Engle's Angle

What’s your reason for the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus?

For me, it goes much deeper than the obvious atonement for sin and the opportunity for heaven.  These are awesome products of Jesus’ sacrifice and victory displayed in the Easter story, but I sense a strong call of mission ringing loud from the tomb.  N.T. Wright states, “Resurrection leads to mission.” and I couldn’t agree more.  Look at the disciples.  Once equipped with the Holy Spirit, they lived phenomenal lives of mission.  The once timid and denying Peter would stand up to the Jewish leaders for the mission in Acts chapter 4.  The world would change as mission became the forefront of everything the disciples experienced.  Even when fleeing, they would lead people to Christ on their way.  And almost all of them would die for this call of mission.

I had an interesting thought this Holy week.  When Jesus states, “Do this in remembering me…” regarding the last supper’s bread, cup, and foot-washing, perhaps He was telling them to not merely remember the pending sacrifice He was going to make on the cross, but to remember in every way which He sacrificed self in mission and ministry.  Perhaps Jesus is implying, “Disciples, when you walked with me as I fed the hungry, healed the sick, raised the dead, and showed compassion to all, especially the unloveable, remember and do likewise.  Remember that I did not come to be served, but to serve and you would be wise to take up that cross of mission to the world!”

This is the Christian life I believe we are called to live.  Jesus states it clearly in Matthew 25 but clearly demonstrates it in His living.  What are we demonstrating by our lifestyles?  Can people see the love and mission of Christ in us?

Philippians 2:5-16a — In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very natureGod,
   did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
   by taking the very natureof a servant,
   being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
   he humbled himself
   by becoming obedient to death—
      even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
   and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father.

¹² Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life.

Remember, what leads from the cross in mission may lead you to your own cross…

It’s well worth it!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted… health issues have kept my mind occupied…

We are two weeks into the Lenten Season, and I find this time of the year somewhat amusing.  People give up chocolate or a bad habit, only to resume these things on April 9th.

Is this simply a Christian tradition in which we go through the motions or does it offer a significant impact in our spiritual development as we pursue Christlikeness?

Jesus gave up everything for our cause– and I see the connection of sacrifice this season, but is it really edifying?  Do we really connect with God by surrendering these things?  What are the things of God you are putting into your life?  He came to fill a void – the emptiness that chocolate or relationships or things cannot fill.  How are you growing this Resurrection season?

I really want to know…

Answer for me the following:

• For the Lenten Season, I have given up…
• I have started…
• I connect with God by…
• God is teaching me…

I look forward to seeing your responses and the work of the Savior…

Keep faithful!

This is home…
Now I’m finally where I belong, where I belong

Yeah, this is home,

I’ve been searching for a place of my own

Now I’ve found it,

Maybe this is home, Yeah, this is home

~Switchfoot

“Why were you searching for me?” (Jesus) asked.  “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”  Luke 2:49 (NIV)

The same verse from a year ago… different version.

Different focus.

This is the Church.

This is Journey.

This is home.

The Scriptures regularly compare God’s people to a building.  One of the most instructive illustrations of this comes from Ephesians 2:19-22 (NIV).  It reads:

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹ In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²² And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

In my life and at Journey Covenant Church, what is our house going to look like?

Renovation plans are underway…

Ministry is ongoing…

The future looks bright coming off a year where we had many blessings…

But how will we build this house?

Journey Covenant Church plans for the future this Sunday, January 29th at its Annual Meeting… Join us as we build His house.

Journey Covenant Church is located at 2679 North Haven Boulevard in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

Sunday School meets at 9:00 a.m.  Worship Service begins at 10:15 a.m.

Annual Meeting convenes at noon.

A fundraiser lunch is available

Saw the movie 2012 a few months ago… Narrow escape after narrow escape fill this action movie to an almost laughable state.

It’s unbelievable, but many seem to think there is some credibility to this event.

Wikipedia talks about the end of days prediction…

The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs according to which cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21, 2012.^[1][2][3][4] This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae have been proposed as pertaining to this date, though none have been accepted by mainstream scholarship.

