tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49929152977243477882024-02-20T18:59:36.443-08:00The Blogging PastorBloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-48974254133782594182019-07-25T08:52:00.001-07:002019-07-25T08:52:44.427-07:00Looking for Pastor Mike?Hi there! I have not been updating this blog site in some time. You may have found me on church staffing.com, which directed you toward this place. A better place to find information about me and my ministry is at <a href="http://www.pastormichaelmcdonald.weebly.com/">www.pastormichaelmcdonald.weebly.com</a>. You can certainly get a flavor about who I am in this blog, but newer information, plus a sermon sample and a doctrinal statement can be found on my weebly page.<br />
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God bless you!<br />
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Pastor Michael McDonald<br />
<br />Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-2784017118830293712018-09-21T05:51:00.001-07:002018-09-21T05:51:16.223-07:00Sermon on the Holy Spirit in JoelWelcome!<br />
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<a href="https://youtu.be/4T7lvN_s4KE" target="_blank">Click this link for a sermon</a> which I recently preached in New Haven. I am working my way through the minor prophets with a view toward building Biblical literacy. Be blessed and be His hands today!<br />
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<br />Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-10561721624387649322018-09-03T12:11:00.002-07:002018-12-06T07:25:49.294-08:00Three Doctrines: God is Sovereign<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">The sovereignty of God provides a foundational principle for a better life. Not a better financial life, or a healthy life, or even a happy life. It’s a solid foundation for dealing with reality from a position of strength. A person might respond “what good is your god if he does not make for a better life?” Cue discussion on what that really means, right? Everyone has a different standard. But you can grapple with life and its issues from a position of strength when you live in light of the fact that God is always going to accomplish his plan.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">Sovereignty itself requires that God be omnipotent, or all powerful. When I say “all powerful,” I don’t mean that he can make a rock even he can’t move. That’s self refuting! There are lots of things God can’t do: He can’t tell a lie, or break a promise, for instance. Omnipotence means he can do anything that is in accord with his will. In other words, if he wants it to happen, he will bring it about, no matter what.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">That said, if God is sovereign, that means what happens to me has already passed across his desk. He stamped “Approved” on it, it came to be either by decree or his permissive will; he’s never blindsided by anything that comes into my life. And because he is good, that means I can depend on the fact these things happened for my future benefit, even as I am being formed in the image of Jesus Christ. Yes, everything that happens is shaping me to become more like Jesus. And when I say benefit, I am talking about heavenly rewards and likeness to Christ. This world is full of sorrows, and God never promised us a rose garden.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">The fact of the sovereignty of God is rooted deeply in the scriptures. A core verse for the sovereignty of God is Psalm 119:16: “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Every day, all day, all things that happen were in God’s script book before you came to exist. In that “book,”—and yes its likely to be a figurative statement—is all the days of your birth, your sickness, your education, the crime committed against you, and the one you committed. That book contains the day of your death. And the life story written there has God as the hero, you are the victim he has freed from the dominion of darkness; and in the end, he is forming Christ in you. That’s the story, and you end up a huge winner in it. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">Because God is sovereign I can know that the universe is solidly in his control. I can understand that all things that happen to me are part of his plan to form Christ in me and in other fellow Christians.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">It does not mean that all things that happen to you are good. Not at all. It just means that God uses even the evil that the world, the flesh and the devil throws at us to make us more like Jesus. Remember, he suffered terribly, and completely unjustly—all in the father’s plan. Should we expect to be any different? </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">Because he is good, I can also understand that his plan for me is going to be good in the end. </span></div>
Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-54205268367133876002018-08-06T12:42:00.002-07:002018-12-06T07:34:31.721-08:00Three Important Doctrines: God is Good<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Few things are as impractical as having great tools that you never practice using. A doctor might have the best equipment, but if he has not practiced using them, he will be at a significant disadvantage on the emergency room floor. A police woman may be given the best possible gun, but if she has not practiced with it, and made it almost a part of her arm itself, the odds will be against her if she has a sudden need to pull it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Even so it is good to reinforce good theology when the times are good to make sure they are ready to use when things go bad. In my denomination, we do this by saying “God is good,” and the crowd responds “all the time.” The leader then says, “All the time....” the crowd responds with “God is good.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">By doing so, we reinforce truth to the body that God is always going to do the right thing. He is never malicious. He never takes pleasure in harming us. When he acts he does so as a morally right, perfect being. When he refrains from acting he does so out of his perfect goodness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">There is a distinction to be made here. We are not saying “God provides benefits” when we say “God is good.” While he certainly does that, we recognize that not all time do God’s actions <i>feel</i> beneficial. When he disciplines us (yes that happens! Just read Hebrews 12….) it does not feel like a “benefit.” When we say “God is good all the time,” we are emphasizing that in the wind and wave of life what God does or does not do is always done out of his moral perfection. We are not providing a validation of whether or not he is a solidly performing cosmic Genie.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">When times go bad, if we believe God is a cosmic genie, we might think God has somehow failed in a duty to provide us shielding from harm. Instead, “God is good all the time” means that when times go bad, God still is good in that his actions are not done out of malice or ill will toward his people. We recognize that his goodness might require us to be disciplined at times!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Life ebbs and flows. Sometimes these changes can feel like “creation” or “god” or “life” is out to get you. We might be tempted to think, as people often do, that “fate” or “god” is hating on us. But this theology is eminently practical because we no longer see the ebbs and flows of life as a result of God’s favor or withdrawal of it. Instead, they look for how God is still good and bringing the right thing out of every situation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The sun is shining bright, and the garden is green. God is good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The car runs today when you crank it on, and you are not late to work. God is good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The pet is sick, and its the weekend. God is good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The power is out, and no sign of it coming on. God is still good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The doctor called and he has bad news. God is still morally perfect, right and just, and he is going to do the right thing.</span></div>
