100 Word Essay

Living Life God’s way is My Goal

I have been in church since I was a baby.  I have been a children choir leader, member of the choir, MYF President, and did many active things for the Medodist Church growing up.  I grew up with a mother who never gossiped or said anything bad about anyone.  I was corrected all the time if I did something unkind. When I left home I realized not all men were like my dad who was also a Christian man.

I excepted the Lord when I was 14 years old with two of my best friends at that time.  I have found having the Lord in my life makes me a better person and love for all.  I am a risk taker so I sin from time to time and have to get back to basics.  I lost 3 jobs 11 years ago and really had God by my side.  It was extremely hard as I lost them due to lies, jealousy, and doing too good of job.  Next I got ovarian cancer stage 4 and my limp-nods were full of cancer too.  Cancer just returned last year.  I am cancer free at this time.

I found CCC church, put myself in a Journey group, Gathering, and a Woman’s Bible study called “Rock Solid” to work on getting God closer to me.  I always tell God I am yours and help me follow you.  We all are sinners and have to work at not being a “Hypocrite”.   It was a blessing for Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and me to loose my jobs and get cancer, as I can be more of a witness for God the Father.  People can’t understand why I am so happy.  You put Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit together and you come out with grace, compassion, and forgiveness in your heart and mind.  It is so much better to have Sunshine in your life instead of darkness.  God is the light in our lives.

Connie

Don’t miss the final Summit 2012 event tonight at 7:00pm in the Student Center at Old Mill.  Bring a friend and bring your questions.  Enjoy our new monthly format for Gathering.

The Goodness of God in a World of Injustice

Many struggle to believe the Gospel because they see the Church making such small impact in our world. Is the Good News really Good News if it isn’t bringing transformation to our communities?

Question Mark / Friday Night Gathering

- Christina

My older brother and I and our mom were driving home one night from Lincoln and I was in the backseat. My mom and brother were in the front seat talking about what it meant to ask Jesus into your heart. I was listening as they talked. My mom explained to my brother that when you ask Jesus into your heart, you believe that He is your personal Savior and that he died to forgive your sins. Then you become a Christian and Jesus lives in your heart forever.

We stopped at the drug store to pick up some things, and when we went inside, I stole away to the toy aisle and looked to make sure no one was around. Then I prayed and asked Jesus into my heart. This was the beginning of a wonderful journey that I am still on today as a follower of Jesus Christ. Amen!

-Michael

- Deborah

Terri’s story…

I grew up learning about God: sitting in Sunday school class, learning hymns in worship service, reading the Bible, feeling drawn toward God and desiring to be a good person.  One evening, my mother explained my need to receive Jesus personally. Slightly panicked, I replied, “I’m not ready yet.”  I sensed that this would be a life-changing choice that demanded much of me. In time, I opened myself to Jesus and have discovered that the only step toward readiness was recognizing my need. It’s a daily “following” that focuses my life and grounds me in love and purpose.

Great comments on the Tough Questions video about The Bible or the Qur’an.  The excitement that seems to be out there about the Tri-Faith initiative here in Omaha makes for an interesting context to consider the religious pluralism of our day.  Dialogue, mutual understanding and respect are all values the Christian Bible upholds and so as Christians we must reflect the person of Christ as we encounter non-Christian religions.  But what can get lost in today’s environment is an appreciation for the clear differences between us.

There is a role for respectful critical realism.  On the issue of whether Christianity can ever be claimed by Islam as a foundation for it’s message, practices and world view – it’s the Christian Bible that raises the most penetrating challenge.  Islam just doesn’t contribute anything essential to the message of the Christian Bible.  Jesus is the clear fulfillment of what the Old Testament scriptures point to.  He is the key.  Reject the Christian Bible’s view of Jesus and you simply sever the connection between Judaism and Christianity and the connection between Islam and Christianity.  It’s more honest to simply say  - these are three radically different faith systems that cannot be theologically or historically integrated.

