Putting the Message Into Practice

Although I work really hard to make sure that I draw relevant applications from the passage each week, I really want to encourage all of us to put into practice the applications from Revelation 9. When we see what happens to those who harden their hearts as they consistently refuse to respond to God, I pray that it will give us all a great sense of urgency about praying for the salvation of others and sharing our faith with them as God gives us opportunities.

So let's all commit to pray every day this week for someone that we personally know who needs to commit his or her life to Jesus. Ask God to draw that person to Him and also to use us in the process of sharing the gospel in that person's life. I'm convinced that is a prayer that God will delight in answering.

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Let's Talk

I'd really like to use this blog as a tool for us to interact with each other. If you have questions or comments on the sermons each week, send me an email at patdamiani@comcast.net. I'll post the questions (anonymously, so don't be afraid to ask whatever you want) and my answers here on the blog where others can also comment.

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Partners in preaching

When I logged on to sermoncentral.com this morning to post yesterday's sermon, I noticed that I had reached a milestone of sorts. Since I first started posting the text of my messages to that site in late 2005, I have posted a total of 178 sermons and this week the number of times that those sermons have been viewed by visitors to the website passed 10,000. That's really hard for me to believe, but it just goes to illustrate how, with today's technology, the ministry of our church reaches all over the world.

I'm grateful to a church that allows me to do something that I love to do so much - teach the Word of God. All of you are partners in that process. At a minimum, you give to our church so that I can actually get paid to do something that I enjoy so much. But many of you play a much greater role in my preaching and teaching. The men who come at 6:30 a.m. each Tuesday morning help provide insight into the Scripture passage each week and help me to focus my teaching in those areas where people might have questions. Our "Connections" Bible study teachers often interact with me and share thoughts and ask questions. And then you take the passage and help our people to apply it in their lives each week. And most of all I'm indebted to Pastor Dana and the chance I have to bounce my ideas off of him and discuss the Bible each week and work together as a team to make sure that our teaching is accurate and relevant. Although he is often not as visible as I am, his input is invaluable to me each week.

So thanks to all of you who share in the impact of having 10,000 views of those messages!

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God at work in our midst!

If you were at our Night of Worship last night, you had a great chance to see how God is at work right in the midst of our body. Each person who shared a testimony allowed us to get a glimpse of the many different ways that God is at work in our midst. For some, it is the way God is revealing Himself through His Word. For others, it is God being right there with them as they deal with the day-to-day struggles of life. And for others, it is God bringing them success as they serve as missionaries wherever God has place them.

What an awesome God we serve!

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The Bible and Our Mobile Phones

Normally, I'm not real apt to pass on emails that people send to me. In fact, I'll let you in on a secret - I don't even read most of the emails that people forward on to me. But one that I received today really caused me to stop and think for a moment. so I thought I'd pass it on to you.

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our mobile phone?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several time a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we travelled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?
This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?Oh, and one more thing.Unlike our mobile phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected, because Jesus already paid the bill. Makes you stop and think 'where are my priorities? And no dropped calls!

Just some food for thought!

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Sobering, but not without hope

I know that a lot of the passage that we've been looking at lately deal with judgment and in particular judgment that is directed at God's people. Certainly, that is a sobering thought and one that we need to heed. Just because we are God's children, that does not make us immune to His judgment. I think that's an important message to communicate, especially since the church has often been guilty of peddling "easy grace" that says "Just come to Jesus and all your problems will go away." We would do well to heed the words of Jesus:

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
(John 16:33)

But even in the midst of judgment, there is always hope. As we've seen in the Old Testament prophets, God always preserves a remnant. And Jesus also made it clear that even though there is tribulation in the world, He has overcome the world. Jesus doesn't promise to take away all our problems - but He does promise that those who trust in Him can have hope because we are overcomers in Him.

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Amos 1 and 2 - Is there a pattern?

Next week, we'll begin looking at the Book of Amos for a few weeks. Try to read through the entire book at least once before then. Pay particular attention to the first two chapters and see if you can discern some patterns there. How might those patterns be applicable to us in our day-to-day lives?

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Joel - 3 Chapters or 4?

Just thought I'd throw this question out to see if anyone is paying attention: Why is it that in some Bible versions Joel has 3 chapters and in other versions it has 4? And what significance is there to us?

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Joel 2 - A locust invasion or human army?

An interesting question has come up in my study of Joel 2. Is Joel describing here 1) the same locust invasion described in Chapter 1, 2) a future locust invasion, or 3) an invasion by a human army? I have my own thoughts, but I'd love to hear yours. There are a lot of clues in the text itself without needing to consult commentaries or other outside sources.

