Ken

Last weekend I concluded our "Church 2.0" series on core values with a message about living a life of intentional mission.  Individual Christ-followers are called to a life on mission. Churches, as communities of individual Christ-followers, are called to be on mission, too. I chose as my text 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10.  The Thessalonian church was birthed in the midst of opposition.  Acts 17, which tells the story of how the church began, describes Paul's opposition as rounding up a few "bad characters" who chased Paul out of town.  Bad characters have been chasing preachers out of town ever since! 1 and 2 Thessalonians are two letters that Paul writes to the church he had helped establish to encourage and instruct them.  As you read the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians, you quickly discover that this is a church that is living on mission. "You became imitators of us and of…

Did you know that I live in temporary housing?  And this may come as news to you, but I know that you live in temporary housing, too.  Even though I've never been to many of your houses, I do know what color some of them are.  To be honest, the paint is thinning on more than a few of them. Confused yet? Everyone lives in temporary housing.  It's called your body.  What feels like a permanent dwelling while in your 20's begins to show signs of wear and tear in your 40's (or sooner).  As you grow older, the idea of permanent housing begins to lose steam. Our temporary housing is the cause of much confusion and heartache. Since we live in temporary housing, we tend to be shortsighted.  We live moment-to-moment, a consequence of living in a temporary abode.  Instead of finding a lasting satisfaction, we live on short…

D. Martin Lloyd Jones (the man with many names), when describing the gospel, differentiated between news and advice.  The gospel is good news; it is not good advice.  Advice is when you receive suggestions about something that may or may not happen in the future.   News, on the other hand, is a report about something that has happened and about which you can do nothing to change the outcome.  The only thing you can do with is news is respond to it. When we proclaim the gospel as good news, we are not offering suggestions or advise about what to do; we are declaring what God has done -- and how people ought to respond to it.  The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus cannot be changed.  There is nothing we can do to alter what happened 2,000 years ago. All we can do is respond to it. Perhaps…

In broad strokes, we can approach life with a generous spirit or choose to be stingy.  This is about much more than just money, though it certainly includes how we budget and spend our money. A person with a generous spirit looks for ways to add value to people and situations.  Generosity might mean allowing the mom with three kids to get in line in front of you.  It may take the form of closing the laptop when a co-worker comes in the office, obviously in need of someone to talk to.  A generous person sees a minor inconvenience as just that -- minor. People who approach life with a generous spirit are a joy to be around. People who choose to be stingy, well, they are not so fun to be around.  Stingy people cling to more than just their money.  A stingy spirit forgets to hold the door…