Category: Bruce’s Blogs

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Are You Amazed?

From our Good Friday Service

We call today Good Friday, and for many people that doesn ?t make a whole lot of sense. We ?ve been asking the question, “Were you there?” And we honestly have to answer, no. But we have the testimony of the Scriptures, and so we gather to remember, perhaps even to mourn, the suffering and death of Jesus. And yet we call it “Good.”

Today, Christians have the luxury of knowing that Sunday ?s coming. But this gathering, this memorial service, it still confuses us, just as the crucifixion and burial of Jesus confused his followers who really were there.

From the first moments when Jesus called his disciples, they were amazed by him. Peter was amazed by a miraculous catch of fish. Nathanael was amazed that Jesus knew him before he had met him. Jesus told Nathanael, “You think that ?s amazing? You haven ?t seen anything yet.”

And he was right. They were amazed at his teachings. They were amazed by his miracles. They were amazed by his authority. And they were amazed by the potential of what they thought would happen next. They were amazed by the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, by the arrival of the King, the Messiah, the one who would deliver God ?s people.

And then they were amazed that he was arrested, tried, convicted, and executed. They were amazed to think they had it all wrong.

There ?s no doubt in my mind that as they hid themselves, they went over every word that Jesus had spoken, every lesson, every sermon, every parable, every word of healing, wondering “Where did I go wrong? How did I miss it?”

All Peter had to do was to go back to those amazing fish. Luke 5 tells us that before he chose to follow Jesus, Peter had been fishing all night and he hadn ?t caught any fish. He told Jesus that when Jesus told him to go back out. And when he and his buddies caught enough fish to sink their boats, Peter fell at Jesus ? feet and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man.” At that moment, Peter was amazed, not simply by the fish but by the presence of the one who had no sin.

Peter followed Jesus in amazement, not because of fish but because of who Jesus was. But somehow he got sidetracked. He started to think about an earthly kingdom with an earthly king, a Messiah who was a general. Perhaps Peter thought that Jesus could raise an army the way he caught fish. Regardless of what he thought, he focused on his plan and not God ?s plan.

And that ?s where we are tonight. We ?re at the crossroads of discipleship. Even though we were not there at the cross, our sins were. We can sit here mourning the death of the one who didn ?t deserve it. Or we can sit here amazed again by God ?s plan, by God ?s love for people who don ?t deserve it.

Tonight I want to encourage you to focus on God ?s amazing plan. Again, it ?s easy for us today because we know the joy of the resurrection; at least it ?s easy for us to say that we understand why this is Good Friday. But sometimes it ?s still tough for us to focus on God ?s plan. We get distracted by the everyday things of our life. Some of those things are important; some aren ?t. But either way, it ?s easy to be distracted and forget about God ?s amazing love and his amazing plan.

If you have been reading through the devotional guide we provided for you this week, you will see tomorrow that we are encouraging everyone to fast. When I say that, I mean we ?re encouraging everyone to put aside the things that we want or even the things that we need so that we can focus intently on God ?s amazing love and his amazing plan.

Obviously, that could be a matter of giving up a meal or a few meals, deciding not to eat, giving up even the barest necessities of life to focus on God ?s plan of eternal life. It could also be a matter of giving up other things, especially the things that distract us: television, movies, music, computers, video games; working around the house; going shopping and spending money; maybe even the comfort of simply kicking back and relaxing over the weekend. Whatever it is that you find that distracts you, consider giving it up tomorrow for the sake of focusing on God ?s love and God ?s plan.

His plan is amazing, but it ?s easy for us to miss the point. It ?s easy to be confused. It doesn ?t make sense that the one who had no sin would have to die to take care of the sins of people who don ?t deserve God ?s mercy and even for people who weren ?t even there. But that ?s what makes the plan so amazing. It ?s beyond comprehension; it ?s beyond what we can understand.

All we have to do is accept it. We have to accept that God ?s plan required the suffering and death of Jesus. We have to accept that the plan, while it might not be what we would do, is exactly what God had to do. Ultimately, we have to accept that the plan was for our sake and simply accept the forgiveness that has come through the plan and the love that is the foundation of the plan.

