Open Letter to a evolutionist:

Dear Sir or Madam,
I am very inquisitive fellow, so would please clarify some areas of concern for me. How did life come from non-life, since this can not be duplicated in a lab? How did organs such as an Heart, kidneys,and liver evolve. Because we all know we can not function long with a partial or deformed organs.Well how about Darwin's Nemesis the glorious eye. Not to mention the vast miles of veins that allow blood to flow throughout our bodies.That curious phenomena called blood clotting, well I guess we just bled to death until nature caught up. This one has been of interest to me, how or when did procreation take place on our evolutionary tree. Did male and female both evolve simultaneously to allow reproduction for all species? Now that's a miracle worth noticing!! Symbiotic relationships bother me also: the bee and the flower, hunter and prey, the fly and maggots. Did they evolve at the right time and place too! wow! The swine flu brings another point about our immune system, how did that evolve? How come with the million experiments and mutations done to the fruit fly it is still a fruit fly? Just wondering? How did coded information in the form of DNA get into our cells that if were written in book form would fill a library of 4000 books and all together would fill the Grand Canyon 75 times! That's it, that's where that little warm pond started at the Grand Canyon! No seriously where did the little warm pond come from, or the earth and don't forget the lighting. What about the first and second law of thermodynamics where did energy come from, and is running out and down, I know I am. Time, space and matter where did they come from? Now draw a circle and fill in everything you know about the universe, now in the vast space left, could there be any room for God.Well there was no room in the inn for Jesus either. "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?Tell me if you have understanding."(GOD) Job 38:4

Prophets of doom speak out

From William Wadesworth: “Have forfeited their ancient English dower of inward happiness. Oh! Raise us up. Return to us again.” This pitiful verse struck me as close to the American condition. Every aspect of our lives is polluted with sin and blood. Rivers of aborted babies’ blood cry out from the ground for justice. How far we have departed from the original intent of our forefathers in that this nation is place of worship and mission endeavors. Our individualism and idealism of self over community has made us the most selfish nation ever. Our nation is the most wicked and hedonistic nation that ever graced our planet. In the words of Billy Graham’s wife, “If God does not judge America; He will have to apologize for Sodom and Gomorrah.” Our idols of materialism, military, and humanism have shown their utter worthlessness in time of crisis and they are unable to fulfill us. God will strike in fierce judgment on these three areas, starting with the purse strings that are the root of all evil. The financial collapse will be thorough and complete, which will reveal our utter debaseness. But we will still not repent, so our military will be vanquished from within and without. We will be conquered by a nation even more wicked than us. They will put us to bitter bondage.
This alien invasion will show no mercy to us because we did not show mercy to the weakest among us. If not put under the sword, we would be subservient to them and live out our days in slave labor. Right now, we are looking to man to save us from the impending disaster. It will be obvious that we chose the wrong king to lead us. God is the lifter of our heads out of the muck and mire of our tragic situation.

Nature heals the hurried soul

Laughing Song-“When the green woods laugh with the voice of Joy and the dimpling stream runs laughing by,…” The outdoors calls to us to come find healing for our busy souls. Green and blue soothe the rage against the machine and our urban plight. The woods tell our story of struggle and pain. Snarled trees choked by endless vines, all compete for life. Death crouches behind every bush waiting and watching for its prey.
The wildness of abundant colors captures the eye and the howler monkeys cry. The rocks under the steady stream of water tell an ancient story of timeless life and death. The birds on the shallows with long legs, long neck, and longer sharp beak all serve the master hunter well. The bulrushes give false assurance to errant minnows that stray from the course. The rainbow trout in all her glory beautiful arrayed in shimmering brilliance.
The angler in practice craft of precision and patience, breaks out in rhythm all his own. The line glides and rolls across the water concealing softly the trophy. Then the trout will rise seeing the easy meal lay before him. Time is lost in this moment all is right in the world. The soul is restored and nature heals the hurried soul.

