Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Friday, January 4, 2013
Give Away Everything
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I'm thankful to the Lord for the great response to the sermon last Sunday. I think the message was so affective because I was preaching to me more than anyone else. If you missed it, here is Oceanside's Church On Demand podcast.
I've had several people come up to me and say, "In America we're just not able to sacrifice." I guess the assumption is that we have it too good. We have too much. We're too rich to actually sacrifice.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Top 5 Zombie Bible Verses
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Let’s have a little fun this week!
Zombies are a big deal these days. They’re on TV shows like The Walking Dead, and they have been all over video games and movies for decades. Games like Plants Vs. Zombies and Resident Evil are top sellers. There has also been a rash of real life flesh eating people recently. I don’t know what’s up with that, but maybe the Bible does. So, in an effort to gather more blog views I’m shamelessly writing a blog about...
4. A Dead Army Back to Life
I prophesied just as I’d been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them.
He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, ‘God the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!’”
So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army. Ezekiel 37:7
This is a fantastic prophesy about how God is going to raise up Israel, His people, again. I wish I could have been there. It would have been really creepy, but also really awesome. Again, no flesh eating or anything like that, but it’s a great example of the dead being brought back to life, and this time as an army. An undead army.
3. Back From The Grave
The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And they came out of the tombs after His resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many. Matthew 27:52-53
There is no denying that Christ’s death was powerful. It shook the earth and opened tombs. Then we also see how powerful the resurrection was. Those who were, “Asleep” came alive again at Jesus’ resurrection and walked out those opened tombs. In the strictest sense I guess these aren’t zombies either. It seems they came to life and acted like normal people. There was no flesh eating happening. What is interesting is their rising from the dead from out of their graves... Maybe they weren’t zombies in the strictest sense, but they seem to at least have a case of the undeads?
2. Rotting flesh, a Plague, and Enemies of the Lord
This will be the plague the Lord strikes all people with who warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. Zechariah 14:12
This passage points forward to the second coming of Christ. The beginning of the passage talks about all the evil things the enemies of God are going to do to Israel. In an act of punishment God sends a plague against His enemies that causes their flesh to rot while they walk around. Their eyes and tongues will also rot. Interesting factoid: Common punishments of the day included the flaying of skin, the gouging out of eyes, and the cutting out of the tongue. Zechariah points to all this happening through a plague and not with the hands of people. Sounds a lot like the undead to me.
1. Sorry, No Dying
[The locusts] were ordered to torture and not kill... When this happens, people are going to prefer death to torture, look for ways to kill themselves. But they won’t find a way--death will have gone into hiding. Revelation 9:6
A common theme in most zombie flicks is the inability of the undead to die... again. A zombie’s arms can the ripped off, legs can be severed, and they can even be decapitated, but they still don’t die. Imagine a horrendous car wreck where the person CAN’T die. They feel all the pain, but would walk/crawl around for five months without dying. Boom! Zombie. If you combine the Zechariah verse with the understanding that this happens right in the middle of the apocalypse, we get what seems like a real five month zombie apocalypse.
Next time people say that the zombie apocalypse isn’t going to happen maybe you’ll want to point them to some of these verses. I’m going to give you a pro-tip: If you’re a Christian you won’t be a part of the zombie apocalypse. You’ll already be in Heaven. Maybe today’s lesson could be: Become a spiritual zombie through Christ so that you don’t become a physical one.
Let’s have a little fun this week!
Zombies are a big deal these days. They’re on TV shows like The Walking Dead, and they have been all over video games and movies for decades. Games like Plants Vs. Zombies and Resident Evil are top sellers. There has also been a rash of real life flesh eating people recently. I don’t know what’s up with that, but maybe the Bible does. So, in an effort to gather more blog views I’m shamelessly writing a blog about...
THE TOP 5 ZOMBIE BIBLE VERSES
5. The Walking Dead
Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. Romans 6:4
Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. Romans 6:4
The Bible is full of examples, illustrations, and figurative speech about being dead and brought back to life. This passage is one of those. It talks about spiritually killing off our old sinful self. It’s only after we’ve killed off our old self that Christ spiritually raises us back to life. This is what happens when you make Jesus the leader and forgiver of your life. This is also what immersion baptism represents. Dying to the old sinful self and being raised again in new life. Pretty cool stuff. I encourage you to go and read all of Romans 6 to get the full understanding of the passage.
4. A Dead Army Back to Life
I prophesied just as I’d been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them.
