November 2003 Archive
Day Eighteen - Experiencing Life Together (11/30/03 - 0 Comments)
I need to belong not only to a church but also to a small group within the church. Life is meant to be shared and it is best shared with a small group of dedicated friends with whom I can experience true fellowship. The ultimate model for a small group is Jesus' twelve disciples. He realized that a group that is much bigger than that causes people to shut down. Warren gives several pointers as...
Day Seventeen - A Place To Belong (11/29/03 - 2 Comments)
God does not just call us to believe; He also calls us to belong to His family. The Bible shows that from the beginning of creation “it was not good for man to be alone.” We were formed to be part of a body of believers. The Bible speaks of a human body and shows that each part of the body is dependent on the others (though it gives no mention of the tonsils or...
An Introduction To Calvinism & Arminianism
(Part 4) (11/28/03 - 3 Comments)
This is part four of our series studying the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. Please note that this is only a brief overview of a vast topic. A thorough discussion of this topic can (and often has) filled many books. At the conclusion of the series I will provide a list of helpful resources should you wish to pursue this study further. Today we turn our attention to a comparison of the two views. I...
Day Sixteen - What Matters Most (11/28/03 - 0 Comments)
Life is all about love. Because God is love – because He is the greatest example of love and because He embodies love – he wants me to spend my life loving others. Love is the foundation of every law and commandment He has given. Though I am called to love everyone in the world, I am to give special attention to the members of God’s family. The love that Christians show to each other...
Day Fifteen - Formed For God's Family (11/27/03 - 1 Comments)
God made me to be part of his family. So begins my study into the second purpose of my life. God, who already had perfect relationships within the Godhead, desired a family to bring Him glory. The only way to be part of God’s family is to be born again as a child of God. God has extended a universal call for all people to join His family (see my articles on Calvinism and Arminianism...
An Introduction To Calvinism & Arminianism
(Part 3) (11/26/03 - 4 Comments)
This is part three of our series studying the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. Please note that this is only a brief overview of a vast topic. A thorough discussion of this topic can (and often has) filled many books. At the conclusion of the series I will provide a list of helpful resources should you wish to pursue this study further. Today we turn our attention to the “five points of Arminianism” which arose...
Day Fourteen - When God Seems Distant (11/26/03 - 1 Comments)
Sometimes in my life God feels distant, but I need to realize that He is real and He is there, even when it doesn’t feel like it. It is always easy to be worshipful when life is good, but when times are tough am I able to worship God? It is in the times of trouble that real relationships are forged. God may feel distant, even if I am a close friend of His. David,...
An Introduction To Calvinism & Arminianism
(Part 2) (11/25/03 - 2 Comments)
This is part two of our series studying the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. Please note that this is only a brief overview of a vast topic. A thorough discussion of this topic can (and often has) filled many books. At the conclusion of the series I will provide a list of helpful resources should you wish to pursue this study further. Today we turn our attention to the “five points of Calvinism.” John Calvin...
Day Thirteen - Worship That Pleases God (11/25/03 - 2 Comments)
Day thirteen of The Purpose Driven Life begins with telling me that God wants all of me. He wants me to serve Him with all of my heart, all of my soul, all of my mind and all of my strength. Warren offers four characteristics of worship that please God. God is pleased when my worship is accurate. I need to worship God as He is revealed Himself in the Bible and not create my...
An Introduction To Calvinism & Arminianism (11/24/03 - 3 Comments)
Introduction This seeks to be an introductory study into the differences between Arminian and Calvinistic theology. This study is by no means definitive, but exists merely to introduce the five main concepts in which the two traditions have fundamental disagreements. Scripture verses used as proof texts are provided for each concept and short, unbiased comments have been added to each proof text to show how the text supports that viewpoint. The best course of study...
