This weekend I will be speaking in the main service at our church. Our Pastor has been in a series entitled “Treasures of a Transformed Life” and it has been an intensive study on the beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-12. He has already covered the significance of the beatitudes, which are basically inner attitudes which lead to happiness or satisfaction in life. God asks His followers to live distinctly from the world and Jesus teaching proves that His ways are contrary to human nature. Jesus challenges his followers to be poor in spirit (humility before God), peacemakers, and ready to be persecuted for doing right. I cannot say that these things come naturally for me. The particular one I am teaching on is meekness, which is found in verse 5. Jesus simply states “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” Sounds clear, right? Wrong. I have had a real struggle while studying through this verse, especially since I am responsible to communicate it to the congregation. In my 21st century mind, I like definitions and so I was looking for a biblical definition for meekness. I could not find one. In fact, I would say that the Bible hardly ever defines terms, but rather chooses to illustrate concepts with real life stories which are detailed in a person’s interaction with God. I guess I always knew that God’s word was not a book of definitions or bullet points (like many of my messages), but a living, relevant book which demonstrates truth through the lives of people, history, and written letters to individuals or churches. When we approach the Bible we should not look for formulas or perfect outlines, but rather to get a grasp on God’s message to His people in order to conform our lives to His ways. Any thoughts?
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This weekend I will be speaking in the main service at our church. Our Pastor has been in a series entitled “Treasures of a Transformed Life” and it has been an intensive study on the beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-12. He has already covered the significance of the beatitudes, which are basically inner attitudes which lead to happiness or satisfaction in life. God asks His followers to live distinctly from the world and Jesus teaching proves that His ways are contrary to human nature. Jesus challenges his followers to be poor in spirit (humility before God), peacemakers, and ready to be persecuted for doing right. I cannot say that these things come naturally for me. The particular one I am teaching on is meekness, which is found in verse 5. Jesus simply states “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” Sounds clear, right? Wrong. I have had a real struggle while studying through this verse, especially since I am responsible to communicate it to the congregation. In my 21st century mind, I like definitions and so I was looking for a biblical definition for meekness. I could not find one. In fact, I would say that the Bible hardly ever defines terms, but rather chooses to illustrate concepts with real life stories which are detailed in a person’s interaction with God. I guess I always knew that God’s word was not a book of definitions or bullet points (like many of my messages), but a living, relevant book which demonstrates truth through the lives of people, history, and written letters to individuals or churches. When we approach the Bible we should not look for formulas or perfect outlines, but rather to get a grasp on God’s message to His people in order to conform our lives to His ways. Any thoughts?
I will be 34 very soon. I was born in 1974. I graduated from high school in 1992. I graduated from college in 1996. I got married in 1997. I graduated with a master’s degree in 1998. I also became a high school pastor in 1998. Leah and I had our first child in 2000 and our second one in 2002. Time flies. It has been a while since I have had a major transition in my life…until now. In less than 60 days I’ll be taking a step that I thought I would never take – becoming a lead pastor. Since I was very young, I had always wanted to be a pastor to youth. There wasn’t this idea of using youth ministry as a stepping stone to become a pastor. I guess that is why I’ve stayed in youth ministry for 10 years at the same church. I really believe in students. So why am I making the transition? Over the last year and a half I felt restless. I was not unhappy or dissatisfied…just uneasy. Instead of looking for a way to solve the restlessness, I waited. Waiting is not usually me, but I felt as if being patient was the right thing to do. During this period of unrest, God began developing in me a desire to become a lead pastor. At first, I pushed the feeling away but it actually became stronger. Then through a series of events, God dropped an opportunity into my life. Our church, which I love with all my heart, was going to open a second campus 30 minutes north of the main campus and I would lead that group of people. Transition in life is tough but exciting because it brings new challenges as well as fresh opportunities. Are you going through a transition right now? Maybe you should wait. At the proper time, God will show up and probably do more than you ever expected.