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Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-44128805551801437382018-07-27T10:04:00.002-07:002018-07-27T10:04:11.139-07:00Three Critical Doctrines<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">When I was starting out in discipleship training, I led a friend to Christ. He was an eager new student who wanted to grow in Christ. I myself, eager to have my friend avoid all the mistakes I made, took him to a Christian bookstore and “dumped the truck.” I showed him a library of books that I told he would have to buy and utilize for him to succeed.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">I think that he was truly converted. Not long after he prayed to receive Christ, he moved to Florida. I received a couple of communications showing he was going to church at a Bible believing church there, then nothing. All the same, I felt terrible that I had given this young man (we were both young men then!) so much; and it was too much. I began to wrestle with this question of how much do we need to transfer to a new disciple to just get him or her started. I understood and still understand that changing the way we think is vitally important. We can “get saved,” but even if the heart has changed, we still think like sinners. So its important to get a new convert to think about life in a biblical way. So this work of retraining a new convert is an important aspect of the disciple making process.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">Christian belief truly encompasses a vast system of thought that have taken large volumes, even collections of volumes to elucidate. As a philosophical and religious system it is truly a lifework to fully grasp and master. The Bible is, itself, a very deep volume. How does one start building a functional system of thought for a new disciple without making instruction an overwhelming task?</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">As a leader of churches, as a Pastor, a counselor, and disciple maker, I settled on three key doctrines for primary focus as I enter into training believers. Its not that others are not important! But I have found these to be of primary value as starting points: The Sovereignty of God; the Omniscience of God; the Goodness of God.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">As disciples begin to situate themselves in life, its important to frame all of life within Biblical truth—verses and theology— that help the disciple to see that God is good (al the time) in the circumstances of life, that God knows what he is doing (omniscience), and that God has a plan that he is going to accomplish according to his will (sovereignty). These doctrines alone can consume many days, months and years to contemplate. They will provide abundant opportunities for meditation and teaching for the new disciple, and even the grizzled, experienced disciplemaker.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt;">This does not mean other doctrines are to be neglected. But a considered reflection on the value of these three in particular will show the practicality and value for the new disciple in virtually every day life. I shall explore each of these in turn. </span></div>
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Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-30644025533540221002018-06-28T05:51:00.005-07:002018-06-28T05:51:46.058-07:00Two Commands (Part 2.A)<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">A church ought to foster a right sense of self in the disciples it trains. The fact that this is so is enshrined in the second half of the second law: “As you love yourself.” When the scripture talks about this sort of self-love, it is not referring to something narcissistic. Rather, scripture presumes that we, as human beings, are going to look after our general good health, and not seek self-destruction. This is evident from statements like Paul’s in Ephesians 5:28-29. He appeals to the principle of healthy self-love and its practice as he compares how we treat our own bodies to how we treat our wives: “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it…” Loving self means we rightly understand and care for our physicial needs, and God appeals to this common sense approach to living by commanding us, in the same way, “To love your neighbor…”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">A right sense of self care, then, understands the state from which we were saved. We are born sinners, incapable of reaching heaven on our own. Jesus Christ alone is our hope of salvation. After we have been converted by Christ, we still err and stumble, and so must find grace for ourselves by going to God for forgiveness (1 John 1:9) and giving grace and mercy to others. We remain mindful of our own potential for waywardness, and so we pursue a repentant lifestyle. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">A right sense of self appropriates that forgiveness and is mindful of the fact that “…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Again, not believing we are better than others resulting in God sending his son for us, but that God chose to show us love by sending Christ for you and for me. He did not save us because we had any merits, but because he just wanted to!</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Since he first chose us before we ever chose him, and since he also invests in us purpose and giftedness (1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, et al) God gives us a value that is measured by Christ himself. Before we were saved from Hell, we were measured by Christ’s merit and found wanting. Now we belong to God by adoption through Christ, and we are measured by the Father’s esteem for Jesus, and found wanted.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">On that basis, we ought to care and nurture ourselves. Love and value and take care of yourself! A church fosters a healthy esteem founded on these truths. The church that does this will make disciples with a healthy self worth.</span></div>
Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-13094986852208850002018-06-25T08:18:00.001-07:002018-06-25T08:20:16.172-07:00New Video Uploaded! Are your eyes on the Mammon?<br />
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If you want to become a deeper disciple of Christ, one thing you have to think about is what you are setting your eyes on. Not in a concrete way, but what is your life target? What's important to you? What are your priorities. In a sense, the last half of Matthew 6 is about priorities. <a href="https://youtu.be/U_QJ5d81Ufg" target="_blank">Watch this sermon</a>, and hopefully you will find it helps you sort through your priorities.<br />
