Be a doer not a talker (sermon quotes)

Several people have asked for a list of the quotes I used in last Sunday's sermon on being a "Doer!" so I've shared them below.  

Remember that the verse that we started from was James 1:22-27 and then moved on to 

In Matthew 28:19 Jesus gives the great commission of:

 GO, therefore (therefore because the once DEAD Jesus had just appeared to the disciples and said – I’ve Got this!  ALL authority on heaven and earth has been given to me) and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit

Timothy tells us God didn’t give us a spirit of Fear and timidity but of Power – Love – Self Control.

Joshua, long before Timothy, tells us: “have I not COMMANDED you?!   Be strong, be courageous, Don’t be scared, Don’t be dismayed – The Lord is with you EVERYWHERE

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In Business:  

Harry, my boss at Woodstream “’perfect’ is often the enemy of ‘good enough’”

In sports:

 John Wooden said “If you’re not making mistakes, than you’re not doing anything! I’m Positive that a doer makes mistakes”

In outlook:
Arnold Glasow said “An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied”

In life:

“It is impossible to get anything made or accomplished without stepping on some toes; enemies are inevitable when one is a doer”

In the church:

Charles Stanley (Andy Stanley’s dad) “Fear stifles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation. I have known talented people who procrastinate indefinitely rather than risk failure. Lost opportunities cause erosion of confidence, and the downward spiral begins.”

A member here:

was once approached about being a part of a planning committee for something and responded with “sure, and here’s my first contribution:  just pull the trigger.  It’d would be better, reach more people, be more beneficial to just DO something, even if it flops, than to just talk about it for 6 months”

And in scripture, Jesus’ brother said (in James 2:15-17):

“Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?”

The Baltimore protests and the increasing violence of the past 24 months

The late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew a thing or 2 about hate, violence, injustice, protests.

He also knew that Love that can not exist without the transcending peace that surpasses All understanding found only Jesus Christ.

With all that he endured, with the evil he was up against, here are his words:

“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy, instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

The Gospel Challenge: the book of Mark

We're now starting book 2, Mark, in our Gospel Challenge!

The completion date set for Mark is May 10th (3 weeks)

Now, before we get into the reading, here's some information on Mark:

Mark is the shortest of the 4 Gospels:

·         16 chapters

·         678 verses

·         42 verses a chapter

·         11,304 words

Mark, or “John Mark”, was only a teenager the first time he would have heard Jesus speak (at his mother’s house which was a haven for the apostles).  He later traveled with Paul for a bit before becoming Peter’s disciple – he served as Peter’s translator (oral and written).  Mark’s book could almost be known as “The Gospel according to Peter” and it focuses on Jesus being for the Gentiles-for Everyone.

Where Matthew started out with genealogy and then went into the birth of Jesus, Mark jumps right to when John and Jesus would have been about 30 years old and Jesus is preparing to kick off his ministry (in Mark 1:9).

Mark was, more than likely, penned first of the four Gospels and (presumably therefore) over 90% of what's found in Mark is also referenced in at least 1 of the other Gospels.  

So, with that in mind, here's a little bonus challenge, just for fun:

There are 3 things/events in Mark that are not mentioned in any of the other Gospels - can you find what they are?

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For those looking for a reading plan, here are a few things to think about:

If you started April 19th, you have 21 days to read only 16 chapters.  

For a 33 "moments" reading plan (so Fri, Sat, Sun would have 1 reading and Mon-Thurs would have a morning and an evening reading) would look like this:
1:1-1:34, 1:35-2:12, 2:13-2:22, 2:23-3.19, 3:20-3:35, 4:1-4:34, 4:35-5:43, 6:1-6:13, 6:14-6:29, 6:30-6:56, 7:1-7:23, 7:24-7:30, 7:31-8:21, 8:22-8:33, 8:34-9:13, 9:14, 9:37, 9:38-9:50, 10:1-10:34, 10:35-10:52, 11:1-11:11, 11:12-11:33, 12:1-12:12, 12:13-12:27, 12:28-12:44, 13:1-13:37, 14:1-14:26, 14:27-14:42, 14:43-14:65, 14:66-15:15, 15:16-15:41, 15:42-16:8, 16:9-16:20

For a 21 day reading plan: 

1:1-1:34, 1:35-2:12, 2:13-3:19, 3:20-3:35, 4:1-4:34, 4:35-5:43, 6:1-6:29, 6:30-6:56, 7:1-7:30, 7:31-8:21, 8:22-9:37, 9:38-9:50, 10:1-10:34, 10:35-10:52, 11:1-11:35, 12:1-12:27, 12:28-12:44, 13:1-14:26, 14:27-14:65, 14:66-15:41, 15:42-16:20 

For a 16 day reading plan:  

Pick any 16 days and read 1 chapter each of those days

Example of a 16 day reading plan:  

Read Chapter 1 on April 19th then you could simply read 1 chapter a day, Monday-Friday, taking Sat. & Sun "off" and be done in time.

