Sunday night is our annual Chili Cookoff and Dessert Auction to raise money for the youth program. Much of the proceeds will go toward the big Challenge trip that comes every two years, but a portion of the funds are also used for outreach activities throughout the year. There was a time when the youth were continually in fundraising mode, which just wore everyone out. This one big annual event is much more fun and usually raises enough to fund all that the youth need. (The funds also cover the costs for the adults who will be overseeing the trip to Challenge, including yours truly this year.)
The Chili Cookoff is simple enough - everyone is encouraged to make a pot of chili. Bowls are set in front of each entry, and you "vote" for your favorites by putting money in the bowls by the chilis you like. Ryan (and Kathy) Rasmussen are the reigning champs two years running. Perhaps you saw Ryan toting around the trophy on Sunday on his wheelchair taking on all challengers! Last year, I had more fun just eating different kinds of chili than worrying about which ones I liked best. (You'll note that I've used the plural throughout this paragraph - I want you to have several favorites so that you'll "vote" for several different entries. Here's one case where you are encouraged to vote more than once!)
The Dessert Auction comes after dinner. Again, everyone is encourage to enter a dessert. The youth help out by presenting each entry, and the auctioning begins. I've got my sights on the rhubarb pie. I also learned that if some people don't win the dessert they want, they have no shame in coming over to the winner and trying to bum a taste. I won't mention Christy by name, because that might be inappropriate. :-)
Please plan on joining us. We have a professional auctioneer in our midst (thanks again, Gregg!) which adds to the fun. We joke about some of the desserts going for a walloping price, but please don't let that intimidate you. There are a few desserts that skyrocket just for the fun of the event, but most end up on this side of reasonable. Plus, the chili contest is always a way to help out without having to get into a bidding war. The main thing is for us to come together as a church family, have some fun, and find a way to ship our youth away for a whole week!
Thanks to the entire crew who will be pulling this together. It's a lot of work, but seeing our youth impacted by Challenge and by getting out of their comfort zones to help others in our community are both certainly worth the sacrifice of eating all that chili and dessert. Ministry is hard.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
A Journey
I'm on a journey that leads to destinations unknown. The ride has been good - a bit rough at times, but interesting. Sometimes I feel like I can see over the horizon and get a glimpse of the destination, but then it slips away, and I'm not sure I saw anything at all. But I know I will get to a good destination - I just can't tell you what that place looks like. I'm taking this journey at the pace of one step each morning.
For my daily Quiet Time, I'm spending time in the Word on the topic of God's Spirit. I made a list of every occurrence of the word "spirit" in Scripture, and am identifying which ones refer to the Holy Spirit in some fashion. Plus, there are some references that don't use the word "spirit" at all, such as "Comforter," "Helper," and "Counselor." I take one reference in context each day, study it, journal about it, and then pray through the passage for my own life. And then I pray that passage for those who are on my prayer list for that day - whoever is on the list, I'm praying from that passage for them.
There are 628 occurrences of the word "spirit" in the New American Standard translation, and a large portion of those refer to the Holy Spirit in particular. So - this journey will take a while. I'm in no hurry. I've already made it as far as Matthew. Most of my journaling is asking questions rather than answering them - and that's OK.
After I finish going through all the passages, I plan to then retrace my steps and collect my observations and questions into categories. I want to be able to see the variety of lessons there are for us about the Holy Spirit. I'm learning new things about the Spirit already, and I expect to find out more new things when I make this second pass.
I'm not sure where the journey is going, but I know it's good, and I'm excited to find out where it will lead me. Maybe it will become the stuff of a future sermon series on the Spirit, but even if it does not, I pray that I will know the Spirit more deeply as a result. Not just know more about Him, but to know Him better.
For your own Quiet Time, consider taking a topic and discovering all that you can from the Bible about it. There are plenty of tools and helps available to make this easier - I'm happy to help you with that part. Remember always to study a passage in context - most passages are understood rightly only by knowing the context (historical, cultural, and literary). At minimum, study a paragraph at a time.
For my daily Quiet Time, I'm spending time in the Word on the topic of God's Spirit. I made a list of every occurrence of the word "spirit" in Scripture, and am identifying which ones refer to the Holy Spirit in some fashion. Plus, there are some references that don't use the word "spirit" at all, such as "Comforter," "Helper," and "Counselor." I take one reference in context each day, study it, journal about it, and then pray through the passage for my own life. And then I pray that passage for those who are on my prayer list for that day - whoever is on the list, I'm praying from that passage for them.
There are 628 occurrences of the word "spirit" in the New American Standard translation, and a large portion of those refer to the Holy Spirit in particular. So - this journey will take a while. I'm in no hurry. I've already made it as far as Matthew. Most of my journaling is asking questions rather than answering them - and that's OK.
