Many churches in Holland are more known tourists stops than places of worship.  Numerous conversations with locals in Holland revealed the void in the hearts of people where God use to reign.  I remember one conversation with a tour guide in a church I visited who was distraught over the fact that his son and grandchildren no longer had a connection with church or any desire to pass faith on to the next generations.  He desperately wanted to see his family reconnected with God, but felt hopeless.

As I walked the streets of Amsterdam, I saw children running around – well clothed, well fed, taken care of.  Their physical needs were provided for.  But the thought went through my head, “Who is going to tell them that there is a God who made and loves them so much?”  For all intensive purposes, the answer is “no one.”

Amsterdam was once a country vibrant in faith.  Today, unfortunately, faith has taken the backseat to immorality and freedoms while God fades from view.

Why Amsterdam? Because God still loves every person in Amsterdam and desperately wants them to know His grace and forgiveness.

1. Be at each Sunday service to hear the messages in our “Vertical – Talking to God” prayer series (or listen online)
2. Set aside at least 10 minutes each day for a CHAT with God
3. Pray and ask God to do something in our church and community that only He could do.

One of the challenges of completing the Prayer Challenge is that your progress may be a little hard to track.  Unlike the New Testament Challenge earlier in the year, you don’t have any kind of a bookmark that can tell you if you’re keeping up or lagging behind.  I would encourage you to have a lot of grace with yourself in this challenge.  Do your best to pray each day.  If you miss a day, don’t sweat it.  Don’t beat yourself up.  God isn’t going to condemn you.  He just wants you.  He wants you to connect with Him and grow deeper.  So, if you “get behind”, just jump back into it when you realize your off track.

Also, I wanted to remind you of the CHAT prayer guide I briefly went over with you on Sunday.  It’s a great prayer starter for those who don’t feel like they know “how” to pray, and it’s also a good guide for the more seasoned prayer warrior. Here it is:

C – Confession: Spend some time confessing your sin, expressing your need for God’s forgiveness, asking for and RECEIVING that forgiveness

H – Honor: Spend some time reflecting back to God the honor He is due. For example, “God you are holy. You are perfect. You are so loving.  You are amazing.  You are a God of justice, but also of grace.” Statements like these are acts of honor/worship back to God.

A – Ask: This is “request” time.  Pray for your needs.  Pray for others.  Your family.  Your work.  Your country.  Your community.  Your church.  Pray and ask God about whatever.  He delights in hearing our requests.

T – Thanks: Take some time to thank God for the blessings in your life.  Thank him for answers to your prayers.  Thank him, in advance, for the prayers that He will be answering.

So keep on praying.  Approach God with confidence, knowing that Jesus’ death and resurrection has opened the way for us to come to God.  God loves us more than we know.  Spend that time seeking him and enjoy being His child.  God honors prayer.  I look forward to seeing and hearing what God does in and through us the next 40 days!

On the homepage of Tino’s site there is a video of him painting during the process of a worship service. Check it out. Watch to the end. I think you’ll enjoy it!

www.robertatinogallery.com

Let me share one quick excerpt from her book. She is telling about a woman sharing in church about her adoption experience of a special needs child:

“I was back in church the week before as one of our members stood at the pulpit telling us about how she had come to adopt her little son.  She and her husband had found him through an agency called ASK, for Adopt Special Kids. First they had to fill out a questionnaire, with questions like “Could you adopt an addicted baby? A child with a terminal illness? With mild retardation? With moderate retardation?  With tendencies toward violence against others?” She ticked off the list, and then she cried.  Veronica stepped to her side. “God is an adoptive parent, too,” she said. “And she chose us all. She says, ‘Sure, I’ll take the kids who are addicted, or terminal. I pick all the retarded kids, and of course the sadists. The selfish ones, the liars…’”

God loves us all.  From the “best” to the “worst.”  Thank God that he does.   

Let me know if you read Lamott’s or Brown’s book.  I’d love to hear your thoughts.  My next book will hopefully be another recommendation from Brown’s book.  I’m waiting for the library to get a copy of “Beyond Gay” by David Morrison.

“This is the most I’ve ever read the Bible before!”

“I’ve never read the Bible before but I want to complete this challenge.”

“I’ve been struggling in my connection to God and I want to continue this challenge and get reconnected to God.”

“What? Jesus had brothers and sisters?”

“I’m seeing Jesus’ love for people and it’s making me fall in love with the person of Jesus.”

“I’m amazed at how God’s word seems to speak directly to situations in my life right now!”

The challenge to read the New Testament in 63 days is a big one! Congrats to all of you who are even attempting! I am really proud of you all. And if you’ve gotten behind, don’t give up! Hang in there! Just keep reading and don’t necessarily worry about catching up. The real value in not in keeping up but that you get the opportunity to interact with God’s Word.

So keep it up! And, as you have opportunity, let me know how you’re experience in the New Testament Challenge is going. Hearing your encouraging words is a motivation for me in keeping up with the challenge.

Anyway…I’ve missed my hymnal. I’m glad I’ve gotten the new one. But more than missing the hymnal, I’ve missed what the hymn and hymnals offer – Scripture inspired and God centered lyrics that help me to get my attention off of me and on to God. Without worship, my love for God runs a little dry and my focus on self becomes more paramount. Taking the time to read and/or sing a hymn as a part of my time with the Lord has added such freshness.

A verse you’ll read on Saturday in The Bridge’s New Testament Challenge describes a habit of Jesus and his disciples:

“When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Matthew 26:30 (NIV)

If you’re ever like me and getting a little self-focused and your worship is running dry, grab a hymnal. Sing a hymn.

