#HeStartedIt!

Written by cycleguy on April 11th, 2024

Who doesn’t remember the sibling arguments of “He started it!” “No I didn’t. He did!” “Nu-uh. He did!” Yours may have been somewhat different in words (that is if you had a sibling), but the idea is the same. Pointing the finger at who started it.

With Adam we can truly say, “He started it” because..well…he did. Go back to the garden in all its pristine beauty. All its harmony. Unblemished. Sort of hard isn’t it? We have no clue what that would be like since for over however-many-years we have had to deal with imperfection and disease and impurity because of sin.  No longer is our “dream world” possible.

We often talk about the fall of Adam and the curse we all have as a result. But we also have a second Adam who took care of that curse by His death on the cross. We were made in the image of God but sin messed that up. Adam is still our father and all of us have been created in God’s image. We are not random particles. We were not and are not an obscure idea. We were not an afterthought. We are not an accident or a chance. Even before I was a glint in my parent’s eye, God knew me. He knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thanks to sin that is all messed up; thanks to the Savior a fix is available.

My sermon series is Yes, They are Real. I’m taking characters of the Bible for the next three months. This month I’m taking the foundation of it all-God, Adam, Eve, and the Deceiver. This week’s message is on Adam. Please feel free to join us in person or via live stream on either YouTube or our Facebook group (you have to ask to join).  We will spend some time talking about Adam, but most of our time will spent with the second Adam. See you then!

 

#CreatorofAll

Written by cycleguy on April 4th, 2024

How do one go about describing the indescribable?  How does the finite describe the infinite? Better yet, where do you start?  Over the next three months it is my hope and prayer to talk about people in the Bible who still influence us today. I’ve titled it Yes, They are Real. They cause us to reflect. They cause us to look inwardly at our motives and actions.  But to begin the series, we have to start with the ONE who created it all and us.

That, of course, is God. He is our Source. He is our Foundation. He is our Beginning Point.  All one needs to do is read Genesis 1:1 and that can be seen: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  My plan this Sunday is to start with a look at God. Certainly not exhaustive (how can it be?).  From there it will be a progression. Adam. Eve. The Deceiver. All in April. In May I plan to spend time the whole month on women (after all Mother’s Day falls in May). In June I plan to spend time with different men (you guessed it…Father’s Day).

Anyway, this week’s message is trying to answer two questions:

  1. What do we need to know about the God of creation?
  2. What does creation reveal?

I hope you will join me either in person or online. We meet at 9:00 and 10:45 and our live stream is at that same time.

 

#JesusIsVictorious

Written by cycleguy on March 28th, 2024

Billy Graham was once interviewed by TIME (remember that?) magazine about Christianity. He replied, “If I were an enemy of Christianity, I would aim right at the Resurrection, because that is the heart of Christianity.”  Theologian Peter Kreeft once wrote: “Every sermon preached by every Christian in the NT centers on the Resurrection. The Christian church would have never begun…Christianity stands or falls with the truth of the resurrection. Once you disprove it, you have disposed Christianity.”

There have been many efforts of people trying to disprove the resurrection. From liberal religion scholars to people like Thomas Jefferson to other truth deniers, they have all tried. AND. ALL. HAVE. FAILED. You know what is interesting? People will not argue the historicity of the crucifixion. They do believe Jesus died on the cross. (It is kind of hard to deny history, although we do have those in our culture who are trying to redefine it). While they believe Jesus died on the cross, they don’t or have trouble believing Jesus rose from the dead.

With this coming Sunday being Resurrection Sunday, it just stands to reason I would preach a sermon on…well…the Resurrection.  I’m going to spend some time in I Cor. 15:12-19 to show what happens if the resurrection didn’t happen and then I am going to reverse that to see what we have because Christ rose.

We did something different this week. We are meeting at Abram Event Venue, which is just south of us, so we can meet together in one service. However, they do not have internet, so live streaming the service, plus the logistics of getting all the equipment there would have been a nightmare makes that a no-go. So we prerecorded the sermon with some Scripture and Pastor Ryan leading communion. I’d like to invite you to watch the video if you are unable to meet in person with us.  Then I’d like to hear from you. If you are able to join us, our service starts at 10:00.

 

#IncomparableJesus

Written by cycleguy on March 14th, 2024

I love the movie Gladiator starring Russell Crowe. The movie opens with him as a conquering general of the emperor, Marcus Aurelius. When the emperor is killed by his sorry excuse for a son, Commodus, Crowe’s character is banished from the army. He rides home only to find his wife and son have been murdered. As he lays on the ground, he is picked up by slave traders where he is trained to be a Gladiator to fight in the Coliseum. When Gladiator kills the retired undefeated gladiator once known as the greatest of them all, Commodus wants to know who Gladiator is and what is his name. After trying to avoid exposure, he finally removes his helmet and says, “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant of the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”

Let me ask you a question: Who is Jesus…really? Why are people trying so hard to make Him seem less than He is? My focus this Sunday morning is to answer the question of who Jesus is. I’m going to be talking specifically about His Virgin Birth and why it is vital to a person’s belief in the truth of Christianity.  Two thoughts will pervade: Jesus’ birth is incomparable and Jesus’ life is incomparable.

