Friday, December 19, 2003

i am going to out of town for the next week so don't expect any blogging for a week

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Empty

This weekend Special Forces in Iraq emptied a whole. The great leader of that country was found hiding. No longer the well-kept man we had seen in past photos now he looked like a disheveled homeless man. It is reported that as he emerged he said, “I am the president of Iraq, I want to negotiate.” He simply surrendered and left and empty whole. The hopes of his followers that they would be victorious and we would leave dashed. Their great leader was conquered.

As God’s people we an empty tomb. Our great leader was left for dead, abandoned by those who publicly followed him. Soldiers guarded that tomb but they could not hold him. When Jesus emerges from his “hole” he was not surrendering at gunpoint. Instead he was emerging victorious over sin and death. All the hopes of his people were restored. No longer did they have to hide in fear. Instead just like their leader, their Lord, their King they too are victorious!

We are also victorious like those of the early church because of Jesus. His resurrection, his empty tomb was not just for those who lived in the past. It is also for us now. We may not know where that empty tomb is but we know it is empty. We may not have seen Jesus in the days following his resurrection but we have the testimony of witnesses. We see the truth in the resurrection by the way that fact, that truth changed the lives of those original believers. We also see the truth of the resurrection by the way the lives of believers today are changed.

Encounters with the truth of Jesus never leave people the same. We are always changed. Like Paul said the resurrection is foolishness to those who are perishing but hope to those who are being saved.

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

Larry and Stanley

They walked into the bowling ally wearing matching bowling uniforms. Larry’s suit was green with gold strips; his personal bowling shoes were also green and gold. He pulled his custom green with gold flecked bowling ball with his name engraved in gold letters across it, out of the his bowling ball bag that matched his outfit. Stanley’s bowling uniform was equally cool. Except his uniform and bowling shoes were gold with green highlights. His ball was also gold with flecks of green and his name was also engraved on it. They didn’t need to rent shoes or borrow a ball like everyone else instead they simply got a lane and started practicing. They always practiced before they played a real game.

Stanley was the first to go. He stood on all the right dots and lined himself up with the correct arrow. He started his bowl, 1 2 3 and away the ball went right over the correct arrow and between the 1 and 2 pins for a strike. Larry gave Stanley a high five and made his first practice bowl. He stood on the right dots and aligned himself with the correct arrow. He started his bowl, 1 2 3 and away the ball went right over the correct arrow and down the lane. Striking between the 1 and 2 pins for a strike. They bowled 10 perfect frames for practice before they played for real.

Before they began to play their real game Larry and Stanley rented a locker. Then they changed out of their bowling uniforms. They rented some bowling shoes and picked out balls from the rack like everyone else. Finally they put all the custom bowling gear into their locker and started to play a “real game.” They looked around to see how everyone else was bowling. Instead of their perfect games they bowled average games like everyone else

At the end of the day they walked out of the bowling alley looking like everyone else you couldn’t tell the difference. It was only during practice that put on their custom bowling uniforms and shoes. It was only during practice that they used their special bowling balls. It was only during practice that they used their best bowling moves to bowl strikes of to make a spare from a difficult split. But they hide all that talent, their uniforms and balls when they played for real

Why on earth would someone do that?

We may know the answer better than we want to admit. Like Larry and Stanley every week we practice our Christianity. On Sunday we come to church in our nice shoes, nice suits and personalized Bibles. We know all the right answers to the questions, we know all the right moves when it is time to pray, we know all the songs in the books and to be quiet during communion. We have no problems looking like and living the Christian life during practice.

But when we wake up on Monday practice is over and it is time for the “real game.” We dress like everyone else. We drive to work and get angry with the slow guy like everyone else. We leave our personalized Bible at home so it won’t get lost. We forget to pray. We forget to read our Bible. We leave our Christian life at the church door at practice and live the “real game” like everyone else.

If you are terribly offended by this story GOOD. You should be. Even if you are not as extreme as Larry and Stanley we are all tempted hide our Christianity in some ways at sometimes. The challenge I want to leave you with is to never hide. We are called to be light to a dark world and no one ever puts a light under a bowl. That is just silly. Instead we put lights out where all can see then.

