Zack's Blog

This Blog Has Moved!

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:49:00 +0000

I've moved this blog over to wordpress (www.zackblaisdell.wordpress.com). Please come check out the new blog!

Madelyn's Birthday Party/ Uncle Zeebo

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:50:00 +0000

Greetings one and all! On Saturday we celebrated my niece Madelyn's first birthday party. Lots of fun! We all met at my brother in law's parents' house. The party was a huge success! Lots of good food. Good cake and ice cream. Madelyn enjoyed her birthday presents. A good time had by all!
Happy birthday Madelyn!
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Of course all of you know my name is Zack. My mother calls me Zeebo sometimes. That has become a nickname of sorts. My brother in law has an older sister who is married and has three children of her own. The oldest is called Zack as well. So I have decided to have Madelyn call me Uncle Zeebo to avoid confusing her.
And now my youngest sister Katie is pregnant, I have decided to go with Uncle Zeebo with all of my nieces and nephews that come along the way.
That is the story behind "Uncle Zeebo". I love being an uncle!
Peace and God bless!

Answer/ Madelyn's Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Tue, 13 May 2008 15:40:00 +0000

Greetings one and all.
Now for the moment everyone's been waiting for: the answer to last week's riddle. What do May flowers bring? Pilgrams!
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My niece Madelyn Grace Chism turns One year old tomorrow May 14. Can't believe how time has been flying by in one year's time. It only runs faster from here on. My brother-in-law has a really awesome tribute to her on his blog risefromyourslumber.wordpress.com. He has a really awesome song posted on it by Steven Curtis Chapman (one of my personal favorite Christian song writers/ singers). It's really touching and you'll be crying your eyes out by the end of it, so get a hanker chif before you listen to it.
Happy first birthday sweet Madelyn! Your Uncle Zeebo (I'll write a post about the "Uncle Zeebo" thing some time later) loves you!
Peace!

April showers and May flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:53:00 +0000

Greetings one and all. I know we are six days into May already, but this is really funny.
April showers bring May flowers. What do May flowers bring? Think about it. The answer is obvious. Even if you rack your brain trying to figure it out, when you hear the correct answer you'll say "oh yeah, that's so obvious". The answer coming next week.
God bless!

SIBI News/ Prayers

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:09:00 +0000

Greetings everyone! I forgot to post about this. I got accepted to attend Sunset International Bible Institute this Fall. School starts August 11th. I need to be in Lubbock sometime before that. I am very excited about being challenged and getting opportunities to develop some skills. I will post about ambitions to fulfill after Sunset at a later time. I am really excited about this great opportunity! Still need some support. If there is anyone interested, please email me (dxddgr9800@hotmail.com) and we can talk about it.
Also, please remember to be praying for the AIM students and my friends on the mission field all around the world. Thanks for that!
More news later. Grace and Peace.

Pepperdine Lectureship

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:38:00 +0000

Greetings everyone! I guess most people already know this. The Pepperdine Bible Lectureship starts tonight in Malibu, CA. I pray everyone gets there safe and sound. And that everyone has a spiritually uplifting experience there. And finally that everyone will make back home safely and use what they learned in their churches back home.
Quite a few people I have met in the blog world are there. I wish each of them and everyone who is there God's blessings. I hope to read about their personal experiences there. Lord-willing I will get to go to Pepperdine for the Lectureship at some point in the future.
God bless you all!

The Shack Book

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:08:00 +0000

Greetings everyone! I hope and pray you are having a good day. Some time ago I finished reading a book called The Shack. It is really (and I mean REALLY!!!!!) intense! My parents got my brother, brothers in law, and I a copy of the book for Christmas. It took me a really long time to read it. The book was way too intense for me. I've heard of people who read The Shack in a day or two. I just couldn't handle a huge chunk of it in one sitting. I could only read a chapter of it and have to sit it down to digest it, plus that it was INTENSE.
The Shack is about a man who takes his three youngest children (one son and two daughters) on a camping trip in the Cascade Mountains in Oregon near the end of the summer before school started up again. On the last day they were there the youngest child ( one of the two girls) is kid napped and brutally murdered. The body is discovered in an abandoned shack. A few years pass and the rest of the family has taken their time recouping from such a devastating tragedy. The wife (Nan) has developed a deeper relationship with God. She even calls Him Papa. That will play a major role into the book. The husband (Mack) seems to have drifted off from his relationship with God. The kids seem to be in different stages between their parents' to extremes. Several years pass by and Mack discovers a note addressed to him from Papa, inviting him to meet Him at the shack, the site of the vicious murder, for the weekend. He discovers Nan is taking the kids to their grand parents for the weekend to spend time with them. Mack decides to stay home. He finally decides to go to the shack. What he finds there will change his life forever. He gets there and God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all there in human form. God even calls Him self (in this case Her self) Papa. Jesus is Him self. And the Holy Spirit calls Her self Sarayu. Mack discovers the peace and love of God all over again, and discovers God had a plan in this devastating event. God still loved him and his whole family and wept as they wept when ever they missed their deceased family member who died so tragically.
I can see how this book could be such a great comfort to those who have lost family members in similar ways. I highly recommend this book.
Thanks for reading! God bless!

