By the way... I'll be speaking August 1st at Niagara Alliance Church (niagaraalliance.org)! My message is about Worship as a lifestyle not just Sunday service. Hope to see my friends and family there!
Lonnie
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Not Abandoned... Thoughts on the book of Eli
I didn't forget that I have this blog! I have found myself doing more on Twitter and Facebook as of January. But I'm back.
Tonight I watched "The Book of Eli" with my wife. I didn't care for the swearing, or the cat on a spit (as supper... YUCK). I'm guessing that they had to go with the religious zealot stereotype in some form, alas. In worldly terms at least the guy could kick butt. :)
I did find this an interesting movie. The ending reminded me of the verse: Heaven and earth will pass away but my word will never pass away. - Jesus
I liked the teacher / disciple relationship that formed and loved the ending where she was going back "home" armed with the knowledge of the bible.
I found it funny that the Bible was blamed on "the war" which caused desolation and was to be destroyed. Only later it was sought after by "a bad guy" because he wanted to use it to manipulate people and build his kingdom. In the end the bible was found to have significance on which to build society. Intentional or not it placed the bible in a positive light. So good for them. I'm guessing that quite a few people wouldn't watch a movie about saving the bible, but with some guns and knives they probably picked up a few more people. ;)
I found it quite heartwarming at the end where it showed Eli's grave and the Apostle Paul's words "I have fought the good fight... I have finished the race..." May that be said of all who follow Christ to the end.
Tonight I watched "The Book of Eli" with my wife. I didn't care for the swearing, or the cat on a spit (as supper... YUCK). I'm guessing that they had to go with the religious zealot stereotype in some form, alas. In worldly terms at least the guy could kick butt. :)
I did find this an interesting movie. The ending reminded me of the verse: Heaven and earth will pass away but my word will never pass away. - Jesus
I liked the teacher / disciple relationship that formed and loved the ending where she was going back "home" armed with the knowledge of the bible.
I found it funny that the Bible was blamed on "the war" which caused desolation and was to be destroyed. Only later it was sought after by "a bad guy" because he wanted to use it to manipulate people and build his kingdom. In the end the bible was found to have significance on which to build society. Intentional or not it placed the bible in a positive light. So good for them. I'm guessing that quite a few people wouldn't watch a movie about saving the bible, but with some guns and knives they probably picked up a few more people. ;)
I found it quite heartwarming at the end where it showed Eli's grave and the Apostle Paul's words "I have fought the good fight... I have finished the race..." May that be said of all who follow Christ to the end.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Get out of your bubble!
Sunday I was listening to Ken Hill speak. It was his first time, but he did great. There was one thought that he threw out... Get out of your bubble!
With that my mind immediately went to the Sprint(tm) commercial about getting out of your bubble of local friends so you can call anyone on any network. Well... it just hit me that so many times we get stuck in our church bubble or our circle of friends bubble. We need to get out of the bubble! It's pretty easy to stay comfortable. To be around people who act like the good people we like. Last Friday (January 8th, 2010) I was with Amy at her work party. There was some swearing and someone asked me if that was a problem since I was a pastor. I told them it wasn't a problem. I just didn't tell them why. Jesus spent a lot of time with people who didn't have their stuff together. They mean well and some actually want to do well, but they have a few walls that have to come down first. They need to know that you are not judging them. Honestly, I am not the Judge and will not be the One they stand before and give an account of to. So I can just be me and do what Jesus would do and say what Jesus would say.
With that my mind immediately went to the Sprint(tm) commercial about getting out of your bubble of local friends so you can call anyone on any network. Well... it just hit me that so many times we get stuck in our church bubble or our circle of friends bubble. We need to get out of the bubble! It's pretty easy to stay comfortable. To be around people who act like the good people we like. Last Friday (January 8th, 2010) I was with Amy at her work party. There was some swearing and someone asked me if that was a problem since I was a pastor. I told them it wasn't a problem. I just didn't tell them why. Jesus spent a lot of time with people who didn't have their stuff together. They mean well and some actually want to do well, but they have a few walls that have to come down first. They need to know that you are not judging them. Honestly, I am not the Judge and will not be the One they stand before and give an account of to. So I can just be me and do what Jesus would do and say what Jesus would say.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Speaking on Sunday October 18th!
