God Questions


For the next several weeks, we are going to be taking a look at some of the most asked questions of Jesus and the Bible in one of our Sunday Morning Classes.  From controversial questions to "I was just wondering" questions we are going to try and tackle them all.  


If you have a question that you would like answered (or at least attempted to answer), please leave a comment below.  ANYONE is allowed to ask a question and you may remain anonymous in your question asking.  If you are not in the area and are wondering how your question would be answered, email Aaron at aearlywine@gmail.com.  


We will see how it goes!  Let the questions fly. 

Peat and Repeat. . .

A big thank you to Shaun and his message on Sunday, great job! Shaun warned that good things in life can turn us negatively toward apathy, negatively toward legalism, or positively toward consistency and genuine faith. From communion time, to the Sunday morning message we have a choice on how we are going to do those things we always do, either with faith and genuineness, or with apathy or legalism.

This can all be of course translated into our everyday lives. We are all vulnerable to a stagnate faith and relationship with Jesus. To prove it, I can admit that on occasion in all my relationships, I have had dry times. Consciously I have to focus on my relationship with my wife and children, with my friends and with my parents. None of those relationships just “happen”, they take effort.

Spend some time this next week taking a long look at your relationship with Jesus. Today we may be well connected with our Savior but remember back to those dry days and what it took to bring you out of that lull. If you are in dry times right now, take some time to work on your relationship and rekindle that flame. Spend a little extra time this week in prayer and your readings; take a walk in nature thanking God for His creation.

Running the Race Together

Yesterday we dove into 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:13. We looked at the importance of running the race and finishing strong. We talked about a few of the pitfalls that many of the Israelites fell into, from grumbling to sexual immorality, there are many ways that the enemy would like to use to disqualify you from the race.

Paul also went into the importance of strict training at the end of 1 Corinthians 9. I would like to challenge you in a few of ways training that we should be following as run this race together. First of all on a spritual level we need to be training our minds. We do that by:

1. Reading scripture. Make time every single day to read your Bible.
2. Memorize scripture. In your daily reading find a verse to meditate on and memorize. In the race when you are about to hit a wall, those scriputures will help to give you the energy and encouragement you need to keep going.

It is also important that you are training your heart:

1. Take time to pray. Ask God to mold your heart as you live for Him.
2. Take encouragement from other Christians. One of the most important parts of our Christian faith, is the love and support of one another. The sad truth is, we need more than just sunday morning encouragement. Join a small group, build relationships with those who will encourage you to finish strong.

The purpose for all of this training, is to always be ready to share your faith. You became a resident of heaven when you made Jesus your Lord and savior. Live like it, Run like it, and bring others along with you in this race!

Looking for Truth

2 John

Yesterday we dove deep into the idea of truth. I want to re-emphasize the idea of Jesus being truth. He is either "the" truth, or he is a liar. There is no in between and this is because of Jesus' own words. In the book of John chapter 11, Jesus says that he is the "way, the truth, and the life" and, "no one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus has to be either the way to God or not, there cannot be an in between.

Many Christians and non-Christians alike make the mistake of believing that Jesus and the Christian faith is just one way to heaven. Logic leads us, because of the words of Jesus, to conclude that either Jesus is the way, or not. If Jesus is not the only way, then there must be another way. The question than must be asked, What do we do about sin? Are you willing to chance that you will have another chance after death? If Jesus was not the way, then sin is still the issue. If everyone gets into heaven, what is the point of this world? These are just a few questions that need to be asked in regard to Jesus and truth. How would you answer these questions? How would you respond to someone who had these questions?

Sermon Series Preview

Heroes

Coming July 5th

It seems the last couple of years the theme of Heroes has been prevelant.  From TV shows to movies, the super hero has been making an amazing come back. The Gospel According to Superman was written in 1973 chronicaling the differences and similarities our man made heroes reflect the Gospel of Jesus.  What a fascination we have with these heroes.  Maybe we long to be the heroes ourselves.  Maybe we like to think we can relate to difficulties heroes have as they struggle to save the day.  Or maybe we just like a good story where the good guy wins.

Starting July 5th we are going to be looking at a few heroes found within our scriptures.  We will be looking at Abraham, David, Appollos, Barnabas, and more as we look at the true Hero, Jesus Christ and the impact he has made throughout ALL of history.  Join me and others at Sixth and Gibbs Church as we explore the Heroes of the Bible!

