Midweek Thoughts

Well Hello,
Its 8:30 and my brain is not all the way fired up yet, i've only had two cups of coffee, so hopefully i can get through this real quick. Hope you all are having a great week so far. Keep your eyes open today, remember why we have jobs, go to school and do the things that we do(Mat 28).
Today I want to let you know about the next four weeks, and give you some resources that will be helpful for you if you want to study on your own. The next four weeks we are going to talk about the roles of men and women in the home and church. I know that gender roles are laughed at anywhere outside of the church context. However we must let the bible dictate what the truth is, even if that means we go opposite of the culture. We have gotten to a place, even in the church, where the uniqueness of the sexes are completely blurred. The result of this has been that newer generations are clueless about what it means to be a man or a women. If you would look about 2 1/2 inches to the right you will see that i have listed out links to blogs and websites. These are sites that i have found to be biblicaly faithful and very helpful. There is a link to "The Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood" that has tons of info with free stuff, and great books recommendations for men and women. Also check out "The Chandlers" blog, there is a ton of stuff to read written by Lauren Chandler about God and family. The resurgence.com also would be helpful to check out.
This week we are going to primarily be in Gen. 3 and Eph. 5, as we dive into the culturally unclear but scripturaly clear role of Men in the home. We (The Journey) are complementarian (Not Egalitarian)meaning we blieve men and women complement each other as they operate in there God given roles.
Love you all and praying with you as you are doing you missionary work at your job or at school.
Hope to see you all there Sunday night!
Jared

Bigtime Summary of the Bible

Old Testament= Jesus declares in John 5 that the Old Testament is about Him. This means that all of the bible is about Jesus. So what can we get out of the OT. The OT shows us that we cannot attain righteousness on our own. In Exodus 20 God gives His people the ten commandments “Basics of Morality” and yet commandments in its basic form, people are unable to keep. The OT teaches that we cannot be perfect, that we are born enemies of God, and that there will be a Messiah that comes to take the punishment for our sin and accomplish what we cannot.

New Testament= The New Testament is all about Jesus accomplishing for us what we cannot accomplish on our own “Perfection”. Humanity since the Fall “Adam and Eve” have all been born enemies of God “Eph 2:1-10” and this provides a big problem because God must punish evil to remain just. God's wrath leans against all of humanity and the only way wrath is satisfied is on the Cross by Jesus “Isaiah 53” or in eternal torment in Hell. We must have our hope set on Jesus. “Me” focused Christianity leads one of two ways: 1 Despair “I cant be good enough” 2 Pride “Why cant others be as good as me”.

Jesus is the Hero. Your sins “Past, Present, Future” are paid for. Future Grace (Security) gives us the only fuel for genuine obedience to Jesus. Our status with God is based of Christ perfect consistency and not our inconsistency.
2 Cor. 5:21
Titus 2:11


Some Texts to Review

1.John 5
2.Exodus 20
3.Ephesians 2:11-10
4.Isaiah 53
5.2 Corinthians 5:21
6.Titus 2:11


by Jared

Blog Updates

I have spent the last couple days updating my blogs. I hope the updates can be somewhat beneficial for anyone who actually checks this out. We live in such an awesome time that so much information is just a few clicks away. I have listed out, over there on the right side of my page, a bunch of sites and blogs that have been very helpful for me. There is tons of free information from podcast , to downloadable books, and videos. The Resurgence has a bunch of conference videos and enough information to keep anyone reading for a long long time. Desiring God is very similar with endless amounts of free material.
A few years ago I went through the (I'm Mad at Church) stage. I have always been kinda cynical about what I thought was really stupid (Some of Which was) and was quick to throw stones. It seems to be easy to point out everything that is going wrong. However things have seemed to shift in my brain from being frustrated to being very excited about “church”. Check out these sites and blogs and it will not take very long to see that God really is doing some awesome things. The future looks very bright!
And the best thing. Just to help “the Church” these sites give this stuff all out for free! Awesome!

Oh and "MidWeek Thoughts" will be up Wed!

Hope you all are having a great week!