Just wanted to give a heads up to those that follow my blog that I'm speaking at Niagara Alliance Church in Wheatfield, NY on Sunday October 18th at the 10:30am service. The message is part of a series that started the week before on: "How to get what you want... God's way!" It's from the book of Proverbs and I'll be speaking about Prosperity. Hope to see you there!
Lonnie
Lonnie
Friday, September 25, 2009
Observations from "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs"
Got home from "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" with the family. The 3D glasses are so somebody's 1967 version of having fun with the crowd. (you'd have to see them... maybe I'll post a pic later...) Anyhow... so Here's my observations of themes that I saw in the movie:
1. We all need someone to believe in us (mom, dad, teacher, etc... God already does... sometimes we just need God with "skin on" to understand that)
2. Be yourself... I had to laugh at the guy who had to find his identity again... and the girl who thought she needed to be something else before people would accept her. (God made you and He doesn't make mistakes!)
3. Sometimes it's difficult for us to explain how much our Father loves us to others. (closing scene where the dad gets the 'universal translator' put on him to explain how much he loves his son, because communicating with fishing analogies don't seem to work) This is probably where my passion lies... I really want people to know and to understand how much God loves them. Unfortunately what I've seen in many churches does little to help people understand that. It's like "fishing analogies" to so many and they just don't get it, and even wonder if God doesn't just hate them because of what they are going through. We do a serious injustice to God when we cannot clearly and lovingly communicate His love story... how He has lavishly loved us in Jesus Christ.
I know that some will go to see the movie and think, '"Where did Lonnie see THAT in the movie!?!?" It's a gift, I don't talk about it much... :)
1. We all need someone to believe in us (mom, dad, teacher, etc... God already does... sometimes we just need God with "skin on" to understand that)
2. Be yourself... I had to laugh at the guy who had to find his identity again... and the girl who thought she needed to be something else before people would accept her. (God made you and He doesn't make mistakes!)
3. Sometimes it's difficult for us to explain how much our Father loves us to others. (closing scene where the dad gets the 'universal translator' put on him to explain how much he loves his son, because communicating with fishing analogies don't seem to work) This is probably where my passion lies... I really want people to know and to understand how much God loves them. Unfortunately what I've seen in many churches does little to help people understand that. It's like "fishing analogies" to so many and they just don't get it, and even wonder if God doesn't just hate them because of what they are going through. We do a serious injustice to God when we cannot clearly and lovingly communicate His love story... how He has lavishly loved us in Jesus Christ.
I know that some will go to see the movie and think, '"Where did Lonnie see THAT in the movie!?!?" It's a gift, I don't talk about it much... :)
Monday, September 7, 2009
OH yea...Tomorrow
So as I looked back I saw that we had just begun summer and now we are hours away from Joel starting Universal Pre-K and Caleb starting 1st Grade. It's also my sister's birthday (how could I forget!) So much happening this summer. Seems that I just couldn't keep up. Maybe with the kids in school it will get easier... YEA RIGHT!
Anyhow...
Anyhow...
Recent stuff I'm thinking about...
So I realize it's been quite some time since I posted. I added the Twitter posts but haven't kept up on that well. I haven't posted much because some of what was going through my mind was post worthy... and also not the forum to be placing my thoughts for everyone to see. But recently I had a few thoughts run through that may be worth thinking about.
We found out that we had some serious bee issues just outside the back door. I tried using some spray to kill them, but it didn't work. They were nesting in the ground. More than a few people suggested another remedy.
Well, I tried it. I asked one guy, "How much do I need to put in the hole?" He responded, "Until it's full!" I began pouring and then was told, "STOP!" I did.