Check out this sermon from Pastor Mark from 2009 comparing Christianity and Islam.  Includes an interview with a Muslim convert to Christianity.

If you want to read further about the vivid contrasts between Christianity and Islam, this title by Timothy George is excellent!  It’s respectfully done and clearly presented (brief too- 145 pages).  It simply asks the right question about Christianity and Islam.  If you give it a read, let me know what you think.

WOW!  The buzz around CCC staff teams this week is how incredibly engaged people are with Project 4:4.  Isn’t it great when literally thousands of people all jump on board with a great idea?  This week has been like grabbing a brand new high-tech gadget and pushing the on-button for the first time!  COOL!

Thanks for all of you who have been doing the daily readings, watching video accelerators and tuning into tough questions.  Isn’t God’s word amazing, rich, puzzling, energizing?

This week’s Tough Questions Video #2 got my engines started.  Did the Bible borrow its Creation Story?  As I’ve tracked with the comments earlier in the week I just wanted to chime in with a comment or two on the blog.

Bill’s comment helped me see the need to sum things up a little better from the comparison of the Genesis account and ancient Mesopotamian creation mythology.  Could Genesis have borrowed from the Enuma Elish or Atrahasis – YES.  Possible.  But very very unlikely.  The dating of the written accounts doesn’t determine the antiquity of the account itself.  It’s entirely possible that humanity knew its story of origins long before Moses.  Long before 1400 BC.  In God’s timing of giving us scripture, he saw fit to actually have it written down at the same time the other 4 books of the Pentateuch were inspired through Moses.

The more critical issue is what Pastor Mark brought out so well in his message.  The world view of Genesis is so distinct and unique to all other ancient Mesopotamian (or otherwise) literature.  The details we do have about how creation took place come from an entire world view consistent with who God is and how he does things.  Human imagination just can’t deliver something on the same scale as a real God telling us what we need to know about how things really happened and why.

Keep the comments coming.  Next week we’re going to look at the puzzling question of why Isaac and NOT Ishmael and talk through the implications for the birth and development of Islam!  Look out!

Our second Tough Question will try to tackle what seems to be a difficult stigma of women in the Old Testament.  Watch for the marriage of Isaac to Rebekah as you’re reading next week and look me up on Project 4:4!

Tonight’s guest presenter Christine Currie will be speaking at Gathering’s special Friday night edition this time on the topic of Sexuality. Come join us for dessert, great thoughts and conversation on a hot topic.

Here’s a little about Christy:

• Christy Currie’s passion for reaching teens and young adults led her to graduate with a degree in Bible and Youth Ministry from Grace University. Christy spent several years speaking for the Center for Pregnancy Counseling, and has worked in front line ministry with Youth for Christ since 1999. She has served in various leadership roles as a Campus Life Director, Middle School Director, and Training Director. Christy is a gifted and compelling communicator and an expert on healthy sexual behavior and loving relationships. Christy married her husband Jason in 2003 and they have three children.

Christy will be joined by fellow women’s ministry leaders Jennifer Burchfiel and Lela Nix. Christy will speak for about 30 minutes then we’ll have a typical Gathering Q/A session. Come on out!

We’ve enjoyed a lively dialogue for the past four weeks. No signs of letting up. Knee deep questions every week. Here’s a bit of the territory we’ve covered.

Week One: Is Hell Real?

Tim Perry considered whether our culture’s depictions of hell are even remotely relevant to the stark pictures of hell Jesus himself gave. No, hell isn’t a tacky Larson cartoon with people cracking jokes to pass the time. No, hell isn’t where wicked cats like Sylvester accumulate all nine lives before permanent damnation takes affect (a great disappointment to all cat haters in the crowd). The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus points us toward an agonizing experience that cannot be undone. Accountability in THIS life determine eternal destiny. Repentance and putting your faith into practice are essential. These things demonstrate actual faith in Jesus.

Week Two: What’s Hell Like?

