New Features Roll Out This Week

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Normally in the Monday slot you see the video from my sermon on the previous day, but today I want to use the space to tell you about some changes coming on the blog and why those changes are afoot.

God has used Colossians 1:28-29 to cement in my heart what He wants to do through me.

Him [Jesus] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

In my heart I am and always have been a coach, and that heart for coaching translates into ministry as a discipler. As the heading to the blog indicates, I desire to help YOU grow in faith, knowledge, and life. I want to have some part in presenting you before the Lord at the last judgment as a mature follower of Jesus. THAT is why I blog – to provide you with tools, resources, inspiration, and information to help you in your walk with the Lord.

I established the survey last week because I want to know what would be most helpful to my readers so I can streamline my effort and output to be more effective in that goal. With that in mind, here is how the blog will look for the time being.

Mondays will still for the most part be the sermon video from the day before, at least for the time being. The Monday post provides an opportunity for members of the church I pastor as well as others who might be interested, to hear a sermon they may have missed. I understand not everyone has the time to listen, the bandwidth to download, nor the vested interest in my messages, but for now they will remain for the benefit of those it serves.

The overwhelming majority of respondents indicated the Tuesday and Thursday written blogs were their favorite feature. I am flattered by that, and honored. Those two days will remain the same.

I will replace the Wednesday Vlog for the next several weeks with a series on how to do a personal Bible study. Respondents indicated the Vlog as their least favorite feature and most indicated a desire for me to provide more resources on Bible study.

Many respondents also indicated that the Flashback Friday feature was one of their least favorite as well. That feature titled “Four Things Everybody Needs to Know About…” This will be an overview of some of the most important theological themes all believers need to understand. I will continue to share quotes and articles that are meaningful to me through my Twitter. If you are on Twitter, you can follow me @JimDuggan.

I do consider the blog to be a static production and more changes and tweaks will take place as the opportunity arises. As always, I welcome your feedback either through comments on the blog or through email contact. Thanks again for reading and I pray something I share will move you closer to Jesus.

 

Change Is in the Air

Next week look for some exciting new things to appear on the blog.  Through the Spring 2016 Readers’ Survey, you provided me with some great feedback and ideas for ways I can make this space more useful to you in your Christian walk.

Look for those changes somewhere around the middle of next week.  I am excited to bring some fresh, new content to you!

If you haven’t had the chance yet to take the survey, please take the time in the next couple of days.  I want to provide resources and add value to your life as you seek to grow closer to God and your feedback will help me accomplish that goal.

The survey is short, only five questions, but for me the feedback is priceless.  After you take the survey, you click on the “next” button and it will take you to a link where you can download my A to Z Bible Memory Sheet.  This resource has been one of the most helpful I have created, and I still hear stories from people who have used it to hide God’s Word in their heart.  It’s yours for free as a token of my appreciation for your time.

Click here to take the Spring 2016 Readers’ Survey

 

An Alternative View of Death

cemetery

Saturday will mark the day seven years ago that my dad passed from this life to his heavenly home. The memories are still fresh and in many ways I live as though he were still with me because in my mind and in my heart he is. I miss his physical presence and the opportunities and blessings that would afford, but I would not wish him back to earth from heaven for one moment for that would be the cruelest of all wishes.

Recently, in our church we buried four church members in a 26-day stretch. That is a lot of grieving and our church members miss each of these dear souls greatly. I had a similar experience at a previous church where I preached 12 sermons over a 6 month period, 4 of them in one month alone. Those are difficult times for a pastor, a congregation, and even more so for the families involved.

During this most recent stretch, I heard a church member comment about the death of one of our members by saying, “That sure was bad about ______, wasn’t it?” I’ve heard statements like that before, and even said them myself.

As I thought about the upcoming anniversary of my dad’s death and as I prepared for the funeral of one of our dear saints from our church, the Lord reminded me that the answer to the question is “no, not for the Jesus-follower. It’s not bad.”

Psalm 116:15 reminds us that the death of one of His saints is PRECIOUS in God’s eyes. Yes, you read that correctly, PRECIOUS. The Hebrew word rendered “precious” in that verse refers to something that is of high value like a precious stone. The Jesus-follower can view death as a valuable event rather than a sad moment. Remaining family and friends may be saddened by the death, but for the believer, it is VALUABLE.

