Blog comes to an end

I'm temporarily bringing my blog to an end. I have found that Facebook provides a better method of communication for many. Friend me on Facebook and let the conversation continue there.

What motivates God? - Romans 11:33-36 - Dec 6, 09

The Glory of God - that is what motivates God. Selfishly, we don't want to hear this. We want to hear about a God who is motivated by love (for us). We want this because we desire to be at the center of the universe (or at least our universe). This has led to a shift in the Christian Gospel. We have shifted from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is concerned with being connected to the most high God to "the gospel of forgiveness" which is mainly about dealing with our guilt and getting heaven. It's time to return to worshipping God, who deserves the glory.

Why Wait - Psalm 27 - November 29, 09

Yesterday's sermon was a hard one for me because I'm so bad at waiting. I like to rush through most of life, which makes the intentional waiting of Advent a very different way to go about life. I'm trying to grow in this area. The thought about stepping off of the timeline and taking a view of the whole was very helpful. It comes from Paula Gooder's book, "The Meaning is in the Waiting." It is a great devotional for this time of year.

The Faith to Give Everything - Mark 12:41-44 - November 1, 2009

I like what Truett Cathy the founder of Chik-fil-a says, "Its OK to have wealth. Just keep it in your hands and not in your heart." He doesn't just say it, he lives it. Every Chik-fil-a is closed all day every Sunday. Consultants have estimated that this costs the company 20% of their potential weekly revenues. So why do it? Because they believe this best honors God's instructions about the Sabbath. Does it cost them? Sure it does. Is it worth it? Depends on how you measure their business. I know this, they don't loose sleep at night about the decision. They are able to rest secure, because they are trying their best to please God. May the same be true of us as we handle our wealth.

Sex Sermon

If you go to the Little Falls home page, there is the text of a 5th sermon from my marriage series. It's pastoral advice on sex. Its amazing how prevalent sex is in our culture while missing or unsatisfying in many married people's lives. As Christians this should concern us a lot, because God set sex as the sign of marriage. In many ways having sex with a person is part of what makes you married to them. Thats why its so emotionally devastating to break up with someone you've been intimate with. Inside marriage sex is designed for fun and fulfillment, as well as procreation. Read the Song of Solomon in the Bible, it is a book about a couples love life. Warning: its a little graphic at times.

Love - 1 Corinthians 13 - October 25

Keller's new book Counterfeit Gods came out at just the right time. One of the points from this morning came right out of the book. But to be fair to myself - I had a very pedestrian and awkward way of saying the same thing! Thanks Tim - once again you are the man. The point was that if you are looking for the love that will fill your heart and soul, no person can deliver that kind of love.

"No one can live up to that. The inevitable result is bitter disillusionment."

When you realize that the people around you aren’t delivering the love you need, there are 4 possibilities. These come from Tim Keller’s new book:

1. You can blame the people around you who disappoint you and move on to better ones.

2. You can blame yourself and say, “I am a failure. There is something wrong with me.”

3. You can blame the world. “Curses on the entire opposite sex.”

4. You can reorient your entire life toward God.

Because He has the love that you desire and He’s amazingly generous with it. He has what you need and in order to be able to present it to you, He was willing to sacrifice his own flesh and blood. Jesus died so that you may have the love from God that your soul craves. That is what can save you – not romantic love.

If you want to truly love your spouse, let God be your God and your savior. Let him be their God and savior. Neither of you can be good gods. Then as each of you receive love from Him – you can reflect it to your spouse and all the other people in your world.

Praying together - Matthew 18:18-20 - October 18,2009

Since this blog isn't getting more comments, the posts are going to be a little shorter. If you actually read this, let me know and I'll beef it back up.

As per praying together as a couple. I feel like this sermon is like telling someone to have a will - everyone thinks its a good idea, yet far too few practice it. Practice is probably the key word. Dedicating yourself to trying to do this each day - even if its just 10 minutes - for 40 days will make a huge difference. You'll be amazed at how much your prayer life grows and how it becomes so much more natural to pray aloud. If you need additional help, I'm always here. There are also a host of books on this subject. Just type, "Praying together" into the search bar at Amazon.com.