Part 1
The Challenge
Part 2
Part 3 - coming soon
(It might take a minute to download but please be patient or save to your PC or Mac and lsten later or on your mp3 player.)
This is a new series CrossCreek is going through right now. We are coming up to the last part on December 31. The Challenge is coming in January.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
...love wins
Ahh, another beautiful spring day in mid-winter! I love Texas. I always claim I would love to live up north, but really, being north and shoveling snow (necessity) or south and raking pine needles (just makes your yard look better-optional).
It is funny, as I have spent time thinking through why we do church, I have also been trying to observe the many people doing Christmas. I wonder if people really know what it is all about or if they do know, do they take the time to stop and just reflect on that.
Not that traditions are necessary for my faith but they help some things resonate better for me. I would like to observe advent in 2007. I came across the tradition of advent this December but I look forward to doing it with more awareness next year. I had heard of it and I also knew about advent calendars but I never took the time to actually read about it. The celebration of our coming Christ is great and I would like for my family to begin to celebrate that in a more tangible and experiential way.
As for giving gifts, my wife and I did things a little different this year. We gave some of our gift money to Living-Water, adopt-a-family at church, and then the rest to family and friends. I have found that no matter what, I will struggle with the self-sacrifice of me. I feel like we did good, but how good did we really do? What is really good and WISE when it comes to self-sacrificing your time and money for others?
I found myself feeling guilty that I did not give enough to the needy and that I did not give enough to my unneedy family. Why?!?! I even had this feeling at my own home like, "where are my presents?"...when I knew I had none there. While visiting family and exchanging gifts my thoughts where whispering, "when do I get my present?" Why?!?! We are innately prideful and selfish! All people are! We must constantly fight it off with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit and flesh are constantly at battle...constantly! Next year (the whole year) I would like to challenge myself and family to give more of ourselves to others.
Don't get me wrong, I love gifts, and most that I got this year will aid me in my quest for more knowledge about God, Christianity, history, leadership, love, etc. But I would love to be a part of something that just gives abundantly. I know to give abundantly you must receive abundantly too. So I hope and pray that my family and I can be a part of something that receives with joy and gives with joy in order to make love win. That's what I want more then all...for love to win.
By the way...I just listened to "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. Great book. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it as well as discussing topics with my wife, who is listening to it now. Quick point from the book: Rob talks about how we always say "God showed up" at some particular time but really "we showed up" - God is ALWAYS there.
I hope that our church shows up to meet God this January. I am challenging the church to commit to meeting on Sundays and mid-week to pray with each other about the future of CrossCreek. I will soon be posting my 3 part series - Prayer reloaded (the challenge, why pray with the church?, and fasting) - on www.crosscreekchurch.net and will do my best to post it here as well.
-JW Shaw
It is funny, as I have spent time thinking through why we do church, I have also been trying to observe the many people doing Christmas. I wonder if people really know what it is all about or if they do know, do they take the time to stop and just reflect on that.
Not that traditions are necessary for my faith but they help some things resonate better for me. I would like to observe advent in 2007. I came across the tradition of advent this December but I look forward to doing it with more awareness next year. I had heard of it and I also knew about advent calendars but I never took the time to actually read about it. The celebration of our coming Christ is great and I would like for my family to begin to celebrate that in a more tangible and experiential way.
As for giving gifts, my wife and I did things a little different this year. We gave some of our gift money to Living-Water, adopt-a-family at church, and then the rest to family and friends. I have found that no matter what, I will struggle with the self-sacrifice of me. I feel like we did good, but how good did we really do? What is really good and WISE when it comes to self-sacrificing your time and money for others?
I found myself feeling guilty that I did not give enough to the needy and that I did not give enough to my unneedy family. Why?!?! I even had this feeling at my own home like, "where are my presents?"...when I knew I had none there. While visiting family and exchanging gifts my thoughts where whispering, "when do I get my present?" Why?!?! We are innately prideful and selfish! All people are! We must constantly fight it off with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit and flesh are constantly at battle...constantly! Next year (the whole year) I would like to challenge myself and family to give more of ourselves to others.
