Monthly Archive for March, 2010

Meet Jana: An Ordinary Hero

Published on March 31, 2010 in Ordinary Heroes. 7 Comments

An ordinary hero is a person who quietly (pastors don’t qualify) and faithfully serves.  These are people we should honor.  Do you know any ordinary heroes?  Send them to me at chris [at] theredbrickchurch.org

Someone else nominated Jana, our church administrative assistant.  But, I should have been the one to put her name on.  She’s the one who keeps the church going.  She fulfills more administrative jobs than you can imagine which includes everything from church bulletins to the annual report to the monthly newsletter to keeping track of our church database. 

But, more than just fulfilling her administrative tasks, Jana sees her position with the “Bricks” as a ministry.  Read what the person who nominated her said below.

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My ordinary hero is Jana. 

  • In addition to faithfully serving in the music ministry with her beautiful piano playing, she also coordinates the other musicians and singers and makes sure we all have the right music. 
  • She also teaches the high school Sunday School class along with her husband and as the mother of a freshman I can say they love her class. 
  • In her spare time, she stepped forward to help me through a very difficult time battling cancer.  She has been there for moral support, attended my son’s basketball games when I couldn’t, driven me to doctor’s appointments, taken notes so we all understood, sat with me at chemo, the list goes on. 

She is truly an amazing woman and we are thankful to have her at our church.  (Submitted by Shelley C).

Chris agrees!

More ordinary heroes here.

Accountability with USANA Reset

Published on March 31, 2010 in Self Control. 1 Comment

Proverbs 25:28 says that a man without self-control is like a city whose walls are broken down.  In recent months, my self-control has not been strong where sugar is concerned.  In the words of the late John Candy, “I’ve swallowed a lot of aggression along with a lot of pizza.”  I realize this is a spiritual issue, so I taking steps to be more disciplined in my eating.

At a doctor friend’s advice, I am doing the USANA Reset program.  (You can learn more at my expert consultant’s web site here.  Watch the reset video).  The goal of this isn’t so much weight loss, as it is to get my sugar intake etc back in line.  This is my second day – - so, far, I’ve adhered strictly to the program.  I have had coffee without cream or sugar.  (I didn’t look to see if that was allowed because I planned to do it either way.  As a pastor, I am allowed to break the rules in this way, but if you are not a pastor then you may need to go without coffee).

Briefly, the program means surviving on provided shakes, some fruit, and a radish here and there.

So, here’s the deal.  On Saturday, you can ask me how I did.  If I confess that I snarfed down some milk duds, then you are empowered to admonish me.

Meet John: An Ordinary Hero

Published on March 31, 2010 in Ordinary Heroes. 0 Comments

Did you know you can subscribe to my blog by email.  Look over to the right and there is a place to enter your email address.

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An ordinary hero is a person who quietly (pastors don’t qualify) and faithfully serves.  These are people we should honor.  Do you know any ordinary heroes?  Send them to me at chris [at] theredbrickchurch.org

I don’t know this ordinary hero, but his example reminded me of Hebrews 11:24-25.

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.(Heb 11:24-25).

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John is now retired, but in his nearly forty years of work he was an example of a Godly life in a sinful world. When I was a young man entering the world of business in 1980, business lunches that included alcohol were common. Although I had determined that drinking was not something I was to be involved in, many of my colleagues attempted to impress upon me the “need” to drink socially – this group included two Christian business men. John was the example I could turn to as one who was successful in business without without alcohol and without compromising on Christian principles.

Late in his career John had the opportunity to be partner in a medium size corporation. This position was an extremely lucrative opportunity. However, since the partnership would be with non-Christian men, John chose to be an employee instead, earning only a small fraction of the income he could have earned as a partner. He made this choice rather than compromise on Christian principles. Last week a friend and former colleague approached me in casual conversation about possibly joining his organization. This nonbeliever stated that he is interested in me becoming his partner when his current partner retires next year. While this has the potential of huge financial benefits the example that John displayed points me to 2 Corinthians 6:14.

More ordinary heroes.

What happened each day during Holy week?

