For
more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
Friday, October 31, 2014
Friday, October 24, 2014
Healing Service This Sunday - Part 2
As
you prepare for Sunday I encourage you to pray for the time of healing
prayer that will be offered.
Bring
those who are hurting and seek physical, emotional and relational
healing, just as the four men in Mark two did for their friends.
Pray for them and pray in advance for all who will seek healing
on Sunday.
As you do so, reacquaint yourself with the following passage from
God’s prophet, Isaiah, who foresaw spiritual, physical, emotional,
relational healing, salvation itself, coming into the world through a
Messiah, a Son of man, a Son of God, The Son of God, whom we now know to
be Jesus Christ.
“Who
has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely
he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all”
Isaiah
53:1-6
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all”
For
more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Healing Service This Sunday
“But
for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with
healing in his wings.
And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture."
Malachi 4:2 (NLT)
And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture."
Malachi 4:2 (NLT)
Mark 1:32-34 (NLT)
Although
Malachi used the word “sun” metaphorically for the day that the Lord
renews all of creation, from our perspective we can look back and see
that in Jesus’ death and resurrection, God brought the fullest healing
possible to Jesus and now, through Jesus, He
offers the same to those who believe in him.
In
the middle of this Sunday’s worship service we will offer a time of
healing prayer for everyone who seeks physical, emotional or relational
healing.
I want you to know about this in advance not just for yourself
but also so that you can bring any friends, neighbors or relatives who
would like to seek healing from the Lord.
Those who seek healing do not need to be Christians, actually
they don’t need to be anything . . . they just need to come.
In the New Testament Jesus healed anyone who came to him.
Elders
will be in the front of the sanctuary and while background music is
playing you can bring those who seek healing forward, an elder will make
the sign of the cross on their forehead and pray for them.
This is an ancient practice dating back to the time of Christ and
though this is not magic, it is a means God has chosen to spread his
healing to a hurting world.
Again, the ritual is not magical, however God, whose love and
power is available to all, is often encountered in this very practice.
Do
you have hurting friends or family who are open to God’s love and
healing power?
I invite you to bring them.
For
more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Why are so many people (yes even Christians in growing numbers) attracted to pornography?
Blog
»
Why are so many people
(yes even Christians in growing numbers)
attracted to pornography?
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Jeff Lampl
Why are so many people
(yes even Christians in growing numbers)
attracted to pornography?
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Jeff Lampl
“You
say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And
even though
“I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything . . . .
But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were
made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies . . . .
Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ?
. . . . . . Run from sexual sin!
No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does . . .”
1 Corinthians 6:12-18 (NLT)
No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does . . .”
1 Corinthians 6:12-18 (NLT)
The
following article is excerpted from First Things.
If you are struggling with pornography, you are not alone and there is
hope available. There are
people who can help. Pastor
Jeff
“Two
broken relationships lie at the heart of pornography’s appeal: our
relationship with God and our family relationships. The broken relationship with
God is a perennial influence in the life of fallen man, and manifests itself in
almost infinite ways. The rise to prominence of this particular sin is
therefore, I think, mostly a result of the breakdown of the family. A society
with strong family relationships that was becoming more ungodly over time (such
things have happened) would not necessarily see a rise in pornography; it would
find some other monstrosity to chase after.
“Across
both these broken relationships (with God and with family) the appeal of
pornography is the illusion of power. It is not primarily the physical senses
that pornography stimulates, but the imagination. Pornography helps the user
enter and remain within an illusion of his own creation. Within that illusory
world, he is all-powerful. Everything bends to his will; even the most
outrageously implausible scenarios become easy. C. S. Lewis once referred to
dislocated sexual desires as “that ghastly world of impossible fantasies which
have become, for him, ‘the real thing.’” That gets right to the heart of
it. (One might ask why, if the point is to live within an infinitely flexible
illusion, the external stimulus of pictures and videos is necessary; I think it
helps the user suspend disbelief while he is within the illusion.)
“We
are living amidst multiple generations that have never known the unconditional
love of a properly functioning family. Those who have not experienced this are
(rightly) craving it, but they do not have any relational framework within which
unconditional love is plausible. As Christians we know the ultimate source of
that desire. But for those who don’t know this and have grown up in broken
homes, it doesn’t make sense that one person would really love another person
with no conditions at all. Such things don’t happen in the real world. So
where do you go to find satisfaction for this (seemingly) impossible desire? To
an illusion that is under your control. You know the fantasy girl will love you
unconditionally because
she’s a fantasy, because she is your creation and you have power
over her. Next to that mental pleasure, the physical pleasure of the orgasm
pales.
“
. . . . . The pornography user escapes from a universe in which he is not God
into a universe in which he is—with unspeakable results. In this respect,
pornography’s rise to power represents an eruption of evil in truly demonic
proportions, as if hell itself were conducting a D-Day operation and had won a
beachhead from which to stage a larger invasion.
.
. . . . . these last words may sound to you overly dramatic, but are they?