He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, ‘God the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!’”
So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army. Ezekiel 37:7
This is a fantastic prophesy about how God is going to raise up Israel, His people, again. I wish I could have been there. It would have been really creepy, but also really awesome. Again, no flesh eating or anything like that, but it’s a great example of the dead being brought back to life, and this time as an army. An undead army.
3. Back From The Grave
The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And they came out of the tombs after His resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many. Matthew 27:52-53
There is no denying that Christ’s death was powerful. It shook the earth and opened tombs. Then we also see how powerful the resurrection was. Those who were, “Asleep” came alive again at Jesus’ resurrection and walked out those opened tombs. In the strictest sense I guess these aren’t zombies either. It seems they came to life and acted like normal people. There was no flesh eating happening. What is interesting is their rising from the dead from out of their graves... Maybe they weren’t zombies in the strictest sense, but they seem to at least have a case of the undeads?
2. Rotting flesh, a Plague, and Enemies of the Lord
This will be the plague the Lord strikes all people with who warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. Zechariah 14:12
This passage points forward to the second coming of Christ. The beginning of the passage talks about all the evil things the enemies of God are going to do to Israel. In an act of punishment God sends a plague against His enemies that causes their flesh to rot while they walk around. Their eyes and tongues will also rot. Interesting factoid: Common punishments of the day included the flaying of skin, the gouging out of eyes, and the cutting out of the tongue. Zechariah points to all this happening through a plague and not with the hands of people. Sounds a lot like the undead to me.
1. Sorry, No Dying
[The locusts] were ordered to torture and not kill... When this happens, people are going to prefer death to torture, look for ways to kill themselves. But they won’t find a way--death will have gone into hiding. Revelation 9:6
A common theme in most zombie flicks is the inability of the undead to die... again. A zombie’s arms can the ripped off, legs can be severed, and they can even be decapitated, but they still don’t die. Imagine a horrendous car wreck where the person CAN’T die. They feel all the pain, but would walk/crawl around for five months without dying. Boom! Zombie. If you combine the Zechariah verse with the understanding that this happens right in the middle of the apocalypse, we get what seems like a real five month zombie apocalypse.
Next time people say that the zombie apocalypse isn’t going to happen maybe you’ll want to point them to some of these verses. I’m going to give you a pro-tip: If you’re a Christian you won’t be a part of the zombie apocalypse. You’ll already be in Heaven. Maybe today’s lesson could be: Become a spiritual zombie through Christ so that you don’t become a physical one.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
How To Be The Best Failure You Can Be
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This week has been full of bombs. I don't mean the kind that explode. I'm talking about Facebook and Battleship.
All over the web I'm seeing articles on what a disaster the Facebook IPO was. It lost something like 30% of it's value over the last few days. That's kind of a big deal. I mean, seriously, Mark Zuckerberg is only richer than the entire Gross Domestic Product of Jamaica. Poor lil' guy.
Also this week Paramount and Hasbro put a bet down on Battleship. Yeah, the movie based after the, wait for it, board game. The first time I heard about Battleship I knew it was going to be a stinker. Even the awesome shnoz of Liam Neeson couldn't save it.
Did Facebook set out to tumble downward in its first few days on the NASDAQ? No, of course not. Did Paramount and all those involved with Battleship set out to make a terrible movie? Maybe... Just kidding, of course they didn't! In both cases the goal was success.
Many times in life we have great dreams and big visions. You think it's the best idea and can't figure out why no one has thought of it before. Maybe you had a dream to be an entrepreneur and your business tanked. Or your dream was to be to be a brain surgeon, but you flunked out of med school. Those kind of failures are not only disheartening, they can also shake our faith in God.
Here are a few words of encouragement for you today. Just because you fail it doesn't mean that you aren't made for greatness. Some of the greatest people in history were serial failures.
And that's just a few of them. They became great because they never gave up.
Use your failures as learning experiments. Never make the same mistake twice. Move on, do better, and grow. The truth is, as long as you're on God's side you're never a failure.
So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? Romans 8:31
A person’s steps are directed by the Lord, and the Lord delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be thrown down headfirst because the Lord holds on to his hand. Psalm 37:23-24
All over the web I'm seeing articles on what a disaster the Facebook IPO was. It lost something like 30% of it's value over the last few days. That's kind of a big deal. I mean, seriously, Mark Zuckerberg is only richer than the entire Gross Domestic Product of Jamaica. Poor lil' guy.
