Did Superman Need Jesus?

Do you remember that thermometer I told you about awhile ago? It is wireless, we have a sensor outside, and the base tells us what the temperature is outside and inside as well as the lowest and highest yet registered. So far the warmest day we have had was 75 degrees, until a couple days ago.

I was outside grilling some stuff for supper and I went inside to get a drink. The base to the thermometer sits next to our fridge, so I glanced at it to see what the temperature was outside because it felt good. I mean I was grilling outside, so it had to be decent. It said the temperature was 90.7 degrees!

I was amazed it was that warm, then I remembered where the sensor was. It needs to be covered so it is out of the weather. I had put it on the shelf underneath the grill with the wire hanging out a couple feet behind it. It was picking up some radiant heat from the grill. It still felt good outside, but it wasn’t 90.7 degrees.

This reminded me of something Jesus said when he spoke about how he is the vine and we are the branches and we can’t do much of anything unless we’re connected to him. We may feel like Superman and we’re invincible and don’t need Jesus, but sooner or later we’re gonna be reminded that we do need him. We might as well make it a point to be connected to him on a regular basis now so we don’t have to go through a potentially painful reminder later.

As a pastor and church planter, it is too easy for me to hit the ground running or get bogged down in details when I should be spending time with Jesus and working on my connection with him so that I can indeed bear fruit. I’ve got to be intentional. How about you?

How Do You Treat God?

I went to the Redbox at McDonald’s this evening to return “I Am Legend.” Good movie. I had to wait for a couple minutes because someone else was using the machine trying to rent “27 Dresses.” The machine wouldn’t accept his card.

Anyway, while I was waiting I noticed a young mother who was dining there with her child. The reason I noticed her is because her child was throwing a fit. The kid was sitting in a high chair and couldn’t have been more than a year old, but was making enough noise for 5 or 6 kids. I turned around and looked, and this mother was sitting there with a smile on her face, holding a huge ice cream cone, saying, “No, I need to hold it. No, I need to hold it.” It was obvious that she was sharing her ice cream, but the kid was wanting to hold the cone and eat it all himself. How ungrateful. How immature. But not really surprising.

We expect that kind of behavior from babies, don’t we? I thought it was cool that this young mother was being patient and kind and cool under pressure. I give her props.

But how often do we act like that child towards God? You know what I’m talking about. God gives us a gift, but we focus on what he hasn’t given us. He grants us goodness, but we want so much more and we want it right now, so we view his timing as a lack of compassion.

Do you act like a whining, blabbering, snotty-nosed, fit-throwing kid towards God sometimes? I know I do.

Track Meets & What They Taught Me

Last evening I went to my daughter’s track meet. She just runs a couple events, so I am only fully engaged for about 3 minutes of the 4 hour track meet. But as I sat there watching, I finally noticed something that is really cool.

Something that has bugged me was how at each track meet so far they run at least a dozen 100 meter dashes. The kids line up, the gun goes off, the kids run as fast as they can across the finish line, then the next group of kids line up and the process starts again. I always thought they were wasting time.

But last night I was actually paying attention and I noticed as each group takes their turn, it becomes obvious that the slower and “less fit” kids are taking part. During some of the other events, some kids are even lapped.

Here is what I have witnessed so far … no kid has ever quit. Even though they do not look the type and are running well behind the leader, they are giving their 100%. They are trying their best. And as these lone runners are making their way past the stands, the crowd claps and cheers and many of their team mates encourage them on as if they were about to set a record and win a gold medal. Very cool. In the big city the competition is so much that these kids would not even be allowed on the team.

I’m glad we’re back in an area where kids can be kids and everyone is part of the team. It’s amazing the things you notice when you pay attention.

Fourth Christian Martyred in Somalia in the Last Six Months

The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org has learned that Islamic extremists shot and killed a Muslim convert to Christianity on April 22 in Baidawa, a town 149 miles away from Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. His name was David Abdulwahab Mohamed Ali, and he was 29 years old.

On Tuesday, April 22, 2008, at 4:30pm local time, one of David’s cousins led two other members of the Islamic extremist group Al-Shabab to David and asked him if he was a Muslim or an infidel. He answered, “Neither.”

They asked, “Then what are you?”

He answered, “Waxaan ahay Masiixi,” which means, “I am a follower of the Messiah.”

At this, David’s cousin was enraged and humiliated. In Somalia’s strict Muslim society, David’s conversion to Christianity brought enormous shame on his family. His cousin’s first response was to pull out a gun and shoot David. The other two extremists did the same, and the three continued shooting David until their Muslim “honor” had been avenged.

David had been living in Ethiopia since 2000 when he traveled to Somalia this April to visit his family. He came to Christ in 1995, in Yemen, where he was living as a refugee. In 2000, David’s good friend, Mohammed Omer Haji, was sentenced to death by the government of Yemen for his faith in Christ (Haji was able to take refuge in New Zealand). David had to flee Yemen and move to Ethiopia because Yemeni authorities were looking for him also.

David was a gifted and brilliant evangelist who led many to the Lord, actively sharing his faith through blogs. He was also a linguist and a philosopher whom some Somalis called “The Great Thinker.”

Recently, Islamic extremists have intensified their attacks against Christians in Somalia. In the past six months alone, four Christians, including David, have been martyred for their faith. The other three martyrs are: Da’ud Ali, Mohamed Yusuf and Hassan Mo’alim.

