Zack's Blog

Name:
Location: Plano, Texas, United States

I am 32 years of age. I am striving to serve God in all that I do. I also like to read my Bible, biblical/ theological literature, and the comics in the newspaper.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Prayers for Missionaries

Yo, yo, and hello to everyone out there. I hope and pray all is well.
I'm going to make this one short and sweet. Please pray for the AIM students, especially today. For those who have been on their fields for a while. For those who are just now arriving on their fields. Pray for my friends Elijah and Kristan and their team as they go to New Zealand. And pray for Rob and Denyce and their team as they prepare to go to Russia.
God bless you all! Have a great day. Peace!
Zack

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

May I introduce to you Saul of Tarsus

Greetings one and all! I hope and pray all is well with each of you. I found out yesterday that Jake and Angie are writing a blog about Madelyn. I think it's website is mynameismadelyn.blogspot.com. If that's incorrect, then please put a note on this blog and I'll make sure to tell you the correct blog address.
Now, on to another blog series. This one will be over the life of the Apostle Paul studying Charles Swindoll's book Paul: A Man of Grace and Grit. We all know what a great influence Paul had on Christianity in it's early stages. We're all familiar with his letters which are in the Bible. His words of wisdom all throughout those letters are inspiring to me and to many others as well. Knowing what we know about the Apostle Paul from his letters we might be tempted to think he loved Jesus since birth. But if we look closer at the Scriptures we will see otherwise.
In Acts 6 we read about the passionate young Christian named Stephen, whom Scripture says was "full of grace and power" (v 8), and his face shined like the face of an angel (v 15). Stephen talked about his faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ, and at the end of his speech the whole Jewish Council dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death. Now notice what the killers did. They gave their coats to one who the Bible calls "a young man named Saul". He was their and was very glad they murdered him in cold blood. That was the start of his murdering other Christians as well. It is very important that we know all of that to understand why he was so grateful for grace.
No dought he was there when the Jewish Council met with the Apostles in Acts 5 and he heard the speech that Gamaliel gave them, which might possibly saved their lives at that moment.
Everyone has a dark side in their lives. No matter how great someone is, there is a troubled past. That leads us to three final points here. 1.No matter how you appear to others today, everyone has a dark side. 2. Regardless of what you've done, no one is beyond hope. And 3. Even though your past is soiled, anyone can find a new beginning with God.
The Apostle Paul is another fascinating story. I hope you'll stay with this study.
I have decided to take Sunset's Bible courses by correspondence and stay home. I want to stay in contact with Charles Cook, the director of the Focus Northeast/ Northwest Program, and with some of those who plan to move to either of those two regions after graduation. I hope to join with an individual, family, or a team to plant churches in one of those two regions of the USA. This country is indeed a mission field. I desire to stay here and join a family, or an individual, or a group on a church planting effort
God bless you all in Jesus name!
Zack

Monday, May 21, 2007

God's Heart, God's Man, God's Ways

Hello there everyone! I hope and pray all of you had a great weekend! After church services were over yesterday afternoon, my dad and I drove out to Krum to visit Jake, Angie, and Maddie. It was so fun! Maddie is a week old today. Hard to believe. It was so late last night that dad and I stayed the night and went back home today. Please be praying for Jake, Angie, and Maddie.
I am going to start a weekly series of blogs over the life of King David studying a book written by Charles Swindoll. The first chapter is called God's Heart, God's Man, God's Ways. Of course, this book is about David. The life of David is truly fascinating to study. He was the youngest son of Jesse. Growing up he was the shepherd of his father's sheep in Bethlehem. Through the years he experienced great victories, but also suffered earth-shattering sorrows. Through all of this God called him a man after His own heart. Before we look at the events that shaped David's life, let's look at what things were important to God's heart and how those things caused David to be after God's heart.
Throughout the Bible God's ways have been in contradiction to the world's (1 Cor. 1:26-29). A classic case in point would be Israel in David's child hood. In those days Samuel was getting older. It was time to appoint a new leader for God's people Israel. But the people didn't want Samuel's sons to do it, because they didn't do what their father did. They turned aside to dishonest gain and perverted justice (1 Sam. 8:3). So the people demanded to have a king reign over them. They told Samuel their demands (v. 5) and of course he wasn't pleased(v. 6a). But the Lord granted them their requests (vs. 7 & 9). According to 9:2 they selected Saul, because he was handsome and tall. Saul's reign didn't last long, and God selected one who was striving to please and follow Him. God got someone who was spiritual, humble, and had integrity.
God's training ground for His man, is in solitude, obscurity, monotony, and reality. In closing, let's look at two important truths. 1. It's in the little things that prove ourselves capable of the big things (Matt. 25:14-30). And 2. When God develops inner qualities, He's never in a hurry.
I'll post more about David about this time next week. Also, I'll do a weekly series about Paul studying a book written by Swindoll starting tomorrow.
Have a great week everyone. Be blessed!
Zack

