary. The board approved the plan without objection (details are available upon request.).

The cost may surprise you. But God began to provide before we even had a plan. Two individuals, a homebound member and a non-member who loves our church, separately and without prompting have contributed just under 45 percent of the total funds needed.

I am asking you to consider what you can give toward the remaining $167,000. Think of the broad impact that our media presence could have on people’s lives. Jesus will be brought to millions by a simple click on a phone, tablet, iPad, or computer. We desire a positive, Gospel-led media program for our members, our community, and for the world. Would you be willing to sacrifice something extra this month in order to give toward our media ministry project?

If your answer is “yes I can” then just click on this link and follow the instructions.

I thank you in advance for being a part of Spencerville Church’s media ministry vision, and for partnering with us to use every resource at our disposal to make Jesus better known and better loved.

Chad

If you have been to more than one Christian wedding in your life then it is likely you’ve heard 1 Corinthians 13 quoted or seen it printed on the bulletin, invitation or something of the sort. This chapter known as the love chapter has become a text that is seen as a marriage texts. Books have been written about it, songs have been sung about it, and of course many couples have used the text in their weddings.

Maybe even you…

Here is the problem, with the over saturation of this text and the cultural ties that have been made between it and marriage the true context of the passage has been lost.

I hope I don’t shatter anyone with the following statement, but Paul, when he wrote that text was not thinking of marriage. Yes of course the principles of love laid out in the passage are good to apply to marriage, but the text isn’t about love in the husband/wife relationship.

The text is about how to utilize one’s gifts and properly serve within the context of the local church. That we should serve Christ through His church with the love and passion we’ve all applied to our wedding vows 🙂 We are to utilize our spiritual gifts in a spirit of love.

Now that I think about it, the text would be used more accurately if we recited it and asked for individuals to commit to it upon joining the church than in a wedding.

I don’t mind that it is used in weddings or in regards to the marital relationship, but I hope next time you hear 1 Corinthians 13 you’ll pause and ask yourself “Am I serving my church with the love principles of 1 Corinthians 13?”

Tomorrow’s Reading: Exodus 5-8

When is worship vain?

When our preferences are taught as MUSTS!

‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ -Mark 7:7

Mark 7:14-19 is a challenging text for Seventh-day Adventists in regards to our understanding/assertion that there remain unclean foods we should refrain from eating. The in-depth study of this passage is far to extensive for this blog and so I would like to direct you to this link which will take you to an article by my friend, theological mentor, and a Spencerville Church member Dr. Ekkehardt Mueller in which he helps us to better understand the true purpose and function of Jesus’ words in this passage.

In Mark 8:32 Peter is uncomfortable with what Jesus is teaching, so he pulls him aside and rebukes Jesus…quite a bold move if you ask me…but that moment gives context to verse 34–

“And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” -Mark 8:34

It seems in the context of what verse 32 and that which Peter did not like and what made Peter uncomfortable that to “deny himself” is about denying our pride and our perspectives on what “the Christian life should be.”

We don’t get to define the cross we must bear. Jesus defines it for us and we must be willing to deny ourselves and willingly receive whatever cross each of us must take on. Each of us have to give up something in exchange for our souls…not as an act of “works” but because Jesus knows it is that very thing that if we don’t give it up, it will ultimately become our god…little “g”!

What is that “thing” Jesus wants to remove from your life…which means you must bear the denial of that “thing” so that it won’t become your little “god” impediment to The ONE TRUE GOD?

Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 13 & 14