Jared Sparks Blog

Psalms 73

2010-09-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever
A Psalm of Asaph.

73:1 Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them. [1]
11 And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.

18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.

23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength [2] of my heart and my portion forever.

27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.

Man Camp Review

2010-08-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

Reflection on Man Camp
This past weekend was “I believe” a monumental weekend for some of the men of Cornerstone. It has been awesome to hear such good feedback from everyone. Now we I say “good” feedback, I mean that a lot of us got a big proverbial kick in the chest. The day and a half that we were at the conference center were broke down into 3 sessions. Have fun trying to make sense of my notes.
Session 1 Sandor Paull
Text 2 Tim 2:1-22
-When you reverse justification and sanctification you get legalism
-Most men sin by being overly passive. Where are you being passive?
-When you come to Jesus you come to die! You are not your own.
- As men grow older there can be a tendency in them to become tired of the fight.
- If we are always hyper focused and never move past this “one” sin then we will miss out on other areas in our life that need to be developed.
- Obey not only what God wants us to do but how He wants us to do it.
- As men we must protect our wives from themselves.
- We should never apologies for the bible.
- Protect the church!
- We were formed for His praise

Session 2 Michael Nave
Gen 3, Eph 5, 1 Pet 3:7
-Will I give myself up for my wife when its not convenient for me?
-Our primary jobs as husbands is to help our wife be who God is calling her to be.
-Do we pray for our wife?
-What is my spiritual growth plan for my wife this year?
-To men: Make a list of all your favorite things, food, movies, places, things. Could we make that same list about our wife?
-What is your wife passionate about?
-If we do not know our wives, by default we will start loving her as we want to be loved.
-Do not expect answered prayers and close connection with the Father when we are not treating our wives with honor.
- If you want to destroy your family be inconsiderate.

Session 3 Mark Driscoll video
1 Pet 3:7
Just check out the link here
Just an awesome weekend overall. I pray that i become a more Godly husband to Jordan every day.
music listened to: Still Jack Johnson

Theological Blog

2010-08-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

John Stott wrote a book in 1988 called the Cross of Christ. In the opening part of that book he makes a statement that in years past i would have read right through without giving second thought. However, this one sentence has been fueling a lot of my thoughts the last couple of months. "The distinction between an "Objective" and "subjective" understanding of the atonement needs to be made clear in every generation." p15. In other words, did Christ work on the cross accomplish something that would effectively echo throughout all eternity or was He simply making a "way" for people to be saved. Did Jesus save people on the cross? Or was He simply hoping that people that would come after Him would trust in Him? Did He know whose were His throughout the ages? Did He redeem and purchase people when He declared "It is Finished?"
My hope is that the three readers who read this will see the beauty in this as i do. Just a disclaimer, this is no new thought this is one of the main points of the reformation and down throughout the history of our faith.
Is 53:11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Mathew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins
Titus 2:14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Rev 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
John 10:15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
For the sake of time i will not post any more verses. And for the sake of those who may read this and wish I would have posted more text about Christ death for All men, here ya go. In the NT there are many verses that speak of both Christ dying for the many or the sheep, and Christ dying for all men. So for which did he die, and was there a difference in the accomplishment of the Cross for the many and for all?
What i hope readers might see in the few verses that i posted is that Christ totally and fully bought you on the Cross. When Jesus declared "It is finished" He actually purchased and sealed people for God. He knew specifically knew who He lived and died for. Eternally before the foundation of the world God determined that He would save and redeem you out of your sinful spiritual death. And here is the awesomeness of the power of the cross. The fact that people all over the world, every day are becoming Christians is testimony to the effective, objective purpose in the cross. If you are in Christ you are of the many that He specifically died for.
You may ask "What about the world?" I would respond and i think the bible and church History would agree, that Christ died for all men in a "general" way "Common Grace (Google it)" but in a saving way for His people "1 Tim 4:10". When I was 5 years old i did not know that Christ bought me on the cross. However one day the Holy Spirit revealed to me that i was lost. The Holy Spirit lifted my deadness off of me so that i might see my need of and the beauty of Jesus. Jesus work on the cross will echo throughout all eternity. Praise Him.

