America’s Worship Wars
– Terry W. York. Hendrickson. Should churches continue to sing the traditional hymns or should they embrace the contemporary choruses? Should they play organs or guitars? The author addresses the issues that have been with us for some time now (actually they started during the Jesus Revolution) and gives a sympathetic and insightful guide to
Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places
– Eugene H. Peterson. Eerdmans. Peterson writes with clarity that every reader will appreciate. He states, “There are seething energies of spirituality in evidence everywhere.” Unfortunately we live in a culture that thrives on self-help theories when God’s word clearly teaches that we are to live our life through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Father’s Day
During a recent little league game in which my son was playing, I made an interesting observation. When a child got a hit or made a catch, for the most part, it was the women who were cheering in the crowd. I was amazed that most men sat there silently. However, when you began to
How to Read a Book in Ten Minutes
In today’s world ministers need to be widely read professionals. Medical doctors keep up with the changes in their profession by reading the latest professional journals. Ministers do the same, though, of course, for ministers the methods and issues change, not the timeless truths of the faith. The larger the church the more a minister
At Least I Can Talk to God
I am totally frustrated with technology. With all our advancements, we are going backwards. With progress, comes regress. There was a time when our grandparents had to speak on party lines and there was no such thing as an area code. If you needed to talk to someone, you got an operator and they connected
Learning to Listen
Three hundred years before Christ was born, the philosopher Zeno of Citium said, “The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is that we may listen the more and talk the less.” James had the same idea when he wrote: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow
Ethics and Public Policy Center
Ethics and Public Policy Center www.eppc.org– The Ethics and Public Policy Center was established to clarify and reinforce the bond between the Judeo-Christian moral tradition and the public debate over domestic and foreign policy issues. www.eppc.org 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and
Answers
www.answers.com is a search engine that offers quick and concise information on more than a million topics. The material is drawn from encyclopedias, dictionaries, glossaries and atlases. www.answers.com 2ProphetU2ProphetU is an online magazine/website, started by Warren Wiersbe and Michael Catt, to build up the church, seek revival, and encourage pastors.
This is God’s Church
By Michael Catt 1 Cor. 1:1-17 I. FOUNDATIONAL TRUTHS REGARDING THE CHURCH.1 Cor. 1:1 3 uses of Apostles in the New Testament 1. A messenger. Jn. 13:162. Those sent by the churches. 2 Cor. 8:233. Applied to only those Jesus called as Apostles. Lk. 6:13 THIS HAS A TWO-FOLD MEANING: 1. The foundation of the
This Is Built By God’s Wisdom
By Michael Catt 1 Cor. 1:18-2:16 I. THE CHARACTER OF THE GOSPEL. 1:18-25 Resistance to the righteousness of God.Rejection of the revelation of God.Refusal to recognize God. Our responsibility to lead them to Christ. God’s purpose is to show us HIS power and wisdom as the only answer: 1. Israel was saved by putting their
The knowledge of God is a mountain steep indeed, and difficult to climb. – Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses
May God shield you on every steep, May Christ keep you in every path, May Spirit bathe you in every pass. – The Carmina Gadelica, trans. Alexander Carmichael
The mountains are ready to teach us the way of all life if we will clamber into their laps…The mountaintop vision is raw, wild, and life-giving. In no way can I take credit for it. It is the gift of the mountain. The vision is brief. I want to hang on, stay on top forever. Yet I must come down the mountain to continue my journey. I have to let go. – Susan Mangam, “Seeing Things As They Really Are,” in Weavings
After the Ecstacy, the laundry. Book title by Jack Kornfield
The path by which the Lord ascended is winding, twisting this way and that; [but] whoever wishes to climb up to pray can easily make the ascent. – Elisaeus, as quoted in The Journal of Theological Studies
The significance of desert and mountain is not who resides here, but what we ourselves have left behind in coming. – David Douglas, Wilderness Sojourn: Not in the Desert Silence
If my hands were to hover in the sky like powerful eagles and my feet ran across mountains as swiftly as the deer; all that would not be enough to pay you fitting tribute, O Lord my God. – Jewish hymn from the Talmudic period
When you reach the mountaintop, you’re only halfway. – Mountain climber’s proverb
Extraordinary experiences are not to be sought after, stirred up, or in any way “worked for.” Genuine ones are not in the realm of “our work” at all; they are objective and God-sent, not subjective and self-caused. Should a person desire them to the point of deliberately striving after them, he lays himself open to the greatest spiritual suspicion. He is manifestly desiring God’s gifts, God’s comforts, rather than desiring God. He is seeking excitement rather than the basic spiritual virtue of stability. – Gale D. Webbe, The Night and Nothing
The last experience of God is frequently the greatest obstacle to the next experience of God. We make an absolute out of it…All great spirituality is about letting go. – Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs
The mountain journey is about becoming more aligned with God’s presence and purposes in our lives…The goal is not the glamour of iridescent light, but Christ-shaped encounters with others. The journey is not about getting out of this world or out of ourselves into some more glamorous place – but about getting as deeply into this world as God, in Christ, has. – Robert C. Morris, “Riding the Wild Mountain Ox,” in Weavings
Spirituality
Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.” – Erica Jong, quoted in Thestreet.com
The ability to “turn off” responsibility is now in vogue. “Let’s just quit” are household words. – Chuck Swindoll
The price of greatness is responsibility. – source unknown
A responsibility worth shouldering is a commitment worth expressing. – William A. Ward
When the Roll is Called Up Yonder, Who’ll Be There? It may not be Johnny. He was on your roll for a long time but never came, so you dropped him. It may not be Jim. He wasn’t a Christian when he came into your department, and he wasn’t when he promoted out. It may not be Chris. Her family were members here, but she never was. Don’t guess you ever really knew her. Hey, Lord, they weren’t my responsibility, were they?
Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality. – Martin Luther King, Jr., REV Magazine, July/August 2004
Responsibility