The imagery of Hell is daunting to even conceive. What kind of reality was Jesus speaking about? Some would say that since the language depicting hell is metaphorical, even hyperbolic, that we might as well dismiss knowing anything literal about hell. But words like Sheol, Gehenna and Hades all are terms with rich antecedents that were far from arbitrary. Tim Anstead made the point that regardless the wording, hell as a place of utter separation from God is a destination to avoid. Jesus used the most lively language he could to describe a place God supremely agonizes over anyone inhabiting. If hell exists it makes perfect sense that Jesus would bend over backwards to warn us about it and it would indeed be cruel for him to do otherwise.

Week Three: Is Hell Fair?

Marty Barnhart took the entire session to answer the question – does God inflict eternal punishment in response to temporary sin for those who choose to reject Jesus. When we pry hard into the can of worms we call original sin, out pops the reality of how sin works. Sin is woven into our nature as humans ever since the fall of Adam and Eve. It bears eternal consequences. Sin is a terminal condition. Sin leads to one outcome no matter how good a person is, where they were born, what family they grew up in. So the question of eternity and the justice of God is already decided – what remains is God’s reaction to the fall of man into sin. God decided to pay for sin himself and offer healing and forgiveness from it. To reject his offer is to merely ride out the natural course of sin’s terminal nature. No God does not “inflict” eternal punishment but offers reconciliation instead. Rejecting peace confirms a person in an already terminal condition. Put this way hell is totally fair – heaven is exceptional, and we’d be crazy not to opt for heaven but it must be a decision of our will based on the recognition of our need.

Week Four: Does God predetermine who will go to hell?

God knows everything. How he knows who will accept him and who will reject him is up to him. Walt Hooker shouted at the top of his lungs – “People – stop trying to put God in a box – his ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts.” Of course God can do whatever he wants to do. But God has also made us responsible for our choices. Our job isn’t to stand around paralyzed by the tension between sovereignty and responsibility. Our job is to hear, and respond to God! So if we haven’t received Christ yet, from that vantage point he is merely giving us more time to respond to him. A meaningful choice can be made on our part even if on God’s part he’s already determined what he is going to do. We will be held responsible. If we have received Christ, it’s not our business to second guess “who God has elected” and who he has not. Only God has a right to know that. Our job is to tell others about Christ and urge them on in their consideration of the Gospel.

“When people have trouble with election—and many do—their real problem is not with the doctrine of election, although they think it is, but with the doctrine of depravity that makes election necessary.”

Get over it people. If you’re hearing the Gospel, you need to respond and you know it. I love Walt’s way of putting it all on the line!

Week 5: Why Christians simply have to talk about Hell!

For a more in depth interview about Rob Bell’s book, check out Francis Chan’s interview with Christianity Today.

SO, what’s left to talk about? Lot’s of unfinished business, not the least of which is the troubling debate about universalism. Here’s a few choice Rob Bell quotes we’ll take a look at tomorrow:

“At the heart of this perspective is the belief that, given enough time, everybody will turn to God and find themselves in the joy and peace of God’s presence.”

“The love of God will melt every hard heart, and even the most ‘depraved sinners’ will eventually give up their resistance and turn to God.”

“Beginning with the early church, there is a long tradition of Christians who believe that God will ultimately restore everything and everybody, because Jesus says in Matthew 19 that there will be a renewal of all things, Peter says in Acts 3 that Jesus will restore everything, and Paul says in Colossians 1 that through Christ God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

Its somewhat unclear where Mr. Bell is landing with his own view on eternal judgment, but the questions he raises are extremely important and relevant for our discussion on Hell. Feel free to jump in at Gathering or look for this series on our website along with related print resources.

Get an update on Rob Bell’s future plans upon his upcoming departure from the pastoral ministry at Mars Hill church in Grand Rapids, Michigan from this CT Article.

What follows is a dialogue I’ve been in with a Gathering attender. This month we’ve been doing a series about Hell.