The attacks against Christians in Somalia are carried out by a group called Al-Shabab, an Al-Qaeda linked militant group. Al-Shabab is fighting to establish an Islamic state in Somalia, ruled by Sharia law, and is on the United States list of terrorist organizations.

ICC spoke with a leading Somali Christian who urged the international community to condemn the genocide-in-the-making that the Church in Somalia is facing.

The Somali Christian expressed his fear that “less than three percent of the Somali population is Christian and we [the Christians] could be eliminated in this generation by the Muslim violence if the massacre is not stopped now.”

ICC’s regional manager for Africa, Darara Gubo, stated, “The deadly Jihad against Christians continues and Christians in Somalia need our help and support. Please don’t forget our brothers and sisters in Somalia.”

To learn more about the needs of Somali Christians and how you can help them, please contact ICC.

Contact Darara Gubo, Regional Manager for Africa, 1-800-ICC (422)-5441, icc@persecution.org for more information.

# # #

ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC delivers humanitarian aid, trains and supports persecuted pastors, raises awareness in the US regarding the problem of persecution, and is an advocate for the persecuted on Capitol Hill and the State Department. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.

Sharing About Freedom Ridge

Yesterday I got the opportunity to speak at North Grand Church here in Ames. They were having a Mission Emphasis Sunday, and they asked me to come in and share some of the vision and philosophy behind Freedom Ridge. It was a lot of fun and I had a good time there.

The cool thing about it is they were planted by CEM around 40 years ago, and now we are being planted by CEM. It was almost like I was speaking with family.

I appreciate their willingness to let me come in and speak during their service.

Fusion by Nelson Searcy saved my butt

I’ve been reading the book Fusion by Nelson Searcy and it is very good. It talks about the assimilation process of churches and gives some very practical insight and advice on narrowing the back door of your church. It has a lot of good stuff in it, and it has a lot of stuff that you can begin to use in your church right now. We’re definitely going to be implementing a lot of the stuff in our church when we begin meeting publicly. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in fortifying their assimilation/first impressions/guest services in their church. Go buy it if you don’t already have it.

Tonight I was very thankful that I purchased it, because as the title of this post says, the book saved my butt. I headed out to my daughter’s track meet this evening and I grabbed the book to read in between her events. When I got to the track, the temperature was about 38 degrees and the wind was blowing about 20mph. So needless to say it was very cold. I sat down on the frozen metal bleachers and the chill shot right through me. The wind was blowing and I was shivering. After about 5 minutes I knew I was not going to get any reading done because of the wind and I was shaking too much to hold the book still. I thought I would go into hypothermia and quite possibly die.

Rather than hold the book, I sat on it. The 180 some pages were enough to raise me up off the frozen bleacher and increase my body temperature by a couple degrees. So Nelson, if you happen to read this post, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my butt for writing Fusion, because it saved my life.

u can txt me now

My family has finally joined this century and signed up for unlimited texting. Our daughters have been begging for awhile, but we’ve been putting them off. I actually kinda wanted it, too, so we finally got it.

So if you want to touch base or send a short note, you can text me without it costing me 15 cents.

Do You Remember CHiPs?

I used to love CHiPs when I was growing up. It was a cool show, and I loved it especially because it was about motorcycles. I would sit in jealous awe as I watched the intro to the show when Ponch and Jon were riding down the freeway and the camera got closeups of every piece of the bike. It was cool and it made me want a motorcycle so I could ride down the freeway next to my friend.

My youngest daughter and I like riding our bikes together. Ames has some pretty good bike paths, and we like going on them into parks and looking for the “off road” trails. We’ll see them and take them every time. That is where the fun is at. The other day we were riding down a paved path and I was right behind her. The path was clear so I sped up so I was right next to her, and I said “We’re CHiPs.” She had no idea what I was talking about. Kids these days.

Learner’s Permits And Their Effect On Prayer

My oldest daughter passed her test for her learner’s permit the other day, so she is now able to legally drive. The learner’s permits are just as ugly as the driver’s license (see my thoughts here). Anyway, the only driving she has done so far is in a straight line a mile or so down a gravel road and turning into a driveway. She has done this a few times.

We were getting ready to head out to church this morning, so I asked if she wanted to drive to church. She did, and this was her first experience with stop signs, stop lights, parked cars, curbs, and traffic in general. She did a pretty good job for her first time. She’ll be taking driver’s ed this summer, and we just want to get her ready for that.

All I can tell you is if you are having trouble with your prayer life, just get in the car with a new driver. It will break you out of your rut in no time.

Warmest Day Yet

We have this wireless thermometer at our house that we bought from Gander Mountain. It has a sensor that you put outside, then the small base sits inside your house so you can see what the temperature is. It measures the indoor temperature, the outdoor temperature, and the relative humidity. It also shows you the coldest and warmest temperatures it has measured to date.

We set it up the beginning of January right after we moved here. The coldest day we experienced was -12.7. Today was the warmest so far at 75. That is a 87.7 degree difference. I think I finally stopped shivering today.

What’s With The Name “Freedom Ridge”?

Yesterday I mentioned I’d give you some insight into how I chose the name Freedom Ridge for our new church.

I prayed a lot about it. I surfed the net to get ideas. I even made up a list of possible names as they came to me, and I showed them to my family and a few friends to get their input. Talking with others helped me to condense the list a little bit.

I was looking for something that could be more of a personality or a brand than just a name; something that describes who we are rather than just a cool name on a business card. I believe everyone is on a spiritual journey whether they realize it or not, and people are trying to fill some kind of void in their life with something. Those of us who are Jesus-followers know what they are looking for, and we need to make the introduction to Jesus.

