Sam Sutter and Ashley Sutter

Spiritual Maturity is Overrated – The Godhead of God – Logos Free Book

Sam — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:41:38 +0000

With God, you never really become a master of the material. Most journeys are about mastery. Academics, career, hobbies, skills – in most things you start off with a little interest and you end up having mastered a skill, or position, or knowledge set. One starts off as an amateur, and drives toward… maturity.

A Christian progress has similarities, certainly. Foolishness, wisdom, truth, falsehood – we all grow and learn. But the sad irony and trap of spirituality is that the closer you are mastery the further you are away from the Master.

There’s something unnatural in how it works. – Christianity is often about letting God be God and realizing that you don’t have him figured out. It is about being mastered by Jesus, not trying to become a master of religion.
I recently sat down and read A. W. Pink’s “The Godhead of God” - Logos’ FREE BOOK OF THE MONTH – it really convicted me of this problem. I think I have God figured out, and it’s sometimes I’m too comfortable with him instead of letting him be GOD. You can get it for free from Logos until the end of the month. (or it’s 99cents for amazon kindle)

Here are some quotes.

Faith is an attitude of dependency, of recognized weakness. Faith is a coming to the end of ourselves and looking outside of ourselves–away from ourselves. Faith is that which gives God His proper place. And if we give God His proper place, we must take our proper place, and that is in the dust. And what is there that will bring the haughty, self-sufficient creature into the dust so quickly as a sight of the Godhead of God! Nothing is so humbling to the human heart as a true recognition of the absolute sovereignty of God… The chief trouble is that so much that passes for faith today is really only maudlin sentimentality.

Modern theology has invented a “god” which the infinite mind can understand, whose ways are pleasing to the natural man, a “god” who is altogether “such a one as” (Ps. 50:21)

This is the first great lesson we have to learn: that God is the Creator, we the creature; that He is the Potter, we the clay. This is the harvest of all life’s lessons, and when we think we have learnt them, we soon discover that we have need to re-learn them. God is God and has the right to dispose of me as He sees fit… The first sin of man was the refusal to be clay in the Potter’s hand;

A. W. Pink the Godhood of God.

April Fun Days..

Sam — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 23:52:37 +0000

We are clearly way overdue for some pictures of Colette – I think most of you visit this blog just for that. – Spring has been busy, but we really had a great Easter with family, and we’ve been able to spend some time exploring the Island (day trip to Long Beach) and taking shots around the house – she’s growing up really fast and we’re trying to enjoy every moment. :-)

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Youth Ministry as of late (Ashley Reflects)

Sam — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 22:54:22 +0000

Something really good has been happening in our living room on Wednesday nights.

Around 7pm the High School girls will start trickling in for their small group time. We usually start with some prayer, and then will discuss the book/devotional we’re reading. They jump at the chance to share their favorite quotes and I can’t help but smile as they’ll quickly grab a hi-lighter when someone brings up a quote that has yet to be schmeared in neon colors in their already rainbow plastered books.

After discussion, we typically turn to prayer requests. From my point of view, it is so neat to watch the girls be transformed into mature young women; thinking outwardly about how to care for their family, friends, schools, communities, etc. They often bring up their friends who are in really hard circumstances. Last night we prayed for a girl whose father committed suicide a few months ago and whose mother is losing a battle with cancer. It is so difficult to understand why – but I love that it is in these times where God brings us not just deeper in our own, but into others’ redemptive stories as well. I can still vividly remember praying for a student’s father to accept Christ as his savior – and praise God as I see him today leading his family to worship God with their lives.

There are two other small groups that meet on Wednesday nights as well – the junior high girls and high school guys. Please keep the leaders in your prayers as they are giving up time and putting in a lot of energy to disciple these students. At times it can be really frustrating to give so much to teenagers who don’t really grasp/appreciate that their leaders could be having dinner with their wife, studying for their college coursework, taking a night to relax after the end of hard work day, etc. Youth group doesn’t take off in the summer, so leaders work hard year round (and on Friday nights) to see that these students flourish – and I know Sam really appreciates the work of the volunteer leadership team.

