jasonboucher

Be Honest...

As a parent are you ever just waiting for your kids to fall asleep?

No more...

Snacks
Juice
Water
Pee breaks
Songs
Hugs
Kisses
Stories
Change of Clothes
"This Day" Discussions

Just s l e e p y time please!

Loving the Part

Somedays it is helpful to remember that God’s knowledge of Himself is archetypal.

He knows Himself from every and all angles.

My knowledge of God is ectypal.

It’s in part.

I don’t have God completely figured out.

I see through a glass dimly.

But...

What I can see, through this dim glass, is spectacular.

Who I see and know in Christ is awe inspiring and worthy of all of me.

Wrong & Weight

As a follower of Christ, who has the honour of being a minister in the church, I carry a weight on my life that is both healthy and heavy.

You see, Scripture says that those who labour in preaching and teaching are worthy of double honour. And while that is great, that text is also balanced with the truth that those of us who teach the Scriptures will be judged with greater strictness.

Talk about balance!

I am often asked what it is like to "step into my shoes" and while that is both impossible and something that is flat out wrong, as everyone simply has their own shoes to fill, ask yourself one question today.

Outside of yourself, what is the eternal impact from your teaching on others?

For example, if I were to teach that there were many paths to God, and since Jesus paid for the sins of everyone on the cross there is no need to confess or come to Christ. In other words, no matter what you do, your covered. But what if that seemed right, but was in fact wrong?

My teaching could lead one, two, hundreds, even thousands astray no matter how much it seemed right to me.

On the other hand, if we were to teach that one must come to Christ alone for redemption, confess their sin, & give their lives to Christ, and even if that turned out to be wrong, because after all Jesus did pay for everyone's sin and we are all "covered" so to speak, then what real damage have I done?

After all, we are covered any way?

Sure one could argue that, on earth, my Jesus only, confess your sin in Him alone teaching caused religious divisions etc...which would be true, but at the end of the day, in the light of eternity, how much real damage did my teaching cause?

And that is what I mean when I say that teaching the Scripture carries a weight that is both healthy and necessarily heavy.

While we must all think, question, dig, and study, we must also realize that there are benefits and consequences when we arrive at conclusions and begin to teach those conclusions.

Staggering...

If you don't "take notes" and develop time to think, you will forget 95% of what you hear in 72 hours or less.

Take a moment and think about all that you read, listen to, or watch. If you don't write or reflect 95% of it will be lost.

Staggering isn't it?

Big Question...Panel

Here are snip its of how the panel responded to the question, What is the Biggest Problem Facing the Church Today?

Shane Claiborne
One of the most dangerous things in the Church today is the prosperity gospel that God has come to bless you and to give you health and wealth. The Christian experience becomes just about what you can get.

Nancy Ortberg
We don't believe God. We don't believe the vision of God. We don't believe who He is. We don't believe that He's good. We're not captivated by that vision.

N.T. Wright
I think it has to do with relearning the issue of how to think. If you try and mount a sustained argument, looking at evidence and thinking it through, people don't want it. They want sound bytes and slogans. We need a wise reading of Scripture.

Chuck Colson
We have substitute truth for therapy. We hear a feel-good message, and we've lost our understanding of the basic truths of Christianity.

Brian McLaren
I think the biggest problem of the Church in America is that we've lost our way. We've gotten comfortable carrying a version of Christianity that has drifted farther and farther from what God intends.

Steve Brown
I think it might be self-righteousness. What do do about it? Repent, publicly and often!

Cindy Jacobs
We need to get back to a biblical world view. Why haven't we attacked the big problems in the world, such as systemic poverty, violence and abortion? We need to learn to love God with our minds, not just our hearts and soul.

One Prayer

I am thrilled to report that this summer Lifecentre will be participating with hundreds of other churches, all across the world, in a global series initiated by Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv.

Specifically our video contribution to the series, our One Prayer will be "Lord, Make Us...Followers."

For more info on One Prayer check out oneprayer.com.

Big Question.

This magazine has a great panel discussion inside its most recent edition. One of the questions posed is the one I would like to ask you today. There are no right or wrong answers, just your answer.

Tomorrow I will be posting the panels response, and later this week mine.

Here is the question...

"What is the biggest problem facing the church today?"

Today its your turn.
Tomorrow you will hear from Claiborne, Ortberg, Wright, Colson, McLaren, Brown, & Jacobs.

Move Over Me...

Some days you have to recognize that you just need to get over yourself. Upon reflection, yesterday I missed a moment because I couldn't get out of the way of myself.

Move over me.

Saturday Stain...

All I am going to say is that a whole bottle of purple nail polish has been uniquely place on the girls carpet by one of our budding artists.

Evidence to follow, I just have to get over the shock of a ruined carpet first :-(

Summarized

This sums up in a few sentences what I was trying to say a few days ago in this post.

1 Timothy 1:3-4 (ESV)
As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.