I wish, I wish, I wish… People are wishing their lives away. Add that to the bizarre national growth of victim mentality over the last two decades, and Americans are doing less and blaming more. Face it, your personal cracks and stress points were there to begin with; blaming everyone and everything else simply won’t help you.  I does, in fact, sap and drain you of precious emotional strength and energy you need to face your challenges.

The real issue is that too many of us don’t take action. Tending to stew and waver, and otherwise procrastinating, we will blame the people around us, God, the weather, the fates, the government or our neighbor’s cat when we realize we’ve missed our window of opportunity.

Life as God offers it is about accomplishment and growth, not perfection. Waiting for the “perfect moment” is merely an excuse not to act. If perfection were the key, few planes would ever leave the ground, we would never have invented penicillin, and no one would ever attempt to play golf (or at least use drivers). The fact that we have become adept at commiserating with each other about what “they” are doing to us, and believe that the problem is with “them,” simply magnifies our dilemma.

Thrive is about doing much more than merely surviving, which is what most victims try to do. Every week, you’ll learn something you can use immediately. Now. Not tomorrow. Not next week, next month, next year, or someday. Now.

So we invite you to join us and thrive in 2012!

Feb. 12: This Little Piggy Went to Market…The Dangers of Debt
Feb. 19: This Little Piggy Stayed Home…Coping with Joblessness
Feb. 26: This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef…Learning to Handle Money Well
Mar. 04: This Little Piggy Had None…When It Seems Like All Is Lost
Mar. 11: This Little Piggy Went, “Whee!”…Money & Happiness God’s Way

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In addition, we are offering free workshops on Saturdays for anyone who wants to attend.  The workshops are all hosted by professionals and experts who will answer your questions and offer you advice, all for free!

• Opportunities for questions and answers
• Free coffee and snacks provided
• Casual dress, come as you are

Saturday, Feb.11, 10:00 a.m.–Noon:  ”How To Fix Your Bad Credit”

Free Credit Repair workshop. Learn how to fix bad credit, clean up your credit report and avoid scams.  Credit Guys from Lees Summit, MO will be at Lake Hills Community Church in Greenview to offer free professional information about getting your credit problems under control.   (Presenter: Keith Knapp, owner and founder of Credit Guys, Lees Summit Missouri)

Saturday, Feb.18, 10:00–11:00 a.m.:  ”When It Seems That All Is Lost: Bankruptcy & Your Options”

Bankruptcy is not the end of the world, though it may certainly feel like it.   The laws exist to provide help and a safety net for those in deep financial crisis.  Though there can be some stigma attached to bankruptcy, it is in some cases the best way forward.  Others find that what they need most is to learn some options in going through bankruptcy or options in avoiding bankruptcy.  (This workshop date, time and content has not yet been confirmed.)

Saturday, Feb.25, 10:00–11:00 a.m.: “Finding Balance in Your Budget”

When it comes to money, preparation is everything, but knowing where to start can be difficult. This workshop will show you how to set up a budget that works for you by helping you understand loans, borrowing and the importance of managing credit and debt.  (Presenter: Sherri Tangsrud, Edward Jones Investing)

Saturday, Mar.3, 10:00–11:00 a.m.: “Putting Your Best Foot Forward”

Job search and Interview workshop.  This workshop will offer practical help for those who have perhaps lost a job or are seeking work in today’s difficult and highly competitive world.  We will seek to give you “a leg up” in creating your resume, filling out job applications and doing well in interviews.  (This workshop date and time has not yet been confirmed.)

Also on Mar.3, 11:00 a.m.–Noon: “Working For Yourself: What You Really Need To Know”

Avoid some of the pitfalls and serious mistakes that are often made as people engage in working for themselves, start a small business or get into a home-based business.  Learn some practical tips to help you get started and to help along the way. (This workshop date and time has not yet been confirmed.)

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 It’s Time to Take Control!

On Saturday, February 11, from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon there will be a free workshop open to the community.  We are bringing in Credit Guys from Lees Summit, MO to offer free professional information about getting your credit problems under control.

The workshop is one of several practical and free workshops we’ll be offering throughout the course of our financial teaching series, “This Little Piggy Had None.”  Workshops will feature information on mortgage refinancing, bankruptcy, finding work in a tough job market, learning how to balance your budget, and more.

