Romans chapter 8
1. God has suffered too. He sent his beloved Son to suffer and die for us, taking the burden of our sin. When we suffer, we step into the heart of God. – Rom. 8:3 / 1 Peter 2:21
2. God has given human beings freedom of choice. Sometimes we make bad choices that hurt others. If God prevented those bad choices, we wouldn’t be free to make good ones. – Rom. 8:5-6;8 / Deut. 30:19-20
3. Our struggles can show God’s glory. That’s what Jesus said about the blind man in John 9. Our problems often show God’s power or God’s care. – Rom. 8:9-11;17-18 / John 9:3
4. Our physical well-being – even our life and death – is a tiny thing in the light of eternity. A disease may seem huge to us, but after we find healing in heaven, it will seem rather trival. – Rom. 8:12-14 / Isa. 40:6-8
5. God is bigger than we are. His ways are beyond our ways. We won’t always understand why He does what He does. – Rom. 8:15-17 / Isa. 55:9
6. Suffering and doubt can lead us to stronger faith. It takes away all the easy answers and forces us to trust a God we can’t figure out. – Rom. 8:18 / Psa. 73:13-17
7. God will set things right eventually. It’s just a matter of timing. We need to wait for the world’s full redemption. – Rom. 8:18-21
8. God works everything together for his good purposes. He does have a purpose, and he calls us to be part of it, even if we have to go through some unpleasant times. – Rom. 8:28
9. God wants us to trust in His grace. As he told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness.” – Rom. 8:37-39 / 2 Cor. 12:9
This was our first year to attend the SOAR student conference, and I was pretty impressed with the outcome of it. They brought in some awesome bands, and youth pastor/speakers from various parts of the states. This year’s theme was ”FELLOWSHIP” focu
sing on connecting, unity, and oneness. The conference was a 3 day event held at the fabulous Gaylord Texan Hotel in Grapevine, Texas. The hotel alone was worth the trip. It was a gorgeous facility with beautiful trails and scenery. Room rates were affordable, and the service was five star.
The conference w
as very organized, and you can tell a lot of hard work was put into the planning of this event. I would like to thank Donnie Parish, Steven Carroll, and everyone else who worked so hard to make this event happen. On day 1 we arrived, checked into our rooms, and registered just in time for the welcome and session 1. Solace Found kicked things off with some rocking praise music followed by a message from Adam Thomas on the fellowship of the Trinity. Afterwards we went and ate dinner at a genuine Texas steakhouse the “Salt Grass”. Session 2 kicked off shortly after dinner where Clif Johnson spoke a message from the book of Genesis titled “Why our World is so Jacked up” SOAR Village was next followed by a late night with comedian Tim Hawkins. Now this guy was hilarious.
Day 2 was just as exciting. We started the morning off with my favorite band Building 429. Some of our students actually got to go up on stage, and dance with them. Too Cool! Team SOAR brought a presentation, and after that we actually got to meet, get autographs, and take pics with the band. After that we had an afternoon of free time in which we went to the Bass Pro Shop where I put my head into the mouth of a 27 foot Great White Shark, followed by an afternoon at the Grapevine Mall. We hung out at the skatepark, got some hermit crabs, and had dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe. During Session 4 Scott Attebery presented an awesome testimony that humbled all of us. Many of our students were impacted by his words. The evening closed with an awesome concert by Hawk Nelson. Many of our students are crazy about these guys.
The conference came to an end all too quickly, but it was great while it lasted. Friday morning during session 5 Solace Found led in another awesome time of worship followed by a message from Steven Carroll “Vision + Preparation + Action = Outcome” from Acts chapter 10. Each session was tied together by innovative videos on fellowship to make this event complete and concise. Each of our students left with a sense of greater understanding of fellowship and unity which made this event as a whole a worth while event.
This week would have been perfect if it had not been for the two times that we broke down on the way home, but fortunately both times God provided some great people to help us out. One of which was from Iowa. Other than that this event will go down in the books as one of our greatest events of the year. Can’t wait til next year.
Decepticon forces return to Earth on a mission to take Sam Witwicky prisoner, after the young hero learns the truth about the ancient origins of the Transformers. Joining the mission to protect humankind is Optimus Prime, who forms an alliance with international armies for a second epic battle.
I usually don’t get too involved in movie reviews due to the massive number of them out there, but I just felt that Christians needed Biblical perspective behind it. I was totally appalled at some of the language and adult content in this movie. My son wanted to watch it, but now I am glad I went and pre-screened it. It just goes to show what direction our society is going in when a toy company such as Hasbro allows their innocent characters the Transformers to be used to promote sexuality and vulgarity. There were many times where curse words were used, and it didn’t even make sense for it to be used in the context of the dialogue. I find myself very disappointed.
