The Homeschool Family
Every now and again my wife finds something that knocks my socks off. This is one of those somethings:
Hanging out with the Jmen
Today I got to have some time with the Jmen. The men of Jubilee Christian Center men's group, or the Jmen, were treated to a special morning today as Pastor Mike Hayes taught the men what it is like to be a Kingdom Man and how to be that way.
I was especially blessed by the message this morning because it made feel like the feeling I have been having about being a man were validated finally. You know, being a man is not easy. We take a lot of heat for being what we are naturally, so it makes sense that we would want to be the best at being a man that we can be so that there is no room for anyone to tell us that the way we are is not the right way to be.
Pastor Hayes taught an excellent message about how Paul, when faced with persecution at the hands of the Jews of Jerusalem, confronted them directly with his standing in the Jewish community and his past learning. When faced with persecution from the Romans, he confronted them with the fact that he was a Roman citizen and was knowledgable of the Roman law. When facing persection from the Pharisees themselves, he confronted them as the son of a Pharisee and zealous Pharisee himself.
Paul knew how to move about in any situation because he was keen on the ways of each of those kingdoms. He knew culture, he knew law, he knew religion. He was a kingdom man. We should be like that as men. We should know what is happening in our communities, in our churches, in our legal system, in our government. We should also know what is happening in our marriages, in our childrens' education, in our companies and businesses. We should know. And we should be authoritative in that knowledge.
We are men afterall. Who else is going to be man for us?
Your faith – Noel Jones
Ok, two nights in a row being blessed by powerful preached messages... what more could a brother ask for?
Bishop Jones was amazing. His style, different. His message, powerful. His delivery, unmatched. He blew everyone away. The message was simple... your faith activates the movement of God. Not faith, but your faith. We each have faith that is like a spiritual fingerprint. It is unique to us. For some, it is big. For others, it is small. But one thing is for certain. It is unique to each one of us.
And the way Bishop Jones taught that was amazing. I cannot put into words how blessed I feel right now. It was awesome. But I am tired, and Sandi is still sick. So I have to get. Until next time, God bless you.
T.D. Jakes rocked
Man, that was some awesome preaching. I have never listened to a full sermon by Bishop Jakes before, but I think I might be willing to do that now.
The man knows how to tap into the Word in a way that only the best preachers do. His message about the happenings in the spirit manifesting in the physical was amazing. I have heard similar messages but nothing quite like that before. I was truly blessed.
Anyway, it has been a long day today. My wife is sick (has been for almost a week now) and can barely get out of bed so there is a lot of things to do and only one me to do them. Plus I need to prepare for Noel Jones tomorrow night. Until then, God Bless.
Hearing the sound of thunder
This week (tomorrow actually) begins our church's annual Thunder in the Bay conference. Every year this thing rocks with extraordinary teachers, teachings and fellowship. This year will be no different. The line up of names this year goes something like this:
- Bishop T.D. Jakes
- Noel Jones
- Paula White
- Mike Hayes of Covenant Church
- Michael Pitts of Conerstone Church
It is going to be a mad house at Jubilee Christian Center this Thunder. I know for a fact that T.D. Jakes is going to be a massive draw to open things up tomorrow night. I know that, given the way our pastor talked about Noel Jones for the last year that he will be a big draw. And I know with what Paula White has gone through recently that she will be a big draw seeing as she is always a big draw.
So if you are in the San Jose area, or even in California for that matter, try to stop by one of these nights for some awesome churching. It is sure to be an awesome experience.
MyLifeJournal.net
So I had an idea the other day. I haven't shared this with my wife yet because, like many of the ideas I have had in the past, she knows in her heart that this idea will fizzle like the rest of the ideas I have ever had. No, I don't need to ask her if she feels this way. She has cause to based on my past. That said, let's move on...
