Student Life Camp, July 13-17

Hype Type from Student Life on Vimeo.

Sabbatical Sandwich

One benefit of the sabbatical is I'm at home and in my kitchen each day at lunch (been doing most of the cooking for our family).  I feed the twins and then feed me.

Here is my recipe for a sabbatical sandwich:

1 sub roll

2 slices of bologna 

2 slices of pepperoni (sandwich size)

2 slices of salami

2 slices of provolone cheese

banana pepper rings

lettuce (I use the spring mix)

Boars Head sub dressing

parmesan cheese

garlic powder

oregano

butter

Slice sub roll in half long ways and then place face down on a cookie sheet and place under broiler to toast the outside of the roll.

Butter inside of the roll and sprinkle with garlic powder, oregano and Parmesan.

Place under the broiler again to toast the inside of the roll with all the goodies on it.

On the bottom of the roll stack bologna, pepperoni, salami and then place provolone on top.

Place under the broiler again to melt the cheese and heat up the meat.

Place lettuce and peppers on top of the cheese.  Pour the Boars Head sub dressing over top of the lettuce.  Place the top of the sub roll on the sandwich and then consume the sandwich.

"A sandwich is a sandwich but a sabbatical sandwich is a meal"

Follow the sandwich with a brisk walk around the neighborhood.

Isaiah 6

During my sabbatical I'm reading through the book of Isaiah.  I'm not posting on each chapter just on the things that strike a chord with me.  

Isaiah 6

The Vision - v. 1-4  The same God that Isaiah saw sitting on the throne still sits there today and seraphs still fly around saying to each other, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory."

The Reality Check - v. 5  Isaiah recognized he was a sinner.   I'm a sinner, we are all sinners.  I'm not worthy to approach holy God Almighty.  My sin separates me from  Him.

The Cleansing - v. 6-7   Isaiah experienced atonement for his sins.  I experienced atonement of my sins when Jesus Christ died on the cross for me and I came to the realization that apart from His atonement I had no hope for a relationship with God.  Note that the atonement wasn't the result of anything that Isaiah did but totally on God's part.  Same way with me today.  I could do nothing to earn atonement.    Atonement = reconciliation with God

The Call - v. 8 We have a call today:  Matthew 28:18-20  Isaiah heard the call then came . . .

The Response - v. 8 Isaiah said "Here I am.  Send me!"  I almost picture a kid in class raising his hand shouting, "Me, me, pick me!"  Isaiah sounds excited.  What is my response to the call? How am I reacting to Matthew 28:18-20?

The Discipline - v. 9  God spells out the message that Isaiah is to share with His people.  The discipline is about to come down on them.  Not to make them miserable or make life hard on them but to bring them to the point that they return to God and do what is right.  I don't know anyone who likes discipline.  I know I don't.  I also realize there have been times in my life that God has had to discipline me as a loving Father to restore my relationship with Him to where my relationship with Him should be.  Discipline is the result of love.  I discipline my kids because I love them.  

The Result - v. 11 Isaiah asks, "How long, O Lord?"  God answers Isaiah and spells out the result of this discipline.  It will be a time of "cleansing".  God had to take some pretty drastic measures with Israel to get their attention.   The result of  God's discipline my life should always result in cleansing, fixing, getting back to where I know I should be with Him.

The Remnant - v. 13 God would not totally wipe them out.  There would be a remnant, "the holy seed will be a stump in the land."  There are times in Christianity and the Church when God does a little bit of house cleaning.  The churches that respond well to the cleaning usually have a remnant that remains and grows stronger.  The churches that are "stubborn" or rebellious, usually become ineffective, dry up and die.  There is no "stump" left.

How have you reacted to the Reality Check?

How have you experienced  The Cleansing?

How have you responded to The Call?

How have you grown from the Discipline of God?

What Percent of Your Church Ministers?

The percentage in most churches of those that minister is 20%.  Twenty percent of the membership in a local church is doing eighty percent of the ministry.  We are blessed at Nags Head Church, I think as the result of years of teaching from the Bible about what ministry is and who ministers are, and we have over 90% of our membership involved in ministry in the church. 

There has been some confusion in the church.  For years many believers have grown up in churches where the ministry is to be done by the "ministers", meaning the paid pastor.  But this is far from how the Bible teaches that ministry is to be done in the local body of believers.

This morning I read a great article that addresses this issue.  If you are in church leadership you need to take a look-see at this article, especially if your church is under the impression that the ministry is to be done by the pastoral staff.

Ed, Group's church leadership unit has a vision of 80/20 by 2020. We want to flip the 80/20 rule so that by the year 2020 eighty percent of regular church attendees are actively serving in some ministry. Unfortunately, our State of the Church '09 study indicated that currently it's more like fifteen percent of the people who are active in ministry right now. Why do you think that is?