As far as the story line goes, it has some great action packed scenes that will capture your attention. I love the heroism, and self-sacrifice. Optimus Prime even has a quote that will be adding to my favorite quote list…”Fate rarely calls on us at a moment of our choosing.” Unfortunately all the positives cannot justify the negative aspects of this film. Here are the “3 Big NO NOs” for me, primarily because these are the issues that are corrupting today’s teens.
- Sexuality – Skin is expected in summer movies, but the sexuality was off the chart for any children’s/teen movie. The main actress flaunts herself about, but what really bothered me was the fact that you have 2 dogs being sexually active at various parts of the movie, a scene where “Sam” (main character) is being sexually intimate with another college student who is not his girlfriend and turns out to be a robot, inappropriate posters in the dorm room as well as a neon porn sign in one of the scenes, a former Sector 7 agent pulls down his pants revealing his rear in a jock strap, an enormous robot with testicles, and a little remote control truck robot that starts humping the main actress’s leg. There is more, but I will stop there. There is a teen sexuality crisis going on in today’s society, and we have to start doing something about it before we have another Sodom and Gomorrah on our hands.
- Vulgarity and Language- You rarely find a movie without some cursing anymore, but once again it was totally unnecessary in this film. There was no need to have Transformers cursing. These are children’s play toys for goodness sake. I would be throwing my son’s Transformers in the trash if he even remotely stated some of the things that the characters did in the movie. That was a very poor decision. There were multiple f- word variants, 10+ s-words and 15 or so misuses of God’s name. We also hear about 25 or more uses combined of “d–n,” “a–hole,” “b–ch,” “h—”
- Drug Content – Drunken parties, marijuana-laced brownies, and a bong is enough of an excuse not to watch this film. I’ve see teenagers die first hand from drug/alcohol overdoses, and I have also seen how destructive it can be on the family. I also counsel teenagers on a regular basis who are so caught up in this crud that it is destroying their lives. This one alone ticks me off more than any of them.
I just want to conclude with this thought. Today’s society is in need of a revival. As I read the scripture and the prophecies I realize there is going to come a great awakening. Either an awakening of repentance or an awakening of judgement. The Old Testament is filled with these awakenings: The awakening of judgement on the earth during the time of Noah, the awakening of judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah, the awakening of repentance of Ninevah, and the awakening of judgement in Revelation. Do you and your family a big favor, and save your $20+ dollars, and take your kids out for some ice cream and a picnic at the park.
Practical Advice – My advice is to skip this movie, but many of you will still allow your children to watch this movie, but I would recommend that if you are going to do so wait until it comes out on DVD, rent it, pre-screen it, and fast forward or skip the scenes that would be considered inappropriate. Remember what we put into our children will eventually come out. None of us want to see our children grow up to be foul mouthed sexually active addicts, so then don’t allow Satan to have this foothold.
Revolution: Home Hurts
“Dealing with Your Imperfect Home” Hebrews. 12:10-14
What TV shows do you watch that have families in them?
Do these families seem healthy to you? Or do they just seem normal in today’s society?
What do TV families teach us about being a family member?
In this series we’ve been talking about times when “home hurts” – when our families cause us problems and pain. Last week we looked at “Expressing Hurt in a Hurting Home”, and this week we are going to look at how to deal with an imperfect home, but first we must realize that there are reasons and results for imperfect homes. Once we understand these two factors we can begin to deal and react to these imperfections. If your family is causing you some hurt, here are a few possible reasons.
- Reasons:
1. It’s possible that people in your family are just acting badly.
They’re intending to harm you. That’s a harsh thing to say, but some families are like that. We saw some similar cases throughout our videos. It’s sort of a worst-case scenario, but if that’s your situation, then Genesis 5:20 fits right in. They intend to harm you, but God is going to make something good out of it. They will have to answer to God for their actions. You need to trust that God has a great future in store for you.
2. The family member(s) who are hurting you could be acting out of their own pain or weakness.
This is very common. Parents who divorce aren’t trying to hurt the kids; they’re just struggling with their own stuff. Parents who tear down your self-esteem might be replaying the way their parents treated them. Turn to Luke 23:34. Jesus was dying on the cross and he said this…READ.
The Romans were specialist at crucifying people. The leaders who convicted Jesus were trying to get him killed. Didn’t they know exactly what they were doing?
They didn’t accept or realize that this was the Son of God they were executing.
Sometimes people hurt other people without knowing the full extent of their actions. We can offer them Jesus’ forgiveness, understanding that “they don’t know what they’re doing.”
3. Sometimes we suffer hurt when it’s really just good discipline.
When we break the rules, we always think we have good reasons, good excuses, and good exceptions to those rules. It seems unfair when parents refuse to accept these explanations. But we have a way of tilting things in our direction. Things seem unfair just because they’re not going our way.