Be a light during the real game of life not just at practice.

Thursday, November 13, 2003

this is the final in the origenal series pak series i will have to write some more in the weeks to come

B.Y.O.B.
(Bring Your Own Bible)

Pak looked at his old wornout Bible. It was given to him by his youth minister when he entered highschool. It wasn't really old it just had a lot of millage. It had survived 4 years of highschool. The back was taped on because of a skateboarding accident. The edges were dirty from regular (or not so regular) Bible reading. Paper and old bulletins stuck out. The "gold" letter was worn off.
He opened it up and a flood of memories returned as he read the notes on paper and in the margins. He found a note from a girl asking where he wanted to go to eat after church. There was a book mark the mother of a friend had given him. It simply said Matthew 5:14 - 16 but reminded him to be "the salt of the earth" and a "light to the world." He read a whole lesson on Acts 2 that he had written in the margin of his Bible. He was amazed at how much information he had crammed in a space smaller than 1/4 of an inch. He also thumbed through the old bullitens which had accumulated in between the last page and taped on back cover.
"This old Bible is like an old friend. I am glad we have all these memories together. I am glad we journeyed together." He thought to himself as he placed his old highscholl bible on the shelf of his new college dorm room.


Tuesday, November 11, 2003

another glimpse into the life of Pak and his friends this is a story based on a skit that i have performed in the past but i don't know who the author is.

A LITTLE DIRT

Pak was excited about seeing his best friend, James, who had just bought a car. They had grown up in school and church together. When James pulled up in his "new" used car Pak ran out to meet him. "Wow, man, this is a cool car," said Pak as he walked around James's mid-80's green Honda.
"Thanks. Want to take it for a ride?" asked James.
Pak hopped in the car and James backed out of the driveway. They cruised down the road with the stereo blaring and the windows down. Pak was looking around in the car thinking James was so lucky. In the glove box Pak found a pack of cigarettes. "Hey James you don't smoke. What's up with these?"
"Oh, those are nothing. Me and some new friends of mine cut class for some smokes down by the river that's all." James answered.
"Who are these new friends?" Pak said suspiciously.
"Jimmy, Todd and those guys."
"Wow, man, they have a bad reputation! You know Todd has been to juvenile hall for theft."
"I know that but they are great guys and a lot of fun."
As Pak listened to his friend he still searched the car and found a six pack of beer in the back seat. "O.K." Pak declared, "This has gone too far. Take me home! I am not riding with you. Not if you are going to hangout with Jimmy, Todd and 'those guys'. Not if you are going to start smoking and especially not if you are going to start drinking!"
"Don't get uptight Pak. I'm not a bad person, I just want to sow some wild oats. I'm tired of being a 'goody﷓goody'. I want a new image, a new 'James'. Anyway, a little dirt never hurt anybody."
"Fine just take me home."
They rode home in silence. James knew he had upset Pak. He knew that Pak did not approve of his new lifestyle. He also knew that he valued Pak's friendship more than his new friends. As they pulled into Pak's driveway John said, "Hey, Pak, why don't we go in and get a coke and talk. O.K.?" They walked into the kitchen. James sat at the table while Pak grabbed a 2-liter out of the fridge. He poured two glasses of Coke and walked toward James. He put his glass down and then carried James' glass over to a house plant and put a handful of dirt into his glass.
"What on earth are you doing Pak?" exclaimed James in surprise.
Pak answered James with a smile on his face. "Well you said a little dirt never hurt. So enjoy your dirt!"

Thursday, November 06, 2003

in my effort to reprint some of my old bulletin articles and youth zones i have stumbled across some old friends i want to share with you. over the next few weeks we will see some stories about them. you will meet pak, zoon, james and the others i will also give some info about their origen as well.

This morning I am beginning a series of articles that will center around a young man named Pak. We will get to ride "shot﷓gun" with Pak as he experiences life. We will share in his ups and downs and meet his friends along the way.