Also this week Paramount and Hasbro put a bet down on Battleship. Yeah, the movie based after the, wait for it, board game. The first time I heard about Battleship I knew it was going to be a stinker. Even the awesome shnoz of Liam Neeson couldn't save it.
Did Facebook set out to tumble downward in its first few days on the NASDAQ? No, of course not. Did Paramount and all those involved with Battleship set out to make a terrible movie? Maybe... Just kidding, of course they didn't! In both cases the goal was success.
Many times in life we have great dreams and big visions. You think it's the best idea and can't figure out why no one has thought of it before. Maybe you had a dream to be an entrepreneur and your business tanked. Or your dream was to be to be a brain surgeon, but you flunked out of med school. Those kind of failures are not only disheartening, they can also shake our faith in God.
Here are a few words of encouragement for you today. Just because you fail it doesn't mean that you aren't made for greatness. Some of the greatest people in history were serial failures.
- Lincoln
- Gates
- Isaac Newton
- Henry Ford
- Jobs
- Edison
- Beethoven
And that's just a few of them. They became great because they never gave up.
Use your failures as learning experiments. Never make the same mistake twice. Move on, do better, and grow. The truth is, as long as you're on God's side you're never a failure.
So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? Romans 8:31
We may lose battles. We may fail here and there, but if we're on God's side He is at ours. Ultimately will win the war.
The best place to be is in God's will. If you're there and your dream is failing remember that life is full of growing moments. This is one of them and God is preparing you for something awesome. As long as you're following God you're not a failure. Don't give up!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Parents Priority Step 2: Lead Our Families
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A Parent's priority is to gradually transfer a child's dependence away from them until it rests solely on God. -Craig Groeschel
Ok... How do we transfer dependance? I'm going to give us two steps out of Deuteronomy 6.
Just having a little fun!
Ok... How do we transfer dependance? I'm going to give us two steps out of Deuteronomy 6.
1. Love Our God
2. Lead Our Families
These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Basically, God is saying, "In everything you do and everywhere you go I'm supposed to be in your life." God-like talk isn’t just a Sunday morning thing. It's an all the time thing. Our children have to see our Christian walk as something we are, not something we do. And if we're not the ones taking the lead on living out Christ... they usually won't. Why? Because, parents, you are the leaders of your family.
2. Lead Our Families
These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Basically, God is saying, "In everything you do and everywhere you go I'm supposed to be in your life." God-like talk isn’t just a Sunday morning thing. It's an all the time thing. Our children have to see our Christian walk as something we are, not something we do. And if we're not the ones taking the lead on living out Christ... they usually won't. Why? Because, parents, you are the leaders of your family.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Parent's Priority Step 1: Love God
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Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5
If there is one thing I can pick up from that verse, it's that God wants every part of our lives. The word, all is used 3 times! God doesn't want a small piece of our life. He wants it all. Our children will recognize if God is a thing that we do rather than a way we live our lives. We can't expect them to live devoted to God if we're not first setting the example.
I heard a message by Craig Groeschel, the Pastor of LifeChurch.tv, where he stated that it is dangerous to give our children a little bit of Christ. He argues that if God is only a part of your family identity then you're essentially immunizing your children to God's power.
Though Immunizations bring up bad memories of almost passing out as a seventeen year old at the health clinic, they also serve as a sobering illustration of what a little bit of God in our families can do. Immunizations work because the doctor gives you a little bit of the virus. Your immune system kicks in and learns how to destroy the virus, then you become immune.
Um... Not exactly what I'm talking about, but still hilarious.
A Parent's priority is to gradually transfer a child's dependence away from them until it rests solely on God. -Craig Groeschel
How do we properly make that transfer? Step 1...
Love Our God With All We Have
If there is one thing I can pick up from that verse, it's that God wants every part of our lives. The word, all is used 3 times! God doesn't want a small piece of our life. He wants it all. Our children will recognize if God is a thing that we do rather than a way we live our lives. We can't expect them to live devoted to God if we're not first setting the example.
I heard a message by Craig Groeschel, the Pastor of LifeChurch.tv, where he stated that it is dangerous to give our children a little bit of Christ. He argues that if God is only a part of your family identity then you're essentially immunizing your children to God's power.
Though Immunizations bring up bad memories of almost passing out as a seventeen year old at the health clinic, they also serve as a sobering illustration of what a little bit of God in our families can do. Immunizations work because the doctor gives you a little bit of the virus. Your immune system kicks in and learns how to destroy the virus, then you become immune.