Married and in Hawaii! With a Kindle

2010-07-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

I now have a wealth of knowledge and wisdom on being married. I have been married now for 5 days! If you have any questions on marriage i probably know the answer now. Haha.
On a serious note, i love being married to Jordan. It has been an incredible time so far here in Hawaii. We have been able to do a long list of things already from seeing the Hawaiian Palace, to the Mission Houses, getting new Levi jeans and a cool swatch watch. Oh and we also had heard that there might be some cool beaches in this place so we thought we would go on a mission to find one of those. Mission accomplished. Who knew there would be such awesome water and beaches here. Haha again. My fav thing so far though ,other than "You know What", has been the awesome convo Jordan and i had on the 800 mile walk back from the terrible goodwill store. Talking about the gospel and Gods sovereignty, His working in all things bring such joy to me. It was a great and terrible walk. We also talked about how awesome it is that God brought us together to be one flesh now, how when we pray together, we are one and when we ask for God's help in our time of need, we are one. It is an awesome thing that God gave marriage to us.
And last, thanks to the fellas, I have been reading Radical by David Platt on my Kindle and have been loving it. Great stuff.
Off to go Snorkel.

Jr Vasser on Mat Chandler

2010-07-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

Great blog on the difference between Hope and Desire in relation to prayer. Click Here

THANK YOU, NATASHA, WHEREVER YOU ARE

2010-07-13T13:12:00.001-07:00

Take a couple min and read this section on page 275. Click Here

The Centrality of the Gospel by Tim Keller

2010-06-16T06:22:00.000-07:00

Great Read. Only ten pages. Click Here

What Is my Job at Cornerstone?

2010-06-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

As most of you now know I am working at the church as a Pastoral Intern with and emphasis on college/young adults. So what is it that I am actually going to do with age group? Will we have a college and career class, or a “young adults” service? I will try to explain what my vision is for the younger people of the church and hopefully clear up what college and young adult “Stuff” is going to look like here.
In almost every church in our day there are similar conversations going on. You may have had these same conversations. “Where are all the young people?” “Why are so many youth leaving the church?”, Why are the twenty somethings not plugging into the church?” These conversations go on from church to church all over the country. People want to know how to get the younger generations to really be a part of the church. There are just a few ways that most churches try to make this happen. Here is the list: Contemporary services with coffee bars, young adult and singles classes, cool trips and ipod give aways. Yet these ideas rarely accomplish what they are intended too. These plans may band-aid the issue for a while but the problem seems to remains “Where are all the young people?”
So what will Cornerstone do to actually make this work? What am I going to do as the guy who is brought in to make this work? Okay lets chat. If you are to scan the room on a Sunday morning at our church you will see that there are many younger folks in the crowd. One of the unique things about cornerstone is that there is so much age diversity from Sunday to Sunday. The problem is however Sunday mornings are the only thing a majority of the younger people are connecting too. We are not (as a whole) serving, connecting, or leading. This is what I want to see change over the next few years, a move from attendance to true membership.
So here is the plan. Starting Monday the 21st we are going to be starting a underground small group that will go throughout the summer and lead us up to home teams in the fall. This summer group will be going through scripture study on the Gospel. We will look at the Gospel from many different angles and discover how vast and incredible it really is. Then in the fall this group will hopefully break into two different groups and become two home teams. These groups will be our generational connection point. These new home teams will be our launching pad to plugging the younger people into serving, connecting (multi-generationaly), and leading within the church.
The second part of the plan is called strategic events. We are going to be doing some very cool stuff coming up this Summer from Band of Brothers men's study group, to a Man Camp, to drive in movie nights at the church. The future looks bright for our church. I am looking forward to training up and serving with young leaders as Cornerstone truly becomes multi-generational in all areas.
Music Listening to while blogging: Jack Johnson