REVELATIONS

Pak had been roller blading with his buddies all morning and stopped for lunch. So he skated up to a hamburger stand for a burger and a sports drink. He sat down at a small cafe style table to eat. He watched his fellow roller bladers as they jumped over park benches, chairs and an old homeless man.
Pak did a double take and stared at the old man for a while. His feelings toward the man were a little scared and a little disgusted combined. Scared because he had been warned to stay away from street people. He had always thought of them as crazy drug addicts who wanted to bully money out of people. Disgusted because not only did this homeless guy look and probably smell bad but he was also in his friends way. "I am glad to be young," he thought to himself. "I am also glad I am not some homeless guy who doesn't have the drive to get a job. I am glad I don't mooch off of society."
"In fact I have a job at a pizza place and I contribute to society through some volunteer work. I wish more people were like me!" Pak was feeling very proud of himself. So proud of being better than any homeless person. Especially the one over there. Then he noticed that the homeless man was looking right at him. At that moment the blue lonely eyes of the old man met Pak's energetic brown eyes. In that moment Pak saw the man for what he truly was. He was not a scary street person, he was not a jobless bum, he was not a crazy drug addict and he was not an obstacle. No, the old homeless man was a person just like Pak.

Tuesday, October 28, 2003

here is my third and final article in my narnia series from early 1997

The Women at the Wardrobe

Lucy, in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, discovers that the wardrobe is actually a door to another world, Narnia. She has come in contact with a magical place. It is a life changing place and she wants to tell everyone she can about it. She is so excited about her discovery that she runs to tell her siblings. They, of course, don't believe her. They have never heard of such a thing nor have they seem such a place. It takes their own experience of going to Narnia for them to believe.
In the Gospel of John we meet a lady who has a similar event happen in her life. She discovered that a well was a doorway to a new life because at this well she meets Jesus. He is the life changing person. Her encounter with him is a life changing event. She also runs and tells people about who she has met. They believed what she said and had their own experience with Jesus. Many come with her to see this man and believe.


There stories are ours as well. We have had a life changing encounter with Jesus. We also should run out and tell everyone we can. Not all will believe us. Some will even make fun of us. We need to be like little Lucy and the Samaritan women. We need to bring people to meet Jesus and his forgiveness.

Thursday, October 23, 2003

The De-Dragoning of Eustace

An episode in the life Eustace Clarence Scrubb gives us an insight into forgiveness. Eustace is the obnoxious cousin of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie (The heroes from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe). We first meet him in C.S. Lewis's book The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" the third book in the Chronicles of Narnia. He starts his adventure in Narnia as an ugly natured brat, always wanting his way and thinking everyone else is against him. During the voyage he is transformed into a dragon. Inside he has been a dragon all along now he is one on the outside too. For the first time in his life he is lonely and realizes how he has acted. He wishes that he could become a boy again. Aslan, the Lion King of Narnia and the son of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea, appears to him and through the long process of scrapping the dragon skin off, Aslan transforms Eustace back into a boy. Eustace is a new person from then on and becomes the hero of later Narnian books.
As Christians, we have had our ugly, scaly and dirty outsides cleaned off. Like Eustace, it was not our power that washed us of our ugliness but God's power. It was Jesus' death on the cross that cleansed us of our sins. We are no longer self serving brats but we serve others as children of God. We have been de﷓dragoned as well.

this is one of my favorite articles i ever wrote!

Friday, October 17, 2003

here is another one of my classic youth zone articles from february 5th 1997

Confession of a Marsh﷓Wiggle
Toward the end of C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair we find the heroes(Eustace Scrubb, Jill Pole and Pubbleglum) trapped in the Underworld and under the spell of the Queen. They have been sent under Narnia by Aslan to rescue Prince Rilian. Rilian is the rightful heir to the thrown of Narnia who had been kidnapped by the evil Queen of the Under world years before. The spell that is enchanting Eustace, Jill and Pubbleglum confuses their minds and they begin to forget that Narnia and the Overworld is real. The Queen is trying to convince them that their is no Narnia and their is no Aslan. Pubbleglum the Marsh﷓Wiggle proclaims one of the greatest confessions of faith in the Chronicles of Narnia.

"Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-trees and grass and sun and
moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that
case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones......We're
just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game, if your right.
But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow.
That's why I'm going to stand by the play world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any
Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live like a Narnian even if there isn't any Narnia." (SC pg. 159)

The world we live in tries to enchant us. The messages that are all around us try to convince us that their is not a Heaven and that their is not a God. We know there is a God and that there is a Heaven and a Hell. Pubbleglum's confession is our confession.

"I am going to live as a citizen of Heaven and I am going to stand on God's side no matter what the world says!"

Thursday, October 16, 2003

just discovered craig's list it is pretty kewl
i forgot to introdude the "evil is real!" article it was written last year at this time while we were all dealing with the sniper in our area. since it is the one year aniversery i thought i should publish it
Evil is Real!
Evil is real. Evil is so real. We have been reminded about this truth once again. Right now evil is easily seen as a person shooting seemingly random people in our area. Evil is easily seem as a shadowy terrorist organization that has killed thousands. Evil is easily seen as an unknown individual who has killed several by mailing anthrax. Evil seems so obvious, but this is not always the case.
It is so easy to see evil outside of our own lives, but you and I are evil as well. The letter that James writes describes how that evil works in our own lives (James1: 13-15).
First we are tempted not by God but by our own evil desires. Next we are enticed by this evil desire we have. The evil, sin-corrupted part of us has desires and pulls at us and tries to get us to act on these desires.
Once this desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. Sin is action and thought. Jesus teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount that sin starts in our heads. For example, murder is not simply physically killing someone; we can kill with our words (Matthew 5:21 -26).
Finally, when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. We start as slaves to sin. It rules our lives and in the end it kills us. We would suffer a physical as well as spiritual death.
But, we know that Jesus lives! We know that Jesus died the death of sin and conquered the final enemy, death. We know that Jesus rescues us from death and brings us into life. We also know that if we are one of God̢۪s people, the Holy Spirit lives in us and gives us the power to overcome the evil desires in our hearts (1 John 4:6)
Even though you and I see evil out in the world, we must not forget that we too are evil, but Jesus gives us the hope and power to overcome this evil.

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

RECALL

Last night the people of the state of California recalled their old governor and elected a new one. The campaign was short but it was hard fought with a lot of twists and turns. But in the end the old was thrown out and the new was welcomed.
as Christians we have also had our own recall in our lives. We had a king in our lives. This king ruled us not by love but thru sin, guilt and lies. This king sat on the throne in our hearts and made us his slaves. He made us believe that we could do things on our own and we knew the best way for us to live. We were pulled deeper and deeper into sin. We were dead under the leadership of this king

Then we met the King! We wanted this new King to rule our lives. But, our old king did everything in his power to keep his job. This new King offered us love but our king pointed out how much evil we had done. “Who could love you?” asked our king. The new King offered us forgiveness. But our king pointed out all the sin in our lives and asked, “Who could forgive you?” This new King called us to a life that was hard but full of victory. Our current king pointed out all our weaknesses. “How could you have victory? You are a loser!” Finally the new King sacrificed Himself for you. “Even if everything your old king said is true. I love you. I forgive you. I give you the power to be victorious.” So we threw out our old king and replaced him with the True King Jesus Christ.

