No Detail Escapes His Eye!

Amazing & Wonderful is my God!

For those in and around Chicago land this weekend you know that we saw some snow fall.  Snow falling by itself is a beautiful thing.  It is clean and damp and will on it's own clean off your windshield.  Through in some street dirt and other things from the cars on the road and your window can get pretty dirty.  Imagine that dirty window for a moment and then reaching for the windshield wiper button to dispense the windshield wiper cleaning fluid.  Now let's leave the world of make believe for a moment and that is where you will find me Sunday morning.  I was traveling down the road pressing the windshield cleaner button and nothing came out.  Not even a bubble from where the cleaning solution had once lived.  I immediately became nervous because it was becoming increasingly more difficult to see out the windshield.  Just then I saw the sign for a gas station!  I pulled in and was thanking God for this oasis and thinking I would soon have a clean windshield again.  As I exited my car the empty shelves of windshield wiper cleaner stared at me head on!  I wasn't worried because I hadn't yet checked the inside of the station.  I went inside and more empty shelves where windshield wiper cleaner should be looked back at me.  The sinking feeling in my stomach was back.  I went up to the cashier and asked if they had any more windshield wiper fluid left.  He looked back and said I think there is some at the end of this isle.  I went back and found one remaining bottle of windshield wiper fluid.  A peace that I couldn't understand began to settle over me and while I didn't hear the audible voice of God I know doubt felt his peace and began to sense his telling me, "Larry, I know the future right now seems a little unclear but trust me.  I can provide windshield wiper fluid when there doesn't appear to be any so imagine what I can do with the other issues in your life."  God knew exactly what I needed, not only did I need the windshield wiper fluid when I began driving again but I needed to know that I was still being taken care of.  This is what makes my relationship to Jesus so much different than any other religion I have read about.  I know for sure that my God and Father knows my name and my every need.  I just need to be willing to call out and wait on him for He has my very best interest in mind!
I hope this entry is an encouragement to you along your journey.  You to can have this peace when you find yourself in a relationship with Jesus Christ.  

Community by Design

Y Small Groups?

I.                    Biblical Background: God is the inventor of small groups

a.      Family: It makes sense that the God of the Bible and universe who created the first people Adam and Eve could have established a similar pattern for beginning of life.  It is entirely possible that God could have allowed us to be placed on earth instead of being born to a mother and father.  Go back to a time when fertility meant that a man and a women must be together in order to have a baby. God is purposeful.  God made sure that family a small group is the way that humans are introduced into the world and from there are to grow, in all areas of physical and spiritual development. 

b.      New Covenant Examples:  God himself chose to introduce humanity the use of a small group/human family by way of Joseph and Mary.  While Jesus was conceived not of Joseph but by the Holy Spirit his physical development began in Mary’s womb. 

c.       Calling of the Twelve Disciples: Each of the 4 Gospel accounts of Jesus life recall the establishment of a small group of 12 people along with Jesus (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:2-11; and John 1:35-42).  As Jesus went about his ministry we find these twelve men.  They were being taught a new way of life.  They were taught that two loaves of bread and fish could feed a crowd of 5,000 people.  The found out that spending time with tax collectors, prostitutes, and others who were the outcast of society desperately needed to be in community so that they could be restored to God.

d.      After the Resurrection in the Upper Room: Jesus appeared to those who waited for him in the Upper Room after His crucifixion.  Jesus’ students gathered there in the Upper Room just as just as they had while they were sharing their last meal with Him.     Mark 14:12-26; Matthew 26:17-30; Luke 22:7-23

e.      On the Beach:  Here we find Peter and his fishing friends going back to what they knew before Jesus.  They were on a boat fishing.  To illustrate the importance of community the God of the Universe, Jesus, makes the men breakfast.  He talks to Peter and encourages him.  In fact Peter is restored.  It was less than 24 hours earlier that he had disowned Jesus and wouldn’t confess that he knew him.  John 21:12-17

f.        Pau’s interaction with Small Group Community:  Saul who would later be called Paul was helped just after his conversion to Jesus by a small group as he recovered from his blindness.  Acts 9:19

g.      Paul continued to encourage and begin Small Group communities:  Evidence of how important community is to God can be seen in the instructions communicated by Paul to people like the church in Corinth.  Leaders like Timothy, were instructed on how to handle disruptions in Small Groups for the encouragement and betterment of the community.

II.                  Personal Experience with Small Group Community

a.      Now that we have taken a very brief look at the Biblical examples laid out in Scripture I would like to personally share my history in Small Group communities. 

b.      I began to follow Jesus in 1997.  It was through an experience I had called Beach Reach.  Beach Reach is a ministry where groups of college aged believers go to minister at the most populated Spring Break cities.  The ministry included van rides at night to ensure the safety of the spring breakers who were there.  In the morning breakfast was passed out free of charge to those who may have spent all of their money getting to their Spring Break destination.  As God worked around those people and the friends I had travelled with to Panama City, my heart began to soften to the realization that I had never trusted Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross as the payment required by God for my sin.  In addition, this was my first contact with a Small Group community of believers in Jesus. 

c.       God continued to put me in contact with wonderful believers who at their core where Jesus followers and committed Small Groupers.  I have to confess though that over the past few years I had forgotten the importance and the blessing of Small Group community.  I began to live my Christianity isolated from community and it has hurt my growth in Jesus.  I’m very happy to say that God in his faithfulness has brought me back full circle.  He has shown me again the importance of the Small Group Community.  God has given me a peace with his people that is very seldom if ever found in isolation.  Why you ask?  Because God never intended for the Christian to live in isolation.  I am able to encounter God in a deep richness through community.  As Rick Warren in the Purpose Driven Life stated plainly, this life is not all about me.

