Jesus is better than a big honkin' steak omelete

A great summer read…the Bible:-) If you’re not currently on a systematic Bible reading plan, why not join us as we read through the New Testament this summer.
Why systematically read through the Bible? Why not? I eat, sleep, work, etc. systematically, why wouldn’t I feast on the Bread of Life systematically? Really really as Shrek would say (I’m still not sure I want to spend any $ on another Shrek movie).
By reading systematically, we get the big picture of the Bible story and we take in the whole counsel of the Bible. Without systematic reading, we can tend to read the parts we like or find easy to comprehend and miss out on much. Reading on particular subjects and such is good, but it’s best when matched with a daily journey through God’s word.
If you’ve never tried journaling, here’s a link to New Hope’s website on the subject: http://www.enewhope.org/firststeps/journaling/
A few helpful hints. One verse a day. If other verses catch your eye, note the verse so you can look more deeply into it another day. Observation: Think about the times the writer lived in and the people he was writing to. What it first meant to them, is key to knowing what it means to us. Context, context, context. What is before and after the verse you are writing about. Don’t pluck a verse out of context and make it fit what you think about an issue or such. What does God think and what is He saying? That’s the question! Application: What am I going to do (that’s measurable) with what God has just revealed to me? We want to be people who build our house on a rock. Matthew 7:24-27. We hear and do!
Lastly…once a week…get with someone and share with each other what you’ve been discovering in God’s word. Build one another up. Multiply your wisdom. Hold one another accountable for the application part and challenge one another to go for it. Help build each other’s house on the rock-solid foundation of Jesus!

Jeff’s journal for 05.31.2010

Scripture – John 2:17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Observation – Ok, won’t always begin the Observation part this way, but since we’re beginning in John, here goes. John was most likely the youngest of Jesus’ disciples and described himself on several occasions as the disciple Jesus loved. I may just start describing myself that way…because it’s true! John clearly states why he wrote this gospel and its important we remember this as we read. John 20:31…”but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John is writing so that I might believe (which I already do…so…how can I use the gospel of John to help others believe) and have life in the name of Jesus. Sweet! Great reason to write a gospel. This verse is part of the story where Jesus entered the temple and cleaned house. In this act they saw Jesus zeal for the house of God and they remembered that Psalm 69:9 foretold this about Jesus. Ah, they remembered. They had read or heard the Psalm read many times. The Spirit brought what was in them into the present and revealed Jesus to them. The Word was hidden through repeated reading and hearing then the Spirit brought it to remembrance with revelation. We can’t remember what we haven’t read or heard.

Application (Action) – I will hide the word in my heart so that I might not sin against God. I hide it and the Spirit brings it to remembrance. This is one way the Spirit helps me. He brings up and out the truth that is in me. I definitely don’t want to make this a external rule that brings death in my life (I still don’t like external rules:-), but I do want to respond to truth. I want to know Jesus. I want Him to rule my life so that I might live from the inside out. And, this (His word) is where I begin to know Him. Just like I talk to my wife, kids and others during the day, I do the same with Jesus through His word…then prayer (conversation and focused times of prayer)…then action based upon what He’s speaking to me with the Spirit by my side. Having the word hidden in me also helps me clarify the voice of the Spirit and the tug of my flesh. Oh, yeah…the Spirit is telling me to talk to that person and giving me a word for them…yep…that lines up with Scripture. OK – I’m rambling. What am I going to do about it this week…by next Monday? Hmm…ok…getting ready to read John 3 about being born again…I’m going to find someone (that I’ve never shared this with before) and with their permission explain to them what it means to be born again. Uh…oh….now I’m on the hook. Good, I need that:-)

Prayer – Jesus help me. Forgive me for my fear of man. My obedience is not dependent on the outcome, but I do believe that the harvest is here, so when I share what it means to be born again, will you bring that person to new life in you? Send your Spirit ahead of me. Help me to hear His voice. While I want to scatter seed widely, I also want to harvest.  Oh, Jesus…save someone through me this week. Fear rises up in me even as I write this…crap…forgive me and change me. Speak to me like you did to Joshua…be strong and courageous Jeff. Go, tell the gospel. Thank you Jesus for being obedient to your Father…may I be like you.

