TimHowey.Com

Web Bonus - Bottom Line on God

It felt like coming home.  After a few weeks off, I got the chance to see everyone again, worship together, be encouraged, teach, minister...you name it.

Our topic was "The Bottom Line on God" from Deuteronomy 6. The bottom line was this:

• God is not interested being a "part" of our lives

Lots of stuff to add to yesterday...

• Not Your "Avg-Joe" -- It was great to have recording artist/worship leader Joe Henschel from San Diego lead worship for us.  He did a fantastic job & gave Pastor Ben a "break" (working audio).
• The Shema -- Our study centered on the bottom line many Jewish rabbis might give "On God": the Shema.  The Shema is at least 3 things:
• • A Word -- The Hebrew word "Shema" is translated "Hear" in English
  • A Verse -- Specifically Deuteronomy 6:4, the greatest expression of monotheism & the uniqueness of God in Scripture, & the final words a Jewish person attempts to say
  • A Prayer -- The Shema is the first verse of the morning & evening prayers of Judaism consisting of praying these 3 sections of Scripture back to God: Deut 6:4-9, 11:13-21, Num 15:37-41
• Bonus Verses -- I came across these in my daily reading just before the message, but couldn't find space for them:
• • The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10)
  • The fear of the Lord is teachable (Psalm 25:12)
  • Are you guided by God's eye...where He's looking? (Psalm 32:8)
  • No one...no one is like God (Psalm 35:10)
• The "Highest" Highlander -- When I was talking about there being only 1 God, I REEEEALLY wanted to pull out the Highlander reference.  "There can only be one!!!"  [One God, that is.]
• Calling all Men!! -- Speaking of "Highlander" & real men, it's time for every man to "man up" and register himself & his son & his dad & his boss & his friend for the quarterly men's event called "Men's Community".  Besides getting a free breakfast of "man-food", we'll hear Jimmy Dodd on how to follow God, even through the most difficult times of life. Man up & show up hungry at 7:30a on Sat Aug 28.
• Calling all Women!! -- The time's running out to register for the Imagine event at the Sprint center and reserve your hotel room with other Grace Church ladies. Register here today. And check out the preview video here. P.S. If men have to "man-up", do women have to "woman-up"???

Next week's topic is "The Bottom Line on Home." We all know a neighbor, a friend, or coworker (or US!) who desperately NEEDS to be there next weekend. Do whatever it takes to get them there beside you!

"Engage!" & "The End of Reason"

I had the chance to read 2 great books this week on the subject of intelligently engaging people about issues of faith (the topic we're unpacking in our weekend series, "Deadliest Catch").

One was "Engage! Having Conversations about God" by Carmen Mayell. This one was a great resource on how to start a conversation with people from a host of different spiritual/worldview backgrounds, and seek to understand them, creating a dialogue (not a monologue) to eventually share the reasonableness of one's faith in God & Christ.  Excellent resource

The other was "The End of Reason" by Ravi Zacharias.  This was a response to Sam Harris' "The End of Faith".  In the book, Ravi points out the inability to create a moral framework based on scientism/naturalism/self.  Excellent food for thought here for anyone who holds up science as their one and only guiding principle...instead of recognizing how a Divine Creator (God) has revealed Himself through Creation, Science, Experience, and Jesus.

Too Small To Ignore

Just finished the book "Too Small To Ignore" by Wess Stafford of Compassion International.  It's a book about the needs of and cultivating a heart for the greatest priority on the planet: children.

• The book was a really quick read.  The pages just flew by.
• Wess' story was an absolutely gut-wrenching & hope-inducing story.  Terrible about what he & other children endured.  Compelling about what God did to redeem those horrible events.
• This morning, I had to put the book down and pick up my journal because I was clearly hearing God speak to me about the priority of my kids, and kids in general.
• I also had to wipe away tears a number of times.

Children are 1 of the 3 "unreached groups" we are all about reaching at Grace:

• Generationally -- Reaching a generation of children & students
• Locally -- Reaching those not being reached by the traditional church
• Globally -- Reaching less reached people groups (<2% evangelical Christian)

The book is worth the read.