If you are still living under the old king you need to have a recall. Your life will be so much more with Jesus as your King. He resurrects us from death and gives us life. He rescues us from sin and gives us forgiveness. He rewards us daily for our submission to him. Your recall won’t take place in an election both but in the waters of baptism

Jesus came and died for us not when we were ready for Him to be our king but because he loves us. The perfect Son of God died for us even when we were sinners. Thank the Lord for such love.
RECALL

Last night the people of the state of California recalled their old governor and elected a new one. The campaign was short but it was hard fought with a lot of twists and turns. But in the end the old was thrown out and the new was welcomed.
as Christians we have also had our own recall in our lives. We had a king in our lives. This king ruled us not by love but thru sin, guilt and lies. This king sat on the throne in our hearts and made us his slaves. He made us believe that we could do things on our own and we knew the best way for us to live. We were pulled deeper and deeper into sin. We were dead under the leadership of this king

Then we met the King! We wanted this new King to rule our lives. But, our old king did everything in his power to keep his job. This new King offered us love but our king pointed out how much evil we had done. “Who could love you?” asked our king. The new King offered us forgiveness. But our king pointed out all the sin in our lives and asked, “Who could forgive you?” This new King called us to a life that was hard but full of victory. Our current king pointed out all our weaknesses. “How could you have victory? You are a loser!” Finally the new King sacrificed Himself for you. “Even if everything your old king said is true. I love you. I forgive you. I give you the power to be victorious.” So we threw out our old king and replaced him with the True King Jesus Christ.

If you are still living under the old king you need to have a recall. Your life will be so much more with Jesus as your King. He resurrects us from death and gives us life. He rescues us from sin and gives us forgiveness. He rewards us daily for our submission to him. Your recall won’t take place in an election both but in the waters of baptism

Jesus came and died for us not when we were ready for Him to be our king but because he loves us. The perfect Son of God died for us even when we were sinners. Thank the Lord for such love.
because of yesterdays recall election in california i am going to post two bulletin articles. the first one will finish up the big fat lie series and then after lunch i'll post my "recall" youth zone for this week.


Lie #4: Teens are Selfish Me﷓First Slackers
The author of the article corrected this lie with
uncharacteristic brevity. He simply listed the youth movements and groups that are helping and serving.
New teens join these organization by the thousands every year. In the year 1996 13.3 million teenagers volunteered 2.4 billion hours ﷓ 1.8 billion of those hours were with formal organizations. Also thousands of teens work for a paycheck while going to school.
There are many differences between teenagers today and teenagers of the past. Teens today focus on helping people where they are. They are not out to "Save the Planet." Instead they want to help the homeless man on the street. This is the perspective Jesus took. He knew that by saving individuals He would save the world. He showed everyone He came in contact with that they mattered. He did this by challenging Pharisees to give up their self righteous attitudes. He challenged sinners to live righteous lives. Even though He knew the big picture, He still took time with the little brush strokes.

Tuesday, October 07, 2003

Lie #3 Teens are Less Committed to Church

In a recent Gallup Youth survey 68% of teens said that "I attend church because I decided myself I wanted to go." That is an amazing fact! It is incredible to me to see that teens across this country want to go to church. Overall church attendance has stagnated but church attendance by teens is up. Generation Xers have witnessed many broken commitments(especially family commitments.) It is no wonder that many are cautious and afraid to make commitments. Even with their attendance being up, their commitments are often "lukewarm." This should be applauded. Yes, applauded because in a world where a promise is nearly meaningless for them to commit, even a little bit, is a big step.
Most of the teens here at Falls Church have not had a family breakup, but they have seen the affects on their friends. They know the pain their friends must deal with as they try to make sense out of what happens in their lives. Our teens struggle with commitment as well. On the sign up sheets for church activities, among the “yeses” for participation there are often as many “maybes.” In the short time I have been here, I have observed that the teens are fairly committed to church but are more committed to their friends at church. This is a good sign, because the church is made up of people.

