Never Quit Learning

Thanks to NAMB I am blessed to be attending Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary on-line. Currently I'm taking a Hermeneutics course. The course has been enlightening and that's the whole goal of education. Some get degrees so that they can make more money or get a better job, even to feel better about themselves. That's not what God gave education for. He gave it to learn, to grow, to better oneself. One could argue that all things good and bad are given for that purpose. I remember one time we were driving in the woods. Well actually on the a road that was weaving through a wood. As we drove I looked up at the tall pine trees and I could see that all their branches had been broken from the wind rubbing them together. The Spirit in me spoke up and I knew there was something more there. I thought about how damaging the wind was and considered that this is the way that people are to each other and how the growth was damaging one to another and the process of refinement could be seen in these broken branches. Now, years later I am thinking that that process had happened time and again as rough winds had come and branches had been broken away. All the while the trees were growing taller and taller and the broken branches never stopped them. Think on this. Your troubles are incidental. They may be the worst that you have yet seen but they do not have to be the worst you will ever see. You will heal, grow, and continue on. You will have broken remains where the branches were. You will have scars but like those trees you will grow well beyond so that someone might see what you are facing at any given moment and mourn the damage not even thinking about how this has happened before. You can make it. You have made it before. You will make it through many times before. So, I'm studying studying the Bible and I'm learning how little I know. It's cool really because it leaves me with a long journey ahead and equipped to take it on. Better yet, it reminds me that I have been here before, ignorant and needing to grow, and I have made it through and I will again. Pastor Daniel Stevenson New Heights Fellowship Toledo Life Station Firestorm The Moment: Blood Bowl

Daily sermon prep

Preaching I think one of the reasons a preacher might be forced to spend long hours in preperation to preach is their lack of a daily devotional time. I know that in most daily devotional times we don't memorize a lot of scripture. However, if you go over the same trails in the word enough times you become familiar with them. Devotions I think that almost any devotional can lead to a sermon. The problem is that when people are spending a lot of time writing sermons they mix their own devotional times with their sermon preparation and then before long their is no devotional. The question has been posed how do you know when what you are getting out of the word is for you and when it is for sharing with others. Sermons Well, it depends on the question asked I supose. I think if it is good sound Biblical teaching then it is for all of us. If you are a pastor then when you pastor the people God has given you to pastor then you should be drawing out of the sum total of the knowledge and wisdom that God has given you. Knowledge and Wisdom What's the difference between knowledge and wisdom? Well, knowledge is what you know and wisdom is sort of how you use what you know. That's a good enough understanding to realize that when you study the word for knowledge or you get only knowledge out of a session it's like charging the battery. Then when you need to preach the battery is charged and the draw is hopefully not more than the battery. This is why the battery must be constantly charged. So that the charge will be there. Its part our task to be ready to preach in season and out of season. Preparing It's also commanded not to worry too much about what we will say when we are called to answer before our persecutors. Basically, you shouldn't have to prepare an answer for them. Still, it pays to prepare for your next sermon. I guess what I'm saying is that you are always preparing for you next sermon and isn't it true that your life itself should be semron of a sort? I think so and accordingly I think that spending time in the word every day simply studying and "becoming an expert" is absolutely necessary. There was a time when I didn't feel that way. I learned better. Be in the word so often that when you think to speak, the first thing that comes to mind to answer with is, yep you guessed it, Biblical. Thinking like God This writing, the Bible reveals much about the way that God thinks and we should train ourselves to match that course to the best of our ability and with His help get the job done. Don't spend so much time studying that you can't do the work, but study so that when you do the work you do it out of the abundance of the Biblical wisdom you have gained by being in His word.