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A New Post - About Time!

As you can obviously see, I haven't posted anything for quite some time. But now that we've begun our study of the Book of Revelation, I want to use this space to get your feedback and to share some of the exciting things going on behind the scenes each week.

I'd especially appreciate any of your feedback on the messages each week. I'd love to hear your thoughts or to answer any questions that you might have. This is also a good place to connect with others in the body.

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Balancing Truth and Grace

This week I read the following article:

http://www.sermoncentral.com/article.asp?article=a-David_Kinnaman_11_05_07&ac=true

Although the article is addressed to pastors, it contains some really good teaching about balancing truth and grace that all of us can use in our interactions with both believers and unbelievers. I hope it gives you some good food for thought.

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Spiritual Temperaments

Here is an interesting article by Myra Perrine regarding spiritual temperaments:

http://www.sermoncentral.com/article.asp?article=a-Myra_Perrine_10_29_07&ac=true

In this article the author describes how we all relate to God differently and there is a link to an inventory that you can use to help you discover your spiritual temperament. I encourage you to take the inventory and then I'd love to hear how all of you in our church relate to God. Either post a reply to this post or email me at patdamiani@comcast.net and let me know your spiritual temperament. I'd like to use the results to help in the planning of our worship.

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The Imprtance of Team

I knew I was going to miss Denny when he retired, but it really hit me hard last night after the retirement celebration. In a sense, I felt like I'd just lost a family member or a good friend. These last four years of working together with Denny have been by far my most rewarding years of ministry. After being pretty much on my own for many years as a pastor and church planter, it has been such a joy to be part of a team.

In fact, I probably wouldn't even be in full time ministry today if it hadn't been for a phone call from Denny over four years ago inviting me to get together and to explore the idea of merging our church plant with Thornydale Family Church. It's been exciting to see how God brought those two bodies together and how Denny and I have been able to work together over these past four years. Denny has been my friend, my mentor and my co-worker during that time and my ministry has been so much more effective because of our teamwork.

I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. Isn't that exactly the point Paul made in Ephesians, Romans and 1 Corinthians when he writes about the church as a body with different parts that must work together in order to be effective? I'm thankful that I'm still part of a team. In fact Denny is still part of that team, too - just in a different role now. I'm excited to see what God will do in our midst as we serve Him together.

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Theology and our Worship

I just ran across this article that deals with the importance of theology in our worship:http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/default.asp?id=310&artid=10533&expand=1 As Peter Beck so clearly points out, our theology determines whether or not we're able to worship in spirit and in truth. Without a proper view of Jesus, our worship cannot meet that standard.

Sometimes I think we take it for granted that people know the basics of Christianity so we don't need to talk about them much. But evidence from research like the Barna surveys mentioned in this article show that even those who claim to be born-again Christians often are totally wrong when it comes to their theology.

That's why I think our detailed study of the Book of Ephesians is so important. it has allowed us to go back and either learn for the first time or cement those crucial, basic elements of our theology.

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"Lord" is not fading here

There was a very disturbing article on the front page of the Sunday Arizona Daily Star with the headline "'Lord' is fading at some churches. (http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/179570.php)

The article begins with this paragraph:

God has no gender. And the Lord? There's not much Lord in this church
service.

The article goes on to describe how several local churches have virtually eliminated the word "Lord" from their church services in order to avoid what they describe as "hierarchical, patriarchal images." These same churches have also gone to great lengths to be gender neutral as well. As one pastor commented, "Our...hymnal does have hymns that will say 'Father' and 'God," but the next verse will always then say 'Mother' and 'God'.

To me this represents a very dangerous, slippery slope in which man begins to decide which aspects of God's character that they are going to accept and which attributes they will just choose to ignore or change to their liking. The quote from one deacon illustrates that train of thought: "...the theology is that God is love, period." God is certainly love, but the Bible is clear that He is also holy, righteous and just and that He pours out His wrath on those who refuse to acknowledge Him as He really is. And there is no doubt, He is Lord - there are somewhere around 7,000 Bible references that attest to that fact.

It is not our right to make God into the kind of God we want Him to be. When we do that, we're actually putting ourselves in the place of God and saying that we know better than Him. That's a very dangerous place to be.

