guitar – use somebody by kings of leon cover

I play guitar @ oakbrook church from time to time… this past sunday was one of those times.  We played a cover of a really cool song by Kings of Leon called “Use Somebody.”  Here is the video.  Enjoy!

re-thinking the end

okay, I feel as if a little disclaimer is necessary before the rest of this post is written:

My blog usually is not about bringing up really controversial content of any nature, theological or otherwise.  it has primarily been about my life and family, and the ministry I lead.  This post, although it could be construed by some to be controversial, is not intentionally meant to offend anyone or put down anyone’s thoughts or ideas.  It is simply to start an intelligible conversation and to show a view of something that some may have been mislead on for years.  That being said…

I’d like to tackle the difficult subject of Eternity and where Christians will spend it.  (easy task, right???)

For years and years upon years we have been told and probably told people a very simple sentence that may or may not be entirely true.  It is the right spirit of things and it is partially true, but it can be very misleading and could cause some to form a terrible theological position that leads to bad Christian practice.  What is that sentence?  Well it could probably be said in numerous ways, but the gist of it goes something like this: “pray this prayer and ask Jesus into your heart and you will go to heaven and live there forever with God.”   “What’s wrong with that?” you may ask.  well, nothing… & everything all at the same time.  

I’m not going to speak much to the first part of the sentence other than to say that this magical prayer actually never exists in the Bible.  look for yourself… it’s not there.  I could probably write for hours about this, but I’ll leave that for another time.

what I really wanted to write about was the last part of the sentence: “you will go to heaven and live there forever with God.”  

Now, there are some deep truths in this part of the sentence.  Let’s start there:

Truth #1: you will go… with God.  Followers of Jesus Christ will be with God.  That is a truth from scripture that is undeniable.

Truth #2: you will live forever. Jesus promised eternal life to those who would deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him.

Truth #3: you will live forever with God.  eternal life will be spent in the presence of our creator.  

Now, here’s the part that gets messy and misconstrued and really is a lot more folklore than biblical truth:

Myth:  You will live in heaven forever with God.

What?  you might say.  That’s all over the Bible!  I’m going to go ahead and go out on a limb and challenge that statement.  

Is there a heaven?  Absolutely.  Does God dwell there presently?  Absolutely.  Do believers ever go there?  Absolutely.  Will it be where we spend eternity?  NOT SO MUCH.  

There is a lot of scriptural evidence of Heaven and the fact that it is the dwelling place of YAHWEW (GOD ALMIGHTY).  There is also some scriptural support of the fact that when a believer dies, they are immediately in the presence of God. The place where there is very little scriptural evidence is in the fact that we will live in heaven with God for all eternity.  

I know, I know.  What about the tree of life?  What about the crystal stream that flows down the city?  What about the pearly gates?  What about the streets of Gold?  

What if I were to tell you that all those things were true, yet they do not describe heaven?  What if I were to tell you that they, in all actuality, describe a renewed, restored, and re-invented Holy City of Jerusalem that God creates ON EARTH after he has re-created it (new and without the curse of sin) and THAT is where God comes DOWN FROM HEAVEN to dwell WITH MAN for ALL ETERNITY?  Not Buying it?  check this out:

¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. ² And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

 ³ I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

 ⁵ And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” ⁶ And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. ⁷ All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.

 ⁸ “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”  Revelation 21:1-8

and then check this out:

¹ Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. ² It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.

 ³ No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. ⁴ And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. ⁵ And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.

 ⁶ Then the angel said to me, “Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets, has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon.   Revelation 22:1-6

Why is this so important?  What’s the difference?  Well… there is a HUGE DIFFERENCE.  The first thought (we will leave the earth and live in heaven forever) leads to what is called “Escapism” theology.  This thought process goes something like this:  ”This planet is not my home nor will it ever be, so see you later!”  It doesn’t matter if I take care of it… in fact, I can trash it!  It also becomes just cause for living in a “Christian Bubble” because I am not from here.  Francis Chan said it best when he said, “Christians are too weird in ways that they shouldn’t be and not weird enough in ways that they should be.”  We often huddle together and point fingers at people who are not following instead of getting in their world and loving them and inviting them along too.  It all stems back to this faulty thinking.  

so let the discussion/conversation begin…

monument – a bucket of rocks

God wants you and I to remember significant times in our lives.  Times where we’ve captured moments and turned them into timeless memories.  In the OT book of Joshua, God instructed Joshua to build a monument upon crossing the Jordan river to remind the Israelites of God’s faithfulness and what God had done for them.  a physical reminder of a huge truth in their past.  Here is how it went down:

“When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe.  Tell them, ‘take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan.  Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you camp tonight”… {joshua said} In the future your children will ask you, “What do these stones mean?” Then you can tell them, “They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.”  These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”

When I was in High School I had a teacher who had a little boy.  He and his little boy would collect rocks from significant times in their lives: camping, fishing, hiking, baseball games, questions, etc… and write the date and a key word to remember the circumstances on them.  Then they would collect all of these stones in a glass jar.  once a month they would dump all the rocks out and pick a couple and remember the significance of that stone in time.  What a great way to capture time.

