I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD.
I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy.
I will feed them in justice. Ez. 34:15-16

Lambs are cute, helpless and not very smart

In one of the Bible’s most beautiful metaphors, the Lord depicts Himself as the Shepherd of His flock, His people. We should take no offense to the comparison; rather, we should find ABSOLUTE SECURITY in such poetic promise.

Today we’re going to talk about how God views Himself as our Shepherd-King. I find it interesting that Bible scholars seem to always present those two offices of authority in that order, Shepherd before King. He is, without issue, utterly both, but from the human standpoint (and dare I say even from God’s viewpoint?) there are differences in how a shepherd feels toward his flock versus how a king regards his subjects. With that in mind, here’s a little exercise. Please write a few lines expressing your response to these two questions:

According to Psalm 23 and John 10, how does Our Shepherd regard His flock?

According to I Samuel 8, Luke 1:32-33, and John 18:33-37, how does Our King regard his subjects?

News & Announcements:

• PRAYER GATHERING THIS WEDNESDAY @ 7:00
• Softball – Wednesday, 8:00 & 9:00
• Just living life with our Basque friends… Still need families. Ask Bob V. for details.
• The Garden Looks Grand! We’re off to a great start, but such a big garden needs lots of TLC. Why not have your family/friends learn how to grow food and fulfill the Genesis commands? Ask Bruce or Lyn how you can help.

Hannah understood something we need to understand:
The LORD views His honor with a “secure jealousy”

I may have just coined a term…

… in proposing that the LORD of all views His honor with “secure jealousy.” What do I mean by that and why does it matter?

When we declare our faith in God we are saying that we trust Him, His attributes, His character. Our faith is strengthened as we grow in grace and knowledge of the One True God who created everything, including us, for His good pleasure. (Recall that delightful moment from Genesis 1:31: “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.”) His handiwork declared His glory and His joy. The honor of His perfection was most clearly displayed by the crown of these acts of creation: Adam.

The first and fatal challenge to God’s honor had already occurred. (Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 give retrospectives of Lucifer’s fall.) Consider the teaching of Genesis 3. The serpent’s temptation begins with a universe-shaking and altering questioning of God’s honor. “Did God actually say…?” Seems consistent with mankind’s experience that when we question what God has revealed we are setting ourselves up for trouble. But God remains unchanged.

In the final analysis, all our hopes and the comfort and conviction of our faith must firmly cling to the eternal fact of God’s immutable perfection and the honor He is due. View this as beautiful. He is UTTERLY SECURE, the only uncreated entity extant. And His HEALTHY JEALOUSY lies in His understanding that no one else can do what He has done and will do. Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus is “the founder and perfecter of our faith.” He founded it upon His promises; secured it on a cross.

Happy Mother’s Day!

All the ladies with us today are invited to take a
plant home as a token of love and a growing reminder that God gives beauty for us to nurture.

News & Announcements:

• PRAYER GATHERING THIS WEDNESDAY @ 7:00
• Softball – Wednesday, 6:00, Champion Fields
• Best part of SUSA? Just hanging out. Still need families. Ask Bob V. for details.
• The Garden Looks Grand! We’re off to a great start, but such a big garden needs lots of TLC. Why not have your family/friends learn how to grow food and fulfill the Genesis commands? Ask Bruce or Lyn how you can help.

If God grabs you buy the lapels and says: “Do this thing or that thing,” call upon His courage and do it!

I have a confession to make:

I think that my passion for military history and the specific stories of soldiers (especially from my circle of family and friends) may well be borne of a question, even a concern, I have regarding my own character: do I have, could I have, the kind of courage they have shown? What would I have done in the same situations in which they acted with courage? Courage isn’t just a virtue; it is the fulcrum on which all virtues rest. Without it, we will fail the tests for other virtues when we are under duress.