Understanding Freedom

Galatians 5:1-15

The more that I am gaining an undersanding of history and our government system, the more that I am appreciating the sacrafice that so many gave for the freedoms we have here in America.  Yesterday we looked at those verses in Galatians 5, "For freedom you have been set free."  

As we looked at yesterday freedom does not mean that you have a choice to do what ever you want.  Freedom is an attitude, it is a peace.  No one is free when they are controled by addictions, no one is free when they are controled by hate or anger.  No one is free when they are controled by pornography or lust.  Freedom is about gaining peace, it is about being content.  Freedom gives us the ability to make the right choices and decions for our lives.

The questions we need to be asking ourselves is: What are we doing with our freedom here in America?  Are you using your freedoms for the selfishness of yourself, or are you using your freedom to move the gospel forward?  

Challenge:  Thank God today for your freedom here.  Take inventory of your life, are you a slave to sin, or to attitudes that are against God, or are you truly free to be the man or woman God has created you to be.

Day 2

Yesterday was day 2 today is day 3 but I may never have time to fully update the blog for day 3 but hey we will do our best.

I am impressed with the over all quality of the conference this year.  Today seemed to have a strong missions emphasis and really got me to think outside of the box when it comes to missions and the purpose of missions within the local church and outside of the local church.

Rick Chromey had a very good class on incorporating video and powerpoint into presentations and such getting me to think about how to best do that as well.  I have also been challenge yesterday and today to make sure that my first focus is my family and that they are being placed number one in my ministry and home.

I am about to attend a workshop on adoption, the stories of adoption I have heard thus far have really pierced my soul and it will be interesting to see how God will use that in my life.  I am praying for you church and look forward to being with you again very soon.

aaron 

Day 1 Recap:

I sure don't have as much time as I had hoped to write these updates, between the conference and catching up with old friends my days seem incredibly short. Here are the classes I attended on Tuesday:

Leading in Uncertain Times. This class was great about leadership. I former business president, now a student at BBC talked about what it means to be in leadership. He spoke of foundations, how God is the foundation and we need to be cultivating that relationship and we are the foundation for others as leaders. People begin to reflect their leaders, so, how are you doing?

Then I went the class, Change Everything: Worship Services. Got a lot of great ideas from the worship leader at Tomoka Church in Florida. They had great video ideas and great service order ideas as well.

Then I went to see my sister for the evening and love on my neices. What a blast!

Then I went to the evening session. AWESOME worship last night, by the BBC group. I was very impressed by our main speaker Joe Putting, who challenged the pastors to not be Chaplins and just care the needs of the needy church people, but to focus on being like Jesus and reaching out to the down trodden.

I will add more detail when I have time and update everyone with the classes I have been attending.

My church family and friends:

I am in Boise, ID for the annual spring preaching conference at Boise Bible College.  Last night was a great tribute to Dr. Ken Beckman who has preached at BBC for 62years.  His final words were very powerful, speaking of shooting the wolves before they infultrate the flock.  I was impressed.

This morning we have challenged, to pray and act as our morning speaker compared the Lord's prayer to the great commission.  We all have a part to play.  Jesus is praying and fulfilling his end of the deal, how are we doinging with ours?  

I will plan on updating throughout my time here.  You can see the full schedule of events at http://www.boisebible.edu/Events/confernc.htm  if you have a suggestion as to a class you would like me to attend and update you on, let me know by emailing me at aearlywine@gmail.com.  all classes are recorded so I will be able to hear from all of them.  Got to get back.

aaron

Book Review:

The Unchurched Next Door

by Thom Rainer

I had an opportunity to pick up this book by Thom Rainer and it is a good one. Thom put together a team of researchers to find out from people if they would be open to attending church or hearing more about Jesus.  The researchers polled 306 non-believers in 50 states to see their openness to Christians.

Rainer was able to categorize those who were not Christians into 5 distinct categories, from those who are so receptive to the Gospel that all they needed was someone to ask them to follow Christ; to those who are so against Christ and the church that only an act of the Holy Spirit would change their conviction.  Understanding people's receptiveness to the Gospel changes the way that we speak to them, invite them to church and how we do both of those.