Hit this link if you’re curious about the interaction we’ve been having at our lunch venue:

Click here for mp3 audio of Gathering sessions on Hell

Next this Sunday we’ll be hosting Gathering favorite, Pastor Walt Hooker of Bellevue Christian Center as he addresses the topic of predestination and hell. If God predestines those he’ll save, does he also predestine those who will wind up in hell? A very troubling question. But a very dynamic and engaging speaker to tackle the topic. Come on out – CCC’s student center at 12:30. Lunch for $5 (free for High School and College Students).

__

Pastor Perry,

Thank you for taking time to answer my question. Your response has been helpful. This concept of predestination is a tough one to grasp. I will take the scriptures you have given me and continue my journey.

I will be out of town this week end, I look forward to being in your class again.

God bless your work,

Jim

===================

On Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 8:25 AM, Tim Perry <TimP@cccomaha.org> wrote:

Jim,

Thanks for attending Gathering this week and for filling out a card! On the back of your card, you mentioned that you’re curious about predestination. “Do I have free choice or am I elected?”

Great question! We’re going to deal with that in week four of the series. I can give you a few thoughts now though. Here are a few basic facts that we have to start with:

1. God has made us as beings that have a meaningful sense of choice in all aspects of life. If that were not true, God would not hold us accountable for our choices. If he is going to someday judge us for the decisions we make, this basic responsibility of using our will must be taken seriously!

2. The words Election and Predestination ARE in the Bible. Paul teaches us that God does make choices about who and how he saves people long before we are even born!

3. The biblical idea of election is never meant to short-circuit human responsibility toward God (that would be nothing more than Christian fatalism).
Conclusion: YES, our choices are meaningful! It is an extremely serious thing to engage God’s offer of salvation with our God-given decision-making ability. Predestination in the end is a check on our pride. We’ll never be able to congratulate ourselves on picking God as if he had nothing to do with our choice. Without his initiative we are dead in sin.

The word “Free” in “Free-will” can be a bit problematic. Scripture gives us an answer to your question that is a little of both. Yes, we have a meaningful choice in responding to God AND yes, God does choose us in love. Somehow both are true at the same time.

Below are a few scriptures that reinforce that salvation is a work of God in a person’s life, but it is a work of God people are culpable for ignoring. Let me know if this has been helpful! Keep coming back to Gathering. Thanks for being there this week!

Tim

Scripture:

Romans 8:28-31 ²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. ³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

2 Peter 1:3-12 ³ His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴ Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸ For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, ¹¹ and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ¹² So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.

Ephesians 1:11-14 ¹¹ In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession– to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 2:1-10 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions– it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith– and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Interesting thought from one of our participants at Gathering during our current series on Hell. This person feels hell is plausible because the idea has been around a long while and is taught by other religions.

What are your thoughts about hell? Bring them with you and come out to Gathering this week. We will be trying to dealing full-on this time with the issue of predestination! Come hear guest speaker Walt Hooker, a Gathering favorite every time he comes.

Check out our Facebook Gathering Page as well for more thoughts. It’s shaping up to be one of our most interesting series. Come join in and bring your toughest questions.

Coming to you again from K. C. Sentralized missional church leadership conference. Tonight we’re listening to Mike Breen talk through his ideas. I’ll try to give you a bit of it here.

Mike begins asking: Could it be that we have left the age of the Soldier and Athlete and are now in the age of the Farmer and the Engineer? Consider how the gifts of the soldier and the athlete have a pioneering impact on taking new ground. Yet it is the farmer and the engineer who have to take over to create that which is sustainable.

Are we willing to integrate these four images in our sense of mission to places where the kingdom of Jesus is unknown? Mike describes his early efforts to reach the streets of Brixton ghetto, London. Awkward, halting and even hilarious he slowly saw God use the efforts of some his Anglican Church members to reach people and bring transformation through the Gospel.