In spite of the hard things, youth ministry is highly rewarding and satisfying as you see dynamic growth and change in hearts. Last night one of our students reminded me that next year the presidents of four Christian clubs in local public high schools will be represented in our youth group. These students are really stepping out in their faith in an environment that can be hostile. As I look back to my own days in public school I wish that I had half the chutzpah of these kids. They trust God and are risking the loss of friends and their reputation with their peers because they know there is a higher goal to be obtained. Pray that they would reach their friends, teachers and administration at their schools for Christ. Pray that as these clubs get established they would be more than a hang-out for Christian students – but that they would function to offer hope to those who are lost and searching for answers and a God who can satisfy.

Another prayer request – a bunch of our leaders are expecting children of their own. Pray that God works out the details, and if need be brings more leaders to the youth ministry team.

Preaching in Romans…

Sam — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 21:21:35 +0000

I had opportunity the last two weeks to study and share God’s word with our morning services – it was a little different for me because I preaching sermons in Pastor Stephen’s Romans series. But I had a lot of fun thinking about how to interpret and apply sermons on “persecution” and “weeping with those who weep“. - I want to share those messages with my blog readers:

RENEWED to Care – Pastor Samuel – Romans 12:14 – March 3, 2012

By now Romans has been pretty clear about what it means to follow Jesus. We’re spent a lot of time looking at specifics of how to RENEW your mind – discerning God’s good, acceptable perfect will. (See Romans 12.1-13 if you’re a bit rusty on what that means.) Today’s topic boils down to one simple question: “What does it take to stop you?” Do you really believe that God is trustworthy for future blessing and that nothing can separate us from his love? What does it take to stop you from acting on that belief? LISTEN HERE

RENEWED to Show Compassion – Pastor Samuel Sutter – Romans 12:15 – March 11, 2012

It’s like watching a car accident. We can’t help but watch, with a morbid curiosity, people who are in trouble. We are skilled at following the stories of people who’s lives are careening our of control and yet we are less skilled at caring about them. Jesus and Paul shout to us “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Being RENEWed means that we can no longer be passive observers of the pain and joys of others. We must learn be compassionate towards people. LISTEN HERE

Days in the Life (of youth ministry?)

Sam — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:30:52 +0000

I wanted to share some video I’ve posted in the last couple days – I think they’re hilarious (or possibly awesome..)… too good not to share at least.

The first video is from our Winter Retreat at Camp Spofford – The retreat was really incredible - hopefully I’ll also post some video of some of the spiritual things… but this video is the sad ending to a story that began by challenging a group of us to street hockey… a game that “got interesting” then ended in… well you can watch the video for yourselves.

The next video I shot on Friday, it was well after youth group – I was walking through church making sure everything was locked up – when I found a group of students (and one leader) up to no good… they were in a back room playing country music… actually it was pretty amazing – I had to get it on video…

These videos paint part of the picture of how fun our youth group can be right now. It’s an incomplete picture – I’d have to post a random picture of some of the Sr High guy small group crashing my the girls small group at my house… probably because some of the girls cooked awesome dessert. – It’s a really fun season of ministry with our students. We love these kids.

Reminders are needed… Gospel Cliff’s Notes

Sam — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:17:07 +0000

I’ve had a lot of conversations in the last couple weeks about how Christians can live with a sharp disconnect between what they believe and how they act. Inconsistency, hypocrisy, lack of character – we have lots of different labels for something that we both hate in others and, when we’re brutally honest, see in ourselves.

We’ve attacked the problems in two different ways. This week we’re looking at a third – simply reviewing the basics of the Gospel. We tend to quickly forget these things.

The awfulness and shear scope of our own sin. The most easily-proven doctrine is the most taken for granted. There is no one righteous – no not even one! (Romans 3:10) The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. (Gen. 6:5)

“The struggle to accept our exceeding sinfulness is everywhere in the church of Christ… when we are approached about our own sin, we wrap our robes of self-righteousness around us and rise to our own defense.

But only when you accept the bad news of the gospel does the good news make any sense. The grace, restoration, reconciliation, forgiveness, mercy, patience, power, healing and hope of the gospel are for sinners. They are only meaningful to you if you admit that you have the disease and realize that it’s terminal.”*

The importance of the heart. We talk a lot about behavior. People are doing this or that. We setup goals and measurable observations. – But God looks at the HEART. “The heart is the steering wheel of every human being. Everything we do is shaped and controlled by what our hearts want… Lasting changes always comes through the heart.” We need to guard it and try and learn what this means: Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

The benefits of Christ for RIGHT NOW: Jesus RULES the all things (Ephesians 2:22-23) Right now Jesus is putting all his enemies under his feet. (1 Cor 15:25-28) We can live courageously without fear.