So, I read about courage and pray that I understand that true Christian courage comes from the conviction that God is in control, always with us, and never leaves us nor our circumstances “to chance.” He’s not a cosmic gambler, He’s too kind to be cruel and too wise to make mistakes. Therefore, because He has courage (remember Jesus setting His face like a flint for Jerusalem, knowing that ALL SIN AND PAIN AND DEATH OF ALL TIME WAS TO CONSUME HIM AND BE CONSUMED BY HIM) and calls us to experience His abiding and protecting provisions by never letting fear overtake our faith.

I’ll never don an army uniform and rush into battle. I don’t really know how well I’d do. But I do know that we are in a wrestling match with the world, the flesh, and the devil. Into the ring Jesus’ shouts this encouragement: “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. We win!”

He commands courage… because He has it and gives it in full measure. Consider Joshua…

News & Announcements:

• PRAYER GATHERING THIS WEDNESDAY @ 7:00
• April Partner in Prayer @ Advocate/Bromenn: Addiction Recovery Unit (ARC)
• Softball – Wednesday @ Champion Fields
• Get Ready for the Invasion! Summer in the USA 2012 is coming!
• Weather Aside, Most Saturday mornings…
  …present a good opportunity to smell the sweet earth and reconnect with a part of us that is too often neglected. The garden parties start @ 9:30. Teach your kids great life lessons.

New Series: God’s Magnificent Mirror

Proposing that our faith is only as robust as our understanding of how THE LORD views Himself.
Week 1: Moses meets his Maker and asks some pertinent and penetrating questions.
The answers reveal much about God’s Self Image.

Self Image

Is not the fact that we care about how we are “viewed” by others and by ourselves yet another “Echo of Eden”? Not only does it sound an echo, it also speaks of our being made in the image of One Who Loves Himself Perfectly Because He Is Perfect and Completely Loveable. He is Perfection personified. He is Love alive. Now all this is flowery and lovely and certainly appropriate, but there is a practicality which we must not miss:

HE TRUSTS HIMSELF COMPLETELY.

I’ve been wrestling with God for 60+ years and the match continues. I need to continue to grow in my desire for Him to prevail and “pin me” in completely humiliating fashion for me. He will win thus, for the outcome of the match has already been determined. And in my defeat comes my victory, for when He is done with me He will pick me up from the mat and carry me to the victory stand and place a crown on my head. He will declare that because of how HE VIEWS HIS KINGSHIP I receive the crown of life and fullness of joy and “royal heredity.”

All because HE LOVES HIS MASTERY OF SPACE, TIME, ETERNITY AND ALL THAT IS NOT SPACE, TIME OR ETERNITY.

Because I join with another David declaring that “I am a worm and not a man,” I am most astounded that my defeat unto death of self on God’s grappling ground will result in the bestowing of Jesus’ Perfect Righteousness upon me. Because…

ONLY HE SEES HIS HOLINESS FOR ALL IT IS, AND THAT HIS PEOPLE, TO TRULY BE HIS PEOPLE SO THAT HE MAY “WALK AMONG THEM,” MUST ALSO BE HOLY.

Amazingly, that’s my story. What’s yours?

News & Announcements:

• Prayer gathering @ church Wednesday @ 7:00
• Advocate Bromenn Partners in Prayer for April: Addiction Recovery Unit (ARC)
• Softball Season Starts @ Six Wednesday, Champion Fields
• April 29th “Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Christian Response to Adolf Hitler?”
  Broadview Mansion (home of Immanuel Bible Foundation) 1301 S. Fell, Normal
  Sunday, April 29th @ 6:30pm  (Doors open at 6pm). Joe Thomas, Assistant Professor of History of Christianity at Urbana Theological Seminary, will present this amazing story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Christian theologian and German pastor, and how he impacted World War II. (Drama by actors from Jacob’s Well.)
• The Spencers Have an Idea…
  All young couples (let’s say 35 and under) are invited to their pad (that’s cool lingo from the 60’s) for an evening of food and fun and fire (yippee!) on Friday, April 27 @ 7:00. If you are over 35 and want to attend, just go; I don’t think they’ll be checking ID’s. Bring an hors d’oeuvres or dessert if you can.
• Sunday School Teachers Needed!
  The summer schedule for Sunday School teachers is currently being put together and there is a need for at least 2 new teachers. If you are interested and/or willing to to serve in the way, please contact Cary at carybhendricks@gmail.com.

