Do you even care?

For those of you who know me well you must be aware of my desire to read historical works, particularly the Church Fathers (I admit I'm a nerd who named his son after Athanasius). I've spent time on this blog challenging all who read to pick up something ancient rather than Christianbook.com's top seller, as it stands the tests of time. I believe that great men and women of the faith from other time periods in other parts of the world can contribute something to our walk with the Lord that Chuck Swindoll and John MacArthur simply cannot.

I've recently been reading The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll, a book describing the failure of evangelical churches in the United States from emphasizing the worship of the Lord with one's mind. Noll is a brilliant historian who chronicles the history of the church in America and the foundations that led to this problem. I came across a quote describing two revivalists in the early 19th Century and their response to;

When quotations from Calvin were used to argue against Robert Marshall and J. Thompson, they replied, "We are not personally acquainted with the writings of John Calvin, nor are we certain how nearly we agree with his views of divine truth; neither do we care."

Ouch. They don't even care? Now regardless of your perspective on Calvin I think we can agree that his writings and teachings can provide wonderful defense and explanation for so much of basic Christian beliefs.

The sad truth is that often times we emphasize the individual response of a person so much that they begin to feel that their own competence is all they need. In many ways American individualism contributes to the problem we have with people claiming to be Christians who see no point in attending church or gathering with other believers. Their opinion is that they have Christ and their Bible, what else is necessary?

Despite the fact that salvation is an individual response in faith, and that one is saved individually by Christ, what they are saved into is a corporate body. That's the beauty of the body of Christ, we each are lacking and made with a need for others to be complete (1 Cor. 12). But, we also are made and gifted with something to contribute to the rest of the Body of believers. This contribution can be in the form of encouragement, teaching, service, or a number of other possibilities. Calvin stated that the church was the body of believers from all time and although I may have some hesitancy saying the church includes believers before Christ, it stands to reason that even those who came before us can contribute to our growth in the Lord through their example and writings.

So, in conclusion, do you care what those brothers and sisters in Christ who came before studied, learned, and taught? There's a challenge for the weekend!

Go Pack Go!

J

Warming Up Stillwater

Much of this week has been centered around an event we are calling "Warming Up Stillwater". The event is this Saturday at the Stillwater Community Center from 6-8. Its a chili feed along with coat distribution of nearly 400 coats that our church has collected in the past couple of weeks. The event was a collaboration of a number of different people thinking about ways that our church could become more involved within the community. We won't be promoting our church, handing out information about Countryside, or trying to tell people why they need to be with us instead of with someone else on Sunday mornings. Instead, we'll slip the "Gospel of John" into a pocket of each coat, along with setting up a prayer room down the hall for anyone who may need prayer or would like someone to talk to about spiritual issues. We're doing it this way because its not about us, its not about showing off Countryside, or our ministries, or facilities. This event is centered around helping the helpless and planting seeds not for Countryside, but for Jesus Christ. We are calling it "Warming Up Stillwater" because the goal is to keep them physically warm with coats and hot chili, but the reality is without the light of the world they are in spiritual darkness and in the cold (John 1:4). Jesus is the only one who can truly bring them light and hope and we long to display the love of Christ through our actions and to discuss the person and work of Jesus with many on Saturday evening.

I have been absolutely overwhelmed by the feedback and help I have received from people within the church. I have been impressed with the desire people have to serve others and truly show love and compassion to others as Christ has commanded. People have bought new coats, donated sacks of used coats, volunteered to make chili, brownies, serve, share a testimony, and do anything else to help make the night a success. My prayer is that this is the first in a long line of opportunities that our church takes to be a blessing to the people in the Stillwater community by helping those who are in need. If you know of someone in the community who may need a coat for themselves or their children be sure and tell them about the event.

To live is Christ,

Jay

Update to the 26 goals for 2011

January 12th- Jen stated that she was tired of her computer and wants me to sell it for her. She admitted that she may have trouble, but would transition to a Mac. I said I needed to accomplish one goal every two weeks. So far so good!

Also, instead of convincing Jen to lead us in a hymn every night we are going to have a hymn for every month that we teach Hudson and try to sing regularly together. We've taught him Great is Thy Faithfulness and Amazing Grace over the last two months (more so because they would calm Athan when we sang them). I get to pick the hymn for February...

Public Unity

Two weeks ago I finished Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together. The book is written as a study of Christian Community and is a quick and easy read (its a little over 100 pages with size 14 font). One of the points that I particularly enjoyed was his emphasis on public worship.

He says, "Why do Christians sing when they are together? The reason is, quite simply, because in singing together it is possible for them to speak and pray the same Word at the same time; in other words, because here they can unite in the Word."

The church is united as One Body, yet this unity that we share is spiritual, unseen by the eye. We cannot see the unity we share, nor can the outside world. Only God truly knows who is united together in the body of Christ. Public worship is a way to visibly reveal this unity.

