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Pastor Mark’s Message about Haiti

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@joshdailey – The best time in communion I have ever had. Lots of tears viewing our sin in light of the grace and mercy of Jesus on the cross. #hungerweek

@yourhairstylist – Last night was so humbling. I truly feel as if we have grown even more as a family in Jesus. #hungerweek

@mumsperez – Thank you Jesus for the cross, I want to live at the foot of it. You let me wear forgiveness as a crown. #hungerweek

@cdailey – Being convicted w/ the difference between coming 2 be fixed, & coming 2 fix my eyes on Him. #hungerweek

@ronni_christine – Excited bout theLord giving me words to write… And a passion to do so. He’s renewing my vision and reminding me of gifting. #hungerweek

@baplace – Wow i am so satisfied in Him. His intimacy is far greater than anything of this world. Oh how he loves us. #hungerweek

@hshouse – My salvation is not founded in me redeeming myself, but that God redeemed me…. Col 1:13-14 #hungerweek

@danadailey – I have been humbled, broken and loved by the Lord. The best part is seeing God’s grace, I don’t get it, I am blown away by it! #hungerweek

Over these last two days of the fast we are going to be focusing our prayers on the mission of God for us in this city.  We are saved by the Gospel, for the Gospel.  As Life Connection Church we have some real big disconnections between our inward professions and our outward expression.  Our prayer as elder’s has been that the knowledge of the Gospel would work itself out of us.  We have this power of the Gospel and we seem to be caging it.

“the Gospel is like a caged lion; it doesn’t need to be defended, just released.” – Martin Luther

I think I (we) try and protect people from the Gospel, if you know what I mean.  We try and cage it so that it is not so powerful, or we try and defended it because we see it as weak and that it does not have any power.  I am just praying that the Gospel would be lived in our lives in such a way that we have to answer questions to what has changed us.  I am also praying that we would not be ashamed to open our mouths and declare the Gospel.  I am praying for boldness and wisdom.  I am praying that His kingdom (rule & reign) would come and His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.   We need a knowledge of the Gospel that is so deep and a zeal of the spirit that compels us to go.

Questions to meditate on…

(1) Do I have a passion from God to see people come to know Him?

(2) Is my life lived for myself or for His use?

Day three started for me rough.  Not because I was so hungry or had the detox headache, but because I was fighting admitting that I was discouraged.  This fast so far has been good.  I’ve studied, prayed, cried, and journaled, however; I have struggled with feeling like I’m missing it.  I had in my head this idea of what God was going to do with me during this fast.  There was going to be some great move that totally changed my entire world in five short days!  This morning I realized that wasn’t happening and we are already on the third day.  According to my schedule I should be recovering from the initial spanking and on my way to life changing freedom!

Aaron and I got ready to pray and he asked what was wrong.  I kept trying to say nothing (just because I didn’t want to admit-especially to Aaron-that I am discouraged in this fast), but finally I answered him and told him the truth.  I knew as it came out of my mouth that I was wrong, but I couldn’t shake it.  We started to pray, and through Aaron the Lord reminded me of what fasting is about. It caused me to repent and to find joy again in this fast.  I’m not fasting for me.  I’m fasting for Him.  To bring Him honor with the death of my flesh.  If that is the only reason for this fast, then I am grateful that I get to do it!  The Lord has given me a tool to worship and honor Him with.  A sacrifice that takes me out of my comfort zone and reminds me that He is my God!  For this brief time I get the opportunity to dedicate all of my life, my mind, my will, my emotions and my body to Him.  The truth is I am honored to do it.  It is blessing me to do this fast.  That is so humbling it hurts!  I am wretched, prideful, selfish, and arrogant and yet He still chose me… and not only chose me, but gave me a way to bring Him honor with my body!  My previously misused and incredibly dirty body has now become my venue to bring Him honor!  My mind is blown and I am so overwhelmed!  Thank you Jesus for giving me freedom from my sin and transgression so that I can honor my King!  Why do you love me so much?!!

I am so convicted by this.  This fast is to honor and glorify Jesus with my life, my mind, my will, my emotions, and with everything that is in me.  Is that more than enough, or do I get frustrated if I am not getting something out of it?  Lord, I pray that this whole thing would be all about you.  Show us our hearts, break our selfishness and pride, and make us reflect you more.

Questions to meditate on…
(1) Why am I fasting?
(2) Would this fast be enough for you if He was pleased and glorified?

