Serious pain is a game changer.  Life becomes a different reality when hurting becomes the new norm.  Whether it’s physical, emotional or psychological pain, life redefines itself into unfamiliar categories.  Dark and worrisome thoughts beget fears which threaten to drag their victim into black despair.  At least that has been my experience the past few months.

Thankfully, I appear to be coming out the other side, but I’m left wondering in admiration at those who face serious pain every day and are still functional in life.  I couldn’t even find the mojo to blog during this time, so it’s good to be able to finally begin writing again.  I know that God somehow brings good from every experience we have.  I have struggled with why God sometimes doesn’t help those in pain — didn’t help me with my pain — even while I wondered what my future life might be like.

Trying to redefine one’s life in terms of pain is a dark place, or at least it has been for me.  The recent blockbuster movie, Transformers: The Dark of the Moon is the inspiration for the title of this post.  (Honesty Disclaimer: The article has nothing to do with the movie. I hoped to attract a few more readers to the blog by piggy-backing on such a popular phrase!)  Seriously, in thinking of imagery for where I have been emotionally and spiritually during this time, the lunar eclipse concept just somehow felt right.  When I saw the movie title, I also liked the thought of mixing the word transform or transformation into the whole batter.  To sum it up, I both believe and find experientially that God transforms me/us when we’re on the “dark side of the moon” when we can’t seem to see or reflect the light from the more sunny side of life.

Yet in spite of the danger of being overwhelmed with the wash of such dark feeling, God has somehow deepened my fellowship with Him and awakened something more spiritual within me.  It’s nothing short of spectacular how He can produce light where there is none.  I hope that anyone experiencing pain who may read this will hear that there really is hope beyond the dark.  I don’t fully understand how Jesus does this, but he manages to somehow draw us nearer to him in all these kinds of things if we will simply trust him while we’re in it.  I found a renewed nearness to God before any real relief began to present itself.  And it has been that nearness, that presence of God Himself, that has sustained me.

…And Man said, “Let us Make God in Our Own Image”

“Did God create humans in His own image, or did humans invent God in their own image?” Of course, the very question reveals that secularists and atheists don’t believe God created humans.  But the possibility that humans invented God is so illogical that a non-biased intelligent person wouldn’t even mention it. After all, how is it even possible that generations of people of different cultures, different geographical places, different times and centuries continue “inventing” the same God over and over again? And why invent a God in the first place; what is the practical significance of this self-conscious self-deceit of billions of people throughout history?

The answer must be found in the fact that the secularist doesn’t want an answer. He suspects there is an answer to all the metaphysical problems of science and knowledge, but he simply will not accept it for its inconvenience.

Education is the Answer. Really? Are You Serious?

Atheism repeatedly proves itself a complete failure in terms of understanding the world’s problems, let alone solving them. If education is the answer, then why isn’t the “educated” community better? For all their teaching and declaring “truth” they still experience the same problems, make the same painful mistakes, commit the same foolish errors as they always have.

Only Christianity deals with the problem of sin. Only the Christian worldview leads people to higher dignity, despite whatever moral poverty they have experienced. Only Christianity leads its adherents to forgive and love their enemies.

Christianity and Religions Are Destructive to Society

Atheism even seeks many of the same social ideals as Christianity, borrowing from our worldview.  The truth is that a consistent atheistic, natural evolutionist perspective leads to nothing but total despair and chaos.  If the evolutionist is right, nothing matters. Nothing. The human race would be fully entitled to murder, to steal, to rape, to dishonor and shame whomever they wished.  There would be nothing morally wrong with it. It would be “survival of the fittest.” In the evolutionist worldview love and honor and hope are nothing more than mere chemical reactions in the brain.  They mean nothing and therefore have no intrinsic meaning or value. The consistent naturalist recognizes that nature is predatory, violent and chaotic.  Mankind, without a higher guiding morality, would be no different.

Atheistic “enlightenment” only has value in that it serves as a clear teaching tool to show the abject poverty of consistent atheistic philosophy and evolutionary science in terms of its ability to help make us better. On the other hand, the more consistent that Christians become with the teachings of Jesus in the Bible, the more loving, forgiving, patient, kind and generous they become toward others, even our professed enemies…the polar opposite of what nature dictates. Hmm, now which worldview do you really want to embrace?

