More on that message…

additional things I did not have the time or space to cover in a message or communication I’ve given

3 surprising similarities between men and women in marriage

Men and women in marriage are not as different as we thought! Last Sunday I did some audience response system polling in connection with my message on the marriage relationship out of1 Peter 3:1-7. While a few of results were somewhat predictable, we had several major men/women stereotypes blown out of the water.

One thing that was not surprising is that this passage of scripture is a very challenging one. Because six of the seven verses deal with women and the “S” word (submission) we were not surprised to find 48% of the women admitting to having “difficulty with this passage of Scripture.” But there were also 39% of the men who agreed with them. You’ll have to listen to the message “Keeping I do from becoming I don’t” online at www.Bridgewoodcc.org and judge for yourself how well I addressed these difficulties.

Here then are the three valuable lessons learned from our polling:

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The power of being with Jesus

“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13 NIV)

I’ve been giving thought to the results of the poll I took last Sunday as part of my sermon on “Convincing the Unconvinced.” The heart of my message was that faith sharing should be easy because the responsibility for persuading others of the truth of the gospel belongs to God. (John 16:8)

One of the questions I asked using our audience response system was “What keeps you from sharing your faith?” In the list of ten choices the top answers were “not sure what to say” and “don’t know my Bible well enough.” Statistically we were not any different as a congregation than other Christians across the country. Not surprisingly feeling ill equipped is the major reason even mature believers usually give for not sharing their faith. Why is that?

For one reason, there is a tendency to believe that education and training are prerequisites for effectiveness and success in doing anything including faith sharing. But that can end up being an excuse when it comes to personal evangelism. Most classes offered on that topic are usually very poorly attended. That in turn might indicate another underlying reason why more people hesitate to share their faith – apathy.

The account in Acts 3 & 4 of the apostles Peter and John boldly preaching the gospel reveals the secret to evangelism effectiveness.

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Overcoming a spirit of rejection

“He has made us accepted in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:6 AKJV)

Why is it that we so readily give credence to the voice of rejection whispering in our ear? You know that voice. It says “I don’t belong here. No one listens to or cares about me. I have nothing to offer.” It’s always in the first person “I”, because that is the way the devil deceives us into thinking its coming from us rather than from him, the father of lies. (John 8:44)

Seeds of rejection sown into our lives through experiences of being disregarded, abandoned or betrayed are fueled by the devil’s lies and lead to self-rejection. We then become our own worst enemy. Henri Nouwen writes “Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that declares we are loved.”

The heart of the message of the Gospel is the very opposite of rejection. It is the promise of acceptance by our heavenly Father in the unconditional love of His son Jesus Christ.

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Upcoming changes in my life and at Bridgewood

Yesterday was a watershed day for me and our congregation as I announced in the Sunday morning services some changes in my role at Bridgewood Community Church.  After nearly sixteen years of having the honor of being Bridgewood’s founding and senior pastor, I will be handing off the baton of senior leadership on May 16,

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Giving in an Economic Downturn

An  interactive poll using our audience response system taken during my recent Sunday message “Overcoming the Fear of Lack” revealed serious fallout in our congregation from the current economic downturn.  Polling over 230 adults in both services we discovered that 42% had experienced an income reduction, 10.8% had lost jobs and an additional 9% were in

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