Has the Bible Been Changed? - CWN
This should be required reading for all Christians - hey, don't make me boss of the world.
jc
Monday, July 31, 2006
Monday, July 17, 2006
I don't believe that anyone can believe in a non-belief system
I don't believe that anyone can believe in a non-belief system
This is a great article from a clever and funny Christian website. It shows how a "non-belief" system falls apart on itself.
jc
This is a great article from a clever and funny Christian website. It shows how a "non-belief" system falls apart on itself.
jc
Friday, July 14, 2006
The whirlwind
Well, the last two weeks have been a blur. I was at the Maranatha Bible Camp last week, leading worship, doing lots of video and photography, and generally having a great time with the 5th- 6th grade campers from our Church. Jenette and I have led worship many times with many kids, but these kids really were excited about worshipping God. We were both overwhelmed at just the sheer volume of the kids as we sang "I Belong to a Mighty God." I told Jenette that this camp had some of the most "singin'est" kids we had been around in a long time.
It was truly a blessing and a privilege to be involved with the camp. This week, I finished recording the music and my voice on a practice CD for our VBS program. I have also finished two DVD projects that I needed to finish, and have done many other things that I have already forgotten.
Being at the camp for two weeks in a row reminded me that perhaps one of the greatest enemies of pursuing a relationship with God is the busyness of our culture. At camp, with few distractions and the time to really think about the Lord and His Word, kids really are impacted by how wonderful God is and how powerful His Word is.
Since I have come back from camp and have been busy again doing everything I am supposed to be doing, it has left me with at least a small sense of grief. In my mind, I can see the faces of the kids at camp: worshipping, memorizing the Bible, and carefully listening to Bible teaching. I can also see the same kids coming home and watching incredibly stupid TV shows for hours on end on the Disney Channel. Someone once said that stuff like that was "chewing gum for the eyes." Alas.
I spent some time today talking to one of my dear Christian brothers about grieving over the things that grieve God. Sometimes, it takes time away from the cultural whirlwind to recognize that some mourning might be in order. I think many urban Christians don't want to slow down long enough to grieve.
Someone also said that when it comes to kids, "he who spends the most time wins." Whether its the TV or the friends or the parents, time is the key to teaching kids, training kids, loving kids, and raising them to be a Godly generation. Check out my last post to read an article about why generational Christianity is dying in our world.
Thinking about all this led me to play spades with the boys tonight, even though it was late. We had a great time. Tomorrow we will spend some more time together.
Along all the other stuff going on this week, I have started to remake my website from homeschoolbiblestudies.com to studentbiblestudies.com. Both addresses will still work, but I am trying to appeal to a church youth ministry crowd as well. Plus, I'm not sure that most home schoolers are looking for the type of booklets I am offering. I think that perhaps Churches or parents that are doing some kind of small groups for their teens will find my books most helpful. We'll see.
I did get an order for 8 booklets from Maryland! How exciting that God could use my feeble attempts to write Bible studies for teens to glorify Himself through His Word to kids in Maryland! I've never been to Maryland! This kind of stuff excites me and makes me want to keep this little business going.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)
jc
It was truly a blessing and a privilege to be involved with the camp. This week, I finished recording the music and my voice on a practice CD for our VBS program. I have also finished two DVD projects that I needed to finish, and have done many other things that I have already forgotten.
Being at the camp for two weeks in a row reminded me that perhaps one of the greatest enemies of pursuing a relationship with God is the busyness of our culture. At camp, with few distractions and the time to really think about the Lord and His Word, kids really are impacted by how wonderful God is and how powerful His Word is.
Since I have come back from camp and have been busy again doing everything I am supposed to be doing, it has left me with at least a small sense of grief. In my mind, I can see the faces of the kids at camp: worshipping, memorizing the Bible, and carefully listening to Bible teaching. I can also see the same kids coming home and watching incredibly stupid TV shows for hours on end on the Disney Channel. Someone once said that stuff like that was "chewing gum for the eyes." Alas.
I spent some time today talking to one of my dear Christian brothers about grieving over the things that grieve God. Sometimes, it takes time away from the cultural whirlwind to recognize that some mourning might be in order. I think many urban Christians don't want to slow down long enough to grieve.
Someone also said that when it comes to kids, "he who spends the most time wins." Whether its the TV or the friends or the parents, time is the key to teaching kids, training kids, loving kids, and raising them to be a Godly generation. Check out my last post to read an article about why generational Christianity is dying in our world.
Thinking about all this led me to play spades with the boys tonight, even though it was late. We had a great time. Tomorrow we will spend some more time together.
Along all the other stuff going on this week, I have started to remake my website from homeschoolbiblestudies.com to studentbiblestudies.com. Both addresses will still work, but I am trying to appeal to a church youth ministry crowd as well. Plus, I'm not sure that most home schoolers are looking for the type of booklets I am offering. I think that perhaps Churches or parents that are doing some kind of small groups for their teens will find my books most helpful. We'll see.