Don't get me wrong, I love gifts, and most that I got this year will aid me in my quest for more knowledge about God, Christianity, history, leadership, love, etc. But I would love to be a part of something that just gives abundantly. I know to give abundantly you must receive abundantly too. So I hope and pray that my family and I can be a part of something that receives with joy and gives with joy in order to make love win. That's what I want more then all...for love to win.
By the way...I just listened to "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. Great book. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it as well as discussing topics with my wife, who is listening to it now. Quick point from the book: Rob talks about how we always say "God showed up" at some particular time but really "we showed up" - God is ALWAYS there.
I hope that our church shows up to meet God this January. I am challenging the church to commit to meeting on Sundays and mid-week to pray with each other about the future of CrossCreek. I will soon be posting my 3 part series - Prayer reloaded (the challenge, why pray with the church?, and fasting) - on www.crosscreekchurch.net and will do my best to post it here as well.
-JW Shaw
Sunday, December 3, 2006
the emerging church
For the past several weeks I have been reading The Emerging Church by Dan Kimball. In many ways it is a journey back into time to the Acts church that started after Christ's resurrection and return to Heaven and God sending down the Holy Spirit (to empower the disciples of Christ in doing what he(Jesus) told them to do); "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name(Jesus Christ) shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick , and they shall recover." "Verily, verily, I (Jesus)say unto you, He that believes on me(Jesus Christ the son of God), the works that I(Jesus) do shall he(Holy Spirit) do also; and greater works than these shall he(Holy Spirit) do; because I (Jesus) go unto my Father(God).......And I will pray the Father(God), and he(God) shall give you another Comforter(Holy Spirit) that he(God) may abide with you forever......But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost(Spirit) whom the Father(God) will send in my name(Jesus Christ), he(Holy Spirit) shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I(Jesus) have said unto you.....but wait for the promise of the Father(God) which ye have heard of me(Jesus). For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost(Spirit) not many days hence....but you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost(Spirit) is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me(Jesus) both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the utter most part of the earth.....I (Jesus)ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.... Peace be unto you; as my Father (God)has sent me(Jesus), even so send I(Jesus) you" And when he said this, he(Jesus) breathed on them, and said unto them, "Receive thee the Holy Ghost(Spirit)."
The scripture references from the above paragraph come from Mark16:15-18, Luke24:49, John14:12,16,26 and Acts1:4,5,7,8 which I put in some form of chronological order setting up the church of Acts that started after Christs ascension up into Heaven where He(Jesus) sits today at the right hand of God(the Father). Since that time the "Church "or the "bride of Christ" has been growing with the help of the Holy Spirit and with the soon hoped for return of our Lord always on our minds. But as we wait ,we continually try to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and
Gods will in bringing into the Kingdom of God those "seekers" or should I say "sinners" that have been predestined by God to understand his calling(pulling, tugging, nudging) of their souls. Churches of religion(finding and being accepted by God through works) and of Christianity(finding God through faith in the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ, and his resurrection) had set up programs of Worship, Praise, teaching(sermons and bible studies) and Thanksgiving(tithes and offerings) to an almighty God for a God conscious society to attend and eventually the spiritually hungry souls of the world found our Lord . As time passed though, the world became faster, more complex, more self conscious of the self than of God and more consumed with money and pleasure than eternal spiritual values and morals. This is where we find ourselves today, trying to draw in the spiritual seekers of today that have more than 3500 different spiritual choices to choose from, a cornucopia of gods that promise sexual, monetary and every desire known to man to be fulfilled if one follows in their way. This is the challenge presented to the emerging church of today.