The Last Year to Now

This last year of my life has been both great and crazy. When i moved to back to Southern Illinois to be a part of starting the Journey i had no clue what i was getting into. I knew that i loved to preach the bible and i also knew all the things that "we" would do different.
Learning to pastor has not been just a learning curve it have been more like a learning mountain. The first six months seemed to be so great and i was strolling along really good. At that point i had read a ton on church planting and on pastoring. I have come to find out that reading and experiencing can sometimes can be a little different. For the last few months i have come to feel and know the tremendous responsibility, joy, and burden of pastoring. On top of feeling this great responsibility i have also been praying about the direction of our church. There has been a battle in me as to what the best things would be for our people and our area. I was thinking and praying through many things. Thoughts of "Is doing the Journey the best thing for our area" have been prevalent in my brain. These are weird thoughts i know because any church planter would love to be in the spot we are in right now. We are growing tremendously, we have money in our budget, i am full-time, and we have the support of other churches. Still there has been a war in my head about what is best. I know have come to "Know" for sure that pastoring the Journey and moving forward as a body is what this area needs. I look forward to our many years together (Lord Willing)living out the Great Commission together.

My prayer for us as we move forward is that we would simply be obedient.

Been a While

Hello to all three people that might read this. Hope your day is going well today and may this blog give you food for thought. It is 7:08p.m. and i am sitting at McDonald's in Carterville just thinking about the book of John and the text from last night out of John 3 and John 4. John the evangelist makes a great quote in chapter three that declares his deep desire that Christ would increase and he would decrease. What does that mean?
Sometimes we want to make the bible harder than it really is. Not only do we make the bible harder that it is but we make following Jesus harder than it really is. I believe that Johns quote is so simple yet so transforming and it addressees a common problem that has forever existed. That problem is the deep matrix of self. Following Jesus becomes difficult when we believe that salvation is birthed and sustained by the power of self. I hope that we can truly know that simple truth of propitiation and adoption, that Christ took the wrath that we deserve and adopted helpless people for Himself. Sometimes i wonder if we really know that we who are called by God get the righteousness of Jesus credited to us. We get the credit for Christ perfect life!
Do we not know our own insurgencies? Some of us might be Nic from chapter three and some might find ourselves more like the woman in chapter 4, but may we know that both of those people stood condemned and in need of help outside of themselves. Boast and proclaim the work of Jesus and by all means let us not glorify self. So may all of you that might read this sit back and say "Christ increase, self decrease"

Grace for Obediance

Hello all,
Lets go. The bible is clear that graces gives a frame of reference for obedience. At first glance people can come to the conclusion that Future Grace for sins not yet committed just gives fuel to the fire for a life of sin. How radical a God that He would save and that pre-approval would draw those approved right in His footsteps. Grace and security for tomorrow has so saturated peoples soul that there is nearly an unquenchable desire for obedience. Without sustaining future grace can we actually be obedient in a healthy way? Some would say that humanity's standing with God is all based on us asking for forgiveness and wondering if we have forgotten any sin that we might have done today. Obedience then becomes vain repetition and dirty legalism based on self rather than Christ. The stamp of forgiveness of Christ finished work, securing those that are found in Him is simply the only healthy fuel for obedience. So then what does obedience look like? Live the great commission and throw your live into Gods hands. Do we trust Him or not? Trust God, be obedient. Your soul longs for that! Does it not?

Right now take a moment and ask; "What does obedience look like in my life right now?" We know our areas of disobedience. Trust Him! Trust Him! Trust Him!

One Life One Chance!

Hello to all who love Jesus and the few that might read this that have not yet experienced, or who may never experience, this hope and purpose that Christ has formed in the souls of those whose hearts He has renewed. We are closing out on our study of Ecclesiastes and are only a few more weeks away from moving into the Gospel of John. It has been such a joy to be with you all on Sunday nights and an honor to know that we are on mission together through the week. This Sunday we are going to be talking about the one life that we have to live. Solomon is going to tell us that after we die it is to late to make right what we have messed up while we were alive. John Piper has a book that is called "Don't Waste Your Life", in that book he talks about a quote that he remembers being in his home when he was a kid. This quote read "Only one Life, twill soon will be pass, only whats done for Christ will last". It is the cry of my heart for the people of the journey and the church as a whole that we would be so ravaged by the love and joy of Christ that we would live and breath every moment for the purposes of Christ. Read 2 Cor. 3 the first part of that chapter and plead with God that this be burned in our souls. To my generation and to all generations i pray that you would hear the screams of Christ, looking deep into your hearts and handing over to you purpose and meaning. Read Ecc chapter 9 and we will talk Sunday night.