Hey everybody,
I just want to let you all know about tomorrow night. We just want to worship and seek the presence of GOD because HE is GOD. For no other reason should we seek HIM aside from the fact that HE is. Talk to the other leaders and get them there at 7pm in the practice rooms of the old arts center on the fourth floor. It will be a great time in GOD's presence, catching up, and being encouraged. GOD bless you all and call me if you have any questions.
~Alex
PS: Sorry for such a late notice. This will be a weekly thing, so put it in your planner and expect GOD to touch you as you reach toward HIM!
What: Worship, encouragement, prayer, community, unity
Where: Fourth floor of Old arts center in the Practice ROOMS
Why: because GOD is good and HE deserves our praise and adoration.
Who: Those who want to seek GOD and need HIM
How: get off your butt and walk there!
When: 7-8pm Friday Oct. 15th
TONIGHT or TOMORROW depending on when you get this.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
A blog from my pastor, Kevin Baird
St. Patrick
March 17, 2010
I am not an expert in the origins of holidays, but I know enough church history to be able to tell you that the person we honor today as "St. Patrick" is not who people think he is. He is considered the first apostle to Ireland and went there as a Christian missionary in the mid 5th century. I use the term "went" there loosely as he was actually captured as a slave and sold into slavery. His father was a priest (the days before celibacy) and so Patrick grew up in what then would have been known as a Christian family. History tells us that before his capture, young Patrick was not all that religious or spiritual. However, enslavement markedly strengthened his faith (Hmmm?). He eventually escaped Ireland and returned to England only to be called by God to go back and be a missionary to a predominately druid nation.
His first convert was a guy name Dichu who gave Patrick his barn for the first church. Eventually this barn became a monastery and it is the location Patrick died. Patrick was known for his ministry of evangelism and it was accompanied by some notable signs and wonders. One such story is told that all fires in the nation were to be extinguished and then renewed from the "sacred" fire of a druid king. When Patrick's fire was attempted to be extinguished, it refused to go out. It symbolized the dominance of the fire of God. Patrick was also known for banishing all the snakes of Ireland which symbolized the sign of the Pagan priests of that time. He is also credited with using the shamrock, a "three-leaf clover" to teach the precept of the Trinity in response to the Arian heresy that was popular as well.
I tell you all of this to underscore this thought: Why are we (as a society) getting drunk over this Christian Missionary? It's not just foolishness, but nearly borders on the blasphemous. We have turned holidays ("holy days") into times to feed our flesh rather than ponder on the sacrifices that were freely expressed by the people we honor. We just don't get it.
I realize that there is no way any of this will change. In fact, most people would think me nuts for even writing about this. I guess I do it simply to underscore the concept of "drifting". Whether it is our personal lives or our cultures perspective, we have to be vigilant to keep from "drifting" away from God and His precepts. There must always be a Christian witness in the land to remind us of those things that are unchangeable in God.
I wish you all a happy St. Patrick's Day, but not for the same reason the rest of the world says it. I trust that you will reflect on your own sacrifices and commitments and refresh them before the Lord today. I know most of the world will be "bellied up to a local bar", but I choose the "new wine" of His Presence. The best part is, the Holy Spirit hangover will forever transform your life!
Planting a Cross
Pastor
I am not an expert in the origins of holidays, but I know enough church history to be able to tell you that the person we honor today as "St. Patrick" is not who people think he is. He is considered the first apostle to Ireland and went there as a Christian missionary in the mid 5th century. I use the term "went" there loosely as he was actually captured as a slave and sold into slavery. His father was a priest (the days before celibacy) and so Patrick grew up in what then would have been known as a Christian family. History tells us that before his capture, young Patrick was not all that religious or spiritual. However, enslavement markedly strengthened his faith (Hmmm?). He eventually escaped Ireland and returned to England only to be called by God to go back and be a missionary to a predominately druid nation.
His first convert was a guy name Dichu who gave Patrick his barn for the first church. Eventually this barn became a monastery and it is the location Patrick died. Patrick was known for his ministry of evangelism and it was accompanied by some notable signs and wonders. One such story is told that all fires in the nation were to be extinguished and then renewed from the "sacred" fire of a druid king. When Patrick's fire was attempted to be extinguished, it refused to go out. It symbolized the dominance of the fire of God. Patrick was also known for banishing all the snakes of Ireland which symbolized the sign of the Pagan priests of that time. He is also credited with using the shamrock, a "three-leaf clover" to teach the precept of the Trinity in response to the Arian heresy that was popular as well.
I tell you all of this to underscore this thought: Why are we (as a society) getting drunk over this Christian Missionary? It's not just foolishness, but nearly borders on the blasphemous. We have turned holidays ("holy days") into times to feed our flesh rather than ponder on the sacrifices that were freely expressed by the people we honor. We just don't get it.
I realize that there is no way any of this will change. In fact, most people would think me nuts for even writing about this. I guess I do it simply to underscore the concept of "drifting". Whether it is our personal lives or our cultures perspective, we have to be vigilant to keep from "drifting" away from God and His precepts. There must always be a Christian witness in the land to remind us of those things that are unchangeable in God.
I wish you all a happy St. Patrick's Day, but not for the same reason the rest of the world says it. I trust that you will reflect on your own sacrifices and commitments and refresh them before the Lord today. I know most of the world will be "bellied up to a local bar", but I choose the "new wine" of His Presence. The best part is, the Holy Spirit hangover will forever transform your life!
Planting a Cross
Pastor
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Love over Self-denial
Sorry about the extremely long lag in posts. None-the-less here is something to take to heart...
"If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old he would have replied Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire."
~C.S. Lewis
~C.S. Lewis
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