7 Practices of Effective Ministry

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:09:00 +0000

Greetings everyone! I recently finished reading 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, and Lane Jones. This book is very practical. It is very similar to Simple Church by Thomas Rainer and Eric Geiger. I highly recommend every church leader read those two books. I think I have blogged about Simple Church some time ago. I will blog about 7 Practices of Effective Ministry here now.
This book is divided in to two parts. Part one is Getting in the Game: Ray's Story. This story is fictional. It is about a man named Ray. He is the Senior Minister of a church he helped plant ten years ago. The church has grown a lot over the years. With each step in the growth, the church has added new programs. Most (if not all) of these new programs are headed by Ray. Now he is simply worn out by all of these new hats he has to ware. And now the church has a board meeting about a new pre-school the church will host. Of course Ray would head that too. Another hat for him to ware. A friend of his gave him a ticket to a baseball game for Sunday. It was supposed to be a day game. But a current win streak has the home team with in a game of first place in their division. ESPN TV picks up the game and game time is moved to 7pm. Ray was excited about the game before the game time change. He is considering not attending the game and going to the meeting. His friend who gave him the ticket calls him and they talk about weather Ray should go to the meeting or go to the game. His friend says he needs to do what he's got to do, but he thinks Ray and the whole church would benefit better if he went to the game. They hand up. The next call is from the head of the board. Meeting is canceled. Ray is very relieved and goes to the game at peace. He finds out he gets a pre-mo parking spot and discovers he's siting with the owner of the baseball team in the owner's box! Ray even gets the VIP treatment. Pretty awesome deal! During the game the team's owner Pete gives Ray the 7 practices of effective ministry.
Part two is Putting the 7 Practices to Work. Now the seven practices of effective ministry are:
1. Clarify the Win: Define what is important at every level of the organization.
2. Think Steps, Not Programs: Before you start anything, make sure it takes you where you need to go.
3. Narrow the Focus: Do fewer things in order to make a greater impact.
4. Teach Less for More: Say only what you need to say to the people who need to hear it.
5. Listen to Outsiders: Focus on who you're trying to reach, not on who you're trying to keep.
6. Replace Yourself: Learn to hand off what you do.
7.Work On It: Take time to evaluate your work- and to celebrate your wins.
Each 0f the chapters discusses each of them in great detail. It is a wonderful volume that every church leader should read, along with Simple Church.
Let's get in the game! God bless!

Praying

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:16:00 +0000

Greetings one and all. I pray everyone is having a great day today.
Today is Wednesday so please especially remember to pray for the AIM students. I think many (if not all) of them have gone back home now to begin fund raising for their time on their mission fields all around the world. BTW, if any one knows where all them are going, please email me (dxddgr9800@hotmail.com). Thanks! Pray for those who are planing to go to Lubbock in August to begin there own adventure in missions. Pray for those who have been on their fields for some time now. And please pray for my friends that I usually ask for (the Hindmans and their team in Moscow, Russia; the Peters and their team in Auckland, New Zealand; and others). Thanks everyone!
Tomorrow I'll write about a book I just finished reading called 7 Practices of Effective Ministry. Until then, God bless!