I did get an order for 8 booklets from Maryland! How exciting that God could use my feeble attempts to write Bible studies for teens to glorify Himself through His Word to kids in Maryland! I've never been to Maryland! This kind of stuff excites me and makes me want to keep this little business going.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)
jc
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Can “Old Europe” Be Reclaimed for Christianity?
The Chalcedon Foundation - Faith for All of Life
Interesting article - it shows how the lack of Christian families raising Christian children to be Christian adults results in nations that turn away from God.
A question in the article asks "can this happen in American?"
It already has.
jc
Interesting article - it shows how the lack of Christian families raising Christian children to be Christian adults results in nations that turn away from God.
A question in the article asks "can this happen in American?"
It already has.
jc
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Defilement, the death of Chucky, and Fireworks
(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)
Well, the title seems sort of random, and it is, but that's kind of where I'm at tonight. Poor little Chucky the (un)lucky Ducky died last night. He didn't get pecked or anything, so I don't really know what happened. One of the kids gave him a cherry last night - maybe that killed him. Of course, my tender hearted 7 year old daughter cried when she heard of Chucky's demise. I have to say, it made me sad as well, partly because we tried so hard to keep him alive.
Camp for the kids was a great success this last week - it was truly a privilege to minister to over 200 kids and the adults that came with them. I did a lesson about Daniel 1 - particularly Daniel 1:8:
It is amazing that Daniel and his friends resolved not to defile themselves with the king's food and wine. It is amazing to me because in this day, we seem to go out of our way to blend in with the culture instead of going against it. Most Christians today are "thermometers" - they measure the culture and they adjust themselves to it. Daniel and his friends were "thermostats." They let the standard of God's Word establish their baseline and they challenged the culture to rise up to that standard.
I wanted to explain to these kids (3rd & 4th graders) what it meant to "defile" yourself. I really struggled with this because I knew that this was very important, yet needed to be handled in a way the kids could deal with it. So I talked about how, when I was that age, I wanted to be "cool" and fit in with my friends. I "defiled" myself by talking the way they did, and I knew it was wrong. As I starting telling the kids how I "dirtied" myself with "dirty" words, I smeared chocolate pudding all over myself. I put it all over my shirt, my face, and even dumped the rest of the bowl on my head.
I went on to tell them how we all need the cleansing grace of God through Christ to clean up our dirtiness. I used a red towel to wipe off my face to symbolize the blood of Christ.
I don't think those kids will ever eat pudding again without thinking about their lesson at camp. Hopefully they will apply God's truth and follow the example of Daniel.
The kids and I shot off some fireworks tonight - what a great time with some great kids. I truly pray that they will be Daniel-like "thermostats" in this wicked and decadent culture.
jc
Well, the title seems sort of random, and it is, but that's kind of where I'm at tonight. Poor little Chucky the (un)lucky Ducky died last night. He didn't get pecked or anything, so I don't really know what happened. One of the kids gave him a cherry last night - maybe that killed him. Of course, my tender hearted 7 year old daughter cried when she heard of Chucky's demise. I have to say, it made me sad as well, partly because we tried so hard to keep him alive.
Camp for the kids was a great success this last week - it was truly a privilege to minister to over 200 kids and the adults that came with them. I did a lesson about Daniel 1 - particularly Daniel 1:8:
But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. (Daniel 1:8 ESV)
It is amazing that Daniel and his friends resolved not to defile themselves with the king's food and wine. It is amazing to me because in this day, we seem to go out of our way to blend in with the culture instead of going against it. Most Christians today are "thermometers" - they measure the culture and they adjust themselves to it. Daniel and his friends were "thermostats." They let the standard of God's Word establish their baseline and they challenged the culture to rise up to that standard.
I wanted to explain to these kids (3rd & 4th graders) what it meant to "defile" yourself. I really struggled with this because I knew that this was very important, yet needed to be handled in a way the kids could deal with it. So I talked about how, when I was that age, I wanted to be "cool" and fit in with my friends. I "defiled" myself by talking the way they did, and I knew it was wrong. As I starting telling the kids how I "dirtied" myself with "dirty" words, I smeared chocolate pudding all over myself. I put it all over my shirt, my face, and even dumped the rest of the bowl on my head.
I went on to tell them how we all need the cleansing grace of God through Christ to clean up our dirtiness. I used a red towel to wipe off my face to symbolize the blood of Christ.
I don't think those kids will ever eat pudding again without thinking about their lesson at camp. Hopefully they will apply God's truth and follow the example of Daniel.
The kids and I shot off some fireworks tonight - what a great time with some great kids. I truly pray that they will be Daniel-like "thermostats" in this wicked and decadent culture.
jc
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