Record Reached

I just want to point out (mainly to myself as a way to celebrate victory) that with this post I have officially achieved the number of posts by the end of March 2012 that I had the entire year of 2011. Wahoo! Perhaps I deleted some from last year. That's likely. But as they say, a win's a win! Next year we'll move our focus from numbers to content ;).

Insights for Sermons by Ellsworth Kalas

Hey preaching friends! Here's a worthwhile read published today by Dr. Ellsworth Kalas.

Insights for Sermons by J. Ellsworth Kalas

A challenging but very edifying word to press on in the worthy nature of the call and to avoid the other methods of a different nature.

Seminarian

Is God the Author of Evil?

Perhaps the question of whether or not God “created” evil is akin to the question of whether God created the chair. Of course, we easily dismiss the notion that God created the chair while understanding that nothing exists outside of God’s creation. Our explanation is that God created wood and God created humans with intelligence. With our intelligence and the gift of reflecting God’s creative energy, man created the chair while not doing so outside of or with elements beyond what God created. With evil, God created angels (good) and He apparently gave them free will (good) which He also gave to humans. Angels (namely, Lucifer) and humans (Adam and Eve first) used their life and free will (gifts within God’s good creation) to do evil, to turn from God in a rebellious fashion and do that which is against His character, nature, and desire, thus accomplishing evil. However, it would be different to say that God is the “author” of evil. God simply provided the resources and the freedom for His creation to accomplish evil. And the saddest irony: it was all out of love that He did so.

Top 10 Texts

Saturday, 10:35a.m. As I prepare mentally and spiritually to proclaim the good news at church in the morning, I receive the following text from a church member:

"You should see our Lord at work at my home. God is so good."

I can't think of many texts I would wish to receive more as a pastor! Then I got to thinking. In our age of typographical communication, what texts would I love to receive as a pastor? Or as a son of God, follower of Christ, husband, father? Below are some in no particular order that I've come up with for my eventual Top 10. This is a working list off the top of my head and heart. As a devotional exercise I found it spiritually enriching. It took way more time to think than type.

I would love to hear some of yours! Given the roles you play in life and the things that help form your identity, what are some text messages that would be on your Top 10 list?

• "JESUS IS BACK!!! GET OUT HERE!"
• "I love you. -Liz"
• "God told me to tell you He's proud of you...and He called you son."
• "You should see our Lord at work at my home. God is so good."
• "Revival happening. Come."
• "Prayer answered."
• "Noah's doing that thing you do again."

The Artist

A definition of "artist" occurred to me tonight: someone who sees something which is "so obviously there" but which others will spend their whole lives trying to discover. Or perhaps once they discover...appreciate. In this light, the artist can be found in many contexts, trades, careers, and roles. When considered in spiritual terms, this seems quite parallel to discernment and faith. Perhaps that is why some of the most powerful crossroads in the human experience are where spirituality is expressed through art and the two merge in an explosion of worship through the senses. I would love to know if you have ever been surprised at finding yourself fitting the description of "artist," and also how you have experienced the divine through artistic expression. I can give an example from tonight that led me to my definition. I was listening to Jon Foreman on earbuds while folding laundry as my wife fell asleep. His lyrics led me to see something otherwise unapparent to me. And I worshipped God.

How Did Jesus Plug In?

As a new pastor, I already struggle with how to feel like my ministry is “100%” in terms of faithfulness and fruitfulness. Perhaps if you are in a ministry career, or even just a disciple of Christ trying to fulfill His commission, you do too. I feel the need to plug into the power source of God because, after all, it's His ministry. I just can't seem to access the divine power plant. Then, I remember something the Holy Spirit spoke to me once. Jesus’ ministry was not 100% because He was “plugged in” to the divine power of God. It was because He “only did what He saw the Father doing” (John 5:19). This was the guarantee for success! All the sudden, ministry and mission seem not limited to just the objective power of God, but the very heart and will of God that we are to abide in. Jesus did not say we have to understand why the Father is doing a certain thing, just that our goal must be to discern what the Father is doing and then commit to that end. Imagine how the power of God’s Holy Spirit would be unleashed upon this world if only the Church, a minority of the global population, did that - focused all our spiritual energy only on looking for what the Father is doing and then joining that work, following that voice. This is how the Kingdom is breaking in and how it will be "on earth as it is in heaven."