Jesus Issues A Challenge

I know I over-use this scripture. I mention it frequently in teaching and in personal conversations. It made such a lasting impression on me that it has been indelibly stamped on my life. In John 7.16-18 Jesus throws down the gauntlet regarding His own credibility. There are people whispering about him. Some are saying he’s a good man while others are saying that he deceives people. Listen to the plain answer Jesus gives.

Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.” (italics mine)

This is the crux of the matter. Most people don’t really want to know if Jesus is a man of truth and if God and the Bible are real. It’s easy or even fun for them to throw out questions and play “stump the Christian” while playing the devil’s advocate. In those situations, they aren’t asking questions because they want an answer. It is a self-deluding ploy to avoid such a practical challenge as Jesus gives. “Hey, if you want to know the truth – in a real and intellectually honest way — just try it on for size…and see what happens. Then you’ll know.” Most skeptics will never try.

Related Articles: The God Questions, Is The Bible True?

Check out the list of resources for the God Questions on our Facebook page: facebook.com/lakehillscommunitychurch

“Free”quently Asked Questions…
Free Methodists are enthusiastic in worship, holy in lifestyle, insistent for justice and passionate in their evangelism.

Is church even important?

Are you kidding? We choose to join with each other, and mystically become the body of Christ. In fact, we cannot be the body of Christ by ourselves: the mystery requires others; it requires mutual submission; it requires peace making; and it requires a purpose together. This organic group to whom we pledge ourselves will participate in the pilgrimage of life with us. If you don’t “do” church, you don’t “do” the body of Christ.

But I don’t like Denominations!

Anything more than one local church working by itself is a denomination. You can call it a “network” or a “family of churches” if you like, but it’s really just a selfless way to work together…we can do things together that we can’t do separately and we can help each other along the way.

What’s Special about Free Methodists?

We think that God’s renewal can penetrate into the very core of our beings: that we really can love God with our whole being; that we really can love our neighbors as ourselves; that we can be cleaned, not just dirt painted-over. This call to holiness connects with our historic values and also makes us bold to confront all destructive behaviors – anything that dishonors God.

Becoming real Christ-followers is the great purpose of our community. We are serious about evangelization and disciple-making. We are not casual about pointing out the way of life and holiness. We expect everyone to grow spiritually, whether pre-Christians, new Christians or longtime Christians.

What’s Really, Really Important to Free Methodists?

1. All local churches connect to other local churches. This is where we practice truth and grace.

2. Our mission dominates our church. If something doesn’t fit our mission we quit doing it.

3. We’re committed to ministry among the poor.

4. We try to speak the good news with words and emotion so that people who aren’t religious can hear and say “yes.”

5. We accept everybody. It doesn’t matter what your past is, how messed up you might be, or how good you might think you are. Jesus loves us all and can heal us all. Come on in!

6. We think small groups and cells are the best places for spiritual growth.

7. Our local churches are like mission outposts in their communities. Our pastors are appointed not just to a local congregation or a building, but to whole communities.

8. We are a part of God’s apostolic movement, a “sent” people. We push ourselves away from the comfortable center toward the “growth edge;” reaching new places and people with the good news.

9. We usually agree with the way John Wesley understood the Bible and organized the church. Even though he’s long-since dead, we still like the way he thought.

10. We believe the Bible and follow it.  But the consensus of the church throughout her history is also helpful to us. That helps us not be arrogant in our own interpretation.

11. We expect to be holy, like Jesus. We desire nothing less than that our conduct and our teaching reflect God. We seek nothing less than the holistic well-being of all who come under our care.
What are Free Methodists trying to do?

If these 8 things happen, we can die happy men and women:

1. Every church praying

2. Every church worshipping

3. Every church full of disciples who reproduce themselves

4. Every church seeing people saved

5. Every church reproducing itself

6. Every church understanding its surrounding culture

7. Every church involved in world missions

8. Every church ministering with a plan

How did Free Methodists start?