Rainer says that 80% of people polled would say "yes" to coming to church if they were invited by a friend or co-worker.  Though not all would be open to becoming a Christian many would give church a try if only invited.  Below is a chart Rainer put together in regard to how people would prefer to hear about church:

This book is definately a good read to get those evangelistic juices flowing and a book of hope as well to encourage us that people are receptive to the Gospel though it may not seem like it at times.  If you are interested in the read let me know and I will get you a copy.

aaron

The Church Today

Acts 29

Go ahead, read Acts 29. . . Okay, you got me, there is no Acts chapter 29.  In fact, the book of Acts ends without resolve.  If Acts were a movie you would stay seated through the credits, upset that there was no real conclusion.  What ever did happen to Paul, his followers and the church?  How does it end?!?!?

Since the time that Luke penned Acts 28, we have been living in Acts 29.  Writing new chapters of the church, taking the church to new places, and doing new things.  The church is fluid, constantly in change, led by men of God, understanding that God is always doing a new thing.  Books have been written by men who have done incredible things through the church.  Bob Russell's book, When God Builds His Church, is a great read; Rick Warren has done amazing things through his church and his book Purpose Driven Church has encouraged and driven many churches and it's leaders.  Carl George wrote his book, Preparing Your Church for the Future; Erwin McManus writes about the church in An Unstoppable Force; Jim Cymbala talks about how he turned his church around in Fresh Fire Fresh Wind.

All of these books I have read and all of these books are inspiring.  Each one had a different plan, each one a different theory, each one God used differently.  As Bob Russel says, 

The methods we have implemented at Southeast Christian Church may or may not work at your church.  You can't fight Goliath wearing Saul's armor.  You can't minister with someone else's style.  You have to be yourself and adapt to the culture around you.

He also says,

I don't know what monumental challenges lie ahead in this new millennium.  But I know we're still playing the same game.  It's the same Bible we are teaching, the same truth we are proclaiming, the same Lord we are exalting.

When God speaks of the church we are never given a list of "how to's."  There is no list of things we have to do in the way of music, preaching, communion or offering.  As the Restoration movement, we as a church try to reflect the church in the book of Acts as best as we can; yet we cannot forget that the overall pupose of the church is to bring others to a knowledge of Jesus.

Erwin McManus in his book says:  "God has a lot on his mind, and it is through the church that he makes it happen."

This week's challenge:  Spend some time praying about the church this week, take some time to encourage others in the church and those outside of it.  Next Sunday, purposefully encourage 3 people before you do anything.

There is Power in the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 3:14-21

¹⁴For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

 ²⁰Now 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, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

This section of scripture is so powerful!  Last night in our small group we had a great discussion about verse 16.  We live in a world that pushes us to be strong on the outside no matter how we truly feel on the inside.  "Fake it till you make it," is a common montra.  The Lord though, desires to strengthen us from within our inner being to strengthen our faith, to dwell in our hearts so that we are able to live it in our actions.  It is quite the opposite of what the world teaches us.  The world says: No matter how you feel on the inside act strong and you will be strong.  The Lord says: Plant your roots in me and I will give you the peace and strength to make it through each day.

When life seems overwhelming we must not forget our Savior and the power that he has given us through his Holy Spirit.  Ask him for the strength to make it through each day, and do not be surprised when the Lord gives you peace in the storms, and joy in the most sorrowful times.

There is Power in the Cross

I have a character flaws.  I know some of you are shocked, others are finally glad I'm coming to grips with it.  One way that I tend to struggle, is this need to be validated.  For some reason, especially from those within my profession and those I work closely with, I want to be recognized.  I want to know that I'm doing something right and that someone noticed.

The truth is, many of us are just like this and it's not a bad issue to have (on a sliding scale compared to things like murder).  Yet, I still need to working on it.  The Bible tells me I should not be looking for the praise or recognition of man, it's only God I should be doing anything for.  I should not be concerned about what any one else says or thinks.  Because I understand that their is power in the cross, I know that I don't have to be perfect but as Paul says, "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (Philippians 3:12b)  On the other hand because Jesus has done soooo much for me, it should be my goal to be ALL that I can be for him.

If you are suffering from an "oh hum" kind of faith my prayer for you is that you will find the power that is found only in the beauty of the cross.  That even through your little sins God is looking to make you whole, He is not done with you yet.  Whether your struggle is lying, a poor attitude, a low expectation of yourself and others; God is still working.  You are not to be lack luster, the cross is full of power, and you can be as well.