For a 10 day reading plan:  

1, 2-3, 4, 5-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12, 13-14, 15, 16

For a 6 day reading plan:  

1-3, 4-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-14, 15-16

For a 3 day reading plan:

1-3, 4-10, 11-16

For a 2 day reading plan:

1-10, 11-16

The Gospel Challenge: Introduction and the book of Matthew

Alright everyone, here's a new challenge for you.  I started this with the teenagers, then rolled it out to everyone who attended our annual Family Retreat, then to the rest of the congregation, and now to Everyone!

The idea is simple.  Take ~3 months and read through the 4 Gospels:  

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

Around the start date of each book I'll share information about the book itself, the author, things to look for, possible reading plans, etc.

What I want everyone to focus on the entire time is taking a deep examination of the "red letters", looking for several things:

• What did Jesus say that shocks you, that you didn't Know he said. 
• What did you "know" Jesus said that he did Not. 
• Remember that we learn who people Really are through their interactions with other people.  In these Gospels we see Jesus interact with those who loved him, were indifferent, hated him-rich and poor - "clean and unclean", etc. 
• Learn who Jesus IS, learn his character, his "heart" 

Gospel Challenge book completion dates are as follows:

Matthew:  April 19th (9 days from Now!)

Mark: May 10th (3 weeks from its April 19th start date)

Luke: June 7th   (4 weeks from its May 10th start date)

John: June 28th (3 weeks from its June 7th start date)

Remember!  Matthew has 28 chapters and _could_ be read in one day, if need be.  

There are 9 days left and at the end of this blog post I will give you a 9 day reading schedule to complete the book - get started today!

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First up is Matthew, the first book of the New Testament.

Matthew consists of

·         28 chapters

·         1,071 verses

·         38 verses a chapter

·         18,345 words

Matthew:

• “Levi” 
• 1 of the 12 Apostles
• a tax-collector
• probably well educated
• probably on a (possible) political track.  
• Focuses on Jesus as the Jewish Messiah come to fulfill OT prophecy. 
• Starts off with Jesus genealogy, and goes into the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus.
• Matthew 3:13 begins the account of Jesus’ ministry

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Matthew 9 Day Reading Schedule:

1. Matthew 1-4
2. Matthew 5-7
3. Matthew 8-9
4. Matthew 10-12
5. Matthew 13-16
6. Matthew 17-18
7. Matthew 19-22
8. Matthew 23-25
9. Matthew 26-28

Matriarch

So this is a family photo of my grandparents, mom, aunt, and 2 uncles. Grandma just passed this week at 93 and 1/2 years old. 

She was a character. Always. She was born in 1921, lived through the Great Depression, lived (as it was built) on the Homestead in Crossville, and served in the army during World War II. Yes. You read that right. My grandMother was in the army (WAC) in WWII and it was one of the things she was most proud of. At a time when "your mom wears combat boots" was an insult, her instruction was to respond with "your da*n right she does!"

She fought for women's rights and racial equality before such things were even classified as "issues", she fought for her kids, and then her grandkids.  

She also fought against cooking, going to bed before midnight, waking up before noon, kids being in the kitchen (even though she was never the one cooking in said kitchen), coffee below 108 degrees, and ambient temperature above 45 degrees. 

She taught me to write, to read, how to treat women (and everyone else), that there is no such thing as race, and how to be married with Joy (my grandpa died also at 93 years old while lying in his nursing home bed With grandma on their 64th wedding anniversary).

This woman refused to eat a banana if it wasn't completely green. When I say green, I mean Oak Ridge nuclear green!  She would eat shredded wheat for breakfast. At noon. 

She wouldn't let anyone stand up while she was sitting down eating. If you just wanted to say "hi", you had better take a seat to do it. 

Nothing got past grandma. 

Do you know my Jesus? Are you sure? Then that may be a problem.