When Jesus came to this earth, he said a couple interesting things. In John 10:10 he says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” In John 8:36 he says, “So if the Son (Jesus) sets you free, you are truly free.” Who wouldn’t want to live life to the fullest? Who wouldn’t want to be truly free?

Freedom Ridge is not a place, but it is a state of mind, it is a life that people aspire to. Through Freedom Ridge, we want to give people Jesus so they can have freedom from religion, freedom of life, freedom from addiction, freedom from hurts, freedom from hangups, freedom to live the way God wants them to live. At Freedom Ridge, we definitely want to show people how to have eternal life through Jesus, but we are just as excited to share how everyone can have a full life NOW.

Mike Yaconelli said it best when he said, “Jesus Christ came to rescue us from listlessness as well as lostness; He came to save us from flat souls as well as corrupted souls. He came to save us from dullness. Our culture is awash in immorality and drowning in dullness. We have forgotten how to dance, how to sing, how to laugh… We have been stunted by mediocrity.”

There you have it. Freedom Ridge is about freedom in Jesus.

Church Names For Dummies

I recently sat in on a group of guys who were talking about church names and if they mean anything anymore. It was interesting to hear all the different view points and their reasoning. I was surprised how many thought that names didn’t really make a difference if someone would attend a certain church or not. I agree that a great name doesn’t necessarily make a great church, because if there is nothing behind that name (such as great ministries to the people and community) then chances are people will not return. But I am of the mindset that an attractive name is important, because how many people would go to check out the “First Church of Crap”? It doesn’t matter what they have ministry wise; people will probably be reluctant to visit a service.

Mark Driscoll came up with a formula for helping people pick out the perfect church name. You can see his blogpost here.

Tomorrow I’ll give you some insight as to why I chose the name Freedom Ridge for our new church.

Can You Relate?

Have you ever felt like this cow?

Confession: Prayer Is Hard

I don’t like to talk on the phone. As a matter of fact, I hate it. I would rather jump in my Jeep and drive across town to talk to you face to face rather than call you on the phone. I want to see you, see your expressions, when we talk. But logistics, time, and common sense don’t allow face-to-face meetings all the time. So I call you on the phone.

I told you a couple posts ago I was going to share some confessions pertaining to areas of dissatisfaction in my life. Here’s the first one: prayer is hard for me. Maybe my dislike of talking on the phone might be related to my stinkiness at prayer. I don’t know.

When I first got out of college I bought a book called “Spending An Hour A Day With God” and it had the whole outline for each day of the year so you could spend a whole hour every day with God. I was excited and committed to doing this because I was going to become a great man of God. I sat down at my desk in my office, opened the book, and began following the outline. I made it about 27 minutes. My personality isn’t wired for long moments of silence or endless contemplation.

Some think since I am a pastor that I have a direct line to God. Some pastors may have that, but I can tell you this is one pastor who doesn’t. When it comes to prayer and Bible reading, I have to work at it. It doesn’t come naturally to me. Don’t get me wrong, I pray and I read my Bible, but not nearly as much as I should. I’m not as intentional as I should be.

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray continually. I am pretty good at shooting up short little prayers all the time, like “That’s cool, God” or “Give me the words, Jesus.” But when it comes to sitting down, folding my hands, bowing my head, and spending time in prayer, I fail miserably. I think this might be a stumbling block for a lot of people, because they think if you spend a looong time in prayer it makes you more spiritual. It doesn’t work for me like that in my life. I’m not sure the fact that you pray lengthy prayers automatically increases your spiritualness.

What do you think? How are you at prayer?

By the way, don’t be afraid to call me on the phone. I will talk to you.

Iowa Driver’s Licenses Are Ugly

Today I went in and got my Iowa driver’s license so my daughter could take her learner’s permit test. The cool thing was I got it instantly. They took my picture, printed it out, and gave me my license about 3 minutes later.

The bad thing is the license is the ugliest things I’ve ever seen, and I’m not talking about my picture. It has too much pink on it, some pastel bluish color on it, and some embossed flowers. It is waaaay to feminine. It’s a good thing I can keep it tucked away in my wallet, because if I had to wear it around my neck I would probably get the snot beat out of me.

Somebody down at the DMV needs to do some serious redesigning.

contentment vs contentment

I visit dictionary.com all the time. It is one of my favorite sites. It defines contentment as “the state of being contented; satisfaction; ease of mind” or “happiness with one’s situation in life.”

I think of myself as a content person, even though I want more for myself and my family. I don’t mean in a materialistic sort of way at all; I just want what’s best. I disagree with the above definition of contentment, because it uses the term satisfaction. I am content, but I am not satisfied.

Paul says in Philippians 4:12-13, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

I have come to this realization about myself: I am a Content person when it comes to life; but I am not content when it comes to satisfaction. Does that make sense? In the next couple days I’ll give you a glimpse into my head and heart (which might be a scary thing!), but it will kinda let you know how I am dissatisfied and what it does to me.  I guess you can say it is confession time.

Hang on to your hat!

Introducing Freedom Ridge Wear!

I am proud to introduce to you our first ever Freedom Ridge T-shirts.

The top example has sizes M-XXL available and the bottom example has S-XXL. (Sorry, no youth sizes available at this time.)

You can have your very own for $10 each, and it is a great way to get the word out about Freedom Ridge and to show your Freedom Ridge pride. Quantities are limited so don’t wait around to get yours. Send me an e-mail or give me a call and we’ll make arrangements to get your shirts to you.

