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Well as promised, we have some answers to some of your questions…

Why r we blessed?

The Israelites, the priests and the God-fearers (Psalm 115:8-11) were blessed because they chose to put their trust in God. They trusted God to save them, to be their help, to be their shield. We are blessed when (because) we choose not to have any idols (Psalm 115:4-7). We are blessed when (because) we choose to remind others of the many ways that God has worked in our lives, and in so doing we tell them that we serve an awesome God.

 

In Psalm 115 what indicates the purpose?

The purpose of God blessing us is so that we will in turn be a blessing to others. When God blesses us, He expects that we will in response to His blessing, then bless the next generation by reminding them of how God has specifically blessed us. That’s why we need to build altars, stones of remembrance. We need to creatively and personally decide what those altars will look like.

 

Who r the People watching the Israelites? (Nations)

The people watching the Israelites were the nations who were the neighbors of Israel. At that time they were the Moabites, the Edomites, the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Ammonites, the Canaanites, etc. etc.

 

Who R the nations 2 Day?

The “nations” for us are all the people within our sphere of influence who we have contact with in our day-to-day existence. The nations for us are all the people around us (in our sphere of influence) who do not yet have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Keep the questions coming… Let’s carry the conversation beyond just Sunday Night!

~Peter

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Carry the Conversation…

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This week was definitely one to remember.  I have never shared the platform with a sheep before!  Last night was really a great time.  I hope that you also had fun.  

If you weren’t able to make the Five this week, jump over here and check out the podcast.  Here are a couple pictures for you to enjoy too!  I know that there are some really good ones taken by some of you, all you cell-photogs… If you have some photo’s to put up, try adding them over at the facebook page for the Five.  

photophoto1

So, there was only  one question this week… and just one comment… 

1.  Peter you are so crazy!

Guilty as charged!  

2.  Is the sheep going to wear a V-Neck next week?

Next week, sadly the sheep will be at a different location.  Plus sheep don’t wear clothes!  Come on man… You know better than that!

I love being able to spend time with all you guys on Sunday Nights!  

~Peter

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rawdeck3

So we picked up the conversation in Psalm 52 this week in our series, Raw Worship.  We are investigating what happens when worship and life collide, or what should happen when worship and life collide.  It is inevitable that we are going to be faced with all kinds of circumstances, good, bad, and everything in between.  The question must be then, how are we going to respond to God in the midst of these circumstances.  

Dean Mellen once again picked up and smashed it out of the park.  If you weren’t there and if you were unable to hear Dean, make sure you jump over here and listen…  Then, jump in the conversation, let’s interact with each others thoughts and comments…  See we are better together than we are apart.  There is so much I can learn from you guys, and so much you can learn from each other!  

Here are this weeks questions/comments with response from Dean…

1.  A cruel and calculating slash of the tongue is far more painful and devastating than a wild and angry strike of the fist!
 
The difference between the tongue and the hand is the depth of the hurt that can be done.
 
When we strike someone with our hand, it causes physical pain. Physical injuries heal in a relatively short time, if the injury is not too severe. But, the tongue has the possibility of leaving what can almost be permanent damage. The damage done by the tongue can cause emotional, psychological, and/or mental anguish. Those types of damage do not heal quickly, if ever. With God’s help we can learn to forgive those who hurt us with their tongue.
 
When I was growing up we used to sing, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me“. That is not true. The emotional scars that come from the tongue usually have far longer lasting results than what physical injuries carry with them. I agree that the tongue is far more painful and devastating than the hand. Paul agreed. Thatis why we rad in Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”
2.  We answered how do we respond to God in tragedy, but how do we respond to those who caused the tragedy?

David called upon God to deal with them according to their sin. He called down God’s judgment upon them. When we are in the midst of terrible tragedy, we tend to respond emotionally. Our first reaction may be to ask God to judge the sinner for his great sin.

 
Jesus taught us that as soon as we are able to, we need to move to forgiveness. When Jesus was on the cross (Luke 23) He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Stephen was being stoned to death (Acts 7) and he responded, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”
 
This is not an easy thing to do, but it has been modeled in the Bible, and repeated time and time again by the saints over the centuries. With some of the mass murders that have been committed in the last decade, there are many stories of believers who responded in love when their children or loved ones were tragicly murdered.
 
Only by God’s grace will we know how to respond when we are confronted by a terrible tragedy.