Tomorrow, as you fast, wondering how you will get through the day without eating, consider that God ?s plan is one of strength and power. The power that the disciples witnessed through Jesus ? teaching and miracles will strengthen us as we accept God ?s forgiveness and will keep us faithful as we focus on his amazing plan. It ?s the amazing power of God ?s love and forgiveness that makes this Good Friday and encourages us to be strong through Resurrection Sunday.

Let me close with the prayer that Paul prayed for the church in Ephesians 3: “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge ?that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

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Do My Lessons Stick?

Encouraging Spiritual Growth from a Teacher ?s Perspective

Spiritual growth is tough to measure. Parents worry whether the words they speak to their children are getting through, especially when bad behavior continues. Bible school teachers worry in the same way, but it may be tougher to deal with than from a parent ?s perspective.

Even though parents have the ultimate responsibility for training their children in righteousness, Bible teachers have the burden of higher accountability for their role, as James 3:1 shows: ?we who teach will be judged more strictly. ? While we cannot discount the fact that individuals are responsible for their own growth and for their own sin, teachers are certainly accountable for teaching the truth.

It ?s easy to determine whether a teacher is teaching the truth; we have the Bible as the ultimate resource. However, teaching is more than simply passing out information. If that ?s all we had to do, then we could be free and clear by simply distributing Bibles. Professional teachers and adequately trained volunteer teachers know that information isn ?t learned until it is internalized. That is, information must be added to an individual ?s repertoire of decision making skills and processes.

The Bible shows that using that information is an indication of internalization (Matthew 12:331; Colossians 1:4-62). However, as Bible teachers, we do not always have the ability to see that information being applied, since our interaction with our students is typically only an hour each week. We could base our assessment of how well the lesson has been applied by surveying parents of child students and spouses, friends, children, and/or coworkers of adult students, but that seems impractical.

So how can we know whether our lessons stick? In all honesty, unless we are resolved to develop fairly deep relationships with each of our students, we probably will not know for sure. However, we can increase the likelihood of making them stick by making our lessons ?sticky. ? Here are some suggestions to consider when writing and teaching your lessons.

  1. Link it. Consider the relationships between cognitive development, spiritual development, and teaching and learning styles. Use what you know about the infrastructure of learning and teaching and use it as effectively as you can. Turn the science of teaching into your art. Check out the chart I developed to line up various educational theories with spiritual development theories.
  2. Apply it. Application, application, application. Be as specific as possible when making application statements to your students. That means you need to know who they are, what they do, and why they do it. Don ?t accept the general applications found in published curriculum, use specific examples from your kids ? school experiences, from your small group ?s work experiences, from your support group ?s marriage, divorce, parenting, addiction ?whatever ?experiences.
  3. Explore it. Try to consider different perspectives. Identify your own experiences and learning/teaching styles and try to develop activities, points of application, discussion questions, etc., from a different perspective. Approaching a topic from the varied perspectives of the multiple intelligences theory is another way to explore a topic more fully. (Do a search for it and Howard Gardner if you ?re not familiar with this theory.)
  4. Beat it. The old preaching outline ?tell them what you ?re going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them ? isn ?t necessarily a bad concept. Sometimes we try to cover too much information quickly rather than spending more in-depth time on fewer concepts.
  5. Share it. Get together with other teachers who are in your team or who may have taught the same concept. Even if you aren ?t teaching the same topics, getting together with a group of teachers to talk about all of your topics may be helpful. It is amazing what happens when we realize that ?all of us are smarter than any one of us. ?
  1. ?A tree is recognized by its fruit ? (Matthew 12:33, NIV). [ ?]
  2. ?We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints ? the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God ?s grace in all its truth ? (Colossians 1:4-6, NIV). [ ?]
Posted on

Do My Lessons Stick?

Encouraging Spiritual Growth from a Teacher ?s Perspective

Spiritual growth is tough to measure. Parents worry whether the words they speak to their children are getting through, especially when bad behavior continues. Bible school teachers worry in the same way, but it may be tougher to deal with than from a parent ?s perspective.

