If you have ever wondered why Christian influence is not proportionate to the number of Christians in America? Or why churches are no longer the center of communities; why pastors are no longer considered intellectual leaders? Why well intentioned followers of Jesus don't know much about the history of Christinaity or how to explain it's message to our neopagan culture. If so, you'd enjoy reading "Love Your God with All Your Mind" by JM Moreland.
At the root, many of these problems are created by anti-intellectual trends in the church. Even though Moreland is critical of these trends and causes, he points believers in the right direction. Moreland, makes the hopeful case that "there has never been a greaer opportunity for Christians to be different from the broader culture and to make a differance... but,it will not happen if we do not take a hard look at reforming our understanding of what a local church is and how it is to go about its activities."
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Friday, March 04, 2011
My Jet-Lagged Weekend to Remember
So the last few weeks have been really busy as Annette and I have been working with our leaders to talk about exactly where and how we might serve the Lord together. We are still in the middle of that process and remain confident that all the details will be worked out soon. Right now, we are planning for Annette to rejoin staff in a full time role, but we want to find a role for her that lets her use her counseling degree. We’re excited to trust the Lord with this.
But in the meanwhile, I’m in Dallas to help with wedding planning and marriage preparation. Two specific things that you can be praying for this month:
1.) Please pray for our pre-marital sessions. We have scheduled 6 sessions for time here. Together we will be reading Love and Respect by Eggerichs.
2.) To kick off our marriage preparation we are going to “Weekend to Remember” which is a marriage conference lead by Campus Crusade’s Family Life ministry. It’s a jam-packed schedule and I’m still feeling a touch jet lagged so please pray that I can be as mentally there as possible. This conference is largely for married couples but they do have several sessions for engaged couples. If your interested what this conference is about I’ll include our schedule below.
TONIGHT
07:30 - 08:30 p.m Why Marriages Fail - Identify and understand the five threats to marriage
08:30 - 08:45 p.m. Break (on your own)
08:45 - 09:30 p.m. Can We Talk? - Discuss factors that make communication difficult.
09:30 - 09:50 p.m. Application project for you and your spouse.
SATURDAY
________________________________________
08:00 - 08:30 a.m. Resource center and ballroom open.
08:30 - 09:20 a.m. Unlocking the Mystery of Marriage - Realize God's plan for marriage.
09:20 - 09:35 a.m. Break (on your own)
09:35 - 10:25 a.m. From How to Wow - Achieve God's plan for marriage by leaving, cleaving and becoming one flesh.
10:25 - 11:40 a.m. Application project for you and your spouse
10:25 - 11:40 a.m. So You Wanna Get Married (Optional Pre-Married session)
11:40 - 12:30 p.m. What Every Marriage Needs - Marriage is dependent upon your own personal relationship with God.
12:30 - 02:00 p.m. Lunch break (on your own)
02:00 - 03:05 p.m. We Fight Too - Recognize the goal of marriage is not to be conflict-free but to handle conflict.
03:05 - 03:20 p.m. Helping Others
03:20 - 03:30 p.m. Break (on your own)
03:30 - 04:30 p.m. Marriage After Dark - Uncover intimacy from God's perspective.
04:30 - 04:55 p.m. Help for Today (Optional Break-out Session)
04:30 - 05:30 p.m. Two Become One (Optional Pre-Married session)
Evening Date Night
SUNDAY
________________________________________
09:00 - 10:30 a.m. Woman to Woman / Man to Man - God has given husbands and wives different roles.
10:30 - 11:05 a.m. Hope for Tomorrow (Optional Break-out Session)
10:30 - 11:15 a.m. Application project.
11:15 - 12:00 p.m. How Marriages Thrive - Learn the three essential elements to a healthy marriage.
12:00 - 12:30 p.m. Leaving a Legacy - Detect and implement your family's legacy.
But in the meanwhile, I’m in Dallas to help with wedding planning and marriage preparation. Two specific things that you can be praying for this month:
1.) Please pray for our pre-marital sessions. We have scheduled 6 sessions for time here. Together we will be reading Love and Respect by Eggerichs.
2.) To kick off our marriage preparation we are going to “Weekend to Remember” which is a marriage conference lead by Campus Crusade’s Family Life ministry. It’s a jam-packed schedule and I’m still feeling a touch jet lagged so please pray that I can be as mentally there as possible. This conference is largely for married couples but they do have several sessions for engaged couples. If your interested what this conference is about I’ll include our schedule below.