My Heart Was Racin’

This morning it was very foggy, and I happened to be driving on Highway 30. Most of the time I could only see a couple hundred yards in front of me, so I was trying to be very cautious and was driving a little slower than I normally would. Occasionally the fog would break to where I could see further, but most of the time is was pretty thick.

I came up on one area, and a semi-truck, obviously growing impatient from waiting and stressed from the fog, decided to gun it and turn left from his lanes across the entire highway right in front of me. I hit my brakes and all the junk I have in the back of my Jeep slid up towards the front. This is one of the occasions where if there was a second’s difference I would probably be fishing in heaven right now instead of writing this post.

After I resumed my speed I realized there was a thumping in my chest. My heart was really racing.

Evacuate! Pt2

I made a post earlier about how we had to evacuate once because of a hurricane. You can read the original post here. My friend Betty made a comment that sparked some conversation at our house about our evacuation experience.

I had mentioned that we took our two dogs and left the cat behind. In the spirit of accuracy I want to make a clarification. We originally intended to leave the cat behind, but actually ended up taking her with us. It was my brother’s cat who stayed behind. I did not remember taking the cat, but it makes sense that we would take her because there is no way our daughters would allow her to be swept away in the storm. I would have, but it’s amazing what you do for your kids.

I’ve been blogging since February 3rd, and this is my first retraction. Not bad! Sure it’s not the last, but if something needs correcting I’ll correct it.

Can You Do It?

I saw this on another blog awhile ago, and thought I’d share it with you. It taught me a thing or two.

Gas Prices

I was out and about in town the other day and noticed that the gas price had done its normal thing and risen by 10 cents almost instantly to $3.16. I will never understand that. But I drove by one gas station on Lincoln Way where the price was still $3.06, I needed fuel, so I pulled in and filled up. It’s a sad sad day when $3.06 is cheap for a gallon of gas. I used to wish gas would get back down to $1 a gallon. Now I’d be happy if it got down to $2.

Freedom Ridge Core Values Recap

In case you missed any of our series the last few days, here is a summary of what we talked about. Click on the core value and you’ll be taken directly to the page with an explanation of that core value.

Freedom Ridge Core Values

1. everyone is welcome

2. Bible application

3. be culturally relevant

4. enjoy life

5. knowing God

6. micro-missions

Freedom Ridge Core Values Pt6

Today we finish up our series on the Freedom Ridge Core Values. I hope you have enjoyed it and it helps you have a good understanding of the heart and mission of Freedom Ridge: love God, love people, change the world.

Yesterday I said this last core value would make a huge difference in your life. It’ll take a commitment on your part, but it will be well worth it. Our final core value …

6. micro-missions

As you can tell from our mission statement, we are based on the Great Commandment (”love God with everything you’ve got, and love your neighbor as yourself.”) I want Freedom Ridge to be known as a church that reaches out to people and ministers to them in practical, tangible, discernible ways. This is not to make us look good or feel good about ourselves, but is driven by our love for our neighbors and desire to follow the Great Commandment. The great thing about micro-missions is we can do them as a church or you can do them as individuals.

Every time you take part in service projects in the area, or serve someone in your neighborhood or at your job, or go on short-term mission trips, or even the simple act of bringing someone to Freedom Ridge with you, when you do these things you are taking part in micro-missions. We’ll even do something as crazy as canceling services on a weekend and have an organized time of community service.

Simply put, when you reach out to someone in order to demonstrate the love of Jesus to them, then you are taking part in micro-missions.

We believe that the life we live and know at Freedom Ridge is to be shared with everyone! So let’s get after it!

Freedom Ridge Core Values Pt5

We’ve got two more core values to cover in this series. So far we’ve looked at (1) everyone is welcome, (2) Bible application, (3) be culturally relevant, and (4) enjoy life. Don’t take yourself so seriously.

All these core values will help us fulfill our mission: love God, love people, change the world. Today, we look at one that is the foundation of all that we do. It makes it all possible, and it’s a no-brainer. Today’s core value …

5. knowing God

It’s amazing that the creator of the universe wants us to know him, and he made it all possible through Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 2 tells us “God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus …”

We will place a priority on helping people to know God. We realize that life is a spiritual journey and everyone of us are at different spots on our journey, so we won’t compare ourselves to each other. But we will encourage people to progress a little further each day, each week, and each month in their journey of knowing God.

Our weekend services, small groups, and service projects, coupled along with personal devotions, will help people in their journey of knowing God. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with everything you’ve got. It’s hard to love him if you don’t know him.

Tomorrow we’ll discuss our last core value that goes right along with Jesus’ statement, “It is better to give than receive.” Don’t worry, it’s not about money and I promise you it will make a huuuge difference in your life.

Freedom Ridge Core Values Pt4

We are now halfway through our series of looking at the core values that define who we are at Freedom Ridge. Our core values enhance and clarify our mission: love God, love people, change the world. So far we have looked at (1) everyone is welcome, (2) Bible application, and (3) be culturally relevant. We want to reach the current and next generation for Jesus.

The core value we will cover today has to do with Freedom Ridge as a whole and Freedom Ridgers as individuals. Today’s core value is:

4. enjoy life

Too many people equate church with boredom, rituals, or being just for pansies. They think that church is a waste of time and only for the weak; that it is stuffy and serious, and if you are having fun then you aren’t being a good Christian. When Jesus came to this earth, he came with the mission to provide freedom from religion and freedom of life to anyone who would choose to accept him. He even said “I have come so you might have life, and have it abundantly.”