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<br />Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-89006259313666530972018-06-25T07:06:00.000-07:002018-06-25T07:06:10.495-07:00Two Commands (Part Two)<b>Loving Our Neighbor</b><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The second rule actually has two parts. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” A good growing church will balance the truth that we are helpless sinners, depraved in the sight of God, with the fact that we are deeply and sacrificially loved. And that love pushes us to become more like the beloved one himself, Jesus Christ. We are image bearers who ought to be beloved and invested in. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The first part flows from how we are beloved. God commands us to love others as we have been loved. The parable of the Good Samaritan tells us what that looks like: irrespective of race, religion or origin, we are to love others and help them in their need.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">A growing church finds ways to serve in three spheres: The community of faith; the community it is planted in; then outward to its region and its world. We get this from two sources: Paul tells us to be good to all, especially the community of faith, and Jesus tells us to go to Jerusalem, Samaria and the ends of the earth. Jerusalem was the city of the birth of the church, where it was planted. Samaria was the home of the “dirty” neighbors in the next province over; and then of course the whole world is pretty self-explanatory. Along the way, we are to make real solutions to real needs, presenting and representing the gospel as we go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">These two core principles of love are the simple root of all Christian practice. It’s not complicated. We only make it so because humans enjoy complicated things and want to make things hard...it gives us the feeling that we are good spiritual Boy and Girl Scouts. Its not necessary. Jesus said my “yoke is easy and my burden is light.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">So go and meet needs. As you go, reflect the love Christ showed on you toward others.</span></div>
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Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-73851215268092125722018-06-23T05:05:00.000-07:002018-06-23T05:05:58.752-07:00Two Commands (Part 1)<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
Two Commands: Loving God</div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">In the days before Jesus was teaching, a man went to all the philosophers and religious teachers of the world (or those he knew of, anyway...) and asked them to explain their religion or philosophy while he stood on one foot. If they could do that, he would convert. None he found were able to do so. Until he found a Rabbi. He asked him the same question. The Rabbi raised and grasped his foot, said “Love the Lord your God with your heart and soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. The rest is commentary.” Impressed, the man converted to Judaism on the spot. Biblical faith is not hard. It’s stunningly simple. What’s hard is how it confronts us with our failure to abide by those two simple rules.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">This was brought home to me one time when a family member was in tears one time. She was struggling with what it meant to be a Christian, because the Pastor of her church gave her some advice she was having difficulty following. He told her that for her to be a full Christian, she needed add some extra bible studies to her already full schedule and take on service in his church. After adding these items she was feeling more burdened than before and a failure as a Christian. Life seemed more chaotic than ever. She was wondering if there even is a God who is interested in her. After all, she was doing “everything right,” but life seemed out of control.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">I believe that this Pastor missed the mark in his advice. I explained to my family member that the Christian life is not found in how many Bible studies you attend, or in helping to facilitate a VBS. While those things are important, I walked this person back to something even more fundamental: love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">This is the true basics. Rather than create vast lists about finding success as a Christian, or reading books about generating spiritual fruit, or being stuck as a square peg in some aspect of Church service, core Christianity is found in how we are living those two simple rules (again, I understand a faith in Jesus Christ as savior is the necessary first step—we are assuming that this has been taken).</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">We must begin by asking ourselves: what is the <i>direction and propellent </i>of our life? Any rocket needs a target to hit (direction) and propllent to drive it forward. Like a rocket, we need to know our what our destination is, and what our propellent is. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">For Lebron James it's basketball greatness. For Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, maybe it's making amazing devices. For a Pastor of a church maybe it's having a large membership roll and big budget. While these things can be good of themselves, are they really about loving God with everything you have? The answer to the this question, about the </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">direction and propellent</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> of our life, the Christian must include a consideration of that Great Command of Love. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">For <i>direction</i>, do we seek, in however God has made us, to honor and glorify God with our life purpose and choices? Do we seek to please him? Is it a concern to us how we may have to report to him on our choices when we die? Do we want to “put a smile on his face”?</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">For <i>propellent, or thrust,</i> do our passions line up to push us toward pleasing God? Do we engage our emotions in healthy ways, based on how God has made us, to seek to honor God. If you are passionate about art, maybe God has wired you to use that passion to decorate a sanctuary; Or perhaps to use your art skills to glorify God in your creations; maybe even to give you credibility to be able to represent Christ in the art community. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Loving God doesn’t mean you sit up on a mountain top in continual contemplation of scripture. Scripture is important, yes. We also can love God with the skills and talents, yes even passions, that he has given to us. He can use you. He may need to train you and hone you. But yes, he can use you. The question is, can you use those things to express your devotion and willingness to him. Of course you can! As you consider what you do for life and for pleasure, we have to include a consideration of "How can I honor my God and express devotion to Him through these things he has given me."</span></div>
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Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-90472164472348159022018-06-18T05:28:00.001-07:002018-06-18T05:35:15.587-07:00Church Leadership and Disciplemaking<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Greetings, friend! Welcome to the Blog of Michael McDonald. I am currently a Pastor and have been in ministry for 18 years. In God’s providence I helped to build a small struggling church into the largest church of five in our small rural town. Over the course of my time of service, I have developed some core ideas of how to go about making disciples.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">My idea centers around 4 sets of basic concepts. None of the concepts are more important than the others, nor do they represent a particular theological emphasis that excludes other important theological concepts. The three basic concepts presume a present faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, and an acceptance of the Bible as foundational for a successful Christian life. The Christian life and the Bible are huge realities, and the concepts I am going to show should not be taken as the whole of the Christian life. Rather they should be seen as foundation and scaffold for a fully developed Christian life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The four basic concepts are these:</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">The Transformational Paradigm</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Three Critical Doctrines</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Faith, Hope and Love</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Two Commandments</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;">Some of these are plain enough. Faith, Hope and Love are critical parts of the Christian life as noted most famously by Paul. Two Commands seems easy enough: love the your God and your neighbor as yourself. The others don’t lend themselves to an easy explanation simply by looking at the titles. Still, they form a practical core which forms a primary basis for my approach to disciple making. I hope you will find them so, too.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Keep coming back, and I will show you what I have found to be useful tools in growing disciples and churches.</span></div>
Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-8726632264091047732017-03-18T03:39:00.000-07:002017-03-18T03:40:11.367-07:00New Church, New ThemeGreetings, friends!<br />
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I have a new church. I am currently serving as an interim pastor for the First Congregational Church in New Haven, Michigan. I am still enrolled at Calvin Seminary, and am finishing up a very busy semester there. This one has been the busiest yet!<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvcT5U0HVJE" target="_blank">Here is a sermon</a> I preached March 12 at FCC. May God bless you as you consider with us the words of the Bible.<br />
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By His grace,<br />
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Michael McDonaldBloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-19742903769667598302016-11-01T06:36:00.001-07:002016-11-01T06:37:32.785-07:00PatheosIf you are not familiar with Patheos, here is a <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2016/10/alienated-and-ambivalent-evangelical-scholars/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=anxiousbench_103116UTC021027_daily&utm_content=&spMailingID=52655135&spUserID=MjIxNzA2NDE5ODM4S0&spJobID=1026586381&spReportId=MTAyNjU4NjM4MQS2" target="_blank">link</a> to this wonderful site of blogging thinkers. No one will agree with all of them, but its a place of helpful dialogue. This link is to a specific article that I found very helpful.<br />
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<br />Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-40593356211275491672016-08-20T13:15:00.001-07:002016-08-20T13:15:20.257-07:00Fairly Splitting the Twinkie, based on Acts 6<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jauZv1J80IQ" width="459"></iframe>A sermon on a different way to look at race relations in our nation.Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-9730580456312015652016-07-25T07:25:00.001-07:002016-07-25T07:25:41.277-07:00Ananias and Sapphira<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FLtRE-JgnD0" width="459"></iframe><br /><br />
This is a sermon which I preached as part of a series in Acts. We recognize that often times we can deal with other in a hypocritical way. We ought to take such actions more seriously in light of the fact that God does not love lies. I raise the question of what motivates us to misrepresent ourselves to others.Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-59204198183690365392016-07-18T09:26:00.001-07:002016-07-18T09:26:55.269-07:00Creating Healty Conflict<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T01jVaHmHTc" width="459"></iframe>Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-45600551736120489632016-07-18T09:21:00.000-07:002016-07-18T09:22:30.778-07:00Peter's Tool BoxWhen we wonder what to use when presenting the good news about Jesus Christ, we want to have some good tools in our tool box. Why not look in the tool box of the guy who saw 3000 added to the church in the first revival service? This message shows off some of those tools.<br />
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Its been a while since I posted something. I had an experience this morning which I wrote about for a future sermon illustration. But I thought I should share it here as well.</div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I</span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> have really struggled in my life with issues of forgiveness of my self. I beat myself up nearly incessantly for past wrongs I have done, foolishness practiced, habits cultivated, etc. I think you probably know what I am talking about. I do tend to think I might carry this on more than some. I know plenty of people who are able to recognize their errors and faults, confess them to God, and simply move on. Of course we are talking about believers in Christ, who have the ability to do seek such forgiveness. We all know there are Christians and non-Christians who let everything roll off their backs…probably even in unhealthy ways. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There is a place for the recognition of guilt. When we feel guilty, we should process: is this only a feeling of guilt? Am I actually in a state of having committed an offense? Often, the feeling of guilt attends the reality of guilt. We mustn’t cover up, explain away or mitigate that feeling. But what do we do with it when we have confessed our real guilt? How do we deal with those feelings when we have made things right with God and others, but we still can’t seem to get over the hump? How do we not only extend grace to ourselves, but then also move on?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I must admit, this mystery eludes me. I am not going to go the other way and say that guilty feelings are just inner complexes and need to be ignored or explained away. I don’t want to sear my conscience that way. But I do need to figure out how to move on.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">One thing that helps is the little reminders that God gives me. Its almost like a pain pill to help me get through at least this day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Today, for instance, I was doing my quiet time and praying. Part of that prayer found me praying for myself and past errors, and for others in my circle who have made bad choices; I am praying for their restoration. Then, a sudden movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. Outside my window, across the street, I saw squirrel in the very moment he was falling from a tree. He struck the ground hard enough that I could hear the impact, probably 100 feet away, and outside my closed house. A large dust cloud also rose around the squirrel. To my added surprise, the squirrel was immediately off like a shot toward a nearby tree to resume its arboreal existence.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I was surprised it was able to even move so suddenly after such a fall. At the least it had to have fallen about 30 feet to the ground. That’s about how high it is to the nearest tree limbs and power line. Perhaps it was internally injured, but its legs moved fine. He was off like a shot, with no wallowing on the ground, no wailing in the dust, no sitting to even catch its breath. Just off.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I don’t recall seeing a squirrel fall like that anytime in my recent history; indeed I am not sure I ever have. Yet, here I am, talking to God, and he lets me see this little moment in time. I really do think it was God telling me, “its time to get moving, Mike. Its time to be off to the next thing. Get going about your day, and take the next task I have assigned to you.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px;">It was helpful to me anyway. I still don’t really care too much for myself; I am not my own best buddy! But things like this remind me that The Mo</span><span style="font-size: 11px;">st</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: 11px;"> Important One of all, God, likes me enough to die for me, and is aware of my mental situation to send me little moments like this. He forgives me. And even if I can never get past my own flaws, they are not a difficulty for Him.</span></span></span></div>
Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-46669729939762314162015-11-17T08:05:00.002-08:002015-11-17T08:05:40.641-08:00Psalm 139: Search and Know Me<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
When we consider judgment, as God’s people, we are not exempt from judgment. Just because we have fled to the judge and begged his pardon for our weakness and waywardness does not mean that we get off free if we continue to participate in erroneous behavior. Psalm 139 is a reminder to be humble when it comes to judgment, and be prepared for it when it comes. </div>
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<span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>23</b></span> Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. <span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>24</b></span> See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. </div>
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David belonged to God and had the Holy Spirit upon him. David was guided, empowered, and enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Yet that did not make him perfect. His stumbling and fall is well documented in scripture in the matter of Bathsheba. We also see that at other times he was not perfect in all his ways. His handling of his family issues later in life, the matter of the insult of “the fool” Nabal, and the fact that he had tephilim in his household shows that he did not always “have it all together.” </div>
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That said, one thing David did have was the <i>desire</i> to keep things straight with God. And because he knew how wayward his own heart could be (see for example, Psalms 32 and 51) he knew that he was ever in need of a check up “from the heart up” for his own life. Psalm 139 reminds us to ever submit to God’s search light, in order that we may have our own wicked ways, thoughts, and tendencies revealed. </div>
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If you don’t think you have wicked ideas, ways, thought, etc., just ask for an honest assessment from those who know you best. Your spouse will know if you have a problem. So will your kids. Your co-workers probably do too. I know of a church near my house where, if you wish to be in leadership, the church puts together a team to go an interview people in your work environment. May God permit that we should all be able to pass such a test.</div>
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But the one who knows and loves us best is God. His desire is to make us more and more into reflections of His own character. Since our desire ought to be the same, then asking Him to evaluate us is a wise, yes, necessary move.</div>
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God will have His way with His people. Its true. But things are so much better for us if we participate in the process of growing in Christlikenss with willing hearts. So David prays, “Search, Test, Lead.”</div>
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Search, because often we are so good at hiding wickedness, even from our own selves, deep down in our souls. Test, because the soundness of our ways and thoughts must be demonstrated, proved, and demonstrated a fail if they weakness and waywardness be found there. Lead me, because we have a naturally tendency to wander. We, left to ourselves, like to go astray (like sheep!). </div>
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This must be done, for God is a just judge. This brings us to the difference between Punishment, which is done to the wicked, and discipline which is for His children. Punishment is final. Its meant to demonstrate and vindicate the righteousness and holiness of God. Disicpline is different. It is meant to correct, reprove, and restore. Goddoes not leave his people to return to wickedness. He must discipline if we do. He works to correct that we may be like Jesus.</div>
Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-6556915399279274412015-11-12T07:53:00.002-08:002015-11-12T07:53:39.088-08:00Justice and Punishment: it is coming!<div style="color: #59330e; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="color: #007aaa; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>19</b></span> If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! <span style="color: #007aaa; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>20</b></span> They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. <span style="color: #007aaa; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>21</b></span> Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? <span style="color: #007aaa; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>22</b></span> I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.</div>
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The next thing that we will reflect on with this passage, is that there will be a day of judgment. There is coming a day when God will settle accounts. God promises it in his word.<br />
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Indeed, our hearts cry out for judgment. Righteousness and holiness demand it. There must be judgment, or God will have failed in His management of the universe. And deep down inside, all human beings know that this world is broken and fallen. If it were not so, would we miss justice? Would we cry out for it when it is absent? Of course not. We would only seek for power to overcome our enemies in response to their machinations.<br />
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That's not to say that people don't respond with evil for evil. We do. But we would not care about justice and its exercise if there was not some fundamental sense within us that says: "There is a right way for things to work, and what I see happening is not it."<br />
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The fact that we continue to live and breathe, despite our many violations of what is right (and we all do it, admit it) is really an act of mercy of God. Even when we have been violated in our sense of fairness and equity, we turn around and do the same things; like when we "cuss out" a driver for cutting us off in traffic, and then we turn around and do the same thing for someone else. That's just not right. <br />
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We decry someone for a theft, and then we steal from an employer by taking what belongs to him, or by "stealing time," by goofing around on the job rather than working. We decry someone for lying to us, despite our many false representations of self to others. We cry "justice" against someone who uses his power against us, but then we talk badly about someone behind their backs in order to get others to shun that one. We are all, everyone of us, regular and constant violators of justice, even as we cry out for justice.<br />
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So how will we fare on the day of judgment? Thankfully, God has already provided a court where our sin can be dealt with. Jesus Christ died on the cross, and in His courtroom, full pardon has been declared for all who will come and receive the free payment he has made.<br />
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If we don't accept the payment God has provided, there is only an expectation of judgment. We will have to pay for our own sins. And if we are honest with ourselves, we fail to keep our own rules well, much less God's. So how will it be that day?<br />