My five year old daughter comes into our room this morning and says “I had a dream last night.” I ask her “what was the dream about?” She responds “someone stole my shoes.” I said “really…what happened?” This question must have been too loaded because she did not answer, but she did say “I had to open my eyes to see if it was real.” Dreams are pretty confusing because they totally feel real until you wake up and sometimes, even then, it takes a while to convince yourself otherwise. If all dreams were true, I’d be dead. We’ve all had dreams where we die…we wake up sweating, shaking, and scared. In fact, our middle school pastor’s wife came up to me Wednesday night after church and said “I’m glad to see you here.” I was confused until she went on to inform me that I died in her dream the previous night. I may need to watch my back!!!! When she told me about her dream, I remembered a dream I had earlier in the week. This is really true and I am not making this up for the sake of this entry. It was the launch service of The Summit. I just remember nothing was going right – all the seats were not filled, the sound wasn’t right, there was some kind of snafu with the offering, and no one knew what they were doing. Instead of a dream, this was a nightmare…I woke up petrified! There must be some scientific reason why we have dreams (and I’m no scientist), but those things which consume our mind sometimes even become our sleeping thoughts. Of course, The Summit has been on my mind lately…not because I am scared, but I am excited. Every day I am reminded about the possibilities of changing lives through the power of Jesus Christ. Everyone deserves to hear that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and that He was buried and rose again the third day securing eternal life for us. Paul asked a piercing question in Romans 10:14-15, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” If we do not take the gospel to Green, who will? Maybe in a few months, those who have stepped out in faith to launch this second campus will have to “open their eyes to see if this is real” because of all the wonderful things God has done. But for now we pray, we work, we dream, and then allow God to do His work in the lives of people.
For many years, the leadership of Canton Baptist Temple has been c
ontemplating the possibility of a second campus. Launching a second campus would provide another outlet to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ whom we are not currently reaching at our main campus. After being exposed to the need north of the main campus, our leadership staff and finance committee unanimously agreed to prayerfully as well as financially support this endeavor. Boasting close to 300,000 un-churched people in Summit County and many more attending churches without sound, biblical teaching, the leadership team explored the possibility of planting a second campus in Green, Ohio. This location is ideal even being recognized in 2007 by Business Week as the 16th Best Place to Raise Kids (November 2007). As a growing community, Green also needs a church which meets the needs of its residents and boldly proclaims the truth about Jesus Christ. The leadership staff also chose a unique location feeling that a traditional church building may prohibit us from reaching the un-churched. With this in mind, we decided to obtain a location which was accessible, visible, and neutral. After much research our outreach pastor arrived at a brilliant solution – meeting in a theater. Most theaters are not used on Sunday mornings and make their facilities available to churches for rental. This concept is very attractive because there is very little overhead cost in the initial stages of the church plant (i.e. seating, utilities, maintenance, etc.). In April 2008 we signed a lease with Regal Cinema off of Arlington Road situated right on Interstate 77. The Summit will launch on September 7, 2008. You can keep up with the progress at http://www.thesummitgreen.com/.
I recently read an article in USA Today entitled “More Hikers Wind Up Lost” which tells about the yearly increase in the amount of hikers who get lost while enjoying the world around them. The article states: “In thousands of parks and wilderness areas across the nation, inexperienced and unprepared hikers get lost each year — so lost, they have to be rescued.” To me, there would not be many things more terrifying than getting lost and having no hope of finding my way out. Spending my days wandering in unfamiliar territory and my nights in fear would quickly give way to desperation. All of these hikers began their journey with good intentions never anticipating becoming hopelessly lost, but somehow they got on the wrong path. Rescue is now the only option. Many parks or mountains have a team of people called search and rescue whose job is to find people who are lost and return them safely home. The purpose of the church is very similar to the job of search and rescue teams – it seeks out people who are far from God (lost) and shows them the way of hope (Jesus Christ). The Summit is the Green Campus of Canton Baptist Temple and our desire is to serve this community by bringing those who are hopelessly lost into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. In the Bible, Paul wrote a letter to the church in Ephesus and reminded them that they were once far off from God but now, through Jesus Christ, were brought near (Ephesians 2:13).Maybe you do not think you are lost, but the Bible is very clear that everyone is lost and cannot find the way to peace (Romans 3:10-17). Our sin prohibits us from finding our own way to God and any feeble attempt to find Him on our own proves to only remind us how far we have really wandered from Him. One of Jesus’ followers was also confused about the way to God so he asked Jesus about the right path. Jesus responded that “He [Jesus] was the way, the truth, and the life” and no one is able to find a relationship with God without first believing in Jesus Christ (John 14:5-6). Jesus Christ died on the cross to take the punishment (death) which God demanded as payment for sin (Genesis 3:19; Romans 6:23). He became sin for us and gave us His righteousness so we could become children of God (John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 5:21). John 3:16 declares: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish [die], but have everlasting life.” After His death and burial, Jesus rose from the dead three days later ultimately proving that he was God and guaranteeing our eternal life. Today, if you will “confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9) In a moment of faith, you can go from being lost to being rescued.