Tonight all the Gospel communities are meeting in homes, all over the valley, to gather around the Lord’s table to confess sin and boast in His grace.  I think as people we tend to minimize sin instead of making much of sin.  For some reason we have made grace into an excuse for sin instead of the motivation for deep, deep repentance.  I pulled a portion of an article from Soma School, about ways we minimize sin, that I want you to read:

Six Way of Minimizing Sin
Defending // I find it difficult to receive feedback about weaknesses or sin.  When
confronted, my tendency is to explain things away, talk about my successes, or to justify my decisions.  As a result, I rarely have conversations about difficult things in my life.
Pretending // I strive to keep up appearances, maintain a respectable image. My
behavior, to some degree, is driven by what I think others think of me. I also do not like to think reflectively about my life. As a result, not very many people know the real me (I may not even know the real me).
Hiding // I tend to conceal as much as I can about my life, especially the “bad stuff”.  This is different than pretending in that pretending is about impressing.  Hiding is more about shame. I don’t think people will accept the real me.
Blaming // I am quick to blame others for sin or circumstances.  I have a difficult time “owning” my contributions to sin or conflict.  There is an element of pride that assumes it’s not my fault AND/OR an element of fear of rejection if it is my fault.
Minimizing // I tend to downplay sin or circumstances in my life, as if they are “normal” or “not that bad.  As a result, things often don’t get the attention they deserve, and have a way of mounting up to the point of being overwhelming.
Exaggerating // I tend to think (and talk) more highly of myself than I ought to.  I make things (good and bad) out to be much bigger than they are (usually to get attention).  As a result, things often get more attention than they deserve, and have a way of making me stressed or anxious.

How do you handle your sin or others?  I think many of us take one, or all six of these ways, instead of letting our sin be so dark that we are desperate for God’s grace.  Today, as you are praying, and tonight, as you gather, I want us to really let the spirit convict us of sin in our hearts and/or actions.  Refuse to defend yourself, pretend it is not there, hide it from sight, blame someone else, minimize the darkness of it, or exaggerate your circustances.  Refuse to have any other out and fall hard on the grace of God.  Let God’s grace be your only hope.

Questions to meditate on…
(1) What sins are in my heart and or life?
(2) What ways do i try to minimize my sin?
(3) What do i deserve for the sin I have committed?
(4) How great is God’s grace towards you?
(5) Do you know the Gospel and how Jesus has dealt with your sin?

Finally, C. John Miller speaks of a frontline prayer as opposed to maintenance prayer.  Maintenance prayer is designed simply to maintain the existing life of the church. A frontline prayer meeting longs for God to act in life changing ways, believes he can, and so confidently expects change praying fervently for his mighty work.

There were so many things that the author said in this book about prayer, but this just jumped out at me.  How much of my prayer life is just “maintenance prayer”?  Is my heart for change?  I was thinking that it takes so much more prayer to be on the frontlines of battle, than it does when you are maintaining.  I can tell you this:  my prayer life, for the most part, does not have the longing, expectancy belief in God that would reflect frontline battle.

I want to be on the frontlines!  I want to see God’s mighty work!  I want to pray because I know that He is the only one who can send me, empower me, and enable me to do anything that would glorify Him.

Questions to meditate on…

(1) What does my prayer life look like? A man on the frontlines or a man who is comfortable?

(2) What do I long for the most? Is that longing for God?

(3) Do I believe God hears me and is able to do what I ask in prayer?

Hunger week info

Who will help the churches in Haiti?

Sunday Wrap Up (01/10/10) from Our Rising Sound on Vimeo.

I guess one of my pastor friends felt the same way.  Pastor Justin Anderson at Praxis Church wrote a article on his blog that is getting hundreds of hits and comments.  I posted it below but you can also go to his blog and see all the crazy comments he is getting.  As far as I am concerned, “I fully agree with Justin.” (You can quote me on that.)

This was the first Halloween in my life that I didn’t dress up. I figured at 30, the time had come. We dressed up my daughter and her friends as fairies and took plenty of pictures and handed out our fair share of candy, but this Halloween was a different one for me. A couple years ago I went to Mill Avenue with some friends on Halloween and someone made the observation that costumes had changed over the years from scary to funny to sexy. He was right, I remember a few years ago trying to figure out what would be the funniest costume that I could come up with, and for guys, this is still pretty true. But something has changed for the girls.

Somebody, I don’t know who, decided that girls shouldn’t dress up as witches anymore, they should be sexy witches. No more cats, we need sexy cats! French maids have even gotten sexier over the years. How did this happen? How did Halloween become little more than a excuse for the ladies to dress slutty? I write this fully aware of the fact that I am going to sound like the old guy longing for the good ‘ol days but that really isn’t true.

I am writing this blog as a father first and a pastor second. My daughter is still years away from dealing with Halloween on her own and all the pressures that come with it. I will be able to protect her from this cultural transition for a few more years, but I wonder how much more it will have changed 20 years from now. I hope that I can love her and teach her that as a follower of Jesus we do things differently than the world does. We do celebration different, we think of our bodies different and we do Halloween different.

Facebook has become an interesting tool for Pastors all over the world. Every day I get status updates from hundreds of the people in my church, telling me what they are excited about, struggling with and how they are spending their time. This can be a great way to stay connected with my flock as it grows and changes. It can also lead to the disappointment I experienced today. Picture after picture came up on my feed today, chronicling all of the Halloween hijinx that took place over the weekend. Unfortunately, what I saw is that many of the Christians in our church dressed no differently than the folks I saw years before on Mill.