First Day at Cornerstone

2010-06-02T08:12:00.001-07:00

So this is my first day at the office. I have been wondering for a while what happens at a church office. My suspicions have been confirmed. Here is how the day has gone so far.
Activity 1
Group joke time. We all sat in a circle and told our favorite jokes. It was so funny, and Michael even had soda come out his nose. Wow the site! At one moment we had someone walk in and all we had to do to fake him out was bow our heads. He thought we were in prayer. Jokes on him hu.
Activity 2
Dodge ball. This was so fun! Mellisa one this match. It was very close and all the guys were bummed out that a girl one. We will get the next one tough.
Activity 3
Group walk at the mall. This one was kinda different. It was hard to see the point of this activity but I guess I am just supposed to trust that there is a purpose.
So you might ask “What is the purpose of all this?” Answer: All these activities serves as a catalyst for a hard days work ahead. And let me tell you it worked! We got tons of stuff done!
Well obviously this description is a little different than how my first day actually has been. However I can tell you that I am going to love working here. There will be more blogs coming so stay tuned.

Learning More about God

2010-01-15T16:15:00.000-08:00

Great article (here) about why understanding and knowing God as rightly as possible matters a great deal.

Seeing the Gospel in a new Tv and Home Makeover

2009-12-07T15:07:00.001-08:00

I started working for integrity roofing and exteriors in July of this year. After the May 8th storm there was a great deal of work that needed to be done and companies were running around hiring lots of people just trying to keep up with all the work. I landed with a great company who does quality work and really takes care of there employees. This last weekend the company took us all up to Branson Mo for a few days of training, food, and fun. So now that you have the back story let me tell you why I am writing.
When I think of company Christmas party I immediately think of the episode of the office when they all played dirty Santa. Parties like that come with a few desserts and lame prizes with the possibility of maybe a small holiday bonus. Well this party was far different. When I got there I got handed a raffle ticket and was told to keep hold of it because there would be some good prizes given away. Well in true form to myself I proceeded to lose the ticket in about two minutes. Luckily they gave me another ticket. Well long story short my ticket number was drawn and I won a 32 in Phillips LCD HD tv. Awesome! What guy does not want HD? So already this party was top of the list, best work party ever. If the day would have ended there it would have been a great day. However it was not over!
Our company is a nationwide operation. We have offices in several different locations throughout the Midwest. One of the goals of the company is that in every market we are in there would be one major project in that city that would be similar to the Home Makeover show on tv. The idea of the boss man is that they would find either a older pastor about to retire or a younger pastor just getting started and completely renovate the inside and out of there house for free. Well the announcement came and the first market they were to do this in and the first person to get the home makeover would be me! To say I was blown away would be a huge understatement. I am sure I did not look all that excited because I simply did not know what to freakin think “I just won a tv, and pretty much an new house” aka “73 Upgade!”. What a huge blessing!
So what is the proper response to this? I think there are several different responses to this, but I am only going to write about two. One response I think sells God short and the other “I humbly hope” will lift Him up. The first response that I could come with is the typical American Christianity response which would sound a lot like this “Look, God is so good! He is so faithful to bless me like this! God is a rewarder of my faithfulness. See if you have faith God is going to bless you, then He will bless you more than you can ever think or imagine. If you would just trust Him like I have you would get what I get”. You might think that sounds ok or maybe even like a good and right response “Praise Him for blessings!” However I think that in this response we miss the whole idea of it all.
When I got the tv and found out about the makeover I was extremely excited. If you were in my shoes just imagine how you would feel! How could someone not be excited about God making this happen? I drove home today and just thought about how huge this is going to be for Jordan and I. I thought about laying on a futon (Just kidding apparently married people cant have those, haha) in a new house watching my new tv! Would you not be doing the same?
Mathew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure (Jesus) hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” I have been learning over the last year of my life about how the Gospel applies to every area of my living. I have often wondered how that is. How can I see life through the lenses of the Gospel? Here is what God is showing me. The excitement level about my new possession was out the roof. However the Bible says that the realties of the Gospel are so huge that it is worth abandoning all my possession to get the real treasure. The joy I got from “Stuff” was awesome, but the real “Treasure” is Jesus! You see if I were to say “Look God is faithful because He just provided” I would be implying that His faithfulness is about blessings or that I was not living blessed two days ago. I think the proper response to what God has provided is to not praise the gifts but rather praise the true treasure! The joy from blessing is nothing compared to the Joy of Christ giving me a new heart. So Mathew 13:44 teaches us that the joy that comes from blessings and possessions is incomparable to the Joy of knowing Jesus. God thank you for the cross! Thank you for Grace! May these blessings stir up my affections for what You have done for me in giving me your very self!
I believe that is how to see blessing through the lenses of the Gospel.