Do Hard Things

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:53:00 +0000

Greetings one and all! I just finished reading a very exciting book called Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations. The book is written by 19 year old twin brothers Alex Harris and Brett Harris. It is written by teens for teens.
The book is broken down in three parts: Part One is Rethinking The Teen Years. Part Two is Five Kinds of Hard. And Part Three is Join The Rebelution. Let's take each of these one at a time and chapter by chapter.
The first section of the book is Rethinking The Teen Years. It has four chapters. The first chapter is Most People Don't: A different kind of teen book. This chapter serves as an introduction to the book with a brief overview of what you find. Chapter two is The Birth Of A Big Idea: Rumblings of a rebelution. This chapter tells how they got started with this refreshing ministry of the rebelution. Actually, the term "rebelution" is the joining of the two words "rebellion" and "revolution". Thus you get "rebelution", or rebelling against low expectations. They rightly say that the teen years were intended to be a training ground for what we want to be in life. It will certainly force us to grow up fast. Search for your purpose in life early and start fulfilling it. The third chapter is The Myth of Adolescence: Exposing the low expectations that are robbing our generation. This chapter greatly expounds on the idea of the second chapter, that the teen years are to be a training ground for life. They tell the stories of George Washington, David Farragut, Clara Barton. All three were just kids and very shy when they were thrust into responsibility and grew up into there respective roles in life. In chapter four ( A Better Way: Reclaiming the teen years as the launching pad of life) tells what all three of them became later in life due to there young life training they received as children. This expounds more fully on the teen years as the training grounds of life. It introduces the term "kidults"meaning those who are all grown up, but have never accepted responsibility for themselves or their actions. It also talks about Five Kinds of Hard (things that are outside our comfort zones, things that go beyond what is expected or required, things that are too big to accomplish alone, things that don't earn an immediate payoff, and things that challenge the cultural norm).
All five of those hard things (see above in the perentheses) are the subjects of the second section (Five Kinds of Hard) and each one is talked about in great detail in the five chapters. Chapter five is That First Scary Step: How to do hard things that take you outside your comfort zone. It talks about finding out what you want to do and taking the first (and scary) step to work at it. When that first step is taken most of the others are a lot easier. It can be a major step of faith just to get started. The sixth chapter is Raising The Bar: How to do hard things that go beyond what's expected or required. Better known as going the extra mile Jesus talks about in Matthew's gospel. This talks about setting the expectations bar high and achieving excellance in what ever you do. Chapter seven is The Power of Collaboration: How to do hard things that are too big for you to do alone. This is about dreaming big things and working with family members and friends to accomplish those big dreams. There are a ton of awesome examples of teens who dreamed big, and got the help and encouragement of family and friends to accomplish those big things. Chapter eight is Small Hard Things: How to do hard things that don't pay off immediately. These things include things that many people don't think of as that important but really do build character and integrity in ourselves. And those are things we will all need later on in life. Chapter nine is Taking A Stand: How to do hard things that go against the crowd. This chapter talks about truly living as Jesus would live. In many other countries around the world those who live for Jesus are being persecuted all around the world. Culture accepts immorality across the board, but to truly live for Christ we have to turn away from all of that and make an impact for Him in that culture.
And Part Three is Join the Rebelution. It has three chapters here. Chapter ten is Generation Rising: Creating a counterculture from scratch (and a dash of salt). This is where the rubber meets the road. It is about finding your purpose in life and doing something about it right now.
Chapter eleven is A Thousand Young Heroes: Stories of new beginnings, impossible challenges, and the teens who are living them. This talks about finding the answers to how to get started on how to solve our purpose in life. As other chapters have discussed, get together with family and friends on a project together and solve this. In this chapter you'll read about several teens who have. In chapter twelve we read World, Meet You Rebelutionaries: Transforming your mission from a decision into a destiny. This chapter is truly about letting the rubber hit the road and get started on rebelling against low expectations. Let's encourage each other to reach higher than we ever have before. To live outside our comfort zones. To truly walk by faith and not by sight (as Paul says in 2 Corinthians). To learn more about this book, the others, and the teens they talk about please see their website at therebelution.com.
Thank you Alex and Brett for writing this fantastic and refreshing book! Peace and God bless!

Blue Like Jazz part next

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:04:00 +0000

Greetings one and all. I hope and pray all of you who are reading this are having a great day.
I have read the remainder of Blue Like Jazz and will finish blogging about it here.
In chapter 11 Miller talks about Confession: Coming Out of the Closet. He said he and several friends made a confession booth for the students at Reed College. He later explained that the students weren't going to confess to them (the Christians on campus), but the other way around. The Christians (Miller and his friends) were going to confess to the students. They were going to confess that they weren't being a good example of Christ on the campus. They confessed to all the terrible things that other Christian groups had done in the name of Christ, and other things as well. This was received very graciously by those they confessed to. Miller said "it was relieving".
In chapter 12 we read about Church: How I Go Without Getting Angry. In this chapter Miller talks about church is supposed to help us to change our behaviors and actions from worldly points of view to that of Christ. We're supposed to be out there making a difference in the world. Developing Christian habits that help us build ourselves stronger spiritually.
Chapter 13 is Romance: Meeting Girls Is Easy. Here Miller talks about all the guys he's been friends with over the years and about the girls they met and got married to and how happy they are at the present. Then he talked about his own view of girls and marriage in general. He discovered that while marriage is a beautiful thing, he didn't want that for himself.
Chapter 14 is Alone: Fifty-three Years in Space. Miller talks about being alone and how unhealthy it is for all aspects of our lives. Miller discovered that God never meant for man to be alone. God made us to live in community with other people. He never wanted us to be alone.
In chapter 15 Miller talks about Community: Living with Freaks. Here he talks about some of the people he lived with through the years and the impact they have had on him.
Chapter 16 is Money: Thoughts on Paying Rent. Here he talks about the importance of giving money to the church were you are a member at. The Bible calls it tithing and it should be the first thing we do every month. When we put God first, we will never lack anything we need.
Chapter 17 is about Worship: The Mystical Wonder. This talks about all of life as worship. That all we do should be focused on God and give to glorify God.
Chapter 18 is Love: How to Really Love Other People. This about living in community with other people and learning to deal with them and love them as Jesus would love us.
Chapter 19 is a spin off on that. It is Love: How to Really Love Yourself. Miller says you can't love other people if you don't love yourself. It's like what Jesus said numerous times, "love your neighbor as your self". You can't love others unless you love your self too.
And the last chapter in Blue Like Jazz is chapter 20 Jesus: The Lines on His Face. This is about really and truly knowing, loving, and following Jesus. When we seek to be true disciples of Christ.
Sorry it took be so long to finish this book on the blogging community.
I am reading other books right now too and hope to blog on them in the next couple of days or so. Please be looking for that.
Lastly, please be praying for the AIM students, their mission fields and coordinators. And please pray for all missionaries around the world who preaching the whole counsel of God. Thanks!
Grace and peace to you!