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Jeremiah 31:31-34 I will make a new covanent

Greetings one and all! Sorry for the delay in the new post. I was in Krum with the rest of my family because my sister and brother-in-law gave birth to their daughter Madelyn (Maddie) Grace Chism on Monday! We're all so very excited! We all got to hold her and she is just precious!
Now on to the last Jeremiah keynote address. It was done on 31:31 through 34. It reads, "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke My covenant though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will My people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor or a man his brother, saying 'Know the Lord' because they will all know Me from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more". This is a really awesome text! God is making a new covenant with Israel because they and Judah broke it , so He made a new one. He did this because He loved them as He loves us. As He promised to forgive them, He forgives us too.
Lord-willing some day I will get to go to the Pepperdine Lectureship. I hope to get involved in church planting or some other kind of full-time church ministry in either the Northeast or Northwest and hopefully will be able to attend the Pepperdine Lectures someday.
As I said above, my brother-in-law and sister Jake and Angie Chism had their baby girl on Monday. It was so exciting because our whole immediate family was their to see her make her grand entrance. It was truly a special occasion.
And lastly, please be praying for the AIM students and my friends Elijah and Kristan and their team heading to New Zealand later on this year. And please be praying for Rob and Denyce and their team as they prepare to go to Russia. Thank you everyone! Be blessed!
Zack
ps. And pray for more workers for the Kingdom of God (Matt. 9:37-38).

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Jeremiah 29: 1-14 The Plans I have for you

Greetings everyone! I pray you are all having a great day today. The next keynote lecture in the Pepperdine Lectureship series is on Jeremiah 29: 1 through 14. Verses 1 through 10 just talk about that Jeremiah wrote a letter to Jerusalem about Nebuchadnezzer and others and that there were those out there who are telling the people things that the Lord said that were not true. But verses 10 through 14 read, "This is what the Lord says: 'When seventy years are completed in Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill My gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you', declares the Lord. 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come to pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you', declares the Lord, 'and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you', declares the Lord, 'and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile". I think this is saying that even if others deceive us and try to hurt us, God will never hurt us. His plans are meant to help us, never to harm us. God means to bless us, never to bring us harm. Even when things seem bad, God intends to bless us not to hurt us. Any thoughts on this please?
I just heard that Dirk is going to be named NBA MVP next week. That is a very bitter-sweet thing for me. Yes, Dirk deserves to be named MVP because of the great year the Dallas Mavericks had this year. But, nevertheless, we fell way short of what we wanted to accomplish this year. It's too bad we didn't win against Golden State in the first round. That would have made this allot more sweeter.
And, in closing, to all the mothers (and mothers to be) Happy Mother's Day tomorrow! After church tomorrow we're all going to our grandparent's house to celebrate. Should be lots of fun! Can't wait. What are you going to do to celebrate?
I'll write on the last keynote lecture on Monday. That one will be on Jeremiah 31:31 through 34, which is on "I will make a new covenant".

Friday, May 11, 2007

Jeremiah 3:6-18 Return to Me

Greetings one and all! Sorry for the break yesterday. Long day. I just found out my sister might have her baby on Monday! Please be in prayer for her. I'll say more about this at the end.
The next theme lecture covered Jeremiah 3:6 through 18. In verses 6 through 10 we see how faithless Israel and her sister Judah have been committing adultery against themselves and spiritual adultery against God. In verses 11 through 18 God calls them to come back. Verses 12 through 14 are very interesting. They read, "Go, proclaim this message toward the north: Return, faithless Israel' declares the Lord, 'I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful, declares the Lord, 'I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt- you have rebelled against the LORD your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree and have not obeyed Me' declares the Lord. Return, faithless people, declares the Lord, for I am your husband. I will choose you- one from a town and two from a clan- and bring you to Zion". This story also reminds me of Hosea, where God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute named Gomer. She runs away multiple times after other lovers, but Hosea goes after her each time and buys her back. This was to be a visual image for all of Israel and for Hosea of what God wanted to do for them. Though Israel ran off many times after other lovers, God would continually run after them to bring them back to Him.
This story in Jeremiah, like the others before it, stays very well with the Lectureship theme of a call to renewal. In verse 15 God promised to give them spiritual shepherds to guide them in the right way of following Him.
Tomorrow we'll look at Jeremiah 29:1-14. Now about what we talked about at first. My sister Angie and brother-in-law Jake Chism are going to have their baby soon. Maybe as soon as Monday. Last week she was dilated at a one and the doctor said if she was dilated at two, they would induce labor. Apparently she has dilated at two now, and thus will induce labor on Monday. Please be praying for them. They are having a baby girl and will call her Madelyn (Maddie) Grace. They live in Krum, TX (close to Denton, if anyone knows where that is).
Thank you all! Be blessed!
Zack

