July 2009 Messages

I was privileged to be able to speak three times this summer at the Soldotna Nazarene Church while Pastor Bruce Hardesty was on a short sabbatical. For the three messages I chose to do a blitz exposition of Paul's second letter to Thessalonica. I believe all three topics are vitally important to believers today. To hear a copy, you can right-click and copy the following links below (MP3 files - about 16 MB each):

1. 2 Thessalonians 1 - "You Are Worthy" - http://tinyurl.com/det2Thess1
2. 2 Thessalonians 2 - "Day of the Lord" - http://tinyurl.com/det2Thess2
3. 2 Thessalonians 3 - "Four Letter Words" - http://tinyurl.com/det2Thess3

Currently On Romans: And Other New Testament Essays By C. E. B. Cranfield see related

Sermon Recordings

Some have recently asked for some recordings of messages I have given at Peninsula Grace. I plan to convert several of them from cassette to mp3, then make them available on the web.

1. One of my favorite message series covered the Gospel of John. One Sunday, after a major world disaster, I spoke on how we can respond when life hurts. The talk was taken from John chapter eleven; the raising of Lazarus from the dead. To get a copy right click the following link and save the mp3 file to your computer: http://tinyurl.com/detJohn11a
      
2. I was intrigued with how effective Jesus was at breaking through the barriers people set up against the gospel. His example of talking to the Samaritan woman gives ideas of how each of us can similarly break barriers that separate us from others. To get a copy right click the following link and save the mp3 file to your computer: http://tinyurl.com/detJohn4
      
3. During one of my extra long hikes, I was reading and meditating on Psalm 8 about the glory of God. Of course that made for a great hike! Shortly thereafter, I was able to preach on the subject. To get a copy right click the following link and save the mp3 file to your computer: http://tinyurl.com/detPsalm8
      
4. I usually try to preach through entire Bible books in a series. Some are short, some are long. One of the recordings I have gives an example of how I like to introduce a new series. It is the first message out of four on 2 Thessalonians, giving an overview and introduction to the series. To get a copy right click the following link and save the mp3 file to your computer: http://tinyurl.com/det2Thess
       
5. The most recent recording available is a message I gave while preaching through the gospel of John. The date was February 26, 2006 and the specific Scripture is John 14:7-14. This is an example of an expository sermon. (My apologies: the recording quality isn't the greatest -- it drops the quieter parts of the message.) You can listen to or download the message at http://tinyurl.com/detJohn14b 
                             
6. Another message is on the subject of Communion.  We had a church communion service planned for Sunday evening April 24, 2005, so I spoke about the meaning of the ordinance and gave practical ways to prepare for the service. This is an example of a topical sermon. (Again the recording quality isn't the greatest, but you can get most of it.) You can listen to or download the message at http://tinyurl.com/detCommunion  

Just for Fun ... and Punishment:

An American businessman is in Japan on a business trip, but he can't bring himself to sample the local cuisine, so he asks the concierge at his hotel if there's any place nearby to purchase American food. The concierge tells him he is in luck, there's a new pizza place just down the block, and they deliver. The businessman gets the number, returns to his room, and places his order.

A short time later there is a rap on his door and the pizza is here. Famished, the businessman takes the box from the delivery guy, throws open the lid and takes a big whiff, but then starts sneezing and choking. He asks the delivery guy, "What did you put on this pizza??!"

The deliveryman bows deeply and says, "We put on pizza just what you order: 'pepper only.' "

Currently The Law and the Knowledge of Good & Evil: The Edenic Background of the Catalytic Operation of the Law in Paul By Chris A. Vlachos see related

The Family

Here's what my family looks like! My, they are as good looking as they are intelligent! Sue is still the greatest wife ever. Bethany completed her Master's Degree in Counseling from Grace College. She is on a trip to the Ukraine right now, and she starts her new counseling job at Nakenu in Kenai, Alaska in two weeks. Her goals are to get her license (to counsel) and pay off school loans. David is working at Mad Anthony's restaurant this summer before going to Paris for two semesters starting in October. Language training while attending university in Paris, then student teaching in Indiana and his degree is complete. Katie is home for the summer working at a fishing lodge. Michael has one more year in high school. They all four make Sue and me very proud.

My new challenge

I'm excited to announce my new job! I have joined the mission endeavor call Integrated Community Development International. It was started by Jim Hocking about 4 years ago when he was given a well-drilling operation in the Central African Republic. God has blessed ICDI in amazing ways in those four years. I am now on board as Chief Operations Officer (USA). You can check out much of what this mission does at www.icdinternational.org .

Paraphrase of Romans 9:30-10:13

[Here's part of one of my assignments for a class in Romans. I pray you are able to truly get to know Jesus Christ and trust everything he says.]

What are we to say? There are actually Gentiles out there who had no interest in righteousness at all, and now they are righteous, having obtained a righteousness that comes by faith. At the same time, the nation of Israel, who has a whole law-reinforced culture of pursuing righteousness, isn’t righteous. And why not? Because they skipped the simple faith-way, and tried to get it by hard effort. They stumbled over the stumbling-stone. The Scriptures talk about this very thing: “Watch out, I lay in Jerusalem a stone that everyone is going to trip over; it’s a rock that people misjudge and think they can get over, but they end up flat on the ground. But whoever trusts in him, using him as their life’s cornerstone, will never regret it.”

Brothers, what I really, really want, and my prayer to God for the nation of Israel, is that they will be saved. From personal testimony, I know that they really want to please God, but they just don’t know how to go about it. Not to make excuses, but, they had no idea about the righteousness that is a gift from God, and since they were so intent on achieving their own righteousness, when God made his offer, they said “No!” The whole purpose of this law-based-culture-ever-pursuing-righteousness is really to get you to stop it all and believe in Christ, at which time all that elusive righteousness is given to you lock, stock and barrel.

Moses describes law-based righteousness like this; “their source of life will be the very laws they obey.” But faith-based righteousness says this; “Don’t be worrying about whether you can do something spiritual enough, or great enough, to deserve Messiah’s blessing.” What does it say? “Faith is so close to you, it’s like the word on the tip of your tongue, it’s a simple decision of the heart, the kind of faith we are talking about: All it takes for you to be saved is to say the words “Jesus is Lord” and to believe in your heart that God did absolutely everything you would ever need to do, in and through Christ. Now, the way to be declared truly righteous is by believing with your heart. And the way to attain salvation is by confessing with your mouth. As that Scripture we read said, “whoever trusts in him, using him as their life’s cornerstone, will never regret it.” And there is no difference in the way of salvation for Jew and for Gentile – there’s only one Lord who is Lord of everyone and who richly blesses everyone who calls out to him for help, for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Currently Listening Holst: The Planets see related