TONIGHT
07:30 - 08:30 p.m Why Marriages Fail - Identify and understand the five threats to marriage
08:30 - 08:45 p.m. Break (on your own)
08:45 - 09:30 p.m. Can We Talk? - Discuss factors that make communication difficult.
09:30 - 09:50 p.m. Application project for you and your spouse.
SATURDAY
________________________________________
08:00 - 08:30 a.m. Resource center and ballroom open.
08:30 - 09:20 a.m. Unlocking the Mystery of Marriage - Realize God's plan for marriage.
09:20 - 09:35 a.m. Break (on your own)
09:35 - 10:25 a.m. From How to Wow - Achieve God's plan for marriage by leaving, cleaving and becoming one flesh.
10:25 - 11:40 a.m. Application project for you and your spouse
10:25 - 11:40 a.m. So You Wanna Get Married (Optional Pre-Married session)
11:40 - 12:30 p.m. What Every Marriage Needs - Marriage is dependent upon your own personal relationship with God.
12:30 - 02:00 p.m. Lunch break (on your own)
02:00 - 03:05 p.m. We Fight Too - Recognize the goal of marriage is not to be conflict-free but to handle conflict.
03:05 - 03:20 p.m. Helping Others
03:20 - 03:30 p.m. Break (on your own)
03:30 - 04:30 p.m. Marriage After Dark - Uncover intimacy from God's perspective.
04:30 - 04:55 p.m. Help for Today (Optional Break-out Session)
04:30 - 05:30 p.m. Two Become One (Optional Pre-Married session)
Evening Date Night
SUNDAY
________________________________________
09:00 - 10:30 a.m. Woman to Woman / Man to Man - God has given husbands and wives different roles.
10:30 - 11:05 a.m. Hope for Tomorrow (Optional Break-out Session)
10:30 - 11:15 a.m. Application project.
11:15 - 12:00 p.m. How Marriages Thrive - Learn the three essential elements to a healthy marriage.
12:00 - 12:30 p.m. Leaving a Legacy - Detect and implement your family's legacy.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The End of the World - Why women should always let men go to bachelor parties
For older-than-average Christian bachelors, you sometimes hear the joke that when so-and-so get's married it's going to be the end of the world. This of course feeds into the nagging & illogical question, "What if Jesus did come back, right before my wedding?"
I was happy to learn that I no longer need to worry about this. Apparently the first day of judgement will happen the day after my honeymoon is over.
http://www.ebiblefellowship.com/may21/
On a more serious note, I had a great bachelor's party the other night. All who came were married so there was no need for guys to be cautious as they shared advice about sex, conflict resolution, how women think, power struggles, household chores, etc. Everyone gave one bit of advice on something that I should be sure to do and something I should never do. After each bit, the other men then gave a thumbs up, thumbs down or a sideways, judging if the comment would actually "work" in their home or not. About 1/2 way through the night, the attention moved off of me and guys just started listening to each other. Despight the sterotype that men are insensitive and out of touch, it dawned on me, that men really do like talking about marriage. These guys could have talked about marriage all night.
I wish that there had been a way to record the conversation or take notes that would not have hindered the conversation. It was such great advice; it left several impressions on my mind. First of all, I think the women that married to these men are exceptionally blessed with great husbands, these men LOVE their wives. And likewise, these men are blessed to be in working relationship with women who really go out of their way to communicate RESPECT to their husbands. Secondly, I think everyone left with the feeling - we should do this again. But the hard part is, guys can't just get together and talk. For whatever reason, there has to be a real reason for us to get together. There's no way to manufacter it. I also learned that, "Your time is no longer your own." I no longer get to do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it.
But the most important thought that I am left holding onto is how each one of these guys, while honest about the challenges of marriage, all believe "It's worth it"; that life is better with a partner. Clearly, *marriage is not for wimps, but at the same time marriage IS fun; those things are not mutually exclusive. I can't wait to learn all about Annette next year. She is the best partner, the most gracious friend that I could have on this journey with me.
