Some Thoughts on John 1:1-2

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God."

                                                                                              John 1:1-2

In these first two verses we have the introduction of the gospel of John. Wow, what powerful verses we have here as well. On these thoughts hang the truth of Christianity. John is normally a rather flowery guy when it comes to written language, but here he is blatantly clear. John usually is very poetical, expressing things in a very educated Greek. Here though he does not want you to miss his point because the rest of gospel he is going to be demonstrating what he is saying in these first two verses over and over again. John's gospel is very different from the others, because like the others he chooses stories and words of Christ that demonstrate that Christ is who He says He is, the Son of God. This verse is so clear that you might as well rip it out if you do not agree with it. Because John has no intention of letting you miss the point of what he is saying. 

I am currently preparing to preach through the gospel of John and I am excited about this passage because it is the perfect introduction for the book. Other gospels start out with Christ's human genealogies but John starts out with showing that Christ is not a created being. He is God and He was with God in the beginning. While there are those that flatly deny the deity of Christ, of which I sincerely doubt I will change their minds, there are many of us who would confess the deity of Jesus but not live like we do. Some times in our day and times we over emphasize the humanness of Christ. We want to make Him some sort of genie/buddy that should always deliver happiness to us in whatever form we desire. I like C.S. Lewis' example of the fact that He is not a tame lion. While Christ does love us and want to give us what is best for us He does not fit into the bottle of personal desires. So often we what to shrink the God Jesus down to a more manageable size. Christ is bigger than our logic and our thoughts and that is why He says:

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." 

                                                                                            Is 55:9

Some Thoughts on Preparing for a Mother's Day Sermon

On thing for sure is that you are not going to get a how to from me as I am doing this for the first time. I am always excited about my sermon for Sunday and the preparation for it but I have to admit that I am pretty green at this thing. While there are a lot of nice things to say about mothers both past and present one thing for sure is that God loves the heart of a mother. He created and instilled in a woman that deep desire and instinct to mother. In this instinct He has left images of his character. As a mother holds her baby for the first time there is absolute love in her eyes. She has spent the last nine month giving of her body to grow this little life. She has also, though the little bumps and taps in her womb, began to develop a relationship with this budding human being. As she loves the little child she loves him without any expectancy of return on investment. There is nothing that this little baby can do for her. He cannot give her money or things he can hardly express his feelings, but none the less she is eager and willing to pour our her life for the being she holds in her arms. Such it is with the heart of Christ. We are barely able to respond in our relationship with Him. Our love is purely a response to the love he pours out on us. We are only able to reciprocate His feelings toward us, and certainly He has no need for us. Yet he says things like this about us.

"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."

                                                                                                                  Jer 31:3

The reality is that the love of a mother is truly overwhelming. Yet at the same time the love of our Lord is that much more overwhelming. This Sunday take some time to thank some mothers for their example and love. Especially yours because after all you would not be here if it was not for her. From me to all your mothers out there, God bless you. May you keep doing what you do best. Thank you so much for teaching us a little bit about what it means to lay down your life for another.

Political Views

Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for your support and interest lately and I am aware that there are probably some of you that are just starting to follow my blog now that I am now the pastor of  Stonyford Community Church. You may have noticed that I have been rather liberal in expressing my conservative views on this blog. I hope that you do not find any of this offensive as I have thought long and hard about my views and do not take them lightly. Although I do understand that there are those of you out there that hold differing opinions that you hold just as dear. Let me say here and now that it is perfectly fine with me (although I might hope that you might change over to my viewpoint :) ). I am always happy to discuss with any one concerned about what I have posted on these pages and I am fully aware of the fact that I may have easily missed something that could clarify my views. I would also be happy if you express that to me through the internet or in person. What I hope to do here is have a form of my learning. A place to express tough ideas and concepts that I believe no one on earth has the complete answer to. You may notice that I come across strong in my presentation but my intention is not to offend but simply to dialog. I firmly believe that we cannot strengthen our beliefs until we can discuss them with friends and sometimes enemies to round out the finer points. All of us have something to learn and I put my name at the top of that list but learning is not possible until we get out there and study and discuss the questions of life. The stagnant society is the one that does not allow discussion, prohibits books and learning and bans the congregation of people. In the words of Heinrich Hein a German Jewish poet "Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings." Evil is not interested in hearing the viewpoint of the opposing side, and truth does not fear scrutiny.