Interested? Please join us in person or via live stream at 9:00 and 10:45 a.m.  If you watch, please let us know. Drop me a line via email if you like. I will try to get back to you asap.

 

#JesusIsGod

Written by cycleguy on March 7th, 2024

Sometimes modern scholarship gets it wrong. Sigmund Freud, for example, said, “God was an invention of man.” (I wonder how far that got him?)  Albert Einstein admitted to the existence of a cosmic force in the universe, but concluded it was unknowable.

Sometimes the religious world also gets it wrong. There is no end to what the religious world thinks of God and who He is. And when you get into some of the doctrines of the church, WOW! is about all I can say. If I were take a poll on “What do you think is the most confusing doctrine in the Bible”” it is my honest guess/wager that confusion about the Trinity would be at or near the top of most people’s list.  While the doctrine of the Trinity is a major foundation of the Christian faith, it just may be the hardest to understand.  It is made even tougher because of the “woke” efforts of some to take away or deny Jesus’ divinity.

I KNOW I don’t have all the answers and I certainly KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that I fall way short of understanding the Trinity, I’m going to try to talk about it this week. I’m going to use an idea in a book by Todd Miles called “Superheroes Can’t Save You” and try to describe it using what he calls The Ant-Man Heresy. Curious? Tune in Sunday at 9:00 and 10:45 a.m. to found out what is going on. The sermon is entitled Jesus Is God. We would love to have you.

 

Jesus is Real

Written by cycleguy on February 29th, 2024

A little over two years ago, a local business had a statement on their sign that I must admit rankled me a bit. In fact, if I were to be honest, it ruffled my feathers (and I have none). The sign consisted of three words, words which startled me and I suspect others because fortunately it didn’t stay up very long. I would like to believe it was because of repentance at the blasphemy, but I’m guessing it was more because of blowback.  Those three words were “Jesus was woke.”

The long version definition of “woke” is “a word to describe someone who, whether consciously or unconsciously, has adopted grievances and activism rooted in Cultural Marxism and Critical Theory, especially related to the intersectional oppression matrix of race, gender, and sexuality.” WHEW! Did you get that? Let me put that in my language: a bunch of crock centered around race, gender, and sexuality that finds its roots in Cultural Marxism and Critical Theory. I could add more but that should suffice. To say Jesus followed Marxism and was concerned about Critical Race Theory is heresy. If you ask me what I think, I will tell you “it comes from the pit of hell and smells like smoke.”

During the month of March I am going to try to tackle some of the more radical ideas about Jesus. This week’s sermon is entitled Jesus is Real. To put it another way: what is it we believe about Jesus? If you care to read ahead, spend some time in I Corinthians 15:1-9. You will find all you need to know about Sunday’s sermon in that passage.

I invite you to join us if you able to in person. If you would like to but find yourself unable to physically join us, please join us online on the church’s FB page or via YouTube. We would love to have you. And make sure to let us know if you watch!

 

Tough Challenges

Written by cycleguy on February 14th, 2024

Unless you count a baseball or basketball coach, I have never used a personal trainer, although I know many who have. Each Saturday morning at the local Y there is a former Owen Valley Patriot basketball player teaching/coaching/training young ones to become better players. Harry was a good player who went on to play at a nearby University and is now taking his talents to young people (male and female) who want to become better basketball players.  If you Google “Goals of a Personal Trainer” one common formula that comes up is SMART goals= Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

When I originally worked on the sermon series “WELCOME HOME…where… I came up with the following:

The Gospel is Preached

Jesus is Honored

Grace is Offered

Lives are Changed

Obedience is Encouraged

When I set this series up calendar-wise, I realized I needed two weeks to bring it out even, and also knew I would be gone for the final one. Since I have been using Colossians as my go-to Scripture for this series, I looked ahead and saw that Paul laid out some tough challenges. Specifically, there was a negative and a positive. So I decided to divide the Scripture into two parts. The first part is negative in that it says, “Get rid of…” I decided I would do that one and give Pastor Ryan the second part-the positive: “But put on…”

So this Sunday, my Scripture will be Colossians 3:5-11, or Tough Challenges are Given-Part 1.  My part this week will be spent mostly with the idea of “put to death” specific sins.  Even though it could tend to be a beat-down, I have no plans for that. I want it to be an encouraging time of “putting to death” certain sins in order to be a more honest servant.  I’d like to encourage you to read that Scripture for yourself.

And if you find yourself out and about Sunday, feel free to join us. 🙂

 

Obedience: Encouraged or Demanded?

