Sunday, August 30, 2009

Sister T. and the Butterflies

There is a lady that attends my church that I will call Sister T. She has been a member at our church for many years. As long as I can remember, she has worn these butterfly pins on her right shoulder. I have often been curious about them but have never asked why she wore them; or even why she had them in such an unusual location. Last week, my brother and I were at church talking when she walked by. We all spoke to each other and my brother asked her why she always had the butterfly pins on whenever we saw her. He said that he had always been curious about them, but had just never asked.

Sister T. smiled and began to tell us how the butterfly was a representation of her life. She said that it reminded her where she came from in God. Just like the caterpillar makes the metamorphosis into the butterfly, she had also changed drastically from the person that she was before she accepted Jesus into the person that she is today. She said that she spent many years in her own cocoon waiting and changing. And although the process was sometimes painful, she felt as though she had emerged as a completely changed person; just as the butterfly is completely different from the caterpillar. She also said that the changing process was painful at times. But she knows now that it was necessary for her to be the woman that God wanted her to be.

I learned some things from her testimony. The first thing was that is good to ask questions. The second thing is that God takes us through conditions that change us for the better. I believe that we are all changing every day. Sometimes those changes are easily seen. Sometimes the changes occur on the inside where no one else can see them. But the really cool thing is that God is changing us for the better. All we have to do is be receptive and allow the metamorphosis to occur. Thanks Sister T.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike


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Thursday, August 20, 2009

True Calling

In order to really be a solid minister or Christian, you have to go through some things. How else can you help the people? I am finding out that being a minister isn't just about the sermon. It's about how you relate to others. My family and I have been going through some spiritual growing pains for about the last year and we are learning what it truly means to be in the ministry. But every time I decide that I want to feel sorry for myself, God reminds that there are others that have it rougher than me.

The first situation involved one of my neighbors that got evicted from his house last Wednesday. I don't know him very well, but he had to leave within twelve hours of getting notice. All of the neighbors were helping him to load a moving van so that his possessions would not get left out in the yard in front of what used to be his place of residence. My wife and I went and helped with the moving of things, and I met a lot of my neighbors for the first time that day. It was a horrible way to meet the neighbors, to be sure.

The second situation happened on yesterday(a Wednesday again). I was driving home from work and took a different direction to avoid some traffic when I saw a man sitting on the side of the road. Not exactly on the side of the road, but about twenty feet away from the edge of the road. I knew that he was homeless by his clothes and hair, but something about him made me drive over to a convenience store and get a sandwich for him. It was probably the recent sermon my Pastor preached on the Good Samaritan. As I was driving back over to where I saw him, I wondered to myself if he would accept the sandwich or not. I called him over to my car and asked him if he was hungry. He said yes. I handed him the sandwich and told him my name was Michael. He smiled at me and said his name was Lazarus. I immediately though to myself that I was talking to Jesus(<---see this link for clarification). We talked for a couple of seconds and I left, but I couldn't help the feeling that I had just seen Jesus. Now, I didn't tell you these stories so that you could be impressed with how great I am. Trust me, I have a lot of flaws for God to work on! I told you these stories because they showed me a couple of things: 1. My life could be a lot worse. 2. Jesus is still walking this Earth, waiting to see who is going to speak to Him. Have you seen Jesus lately? Did you speak to Him? Just a thought. Peace and Love, Rev Mike
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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Christian Rapper of the Week: Reality Check



video credits by: SaveTheYouthTour



I like these brothers. They are a little more hardcore than some of the other rappers that I have put out. But listen to the words and judge for yourself. I call it another example of diversity in the Kingdom. Enjoy.


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Monday, August 17, 2009

Church Stuff: The Church Covenant

Church stuff is the section of "All These Things" that deals with the basics of Christianity and the common practices of the modern Christian church. I am of the Baptist Denomination. Therefore, most of what I write concerning specific practices will be based on what I was taught and what my particular church believes. I will try my best to be correct in my information. However, any input is appreciated. I will never delete a comment or question unless it is deemed disrespectful to God or lewd in wording. Tough Questions are welcomed!

