The Weekly Roundup: Don McAllister

Don McAllister is someone who I have followed on Twitter for a while.  I have just really begun following his blog and look forward to getting to know him through his writing in his coming posts.

Don has begun a new series called Killing Sacred Cows Of Blogging.  I read his post yesterday and loved where Don is going with this series.  He is dealing with myths many of us have bought into regarding our blogging.

One of the things I like most about Don is that he makes it plainly known that what he is doing is to honor Christ.  He is not producing implicitly Christian material, but he is definitely not shy about letting his readers know who he is following.

You can check out Don McAllister’s blog here.  If you haven’t checked it out, please do.

Does Church Ever Wear You Out?

Does your church ever wear you out?

What I mean is do you ever leave more tired than you when you left?

I know someone who sometimes leaves for the restroom during the fellowship time.  Why?  It’s not because that person doesn’t like people.  It’s because it absolutely wears this person out to shake hands with so many people at one time.  This person happens to be an introvert.

There are other things that make this person tired.  Lots of loud, exuberant music with no soft, subdued music that leads toward introspection causes this person to continue the slide toward exhaustion.

Does anything  cause this person to gain energy?

Yes.  Introspective services that causes them to think inwardly to where they can tap their energy.

How about the extrovert?  Quite, introspective services where they aren’t able to express themselves outwardly where they can gain their energy.

Do you know people who are worn out by church?  It may be because of their personality and how the service was structured.

Does church ever wear you out?

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The Power Of Story

 I have a friend named Chris.  Recently he sent me a tweet telling me he realized that he goes to church with someone I work with.

 I ran into this lady shortly after and mentioned this fact to her.  She laughed and said that, kidding, Chris told her not to say anything because I had too many stories that I could tell about him.  I assured her that because we survived those stories, Chris and I would treasure those stories between us.

 

That event made me pause, though, because of the power of those shared experiences.  Memories flooded my mind.  Good and bad times swirled before my eyes.  Waves of nostalgia cascaded over me.

 

The wonderful thing, like I said, is that we survived those stories.  Even though we are linked forever by the stories we were writing during those years, we are part of greater stories now.

 

We have both been married for two decades to the loves of our lives.

 

We both have children that mean the world to us.

 

We both have jobs of enormous responsibility.

 

Most important, we are a part of His story, each in our own way.

 

We claim a common Savior.  This is a better story that has more power than any other that connects us.

 

What kind of power does your story hold?

 

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Repaying God

I recently heard someone thank God in a prayer recently.  I don’t think that is unusual, but it was what they said next that caused me to pause.

They brought up trying to repay God for His goodness to us.

I didn’t quite do a Linda Blair head spin, but I did immediately wonder about what this person believed about God.

Don’t get me wrong.  I think many people think this way.  I think we all have at some point in our lives.

I just think it’s wrong.

Thinking that we have repay God for his goodness and grace is simply not Biblical.  Here’s what I mean.

If we believe, like Paul writes, that salvation is the free gift of God then there is no way that we can repay Him.  If we believe that we can repay God, then salvation quits being a gift and becomes something that we can buy.  You and I cannot buy salvation.  Only Christ could do that for us.  Our wages are death.  The only thing we can buy is an eternal punishment.

I understand that this flies in the face of how we are wired.  We simply don’t want something for nothing.

The fact is, though, that we cannot repay God.  He doesn’t want us to and we don’t have the ability.

Have you ever thought about repaying God?  Do you realize that you can’t?

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Agent Colson’s Not Dead, And So Are You

You may have seen The Avengers by now.  If so, there is no need for a spoiler alert.  If not, you may want to quit reading if you plan to go see the movie.

In a pivotal scene in the movie, Agent Colson, who has been Nick Fury’s right hand man in gathering all of these heroes together, is killed by Loki.  Stabbed through the heart, we watch him die.

There’s just one problem with that scenario.

Agent Colson’s not dead.

I read too many comic books as a kid to believe that he died in that scene.

I don’t know exactly how they will pull it off.  That may not have been the real Colson.  It may have been a life-like decoy.  Maybe someone with a healing power showed up.  Somehow, someway, Colson lives.

If you’re a follower of Christ, it’s the same for you.  You were dead.  He has made you alive.  When you die on this earth, it’s a false death.  It’s transition time.  People are gathering around in sadness, when they should be celebrating.  You’re going home.  You will soon be more alive than ever.

Agent Colson’s not dead.  And so are you.

Are you a follower of Christ?  Do you have this eternal life on your side?

First Church Year #23: When The Honeymoon Is Over

If you have been following my Monday posts for the past few months, you have been reading of our adventures in our new church.  2012 has honestly been a great year.

Now, though, the honeymoon is over.

That doesn’t necessarily mean anything bad.  In fact, it could be just the opposite.

It doesn’t mean we are suddenly mad over anything.

It doesn’t mean there is some source of conflict.

What does it mean?

It means that the new has worn off.

It means that people are the same everywhere.

It means that basically, when it comes down to it, churches are often the same.

It means that if you live with some idealized version of what a church should be, you are bound to be disappointed.

It also means that it may be easier to find where the Lord wants us to work in the church.

One of the benefits is that it is a reminder that there will one day be a honeymoon that will never end.

 How was your church experience this week?

Learning From The High Priestly Prayer, Part 3

Jesus continues to pray for his disciples in  John 17.  This week we tackle verses 13 thru 21.  There are six requests Jesus makes of the Father in these verses.