I know what you are thinking, “ease up Pastor, its all in good fun. Nobody got hurt, Christians are allowed to have a good time!” Here’s the thing, I’m sure that’s true. Many of the people that I saw on my Facebook feed today are solid, Godly Christians whom I trust and love. I don’t think for a minute that most of those young ladies dressed up with the intention of causing the young men they would meet that night to sin. I don’t think that they dressed up hoping that they would attract young men sexually. I don’t think they were thinking that they would put aside their Christian convictions for a night of fun. In fact, I don’t think they were thinking much at all. And I guess that’s what disappoints me.

In 1 Corinthians 10:31 Paul tells us, “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Followers of Jesus are called to frame all of our lives in view of Christ. No matter what we do, even trivial things like eating and drinking, should be done intentionally and done in a way that reflects the truth of the Gospel.

Paul goes even a step further in Philippians 4:8 when he says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Not only should we be intentional about our lives but also our thoughts. This comprehensive view of discipleship is a challenge to us to never blow things off as unimportant or see opportunities to set aside the Gospel. Instead, Paul implores us to see all things as opportunities to reflect the glory of Christ.

I hate being the guy that points out the negative when everyone else is having fun. It was just really disappointing to see so many of the people that I love, respect, pray for and pastor embrace Halloween as a day to dress and act like everyone else in the world, instead of taking the opportunity to make a statement about the different way we see the world. Next year, use October 31st as an occasion to preach the Gospel, not with a bull horn on a street corner, but by embodying things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise. I’m not sure how that guides your costume decision but I hope that you will allow that decision to be guided by the glory of the Gospel.

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I really am hoping my friends can help me out, I need you to do just a couple things for me:

Go to purepathonline.com to read about it and watch the video.  Subscribe to my RSS feed and become a facebook fan and a twitter follower.  One of the biggest things you can do is fill out our online survey, so we know what we can do to serve the church better.  Most of all, will you pray for the ministry and myself?

I really love the relationships that I have with you guys and value all the feedback I can get.

If you have any questions let me know.

What is it about the face of your child that reminds you of the grace of God?  A friend, Hans, took this quick photo of my baby girl Selah Laurie and caught her with the cutest smile and a great pose.  I had not seen it until I was on facebook and for some reason it just made me thankful to God for allowing me to have 4 of the most amazing gifts of grace in my children.  Being a father cannot be explained, it can only be experienced.  Loving someone who can give you nothing in return and you not even expecting them to is overwhelming.  You give, give, give and give and they just live and that is not just enough it is a joy.  I want my children to have a full and meaningful life and I want to do all I can to provide that for them but all I want from them is a relationship.  I know that when they get older I am sure I will have more expectations but I cannot imagine loving them any less.  How did I, a totally selfish man, get a heart like that for my children?  It has to have been given to me from my Heavenly Father who has done the same for me.  Who has given, given, given so much to me and all I can do in return is live and for some reason that is not just enough it is a joy.  I am so thankful for the grace that God has shown me by being my Father and I, getting to be His Child, by no merit of my own. If me, being evil, love my children so much how much more does my good Father in heaven love me? That is amazing to think about.

For my Trip:

(1) The right words to preach while in Kuwait and the moving of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all the people.

(2) Protection over my wife and kids as I am away.

(3) Safe travels

(4) For all the leaders at Life Connection to have the grace to lead and cover for me.

(5) Most of all for Jesus to be glorified in all that is done.

Thanks all for your support and prayers.  I am going to be doing video updates about my trip so keep checking back on aarondailey.net, please comment and let me know if you will be praying for me.  Love you all and thanks for the support.

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Reformed Theology – what is it? from Grace Unknown the heart of reformed theology by R. C. Sproul

1. Centered on God
2. Based on God’s Word alone
3. Committed to faith alone
4. Devoted to Jesus Christ
5. Structured by three covenants (redemption, works and grace)

The Five Solas of the Reformation A Brief Statement Gregg Strawbridge, Ph.D

1. Sola Scriptura: The Scripture Alone is the Standard
2. Soli Deo Gloria! For the Glory of God Alone
3. Solo Christo! By Christ’s Work Alone are We Saved
4. Sola Gratia: Salvation by Grace Alone
5. Sola Fide: Justification by Faith Alone

We focused most of the class on the work of Christ alone to save. We went through some real key points of Calvanism, and we had a ton of excitement. Many people asked where they could get some real solid books that would explain Calvanism even more. So, I wanted to put it out there and see if any of our readers could give me some practical books that explain Calvinism, or reformed theology, in kind of a straight forward way. Do any of my peeps have some suggestions?

Okay hear me out.  I know this is not a preacher and he did not point it back to Jesus but Craig has some great points here.  He may be joking but am I crazy or is what he is saying actually make some sense?

I am young, and at Life Connection church we work with some young people, but when being young is worshipped then there  is some big problems.