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Jeremiah 2:4-13 Living water & broken cisterns

Greetings one and all! I pray all of you are having a great day today. Today we're going to look at Jeremiah 2: 4-13. These verses talk about God's people forsaking Him to follow other gods (ie. Baal). God is obviously not pleased with this. The priests aren't asking where their God is. They just lead His people to what is detestable in His sight. All of this is climaxed in verse 13, which reads, "My people have committed two sins: They have forgotten Me, the spring of living water, and dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water". That is very inditing (spelling error?). First of all, spiritual leaders must be very careful that they lead people to the true source of life (God) and not their own opinions. Leaders must lead people into a relationship with God. Like when Moses was on Mount Sinai with the Lord getting the Ten Commandments and his face was glowing, we need to set people up with having a close and intimate encounter with God.
And secondly, we need to do God's will in God's way. We can't do things our own way. Because if we do that, we'll have given up on the living water and be building our own cisterns. And those cisterns don't hold water.
Before we close, it's Wednesday and time to ask for prayers for the AIM students and other missionaries. Allot of the AIM students will leave their families, friends, and homes to go to their mission fields. Many of them will leave home for the first time. Please be in prayer for them. And for those who have been on their fields. Most of them have been where they are for a year. Some of them will possibly leave their mission fields to go back to the States. Please pray for them to finish their time there strong. Please pray for my friends Elijah and Kristan and their whole team as they prepare to leave for New Zealand in September. And for Rob and Denyce and their team as they are preparing to leave for Russia. I think they are taking Advanced Missions at SIBI. Thanks everybody! Be blessed! Peace out.
Zack

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Jeremiah 9:23-26 In These I Delight

Greetings one and all! I pray all of you are having a blessed day today.
Today we are looking at Jeremiah 9: 23 through 26. Verses 23 and 24 say, "This is what the LORD says, 'Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, or the strong man boast of his strength, or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for in these I delight' declares the Lord". Here, I think, God is saying we need to be humble and acknowledge what we have is from Him and not from ourselves. I think this might have been what Paul was telling the Corinthians in his first letter that we have that he sent to them. We shouldn't boast that we acquired so much when it was given to us by God.
Verses 25 and 26 say, "The days are coming", declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh- Egypt, Judah, Edom, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart". It seems that these people had dedicated their lives in this act of circumcision, but haven't been truly acting living like it up to this point in their lives. God might say the same things to some of us who have given our lives to Him in baptism, only to act in ungodly ways. Yes, in deed Jeremiah's words can and do speak to us today. May we listen to him and heed his words. Your thoughts on this please.
This is an early call to prayer for the AIM students. Many of them are leaving their families and homes to go to their respective mission fields this month and next. Please pray they will get their visas and adequate financial support in a timely manner. More on all of that and other missionary prayer needs tomorrow. Until, be blessed! Much love to all! Peace.
Zack

Monday, May 07, 2007

Jeremiah 1:4-10 I will be with you

Greetings one and all! I hope and pray all of you had a great weekend. Jeremiah 1 is a really cool story to me. Verses 4 through 8 read, "The word of the Lord came to me saying 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations". "Ah, Sovereign Lord", I said, "I don't know how to speak. I am only a child".
"But the Lord said to me, 'Don't say, I am only a child. You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Don't be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord". This is such a cool story to me. All throughout Scripture God used people who didn't think they could be used. He used ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
In verses 9 through 12 we read, "Then the Lord reached out His hand and touched my mouth and said to me, 'Now I have put My words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over the nations, and kingdoms to uproot and tear down to destroy and overthrow to build and to plant".
Here God takes away whatever excuses Jeremiah might of had. God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called. Also throughout Scripture God calls people who don't think they can do it, but He gives those people the assurance that He is with them. Most of them believed God and He worked mightily in His. And He still does that today in us.
I hope and pray all of those who attended the Pepperdine Bible Lectures went home encouraged to continually renew themselves and help His people at their respective churches do the same. Wish I could've been there too, but maybe I can one of these days. I'll do another post on the next Lectureship keynote tomorrow. Be blessed!
Zack