In today’s economy credit has become a necessary tool to our financial success, the truth is that most people do not realize the impact that credit scores plays on their financial well being. Have you ever stopped to consider how much your credit affects?

• Approval and Interest rate on purchasing or refinancing a home
• Approval and Interest rate on purchasing an automobile
• Approval and Interest rate on credit cards
• Rate you pay for insurance
• Being hired or promoted for a new job
• Deposit for utility bills
• Approval and deposit amount for a mobile phone
• much more…

With so much on the line having good credit is a must to achieve your financial goals!  Visit their website here:  Credit Guys

Our goal in offering these workshops is to offer free professional help for people experiencing hardship because of the slow economy.  

Other details:

• free coffee and snacks
• casual dress, come as you are
• question & answer time following the presentation

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As a pastor, I love for people to want to study the Bible. As a pastor, I hate for people to study the Bible incorrectly. Some may wonder how I think it’s even possible to do so. Oh, there are several ways. This little article is just one such example.

A Word Study

One of the fun things I learned in Bible college was what is called etymology, or the study of the meaning of words. It is often simply called a word study. This is most popularly done with a couple of simple tools like a good dictionary (preferably an old one when studying Bible words) and a Bible concordance, like Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Strong’s is an exhaustive cross-reference of every word in the King James Bible back to the word in the original language.  You can read more about it here. Even though it’s not the best concordance, it is certainly the most popular.

An important note that is generally misunderstood is that the Strong’s Concordance is not intended to be a translation tool.  It is primarily an indexing tool for the Bible and is meant to give only a very general dictionary definition. This is especially helpful for the King James version which was translated into a language that has changed a great deal since the time of its translation.

Wikipedia states, “Strong’s Concordance is not a translation of the Bible nor is it intended as a translation tool. The use of Strong’s numbers is not a substitute for professional translation of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into English by those with formal training in ancient languages and the literature of the cultures in which the Bible was written.” I couldn’t agree more, for reasons we shall soon discover.

A Common Pitfall

One common pitfall I often hear is when a person looks up a word in Strong’s and discovers root meanings there. They will then try to impose the root meaning on the text to make it say something different than the translation really requires. This can produce some very bad theology. Here is an easy example in our modern day language.

I’ll use the word buccaneer. I chose this because I receive a word of the day from the Visual Thesaurus in my email, and this was today’s word! A buccaneer is a pirate. Are you ready? The root meaning of the word is one who barbecues, and the ultimate root is “a barbecue.’ Let’s see if we can create the scenario.

One day Herkimer reads in a magazine, “The buccaneer is one of the great dangers experienced when traveling the world, and any contact should be carefully avoided.” Herkimer isn’t sure what a buccaneer is so he whips out his trusty Strong’s Concordance and reads that in some cases it is a trans-European word meaning “to pirate” and it’s root meaning is “a barbecue”. He wants to be very careful to strictly follow the revelation he’s been given so he concludes he should avoid both pirates and barbecues! He consequently misses out on some very tasty cuisine as he travels the globe and he even convinces some fellow travelers to avoid all barbecues they may encounter, too. Bummer.

It sounds amusing in this case, but it becomes much less amusing when considering that many, many people do the exact same thing with God’s Word, misconstruing meanings and arriving at false translations and teachings through misuse of a simple indexing tool.

Broader Learning

Here is a very safe principle. I’m betting it’s safe to say that most of our readers have never studied the Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic languages in all their vocabularies, grammar, figures of speech, metaphors, idioms, syntax, colloquialisms, cultural references, alternate meanings, etc. That being the case, the very best way to have access to those who do is to read the most common versions of the Bible. Don’t just read one translation – read many! The thousands of hours, the genius and the exceeding expertise of those translators is of much more value than you trying to figure out all the hidden variables involved in complex interpretation of an unknown language. And, surprise! — they’re going to do it better than you!

If that’s not enough for you then you really should consider taking courses in Greek and Hebrew, and lots of them. If you don’t want to be that extreme, then I’ll suggest some better study tools below.