Three of our own from The Jake left this week to visit Navajo Country and explore the possibility of partnering with those in the community to plant “community gardens” of sorts.  We wanted to share Andrew’s recent blog post from the trip.  Notice, we didn’t say *he* wanted to share it with you. But, he did make it public on his blog, so we figure there’s not much he can do about it!

If you would like to read the post in it’s entirety (it’s much funnier and more enjoyable in its entirety), go here.

From “Holy crepe! Wrong airport!”

WE’RE ON THE LAM FOR A FEW DAYS. NO AUTHORITIES ARE hot on our trail, however; just life and responsiblities. I’m in the air with two guys from my church, Tate & Jon, heading to Navajo Country in Arizona…

Jon is leading our trio while Tate and I follow along. Jon’s been to this area of the country numerous times, and has a heart for working with the Navajo people. He’s also the fella that led the trip to the Basque region of Spain that I went on a few years ago. He and his missus just had baby recently, so I know he’s probably feeling some ambivalence about heading out for a number of days. I’ll just assume he’s out to rediscover bachelorhood and cut loose. That’s probably how he rolls.

Tate is a bit unknown to me, but he came bearing snacks and sock monkeys, so I’m willing to cut him some slack. He’s also about six times better looking than Jon or I, so it will be a relief to not have to endure all the lacivious stares that typically burden me so.

Me? I’m just here to play the heavy. Grump, curmudgeon, professional wet blanket – that’s my purview. Oh, you’re having a good time? Think something is “fun?” No. None of that. Go sit in the car Tate, because WE ARE NOT HAVING FUN and THIS IS NOT AWESOME …

There’s a lot of issues within the Navajo nation that make it a tough place to grow up, both for plants and humans. The hope with these gardens is to build something that can provide some nourishment, encouragement, motivation, a bit of beauty, and ideally be an ongoing benefit to the locals. We’re hoping something takes root. (You knew that pun was coming, right?)

Seriously … If you would like to read the post in it’s entirety (it’s much funnier and more enjoyable in its entirety), go here.

“We shall be like Him.” (I John 3:2)
Bullfrogs and butterflies have both been born again.
(from a song by Barry McGuire)

We’re Going to Keep Thinking Expansively…

about the  

RESURRECTION!!!

Expansive. Here’s a good exercise: find Bible verses/passages which teach the assertions below…

So, we maybe too blithely proclaim: “He is risen; He is risen, indeed! Happy Easter.”

His “risenness” is absolutely the best thing we have going for us, now and forever. It’s the stamp of approval by The Father that His Son completed the Redemptive Rescue Mission. It’s the re-creative act of the Holy Spirit upon dead and rotting flesh to not only bring it alive again, but to do so in such brilliant manner as to assure that all aging, all pain, all discomfort, all limitation of time and space are removed from the formula. It’s the promise of the Son, the Shepherd, to His flock.

Jesus is now the Firstborn over all creation; unless we are of the generation which will never see death because He has returned, we (the Redeemed) will go through the same quickening as He. Thus, we will be able to eat and drink (yea!), appear and disappear at will (fun) and otherwise defy the laws of physics (who knew?)
The there’s the wardrobe: we will be clothed in garments of glory which will be unendingly in perfect style (no need to shop?). If there are hand-me-downs, they will come from those we absolutely adore.