Jesus calls us to Grow and Change: We can’t just coast. We need to be free from sin, from our selfishness, from our pride and take on Jesus’ character. 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. (2 Peter 1:4)

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:11-13)

* Quotes and some of the content from How People Change.

A night of prayer…

Sam — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:14:42 +0000

You do not have… because you do not ask. James 4:2b– Implies something very powerful. It points to an incredible connection between our action of simple prayer and God’s bold deeds. A simple sentence that reminds me to pray.

One of my favorite nights of youth group events is our Prayer Night. About twice a year we take the bulk of a night and go in groups through prayer stations. By far, my favorite part is having an open mic after it’s all done and listening to what we experienced. I love hearing students testify about experience God’s personal presence.

“I’m just overwhelmed by God’s grace.”

“I can’t believe how much God loves me even though I fail”

“Our world really needs God”

This last Friday we had five stations:

1) PRAY FOR THE COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD

What’s going on? Cry out to God about politics, war, drugs etc.
On the tables are newspapers from this week. Start looking over the headlines and articles. When you find one that catches your attention take a Highlighter or marker and highlight that article and then pray for that situation/problem or praise God for how he is working in the situation. You can write your questions and your prayers right on the article as well.

27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD,  and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,  28 for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations. Psalm 22:27,28

2) PRAYING THE PSALMS On the table is a list of all the Psalms and their topics. Read through the list and choose a psalm off the list that you are drawn to, take time to meditate on it. Read through the psalm a few times. Notice a specific verse that stands out to you. Write the verse and the reference on an index card. Keep the index card in place where will see it everyday.

3) PRAYING FOR YOUR SCHOOL

4) PRAISING GOD FOR GROWTH Trace your hand on the tree. Inside write a thanks to God for how he has helped you to grow in a specific way. Next trace your other hand. Write a request to God for a way that you would like to grow in the future. (see graphic at top)

5) CONFESSION: Students spent time confessing sin by writing it on a piece of paper, then burning it in a camp fire as a symbol of how our sin are gone when forgiven.

It was an incretible night, and maybe an important reminder that God is always accessable to us. I want to thank EmLam for all of her help putting

One Last Christmas Greeting…

Sam — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:16:52 +0000

Some would call this late, I say that Christmas greetings are never unwelcome…. so here you are – a Christmas greeting from the three of us Hope your Christmas season was as full of joy as ours was. Bonus – here’s video.

Christmas Card... Side One

One month with Logos Bible Software

Sam — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:14:49 +0000

I have long been one of those book snobs who looks down his glasses-indented nose at people whose primary book source is computer software. I think it was because I knew people who used Bible software as a substitute for studying, and I think there’s something spiritual that happens when someone studies the Bible well. Plus I never could see myself reading a significant book on a computer screen.

I recently changed my mind… here’s why I’m jumping into Bible Software… Last year I got a kindle, and learned that it actually is really easy to read on an electronic device. I also got a smart phone and started reading on it constantly – seldom large books, but it is often my first go to device for answers… about anything. I then simultaneously noticed how much I was learning from blogs and computer resources… but was also getting frustrated at how temporary and cheap they are. (google– “reasons why John Mayer quit twitter”).– It occurred to me that while blogs, tweets, etc are interesting, they’re seldom crafted as well as good books, books that I could be reading on a computer. Lastly, social media – Facebook, G+, twitter, Linked in – I sometimes want to share/post what I’ve read.. and it’s harder with real books.

The good folks hooked me up with a copy of Logos Bible Software almost a month ago. I just jumped in – I still haven’t bothered to watch any of the user videos, or read the manual… I just started using it.

What is Logos Bible Software?

I think my most pleasant surprise is just trying to figure out what Logos is. I’m used to a pretty straight formula for Bible Software – you get a CD, and install software that looks like it was written for Windows 95, hope it doesn’t crash, while you look at a cluttered screen trying to show off how much information of marginal use is at your finger tips. Logos is very different.