A New Age interpretation of this transition is that this date marks the start of time in which Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era.^[5] Others suggest that the 2012 date marks the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios suggested for the end of the world include the arrival of the next solar maximum, or Earth’s collision with a black hole, passing asteroid or a planet called “Nibiru“.

Scholars from various disciplines have dismissed the idea of such cataclysmic events occurring in 2012. Professional Mayanist scholars state that predictions of impending doom are not found in any of the extant classic Maya accounts, and that the idea that the Long Count calendar “ends” in 2012 misrepresents Maya history and culture.^[3][6][7] Astronomers and other scientists have rejected the proposed events as pseudoscience, stating that they are contradicted by simple astronomical observations.^[8]

I am not concerned about December 21st of this year as the Scriptures clearly state that we do not know when the day comes…

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.  But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.  You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.  (1 Thessalonians 5:1-5 – NIV)

But what if it were true?  What if the world was to end on December 21st?

How would we live?

What would we change?

What’s on your “bucket list”?

Do you have a spiritual “bucket list?

To be continued at Journey Covenant Church, 2679 North Haven Blvd, Cuyahoga Falls, OH on Sunday, January 8th at 10:15 a.m….

Never really made resolutions.  My dictionary defines resolutions as “promises made to be broken.”

But I do believe Journey needs to make positive change to advance the gospel in 2012…

1.     I believe the potential for Journey Covenant Church to do good and create positive change in our neighborhoods is immense and needed for both our communities and our church.

2.     I believe the desire to do good and create positive change in the world HAS to be the GOSPEL…and if it isn’t, what will develop is cool ministry fads, social clubs, and ideas… but nothing revolutionary that will impact those around us.

3.    I believe that some of the greatest Christian leaders that the world will ever know are currently in elementary
school, middle school, and high school…thus making youth and children’s ministry one of the greatest mission opportunities that Journey can invest in.

4.     I believe that more and more church leaders are going to begin to take radical steps of faith rather than trying to repair broken systems.

5.    I believe that we’re going to see some of the greatest movement of God this world has ever seen in the next 20 years… MOST of them happening because the local church finally decided to step up and be the church.

6.    I believe God wants to use Journey to do unbelievable things in the community in which HE has planted us.

7.     I believe that if ALL leaders took the advice God gave us in Galatians 6:9 – “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  that we would see breakthroughs like we’ve NEVER seen before.

8.    I believe God has called the church to CHANGE the world…  We are an empowered body of believers whom He has called to attempt the “impossible” so that people can see HIM!!!

I am a die-hard sports fan!

Unfortunately, I was raised in Cleveland and I live and (almost always) die with its sports teams.  In a way, you can say I am committed to misery…  The drive, the fumble, the shot, the move (to Baltimore), Jose Mesa, the “taking my talents to South Beach”…  The last Cleveland championship of a major sports team? I was 1!  (Sorry Force, Crunch – it didn’t make it better…)

But somehow week after week, I find myself engaged in rooting all things Cleveland…

However, invite me to a prayer meeting… not so much.

Do we get excited about prayer?  Do I get excited about spending time with the God of the universe?

Jesus spoke of the Temple and said,

“My house will be called a house of prayer,”  (Matthew 21:13 ref. Isaiah 56:7)

We start off the new year at Journey with an emphasis of prayer – how it is needed most in the busy-ness of life.  If we are to continue doing “the Father’s business,” don’t we need a deeply connected prayer life?

Can we get excited about prayer?  Is it a priority in our lives?

Wayne A. Grudem states in Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine,

 “If we pray little, it is probably because we do not really believe that prayer accomplishes much at all.”

The greatest example I know of how prayer builds the church is Jim Cymbala of the Brooklyn Tabernacle.  The prayer meetings at the “Tab” are far more amazing than their world renown choir! Prayers are powerful!  They are productive.  It does accomplish much… and the answers to prayer are worth more than any sports championship because true miracles occur, lives are forever changed, and God’s presence is realized…

In his book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Cymbala states,

“No matter what I preach or what we claim to believe in our heads, the future will depend upon our times of prayer.”