Mike goes on to say how his early efforts were focused only on the soldier/athlete image – charging up the hill, taking ground, but not planting anything or building anything. As his work has grown over the years he’s emphasized the need to build a deeper disciple. He had to learn to leave something more than just a frantic plunge toward the needs of a community. He learned to impart missional DNA to the people God led him to.

Mike is wrapping up with some heartfelt exhortation to the group of approx. 600 church leaders gathered here. “Leave something greater than yourselves. Something that will last.” Grow things that bear fruit. Build things that last.

Down here in Kansas City at the Sentralized Missional Leadership conference listening to Dr. Michael Frost. “The mission of the people of God is not first and foremost to make the Church bigger. The mission of the people of God is to proclaim and demonstrate the reign of God. Could it be that we have become preoccupied with the tools God has given us (community, worship, Bible study, training, etc) and forgotten the real purpose of God’s people? What is the Gospel? It’s the active reign of God in all the world! Like a movie trailer, the Church should be a visible sample of God’s cosmic aim – the regeneration of all things in his son Jesus. Churches will grow when we learn our true purpose and expose the world around us to it!”

I’m sitting next to Steve Walters along with a number of other CCC leaders. We’ll try to keep you posted over the next couple of days. Looks like it will be a great time!

Yesterday in my message Evil, Evil, Evil, I made mention of persecution. I was taking some time this morning to read about Juma Naradin Kamil. You can read about Juma’s story at this link to Voice of the Martyrs. It puts a gut-wrenching face on the world of troubling evil that confronts many Christians today. Take a few minutes to look at this picture of evil. Then I dare you to pray a little more boldly than you might otherwise. Let Psalm 10 be your guide. This is serious stuff, people! Pray!

Break the Arm of the Wicked! (yes this is in the the Bible)

Psalm 10:10-18 His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength. He says to himself, “God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees.” Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless. Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, “He won’t call me to account”? But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out. The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

The shocking truth is that there are hundreds and hundreds of Juma’s being harassed and crushed for their Christian witness whose stories won’t be found out or told. But that’s not the point for you and me. Are we going to get involved or not? We can pray. We often don’t. Change that.

We also can speak up about our relationship with Jesus. Few of us will encounter scarcely more than an insult from a neighbor or a co-worker if we talk about Jesus. Let’s not hold back. People like Juma spur us on. They say to us “Go for it, friend! Don’t hold back. Even if they hate you for it, don’t shrink back.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of shrinking when the battle is raging around me. Let’s get at it, Christian. The world is too dangerous a place to pretend we’re on vacation. God, thank you for Juma’s courageous life – make us more like him.

If you want to read all of Psalm 10 click here and take a few minutes to break some wicked arms through prayer!

The first big question we sought to tackle at Gathering this week was this: Did Jesus teach that hell is real and that it is a place of eternal separation and punishment? (We always love jumping in at the deep end)!

Two passages we looked at really got under our skin. Churned up all kinds of dialogue. First of all there’s that narrative of the Rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. Click here and give it a read. Whether Jesus is telling a parable or describing a real scenario he may have known about, you have to face the fact that he’s essentially describing the difference between heaven and hell with a huge hint about how one winds up either place.

The bottom line with the rich man was un-repentance! What an ugly word, Jesus! It set off a miniature avalanche at just about every table at Gathering. The man suffering in hell suggested that poor Lazarus be sent back from Abraham’s side to earth to warn his relatives about eternal punishment. “If they didn’t listen to the law and the prophets, they’re not going to listen to a person resurrected from the dead!” Jesus went on to indicate that there was an impassible gulf between paradise and hell – even IF someone wanted to traverse between the two he could not.

Here were a few of the questions that popped up:

• If the issue is repentance, how does one ever know he has genuinely repented?
• What is repentance?
• Does praying at a Church service really constitute repenting?
• What about a person who lived an exemplary life but didn’t ever repent? Would that person go to hell?
• How about a child who doesn’t know right from wrong?
• Would a person who grew up in a place totally isolated from the possibility of hearing about Jesus go to hell when he/she dies? Is that fair?