Dan Kimball offers many ideas for today's church and we have to be sensitive to them all realizing there is no one sure fire way, no perfect equation or formula to save the world and fill our churches with new reborn souls for the kingdom. Dan talks about change. Changing music in worship, adding more candles and crosses, art, home groups, a missional attitude toward the poor and disabled, theatrics, meditation, prayer, fasting, silence, different types of seating arrangements and communion are all up for grabs if it pulls the people, the lost ,the down hearted , the lonely , the depressed, the sick and disabled and those that just don 't feel worthy of being loved or forgiven for the way they have lived their lives and treated others into the church to hear and see the gospel of Christ proclaimed. All are welcome to the service without judgement, with love and compassion and hope that they might see the light that could lead them into the kingdom of God through Our Lord Jesus Christ.
My whole opinion on this. Let's give it a try. I am up for change as long as it continually brings new souls into the kingdom and the church itself into a closer walk with God. If these changes are not of God but are a slippery slide into religious idolatry which some fundamentalist conservative groups believe, it should be a lesson well learned. God will still be with us and love us. We know that King Solomon in Ecclesiastes, being blessed with wisdom, tried everything under the sun including having over 800 wives and still he came to one conclusion; All is vanity; you cannot trust anyone or anything including your own heart except God . God is our everything. In the beginning God Created the heaven and the earth. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.
Early on in my christian walk these situations happened to me. I realized that God was in charge of my life. Through Christs forgiveness of my sins and my acceptance and belief in Him, I could now talk to God. I KNEW THERE WAS MORE THOUGH. Don't ask me how I knew but I just knew. I heard of heeling's, spirits being exercised, I heard of miracles, speaking in tongues and I searched them all out in churches, on the radio, on TV and in books and newspaper articles and magazines. I went to Christian seminars, I heard of the baptism in the holy spirit and I wanted it and received it. I was led to churches where God seemed to be moving and working in. I wanted to be around people that were being changed by a living miraculous God and I wanted to tell people about what I saw and heard so that they might become excited too. If the following were told to you what would you do?
".......Tell John what things you have heard and seen; how the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleaned, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached..."
People today would travel half the circumference of the earth to see and hear these miracles. I know I would. Unfortunately these words were said by Jesus about 2000 years ago. But wait a second. The God I know is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Yes, Jesus might be in Heaven but it was promised us that one(Holy Spirit) would come that would do even greater works than these. We know that great miracles were done with the disciples of the New Testament and no doubt God did some pretty miraculous stuff in the Old Testament with his prophets, so what's going on today and where is it happening, through who? Why isn't it happening here? Are we "quenching the spirit"? Why do pastors need to apologize to their congregation when service is longer than usual? Where are the testimonials of a living God, the Holy Spirit, working in our congregation? Is our faith not big enough ( as a mustard seed)? I am sure you all have questions like this going through your mind. All that I can say right now with all these questions still in my mind is that " I am excited; excited about how the Holy Spirit is moving in and through our congregation. I see growth and love for the Lord in so many individuals. There is a saying by reporters that everyone has a story. Many of us don't believe that we are worth even a sentence yet a whole story. My challenge to you is to find those stories in our congregation of how God is working miracles in peoples lives and then go tell others about them. I think you will be surprised at peoples responses and their openness to a living God. May you have fun and be blessed as you hear stories of peoples lives that you have never heard before. You will find new prayer requests going up to Heaven and new praises to a living God that truly does answer prayers.
May the Holy Spirit lead you and guide you in all your endeavors.
Your parking lot minister , John Shaw Sr
The scripture references from the above paragraph come from Mark16:15-18, Luke24:49, John14:12,16,26 and Acts1:4,5,7,8 which I put in some form of chronological order setting up the church of Acts that started after Christs ascension up into Heaven where He(Jesus) sits today at the right hand of God(the Father). Since that time the "Church "or the "bride of Christ" has been growing with the help of the Holy Spirit and with the soon hoped for return of our Lord always on our minds. But as we wait ,we continually try to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and
Gods will in bringing into the Kingdom of God those "seekers" or should I say "sinners" that have been predestined by God to understand his calling(pulling, tugging, nudging) of their souls. Churches of religion(finding and being accepted by God through works) and of Christianity(finding God through faith in the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ, and his resurrection) had set up programs of Worship, Praise, teaching(sermons and bible studies) and Thanksgiving(tithes and offerings) to an almighty God for a God conscious society to attend and eventually the spiritually hungry souls of the world found our Lord . As time passed though, the world became faster, more complex, more self conscious of the self than of God and more consumed with money and pleasure than eternal spiritual values and morals. This is where we find ourselves today, trying to draw in the spiritual seekers of today that have more than 3500 different spiritual choices to choose from, a cornucopia of gods that promise sexual, monetary and every desire known to man to be fulfilled if one follows in their way. This is the challenge presented to the emerging church of today.