Word Study Tools and Practice

First, get some good sophisticated Bible study software. There are lots of them available. The one I use is downloadable for free and it’s called e-sword. It has lots of study modules you can add to it, some for free, some for purchase. For word studies I prefer Young’s Analytical Concordance (much more comprehensive than Strong’s), the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, the Complete Word Study Dictionary, Vincent’s Word Studies, Thayer’s Greek Dictionary and Vine’s Bible Dictionary. In addition I read detailed commentaries on the text from several conservative Bible Scholars as well. Using this broad range of tools usually gives me a clear meaning and usage of the word or phrase in question. Then I must employ personal integrity and not stretch, bend, shape or alter that meaning in any way other than the original intent of the author, as much as that intent is possible to discern. After all, that’s the whole reason for the word study.

First, I try to make absolutely certain to read the verse in context. Never isolate a verse from the verses before and after it, the paragraph where it’s found in the original manuscripts (I recommend The Books of the Bible translation from Biblica for this), the surrounding paragraphs, taking into account who the writer is, to whom it was written, what type of writing is it, what is the historical, cultural and political setting, and finally, is it in the Old or New Testament and how does it jive with the overall Bible. Never, ever forget that the context creates the meaning. (We’ll talk about this in another article.) I also check to see how the word, phrase, or principle is used in other places in the Bible in the original language. This is a very important step which should not be skipped! It’s a part of the overall picture.

I will then read the verse in question in lots of various versions of the Bible (KJV, NIV, NASB, etc.). I usually read it in about 20 different translations. From there I delve into the other study tools.

Change Your Glasses

There is a scene in the movie, National Treasure, where Nicholas Cage has found a set of glasses made by Ben Franklin. The glasses contain different sets of lenses and as he changes lenses, different writings suddenly become visible. It’s a fabulous picture of what can happen if we will read and study the Bible with the awareness and openness that there may be others who know and see things more clearly than we.

We all read the Bible with certain kinds of “lenses” in place. We read it through filters of prior knowledge and learning. We read it through the lens of our own emotions and psyche. We often read it through the lens of trying to prove a certain belief, or disprove another. I want to encourage you to try to learn to study without such lenses. This is very, very difficult. It’s even more difficult when I want the text to say something other than it really does…or when a pet belief or long-held view of mine is being challenged.

Too often we poo-poo and minimize the beliefs and works of others because they don’t look good through our lenses. Consequently, we endanger ourselves of never really hearing the full weight of a belief or thought differing from our own, and the real reasons behind that belief. This can be because of insecurity or pride — both are arch-enemies of the true Bible student. Try reading your verse or verses through completely different filters, afforded by other genuine and conservative study-ers. It’s amazingly refreshing (and challenging) what we may see when we step away from our own personal dogma and seek to genuinely listen to others who see things through different lenses.

P.S. — After waiting two days from the time I first published this article, I went back and read it again.  I feel I need to add that it sounds a bit as though I’m writing from an expert position.  The fact is, I know about such things as these mainly because, out of ignorance, I have been guilty of them myself.  You see, it is myself and those like me of whom I write.  

Over the years as I endeavor to grow and continue learning I seem to keep uncovering errors and fallacies that I myself have committed in interpreting scripture. And so I ask that you please read the article as being from one who is, himself, in an ongoing process of learning to handle God’s word more humbly and with greater understanding and integrity for the glory of Christ and His kingdom. ~ MK

The great idea I’m about to share is not my own, but one I heard a few years back and it has stuck with me.

Whenever there is a catastrophic disaster like we’ve seen in Japan, Haiti and Chile,  most of us want to be prepared to give and to help. One of the best strategies to prepare for this is to simply include a monthly contribution to a trusted relief organization in your budget. That way when such disaster strikes, you won’t feel pressure to find additional money to send, or feel guilty if you have nothing extra to give or just never get around to it. Even $5.00 per month will make a big impact in a third world country.

Most of us have access to automated check disbursement through our banks. Consider this small adjustment to help make a big difference!

This link is to the Bishops’ Crisis Response Fund for our denomination, the Free Methodist Churches of North America.  Unlike many other relief organizations, 100% of your funds go directly to these places of crisis.  If you have no other place where you feel confident in giving, please check this out and consider us.

Free Methodists in many parts of the world experience hunger, disease and loss of all earthly possessions because of both natural and man-made disasters. War, tsunamis, earthquakes, mudslides, drought … your gifts can make a difference for fellow Free Methodists who are unfortunate enough to experience these horrors. The U.S. Board of Bishops created this fund so that 100% goes to the point of need. Nothing is taken for overhead.