Got any thoughts? When you look at it, Jesus did dig himself pretty deep with some of his sayings about hell. Hell either doesn’t exist at all and Jesus was somehow using the concept of punishment to motivate moral behavior. OR he knew exactly what he was talking about and it makes perfect sense that he would very emphatically warn about it.

We’ll look at that sheep and goats thing in my next post. Check out the CCC Facebook page where I have posted more comments and questions.

Also you might find this downloadable resource sheet on hell interesting that we handed out at the first session.

We have offered the Jesus Class at Christ Community Church now for about a year and a half. In that time I have had the fun of teaching Jesus class with about eight other teachers with five different groups. Let me be perfectly clear. It’s a great class – due largely to incredible subject matter.

However, I would also have to say that it is the student in addition to a great subject and a fired-up teacher that makes for an outstanding learning experience. Below is a note from a Jesus Class student from last spring. Just about my all time favorite Jesus Class participant truth be told! Let Jenny’s experience excite you about how you might also benefit. If you’re really curious, here are a couple of link’s you’ll find helpful:

Register for the Jesus Class coming next Tues, Sept 13th running for 8 weeks.

Check out other blog posts from Jesus Class sessions at this link.

Jenny – My Jesus Class Experience

Feb 2011

A few months ago an announcement was made in church about a class being offered called the Jesus Class. It really intrigued me because I was in a place where I was super hungry to grow and develop my faith, and also to meet some new people who shared my passion for the word, so I signed up. My first impression was that it would be a lecture type of class where a teacher explained the life of Jesus. However, from the very first day it was made clear that our teacher would be the WORD. We dug right into the book of Mark and began to pick it apart, then put it back together, then pick it apart again, examining it from every angle. We did it together as a class, and then took it home and did it on our own, bringing it back each week to share what God had opened our eyes to. I found my time in the word to be SO rich and fulfilling and seemingly couldn’t get enough of it.

One of the biggest themes that stuck out to me from my studies, was how Jesus kept talking about people having eyes to see and ears to hear. He made it so clear to his disciples that in order to learn and understand, you have to ask; you have to have the eyes to see what he wants to teach you. The people who received answers from Jesus were always the people who asked. That teaching alone has dramatically altered the way that I approach God’s Word, and my relationship with him. I spend more time listening, asking, seeking, searching, and praying. More time centering my life around Jesus. As I began to do this, He began to speak to me in amazing ways. He not only taught me some powerful truths, but he also opened my eyes to some incredible opportunities to live out those truths. I was in awe of how many doors were opened to me to share my faith with non-believing friends, or to show kindness to a stranger. In addition, there have been countless times where I’ve had the opportunity to share what God has been teaching me to a fellow believer who really needed to hear those exact words. This experience has only made me all the more hungry to go deeper with God and learn and grow more, so that I may see his amazing power at work in peoples’ lives. Words don’t do justice in explaining how this class has been a catalyst through which God has grabbed hold of my attention and changed my life.

As the class was drawing to a close, I began to lament the thought of losing this great community of believers that I had been learning and growing with. While I knew that I could continue to study on my own, I would miss the deep conversations and rich array o f perspective that each individual brings. So in the last few weeks of the class I inquired of some of my fellow classmates if they would have interest in continuing to meet and study together. I am currently still meeting with one other woman and it has been a joy to get to know each other better, share what God is teaching us, and encourage each other to live out those lessons authentically and purposefully. I can’t begin to speak of how grateful I am to have had the opportunity to take this class, how drastically it has altered my perspective on life, and how greatly it has improved my relationship with God.

Starting to think about our next message series coming this fall – Future Shock. Not sure how I landed it but my job on the teaching team this series is to deal with all the cosmic bad-boys found in biblical eschatology! Who are God’s most powerful enemies- bent on the destruction of his people- alive and dangerous as they rise in power and influence in our world?