Christianity Today Article

2009-10-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

Way back from 2006. Click here and check this out

Jesus the True and Better

2009-10-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

This has an unknown source but from what i hear was found by Tim Keller from Redeemer in NYC. Enjoy!

Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible’s really not about you — it’s about him.

Jesus, Community, Demand of the call, Rest

2009-10-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Posted this last year thought i would post it again.

Jesus, Community, Demand of the call, Rest

Last Sunday night our Ecclesiastes study lead us to Mark chapter 6. Mark 6 tells us of how Jesus gives authority to the 12 and sends them out without all the things that would typically be needed for a trip. Jesus sends them off but with no resources. If I was one of the 12 the first thing that would have gone through my head after Jesus told us we were being sent, was that I need to go pack my north face as tight as possible with plenty of underwear, socks and money, with maybe a power bar in the front zipper pocket. But Jesus does not tell them to do what I would think would be obvious. He tells them to take no bag, no money and take no extra tunic. What a call, and what a promise that Jesus would send them with nothing but a staff. Well as the chapter unfolds we fine that they were provided for on the journey and returned safely. I can only imagine how tired they must have been after such a long grueling trip. I know that when I get back from vacation all I want to do is hug my pillow for about 16 straight hours. The crazy thing is that the 12 get no relief upon return. They come back to large needy crowds that were so demanding that they could not even eat. They were surrounded like dead meat by vultures. Can you put yourself there. The frustration that they must of felt when Jesus brings up the thought that the 5 thousand deep crowd had grumbling stomachs. The 12 just wanted rest so they suggested that Jesus would send them home to get some food then they could finally wind down from there long trip. Jesus however tells the 12 “You give them something to eat.” The 12 must have been at a loss of words, just wanting some rest. This is when Jesus steps up and provides. Jesus works a miracle with five fish and two loaves and uses the 12 to help distribute.

This has so many implications of the source of true rest. True rest can be experienced in the midst of the needy sucking the life out of us or the busyness of a job and family. The 12 had each other and they had Jesus as there provider. With our faith tuned deeply into the saving grace of God through Jesus we can find rest in Jesus and the community of 12. The twelve saw something incredible that day. We too must see that Jesus is providing.

Forever

2009-10-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

I think everyone who blogs go through phases of writing every month and then total blog abandonment for about 6 months. Apparently i am no different. For some reason writing is hard for me. To say I am not all that confident in my writing abilities would be an understatement. So its just easy for me to not write.
So to bring all you readers out there up to speed.
I got engaged to Jordan Vaughn! Awesome
Stuff with the Journey is going great!
- Childcare is up and running
- New Facility
- People seem to be growing and hanging out a lot
I got a new truck
I am going to Cleveland this weekend

Those are just a few quick highlights. Last ill throw out one thing that God is really teaching me. I have been praying for more of a prayer life. I am a think, analyze, then pray type of guy. I want to be a pray first type of guy if you know what i mean. God has been faithful in helping me in that area. Jordan has really challenged me in that area. It has been cool to see that God has a plan with who He has for you. Well i have a couple roofs to go look at so i got to run. Ill get back to you in 6 more months.

Awesome St. Augustine Quote!