JOY

Jesus tells the Father that He is praying this prayer so that they will have His joy made full in them.  They are about to face a traumatic time with Christ dying on the cross.  His time with them is growing shorter and shorter.  Their lives are going to change forever.  What does He want for them?  Joy.  His joy.

CHANGE OF STATUS

Jesus declares to the Father that the disciples are not of the world any longer, just like Jesus is not of the world.  He has given them the Father’s word and the world hates them now, just as the world hates Jesus. (By the way, this is the same world that God loves so much that He sent His only begotten Son.)

KEPT FROM THE EVIL ONE

Jesus then asks that they not be taken out of the world, but to be kept out of the power of the evil one.  I imagine that the saying I have heard much of my life, “In the world, not of the world” comes from.  The implication is that the world is run by the evil one.  Jesus is praying that the world will not have any hold over His disciples.

SANCTIFICATION

Jesus then asks the Father to sanctify the disciples.  Sanctify is a delightfully old-fashioned word that most of us don’t use on an everyday basis.  It means to set apart and make holy.  Jesus is asking that the disciples will be made more like Him.  He even tells the Father how it can be done.  How?  Through His word.  He had previously said that the Father’s word had been given to them.  This word had power to make them holy, to set them apart.

EXAMPLE

Jesus then says that He is sending them into the world as He has been sent into the world.  He describes that He has been sanctified for their sakes.  What Jesus is saying is that He is not asking the disciples to do anything that He has not already done and set the example for. 

UNITY

Finally, Jesus once more asks that the disciples be unified just like He and the Father are.  The wonderful thing is that He says that this prayer is not just for these remaining eleven disciples.  It is also for those who believe in Him through their words.  So, this prayer is for all followers of Christ throughout the history of the Church.

How does it make you feel to know that Jesus prayed these things for you 2000 years ago?

The Weekly Roundup: Tammy Helfrich

This week I want to introduce a new friend of Deuceology, Tammy Helfrich.  You can catch her blog here.

I recently got to know Tammy through the National Quitter Group page on Facebook.  I had heard of her before, but have been able to get a taste of her blog more recently.

Tammy blogs about life, marriage, encouragement and motivation.  I look forward to reading her blog more in the coming days.

Check Tammy and her blog out.

Are there any blogs you need to share with the rest of us?

Who Would You Go To A Wedding With?

Several months ago, my friend David asked me to write this post.  It was because he was thinking about Jesus going to the wedding in Cana.  I filed it away and forgot about it until he preached about this event a couple of weeks ago.

I’m probably like the average guy.  I don’t particularly like going to weddings.  As I think about it, it isn’t the actual wedding that I dread.  It’s the getting ready to go and the anticipation.  When I’m actually there, I don’t really mind them.  It was even fortunate for the entire wedding party that I went to the last one I went to.  The bride’s train caught a candelabra and pulled it over.  I was in the right place at the right time.  I caught it and stood it back up.  I saved the wedding from burning the church down.

There has been some local discussion lately about fall wedding during football season.  I even joined in the discussion on one of our local sports talk stations.

I suggest that if you have a fall wedding that you do one of two things.  Have the wedding on a Friday night(like my wife and I did)  or make sure that you plan the wedding around the home football team’s game and have TV’s at the reception showing the game.  That is, if you want a good turnout.

The real question, though, at the heart of this post is what is a wedding anyway?  I mean, Christ performed His first miracle at a wedding.  His return to get His Church is described as a wedding.  The Church is described as the Bride of Christ.  So, weddings seem to be pretty special to Him.  The wedding is really a picture of what Christ will do in the future (so is the marriage, but that’s a different post.)  A wedding should a way to declare the good news of Christ as a man and woman join together in their new life.

So, who would you go to a wedding with?

Sure, you would go with a bunch of relatives.  All of your cousins and in-laws and outlaws.

Sure, you would go with your spouse.  It’s a great time to reflect on your own wedding and marriage.

What makes a wedding really special, though, is when you are there with brothers and sisters in Christ who can reflect with you on how your marriages can glorify Christ.

Do you like weddings?  Who would you go to a wedding with?

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The 3 Stages Of My Blogging Life

In November, I will reach the four-year anniversary of being a blogger.  I was reflecting on this recently.  I realized that I could divide my blogging life into three neat sections.

I began blogging at the encouragement of my friend Matt Cannon.  I was complaining one day at work about all of the ideas I had and things I wanted to say.  Matt said that I should start blogging them.

My first blog was just about ideas that I would think about throughout the week.  I would focus on a couple all week.  On Saturday mornings I would sit down and crank out a couple of blog posts.  I would try to write no less than 1000 words for each of them.  I would post them and walk away.  If a person or two read them, that was great.  I simply blogged.

This stage lasted through my first two blogs and into this one that you are currently reading.

Sometime over this past year, I became what I call a blogger.  On top of posting my own posts, I began participating in other people’s blogs.  I have become a part of some really great communities and met some great people.  I love the communities I have become a part of.

Recently, with the encouragement of Jeff Goins, I have entered another stage of blogging.  I have declared myself a writer.  I decided to stop waiting to call myself that.  I write daily.  I ship daily.  I am writing an eBook.

I am a writer.

Three stages.  I wonder what is next?

Have you gone through stages in your blogging life?  What stage would you say you are in now?

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