You will never guess who is going to India...

Well, maybe you will:) After a year hiatus (yes, I checked the spelling) from India, God swung open the door once again and I couldn't be more excited about the opportunity! But I am not the only one from my family that is going...

This Fall, Sharon mentioned that I might want to read a journal entry from Bethany's Bible class. As I read it, I was stunned and humbled. She was writing in response to Genesis 12 where Abraham is called by God to move out in faith. She wrote, "would I listen to God and trust Him and leave my home? I will have to answer that soon, because every year my dad goes to India on a missions trip...I will have to decide in the next few years when I will be going with him...leaving my home to be a missionary to people of a different country. I can relate to Abraham in that way, but will I go out of my comfort zone to go where God is calling me???"

In her prayer of application, she said, "I pray that whatever I decide to do and whenever I decide to do it, that I will be like Abraham and trust you...amen!"

Out of the mouths of...well, youth! When your children begin to wrestle with possibilities like this - desiring to step out in faith while counting the cost - your heart gets a start. Coincidentally;), I had been sensing that God was giving me the "nod" to return to India, but practically, that didn't make a lot of sense. As a new pastor, with tons of ministry happening at our church, I had to find a moment to brave the question, "can I use my vacation to go to India?" Pastor Chris' answer was "yes," and now the journey begins...again...and fresh with the opportunity to take my 14 year old daughter along with me!

So, with doors open wide, the prep underway, and stabs of anticipation creeping upon me in the middle of the night, we embark on a journey, with each other, and...with you.

Will you join us? In prayer & encouragement?

Thank you and Blessings!

P.S. Please stay tuned for future updates about how we will be ministering and what our needs are.

Joyful Giving (electronically)

I would like to invite you to participate in our Electronic Giving program designed to simplify your giving to God's work at FBC Prescott.

Electronic Giving enables each person to make their church offering using electronic funds transfer (EFT). Since you are probably already using EFT to pay your mortgage, car payment or insurance premium through an automatic withdrawal from your checking or savings account, why not extend that convenience to your giving?

Here are a few reasons to consider this option:

There is no cost to you for this new giving option.
If you are currently giving on a weekly basis, you will no longer need to write out 52 checks a year or prepare 52 envelopes.
When you travel or other circumstances prevent you from attending services, this program will allow your weekly offerings to continue on an uninterrupted basis.
This also gives you the opportunity to put your "green" convictions into action, by cutting down on the use of paper:)

To participate in electronic giving, please visit our website at www.fbcprescott.com and click on the “Online-Giving” icon on the right side of the page to begin giving joyfully (electronically)!

If you are not familiar with online giving, and would like more information or help to start the process, please contact our church office at 928.778.9790 and we will be happy to assist you.

Thank you for considering this new giving opportunity.

Things that can't be taken away

On Saturday, October 2, 2010, I ran 50 miles (24 more than I had ever run before). The race is called "Man Against Horse," (I think the horse won:)) At the end of the race I received a belt buckle as my "trophy" for completing the race. But that is not the thing that can't be taken away.

The race begins at the base of Mingus Mountain and winds through river beds, up long steep dirt trails, and then finally back down again. Between miles 29 and 32 there is a very steep and rocky trail ascending perhaps 2000 feet. I was doing fine through 29 miles, but then at about mile 30, in the middle of this climb, I experienced severe cramping in my legs. At first, my calves cramped and then my shins. Normally, I can stretch and keep moving, but these were cramps unlike any I have ever had! My legs seized up, and I struggled to release the cramps. It worked once or twice, but then a few steps later I was unable to free myself from them. I lay on the dirt trail calling out to God for help, for no amount of energy I had would do. I writhed in pain as my calves contorted my feet.

As I lay on the narrow path, calling out to God, I realized my race was over. Now, how could I get up the two miles to the next aid station or down to the previous one? Humanly speaking, I couldn't.