2009-05-06T15:56:00.001-07:00

"During all those years [of rebellion], where was my free will? What was the hidden, secret place from which it was summoned in a moment, so that I might bend my neck to your easy yoke . . .? How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose . . ! You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure, ...you who outshine all light, yet are hidden deeper than any secret in our hearts, you who surpass all honor, though not in the eyes of men who see all honor in themselves. . . . O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and my Salvation." -Confessions, Chapter 9

Good Friday

2009-04-10T07:59:00.001-07:00

I just sitting at Panera doing a little study and i just thought i would write a quick blog so here ya are. This weekend is rather a big weekend in Christianity. This weekend all over the world people bust out there best shirt and nicest pants and head of to do there yearly duty of going to church on Easter. If i had to guess, i would day there will probably be several million more people in the pew or cool chair this Sunday than last Sunday. This means there is truly are great opportunity for pastors to preach the Gospel and we know God will save some!
I can remember growing up and hearing about Jesus my whole life. I knew that Jesus died for my sins and that i needed to ask Him into my heart. I new the part about Jesus forgiving me for my past sins. However i always missed the rest of the Gospel. I missed the part that actually gives power to overcome sin! I missed the Imputed Righteousness of Jesus. I missed the fact that He accomplished perfection for me! I find that for many people Salvation is a magical prayer and then moral reform with asking God to forgive for sins we might have done that day, and miss that we actually get a new heart and a credit of being perfect!
God was angry with our sin and us and He took that out on Jesus to satisfy His wrath. Its my fault Jesus went to the cross. Jesus propitiated Gods wrath and He took it for His church. Our righteousness is not our own, we must see this! Jesus is the hero! He lived the perfect life, died for his people, and then the grave could not contain Him. Celebrate Christ!

Pastoral Epistles

2009-04-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

Pastoral Epistles Part 2
A few weeks ago i posted a blog highlighting the headings of each chapter of 1,2 Tim and Titus here. Check that out if you want, before you read on.
I want to spend just a few min and talk about why those books are so important and what they mean to me.
Both Timothy and Titus were disciples of Paul. Paul had deep affection for both of these men, as he called Timothy his true son in the faith. I can imaging being Timothy or Titus and just being excited to be able to meet Paul and hang out with him. In 2003 i applied for a job that i really wanted, and at the first hiring i did not get the job. It wasnt till a month later that i got an email that said someone had dropped out and that i was wanted for the position. I can remember freaking out, jumping up and down with my family, and just being so excited. Maybe you have had a moment like that when you know that God opened this "Thing" up and sovereignly put you there. For Timothy and Titus the opportunity to be lead by, taught, walk with, hang out, and be children in the faith by Paul was there big "Moment".
These men would walk with Paul and travel with Paul and ultimately be totally trusted by Paul. These men did life together in every way. I can imaging them traveling from city to city praying for the churches and joking by the fire. They studied together and talked about the strategies of evangelism together.
There time together in ministry lead Paul to "Know" these men and trust these men. He would send Timothy to Ephesus and he would leave Titus on the island of Crete. The Pastoral letter come from Paul writing instructions to these two men about what to do in the churches that they were left to oversee. Paul know Timothy and Titus are "Men" who can handle fighting for sound doctrine while rebuking any who would contradict. Paul would write to them both to "Guard" the people that have been entrusted to them. He told them to appoint "Godly Men" to sacrificially lead at all cost for the sake of the Gospel.
These books are so important today because it speaks to us about the importance of Godly leadership and sound biblical doctrine! Almost all of the problems the church has had historically up till today is simply because a lack of biblicaly qualified leadership and abandonment of sound doctrine. These letters address both (Or as i pronounce it "Bolth").
I love these letters! Paul, Timothy, Titus were summoned by God soverignly picked to be disciples of Christ. I would challenge you all to study these letters. Men i challenge you to be "Men". Our life is not our own! These letters are a constant reminder to leaders to "Keep a close watch yourself and on the teaching, Persist in this, for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers." 1 Tim 4:16. Wow!

Arrogance?

