First of all, let me put out a disclaimer. I love my wife, my kids, my job, my church, my parents, my friends, and all kinds of other things that are important to my life. this blog entry is by no means an attempt to downgrade them. This is just a fun way to share a few other things that make my life easier - in no particular order.

1 - Coffee
My morning, almost every day, begins with coffee. I usually drink about 4-5 cups a day and in the winter I just keep on going into the evening with the coffee drinking. I have never really been affected by caffeine, so I don't think its that. I just really like coffee.

Get this....coffee is second in value, only to oil, as a commodity on the world markets. Over 20,000,000 people have jobs in the coffee business around the world. Pretty sweet.

There is a science to coffee - to good coffee atleast. There are only certain parts of the world where true arabica beans can be harvested, at certains altitudes, and at certain climates. Then there are different ways to process the beans. (wet or dry procesing) All in all, sets suffice it to say that if your best coffee experience is Starbucks, you are missing out on a world of yummy!

Most of what we are getting at Starbucks, Caribou, McDonalds, and in the containers at Wal-Mart are called "blends." Coffee companies take beans from several different countries and regions and blend them together to give us the basic "American" taste of coffee that most of us know. But if you want to take a little dive into coffee heaven, try some single-origin coffee from Guatemala, Kenya, or Honduras. It will rock your little coffee world.

Lucky for those of us that live in Northeast Ohio, we have some folks doing it right in Tallmadge. Top of the Mountain Coffee has a great story and great coffee. Try them out and you will soon understand why you can take Folgers and put it back on the shelf.


2 - ipod Touch
So, many of you know that I am a bit of a tech geek. this is true, but my reasoning for the ipod touch far outweighs the tech geek need for cool stuff. Lets see if I can convince you.

First of all, why not the iphone...why the touch? Well, because my friends, AT&T sucks and therefor the iphone sucks in its use as a phone. I am sorry, but the reason for a phone is to make calls. If I don't have service, I can't make calls, and therefore I keep my Verizone Wireless Droid (which is coming later) and rock the Touch for everything else.

So...whats the big deal about the ipod touch. Here are a few things.
- I can carry my itunes library, pictures, video, audiobooks, sermons, podcasts, and just about anything else that is recorded, with me all the time.

- Efficiency - My ipod syncs with my outlook exchange server to always keep my contacts, calendar, and email up to date. I like this. There are also several apps that I use to keep on top of things. Evernote is a great note taking program that syncs with my web account. If you use Franklin Covey, there is a greast tasks app for that. I kep storage of files, can read files, and can download from my online storage sites. It keeps me moving.

- Sweet games - angry birds - enough said. No really though, ipod touch has some incredible games no matter what you like and it runs almost everything super efficiently.

3 - Moleskin
Notes, schedules, dates, thoughts, ideas, brainstorming, poems, drawing, songwriting, etc. Moleskin has you covered - and they are way cool looking too. http://www.moleskineus.com/

More to come...

I can't get over this. This is sooo funny that I had to share it with you all. Enjoy

A few weeks ago we took out junior and senior students out to a farm in Ripley, New York. My boss (Rick) grew up there. the house that Rick grew up in has been there through 5 generations of his family and the church next door has been pastored by the same family for 3 generations. It is an awesome thing to see.

Lecrae - Rebel (Intro) from Evan Duncan on Vimeo.

I was in Barnes and Noble yesterday and there is so much Christian reading out there that it can be hard to know what we should be reading, what we should be cautious of, and how to tell the difference between the two. Well, I have developed a little system that I use, and I figured I would pass it on. This is by no means fail-proof, and this may weed out some good books, but if you are checking out an author for the first time, this might help you differ between God-honoring writing and theologically poor mumbo-jumbo.

Here it is

Look at the cover  - or the back of the book - or maybe a few pages from the front. There, you will usually find some critique from people who were given the book, prior to its publishing, to read through it and give their thumbs up.

Now - how does this help us? Well, I think it helps us filter out junk. People who have sound doctrine don't usually promote garbage, and if a book is crap you probably can't get anyone to promote it. So, here is the filter.

1 - Does anyone have anything to say about the book?
Sometimes you might run into a title that does not have any input for other authors or experts on the subject. This should be a warning. Now, I'm not saying that you should totally disregard this book, but if no one has commented on it, either they had no good things to say, or the author/publisher knew no one would have anything good to say, so they didn't let anyone comment on it.
Disclaimer - Again, this is not 100% full-proof. John Pipers new book has no such remarks and is awesome and theologically sound. 


2 - Are the people that are saying things about the book without name?
Often times there will be remarks on a book from a local magazine or newspaper. For instance, "Through Painted Deserts," by Donald Miller has only 2 remarks - one from a local Oregon newspaper, and Publishers Weekly. So that makes me think, "huh, do I really want what I reads validity to come from some no-name newspaper person in Oregon? Do we have any idea what they believe, what they think, or how they might align with our belief system? Those are good questions to ask. If no one is putting their name on it, they might be doing that for a reason.