We’re pretty sure that Jesus has a sense of humor. At Freedom Ridge we want people to know it is OK to have fun and it is OK to laugh … even in church! We’ll have regular events with the sole purpose of having fun just to spread the joy.

Tomorrow we’ll hit the core value that’s the foundation of all we’ve talked about so far. Until then, smile.

Persecuted Christians

Pray for those who share our faith, but not our freedom …

Thousands of Christians Protest Church Attack in Pakistan

From ICC (International Christian Concern) at www.persecution.org.

(March 25, 200 The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org has just learned that thousands of Christians staged a demonstration on March 19, 2008, that blocked the main highway through populous Gujranwala District, Pakistan, after land grabbers assaulted a church in a Christian neighborhood during Holy Week.

 

On March 18, a mob of people who wanted to seize a community center that belonged to a church in Garjakh, a largely Christian neighborhood in the city of Gujranwala, reportedly started tearing down the church’s walls.

However, the pastor of the church, Sharif Bhatti, and a group of Christians gathered to defend the church building. When the pastor arrived, the mob physically assaulted the pastor and the people with him, and started throwing stones at the church. When the Christians in the neighborhood heard what was happening, a large group of them gathered and approached the church, causing the mob to flee.

Word of the attack spread quickly, and the next day, thousands of Christians from across the city of Gujranwala staged a protest to demand that those responsible for the attack on the church be arrested immediately and brought to justice. They urged the authorities to provide protection to religious minorities and to their places of worship.

The protestors proceeded to block the Government Transport Road at Gondlanwala Chowk, a major intersection, by parking tractors laden with garbage across the road. The demonstrators blocked traffic while chanting slogans against the land grabbers for more than two hours.

Pastor Sharif Bhatti, Pastor Sabir and other Christians and labor union leaders threatened the local government that they would demonstrate outside the offices of senior officials if the police did not arrest the culprits within the next 24 hours. Finally, police arrived and promised the protestors that they would bring justice to those who attacked the church, and the demonstration dispersed peacefully.

Local Christian leaders then submitted a written complaint to the police station. However, the police had not registered this case nor had they arrested any individual at the time this report was written.

ICC Policy Analyst Jeremy Sewall said, “Unfortunately, the Christians in Gujranwala were given empty promises to make them quiet down. Pakistani officials ought to take note, however, of the scope and speed with which Christians gathered to protest this attack. Thankfully, the demonstration was a peaceful one. But Pakistani officials might have bigger problems on their hands if they continue to give their Christian citizens empty promises.”

Please contact the Pakistani embassy in your country and ask them to protect the rights of Christians and all religious minorities.

Pakistan Embassies:

USA: (202) 243-6500, info@embassyofpakistanusa.org
Canada: (613) 238-7881, parepottawa@rogers.com
UK: 0870-005-6967, hoc@phclondon.org

# # #

ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC delivers humanitarian aid, trains and supports persecuted pastors, raises awareness in the US regarding the problem of persecution, and is an advocate for the persecuted on Capitol Hill and the State Department. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.

Freedom Ridge Core Values Pt3

The core values we have covered so far this week are (1) everyone is welcome and (2) Bible application. These help define our mission: love God, love people, change the world. Yesterday I told you that this next core value could make or break Freedom Ridge and must be built into our DNA from the start, so without further ado let’s look at our third core value:

3. be culturally relevant

Have you ever heard churches say “But … we’ve always done it that way”? That’s not us. Our only tradition will be change, and the reason for that is we want to be as effective as possible in reaching the current and next generation for Jesus.

We won’t be afraid to try new things, and if it doesn’t work we won’t be afraid to scrap it. If a ministry or philosophy has outlived its effectiveness, we won’t be afraid to adjust it, rework it, or place it on the shelf of relics and move on. No sacred cows.

With that being said, I do want to stress that we will never compromise the message of Jesus Christ. Methods change, but the message stays the same. While we will be using culturally relevant means and updating the way we do things, our main goal will be to present the timeless truths of the Bible and the message of Jesus Christ in the most effective and understandable way possible.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about a core value that’ll bring peace of mind, and I’d venture to say may even blasts some stereotypes about church right out of the water. Can’t wait.

Freedom Ridge Core Values Pt2

Remember, our mission is: love God, love people, change the world. Our core values help define the mission a little further. Yesterday we talked about our first core value, which is everyone is welcome; we don’t care where people have been, we’re more concerned about where they’re headed. Today, we visit our second core value …

2. Bible application

This is important, because we want to give you something on Sunday that you can use in your life on Monday. We don’t want to waste your time by telling you feel-good-stories, or just teaching you a history lesson from the Bible. The Bible is a relevant and useful book and deserves more respect than that.

It is our goal and desire to share teachings from the Bible that affect you where you live right now. We want to equip you to get the most out of life. It is just understood that we will teach from the Bible because we are a church, so I won’t go into that right now. But the key word in this core value is the word application. How does the Bible affect me today? What does Jesus mean to me in my life right now? What can I learn that will make me a better person?

Freedom Ridge will be Bible-based, practical, useful, and up-to-date.

I’ll see you back here tomorrow as we hit on a core value that will make or break Freedom Ridge. It is important that we build it into our DNA before we even get started. Until tomorrow …

Our Home For Sale

We have a decent house in a Houston suburb that we have on the market right now.  We listed it around the first of December, and as of yet have not received any offers.  We are renting a dinky duplex in Ames until we can sell our Houston house, then we can get our own home here.