2009-03-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

I was born on Oct. 24, 1983. That makes me 25 and 1/2 years old. I am only 5 years away from being 30 years old! Wow. One the best things about getting a few years under my belt is that i can look back on my life and see how stupid i have been in my past. Looking back on my life, it is easy to both giggle and get angry. Let me take you back a few years and then hopefully i can get out what i am wanting to get out.

God has blessed me to be able to work with thousands of different people around most of the country. I have been to school and worked camps and traveled a little bit here and there. One of the things that i notice that is consistent about me is that i want to be right. I want to be the guy with the answer or words that will blow people away. This obviously has in my life caused me to be very arrogant and look very stupid on multiple occasions. This has lead to lots of learning over the last few years. I still struggle at times, and have learned that no one will listen to the annoying "Soapbox" guy who has opinions on everything.

I find myself in a weird time now however, because i have a different kind of arrogance. My new arrogance is that i don't think i am arrogant. It plays out like this. I will pray against arrogance, and say that i struggle with arrogance still, but when it comes down to it i find a hard time pinpointing where i am arrogant. You see I still think i am right a lot! However is it arrogance to know that you are right about something? If someone is right because they believe what the bible says is absolutely true does that mean arrogance? Is it arrogant to point to the bible and say "See! your wrong"? So is it arrogant to "Know for Sure" and be confident in that. NO!!!!! My former arrogance was soapbox with no scriptures to back up what I was saying. Now i am confident that when i say something i can go to the scriptures and back it up.
God reveal to me the types of arrogance in me that must die. Right now i honestly don't see much and i know that not seeing arrogance, is arrogance.

Death of my Truck

2009-03-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

This is a sad day for me today. I have had my truck since i was 18 years old and today it was sold to the junk yard. That truck has been a great truck to me and i was so awesome that i have to blog about it. My dad gave it to me with 165 k miles on it and it died with 263 k on it. How crazy is it that we live in a place in the world where the sadest part of my week would be losing a freaking truck. That is such vanity. I find that most of the time I put hope and joy in such silly things. Not that i actually put my hope in a truck, but its just a small reminder that a truck does not really matter. Just thought i would pay tribute. Haha

Facebook Robs

2009-03-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but there are times that i look at my watch and realize that and i have wasted about 3 hours doing nothing but stupid stuff online. First it was just going to be a quick check of facebook, and then the next thing i know i am looking up Tonya Harding on Wikipedia. I remember back when i was making fun of anyone who had facebook or myspace, and would boldly declared that i would never get either one. Well now i have both, with a youtube channel and this stinkin blog. Its crazy how much stuff there is to keep up with. I even tried twitter for a while. I could only last a few weeks trying that before I went crazy.
Its so easy for stupid things like websites to become idols. I find myself feeling like such a loser that i know facts about Emanuel Lewis when i could have been reading or praying. I am not one of those "When you wake up at night, read the bible cause God woke you up" kinda guys but for real lets stop wasting our lives on facebook, video games and twitter. Read a good book, maybe even the bible "I know that seems to not be all that popular with 20 somethings", and lets not throw away our lives on making idols out of trivial things. Could it be that our depravity thrives among the wasted time of meaningless media. I think so. Jesus thank you for Grace.

Read Good Books

2009-03-05T18:42:00.000-08:00

Lately i have wondered how it is that crapy books get such high reviews on Amazon. I feel like i have figured it out, so i am going to lay down a few thoughts and just hope they make sense.
Most people lie about how much they read. I have to admit that there are times i act like i have read a book cover to cover when in reality i have not. However, reading is something that i have to do (And Have Come to Love). It is next to impossible to be faithful to teaching the Bible and not be a reader. What i am saying is, that most people read very little. People who read very little are apt to only read the "Popular at the Time book" and think they have read the best book ever. Its funny how everyone has a book for me to read! Its not that "That" book is any good at all its just the only book that person has read cover to cover, so obviously its revolutionary.
To the person who only reads 1 or so books a year, make sure you don't read horrible books! If it is a book that claims to have some "New" idea or concept when if comes to the Scriptures or Church, it probably is not a good book. If read only a little make sure what you read counts! I'm tired of people suggesting ridiculous and sucky books. If you want some suggestions send me a message ill give you some ideas of books that are good!