Even though parents have the ultimate responsibility for training their children in righteousness, Bible teachers have the burden of higher accountability for their role, as James 3:1 shows: “we who teach will be judged more strictly.” While we cannot discount the fact that individuals are responsible for their own growth and for their own sin, teachers are certainly accountable for teaching the truth.

It ?s easy to determine whether a teacher is teaching the truth; we have the Bible as the ultimate resource. However, teaching is more than simply passing out information. If that ?s all we had to do, then we could be free and clear by simply distributing Bibles. Professional teachers and adequately trained volunteer teachers know that information isn ?t learned until it is internalized. That is, information must be added to an individual ?s repertoire of decision making skills and processes.

The Bible shows that using that information is an indication of internalization (Matthew 12:33 (( ?A tree is recognized by its fruit ? (Matthew 12:33, NIV).)); Colossians 1:4-6 (( ?We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints ? the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth ? (Colossians 1:4-6, NIV).))). However, as Bible teachers, we do not always have the ability to see that information being applied, since our interaction with our students is typically only an hour each week. We could base our assessment of how well the lesson has been applied by surveying parents of child students and spouses, friends, children, and/or coworkers of adult students, but that seems impractical.

So how can we know whether our lessons stick? In all honesty, unless we are resolved to develop fairly deep relationships with each of our students, we probably will not know for sure. However, we can increase the likelihood of making them stick by making our lessons “sticky.” Here are some suggestions to consider when writing and teaching your lessons.

  1. Link it. Consider the relationships between cognitive development, spiritual development, and teaching and learning styles. Use what you know about the infrastructure of learning and teaching and use it as effectively as you can. Turn the science of teaching into your art. Check out the chart I developed to line up various educational theories with spiritual development theories.
  2. Apply it. Application, application, application. Be as specific as possible when making application statements to your students. That means you need to know who they are, what they do, and why they do it. Don ?t accept the general applications found in published curriculum, use specific examples from your kids ? school experiences, from your small group ?s work experiences, from your support group ?s marriage, divorce, parenting, addiction ?whatever ?experiences.
  3. Explore it. Try to consider different perspectives. Identify your own experiences and learning/teaching styles and try to develop activities, points of application, discussion questions, etc., from a different perspective. Approaching a topic from the varied perspectives of the multiple intelligences theory is another way to explore a topic more fully. (Do a search for it and Howard Gardner if you ?re not familiar with this theory.)
  4. Beat it. The old preaching outline “tell them what you ?re going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them” isn ?t necessarily a bad concept. Sometimes we try to cover too much information quickly rather than spending more in-depth time on fewer concepts.
  5. Share it. Get together with other teachers who are in your team or who may have taught the same concept. Even if you aren ?t teaching the same topics, getting together with a group of teachers to talk about all of your topics may be helpful. It is amazing what happens when we realize that “all of us are smarter than any one of us.”
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Church Is For Relationships

We Were Created For Relationships

From the beginning, the original model of relationships has been God, “me,” and “others.” There ?s a relationship with God that each one of has as individuals, but in that relationship, there ?s a necessity of relationship with others. Jesus himself sums this up in boiling down all of “the Law and the Prophets” into two greatest commandments: the primary being “Love God,” and the secondary being, “Love Others.” God has created us with a primary purpose of loving him, and in doing so, we are also required to love others.

Although our relationship with God is on an individual level, it does rely heavily on our relationship with others. God views each of us as individuals, in regard to our relationship with him. That ?s why we cannot count on our parents ? relationships with God to cover ours. However, parents are clearly responsible for their children ?s upbringing, and children are clearly responsible for obedience to their parents. It ?s clear that our relationships with others are important to God ?s view of our individual relationships with him.

“Church” Is Built on Relationships

Relationship with God and others is why the church is so important in helping each of us grow closer to God and others. In the typical church body, the driving force usually comes from the large-group gathering, the Sunday morning worship service. This service produces the energy, excitement, vision, motivation, and resources to propel the body forward in fulfilling our individual purpose (love God and others) and the church ?s mission (bring others together to love God and others).

Smaller groups within the church body, whether classes, home Bible study groups, support and recovery groups, affinity groups, or service groups, are often scaled down models of the whole church. Each area of ministry does its part to help individuals and groups grow toward maturity and unity in the whole body. These smaller group settings are vital to the growth and maturity of the body. They facilitate learning, relationships, and mutual burden carrying.