The future depends on what we do in our prayer life.

To be continued at Journey Covenant Church, January 1st at 10:15 a.m….

I am truly focused on how much I have been led to believe that Christmas is more like my birthday (only bigger, better) rather than a celebration of the birth of the Savior.  Each year, families plunge deeper into debt trying to make Christmas more magical than ever…  It’s a saddening cycle and has nothing to do with the blessed incarnation of God to mankind.

Isn’t Christmas wonderful on its’ own?  Isn’t His advent to us the most blessed gift imaginable?  The Word in Luke 2:9-11 tells us,

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

This is the Christmas gift that matters…  His presence in a world so desperate for something significant and life-changing… redeeming!  We won’t find it in presents, we won’t find it under this year’s tree.  Only in the incarnation of God is it found.

So this year, I am more interested in what I can give to Him…

I find the answer in the final stanza of this great carol…

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

What will you give?

Merry Christmas!

It has been a rough few months at MGPreschool…

I received this letter (edited for anonymity)…

I come to you once again with the most heaviest of hearts.  Another family has been hit with the most horrible tragedy that I can’t even begin to share how saddened we all are.  One of our Pre-k students have been diagnosed with leukemia.  A happy, loving little girl that now needs the prayers of her school family.  We are asking us all to come together and pray for her and the strength her family will need to get through this terrible disease.  She begins Chemotherapy tomorrow and all we can do is send her our love and prayers.

  With this, please keep your thoughts also with another family who has a grandfather passing, a teacher’s husband with pancreatic cancer, a former teacher who is in her last few weeks with all of us.  I feel very overwhelmed with the amount of sadness around us including our own health and welfare of so many families. 

  As I end my day with my own family, please know how much we care for all of your children…we all are so blessed.  Even with the pain of so many around us…we must stay positive and keep our faith strong…for our children. 

God bless MGP families…

These events break my heart.  My daughter Maddie is the young girl’s friend.  But I realize that bad things happen in this world…

Regardless to faith, age, lifestyle, wealth, health, etc., bad things happen.

And the common question is, ”Where is God in all of this?”

Right where always is – right beside us.  Immanuel “God with us” is there waiting for us to lean on His outstretched arms.  Sin has scarred this world with disease, greed, malice, and every sort of evil.  It is because God is here that we even have hope.

In Matthew 28:20, following the Great Commission, Jesus says,

“…and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

God’s love for us doesn’t mean that the path of faith is going to be free of trouble. I wish it did. By all means, I wish the life of faith would follow a predictable cause-and-effect pattern that always resulted in blessings for the obedient, but it doesn’t.  The truth is, bad things happen to good people but in the midst of it all, He is there.

And in the midst, He is working…

• to grow us
• to teach us
• to focus  and move us in the right direction
• to increase our faith
• to cement our reliance on Him

I don’t know the wisdom of God, but I know I am better because He has worked through the painful moments of my life.

What about you?  Share your thoughts…

Recently a values discussion presented itself in church conversations as to 1)Why don’t we invite people to church? and 2) Why unchurched visitors are not inclined to stay in churches?

Most of us know or work with at least one unchurched person. And most of us wonder how to reach out to them, how to get them to want to come to church.

What would the unchurched desire in a place of worship.  Do they want to see a group of people who have there act together?  Would our routine as one pastor has said. “freak them out?”  Do they want to see people much like themselves, imperfect, struggling on a journey?

I am inclined to think the latter, but I really don’t know…  The trouble is, my journey started 32 years ago and I have moved far away from even understanding the life of one uninterested in God.  It’s sad really… Paul said,

“Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.  To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I  do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (NIV)

What do you think?  How can we reach the lost if we haven’t a clue of their mindset?  We need to stop trying to apply our thoughts on what they need and figure out what they are searching for in life.  Perhaps then the church can make a difference!