Basic Understanding of the Bible

2009-03-03T15:05:00.001-08:00

Old Testament= Jesus declares in John 5 that the Old Testament is about Him. This means that all of the bible is about Jesus. So what can we get out of the OT. The OT shows us that we cannot attain righteousness on our own. In Exodus 20 God gives His people the ten commandments “Basics of Morality” and yet commandments in its basic form, people are unable to keep. The OT teaches that we cannot be perfect, that we are born enemies of God, and that there will be a Messiah that comes to take the punishment for our sin and accomplish what we cannot.

New Testament= The New Testament is all about Jesus accomplishing for us what we cannot accomplish on our own “Perfection”. Humanity since the Fall “Adam and Eve” have all been born enemies of God “Eph 2:1-10” and this provides a big problem because God must punish evil to remain just. God's wrath leans against all of humanity and the only way wrath is satisfied is on the Cross by Jesus “Isaiah 53” or in eternal torment in Hell. We must have our hope set on Jesus. “Me” focused Christianity leads one of two ways: 1 Despair “I cant be good enough” 2 Pride “Why cant others be as good as me”.

Jesus is the Hero. Your sins “Past, Present, Future” are paid for. Future Grace (Security) gives us the only fuel for genuine obedience to Jesus. Our status with God is based of Christ perfect consistency and not our inconsistency.
2 Cor. 5:21
Titus 2:11

Some Texts to Review

1.John 5
2.Exodus 20
3.Ephesians 2:11-10
4.Isaiah 53
5.2 Corinthians 5:21
6.Titus 2:11

Blog Updating

2009-03-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

I have spent the last couple days updating my blogs. I hope the updates can be somewhat beneficial for anyone who actually checks this out. We live in such an awesome time that so much information is just a few clicks away. I have listed out, over there on the right side of my page, a bunch of sites and blogs that have been very helpful for me. There is tons of free information from podcast , to downloadable books, and videos. The Resurgence has a bunch of conference videos and enough information to keep anyone reading for a long long time. Desiring God is very similar with endless amounts of free material.
A few years ago I went through the (I'm Mad at Church) stage. I have always been kinda cynical about what I thought was really stupid (Some of Which was) and was quick to throw stones. It seems to be easy to point out everything that is going wrong. However things have seemed to shift in my brain from being frustrated to being very excited about “church”. Check out these sites and blogs and it will not take very long to see that God really is doing some awesome things. The future looks very bright!
And the best thing. Just to help “the Church” these sites give this stuff all out for free! Awesome!

25 Year old Church Planter

2009-02-28T17:51:00.000-08:00

This last year of my life has been both great and crazy. When i moved to back to Southern Illinois to be a part of starting the Journey i had no clue what i was getting into. I knew that i loved to preach the bible and i also knew all the things that "we" would do different.
Learning to pastor has not been just a learning curve it have been more like a learning mountain. The first six months seemed to be so great and i was strolling along really good. At that point i had read a ton on church planting and on pastoring. I have come to find out that reading and experiencing can sometimes can be a little different. For the last few months i have come to feel and know the tremendous responsibility and joy of pastoring. On top of feeling this great responsibility i have also been praying about the direction of our church. There has been a battle in me as to what the best things would be for our people and our area. I was thinking and praying through many things. Thoughts of "Is doing the Journey the best thing for our area" have been prevalent in my head. These are weird thoughts i know, because any church planter would love to be in the spot we are in right now. We are growing tremendously, we have money in our budget, i am full-time, and we have the support of other churches. Still there has been a war in my head about what is best. With all that said, I know have come to "Know" for sure that pastoring the Journey and moving forward as a body is what this area needs. I look forward to our many years together (Lord Willing)living out the Great Commission together.

My prayer for us as we move forward is that we would simply be obedient.