Christian living isn't just a Sunday morning thing. It has to be an all day, all the time effort. If we want our children to become immune to the Gospel and immune to the radical power of Christ, give them a little bit of Jesus. Our lack of commitment to Christ sends a message to our kids that God or church is a, "Thing" we do.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Don't Believe Everything People Say The Bible Says
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Ok, I'll calm down and try to write a coherent post today. I believe that Christians in America have a huge problem. We don't know our own Holy Book (The Bible). Many Christians are swayed and shut up by
arguments that are not only irrelevant, but often times false. We need to learn to not only deflect these arguments, but crush them as it says in Philetus 1:3*.
Those who doubt the Bible often pull verses out of context and misinterpret passages. Then they use those passages to prove their points. Many of those arguments and questions would be easily squashed or answered with some basic Bible knowledge. For some, studying the Bible may seem beyond your abilities, but let me assure you that it is not. If you can read and write you can study the Bible.
1) Today I can't give you all the answers, but I do want to encourage you with this. Start actually reading and studying the Bible. It will mean a little hard work, but in the end it will be worth your effort. Read, study, and meditate on God's Word. It will not only transform your life, but it will strengthen your faith. When questions are asked and lies are proposed you'll recognize them easily.
2) Research the claims people make. If someone throws a verse in your face don't just believe what they say. Look it up! Many times people don't even know the verses they are referencing and their
ignorance will quickly bubble to the surface if you look up the passage. What about Pastor Trey and myself, should you double check us? Absolutely. Both of us encourage everyone to double check the passages we quote. Make sure we're correctly teaching the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15).
Get into the Bible, build your confidence, and blow your mind! The Bible is a supernatural book. Check out some free Bible study tools at YouVerson.com.
Do you want to know what gets on my nerves? When biblically ignorant people make a point using the Bible to invalidate our faith. Do you know what really gets on my nerves? When equally biblically ignorant Christians get stumped by it.
Ok, I'll calm down and try to write a coherent post today. I believe that Christians in America have a huge problem. We don't know our own Holy Book (The Bible). Many Christians are swayed and shut up by
arguments that are not only irrelevant, but often times false. We need to learn to not only deflect these arguments, but crush them as it says in Philetus 1:3*.
Those who doubt the Bible often pull verses out of context and misinterpret passages. Then they use those passages to prove their points. Many of those arguments and questions would be easily squashed or answered with some basic Bible knowledge. For some, studying the Bible may seem beyond your abilities, but let me assure you that it is not. If you can read and write you can study the Bible.
1) Today I can't give you all the answers, but I do want to encourage you with this. Start actually reading and studying the Bible. It will mean a little hard work, but in the end it will be worth your effort. Read, study, and meditate on God's Word. It will not only transform your life, but it will strengthen your faith. When questions are asked and lies are proposed you'll recognize them easily.
2) Research the claims people make. If someone throws a verse in your face don't just believe what they say. Look it up! Many times people don't even know the verses they are referencing and their
ignorance will quickly bubble to the surface if you look up the passage. What about Pastor Trey and myself, should you double check us? Absolutely. Both of us encourage everyone to double check the passages we quote. Make sure we're correctly teaching the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15).
Get into the Bible, build your confidence, and blow your mind! The Bible is a supernatural book. Check out some free Bible study tools at YouVerson.com.
You can check out this video that will lead you through some simple questions to ask when studying the Bible.
*Philetus isn't a real book... I made it up. I hope you figured that out and didn't just soak it in without question.
In Closing:
Carowinds: We have very limited space, and I have to order the tickets Thursday. The full price of the trip (Carowinds ticket, lunch, and transportation) is $55. Get your money to me this Wednesday.
Haunted House interest meeting July 31: We're looking at doing a Halloween haunted house without all the witches, ghost, etc... Ours will actually be scary. The point would be to show people the reality of their mortality. We would end off the tour with a Gospel presentation. TAKING BACK SATAN'S NIGHT! #KSITT
In Closing:
Carowinds: We have very limited space, and I have to order the tickets Thursday. The full price of the trip (Carowinds ticket, lunch, and transportation) is $55. Get your money to me this Wednesday.
Haunted House interest meeting July 31: We're looking at doing a Halloween haunted house without all the witches, ghost, etc... Ours will actually be scary. The point would be to show people the reality of their mortality. We would end off the tour with a Gospel presentation. TAKING BACK SATAN'S NIGHT! #KSITT
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