Coming to the Still Waters

I got an early Christmas gift - a book - Radical by David Platt .  I want to give a couple quotes that I have been struggling with and changing within the context of the church when it comes to those making a decision for Christ or maybe better said to Christ.  Here they are. "So how do we respond to this gospel? Suddenly contemporary Christianity sales pitches don't seem adequate anymore. Ask Jesus to come into your heart. Invite Jesus to come into your life. Pray this prayer, sign this card, walk down this aisle, and accept Jesus as your personal Savior. Our attempt to reduce this gospel to a shrink-wrapped presentation that persuades someone to say or pray the right things back to us no longer seems appropriate. That is why none of these man-made catch phrases are in the Bible. You will not find a verse in Scripture where people are told to 'bow your heads, close your eyes, and repeat after me.' You will not find a place where a superstitious...

I listen to Joshua Harris on occasion.  Here is a great sermon on biblical marriage and also the role of the church.  It really ties in to the series I am preaching on through the kingdom parables.  We need to keep sowing Jesus. Joshua Harris  - such were some of you --Adam--

Okay so here is the funny one but the other is to the right ---------------------> What a phenomenal Thanksgiving.  God made it possible for our family to be all together for some extended time.  As you can see our family is growing and each one is so special to us.   2 cabins rented, 1 rental van, a turkey from Michigan to Virginia and food for 9 adults, many rest stops, 1 trip to the capital and some serious board game time!!! The most blessed time was to sing together and be in prayer with one another.  I am truly a blest man. Adam

We will be off soon to Virginia to get another look at that baby and also gather up a new family photo for the wall.  God has been so good to us to see this all come together and Steph and I are giddy with delight.  The vehicle will be packed full of good food and company for the trip so we are ready.  (I think?!) I think it will be 5 sermons to cover the kingdom parables of Matthew 13.  Each seems to be building upon the last and so next Sunday's will be on the treasure, the pearl, and the net.  It falls right in line to ask an invitation as Jesus does in a round about way.  One parable deals with a man stumbling upon a treasure.  Some come to Christ that way, just cruising through life and then usually something happens to make them look around and they see Jesus who was there all along just knocking and waiting for an answer.  The second deals with a man searching for a treasure.  Some come to Christ this way also.  They are activ...

So a couple pictures to show the physical transformation going on in our lives but also so much more thankful for the spiritual transformation in our lives, the lives of others, and the church in general.  Our service last Sunday was as full of the Spirit as I have seen in awhile.  I remember Sunday night services at the little Turner Free Methodist Church where the 80 strong would belt out hymns in a building built for 120 maybe max and it would rock.  You could hardly hear the piano!!!  Now to see that kind of participation in this era with people just as excited about the Gospel and seeing His kingdom come and His will be done.  My heart was full of joy and I look forward to this Sunday. We are handling the kingdom parables of Matthew 13 and this Sunday we will tackle 2 of them.  The first is the parable of the sower when Jesus tells His disciples that 3 out of 4 will hear the Gospel but either reject it, go with it until they feel resistance, or ...

Here is a quote from this link:   http://www.versebyverseministry.org/resource_library/articles/desiring_a_better_country/ "Secondly, consider the example of the first century church. The world of the first century church was far worse than our world today. Slavery was common, sexual perversion (including homosexuality) was fashionable throughout society and especially among government rulers, poverty was the norm, while abortion and prostitution were standard practices. Everything we think is wrong with our society today was far more prevalent and far more pernicious in the time of Rome. As Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. Nevertheless, the New Testament letters (written to church communities living in the midst of these immoral practices) never direct Christians to strive for governmental and societal change as a means of addressing these moral wrongs. Instead, the NT writers commanded the church to live a holy and called-out lifestyle while preaching the ...

Here is a audio podcast from Al Mohler that is very interesting.  He takes the stats of the voting and makes some conclusions on the division in our country.  Looking at the electoral map and seeing the closeness of the popular vote is very telling. http://www.albertmohler.com/2012/11/08/the-briefing-11-08-12/ Any way you slice it, it looks like we are getting to a stalemate in the whole process. Adam

Well, technically we were grandparents about nine months ago, we just get to see the baby now.  Evan was born a couple days ago and is healthy and whole and to some great parents.  We were so glad to make the 12 hour trip each way to see the baby and parents for a few hours.  Laura's mom and dad are with her and Abe now and are in very loving and capable hands.  Here are a couple photos.  The first is of the new family. This is us with our turn at holding the baby!!! Last is a picture of both sets of grandparents. Our visit with Erica and Larry was truly a blessing.  We have not seen them since Laura and Abe's wedding.  We are so thankful and humbled that little Evan will have strong Christian spiritual heritage all around him.  We had a precious time of prayer before leaving that I feel was so important to do as a family around its newest member.  Thanks Erica and Larry for being who you are in Christ!!! God bless you w...

The battle against cancer is one I will journey through the rest of my life. I am so thankful for videos like this one that give me a platform of what to do. I am also thankful that Stephanie has an opportunity to put into practice these things now instead of later. I love his line, "Why doesn't the oncologist tell you this..." I found this to be so true. The integration of many factors working together benefits the body to fight cancer. Make sure to take a long look at his last slide. --Adam--

First, a couple quotes I heard that are interesting to me. "If you are not prepared to be wrong, you are not prepared to be creative." "We are all born artists, but we tend to grow out of it." Here are a couple shots of craft shows that I am doing to unload some of the summer activities and another of the garden back under the hoops.  It is still producing greens for us. All who follow this blog, if you are the praying type, please lift up a prayer for a friend of mine named Lars.  He is in the hospital and suffering from different ailments that have taken him away from the farm he loves.  I am so thankful to see again though the family and the family of God coming to their rescue to give support and love during this time as it was done for me. We are now at the Kingdom Parables of Matthew.  7 power packed stories that we need to hear and understand if we are to operate as effective churches during this age.  I was so thankful to hear someone...