Happy New Year! Hello 2009!

Wow! I have received much encouragement and so many great responses about the first Podcast on the Intro to 1 Peter, thank you all so much for that! We are now listened to in 11 countries around the world! Praise God!

The Episode 2 part 2 on 1 Peter 1:1-2 is almost ready. The last two nights have been absolutely crazy and it was not in the cards to get the Podcast up. I just spent 3 hours getting my home network back up and before that 2 hours dealing with my RSS feed and trying to get ITunes to display the correct information.

I hope you all have a wonderful New Years, be safe and watch out for each other on the roads out there. Look out for the new Podcast that is coming tomorrow.

1 Peter 1:3-

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Like the resurrection of Jesus gave us a new birth into a living hope, may starting another trip around the sun bring us all a fresh start into the New Year. May we reaffirm our commitment to God and grow more mature in our Christian faith in 2009. Amen!

Thanks for checking in and God Bless!

John

Merry Christmas to all and may God Bless

Merry Christmas to all and may God bless all of you. Thank you SO much for all the support. All glory to God! More Podcasts are coming, we start getting into 1 Peter next post! Taken the Wife and kids to see grandparents today, the kids are jacked!! I am all hopped up on pumpkin pie...mmmmmm

In Him,

John

Thanks for Checking in and God Bless.

Let's not trust in our standards. They’re way too low.

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)

As I am dealing with the technical difficulties in fishing my Bible study Podcast on 1 Peter, I wanted to share one of my favorite passages from the Bible. Take some time out today and truly reflect upon what Jesus is saying here.

If we simplify our lives and humble ourselves, we can make meaningful steps forward in our walk with God. Let’s not trust in our own standards, we see how those are working out in this world. Let us trust in Jesus, and let his standards be ours.

God Bless and thanks for checking in. Oh, and I WILL have the 1st Podcast up soon!

Bologna on Pennsylvania Avenue…

From the title I know most people are thinking that I might be talking about Bush, the Treasury Departments newly found 700 Billion dollars or maybe the temporary multi Million dollar inaugural parade stands being built along Pennsylvania Avenue. No, I am talking about real processed meat with the little red plastic strip around it.
I work in D.C. next to the White House. So, this morning I’m coming from 14th street going west down Pennsylvania Avenue, freezing as I am walking and listening to a Podcast on my IPod, looking forward to my Starbucks.

Now Pennsylvania Avenue has these 8x8 foot planter box type areas where they have the trees that line the Street, which if anyone has been to the White House or seen pictures of Pennsylvania Avenue you know what I’m talking about. Now as I’m speed walking with my head tucked into my coat I see a full slice of Bologna on top of the monkey grass in the first box on Pennsylvania Avenue, I think ehhh, this is D.C. and keep on walking.


I pass the second box and another piece of Bologna, I think, wow a little early (7am) for the disposal of lunch meat along a street, but I press on. Now I pass the third and fourth and fifth, sixth, seventh boxes and they all have Bologna in them and now I stop to get complete visual confirmation that I am seeing Bologna and it’s not some caffeine withdraw induced hallucination. My suspicion is correct, Bologna. I press on.

Now as I have to dodge the construction of the temporary, multi Million dollar inaugural parade stands, I find myself looking forward to seeing if the Bologna will continue on the other side. I’m now chuckling to myself, contemplating the meaning of the Bologna, is it a silent protest, does someone think the squirrels eat Bologna, did someone else have a dream of a Bologna lined Pennsylvania Avenue?

As I approach the first box I find out that my hopes of a Bologna lined Pennsylvania Avenue are dashed. All the boxes on the other side of the stands are empty. I start to feel let down; did the Bologna bandit get stopped before the task was complete? Did they not plan well and run out of Bologna? As I find my mind thinking way too much about Bologna based protesting, I smell one of my favorite smells….coffee.

Enough shenanigans time for my Starbucks. Thanks Bologna bandit protester person, even if no one else notices your act of civil disobedience, you will know I did.


Thanks for checking in, God Bless.

Terms for ALL of us to know...

Hello everyone, I wanted to go over some very important terms with you. I am hoping to start a consistent format to this blog soon. Working full time and having 3 kids I sometime find it hard to even think! Ha-ha…

Gospel - the “Good News”; this is how Paul refers to the message of forgiveness and eternal life.

