Tebowing

Put a Tebow on your gift this year.

“Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!
They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.” (The Message Matt. 2:10-11)

I don’t know if you have caught on to the new fad called “Tebowing” yet but apparently it’s not something new at all. The phrase, “Tebowing”, is coined after professional football player Tim Tebow of the Denver Broncos, who after beating the Miami Dolphins last month, dropped to a knee and began praying as his teammates wildly celebrated around him after an improbable overtime victory. The term “Tebowing” has caught on so well that someone has even designed a website where people can upload pictures of themselves kneeling in prayer in everyday situations. www.Tebowing.com. I am a Tim Tebow fan, not because he is a Denver Bronco, but because he is a very outspoken ambassador for Jesus.

However, “Tebowing” has been around long before football. In the Gospel of Matthew, King Herod sends three wise men to Bethlehem to inquire of the birth of baby Jesus. Upon their arrival it says that the three wise men “kneeled down and worshipped him.” Tebowing. It was the first football celebration, so to speak. Then they gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

I’m not sure what you are planning on giving Jesus for Christmas this year, but I’m willing to bet he would like a little “Tebowing” from all of us. What is Tebowing? To get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different. It’s an act of worship that can be done from the end zone of a football field, to your work office.

May all of us be a bold example for the King of Kings this Christmas. May we all bow on bended knee to the Lord of Lords and give him the gift of our worship. Please join us this Christmas Eve @ Jackson Street Baptist Church on Saturday, December 24th at 7pm and we will also be having our regular Sunday morning Christmas service at 10am. Tebow or not Tebow, that is the question?

'God bless you' causes classroom ruckus

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44722587/ns/us_news-weird_news/t/god-bless-you-causes-classroom-ruckus/

Healthy Church?

Question: What does it mean by the “health of the church?”

In order to answer this question, we first need to define the word church. According to the bible the church is a living, breathing organism, a body. So what it all comes down to is that the church is not a building, the church is people, you are the church. So the question should be, what does a healthy church look like?

1 Cor. 1:10 says, “Let there be real harmony so that there won’t be schisms or splits in the church.” Notice Paul says that the key to a healthy harmonious church is to be united in purpose. People working together; Because people who are working together don’t have time to argue over trivial issues. So why do we exist, what are we here for, what is our purpose as a body of believers?

First let me say that JSBC doesn’t belong to you or to me, the church belongs to Jesus Christ who founded it, who died for it, who sent his Holy Spirit, and will one day return for it. And Jesus, as owner of the church has already laid the foundation for what a healthy church is. So while the programs must change with every generation, the purpose always stays the same.

So if I was to ask you, what is the purpose of JSBC, would you be able to answer that question. I believe in order to answer “do we have a healthy church”, we should ask, “what are we to do that makes a church healthy?” In my opinion there are four things that we should be doing as a church.

1) Worship: There is corporate worship as we are doing here today. Are we creating an environment that lifts up God and not ourselves? Are you making an effort and not excuses to be here? We shouldn’t worship out of duty, we should worship because we want to.

There is also private worship. Are you having personal and private devotions.

2) Growing: or we call this discipleship. Discipleship is the process of helping people become more like Christ in their thoughts, feelings, and actions. Things such as Awana’s, youth groups, Sunday School, small groups, evening service. It is the church’s responsibility to develop people to spiritual maturity. Are we doing a good job at that?

3) Serving: The bible says to, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The church exists to minister to people. That’s why we have church work days, Angel Food Ministries; you can be a greeter, helping out flood victims, volunteer to do something! Ask yourself this question: What have I done in the last year to get involved in a ministry to serve someone else. It is the church’s job to “equip the saints for the work of the ministry.” As a church, are we giving you opportunities to serve, and as church on a whole how are we doing at loving our neighbor?

4) Evangelism: It is every Christian’s responsibility to share the Good News wherever we go. Someday each of us will have to give an account to God regarding how seriously we took this responsibility. So, when is the last time you invited someone to church? When is the last time you told someone or lead someone to Christ? Are we as a church doing a good job on outreach?

So, on a scale of one to ten, how healthy is our church? Maybe as you fill out this survey you should think about how well we are doing in these 4 areas, what needs to improve, what needs to change. 

The Greatest Story Ever Told

Recently we have been doing a question and answer series at our church. One question that popped up was that when Jesus turned water into wine, was their alcohol in it, or was it just "grape juice?" Here is my response"

Answer: John chapter 2 records Jesus performing a miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. At the wedding, the hosts ran out of wine. Jesus' mother, Mary, asks Jesus to intervene, and He does so, reluctantly. Jesus has the servants bring six jars filled with water and then instructs the servants to give it to the overseer of the celebration. The water miraculously turns into wine, and the overseer declares that it was the best wine he had ever tasted. In this account, Jesus performed an amazing miracle, actually altering the molecular composition of the water, changing it into wine. The point of the account is summarized in John 2:11, "He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples put their faith in Him." Usually, though, when this passage is studied, a side issue becomes the main issue. Did Jesus transform the water into wine (fermented, alcoholic) or into grape juice (non-alcoholic)?

