And I, when I came to you, brothers, [1] did not come proclaiming to you the testimony [2] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5, esv)

Whatever message we have, has to come from God. No matter our audience, our message has to come from God. Wether we are evangalists, preachers, teachers, preschool workers, college professors, professionals, ameatuers, artists, whatever we are... our message must be based on Christ, and Him crucified. If we try and 'soften' that message it gets weakened. If we ignore that message where is the power of the gospel? There have been times when I will be visiting a church and I will see the Pastor preaching, but I am unable to find a Bible, open or otherwise, among the congregation. There may be an outline, and there may even be verses referred to in it, but the words are either skimmed over or not read at all. A sermon, not anchored somewhere in the Word of God is merely a good moral lesson. This is my opinion, and I know it may not be a popular point of view, but I see a church within America that is merely existing. Again, this is a broad, generalization, and does not apply to each and every church within America. Our youth hear the message are are not challanged, in time they grow bored and wander away to see what else there is to see... and not just the youth get this way. Our God is big enough that we could preach something new about Him every day and never grow out of things to teach. When the Holy Spirit is drawing someone they will get it. Their flesh may cringe, but their mind will be engaged. Now, it is probably obvious that I feel very strongly about the gospel, about the message proclaimed from the pulpit. But I also want to say that the most scholarly lesson preached that is not drawn from the Holy Spirit - both content and package - cannot talk to anything more than a person's intellect or emotions. Before any of us can 'preach' the gospel - either to ourselves or to others - we need to seek first the Spirit of God, and ask that He would pour It out upon us - wether we are the teacher, or the audience. Verse for today: 2 Timothy 3:12-17, ESV Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom [1] you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God [2] may be competent, equipped for every good work.

It never ends

It was a busy, but uneventful weekend. I spent Saturday going through a military physical. That is to say that what would have taken me an hour with my primary care doctor took me the better part of a day. But then, they are trying to process over a hundred men and women through pretty much the same places. I found out that my colesterol was a little high. This did not make my beloved very happy. I was told to follow up with my civilian doctor in a few months after trying to heroicly change my diet, etc. I'm sure my love will help me with this. :) I tried to do a little reading on things I can do but it's pretty much what everyone knows already. Avoid red meat, avoid fried foods (like McDonalds :( ), exericise, Omega 3 fish oils are supposed to be good. But the reason for my post... after picking up DS1 from his soccer game, heading home so we both could take showers, we were heading to AWANA at our church and we were talking about some aspect of finances. At one point he blurted out, "How do you know all these things?" (Note: he was not proclaiming that I was smart...) "I mean, they should teach these things in schools!" Apparently he worries about not knowing enough when he gets older. In the end I told him that you never stop learning. For example when you learn how to drive a car you learn about the laws that you are supposed to abide by, how to operate the car, etc. But when you get into business you have to learn the laws that govern that. And so on. As the final example I tried to show him that how he relates to other people can be a little different depending on each person's personality. How one relates to one person is not how you should relate to others (epecially women ;) ). I just hope I did not overwhelm him with that. I wanted to let him know that no one knows everything and we each have to learn as we go. Verse for today: Psalm 33:10-12, ESV The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever,the plans of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

Prayer requested

I have been meeting with my pastor in regards to getting some more formal discipleship. I've been working on this for sometime, but last night it was sort of interesting. For some time (like since I was saved) I've been feeling a desire to be a form a teaching pastor (until last night I've never really had a term for it). My Pastor basically encouraged me to "explore this calling". He's not talking about me quiting my day job or anything. More like stepping up to teach a short seminar session at our church (in the coming months we are going to be doing quarterly seminar like things for those wanting to delve more into certain things). He asked me to pray and see if there is a topic that the Lord might lead me to speak on, and he will help me "get my thoughts together". Although I am nervous about this to some degree, I am more concerned with how my beloved will take this. Since we have been married any time this subject has come up she basically responds "I am not going to be a pastor's wife!" I know that no matter what the Lord leads me in I will need her by my side - and not kicking and fighting, but supportive and encouraging. I also know that I know enough to get in to trouble. Standing up to teach is one thing but to stand in front of God's people to lead and to teach is something more entirely. A teaching error in a 'secular' class (for lack of a better word) is a finite mistake - to make and error in the ways of God can have eternal consequences. I need to rely totally on the Holy Spirit and not my own ways... and trust that as long as I am doing what God is leading... then I can trust in His grace to cover over the rough spots. I don't know where this will all lead, but I am grateful for this opportunity to learn and to share. Please pray as you feel led - and may His glory be proclaimed and revealed. Verse for today: John 3:27-30, ESV John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” [10]