24...the morning hours
How do we take an ordinary day and transform it so that we experience God in a deeper way? We talked about 3 morning "spiritual routines" that just may help us to be more aware of God's presence: the 30 second pause (before your feet hit the floor pause and welcome God into your day), the shower assignment (use your shower time to pour out your concerns to God and confess your sins to God), and the heart/mind deposit (find a quiet place and read and reflect on God's Word before your work day begins).
WHERE DO I START IN THE BIBLE? Yes, it's a big Book. Yes, certain sections are hard to understand. Where does the "novice" begin? I'll give you 3 options:
A. Start in the Gospels, which tell about the life and teachings of Jesus. The Gospels are in the New Testament--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They record many of the same events from different perspectives. Start in the Gospel of John. Read a short section or two and reflect on what you've read.
B. Start in the New Testament book of James. James is one of the most practical books in the Bible. It's fairly easy to grasp and is only 5 chapters long (I'd suggest that you read about 1/3 of a chapter per day).
C. Read 1 chapter from the Old Testament book of Psalms and 1 chapter from the Old Testament book of Proverbs each day. That would be a good 15 minutes of reading. Proverbs is full of short, wise sayings. The Psalms are fairly short, from-the-heart kind of writings...many of them were ancient songs that were sung by God's people.
Pick one of the options and JUST DO IT! I'll give you some more practical helps on Tuesday.
If you were at Crossroads this past weekend, you heard me plug the TV show 24 (we ripped off the title for this message series). The premiere Sunday night was awesome...but I hope you heard my warning about the show--it's not for kids. It's about a counter terrorism unit which means it can get pretty violent. Be discerning.
Blessings,
Pastor Phil
WHERE DO I START IN THE BIBLE? Yes, it's a big Book. Yes, certain sections are hard to understand. Where does the "novice" begin? I'll give you 3 options:
A. Start in the Gospels, which tell about the life and teachings of Jesus. The Gospels are in the New Testament--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They record many of the same events from different perspectives. Start in the Gospel of John. Read a short section or two and reflect on what you've read.
B. Start in the New Testament book of James. James is one of the most practical books in the Bible. It's fairly easy to grasp and is only 5 chapters long (I'd suggest that you read about 1/3 of a chapter per day).
C. Read 1 chapter from the Old Testament book of Psalms and 1 chapter from the Old Testament book of Proverbs each day. That would be a good 15 minutes of reading. Proverbs is full of short, wise sayings. The Psalms are fairly short, from-the-heart kind of writings...many of them were ancient songs that were sung by God's people.
Pick one of the options and JUST DO IT! I'll give you some more practical helps on Tuesday.
If you were at Crossroads this past weekend, you heard me plug the TV show 24 (we ripped off the title for this message series). The premiere Sunday night was awesome...but I hope you heard my warning about the show--it's not for kids. It's about a counter terrorism unit which means it can get pretty violent. Be discerning.
Blessings,
Pastor Phil
posted by Pastor Phil Print at 7:21 PM
10 Comments:
Speaking of practical advice - There is a great online Bible site:
www.biblegateway.com
It makes 'Reading the Bible' very easy to do at work (During breaks or lunch - or if you get in a little early) The default version is the NIV but you can cross reference specific versus or chapters with dozens of versions with a single click. And it's all on your computer screen!
PS - Was it just me, or did we see Pastor Brad in the SCARIEST shower scene since psycho on Sunday?!?
progressingpilgrim, for what it's worth, i have struggled with coming from a small, intensly driven church to a larger, seeker sensative one. i found that there's good & bad with both. for instance, although practicly everyone watched tv in my smaller church, we kind of pretended that we didn't. and although we had very in-depth bible study, we didn't get many new people converted & committed there. i've found cr to be more culturaly relevant, alive & real about issues. that's why i've found a home here. however, i do have some concerns that i've stated a time or 2. the staff seems to be receptive to constructive critisism. to me, it boils down to certain bodies filling certain niches. i guess we have to find our niche! ps, narnia has my vote as better in many ways than the passion!
Usually the point of using TV shows in movies is get people who watch the shows to come and listen to the sermon. Generally we all watch these shows anyway so the pastor tries to tie into something we are already interested in. And just because a church uses a theme or tag line from Hollywood doesn't mean they are encouraging you to watch the show. I wouldn't think that Crossroads actually encourages people to watch Desperate Housewives; they are just trying to get people who do to listen. And I took Phil's encouragement to watch 24 as coming from a person, a friend, not from the establishment of Crossroads themselves. And about movies, come on, if you took all the movies even mentioned in all of last years sermons and watched them all, you would still have plenty of time to read your Bible, if your priorities are straight.