Day Twelve - Developing Your Friendship With God (11/24/03 - 1 Comments)
I am as close to God as I choose to be. Like any friendship, my relationship with God requires work. Just as a human relationship would die out if ignored, so my relationship with God will only improve with dedicated effort. In this chapter Warren presents several ways I can have a deeper connection with God. I must choose to be honest with God. God expects honesty. He does not want me to sugar coat...
Day Eleven - Becoming Best Friends With God (11/23/03 - 2 Comments)
God is my Creator, Redeemer, Master, Judge and Saviour. Yet about all of these, He is my friend. What an incredible thought it is, that God desires to be my friend! The Bibilical model for this friendship is what we see with Adam and Eve in their relationship to God. They delighted in God and He delighted in them. Since the fall, humans, created to live continually in God's presence, have been seperated from Him,...
Day Ten - The Heart of Worship (11/22/03 - 0 Comments)
Surrendering to God is the heart of worship. My natural response to an understanding of what God has done for me should be to surrender my life fully to Him. There are three barriers to trusting God: Fear. Before I can fully surrender myself to God I need to be able to trust Him. Fearfulness can keep me from fully trusting Him and trusting His plans for me. Pride. My human pride can keep me...
Book Review - Every Man's Battle (11/21/03 - 8 Comments)
Every Man�s Battle is the first book I have read in my adult life on the topic of sexual purity. In my teen years I was given books on the topic and I read, enjoyed and learned from them. However, this is the first book I have read on the subject as a married adult. Because I have not done a lot of reading on the subject I am unsure if Every Man�s Battle is...
Day Nine - What Makes God Smile? (11/21/03 - 0 Comments)
Day nine of The Purpose Driven Life begins with the statement, "The smile of God is the goal of your life." And certainly Rick Warren has been building to this statement. Because pleasing God is the first purpose of my life, it is crucial that I understand how to do that. To illustrate how to please God, Warren uses the example of Noah. Noah was a man who pleased God and in his time was...
Christian Music: Is There Such A Thing? (11/20/03 - 14 Comments)
Two completely unrelated events gave me the inspiration for this article. The first was an awards show that I did not watch and the second was a drive home from a rather dull meeting. The American Music Awards were presented this week and for just the third year, one was presented in the category of Favorite Artist in Contemporary Inspirational Music with Steven Curtis Chapman taking home the award. Not being a fan of award...
Day Eight - Planned For God's Pleasure (11/20/03 - 0 Comments)
I was planned for God's pleasure. With this sentence Rick Warren begins day eight of The Purpose Driven Life and his discussion of the first of my five purposes. The first purpose of my life is to bring enjoyment and pleasure to God. As the crowning achievement of His creation, I can bring Him pleasure like nothing else. Bringing pleasure to God is called "worship." Therefore, anything that I do that brings Him pleasure is...
Day Seven - The Reason For Everything (11/19/03 - 2 Comments)
It's all for Him. It's that simple really. The reason God created everything is to show His glory. This leads to the question of what is God's glory? Warren answers this by saying, "it is the essence of His nature, the weight of His importance, the radiance of His splendor, the demonstration of His power, and the atmosphere of His presence." I would suggest you read that again because there is some incredible depth in...
"God's Name Is Blasphemed..." (11/18/03 - 0 Comments)
In my Home Church (Bible Study / Cell Group) this week we are studying the prophet Daniel. Specifically we will be examining him as a shining example of a man who stood firm in his convictions. When commanded to cease worshipping God, he never considered disobeying God. Instead, he pressed on with his routine of praying three times each day. He knew there would be fearsome consequences, yet trusted that obeying God was preferable to...
Day Six - Life Is A Temporary Assignment (11/18/03 - 1 Comments)
Day six of The Purpose Driven Life finishes Warren's thoughts about "how I see my life shapes my life." You will recall he said yesterday that the Bible offers three metaphors for life: life is a test, a trust and a temporary assignment. Today we cover the last of these metaphors. The Bible is filled with teachings on the brevity of life. To make the most of life I need to realize that compared with...