A few months ago we decided as a married couple that we would start a life group. A life group is essentially a bible study that acts as a sort of extension of the church. It is not church as most know it, and it is not just a bible study as many know it. It is a branching of the church into the homes of those in the church in an effort to reach out, minister to and love on the unchurched. These have also, in the past, been known as cell groups and home groups.
Well, we decided that now is the time for us to ramp up to hosting one. We set our start month as January of 2007. We attended the first meeting of the church to those that feel led to do this. And we bought journals to begin our journaling process.
Sidebar: One of the things that is strongly encouraged (not required, but encouraged) is using the Life Journaling techniques developed (I believe) by Pastor Wayne Cordeiro. The journaling process walks you through the Bible in a year if you read the selected devotionals every day. In fact, it takes you through the old testament once and the new testament twice. It is a great resource and it is used as by our Pastors as a teaching tool to the leaders of the life groups.
So as I was journaling the other day I thought to myself "Wouldn't it be cool to be able to have access to my journal no matter where I am?" And then it hit me (like many other ideas I have had) that I could built an online Life Journal for myself. Then it quickly hit me again...if I can do it for me I can do it for others.
So I decided that I am going to do it. I have already begun the DB architecture of it. I will be working on integrating the codebase into Padlock. And I should have something usable fairly soon. And rest assured, when I do I will link to it from here.
And I will tell my wife that it is ok is she wants to kiss me for finishing something.
The nuns have lost God
Two young boys had been in trouble their entire short lives. They were abandoned at a young age and were homeless for most of their young lives. After repeatedly dealing with these boys, the city finally got tired of arresting them and putting them in Juvenile Facilities. So the city decided to send them to a Catholic church for some upbringing.
For the boys the church was a cold place filled with mean nuns and priests and rules. It wasn't long before the boys found and tested the boundaries of the church.
To try to stem the boys' bad behavior, the head mistress nun decided to call the older of the two boys into her office for some one on one teaching. Once in her office, the boy sat somewhat nervous and very cautious.
After a few moments of silence, the nun looked the boy square in the eye and asked him "Young man, where is God?". The boy remained silent.
Again she asked him "Where is God?". Again, silence. This went on for quite some time until the frustrated nun finally had enough and sent the boy out of her office with a huff and a pout.
When the boy was outside of the nun's office his younger brother, who had been summoned by the same nun, asked what that was all about. The older brother replied:
"Don't say a word to her. These fools lost God and they are trying to pin on it us."
Stepping out
My wife and I attended a meeting this morning. It was a meeting called by our pastor for 300 men, women and couples that felt led to start a home group. And boy am I scared.
I supposed that is how I am supposed to feel. It seems like any time you set out to do something bigger than you can realistically achieve on your own you get a little nervous. I think, for a Christian, that has to do with knowing that you are about to embark on something that necessarily will your complete reliance on, and trust in, God. That is a little difficult sometimes, I'll admit. But in order to do anything great for him you have to allow him to do something great with you.
Anyone who has ever read the bible knows that there are a number of key people in the bible that have showed tremendous faith and have reaped an enormous reward for doing so. And it is not for their glory, but for the glory of God. God honored those faithful few by putting their names in the testaments through the authors who wrote about them. That is pretty cool if you ask me.
I know first hand that God still honors faith and prayer. I live it everyday. The fact that I am a father and still married to my children's mother is a testament to God's goodness. So though I am a little skittish about opening our home to a small group, I know that God has been planning this for a while for my wife and I. We knew when we moved into our house in October of 2002. And now, five years later, God is bringing to fruition those things which He set in motion all those years ago. And I couldn't be more excited.
Pray for us. As with anything that is done for the glory of God, the enemy seems to want to attack it before it begins. Physical attacks of illness have run rampant in my household for the last month or so (since about the time we said we would be attending the meeting). Attacks on our finances have come, attacks on our possessions have come, attacks on our marriage have come. But I am remarkably at peace. God does what He wills to do. And when He is served according to His well He serves according to His will.
And that is some awesome service.