Mad Rush

From An Apple Gathering by Christina Rossetti :
“I plucked pink blossoms from mine apple tree and wore them all that evening in my hair: Then in due season when I went to see I found no apples there.” What happened to the intrinsic beauty of youth and childhood? Why are we, as a culture, in a mad rush to usher children into adulthood? Jon Benet Ramsey was made up to be a lady, when a little girl is who she should have been. Why must we pluck the blossom of youth and curse the tree? Train the child up, we did, to sell youth for a nominal fee. Cheap is the fare; steep is the price we pay. What will the reaper find? Fallowed and cursed we shall ever be. Children in the slave market may we never see. How low will we go? How young must blossoms be, to pluck for one night of ecstasy. No wonder stamped on their forehead is “worthless, careless, and free.” If our forefathers could speak and shout one plea, “save our youth, be ye patient for that tree.”

Our story is woven in the fabric of our being

The Lord has led me to see the beauty of the classics. Our story is told in them, because He has woven these stories in our innermost fabric of our being. The story of Hansel and Gretel comes to mind. Hard times are introduced giving the reader an idea of a more peaceful time. Evil comes from an unknown origin in the guise of a choice. The stepmother makes the unthinkable choice of getting rid of the children. Then comes next is the compromise­­—the father compromises because of the constant nagging of his wife. Faith and hope are introduced in medium of Hansel’s statement “God will help us.” The perilous journey begins. Birds have always been symbolic of misfortune or evil, by snatching away (as seen with the bread crumbs). The false hope then appears. If it looks too good, it probably is. Enter greed and lust(candy house) to ensnare the children to be subject to the witch (who is crafty and subtle, just like the snake in the Garden of Eden). She is powerful, but not too powerful. She has beady red eyes and does not see very well. The hero, Gretel, saves the day and she and her brother receive a reward for being faithful. They live happily ever after.

Praise is practice forever

Holy Thursday-“Now like a mighty wind they raise to heaven the voice of song, or like harmonious thundering the seats of heaven among.” The organist is working a fever pitch of peddles and pulleys. As melodious songs bellow from large pipes, they resound with their victorious cry. The proficient organist is worth her weight in gold, pure gold.
Many of our churches are willing to pay dearly for this caliber of talent. The low note resonates in your chest, “low in the grave He lay.” The high note calls, “Up from the grave He arose!” For 39 days later, Jesus would ascend on high. For what instrument could capture such lows and highs.
The thunderous bellowing fills the worshipers’ ears with great expectation of heavenly scenes. The voice of the parishioners strain to overcome the strong sound that fills the temple. O, glorious day that will be when every tribe, every nation will declare that Jesus is Lord. What that choir will sound like, when the heavenly anthems ring out.
Now, this sound will truly shake the heavens and will fill the air with praise. Thousands upon thousands of people will be lifting their hands, saying, “Worthy is the Lamb.”

Kiss the Face of God

Journey of the Magi-“A cold coming we had of it, just the worst time of the year for a journey, and such a long journey.” As the star gazers watched the evening sky, they searched the stars for signs. How did creation declare the birth of the King of the Universe? What configuration of stars alerted these astronomers to leave home and follow a star?
Most likely, these astronomers were pagans who had multiple idols to revere and worship. Their perseverance to overcome the elements and the unpredictability of the journey to worship a Jewish king was quite unexpected. I wonder what the Magi talked about around the camp fires that dotted their trek through daunting terrain. I wonder if they knew their journey would be immortalized forever in songs and scriptures.
Wild animals, strong places, bandits in the shadows, all beckon to them, “This journey is too hard-turn back.” What draws men to such pursuits for the fulfillment of their souls? Deep calls to deep and pagans read, t"he signs of the time" before the religious. Mary pondered these things in her heart as the wise men worshiped her Son and gave Him gifts. What a strange sight these weary travelers were to a young Jewish girl who would kiss the face of God? Wise men still seek Him, so must we do the same.

The road less traveled

Robert Frost—“I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Life is full of choices and paths for one to take. The “what’s” and “what if’s” always haunt us in our decisions. There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end leads to destruction.
Why does the easy, fun path seem so good to follow? It appears so bright and inviting to anyone that gazes at it too long. The endless call to choose its way entraps many an errant traveler.
The easier road is wider and grassier than that narrow path. Many are on this wide path. From the pagan to the religious, both travel together unaware of each other’s presence. Can anyone change his path?
The road less traveled is narrow and it seems impossible to stay on this path. This road is not easy to access or obvious to busy travelers. The narrow path is full of pit falls and sheer drops to scare the would-be traveler straight.