Most of us have too high of an estimation of our earthly existence. We tend to over-value this life and all that accompanies our life here. We overwork and over-extend ourselves to amass earthly goods, we bend over backwards to attain earthly credits and praise, and we prioritize our time, energy, and resources around things that are earthly.

Paul reminds us in Colossians 3:1-2 to set our minds toward and seek things that are eternal instead of things that are earthly.

What kind of view do your priorities reflect? Do you wear yourself out living for life on THIS side of eternity when there is a far more valuable life awaiting you? Jesus reminded us not to lay up treasures here on earth, but to lay up treasures in heaven. (Matthew 6:19-21)

How can you reorder your priorities, resources, plans, and practices to reflect an eternal view? When you pass away will it be a bad thing because you are leaving behind what was most valuable to you or will it be PRECIOUS because you will finally reap the heavenly investment you made here on earth?

The Battle for Your Mind

The struggle is real, indeed! As believers, we have a very real enemy and he doesn’t play nice. Over the past two-weeks, I have encountered intense spiritual warfare raging in my mind and heart, and believe me, this was not my first rodeo with the devil.

One of the biggest mistakes believers make is to at best minimize the devil’s influence and at worst to disbelieve in him or his work to distract, demoralize, and derail your joy and service for God. I am saddened that there are people who do not believe in God, and I pray that their eyes would be opened to the truth, but the saddest of all to me is the one who does not believe in the existence of the devil.

The devil’s main arena is our minds. Therefore, He likes to mess up our thinking and confuse us with his lies. Deception is the name of his game. At the very first encounter a human being had with the devil, he tried to confuse her thinking and understanding of God’s truth. Genesis 3:1-7 recounts the very first sin committed, and the bait the devil dangled in front of Eve was in the question of verse 2, “Did God really say…?” (emphasis added)

The devil is not very entrepreneurial. He has been creating confusion and doubt in the minds of the creatures about the Creator’s explicit truth forever. God’s Word is VITAL (I cannot overstate this notion) to our spiritual effectiveness. The Word is both an offensive weapon, the sword of the Lord in Ephesians 6:17, and a defensive tool, the word hidden that we might not sin according to Psalm 119:9,11.

Intentional Bible Study

This is why I challenge you so often to be intentional with your Bible reading and study. If we fill our minds with God’s truth, we are more equipped to fend off the devil’s attempts to confuse and delude us. For the believer, spiritual victory begins and ends in the mind. Read, study, memorize God’s Word so you will be armed and defended against our very real enemy’s attacks.

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. – John 8:32

I want to help prepare you to memorize Bible verses for when you don’t have a Bible handy. Below is  a link where you can download for free my A to Z Bible Memory sheet. The sheet provides you with 26 Bible verses each beginning with a successive letter of the alphabet. You can memorize and have them ready when the devil tries to deceive you.

A to Z Bible Memorization Plan.

Flashback Friday – April 22

Articles and Blogs

Seven Ways Church Members Should Prepare for a Sermon – Thom Rainer

The Meaning of Manhood – Phillip Holmes

The Pastor’s Personal Holiness – Kevin DeYoung

Beyond the Quiet Time – Jared C. Wilson

“Who’s Watching You?” Asks Braves Legend, Sid Bream – Scott Barkley

Worth Repeating

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. – Thomas Edison

Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. – Mark Twain

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of determination. – Vince Lombardi

It always seems impossible until it’s done. – Nelson Mandela

Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength. – Theodore Roosevelt

Another Look

Tony Evans quote

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Are You Prepared to Hear the Sermon?

ear helpMost pastors I know work very hard at the most important thing we do – teaching and preaching God’s Word. I am sure there are a few who take short cuts and preach sermons already prepared in a book or online, but most that I know spend a good amount of time and pour a lot of spiritual energy into each sermon. Many of us prepare three sermons a week.

More than 20 years ago, God led me to Colossians 1:28-29, and that passage has since been the Biblical motivation for me as I prepare and preach. I see it as God’s commission to me as a preacher and because I take the verse and commission seriously, I prepare as fastidiously as possible.