Conscripts and Walking Dead in Spiritual Warfare

Conscripts Today, my thoughts drift to conscripts. I guess by saying that I am bringing you in at the end of the thought process. As a friend of mine is keen on saying-Let's back that truck up a minute... Bondage Breaker There is a group of young people in our church which has undertaken to complete Neil T. Anderson's Bondage Breaker study. From the very moment the decision was made I can see Satan working (or at least his buddies) to stop the potential outcome from being one of total victory. Of course, He and his allies are our sworn enemies and so this comes as no surprise really. What amazes me is the diversity of his tactics. It appears as if he has been hard at work preparing for this opportunity for a long time. Leaders and students Anyway, it was the allies, in this case the young people and the leaders that I was actually thinking of when I followed the mental rabbit trail to come up with 'conscripts.' It occurs to me that bringing unskilled warriors into conflict with the enemy is exactly like this. Conscripts So, conscripts were local, non-combatants that were rounded up before the impending battle and armed with whatever was at hand, usually farm implements or house tools but occasionally more sophisticated weaponry. They would be lumped into a unit and stood out on the battlefield to impress the enemy or to enhance the courage of the allied troops. Didn't usually work although occasionally, if there were enough of them or if tactical advantage could be gained they could make a huge impact. Surviving spiritual warfare Typically, the conscripts that survived would be a little better skilled for next time and if next time was soon they would likely be armed with weapons from fallen foes. In a way it was trial by fire and the death toll was always high. Spiritual warfare So, I was thinking how every single thing in life plays a role in spiritual warfare and how most people do not understand or believe that. What's more, those who do believe it often do not have a deep seated conviction and so will fail to stand their ground. Preparing for spiritual warfare I'm saying that those who are now being asked to prepare themselves for real spiritual warfare and to equip themselves by adamantly approaching a good Biblical study are more like conscripts than trained warriors and are possibly headed for a fairly high 'mortality' rate. That is to say, if something is not done then more will 'fall' in spiritual warfare than will be victorious long enough to have a major impact. walking dead However, now I am thinking about walking dead movies...Funny thing about someone who’s already dead and still coming, you have to hit them hard and often to even slow them down. For if one died for all then all have died... So, if these young Christians are sold out for Christ then they will survive-surely not without hits but they will not quit, surrender, or fall. That being said, there should be some fruit that would be measurable. For example, if a young Christian really is the walking dead (speaking metaphorically) then they should be relentless, diving back into the fray (reading , studying, encouraging one another, acting out what they are learning to the best of the ability, and so on.) I am pressed but not crushed, persecuted, not abandoned... conscripts and walking dead in spiritual warfare I guess it all boils down to this. We are not conscripts even if we are not as trained as we should be. We need to embrace the things of God and realize that if He drives us no power less (and all are less) can stop us. Praise God for the valley of dry bones has been brought to life again. Pastor Dan Stevenson NewHeightsFellowshipchurch.org afamilyofgod@bex.net

Breaking mirrors, Swinging bats, and Spilling syrup

Preaching with Object lessons: So, I like to preach and teach the word of God using whatever object lessons I can dream up.. I like to get people up out of their seats to participate when possible and I know I have a few members who really like it to. I don't think there are any who don't like it. If you are one and you don't like it-There's really no need to burst my bubble... Caged enemy object lesson Bondage and Bars Anyway, this last Sunday one of the sermon points was "The same cage the enemy is trying to trap us with-he is trapped with...And we can use the bars against him. We got five or six people up to represent the bars of the cage and the enemy was inside the cage while the subject (Anna was representing all of us) was outside the cage. I gave the enemy (payed by Kary) the key which represented the keys to the kingdom (the treasure if you will.) As much as Anna wanted the keys she could not get close to the cage because I had given the bars permission to grab her and pull her into the cage. Even when Kary dangled the keys outside Anna could not get close enough to get them without being snatched up by the bars. Then, I took the keys and gave them to Sherri who was still seated by Anna. I told Anna that she could go for the keys and she went and got them easily. From her position inside the bars Kary could do nothing to stop Anna and the bars could not reach Anna. Anna had the keys and I then asked, "So who's in the cage now?" Object lessons and reality That's the way it is. The enemy-let's call him Satan is trapped inside the cage and wants to convince us that he has something we want. He doesn't. Bondage If we get close we just might get snatched up like he did. I talked about how some of the bars are laziness, appearances, pride, self-loathing, settling for less, and anger toward others. I say, not me. How about you? Chosen Last week, I started with a whole mirror tile that said invited on the back and I pointed out that evangelism is about getting people to understand that they are invited. When I flipped the mirror over, I asked can you seee yourself as invited. Can you see yourself here... Being prepared for your object lessons... Then, I had prescored the mirror and I turned and snapped it on the edge of the pulpit down to roughly two-thirds its prevous size. I am not superstitious. Anyway, I explained that some people reject the invitation. Thus the group was smaller. Still others, I snapped the mirror down one more size, are rejected by God because they "say yes" but do not live by what they "say." The remaining group is what the Bible calls "Chosen." I then quickly swapped out the remaining mirror piece with a piece that I had prepared in advance with the word chosen written across in red permanent marker. Then I asked, Can you see yourself here. I went on a few moments talking about what it means to be chosen of God and what that should look like in our lives. Teh Problems with Object lessons This hasn't always gone so well. Once, I attached fishing string to the ceiling tiles which was suposed to break when I pulled on it and when I pulled it resisted breaking. It took me several pulls. Just recently I used little squares of material and placed them in the back of the chairs before service. When the time came I asked people to "throw in the towel" as an indicator of surrender to God's course for their life. The problem was, the material edges were shedding and we are still finding little bits of material all over the church-little gold strings from the freyed edges. I shrug. The answer from God Once a long time ago when I was a youth director at ETBC, I got a game out of a book. The game was a relay where teens would carry bowls on the bare feet by stepping in a light layer of syrup in the bowls. They would walk, run, stumble there way to the other line where they would procede to clean their feet while the next person took the bowls on their feet. Right before the game I was looking for bowls and I got the bright idea to use stainless steel mixing bowls so that they would be easier to clean after. However, Syrup does not stick to stainless steel very well and the resulting catastrophe spread syrup all over the carpet in small droplets and I do mean all over. I got down on my knees and scrubbed every last spot with a wet rag. I did this without help primarily because I felt stupid. I decide to pray while I was down there and you know what God said back to me during my prayer time scrubbing syrup out of the carpet. He said, "It needed to be done." No, not the syrup, not the scrubbing, but the ministry. I may be a screw up sometimes, but the reality is that a chosen person's screw up is better than a rejecting person's excellence. Once, when I used a bat and large paper banners to represent breaking free from sin. I swung the bat just one time while I let others do it all but that once. Meanwhile someone was holding each side of the paper banner and the bat was supposed to demolish the banner which had the name of something that has the tendancy to lead people into bondage. It worked every time except, except for the one time I swung. I hit one of the guys holding the banner in the knee with the bat. The paper tore but the swing was off course and I clocked him in the knee. Well, he's still in the church today and he can almost walk normal now. No, actually it wasn't near that bad, but I'll bet it hurt and everyone saw it. I will not quit Here's my commitment to everyone who cares. I will keep screwing up for God as long as He wants me to. I will try anything and everything that is not sin to get the gospel out and to make it clear and understandable. So, watch your knees, I'm bringing the gospel. Is that Maple Syrup I smell? Psator Daniel Stevenson Newheightsfellowshipchurch.org New Heights Church, Church Planting,and Life Station afamilyofgod@bex.net