Around the time of the U.S. civil war, the Methodist Episcopal church was drifting from its spiritual roots. Several members and pastors, led by pastor Benjamin T. Roberts, came into conflict with their regional leadership over the church’s slide into worldliness, and were expelled. Since B.T. and friends were really interested in issues that could all be called “freedoms,” they started a new cluster of churches and named them the Free Methodist Church. Ever since then we’ve had this unusual name but have developed into a great church experimenting with this intriguing mix of Free and Methodical.

How do you run things?

The Free Methodist Church is a “modified episcopacy” which, in plain English means the church models mutual submission of the ordained ministers and lay ministers in its governing bodies. When everybody gets it, it’s a thing of beauty!

Affiliations:

National Association of Evangelicals, Christian Holiness Partnership, World Methodist Council, Free Methodist World Conference and Evangelical Council For Financial Accountability.

Statistics:

In 2007 there were approximately 1,000 Free Methodist churches with 74,000 members in the United States and 730,000 members worldwide.

It’s impossible to have passionate Christianity without real repentance.  This Sunday’s message: “The Power of Real Repentance”.

One of the foundational elements of being a follower of Jesus is going through times of real repentance.  Not just saying “I’m sorry” or throwing up an apology to God for messing up, but entering into real, heart-wrenching, sometimes painful, long and serious soul searching.  If we will not look at and confront our sins, we will never live a holy life before God.  The Bible often refers to God’s presence as being like fire, a purifying fire that consumes the heart.  The kindling and fuel for that fire is our willingness to allow God to bring a deep renaissance of heart to our sinful lifestyles.

Read what David wrote in Psalm 51 after his sin of adultery with Bathsheba as he was going through repentance before God:

Psa 51:1  Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

Psa 51:2  Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

Psa 51:3  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

Psa 51:4  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

Psa 51:5  Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Psa 51:6  Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Psa 51:7  Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Psa 51:8  Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Psa 51:9  Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Psa 51:10  Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psa 51:11  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Psa 51:12  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psa 51:13  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

Psa 51:14  Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

Psa 51:15  O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

Psa 51:16  You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Here is a link to a tremendous article about repentance at foundationsofmorality.com.  It is very thorough and very long; long enough to be a small book, but if God is working on you and you need real life transformation, I highly recommend it.

Related Articles:

Fresh Start 2011

The following is going to be a great series, and I’m asking our friends, supporters and our church family to read this series of blogs.  I believe they will be very helpful and insightful for us all.  The following is a post from a church planting expert, Ed Stetzer on his Lifeway Research Blog.

Top Issues Church Planters Face

Wednesday January 5, 2011

I planted my first church in Buffalo, New York in 1988. Ready for a blazing flash of the obvious? The world has changed since then and so has church planting. Michael Rowe would likely classify church planting as a “dirty job”.

I did not have much support back then. I was young and confident at a delusional level. I had little to read and no significant experiences or research from which to draw. I was left alone to try desperately to figure it out. God was there and blessed beyond what I knew or deserved. Yet I can’t help to wonder how things could have been different… better for the Kingdom’s sake… for the men, women, and children in inner city Buffalo where I planted.

Today, I am amazed at what solid help (coaching, websites, books, networks, training, etc.) a motivated church planter can find. Conferences like Exponential continue to provide environments for God to shape a new breed of planter– equipped and prepared to make a difference for His Kingdom without losing family and sanity in the process.

Don’t get me wrong, the job is still dirty– very dirty. Leadership, finances, volunteers, systems, vision, evangelism, discipleship, and health of the planter and his family are jugular issues. The church planter graveyard remains ominously over crowed. Yet things are changing for the better.

Over the next two weeks you will see some priceless information. No matter your role in the world of church planting you will want to grab hold of this research. I have partnered with my friend Todd Wilson, Director of Exponential, to do quantitative research alongside some of the better-known church planting practitioners in America.

With input from Batterson, Bloye, Lovejoy, Mancini, Patrick, Nebel, Rohrmayer, Surratt, Sylvia and others.