Many churches in the Baptist Denomination have a church covenant. Here is an example of one. Does your church or religeous institution have a church covenant? Is it similar to this one? Please feel free to share. I eventually want to go through this particular church covenent line by line and find scripture references for each paragraph.

Peace and Love...


Having been led, as we believe by the Spirit of God to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour and, on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God, and the assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with on another as one body in Christ.


We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel, through all nations.

We also engage to maintain family and secret devotions; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to abstain from the sale of, and use of, intoxicating drinks as a beverage; to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Saviour.

We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and Christian courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our Saviour to secure it without delay.

We moreover engage that when we remove from this place we will, as soon as possible, unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.

FOLLOW UP:
Some links about the history of the church covenant:
Wikipedia definition of the church covenant
Church Planter Dick Scroggins' purpose of the covenant

And...here is a not so positive position on Church Covenants:
Church covenants are they biblical and sensible?




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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Guess What

Hey guess what? God is still in control. And He will make everything alright. Just a note for you and for me. I know things are hard right now. I know life is unfair. I know you feel like no one cares about your situation and your heartache and your pain and your frustration but you. Just hang in there today. Wait for tomorrow to worry about tomorrow. Today I want you to believe that you will make it. We will worry about tomorrow on tomorrow.

Peace and Love,


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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Christian Rapper of the Week: Shai Linne




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RTBIAY

Too much stuff going on to post anything significant. But I wanted you to know that
I completed Leviticus! More to come later...

Peace and Love,



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Thursday, August 6, 2009

RTBIAY: Exodus

RTBIAY is an acronym for Read The Bible in a Year. I am currently finishing up the book of Exodus. I am using this site for my reading program. Please share what program you are reading and where you are in your RTBIAY. Good luck and good learning!


Current Reading: Exodus chapter 33-40.

Exodus is the book of the Bible that I was last reading when I stopped. I decided to go back and cover the high points of the book so that I would remember what was happening in the earlier chapters of the book. This is not meant to be a "cliff notes" version of the Bible for you. This is to create a greater accountability in me. I hope that by having to write down where I am in the RTBIAY program, I will continue reading and hopefully inspire someone else to either start reading or continue reading on there own. There are many RTBIAY programs out there. Please feel free to share your program link and where you are within the program. OK, back to Exodus...

The first 15 chapters of Exodus tell the story of the birth of Moses; and his purpose in helping the Israelites to leave Egypt. The Israelites are the original descendants of Joseph and his brothers, who are the sons of Jacob (Renamed Israel). Back in the book of Genesis, when Joseph was second in command to Pharaoh, he was allowed to move his entire family into Egypt. That is how the Israelites came to live in Egypt. They became enslaved when a new Pharaoh came into power that did not know or care who Joseph was. It was this Pharaoh that enslaved the Israelites and caused them to cry out to God to relieve them of their suffering.

The next chapters all the way through chapter 24 deals with God's specific laws for the Israelites. It talks about how they are supposed to treat each other and how they are to deal with God. The Ten Commandments were also given to them during this time. Exodus also talks about the Israelites getting used to being out of Egypt. It is interesting to note that the Israelites will repeat the desire to go back to Egypt on many occasions when times get hard in the wilderness. They stated at times that it would have been better to remain slaves in Egypt and eat well rather than die in the wilderness. It's kind of like our complaining when times get tough in our lives. It is important to remember that God is with us no matter what we are going through. That's something that I always need to remember.

The last chapters of Exodus from chapter 25 until the end of the book deals with the creation of the Tabernacle. God gave Moses specific instructions to give to the people concerning how the Tabernacle was to be constructed and what was to be placed inside of it. That include the dimensions, the materials, and the people who would physically make it. It is important to note that God gave the Israelites specific instructions on what they were supposed to do. I truly believe that God gives us specific instructions on what we are to do in life as well. We just have to really listen in order to hear His voice.