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If we refuse God's payment, then we will have to be punished. And punishment from God is forever. It is separation from him in a place called Hell forever and ever. And don't believe the lie that in Hell someday you will look up and see that God just wants to love you...and that you'll just be able to walk right out. When you get there, it is final. That's what punishment is. Punishment is the vindication of God's law, His righteousness, His holiness. And since those are forever things, its a forever violation when we sin against it.<br />
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That's not to say that those who receive God's payment are perfected when they do that. They still sin. But the difference is they are disciplined. I'll write about that in the next post.Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-49179695547706609552015-11-10T07:12:00.004-08:002015-11-10T07:12:45.647-08:00Heart's CryIts been quite a while. I plead the excuse that I have had a major presentation and major paper due at school! It ate up a great deal of time and brain power the last two weeks. But here, at last, is a post continuing our discussion of Psalm 139.<br />
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A fundamental urge for human beings is a need for justice and fairness. I know this is the case. I have run a youth group for many years. The single most common phrase you hear kids in youth group yell is “That’s not fair!” Yes, its true. When you are playing games, and anything seems to smack of the slightest favoritism, or if, as Pastor/Referee you miss some “Obvious” foul, those kids are very quick to point out your error. “No Fair!”</div>
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Why do we worry about fairness or about justice? What is it that sits inside of us and is moved to cry out “Injustice!” or “Unfair!” or some such? Entire movements, even nations have been built over the issue of what is fair or not fair, what is just or unjust. Great social upheavels and reveloutions began over the perception that there are inequities. Why do we have that feeling?</div>
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Injustice also drives people to become judges, or enter law enforcement. It drives people to become politicians. We even see people who enter the corporate world with a desire to make things right. </div>
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But who do we appeal to when we try to do the right thing and the “system” still seems to be against us? Who is our court that we go to when the movement we began shifts focus and itself becomes unjust? </div>
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This is what David does when he finds injustice, wickedness, tyrranny in his presence. He appeals to God:</div>
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<span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>19</b></span> If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! <span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>20</b></span> They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. <span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>21</b></span> Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? <span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>22</b></span> I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. </div>
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I know that we struggle with verses like these when he find them in scripture. But what do we do with our anger and our outrage when babies are robbed of their right to life? What do we with our pain when we see court decisions that diminish human rights? When dictators slaughter their people or spray them with toxic gasses? What do we do when we feel that inner scream rise when a friend stands falsely accused and the system is working against them? </div>
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Of course we pray! That’s one response. We pray for those who are persecuting, and for their enlightenement in Christ. But psalms like this also invite us to come and bring our anger, pain, outrage to God. And he does not turn us away. Its a faith response when we appeal to the highest court of all and beg God for His intervention.</div>
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And the amazing thing is, there WILL be justice. In the end, God will mete out perfect equity and justice. There will not be anyone who ultimately gets away with murder. And those falsely accused and judged will also have that made back up to them. God WILL make it right. Of course we would like to see Him make it right, now! But sometimes that does not happen. God will answer our heart cry for that justice. So cry out to Him as David did. But remember also, to pray for a blessing on your enemies, and that they would find Christ. That is what the New Testament adds to our understanding. Remember, as Paul said:</div>
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[O]ur struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph 6:12).</div>
Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-84771640380163325172015-10-26T12:03:00.000-07:002015-10-26T12:03:00.746-07:00Hard Sayings<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
There are some very hard passages of scripture which we, as Christians, must deal with if we are to fairly and honestly deal read scripture. So often we chop out passages of scripture that make us uncomfortable, or perhaps, at best, don’t understand them.</div>
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C.S. Lewis had a great deal of difficulty with the doctrine of Hell. He felt it was a hard doctrine, he did not like it, and it is not easy to defend. But nonetheless it is something that the Bible teaches. Hence, we must fairly and honestly teach it as truth. </div>
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Psalm 139 has one of these passages of scripture. Here is what it says: </div>
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<span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>19</b></span> If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! <span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>20</b></span> They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. <span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>21</b></span> Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? <span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>22</b></span> I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.</div>
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Wow! What do we do with this? There are some things, as we read it from the perspective of the New Testament, that we think “How is this even in the Bible?” After all, doesn’t Jesus himself preach that we ought to “love our enemies,” and “pray for those who persecute us?” We often forget that Jesus himself also said that we are to hate our own family in comparison to our love and loyalty to Him! But yet, here we are, dealing with a VERY hard statement of scripture. Is it inspired? Did God really intend for this to be here?</div>
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Recently I preached at a church, and I had asked for this psalm to be read. The whole psalm. The reader stood up and delivered the WHOLE psalm…minus these 4 verses. She just skipped them! No explanation. Nothing. Its like they did not even exist in her Bible.</div>
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It is problematic (understatement) to XXX out verses of the Bible which we are not comfortable with. We can’t. We are not allowed to do this. Such activities are the province of arch heretics. Movements to formalize the received canon of scripture began as a reaction to heretics who ignored the OT and much of the New Testament (looking at you, Marcion!). They thought they could simply ignore the things that they were not comfortable with.</div>