AIM/ Missions

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:05:00 +0000

Greetings! Sorry it's been so long since the last blog.
Please especially be praying for the AIM students today and this week. I think all of them will leave Lubbock to go back home to focus their time and energy to fund raising for their time on their mission fields around the world. Many of them will leave for their fields in May and June most likely. That will be their biggest changes there. Working with their field coordinator, the local church there, and the community at large.
Also please be praying for friends of mine: Rob and Denyce Hindman (and their children) and their team heading to Moscow, Russia. For Elijah and Kristen Peters and their team in Auckland, New Zealand. And Craig and Tomya Peters in Sydney, Australia.
And also pray for other mission teams serving around the world in Olomouc, Czech Republic (teamolomouc.com), Vienna, Austria (viennateam.org), Wollongong, Australia (aussiemission.com), and Kigali, Rwanda (rwanda08.com). A few of these teams are already on their fields and a few of them are still in the States. Please pray for them too.
And sorry I haven't written about Blue Like Jazz in a long while. I am finishing up the book and write one blog to finish up the book and than start on other reading projects.
Thanks and God bless!

A Few Things

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:46:00 +0000

Hello blog world! Here are a few things.
For one, I just turned 32 today.
Two, I went to a preachers' lunch deal with my Dad yesterday. There we learned about Missions Resource Network (mrnet.org). There are a lot of teams that are presently on the field right now and a few more that are about to leave for their fields. Please pray for all of them.
And third and last (but not least), please pray for the AIM students and my friends.
Thank you all and God bless!
Zack

AIMers and missionaries

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:04:00 +0000

Greetings everyone! Today is Wednesday, so please especially remember to pray for the AIM students who are on their mission fields and those who are in Lubbock preparing to leave for their respective fields. In fact, I think the AIM students are done with school now. They are currently having Camp Adventure now at the Sunset Church. Next week they have a mission and recruiting trip. I think that includes going to the Tulsa Workshop (if someone knows other wise, please put that on the comments page and I will correct myself). Then the teams go on their AIM challenge week. Then they go back to Lubbock and meet together a few more times as a class with their teachers and to clean there apartments. Then they will leave Lubbock to go home to raise their necessary support for their mission field apprenticeship. Sometime during May and June they will all leave home to go to their mission fields. Please keep all of these men and women during these next few weeks and months. And especially for their field times on the mission field all over the world.
Also please pray for my friends Rob and Denyce Hindman, their family, and team as they prepare to go to Moscow, Russia (see their personal blog at robhindman.com).
Please pray for my friends Elijah and Kristan Peters and their team in Auckland, New Zealand (see their personal blog at lijandkris.com).
Please pray for Craig Peters and his family as they prepare to go Sydney, Australia to work with a Sunset branch school there (see their website at australiaforhim.com).
And pray for all missionaries all over the world who are faithfully preaching and teaching the whole gospel in their parts of the world.
Thanks and God bless!

You are God Alone

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:17:00 +0000

Greetings everyone! This is something that I've been thinking about for a few days now.
The song You are God Alone I think was written by the Christian group Phillips, Craig, and Dean. I don't know all of the lyrics of the song, but the chorus is really cool!
You are God alone
Since before time began.
You were on Your throne
You were God alone!
And now
In the good times and bad
You are on Your throne
You are God alone!
I get chills all over listening to and singing this song! It helps me remember God is on His throne and is in control at all times. In the good times and bad times. He was on His throne when the Oklahoma City bombing took place. God was in control when all those horrible things happened on September 11, 2001. He was on His throne when the tsunami hit Thailand and other places. He was in control when the hurricanes hit New Orleans and Mississippi. And He's in control right now too.
Even when it doesn't seem like it, God is in control and is on His throne!
God bless!

Green

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:44:00 +0000

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone! Better wear something green today or risk getting pinched!
Green me!
God bless!
PS. More posts on Blue Like Jazz are coming plus posts on other random things. Stay tuned.

A Gathered People: Epilogue and AIMers

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:40:00 +0000

Greetings! I will go a head and finish blogging about A Gathered People here. The last part of the book is the Epilogue. Here they talk about some of the questions that they anticipate would come. They list several topics that are hotly debated among a lot of our churches. Most of the things they listed are not worth dividing over. It is very sad that some of our churches have split over some of these issues. These things are certainly worth talking about. Great learning can be gained through discussing issues as brothers and sisters seeking to learn from others who have a different point of view on different issues.
But these issues weren't the reason this book was written. I completely agree that "Assembly as transforming, sacramental encounter that calls us to participate in the mission of God is the foundation for discussing all other questions about the assembly. It is the 'weightier' matter". That is the most important topic to discuss. This book sets the floor for future discussions for discussing such things as they listed.
"We realize, of course, that our position regarding the assembly as sacramental encounter is itself controversial- though it is the historical position of the church". I greatly appreciate the three brothers who wrote this book and stepped out and write this book. I am indebted to each of them. I am thankful they seek bring "... the peace of Eden rather than the confusion of Babel within the assemblies of God; we pray for encounter rather than dissension". Thanks John Mark, Johnny, and Bobby for writing this fantastic book!
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I also want ask for everyone reading this to pray for the AIM students. Pray for those who are on their mission fields around the world and for those who are in Lubbock preparing to leave home to go serve God on various mission fields all around the world to serve and work along side missionaries. All of these are stepping out on faith. Please pray for them.
Thanks and God bless!