Throughout the passage, the Greek word translated "wine" is oinos, which was the common Greek word for normal wine, wine that was fermented/alcoholic. The Greek word for the wine Jesus created is the same word for the wine the wedding feast ran out of. The Greek word for the wine Jesus created is also the same word that is used in Ephesians 5:18, "...do not get drunk on wine..." Obviously, getting drunk from drinking wine requires the presence of alcohol. Everything, from the context of a wedding feast, to the usage of oinos in 1st century Greek literature (in the New Testament and outside the New Testament), argues for the wine that Jesus created to be normal, ordinary wine, containing alcohol. There is simply no solid historical, cultural, exegetical, contextual, or lexical reason to understand it to have been grape juice.

Those who oppose the drinking of alcohol, in any quantity, argue that Jesus would not have turned the water into wine, as He would have been promoting the consumption of a substance that is tainted by sin. In this understanding, alcohol itself is inherently sinful, and consumption of alcohol in any quantity is sin. That is not a biblical understanding, however. Some Scriptures discuss alcohol in positive terms. Ecclesiastes 9:7 instructs, “Drink your wine with a merry heart.” Psalm 104:14-15states that God gives wine “that makes glad the heart of men.” Amos 9:14 discusses drinking wine from your own vineyard as a sign of God’s blessing. Isaiah 55:1 encourages, “Yes, come buy wine and milk…” From these and other Scriptures, it is clear that alcohol itself is not inherently sinful. Rather, it is the abuse of alcohol, drunkenness and/or addiction, that is sinful (Ephesians 5:18;Proverbs 23:29-35; 1 Corinthians 6:12; 2 Peter 2:19). Therefore, it would not have been a sin for Jesus to create a drink that contained alcohol.

A second, related argument is that by creating alcoholic wine, Jesus would have been promoting drunkenness, which the Bible clear identifies as sinful. This is not a valid argument. Was Jesus promoting gluttony when He multiplied the fishes and loaves far beyond what the people needed? Of course not. Creating a substance that can be abused does not make one responsible when another person foolishly chooses to abuse it. Jesus creating alcoholic wine was in no sense encouraging drunkenness

There had to be. #1 Because the steward praised the quality of the wine and #2 Despite the constant argument that oinos can mean "grape juice" everyone who studies ancient cultures knows that without refridgeration you can't have "grape juice" for any length of time. It immediately begins to ferment. The difference is, we also know that the ancients cut their alcoholic beverages for daily use so the alcoholic content was not as great in wines today. I am in favor of total abstinence today because of the societal misuse of alcoholic beverages but we can't argue that "alcohol is evil" in and of itself. Most of our liquid medications have an alcohol base!

Kory Houser

Kory Houser:

'via Blog this'

Beer Only Fast?

I thought that this story was interesting; not that I agree with it or recommend it at all. So, tell me what you think, comment, agree/disagree? If anything, you could lose thirty pounds!

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/27/beer-fast-ends-with-bacon-smoothie/

Saint of Circumstance: Wake of the Flood

Saint of Circumstance: Wake of the Flood: "I recently watched a 6 minute video capturing the carnage of the Japanese Tsunami. What started out as a small stream tunneling its way thr..."

Wake of the Flood

I recently watched a 6 minute video capturing the carnage of the Japanese Tsunami. What started out as a small stream tunneling its way through the streets of some unknown Japanese town, soon turned into an all out massive wall of water. I watched as debris, trash, and even cars were being swept along the tow of water. At one point, the camera focuses on a row of houses that just buckle under the pressure of the ensuing flood. And as I was watching, the Holy Spirit pressed upon me this parable spoken by Jesus:
 “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Matt 7: 24-27)
My question to you is, is your life built on the solid rock of the Lord Jesus Christ? Because, when the storms of life come, and they will, and even though the debris of life is being swept away, there is nothing safer than having a solid relationship with Christ.
Or, perhaps your life/lifestyle is like that row of homes that just buckle under the pressures of life. You have nothing to hold on to, no solid foundation, no faith, no Jesus. I’m reminded of that old hymn, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
If you have a personal relationship with Christ, awesome! This world may float on by, troubles may come, but it is faith that leads you home. For others, don’t be like that “foolish man” who built his faith on the worlds promises. Trust Christ, do it today, do not delay, or “great will be the fall of it.”

Saint of Circumstance: Dead Head

Saint of Circumstance: Dead Head

Dead Head

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." (Gal. 2:20)

Ever hear of the term "Dead Head?" It is a name given to fans of the American jam band, the Grateful Dead. In the 1970s, a number of fans began travelling to see the band in as many shows or festival venues as they could. With large numbers of people thus attending strings of shows, a community developed. Deadheads developed their own idioms and slang.


What is grateful about being dead anyway? You may hear the name Grateful Dead and say, "That sounds evil", or "I want nothing to do with that", and "what does this have to do with Jesus and the Bible anyway?" Others may actually remember what it was like to be on tour, travelling from one show to the next, and experiencing a sense of community. So my question to you is, "Are you dead?" 


The Apostle Paul writing to the Galatian church says that he has been "crucified with Christ." That is, his formal lifestyle (see Phil. 3:5-7) has been put to death, nailed to the cross, and buried. It is no longer his fleshly desires that live in him, but Jesus who conquered the grave and rose from the dead. In a sense, Christians are walking "dead heads". It is a commitment that that we have to make daily to put to death are selfish fleshly desires and allow Christ to overtake and live in us. 


What is it that you need to crucify today? Maybe it's a bad habit, a wrong relationship, bitterness, anger, or indifference. Perhaps you need to start a personal relationship with Christ all-together? Whatever the case, wake up tomorrow and before you do anything, make a plan to crucify "something" with Christ, set yourself aside, then, allow Jesus to live in you and through you.