If you are trapped in the throws of this addiction, you already know what
it does to your emotions, your view of the opposite sex and how it provides
nothing but a decreasingly effective temporary fix and a never ending emptiness
which is always emptier and emptier, the trajectory of which the diametric
opposite of what you really want.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Another "I Like Giving" Story
Another "I Like
Giving" Story
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Jeff Lampl
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Jeff Lampl
Last Saturday I was at a Waffle House getting Melissa and I breakfast to go (Saturday is my breakfast indulgence with the All American!). I noticed an elderly man sitting in a booth by the register all alone. No wedding ring. He had a ball cap sitting on the table that I could tell was his “pride and joy”. It was navy blue and read Korean Veteran and had other pins on it. He had to be in his early to mid-80s. I also noticed a young family next me – mom and dad in their 30s with 3 young children. When their food order was ready, I watched the husband lean over the registered, whisper something in the waitress’s ear and then hand her a $100 bill. She handed him his food and his change, and with that they left and got in their minivan. A few minutes later the elderly man held up a $20 bill trying to get the waitress’s attention. She walked over and said “Someone has already paid your bill. You don’t owe anything for your breakfast.” Then I realized what had just happened. The husband paid his bill. I could see the elderly gentleman pause for a moment and process what she said. Finally he replied, “Well that was mighty nice of them. I wish I could have thanked them.” He got up, got in his car and headed off. I thought to myself in a week of hate, violence and riots in Ferguson, MO, and a brutal, depraved beheading in Syria, it was inspiring to see a young couple who knew that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Amen to that! Tom Kerr
For
more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
Monday, October 20, 2014
Does a Fish Know It's Wet?
“At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts
you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable
and pleasing to God. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs
from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.”
Philippians 4:18-20 (NLT)
Relatively
speaking we have a small home (less than 1200 sq ft) and we often say much of
the house sits empty most of the time. Smaller is good at a number of levels.
It’s
probably no secret that the American home is a bit of a porker. In 2013, the median
and average new, single family house was
2,478 and 2,662 square feet respectively–higher than previous, 2007 pre-
bubble figures. Compare this to 1950, when the average new home was a mere 983
square feet. And that’s not all. Fewer people are living in today’s home;
average household sizes have shrunk from about 3.37 in 1950 to 2.55 today. And
we are all probably familiar with the environmental implications of these
bigger, less occupied homes: they require more
resources to build and maintain,
they lead to sprawl, requiring
more resources to get to and from,
yada, yada, yada.
But
somehow the McMansion pill would be a bit easier to swallow if these big homes
were used. If every bedroom was slept in, every dining room dined in, every
rumpus room rumped in. Unfortunately, if we are to believe a group of UCLA
researchers, such is not the case. . . .
What did they find? Basically, that Family 11 used a small fraction of the available area, with almost all traffic centered in the dining, kitchen and family rooms; the latter room’s activity focused around the TV and computer. Based on the above diagram, I would guestimate that about 400 of the 1000 or so of the first floor’s available square feet are used. The rest of the spaces–the dining room, living room, porch–are, for all intents and purposes, extraneous architecture.
I’m the fish and way, way too often, I forget that I’m “wet”.
What did they find? Basically, that Family 11 used a small fraction of the available area, with almost all traffic centered in the dining, kitchen and family rooms; the latter room’s activity focused around the TV and computer. Based on the above diagram, I would guestimate that about 400 of the 1000 or so of the first floor’s available square feet are used. The rest of the spaces–the dining room, living room, porch–are, for all intents and purposes, extraneous architecture.
I’m the fish and way, way too often, I forget that I’m “wet”.
For
more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
Friday, October 17, 2014
Judging
Judging
Friday, October 17, 2014
Jeff Lampl
Jeff Lampl
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?"
1 Corinthians 5:12
1 Corinthians 5:12
The
following is excerpted from a blog by Pastor Jonathan Storment
The
Barna Group is a famous research company that surveys American Christians, and
they basically ask us “What has following Jesus changed in your life?”
And every time the Barna group comes out with another survey, the answer
is always the same, “Not much.”
Jesus
people tend to buy into the same cultural idols and values, we divorce at the
same rates, we are more segregated than almost any other sector of society, we
use money the same way, we think of power, prestige, and status just like and
just as much as other people.
In
other words, the biggest problem is that Jesus followers don’t follow Jesus.
German Philosopher Friederich Nietzsche once said that the world has only seen
One Christian and they killed Him
So,
how do non-Christians look at Christians and how do Christians view
non-Christians?
There’s
an interesting passage in 1 Corinthians
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?" 1 Corinthians 5:12
Did
you catch that? What business is it of mine to judge those on the outside?
If
Paul were here today, I bet plenty of people would have an answer for that
question.
I
grew up in the era of culture wars and battles for values; I have seen people
who believe in God scream some of the most vile, hate-filled things at people
who don’t.
I
have also grown up in a time where less people are in any church, and more
disturbingly where it seems like less Jesus is in His people. We aren’t
creating disciples as much as we create attenders.
Judgment
was always meant for those of us on the inside, not primarily for those on the
outside. And I would argue that the Western church has reversed this.