I finally freed the cramps enough to relax in the dirt, praying for a solution. Other runners would pass me by and give me sympathetic looks, and offer to tell the people at the top that a man was down. I called my wife and told her the problem...she had been praying all day.

I don't know how it happened, but after laying there for 30 minutes, I knew I had to get up. I heard “God’s still small voice” say, you are going to finish this race. Crazy! I couldn't even move! I got up, and stepped with caution; praise God. I took another step, then another, then another. I was on my way, hoping to make it to the top in order to catch a ride to base camp.

At the top, the aid workers asked if I wanted to continue...”how far until the next aid station,” I asked. “Six miles,” was their response. I think I will try. At mile 38, the same question, with my response, "I think I will try."

I crossed the finish line with 10 minutes to spare (they have a 12 hour cut-off). It was truly a miracle to me, because I know where I was physically at mile 30!

So, what can't be taken away, you ask? That God met me in my pain and hopelessness and renewed my strength. He spoke comfort and grace, and I know that it wasn't anything that I could have done without Him. Every step toward the finish line became a special gift for which I returned praise! God had met me personally, again, and that can't be taken away!

How has God met you in ways that are impossible to describe? Give Him praise for the meeting, and hold it close to your heart, and be sure to share it with others...God might just use it to encourage them!

Pastor Dave

Homily for my daughter's wedding

My daughter was married on June 26 and I was privileged to perform the wedding. I wanted to give them some marriage encouragement, but as I thought about it, all of our marriages might be strengthened as we remember these things...take some time to read, and then post what you might have included in such a talk. :)

Jonathan and Amy…

It is my great joy to speak to you for a few minutes about marriage and the great adventure and journey you are about to embark on. It has been wonderful beyond words to see how God has brought you to this place today, and we all look forward to watching the two of you walk together throughout the rest of your lives.

I personally know how taken you are by the Grace of our Lord Jesus. You have given yourselves to Him first and are the recipients of the amazing and sovereign grace of God. In light of that, I have taken the word GRACE and made an acrostic as it relates to marriage.

So, let’s begin…

G is for God! Surprise, surprise:) He indeed must be your foundation as you walk together. It has been my prayer from the beginning of your life, Amy, that God would provide you with a heart for Him and ultimately give you a man whose heart is fully His. In our conversations and in your actions, Jon and Amy, you have demonstrated a heart bent toward Jesus.

Why is having God as your foundation so important? I am glad you asked:) Let’s say that you have an argument, I can’t imagine such a thing ever happening in your marriage, but let’s just say for a moment it does. In those times of frustration, and disillusionment, and grrrrrr, shall I say PAIN, how will you make it through?

Well, you make it through by submitting to your Lord. You experience the emotions, of course, and while this is not easy - you keep humbling yourselves before Him and letting Him teach you, comfort you, guide you, and use your trials to transform you. If Jesus is truly your Lord, you must return to His presence over and over and over again, and gain His perspective, and yield your wills to His!

Now that we have our foundation, let’s move quickly through the rest of our GRACE acrostic

R is for Relationship! You would do well to prioritize and protect your relationship with one another. There will be many things, undoubtedly, that will seek to steal your time away from each other in the coming months and years; jobs, friends, school, hobbies, children…children You must be intentional about carving out quality time together. How do you do that? Well, you go away alone, you lock the bedroom door, you meet for coffee, you turn off the cell phone, you drive or walk places together just to be with one another. It is important to have fun, but also occasionally ask this question, “how am I doing as your spouse?” This question will sometimes bring you grief, but it will demonstrate the priority of your relationship to each other. So, as strange as this might seem to you right now, if you don’t make your relationship a priority, it will not be your priority!

