Church

Metal heads might hear the name Nikola Tesla and think he was the lead singer of Tesla.  Metal heads would be wrong (that would be Jeff Keith). Nikola Tesla was a prolific inventor who died in 1943.  During his lifetime he held patents for things ranging from electric arc lamp to radios and early remote controls.  He was most famous, however, for developing alternating current -- the AC in AC/DC (the electrical current, not Angus Young). Tesla was known to be an eccentric.  Wherever he lived, he ate dinner at the same time every night, from 8-10 pm.  He squished his toes one hundred times for each foot ... every day ... because he believed doing so stimulated his brain cells (I'm squishing my toes as I type; I bet you are squishing them, too). In addition to squishing toes, Tesla had another odd habit that I liked.  During thunderstorms,…

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." -- Hebrews 12:1-3 When you go about your everyday activities, do you ever get the feeling you're being watched? Maybe you should. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that every Christ-follower has an audience, a "great cloud of witnesses."  In fact, we are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses.  We cannot move without bumping into one. Who…

Charles Spurgeon, a British pastor, was known as "the prince of preachers."  It is estimated that by the time of his death in 1892 he had preached to over 10,000,000 people -- and all of this before the arrival of television or the internet.  His influence lives on in his books and collections of sermons. In talking about how Christians approached worship (and remember this was the 18th century), he once said: “When you speak of Heaven, let your face light up, let it be irradiated with a heavenly gleam, let your eyes shine with reflected glory. But when you speak of Hell – well, then your ordinary face will do.” What does your face look like when you sing of the majesty of God?  Do your eyes light up when you discuss something that God has done in your life?  Does your face shine when speaking of God's faithfulness,…

"But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved." -- Hebrews 10:39 We, the church, have a choice: we can take our ball and go home or we can move forward in faith.  We can look at the downward spiral of our world and decide we cannot make a difference.  We can see a tight economy and decide that big dreams are a luxury of the past.  We can choose to survive instead of thriving. Not me. I'm not content to live in or work with a shrink-wrapped church. We shrink-wrap food to protect it.  The idea is to keep the bad stuff from contaminating the good stuff.  Shrink-wrapping is designed to delay the inevitable: the death of the food.  Eventually, even shrink-wrapped food will decay.  Why?  Because it's no longer alive. A church that shrinks back…

"Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." -- Hebrews 10:19-25 The writer of Hebrews is trying…