We are the pinnacle of God's creation

When God first made man, Having a glass of blessing standing by, “Let us,” said he, “pour on him all we can: Let the world’s riches, which dispersed lie, contract into a span.”(The Pulley)
We are the pinnacle of God’s creation—a precious treasure to Him. The double edged sword of blessing and promise is that man would worship His hand and not His face. God warned the Israelites before they went into the Promised Land that would possibly happen and it did. How often we worship the creation over the Creator. Pain and suffering may be the best remedy for waking someone out of this wretched state of contentment without God, but enjoy His work of His hands. The greatest blessing is an intimate relationship with the creator all others are just road markers leading the way. Creation screams of His glory and His Handy-work cries out day and night that our God is awesome.
One often wonders how in the Old Testament God’s people after seeing and hearing all of God’s miracles how they could leave Him. Well we wake up every day and see the miracle of creation and spurn the creator every day.

So what happens when oppourtunities come in spades ?

Right now I have several opportunities to preach in different places. Tonight at the Tenth Avenue North Concert, My friend Andrew told me that my name was getting known. My prayer during a stinking awesome Worship time was, Jesus I want your name to be Known. How refreshing it was to go to a christian concert that worship leader was theologically sound. We truly worshipped in spirit and truth.But all I have dreamt about and prayed about was these events. One is the See At The Pole Rally at Annex , and also during the faith week at Rutherford High school courtyard. Plus to be host and welcome agent for the Associational church's get together in which it should be a call to urgency of the state of the Churches. I would Love to be able pour out passion on these folks that God has burden me about the lack of concern about our spiritual condition.So far Bringing down strong holds,and that Jesus is mighty to Save has been on my mind. I feel like I am standing in front of Dam and feeling the earth shake.Let the dam burst and pour out your Spirit O LORD, Let it Rain .Let the fountains of the deep burst and former and the latter rains come. For I live in a dry and thirsty land, I am so hungry for God to break bread with us!!

So what goes into a sermon (final stage)

Spent the entry of Saturday night taking the myriads of info and insight then paring that into a half an hour presentation. The Holy Spirit woke me up in the morning with a anointing
then I knew that the Lord was pleased with the preparation and He was going to bless.Went to church early to practice the sermon and pray. The prayer time broke me, and I was ready to preach the wonders of God's Word.The sermon by-product manifested itself in several side stories and the opportunity to be used of the Lord was overwhelming. The pouring one self in preparation , learning , giving, and preaching is totally exhausting but at the same time exhilarating.The foreboding feeling of unfinished business is hard, When you literally feel people resisting the Holy Spirit. Many people told me how good the sermon was, that thrills my heart,but the almost christian haunts me. I can see there face even now almost mad at me for imposing on them.I wish I could rip my heart out and shove into their chest and say here feel that!!

So what goes into a sermon ?(part 3)

My wife and I are in Fort Myers right now...we were riders in the storm. We decided to take the alternate route along the coast on Sunday, during the Tropical Storm Claudette. It was beautiful but dangerous as we rode through the worst part of the storm--it was pretty hairy. But the minister will always be taught the sermon in his heart first and this was my learning expedition. With strategy and proper planning, I avoided the stress of arriving safely to my destination. Paul had a strategy to be intentional in his testimony sharing and God had a plan to get him to those who needed to hear. In the sermon prep phase, I am in the tearing apart the scripture and getting into the story phase. So this time I started with an outline of the passage.

I. Life Before Christ

A. Tailored to the person
B. Youth
C. Religion
D. Persecutor

II. Conversion

A. Preparation
1. On journey
2. Brought low

B. Call
1. Minister
2. Witness
3. Sent

III. Life After Conversion

A. Not Disobedient
B. Preached Repentance
C. Was Persecuted
D. Preached Christ from the OT
E. OT Case for Resurrection of Christ
F. Felix replies that Paul is mad. Paul reinforces testimony

So what goes into a sermon? (part 2)

During the pouring over process of the text, I had an unlikely visitor in the person of Conrad Meadows. A rare sighting indeed!! We talked shop and about the desperate straights that our churches are in. We had some really good prayer time and pleaded with God to bring revival. Also, we prayed for a lady in our churches who is not feeling well. The prayer was effective in that while on our way to her house, she passed us going to work. God had answered before we even knew it!!

