Archive for the ‘culture’ Category
March 28, 2010
Like bookends, Jesus begins His ministry with an explanation of the Gospel, and ends His ministry with an explanation of the Gospel. What is “Gospel?” Simply put, it’s God’s “good news.” So what are the bookends?
Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Mark 16:15-16: “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
At the beginning of His ministry, Gospel is clearly defined in “social” terms. At the end of His ministry, Gospel is defined in “salvation” terms. Are these mutually exclusive? Why must progressive Christians embrace only the first part of the Gospel, and why must conservative Christians embrace only the second part of the Gospel? Both are part and partial to the whole Gospel!
Posted in Politics, church, culture, religion | Tagged Conservative Christianity, Emergent Church, Evangelical Church, Progressive Christianity, social gospel | 1 Comment »
March 26, 2010
“A friend of mine, a young pastor who recently started a church, talks to me from time to time about the new face of the church in America–about the postmodern church. He says the new church will be different from the old one, that we will be relevant to culture and the human struggle. I don’t think any church has ever been relevant to the culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool Web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing.” (Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003, p. 111.)
Posted in church, culture | Tagged Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz, Church Relevancy | Leave a Comment »
March 3, 2010
Breaux’s Personal Mission Statement from Micah 6:8
(1) Act Justly; (2) Love Mercy; (3) Walk Humbly
Do you know who you are?
#1–Gotta know who I am
-The “me” I pretend to be…
-The “me” I think I should be…
-The “me” others want me to be…
-The “me” I’m afraid to be…
-The “me” I fail to be…
-The “me” I am MEANT to be…
Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6
#2–Gotta know why I do what I do
“Search me O God”
John 5:30; 1 Thessalonians 2:4
#3–Gotta know what I want to accomplish
Luke 9:51
#4–Gotta get alone with God
Luke 5:15-16
#5–Gotta Share the Load
Mark 3:14 (1) with Him (2) Send them Out
#6–Gotta Take Time to Enjoy Life
“When your strength is gone, your joy is gone.”
“The Joy of the Lord is my strength” –Nehemiah
(1) Divert Daily; (2) W/Draw Weekly; (3) Abandon Annually
#7–Gotta Never Stop learning
Proverbs 18:15; Ecclesiastes 10:10
Posted in church, culture, religion | Tagged DNA of a Dangerous Church, Heartland Community Church, Mike Breaux, Parkview Christian Church, Synergy 2010 | Leave a Comment »
March 3, 2010
“The worship of safety emasculates greatness.” –Max Lucado
“What if faith, not fear, was your response to whatever you are facing?” –Mike Breaux
DNA #1: Passionately Love Jesus
DNA #2: Ruthlessly Eliminate Ego
DNA #3: Courageously Go Against the Flow
DNA #4: Selflessly Extend Compassion
DNA #5: Unconditionally Trust God
“Will we “Unconditionally Trust God?”
John 14:1, Revelation 3:7-13; Joshua 1:9; Ephesians 6:12; 1 John 4:16-18
“To TRUST is to be absolutely convinced in the reliability of God.”
Posted in church, culture, religion | Tagged DNA of a Dangerous Church, Heartland Community Church, Mike Breaux, Parkview Christian Church, Synergy 2010 | Leave a Comment »
January 15, 2010
Like me, I imagine that you have been rather troubled by the catastrophic earthquake that has taken place this past week in Haiti. Death estimates range from 50,000 to 500,000 depending on the source. Beyond the dead there are millions of people without food, water, basic shelter, and the protections that we are accustomed to here in the United States. We are truly a blessed people—and those who are blessed are expected to bless others.
At all of our weekend services, this weekend, we will collect a disaster-relief fund for Haiti. The organization that will receive our offering is called “Food for the Hungry” (www.fh.org). This particular organization is Christian, is recommended by respected Christian leaders, and has very little overhead/administrative costs. According to their website: “More than 91% of their total income, including commodities, goes to field programs,” (http://www.fh.org/who/finances). They, in turn, will direct the money to Haitian relief as quickly as possible.
