FaithEngineer

With all the news on the government bailouts and stimulus plans, everyone is wanting help. We see the automakers flying in on private jets needing money to stay afloat. We see banks using bailout money to remodel offices (who needs a $35,000 toilet?) and we even see the porn industry asking the goverment for money. Everyone thinks they are entitled to receive something for nothing.

Our society is going through a time of entitlement, and it bothers me. We see this with the examples above, but the scary thing is that we see it in our families as well. Have you found yourself rationalizing purchases? Everyone else has a flat-screen so I deserve one as well! What about your children? I see my children constantly wanting stuff because their friends already have it. We live in a society where it seems nobody is content with what they have. And the result of this type of thinking is people spending more than they make, and getting into trouble when times are tough.

The truth is that life isn’t always fair. The truth is that we must sacrifice. The truth is that we must act our wage and not spend money we don’t have. The truth is that we won’t always be able to keep up with our neighbors. And the truth is that we will never be content until we rely on Jesus to meet our needs, instead of relying on our “stuff” Entitlement is a result of our materialism and it has become our modern day Golden Calf.

So my question for you is: are you content with what you have, or do you feel like you are entitled to more?

Philippians 4:11-13

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 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.

Perry Noble posted yesterday about 15 things he wished he would have known going into the ministry. I loved the quote at the end. Every pastor needs to read this for encouragement.

The fights, the sleepless nights, the critics, the spiritual warfare, the long meetings, the frustration…IT’S ALL WORTH IT! When lives get changed…it’s worth it. When hell becomes less crowded…it’s worth it. When repentance takes place…it’s worth it! When marriages are restored…it’s worth it. IT IS SO WORTH everything we go through!!! SO…don’t EVER give up–EVER!!!

Go to this website to see an incredible 1474 Megapixel photo of the inauguration. You can zoom in and see individual faces. I could literally spend hours looking through the detail in this photo. The story behind the photo can be found here. Click on the photo below to go to their website and browse around. It’s like playing where’s Waldo.

one interesting thing I noticed is the faces of Aretha and Rick Warren are superimposed. It looks like Rick Warren’s beard is part of Aretha’s hat! What else can you find?

We used this at Cornerstone this morning as the intro to Todd’s message on family. I think we all have family members that need some of these items.

Since I received my new iPod Touch, I’ve been using it to do some of my daily Bible reading. I have been reading through the book of Isaiah and so far I have really enjoyed using the iphone Bible application YouVersion from the tech geniuses at Lifechurch.tv. It looks a little strange to be flipping through Bible verses on your iPod, but it works great. I especially like the ability to bookmark verses so I can come back to them later.

But it has made me stop and think. I’ve got a bookshelf full of Bibles, I can access the Bible from my smartphone, I can listen to it as mp3 files, and now I can read it on my laptop or iPod. We have more access to the Word of God than any other generation and yet, as Americans, we simply don’t make it a priority to read! How can you truly love a God you don’t know? And how can you know the character and love of God if you never have read His words written to you?

You will never see significant Spiritual growth in your life until you start reading the Bible. If you don’t take responsbility and start feeding yourself, you will remain an infant being spoon fed by others. It doesn’t matter if you read the Bible on an iPod or a normal book, JUST START READING! If you don’t know where to start, then check out my previous post about different Bible reading plans.

So my question for you is, how do you read the Bible?

And I’ll add in a plug for YouVersion, if you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, you really need to download this app – it’s awesome. They also have a blackberry version and a normal website as well.

YouVersion iPhone Bible App from YouVersion on Vimeo.

I wanted to share a couple of albums that I’m looking forward to. The first is the new debut album from Fiction Family, a musical collaboration between Switchfoot front man Jon Foreman and Nickel Creek guitarist Sean Watkins. It has a cool flow and feel to the music. It is very reminiscent of Jon Foreman’s recent solo albums and I dig the guitar work from Sean Watkins. Listening to it reminds me of old British rock or solo work from Kevin Max. It’s smooth and good.

The other album that I think everyone is waiting on is the new U2 album, No Line on the Horizon, coming out in early March. You can pre-order it now on itunes and download the first song. Check it out here. They also have a deluxe version available on itunes.

This is an inspiring video that we showed at Cornerstone this past Sunday to highlight the importance of taking care of our bodies. Josh Farmer is a young man who has been through some very tough problems and has lost over 120 pounds. Remember, every BODY ends up somewhere, but not every BODY ends up somewhere on purpose. Let’s take care of our bodies so that we can serve God faithfully with all of our strength.

Bringing Your Physical Life Into Focus from Mike Morris on Vimeo.

I’m sitting at my computer tonight preparing for a funeral service tomorrow for my uncle who passed away this week. Death has a way of making you slow down and re-evaluate your life, especially when it is unexpected.

The current Catalyst newsletter had two great articles. The first, by Francis Chan, was about building true community in church. His sermons and messages have really spoken to me in the past year. The second article is by Ed Stetzer on the importance of spreading the Gospel in a new missional context. Ed is one of my favorite authors and I am definitely on the same page with his missional focus.

Both Francis Chan and Ed Stetzer are guys that truly understand some of the problems in the church in America. But I love the fact that they are actively seeking out solutions, and that in the process they aren’t throwing out what is good with the church. Too many in the church today blame the church. In the process of looking at what is wrong with the church, they condemn what is right as well. Let’s not throw the “baby out with the bathwater” and let’s continue to seek ways to not only to do church, but be the church. Check out both articles below.