This week’s reading:

May 31 – John 1-2
June 1 – John 3-6
June 2 – John 7-9
June 3 – John 10-11
June 4 – John 12-15
June 5 – John 16-18
June 6 – John 19-21
June 7 – Acts 1-4

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So…Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week. On Tuesday morning BigBen (Ben Roed) and I jumped in my car and headed East on Hwy 36 and then North on I35. This was after a run through Starbuck’s for a Mocha. It was one of those days. We made it  to Marshalltown, IA about 11:30 and joined our friend Abex for about 1/2 hour of prayer before lunch. God was with us and we had a great time with one another and God. I love to pray with others…and Abex and Ben make it a fun and exciting time. God also continues to show me that He is ready for His people to come into His presence to meet with Him on the spot. It is not work on our part. Jesus has done the work. We then met a couple other guys and enjoyed good conversation over lunch about our future together in Marshalltown.

We then hopped back in our car…now you must know that Ben and I are big guys and actually don’t hop anywhere…I wonder where that expression came from? Ok, stream of consciousness get a grip and get back to the story. We were stoked after our time in Marshalltown and headed north to Mason City. We enjoyed a great evening of dinner and conversation with Don & Tammy Perry from New Beginnings…you will begin to notice if you read this blog that food is usually paired with conversation. They are doing a great job reaching those that Jesus misses the most(see below) with the love, grace and mercy of Jesus.
I discovered the term those that Jesus misses the most while reading this book. If you are reading this blog post and you are a follower of Jesus…He no longer misses you…you are Found…you have been reconciled back into His family by Him. And I recently heard a great line about people who don’t know Jesus. They are not lost…they are dead! This is what the Bible teaches. One of my favorite passages tells the story. Ephesians 2:1-10. Before Jesus rescued me…I was physically alive, but spiritually dead. I was literally a dead man walking. I could do nothing to get myself to Jesus unless He first initiated His life in me so that I might even look to Him. He drew me to Himself through the ongoing work of His powerful Holy Spirit. YES! If that’s a new thought to you…please comment on this blog or email and I would love to talk with you more about that.

Well…deep subject…enough for today. There’s much more to the road trip story. Check this blog next week for ‘3 men in an airtight car’…or getting to know Adrian Warnock…and why road trips are my favorite way to get to know guys.

Until next week…Happy Trails

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It’s Thanksgiving morn. We play a game at our house…a very cold game…a game where we see how far into winter we can get before we turn on the furnace. Sounds like fun…doesn’t it? Not! But we play. It’s November 26th and we’re still  holding the course. You need to know this. We do have a wood-burning stove and one electric-oil space heater. Didn’t even want to know the temperature as I got out of bed, but the stove is now burning wood (though not producing heat yet) and the space heater is plugged in. It must be colder out than in because the dog is now scratching at the door to come back in. I peek at the thermometer on the porch…30 degrees fahrenheit. Oooooh…much colder than it was 2 weeks ago in Guadalajara:) The beat goes on. One of these mornings soon…someone (read Jeff) will accidentally bump into the thermostat and the furnace will kick on. I am thankful for wood and the stoves that burn it, electricity and oil heaters…and natural gas and furnaces. I’m not sure I believe people when they say they’d rather live in the olden days.

I don’t want to make this too long, so here’s a few people and things I’m thankful for. Dad-God, Jesus and God the Ghost (That term makes me smile). They rock. Never leaving me. Never forsaking me (even when I do really stupid stuff). Always with me. Thanx! Every other good thing in my life flows from them. My wife. A good wife is a gift from God. I’m just glad I was finally smart enough to see that and ask her to marry me. I’m glad she was patient enough to wait (I was dense…still am at times). The boy and the girl…my amazing kids. Even though we only have 2 biological kids…my quiver is way full. They are amazing. They aren’t perfect…but then neither is their earthly dad. They love Jesus and one day we will shoot them out into this world and I know they will change it for the fame of Jesus. The dog and the cat. I’m so glad God made pets! My parents who still love me unconditionally. My last remaining-alive (is that a word) Grama who is 90.

