Each preacher has her (or his) hobby horses.
Stafford kicked off the new year by picking up where we left off in November. I had preached 2 or 3 sermons out of 1 Timothy 1 and Stafford finished off the chapter. This means I pick it up with chapter 2.
Not sure if you are familiar with 1 Timothy 2. It’s the kind of passage which evokes a variety of responses and all of them strong. Give it a read and you’ll see what I mean.
One of the reasons we tend to preach our way through books at PAC is because you have a better shot at covering things you would not otherwise be drawn to. Each preacher has her (or his) favourite idea or application and it is easy to end up finding the texts you want to lend credence to what you want to say. The smug seminarian term for this is “proof texting”.
We invited our friends from Winnipeg to the Island of Lights to see the dragons with us but there were no dragons!!!
–If I tell who said it she’ll kill me, or at the very least pinch my cheeks (all four of them are fair game - that is your only clue). However, I feel OK about saying who it was if someone guesses.
Start guessing - A $5 Tim’s card to the first person who gets it. Contest is off limits to Paul Stanley.
And if you don’t know what I’m talking about click…
Truth Saturated Environments
Another phrase which seemed to “stick” is “Truth Saturated Environments”.
A Truth Saturated Environment is one where the truth is voiced, modelled, or applied. You cannot be in a TSE for long before some of the truth starts to sink into you.
However, there is always a barrier between you and a TSE and that barrier is always a lie.
You’d go to your House Church but”it’s been such a busy week and probably it would be healthier just to keep the family in tonight.”
You’d volunteer in packidsrock but you already have kids and it’s better if Sunday morning is something you just do for you.
You’d do what it takes to get your teens to youth group or to a school where truth is taught and modelled but it is better not to shelter your kids too much.
You’d form a Life Transformation Group but you can’t commit to that sort of intensity and you’re the kind of person who either gives 100% or nothing and besides you wouldn’t want to let the group down with your inability to get there every time.
I may not have nailed the exact lies but the truth is still there.
Any thought that keeps you away from a truth saturated environment is a lie.
This means it is not actually a thought, but a temptation (click at your peril - safe for work but not for your soul…)
Mid Season Cycling Form
Did a 1.5 gravel ride today which essentially has me peaking for cycling season 6 months early, but starting to worry Berkie might be the first ski of the season…is there snow in Wisconsin yet?
From Rob Bell’s final sermon at Mars Hill.
i write this to you because of how many of you have been
challenged about your participation in the life of this
church, often with the accusation: but what do they believe
over there at mars hill?
as if belief, getting the words right, is the highest form of
faith. Jesus came to give us life. a living, breathing, throbbing,
pulsating blow your hair back tingle your spine roll the
windows down and drive fast experience of God right
here, right now.
word taking on flesh and blood.
But what about? (Lukewarm Part 2)
If we are wise to avoid the lukewarm then how do we help those Christians who are discouraged, suffering, depressed or otherwise mired in a lukewarm spiritual state?
Maybe this will prove helpful. Think of a current lukewarm person (you probably already were) and ask yourself:
Is their current lukewarm state a transition or a decision?
If lukewarm is a transition towards cold - get in there and try to change the trajectory.
If lukewarm is a transition towards hot - get in there and encourage them through it.
But if lukewarm is a decision then your time is better spent finding someone who is in transition and needs your support.
Avoid Lukewarm.
I like when certain ideas we share at PAC “stick” in minds and hearts. We have had our share of slippery ideas which have little staying power (anyone remember a VFO? - I didn’t think so). But every now and then something really connects.
One of these more sticky ideas was that a Christian needs to intentionally place themselves in both HOT and COLD spiritual environments and avoid the LUKEWARM.
A hot spiritual environment is where people are passionate in their pursuit of discipleship. They are worshipping, striving, listening, giving, trying, training, encouraging, loving, forgiving, and taking up their cross daily because they love the King. Christians need to be here to soak in truth and contribute to truth.
A cold spiritual environment is where discipleship to Jesus isn’t even on the radar. Bud Light and Captain Morgan are on the radar. The unapologetic pursuit of material gain is front and centre. The language is colourful and no one is going to church tomorrow unless it is Easter - and then maybe. Christians need to be here because Jesus is - just below the surface waiting to show just how powerful to transform a human life He is. If you are there you might get to see it; and He might actually use you to be a part of it.
A lukewarm environment is one where your spiritual energy is drained. It’s the house church which complains about the people who are not there. It’s the sermon which gives you some fantastic tools for judging other people. It’s the gossipy conversation which makes you doubt the integrity or character of a someone who up to that point you have had no reason to worry about. It’s the sinking feeling you get when you have just witnessed the empty forms of godliness but not the power and love of it.
Perhaps the greatest indicator about which environment you have just been in is this - how do you feel about Jesus afterwards?
Hot - He is worthy of absolute devotion and so I love Him.
Cold - He is the only hope for the human race and so I love Him.
Lukewarm - He seems absent and impotent and so I doubt Him, His church, and His people.
You can watch the teaching here -the Hot, Cold, and Lukewarm part is near the end.
To the Elizabeth’s in my life…and they are many.
Mary gets told some news which requires more faith than a person can sustain solo.
That’s OK because the Holy Spirit gives her Aunt Elizabeth words to speak which erase Mary’s fear and unleashes Mary’s faith filled song.
So be like Elizabeth and encourage and affirm young vulnerable faith.
Interestingly enough, God doesn’t give worlds to her Uncle Zachariah. In fact, he takes the old man’s words AWAY until the old guy is actually able to say something which fortifies faith.
The next generation needs you to be Elizabeth and not Zachariah. They need help believing not doubting.
And besides, wouldn’t you rather spend the rest of your life singing along with the kids instead of sitting in the corner with nothing to say?
(Got this idea from Chelsea Smith…once she gets over her opening nerves she gives a great message…)