Next

A is for acceptance. This is one of the greatest gifts you can give to each other! Acceptance is that quality of being ok with who a person is, without the intention of trying to mold or shape them into your image. Remember, when you are connected to your Lord, He is responsible for changing and growing you and your spouse into the person He desires. When two people have this goal, they can stop trying to change the other person and freely yield to His work. To be sure, God will transform you through your partner’s influence; through prayer, study together, freely sharing your hopes and dreams – but seek to allow God to move you and them along the path as He desires and in His timing. Learn to accept the person where they are, and the beautiful creation he has made and is making them to be.

Not only are we talking about acceptance of each other, but also of the difficult circumstances that will certainly invade your lives. I hope you understand that I am not talking about just rolling over when challenges come, but there will be many times when you will just have to say, “ok, this is the hand we are dealt, how can we learn from it and use it for the glory of God?”

Can you guess what the “C” stands for? If you guessed “Call your parents…” you might be right But today it is for Commitment!

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to stay married for life! It may seem like a mission impossible in today’s world, but it is not impossible. No one stands on their wedding day and says, “I just don’t think this marriage thing is going to work out.” At least, I hope no one is saying that! Yet, so many marriages today don’t work out. There are lots of reasons for this, but I can give you a tried and true way to not end up a divorce statistic! Ready…Don’t quit! It seams easy now, but don’t even entertain the idea! Never, never, never, use the “D” word. Divorce is not an option. Once you begin to entertain the idea of divorce or God forbid, use the D word as a threat, you have begun down the wrong path. By the end of this hour, you will be officially married, and you must not let anyone or anything sway your commitment. Your mission is possible, but you both must have it as your mission…and I believe that you do.

We have seen that God must be the foundation, your Relationship must be a priority, you must Accept one another, Commit to each other, and finally you must

Educate yourselves in how to have a good marriage. One of my guiding principles in life is that I must either “grow or die.” Now, what does that have to do with marriage? Think of it this way, today you are having a baby! No, not a real baby, but something that is very much like a baby – your marriage. When you have a baby, you tend to it, listen for its cry, feed it, teach it, comfort it, yes, even change its smelly diapers as needed – and you do all of this out of love for the baby. You want that baby to grow into all that God has for it. How long would the baby survive if you left the baby in the crib and only brought it out to occasionally show it off? Just the thought is horrible! It helps me to think of marriage that way. Later today, you will bring home this beautiful marriage, but that is just the beginning! If you leave it on the shelf, and only tend to it haphazardly, your baby marriage will suffer great harm. But, if you tend to it, feeding it often with quality food, listening for its whimpers that indicate that something might be wrong, take the time to check its diapers, and read lots of books about how to love for a lifetime, or have a sacred marriage, or speak your spouses love language, your marriage will grow.

At what point will you stop feeding your marriage? Well, when would you stop feeding your baby? That’s right, as long as you want the baby/marriage to keep growing – a lifetime!

So, may the grace of God guide you, and completely overwhelm your lives together, and may this simple acrostic of GRACE remind you how to experience some of His grace in your marriage!

Hermeneutics 099

Now to wrap this up.

This naturally leads to my last point. Think about the intended audience and culture. A lot of the time we read the bible and think every promise and every command and ever word was written to a 21 century man or woman sitting in their comfortable 21st century home and living their 21st century lifestyle. Instead, we ought to realize that a lot of times the words were written to a specific people in a specific culture for a very specific reason, we are a third party. This is not to say that we cannot glean knowledge, wisdom, insight, and instruction from God through the scriptures. We should however always make a point to understand what is going on in the passage as we attempt to learn from the text, and especially before we apply it to our lives. Ask the questions: "Who is being written to/about and why?", and "Is this a specific promise/command for me, or more of a general principle to consider?" Let's change our thinking from "Everything in here was written and meant for me" to "Everything written in here will benefit me, if I appropriately apply it."

