CASTLES AND CROWNS

Last week was Vacation Bible school at our church. Its always a lot of fun and a great way to minister to the kids of the community. The theme this year is Castles and Crowns. Every night the kids learned about a King or a Queen in the Bible. Its great to see the kids learn new songs, do crafts, get introduced to Biblical themes.

Half the kids that came I have never seen before. I was the Town Crier. It was a lot of fun but also a bit embarrassing. I wore a frilly shirt and some other not so manly stuff! Its good to plan to make a fool of yourself sometimes. I could read some people minds, “why is he doing that?….he’s a Pastor”

One thing I have never seen before is the kids get so animated in the song service section of the program. Waving arms, jumping up and down, really getting into it. It turned into a praise and worship service by Wednesday.

The Lips of a Strange Woman.

Two weeks ago my sermon was entitled “The Lips of a Strange Woman” We have reached number seven in my preaching series on the Ten Commandments. The Seventh Commandment says, thou shalt not commit adultery. This commandment is not just for married people. The Bible clearly indicates that adultery covers fornication and other illicit sexual practices. The title of the sermon was taken from Provers 5. Solomon knew a lot about “strange” women. Strange meaning women that he was not married to. The Bible records that Solomon had relationships with over 1000 women! He was the original playa.

Sexual issues are difficult to preach about without offending somebody. I shared a statistic from Christianity Today that reveals 50% of Christian men and 20% of Christian women indicate that they have addictions to pornography. That atmosphere in the church changed. You could hear a pin drop! As I was delivering the message I realized I had hit a nerve!

Jesus knew what was coming when he talked about adultery being comitted in the mind. We don’t have to leave our homes to “kiss” the lips of a strange “woman”. For all of those people who are struggling with sexual purity never forget that God is able to deliver you, change your desires, renew your thoughts.

Job 31:1 — I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

Mat 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast [it] from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not [that] thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Do whatever you need to do to maintain sexual purity, do it. There’s alot of info out there to help those who want to be free. Every Man’s Battle by Steve Ateburn is indispensable. There’s a new book by a Pastor who gained the victory of his addiction. I’ll post details on that tomorrow.

O

Wheatonsda.org

Just a plug for our church Website. We have a new template. Its a bit rough around the edges but its coming together. We’ll be adding audio and video sometime soon. We’ll have a lot more pictures too! Please take a look and tell me what you think.

http://www.wheatonsda.org

Truth Behind Hip Hop Part 4

Just posted the ad for the Truth Behind Hip Hop part 4. Part 4 is very powerful. You can find it in the Vod Pod. By the way I don’t have any financial interest in EXMinistries.

Beware of “politricks” in the Church

I love the word politricks. It not a real word as far as I know. I first heard my brother-in-law use it. Its the kind of word that makes me laugh every time I use it. There are politricians in the church. The have deluded themselves into thinking that their pursuit of power and control is the same as the work of God.

I had a visit from a politrician once. He drove quite a long distance to see me. He was a member of a church where I was one of the Pastors. He was influential and had connections. In essence, he said that  some of the things I was preaching and doing was going against the church leadership. I thought I was part of the leadership!

His visit was a poorly executed mafia-style attempt at intimidation……..my mind wanders as I write……

…..I’m standing behind the counter of my bakery and the local mafia boss walks in. He’s all smiles and even eats one of my freshly baked rolls as he tells me that if I don’t pay him a few hundred a week my bakery will mysteriously burn down! ……….

I had spoken out a number of times against the racism, and the stifling tradition of the church and in favor of a focus on lost people. There were probably other things that were not to his liking. In the coded language of the politrician he was saying that I should “tow the line” or else! I said he was free to do the “or else”.

It is always important to remember who is really in charge in the church. Its actually God. God always eventually reveals that humbling reality. Politricians are always humbled, sometimes in devastating ways, So beware!

It is always right to stand up for what you believe. There will be people who mistake that for politricks. It is not. It is being true to your call as a Christian whether you are a member or a Pastor.

Politricks does all kinds of damaging things to a church. Of the most devastating effects is that people lose their ability to see things through spiritual eyes. The Pharisees and Sadducee’s suffered from this spiritual blindness. Killing the messiah was not supposed to part of their job description. Again, beware!

Fundraiser Video

I like to play around with iMovie when I have time. Just uploaded a video I made of one our recent fund raisers. See the top of the Vod Pod

Group Hug communion.

This Sabbath we had six communions in one. Someone came up with the bright idea of dividing the church seating into six squares. Everyone who came to church today had to sit in a square. Folks were encouraged to sit with their families. The was a table in the middle of each square. Each table had a candle, a tray of fruit and the bread and wine for communion.

Another table was set up at the front of the church. On it was a cup of wine, lamb, parsley, herbs, a bowl to wash hands and salt water. I preached from that table. I talked about the passover, its meaning and how it was at the passover meal that Jesus instituted the communion. An elder led out in each square, serving the emblems and leading each group in testimony and prayer.

At the very end of the service each person was asked to serve someone else in the group with the fruit. No one could serve themselves. We wanted to remind ourselves that Jesus can to serve and not to be served. We are to follow his example.

It was a powerful time of fellowship and re-commitment.

A time when silence is betrayal

Just posted some powerful audio of a sermon by Martin Luther King. It is a sermon called “Why I’m against the war” See the Vod Pod.

The good news is that i didn’t drown, part 3

Taken a few minutes before my camera took a swim.