Students & Twenties you don't want to miss this conference...
MOBILISE USA JANUARY 15 - 17
Why Mobilise?
Against the backdrop of a declining Church in our nation, students and twenties are sensing a new season is upon us. Among younger generations, there is a greater interest in the God of the Bible giving us the opportunity to make a huge Kingdom impact in the coming years.
Mobilise USA is a conference that seeks to inspire students and twenties to pursue all that God has for them. Join us in St. Louis, MO, January 15-17, 2010 as we worship together, experience great teaching and focus on our mission to reach the earth with the Gospel.
http://www.mobiliseusa.org/cms/home.html
Friday, November 6, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Death's Painful Sting
Death can often come suddenly. I recently attended a funeral for my close friend’s mother; it was a somber day as we remembered and buried a woman who was only in her 50s when she died. Tragically, it had seemed that an initial round of chemotherapy several years ago had worked only to find out a year later that the cancer had come back viciously and within two months this wonderful woman was dead.
Death can often be unsettling. That weekend a man was asking me how my week had gone, and I mentioned I had gone to a funeral. He responded, “It wasn’t cancer was it?” When I informed him it was cancer – brain cancer, he was visibly shaken and angry. He described how several of his relatives had died of cancer and how much he hated it. He relayed how he wanted to go out in a car accident, in a blaze of glory.
Each human being must wrestle with the reality of death. It jars us out of the grind and comforts of life and causes us to assess. As I was praying this morning, I was reflecting on these events, and I was struck by my own response to the reality of death. I can honestly say I don’t fear death. Death at times seems sudden, yet it does not unsettle me.
In this world, our bondage to sin brings a fear of death. As the Apostle Paul said, “The sting of death is sin.” (I Cor. 15:56) To be born again is to be freed from the power of sin and the fear of death. I know I have been freed from sin through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Thus, I can say with Paul, “O, death where is your victory? O, death where is your sting?” (I Cor. 15:55)
Some will say like Clint Eastwood does in Gran Torino that Christianity just gives old ladies a hand to hold and a false security as they drift from this world. This idea is not my experience.
It is the overwhelming sense of God’s presence I in my life, the power of the word of God to change my life as I have followed it, and the testimony of people healed as I have prayed for them in the name of Jesus that remind me that I have indeed been born again. It is these marks of newness of life that grant weight to my hope in the resurrection of the dead, a full freedom from the pain of this world, and the joy of seeing Jesus in eternity.
Do you have that confidence? You can.
Death can often be unsettling. That weekend a man was asking me how my week had gone, and I mentioned I had gone to a funeral. He responded, “It wasn’t cancer was it?” When I informed him it was cancer – brain cancer, he was visibly shaken and angry. He described how several of his relatives had died of cancer and how much he hated it. He relayed how he wanted to go out in a car accident, in a blaze of glory.
Each human being must wrestle with the reality of death. It jars us out of the grind and comforts of life and causes us to assess. As I was praying this morning, I was reflecting on these events, and I was struck by my own response to the reality of death. I can honestly say I don’t fear death. Death at times seems sudden, yet it does not unsettle me.
In this world, our bondage to sin brings a fear of death. As the Apostle Paul said, “The sting of death is sin.” (I Cor. 15:56) To be born again is to be freed from the power of sin and the fear of death. I know I have been freed from sin through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Thus, I can say with Paul, “O, death where is your victory? O, death where is your sting?” (I Cor. 15:55)
Some will say like Clint Eastwood does in Gran Torino that Christianity just gives old ladies a hand to hold and a false security as they drift from this world. This idea is not my experience.
It is the overwhelming sense of God’s presence I in my life, the power of the word of God to change my life as I have followed it, and the testimony of people healed as I have prayed for them in the name of Jesus that remind me that I have indeed been born again. It is these marks of newness of life that grant weight to my hope in the resurrection of the dead, a full freedom from the pain of this world, and the joy of seeing Jesus in eternity.
Do you have that confidence? You can.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Church in the City (A Two Part Series on Acts)
Church in the City is a two part series on the Books of Acts where we will journey through the stories of the early church as they fight for the gospel, plant churches in ancient mega-cities, and watch these cities' cultures shift.
In Part I "Church in the City: the Fight for the Gospel" (Sundays October 11 - November 29), we will examine what church looks like in a city and what resistance the gospel faced. We will also talk about current modern values and how they relate to the church and the gospel. Here is a look at a few of upcoming weeks.
