Discussion Question

Dr. Tackett mentioned at the end of his lesson, "Do you really believe that what you believe is really real"? Man, that is tough once you think about it. He said that if we really believed everything that is in the Bible without a shadow of doubt, that we would be on a intense quest to turn the world upside down. Nothing else would matter. He also said that if we really believed that when we prayed we were actually kneeling at foot of the throne of God for one on one conversation, we would want to spend every possible moment in prayer. For He is the divine creator and ruler of ALL things known and unknown to man.


So I have to ask of myself, why am I not living every possible moment of my life with Him and in service for Him? What if the President of the United States called you and said I want to spend as much time in personal one on one discussion with you as possible? And you could make your issues and requests known to him and he promised to provide for your every need. Would you not be on the first plane to Washington DC? I would say that if that opportunity presented itself, we would all jump at the chance without hesitation.

Try to answer the question: Do you really believe what you believe is really real? How does it change you?

Week One Questions and Discussion

Well... We had a great 1st meeting for the new year! 

Do you now have a new burning question in your mind about...What is Truth?

Dr. Tackett put a lot of information on the table.  Some of it was what we already new, but a lot of it was challenging our view of what is around us every day.  In essence, our Christan World View was questioned.





I want to challenge you a bit more.  Below are some questions that I would like for you to think about over the next several days.  Like I said after the lesson, choose the questions that are relevant to you right now.  You do not have to answer them all.  Only the ones that sticking out in your mind after you have had time to digest all that was presented.  I would like it if we were to respond in email or here on the blog with some thoughts or opinions. 

Discussion Questions


1) What did you see on this tour? What stood out most in your mind?

2) Jesus stated plainly that He had come into the world "to testify to the truth" (John 18:37). Exactly what did He mean by this, and how is this claim connected with those other aspects of Jesus' mission – for example, forgiveness, salvation, redemption, and healing – that we more naturally associate with the ultimate purpose of His advent?



3) How does one's concept of truth affect or determine one's concept of faith?



4) What is the key point of distinction between the biblical concept of truth and popular cultural ideas about truth? How is this point related to the concept of insanity?



5) Read 2 Timothy 2:24, 26 and Colossians 4:5, 6. Why does Paul advise believers to be "gentle" rather than "quarrelsome" in their dealings with outsiders? How does our understanding of the Cosmic Battle affect the way we relate to non-believers?



6) Dr. Tackett poses the question, "Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?" How can we know what we really believe?

Football is Here!

Football Season is here! Finally. With football season comes the end of the summer break for our small group. I can’t wait to get back started again with a couple of newly added members.


This year we will start off with one of my favorite programs, “The Truth Project” by Dr. Del Tackett”. http://www.thetruthproject.org/. This is an outstanding series that will challenge your world view in new ways and cause you to really examine who you are as a Christian.

We will meet at my house beginning on Wednesday, September 22. Directions are provided under the “Next Meeting” page on this site. I will grab some snacks for the first meeting. After that we can decide if we need more food for these meetings. It is up to you guys.

For the two or three new members, we are glad to have you. You are already regular whether you know it or not. We all look forward to seeing you there. For the sake of remembering names, I will provide the list below:

Clay, Ryan, J.D, Andrew, Kyle, Torrey, with new members Jeff, Tre, and Zack.

The "River" People

As I sit here on my patio, I am reflecting on the night's events. I just spent an evening meandering among the distressed and disconsolate, the homeless that wander around downtown Montgomery. Two girls came up with idea to reach out to the dredges of society, the forgotten few…the homeless that seek refuge along the bank of the river near the train tracks. These are the people that we so often conveniently decide to forget. They are not in our neighborhoods and as long as they stay “down by the river” and out of our sight, we can sleep well at night in our air conditioned homes and clean sheets on a bed that is soft and comfortable. These two girls decided to break the comfort barrier that separates the haves and the have-nots and give backpacks filled with essentials, with the most important essential of them all being love for your neighbor.  And yes, Jesus would consider these homeless brethern his neighbor.  As I learned today, if you have some form of roof over your head, even a fabric one, you are one of the “haves”.  Even if that roof belongs to the city or the Salvation Army, you are a fortunate one, at least for the moment.

I went to places that I normally fear to go. In fact, I would fuss at my wife for a month if I ever found out she was out walking along the train tracks at night; especially down by the river. Who would wander the downtown train tracks along the river late on a summer evening? That is for the derelicts of society. But this two hour project was something that I signed up for and I needed to hurry up and get it done so I could get back to my comfort and relaxation. After all, I needed my rest so I could arrive at my office and sit in my new leather chair the next day. I was thinking fast food later in the evening because I had not eaten anything since around three today. That is almost 4 hours without food. I was famished and somewhat concerned how the time spent on this little good-will project might interrupt my customary meal schedule.

Down the train tracks we go. Winding along the river bank, I met a man named Richard, a black man in his mid to late 60s sitting on a bucket along side the railroad tracks. He looked a bit like the folktale drawings on Uncle Remus. He didn’t have all his teeth God originally gave him, but he seemed to be making due with what he had left. He didn’t seem to be doing much when we drove up other than passing time. We introduced ourselves as he crossed the tracks once he noticed we were actually stopping and getting out of the truck. We offered him a backpack filled with essential items and he seemed taken aback without much to say. In fact, he said, “I don’t know what to say”. I let my 12 year old nephew present him with a pair size 11 Nike shoes. I asked my nephew to tag along in hopes that he would gain an added appreciation of all that he is blessed with. I was hoping this experience would offer him some new perspective that may someday make him a better person. I know that sounds presumptuous but I thought at least he could say he had one seen how homeless people live. We knew Richard needed shoes based on Andrew’s scouting report the day before. Andrew, a better man than me, makes an effort to befriend the downtown less fortunate. He takes the time to really get to know them. When Richard opened the shoe box, he was immediately concerned about the size. He said they were too small. I asked his to try on the shoes and, he was right; they were a bit too small. I told him that I would swap them tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to find him again if I remember which bridge he sleeps under. It is not like there are house numbers on them. They all look alike to me.