A Gathered People chapter 7

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:26:00 +0000

Greetings! Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged again. Chapter 7 in A Gathered People is Contemporary Gatherings: Assembling Worthy of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul wrote the Philipian church the following words, "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ ..." (1:27). The biblical narrative points us in a worship sense to the Christ Event (the life, death, resurrection and exaltation of our Lord Jesus).
Too often churches look down on other churches because they don't do "church" or "worship" in the same way. There are many issues. Instrumental music has always been a big one. One cup or many in the Lord's Supper. Praise teams. The list could go on and on. Hicks, Melton, and Valentine give "a way of framing the question of 'regulated assembly' that, hopefully, provides a helpful and biblical context for dialogue". Here are some ways to Divinely Regulate our Assemblies.
The Nature of Scripture says that scripture tells of all of God's mighty and saving acts and all that Jesus did for us. It is all in a narrated style and written in such ways that everyone in that day and age could understand it. I really like how they say that "the nature of scripture is covenantal". The Bible is relational and regulatory in function. It bears witness to and for us. It has it's roots in God and His saving power for us.
Regulative Worship says that all of life is worship (see 1 Cor. 10:31-11:1 and Col. 3:17). Our whole lives are under the covenant rule of God and must be shaped by Him. All we do is to be done "in the name of Jesus". "All worship - all life- is regulated". First Corinthians 10:31-11:1 suggests three questions that we should ask ourselves about worship. One is does it glorify God? Two, do we please ourselves or others? And three, do we point unbelievers to God? "In all of these questions, Paul calls us to imitate him as he imitates Jesus, who is the true worshipper of God".
The next part is Regulative Principles. "How does the gospel function to shape our assemblies?"
is a great question to be asked. Neither the gospels nor epistles give a program that must be followed like what Leviticus did in Old Testament days. Paul's epistles do though point that worship is for "edification (concern for others) to the chaotic situation in Corinth (1 Cor. 14). Paul applies the principle of the gospel meal (1 Cor. 11). These applications result in the contextualized rules ...".
Another really good section here is Contextualizing The Gospel in our Assemblies.
Enculturated Assemblies says, "worshipping assemblies function within culture". This can be pushed to bad extremes, but we have to take culture into account to some degree so the people you are trying to reach out to will understand what is being said and done.
Diverse Enculturations talks about inter-generational, multi-cultural, and multi-economic churches. All of these can be really good for the churches that have them. But they will have problems. Worship wars is certainly one of them.
Diversity like this is really good. It will be a great selling point for the church. It will certainly bemand "mature discipleship". This will mean at least four things. One is tolerance. Two is mutual edification. Third, appreciation. And forth, appropriation.
The next section is Gospel-Regulated Assemblies. A gospel-regulated assembly will be Theocentric. This means we focus on God, meet with Him, engage with Him, and delight with Him in a sacramental encounter.
It is also Christocentric. We also meet with Jesus through whom we go to God the Father. Jesus is our mediator (2 Tim) and High Priest (Heb.). We go to Him and through Him to the Father.
A gospel-regulated assembly is also table-centered. Through the table we meet and eat with the triune God. He is our host. He invites us and we eat with Him.
It is also Word-Shaped. "The assembly is a time for instruction and exhortation. I guess it would be like a pre-game speech before a big game by the coach to get the team fired up. It helps the team remember what they prepared for and perform well during the game. The assembly for the church helps us meet with God and we get "fired up" (for lack of better words) for the week ahead.
It is also Praise-Saturated. We get to praise God in the best ways we know how through prayers, songs, and studying His Word . It is up to great debate on our posture during these times. A lot of times we stand when we read God's Word, or pray, or sing. Sometimes we sit during those times. And sometimes we get on one (or two) knees when praying or singing.
It is also Gospel-Enacted. The assembly is how we enact God's redemptive story. "God speaks and we praise, He invites and we dine at His table". Baptism is how we enter into the covenant relationship with God and the Lord's Supper helps us renew and remember that covenant.
Lastly, tt is Gospel- Embodied. This helps in the way we "do" church. We help and serve the poor, out-casts, sufferers, and those who need encouragement. We are to bring the good news to those who have suffered so much with bad news.
Finally, the Assembly functions to help us be communally conscious. We focus on the Body of Christ during worship time and the Lord's Supper.
It functions to help us be transformed. We meet with God and He meets with us to transform us into the people He calls us to be.
It also functions to help us be Missional. That means we are missionaries in our own zip code (as it says in another book I was reading some time ago). We, like Isaiah, say "Here am I, Lord, send me" (see Is. 6).
We also meet Authentic Encounter. We, like the Psalter, seek to meet God face to face.
And lastly we have Doxological Evangelism. Assembly is where we meet with God and He with us, but we also help the lost encounter Him through the assembly as well. We can use that as the starting point where we can talk to a lost person about their relationship with God.
In closing, the church and assembly will look different in different cultures and places. We need to let them do "church" and "assembly" differently.
One more post for this book. A few more to go with Blue Like Jazz too. There are some other ideas and topics flooting around in my head to blog about in the future too. More on all of that later to come.
Thanks for tuning in for this post. God bless!