We
have churches filled with people who are Christians but don’t look much like
Jesus, yelling and screaming judgment at people who don’t even claim to want
to be like Jesus. On what basis? They don’t believe like we
believe; they don’t have the same story; they have no reason to try to live
like Jesus.
And
the great irony of this is that the very thing Christians want, we are
destroying. We want to create a better world; we should take a hint from
the story of God. He creates a people who are distinct and loving, who
submit to the Kingdom of God and the God of the Kingdom, to serve the world and
challenge each other.
That’s
a community the world needs to see. Yes, Jesus has something to say about
our sexuality, yes Jesus has something to say about life and the environment and
our finances, but He is saying those things to the people who are following him,
so that the world would see a community living into the dream God has for
everyone.
In
the Gospels, people who were nothing like Jesus, liked Jesus. He
was distinct, but he was with them, and they loved him. They also had this
funny idea that he just might love them too, but when people talked about
following Him, that is where Jesus turned up the heat; sell everything you have,
become like a child, pick up your cross.
It’s
important that we judge ourselves, those of us in the church, so that we are not
a group of people who seem to be more known for what we are against, and then
statistically participating in it at the exact same rate.
Read more:
For
more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Is Pot Safe?
Is Pot Safe?
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Jeff Lampl
Jeff Lampl
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple
of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and
was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,
20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)
was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,
20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)
A
definitive 20-year study into the effects of long-term cannabis use has
demolished the argument that the drug is safe.
Cannabis
is highly addictive, causes mental health problems and opens the door to hard
drugs, the study found.
The
paper by Professor Wayne Hall, a drugs advisor to the World Health Organization,
builds a compelling case against those who deny the devastation cannabis
wreaks on the brain. Professor Hall found:
§
One in
six teenagers who regularly smoke the drug become dependent on it,
§
Cannabis
doubles the risk of developing psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia,
§
Cannabis
users do worse at school. Heavy use in adolescence appears to impair
intellectual development
§
One in
ten adults who regularly smoke the drug become dependent on it and those who use
it are more likely to go on to use harder drugs,
§
Driving
after smoking cannabis doubles the risk of a car crash, a risk which increases
substantially if the driver has also had a drink,
§
Smoking
it while pregnant reduces the baby’s birth weight.
For
more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Vanishing Grace
Vanishing Grace
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Jeff Lampl
Jeff Lampl
Amazon
has this synopsis.
Yancey explores what may have contributed to hostility toward Evangelicals, especially in their mixing of faith and politics instead of embracing more grace-filled ways of presenting the gospel. He offers illuminating stories of how faith can be expressed in ways that disarm even the most cynical critics. Then he explores what is Good News and what is worth preserving in a culture that thinks it has rejected Christian faith.
Yancey explores what may have contributed to hostility toward Evangelicals, especially in their mixing of faith and politics instead of embracing more grace-filled ways of presenting the gospel. He offers illuminating stories of how faith can be expressed in ways that disarm even the most cynical critics. Then he explores what is Good News and what is worth preserving in a culture that thinks it has rejected Christian faith.
The
approach non-Christians take to Christian faith comes in a number of different
flavors – two of the more common can be referred to a pre-Christian or
post-Christian, an insight Yancey picked up from Daniel Hill:
“Pre-Christians”
seemed open and receptive when the topic of religion came up. They had no real
hostility and could imagine themselves connected with a church some day. In
contrast, “post-Christians” harbored bad feelings. Some carried memories of
past wounds . . . . Others had simply absorbed the media’s negative stereotype
of rabid fundamentalists and scandal-prone television evangelists. (p. 18)
Many
post Christians grew up in the church and had bad experiences, some just drifted
away, but many have simply absorbed the messages floating around them. A
not insignificant number have had bad interactions with Christians unrelated to
the church directly, or to their upbringing. Here is the real issue, and the one
we must wrestle with. The negative stereotype portrayed by the media
doesn’t tell the whole story, but it contains enough truth to be credible.
Should we fault people for believing it?
At
times Christians behaving badly seems the rule of the day. Yancey reflects on an
experience following a post on his Facebook page of quote from the late Andy
Rooney . . . . the quote raised the ire of many and a firestorm of comments
ensued, complete with flame-throwers. Some found it necessary to attack Rooney,
dismissing him as a lightweight thinker, others attacked Yancey himself for
posting the quote. Yancey writes:
Would
I want to eat dinner with the flame-throwers who posted comments on my site? I
replied – and here is a recurring theme of this book – that the issue is not
whether I agree with someone but rather how I treat someone with whom I
profoundly disagree. We Christians are called to use the “weapons of grace,”
which means treating even our opponents with love and respect. (p. 26)
Everyone
is human, and everyone has a story. We would be far better off listening to
their stories and treating them with respect. This can include vigorous debate
and disagreement – but should never lose sight of the fact that the other is
human as well. Yancey suggests a prayer, derived from Henri Nouwen,
“Let
me see them as thirsty people, and teach me how best to present the Living
Water.“
***Read more at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2014/10/09/vanishing-grace-rjs/#ixzz3FxsIrFIW which is the post from which the above is excerpted.
For
more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)