Faith – “..faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1). The belief or trust in God; faith is the means by which we as sinful people can experience and enjoy the blessings of salvation. (Mark 11:22) Christianity is the only faith-based(not works based)worldview.

Sin - “missing the Mark” or “disobedience to God’s law”. It describes people’s tendency to rebel against God. Basically anything we do or any attitude that opposes the character and will of God. Sin is how we separate ourselves from God. Romans 3:20

Salvation - a gift from God that cannot be earned. It is given freely by God. (1 Thessalonians 1:10, Jonah 2:9).

Grace - Is God's undeserved favor. The New Testament is first and foremost a written testimony of God's grace -- it is by grace we have been saved. (Ephesians 2:8-9, Isaiah 53:3-4) To suggest that God's grace is conditional, or that grace alone is not sufficient, is to insult God.

Justification –Righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24) - Justification is by grace through faith alone. Through Justification we are saved from the penalty of sin.

Sanctification- begins at conversion and continues throughout the earthly life of the believer. It is the process whereby the believer, empowered by the Holy Spirit, becomes increasingly more Christ-like in character. Through Sanctification we are saved from the power of sin. (Romans 5:20-21, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18).

Glorification- Glorification will happen when the sanctification process is fully complete -- our bodies will be changed, the old sin nature will be eliminated, and we will see the risen Christ in all his glory. (1 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Corinthians 15:52-53).

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Remember, works plays absolutely no role in justification. This is one element that distinguishes the Christian faith from all other worldviews. Works are the fruit of Justification not the source of it. Living in Sanctification by definition, we will produce good works by working to live out a Christ-life life.

Thanks for checking in and God Bless.

John “Christian” Doe bible study on 1 Peter

Well hello everyone, the John “Christian” Doe bible study is getting ready to kick off here soon. I am starting the podcast because I think the Bible study format will work best in a Podcast format rather than the blogging format. We will see.

I hope that within the next two days I will have my first podcast on the intro and background with some Apologetics. I think the first pod cast will be the introduction mentioned above and the following podcast we will be getting to 1 Peter 1:1-12.

Keep the theme of 1 Peter in mind as we move forward; Experiencing God’s grace in the midst of suffering and having the appropriate response to suffering and persecution based in the example of Christ.

Thanks for checking in and God Bless.

Alive 2008 Quest Middle School Youth Conference

I just wanted to put a quick post about my trip I took in Late November with my Church's Middle School Youth Ministry Program, TNT (Teens in Transition) to Ocean City, Maryland. For those who live in Virginia, D.C or Maryland, you might be thinking “Fun, the beach in late November?!” Yes, I know, we did have the 30 degree weather and the 20 mile an hour winds so the Board walk was brutal, but the good thing is no one was there to see how insane we were to be there!

We were there to attend the Alive 2008 Quest Middle School Youth Conference Metro Maryland Youth for Christ. The event is very well done. It was well organized, the people were great and there was enough fun to go round for all ages. The band Leedland was phenomenal and they rocked the place all weekend in worship. Some of the speakers and entertainers were One time blind, Joel Sonnenberg, PureNRG, Runks and Leonard Sweet.

My personal favorites were Runks and Joel Sonenberg.

Runks is an insane, funny 6 foot 6 guy who really knows how to connect with everyone in the room. Runks grew up in Midland, Texas and is a graduate of McMurry University in Abilene, Texas. Runks received Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; he then served as a Youth Minister for 7 years and in January of 1998 began traveling the country communicating the gospel to teenagers, college students and adults. He tells stories that make you feel as thought you were right there with him. His presentation and delivery is funny, honest, and inspirational. Did I mention he is insane?

Now Joel Sonnenberg is a guy you would just like to hang out with and bask in the good feeling and passion for life he exudes. When Joel was almost 2 years old, he was involved in a devastating car accident on I95 when a Tractor trailer slammed into his family car at a toll booth that left him with burns over 85% of his body. The only part left unburned on Joel was the area where his wet diaper was. After the accident Joel had a 10% chance of living but, with a lot of faith, love and prayer from many, many people, Joel pulled through.

After a very long road of recovery, Joel has become international speaking minister. Joel’s story is one of heartbreak, love, pain, survival, faith and triumph. I recommend his book “Joel”- pick it up here at Amazon.

The activity section for the kids is packed with tons of things to keep the kids happy all weekend. There were also vendors selling books, T-shirts, music and many other items. They had a huge karaoke set up, Wii, temporary tattoos, hair painting, games and tons of other activities.