First Days as a Pastor at Stonyford Community Church

Wow what an exciting time unloading the trailers unpacking the office and especially the books. We have had a very warm welcome here in Stonyford as the people here have poured out the love of Christ on us. We have been so blessed meeting all the new people that go to our church and some that do not go to our church but are vital parts of this community. I have to say a hearty thank you to you all that live here in Stonyford for your gracious welcome.

Stonyford is a beautiful community here about two and half hours drive northwest of Sacramento California. While driving back out here the words to that old song kept going through my head.

California here I come 

Right back where I started from

God has certainly blessed and we are so excited about serving here in Stonyford and seeing the amazing things that God is going to do. We are so glad for the faithful that have been serving here for so long helping to put us in a starting place we could have never dreamed of. While there are many here in Stonyford that are faithful servants of the Lord there is much work to be done and we covet your prayers as for us and those that we are serving beside in the Lord's work.



We had a great men's Bible study last night as we are studying through Matt chapter five. There was a some great discussion and some wonderful thoughts on such a key passage of scripture. My first sermon is Mother's day on the 12th so you can be praying for me as I prepare for that. God bless you all.

The Joining of Village Missions

It has been a little while since you have heard from me but I wanted to update our status with Village missions. We have been officially accepted by Village Missions and I will soon be placed in a church serving as a Village Missions pastor. It is hard to believe that soon I will be serving in such a capacity. I am overwhelmed at the awesome responsibility that such a position holds. It will be a blessing at times and there will of course be times that I feel like giving up. The important thing to remember is Christ is going to have to be my strength, no matter how qualified or unqualified I may feel. I will fail but Christ will not fail me. Tonight or maybe later this weekend we should be finding our where we are to be located which means that it will be rather soon that I am placed.

I am thinking over ideas for my first Sunday School class, sermon and prayer-meeting messages. Village Missions stresses the importance of being out in the community spending time with people in order to minister to them but it is just as important that we spend time digging into God's Word so we can present the Truth. Feel free in the comments section to put down some suggestions for passages or resources. I would love to hear from you on this.

Getting Ready for Another Candidate Orientation

Next week we will be leaving for a week long orientation with Village Missions. It has been a shift in our mission purpose that is for sure. As many of you know we have been preparing to go to Ireland for some time now and now we are signing up for a mission agency that supplies full time pastors to churches in rural America. You might be wondering why the change. Well there is a lot of reasons but of course the first one is the Lord impressing on us His direction to pursue this at this time. After praying about this seriously with our church family at Warner Ave Baptist Church we really feel like the Lord is leading us in this direction at least for now. Naturally we are committing to this indefinitely and we see ourselves committing our lives to this work as the Lord leads. Of course this change does not mean that we no longer have a heart for Ireland or that the need there is some how diminished because we are not going there. Quite the opposite the need is still great there and we pray earnestly for a our friends who are serving there on the front lines. Please let me know if you would like further information about people that are serving there or if you would like to know about those that could use your financial support.

As for us now we will be moving towards servng with Village Missions. Please pray that all will go well as we attended orientation next week. Help us to have a servant's heart and a willingness to learn. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support as we have been going through this transition. Pray for us as we continue to seek the Lord for His continued direction.

Some More Thoughts on Gun Control

This gentleman understands the real issue. It is not about guns it is about the fact that our nation has turned its back against God. There is no way any of us could say this better.

COLUMBINE STUDENT'S FATHER 12 YEARS LATER!!

Guess our national leaders didn't expect this. On Thursday, Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee. What he said to our national leaders during this special session of Congress was painfully truthful.
They were not prepared for what he was to say, nor was it received well. It needs to be heard by every parent, every teacher, every politician, every sociologist, every psychologist, and every so-called expert! These courageous words spoken by Darrell Scott are powerful, penetrating, and deeply personal. There is no doubt that God sent this man as a voice crying in the wilderness. The following is a portion of the transcript:

"Since the dawn of creation there has been both good &evil in the hearts of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers.
"The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used.. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.
"In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent
I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy -- it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best.

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?"
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!

"Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact.
What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs -- politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws.
Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

"As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge every young person in America , and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him.

To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA -- I give to you a sincere challenge.. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone!
My daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!"
- Darrell Scott

Do what the media did not - - let the nation hear this man's speech. Please share this with your FB friends!