We know Jesus.  Right?  I do, don't you?  He's a super nice man who watches us all the time, loves us, loves kids the most, and wants to hear what we want and desire.  Wait, that's Santa Claus, never mind...  

But seriously, do we really think we Know Jesus?  Because... I find that a little scary.  And presumptuous.  What I THINK many of Us are guilty of is humanizing God to the point that we do, in fact, believe we know him.  Know how he thinks, why he does or doesn't do things, who he would save and who he wouldn't, what he would like and what he wouldn't, and (my personal favorite) which sins are his top 5.

We believe that we know him.  We have studied scripture, we talk to him everyday, we have gone to school for it, some people even had degrees in knowing God.
You know who else knew God?  Who else had studied scripture, memorized scripture, talked to God daily, went to school to learn about him?  The Pharisees.  And it was because they knew God so intimately, understood him so perfectly, that they didn't recognize him when he was right in front of their faces.

See, Anyone who says they would love to have Jesus physically show up and walk around the earth again, to somehow validate what they're doing, or even hint at the notion that they'd be 100% comfortable with that aren't absorbing what they're reading in the Gospels. 

Jesus was brash, he was shocking, he was NOTHING like the religious people expected, and it was the religious people who, therefore, couldn't accept him. Who were the religious people of that day? His people. God's people. What makes us think we'd be anymore comfortable at his shocking and demanding presence than they were?
Part of our problem is the exact same problem they had 2,000 years ago: we've gotten to the point where we truly believe we Know 'what Jesus would do'. I think most of us would be quite surprised. The religious of the day had God in a box, they had him defined.

They had him wrapped up, nice and neat. They had him all figured out.
("My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways.
for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts")

Consider this:

Do you think for a minute that we would take an adulterer who never stopped chasing skirts all the way to his very death bed as our preacher (David)? 

Do you think we would invite a convicted murderer who spoke with a lisp to be our guest speaker (Moses)? 

Do you think we would take a bar room brawler who never wrote down his sermon and therefore ALWAYS spoke first and thought second (Peter)? 

What about this one:

Do you think if a former Lieutenant from Osama Bin Laden's inner circle showed up at our church a week after his last terrorist attack on a group of Christians saying he had suddenly "Seen the light" that we would even let him through the doors - and listen to a word he said, let alone give him full access to our families (Paul)?

I don't think I would.  And that's why I might miss him.

Sincerely,
-LeviThePharisee

A War on Christmas?

If you turn on the news, read a newspaper, even listen to many sermons these days, you will inevitably hear about this "War on Christmas".

The idea is that school shootings, the fall of the economy, bad presidents (whichever ones you dub that way), unemployment, divorce, and faltering church attendance can all be attributed to our nations respect and preservation of "CHRISTmas".  That without our labeling December as "The Christmas Season", and without our schools allowing formal corporate prayer time, we can force God out.  We can force him to abandon our schools, our marriages, our churches, and our Country.

Now, don't hear me wrong, I would love the whole country to embrace Christmas, but we haven't done that in nearly a hundred years (what?  You thought our buying our kids great presents, hanging shiny Christmas lights on our houses, and getting all dressed up for Christmas church service was about Jesus?  Seriously?)
I do, I wish EVERYTHING revolved around Christ, if it REALLY revolved around Christ.  But having a government that mandates Christianity as the 'official' religion doesn't make us better Christians, in fact, I would argue that it makes us Worse Christians (see ANY example of how the church thrives under martial law and persecution vs. how it dies an apathetic death in the presence of sanctioned religious freedom).

You see:

When Jesus walked the Earth, the Roman Empire did not endorse him (his own people didn't even endorse him),  And yet, Somehow, he was still the son of God and still able to be raised from the dead on the third day anyway.

The first century Christians did not have national holidays set up on their behalf and yet, remarkably, they still were able to perform miracles, pen letters that survived thousands of years, and grow the Church.

For centuries (and in Many places to this very day) Christianity wasn't protected, at best, and violently outlawed, at worst, and yet God still managed to be... God.
God does not need the empire (not the Roman nor the United States) to formally recognize him in order to be God.

God does not need government to give him the nod of approval in order for him to show up and do his God thing.

God does not need a School to call 'winter break' 'Christmas' break in order to be able to still be God.


If a "war on Christmas" (aka: people saying 'happy holidays') is all it takes to remove God's ability to show up in our homes, our schools, and our nation, then we are wasting our lives and worshiping the wrong God.