You get the picture, I hope. We listened to over 500 years of cumulative experience planting and working with 100′s of planters with the over 30 national leaders involved in this project. Individual planter interviews, online surveys, and volumes of real world experience were also included in the discovery process. This information will help you plant or help you help others plant for the glory of God and the advancement of His Kingdom.

There are limitations to a study like this– more on that later– but there is also much to learn.

God has the world on His heart– we will post information and insights from the 7 Top Issues church planters face based on the research. I will unpack the following “top” issues as a result of our research over the days to come:

• Leadership Development and Reproducing Culture
• Financial Self-Sufficiency and Viability
• Launch Team Development and Mobilizing Volunteers
• Systems, Processes and Cultures
• Casting Vision and Avoiding Mission Drift
• Evangelism and Discipleship
• Spiritual, Physical and Mental Health of the Planter and Family

My next blog will unpack the first issue– Leadership Development and Reproducing Culture. You will discover six key considerations in this most frequently cited challenge of church planters. Good stuff!

Posted on January 5, 2011 at 9:27 AM

Click for Next Article in Series

“The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger.

It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad. But we shouldn’t lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering. Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground—-it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.”

~ Author Unknown

It’s amazing how Jesus can take something that seems so bad and bring something so good from it. So easily do we often doubt His love and unseen purposes in our afflictions.

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” ~ Romans 8:28, New Living Translation

A traveler was visiting a logging area in the Pacific Northwest and was interested in seeing how the logs that would be used for furniture were chosen. As the logs came down the stream, the logger would suddenly reach out and hook one, pull it up, and then set it down. He would sometimes wait for a few minutes before grabbing another. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to his choices.

After a while, the visitor said to him, “I don’t understand what you’re doing.”

“These logs may all look alike to you,” the logger said, “But I can recognize that a few of them are quite different. The ones that I let pass came from trees that grew in a valley. They were always protected from the storms. The grain is rather coarse.

“The logs that I pulled aside are from high up on the mountain, where they were beaten by strong winds from the time they were quite small. That toughens the trees and gives them a fine grain. We save these logs for choice work. They’re too good to be used for ordinary lumber.”

God uses every problem, every difficulty, every trial in your life for His purposes.  He views them quite differently than we do.  He knows that every wind of adversity and difficulty you face, every single “storm” in you life can result in making you better, stronger, wiser, and more useful to the Master.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ”

Romans 5:3-4 “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”

I literally laughed out loud when I saw this penguin animation posted by a facebook friend.  She had written, “With friends like these, who needs enemies?”  How true that is!  At one time or another we’ve all been blind-sided or tripped up by someone we thought was a friend.

The Bible says, “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)  The people you allow into your life have a dramatic impact (excuse the pun) on how well you walk out your Christianity.  Those with whom you surround yourself are the ones who will either help you up when you fall, or help you fall when you’re up.

One of the very best ways to avoid the pain of an emotional smackdown is to surround yourself with friends who are loving and supportive.  Don’t allow those who are critical, negative, mean or abusive into your circle.

One final thought – there are times when you may need a loving “whack” on the back of the head from a true friend if you’re doing something foolish.  Don’t make the mistake of having no friends who will disagree and give you good objective counsel.  Just because someone disagrees with some of your behavior doesn’t mean they are negative or critical.  You need friends who will speak into your life to help you avoid some of life’s biggest smackdowns. Seriously, you deeply need to listen to those who disagree.  This may come as a surprise to some, but you’re not always right!

The Bottom Line
Surround yourself with godly friends who really care about you, and listen when they give you advice or warning.

“The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.” –Proverbs 12:15

I just read this article and it is too important for me to not pass along.  I usually do my own writing, but I really wanted to make this available to all our readers who use Facebook.  I encourage you to heed the following advice. ~ Mike Knapp

7 Things to Stop Doing Now on Facebook
by Consumer Reports Magazine
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

provided by ConsumerReports
(Original article posted here)

Using a Weak Password

Avoid simple names or words you can find in a dictionary, even with numbers tacked on the end. Instead, mix upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. A password should have at least eight characters. One good technique is to insert numbers or symbols in the middle of a word, such as this variant on the word “houses”: hO27usEs!