* for Dave and Missy
I was happy to learn that I no longer need to worry about this. Apparently the first day of judgement will happen the day after my honeymoon is over.
http://www.ebiblefellowship.com/may21/
On a more serious note, I had a great bachelor's party the other night. All who came were married so there was no need for guys to be cautious as they shared advice about sex, conflict resolution, how women think, power struggles, household chores, etc. Everyone gave one bit of advice on something that I should be sure to do and something I should never do. After each bit, the other men then gave a thumbs up, thumbs down or a sideways, judging if the comment would actually "work" in their home or not. About 1/2 way through the night, the attention moved off of me and guys just started listening to each other. Despight the sterotype that men are insensitive and out of touch, it dawned on me, that men really do like talking about marriage. These guys could have talked about marriage all night.
I wish that there had been a way to record the conversation or take notes that would not have hindered the conversation. It was such great advice; it left several impressions on my mind. First of all, I think the women that married to these men are exceptionally blessed with great husbands, these men LOVE their wives. And likewise, these men are blessed to be in working relationship with women who really go out of their way to communicate RESPECT to their husbands. Secondly, I think everyone left with the feeling - we should do this again. But the hard part is, guys can't just get together and talk. For whatever reason, there has to be a real reason for us to get together. There's no way to manufacter it. I also learned that, "Your time is no longer your own." I no longer get to do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it.
But the most important thought that I am left holding onto is how each one of these guys, while honest about the challenges of marriage, all believe "It's worth it"; that life is better with a partner. Clearly, *marriage is not for wimps, but at the same time marriage IS fun; those things are not mutually exclusive. I can't wait to learn all about Annette next year. She is the best partner, the most gracious friend that I could have on this journey with me.
* for Dave and Missy
Monday, January 10, 2011
Love Your God With All Your Mind
I just stated JP Morelands book "Love Your God With All Your Mind". Already I find it challenging. I can tell that for the next month or so, I'm going to think that this is the greatest book ever and that everybody should read it. ( I tend to get a little bit obsessive about books at times.)
While I enjoy learning, I've not given much thought to what a Christlike mind might look like. One quote, that I've been thinking on throughout the day, "To be sure, Christians myst rely on the Holy Spirit in their intellectual pursuits, but this does not mean they should expend no mental sweat of their own in defending the faith."
While I enjoy learning, I've not given much thought to what a Christlike mind might look like. One quote, that I've been thinking on throughout the day, "To be sure, Christians myst rely on the Holy Spirit in their intellectual pursuits, but this does not mean they should expend no mental sweat of their own in defending the faith."
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Love and Respect by Eggerichs
This book about marriage is based on Ephesian 5:33; for husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the church, to let wives see that they respects their husband. Eggerichs rightly points out, there are many, lofty examples of "unconditional love" in our culture, but when challenged to think about "unconditional respect" the notion is confusing (if not non-existant). As he builds on truth from Paul letter, he includes stories and examples which build on the notion that most people agree that their spouse is a good-willed, well-intensioned and good-hearted. So why is marriage so hard?
This provides the foundation for the rest of the book, which talks about the crazy cycle (without love -> she reacts -> without respect -> he reacts -> without love). The main section of the book he describes what's called the energising cycle (his love -> motivates -> her respect -> motivates -> his love). In the end, he adds a more eternal and spirital perspective. I found this conclusion helpful as a this book could be misused just as a means to improve a marriage. Eggerichs stresses that these steps techniques are meaningless apart from following Jesus. The book is really more an ecouragement to reconnect with the heart of God, to walk in the Spirit, to glorify God and to obey what he teaches in his Word. He is refreshingly honest about this challenges in marriage and says "... there is no way you can travel it in your own strength... you must ask Christ for help". (pg. 300). I found myself asking Jesus for alot of help as I read this book.
This provides the foundation for the rest of the book, which talks about the crazy cycle (without love -> she reacts -> without respect -> he reacts -> without love). The main section of the book he describes what's called the energising cycle (his love -> motivates -> her respect -> motivates -> his love). In the end, he adds a more eternal and spirital perspective. I found this conclusion helpful as a this book could be misused just as a means to improve a marriage. Eggerichs stresses that these steps techniques are meaningless apart from following Jesus. The book is really more an ecouragement to reconnect with the heart of God, to walk in the Spirit, to glorify God and to obey what he teaches in his Word. He is refreshingly honest about this challenges in marriage and says "... there is no way you can travel it in your own strength... you must ask Christ for help". (pg. 300). I found myself asking Jesus for alot of help as I read this book.
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