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Today, such ideas are still present with us. Christians who consider themselves “strictly NT Christians,” and only read their New Testaments; gospel Christians who never leave the gospels; or worse yet the so called “Red Letter” Christians, who only accept the words of Jesus (often printed in Red) as authoritative. This has not place for people who wish to consider themselves true Christ followers and biblicists. After all, didn’t Jesus read what we call the OT today? Of course He did! And didn’t he affirm the words of the OT when he said “Not one Jot or Tittle” of the torah shall pass away? Yes, He did. </div>
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So we have to embrace these words. I will freely confess, I don’t understand all of these things in these verses. I struggle with how they fit in the NT ethic. But these words ARE true, and are meant to communicate important truth even to us. We shall explore them in the next few days. Not exhaustively. But we shall use them as points of meditation which I think we will find instructive and helpful for our daily walk.</div>
Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-89091822311423254632015-10-22T17:01:00.001-07:002015-10-22T17:01:29.318-07:00Good Intentions<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
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I like to send little emotes to my wife. I am frequently away from home when I go off to school, and if I am working in Grand Rapids. We can be away from each other for several days at a time. It is not an ideal situation for either of us. But, sometimes when life is in transition these things do happen.</div>
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There is one thing that is important to my wife, though. She wants to know if I am on her mind. So I send her a note each morning to let her know that I am thinking about her. Usually it is something fairly simple, like a couple of emojis, such as a bunny with a little jug of honey. Put them together and it’s “honey bunny,” which has been my pet name for her almost since we started dating.</div>
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We have a saying in the US. “Its the thought that counts.” Maybe if you were really hoping to get a bike or some money for a gift, hearing that phrase is small consolation if all you got was a card. But knowing that people have kindly thoughts toward us is always affirming at some level. </div>
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On the job, sometimes maybe you are feeling the effects of the grind. Maybe its been tough lately, and you wonder if anyone notices your hard work or sacrifices. Then you find out that the boss has had his eye on you, and gave you a little extra work as preparation for a big promotion. He has kindly intents toward you. He knows you are good, and even if he did not communicate it to you, you are on his mind and has big ideas for your role in the company.</div>
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David realized this sort of thing about God, too. He went through some hard things in life. He faced some real and overwhelming challenges. But he knew that God had a plan for him. I am sure that there were times when he wished for God to either hurry up, or if God was going to follow through on what He had said. But whenever he caught a glimpse of God’s plan, either through a friend, or a circumstance, or through a prophet, he realized that God always does have him on His mind, and for good. </div>
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We don’t know at what point in his life, David wrote these words in Ps 139:</div>
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<span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>17</b></span> How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! <span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>18</b></span> Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. </div>
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Thoughts in the passage can be translated “intentions.” David saw God’s intentions for him, and he was overwhelmed by the breadth and kindness of God’s intentions toward him. David had failed and fallen short many times in his life. Yet still, through it all, he knew that God had good intentions, good plans toward him.</div>
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We bump into a large number of people in our world today. Most of them will pass swiftly from out of our life. A small number will make repeat visits. For some of them, we may be a useful piece in their own plans. For others, they may think of us only with malice. Its a great thing when we find people who think and plan only good for and around us. </div>
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God is one of those. We sometimes wonder if God is waiting, on the edge of his seat, to just beat us down. Ps 139 says something different. For those who are His, and know Him as savior, he sits on the edge of His seat ever waiting to talk to us, and ever ready to bless us. He has great plans for us! Yes, God does in fact have good intentions for us, no matter the circumstance.</div>
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Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-90520037952905464372015-10-20T06:52:00.003-07:002015-10-20T06:52:36.870-07:00Who Broke the Cosmic Dice in Ann Arbor?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
Probably, if you are like me (i.e. human) you have wondered how random life can seem at times. Life does, frequently, seem like it is out of control. Things happen for seemingly no apparent reason. We turn around and ascribe these things to luck or chance. We are trained by secularism to think that life is the product of many purposeless chances. </div>
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Consider what happened this last weekend in Ann Arbor, Michigan. On the last play of the college football game taking place there, something happened with a player and a football which to one side seemed to be an occurrence of capricious chance and bad luck. To the other side it was “lucky” and the product of lots of hard work! Some of these things with luck really depends on your perspective, doesn’t it!</div>
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For example: you are trying to sell your house and the day the inspector comes to examine the house for your buyer there is a thunderstorm. The storm exposes a leak in your roof that the inspector notices. How do we explain this event? Bad luck? Surely your buyer would say that was good luck!</div>
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But then, we who are Christians read this:</div>
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“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be (Ps 139:16b).”</div>
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Chance? Randomness? Chaos? Luck? These words vanish in the light these words bring to our life. Our days, before one of them came to be, where “scripted” before they ever happened. God is writing a vast cosmic story in which we are the participants and God is the hero. </div>
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As psalm 139 has shown so far, God is omniscient. He is aware and knows all things past, present, future and all things that could have been. Hence he knows the best way to the best of all possible destinations. God is omnipresent, so He is with us and participating in the unfolding of His creation. And God is omnipotent. Whatever He intends to do He is able to accomplish. That makes God <i>Sovereign.</i></div>
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God, in His Sovereignty has the right and the power to rule all things after the council of His own will. He has determined to take for Himself a people for His very own. He writes into His script those whom He has chosen to grant His mercy. He is able to take these whom He has chosen to the place He intends to go: a bright future in eternity.</div>
