The Glory of God in the Face of Christ — Revelation 6
This is a recent sermon I gave on Revelation 6.
Grace_111120_reduced.mp3 Listen on Posterous
...
Why?
It’s crazy when you begin to self reflect. I don’t recommend it. It’s not very much fun. You begin to grab hold of some things that you take for granted or take lightly and find that you need to change.
I love change.
I love changing other things.
I hate changing me.
Do you want to hear a confession? I truly enjoy social media. One night I was a Tigers playoff game and bantering back and forth with a number of friends on Twitter. It added to my enjoyment of the game.
It was all out “there”.
Last night a few of us started talking about Twitter. A comment was made that has stuck like a “splinter in the brain” and brought some of my self reflection full circle.
He said, “You guys put so much stuff out there it’s really hard to find what’s valuable.”
As a pastor, there is one thing I know, words matter. I desperately want my words to count and to have meaning....
You Wanna Tip?
This is an image from an article that just hit my news stream and I am sure that it will begin to pop up in more and more places.
It’s one of those that picks up steam. It’s embarrasing and frustrating.
It begs a bigger a question…
What is the gospel?
Scot McKnight has done a great job exploding the Gospel myth that he refers to as “The Plan of Salvation”. The myth is that the Romans Road or the Four Laws are the “Gospel”.
News flash: They aren’t.
The Gospel is big and broad. It is the all encompassing story that makes sense of all other stories. Pay attention this Advent season. You may just hear the Gospel.
...
He’s Coming!
See the full gallery on Posterous
Part of the traditional hanging of the ornaments in our home includes Amy telling the story of each ornament.
The first ornament hung is always the same.
It’s hung in honor of my Mimi. Her legacy will always live because her story will always be told.
Over the course of the next four weeks we will be telling the story of another. He is the one who would come and culminate all the stories of all the world. His is the greatest story.
Do you know it?
...
Leadership As Influence | Catalyst
content
Leadership As Influence
By Charles Lee
Leadership is often defined as influence.
In my opinion, everyone possesses the ability to “influence” or lead others in the general sense of the word, but not everyone is a leader (i.e., someone who functions in a publicly recognized role of guiding and/or influencing others). There are numerous individuals who influence the lives of many and yet don’t function well once given a key role of leadership in an organization and/or company.
The reality is that leadership in a formal sense requires a certain set of perspectives, values, and praxis that very few are able to carry out well. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with some phenomenal leaders that are literally changing the landscape of our world. Here are a few insights I’ve picked up about what it takes to become a great leader:
Pain Frames Purpose — Great leaders do not run away from pain, but rather, recognize that pain is what truly forms and informs...
An Expedition…
Over the last few days I have been interacting with folks about a great many things. Something that has struck me is the cavalier attitude toward doctrine. Many of us no longer seem to think that doctrine matters. We say things like, “I am not a theologian, but…”Here’s the reality: doctrine does matter.What we believe matters.It matters big time.When hardship and conflict come it is what we believe that will determine how we respond. Because, what we believe matters.I have been heart-sick over the way those who hold a similar theological position as I have responded to a book that came out recently. They responded with polemics and rhetoric (some even before they had read the book!). Most have not responded with discernment or charity but have looked for a way to hang a “heretic”.I have also been thoroughly disappointed in the way that those from other theological positions have either blindly defended or tried to move themselves away from...
What’s Worse? (Part 2)
In our previous post we saw how Jesus engaged the world. He entered in and sought to transform the culture within which he lived. He did so with passion, without regret, and in perfect holiness. He did so to the point that he was called a “drunkard” and a “glutton”. This is our model.How do we apply it?The first question that I hear murmuring is, “He was God. It’s different isn’t it?”No. It’s not different. That kind of reasoning has no place here in the quest for the engagement of culture. It can’t. If it did then we ought to say, “He was God, therefore we shouldn’t disciple, because it’s different.” We could allow this line of thinking to go in any number of directions. No, it’s better to say that Jesus did it, therefore, we must try.The next thing I hear murmuring through your mind is, “Not everyone is called to this. What about the weaker brother in Romans?” I hear...
The Power of Being Great
Last night I realized why it is going to be very difficult for the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup. Jimmy Howard is a very good goalie. However, when going against an elite goaltender there will be a significant difference in the way the game is.called. The whistles for Luongo were quicker and that made all the difference.
The Wings lost last night and it was because the whistles were just a little to slow on one end and a little to fast on the other. That was the function of one goalie being a hall of famer and another being a young player still earning his stripes.
...
What’s Worse (Part 1)?
As we near the end of this discussion on engaging culture a few concluding points need to be made. Primarily we need to discuss which is worse, sinful thematic elements, or subtle deconstructions of worldview. This is something that we struggle to figure out on a principled level in every aspect of our lives as Christians. For us to get our minds around this reality we must first look at the life of Jesus to give us a glimpse of how we ought to live. To do that I think it will be helpful to take a look at Luke 7.This section of Luke’s narrative begins with the story of the Roman Centurion. The Jewish context of this time was varied and it is hard to necessarily pigeon hole the average Jew into a group. However, there is one thing that we can be relatively certain of, and that is the basic distrust and dislike of the Roman occupation. This was...
Observations on the Conversation
There have been a few (and by a few, I mean more than you can shake a stick at) posts by people responding to a book by a Christian famous pastor and author. It’s reaching epidemic proportions. Almost to the point of being annoying.I am not going to write about the pastor or the book (I haven’t read it, actually it was sold out at my local bookstore, so I couldn’t buy it).What I do want to write about is the nature and tone of the conversation.I am appalled.I am appalled by the tweets, facebook posts, and one liners.Social media is short form and is not the proper place for the kind of interaction that topics like this need. There are some topics that require more than 140 characters. Issues of Heaven and Hell certainly fall into that category.This hit home for me last night after a weekly conversation called, Coffee/Doubt. We spent an hour dealing with this topic and...