If you’ve ever read parts of scripture like Daniel 8-9 or Revelation 16-19 you’ll meet world rulers with blatantly anti-God goals, Dragons and Beasts depicted as tools of Satanic aggression, false prophets actively manipulating world systems, deceiving people and bringing them under his power, the Anti-Christ, and even a cosmic bad-girl who imbibes the blood of Christian martyrs! To be honest, I feel like Daniel in response to his apocalyptic visions:

“I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king’s business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.” Dan 8:27

Something of enormous proportions is at stake. In Daniel’s day a vision of a goat with a few extra horns growing out of it’s head turned into a disgusting abomination of God’s temple and the public executions of priests. Antiochus IV was a real world ruler Daniel’s vision predicted would unleash great evil on God’s people. Does the Bible tell us similar things might be in store for Christians today?

YES. God has enemies. Real ones. That means God’s people will face God’s enemies in some form. Church history tells that story already. Christ followers have always taken the mission of Jesus forward through real opposition. That will only intensify as the timeline of salvation history advances to it’s climax. The role for Christians isn’t to “hope it doesn’t happen” or just close our eyes and brace for it.

Jesus gave us absolutely realistic instructions when he said this: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world the world would love you as its own, but because you are not of the world, the world hates you.” Or how about this one: “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” John 15.

I don’t know about you, but along with the likelihood of being the target of Anti-Jesus hatred comes a fascination with who those enemies are. I want to know as much as I can about The Anti-Christ, The Beast, The False Prophet, The Dragon, The Man of Lawlessness, The Blood-drinking Prostitute riding a scarlet beast (well maybe not so much about her).

Make sure you don’t miss Future Shock. I think it will scare your pants off to be honest. But I also think for every nasty enemy of God poised to unmake our world, there’s an assurance from Jesus that he can see his people through and that he longs to share his cosmic victory with us!

Send me your comments and questions as we gear up for this incredible series. Get into the book of Revelation over the next several weeks. Let us know what you’re thinking!

PS – no, this is not a photograph of me or any other CCC staff member.

Returned from vacationing out of town last week to read the news of John Stott passing away this week at the age of 90. Just thought I’d offer a few thoughts on this man’s tremendous influence in my life and the ministry I formerly worked for before coming to Christ Community (Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship USA).

A couple of links here might give you a bit of background if you’re not familiar with Dr. Stott. He is roughly compared in notoriety and influence in England and Europe to the American evangelist Billy Graham.

Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship’s page on John Stott

Memorial page on Dr. Stott by Chris Write of Langham Trust

Christianity Today’s article

The first exposure I had to John Stott was through all the promotion I kept hearing about him from my InterVarsity Christian Fellowship staff members when I was a freshman in college. The first time actually heard Dr. Stott was at an Urbana missions conference in 1984. I read multiple books by Stott starting with Basic Christianity, then his commentary on The Sermon on the Mount, The Cross of Christ, etc, etc. He writings are so well thought through, deeply biblical and readable. He was truly a mentor via proxy for me through his towering influence among older InterVarsity Staff and through his writings.

Probably the coolest thing about Dr. Stott I discovered about him when I was in seminary at Trinity. He has for decades devoted the resources earned from his writings and teaching to a training endeavor called the Langham Trust. He’s given his life to not only to preaching and teaching God’s word with integrity and power, but rather than build his own empire of fame, he’s invested in young preachers on a global scale.

As an example of someone with multiplied impact in his ministry there’s perhaps no finer example of Dr. Stott. His influence will live on for decades and decades as men and women ignited by his vision for preaching God’s word minister in his footsteps. I’d like to see how my tiny footprints fit inside his as I teach God’s word for the rest of my ministry years. Thank you, God for giving Dr. Stott to the body of Christ and for his tireless faithfulness to Jesus!

- Brian

Also some reflections on the passing of a parent and what it means to be with a parent during their last days. I was so humbled at what I saw in my mom and have a few thoughts share about that.

