An Epic Journey

Reading 1 Kings 9 today for my time reading the bible and seeking to connect with God. King Solomon has just finished building the temple and God says a strange thing on the heels of such a great accomplishment. He tells Solomon that if he or his children forsake God that they will become a disgrace (my paraphrase). Sure, God is excited that Solomon built the temple to honor God. But God seems more interested in The hearts of Solomon and the people than what they do for Him.

Makes me stop and think. Do I some how think that Christianity is about me impressing God with the things I do or do I think its about a relationship with God? How silly we are when we think we can impress the God of the universe – he thought up slugs and the grand canyon! He appreciates what we do, but He longs for us…

Practical: our you spending time in Gods word? I believe this is the primary place where your relationship with God will find its fuel. Check out http://epic4life.com/get-connected/read-the-bible/ for resources to help get you started

This month we’ve been preaching on ReThinking Evangelism. I received the following email Sunday when I got home! God is cool! (I changed some of the details to provide anonymity)

“KENT!!! YOUR SERMON PREDICTED SOMETHING THAT JUST HAPPENED!!! My friend, called me up she is studying Christianity, honestly wants to know more (although she still has some issues with it), but she has found a ton of truth in the Bible and believes the end of the world is coming soon, so, she said she wants to get it right and to live for an actual purpose!!!! ”

How is God working in your life? I love to hear the stories!

Thinking on the idea that sometimes you can do all the right things for the wrong things and feel frustrated because you get nothing. Its not a matter of effort its a matter of misplaced energy. Wrong things will never give you the right output you desire no matter how hard you work at them.

Have you ever gone through a time with God where you feel like you are distant from him? I was reading Jeremiah 24 tonight where God talks about sending Israel into exile with the Babylonians. He says this in vs 7:

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

God is speaking of when the Israelites return to Him. It reminded me that sometimes we feel as far from God as any one person could feel. But God is working and repurposing our experience to draw us even closer into His embrace!

Feeling worn out and far off, dont give up! God is on the other side o this and in the midst!

I’m working on answering the question about, “What happens to people who have never heard about Jesus?” If you want to know the answer come Sunday at Coleman Middle School 10:30am. We’ll be looking at is it ok for a Christian to cuss and many more.

I have been studying this question of people who don’t know though. One of the interesting things that I have come upon is stories of people who have seen a vision of Jesus and accepted him and became Christ followers. Check out these videos on You Tube of Muslim men and women who see Jesus and follow http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=muslim+vision+of+jesus&aq=f

Here is a book about Jesus appearing to Eskimo Indians – it’s really pretty interesting stuff

I just find this interesting. I love that God is unpredictable.

Who doesnt have questions about God? I know I do? Well, during the month of July you are getting your chance to ask the questions youve always thought but never had a forum to ask them.

Heres how it works. You visit. a href=http://epic4life.com/questionsGot ?/a at epic4life.com. And ask your question before Sunday. If enough people ask the same question, well answer it!

One thing that most Christians have no idea about is the archaeological evidence that supports the claims of the bible.  If that kind of stuff interests you, here are a few websites for you:

http://biblicalarcheology.net/

http://www.bibleandscience.com/archaeology/exodus.htm

This of course is more technical, so if you aren’t into technical stuff, just know that there is some pretty good evidence out there that what the bible records about places, events and people is accurate!

So, this weekend for Easter we are talking about how to Bust Religion!  I’m really pumped about this Myth Busters series!  I haven’t been this excited in a while!  Anyway, I want to give you some resources that might help you as we think about how to bust religions!  The first one is by a guy named Lee Strobel and it’s called, The Case for Christ & The Case for Faith.  These were actually two separate books, but have been packaged together.  Lee was someone who had no interest in the Christian faith until his wife came to Christ.  After this, he began to investigate and ask really good, hard questions of really smart people.  These were questions he assumed had no good answer.  What he found was there were good answers all around.  If you have ever struggled with doubt, then be sure to pick up The Case for Christ: http://www.amazon.com/Case-Christ-Faith-two-books/dp/0310608821/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270137716&sr=8-3

So weve had Piper at home for a few days now and its been pretty good so far. Peter has been adjusting extremely well. The big test will be when I have to go to work tommorrow. Jenni has been recovering like some kind of super human. Im more tired than she is…

All in all, life is good and Im sleepy!