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Amazing Grace

My wife and I went to the the new movie "Amazing Grace" over the weekend. I thought that it was a great movie - not only was it well-made, but it was saturated with great principles for life. But there was one line in the movie that I just can't get out of my head. Towards the end of the movie, William Wilberforce went to see his old pastor, John Newton, for some advice. And during that exchange, Newton spoke these words:

"I am a very old man and my memory has gone. But I remember two things: that I am a great sinner and that Jesus is a great savior."

It seems to me that if we could just remember those two things as well, it would revolutionize the way that we live our lives.

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Worship "Concert"

I had the privilege of attending the Chris Tomlin "concert" last Friday night at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix. One of the highlights of the night was that Chris, Matt Redman and Louis Giglio spent nearly an hour talking to a small group of pastors and worship leaders about worship a couple of hours before the concert started. Although we got some good ideas that we can implement in our church, what impressed me most was the humility of these men who God has used greatly in helping people to worship Him.

And all that was really confirmed when the "concert" started. This wasn't really a concert, it was a worship service. There was no "opening act" followed by the "big star." Chris, Matt and Louis just worked together to help 5,000 people worship God together. All the focus was on God, not on the people on the stage.

I've been thinking a lot about how we can achieve that same kind of worship in our church. Let me know if you have any thoughts.

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Set Free

After looking at Paul's description of redemption in Ephesians 1:7-10 on Sunday, I was really struck by the fact that our daily Bible reading for that day also focused on the whole concept of redemption. In Romans 7-8, Paul gives us an even more detailed account of how we have been set free from slavery to sin. Aren't you thankful that Jesus has paid the price to set us free from a way of life that leads to death? And aren't you grateful that "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"?

If you didn't get a chance to read Romans 7-8 yet, I want to encourage you to take the time to do that this week. And then I hope that you'll respond to God in prayer, thanking Him for setting you free.

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The Gospel According to Jack Bauer

Many of you out there probably know what a big "24" fan I am. In fact, it was really hard last night to decide whether to go to the U of A basketball game or stay home and watch the premier of "24". But since I could record "24" on the DVR, I went to the game, which may have not been the best decision, since my Wildcats lost. But at least today's a holiday, so I can watch last night's 2 hour premier before I watch the next two hours tonight.

I was also glad to learn that there are some good spiritual lessons to learn from "24", too. Pastor Mark Driscoll wrote about some of those in his blog: Mark Dricoll blog. What a relief to know that I'm not the only Pastor out there addicted to "24". But it's even better to know that Jesus died for me.

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Three Funerals

A friend sent me an interesting email this morning. It centered on three funerals that were held last week - one for former President Gerald Ford, one for James Brown and one for Saddam Hussein. I'm not sure who originated these thoughts, but I thought they were well worth our consideration:

"All three men, President Ford, James Brown, and Sadam Hussein had choices in their destiny. Today they have all three stood in front of the God of this universe with those choices unveiled and judged. God allowed us to see three men yesterday.

President Gerald Ford, a man whose faith in God and service to his country was eulogized by many speakers during the solemn and dignified ceremonies which marked his passing. A man of character and integrity, not perfect but made righteous by his faith in Jesus Christ. It was in this righteousness he lived out his life as a servant to his fellow man and his country. Great men and dignitaries attended his funeral. All coming to pay respect and honor to a man most deserving.

James Brown also was eulogized in a funeral ceremony befitting his life choices. There was blaring rock music, gyrating bodies, costumes, and great sensual displays of revelry to portray the contribution this man had given through his life to his fellow man. He lived a life of drugs, alcohol, immorality and rock music. He was heralded the father of Rap music and the inspiration of Michael Jackson's greatness. His funeral with all of it's theatrics was befitting the excess of waste his life portrayed.

Then we had the gruesome hanging of Sadam Hussein. His death as gory as his life. A brutal murderer and dictator, hung by his neck and secreted away in the middle of the night to an unmarked grave. Thousands of Iraqis celebrated his death for through his life he had brought untold misery and death to many. A man so wicked that it seemed the world breathed a collective sigh of relief at the pronouncement of his death.

Three men, three men who left their mark on the entire world, three famous men. All three have now stood before their Creator to answer for the choices they made in their life as you and I will someday. There is only one choice and Gerald Ford's life exemplifies the nobility of choosing to walk in harmony with The Creator through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as his Redeemer. James Brown choose to walk in the flesh. His life's work glorified the flesh and his death magnified the flesh. Sadam Hussein choose evil. He was a narcissistic megalomaniac. His life glorified evil and his death was gruesome.This all played out in one day. God painted a great picture for mankind."

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