Dan Kimball offers many ideas for today's church and we have to be sensitive to them all realizing there is no one sure fire way, no perfect equation or formula to save the world and fill our churches with new reborn souls for the kingdom. Dan talks about change. Changing music in worship, adding more candles and crosses, art, home groups, a missional attitude toward the poor and disabled, theatrics, meditation, prayer, fasting, silence, different types of seating arrangements and communion are all up for grabs if it pulls the people, the lost ,the down hearted , the lonely , the depressed, the sick and disabled and those that just don 't feel worthy of being loved or forgiven for the way they have lived their lives and treated others into the church to hear and see the gospel of Christ proclaimed. All are welcome to the service without judgement, with love and compassion and hope that they might see the light that could lead them into the kingdom of God through Our Lord Jesus Christ.
My whole opinion on this. Let's give it a try. I am up for change as long as it continually brings new souls into the kingdom and the church itself into a closer walk with God. If these changes are not of God but are a slippery slide into religious idolatry which some fundamentalist conservative groups believe, it should be a lesson well learned. God will still be with us and love us. We know that King Solomon in Ecclesiastes, being blessed with wisdom, tried everything under the sun including having over 800 wives and still he came to one conclusion; All is vanity; you cannot trust anyone or anything including your own heart except God . God is our everything. In the beginning God Created the heaven and the earth. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.
Early on in my christian walk these situations happened to me. I realized that God was in charge of my life. Through Christs forgiveness of my sins and my acceptance and belief in Him, I could now talk to God. I KNEW THERE WAS MORE THOUGH. Don't ask me how I knew but I just knew. I heard of heeling's, spirits being exercised, I heard of miracles, speaking in tongues and I searched them all out in churches, on the radio, on TV and in books and newspaper articles and magazines. I went to Christian seminars, I heard of the baptism in the holy spirit and I wanted it and received it. I was led to churches where God seemed to be moving and working in. I wanted to be around people that were being changed by a living miraculous God and I wanted to tell people about what I saw and heard so that they might become excited too. If the following were told to you what would you do?
".......Tell John what things you have heard and seen; how the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleaned, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached..."
People today would travel half the circumference of the earth to see and hear these miracles. I know I would. Unfortunately these words were said by Jesus about 2000 years ago. But wait a second. The God I know is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Yes, Jesus might be in Heaven but it was promised us that one(Holy Spirit) would come that would do even greater works than these. We know that great miracles were done with the disciples of the New Testament and no doubt God did some pretty miraculous stuff in the Old Testament with his prophets, so what's going on today and where is it happening, through who? Why isn't it happening here? Are we "quenching the spirit"? Why do pastors need to apologize to their congregation when service is longer than usual? Where are the testimonials of a living God, the Holy Spirit, working in our congregation? Is our faith not big enough ( as a mustard seed)? I am sure you all have questions like this going through your mind. All that I can say right now with all these questions still in my mind is that " I am excited; excited about how the Holy Spirit is moving in and through our congregation. I see growth and love for the Lord in so many individuals. There is a saying by reporters that everyone has a story. Many of us don't believe that we are worth even a sentence yet a whole story. My challenge to you is to find those stories in our congregation of how God is working miracles in peoples lives and then go tell others about them. I think you will be surprised at peoples responses and their openness to a living God. May you have fun and be blessed as you hear stories of peoples lives that you have never heard before. You will find new prayer requests going up to Heaven and new praises to a living God that truly does answer prayers.
May the Holy Spirit lead you and guide you in all your endeavors.
Your parking lot minister , John Shaw Sr
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