October 11 - Acts 1 & 2 - Sexuality vs. Worship
October 18 - Acts 2 - Comfort vs. Sacrifice
October 25 - Acts 3 (AM) - Security & Apathy vs. Obedience
October 25 - Acts 4 (PM) - Rel atavism & Individualism vs. Truth
In Part II "Culture Shift" (Sundays January 2010), we will look at how Spirit-empowered, Jesus-witnessing churches shifted the culture of pagan cities.
Are you ready?
Sundays 10:30AM & 1PM 69 Kilmarnock Street Boston
Friday, October 2, 2009
Fenway Church's 1-Year Anniversary Celebration (Sun. Oct . 18, 12-1PM)
Please join us as we celebrate our first year since we launched our first public service... for our story click here.
Church in the City: the Fight for the Gospel (Acts Part I: Oct. 11 - Nov. 29)
Why were the apostles imprisoned, persecuted, and killed?
What message did the apostles preach that triggered these reactions?
Why did the first church care for the poor, preach the gospel, and suffer for their faith?
What message did these young believers so passionately hold onto that it cost them their lives?
What does a church in a city look like?
Discover the book of Acts as we begin in a new preaching series - Church in the City: the Fight for the Gospel (Oct. 11 - Nov. 29 @ CHURCH).
Sundays 10:30AM & 1PM 69 Kilmarnock Street Boston
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
In fire’s aftermath, Restaurant Row eager to get back to business - The Boston Globe
In fire’s aftermath, Restaurant Row eager to get back to business - The Boston Globe
Posted using ShareThis
The Restaurant Row Revival Block Party was awesome - great band called Prospect Hill, the youth break dance team had serious skills, and the drum group was a blast. I got to meet a lot of awesome people from around the Fenway neighborhood who are really trying to give back to the community and make this neighborhood a great place to live. The Fenway CDC and Lori did a great job putting it on, and I am glad there quite a few Fenway Church members there helping out! Read about the Globe wrote and learn about the tragic fire that hit this row of restaurants in January. Let's all pray and hope they make it back!
Thoughts On Ruth
Ruth is a magnificent, short book. It is the story of the lives of ordinary people in an ancient agricultural world living in a society where many were choosing to do whatever "was right in their own eyes."1 (Not unlike our own!) The result as we learn from the book of Judges was a Israelite culture where sexual immorality, rape , civil war, and violence were common - a culture slipping toward collapse. In the midst of this culture, we are introduced to a small family which flees the famine in Israel and settles in Moab, a culture know for its sorcery, child sacrifice, demon worship, and antagonism towards Israel. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire.
In Moab, our friend Naomi takes center stage. Her husband (Elimilech) whose idea it was to move to Moab dies. Naomi's two sons marry Moabites (Orphah & Ruth), but after a few years Naomi's sons also die. Naomi is heart broken, poverty stricken, and very angry with God. She returns to Israel upon hearing that God is again blessing his people. Despite this news and the kindly accompaniment of her daughter-in-law Ruth who pledges to join Naomi's people and follow her God, Naomi remains bitter and depressed.
As the days go by, Ruth realizes that they are running out food as they live in Naomi's home that is about to be foreclosed on. She patiently waits for Naomi to take action. When she doesn't, Ruth asks Naomi for permission to go out into the harvest fields and scavenge what barley is left in the fields. Ruth's commitment and submission to Naomi is not without reward as she happens (perhaps by divine chance) to enter the field of a man named Boaz.
Boaz is an able man although getting older in years who unlike most of people of his day still sought to live according to God's ways and laws; God is central to everything he does. He greets his workers in the morning with the blessing of God and notices a new young woman in his field. He soon finds out she is Ruth, the Moabitess, and he welcomes her to Israel promising that she will find refuge on the shadow of the Lord God of Israel. Knowingly or unknowingly, Ruth has found herself in new land, a land where Lord God is King. Unknowingly, Boaz will end up fulfilling his promise of God's goodness to Ruth.
As the story unfolds, we see Ruth's commitment and patience as she waits for God's promise to of good to come to past. We see Boaz fulfill God's plan of redemption for Ruth and Naomi as he demonstrates God's goodness by purchasing Naomi's land and marrying Ruth.