d.      Small Group Community must be sought intentionally by the Christian.  If you are not purposeful about reaching out and allowing others to reach you then by default you are choosing isolation.  As Jesus stated in scripture you are either for me or you are against me. 

e.      I encourage anyone reading this but especially to those who rely on Jesus for salvation.  Rely on Jesus to continue to grow you through the relationships he brings into your life through community living.  Your life will become richer than you can imagine!

f.        To God be the glory, he is always making away for the wayward.  “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” -2 Peter 3:9

Pre-Party Jitters

I can remember as a child my parents hosting several parties.  Much went into the party before the actual event occured.  For example, there were several check lists that were created.  Party supplies needed to be purchased like food and decorations.  The house needed to be straightened and every item in the house needed to be put in it's place.  Homework needed to be completed.  Everyone had a task to complete in order to make the party successful for our guests.  Whew, I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting that went into the party preparation but you get the idea, there was work to be done.  

Part of my responsibility to ensure a successful party was to clean/straighten our home.  Even this task was broken down and jobs were assigned to each member of our home.  One of my responsibilites was to clean the my room and our bathroom.  One or both of my parents would go to the store to pick up the necessary supplies for the party while my brother and I attended to the jobs at home.

Ready, Set, Go!  Our parents were out of the house.  Now my brother and I knew about how much time it would take for our parents to drive to the store, go through the isles, pick up items, check out, and finally drive home.  Between my brother and me, I always wore a watch.  I would make a note in my mind of when my parents left our house and then the toughest decision needed to be made!  Do I begin cleaning and taking care of my responsibilites now or do I watch the clock and begin cleaning just before I know my parents are to arrive back home????

As believer in Jesus Christ I don't have the same luxury I had as a child.  Yes, there have been assignments given out to the body of the church.  And just like my early family life I have been given specific tasks that I must do.  These tasks range from encouraging my brothers and sisters as long as it is called today as well as helping to take care of the building God has given us to do our ministry.  The difference is I cannot look at my watch in order to guage when Jesus will return.  I must be about the business He has given me on a day to day, minute to minute basis or I won't be ready.  What a huge problem that would be.  You see, unlike the days of my childhood where my parents would discipline me for not doing the tasks I had been assigned in the short term, not doing what God wants has eternal reprecutions.  For this reason we must take what Jesus said in Luke chapter 12 serious.

        

        Luke 12:35-40 35 "Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like men                   waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they         can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds             them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them               recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose               master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. 39 But                     understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would           not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will             come at an hour when you do not expect him."

Friends, brothers, and sisters, let's live and work together knowing that Jesus return is closer today than when he left earth the first time.

Creation...God Is Big Enough

In Response...

Today I had an opportunity to do some extra reading.  "Fun reading" you might call it.

Christianity Today arrived and the time to read it was here.  What would I read first?  As I began to look through the table of contents I was confronted and intrigued by the title of David Wilkinson's article, "Bigger Than We Think, The doctrine of Creation goes deeper than just explaining how the world began." 

In recent days the topic of Creation and Intelligent Design has on my mind.  Family, friends, social media, and now Christianity Today presented me an opportunity to think about how we got here.  Wilkinson makes 5 points in his article.  I would like to take a moment to list and affirm them here.

The first point Wilkinson makes is that the doctrine of Creation is never an abstract academic concept.  I completely agree.  Whether you are looking at Lake Michigan as I do from time to time as a Chicagoan or using the Internet to look at pictures of deep space, the evidence that intelligent thought went into what we are seeing. 

Wilkinson's second point is that the Christian doctrine of Creation has Christ at the center.  I completely agree.  Whether you read the account of Creation in Genesis 1 or John 1 Jesus is at the center.  This is further clarified by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians.  "Jesus is the image of the invisible God" chapter 1 verse 15.

The next point Wilkinson makes is that not only is God the creator but the sustainer of life and the universe.  God hasn't created and walked out.  He gave us his word as a way to live a healthy and purposeful life.  He still does miracles today whether it is the birth of a new baby or the prodigal returning to the fold. 

The fourth point Wilkinson makes is that God is the author of Creation and His own story which includes the redemption of human kind.  Just as the sinner who gives their life to Jesus experiences rebirth so the Earth will experience new birth at God's appointed time.

The fifth and final point Wilkinson makes is that through his creation God has given humans the ability to have an intimate relationship with Him.  God chose to create us and then give us an ability to share in the creation whether you are a farmer planting new crops every season or a teacher who is molding and giving children the platform to create ideas that will transform our world one generation at a time.

I agree with the author on each point.  Before God created the world He understood that Jesus would be our salvation and our way back into a right relationship with him.  Thank God for his amazing grace!  I pray that as I continue to look and investigate those things around me I wouldn't get so wrapped up into the math and science that I forget who gave me the math and science to prove His creation around me.



About me: I have been a Christian for 17 years and attribute the universe, earth, and life around me to God's design.



Thank you David Wilkinson for your article.  Thanks also goes to Christianity Today for publishing the article.




Author of CT Article: David Wilkinson, who is a professor in the theology and religion department and principal at St. John's College, Durham University.
Source Information:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/