3 - Are the people supporting the book people you know or are they at least sporting credentials?
I mean, lets be honest about it - some people just know people, and they often know people that think like they do. So their buddy reads the book, gives it 2 thumbs up, and they slap it on the cover. If I wrote a book, and put my bosses name on their, I would assume most people would have no idea who Rick Eimers is. So, ask yourself that question - who in the heck is this person?
And if you don't know the person, maybe look at who they are and what they bring to the table. If the guy has 2 masters and an M Div from universities that you agree with, maybe his praise is legit. If the person is actually a volunteer youth leader that they asked to write something out real quick, be a little skeptical.

Example - Brian McLarens new book, "A New Kind of Christianity," has 4 pieces of flare tied onto the back page.
           1 - Time Magazine  -1 point
           2 - Phyllis Tickle    - who?
           3 - Richard Rohr    -like a lion rohrs?
           4 - Adam Hamilon

Now, you may say, well Joe, you are just not versed in culture and who these upstanding and insightful people are. Well, you might be correct, but on this one I win cuz this book is full of crazy talk.



4 - A Good Example
Mark Driscoll has a new book out called "Doctrine." It is a guide to Christian Doctrine and belief. On the back, there are several quotes and these names and credentials follow:

Wayne Grudem, research professor of theological and biblical studies, Phoenix Seminary
Randy Alcorn, author of "If God is Good," and "Heaven."
James Macdonald, Senior Pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel, Chicago.
Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor; Lifechurch.tv
John Frame, Professor of Systematic theology and philosophy, reformed theological seminary.
Daniel Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary


Then, on the inside pages there are 8 pieces of feedback from other people in christian leadership, theology, academia, and  literature.

That is a very good example.

Be careful little eyes what you read!

I have been at my church in Cleveland Ohio for a little over 5 years. We have been through growth, pain, big decisions, and much more as a community. As I deal with the day to day grind of pastoral ministry, I have begun to see how the body and staff of a church functions, and there are just a few people that I want to mention and give some credit to.

Disclaimer - for all of you folks who are not mentioned, please know that I value every part of the staff both at our church and at other churches. This is not an attempt to snub leadership, rather an attempt to show how there are so many pieces that go into making leadership affective.

The Receptionist.
If you ever call our church, you are likely to hear something to this affect, "Good morning, Cuyahoga Valley Church, this is Lorrie; how may I help you?" A variation of those words come through many phone lines of many churches all over the world, and they make a world of difference. People who call our church feel warmth, they feel welcome, they don't feel like a nuisance. We live in a world where good customer service is of immense value to people, and even in ministry, good customer service is vital. I am thankful to Lorrie and all of the other receptionists out there who make so many feel the love of Jesus through the phones and at the front desks. This first impression allows ministry to happen because people feel welcome and come back, or come for the first time to hear about Christ.

The Building Crew
Churches can be quite the train wreck. I mean, think about it - you have people coming through from all walks of life, with different standards, kids missing the potty, coffee spilling all over the place, snow filling the parking lot, filters to be changed, clogs to be released, fire alarms to be tested, walls to be painted from 100's of tables and chairs ramming into them, cookie crumbs, left over bulletins, and whatever else might happen in the whirlwind that is church on Sunday and throughout the week. Our team here at CVC does an incredible job, and most of us don't even notice it. If things were dirty and not kept, we would notice it, but we don't cuz they're not. Will, Jim, Andrea, Mark, and Mike are the folks that keep things running at our church. Sure, it drives me nuts when I have to pee really bad and Jim won't let me into the bathroom because he just mopped, but I mean - the bathroom is always clean - you can't win em all. Again, its a matter of doing things with a goal in mind. People need to meet Jesus, and if they don't feel comfortable for themselves and their children, they are going to walk right out the back door. Our church is rarely - if ever - not clean. People like that!

In addition to these responsibilities, they also do all of the setup and organization. Greta takes care of all of the scheduling and organizing of the building, so that people are not running around here getting in fist fights over which room they are going to meet in. You all don't see it, but at most churches, people want to use something in that church. They need a room, a party, a shower for a new mom, a funeral, a funeral luncheon, a wedding, they need chairs, tables, coffee, lights, unlocked doors, and they usually want it now! Thanks to our building team for making this place run!

The Finance Team
There are roughly 2000 people in and out of our church every week. With them comes a ton of things - tithes and offerings, attendance, benevolence requests, event sales, fund raiser monies, book sales, in kind donations, and plenty of other things. I have complete confidence that our church is completely above board and God-honoring in all of our transactions and finances. That is a good place to be. In addition to the tasks, our finance team knows a lot about who gives what, who doesn't give, tax code, who was here, who was not here, and everything in between. I am glad that I don't have that kind of information because my mouth is too big. The ladies that work on that team, Darlene and Jackie at our church, not only keep us financially above board and in line, but also have a incredible task of keeping everything confidential - and I am thankful for their character and servant heart. There are a lot of churches out there, that if they were audited, would be in BIG, BIG trouble. I know that we would not be. This confidence allows people to give of their time, money, and goods freely. Knowing that everything is done in a way that honors God and keeps everyone safe. Thanks ladies!