Who Is Rick Warren? (11/17/03 - 3 Comments)
As I have launched into my 40-day study in The Purpose Driven Life I have found that some people are not familiar with who Rick Warren is. I am providing this as a brief introduction to Rick Warren as well as an introduction to why I am investing so much time in studying his book. Rick Warren is founder and pastor of Saddleback Church, one of America's largest churches. Saddleback, in Lake Forest, California, is...
Day Five - Seeing Life From God's View (11/17/03 - 0 Comments)
"The way I see my life shapes my life" is how chapter five of The Purpose Driven Life begins. That sounds very "Anthony Robbins to me!" Warren asks the question of if I were to think of my life as a picture, what image would come to mind? I had never stopped to consider what life metaphor I hold to, but at his request I gave it some thought and really did not come up...
The Purpose Driven Life Day Four - Made To Last Forever (11/16/03 - 4 Comments)
Day four of The Purpose Driven Life picks up where day three left off. After ending the previous day with an explanation of how this life is but a dress rehearsal for eternity, Warren keeps his focus on eternity. He says that earth is just "the preschool, the tryout for your life in eternity." Humans were created to live forever, and regardless of who I am or what I believe, I will live forever. My...
The Purpose Driven Life Day Three - What Drives Your Life? (11/15/03 - 2 Comments)
Everyone's life is driven by something. I see now that Rick Warren likes to open each chapter with a concise summary of the chapter's title! Chapter three of The Purpose Driven Life begins by stating that each person's life is driven and controlled by something. Warren lists five of the most common driving forces. They are: Guilt - Many people live their lives burdened by guilt. They allow this guilt to control them so that...
The Purpose Driven Life Day Two - You Are Not An Accident (11/14/03 - 4 Comments)
I am not an accident. No matter how my birth came about, even if it was a mistake in human terms, it was not a surprise to God. He had planned for it long before I was born. Not only did he know I was going to be born but he also knew where I would be born, how I would be born and even how long I would live. My life was perfectly planned...
Day One - It All Starts With God (11/13/03 - 5 Comments)
"It's not about you." So begins my journey with Rick Warren as he seeks to help me understand my life's purpose through The Purpose Driven Life. Because God is the Creator, we, the created beings, can never hope to discover our meaning and our purpose outside of Him. The world teaches that so-called self-discovery begins with me, whereas the Bible teaches that it begins with God. Warren uses the first chapter to explain a bit...
Purpose Driven Life - Beginning The Journey (11/13/03 - 2 Comments)
Rick Warren is courageous. I don’t think I would have the courage to write a book, knowing full well it would be read by millions, which sought to answer life’s greatest question. Yet Warren claims that The Purpose Driven Life will do just that. It will answer the question of “What on earth am I here for?” The introduction claims “This is more than a book; it is a guide to a 40-day spiritual journey...
Purpose Driven Blog (11/12/03 - 13 Comments)
I have started reading The Purpose Driven Life several times. So far I have not managed to finish it. I got to thinking that perhaps if I blogged my way through the 40 days of the book I could find motivation to keep reading it. So starting tomorrow I will attempt to blog my way through the book. I have some preconceptions that it is only fair I lay down from the beginning. I have...
Something New Under The Hood (11/12/03 - 0 Comments)
Just for kicks I decided to change the back-end of this site from Geeklog to Movabletype. The changeover took a few hours of work (mostly hacking apart cascading style sheets) and quite a bit of frustration, but the move is nearly complete. I found Movabletype after Geeklog and found it had some neat features that Geeklog did not. Of course the opposite is true too. I am going to run them in parallel for a...
The Plan For This Blog (11/11/03 - 0 Comments)
There are some out there who are wondering what the plan is for this site. So I thought I'd share a bit of my vision for it. This site serves a couple of purposes. First, it gives me an outlet for writing. I enjoy writing, especially about spiritual topics, as I find it makes my Christian walk that much richer. Secondly, it allows me to provide updates on my life, post family photographs, etc. With...