Please say a prayer for us that God will send someone soon (and I mean soon) that buys our house so we can get on with life here.  Thanks!

Freedom Ridge Core Values Pt.1

I’m gonna be doing a series of posts this week about the core values of Freedom Ridge. The core values are important, because they help define who we are and how/why we do things.

Our MISSION is simply stated: love God, love people, change the world. The core values take this a step further and defines the mission.

Our first core value is …

1. everyone is welcome

When Jesus said to “love your neighbor as yourself” he didn’t put any conditions on your neighbor. People are important. We don’t want to be a church that excludes people, but we want to welcome them regardless of race, economic status, political leanings, past ghosts, current habits, wardrobe choices, station in life, etc.

So at Freedom Ridge, we will welcome anyone and everyone. No perfect people allowed, which is a good thing or I wouldn’t be there either.

Come back tomorrow as we look at Core Value #2 …

The Mission & Core Values Series

Our mission at Freedom Ridge is simple: love God, love people, change the world. Everything we do will be tailored around our mission.

Starting on Monday (March 24) I’m going to do a series of posts on the core values of our new church, Freedom Ridge. I’ll make a post each day of the week highlighting a different core value. The core values get to the basis of who we are and why we do things the way we do them, so they’re kinda important. They explain our mission a little bit. Come back each day this week as we talk about a different core value.

I’m looking forward to it!

Sunday Is A Good Day

Easter is the day we celebrate, for obvious reasons. It is the day, the morning, that Jesus came back to life and everything that he went through just a couple days earlier was made worth it. He had defeated death, he had paid the price, and as a result we can now have a direct connection with him. We have his power and peace to live day by day, and we have his promise of life on the other side of death. Pretty good for us, huh?

As I was reading Matthew 28 this morning, a verse really stuck out to me. It says the disciples were meeting Jesus on a mountain for a reunion after his resurrection … some worshiped him, but some “held back, not sure of worship, about risking themselves totally.” That’s a sad verse in the middle of a great story.

So if you are a Jesus-follower, I want to encourage you to take a risk for him. Don’t hold back, but step out and make a difference. If you’re not a Jesus-follower, I encourage you to look at all the benefits of making a commitment to him.

Sunday is a good day.

Is Good Friday Really Good?

I can remember asking my parents when I was a kid why this particular day of the year is called Good Friday. They explained it to me, and I understand it on the surface, but it still doesn’t seem that good.

Think about it. This would be the worst day ever in the life of Jesus. He was put through a sham trial, beaten beyond recognition, and had nails driven through his hands and feet. He lived for awhile hanging on the cross, but eventually died. Read Matthew 27 to find out more.

So for Jesus it was not a good day. The ultimate reason of why he went through all of it is good news for us. I guess that’s where we get the Good Friday.

I saw in Scandinavia they call it Long Friday. I think that’s probably a better description. So while you’re hunting Easter eggs, eating jelly beans, peeps, and the Easter Ham, remember the reason for this long holiday weekend. Hopefully it is a good one for you.

Persecuted Christians

Muslim Radicals Attack During Church Service Murder, Amputate Christians [Update]

The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org has investigated an attack on Christians that we first reported on March 7, 2008 (“Muslim Radicals Kill Three Christians and Wound Dozens in Southern Ethiopia”). Upon further investigation, we have learned that the attack occurred on March 2, 2008, during a Sunday morning church service, and resulted in the death of only one Christian, while 17 more were injured.

Christians in this remote village had seen three people lying in pools of blood after the attack and assumed that they had all died. Our sources contacted us before verifying that all three of the seriously wounded had died. The name of one murdered victim was Tulu Mosessa, who was a father of eight children.

Christians from the area told ICC that Muslim radicals simultaneously attacked Kale Hiwot church in Chebbi Nensebo village and Birhane Kirstos church in the nearby Tirsu Nensebo village.

The Kale Hiwot Church was the scene of most of the violence on the day of the attack. There were about 200 people attending the service, when a group of Muslim radicals surrounded the church and barricaded the doors shut. They then proceeded to break in through the windows and started hacking at the churchgoers with machetes. It is clear that these attacks were well planned and carefully executed to cause as much bloodshed as possible.

Muslim radicals had attacked the church before and burned it down, which the Christians in the village rebuilt. During the most recent attack, someone was able to raise the alarm and the local police quickly arrived at the scene, averting further bloodshed. One policeman who was wounded while trying to quell the violence was taken to a hospital in Addis Ababa. Eight of the seriously wounded Christians were taken to a hospital in Awassa. ICC was able to speak to one of the eight who had been wounded, Ahmed Jamal [not his real name], who is a Muslim convert to Christianity. The Muslim radicals cut off his left hand with their machetes during the attack. When ICC asked him if he knew his attackers, he said, “Our attackers are our neighbors, with whom we ate and drank.”

Asked what motivated the Muslims to attack, he said, “They were taught [about] Jihad.” Though he is lying on a hospital bed, Ahmed Jamal is worried about further attacks by Muslim radicals. He said, “We fear for our families [who remain in the village].”

Others with wounds from the machete attack who are currently in the hospital in Awassa include (names intentionally withheld) a 28-year-old man who lost his left hand, a 32-year-old man whose head was slashed, a 20-year-old man whose right and left hands were slashed, a 31-year-old man whose lung was pierced, an 18-year-old man whose backbone was slashed, a 19-year-old man whose backbone was also injured, and a 5-year-old girl whose right hand was badly injured.