Blue Like Jazz part next

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:45:00 +0000

Greetings from the Great Chicken Fried Nation! Sorry it's been so long since I last blogged. I was going to blog yesterday. But then realized I had already done what I was going to do and was supposed to blog about something else.
But, anyhow, I have now read the next two chapters (9 and 10) in Blue Like Jazz and will now blog about them here. Chapter 9 is called Change: New Starts at Ancient Faith. Everyone at one point in life or another has a crisis of faith. All believers come to a time of doubt and wonder if what we believe about God and Jesus is really true. This is a time to deeply and truly investigate the Bible and what we believe and see for ourselves if any of this is true.
In chapter 9 of Blue Like Jazz Miller tells of his cross roads of faith in his life. He was a Bible class teacher and says he was saying and teaching the right things, but didn't think he meant them. He said he felt like a fake. And that he needed to get out and find himself again.
He said that he and his friend got in a car and drove out. They went to the Grand Canyon in Arizona and walked down into the canyon. He said he was tired and sore. Then he just started praying out load to Him as he looked up at the sky and stars. That seemed to be were he found himself and found God again. He realized that man kind suffers because we live in a fallen world, a world that largely chooses to follow Satan, but that God wants to rescue us wants to find us if we will search for Him.
Chapter 10 is Belief: The Birth of Cool. In this chapter Miller talks about some of the things people choose to do because it is the "cool" thing to do or because the "cool" people are doing it. He doesn't seem to like that very much. If we choose to do something it should be because we are convicted by it and thus choose to do something about it.
He says that most of the world doesn't care or listen to people who say what they think if it isn't backed with conviction or belief. They might not care what you believe regardless, but they will listen if we are convicted by it and are doing something to solve it.
I love this statement by Miller, "I am learning not to be passionate about empty things, but to cultivate passion for justice, grace, truth, and communicate the idea that Jesus likes people and even loves them". That is what we need to be about too.
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I have come to realize there are other blog series's that I have started that haven't been continued in quite some time. I am almost finished reading and blogging about A Gathered People (2 or 3 more chapters to do there) and have 10 more chapters to read in Blue Like Jazz (5 more blog posts there, since I do 2 chapters per post). Than I will start finishing those other blog series's. So please stay tuned in for those.
Thanks so much for reading. God bless you all!

A Gathered People 6

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:03:00 +0000

Greetings one and all! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have read another fascinating chapter in A Gathered People and will talk about it here.
Chapter 6 in this book is Gathered to God: Divine Presence in the Assembly. In this chapter the authors eloquently discuss the assembly in the New Testament and about it's historic backgrounds in the Old Testament as well. The book of Leviticus talks about sacrifices that are to be made by the priests through out the year and the worship that is due to God during those sacrifices. The New Testament book of Hebrews draws on those themes in the "context of assembly (Heb. 10:19-25)". The authors also talk about the importance of worshiping in spirit and truth and what that meant then and now. In John's Gospel chapter 4 Jesus talks to a Samaritan woman. She asks Him where worship should take place, in (literally "en") this mountain (like the Samaritans do)or in ("en") Jerusalem (like the Jews do). But Jesus seems to say that it doesn't matter in what physical place one may be, but in their spiritual state. Are we worshiping in the Spirit and the truth.
An important thing to remember in worship, is that isn't not just Theocentric- directed toward God. It is also Christocentric - directed toward Jesus the Messiah. In his gospel account Matthew draws this out perfectly in stating Jesus is the Messiah. The writer of Hebrews does as well in showing that Jesus is higher than all of the Old Testament heroes.
As we enter the Holy of Holies, we enter a sacramental encounter. In Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy we see that only the priests can enter the Holy of Holies and offer sacrifices. Hebrews draws on this theme and also states that we don't need priests to worship God. We can do it ourselves. And we don't have to give sacrifices like they did any more. We just need to live our lives for God with all we have.
Just as we are gathered in the Spirit, so we must be mediated by the Spirit. We do this when we worship in spirit and truth (Jn. 4). We are to pray in the Spirit, wait on the Spirit, and so forth. In Ephesians 5 we are told to "be filled with Spirit" and that way we can "speak to each other in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks to God in the name of Jesus submitting to each other in the fear of Christ". We are to "be filled with the Spirit" and not with things that can do bodily harm to us.
And the assembly helps us focus on the end of time and dawn of eternity where we will be in eternal assembly at the throne of God. What an awesome thought!
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Thank you for reading my thoughts on this chapter in A Gathered People. This a very thought provoking study. It is really making me think and turning me to the Bible. I highly recommend this book! Next time I'll blog about Blue Like Jazz. I am also reminded of other blog series I've started but haven't continued in some time (opps!), so we'll get back on those in the coming days. So please stay tuned in for that.
Thank you all and God bless!
Zack