Leaving Your Full Birth Date in Your Profile

It’s an ideal target for identity thieves, who could use it to obtain more information about you and potentially gain access to your bank or credit card account. If you’ve already entered a birth date, go to your profile page and click on the Info tab, then on Edit Information. Under the Basic Information section, choose to show only the month and day or no birthday at all.

Overlooking Useful Privacy Controls

For almost everything in your Facebook profile, you can limit access to only your friends, friends of friends, or yourself. Restrict access to photos, birth date, religious views, and family information, among other things. You can give only certain people or groups access to items such as photos, or block particular people from seeing them. Consider leaving out contact info, such as phone number and address, since you probably don’t want anyone to have access to that information anyway.

Posting Your Child’s Name in a Caption

Don’t use a child’s name in photo tags or captions. If someone else does, delete it by clicking on Remove Tag. If your child isn’t on Facebook and someone includes his or her name in a caption, ask that person to remove the name.

Mentioning That You’ll Be Away From Home

That’s like putting a “no one’s home” sign on your door. Wait until you get home to tell everyone how awesome your vacation was and be vague about the date of any trip.

Letting Search Engines Find You

To help prevent strangers from accessing your page, go to the Search section of Facebook’s privacy controls and select Only Friends for Facebook search results. Be sure the box for public search results isn’t checked.

Permitting Youngsters to Use Facebook Unsupervised

Facebook limits its members to ages 13 and over, but children younger than that do use it. If you have a young child or teenager on Facebook, the best way to provide oversight is to become one of their online friends. Use your e-mail address as the contact for their account so that you receive their notifications and monitor their activities. “What they think is nothing can actually be pretty serious,” says Charles Pavelites, a supervisory special agent at the Internet Crime Complaint Center. For example, a child who posts the comment “Mom will be home soon, I need to do the dishes” every day at the same time is revealing too much about the parents’ regular comings and goings.

Copyrighted 2009, Consumers Union of U.S., Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Consumer Reports has no relationship with Lake Hills Community Church.

I started bicycling yesterday. Bicycling is like being on a hamster wheel, but with changing scenery. Or, You can join a gym and ride their stationary bicycles, but then the difference between that and a hamster wheel would be…?  Oh yes,of course, the smell of cedar chips is clearly missing at the gym.

Yesterday it seemed like such a great idea.  Today my body is angry, screaming “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?” every time I try to extricate myself from my recliner.

So why do I, like so many others, do this to myself?  It’s about health, plain and simple. I am waging the classic war of the middle-aged, the “battle of the bulge”. We received notice that our health insurance premiums were taking a dramatic increase (what a shock – don’t even get me started), so I am fighting back.  The way I see it, theoretically, I win on two fronts.  I’ll feel better, at least in theory.  And I’ll need less health care, at least in theory, also.

God and Health Care

A deeper purpose in this is a growing conviction of my God-given responsibility to live a healthy life.  Over the years I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched people pray for their health or ask me to pray for their health, or go to a special service or crusade to get someone bigger and better to pray for their health.  These things are okay and can even be good, so long as the person is also taking responsibility for themselves.

I have a hard time praying for God to heal someone of back problems when they’re over-eating, overweight and refusing to exercise.  The Bible does say that we “reap what we sow”.  If I continually eat myself into oblivion and cling to my recliner in a death grip refusing to get up and get healthy, then I probably deserve the results I get.  We really do reap what we sow.  That’s not cruel, it’s a principle God set in motion.

“Kill-a-man”?

On my inaugural bike ride I thought of one of my favorite Tim Allen lines from Home Improvement.  Tim was at his fence talking with his neighbor, Wilson.  Wilson asked if Tim would ever consider climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro with him. Tim’s reply, “No, no, no. I avoid any exercise that starts with the words ‘Kill a man’”.

It probably won’t kill us, and they say that whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.  I want to encourage you to consider even your health habits as an act of serving God. So let’s get on those hamster wheels and “get up off of that thing”, and honor God in the process!

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” –Galatians 6:7-8

If you like this article please give it a recommendation by clicking on on one or more of the media sharing buttons at the right side of this page.