Another eight Christians with minor injuries are currently receiving medical treatment in the town of Worka, which is near the villages where the attacks took place.

ICC has also learned that nine of the attackers have been imprisoned by Ethiopian authorities. One of the imprisoned is a local government official, Hussein Berriso. ICC sources said that 150 machetes were discovered in his house after the attacks.

In related development, on March 10, 2008, radical Muslims burned down the house of a local evangelist. The radicals were enraged because the evangelist had helped to transport the eight wounded Christians to Awassa hospital.

ICC’s president in a statement said, This is not an isolated incident in Ethiopia but rather part of a trend of radical Muslims attacking Christians. Ethiopian officials must get serious about protecting Christians. They must target radical Muslim leaders and centers or the Ethiopia could be in danger of becoming another Nigeria with an intractable religious split.

# # #

ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC delivers humanitarian aid, trains and supports persecuted pastors, raises awareness in the US regarding the problem of persecution, and is an advocate for the persecuted on Capitol Hill and the State Department. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.

Virus Update 2

Back on March 6th and 8th I made a post about a virus that had infiltrated my computer. It was creating numerous popups and causing my computer to run very slow. I received a custom cleaner from my anti-virus people, and it cleaned a lot of stuff off. But then some of it would return almost immediately.

I ran my Yahoo anti-spy program, and it would find a lot of stuff including a trojan called “Tesllar A.” It would quarantine it, but it would be back almost immediately causing problems. I suspected it was the main cause of all my problems.

I contacted Yahoo and asked why it wouldn’t clean it, and they told me to run the anti-spy program in safe mode. I did and it cleaned it off! A simple solution that I wish I would have tried two weeks ago.

I’m glad I’ve got my computer back.  It’s put me behind on some things, but now I can get back in the groove.

Evacuate!

My family and I once had the experience of evacuating because of an impending hurricane. My brother and his family were in a mandatory evacuation zone and were coming to our house to camp out. We needed extra supplies so I headed to Wal-Mart. I knew a hurricane was coming, but I didn’t think much about it until I arrived at the store.

The bread was gone (and I’m talking all bread items from loaves to bagels), the bottled water was gone, the eggs were gone, the milk was gone, and toilet paper was running low. Not a good situation. I imagine it looked like a store does here in Iowa when a blizzard is headed in. I saw this and went home empty handed. We watched the news and saw what was happening all over town, saw the projected path of Rita, and we decided we should evacuate.

It was an odd experience because I went through the house wondering what we should pack up and take, and what we should leave behind. The family videos and photo albums were definitely loaded up, the computers were taken, some office stuff and important papers were saved, and most everything else was left behind not knowing if we would ever see it again or if it would be damaged. I was proud by how much we left behind. We then drove to Emma’s parent’s which usually took 2 hours but on this trip the traffic made the trip an enjoyable 5 hours.

The whole experience really helped put things into perspective. What is important in life, and what is not? We let things rule our lives sometimes. What part of your life do you need to put back into perspective?

By the way, we took our two dogs … we left the cat behind.

Things Are A-Changin’

My youngest daughter turns 13 today. I don’t feel old enough or mature enough to have two teenagers in the house. And my oldest daughter is taking her test in a couple weeks to get her learner’s permit. I can still picture her singing along with Barney the dinosaur, and now she is going to be driving. Good grief.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I have this green t-shirt that says “Ireland” on it as well as an Irish flag. I went to my closet today to put it on in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, but I couldn’t find it. It must be in a box in the basement.

What do you think of when you think of St. Patrick’s Day? Parades … wearing green … pinching people who don’t wear green … eating corned beef and cabbage … going to the pub and drinking a pint? What do you think of?

Did you know that St. Patrick is not from Ireland, he is actually from England? When he was a youngster, he was taken captive as a slave and was sold in Ireland. He eventually escaped back to England, but really felt God’s calling in his life to return to Ireland and minister to the Irish people. He did return to Ireland, not as a slave, but as a missionary, bringing the good news of Jesus Christ.

Kinda puts a whole new meaning on Jesus’ words, “But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)

Who does God want YOU to reach out to?  Think about it.

Spring Is Coming

I saw my first Robin today. That is a definite sign that Spring is on its way!

Persecuted Christians

There are many Jesus-followers around the world who share our faith, but not our freedom. As a result, they suffer persecution. From time to time, I will include news about certain events here on my blog. And I encourage you to pray for them.

Muslim Radicals Kill Three Christians and Wound Dozens in Southern Ethiopia [Developing]
Group Vows to Eradicate Christians from the Province

Find our more at www.persecution.org.

The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org learned that Muslim radicals killed three Christians and wounded dozens more on March 3, 2008, in the province of Nensebo in Southern Ethiopia.

To date, eight of the wounded have been taken to the town of Awassa in a neighboring province for hospitalization, while those who were seriously wounded were taken to Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa. Among the wounded are a police officer and a Christian whose hand was cut off by the radical Muslims.

According to ICC sources, Muslim radicals recently made a covenant to wipe out Christians from the Muslim-dominated province of Nensebo. As part of their agreement, they vowed to destroy churches in the area and threatened to attack any Christian group that does missionary work.

Christians and Muslims in Ethiopia had been living peacefully together until the arrival of Wahhabi Islam from Saudi Arabia. The spread of Wahhabism, fueled by financial support from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States, is radicalizing Muslims who are in turn increasingly hostile towards Christians.