Friday, October 03, 2003

Lie #2: Teens Have Frustratingly Short Attention Spans

The problem is not that teens these days have short attention spans, instead it is the way they have been trained to receive information. "Teenagers' brains have literally been trained to think on many levels, about many things, shooting at them from many sources, all at once."("Four Big Fat Lies", Group, May/June 1997) Many have mistakenly attributed their apparent boredom to shallowness. On the contrary they are bored because teens today are "fast﷓paced info﷓eaters." In school and Sunday school classes they sometimes tune out because the information is coming at them to slowly. They learn differently than other generations.
This is a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that they can take in all this information, from various sources and are able to process it. They can take in so much and still come out with meaning to it. For instance they have access to information from a variety of sources; the T.V., the radio, CD/tape player and the computer. To people older than they are, the message is garbled by the speed and variety of sources. It is a curse because so much of life takes time and patience to understand. For example, the spiritual journey that we as Christians travel is not an information super highway. It is, instead, a slow process of transformation. Their ability to process information from various sources helps them survive in an ever changing culture but may hinder them in the slower aspects of living. As parents, mentors and ministers we need to present the Gospel to them in the way they learn without losing the truth to speed.

Thursday, October 02, 2003

here is my new series of old bulletin articles. this series deals with 4 big fat lies told about teens. i wrote this back in 1997 also but earlier than the 3 love series. i am posting the intro and first article today

BIG FAT LIES

Rick Lawerence in his article "Four Big Fat Lies About Kids" (Group, May/June 1997) exposes four lies about kids and teens these days. Replacing them with the truth. Over the next four Sundays we will be examining these lies. Yes, young people in our society deal with issues that past generations may not have. Yes, there is a lot of pressure on teenagers these days. Yes, they are not perfect but they are not all bad. The news media and even Christian authors would have us believe that kids these days are more messed up than any generation before. So they tell us the following lies not out of malice but misunderstanding.

Lie #1 Kids Don't Know Right from Wrong.
Lie #2 Kids have Frustratingly Short Attention Spans.
Lie #3 Kids are Less Committed to the Church.
Lie #4 Kids are Selfish Me-First Slackers.

Lie #1: Teens Don't Know Right from Wrong

Teens these days do struggle with what is right and what is wrong but this generation is not facing a new struggle. Jesus calls the generation He was preaching to a "wicked generation" (Matt 12:39,16:4 and Luke 11:29) At times, both young and old seem to have difficulty knowing the difference between right and wrong. The best example of this cross generational ignorance of right and wrong is the speed limit. On the Beltway and I﷓66 the speed limit is 55. (I actually think this number refers to the amount of people who actually drive the speed limit.) Young and older drivers speed down these highways at 65 plus mile per hour. So it is not only teens who struggle with knowing right from wrong, but adults as well.
In spite of this struggle young people across this country do know the difference between right and wrong. Organizations such as S.A.D.D. show that teens realize drinking and driving is wrong. Teens are looking for ways to use their talents and gifts to do right. Their are thousands of mission trips and service projects under taken by teens each year. Why? because they want to do what is right
The difference between this generations struggles and the struggle of past generations is "mass media". Everyone now sees and hears how teens struggle to figure out what is right and what is wrong. What was once covered is now revealed.(Matt 10:36) This internal struggle is splashed across movie and T.V. screens nation wide, making the problem seem larger that it is.

Wednesday, October 01, 2003

here is the forth and final installment of my 3 love theory series

Love for God

Having looked at the other two loves we are left with the final love, our love for God. This love overlaps with the other two loves. We shall see through our love for God how the Three Loves act as three over lapping circles.
First it over laps with our "love of God. In order to show the "love of God" we must obey God's commands and by obeying God's commands we show Him that we love Him. (1 John 5:3 "This is the love for God: to obey His commands") How does this show our love for Him? Because we do what He wants by choice. As Christians we know that we can never act so good that we will save ourselves. It takes faith in Jesus and accepting His grace. We obey God's commands not to be saved but because we are saved. We show our love for God by being like God wants us to. We are His children and need to obey our Father.
Our love for God over laps His love for us. Looking again at First John we discover that "We love because He first loved us." This "first love" is God continually caring for humanity (us) even when we did not love God back. We have a tendency to love those who love us. It is the same way with God.He knows that we have this tendency so He showed love first so we could love back.
Our love for God is connected with the other loves. Just as the other loves are connected with each other. Think of them as three interlocking circles.

Tuesday, September 30, 2003

here is part 3 of my three love theory, if you read this drop me a line and let me know what you think byrdman27@juno.com thanks!

