Baptizing Your Son: Photos

Just in case you wondered from before, I did baptize Kellin on Sunday, March 25. Andrea took photos which you can view in the ePhoto gallery here. We set the camera on "repeat" mode and so we ended up with 26 photos - more than we needed, but I put them together along the a title and soundtrack and it almost makes a short video clip...

2007 Jesus Conference Highlights, Part 2

As I mentioned, I was the worship team leader for the 2007 Jesus Conference, put on by the local Promise Keepers chapter Last Chance Men of Integrity (LMCI). One of our speakers, Hobe Rash spoke on "Seeing The Vision," focusing primarily on the life of Joshua. He had some great insights on pursuing God purpose for your life. This is part 2 of a 4 part series. Click on the label PK Jesus Conference to view all the related posts.

DOING FIRST-HAND "RECON"

• In Joshua 5:13-15, Joshua is doing "recon." He goes ahead to check out Jehrico for himself. We, like Joshua, need to experience faith first hand. No more second-hand faith! On God's team, there are only players. There are no spectators.
• On "recon," Joshua comes upon a man "standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand" (the commander of the army of the LORD). What would you do if you were on "recon" and met someone with sword in hand. Run? Call reinforcements? Joshua is bold. He asks "Are you with us ... or them? Friend or foe?" The answer is neither, because it's not about who's team He is on, it's about who's team we are on.
• God does not answer the question we ask - He answers what we need. The commander of the LORD's replied to Joshua, "Take off your sandals for you are standing on holy ground."
• Joshua was looking for a plan for victory. Instead, God showed him a person. We need to yield our plans and yield our wins. Only then will God reveal His vision.
• Joshua wanted God to tell him what to do. We're the same - we want to DO something. Instead God told him what to BE - holy. "Take off your sandals for you are standing on holy ground." In order to receive God's vision, we have to be holy.

THERE IS POO ON OUR SHOES

• After a hard day at work at the farm, I want to come in and eat. But Momma stands at the kitchen door, spoon in hand, saying "Don't you dare think about coming in like that!" At that point I realize I am not coming in when I have "poo on my shoes." God wants His holiness in us.
• When we are holy, God does his work. The children's song "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho ... and the walls came tumblin' down" is a LIE! Joshua DID NOT fight the battle. God fought the battle and Joshua and his men cleaned up the mess afterward.

True Transformation - Romans 12:1-2

Often what we teach at church and what we encourage in our discipleship is not the root problem. We put patches on deeper issues and find short-term solutions. But true transformation involves changing the way we think as in Romans 12:1-2.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (NLT)

Rick Warren explains it well in his book The Purpose Driven Life:

To change your life, you must change the way you think. Behind everything you do is a thought. Every behavior is motivated by a belief, and every action is prompted by an attitude. God revealed this thousands of years before psychologists understood it: “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.” (Prov. 4:23 – TEV)

Imagine riding in a speedboat on a lake with an automatic pilot set to go east. If you decide to reverse and head west, you have two possible ways to change the boat’s direction. One way is to grab the steering wheel and physically force it to head in the opposite direction from where the autopilot is programmed to go. By sheer willpower you could overcome the autopilot, but you would feel constant resistance. Your arms would eventually tire of the stress, you’d let go of the steering wheel, and the boat would instantly head back east, the way it was internally programmed.

This is what happens when you try to change your life with willpower: You say, “I’ll force myself to eat less ... exercise more ... quit being disorganized and late.” Yes, willpower can produce short-term change, but it creates constant internal stress because you haven’t dealt with the root cause. The change doesn’t feel natural, so eventually you give up, go off your diet, and quit exercising. You quickly revert to your old patterns.

There is a better and easier way: Change your autopilot-the way you think. The Bible says, “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.“ (Rom. 12:2b - NLT) Your first step in spiritual growth is to start changing the way you think. Change always starts first in your mind. The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel influences the way you act. Paul said, “There must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes.” (Eph. 4:23-NLT)

To be like Christ you must develop the mind of Christ. The New Testament calls this mental shift repentance, which in Greek literally means “to change your mind.” You repent whenever you change the way you think by adopting how God thinks – about yourself, sin, God, other people, life, your future, and everything else. You take on Christ’s outlook and perspective."

Just In Time For Easter...

...It's The Greatest Action Story Ever Told! Too funny. Please don't email me and tell me how blasphemous this is. "Don't worry, He'll be back."

2007 Jesus Conference Highlights, Part 1

As I mentioned, I was the worship team leader for the 2007 Jesus Conference, put on by the local Promise Keepers chapter Last Chance Men of Integrity (LMCI). This was my second year and it was even better then the first. In addition to breakfast, lunch, and worship, we had three great speakers: Hobe Rash, Jim Pagels, and Jim Stumbo - each are pastors living here in Montana. Here are some of the highlights...

Jim Pagels spoke in the afternoon session on "Bondage Breaking." I was quite surprised at Pagels' background. He now pastors at First Assembly of God here in Helena, but has worked as a dairy farm hand, a nuclear material installer for military vehicles, and as a corrections officer. It was with the latter that Pagels spent much time working with men in prison for a variety of sexual offenses. While widely applicable, his presentation was specifically useful for battling bondage areas of men's lives - including lust, anger, and pride.

Jim Stumbo, Pastor of Helena Alliance Church, spoke in the second afternoon session. His presentation "Is Your Wife Married to Jesus?" was great! It was man focused and down to earth. Stumbo took the time to speak about marriage issues (loving your wife like Jesus loves the church) in a way that make "manly Montana men" feel comfortable.

I wanted to share most about the morning session with Hobe Rash. Rash spoke on "Seeing The Vision" focusing primarily on the life of Joshua. He had some great insights on pursuing God purpose for your life. I'll share from my notes in the next few posts. For now ... take a look at some more photos of the event in our e|Photos gallery here.

Write It Down!

I just decided that I have to get something off my chest. There is this new trend by aspiring "servers" at restaurants. We are usually seated at our table, served our drinks, and then the server takes our order. Here's where it starts.

In the "old days," the server would just ask us what we want and write it down on their order pad. Now, in an apparent attempt to be better at their job, I often get the server who has decided that they can memorize my order. This is what bugs me!

Invariably, this "new" server always gets something wrong with my order. ALWAYS! I am NOT impressed with your memory skills. You just stress me out with you memory skills. Just write it down and get my order right ... then I'll be impressed.

There. It's off my chest. Anyone else experience this?