Alabama Governor's comments

So he gets elected and speaks in a local church building on the same day. He urges the crowd to come to Christ warning that those present who do not know Christ are not actually his brothers and sisters. This is factual based on the Bible.

The debate rages right now on MSN(TM) about whether what the man says makes it unlikely that he can care equally for all of his constituents. Except, the debate isn't about that really. It is about what every crazy keyboarding atheist and wannabe Internet evangelist wants to argue-the authenticity of Christian faith and the reality of God.

I know I'm not the impartial speaker that would be required for someone to put an end to that debate...I believe God inspired the Bible and that there are no private interpretations. I believe that in order for a person to be educated they must have a working knowledge of it contrary to those who would argue that education makes it irrelevant.

The Bible is the single best attested historical collection of texts we have. Nothing in history has survived the test of time the way God's word has. Unlike some would argue the texts of the Bible have not been altered over time. There are subtle linguistic differences sure, but when you compare the writing found in the Dead Sea Scrolls with their counterparts in the modern Bible it is clearly evident that the text had remained essentially the same for hundreds of years.

Great pains were taken to ensure that it was so. Modern Bibles have been produced using modern vernacular and some can not understand how they can come from the same source. Clearly languages have different words for the same thing. The Bible does not contradict itself and has stood the test of time-something single-lifetime atheist will not do.

I believe there is only one way to God. I am sorry for all those who believe otherwise and contrary to how this fact may make them feel about me, I love them. They often say mean and sometimes hateful things to get me to shut up. As you can see, it hasn't worked yet.

While I do not begrudge them their right to free speech, I think that there are limitless even Christians who call unbelieving advocates idiots or worse should realize that they have crossed over a line. Unfortunately, the persons who are in the best position to argue the reality of God and the strengths of Christianity often have figured out that there is little profit in it.

I am secure in what I believe. I know in whom I have believed and that he is able to keep until that day that which I have entrusted to Him. He is not the Easter Bunny, He is not the Teddy Bear God some would make him out to be, and there is a terrible reckoning coming. I'm sorry for them that will not prepare by embracing the teachings and love of Jesus on every level-really I am.

But, a word of caution to my Christian brothers and sisters be careful how adamantly you argue. Don't cross a line with vindictive or adversarial speech. Remember, that ours is not to make this life time less enjoyable for those who will not hear-after all, it's all they have...

God Bless every missionary and evangelist who has dedicated his or her life to spreading the gospel among unbelievers who in return hate them the world over-including in America.

Can you imagine, some have taken up the mantle to argue against faith. Faith of any kind...God forgive them for they know no what they do...

Pastor Dan
http://www.newheightsfellowshipchurch.org/