Written by cycleguy on February 8th, 2024

There are some things I know for sure. 1) It is always tough to be a Christ-follower.  2) It is tougher to be a Christ-follower when rigid rules and regulations are in place. Obedience to Christ should be expected, but obedience should never be demanded or forced upon someone. Unfortunately, there will always be those religious teachers and religious systems that will take a “hard case” approach and make demands of their followers the Scripture never intended to take place.

The Scripture for Sunday, Colossians 2:16-3:4 takes a hard stand against demanding obedience or as I will say during the message: the “lord it over” approach. The question I plan to answer is this: “Is obedience demanded or encouraged?” Please see there is a difference. It is my personal belief that those religious leaders or religious systems who use the “lord it over” approach are afraid. They are afraid of people thinking for themselves. They are afraid of losing control of their flock. They are afraid that a lack of control will lead to rebellion. (Maybe it should). 

Do we obey God from our hearts or do we do it because we are being threatened or forced to? For my answer, please feel free to join us in person or online this Sunday at 9:00 and 10:45. I would love to see you or even to hear your thoughts when it is all said and done.

 

Deepen and Define

Written by cycleguy on February 1st, 2024

French philosopher, Francois-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire (I believe I would choose Voltaire over Francois-Marie), famously predicted that Christianity would be dead within a hundred years of his death. He once wrote: “There will not be a Bible on the earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity seeker.” In 1966, TIME magazine ran a cover story posing the question, “Is God Dead?” They assumed the answer was obvious.

In an ironic twist of fate, the printing press found in Voltaire’s house was used to print Bibles, the book he said would be gone. And TIME! Can anyone say, “Life support?” Over 250 years later the faith Voltaire said would be dead is still alive and kicking.

In this series on WELCOME HOME…where… I have been focusing on being a church that is a welcoming community, but also what to expect in this type of church.  Here are the three we have covered so far:

The Gospel is Preached

Jesus in Honored

Grace is Offered

This week’s sermon is a bit more “ouchy” in that it starts probing. If we want to be a church that fulfills the next rung of this ladder we have to take two very important and distinct steps: First, we must deepen our intimacy with the Father (Colossians 2:6-10). Second, we must define our identity (Colossians 2:11-15).  As we draw closer to Him, we become more aware of who we are. Our identity is not in any qualifier we or our culture wants to put on us. We start with a new birth; we grow in intimacy with Him; then we find ourselves transformed by His overpowering love and grace. That becomes our identity.

So…WELCOME HOME…where…

LIVES ARE CHANGED

 

A Country Music Star’s Review

Written by cycleguy on January 31st, 2024

REVIEW OF LIKE A RIVER

By Granger Smith

First, you need to know I am not a County Music (CM) fan. A few years ago (like 20-30+ when I did listen to CM), I was very picky whom I listened to. I even wore a cowboy hat! But after about 4 years I went back to my roots of rock ‘n roll and metal. So you might be wondering why in the world I would read a book by a CM star? To be honest, it sat in my Amazon cart for several months because I couldn’t bite the bullet. But I finally did and I’m here to tell you I’m glad I did.

Granger Smith and his wife, Amber, had three children:  London (7), Lincoln (5) and River (3). Lincoln and River were best buds so they were off playing together and Granger was helping London with a new gymnastics routine. His career was a shining star getting brighter by the day. This particular day, one day before the CMA awards, he was with London, when he suddenly noticed the boys were quiet. River had wandered off from his brother and Granger found him face down in the family pool. Despite efforts by him doing CPR and the EMS there was no hope. They rushed him to the hospital but his long time without oxygen gave them no hope. They donated his organs and allowed him to pass naturally.

This book is Granger’s efforts to process his grief and to share the lessons he learned with us. I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like for him, or for any other parent in a similar situation, or for any parent having to say “Goodbye” to a child. As you can imagine Granger’s life from that point on was a roller coaster. He admits faking it and lying on stage and telling people he was okay (typical for most of us). He also found himself going down the rabbit hole of marijuana usage to help him deal with the nightmares (PTSD). Then the dark night of the soul where he had a loaded gun ready to end it all. Shortly after that dark night and his decision to follow Jesus, he approached Amber about having another baby. But she had had her tubes tied and so the chances of that happening were slim. Oh, the miracles of modern medicine. They implanted an egg but Amber had a miscarriage. With one frozen embryo left they tried one last time. This time God blessed them with little Maverick.

The book ends with Granger telling us that he has given up the road traveling and singing CM to attend Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he is pursuing a Master’s Degree and preaching. I like what he says: “Other than that, my future is none of my business. What a freeing feeling that is.” (p.184)

I did enjoy this book. It wasn’t a sordid “tell all” like many of them could do. Instead, it was a “God came through and I want to share my testimony with you” book. His story of losing River is heart-breaking, but to see what God has brought out of this is truly inspiring.  He was honest; he was real; and it was well worth the time reading. (He still didn’t convert me to CM).  🙂