Book - The Gospel and Its Meaning

One of the most interesting books I read recently "The Gospel and Its Meaning" by Harry L. Poe.  In his book, Poe says there are 9 different elements to the complete gospel ("good news") of Jesus Christ, which he's pieced together from early messages in Acts as well as the writings of the Apostles.  They are:

1. The Creator God - Salvation is the work of Creator
2. The Fulfillment - Jesus came to fulfill Scripture
3. Son of God/David - Jesus alone is worthy to be our Savior
4. Death for Sins - Jesus' death was for salvation; no accident
5. Resurrection - Jesus' resurrection proved Lord and victory
6. Exaltation - Christ reigns at right hand of God
7. Gift of Holy Spirit - Christ sent Holy Spirit to live in all of faith
8. Return to Judge - Christ will return to judge
9. Our Response - Now, declare repentance and faith!

Harry says the Church has emphasized different elements of the gospel based on the time period they lived in and the culture they were trying to reach.  He also says that each church/generation should examine the needs of their community to determine which elements of the good news need to be emphasized.

Understanding Culture

I just finished a great book which helped me learn about the various people groups, cultures, & mindsets in Northern Iraq.

The book is available here.

I also found excerpts from it available here.  Definitely worth the read.

Some parts of the book took me some time to read.  Other parts of the story just flew by.  In the end, the book helped me understand the hearts & difficulties faced by the Kurdish people & made me drop to my knees & pray for them around the world.

Wednesday Thots

Hey everyone.  Here's a series of quick updates & late afternoon thots, as we gear up for Easter Weekend.

• Tonight's Topic -- If you can join us tonight for the Numbers study, do so.  It's from 6:45-8:00p.  You can also watch it LIVE, online at our website.  We'll be covering Numbers 28-29, the PERFECT prelude to Easter weekend...and foreshadowing of Christ!
• Daily Reading -- I've hit the gospels again in my daily reading, and I am LOVING it.  Read Matthew 15-19 this morning.  I saw one of my absolute favorite verses, Matthew 17:8.  I want to be that way too...after spending time with God, looking up, and only seeing Jesus...keeping my focus on Him!
• 4 Vacation Books -- When I was in Florida over Spring Break, I wanted to really veg-out.  Shut my mind down.  So I read 4 books (brought by my niece, borrowed from my wife, or owned by my dad).  They were Twilight, New Moon, City of Ember, & The Last Jihad.
• Updated Bible Program -- This week, I upgraded by Bible Study software after several years.  I went with the Silver Edition of Logos Bible Software 4.  I think it's going to be a good move...but learning how to use new software is never as fast as you want.  :-)
• Knee Update -- I called the doc today since I hadn't heard any news on my knee since the MRI last Thursday morning.  I got a voice mail back from a nurse.  "Mr. Howey, you did not tear your ACL.  But you do have a small, tiny, horizontal tear of the lateral meniscus..."  I get to wait till next Thursday to find out what we're doing about it.
• A Job Anyone? -- I got an email saying that AT&T was hiring "Leveraged Service Representatives" here in KC.  Here was the website link.
• Invite Your 5 -- Check out the video below and starting burning up the phone lines, text messages, & emails with invites.  It'll be an awesome weekend!

L8R.

Don't Forget...Easter this Sunday! from Grace Church on Vimeo.

WWJB & What We Can't Afford Not to Do

Yesterday, we closed out our personal finance series called "Lie$".  Since I didn't have the chance to blog about it last week, we'll touch based on both weeks:

• WWJB (What Would Jesus Buy) -- From Luke 16:1-13 where Jesus says definitively that our earthly financial management matters to God
• What You Can't Afford Not to Do -- From 2 Corinthians 8-9 where Paul addresses giving from the perspective of the grace of the New Testament

Where should we start?