Formerly known as the Bishops’ Famine and Relief Fund, here’s how the BCRF works:

• People give to the BCRF in advance of an emergency.
• When a crisis arises, church leaders nearest the need make a request.
• The need is shared with the area bishop and the area missions director for their endorsement and support.
• Once the crisis is verified, the information is shared by email among the bishops.
• After consideration by the bishop, and if approved, the funds are wired immediately to the point of need.
• Missionaries and church leaders in the country distribute the food, medicines or building materials. At the conclusion of the distribution, a report is filed on how the gifts were used.

You can make a contribution today through Lake Hills Community Church, clearly marking it for the Bishops’ Crisis Response Fund, or mail it directly to: Board of Bishops/BCRF, P.O. Box 535002 Indianapolis, IN 46253

Phone: (800) 342-5531 ext 208

Giving to help distressed fellow believers is not new:
“The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their gifts to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.” (Acts 11:29-30)

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For Their Sake,

~ Mike Knapp, pastor

We are offering several helps in this post to aid you in the process.

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Register

If you haven’t registered to vote you may download a Camden County voter registration form here.  Please fill it out and turn it in today.

Election Guides and Helps

In the past I used to find that there were nearly always things on the ballot for which I was unprepared.  Here are some links to help you prepare.

• If you need help learning about the candidates, check out http://www.citizenlinkvoter.com.

• You can download a sample ballot for this year’s election in your Missouri county at http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Category:Missouri_counties (very helpful!)
• Another very important aspect of voting pertains to the election of judges.  Here is a link to judgepedia where you can enter a potential judge’s name to learn more about them. http://judgepedia.org/index.php/Judicial_elections,_2010

Vote Your Values

I will not and can not try to tell anyone which candidates to vote for.  I do strongly encourage you to vote your values.  If you are a follower of Christ, do your best to discern what the Bible teaches regarding key policies and party platforms and vote accordingly.

Christians and Politics

I have seen several friends on facebook who are facing political debates where people on their friends lists are saying that Christianity has no place in government or politics. Allow me to offer a logical Christian response.  I have borrowed the language from a recent blog post by Gary DeMar at americanvision.org.

“‘It must be recognized that in any culture, the source of law is the god of that society.’ (R. J. Rushdoony, Institutes of Biblical Law, 4) If man is the source of a society’s laws, then man is the god of that society. If soci­ety ignores the governing principles that God has set forth in His word [the Bible-MK], then that society is competing with the Lord of all creation.

To deny that there is a biblical system of civil government is to say that God has no standard of righteousness and justice in this crucial area. If men and nations can pick and choose the system of civil government they desire, man becomes ultimate and God becomes subordinate to man’s desires.  How could a system of civil government ever be evaluated if the system is arbitrary at the very start? If a group of disenchanted citizens wished to overthrow the first arbitrary government, what stan­dard of justice would prohibit them from doing it? If any man-made governmental system is legitimate, then it follows that all man-made governmental systems are legitimate. Those who have the means, the power, and the influence are the ones who rule.

We as followers of Christ must say, “no” to this.  “Because all of life is to re­flect the character of God, we must expect civil government to reflect His character as well. No two competing systems of civil government can be right. Only the Bible can be our guide in determining which is right.”  (Gary DeMar, americanvision.org)

To read the full article by Gary DeMar at his website, click here.

This week’s topic – “Where’s God When I Hurt?”
Wednesdays, 6:30 – 7:30

Want to Talk?

People want to talk about life—TableTalk stories dig into the big and little stuff that shapes our lives. Family. Friends. Fears. Busyness. Balance. Money. Materialism. Health. Heaven. Peace. Purpose. Through the exploration of these stories, you can receive and give practical support and insight into the everyday things people face.

Think of it more as a place and a time. It’s a cozy environment where people can gather for an intriguing hour of stories and conversation to feed the soul.  It’s a safe place for questions and doubts, and an encouraging atmosphere for participants to share their own stories.

Who is TableTalk for?

TableTalk is designed for the large number of people who are spiritually curious, want to talk and ask questions about life issues, and enjoy friends. TableTalk will appeal to all ages, families, couples, singles, and students.