Carry the conversation…

~Peter

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Compassion

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One of my favorite Pastors/bloggers/dads/all around cool guy, Pete Wilson, is over in India on a blogging trip with Compassion International.  It has been really neat to follow what is going on with them there through Twitter as well as his posts over at his blog.  Here’s the deal though… I’ve been thinking about this one all week.  I wanted to post it earlier, but I didn’t collect my thoughts early enough…  

SO, here is a shameless plug for Compassion International Sponsorship:  Get over here and sponsor a child!  It will change lives, not only the kid’s life who you sponsor but it will change your life too!  Tiffany and I sponsor a child in Africa, and we are really thrilled to think that somewhere in this world we are helping to take care of another family!  Check out this video Pete took while in India…  Incredible!  Go over to his blog and spend some time reading what he is experiencing there…  www.withoutwax.tv

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-70q8MsvKE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwithoutwax%2Etv%2F&feature=player_embedded]

James 1:27  “Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.”

I know right now that if you are reading this, by very nature of the fact that you have a computer, you are blessed!  Some of you are are reading this on your mobile phone…  we are blessed!  Let’s share what God has given us.  Consider jumping over here and sponsoring a child.   

~Peter

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Perspective…

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Perspective is everything.  Or so they say.  Perspective has an incredible potential/way of directing the path of our life.  Alot rides on how you look at things.  Think of a situation that you’ve been through recently and evaluate what your perspective was in that situation.  

Some of us are the glass is half empty people.  

Others of us are the glass is half full types.

Either way the glass is at %50 capacity- that fact remains true.  The question isn’t about ounces, it is about the perception of what those ounces mean!  In life we run around some of us with the glass at 95% capacity, while others of us have spent 95% and have 5% left.  This can apply to so many different things.  

I came across this thought today.  I think that it is worth a little bit of your time to think about this one:  Are your greatest moments with God in front of you or behind you?

Is your spiritual glass half empty or half full?  Is your life winding down, or just beginning to ramp up?  Do you find yourself more and more wrapped up in God and His grandeur and His beauty?  I want the greatest moments that I have with God to be today.  But here’s the catch, I want to say that again tomorrow, and then tomorrow’s tomorrow, and then that tomorrow’s tomorrow.  

What about you… where are you at?  Was that missions trip in 10th grade the last time that God rocked your world?  Or maybe it was on the first breath of your first born that caused you to say, “God you are truly infinitely amazing!”  Or was it the last time that you were at that Concert and your favorite worship leader was there, and that was the last time that God showed you what’s up.  Sometimes we say and think, well God can’t use me anymore… or I have done so much that would make God not love me.  Or, I don’t think that I could ever be in a situation that is more incredible than that one…  Don’t let your perceptions limit the limitless, infinite, vast, all creative, majestic, wildly imaginative GOD!

So, here it is… what about you- Are the greatest moments with God ahead of you, or behind you?  Do you need a perception adjustment?  

Praying for the best moments TODAY!

~Peter

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Carry the conversation

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rawdeck3
Good morning!  What a monday… Whew… Last night at the Five we began a new series called Raw Worship.  We are tackling the question what happen when worship and life collide?  If you were not there last night, check out the podcast here, and then jump in the conversation.
As usual, we had a few questions come in.  Get those phones out!  Text some questions… Let’s go!  Well, here are this weeks questions.  Thanks to Dean Mellen for answering these… (I mean after all, he did just learn how to text…)   Let’s interact…   Here they are:
1.  Choice… of wording, Punishment or Consequence? By definition they are VERY different. God disciplines those He loves. He does not punish but there may very well be consequences. Is there rationale for your choice of words in selecting punishment?
 
One of the greatest challenges as a communicator is to choose the right words to communicate your intended meaning. What word best communicates what the speaker wants the listener to understand? “Punishment” by definition implies the infliction of a penalty on a wrongdoer. The word can have other connotations too. Some people use it to mean the treatment of someone harshly or injuriously.
 
In Psalm 1:4-6 the wicked demonstrate that they are wrongdoers by the choices that they make. God punishes them by not allowing them to stand in the judgment. God’s punishment for the wicked is that they perish because of their choices. Sin does bring punishment as well as consequences. The wages of sin is death. When we sin, there is a penalty that will be inflicted upon us, if we do not deal with sin God’s way.
2.  Isn’t it true God accepts all forms of worship?

Yes! But I guess I’m not getting the gist of the question. Did I say something that would make you think that God does not accept all forms of worship?