The next morning (cause I did the deed at night while they were back in the nest) I saw them again. I had a couple thoughts immediately after that. The bees are like sin nesting in our lives. God knows what needs addressing in our lives and will help us to address the issue(s). It may seem that it's all gone, but in the moments when we see the issues flare up (like anger, jealousy, greed...) we come back to the application of the Blood of Jesus which wipes away the sin. We deal with the issue and move on. Confident in the work of Christ in our life.
Another thought came... as we went and picked up a love seat. We were led to believe the condition of the thing and color would be exactly what we were looking for. However it wasn't. We have had a sofa given to us when we first came to NY that WAS exactly what we were looking for. So my thought... when people enter our church(es) are they getting exactly what was described to them? Is it better?! My prayer is that who we are and WHOM we represent will be better than advertised. We aught to have quality services and be the quality people God calls us to be.
Last thought came from my pastor message on Sunday.
He was speaking about evangelism. I know that for some the word evangelism conjures really bad images... both for those who are "expected" to share the Good News of Jesus and those who are trying to be reached with that Good News.
My own experience has led me to be myself first. God doesn't ask us to be someone or do something that is out of our character. I've tried some of those things and they are not me, so I don't do them. But I do take time to share as God opens the doors. (here's where the pastor's message came in...) We never know who will respond to the message but there needs to be repeated opportunities to relay the Good News. Kind of like at bats in baseball. (My thoughts here...) In baseball not every at bat goes well. But with persistence "good hitters" continue to get better. Yea, I know that it's not up to us to "save" anyone. But we are God's Ambassadors as if Christ was making His appeal through us. The more times we share the more comfortable we are. There will be times when the Gospel "scores" and other times we just help move people around the bases, so to speak... to give them repeated opportunities to hear and see the Gospel presented.
SO there... Any thoughts? Reactions? Interactions?
Till next time...
We found out that we had some serious bee issues just outside the back door. I tried using some spray to kill them, but it didn't work. They were nesting in the ground. More than a few people suggested another remedy.
Well, I tried it. I asked one guy, "How much do I need to put in the hole?" He responded, "Until it's full!" I began pouring and then was told, "STOP!" I did.
The next morning (cause I did the deed at night while they were back in the nest) I saw them again. I had a couple thoughts immediately after that. The bees are like sin nesting in our lives. God knows what needs addressing in our lives and will help us to address the issue(s). It may seem that it's all gone, but in the moments when we see the issues flare up (like anger, jealousy, greed...) we come back to the application of the Blood of Jesus which wipes away the sin. We deal with the issue and move on. Confident in the work of Christ in our life.
Another thought came... as we went and picked up a love seat. We were led to believe the condition of the thing and color would be exactly what we were looking for. However it wasn't. We have had a sofa given to us when we first came to NY that WAS exactly what we were looking for. So my thought... when people enter our church(es) are they getting exactly what was described to them? Is it better?! My prayer is that who we are and WHOM we represent will be better than advertised. We aught to have quality services and be the quality people God calls us to be.
Last thought came from my pastor message on Sunday.
He was speaking about evangelism. I know that for some the word evangelism conjures really bad images... both for those who are "expected" to share the Good News of Jesus and those who are trying to be reached with that Good News.
My own experience has led me to be myself first. God doesn't ask us to be someone or do something that is out of our character. I've tried some of those things and they are not me, so I don't do them. But I do take time to share as God opens the doors. (here's where the pastor's message came in...) We never know who will respond to the message but there needs to be repeated opportunities to relay the Good News. Kind of like at bats in baseball. (My thoughts here...) In baseball not every at bat goes well. But with persistence "good hitters" continue to get better. Yea, I know that it's not up to us to "save" anyone. But we are God's Ambassadors as if Christ was making His appeal through us. The more times we share the more comfortable we are. There will be times when the Gospel "scores" and other times we just help move people around the bases, so to speak... to give them repeated opportunities to hear and see the Gospel presented.
SO there... Any thoughts? Reactions? Interactions?
Till next time...
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