After I finish going through all the passages, I plan to then retrace my steps and collect my observations and questions into categories. I want to be able to see the variety of lessons there are for us about the Holy Spirit. I'm learning new things about the Spirit already, and I expect to find out more new things when I make this second pass.
I'm not sure where the journey is going, but I know it's good, and I'm excited to find out where it will lead me. Maybe it will become the stuff of a future sermon series on the Spirit, but even if it does not, I pray that I will know the Spirit more deeply as a result. Not just know more about Him, but to know Him better.
For your own Quiet Time, consider taking a topic and discovering all that you can from the Bible about it. There are plenty of tools and helps available to make this easier - I'm happy to help you with that part. Remember always to study a passage in context - most passages are understood rightly only by knowing the context (historical, cultural, and literary). At minimum, study a paragraph at a time.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
One Tithe Fits All?
Last week, we talked about being "crazy good givers" - being the kind of giver God wants us to be as a heart issue. There were also a number of things we didn't say - we didn't recommend a percentage, we didn't suggest that you are giving too much or too little, we didn't talk about all the good things we can't do until you cough up more. We didn't talk about these things, because we have no interest in teaching giving in this way. Considering that God doesn't need anything from us, we focused on the idea that God's plan for giving is more about developing us into a more Christlike character than getting more cash in the till.
A few days later, I received a very thoughtful, respectful question about this teaching, especially the idea that I was not teaching that we should endeavor to give a minimum percentage as a tithe. Many of us were taught to tithe, and it's a discipline that helps us to give with good motives. The person sending the email clearly cares about the health of the church, the need for us to be good givers, and the negative consequences if the members of a church didn't endeavor to give a certain percentage as a minimum. I appreciate the question, the attitude, the concern, and the commitment to support the ministry financially.
I received permission to discuss this question with you.
The idea of tithe is something that was specific to the Old Covenant. The English word shows up 30 times in the NASB, and only five of those occurrences are in the New Testament. In every case, the New Testament is referring to the Old Covenant practice. The tithe was tied to the temple and to the theocratic government of Israel.
In 2 Corinthians 8-9, Paul teaches voluntary giving that flows from first giving oneself to the Lord for the privilege of participating in God's mission for the Church. No law, just liberty. (The email I received was rightly concerned about the third "L" - license, turning liberty into an excuse for sinful attitudes.)
But that's the technical, theological view, and doesn't do justice to the strong concerns behind the question I got. The questioner respectfully holds a different view, and I completely support the motives and conclusions that they been drawn as a family.
When we talk about a tithe, the most common number discussed is 10% (of total gross income). Although I'm not a proponent of a New Testament tithe in the technical sense, I think this is a great target. Not everyone can do 10%. God will lead some to give more. But as a general rule of thumb, unless you have a strong sense of God's leading, otherwise it's a pretty good, challenging goal to set for one's financial stewardship.
If members of the churches across the US would give 10%, we could easily more than double ministry here and abroad. Plus, we would go a long way in developing hearts that were sacrificial and more Kingdom-focused.
As a practical goal, something like 10% minimum is a fine practice. However, I still choose to avoid the term tithe, and encourage every family to prayerfully, submissively consider what God would have you do. Read 2 Cor 8-9 carefully and determine to the best of your ability what kind of giver God wants you to be. And remember that generosity is not measured by quantity or by percentage, but in Christlikeness of one's attitude and actions (2 Cor 8:9).
There are several good articles on the topic at http://bible.org/topics/367/Tithing and http://bible.org/article/financial-faithfulness.
A few days later, I received a very thoughtful, respectful question about this teaching, especially the idea that I was not teaching that we should endeavor to give a minimum percentage as a tithe. Many of us were taught to tithe, and it's a discipline that helps us to give with good motives. The person sending the email clearly cares about the health of the church, the need for us to be good givers, and the negative consequences if the members of a church didn't endeavor to give a certain percentage as a minimum. I appreciate the question, the attitude, the concern, and the commitment to support the ministry financially.
I received permission to discuss this question with you.
The idea of tithe is something that was specific to the Old Covenant. The English word shows up 30 times in the NASB, and only five of those occurrences are in the New Testament. In every case, the New Testament is referring to the Old Covenant practice. The tithe was tied to the temple and to the theocratic government of Israel.
In 2 Corinthians 8-9, Paul teaches voluntary giving that flows from first giving oneself to the Lord for the privilege of participating in God's mission for the Church. No law, just liberty. (The email I received was rightly concerned about the third "L" - license, turning liberty into an excuse for sinful attitudes.)
But that's the technical, theological view, and doesn't do justice to the strong concerns behind the question I got. The questioner respectfully holds a different view, and I completely support the motives and conclusions that they been drawn as a family.
When we talk about a tithe, the most common number discussed is 10% (of total gross income). Although I'm not a proponent of a New Testament tithe in the technical sense, I think this is a great target. Not everyone can do 10%. God will lead some to give more. But as a general rule of thumb, unless you have a strong sense of God's leading, otherwise it's a pretty good, challenging goal to set for one's financial stewardship.