Sprinkled in with all the transition more stories have been coming in from the May Intersections class. I’ll update the blog with those as well. Hope Summer is moving along OK with you and that you had a great Father’s day. My 9 year old son and my wife took me to see Thor! Hmm, come to think of it I have a few thoughts about that movie too!

More to come soon!

Tim Perry

Many people feel like Bruce Nolan – remember this stinger from Bruce Almighty?

“God is a mean kid sitting on an anthill with a magnifying glass, and I’m the ant. He could fix my life in five minutes if He wanted to, but he’d rather burn off my feelers and watch me squirm.”

Gathering begins a new series next Sunday, June 5th where we’ll explore some of the more difficult to explain aspects of God’s character and actions in the Old Testament. Here are the details:

Is God…

Critics often view God as cruel and capricious. Gathering presents a two week series investigating why Christians submit their lives to a God that non-Christians believe to be genocidal and irrational.

Genocidal? – June 5 Dr. John Holmes

Does God alone have the right to take life without the fear of justice? Why do Christians believe that a God who ordered genocide is a good God? Invite a friend for lunch and join the study as Dr. John Holmes, Dean of Academics at Grace University, discusses some of the most troubling scriptures found in the Old Testament.

Irrational? June 12 Dr. Ken Dick

If God exists, why do His acts often seem random and counter-intuitive? Do God’s actions in the Old Testament make ultimate sense, or are they clearly the creation of human intelligence? Gathering welcomes Dr. Ken Dick, Sr. Research Fellow at UNO, for a thoughtful discussion about God and logic.

After marrying and having kids we decided we should attend church, and tried CCC. I volunteered to help out in the kid’s area, with my daughter & met Les. He started talking to me about Jesus, and finally got me to a point where I wanted to know more, and helped me get connected with an older woman. We did many studies, but what she did at the time that I did not know she was doing was steering me toward a relationship with Jesus by having me “help her learn her EE”.

One day, while at work downtown, it hit me, why was I waiting to invite Jesus in? I walked across to the park, and asked Jesus to be my Savior, while crying my eyes out. I will never forget those two people!

Thanks,

Shelley

I grew up Catholic and Methodist. My Mother is Catholic and my Father is Methodist and I was very active in both churches but never really understood what being a Christian was really about. I had lots of unanswered questions about the differences between the two churches which lead to some bitterness. In college, I fell into the typical party scene but always knew that something was missing. God placed some amazing Christian friends into my life who were diligent about inviting me to church, having spiritual conversations, and answering my questions. Eventually, at 21, the light came on and I realized that a personal relationship with the Lord and a total belief in Jesus as my Savior were the missing pieces of my life. From that point, God has grown me in amazing ways and it has been an exciting journey.

Heidi

I grew up in the church. There isn’t a time that I can remember not knowing about God, Jesus, and all the Sunday school stories from the Bible. I believed because my family believed, and who were they to lead me astray? It was not until my freshman year of college that I met people who, for the first time in my life, challenged me to justify the reasons for my beliefs, take ownership of my faith and live it out in a real and tangible way. It has not always been easy, and there have been ups and downs along the way, but I have continued to see God work for the good in my life as I continue to seek his son Jesus.

Angie

Wade.

Becky

“Jesus died so that our sins could be forgiven and we could have eternal life.” I’ve known this practically my entire life; I even thought I understood it.

However, a film reenacting the crucifixion spoke to me in a new way. In my brokenness, I came to a new understanding of the unbearable suffering that Jesus must have endured when He paid the debt of all mankind’s sins on the cross.

I rationalized many of my sins throughout the years. But feeling righteous indignation, I was wishing hurtful things to happen to a person who had hurt me. I even thought that God would be angry with and anxious to punish this person.

Instead I learned God loves each and every one of us, this other person included; and His greatest hope is that each of us will come to Him for forgiveness and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Do we even begin to understand how much God loves us? Have you ever been wounded so deeply that you thought you couldn’t get past the hurt?

Marilyn