I am thankful for Living Hope church (the people…since church is people). They are gracious and kind and  have hung in with me for the last 4 1/2 years as God has allowed me to lead them. He is doing amazing things amongst us and I know the best is yet to come. Tommy who sat on my lap all those years ago and said, “Jeff, you’re coming with me.” Bob who guided me through my first 2 years at the helm of Living Hope. A nameless local pastor (for his protection:) for enduring my idiotic late-night movie choices.

And…it may sound weird to some of you…but I’m thankful that God allowed me to have cancer. If you are currently battling cancer, my prayers are with you. It is evil. But God can use all things for His glory. It woke me up. I was a lazy christian. I was satisfied with just being an attender of a local church. Let everyone else do the stuff. I would coast until heaven. Let other people tell other people about Jesus. Dad-God got my attention. I’m thankful He’s a Dad who disciplines those He loves.

There’s so many more people, but that’s enough for today. If you’ve made it this far…thanx! Here’s a good short blurb from Mark Batterson on heaven. Worth a minute’s read! And I cant wait for his new book PRIMAL!

Right now I’m thankful for the cinnamon roll which the girl is warming up in the microwave. She didn’t think it was funny when I asked her to warm it up for me by telling her she was so good at the microwave:) Oh yeah…and so thankful for coffee…and chocolate cows (milk)…and…football (I’m ready)…and…
Happy Thanksgiving!

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We arrived in town on Friday, got settled in and spent Saturday doing the tourist stuff. Shopping in the open-air market, a great cook-out at Arturo’s home and then a soccer match in Stadium Jalisco between Chivas (Arturo’s team…go Chivas) and their in-city rival Atlas. Sunday we worshipped with El Camino. El Camino is one of the Newfrontiers churches here in Guad. We are a family of churches on mission together and really do believe that we can do more together than apart. After a Mexican lunch of beef in juice (God bless the person that first thought of this:), we headed to the edges of Guad to an area know as La Severiana. The first five letters give an apt description of the conditions these wonderful people live in. As we arrived an energetic young man from El Camino named Saul led us in worship. Under a fading sun…with 2 light bulbs soon to light the way…the presence of our great Savior was with us. Even now as I remember being there it can be a bit awe-inspiring. I have so much and yet sometimes find it hard to turn my attention to God…maybe that’s the lesson for me.

On Monday the team began working on many projects at Oasis and I began enjoying my time with Arturo and his team.

Will we affect Oasis and El Camino while we are here? I believe so…in small ways. But more importantly, I believe we are changed. We see our world differently. The life we live and the troubles we face are put into perspective. They are no less real…maybe we are? We come, we enjoy fellowship with each other and the wonderful people we meet. We leave a footprint. Already fading, yet a footprint none-the-less. Our hope is that people know and love Jesus more after we leave. And we hopefully look at our feet and see that our feet are changed. They have more of the world on them. They will walk the streets of our city differently. Though circumstances are different…people are people. We all need the love of a Savior.

Living Hope church and El Camino church. Living Hope and Oasis. St. Joseph and Guadalajara. We can do more together than we can apart.

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I used to love when the coaches would gather at our house after a game or practice. I loved the smell of those nights…the football talk…losses commiserated…and victories celebrated. I remember going to the games with my mom. Yelling with the crowd. Never getting to run crazy with the other kids under the stands. We were there to watch the game. I remember when my dad coached with his hands bandaged and his eyebrows gone! They had fueled the homecoming bonfire with gas and he was too close when he lit it.

And the celebration of sport and team! Hands in the air. Yelling ’til our lungs were worn out. Stomping on the bleachers ’til they created a deafening roar. What fun. What joy. With the team. With the crowd.