Logos is an entire information eco system. I was really pleasantly impressed. Logos’ servers and services allows users to access books and other resources from any of several device. There’s the Windows and Mac software clients (which are actually pretty and run quickly), internet sites, and phone apps. Gone are the days of CDs and slow Windows installs. Say you’re a Logos user and you want to use the ESV Study Bible. You can purchase it online very easily. Next time you run the computer program it seamlessly downloads the new book without you having to do anything, and it’s there – working as though it was always available. You log on to www.Biblia.com and the book is also there, and you open your smartphone app, and the new book is there too, synchronized to where you left off reading on your computer. I have not completely figured out some parts of this but most of it works seamlessly. I love this part – say you’re reading a book on your phone at an airport somewhere, next time you log on to your windows machine, the software has it synchronized to where you last left off. Lots of books are available, and when purchased through Logos, they’re available anywhere you are, right where you left off. – Honestly, this is the part of Logos that completely blew me away.

Logos is also a research toolbox. The computer and web software has lots of ways of getting Bible answers and giving insight to Bible studies and topics. I could get use to this. For me the Bible is unique among books I read because when I study the Bible I need a half dozen books open. Translations, study guides, original languages, dictionaries, etc – and I have an annoying patterns of laying books out on my (physical) desktop and going between them. Annoying because of the space it takes up and because all the synchronized page turning. I know it seems odd to some of you, but it’s really amazing how much it opens up if you can see a lot of information coming together. Logos does this on your computer desktop. You can figure out what books you would like opened, and set a “layout” so it opens them for you just the way you like it. You can “link” windows – so as you scrolled through say a Bible passage, the notes or other Bible helps scroll with you. There’s also some really good resources that I’d never think of until it pops up on a search. You can search for topics or passages and the software finds relevant information.

Crazy story – my senior pastor was away at Disney World a couple weeks ago and one of our church members passed away. Bad times for Sam. I am not really great at funerals. I was meeting with the family, and I was on my phone and looked up “funeral” in Logos, and it (no joke) came up with a Practical Pastor book chapter on how to talk to a family before a funeral. – It seems stiff, but it gave some practical help that I really was able to use.

Still Diving In

I’m still learning – It’s one of those programs that has a lot more to it than meets the eye. As I learn, I’m planning on sharing more about the different clients. But I know a lot of you are serious about studying the Bible. – This is a great tool for you to start using. The packages start pretty reasonably – I think you can even get a bunch of books for free.

Check out http://biblia.com for a great web Bible interface.

www.Logos.com for basic packages – Get a free John Piper Book in December! (also all base packages are 15% off right now.)

or http://vyrso.com/ for Christian Books (Get Free John Piper Book)

Youth Group December Update

Sam — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:27:07 +0000

Quick random thanks to God – Ilyia Wilson (14 year old youth group member with Lymphoma) got it PET scan last night and he is now… wait for it… CANCER FREE – God is really Good.

Last month was amazing! I started listing some of the events we’ve had but it seemed like it was easier just to post some of the pictures and let you in a way see for yourself. This month like most months I am very thankful for our hard-working youth leaders. In November they’ve really gone above and beyond to serve our students and help them grow. I’ve also been very proud of our students—some of whom have taken courageous steps—starting clubs at school, organizing coat drives, collections for orphans, getting others to help at rescue missions—the list goes on.

I’m also really excited about iFace (Influence, Friendship, Accountability, Confidentiality, Encouragement)) our way of encouraging students to get involve with prayer accountability and mentoring. It still needs some work but I’m really excited about its potential to help kids grow.

December tends to be a hectic month. Dec 2nd is our Wallyball night—please see Sam for details, Dec 9th is “split night” Dec 16th is our annual (awesome) Christmas Party. We do not have Friday youth group Dec 23rd, or Dec 30th. We may add some day events over break, but overall we’re going to encourage students to keep each other accountable and pray that family time goes well. We do post a lot of other announcements on facebook—I’ve been impressed at how many things there are for our students to get involved in. —visit our group at www.facebook.com/groups/DixHillsYouth/

(pictured, IFACE game time – Carol and Laura put together a night of team-building activities to encourage friendships: A stack of home made sympathy cards from our Sr High Girls small group: Picture from Guys Small Group winter weekend at “The Captian’s” cabin. And Star Goalie)