Love of God

This is the love that we show others. The outflow of the love from God. We again need to look to Jesus as an example of this love. His death on the cross was more than God showing us His love. It was also Jesus showing us the love of God. The love we are to show to other people. This is not just a feeling it is an action love. The cross was not simply a sentimental event it was Jesus acting out the love of God. Jesus continually shows us how the "love of God" is an action love.
In the Upper room Jesus teaches the Apostles one last lesson . . . feet washing. The teacher, the Messiah, the Son of God put on a towel and washed the feet of 12 men. An important fact to remember is that feet in sandals rarely stay clean or smell good. Jesus the one who was to be served serves. That is How we are to live out the "love of God." We are to serve those around us. That is what the Mission Project Week was all about, acting out the "love of God." We didn't sit around going "We love those needy kids so much." No we got up and acted. We held hands, we encouraged, we showed those kids the love that flows from Gods through us to them. We were active conduits of love! Like the band dc Talk says "Love is a verb."

Thursday, September 25, 2003

here is the next instalment of my 3 love theory series written back in 1997


Love From God

What is the love from God? Simply put this is the love that God shows us. This love is the source of all other loves which exist. In our lives we see numerous examples of this love. For example, the simple fact that we exist shows God's love for us. He did not have to create the universe, but out of love He did. We are kept alive by His love. Everything we need to live is given to us from God as a gift. He shows us His love by keeping us alive.
The greatest example of God's love for us is the sacrifice of His Son. Jesus shows us the love from God better than anything else. God was willing to sacrifice His only Son for a world which hated Him. Jesus was willing to come to Earth and die for you and me. We hated God. We wanted our own way and not God's way. We could never save ourselves. We are the one's that the love from God is poured out onto.
This incredible love is poured into our hearts. So much love comes from God that we can not contain it. This uncontainable love is the source of our love for God and for others. We reflect the "love from God" back to God as the "love for God". We also direct the overflow of the "love from God" to others as the "love of God"

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

we survived isabel and i am in the middle of a poem about isabel. we only lost power for about 24 hours. so we got out the camp stove and cooked on the back patio. the neighbors were all asking who was cooking bacon? it was me! also in the morning we got to watch a person being taken away by helicopter after being over come by carbon monoxide posioning. the rest of the day was uneventful.

here is my first bulletin ariticle to be posted here. these will be posted without updating them so they will sound like they were written a while ago. as you can see this article was written about 6 years ago. it is an introduction to my 3 love theory which will be explained as you read the 3 part series.

Subject:The Four Three Loves
Date:Wed, 16 Jul 1997 10:40:33 ﷓0400 (EDT)
From:Joshbyrd@aol.com
To: churchfc@erols.com
Over the next three four weeks we will explore what I call my "Three Love Theory." I introduced this theory a couple of weeks ago during our study of 1 John on Wednesday nights in the Upper Room. Here is the theory. There are three loves which exist in the universe: love from God; love for God and love from God. Love from God is the love that God has shown us. This is also the source of all love. Love for God is the love that we show to God. We reflect God's love back up to Him. Finally the love of God is the love that we show others. The love so much love comes from God that we can not contain it all so the over flow is directed toward others. Each of these loves will be explored in more depth.
These loves are more than abstract ideas. Instead they are a new way to think about the way we live as Christians. We are always doing one of these loves. We are always receiving the love from God. Whether we are asking Him for forgiveness or simply existing God is showing us His love. We show God how much we love Him by worshiping Him or doing the third love. Finally we are to show others the love of God. This love shows itself in little and big ways. We show it when we help a new kid at school find their class or participate in a service project. All these loves come from God because "God is Love"

Wednesday, September 17, 2003

isabel is another day closer!

i am going to start posting past bulletin articles as thoughts of the day so that people can read these and they not just sit on my hard drive

i'll start that tomorow,

Tuesday, September 16, 2003

it is tuesday morning and the hurricane i just a few days away!

Saturday, September 13, 2003

this is my opening message. i don't think anyone will read it but here it is