Part of it is that we have to recognize that we've created the system that we loathe. I don't think the reason 15 percent serve is because 85 percent are lazy. We've created a system that glorifies the clergy and marginalized the laity. We got the outcome we created programs for. We've become "clergified." There's a 3-tiered structure: laypeople, clergy and missionaries.  (Read the entire article here)

Adoptive Families Needed in NC and SC

Adoptive Families Needed Immediately for Children
Christian Adoption Services is in need of families in the domestic infant program.  If you or someone you know is interested in learning more information about the agency and adoption, then please visit our website (www.christianadopt.org) to learn more about our upcoming information meetings.                                                   
Families need to be:
v   Over 25 and under the age of 43 (up to age 45 on a case by case basis)
v   Christians in faithful attendance at their local church
v   Living the state of North Carolina or South Carolina
v   Married for more than 2 years

Isaiah 2

A couple verses I'm rolling through my mind as I read through Isaiah during my sabbatical.  These verses bring up some self evaluation questions in my mind:

Is. 2:5

Come, O house of Jacob,

   let us walk in the light of the Lord.

The following verses (6-8) are about how Israel had embraced superstition, witchcraft, joined up with pagans and they had pursued material gain and they are worshipping idols that they had made with their own hands.

How do I walk in the light of the Lord?

Have I embraced things in our culture that aren't pleasing to God?

Am I worshipping idols that I have created and built up in my own life?

Is. 2:23

Stop trusting in man,

    who has but a breath in his nostrils.

Of what account is he?

Who do I trust in ?

Why would I trust so much in men?

The Call Podcast

The Call's podcast page is up and running.  You can drop in and listen to the messages from the weekend.

I always wanted a daughter.  Now that I have one . . .

I'm also thinking about her teenage years and those boys that will come callin. . .

Got any good captions for this one?

(this picture is meant to be humorous.  Andy does not in any way condone violence or the use of firearms other than shooting a tasty critter, or protecting the home)

Sabbatical Day Two

Took care of the twins.  

"Fred and Wilma" weighed in at the doctors today.  "Wilma" has put on 3lbs and is up to 7.4 and "Fred" is up to 8.3.

Did some laundry.  Cooked supper.  Read chapter 2 of Refuel and Isaiah 1.  

Good relaxing day today.  Looking forward to sleeping tonight.

Isaiah 1

During my sabbatical I'm going to be reading and studying the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah lived between the years of 840 and 420 B.C.  He was the first of the major prophets.  Isaiah's name, yeshayahu,  means "Jehovah Saves".  Tradition says that Isaiah was sawn in two by Manasseh, the king of Judah who reigned after Hezekiah.

Some of the notes I made in the margins:

>4 kings reigned during the vision that Isaiah saw

      -Uzziah

      -Jotham

      -Ahaz

      -Hezekiah

>Verse 3 points out that sometimes animals can be smarter than we are.

>Israel continued to rebel and continued to be disciplined, over and over

>The result of their rebellion

-cities burned

-fields stripped and food stolen by foreigners

-totally desolate

>V. 9 points out the mercy of God.  "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us some survivors we                                                                      would have become like Sodom, we would have been like                                                                    Gomorrah"

>Sacrifice means nothing when you are not in sync with God (v.11-14)

>God was tired of their religious acts and rituals because their hearts were far from him

>God ignores their prayers because of their rebellion

>Some good things we should do today in the church:

-Stop doing wrong

-learn to do right  (I think it's interesting the word "learn" was used)

-Seek justice

-encourage the oppressed

-Defend the cause of the fatherless

-plead the case of the widow

>We have a choice to make.  We can be obedient and be blessed or resistant and rebellious and be devoured.

>"Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts.  They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow's case does not come before them"  Sound like D.C.?

Refuel Book Report #2

Chapter 1 report

I'm reading through chapter two of Refuel.  The chapter is entitled Ditch the Guilt.  The idea is that many people feel God is angry or even disappointed in them, that's their view of God which of course directly effects their relationship with him.  Having a quiet time, spending time with God shouldn't feel like you are having religious requirements and laws heaped on your shoulders. Doug Fields says in chapter 2, "I don't want to crush you with impossible religious demands."  Sad thing is that many people feel this way about their faith and relationship with God.  Perhaps they are more into religion than relationship?  I know there were many things taught to me in the "name of God" growing up that just weren't true.   Hey, blue jeans aren't of the devil, playing cards won't send your life into a sinful tailspin.  I did hear a lot what God was against and not what God is for.

My favorite paragraph thus far in chapter 2:

"To minimize the guilt and maximize your connections with God, I'm convinced that you have to fight against compartmentalized faith.  What is that?  A compartmentalized faith is a pick-and-choose lifestyle in which a person basically wanders between Christlike life and Christless life.  Typically such a person chooses to live God's way when the church lights are on and Christian friends are looking, but behind closed doors,  when no eye can see him, all bets are off."

More on chapter 2 later. . .