~Dean Mellen
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SO, I started this post on Monday, and then Monday went by like nobodies business.  Tuesday was spent in travel and such, so here I am on wednesday writing from something that happened Sunday…  this is a problem!  Let’s go…

I’m excited for this one… I have a feeling that this is going to be an exciting conversation…  who knows, maybe not.  As usual, let’s pick up the monday/tuesday conversation.  Head over here, and check out the podcast if you weren’t able to make it Sunday night.

Questions:

Wouldn’t it be better for us not to have a plan at all?  

The simple answer to this question is yes!  The more complicated answer is Yes… it is just extremely difficult to not have a plan.  I have met few people who don’t have some sort of plan for how life should, or will turn out.  The best answer is to live a life that is completely surrendered to God.  Start today.  Make small changes in your life that allow you to live completely surrendered to God.  Let’s ask a question here:  What things have you done/changed in your life which allows you to live a more surrendered life?  

What’s with the V-neck?

Okay, so this is an easy one…  First off, you’ll be wearing one before summer is peaced out of here… So just you rest easy my young friend.  But… at the same time, the Vneck has been a work in progress.  I remember the first time I donned the Vneck.  I felt like I was doing something wrong.  Now it just feels right…  (okay, so if you and I are just becoming friends, I need to help you out… there was some serious sarcasm going on in that last sentence…)  

Okay, here’s another reason for the Vneck…  This is incredible!  Why didn’t I think of this one???

Don’t worry friends, this isn’t the last of the Vneck.  You’ll see more of that around these parts…  

~Peter

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Good morning!  So, monday spilled over into tuesday… just a wee bit. Sorry!  Anyway, Happy Easter everyone.  I hope that you all had a great time with friends and family celebrating the Hope that we have in Jesus Christ!  If you were not able to be there Sunday for the Five, you can go here and listen to the sermon.  Then join the conversation.  As you know, I love to carry the conversation over from Sunday and really dig in and benefit from one another’s thoughts and conversation.  So, text me a question next time… You can control the conversation… It’s like a choose your own ending novel!  Let’s roll.  

I got this sweet little vibration in my pocket while preaching, asking this: “Not sure that it was God’s plan.  I think that scripture points out that this was Gods plan A.  Humanly speaking it was the disciples plan b but in God’s word this was His plan A.  Thoughts?”

I don’t believe that Easter was God’s plan A.  I actually would disagree with you.  In love of course…  See, here’s the way I read it.  Up until Genesis 3:7 Adam and Eve lived in a sinless state.  This is the stage of humanity known as the age of innocence.  Or more plainly put, it was a sin free environment.  Sin did not exist in humans hearts until Genesis 3:7.  I believe that God’s original intent, or His plan A was for humanity to live in a sinless state.  Due to our sin, we created a need for a Plan B.  Since God is a loving God one who desires a relationship with each and every one of us, He rolled out Plan B.  That is the plan that we celebrate every year, Easter.  

“When you said that you can’t find the plan anywhere in the Bible what did you mean?  The entire Old Testament is filled with references to Easter being the plan of redemption, with Jesus the sacrificial lamb, crucified, and resurrected.  Not sure I follow your first comments.”

I agree with you absolutely.  I agree 100%.  However, what I was trying to say was that in the first 62 verses of the Bible, which summarizes the entire age of innocence, we do not find one illusion to the fact that this plan, Jesus death on a cross, is what was desired.  

From this point on however, it is clear that Jesus is the sacrificial lamb, the Messiah, who has come to pay the penalty for my sins.  I thank God for what He did for me.   However, I believe that it was only because of my sin that Jesus hung on the cross to die.  I don’t think that God had this as a part of His plan A.  I believe He foreknew it, but did not plan it.  I think we with our own free will messed that one up.   I came across a video on Carlos Whittaker’s Blog.  It is very challenging.  It made me really think about my sin that drove Christ to the cross.  

[vimeo 4122848]

I loved our conversation today.  Don’t ever just take my word for it…  Think for yourself… It’s okay to disagree.  That is what makes the Body of Christ so beautiful.  We are so diverse!  I can’t wait to see what God is going to do next.  You?  

I love you guys!  

~Peter

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Carry the Conversation

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So, yesterday if you missed the Five, you missed an awesome time!  I was really excited to see everyone hanging out and enjoying dinner…  It sure was good too!  MMM…  I could eat mexican food any day of the week.  So, with that being said… if you missed the Five, go over here, and give a listen.  Also make sure you check out this video interview with Joe Drenth…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9EADK-nW1A]

We were talking about trust last night.  So, it made me think… What is the hardest thing about trust for you?  

~Peter

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