I had a great weekend and truly enjoyed ministering to my small group of kids. It was great to take our 55 or so kids and mix them up with 3500 other Christian middle schoolers. I would encourage Churches or anyone, if you have a chance and middle school student to attend this retreat next year. More info here: http://www.mmyfc.org/mmyfc/index.html

Thanks for checking in, God Bless.>>John

Congo's crisis worsens

Congo's crisis worsens - The Big Picture - Boston.com 12:59pm Source: www.boston.com

This breaks my heart to see people suffer like this. The humanitarian crisis in Congo has thought to have killed more than 5 million people in a decade and the latest conflict has thought to have displaced a quarter of a million people. Children make up 19% of the population, but account for 47% of the deaths and 45,000 people continue to die each month. I pray that this corruption and fighting ends and the people of Congo can begin the long road of healing.

The truth is hard to swallow

Below is a prayer Pastor Joe Wright gave when asked to open the new session of the Kansas House of Representatives on January 23, 1996. I find it a very insightful prayer, a kind of prayer that will bother those who do not want to admit to being a sinner. It will bother those who believe this countries moral compass is already pointing true north something I think even the most lukewarm Humanist would agree is not the case. It will bother those who deny Christianity, the validity of the Bible and Gods grace to justify their wrong doing.

The Secularist main stream and the Liberal media have cloaked a veil over our eyes to make people think anything is permissible as long as you feel it is okay. Day by day our children are being poisoned by moral neglect and an indifference to common decency. Some want to deny their accountability to God over their morality, belief and acceptance of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. I think this line of thinking is akin to a teenager denying their parents authority over them, the old “You are not the boss of me!” argument. My children at one point truly believed that if they covered their eyes I could not see them because they could not see me. No matter how much they believed that I could not see them, it never changed the reality. So too is it with God. The truth is hard to swallow



==========

THE PRAYER

The response was immediate - with a number of legislators walking out during the prayer. In six short weeks Central Christian Church logged more than 5,000 phone calls, with only 47 of those calls responding negatively.

Commentator Paul Harvey aired Pastor Joe Wright's prayer on the radio and received a larger response to this program than any other program Paul Harvey has ever aired.
In addition, Central Christian Church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea.

The prayer is reprinted below:

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and seek your direction and guidance.
We know your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that's exactly what we've done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.
We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of your Word and called it moral pluralism. We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building esteem.
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
We have coveted our neighbors' possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our fore-fathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us O God and know our hearts today; try us and see if there is some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by you, to govern this great state.
Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of your will.
I ask it in the name of your son, the living savior, Jesus Christ.Amen.

***text taken from http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/k/kansasprayer.htm
==========
Wright later explained, "I thought I might get a call from an angry congressman or two, but I was talking to God, not them. The whole point was to say that we all have sins that we need to repent – all of us . . . The problem, I guess, is that you're not supposed to get too specific when you're talking about sin."

Faith and Works

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5, NIV.)

Hello everyone, I wanted to make a quick statement about faith and works. This topic has been well covered amongst Christian scholars and people much smarter than I. So, I will bring nothing new to the overall “Faith and Works” discussion in whole. I would however, like to explain it in the simplest terms for those who might not understand or really have no clue what this whole faith and works stuff is. Some might argue that this subject goes much, much deeper than my superficial explanation and to them I say “Mark 10:15, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."……Keep it simple, trust Jesus.

Protestants believe that by faith alone, in Christ alone, we are reconciled to God based upon the work of Christ on the cross on our behalf. If you truly have faith, you should have a faith that bears good fruit (works). Failure to grow, develop, and bear the fruits (works) of your faith would show that free gift of God in Christ has never been received. So people obtain justification though their faith, but if their faith is real, good fruit (works) will flow.

Works after faith is key; works is a result of justification by faith and not a integral process of justification. Neither being a good person without accepting Christ as your Lord and savior nor claiming to have faith with out living as a Christian will get you into Heaven. Simple stuff. I hope this helps.

Some reading below….

Ephesians 2 (New International Version)
4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Romans 3:21-28 (New International Version)
Righteousness Through Faith
21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
27Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

John 3:16-18 (New International Version)
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

Galatians 2:16 (New International Version)
16know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

James 2:17-24 (New International Version)
17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.