No Choice but to Live in Relationships

My own personal faith hasn’t been characterized by being good at relationships, and as some could tell, I still have my problems with it. However, many more can tell you that I am far more relational now than I was three, five, ten years ago (pity my friends and coworkers). While my faith was largely based upon what I knew about the Bible, the more I studied it and tried to apply it to my life, the more I realized that I really had no choice but to learn how to have relationships and to live within those relationships. There are times when we all might consider that church would be a whole lot easier if it were not for all the people. The fact of the matter is that the church isn’t the church that God intended if we cannot live in relationship with each other.

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Still Percolating…

Welcome to Egg Monkey’s Cosmic Chile Cafe!

Pardon my stumbling…

Not fully awake…

Coffee’s brewing…

Grab a table, anywhere you’d like…

I’ll bring you a menu, some water, and I’ll be back in a few minutes….

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Bridging the Gap Among People

On Sunday, March 11, the team that went to Louisiana in February gave their report. It was an eye-opening experience, seeing the devastation that remains in the Mississippi Gulf Coast region a year and a half after hurricane Katrina. It was a heart-breaking experience, hearing stories about lives that were lost and lives that have not yet recovered. But it was an encouraging experience, hearing the excitement and love of the team members sharing their stories. As I listened, it became clear that we are experiencing what God intends for the church.

That morning the sermon was about the title “Christ,” the Greek word for “Messiah” meaning “the anointed one.” Jesus is the anointed one, set apart by God for a specific purpose, to bridge the gap between sinful people and our perfect, holy God by offering his body as a sacrifice. We who wear that name, Christians, also have a purpose: to bridge the gap among people. And as the body of Christ, we must sacrifice in order to do that.

And that ?s what this body of believers has done to bridge the gap for the people of Slidell, Louisiana. People sacrificed their time, taking vacation days and giving up their daily routines. People sacrificed money, giving donations and paying for gas and meals on the trip. People sacrificed their pride, cleaning up trash and debris, working outside their knowledge and skills. People sacrificed their comfort, driving for 16 or more hours, sleeping on the floor. That ?s what we ?re supposed to do.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10: “We are God ?s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” He continued in verses 12 and 13: “Remember ? you were separate from Christ ?. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” God has bridged the gap to us through Jesus so that we will also bridge the gaps among people through what we do as the body of Christ, beyond Bible lessons and sermons, with deeds of love and compassion. Let ?s keep this body working!

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Uncircling the Wagons

There’s a part of me that likes to think of the story of the church like a good western. I have this notion that the early church was like a group of pioneers who heard about a fantastic new land to the west that was theirs for the taking if they could just get there and work it.

I see Pentecost being the big day when townsfolk gather together to hear the exciting news about the new land. It sounds too good to be true, but there are a few guys who seem to know what’s going on and who are excited enough to leave everything behind to go and stake their own claim.

The best part is that it’s free!

So with excitement, and maybe a little fear, a wagon train forms, and the townsfolk become pioneers. They head west with big dreams. They anticipate some troubles along the way, but they prepare for them. They leave behind homes, farms, jobs, maybe even loved ones, but they just know they’re heading for something better. Some in the group never thought about leaving what they know behind them. Some have loved ones who have gone on before them and who have sent word that they, too, should come.

It’s a long journey, and they need to stop to rest and eat. Along the way they face some troubles. They face bad weather. They even face attacks. And when trouble comes, they circle the wagons. They band together for safety and support. When the troubles pass, they get back in line and keep moving. They would never consider stopping, circling the wagons, and taking up permanent residence along the way.

That isn’t the point of the journey. That isn’t the goal.

But that’s where the movie ends for some….

Why does the church seem to find itself stopped along the way, circling the wagons, defending itself from enemies real and imagined? Why does it seem to be content to rest in one location, beyond the ability of its resources and people to regain its motion? Why does it often seem trapped by its environment, its surrounding culture? Why does it drag along the unnecessary relics of its past life, despite their weight and lack of purpose? Why does it often cling to the failures of the past and forget the excitement and hope of its future?