Turn to Heb. 12:10-14. In this passage, the writer compares parental discipline with God’s discipline, and he says some interesting things about this.
How does discipline feel?
- Results:
What could be some of the results from each of the reasons?
What are the results to healthy discipline?
Parents aren’t perfect. (I know that comes as a shock to some of you.) Sometimes they make decisions that are unfair to you. But even in those cases, you can be thankful that they care how you live. They are trying to bring about that “harvest of righteousness and peace” in your life.
Discipline from parents can be tough to take. The same is true of God’s discipline. That’s what Hebrews is saying. When life gets tough for you – if your home becomes a source of hurt rather than healing – understanding that God will use those tough experiences to shape you into the person he wants you to be. Other people may have bad intentions, but God will use it all for his good purpose.
- Reaction “How to Deal”
So what can you do when “home hurts?”
- Remember that God is still in charge.
- Accept discipline when appropriate.
- Forgive, even when you have been wronged. Parents aren’t perfect.
- And, NEVER lose sight of the fact that God is working in you, using these difficult situations to shape a great human being.
*For more helpful illustrations and videos go to bluefish.com
“The Principle of the Path” How to get from where you are to where you want to be. by Andy Stanley is a very practical and innovative book on how to choose certain paths that will lead you to your desired destination. By understanding the principles within this book you will be able to make better decisions in your life that will lead to greater personal success. “It is direction-not intention-that determines our destination.” (pg.14)
I personally am a huge fan of Andy Stanley, so right from the beginning I had high expectations of this book, but Andy has outdone himself again. With attention grabbing stories of his personal life to Biblical accurate stories from scripture you will find yourself captivated chapter by chapter. I was completly amazed at how simple, practical, and apparent these principles were. Everything within this book is right before our eyes, but the average person is too busy to recognize it. I was definately encouraged and inspired to look at my life and future in a whole new light. I felt pretty confident of where I was going in life before I picked up this book, but even now I am even more certain that if I apply what I have learned from this book I am destined to achieve my destination. In order to begin the journey of the “Principle of the Path” we must first break the cycle of self-deception, and then begin to apply these principles in our decision making process.
One last thought to think about is that a lot of times we allow our desires to determine our direction-so what our your desires? Are they healthy? Are they going to lead you where you want to be 20 years from now? If not be intentional on changing your desires so that they fall in line with your destination.
Let me start from the beginning: “Yesterday, I received a phone call that stated that I needed to call this number urgently. Normally I would have just blown it off, but curiosity got 
the better of me so called this 800 number. As soon as the person answered they asked for my city and state. I told them “no”, “who is this I asked?” They replied by saying that I had to give them my city and state before I was to receive any information. So I did. Next they wanted my name and phone number. At this point I am starting to get ticked off … “who is this or I am hanging up,” I replied. They finally informed me that they were a debt collector. The problem is that I don’t have any outstanding debt. I am a hard working middle class American who pays his bills on time. Well the conversation began to heat up when they told me that I owed a certain medical hospital (won’t mention any names) over $500 for my sons Dr’s appointment. He went in for a wellness exam and school shots. “Are you kidding me, $500+!” Here is what really ticked me off, they billed me exactly 36 days ago to an address I had four years ago. The conversation ended in a big blow out of a dispute because I would not release my employment information. They threatened me with a legal suit, and I asked them where they worked at because I was going to drive over there and knock someones teeth in. (Just kidding on that last part, but that is what I was feeling.) I honestly felt I handled the situation as calmly as I could. I finished by telling them that I was going to go speak to this medical clinic. They told me not to because they would not be able to help me.
So I finally arrive at this medical clinic, and I go and speak with billing. Here were my main issues:
- We filled out current patient information during our last visit “Why was that not updated in the system?” I would have paid it if I had received it.
- Why didn’t this get filed under our current insurance?
- Why in the world would you send me to a debt collector when it had only been 6 days overdue?
- What is going on in America where it cost $500+ for a wellness visit and a couple shots. “The medical system is corrupt.” I know, because I worked in it for almost a year as a Nurse Tech. “$500+!!!!” “COME ON!!!!” We were in and out in 20 minutes. “Stand-up, bendover, turn around, follow my finger, 2 shots later, and that will be $500 please.” Something is not right about that.
People do not deserve to be treated this way. First off I believe debt collectors have too much authority and power. Someone needs to give them a taste of their own medicine. 2nd we need medical reformation, and 3rd the U.S. needs to get its act together, and start doing it’s job.
You might be thinking that this pastor needs to get off his high horse, and deal with the way society is, but guess what you could be next. There is injustice taking place all around us, and you are the target.
Who knows maybe I have been watching too many Holocaust and religious persecution films here lately. Anyways this is my soap box, and the personal views and opinions in this blog do not reflect the views of my church.