Missionaries

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:22:00 +0000

Greetings everyone! Like I said yesterday, the AIM students are in Mexico City right now working with the missionaries there and helping them out. The AIM students drove from Lubbock, TX all the way to Mexico City. Holy cow! That's a long way! Please pray for all of them as they're down there and that they get back to Lubbock safely. I think there are two groups of the current AIM class that will serve in Mexico for their mission experience. All the teams have been announced, so pray for all of them as they learn to work together as a team and getting ready for the mission field. And please pray for all of the AIMers who are currently on mission fields all around the world. Please pray for my friends who are preparing to leave for their mission fields: the Hindman family and their team as they go to Russia, the Peters family and their team as they go to Auckland, NZ,
and all other missionaries who are preaching the gospel the world over.
And lastly please pray for Craig Peters and his family as they prepare to go to Sydney, Australia to work with the Sunset Branch school there, as well as Charles and Tamara Cook as they prepare to go to Singapore to work with the Sunset Branch school there. Thank you all! God bless!
Zack

A Gathered People 5

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:45:00 +0000

Greetings one and all! Chapter 5 in A Gathered People is Assembly Among Churches of Christ: Our Formative History. This chapter addresses Churches of Christ in the US and about the assembly and it's role in the church. Thomas Campbell and Alexander Campbell are father and son. They both grew up in the Presbyterian church. They and Barton W. Stone sought to restore the ancient order of things. They aimed to sanctify the Lord's Day. They said that "every occasion of the 'assembly of the saints' is a 'meeting with the Lord'." They believed people couldn't be so casual on Lord's Day and believed that we were aware of the Lord's presence we wouldn't be so causal when we met together. Gathering in the Name of the Lord was serious business. The Regulative Principle stated "Restoration of the Ordinance of the New Institution to their place and power". Divine Ordinances for Christian Assemblies echoes the Five Acts Model (of sorts) mentioned earlier in the book. They stated five acts that were included in worship services (singing, praying, preaching, communion, and contribution), but wasn't mandatory. At least these five things were included, but sometimes more than that. Word and Table was a special time that included those five things and a lot more involved. Christian Assemblies as Test of Loyalty seems to go on among some. One church does worship one way, another does things differently. And both churches go to war over it. How rediculous! Thus, the Regulative Principle is clarified. Acts 2:42 is seen as the most basic worship needs. Everything else is do-able. Positive Law and the Assembly is big. Positive Law states, "the highest test of respect for divine authority since it tests the condition of the heart as it penetrates deep down in to the in most depths of our hearts". Meaning, it tests our attitudes and desires. Here they read from different parts of the Bible and test themselves there. The Sanctity of the Assembly is where we encounter the presence of God in the assembly. We are not to rush into God's presence, but must ready our selves and make we are sanctified to meet Him in the assembly.
In conclusion, worship is where we encounter God. He meets us there and transforms us as we worship Him. What a marvolous thought!
This is a facinating book! Please get it and read it! You'll be blessed!
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On another note, the current AIM class in Lubbock is in Mexico City this week. The AIM students go there to work with missionaries there for a week to gain a world mission. Please keep them in prayer especially during this time. They will get to go on the buses, the mass transit system, and lots of walking. Mexico City is one of the largest cities in the world. Please keep all of those who are there in prayer. More about AIM on Wednesday. God bless you all!
Zack

Missionaries to South Pacific and Asia

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 20:25:00 +0000

Greetings one and all. I would like to take a moment and tell y'all about two families who are about to do mission work. Both of these families need our prayers and financial support.
Craig Peters and his family are going to Sydney, Australia to be part of the School of Preaching there. This school recently signed on with Sunset International Bible Institute to use there ciriculum, books, and so forth. I believe they are aiming to leave the US sometime in March. Please see their website at australiaforhim.com.
The second family is Charles Cook's. He and his wife are preparing to go to Singapore to help train ministers to take the gospel in the continent of Asia. Asia is the largest and most populated continent of the world. China and India are the most populated countries in the world (1.3 and 1.2 billion people respectively). The Lord is opening doors for missionaries to go to these two countries and all over Asia. Are we ready to take the gospel to them? Please see Charles' website at focusonasia.net for more information.
Please keep these two families in your thoughts and prayers this week. God bless you all.
Zack