Wow. I never thought this conversation would go down this road. Let me clarify why we use things like drama, movie clips, and multi-media on weekends--because we want to capture people's attention (not because we've sold out to our culture). We want people to stay awake so we can share the truths of God's Word with them. The teaching pastors at Crossroads are "bridge-builders"...our job is to take the ancient text and apply it to today's world. To do that, we have to be in tune with our culture. OK, please never feel like we are endorsing any movie or TV show we reference. FYI, I don't watch American Idol even though I did a series called American Idols. FYI, I don't watch Desperate Housewives even though I did a series called Desperate Bible Housewives. FYI, I don't watch half of the movies we show clips of on weekends. FYI, I do watch 24 and saw Narnia(guilty as charged). I plugged those 2 things, but that's all I can remember plugging. PARENTS, you must control the remote in your house. PARENTS, you must say no to certain things your kids want to do that may be inappropriate for them to do. PARENTS, you are responsible (as jmariep said) for the spiritual nurture of your child. Your kids are going to love what you love and be passionate about what you're passionate about. Hopefully that will be the right thing(s).
I'd like to know how "Digging deeper into the Bible" means having discussions on Homosexuality and Abortion and Right to Life. Biblically these seem to be pretty surfacy issues that don't get a lot of attention.
And how can Christians have a group of "Hot Sins" that lead their battle cry - without addressing the SIN of letting millions of people starve every year, or the SIN of letting Millions of lonely people sit day after day in hospitals, prisons, nursing homes, etc WITHOUT our visits?
Silent no more is committed to a wonderful ministry. She is putting her time, her heart, and her own story into HELPING others. If you are truly bothered by homosexuality or abotion or right to life - how are YOU getting involved and helping others? Because if all you can offer is your opinion on the sins of others...
pastor phil, could our congregation's demographics have shifted from being mostly new folks to those who have been around for a few years or so now? if so, do you anticipate ever incorporating more intermediate to advanced lessons during regular worship services? i believe that just as we can all get encouragement from the milk of the word (christianity 101 & 201), so too can infants in Christ be encouraged & grow through intermediate & advanced (more meaty) lessons. i also believe that by taking us to the next levels, you may be more apt to get the 'crazy', 'extreme', 'radical' & 'committed' church that it seems you long for! it could also lead to more interesting small group studies. by the way, i think that you & all of cr staff does a wonderful job in all that you do. i also agree with humble pie, that discussions that elevate certain sins over others, do not constitute 'deeper' instruction. just my opinions!
Slowdriver - I hope you're not leaving because of anything that I said. (Your last post didn't point out a specific person/entry.) My comments weren't specifically directed toward you by the way, they were a reaction to the overall 'direction' that the discussion was going.
You did say that you wanted to get 'deeper' into the Bible. You used the Kindergarton analogy. You then brought up homosexuality and asked did anyone say it was wrong. (Pastor Phil actually did - as he stated) My point is simply - How is stating that "Homosexuality is wrong" going deeper into the Bible?
If you want to go deeper - how about this. Most people think of Sodom and immediately think of Homosexuality and use that as a 'reason' to be against it. Read this from Ezekiel 16:
49 " 'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.
I think the DEEPER reading into the story of Sodom leads us to a discussion of MORE then just homosexuals - it leads us to look in the mirror: are WE arrogant, overfed, unconcerened, etc.
You also stated:
My intention and desire would be to have CR look at today's topics, teach from the bible on those topics and help members make a biblical decision that helps members teach others what is moral and why it is moral.
I think this is exactly what Crossroads IS doing. Granted, the 'topic' may be different then what you would like to hear. But in today's hectic society how many of us struggle with our Spiritual lives because we 'lose sight' of God during our day? Not just new Christians - but ALL of us. And yes, losing track of God during the business of the day IS a moral topic.
Sorry for the wordiness of this post. And please reconsider sticking around. I know that there are MANY weaknesses to this medium, but it's good to have discussions like this - as long as they are done out of love for the body of Christ and respect for the individual. I have no doubt that your focus is just that.
PS I did appreciate your link to Plugged in online by the way - and agree with your take on the potential dangers of modern media. I think that we are sometimes quick to point out disagreements with others and not affirm commonalities. (I know that I can be) For that I apologize.
THIS IS THE 24TH Post.
Yeah! "24"
(Just trying to add a bit of comic relief!)
A random thought: One thing we try to do on weekends is show the relevence of the Bible. We do that for the value of believers and seekers. We want people to know that God's Word speaks to our lives today. We hope in doing that Christians will want to spend more time in the Word and seekers will be drawn to investigating the claims of Christ. Just yesterday I did a funeral at Crossroads. I preached a normal kind of message. A guy (total seeker) walked up to me afterwards and started asking a bunch of questions. He was amazed that the Bible had anything to say to him. Through the message I was able to create a thirst in his life. He now wants to go deeper, so I was able to show him his next step. Seekers at Crossroads are there to observe--as we show them the relevence of the Bible, as they observe people engaged in authentic worship, and as they see the commuity of believers loving each other they are impacted. Are weekends for seekers? No, they are for God primarily. But we love it when seekers AND believers show up!
pastor phil,
i repent & conceed that i need to put into pratice the basic things i'm learning in this 24 series, more than i need any further 'deeper instruction'.
thank you!
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