What do I read?
Posted by Chance in Spiritual Growth, Worship - Lane 1 on November 24th, 2009
So many things in christian life seem to be a paradox. From ‘losing your life to save it’ to ‘the first shall be last’, it seems that in order to actually achieve success in life, you are suppose to exhaust your energy, resources, and mental processes doing……you guessed it…..simple, little things.
For example, it has always amazed me that when you become spiritually reborn into a fellowship with God, people come out of the woodwork to let you know that you should read your bible every day. What a simple concept, that no one seems to be able to do. In an article titled, Americans and the Bible, Michael Vlach organizes research done by the Gallup Organization and Barna Research Group (www.theological studies.org). The information is below;
Bible Ownership
Most Americans own a Bible. In fact, 92% of households in America own at least one copy. Of those households that own a Bible, the average number of Bibles is three. This includes not only the homes of practicing Christians but hundreds of thousands of atheists as well. 2
Bible Reading
Although most Americans own a Bible, use of the Bible varies significantly. In a poll taken by the Gallup Organization in October, 2000, 59% of Americans reported that they read the Bible at least occasionally. This is down from 73% in the 1980s. The percentage of Americans who read the Bible at least once a week is 37%. This is down slightly from 40% in 1990. 3 According to the Barna Research Group, those who read the Bible regularly spend about 52 minutes a week in the scriptures. 4 Barna, “The Bible,” data is from 1997.
2 Barna Research Online, “The Bible,” www.barna.org. This information is based on 1993 figures.
3 Alec Gallup and Wendy W. Simmons, “Six in Ten Americans Read Bible at Least Occasionally,” TheGallup Organization, www.gallup.com, October 20, 2000.
4 Barna, “The Bible,” data is from 1997.
The truth is, we didn’t need these statistics to tell us what we have already experienced. As a new christian, I tried to read through the bible in a year. The result was failure and the guilt of thinking I wasn’t capable of being a good christian. On a positive note, I have read the first five chapters of Genesis about 20 different times!
It is tough to pick up the bible and just read it in a way to find purpose. Therefore, here is some guidance.
Don’t just start reading the bible.
Choose a short term plan.
Choose an interesting plan.
Choose a plan that fits your stage of growth.
Team up with a growth partner on your reading plan.
Talk about what you read with your growth partner.
Check out the links below for different bible reading plans.
Comprehensive ListGreat site for a comprehensive list of traditional reading plans. The bonus of this site is that it has a mobile connection option so that you can have the reading sent to your email or phone on a daily basis. Based on Spiritual Growth
This site has a unique organization. You can choose plans based on your level of spiritual growth. There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced options. Topical This site is great if you want to focus on particular topics such as biographical, historical, surveys, key stories, highlights, or traditional plans.
John 6:63 (New Living Translation)
63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
Ultimately, the bible tells us that life comes from His word, so no matter what your strategy, find yourself in the word!
Chance
What Good is My Faith?
Posted by Chance in Outreach - Lane 4, Spiritual Growth on November 17th, 2009
From the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), to the bold statements in James 2 about faith and actions, our soul begs us to ask the question; What good is my faith?
A handful of years ago, there was a short kid with a small frame that entered my classroom. His image would make you cold as you noticed the thin layer of insulation between his skin and his bones. His hair was overgrown, but managed by his hands and finger tips. He was wearing a pair of glasses that bent out wide to reach his ears. Research would show they were the same pair he was given in 2nd grade through a state vision program. He wore the same shirt and pants everyday, and never a coat. His catching appearance was matched by his consistent attendance. He never missed a school day or a free lunch
This very real story paints an image of boy in need. However, it is the educational quandary that I would like to dissect and then transfer into our lives. There was an educational economy that expected him to show up, teachers to teach, him to learn, and society to grow. However, somewhere along the line, the reality of life sunk in. His mom was in a mental hospital, his dad was a drunk who urinated on him when he came home in his stupor. With no clean clothes to change into, he would go to school and slowly face the onslaught of adolescent vicisousness and teacher fatigue. The result was a passive-aggressive coping mechanism that led to multiple suspensions and a long term confinement to “the bad school.” It was only here he found a currency exchange that replaced the academic curriculum with service passion. He was given a his only meal of the day at school, his clothes were washed periodically, and he was surrounded by God’s love. This was not a government initiative, but a Godly passion held by a great administrator. She surrounded herself with teachers that cared more than they were required to, loved more than the were expected to, and gave more than they had to.
This should not be the exception in life, because it is the mandate of life. The purpose of your faith and belief is to create closeness with God the radiates a servanthood, which transcends busy schedules, routines, and norms. We are taught not to judge the intent of a person, but the fruit they bear (Matthew 7). However, when it comes to education or even personal servanthood, we seem to claim to the notion, “It’s the thought that counts.” Let me reassure you, it is not the thought that counts. Thoughts don’t clothe, feed, or love a person. To believe in God and pursue him with passion is more than an emotional or cerebral connection. It is only fleshed out through the fruit of our efforts towards humanity.
As we have been challenged by the recent messages from James, I challenge you to become involved in the following activities. However, my challenge should be squandered by God’s call on your heart to USE YOUR FAITH!
Connect to the Outreach Resources Page to see where you can begin your journey!!
Chance
What is Worship?
Posted by Chance in Spiritual Growth, Worship - Lane 1 on November 13th, 2009
Have you ever been perplexed by those moments where other people seem to be getting more out of a “worship” experience than you were?
Perhaps they were more spiritual, too spiritual, or just showing off to hide that they weren’t spiritual.