Published on March 30, 2010 in Christology. 0 Comments

Justin Taylor is doing a series that summarizes what happened each day of the week the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified.  For example, today’s post for Tuesday reads:

Jesus’ disciples see the withered fig tree on their return to Jerusalem from Bethany

Matthew 21:20-22

When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying,

“How did the fig tree wither at once?”

And Jesus answered them,

“Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Mark 11:20-21

As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him,

“Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”

Jesus engages in conflict with the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem

Matthew 21:23-23:39

You can follow the series here.

Spurgeon: “The thought that we may ourselves one be under the window . . .”

Published on March 30, 2010 in Quotes. 0 Comments

Spurgeon:

The thought that we may ourselves be one day under the window should make us careful when we are throwing out our dirty water.”

Spurgeon’s Plain Advice for Plain People, pages 75-76.

Molly Friesen of Peacemakers on Forgiveness

Published on March 29, 2010 in Forgiveness. 0 Comments

Because I’ve Been Forgiven: Molly from Peacemaker Ministries on Vimeo.

Matthew Lee Anderson on Piper’s leave of absence

Published on March 28, 2010 in Sabbatical. 5 Comments

I am thankful for a church that is allowing me to take a sabbatical this summer.  Commenting on John Piper announcement that he has been granted an 8 month leave of absence, Anderson explains some of the reasons why a sabbatical is so important.  Does your church make sure your pastor is renewed?  Perhaps, this is a post to pass on to your church elders? 

I for one am thrilled to hear that John Piper has asked for, and been granted, an eight month leave from each of his ministries.

But I don’t quite know why I’m so excited by his decision.  After all, eight months is a relatively short amount of time, and I don’t know Piper at all.

But I suspect there’s a lesson here that all evangelical pastors and their churches need to pay attention to.  And I hope that Piper’s influence can help them learn it.

Growing up within evangelicalism, I saw almost no emphasis on sabbatical periods for pastors, especially in those evangelical communities that have under 200 members and a small support staff.  For them, sabbaticals require a greater level of sacrifice by the whole church community, as most pastors fill roles well beyond the pulpit.

Read the rest here.

Where the power of faith resides

Published on March 28, 2010 in Quotes. 0 Comments

“The saving power of faith resides . . . not in itself, but in the Almighty Savior on whom it rests.” B.B. Warfield.[1]

[1] Quoted in Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 730.

A Window into a Pastor’s World

Published on March 27, 2010 in Leadership and Preaching. 2 Comments

“and [pray] also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, Ephesians 6:19

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The point of this is not to complain about my schedule – - I am so thankful God has called me to be a pastor.  Rather, my goal is to encourage our people to pray that the Spirit would work in conjunction with the proclamation of the Word.

For those of you who aren’t “Bricks in the Valley,” my schedule is not a lot different than most pastors.  Would you pray in a special way for your pastor this weekend?  Pray, in particular, that whenever he opens his mouth, Words would be given to him to preach the Gospel with boldness (Ephesians 6:19).

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This morning Allison has a softball doubleheader, but I don’t feel like I can take the time to go the games.  (I have already been at several softball games).  Here’s why:

  • Between our church and a conference, I preached six times last weekend – - so, I’ve been swamped in general.
  • This weekend I am on an ordination council this afternoon which will fill up the afternoon and evening.
  • Tomorrow morning I am preaching from Romans – -
  • Tomorrow afternoon I am preaching at an ordination service (1 Peter 5:1-4).
  • Monday I am leading a funeral service in the suburbs.
  • I really need to get another chapter of the book I am working on drafted.

Read Psalm 114 Aloud

Published on March 27, 2010 in Psalms. 0 Comments

Perhaps, you’re reading the Bible but nothing stands out to you.  Try this exercise.  Practice reading a particular section aloud.  Use expression.  Interpret it as you read.

This morning I did this with Psalm 114 and it was a real blessing.  It is only 8 verses long!

The ESV Study Bible summarizes:

The imagery conveys how powerful the LORD is; even the strongest natural forces would not dream of resisting him.  However, the events of the Psalm are not simply displays of raw power: God uses his power for the sake of his people.

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Psalm 114 (ESV)
1 When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
2 Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.
3 The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.
5 What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.