Blue Like Jazz

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:56:00 +0000

Hello everyone! I have read three chapters (4, 5, and 6) in Blue Like Jazz that we need to cover. So let's get started on that.
Chapter 4 is called Shifts: Find a Penny. In this chapter Miller talks about wanting to attend Reed College. Some people called Reed one of the most ungodly places on earth. He grew an interest in auditing a few classes there over time. One of his buddies decided to take some classes there and asked Miller to join him. And he did. He met a lot of people in his classes there. Some believed in God and some didn't. One girl he met there, her father was a Methodist pastor and most of her family believed in God. But she didn't. This girl really struggled in life and just couldn't find it in herself to believe in God. He talked about another girl who grew up not believing in God. That was until she went to a semester abroude program in France. There she met a fellow Reed student who did believe in God. They didn't know each other while in the US, but met and became good friends while they were in France. They talked about life and their struggles in life. But the girl who believed in God turned their conversations about Him. Eventually the girl who had grown up not believing in God turned her life to Him during this experience. All because a friend of hers shared her faith in Him and showed her God can help her in her struggles in this life. That is truly a commentary on how we should evangelize today.
In chapter 5 Miller talks about Faith and penguins. There isn't any one on earth (including myself) who can explain God. If any one could, God wouldn't be God. He is uncomprehendable and unexplainable. And the same is true with our faith in Him. We can do our own research in our Bibles about Him. We can find the sites mentioned in our Bibles on world maps. But there isn't any scientific evidence we can point to. Can't see Him, touch Him, taste Him. All the things that science says proves something is real can't be done with God. All of that to say there is a great deal of faith that goes along with believing in God. Near the end of the chapter Don talks about penguins and how they hatch their eggs. The momma penguins give the eggs to the papa penguins. And the momma penguins go off somewhere to get fish while the papa penguins all sit around in a circle with all of the eggs to keep them worm. But the momma penguins instinctively know when the eggs are going to hatch. After a while they start back home and always get back at the correct moment when the baby penguins are going to be born. Absolutely amazing! No one can explain how they just instinctively know when the eggs are going to hatch. They just know. Miller says it's the same way with us. Some times we just know that God is real.
And lastly is chapter 6 and this chapter talks about Redemption: The Sexy Carrots. Here Miller talks about an experience he had with two high school friends of his who got him to do some crazy stuff. That experience was a turning point in his life. It got him to be serious about God and about life in general. He talks about a little children's book he had written (included in this chapter with very funny animated characters). It was a bunny rabbit who was chasing the sexy carrot. The rabbit chased the rabbit across the US and even to the moon. Eventually the rabbit got the sexy carrot and ate it. The moral of the story is if you chase your dreams for long enough, you'll get it eventually. Of chourse, another moral is some of the things we want in life will kill us (the story ends with the sexy carrot killing the rabbit- so sad).
More on Blue Like Jazz later on next week.
Sorry I haven't talked about the AIM students in a long while. The AIM students in Lubbock know who their teams are now and where they will be going for their mission fields. So please be in prayer for them as they prepare for their mission fields with their teammates. Pray for those who are on their mission fields right now all round the world.
Be in prayer for my friends who are heading Moscow, Russia: Rob and Denyce Hindman and their two sons; Mike and Lucy McDougle and their son; and David and Olivia Nelson. These are all dear friends and they plan to leave this summer.
For all missionaries who are preaching the gospel all over the world.
And lastly that the Lord will raise up more workers for His harvest fields (Matthew 9).
Thanks and God bless!

A Gathered People chapter 4

noreply@blogger.com (Zack) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:14:00 +0000

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been such a long time since I've blogged. No excuses.
I have decided to write about A Gathered People today and blog about Blue Like Jazz tomorrow. It's been longer since I've blogged about it. So, to keep this blog entry from being incredibly long I'll write about A Gathered People here today. With out further adieu, here we go.
Chapter 4 in A Gathered People is Assembly in Christian History: Word and Table. In this chapter the authors look at the assembly in the second and third centuries. They look indepth at Justin Martyr and Tertullian two of the outstanding church leaders in those days. It is very important to note that there are no formal orders of worship in the New Testament nor in the second and third centuries either. Justin Martyr and Tertullian write about worship, but their reasons for writing is to tell non-Christians about Christian worship and life. It wasn't to strengthen and encourage brethern like what the apostle Paul did in his letters back in New Testament days.
Then they talk about Assemblies in the Imperial Era. Here they talk about the Western Order and the Eastern Order in light of the Basic Liturgical Order. The basic liturgical order has four things. 1. Assembly-Greeting-Entrance; 2.Liturgy of the Word; 3.Liturgy of the Table; and 4. Dismissal-Benediction. This is basically about reading passages in Psalms, or Acts, or the Gospels. Pretty much a good mixture of all three of those interspersed with prayers and singing.
The Western and Eastern Orders represent the two religous bodies at the time: the Greek Byzantine Church (Eastern Order) and the Latin Roman Catholic Church (Western Order).
The authors list the order of worship most previlant for the two religous churches (including the entrance and biblical readings from Psalms, Acts, and the Gospels, weaved into and out of prayers and singing).
Then they talk about The Assembly in the Reformed Tradition. These talk about other religous groups that come on to the scence: Lutherns, Anabaptists, and Anglicans. First we read about The Reformed Regulative Principle. This talks about John Calvin and Huldrich Zwingli and how they used this principle. First, the Reformed Regulative Principle says that the Bible and the Bible alone says how we are to worship God. There are no other methods allowed other than what is written. Next is the Liturgical Reformed Tradition and how Calvin used it. Then we read about the Puritan Reformed Tradition and how Zwingli used this tradition. And lastly we read about the Eighteenth Century Dissenters. These were John Glas, Robert Sandeman, and Archibald McLean. These three ministered in Scotland and other parts of the United Kingdom and apparently stirred up trouble in a religous since.
In a few days we'll look at chapter 5 and see Assembly Among Churches of Christ: Our Formative History. This book is extremely enlightening! I highly endorse this fine book!
Tomorrow we'll talk about three chapters in Blue Like Jazz.
Before I close, please be in prayer for the nation of Kenya. I know there has been a lot of political turmoil in there the past few weeks, including people being killed and church buildings being burned down. There is some really intense stuff going on there. Let's all be praying for our brothers and sisters there and the nation as a whole.
And lastly please be praying for the AIM students on their mission fields all around the world and those in Lubbock preparing to leave the country. More about that tomorrow. Until then, God's richest blessings on each of you!