Is the Bible a Dictionary?
This weekend I will be speaking in the main service at our church. Our Pastor has been in a series entitled “Treasures of a Transformed Life” and it has been an intensive study on the beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-12. He has already covered the significance of the beatitudes, which are basically inner attitudes which lead to happiness or satisfaction in life. God asks His followers to live distinctly from the world and Jesus teaching proves that His ways are contrary to human nature. Jesus challenges his followers to be poor in spirit (humility before God), peacemakers, and ready to be persecuted for doing right. I cannot say that these things come naturally for me. The particular one I am teaching on is meekness, which is found in verse 5. Jesus simply states “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” Sounds clear, right? Wrong. I have had a real struggle while studying through this verse, especially since I am responsible to communicate it to the congregation. In my 21st century mind, I like definitions and so I was looking for a biblical definition for meekness. I could not find one. In fact, I would say that the Bible hardly ever defines terms, but rather chooses to illustrate concepts with real life stories which are detailed in a person’s interaction with God. I guess I always knew that God’s word was not a book of definitions or bullet points (like many of my messages), but a living, relevant book which demonstrates truth through the lives of people, history, and written letters to individuals or churches. When we approach the Bible we should not look for formulas or perfect outlines, but rather to get a grasp on God’s message to His people in order to conform our lives to His ways. Any thoughts? Transition
I will be 34 very soon. I was born in 1974. I graduated from high school in 1992. I graduated from college in 1996. I got married in 1997. I graduated with a master’s degree in 1998. I also became a high school pastor in 1998. Leah and I had our first child in 2000 and our second one in 2002. Time flies. It has been a while since I have had a major transition in my life…until now. In less than 60 days I’ll be taking a step that I thought I would never take – becoming a lead pastor. Since I was very young, I had always wanted to be a pastor to youth. There wasn’t this idea of using youth ministry as a stepping stone to become a pastor. I guess that is why I’ve stayed in youth ministry for 10 years at the same church. I really believe in students. So why am I making the transition? Over the last year and a half I felt restless. I was not unhappy or dissatisfied…just uneasy. Instead of looking for a way to solve the restlessness, I waited. Waiting is not usually me, but I felt as if being patient was the right thing to do. During this period of unrest, God began developing in me a desire to become a lead pastor. At first, I pushed the feeling away but it actually became stronger. Then through a series of events, God dropped an opportunity into my life. Our church, which I love with all my heart, was going to open a second campus 30 minutes north of the main campus and I would lead that group of people. Transition in life is tough but exciting because it brings new challenges as well as fresh opportunities. Are you going through a transition right now? Maybe you should wait. At the proper time, God will show up and probably do more than you ever expected.Dreams
My five year old daughter comes into our room this morning and says “I had a dream last night.” I ask her “what was the dream about?” She responds “someone stole my shoes.” I said “really…what happened?” This question must have been too loaded because she did not answer, but she did say “I had to open my eyes to see if it was real.” Dreams are pretty confusing because they totally feel real until you wake up and sometimes, even then, it takes a while to convince yourself otherwise. If all dreams were true, I’d be dead. We’ve all had dreams where we die…we wake up sweating, shaking, and scared. In fact, our middle school pastor’s wife came up to me Wednesday night after church and said “I’m glad to see you here.” I was confused until she went on to inform me that I died in her dream the previous night. I may need to watch my back!!!! When she told me about her dream, I remembered a dream I had earlier in the week. This is really true and I am not making this up for the sake of this entry. It was the launch service of The Summit. I just remember nothing was going right – all the seats were not filled, the sound wasn’t right, there was some kind of snafu with the offering, and no one knew what they were doing. Instead of a dream, this was a nightmare…I woke up petrified! There must be some scientific reason why we have dreams (and I’m no scientist), but those things which consume our mind sometimes even become our sleeping thoughts. Of course, The Summit has been on my mind lately…not because I am scared, but I am excited. Every day I am reminded about the possibilities of changing lives through the power of Jesus Christ. Everyone deserves to hear that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and that He was buried and rose again the third day securing eternal life for us. Paul asked a piercing question in Romans 10:14-15, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” If we do not take the gospel to Green, who will? Maybe in a few months, those who have stepped out in faith to launch this second campus will have to “open their eyes to see if this is real” because of all the wonderful things God has done. But for now we pray, we work, we dream, and then allow God to do His work in the lives of people.History