News & Announcements:

• Prayer gathering @ church Wednesday @ 7:00
• Advocate Bromenn Partners in Prayer for April: Addiction Recovery Unit (ARC)
• Softball Season Starts Soon See Stuart
• April 29th “Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Christian Response to Adolf Hitler?”
  Broadview Mansion (home of Immanuel Bible Foundation) 1301 S. Fell, Normal
  Sunday, April 29th @ 6:30pm
  (Doors open at 6pm).
  Joe Thomas, Assistant Professor of History of Christianity at Urbana Theological Seminary, will present this amazing story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Christian theologian and German pastor, and how he impacted World War II. (Drama by actors from Jacob’s Well.)
• The Spencers Have an Idea…
  All young couples (let’s say 35 and under) are invited to their pad (that’s cool lingo from the 60’s) for an evening of food and fun and fire (yippee!) on Friday, April 27 @ 7:00. If you are over 35 and want to attend, just go; I don’t think they’ll be checking ID’s. Bring an hors d’oeuvres or dessert if you can.

We shall be like Him!

(because He is risen) 

 An old spiritual asks the question:

“Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”

The answer: “Yes. I was there. We were all there.”

“Knowing” the Power of His Resurrection

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection… (Phil. 3:10)

Here’s the good news: we will. We will know RESURRECTION POWER . And all that was once good and beautiful and has been lost or destroyed will be made new. I invite you to think expansively about this. Acts 3 speaks of “times of refreshing” and “the restoration of all things.”

Refreshing. Restoration. All things. How can we be sure?

Because of Christ’s victory over the curse that came upon all creation at The Fall. He defeated death by living the perfect life, dying the perfect death, preaching the Good News of salvation to even those who had died before Him and were held captive in death, setting them free to live in the glory of His presence, and promising the same liberation from the curse for all who call upon His Name.

That was a long sentence. I earnestly believe that when it comes to the power of the Resurrection and what it promises and portends, we could begin writing a sentence about all that will be refreshed and restored through Christ and the sentence would literally go on and on and on without end.

Easter is that big a deal, that magnificent, that overwhelming. Again, think expansively. Think about all that has been good in your life, good gifts from God, and consider that every loss will be recovered, never to be lost again. Maybe it’s a spouse, a relative, a friend. Maybe it’s a beagle puppy. Maybe it’s the ability to run and jump. Maybe it’s faith without fear.

He is risen; He is risen, indeed! Happy Easter.

News & Announcements:

• Special Prayer Walk @ Salem4Youth: Wed., April 11, 6:30We’ll leave from the church about 5:45
• The first four letters in Salem? SALE
  For all the right reasons, we are being invited to be part of the auction @ Salem on April 14. Clear the decks! In fact, if you’ve ever wanted to have a horse, this is your opportunity. Buy one at the auction and they’ll board it for you at a very reasonable rate! If enough of you buy a horse, we can start a church polo team!
  Or…
  If you have valuable items (art, antiques, jewelry, e.g.) which you’d like to donate to the auction, please let Pastor Dave or Kent Robson know.
• Softball Season Starts Soon … See Stuart

 An old spiritual asks the question:
“Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”
The answer: “Yes. I was there. We were all there.”

Interest Rates @ All Time High

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

- Charles Wesley, 1738

This timeless hymn asks one of the most pertinent and penetrating questions any spiritual seeker can ask: “How can it be?” That question has been asked – and answered – billions of times over the centuries. The answer is in this verse: “Amazing love!” proven in the substitution of the innocent for the guilty.

Perfectly innocent. Entirely guilty. Switched on the cross. I peel off, He climbs up and is nailed fast to the rough wood.

Paul warns the Corinthians that the message of the cross just doesn’t make sense to those who don’t/won’t believe.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (I Cor. 1:18)

As Christians, we kick around a lot of ideas and notions about many things. We wonder at the mysteries; we invoke hopeful formulas and formulate hopeful invocations; and if we’re honest, we must admit that we even question some of the solutions to that which seemed mysterious. But this, this substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross, this we believe and assert as the most beautiful act of love the universe has ever seen. This is the reversal of the dark curse. This we must have.