The book of Acts was written by Luke the Physician and is the sequel to the Book of Luke. Many scholars agree with this accept for a few nut jobs. The internal and external early church fathers' evidences are good for pointing to Luke as the author. Luke was a skilled writer and investigator and was familiar with the Old Testament. He was a Greek God-fearer who was attracted to Judaism. The occasion of the book of Acts is of one showing the fulfilment of God's plan of salvation through Jesus Christ and the early Church through the power of the Holy Spirit through reliable eye witnesses testimonies with built in encouragement for ongoing evangelism. No matter how great the opposition, God's word will not fail and their faith can be secure. (I wonder if the Church of today really believed this, how different it would be? )

This is just an overview of all the info I read today and already knew. To get a good idea about Acts 26, one would be wise to read the Book of Acts or at least start at Acts 21 to find out how Paul got in this predicament. This book reads like a who's who. Basically all the trouble started when Paul made a purity vow and was seen in the temple. The people thought he brought in a gentile with him, which brought with it the death penalty. Well, this started an uproar and a mob scene with Paul in the middle feeling like a human wishbone. This incident got the Roman authorities activated with a military intervention. Paul found himself in Roman custody where he would be for two whole years.

The truth was that Paul considered himself a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I wonder what our first reaction would be if we were thrown in prison for following God? I mean all the guy wanted to do is make peace by making a purity vow. Instead of belly aching, he used this circumstance for an opportunity to witness to everyone he came into contact with; courtesy of the Roman empire. Ya gotta luv it!!

So What goes into a sermon? (part 1)

I have the great opportunity next Sunday to preach the riches of God's Word!! So I thought I would blog my Journey of Sermon prep. Of course all sermons are birthed and bathed in prayer ,one should hope. This sermon started several weeks ago in simple prayer: God show me what you would have me to preach on. last week I had very clear dream about a video called cardboard testimony on Tangle.com. Let me start by saying that dreams to me are last in my book on how God speaks to us and should be met with some scepticism. So I prayed and asked God for some confirmation through his Word and any other means. So God gave me many confirmations through people and circumstances, plus this past Sunday we sort had a spontaneous testimony time. So basically I knew that my sermon was to be about sharing your testimony to people. So immediately I thought of Paul and how he shared his testimony all throughout the book of Acts. I had blood work drawn yesterday and while waiting I was drawn to the Gideons bible on the table. I thumbed through Acts being familiar with the book and wanting Paul's later testimony in the book of Acts, because I felt many were use to his early testimony. Acts 26 was perfect and I knew that this was the text. So now I am at the research stage and getting my self familiar with the text with prayer and mediation. Questions now race through my mind like ,Who was the author and what was the historical/cultural background? How does the book of Acts fit into the New Testament and who are the main characters in the text. So now I will pour over the text. I only wish that people would know about the riches I am about to mine.

Fear to Tell

Tuesday night Cindy and I took a couple out to dinner. Chow time just beckons to the gluttonous appetite. They train you in evangelism to turn the conversation towards spiritual matters. But being Minister I come to realize that people are expecting you to bring God into the conversation. So I like to use unorthodox means. Found out that her Grandma is a Bible thumper and his Granddad is an evangelist. So they were use to the standard Bible drill. So the Lord lead me to go Plato on them. I ask them if you lived in a community underground that was for the most part in complete darkness. Then one day you stumbled on a path that lead you to the surface of a new world. Just coming out of the cave in this new world hurt your eyes because of the brightness of the son light. How would tell the inhabitants of your underworld your family about this new discovery. Would you shake them, plead with them, urge them just to have faith? Would they think your crazy and ignore you or even worse persecute you, put you in prison or even kill you. Would you be to afraid to tell?