Let me come at this from a different angle…..Have you ever been completely engaged in a “worship” experience only to find later that others were not affected at the same level as you?
Perhaps you were more spiritual, too spiritual, or just showing off to hide that you weren’t spiritual.
After reading an excerpt about worship from John Bevere’s book, Drawing Near, I was challenged to rethink my approach at worship. In Genesis 22, we have the first mention of the worship concept in the bible. It is interesting that the first time we are given a pattern and illustration of worship it is nothing like we have confined it to be in our minds and actions.
Genesis 22:1-5 (New Living Translation)
1 Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called.
“Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”
2 “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
3 The next morning Abraham got up early (a). He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood (b) for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day of their journey (c), Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther (d). We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”
What we learn from this is that worship is a lifestyle of obedience to God. Worship takes place during every day of the week, every moment, and every experience. It is an expression of an internal desire to follow the direction of the Holy Spirit. Worship requires preparation (a), work (b), time (c), and distance from distractions (d).
These four actions (a – d) create the climate for Abraham and Isaac to worship. During this week, take this word as a challenge to reorganize the way you think of worship. Replace the notion of a slow song with the reality of a “Lifestyle of Obedience.” Once this becomes our reality, the introduction questions to this blog become obsolete as we truly experience a relationship with God.
Chance
Calling for Community
Posted by Chance in Community - Lane 2, Spiritual Growth on November 2nd, 2009
Ephesians 4:15-16 (New Living Translation)
15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
Starting with creation in Genesis 2, God saw that man was not at their best by themselves. Even all the animals and elements of creation were not sufficient for the development of man. Therefore, God created community/relationship.
Since this time, we have created a paradox by which we develop an ever increasing community with a growth rate that has truly become exponential through technology and global connectedness. In contrast, our connection to each other has become superficial, deflective, and ineffective. This reality has been highlighted by a culture of vocabulary that calls for authenticity, realness, and relationship.
Perhaps what calls for community more than our vocabulary is our inner being, the intangible soul that causes us to crave for a community/relationship that allows for openness, truth, and growth. This leads us to the paradox of personal spiritual growth; We must have a relationship with God and man.
The author Henry Cloud sums this up more eloquently when he stated, “[People] grow first through their connection with God, but also through their connection with other people in his Body. And as we have seen, if they don’t have the latter, they don’t have all the former.”
Therefore, one of our conclusions is that God, you, and others are not only calling for you to create community, but need you to create community. Furthermore, this community is defined through acceptance, grace, experience, emotion, trust, healing, sacrifice, and servant-hood.
Spend the rest of the week defining your relationships.
Who are they?
How healthy are they?
Are they helping you know more about God?
Are they helping you grow?
Chance
Starving for Growth
Posted by Chance in Discipleship - Lane 3, Spiritual Growth on October 26th, 2009
Paul’s tongue tying discourse on the internal battle we have to do good is perhaps the unveiling truth of spiritual growth.
Romans 7:15 (NLT) “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but i don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.”
The difference between a disciple of Christ and a decision to believe in Christ is the use of the Romans 7 realization to create intentional change. Instead of a crutch, the human frailty becomes a catapult for making specific decisions for feeding the spirit man and starving the flesh.
Romans 8:6 (NLT) “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”
There is a distinctive separation between the power found in God and our freedom to make daily choices. However, the separation is not in God’s ability and our inability. Instead, it is in our effort combined with the grace/Spirit of God to create life and peace.
We stand in verse 6 as the entity free to let or allow the sinful nature to control us or the Spirit to control us. Ultimately, you have to give your best effort to starve the sinful nature. Sometimes the starvation is pushed upon us through consequence or divine providence. However, we can begin today to strategically and effectively cut off the nutritional source of our sinful nature.
Examples include:
Limiting television time
Limiting unhealthy music selections
Denying yourself desires of the flesh
Please make a comment on how you are starving your sinful man!
Chance
Prayer: Our Father, Which Art in Heaven
Posted by Chance in Spiritual Growth, Worship - Lane 1 on October 17th, 2009
Prayer is an amazing action through which we can know God. There is such a trend to title things we do as spiritual disciplines, spiritual pathways, acts of worship, etc. Regardless of our terminology the rudimentary practice of talking with God is beyond necessary, it is inherent in our purposeful design.
When we look at the model prayer in scripture, it begins with “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name…” (Matthew 6:9, KJV)
We could all grow this week if we took a moment in our lives and tried to put a mental grip on the fact we are loved by a God that is greater than us.
I was recently drawn to the video clip below through the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. At minimum it should help put a new perspective on how great our God is.
Watch the video below by clicking on the link.
With this perspective, I challenge us to seek the Creator in a new enlightened way. Approach Him this week with a reverence that marvels at His wonder.
Knowing more of God,
Chance Bosch
Purpose of this Blog
Posted by Chance in Spiritual Growth on October 6th, 2009
The Assembly is launching a spiritual growth plan this winter. It marks a pace changing initiative to connect our decision to serve Christ with a determination to become a disciple of Christ.
The foundation to any resource or supplemental support for growth is the personal, laser focused examination of your own heart. In Exodus 19 God tells Moses to have the people consecrate themselves for three days before He would show Himself. This included ceremonial cleansing, washing their clothes, and other preparations. Now is the time for us to prepare for growth by looking inward at those things that inhibit the habitation of God in our lives, for it is His indwelling that allows us to grow.
Continue to connect to this blog for spiritual growth discussion and resources.
Chance Bosch
Executive Pastor/Discipleship