If members of the churches across the US would give 10%, we could easily more than double ministry here and abroad. Plus, we would go a long way in developing hearts that were sacrificial and more Kingdom-focused.
As a practical goal, something like 10% minimum is a fine practice. However, I still choose to avoid the term tithe, and encourage every family to prayerfully, submissively consider what God would have you do. Read 2 Cor 8-9 carefully and determine to the best of your ability what kind of giver God wants you to be. And remember that generosity is not measured by quantity or by percentage, but in Christlikeness of one's attitude and actions (2 Cor 8:9).
There are several good articles on the topic at http://bible.org/topics/367/Tithing and http://bible.org/article/financial-faithfulness.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
What's the deal with the structure?
Last Sunday, we covered Psalm 106, and we saw how the psalm was laid out:
This kind of literary structure is called a chiasm (KEE-asm, or a "chiastic" structure), and they are actually pretty common in both the Old and New Testaments. I try not to "nerd it up" too much during a sermon with terms like this (only when I feel it will really be helpful), so I didn't mention what this structure was called or why they are important. The name "chiasm" comes from the Greek word for the letter "x," which is "chi," because the structure resembles the left half of the letter "x."
Why does Scripture have them, and why so frequently? First, it's a nice literary device - it's parallel and balanced, it reinforces ideas, and it organizes the point being made. Second, it helps set off one section of Scripture from another. The chiasm should be treated as a unit, somewhat distinct from what precedes and what follows. It helps us to know which ideas belong together, and we should study chiasms as a group, rather than separated into parts. You fully understand the point when you take it all together.
Third, a majority of the original audience of Scripture were listeners and not readers. They didn't have chapter numbers, verse numbers, or helpful paragraph headings. You can't always hear where a paragraph ends, for example. Literary structures like parallelism, transitional phrases, and chiasms help a listening audience know how the book is organized and how the thoughts go together.
Chiasms are important because, as noted earlier, they help us to know how best to study Scripture well. Literary units should most often be studied as units. Chiasms are also important because they help draw our attention to the center of the chiasm. In this case, the author draws our attention to the "résumé of rebellion," the large center section of the psalm. That's the author's teaching tool - Israel's repeatedly errant history. The other parts of the psalm help us to put that history in perspective and what to do about it.
That's why we started the sermon from the inside and worked our way out.
There's always a wise caution with chiasms, though. Some people go crazy with them - finding them where they don't really exist in Scripture, trying to make too big of a deal of how the structure affects the meaning of the passage, and so on. Structures like chiasms are helpful literary devices, not magic keys to unlock the "true" meaning of Scripture.
It's OK to "nerd it up" in the newsletter, right?
Praise (1-3)
Request (4-5)
Israel forgot, but God saved (6-12)
Israel’s résumé of rebellion (13-39)
Israel angered, but God remembered (40-46)
Request (47)
Praise (48)
This kind of literary structure is called a chiasm (KEE-asm, or a "chiastic" structure), and they are actually pretty common in both the Old and New Testaments. I try not to "nerd it up" too much during a sermon with terms like this (only when I feel it will really be helpful), so I didn't mention what this structure was called or why they are important. The name "chiasm" comes from the Greek word for the letter "x," which is "chi," because the structure resembles the left half of the letter "x."
Why does Scripture have them, and why so frequently? First, it's a nice literary device - it's parallel and balanced, it reinforces ideas, and it organizes the point being made. Second, it helps set off one section of Scripture from another. The chiasm should be treated as a unit, somewhat distinct from what precedes and what follows. It helps us to know which ideas belong together, and we should study chiasms as a group, rather than separated into parts. You fully understand the point when you take it all together.
Third, a majority of the original audience of Scripture were listeners and not readers. They didn't have chapter numbers, verse numbers, or helpful paragraph headings. You can't always hear where a paragraph ends, for example. Literary structures like parallelism, transitional phrases, and chiasms help a listening audience know how the book is organized and how the thoughts go together.
Chiasms are important because, as noted earlier, they help us to know how best to study Scripture well. Literary units should most often be studied as units. Chiasms are also important because they help draw our attention to the center of the chiasm. In this case, the author draws our attention to the "résumé of rebellion," the large center section of the psalm. That's the author's teaching tool - Israel's repeatedly errant history. The other parts of the psalm help us to put that history in perspective and what to do about it.
That's why we started the sermon from the inside and worked our way out.
There's always a wise caution with chiasms, though. Some people go crazy with them - finding them where they don't really exist in Scripture, trying to make too big of a deal of how the structure affects the meaning of the passage, and so on. Structures like chiasms are helpful literary devices, not magic keys to unlock the "true" meaning of Scripture.
It's OK to "nerd it up" in the newsletter, right?
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