So, here’s the thought… I’ve been reading through some history… It made me think. If I could go back to any point in time in History, where would I go? I’m not sure…
So I thought I would ask you!
If you could go back in time, to any period in history, what period would you go to and why?
There is today’s question!
~Peter
Last night was awesome! It was one night that was packed with all kinds of great stuff… Last night we unveiled our new website: www.thefiveonline.com. This is where we will have our podcast hosted as well as much more information. I am so excited for this! Again, it’s just a tool to help us be the Church and do what God has called us to do. Go ahead over there and check it out!
Thanks to all of you guys being there last night! I love what God is doing through each one of you here at FBC! It was tons of fun for me to get to know our friends from the Philippines, as well as to learn how to properly say their names! It is so cool to see what God is doing around the world through others, isn’t it? My favorite part was when Pastor Faustino was talking about how excited their church gets for worship. So cool…
I am proud to let you know that last night alone we received $602.65 for our Filipino friends at PhilSol. You all continue to amaze me. Having just heard about the opportunity to give, that is very impressive! Let’s see what we can do next week! Let’s come prepared to come alongside of them and support them in their efforts to purchase a base of operations for this vital ministry in the Philippines.
Thank you to all of you who made our Second Sunday dinner such a huge success! Many many thanks to the Simmons, the Rhoads, Gastgebs, Meg Burger, and others who were hanging out helping to clean up! You guys are all incredible! I watched as everyone chipped in and made the whole evening happen. It doesn’t ride on two peoples shoulders, but everyone! Great job!
We had one question last night so here it is…
Do you use a commentary, and if so which one?
Yes, I definitely use a commentary… Actually I use several! I rely on learning and studying as much as I can, and commentaries and other sources are so helpful in this area. I take each and every opportunity that I have to stand in front of you all as a privilege and a very high calling. So, in my effort to be prepared and accurate I use a couple different commentaries.
Here are a few of my favorite:
Hope this helps!
There is so much to be excited about! Let’s make movement in our communities! Be the Church!
~Peter
It was really good to be with everyone last night at the Five. There is just something about getting together and praising God! It was a great night. I was really excited to see all you guys there. As you know one of the things we value at the Five is conversation, and relationships. The church does not exist to only meet together for one hour a week only to return again the next week for another hour. The church exists to be more than that! We should be encouraging each other, praying for one another and meeting the needs of those we find ourselves surrounded with…
So, one of the things we like to practice is an open line of communication during our teaching times at the Five. Each week I encourage you to text any questions or comments that you may have so that we can interact with them here on the blog.
Last night we continued in our series Raw Worship. We picked up in Psalm 51 and looked at what true repentance really means. If you weren’t able to be at the Five, head over here and listen, then join the conversation below…
Here was the question we received last night….
If everyone is born in sin what happens to the babies that die in birth? Are they going to hell? Or how does that work?
I need to start off by saying this is a very difficult question which the finest and brightest of theologians still do not agree on. So for me to think that I am going to solve this question, that is going to be a tough one… However, I can try to give you some insight into what I think is going on here.
Psalm 51 is written by David after he is confronted by the prophet Nathan for committing adultery with Bathsheba…(read about that here in 2 Samuel 11 & 12) One of the consequences for David’s sin is that the child was to die. “The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had born to David, and he became ill.” -2 Samuel 12:15 While the child is sick and dying, David is beside himself and fasting and just a real mess, as you can imagine. Once he hears news of the child dying, David gets up washes up, cleans up and eats. His servants are a little perplexed by these actions and they ask him what’s up? He says, “Now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” This seems to imply that David has an eternal perspective, or eternal hope that he will see his son in heaven one day even though he died.
Many people also believe that there is an age of accountability. Meaning that there is a point in time when children just do not know that they are sinning. This is a difficult thing to nail down, because then you have to ask yourself, well what is that age? Is it four or five? Could it be three? However, this makes a lot of sense to me.