He Lives (11/10/03 - 0 Comments)
You may have noticed that I recently linked to He Lives, an excellent blog I discovered a few weeks ago. The site proclaims itself the "Reformed viewpoint of a nuclear physicist." The author, David Heddle, has written some very interesting and informative articles over the past year-and-a-half he has written on a variety of topics relevant to the Christian walk. I especially recommend his current series on Dispensational Premillennialism. He updates the site most days,...
She Must And Shall Go Free (11/10/03 - 1 Comments)
You have to admire Derek Webb for being a risk-taker. Not only did he take a risk by leaving one of the Christian music's most popular and successful bands, but he then released an album that directly challenges the church with plenty of potent, hard-hitting lyrics. And this is an industry that really does not like to be challenged. Webb has crafted an album of superb quality. If you have heard Caedmon's Call you will...
Sunday Reflection (11/09/03 - 0 Comments)
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all...
Links (11/08/03 - 2 Comments)
FriendsSimon's Home PageDave's Empty BlogCheri's BlogJason McGibbon ProjectIn The FaithContent 4 The Faith Clients Websonix (My company's home page) Decor & More Storehouse Rock Mississauga Wolverines Direct To You Storage Systems The Mosaic The Jason McGibbon Project Wellness Counselling Okeefenokees Northern Football Conference (Under Construction) Distinctive Installs The Sanctuary Swash Collectables Loans Till Payday St Andrews...
The Fundamentals of Fundamentalism (11/07/03 - 3 Comments)
Visitors to this site often ask my why I identify myself as a fundamentalist. Truth be told there are a few reasons. So let me cover the fundamentals of fundamentalism. Fundamentalism has different meanings to different people. It is a word that crosses religious boundaries as there are, for example, both Christian and Muslim fundamentalists. Of course in North America we most often associate the word with a particular brand of conservative Protestantism. I originally...
Christianity In England (11/06/03 - 1 Comments)
The Jerusalem Post recently ran an article where they gave some rather startling statistics. Currently in the United Kingdom there are approximately 1,000,000 practicing Christians (no denominational breakdown of what that includes) and about 750,000 practicing Muslims. Now it is no great secret that church attendance in the United Kingdom has been plummetting in recent times, but the gravity of the fall is quite shocking. Only one in 58 people (1.7%) consider themselves Christian while...
The Rules Of Freedom (11/05/03 - 0 Comments)
There is a misconception about Christianity whereby non-Christians seem to think that Christians live their lives burdened by myriads of unfair and outdated rules. Though some of these rules are perceived to be admirable and praiseworthy, many others, they think, are simply burdensome and unnecessary. Few would argue that the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” is a bad one. But when it comes to the commandments regarding adultery and sexual relations people no longer consider...
A Fond Farewell? (11/04/03 - 0 Comments)
My computer is having a bad day. A really bad day. I was just working away and suddenly started getting error messages left, right and centre. Scans and reboots have not helped the situation at all. So now I am forced to go and buy a new hard drive and begin the slow, tedious process of reinstalling. Oh joy! Anyways, hopefully I will return soon....
Book Review - What Jesus Taught About Praise & Worship (11/04/03 - 2 Comments)
What Jesus Taught About Praise And Worship sounds like a fascinating title for a book. Never having heard of Ken Blount I was unsure as to what he was all about, but expected some interesting insights from someone who seems to have for several decades run a successful worship ministry. Alas, I was wrong....
The Regulatory Principle (11/03/03 - 5 Comments)
I have been thinking a lot lately about The Regulatory Principle, especially as it relates to the worship service. If you are not familiar with the term, it essentially means: The only acceptable worship is that which is explicitly taught in the Bible. By extension then, anything that is not explicitly taught in the Bible is implicitly forbidden. The Regulatory Principle is most often applied to music in the worship service, but can also apply...