The Leadership Filter for What’s Next in the Church | Catalyst via kwout

I’ve really enjoyed reading Anne Jackson’s blog lately. She is on staff at a church in Nashville and she has a new book coming out called Mad Church Disease about burnout in ministry. Anne currently has a simple contest on her blog. All you have to do is leave a comment about your favorite Bible passage and you will be entered to win a chance at getting the Logos Scholar Library Bible software. I use Logos on the mac and my PC and it is an awesome program. Check out the details at Anne’s Blog Flowerdust.

FlowerDust.net | Anne Jackson » » I’m Giving Away $6,100! via kwout

Our hometown was on the national news, but not for something good. Mexican drug trafficking organizations have been in the news lately and our little rural town got named in a recent report showing the locations of Hispanic gang activity. It seems a little strange to watch all the big cities mentioned in this news clip, and then see our little Appalachian town shown on the map. The Washington Times had another article that mentioned Galax as well. Our church is situated right in the middle of a highly populated latino population. We are also in a very poverty stricken area as well. This does make me think about how we as a church can truly reach out to our community. It’s scary…

In April, the Justice Department reported that Mexican drug cartels represent the “largest threat to both citizens and law enforcement agencies in this country and now have gang members in nearly 200 U.S. cities.” The 200 cities include Washington; Baltimore, Frederick and Greenbelt in Maryland; and Arlington and Galax in Virginia.

I haven’t blogged much lately because quite frankly I’ve been too busy. If something has to slide, it’s definitely not going to be my time with my family, so the blog has suffered. But now I’m finally getting back on track. Cornerstone is going through a period of great growth and change as we have moved into a new facility. It’s a great feeling to see new people come and join us and recognize that God is at work. But it hasn’t been easy.

I started not to write this post, but I want to be very transparent and honest. It has been a very discouraging time over the past two months. We have been spending long hours in our leadership meetings trying to work through structures and processes to connect and disciple people within our church. As a church, we started without a clear plan, without leadership in place, and without an overall vision for the church. Now we are in the process of nailing down all of those things as we moving forward, and it’s not an easy task. Getting everyone on the same page has been a long and trying process. I have used the analogy before that it’s like building an airplane while it is flying. If you let go of the controls too long and focus just on building, you will crash. But if you don’t spend some time building and fixing the plane as it’s flying, you’ll disintegrate in mid-air.

Through this process, I have seen the importance of a strong vision. There are many different ways you can Biblically “do” church. There are many different ways you can “Biblically” structure a church. We have freedom in our forms and structure to accomplish God’s plan for the church. But until a church has a crystal clear view of what God has called them to be, and how God has called them to function, they will function in frustration and discouragement.

A clear vision is more than just having a mission or vision statement. It’s more than just being able to articulate what the vision is. It is believing, supporting, and acting in complete unity with a singular focus and purpose. Most churches never get to this point. Ministries compete for time and resources, people compete to push their plan and agenda for church, and in the process the church remains unfocused and ineffective.

My leadership has been stretched, but I continue to see God at work. My hope and prayer for Cornerstone is that we can continue to become a ‘focused’ church. A church with a crystal-clear vision of what God has called us to be. To find out more about the vision of Cornerstone and what we are focued on, check out this page.

We’re having another 5th quarter for local teens after the Galax “quad” game Friday night. Please help us spread the word about this. It’s a great way to hangout in our Cornerstone Cafe with your friends. We’ll have snacks and video games, so invite your friends. First Baptist in Galax, Cliffview Church, and Cornerstone are all sponsoring this event, so expect a huge turnout. See you there!

You can download a poster to printout and send to your friends here.

Last night at our First Wednesday service at Cornerstone, we tried something pretty cool. About 5 minutes before we started, Sam asked if there was a way to patch in a phone call through the sound system. We talked about holding up a mic to the speakerphone, but that is less than ideal.

I thought about using Skype, so I quickly thought through how to get it working. I have a Skype subscription for unlimited nationwide U.S. calling through the internet for only $2.95 per month. I don’t use it a great deal, but it comes in handy to keep me from burning up all my cell minutes.

I quickly downloaded and installed Skype on the church video projection desktop computer, and started hooking everything up. The sound output from the computer was already routed through the soundboard so we could hear the phone call. I then ran a cable from the soundboard output to the mic input of the computer. I did a quick level check with the mic to make sure the signal wasn’t too hot, and then we gave it a try during the service. Without testing it first … but it worked awesome and we were able to hear a great testimony about how one of our attenders had led their neighbor to Christ earlier in the week. He could hear everything that was said from our microphones, and we could hear him clearly through the church sound system.

It was a great way to make a live phone call and patch everything through the sound system. As long as you have internet access it should work great.

I spent a few minutes looking at the stats for the blog this morning. I’ve updated the Popular Posts List on the sidebar with the posts that have been the most popular over the last six months. It was interesting to see a combination of technology posts along with some of the more serious topics. The number one post by far was God Won’t Give You More Than You Can Bear. That shows me that the internet is a place where hurting people go when they need answers.

If you are viewing this in a RSS reader or through an email subscrition, here is the list:

• God Won’t Give You More Than You Can Bear
• Cardboard Testimonies
• Sermon Podcasting Tutorial For Small Churches
• Technology for small churches
• Should We Dress Up In Church?
• Are You A People Pleaser?