Challenge:  Pick an area in your life that you want to have power in.  Pray over that area, ask God to heal, challenge, and set you free from even your littlest of sins.

Benevolance or Evangelism

In this week's e-news article from standard, Mike Schrage writes an article on whether the church should be focused on the economy or on evangelism.  

It is a question that needs asked and ultimately the answer will give us an idea on our perspective on life.  Do we trust God with everything?  Do we believe Him when He says that He will care for ALL of our NEEDS?

In Matthew 6 Jesus encourages us to not worry about anything, whether we are going to eat or drink, or what we are going to wear.  That sort of thing is not to be our concern.  God's directive: don't worry about anything.

In Matthew 28 Jesus then tells us we need to be taking his message out to others, to disciple, baptize and teach.  God's directive:  Go with the Message!

When you put these two directives together, it sure makes a lot of sense, don't worry about anything, go with the Message!

aaron

There is Power in Who You Know

Philippians 3:4-11

I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was a Sophomore in high school, and the first Taco Bell was moving into the town that I lived in.  Me and my cousin Eric were totally stoked, tacos in our town!  I love Taco Bell, so much so, my aunt wrote the company on our behalf and were invited to the Grand Opening celebration.  We recieved our letter in the mail and upon arrival were ushered through the ordering line, for free tacos!  What a day in paradise.  There is no way we could have experienced that with out our papers and without writing to the right person.  It's all in who you know. . . 

Yesterday we began our series on Living Powerfully.  Everyone has an answer for that dillema, there are books, movies, support groups, you name it; all wanting to teach you a thing or two about how to live a powerful, effective life.  Power comes not from your pedigree, or from the things you have earned; true power comes from who you know, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:6, says that while we were still "powerless," Christ died for you and me.  Take a few minutes and meditate on that thought.  Without Jesus you were POWERLESS, and it is only through Jesus that we have any power at all.  You see, it is all about WHO you know.

Todays Challenge:  This week what are the things in your life that you are keeping power over?  That is the big question: What are you controling that you should be giving over to the Lord?  Maybe you just realized that you should be handing it over, maybe you know what God would have you to do and you don't want to do it.  Maybe you just don't trust anyone (including God) with that decision.  Write it down.  Spend 5-10min a day praying about that power struggle you are having.

Trying to Be More Purposeful

John 9 

I heard a couple comments from the guys who were out at the men's retreat after Shaun preached, about what an extension his sermon was with the message Aaron Couch brought to us at the retreat itself.  One of the challenges thrown my direction through the message Shaun brought and through the retreat as well, has to do with purpose.  The things in my life, the things within God's church need to be done with purpose.  Aaron hit it hard on Saturday evening essentially saying that human nature calls us to create or build something in order to maintain that something (job, retirement, classic cars, etc).  God though, never wants us to be in a maintenance mode when it comes to our relationship with him and others.  2 Peter 1:5-9 reminds us that if we are not growing, especially in our love for other people, then we are dying and we are ineffective and we are unproductive and we have even forgotten the magnitude from which we have received forgiveness.  

That thought is a reminder to me but man I need reminded often.  We are not done, our job is not finished.  We have MUCH work to do.   A purposeful life makes time for those who need to hear about Jesus.  A purposeful life uses resources and talents to help capture the heart of those who need Jesus.  A purposeful life is not comfortable, or predictable but it is faithful.  A purposeful life cares not about the well being of "me," but looks to how we can serve others.  A purposeful life is not defined by a "to do" list, it is an attitude, it is not a day of the week or a defined event, a is a life style decision.

I hope I and we can be more purposeful together, for our Lord.

God's Merciful Mission

Jonah 3

A question of fasting has been brought up by this text.  What is fasting and should we fast?  This is a very interesting question.  First of all fasting is the abstinance of food to show our weakness and our dependancy on God.  Fasting does not always have to be from food.  In scripture their was a fasting from sexual relations (I Corinthians 7:5), from bathing and in the case of Jonah (and Esther) , from even drinking.  Fasting is found 61 times in scripture and is a Spiritual discipline to show submission to God.

Here in Jonah, the people fasted in repentance, to show their submission to God.  So, what are other reasons to fast?