• God's Money Manager -- As we said 2 weeks ago, we don't own a thing.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zippo.  We're all just "stewards"...people that God entrusted with HIS resources.  This does two huge things for us:  (1) It gives us a clue on how we start to manage it...by accomplishing the goals of the owner.  (2) It's always easier to be generous with someone else's money.  :-)
• 10-10-80-Maybe -- This bears repeating.  Jesus would give us some version of this money management plan.  (10) Put the first 10% to giving to God through your local church.  (10) Set aside the next 10% to save for the future.  (80) Pay for life-needs like food and clothing...or food and clothing...or food and clothing.  (Maybe) If you have money left over, enjoy it.  (P.S.) Stop the madness of getting into slavery debt to credit card companies.  Instead, be absolutely RUTHLESS about cutting every unnecessary cost.
  
• Bonus Verses (Said) -- Here were the verses I threw out to everyone verbally 2 weeks ago.
• • Matthew 25:14-15 -- Diversification of investments is a wise financial strategy
  • 1 Timothy 6:8 -- Technically, our "needs" are (1) food & (2) clothing...that's it
• Sweet Specs -- Those sweet specs, I wore two Sundays ago were from Ryan.  I think he got them at a dollar store.  That's not the first we've heard about him though.  A while ago His parents shared his amazing story of God healing him from leukemia as a little boy.  His story was listed here & here.
• Bonus Book -- The book I referenced yesterday was The Wealth Conundrum by Ralph Doudera.

I might as well include another answer we gave yesterday to the question, "What role does tithing (giving 10%) play in the New Testament?"

• Was Commanded -- Under Mosaic Law in the Old Testament, you CAN find tithing commanded (Deuteronomy 14:22)
• No Longer Commanded -- Under the grace of the New Testament, you CANNOT find any "Thou shalt tithe."
• Give a Percentage -- Under the grace of the New Testament, you CAN find us called to give based on percentage (2 Corinthians 8:12-15)
• In the Beginning -- In the Old Testament, long before there was any law about tithing, followers of God were practicing tithing as a form of worship (Genesis 14:20)
• Freed...to be LESS Generous??? -- I don't ANYONE thinks for a moment, that God would offer us a better covenant, based on better promises, freeing us from the curse of the Law, offering us a life of grace, by allowing His own Son to murdered...all so that WE...the people of God...the beneficiaries of His grace...would become LESS generous!!!  That somehow God's hope was that the grace of Christ would prompt us to become the LEAST generous people in history.  :-)  His LIKELY hope was that grace would prompt us to become the MOST generous people in history.

L8R.

My Top 3 Oddest

People put books in my hands all the time.  And I love it...although, just as soon as I read 1, it seems 3 more are waiting to take it's place on my "stack of despair."  :-)

But here are 3 of the oddest books people ever gave me.

1. I Gotta Be Me -- Tammy Faye Bakker gets the nod at #1.  I think of my friend Mark Velder every time she shows up again.  We pass the book around the office as a "white elephant gift."  And if you wait long enough, her generously-make-upp'ed, soft-focused face will grace your mailbox or desk.  (The other random gift we pass around is "Mei Mei" the hairdresser's practice head.  She's usually good for 1-2 moments of sheer terror before realizing it's just a head!  P.S. Thanks, Tom Herzog!)
2. The Geocentric Bible -- This arrived in the mail one day in a mailing to 5600+ churches.  Apparently it's been mailed to 132,000 churches in total.  I want to make clear that I've never read the book (but you can read it here).   I don't know the author personally (he's probably a great guy!).  I just think the title is a bit odd.  And maybe spending all that time on the topic too...I'll bet it's taken many, many days of research & editing.  (Incidentally, the book came with a companion book, "A Geocentricity Primer," which you can read here.)
3. Music in the Balance -- Ok, I have to admit I bought this one myself.  Years ago, I was researching music & the Bible, and I wanted to hear a cogent explanation from recognized experts from the side of the aisle that essentially claimed, "Rock beats are inherently sinful."  I did.  The authors are probably great guys, too.  But I thoroughly disagreed with it.  It's hitting my "oddest" list because of many of the core claims & "evidence" proposed by the book.  If you read it, you'll know why.

Wed Thots

  What's up 2nite?

