Worship Night VI: July 29th - 7pm B.Y.O. Picnic - 830pm Music - South Park 12th & Mass
And now for something different. Bring your own picnic dinner with the family. Bring your blankets and/or chairs and hang out with EastLakers on the lawn of South Park at 7pm. Then at 830 we'll kick off the Music. Baptisms. Communion. It's a party for God we're throwing DOWNTOWN at South Park near 12th and Mass St. Don't miss it!
Want more info about Eastlake Church? Check out the website! http://www.eastlakelawrence.com/
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Jesus the poached egg
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." CS Lewis, Mere Christianity
I really like this quote by C.S. Lewis. I think if I had been exposed to this in my youth it may have had a deep impact on the way I viewed Jesus. I didn't become a Christian until college, and prior to that religion just was a non-factor in my life. I do remember this argument of Jesus as a great teacher but not the Son of God being brought up a few times. I think it's something people say when they're just not comfortable believing in Jesus but don't want to fully admit it out loud.
But when you really study the Gospels and all of the things Jesus said-it's just too hard to make that claim and get away with it. Either Jesus was who he said he was, or he was freakin' crazy, or a liar. Jesus drew a line in the sand about who He was, He never left his purpose of being on Earth open to interpretation. EastLake did a talk about this very topic on Easter that was fantastic, non-patronizing, and then went one step further and gave examples of how God's love continues to work in us and heal people today. Listen to it here if you're interested.
I really like this quote by C.S. Lewis. I think if I had been exposed to this in my youth it may have had a deep impact on the way I viewed Jesus. I didn't become a Christian until college, and prior to that religion just was a non-factor in my life. I do remember this argument of Jesus as a great teacher but not the Son of God being brought up a few times. I think it's something people say when they're just not comfortable believing in Jesus but don't want to fully admit it out loud.
But when you really study the Gospels and all of the things Jesus said-it's just too hard to make that claim and get away with it. Either Jesus was who he said he was, or he was freakin' crazy, or a liar. Jesus drew a line in the sand about who He was, He never left his purpose of being on Earth open to interpretation. EastLake did a talk about this very topic on Easter that was fantastic, non-patronizing, and then went one step further and gave examples of how God's love continues to work in us and heal people today. Listen to it here if you're interested.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Fourth of July weekend recap
There are moments in life that really just take my breath away. This weekend, collectively, was one of them. Nothing huge happened, just lots of little moments of joy and happiness. It was a wonderful sample for me of how amazing it's going to be in Heaven. Wait, what? Let me explain.
Sunday's sermon was about the sacredness of our bodies, but in the middle of that the guest pastor was talking about what it would be like when our bodies are resurrected after Christ comes back. He said it would be like the perfect version of us, before sin entered the world. God originally intended for us to live forever with Him, and not get old and have the illnesses that are a part of the world now. So his idea was that we'd still be us, we'd still be recognizable, just the way God originally intended us to be...a perfect version of ourselves. Hope that means I won't have to wear glasses, haha! But anyway, while talking about this, he held up a sample spoon from Baskin Robbins and asked if we knew what it was. Duh, anyone over the age of 3 knows. The point of the sample spoon is to get a little taste. It's not going to satisfy you, because the idea is that you'll purchase the one that you liked the best. But it's enough for you to know that more is coming. He says everything on Earth that brings us joy, things that are right, when we act and do works on God's behalf...all of those things are just a sample of what God's got in store for us once we're with him forever. It won't be some cute imagery we've all seen on cartoons where we're sitting on clouds all days strumming a harp. With all the beauty that's within nature, and the good that's in people when we're kind and act in love showing us this is just a small taste...man, it's going to be epic.
But anyway, all that is not to say that I'm wishing away my life...far from it. Just that I know as good as life can be, it's not the end. This weekend we got to dogsit Penny's brother, Patrick, and went out to a latin american restaurant with his owners on Friday. They are fun and kind of bohemian and just cool overall. We had a blast watching Penny and Pat run in the backyard and chase each other and play with their stuffed toys. Saturday my beloved mowed the lawn in 90+ heat, bless his heart, and we had a nice, relaxing afternoon that consisted of a nap, freshly squeezed lemonade, video games, and snuggles with the animals. After church on Sunday, Michael indulged my crazy and got me a tumbler from McAlister's, with which I'll be able to snag a sweet tea for 99 cents whenever I bring it in. We made homemade sloppy joes (SO good! Why did it take us so long to do that?! Thanks Tish for the inspiration) and hung out 'til after midnight with a group of people, just talking, laughing, playing with sparklers. Today Michael woke me up with a bluebery muffin and fruit salad in bed, with an iced vanilla coffee to go along with it. I had to work during the day, but he kept me company and we had the Firefly marathon on tv in the background. Tonight some cherished friends came over for a traditional hamburger Fourth of July cook out, and we set off fireworks in the street and hung out on the drive way. The night ended with chocolate cake, never a bad thing. All in all a pretty fantastic weekend, and lots of little glimpses of joy, for which I lift my head and say Thanks to the one that created all of this.
Sunday's sermon was about the sacredness of our bodies, but in the middle of that the guest pastor was talking about what it would be like when our bodies are resurrected after Christ comes back. He said it would be like the perfect version of us, before sin entered the world. God originally intended for us to live forever with Him, and not get old and have the illnesses that are a part of the world now. So his idea was that we'd still be us, we'd still be recognizable, just the way God originally intended us to be...a perfect version of ourselves. Hope that means I won't have to wear glasses, haha! But anyway, while talking about this, he held up a sample spoon from Baskin Robbins and asked if we knew what it was. Duh, anyone over the age of 3 knows. The point of the sample spoon is to get a little taste. It's not going to satisfy you, because the idea is that you'll purchase the one that you liked the best. But it's enough for you to know that more is coming. He says everything on Earth that brings us joy, things that are right, when we act and do works on God's behalf...all of those things are just a sample of what God's got in store for us once we're with him forever. It won't be some cute imagery we've all seen on cartoons where we're sitting on clouds all days strumming a harp. With all the beauty that's within nature, and the good that's in people when we're kind and act in love showing us this is just a small taste...man, it's going to be epic.
But anyway, all that is not to say that I'm wishing away my life...far from it. Just that I know as good as life can be, it's not the end. This weekend we got to dogsit Penny's brother, Patrick, and went out to a latin american restaurant with his owners on Friday. They are fun and kind of bohemian and just cool overall. We had a blast watching Penny and Pat run in the backyard and chase each other and play with their stuffed toys. Saturday my beloved mowed the lawn in 90+ heat, bless his heart, and we had a nice, relaxing afternoon that consisted of a nap, freshly squeezed lemonade, video games, and snuggles with the animals. After church on Sunday, Michael indulged my crazy and got me a tumbler from McAlister's, with which I'll be able to snag a sweet tea for 99 cents whenever I bring it in. We made homemade sloppy joes (SO good! Why did it take us so long to do that?! Thanks Tish for the inspiration) and hung out 'til after midnight with a group of people, just talking, laughing, playing with sparklers. Today Michael woke me up with a bluebery muffin and fruit salad in bed, with an iced vanilla coffee to go along with it. I had to work during the day, but he kept me company and we had the Firefly marathon on tv in the background. Tonight some cherished friends came over for a traditional hamburger Fourth of July cook out, and we set off fireworks in the street and hung out on the drive way. The night ended with chocolate cake, never a bad thing. All in all a pretty fantastic weekend, and lots of little glimpses of joy, for which I lift my head and say Thanks to the one that created all of this.
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