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Jeremiah's Call to Renewal

Well howdy, howdy everybody! I hope all is well with each of you. I'm going to do a series of blogs about the Jeremiah scriptures used during the keynote addresses during the Peppperdine Lectureship. Obviously, I didn't go to it. So, anyone who did go please feel free to add what was said during the Lectures.
The first lecture was given on Jeremiah 7:1-15. This is a very fitting passage with their subject matter. The theme was Jeremiah's Call to Renewal. Verses 1-3 say, "This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 'Stand at the gate of the Lord's house and there proclaim this message: 'Here the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel says, Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place". That verse all the way to verse 17 talk about how and why the people of Judah need to repent to the Lord and He would let them live in His house. These verses are certainly a call for all of us to renew ourselves before the Lord. Please, all of those who are reading this that went to the Lectureship, add what the speakers said about these verses. May all of us renew ourselves before God!
Be blessed! Peace!
Zack

Friday, May 04, 2007

Becoming Simple & I need a hug

Well hello and hello everyone! I hope and pray everyone is having a great day today.
This is my last post about Simple Church. This last chapter is Becoming Simple. Here the authors give a few suggestions about implementing the ideas about being a simple church.
There is a very sad fact that is emerging in our culture. Too many children are growing up who have never heard of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. No dought they have heard of McDonald's and eat there quite often, but never heard of Jesus and never been in church.
Also there are alot of people who develop heart problems and need to have bypass surgeries. These people are often faced with having to change their lifestyles very drastically. Some of these do make the necessary changes, but most don't. They are faced with change or you die. Some churches are like this too. They see the changing culture and so many people who need to hear about Jesus. They study and talk about changes they need to make to reach their culture. Some do make the necessary changes to evangelise their culture, but most don't. Again, they are faced with change or the church will die.
In Malichi chapter one we read about how the people back then offered sub-par offerings to the Lord and He obviously isn't pleased sub-par offerings. He wants our full and undivided attention. He wants to give us His best, He demands our best in return. Mediocrity isn't sufficient. Never was and never will be. Here are four simple steps to becoming a simple church.
Step one is design a simple process (clarity). Step two is place your key programs along the process (movement). The third step is unite all ministries around the process (alignment). And the forth step is begin to eliminate things outside the process (focus). To get a better idea about how to be a simple church, please go out and buy this book. It's great! I highly recommend it. Now, it's time to put it into practice.
Before I close for the day, I really need a hug today. Last night my Mavs lost the forth game to the Warriors. I can't believe it. RIP to the 60 plus win season for the Dallas Mavericks. We'll see who will rise up out of the West this season. I'm pulling for the Spurs until they get beat out.
And lastly, the Pepperdine Lectures end today. I pray it was a very uplifting time for everyone who spoke and everyone who got to go. God bless all of you as you go home and take what you learned and use it at your respective churches and in your lives! Be blessed!
Zack

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Focus: Saying No to Almost Everything

Yo, yo, and hello everyone! I hope and pray everyone is having a great day today.
Today I am going to blog about focus. This is the last and most crucial part of the simple church plan. All of the other parts in the simple church process will matter at all if you don't focus on the process. I remember a few years ago when McDonald's did the Super-size deal. If you got a value meal, they would ask you if you wanted it Super-sized or not. Well, all of that causes congestion over time. It will give you some bad health problems later in life. Churches who don't stay focused on being simple churches will be bogged down by congestion. In the Bible, David said, "I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life" (Psalm 27:4) and "But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14). They were both focused on one thing and it was the driving force in their lives. We need to remember that we are builders. We need to stay focused on what we're building: lives for eternity. To stay focused we need to do five things. We need to eliminate, limit adding, reduce special events, communicate easily, and simple to understand. Tomorrow will be the last post about Simple Church. That last chapter is called Becoming Simple. It will give a few suggestions about stepping out and becoming a simple church. This book has been very enlightening! I highly recommend it.
A few more words and I'll be done. The Mavericks play tonight in a few minutes. Boy am I worried! The Warriors are up 3 games to 2 right now, and we're playing them at their place. I thought we could win, but never thought it would be easy. And now we're on the brink of being out of the playoffs! What was I thinking?! What made me think the playoffs would be any better then the regular season? We were 0-3 against them then! Now we're down 2 games to 3 against them now. So that makes us 2 and 6 against them this season! It's not looking good my friends! I think we're going to loose. I hope I'm wrong! If we loose, I'm pulling for either the Spurs or the Suns to win it all. Don't get me wrong, I still have faith in the Mavs, but it is faltering.
Your thoughts please. Be blessed! Peace!
Zack

