Unchanging and Changing

• Biblical Truth does not change. Humankind’s understanding of God, the universe, and personal human experience before God does change. God is an absolute truth while humankind’s statements about God are in the form of theological presuppositions. 
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•                                                -From C.W. Brister, Pastoral Care in the Church
  

Death

Everyone knows they're going to die...but nobody believes it.

                                                                                   -Mitch Albom

Why Follow?

The people did not follow Moses because they thought he had a good idea. The people followed Moses because they sensed that God truly sent him, that his mission was God inspired. They believd that God was behind the mission, and so they followed the one who articulated God's call.
                                                              - George Cladis, Leading the Team-Based Church (p51)

Mastery

Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory, but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence.

                                                                             - Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

The Very Best Cell Phone Plan for your Child

I found this awesome new cell phone plan for kids! I wanted to just let

people know what a great investment it is! This is only a partial list of its benefits:

1. No monthly fee (one time charge only)

2. No hidden fees, late fees, or any other fee!

3. It rings when you want it to (just press one of the buttons). It does

 not ring when you don't press the button so you have complete control!

4. It is really easy to resist texting while driving

5. It is very colorful

6. The screen won't break if you drop it (so you won't need a screen

 protector, or a case)

7. No crank calls

8. No one can use this to steal your identity

9. The NSA cannot track you

10. It blocks sexting, 100%

11. Your kid can't ask you for money using this phone

12. No Youtube in bed

13. Prevents screen addiction

14. Encourages outside activities

15. Doctor recommended (I'm a doctor and I recommend it)

16. Can be used by any age child! 

17. Blocks access to extremist web sites of all flavors (though there is

 a one-eyed monster as you can see; you have to deal with that one)

I am sure you can add to this list (please do!). I highly encourage the

dollar store cell phone plan for your child!

to whom?

If you write, unless you write to someone, you write to no one.

Art

To reduce works of art to their ideational content is to rob them of their power, distort their true nature, and make them finally unnecessary.

                                                                              -Leland Ryken, Liberated Imagination, 128

Love and Respect Message

This is a message I shared at the Olympia Chinese Christian Church on June 23, 2019.  Some people asked for some of the slides for reference so here they are. Much of the material is obviously from Dr Eggerich's book and seminar, Love and Respect I highly encourage reading the book or getting in on on of his seminars.

A few of the slides:

Click HERE to download the entire power point file.

Faithfulness

Long-term faithfulness to its calling, rather than short-term relevance to culture, should be the church’s goal.

                                               -Millard Erickson, Christian Theology (3^rd ed, p988)

Community

Christianity is a corporate matter, and the Christian life can be fully realized only in relationship to others. 

While acknowledging the distinction between the visible or empirical church and the invisible or spiritual fellowship, we should do whatever we can to make the two identical.

                                                           -Millard Erickson, Christian Theology(3rd ed, p969)

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Our Problem with Limits

Reinhold Niebuhr sees the problem of sin as arising from human finitude on the one hand, and freedom to aspire on the other.

Humans seek to overcome the resulting insecurity in two major ways. The more common is by asserting the will in an effort to gain such power as oversteps the limits of the human creature’s place. A more intellectual form is attempting to deny the limited character of human knowledge and perspectives. This intellectual pride and assertion of will to gain undue power disturb the harmony of creation.

Adam and Eve’s sin consisted in yielding to the temptation to try to be more than what they were created to be, human. They tried, in effect, to be God.

                                 -Adapted from Millard Erickson, Christian Theology (3rd ed), p 535-6

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What kind of doctor do I want to be?

If we use the language of business to describe medicine, it changes who we are and what we do as providers.

                                                                           -Richard W Sams II