News & Announcements:

• Prayer gathering this Wednesday: 7:00 @ the church
• Special Prayer Walk @ Salem4Youth: Wed., April 11, 6:30
• Advocate Bromenn Partners in Prayer March – Emergency Department
• SUSA 2012 and the coming Basque Invasion – ask Bob V. for the current plan of attack.
• The first four letters in Salem? SALE
  For all the right reasons, we are being invited to be part of the auction
  @ Salem on April 14. Clear the decks!
• Maundy Thursday Service of Communion and Prayer
  Thursday @ 7:00
• Easter Service
  Sunday, April 8 @ 10:30

The Beatitudes:

Insights that Change the World and Bring the Kingdom of God

“And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying…”
Matthew 5:2

Do you remember this?

What if you learned that some of the fellows with guns and masks are no longer Muslim terrorists, but Christ Followers? How did that happen?

New Tribes Missionaries Abducted In Philippines

May 28, 2001|By Gary Taylor, Sentinel Staff Writer

SANFORD — Two missionaries from the Sanford-based New Tribes Mission were among a group of about 20 people kidnapped Sunday in the Philippines.

Martin and Gracia Burnham work in some of the country’s most remote areas, but they were abducted while visiting a resort to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary.

News & Announcements:

• Prayer gathering this Wednesday: 7:00 @ the church
• Advocate Bromenn Partners in Prayer March –Emergency Department
• Time for a Tuneup for Married Couples? Or maybe a Test Drive for Dating Couples?
  A Weekend to Remember
  March 30-April 1 @ The Marriott Uptown Normal
  Derek and Abigail leading the charge; see them; scholarships available!
• SUSA 2012 and the coming Basque Invasion – ask Bob V. for the current plan of attack.
• The first four letters in Salem? SALE
  For all the right reasons, we are being invited to be part of the auction
  @ Salem on April 14. Clear the decks!

“… without the incarnation, Christianity isn’t even a very good story, and most sadly, it means nothing.
‘Be nice to one another’ is not a message that can give my life meaning, assure me of love beyond brokenness, and break open the dark doors of death with the key of hope. The incarnation is an essential part of Jesus-shaped spirituality.”
Michael Spencer

Here’s a Joyful Challenge:

Below are some profound insights on The Incarnation. For each one, please find a verse/passage from Scripture to support the insight. If you do this, feel free to share your findings with me.

• He became what we are that he might make us what he is.
  Athanasius
• God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.
  C.S. Lewis
• The mystery of Christ, that He sunk Himself into our flesh, is beyond all human understanding.
  Martin Luther
• The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.
  C.S. Lewis
• As far as the Incarnation is concerned, I believe firmly in it. I believe that God did lean down to become Man in order that we could reach up to Him, and that the drama which embodies that Incarnation, the drama described in the Creed, took place.
  Malcolm Muggeridge
• Nowhere is salvation conceived of as a flight from history as in Greek thought; it is always the coming of God to man in history. Man does not ascend to God; God descends to man.
  George Eldon Ladd
• If Christ is only man, then I am an idoloter. If he is very God, then the man who denies it is a blasphemer. There can be no union between those who hold his deity and those who deny it.
  G. Campbell Morgan
• Infinite, and yet an infant. Eternal, and yet born of a woman. Almighty, and yet hanging on a woman’s breast. Supporting a universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother’s arms. King of angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph. Heir of all things, and yet the carpenter’s despised son.
  Spurgeon

News & Announcements:

• Prayer gathering this Wednesday: 7:00 @ the church
• Advocate Bromenn Partners in Prayer March –Emergency Department
• Time for a Tuneup for Married Couples? Or maybe a Test Drive for Dating Couples?
  A Weekend to Remember
  March 30-April 1 @ The Marriott Uptown Normal
  Derek and Abigail leading the charge; see them; scholarships available!
• Join the growing group that’s a “growing group;” ask Bruce how the garden grows… and then ask him what you and family and friends can do to grow through gardening. Spring is coming…
• SUSA 2012 and the coming Basque Invasion – ask Bob V. for the current plan of attack.
• “A joyful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22)
  Doug Faulkner used to sell drugs (legally).
  He’s now selling tickets to laughter. See him.