Pacesetters Bible School Newsletter

Ask yourself this question: Why is it that so many western Christians find the greatest challenges to their faith are experiences that do not even qualify as persecution or serious suffering? Why will the loss of a a job or the moral failure of a pastor lead to the end of faith? Why do interpersonal conflicts in a church cause so many to abandon Christianity altogether?

Is there something about these experiences that are inherently discouraging to a particular kind of faith experience? Perhaps a faith experience that says things should be turning out right most of the time?

I really appreciated this post from InternetMonk. Go read the whole thing.

There’s a good post at Through a Glass Darkly. While there is some value in the concept, it is regularly misused in Christian contexts.

I am beginning a new series on Running Toward the Goal titled Encouraging Your Congregation to Study the Bible. The first part is today, and there will be six more for a total of seven.

Consider following this series and commenting. Do you have any additional ideas as to how church members can be encouraged to study the Bible for themselves?

For some related information, check the Participatory Study Series tract Seven Barriers to Hearing the Word.

Scot McKnight has an article that is actually the ninth in a series, and I think it provides some things to think about. (Use the education category to find earlier posts.) These ideas would also provide some help in evaluating Sunday School and adult education teachers.

I am often impressed with the incredible amount of time we have over the lifetime of a church member to teach, and how very little is accomplished with that time. No wonder Sunday School attendance is dropping when the time is often spent going over the same material over and over again while we agree with one another on very general ideas.

It’s very similar with youth. We have a tremendous opportunity with youth who spend their high school years in church, yet just what have we accomplished with it?

If one were to continue this, it would end Something Borrowed, Something Blue.  The subject is brides, all right, but not your typical white dress and until death do us part.  The subject is the Bride of Christ.

I used to blog in another Space, but it was a little dark over there.  Not only that, but I heard a loud slamming one night–indicating that that particular door was closed to me as a writer.  So, here I am again–in a really good place, with a renewed vision.  Now, back to the subject.

Just so that this doesn’t get really long, I’m going to tell you that–as a Christian–you (male or female) are the BRIDE OF CHRIST.  He is coming back for us, the church, His followers, all those who have received Him as our savior.  We will be taken away, just as the Bible describes. He desires us to be “spotless” in other words, void of sin as best we can be with the empowerment of His spirit.  He also desires for us to ready others. In other words–tell others about His coming and HOW TO BE spotless before Him. It’s not magic. It’s hard work and not for the gutless.  But, it’s not impossible either.

Why do we, as His children, have to go through this? Because He wants you to have a new life in Him–and in the new, there’s little room for the old.  If you are tired of the old, it’s time to find out what’s new. In receiving whatever is new in your life, you HAVE TO let go of the old.  You have to. How can you hold something new in your hand if it’s closed around what’s old?

That’s the point that you need to ask yourself (and this is where I’ll close), do you WANT the new?  I mean, if you don’t want anything to change, keep holding onto your stuff, you know?  But, if you are tired of the same old stuff, sick and tired of it, then it means you are ready for something new. It means you are probably ready for Jesus.

The American Association Baseball web site has a story on the John Webb Winter Golf Tournament.

Note that the John Webb Winter Golf Tournament has operated as a ministry of Pacesetters Bible School since 2002, both raising money and being a witness for Jesus to children and hospital staff, but also in providing a training opportunity for many volunteers.

The tournament will soon be part of a new foundation, the James Webb Foundation, and Pacesetters wishes it the greatest success. We will continue to support it through volunteers.

This is a sermon preached by Rev. Geoffrey Lentz at First United Methodist Church, Pensacola on August 3, 2008. Posted by request.

 

 Beloved Enemy [21:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Liturgy, as any well done Christian service should show, is the sharing of the Christian story over again: the water (Creation/Baptism), the communion elements (the Death of Christ), the presence of the Word (the Bible), and the celebration of new life (the Resurrection and Reign of Christ). To this end, our faith should be realized in the continuing story of Christ and his Kingdom on earth (as it is in the heavenlies).

From: Everyday Liturgy.

Paul was perfectly chosen to bring our hearts and minds to the most significant phrase in scripture. You were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. He did not launch out and say our calling was our work for God but our fellowship with God. A man’s work was to be an overflow of his relationship with God, not vice-versa.

From The Pen of the Wayfarer