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This means that sometimes the best possible road goes through some rough places, “even through the valley of death’s shadow (Ps 23).” For me it looks like unemployment is providing the roughness in the road. For you it might look like cancer or the loss of a close family member. For someone else it might look like the failure or an accident. But these things were never a surprise to your heavenly father. Even your moral failures were included in the script; not to order you to do them, but that he would so work and so do that even in that situation, He would prove to be the hero of your life, and your rescuer and redeemer. All these things work together to make you more like Jesus, less like a sinner for His glory and our benefit (Romans 8:28). He “who began that good work will be faithful to complete it!”</div>
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I have a friend who has a high view of God’s sovereignty. But he is also a Michigan Wolverines fan. Amazingly, he described the end of that game this last weekend as a piece of “luck.” There is really no such thing as luck. There is only God’s purpose. The real question is “How is God going to use this for my benefit?” Not “who fixed the dice?”</div>
Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-42031240386845616392015-10-13T07:33:00.004-07:002015-10-13T07:33:52.470-07:00He is able!<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
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Omnipotence. Its a bit of an awkward word. It seems to draw a picture of far off deities sitting in clouds with the sun behind them, dazzling us and yet remote from us. You might think of angels and gods drawn on ancient monuments, or perhaps of vast murals with a musclebound God the father, flexing his muscles as he calls creation into existence. It does not really seem to enable us to connect with the divine, does it? The “Almighty” which is another way of saying omnipotent, is not a real cuddly term!</div>
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It also draws some rather silly comments from people who are skeptics. In their minds, and perhaps even yours, omnipotence means God can do anything. This has spawned the old canard that perhaps you have heard: “if God were really omnipotent, he could make a rock that even he could not move.” In their mind then, if he can’t move the rock, or make the rock he could not move, then that is a logical paradox, and God vanishes in a puff of smoke. POOF!</div>
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Think about this though: there really are things that God <i>cannot</i> do. </div>
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Several years ago someone made a bit of a splash when he published a book saying that there were things God can’t do. Open the book, and you see things like, “God can’t tell a lie,” and “God can’t break a promise.” So being omnipotent does not mean can do <i>anything.</i></div>
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The Biblical understanding of Omnipotence means that God is <i>able to do everything that is in accord with his will</i>. Anything that he says is his will, his plan, his desire, his intent, he is able to accomplish or bring about. Anything. If he says at one point in history that he can make a virgin give birth, 700 years later he brings it about because he is omnipotent. Whatever he intends, is able, yes, more than able to do, as the hymn says:</div>
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He is able, more than able<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span>To accomplish what concerns me today.<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span>He is able, more than able<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span>To handle anything that come my way.<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span>He is able, more than able<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span>To do much more than I could ever dream,<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span>He is able, more than able<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span>To make me what He wants me to be.</div>
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In Psalm 139 there are two statements in verses 15-16 that point to God’s omnipotence:</div>
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<span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>15</b></span> My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, <span style="color: #017aaa; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal; vertical-align: 5px;"><b>16</b></span> your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.</div>
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Omnipotence at this point crosses over with Sovereignty in verse 16, but we will deal more with that topic in the next entry. Here we will focus on Omnipotence.</div>
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When you think of Omnipotence, you probably don’t think of a baby. Yet this too, is an expression of of the omnipotence of God. God is the creator, and when we think of God creating all things, we ought to think of God creating a baby from a microscopic egg, with all of its genetic coding, all the way up to him setting all the stars in place and calling them all by name. Creation is a work that God is still involved in doing, a process begun in Genesis 1:1 and continuing today in the life of a child.</div>
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Louie Giglio has a pair of great presentations on God’s omnipotence demonstrated in creation. He points to a chemical glue in one video, called laminin, that is shaped like a cross. Then he points to a structure in the heart of a distant galaxy that is also shaped like a cross. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtpTk2ENq7o" target="_blank">Click this link to see Louie here, discussing the stars</a>. From the smallest to the greatest things, all creation is an expression of the omnipotence of God.</div>
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But then we see he has written your life script. That means he has plotted out your life before you even came to be. We cross into the territory of sovereignty here, which I’ll present next time, but for now, understand that God is the author of your life, in which Jesus is your hero. He is making you like Jesus in this story, and the good guy (Jesus) always wins. You, his “sidekick” if you will, are being conformed to his image, by the work of God. And because he is omnipotent, he will bring you to the end of the story. </div>
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He will accomplish his will for you. And he has good plans for you: </div>
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<b> 11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.</b></div>
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Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4992915297724347788.post-30019504903279253582015-10-12T07:13:00.001-07:002015-10-12T07:13:40.736-07:00God is Still Great! Video SermonHere is my very first <a href="https://youtu.be/Uzw1Tsy1XCE" target="_blank">sermon video</a>. The sermon was delivered on October 4 at Westhaven Baptist Church in Port Huron Michigan. The context is a church that has just hired a new Pastor.<br />
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I hope that this sermon is a blessing to you, as you are challenged to think of the greatness of God in EVERY circumstance.</div>
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Mike</div>
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PS: Yes, this sermon is preaching the same material I have been presenting in my blog! I will continue the series in written form in the next couple of days. God bless you, and thanks for reading!</div>
Bloggingpastorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11105757348983024016noreply@blogger.com0