“These stones will stand as a memorial…”

raising a “beloved” son

I read this in “the way of the wild heart” and it stuck out to me.  

“Actions speak louder than words.  I love being with you.  You are my delight.  I’ll set aside my own agenda to be with you doing something you love.  I love who you are, love what you love.  You get special time with me.  This is how we raise beloved sons.”

because of this… Chuck E. Cheese’s has become one of my new favorite hang-outs.  Not because I love it… but because my almost 3 year old son, Nicholas, loves it.  

So here is to a life-sized mouse, ping-pong ball popcorn, water gun races, ski ball, short arm basketball, and spending quality time with my son.  

school supplies needed…

I was just meandering around the mall last night with my 3 year old Nic and I stumbled upon about 30 of these signs by Old Navy.  3 years ago when OSM started schools supplied, this wasn’t that big of a deal.  Now it is. 

osm opening night recap

here are some pics from opening night that our team member Gretchen took… they are awesome:

        

it was an awesome night.  We started with an epic video about how time is running out to do something significant with your life for God.  Then the band led us into worship, we played a crazy game where we asked two blindfolded students to drink blended drinks with “mystery” ingredients as a competition, and the band led us some more.  The night was capped off with a talk about how God has given us time to do things that matter, but he has not given us time to waste.  Next week in OSM we will go further with this idea and answer the question, “How can you make every moment count?”

 

***OSM SPOILER FOR NEXT WEEK***

If you liked these pics… we just might have more for you to see at OSM!

about 8 year olds and kissing lifeguards…

what do “Squints” from the movie “the sandlot” and Josiah from the Bible have in common?  They were both young boys who knew how to capture a moment and make it count.  Here is what squints did:

and here is what Josiah did:

“Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath.  ² He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right.”  2 kings 22:1-2

Josiah spent 31 years of his life capturing moment after moment.  If you get the chance, read the rest of 2 kings 22… Josiah accomplished more for God in the 31 years he was king of Judah than most of the other kings did in their whole life.  

The point?  We need to learn to seize opportunities and make every moment count.  

Have a great Monday!

disclaimer: sorry about the swearword in the video clip… I don’t know how to edit video.

wild boys and wild hearts

SO I’m embarking on the journey that is the book “The Way of the Wild Heart” again.  I’ve read it like 2 times, and every time I read it I am challenged deeper and deeper about who I am as a man and what kind of sons I want to raise.  I guess Jonathon inspired me to read it again.  So here’s to shirtless summer days, (just the boys, of course) fishing, grunting, baseball, and becoming initiated men.

a rant about wasting time with ice

okay… so now that you’re wondering, “what the heck is this going to be about?”  I feel like I’ve got you in a good place.  I’ve recently been going over my summer in my journal.  I’ve been trying to think back over the things I’ve done, where I’ve been, what I’ve spent my time on.  At Bigstuf Camp this summer, we all were challenged about the time we have and the time we spend.  So I took that challenge right after I got back from my vacation and evaluated how I spent my summer.  There were a lot of awesome things… but one thing was for sure: the more I wrote down, the more I realized how much time I waste.  I won’t go into any details here… but you would be SHOCKED!  I’ve recently realized that time is like ice… when it’s gone it’s gone.  I was drinking a delicious coke from burger king the other day and I left about 1/3 of it and the ice just sitting in the cupholder in my car.  A few hours later, after getting back in my car to drive home from work, I looked down and remembered that I had 1/3 of a coke left. SWEET!!  what a great surprise after a long afternoon at work.  BTW, for all you math nerds out there, here is a VERY VALUABLE equation to add to your brain: steaming hot car + 1/3 cup of coke & ice + 3 hours = NASTY!!!  The ice was gone and all I had was lukewarm, nasty coke water.  I poured it out my window as I drove.  I didn’t even think the birds should have to have their taste buds suffer.  ice eventually melts.  Time eventually gets used up.  And once they’re gone… they’re gone.  But here is the kicker… We get to choose how we use our time.  I used to say, “_______ wasted my time.”  I have come to realize that the thing cannot waste time… it is a thing.  There is no way that it can beat you over the head, drag you in front of it, and demand that you waste time with it.  YOU & I waste time with that thing.  WE CHOOSE to waste time.  WE CHOOSE to waste the one thing that we can never get back.  WE CHOOSE to waste one of the most valuable gifts that God has given us.  And get this, even if we think we are using our time for beneficial things… we still might WASTE the time God has given us.  Don’t buy in?  Check Luke 12:16-20.  It is possible to spend our entire lives on something that does not matter and that is a waste.  Time matters.  What you do with your time matters.  CHOOSE WISELY.

welcome back… long time no see.

I haven’t posted anything on here for almost 4 months.  Be on the lookout for more posts.  in two weeks I will be posting on a regular basis.  This little break has been good for me.  can’t wait to begin the  blogging journey over again.