The Go To Person
If there is something in our church that nobody knows about - we all know to ask Verna. Rick, one of our youth pastors, knows that at his church back home in Ripley NY, his mom is the go to person. There are all these little things that often fall through the cracks at church and other business. Who is going to get all the stuff we need for an event? Who is going to make sure that everything for Sunday morning children's ministry gets into the correct room? Plates, cups, table clothes, DVD's, VCR's, coffee, food, snacks, craft materials, curriculum, decorations, flowers, volunteers,  - these are just a few things that fall onto Verna's plate. If there is one person at our church that I always want on my team - its Verna. And I know that all of you out there can think of who that person is at your church. Its that person that thinks of all of the things that us mere mortals forget about, and at the last minute you say, "oh no, I forgot the...." And like magic, they pull it out of their hat because THEY DID remember that - and whatever you are doing is a success. We are lucky to have these people working and serving in our churches and ministries. Verna not only does all of this, but she saves the church thousands of dollars by being a good steward of these responsibilities as well.

So, if you go to a small church or a big church, regardless of the denomination - take a step back today and think about all that needs to go into pastors being able to do what they do. There is a lot of behind the scenes work that allows a church to function and ultimately give people safe, secure, clean, and comfortable access to good teaching and loving community!

In our middle school program we have been dealing with the topic of tempation, sin, and satan. Many questions have come up and they have pushed me to pursue answers to these questions. I have found that we often don't talk about satan, demons, and their origin. We just take the stories that have been told to us over the years and put them in our back pocket. So I want to take a look at what the Bible has to say about where satan come from and take a look a few different views on what those scriptures actually say.

Oddly enough, Genesis does not explain any of the details about how Satan came into being. All of the sudden he is just there in the form of a serpent, tempting Eve. So - lets look to a couple of scripture references that can help us get some answers.

Job 1 begins the story that we all now about Job and his persecution. We can glean a few things from these first few chapters.

1 - Satan somehow has access to heaven and can communicate with God. (Job 1:6-7)
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before theLord, and l Satan [2] also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From m going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”


2 - Satan and God know one another and don't get along very well - Satan obviously believes that the reason Job love God so much is because he has been given so much. He incites God against Job (Job 2:3) God and Satan go back and forth like brothers almost. They're conversation is not that of people who do not know one another. 


3 - God has power of satan - Job 1:10-12 - Have you not put q a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have r blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But s stretch out your hand and t touch all that he has, and he will u curse you v to your face.” 12 And theLord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
God has the power to control how much and how far satan is able to go with his temptation of Job. Later in Job 2, satan comes back, before pushing Job farther, to ask permission from God to do so. 


So...we know these few things. 


What else can we glean from scripture that is clean cut and plain to us? 
We can see that satan is the leader of a group of other evil beings called evil spirits, demons, or his angels throughout the new testament. Matthew 25:41; Rev 12:9;Luke 7:21; Mark 3:22-23; Acts 19:11-18  and many others)


Now. To the heart of my question for this post. My next post will deal with what satan and demons do right now and tempation on earth. But I want to talk briefly about how satan came into being. We know a little bit about who he is, but not much about how he got here. 


Lets begin with this truth. God created satan and He did so for himself. We can dig into the theology of that at another point, but Colossians confirms this.
Colossians 1:16 For by[1] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.


It is also true that everything was created good. God didn't make anything bad, so satan was good - to begin with. (Gen 1:31) 


So, God created satan, and he was good -  What then?
Thats a good question, and the answer is somewhat split. Some scholars would say that the Bible is quite clear on what happened next, and others would say that we still really don't know, and that God has chosen to keep that information from us. 


There are 2 main passages in the Old Testament that are debated over.
Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. In both of these passages prophecy is being laid out on 2 different kings; the King of Babylon and the King of Tyre. In both of these oracles there is reference to "shining star" or in the Hebrew heylel, which is translated today as Lucifer - sound familiar.


I won't go into the debate about whether or not these passages contain reference to satan or not because that is a lonk argument, but I encourage you to do some research. 


To read more on this debate, my suggestion would be "Sense and Nonesense About Angels and Demons" by Kenneth D. Boa. He makes great arguments and uses scripture, not his own ideas, to draw well thought out conclusions on this debate. 


David Jeremiah, another well-know scholar, lands on the other side of the argument, and you can read his thoughts in "What The Bible Says About Angels"


Enjoy!


  

This past week I had the opportunity to perform the funeral services of a my father-in-law and good friend, Doug Naymik. This is the message that I gave at his funeral 4-26-2010. My prayer is that when we experience death in our lives and families that it would ignite fire in our hearts for people who need to know Christ. I know that it has for me.