• Daily Reading -- FYI, I'm in Ezekiel these days in my daily reading.  It's amazing.  When I have my time with God consistently (i.e. reading & praying), I am more at peace, REGARDLESS of whether the world around me is at peace.  When I tell myself "the lie" again (i.e. "You don't have time for that, Tim!  Get to work!"), not so much.  :-)
• Wore Them Out -- Yesterday's 5th grade boys practice was probably the toughest of the year.  Feel like we've tried a number of ways. Still trying to crack the code which unlocks our team's potential.  :-)
• 3 Cups of Tea -- Finally finished this book tonight.  I'd recommend it to everyone.  Great insight into what life is like in rural Islamic culture in Central Asia.  Shows what 1 person can do when you throw yourself into loving a people too.
• The Most Loving Place in Town -- Finished this book yesterday.  It's written in a parable (story) format so it was a breeze to read.  It's the story of what would happen if your church received the letter Jesus sent the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7.
• The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life -- I mentioned this book 2 weeks ago.  Laura Oliver wrote me this note: "Thanks for mentioning it.  It is proving to be a big blessing to me & much that I've read so far is addressing just what I've been grappling with myself regarding the subject."
• Being a Prophet -- Mark it down.  Colts 31. Saints 27.

L8R.

Web Bonus - Live Free

In the words of Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, "ALLLL-righty then!!!"

Yesterday was the 4th installment of our "Ultimate Resolutions" series.  Did you notice that this week's topic was the reverse of last week's topic?  Where last week ("Hold Loosely") was all about making sure WE aren't holding too tightly to THINGS, this week ("Live Free") was all about making sure THINGS aren't holding too tightly to US.

For our study, we carved out a section of a larger debate in John 8 between Jesus & the Pharisees.  (You ought to take 3 minutes right now & read the whole chapter to get a sense of the growing tension that led to Jesus' murder.)  Our focus was on the freedom or liberty in Christ that's available to every one of us.

There are a number of things bumping around in my head & heart from this week.

• Spiritual Bondage -- We took on 3 types of spiritual slavery that the Pharisees lived in 2000 years ago, and so many people live in today.  (1) Slavery to Sin.  (2) Slavery to the Law/Rules/Regulations.  (3) Slavery to Fear.  I TOTALLY think that people live so much of their lives in bondage (just like the Pharisees did) and don't even know it.  It's the only state they know.  They don't even know what they're missing!
• We Don't Need More! -- If you know Jesus, you are ALREADY free.  Totally free.  Completely free.  You don't need to be freed.  Once you're freed (100% free in Christ), you can't become more free!
• Why Am I Free? -- Great question.  You've got the spirit of freedom (2 Cor 3:17), the perfect law of freedom (Jas 1:25), you're free from all people (1Cor 9:19), a child of a free city (Gal 4:26), you have a calling of liberty (Gal 5:13), and you now stand in a freedom created by Christ (Gal 5:1).

• Too Much Testosterone -- I told my story from years ago at Stanford, when my friend Lambert Dolphin (Christian, Mentor, Doctorate from Stanford, Geophysicist) gave me a book by Hannah Whitall Smith called "The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life."  I really regret that I didn't read the book for a long time.  Why didn't I?  (a) The cover was too pink & frilly, (b) the title wasn't manly enough, & (c) I was too immature to see past that.  But it was a FAN-TAS-TIC book. You can read the book for free here.  Jump over to page 41 if you want to read the quote I used.
• A Tough Section -- This was a tough section to break down because it isn't a teaching time.  It's a back-and-forth debate!
• U2 in the House -- Is it just me, or did the opening of the last song in our worship set ("I Am Free") sound just like U2?  Who else beside me thinks Pastor Ben was start to channel Bono?  :-)
• 2 Weeks to Go -- In just 2 weeks, we're bumping our services back 30 minutes & offering a continental breakfast to our first service to shift people away from our 2nd Service.

This Wednesday, you've got to join us for our study of anger...no, not a "How To" course!  :-)  We'll be looking at Moses' anger in Numbers 20.  Then next weekend, we close out our "Ultimate Resolutions" series with the story of the Good Samaritan.

P.S. Are you living totally free?  Free from sin?  From an oppressive Christian experience of duty & obligation?  From all your fears?