Next Stop: Leviticus!


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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

I'm Jumping Back In (RTBIAY)

In an earlier post, I told you about my horrible failure at reading the Bible in a year (RTBIAY). I told you that I stopped in the middle of the book of Ezekiel. Looking back at my notes, I realize that I gave myself too much credit. I actually stopped in the book of Exodus ('aw come on!). After receiving a couple of encouraging comments from that post, I have decided to jump back into reading the Bible in a year. But this time I am going to drag you along with me. Isn't that nice of me? Hopefully tomorrow, I will begin the journey back into RTBIAY and document it on the blog in a weekly post. I remember being disappointed in stopping the first time because I did learn a lot of information in the short time that I did read it. And that is what I want to share with you. I want to pass along the things I learn to you so that you will hopefully get a blessing out of it as well. Feel free to read along with me or tell me where you are in your own RTBIAY program. I thing we will all benefit from it.

See you tomorrow,

Rev. Mike



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Monday, August 3, 2009

Happy Anniversary to Me

I am proud to let you all know that I am celebrating my seven year anniversary today. That's right! She has put up with me all this time! To my wonderful wife Stacey; I want you to know that you are the MOST BESTEST WIFE in the entire world!




Love,

Me



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Christian Rapper of the Week: Timothy Brindle

Timothy Brindle started out as a battle rapper before receiving Jesus Christ. He talent and intensity are equally stunning. Don't know if he has any new music out since 2005.



Album Credits:
The Great Awakening (2003)
Killing Sin (2005)


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Sunday, August 2, 2009

Church Stuff: The Lord's Supper (Communion)

Church stuff is a new section of "All These Things" that deals with the basics of Christianity and the common practices of the modern Christian church. I am of the Baptist Denomination. Therefore, most of what I write concerning specific practices will be based on what I was taught and what my particular church believes. I will try my best to be correct in my information. However, any input is appreciated. I will never delete a comment or question unless it is deemed disrespectful to God or lewd in wording. Tough Questions are welcomed!

The Lord's Supper, or Communion is the second ordinance of the church (the first being baptism). I thought that it would be fitting to talk about this today because this is the first Sunday of the new month. My church serves Communion on the first Sunday of each month after the sermon. Some churches serve perform this event every Sunday; and some have it every fifth Sunday. To my knowledge, there is not a scriptural reference as to how often you should have Communion; just that you do it in remembrance of Christ. The scriptural references behind Communion are Matthew 26:17-30, Mark 14:12-26, and Luke 22:7-23. It is based upon these scriptures that we celebrate the Lord's Supper.

Communion consists of two parts. The first part of is the eating of the unleavened bread. The bread is representative of the body of Jesus Christ. As noted in the scriptures, Jesus knew that He was going to die for all of us. So He told his disciples that the bread was His body that was to be broken for them. It is important to note that the bread was unleavened because the Lord's Supper took place during the Passover celebration. This tradition goes all the way back to the original Israelites and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

The second part of the Communion is the drinking of the wine. Jesus told the disciples that the wine was representative of His blood that was to be shed for them. They did use actual wine for the drinking during the Lord's supper on that occasion. Today, some churches use wine for the Communion, while others use fruit punch. My Church uses fruit punch. I also attended a Communion on an Air Force base that gave you the option of wine or the fruit punch, depending upon your own convictions about drinking alcohol.

A prayer of repentance is usually given before participating in Communion in order to give thanks to God for the bread and wine (as Jesus did at the Last Supper), and to ask for forgiveness for sin. Paul states in I Corinthians that anyone that participates in the Lord's Supper unworthily risks condemnation.

There are number of methods used when adminisering the Lord's Supper. But the most important thing to remember is that the Lord's Supper reminds us of the sacrafice that Jesus made on our behalf. Without His death, burial, and ressurection; we would not have any opportunity to receive salvation. Without his broken body and shed blood, we would be forever separated from God. That is the most important thing to remember.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike






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