Him [Jesus] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me. – Colossians 1:28-29

I’ve heard some preachers confess that they spend as much as 12-20 hours on the Sunday morning sermon alone. Thirty years of preparing sermons week after week has taught me how to research and compile material more quickly than I did at first. Digital tools and resources (which I have amassed over the last several years at the cost of a small fortune) have made the process more streamlined for me and saved me some time as well.

I wondered what would happen if listeners prepared themselves to hear as diligently as preachers prepare themselves to preach. I certainly wouldn’t expect it to be an equal amount of time, but my fear is that most hearers sit down in church to hear a sermon having given little to no thought or prayer to prepare themselves for what God wants to say to them.

Yesterday, Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources posted an article on his blog that gave some practical steps we can take to prepare ourselves to hear God speak through the sermon. I am including a link to the article below, and I want to challenge you to read it and take some time this week (and every week from this point on) preparing yourself to hear what God wants to say directly to YOU on Sunday.

I believe your preparation will make you a better hearer and certainly make your preacher a better preacher.

Use the comment section below to share ways you prepare yourself to hear God’s Word.

 

Seven Ways Church Members Should Prepare for a Sermon by Thom Rainer

 

 

Outsmarting Temptation

Anim-man_tired_after_exercise_funny-1mdI am 51 years old. Occasionally I forget that and think I am 25. Age-amnesia can get me in trouble sometimes. I have to learn that at 51, I can still do everything I did at 25, only now I have to do it only in my head.

I have to face the facts, I am not as strong as I used to be, but hopefully I am smarter. Where once I could tackle many issues with vigor now I must use prudence. For all of us, YOUNG or OLD, that truth applies to temptation. We allow make ourselves way too vulnerable to temptation – more vulnerable than we are actually able to stand. We are not nearly as strong as we think we are, and the secret to withstanding temptation lies in being wise and prudent.

Let me encourage you to consider your proximity to sin and take the most prudent of three options.

  • AVOID temptation when you can. The old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is so true when dealing with sin. Know where you are vulnerable and simply do not put yourself in a place where you will be tempted. Watch where you surf on the internet, view on the television, listen to on the radio and at work. Just don’t go there. (Proverbs 5:1-8, Ephesians 4:27)
  • When you can’t avoid temptation, RUN from it. Often temptation sneaks up on us when we aren’t expecting it. When you find yourself suddenly being tempted, remove yourself from the temptation. Turn the channel, shut down the computer, walk away, excuse yourself from the conversation. Paul encouraged Timothy to “flee” from lust and temptation, and that is great advice to us. (2 Timothy 2:22)
  • Then finally if you are in an unavoidable temptation from which you cannot get away, RESIST – not in your strength, but in the name of Jesus. We do not humanly have the ability to resist the devil, but through the name of Jesus and by the power of His Word, we are undefeatable. (1 Peter 5:8-9)

Let me remind you also that the battle against temptation is more easily fought before ever facing the temptation. Be prepared. Have you heart clean and your mind clear. Meditate and memorize God’s Word so you will have a weapon to wield against temptation. Set your heart on heavenly things, nurture your spirit through daily Bible reading and prayer, and you will be more prepared to avoid, run, or resist.

Sunday Sermon – The Mystery of Life Revealed

Like most of us, you’ve probably asked the question before: why am I here?  For thousands of years, people have been trying to discover the true meaning of life.  We search for meaning, value, and purpose.  Today, we will let the cat out of the bag and reveal the great mystery of the ages.

 

The Mystery of Life…Solved
Colossians 1:24-29

Recap: The Secret to a great life is letting Christ live in and through me.

  1. Live in the PRESENCE of Christ

q The presence of Christ is appropriated by faith
q The presence of Christ can be a moment-changer

  1. Live with the PROMISE of Christ

q “Hope” in the Biblical sense is not iffy or subjective, but is sure and
grounded in God’s reliability

q “Glory” refers to anything good or praiseworthy

q Christ in us assures us that things will occur in our life that are
meaningful and purposeful.

  1. Live for the PURPOSE of Christ

q God’s purpose for your life is to make you like Jesus – Romans 8:29
q The WORD of God is the INSTRUMENT of God to accomplish the PURPOSE of God in the PEOPLE of God.

 

  1. Live through the POWER of Christ.

q So many times we fail to unlock the true secret to a meaningful life
`                                                                                  because we use the wrong keys.

q When we conform to God purpose for our lives, His power comes to
bear to accomplish His purpose.