During our offering times this weekend, we are going to designate all loose change to “Food for the Hungry” as well as any designated gifts. For instance, if you are regular contributor to Crossroads, and you give $200 every two weeks via our offering envelopes, and you would like to designate another $50 to Haiti Disaster Relief, then you would write $200 in the “current expense” box on your envelope, and $50 in the “other” box, and then include a check for $250. However, if you are not a regular contributor to Crossroads, but you want to put a $50 bill into the offering plates, then your $50 will go to “Food for the Hungry.”.
This morning, as we were getting our oldest son ready for School, we asked him if he had his money for the book fair. He said, “No. I’m not going to buy that book. I’m going to save my money for our Haiti offering at church.” Although it is a book he’s been wanting, he decided to make a sacrifice for those in need. At Crossroads, we do a lot to serve our broken neighbors in Joliet—and we will continue to do so—but now is the time to give basic food and water to our neighbors to the south, in Haiti. I hope and pray that you will give with a cheerful and generous heart.
Posted in Family, church, culture, religion | Tagged Churches Helping Haiti, Food for the Hungry, Haiti Earthquake, Haitian Relief Fund | Leave a Comment »
December 23, 2009
According to one report, twenty Percent (20%) of recently-filed divorces mention the social-networking site, Facebook, as a contributing factor. While this may surprise some, it does not surprise us (except for the sheer magnitude). Working to help people improve their marriages, while being heavily involved in social networking ourselves, we see that the danger is obvious and pervasive. We have personally witnessed the rapid decline of seemingly-healthy marriages simply by following some of our friends on Facebook. What do you think?
Check out the article here: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2780179/Divorces-blamed-on-Facebook.html?=&ATTR=News; The Gospel According to Matt understands that the source (SUN) is a tabloid newspaper, but believes the principle holds true even if the statistics are sketchy.
Posted in culture | Tagged Facebook Destroy's Marriages, Social Networking and Relationships | 10 Comments »
December 9, 2009
This month I am reading Tim Keller’s book “Prodigal God” for the third time. The first time was a quick read. The second time was a staff exercise. The third time is in preparation for a sermon series. With each reading, my appreciation for the Parable of the Prodigal Son grows exponentially.
Today it occurred to me that the lost younger son (in the Parable) represents modern-day liberalism, while the lost older son represents modern-day conservatism. (Although I don’t believe that Jesus ever had American politics in mind, it’s certainly relevant to the discussion.)
The lost younger son represents self-discovery and self-expression. The lost older son represents moral conformity. The lost younger son represents grace and tolerance. The lost older son represents hard work and justice. Again, the lost younger son parallels liberalism while the lost older son parallels conservatism.
Liberalism, the lost younger son, has the right heart but the wrong rules. Conservatism, the lost older son, has the right rules but the wrong heart. Either way, they’re both lost.
Posted in Politics, church, culture, religion | Tagged conservatism, DNC, GOP, Liberalism, Lost Son, Parables of Jesus, Prodigal Son, RNC, The Prodigal God, Tim Keller | 2 Comments »
November 24, 2009
“The Gospel According to Matt,” aka Matt Summers, endorses the Manhattan Declaration with one caveat: that it treats the issue of poverty as a symptom of the problem rather than a systemic part of the problem. Jesus offers more direction on helping the poor than He does any of the issues mentioned in the declaration.
For information (or to read) the Manhattan Declaration check out/contact: Michelle Farmer or Amy Anderson (770) 813-0000 or (770) 757-4900 cell mfarmer@demossgroup.com www.DeMossNews.com/ManhattanDeclaration
Posted in Politics, church, culture, religion | Tagged Manhattan Declaration | Leave a Comment »
November 24, 2009
I found the following song in my son’s backpack. When I asked him what it was, he explained that it’s one of the songs he and his classmates are singing at music class (in the public school he attends).
“Ramadan comes once a year
Celebrate that Allah’s here
Fasting food for thirty days
Honoring [Him] with faithful praise
Celebrate with family
Holidays for all and me”
What happened to “separation of church and state?” It was a great clause when used by proponents to marginalize Christianity. But now it has been cast aside for the sake of multiculturalism and pluralism. Call me old-fashioned, but I want to go back to the good old days when religion was kept out of the schools altogether—like, you know, last year!
Posted in Politics, church, culture, religion | Tagged Public School, Ramadan, Separation Clause, Separation of Church and State, War on Christmas | 1 Comment »