Previous attacks by Muslim radicals have taken place further west in Ethiopia. This most recent attack occurred in the South, showing an increasing spread of Muslim radicalization throughout the country.

ICC would like to ask concerned parties to contact Ethiopian Embassies in their respective countries and call for the protection of Christians in Nensebo and other Muslim-dominated areas of the country, who are facing increased attacks from radical Muslims.

Ethiopian Embassies:

USA: (202) 364-1200
Canada: (613) 235-6637
UK: (020) 7838 3897

# # #

ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC delivers humanitarian aid, trains and supports persecuted pastors, raises awareness in the US regarding the problem of persecution, and is an advocate for the persecuted on Capitol Hill and the State Department. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.

He Said It

I found this picture on a friend’s blog.

An Effective Reminder

I was driving down the highway today minding my own business and listening to the radio. A car entered the highway from an entrance ramp and began to slowly lose speed so that I caught up with it. I slid over into the left lane, and as I began to pass this car I glanced over at the other driver. I assumed he was daydreaming or talking on the phone or just trying to make me mad, but as I looked over I noticed he was extremely preoccupied with something. He had his finger in his nose digging for gold. It wasn’t an “I got an itch” kinda dig, but it was in there up to the knuckle.

Now I know nasal cleansing is a fact of life, but I can guarantee you that this guy would not be doing it if he knew I was going to see him. I’m sure he would be embarrassed.

Someone once said that our reputation is what people think about us, and our character is who we are when no one else is around. We are usually more worried about our reputation than we are about our character.

So ask yourself, “Who am I when no one else is around?”  What can you do to improve your character? Work on your character, and the reputation will follow.

Out Of Shape

I’m so out of shape. You remember the treadmill I brought back from Houston? Well, I got on it and did a quick mile, and it about killed me. You can’t tell it by looking at me, but before we moved I regularly went to the gym and lifted some weights and did the treadmill at home. There for awhile, I was doing about 20 miles a week on the treadmill. That’s a goal I want to work towards again.

Anyway, as I was huffing and puffing and thinking that a heart attack was coming any second, it occurred to me how easy it is to get out of shape. The same thing is true spiritually. If you’re not careful and don’t keep it up, your spiritual life can get flabby. That reminds me, I need to go read my Bible.

How’s your spiritual life? What can you do to strengthen it?

The Big 4-Uh-Oh

Today I am turning 40, if you can believe it. When I turned 30 it was kinda hard as I saw my youth fleeting away from me and I was no longer in my 20’s. Now I’m turning 40 and it is no big deal. It looks weird to actually type out the number 40, but age is a state of mind, right? You’re only as old as you feel, and I’m feeling pretty good.

By the way, Carlos Ray Norris, also know as Chuck Norris, turns 68 today. Happy Birthday, Chuck.

A First

We got up today and headed out towards a church here in town that we haven’t checked out yet.  I looked at their website last night and thought it said they started at 10, and we were leaving the house at 9:50.  For the first time that I can ever remember, I was going to be late to church.  I blame our tardiness on the time change, and the fact that I live with 3 other women and only one bathroom.

We got to the church building and there were still people walking around in the lobby, so I thought “Great.  Everyone else is running late so we are on time!”  We were greeted, I looked at the bulletin, and it said church started at 10:30.  So we were actually 25 minutes early.  Apparently at 10 they have a fellowship time with drinks and donuts in the gym, then the service actually started at 10:30.  Now that I look at their website I can see that.

They were the friendliest group of people we have met yet.  Several made it a point to meet us, and visit a little bit.  Nice people.

During the service, a lady over my left shoulder was snoring.  It’s not because the service was bad; I’m sure she was trying to catch up on that hour of sleep that she lost.

All around it was a good day.

Freedom Ridge Dinner Thoughts

1. It was well attended. Everyone who said they would be there was there.

2. The food was good. I picked the main course up from the Hy-Vee deli. I told them I would pick it up at 6:15, and when I showed up they said they thought I was going to be there at 11 a.m. They put it back in the cooler and had to warm it back up. It put me behind schedule a little bit, but everything worked out OK.

3. The kids were awesome. They seem to have some musical ability.

4. Thanks to CCF for letting us use their space.

5. A couple families who want to be part of Freedom Ridge weren’t able to make it to this dinner. Maybe next time.

6. It was great to meet everyone and learn more about them!

7. Thank you, G, for bringing the dessert!

8. I’m excited about the possibility of working with and alongside everyone who is a part of Freedom Ridge. God has some great things in store for us!

Virus Update

The virus is getting the best of me.  My anti-virus software people gave me a plan of action, which I tried to do.  Part of it was running the scanner again, and I did.  It scanned for 15 hours (yes, hours) and was 53% done when it mysteriously shut down.  I’m gonna have to contact them again and possibly get a custom cleaner created.

It was probably some 13 year old kid out there with too much time on his hands that created this thing I’ve got.  I wish he would use his powers for good instead of evil.

I’m fightin’ a virus

I’m feeling OK; it is my computer I’m talking about.  I have a laptop that I use for work stuff, and yesterday evening it began acting kinda weird.  It was running slooooowwww, popups began shootin’ up like crazy, and it was nearly impossible to do anything on it.  I stayed up until 1:30 AM trying to run my virus scan, which went very slow, and it would shut down before it was finished.  I ran my yahoo anti-spy and it found a lot of stuff.  I would delete it, run the anti-spy again, and everything would be right back where it was.  I downloaded another adware program and it did the same thing … find stuff, delete it,