A typical TableTalk event may draw a mix of people with varying degrees of faith and viewpoints. It’s that very mix that makes the conversation rich.  You’re welcome just as you are.  Your thoughts are welcome. Your doubts are welcome.  We’re all in this together, and God is here, ready to connect with you in a fresh way.

Upcoming Topics

Wednesday, July 28:  Islam in America

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.

Despite the title, this has nothing to do with president Obama, socialism or politics in any form!  So relax, this is just about some fun and useful internet tools.  Since I’m fairly new to this subject, I am not writing anything in depth. I’ll just give you a simple overview and some helpful resources.  I hope you can find some good uses for some of these tools for your own church.

What is it?

It is marking or tagging a website and saving it for later use. Rather than saving sites in your web browser, you are saving them online. Since your bookmarks are online, you can more easily share them with others.

What is the benefit?

How does it help others?

Bookmarking and rating websites is a nice help for those sites you enjoy.  As I have worked very hard at promoting our website and blog I have learned that the more people who bookmark us on such sites, the higher our Google search rank!  In other words, our website appears higher on the list when someone searches “churches at lake of the ozarks” or something similar.

How do I do it?

I’m so glad you asked!  You simply explore some social bookmarking sites, choose one or two that you like, get a free account and get started.  My favorites at this time are Stumbleupon and Delicious, and I am a member of several others.  I am getting into the habit of marking my friends’ and fellow church planters’ websites because it will help them.  The buttons on the right side of this blog are the sites I use.  I invite you to use them on our behalf if you have enjoyed any of our blogs!

If you use the Firefox browser, they offer an add-on called “shareaholic” which makes it quite easy to share your favorites with others, and it’s fun checking out these kinds of social sites.

Can this really help new churches?

Absolutely, as long as the church is seeking to reach out via the internet.  Anytime you bookmark a church’s blog or website, anytime you join their groups on Facebook or MySpace, or when you add them on Twitter or LinkedIn — it all helps!  As a church planter myself, I want to extend my network of people both online and in the real world as far as possible.  Our network is a major part of our sphere of influence.

So in the words of John Wesley, founder of a movement that brought entire continents to God, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

You can read more about social bookmarking here: About.com, and here: 7 Things You Should Know About Social Bookmarking

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.

I hate Farmville. Does that make me a bad person?   If you think so you’d better stop right here and exit this post, because you will find my next statements to be nothing short of blasphemous.  I also hate Mafia Wars, Café World, Zoo, Pet Society, receiving roses, drinks, pieces of Flair and being poked.  Neither do I really care who becomes friends with whom, to what pages they become abject fans and devotees, or their ability to quote song lyrics rather than creating an original status.

Hi, I’m Mike, and I’m a grinch…a Facebook grinch.  Fortunately, I have the right to be a grinch, just the same as others have the right to fritter away precious minutes and hours of their lives.  Someday on their death beds their life will flash before their eyes and they’ll see hours, weeks, months and yes, some will even see years of Farmville filling their past like an barren wasteland.  In that day they may, they just may, feel the same way about it as I.

Wow, after that blurt I feel better!  I have been asked by several friends to unveil my secrets to Facebook bliss, so without further ado we will proceed.

First, you really need to use Firefox as your Internet browser.  Just dump Internet Explorer – it’s a virus magnet.  Just google Firefox, download and install it.  Then follow these links and install them.

1. Adblock Plus Just install it and my advice is to use a filter subscription; you’ll find a link to it on the page.  Since installing this I NEVER see ads on Facebook, Myspace or any other website.  It is perhaps the single coolest internet gadget I’ve ever seen.

2. Facebook Filter 1.2.3 This little jewel runs a close second to Adblock.  It gives you options to hide when friends become friends with someone else, become a fan of, joined a group, tagged in an album, etc., etc., etc., INCLUDING hiding applications and setting your page to default to the Most Recent news feed.

That’s it!  Simple. Awesome.

P.S. Like this article?  Give it a “thumbs up” with the social bookmark buttons on the far right; it’ll help us out! Especially the bottom three buttons: Del.icio.us, Digg and my favorite, Stumble Upon.

In my next “practical helps” blog (look for the tab on the blog homepage) I’ll discuss Social Bookmarking.