Wow

Time flies. My last post was on January 12th. To those of you who stop in and read (and my weekly report says that a couple of dozen do - hardly the same level as Tim Challies, but hey) it has been a very busy 2007. Yet I have a desire to contribute to the pastoral discussion that takes place in cyberspace.

Those of you who preach - do you find it harder to prepare Easter and Christmas sermons? I do. I think that the greatest challenge is finding an appropriate text. Let's face it - there are lots of them. But it is easier to know "where to go" when I am in a regular series. I'm choosing to preach a topical/expository sermon this Sunday on how the NT writers interpret the meaning of the resurrection.

One of the things that I have been thinking about is the development of a system of study for our church - I hate to use the term "discipleship program" that focuses on thinking rather than doing. A lot of the very good training programs (such as the Navigators' 2:7 series) are helpful for establishing positive spiritual habits. But I'd like to develop something for our church that focuses more on ways of thinking. One of the things that I think our modern church lacks is a sense of understanding of the future. Our church used to have a prophecy conference every-other year in conjuction with 7 other churches in our area. That fell by the wayside some time ago, and probably at that time for the best, because much of it tended toward the speculative . But I think a negative has been that we are more "now" focused and as a result we don't live in anticipation of Christ's return and in the awareness of the judgment seat of Christ.

In that vein, I have been scanning a new book by Stephen J. Nichols entitled Heaven on Earth: Capturing Jonathan Edwards's Vision of Living In Between. I'd post a link to it but Blogger doesn't work right with Safari - the default Mac browser. (I made the switch about a month ago and am entirely pleased with the transition).

To those of you who read - Happy Easter to you. May you be filled with joy at the new life we have in Christ!