The story of Ruth reveals that God is both good and sovereign (in control). The main characters struggle to reconcile these two truths in the face of death, economic crisis, pain, and suffering. Elimelech and Orpah are examples of people who the circumstances of life and not who God is motivate their decisions. They die inMoab
Boaz introduces us to the concept of redemption. Ruth and Naomi no longer have a right to live in Israel - God's kingdom - because their land is being foreclosed on. As human beings we have no right to a relationship with God because we have lived lives filled with lies, selfishness, and rebellion to God's way. Thankfully like Boaz Jesus paid our redemption price by his blood shed during a brutal death on a cross. Because our redemption price has been paid in full, a relationship with God is possible. Like Ruth and Naomi we must in the face of tragedy, suffering, and the injustice of this world believe Jesus exists, Jesus is sovereign, and Jesus is good. As we join with his church (his people) in knowing him, we discover that the circumstances that seemingly brought great pain and torment into our lives were the very circumstances that God was using to draw us into relationship with himself.
Thus, the book of Ruth is the story of God's incredible grace in using Elimelech's flight to Moab, the death of Naomi and Ruth's husbands, and the poverty they faced to bring Ruth, a Moabite woman that would have died apart from God in pagan land, to a place of relationship with himself and a part of his son Jesus' lineage.
Read the story click here.
1 Judges 21:25, 17:6, 18:1
2 Matthew 28:20
In Moab, our friend Naomi takes center stage. Her husband (Elimilech) whose idea it was to move to Moab dies. Naomi's two sons marry Moabites (Orphah & Ruth), but after a few years Naomi's sons also die. Naomi is heart broken, poverty stricken, and very angry with God. She returns to Israel upon hearing that God is again blessing his people. Despite this news and the kindly accompaniment of her daughter-in-law Ruth who pledges to join Naomi's people and follow her God, Naomi remains bitter and depressed.
As the days go by, Ruth realizes that they are running out food as they live in Naomi's home that is about to be foreclosed on. She patiently waits for Naomi to take action. When she doesn't, Ruth asks Naomi for permission to go out into the harvest fields and scavenge what barley is left in the fields. Ruth's commitment and submission to Naomi is not without reward as she happens (perhaps by divine chance) to enter the field of a man named Boaz.
Boaz is an able man although getting older in years who unlike most of people of his day still sought to live according to God's ways and laws; God is central to everything he does. He greets his workers in the morning with the blessing of God and notices a new young woman in his field. He soon finds out she is Ruth, the Moabitess, and he welcomes her to Israel promising that she will find refuge on the shadow of the Lord God of Israel. Knowingly or unknowingly, Ruth has found herself in new land, a land where Lord God is King. Unknowingly, Boaz will end up fulfilling his promise of God's goodness to Ruth.
As the story unfolds, we see Ruth's commitment and patience as she waits for God's promise to of good to come to past. We see Boaz fulfill God's plan of redemption for Ruth and Naomi as he demonstrates God's goodness by purchasing Naomi's land and marrying Ruth.
The story of Ruth reveals that God is both good and sovereign (in control). The main characters struggle to reconcile these two truths in the face of death, economic crisis, pain, and suffering. Elimelech and Orpah are examples of people who the circumstances of life and not who God is motivate their decisions. They die in
Ruth models an ideal follower of Jesus who not only is coming into a belief that God exists but is actively seeking him out by serving and listening to an older believer (even though the believer is clearly in a crisis of faith). Ruth models kindness, faith, humility, and obedience. Ruth's statement to Naomi, “All that you say I will do.” clearly foreshadows Jesus command to his own disciples to "obey everything he commanded them."2 Ruth exhibits a tremendous level of respect and trust by refusing to chase after other younger men as many of her fellow peers were.
Boaz introduces us to the concept of redemption. Ruth and Naomi no longer have a right to live in Israel - God's kingdom - because their land is being foreclosed on. As human beings we have no right to a relationship with God because we have lived lives filled with lies, selfishness, and rebellion to God's way. Thankfully like Boaz Jesus paid our redemption price by his blood shed during a brutal death on a cross. Because our redemption price has been paid in full, a relationship with God is possible. Like Ruth and Naomi we must in the face of tragedy, suffering, and the injustice of this world believe Jesus exists, Jesus is sovereign, and Jesus is good. As we join with his church (his people) in knowing him, we discover that the circumstances that seemingly brought great pain and torment into our lives were the very circumstances that God was using to draw us into relationship with himself.
Thus, the book of Ruth is the story of God's incredible grace in using Elimelech's flight to Moab, the death of Naomi and Ruth's husbands, and the poverty they faced to bring Ruth, a Moabite woman that would have died apart from God in pagan land, to a place of relationship with himself and a part of his son Jesus' lineage.
Read the story click here.
1 Judges 21:25, 17:6, 18:1
2 Matthew 28:20
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