For many years, the leadership of Canton Baptist Temple has been contemplating the possibility of a second campus. Launching a second campus would provide another outlet to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ whom we are not currently reaching at our main campus. After being exposed to the need north of the main campus, our leadership staff and finance committee unanimously agreed to prayerfully as well as financially support this endeavor. Boasting close to 300,000 un-churched people in Summit County and many more attending churches without sound, biblical teaching, the leadership team explored the possibility of planting a second campus in Green, Ohio. This location is ideal even being recognized in 2007 by Business Week as the 16th Best Place to Raise Kids (November 2007). As a growing community, Green also needs a church which meets the needs of its residents and boldly proclaims the truth about Jesus Christ. The leadership staff also chose a unique location feeling that a traditional church building may prohibit us from reaching the un-churched. With this in mind, we decided to obtain a location which was accessible, visible, and neutral. After much research our outreach pastor arrived at a brilliant solution – meeting in a theater. Most theaters are not used on Sunday mornings and make their facilities available to churches for rental. This concept is very attractive because there is very little overhead cost in the initial stages of the church plant (i.e. seating, utilities, maintenance, etc.). In April 2008 we signed a lease with Regal Cinema off of Arlington Road situated right on Interstate 77. The Summit will launch on September 7, 2008. You can keep up with the progress at http://www.thesummitgreen.com/.LOST
I recently read an article in USA Today entitled “More Hikers Wind Up Lost” which tells about the yearly increase in the amount of hikers who get lost while enjoying the world around them. The article states: “In thousands of parks and wilderness areas across the nation, inexperienced and unprepared hikers get lost each year — so lost, they have to be rescued.” To me, there would not be many things more terrifying than getting lost and having no hope of finding my way out. Spending my days wandering in unfamiliar territory and my nights in fear would quickly give way to desperation. All of these hikers began their journey with good intentions never anticipating becoming hopelessly lost, but somehow they got on the wrong path. Rescue is now the only option. Many parks or mountains have a team of people called search and rescue whose job is to find people who are lost and return them safely home. The purpose of the church is very similar to the job of search and rescue teams – it seeks out people who are far from God (lost) and shows them the way of hope (Jesus Christ). The Summit is the Green Campus of Canton Baptist Temple and our desire is to serve this community by bringing those who are hopelessly lost into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. In the Bible, Paul wrote a letter to the church in Ephesus and reminded them that they were once far off from God but now, through Jesus Christ, were brought near (Ephesians 2:13).Maybe you do not think you are lost, but the Bible is very clear that everyone is lost and cannot find the way to peace (Romans 3:10-17). Our sin prohibits us from finding our own way to God and any feeble attempt to find Him on our own proves to only remind us how far we have really wandered from Him. One of Jesus’ followers was also confused about the way to God so he asked Jesus about the right path. Jesus responded that “He [Jesus] was the way, the truth, and the life” and no one is able to find a relationship with God without first believing in Jesus Christ (John 14:5-6). Jesus Christ died on the cross to take the punishment (death) which God demanded as payment for sin (Genesis 3:19; Romans 6:23). He became sin for us and gave us His righteousness so we could become children of God (John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 5:21). John 3:16 declares: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish [die], but have everlasting life.” After His death and burial, Jesus rose from the dead three days later ultimately proving that he was God and guaranteeing our eternal life. Today, if you will “confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9) In a moment of faith, you can go from being lost to being rescued. 