Why don’t we worship Jesus like that? When we gather together in our churches why don’t we worship with that same passion, zeal and fervor? Why don’t we throw our whole bodies, our whole voice, our whole being into corporate worship? Up on our toes…hands held high as if we were reaching heaven itself. Jesus is worth it. We see from how we celebrate at sport or other performance that we are capable. Let’s go for it! Who said church should be a quiet place? God didn’t!

Let’s celebrate the shadow…I do! But with a greater intensity let’s celebrate the Son. Let’s get close (yes, really close…God made us for that)…let’s get singed by the fire of our Holy God…so that we might be changed!

The shadow proves the sun (I heard it from CS Lewis…and Switchfoot put it to music). What’s in us to celebrate the things of this world prove it’s in us to respond to God in the same way. If you’re a follower of Jesus it’s in you. It is! Let it out. Let the world know that Jesus is the greatest thing!

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Today at Living Hope we looked at 1 Peter 2:4-12…absolutely stunning. Why would the God who created everything…which includes us…say such amazing things about us and not just say them…but mean them and make us into them? A royal and holy priesthood! Us? You’ve got to be kidding me. I know me:) And I know my race. He is a crazy God. To take the very creature who betrayed Him…rejected Him…did not trust Him that the garden was enough…and now make us into living stones built into a holy priesthood in the image of Jesus. I can only be stunned.

God keeps going. He’s serious about His business. He’s serious about His Son. He is making for His Son a people. A holy nation…what? No way! We were not a people and now we are. Blow me away…won’t you. Does that refresh you? It does me and should refresh us as His church. Receivers of mercy made to proclaim His excellencies…how can we not…so that all the world will know and worship Him as God. Stunning…amazing!

I shared this morning…how as I travel farther from the date of my entry into His kingdom…my day of salvation…that I am more stunned that He saved me. I am more aware each day that I am a wretch in need of a Savior. I’m not even sure I’d save myself. And as I am stunned by who I am…I am more stunned by who He is and that He saved me. Will it be like this forever? Will I grow in my awareness of how little I deserve His grace and mercy…and more and more in my thankfulness for it? Will I grow more and more stunned by how wretched I am and how great He is? I hope so! There is no glory in me except for what He has now given to me. God to me…crazy. I deserve to die…yet Jesus did. I am refreshed in this life. Are you?

What a strange and wonderful thing when we become less…think less about ourselves…and think more of Him and about Him. Dude! Can it get any better…oh yes it can…and I look forward to the forever journey! Do you?

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Yesterday Chrystal and I celebrated our 18th anniversary. We took Chris and Gail to the airport for a much needed week away after coming through all his surgeries. Checked in at the office. Took a nap…sweet! Tilled the garden a bit before running out of gas. Chainsawed out some bushes I have wanted gone since we bought the place. Dinner and a movie. Nothing glam, but we hope to get away for a weekend soon. Way thankful to Jesus for 18 years with C!

That’s it…I think. Off to the building soon to check in with the kids (year teamers and interns). The young ones are starting to get married which is the preferred order of things and way cool.

Soon!

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In Matt’s story (Levi who we know as Matthew) we see that he just plain got it…Luke 5:27-32. Looking back, Luke speaks of the enduring story of Matthew’s life in verse 28, “And leaving everything(I think everything means everything), he rose and followed him.” Luke is looking back…he has heard the report about Matthew and now gives the account that Matthew left everything. And Matt got the fact that since Jesus came to seek and save, that was now his calling and goal. In the story we see that he immediately brought Jesus into his world and to his friends. If he needed Jesus…and Jesus finding him and calling him was so profound and life-changing that he would leave everything…surely his friends needed the same! Thanx for getting it Matthew. I want to be more like Matthew.

Have you had any ‘immediately’s’ this week? Have you been looking…watching…listening? I have to confess that sometimes I get so involved(and thereby tuned out to those around me) in my own agenda, I can forget why Jesus left the beauty and splendor and crazy, amazing fellowship with the Father and Spirit in heaven to come to this rock called earth…ouch…makes me want to sing a few lines from a Kris Kristofferson song(if you can figure it out, send me a comment). A friend shared how she responded immediately this week and invited her non-believing-in-God friend(I so love an honest person) to church for Easter. Way to go.