For Engaging in Prayer for others, or yourself:  Daniel 9:3, 16  Daniel prayed for the people of Jerusalem, calling to God on their behalf.  We fast and are reminded that God is in control.

To Prepare for a Decision or God's Guidance:  In Acts 13:2,3 Paul and Barnabas were set apart for ministry by prayer and fasting.  When we have big decisions in life to make, fasting can be a way of showing God that you need his guidence and direction.  At the feeling of hunger, we pray for God's guidence.  

To Prepare ourselves for Spritual Warfare:  Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness to be to be tempted.  Matthew 4:1,2.  When we are facing battles that seem more spiritual, we must be sure we are calling on God for the support we need.

Those seem to be the most popular reasons in scripture, though I know of many other examples of fasting.  Regardless of your reasoning for a fast, the purpose of a fast, like we saw in Jonah 3, is to remind ourselves that we are not God, but we desperately need him.

aaron

A Rebel

Jonah 1

I love Jonah.  He is a really cool guy, kind of head strong with his own ideas on what he thinks this world needs.  Jonah is pretty sure that this world does NOT need the likes of a dirty ole' city like Ninevah.  He is not keen on the idea of going to such a scum filled place, so he runs.

Doing the right thing is hard.  It can be difficult and burdensome, no one else is doing the right thing, so why should I?  The right things take effort and planning, the right thing seldomly involves a short cut or for that matter, a lot of well deserved praise.  The right thing is hard.

Yet, not doing the right thing often times brings more burdens in the long run.  Take math for example, when doing a large math problem with many steps; when you make a mistake early on, the further from the right answer you will get and the more difficult it will be to fix it.  Often, shorcuts lead to more trouble than it's worth.

In Jonah 1, Jonah runs.  He chooses to do quite the opposite of God's call, because Jonah runs he causes himself and others pain, heartache and lots of undeserved troubles.  Being a good steward with our time and finances is tough, but it's better than bankrupcy and/or high blood pressure.  Loving people is hard, but it's better than losing a good friend or an opportunity to share God's Word.  Following the rules our Government has in place can be burdensome but it's better than sharing a 6x6 prison cell with a guy named "Bubba."

Joshua gives us one of the greatest lines in scripture when he says in Joshua 24:15, "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. . . But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

An Assurance in Something

1 John 5:13-21

As the old saying goes, you can be certain of 2 things: death and taxes.  As we have concluded John, he reminds us that there is something else we can be certain of, our standing in God's kingdom.

I am sure you have the same problem I do, maybe it is a little self conciousness, or maybe it is just human nature but with some people I have a hard time knowing exactly where I stand, am I friend or foe.  A few a months ago I ran into an old friend from my earlier days in ministry.  I was happy to see him but I didn't get the same feeling from him.  Was he mad about something in our past?  Did I call him by the right name?  Later on he called to apologize as he too noticed he was short in our conversation but he was concerned about others going on at the same time.

John is very clear here in 1 John 5:  "We know that we are children of God. . . We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."  Our standing is not based upon a feeling, it is based upon the truth of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.

Have you committed your life to Jesus?  Do you believe He is the truth and follow Him as such?  If your answer is yes, than you can be assured of your place in His kingdom.

Here We Go Team

John 4:7-21

Why love?  John gives us a clear indication of why, because God first loved us, and God is love.  Love is one of those characteristics that makes God so great!  He loved us, he made the first move and he loved us EXACYLY the way we needed to be loved (maybe not the way we thought we should be loved).  As a child of God and as we get to know our Creator and Father, we will begin to reflect the love, and begin to love others the way that we should.  Yesterday we talked about making the first move to reconcile with others, we talked about having the wisdom to love people where they are at, with a love that meets their needs (sometimes not the way they think they should be loved).  

I don't know about you, but all of this takes a tremendous amount of wisdom that I do not posess.  So, if it's all right with you, I may need your advice?  I may need help.  We need one another to encourage us, go guide us in wisdom, to help us out!  We are a team and if we are going to do this right, if we are going to love people the way they should be loved, we are going to need each other.  Take just a few minutes, pray for someone in the church.  Mentally think about the people who sit around you and lift them up in prayer.  Don't be afraid to let them know next time that you see them that you prayed for them.

One last thing, our New Year Resolution:  (Don't forget it)

• Wiser Decisions
• Stronger Faith
• Trusting God More

Have a great week!