While I was praying this morning, I was reminded of the time in Acts 16 when Paul and Silas were in prison because of their faith. Despite their seemingly desperate situation, in verse 25 it says:

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…” (ESV)

I’ve never been imprisoned or put in jail, but sometimes I seem to put myself into prisons of my own making. As I thought of Paul and Silas singing hymns in prison, my thoughts turned to one of my favorite hymns, I Love to Tell the Story. The final stanza is my favorite:

I love to tell the story, for those who know it best Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest; And when in scenes of glory I sing the new, new song, ‘Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.

As you begin the New Testament Challenge, you are going to be reading “the story” – the story of Jesus, the Messiah. Pray and ask God, as you start out, to help you to enter into the story. Ask God to use His Word to penetrate your heart and to grow you from where you are to a deeper life of faith.

And don’t forget our memory/reflection verse this week is Hebrews 4:12:

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (NIV)

Enjoy the story!

Unlike a novel or other writings, the Bible really is an “active” book.  Everytime we open it up and read, or even reread some of the same sections, new insights jump off the page.  My encounters with the Bible over the years have been life changing.  I’m amazed that everytime I read it I learn something new and find real help and answers to my many questions.

If you want more info on our New Testament Challenge, click here to see our webpage dedicated to this challenge.  All the links will go live by Sunday.  You can view/download the reading plan, download audio of the daily readings, find the daily questions that will help you engage the readings on a deeper level, and more.

In addition to the reading challenge, I will have the privilege each week during the challenge to teach on some of the major themes of the New Testament.  Here’s the schedule:

• The Challenge of the New Testament
• The Challenge of Radical Love
• The Challenge of Generosity
• The Challenge of Perseverance
• The Challenge of Servanthood
• The Challenge of Forgiveness
• The Challenge of Godliness
• The Challenge of Obedience
• The Challenge of Eternity

The challenge begins this Sunday, February 13 (can you believe it’s February already?!?).  I hope you’re up to the challenge!

“Even before Jesus’ time, baptism was practiced among early converts to the Jewish faith. Ceremonial washing with water was symbolic in Judaism, therefore baptism indicated a convert’s willingness to wash away one’s previous ways and identify with new beliefs and a new community. Baptism was also important in the ministry of a Jewish prophet name John, who emerged about the same time as Jesus. The gospels and other ancient literature tell his fascinating story. John preached a compelling message to the Jewish people, drawing large crowds and creating quite a buzz. He claimed that God was about to do something new and thus people should repent of their sins and prepare for God’s saving work. In keeping with this message, John urged the crowds who heard him to be baptized, thereby symbolizing their willingness to identify with and embrace his message. As many came forward, John became known as the Baptizer, or John the Baptist. Jesus was even baptized by John. Though he was not repenting of sin, Jesus was aligning himself with John’s message and ministry. After all,
Jesus himself would be the fulfillment of the message John was preaching.”

“With this background, it’s no wonder that at the end of Jesus’ ministry, he told his followers: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19, TNIV). In other words, as Jesus’ followers took his message of salvation around the world, other people would become disciples, or followers of Christ. When they did, Jesus wanted these new believers to publicly identify with him. So by participating in baptism, a new follower of Jesus symbolically aligns himself or herself with new beliefs and a new community. In fact, the apostle Paul underscored the symbolic picture that being immersed into water communicates. He suggested that baptism represents a person’s identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:3-8). When participants lie back in the water, it signifies the death of their sinful nature. When they come out of the water, it illustrates their new life in Christ. This tradition has continued down through the centuries with all people who become Christians. Simply put, baptism is an external sign of an internal change that has taken place in someone’s heart. It is not a means of salvation, but a response to salvation. This is why we celebrate baptism – it represents a life changed by God.”

I hope this helps.  If you would like to be baptized, or want to know more, don’t hesitate to ask!

So here’s what’s on the horizon for me in 2011:

1. Theme verse for the year: I don’t’ always do this, but once particular Bible verse has been on my heart the last several weeks and I’ve decided to make it a source of year long reflection. The verse is John 15:4:

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”

I don’t know about you, but I want my life to be “fruitful.” And I believe that is God’s plan for my life as well. I want to have a “fruitful” relationship with my wife, my children, my neighbors, my friends, my work/ministry. I think there is a slightly selfish side to my desire to be fruitful, and a God honoring side as John 15:8 says:

“Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”

God is honored as our lives bear the fruit of abiding connection with Jesus, and I reap the benefit of being “fruitful.”

2. My 10th Anniversary: Courtney and I got married on April 28th, 2001. I can’t believe we will have been married ten years in just a few months! Wow! I am blessed to have such an amazing and supportive spouse. We’ve been talking about anniversary plans, and we are not sure what we’re going to do yet, so if anybody has any ideas, we’re game. Let us know. Seriously, we’d love your input!

3. The 5th Anniversary of The Bridge: The Bridge Community Church held its grand opening worship service on Easter Sunday, April 16th, of 2006. And five years seems to have passed so quickly! What a joy it has been and continues to be to serve and connect with the Morrisville community. We are going to celebrate our church anniversary on Sunday, April 17th, this year.

4.  A Deeper, More Developed Relationship with God:   I was recently challenged with the question, “Am I closer to God today than I was a year ago?”  This is a great “looking back” question, but I want to spin it forward.  How am I going to be closer to God over the course of the next year?  What’s my plan?  What are the practical steps I can take towards being closer to Christ?  I’ve begun to answers these questions for myself, and I hope you will take the time to sit down and ask yourself and make a plan for growing deeper this year in your connection with God than ever before.