Where is my immediately today? Where is yours? There’s really no need to think it through when God speaks to your heart and leads you to speak to someone about the love of Jesus. If we do it in love…understanding humbly that once we were there…how can we go wrong? Speak and let God work. Speaking’s our job…the rest is His. People will accept an invite to an Easter service(such a lame word)…Easter is it!!!

Enough already. Let’s go for it together. Write to me about your immediately’s and lets spur one another on to love and good works!!!

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It’s been way too long and I’ve thought of blogging often, but as you can see I haven’t. Sitting in my second office…Panera around dinner-time watching people walk by and covet my table since I am only drinking coffee and appear to be settled in for the night…and contmemplating the Sunday preach. I am going to try to stick with the one verse I journaled about…stop laughing…Galatians 3:22. What a merciful God that He does whatever it takes (most of all sending His own Son to the Cross) to get us to see our deep need of a Savior instead of law-keeping life. We can’t do that anyway even though we think we can. Jesus took the law from the surface to deep inside. I am so thankful for that. I thought I was pretty good as you can read on the My Story tab, but thankfully He showed me otherwise. He is a good God!

Anyway…I am not a teacher, so I will stop there. My wife hasn’t been sleeping well lately (which could have something to do with my snoring), so I sent her for a massage which is something she would never do for herself. Now, don’t get excited…I’m not usually that thoughtful…but Jesus loves my wife and He helped me today:) She’ll be back to get me in a bit, then we’re off the hospital to see new life and congratulate some parents…out for a quick bite…pick up a pizza for the kids…and then sit in bed and watch “Australia.” Then, I am hoping my wife gets a long night’s sleep which lasts deep into the morning. She deserves it…she lives with me:)

That’s my life today. Got to spend some time with Christopher Robins earlier today and glad he is recuperating and will be back to save the church from just having me in the office soon.

Hanging on to Jesus…Jeff

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A few reminders for this week at Living Hope in the Joe and in the Ville.

Thursday evening from 5-7 in the Ville we will be handing out candy to approximately 1000 kiddos and their parents at their annual Halloween on the square. Please be in prayer as we serve the community and get our name out there. We do not have childcare at this time, but are always looking to connect unbelievers to Jesus and connect any believers who don’t have a church home and may feel called to affect college students as part of a local church to the local church, whether it’s ours or another church who loves Jesus. Friday night is Halloween and for those of you who live in neighborhoods where kids still go door-to-door it’s a great way to connect with the people Jesus misses and be light in darkness. Go for it as God leads! Saturday night is the Hoedown in the Joe at the Living Hope building. Invite your friends and let’s have fun together. We should be the funnest (I believe that should be most fun) people on the face of the earth. We serve the God who invented fun, so let’s glorify Him in it. Hope to see you all there and meet lots of new people.

The cross – I am currently reading, “Boy meets Girl” by Joshua Harris. Yes, I know I’ve already met my girl, but I am always looking for resources to help people of all ages who are still looking for that special someone. In it, Josh quotes from a book by Joni Eareckson Tada and Steven Estes, “When God Weeps.” Here’s just an excerpt….”The face that Moses had begged to see–was forbidden to see–was slapped bloody Exodus 33:19-20. The thorns that God had sent to curse the earth’s rebellion now twisted around his own brow…’On your back with you!’ One raises a mallet to sink in the spike. But the soldier’s heart must continue pumping as he readies the prisoner’s wrist. Someone must sustain the soldier’s life minute by minute, for no man has this power on his own. Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds his molecules together? Only by the Son do ‘all things hold together’ Colossians 1:17. The victim wills that the soldier live on–he grants the warriors continued existence. The man swings. As the man swings, the Son recalls how he and the Father first designed the medial nerve of the human forearm–the sensations it would be capable of. The design proves flawless–the nerves perform exquisitely.”

Even as we look to Christmas, we look to Jesus who was born to die for the sins of His people. What an amazing Savior!

Peace.

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