Personally, I do believe that when babies die they go to heaven. Above all else I rest assured in the fact that God is a good God. He is not shy in lovingkindness. He has great concern for children (See Matthew 19:13). God cares more for our children than we could possibly ever! So, I know that this doesn’t answer/solve the problem, but I hope it helps…
~Peter
All in all I am a fairly handy guy. I know my way around most tools… Well, I’ve officially determined that I don’t know my way around one specific tool… THE IRON. Today while Tiffany was at work, I thought I would be a good husband and iron a few of my shirts… Well, let me tell you what, this is one of my least favorite household chores! I would say this is the second or maybe third time to ever IRON! So, Here I give you my final product.
What is your least favorite household chore? What is the hardest one for you to accomplish?
Still Wrinkly…
~Peter
I don’t know if you heard the story yet, but it came up on the Iphone this morning… That’s just nasty! So, I think that I’ll be avoiding that Domino’s for a while…
I brought a brown bag lunch today! What about you? Are you going out to eat today?
So this brings up a good question… Are you nervous about complaining at a restaurant about food quality or service for fear of some sort of server/cook retaliation? Are there any restaurant that you won’t go to anymore? Come on spill it! I need to know…
Hungry…
~Peter
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
So, have you arrived at the newest form of social media? Do you twit, tweet, or twitter? Whatever you want to call it… Well, I’ve sat on the side lines for a while, watching this little blue bird hatch. I’ve decided to jump in. So, go ahead, follow the tweets of this guy right here. It’s like getting little streaming bits of the salt lick all day long! Who could ask for more?
Wether you follow or not, do you twitter?
~Peter
So, my wife is a fox. As in smokin hot, yes… but even more so as in cunning and sly. She has been planning for several weeks to get me away from my routine. On Tuesday I was just sitting in my office as normal and to my surprise she planned a dinner with me at PF Changs. (Side note: Thank you to whoever that was who left that gift certificate on my desk… I LOVE YOU! we used it and it was great.) At Changs, she tells me that we aren’t going home, but that we are headed away for the night. Well, that was music to my ears. 
We went off to Willow Valley for the night. PBU has a Pastors getaway that she had scored, and we were able to go there and enjoy willow valley, and all that they have to offer. We went from the hot tub to the pool, back to the hot tub, and put that cycle on repeat several times. I felt like a lobster being submerged. But it was great.
So, I guess we were both excited to be away, and kid free, so we ventured into their kids pool, and she said, I really want you to go down the slide. I was like, um… No, I think that I am a big boy now, and I am to big for the slide. She thought otherwise. So, she approached the life guard and said My husband really wants to
go down the slide is that okay? He gave permission, so she sent me down that slide a couple times. I threatened her that there was no way that I was going down the little frog slide…
Anyway, I digress… All this to say is that we had a great time hanging out, being together, relaxing, enjoying the sights of Lancaster County, and just being still for once. How awesome is that! Anyway…
I was thinking, where is your favorite place to go to rest and relax, getaway and just be still?
So, the last thing that was said, was… “So, I planned a surprise trip… I guess it’s your turn.” So, check it out… Here we go… We’re ready to amp it up, drink a few red bull’s and put our thinking caps together. Let’s see if collectively online here at the saltlick that we can come up with a mind numbing awesome “surprise” getaway for my bride. What would be your idea? What do you think I should do?
~Peter
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar_k8JjVWQA&feature=user]
Comments?
~Peter
Today was the start of Mops International’s annual convention in Grapevine TX. Tiffany and several other ladies are attending. So today my mom and I brought Tiffany up there for the conference. However, on the way there, we stopped in Dallas and went to one of my favorite restaurants in Texas. CHUYS! Chuys was a place that we would frequent anytime that I would fly into Dallas for a visit. It was the last place that my Dad and I went to lunch at. We would go to one of two places pretty much I guess. It was either Chuy’s if we were in Dallas or Dickies Barbeque if we were around town. So, today was bitter sweet. It felt strange not having dad there, but at the same time, it was good to be with my wife, and my mom.
These past few days have been so good to be together as a family. I know that it has been stressful at the same time, yet I don’t think that I would want to be anywhere else right now. I have really enjoyed being with my nieces and nephews. As well as being with my siblings and their spouses. It has been really good for me to have had this extended time to think and process things through with my wife. What a blessing she has been.
This has got me thinking… What has been the hardest thing that you have ever had to deal with?