My final thought: What bible do you read from? You should find a bible that is easy for you to read. We could argue all day about which one is the best, but it doesn't matter how good it is if you are not reading it because it is too difficult. I think an obvious example is the Old King James; while a decent translation the wording is very foreign and hard for modern day readers to understand. I use ESV and enjoy NKJ, sometimes I'll use NIV for another perspective. I would always counsel you to use the most accurate translation possible. For example the ESV which communicates word for word translation rather than the NIV which communicates thought for thought. But if a paraphrase like The Message is the only one that makes sense to you, I would say read that. My hope would be that as you become more and more accustomed to God's word you would graduate up to a more accurate text. But while going for the most accurate is always a good thing, actually reading the bible is better. So find a translation that will help you get into the word, and not one that hinders you from reading God's message to mankind.

Hermeneutics 098

More tips!

This brings me to point three, understand the context. One of the easiest mistakes is to read a verse by itself, and take out of it what we think it means as a stand alone point this is called Eisegesis. Rather we should desire to let the bible speak for itself and find the intended context of the whole chapter or even the whole book, this is called Exogesis. We have to read versus in context of chapters and chapters in context of books. Sometimes what we think of as a whole or complete thought is merely a part, so it helps to read the surrounding passages. Honestly this is what we do with all other literature naturally, but the bible we try to read into every word every verse and sometimes detach it from its intended purpose. I would even say it is important to understand entire books within the context of the bible as a whole. The bible is not going to contradict itself, so even sometimes it is helpful to take into consideration what the bible has said elsewhere when coming to conclusions. Some questions to ask at this point: Does the bible speak to this issue elsewhere? Has the bible used this language and even imagery elsewhere? Does the bible answer this question elsewhere? ect. A lot of times the answer is yes and we just have to find it.

Next we have to consider the genre. The bible is full of different kinds of literary approaches. There is poetic, historic, prophetic, narrative, parabolic, instructional, proverbial, and even musical. The idea then is to not force one genre interpretation on another. So we should not force parabolic stories into literal history, or for that matter to confuse actual history with parables. To understand that poetry and prophecy sometimes use fantasy type imagery to communicate a point while historical parts do not. Just as instructional is meant to be taken literally and proverbial is not. Just like a narrative might not be exhaustive in all the facts but communicates a important theme. So we need to understand when the bible is using these different genres and appropriately interpret them.

more to come...

Hermeneutics 097

A lot of people have a hard time reading the bible. They believe that it is too difficult to read and even more difficult to understand. I was teaching out of Revelation this past Sunday which is arguably the most difficult book in the bible to interact with. As I was explaining some of the fantastic imagery, I was reminded about how often we pause on certain passages and never get past them because they are confusing or we have missed something: There are going to be Dragons in the future? There are going to be great Beasts and women with stars on their head? The stars are literally going to fall to the earth? These and even less troubling passages give us pause and sometimes end in us leaving the bible and walking away rather than digging in to find the answers. Think of Jesus when he said his followers had to eat his flesh and drink his blood, they misunderstood and walked away. This is a tragedy. God gave us his word to teach and instruct us so that we can live fulfilling lives pleasing to him. So I want to just list a few tips to help you read your bible.

The first and most obvious one is to re-read the passage you have just read. Sometimes we miss things because the style or even the words themselves are foreign to us. We should familiarize ourselves with the wording and meaning of words that the bible uses as much as possible. A secondary taking in of the words can sometimes help us with something we have overlooked.

Second, get a broader perspective. Read the surrounding passages, sometimes we think that because we are in a new chapter that it is a completely new thought. We have to realize that the current breaking of the words with chapter and verses wasn't added until the 16th century to make things easier for us to read and reference. This has helped tremendously but it was a two-edged sword in that it also put unnatural breaks in the flow of thoughts that were not intended. So understand that just because you are in a new chapter doesn't mean the author has moved on from the previous point he was making, sometimes entire books are building on a single theme and progressively mounting up the theology, so reading individual chapters might detached you from the overall point. A lot of times the Bible defines stuff for us if we keep reading, or remember to look back at what was previously stated.

I will have more tips in the following days.