Think about it, as we gather on Sunday mornings what do we do? Someone prays, then reads the Bible, then we sing, then one person sings, then someone gets up and teaches, and finally that person prays and its over. In every activity one person is doing the act of worship while everyone else is passive, except one. When we sing! Bonhoeffer's point is that our spiritual unity is made known publicly only when we sing because during that time our voices are united together in praise to our God. One of the reasons its important to sing together is that when we lift our voices together it is a testimony of the unity we have found with those around us in Christ.

Bonhoeffer also saw communion as accomplishing the same purpose. In communion we all take the bread and wine together, the bread symbolizing the body of Christ, which is now the church, the wine representing the blood which was spilt for each of our sins. The act of communion not only symbolizes the unity we share in Christ, but literally does unite us.

Some may question the importance of coming to the service on Sundays. The reasoning may be that they don't "do much" or contribute to the service. Bonhoeffer's quote not only shows the importance of coming to the service, but of taking part in the worship through song and communion as a testimony to unbelievers, and as an encouragement to brothers and sisters in Christ of the unity we have found in Jesus alone.

26 Goals for 2011

I thought I'd start this year off right with setting 26 goals for the new year. As opposed to setting one big resolution that you either complete or fail, for example losing weight, I'm going to try a new philosophy of having 26 goals for the new year. With these numbers I should average accomplishing one every two weeks which really isn't too bad. That way at the end of the year its not an all or nothing, pass or fail situation, but rather its something where I can focus on the one's I did accomplish and re-think the one's I set that I failed to complete. Some are serious, some are not so much, some focus on my family, while others are individual goals. So here it is...

26. Teach Athan to say Momma before Daddy. The thinking here is this should earn me some points with Jen as what Dad selflessly teaches Momma before Daddy to his son:)

25. Survive another Lock-in. I'm getting older and get real grumpy after 3AM. Perhaps I should change this to "Have all the kids survive me during another lock-in".

24. Get my internet changed so I can get ESPN3. The cable company no longer gives us ESPN in black and white for free so I'm forced to explore other options.

23. Teach Matt Anson to ski well enough to not be a danger to himself or those around him. He's a great kid who has never skied before and I'm either going to teach him or die trying. Not really, but I love a good challenge on the slopes!

22. Give up Coke cold turkey for Lent. Harder than it sounds, did you see my bio?

21. Help Athan learn to walk before he turns 1 year. A sure sign of athletic greatness in his future.

20. Make an A in two of the three Greek classes I'll take this year. Easily the most difficult, perhaps impossible. I showed my Spanish 2 teacher though...

19. Convince Jen to lead us in a hymn at dinner regularly. Something we've done inconsistently and have agreed we should do more. The great part is Hudson loves to sing these old hymns with us.

18. Play a round of golf at Old Waverly with my dad and brothers. Dad can get us on no trouble, its just an issue of getting down there with my clubs at the same time that my brothers are there...

17. Get Athan to sleep through the night regularly. So very close. Sigh..

16. See a Water Buffalo in person.

15. Rid the yard of those pesky moles.

14. Convince Jen to get rid of her Dell and get a Mac for our home computer. Maybe the easiest on the list all I have to do is ask her to use the Dell daily and it will do the convincing with its stalling out and faulty operating system.

13. Memorize the book of Philemon. Its a great letter and it would be nice to knock out a whole book of the Bible "Book of Eli" style.

12. Tile something. Its my new favorite hobby that combines temptation to cuss and break something halfway through with a great amount of pride at the end of the job!

11. Take Jen to the Warren Theatre in Moore for a movie of her choice. I've got to kick up my "husband taking the reigns" on date night now that I have two kids and I've heard this is a really cool place to go.

10. Finish the Youth Ministry Curriculum at Countryside. So close...

9. Daily do 200 pushups. Its my first and only step at a regular workout.

8. See Cars 2 in the theatre with Hudson. Comes out in June.

7. Teach Job 1-2 in some capacity. Perhaps my favorite book in the Bible and a place we rarely here preached from.

6. Read Calvin's Institutes. I've read portions now its time to connect all of the dots and conquer that beast.

5. See the Packers play in person. They do play in Kansas City and if that didn't work I would count a preseason game.

4. Build up my Kindle Library. Shouldn't be difficult, most of the books I want are by dead guys which means I can get them extremely cheap. We're talking under $5 for everything Jonathan Edwards ever wrote.

3. Get a big idea for where certain parables and main passages are in the Gospel of Luke. I feel like I have much of the other three gospels down. For example if you asked me where Jesus washed the disciples feet, or fed the 5,000 in the Gospel of John, or what takes place in Matthew 20 or Mark 10 I could easily tell you with some level of comfort and authority. Luke I still need to think through...

2. Convince Hudson to have a Green Bay Packers Birthday party. The theory is that if I can convince him then he can work on his Mom.

1. Blog 52 times. Once a week shouldn't be too difficult, and I've already got one down, now only 51 to go!