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Alignment: Maximizing The Energy of Everyone

Greetings one and all! Man! Whew! I stayed up last night and watched the Mavericks come back to win last night in the 5th game of their series against the Golden State Warriors. I thought we were going to loose, but Dirk put us on his shoulders and brought us back! But we still have pressure on us to win Thursday night too. We were none 9 points and came back to win at home. It will be 100 times harder to do that in Oakland. I hope we win, but not betting on it.
Now on to Simple Church. The next part of being a simple church is to have alignment. The authors define it as the arrangement of all ministries and staff around the same simple process.
We need to build a great team around us. Like Herb Brooks in the classic movie Miracle. We have to be united as a church on the same what (purpose) but also on the same how (process).
To do this we must recruit on the process, offer accountability, implement the same process everywhere, unite leaders around the process, and ensure that new ministries fit.
The results of no alignment can be devastating. Look at Numbers 13. This is the story of when God was going to take His people the Israelites into the promised land. They were on the brink of taking it, but then Moses picked twelve people, one from each tribe, to go and spy out the land. They did and ten of them came back and said they couldn't take it. Only two of them (Joshua and Caleb) said they could take the land the Lord had promised them. But the other ten prevailed in convincing the people with negative reports. They didn't take it. Unity on the process is vital. Tomorrow we'll look at focus: saying no to almost everything.
Now, it's Wednesday. This is the day to pray especially hard for the AIM students. And especially this month. In May (and June too) many of the AIM teams will leave home to go to their AIM fields. Please be praying for them as they make final preparations to leave their homes and families to go to their mission fields. And for the AIMers still on the fields too. And my friends about to leave for New Zealand and Russia too. Thanks everyone! Be blessed!
Zack

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Movement: Removing Congestion

Yo, yo, and hello everyone! I hope each of you is having a blessed day today!
Movement is the next thing Rainer and Geiger suggest churches need to work on in Simple Church. Movement removes congestion. Congestion is never fun. Whether your sick with congestion in your chest or elsewhere, or in congested traffic, whatever else in life that can get congested, it is never good. Congestion can even happen in churches. Spiritual movement gets stopped up. We build up lives slowly. Congested churches are full of people who aren't changed and aren't bringing new people in. There is no change and no movement.
In 2nd Corinthians 3:18 we read, "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit". This passage is a reference to Moses in the Old Testament. This refers back to when Moses went up on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God. When he came down from the mountain, his face shined some brightly he had to veil his face. He wore it to cover up the fading glory because when he came back down the glory started to go away and continued to until it was gone. But we don't have to wear a veil, because we can be forever in His presence. We, as Christians, can forever be in fellowship with our Father every day.
When Moses was in God's presence, he was transformed . He went up the mountain to meet with God and He transformed Moses' life during their encounter. Church leaders need to design encounters for people to meet with God so they will be transformed like that. Leaders in the Church need to design a plan of spiritual development that moves people to greater levels of commitment so they will grow spiritually. Movement is defined as the sequential steps in the process that causes people to move to greater areas of commitment. To do this, we must use five prescriptions to remove the congestion in your church. The first one is we must have strategic programming. We must clearly define the process, choose one program for each phase in the process, design each program for each aspect of it, and place the programs in sequential order.
Secondly, we must have sequential programming. Sequencing produces movement. To do this we must order the sequence to the programs to reflect the process, designate a clear entry-point to the process, and identify the next levels of programming.
The third thing is to have intentional movement. This means we intentionally move people from program to program through the ministry process. To do that we must create short-term steps, capitalize on relationships, consider the "now what?", and connect people to a group.
The forth thing is to clear the next step. This means we need to give special attention and nurture to the new babies in Christ. We can't just put them aside and let them defend themselves. No parent would do that to a new born baby, so we shouldn't do that to those who've been born again either.
And the last step is to have a new members class. In this class we should teach them the simple process, and ask for a commitment to that process.
Jesus, of course, was the master at this. In Luke chapters 5 and 6 He called His disciples. In chapters 7 and 8 He built them up to do the work of ministry. And in chapter 9 He sent them off to do that work.
God bless us all in these endeavors!
Be blessed!
Zack