We’re not there yet! Let’s throw off the useless baggage. Let’s gather our resources together. Let’s repair the broken wheels. Let’s encourage each other to press on.

Let us uncircle the wagons and get back on the trail.

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Bridging the Gap Between God and People

Now that the team from Louisiana is back, I ?ve heard several stories about how they were able to help IDES (International Disaster Emergency Service) help the victims of hurricane Katrina rebuild their homes and lives. At first I had a minor concern about the team being anywhere near New Orleans for Mardi Gras, but now I consider it one of those “God things.”

Mardi Gras is the beginning of the Lenten season among the Catholic and other liturgical churches. This is the season of preparation for Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. I like the coincidence of Mardi Gras and the team ?s trip to Louisiana because Jesus ? resurrection is the beginning of the ultimate rebuilding project. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, 18: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ.”

From the beginning of time, God has desired to have a relationship with the people he created. Even after that relationship was first broken by Adam and Eve, he desired to have a relationship. That ?s why, from immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, God had a plan to bridge the gap between people and himself. From the beginning, God had in mind a path that would allow sinful people to be forgiven and to come back to a full relationship with God. The bridge that spans the gap between God and people is his son Jesus. God put that bridge in place, and it is his plan to offer grace, reconciliation, and rebuilding.

We have a part in that effort as well. Paul ends verse 18 stating that God “gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” Our church, then, needs to become a place where people can find that bridge. Let ?s consider the ways that we can show our families, our workplaces, our communities the bridge God has provided. Watch for opportunities to help people find God so that he can rebuild their lives.

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One Body, Many Parts

It has been only one day that the team has been gone to Slidell, Louisiana, and I am suddenly aware of the truth of Paul’s comparison of the church to a body. Sure I understand the basic concept of “we’re all different” with different gifts and talents. But it wasn’t until Sunday evening did I fully comprehend the interconnectedness, the dependence we truly have and need in the church.

I have to admit that not everything went as well as I had hoped throughout the day. I know that the whole staff planned ahead to make sure that all of their roles were covered. I know that the volunteers were in place and were prepared. But even with all that in place, all it takes is one little thing or the coincidence of a few little things (forgetting to turn the heat on the night before, a missing organ key, etc.) to make you realize how much we depend on each other to get the job done.

And it’s not just a matter of getting work done. A body isn’t healthy if the parts aren’t connected. That’s why we need to stick together. And when we find that some of our parts aren’t connected the way they ought to be, that’s when we need to bridge the gap. Sometimes we will get sick, go on vacation or missions trips, or even just get mad at each other. Regardless of the reasons why we get disconnected, we always need to work on bridging the gap between members of the body.

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Gone to Slidell

Well, forty-one of our members, including the rest of the staff and my wife, have gone to Slidell, Louisiana, to help with the rebuilding process after Hurricane Katrina. The director of IDES (International Disaster Emergency Service) said a few days after Katrina hit that it was easy to collect donations for the folks who need it right then; it was easy to get help right then. The problem, he said, would be getting help a year later, two years later, when the news crews are all gone, when most people have moved on.

And so there they go down I-75 towards the Gulf Coast. We haven’t necessarily forgotten, but I have a feeling they’re in for a shock. I think they’re going to meet a lot of people who have been forgotten, or at least feel that way. From what we’ve seen on the news in the past year or so, it seems that the government has forgotten, and it’s clear that some of the insurance companies have. And I think that even some Christians have as well.

I pray that the people of Slidell will experience the love of God, who has not forgotten them, through his children, the Church. I pray that the team from MCoC will be able to bridge the gap for those people, helping in little, tangible ways; sharing God’s love; and giving them hope.

I pray that the team will experience the joy of serving God by serving others. I pray that they will have the physical strength to do the work that must be done. I pray that they will have the strength to bear the burdens of broken people. I pray that they will have the opportunities to share the Good News of God’s love through Jesus, the hope of changed lives on this side of eternity and the hope of life with God beyond this life. I pray that they will return with hearts that are broken for all kinds of people: lost people, broken people, frightened people, poor people, people who are like us and those who are not.