After not finding anymore homeless people under any of the other bridges, we decided to trace the path from the salvation army to the train tracks along the river hoping to find a homeless wanderer coming back from a free meal at the Salvation Army. We did not find any. We tried Over-Look Park and noticed a few people wandering around. We didn’t want to offend anyone by asking if they were homeless. Some of them may have just been enjoying the park, so we decided to ease on over the Salvation Army down the road. We turned into the Salvation Army parking lot to immediately spot a shirtless man climbing out of a dumpster. I thouht he must be homeless or else he was most assuredly in a desperate situation to be climbing in and out of filthy dumpsters. Admit it; you can’t stand the smell of a dirty dumpster. It is a sickening smell. As we pulled along side the dumpster he was not affected by our presence as he continued to dive in search of some discarded food that could make a meal. As we got out of the car, he exited the dumpster with a plastic bag filled with discarded dinner rolls. You could tell he was sorting the good from the bad as there were many bad rolls on the ground outside the dumpster. We introduced ourselves and he was very accommodating without any shame for his actions or shirtless apperance. This was a normal day for him. He was friendly and talkative. His name was Tim. I asked him where he was from and he said up north. He continued to tell us that he liked the Alabama weather better. I asked if he was on the streets and he said yes and had been living that way for some time. We told him that we were from Saint James and were were looking to spread the love of Christ. He implied he knew of Christ by stating that he had heard of Him. I asked him if he knew why Jesus came to live among us and he was not really sure. At that moment, I knew what I needed to do. I had prepared for years for moments just like this. Any good Christian would begin to recite the ABCs of salvation. Admit you are a sinner, believe that Jesus died to a pay a debt you could not pay, and confess your sins and repent. That is what Tim needed to hear. But why did I botch it so badly this time? It is not like this was my first opportunity. I proceeded to share the Good News that Christ delivered in a really confusing manner. I think I may have even confused myself.  Tim was intenly listening and nodding. We prayed a prayer of salvation and asked that God use the coming days to impact his life. There was no immediate weeping, joy, or shouting. There was no acceptance of Christ that was observable. We didn’t take him to the nearest puddle of water and baptize him. We may never know if he was truly listening or if he was simply appeasing us….only God knows. I hope that we planted a seed that God will nurture; we told Tim that we loved him. I am not sure when the last time was that he heard that. At least he heard it tonight. We moved on ahd so did Tim.

We wandered our way to the front entrance of the Salvation Army to find two ladies and a man kind of camping out. The reason I say camping out is because what else are you doing at the Salvation army at 7:00 pm when the place closes at 4:30? The ratty blanket laying on the front stoop kind of gave it away as well. We introduced our selves as Saint James members out on a mission project wanting to share the love of Christ. These were some really nice and friendly people. Not what I expected from the typical stereotype of homeless people that live down by the river. One lady was awaiting her eventual departure to Florida to be with family. We silently wondered what the holdup was. I mean, why is she here if she has family in Florida? I would like to think that if I was spending the night on the steps of the Salvation Army, my family would assist me in getting out of there. Surely they could scrounge up enough money for a bus ticket to get me home. Is that being presumptuous? Is that not the unwritten code of family? She seemed content and in good spirits….positive about her prospects.

The middle aged black gentleman that we met was obviously interested in our presence. He said he was looking for work, but had not had much luck. Now that just doesn’t make sense to a lot of folks. I mean, haven’t we all said at one time or another that there are plenty of “McJobs” available at McDonalds. I have always been of the opinion, why would the shift manger a McDonalds NOT want to hire any person as a dishwasher? After all, he is willing to work and is obviously capable of running a highly automated dishwashing machine like anyone else with a pulse. It is not rocket science. But then as I was processing all that I had witnessed this night, I thought, he has no address, no transportation to get to work, and no telling if he is carrying hepatitis or some other contagious affliction. It is just much easier to hire the next guy, the one with a real address and car. How many times have I said “those sorry good-for-nothings can go get a job a McDonalds washing dishes rather than bumming around waiting on a hand out”?  But give this a try next time you have nothing better to do. Walk into a McDonalds and apply for a dishwasher job. When you get to the part on the application that asks for your address, just write in “down by the river” and see how far that gets you. Also, tell them you have no transportation to get you form the river to work. Keep in mind that the river is the only place you can hang out without being picked up for loitering. Are the job prospects looking good thus far? That minimum wage check is on its way.

We also met a lady in one of those walker/wheel chairs. Let’s call her Amy as I do not want to use her real name. She looked out of place. Kind of like any one of my neighbors in my subdivision. She was initially concerned about us taking photos but eventually changed her tune a bit and actually smiled for the camera. She was also waiting on the Salvation Army to open its doors in about 12 hours or so. In the mean time, she was planning on fending off the mosquitoes as she waited out her turn to be the next special guest of the Salvation Army hospitality. (Note to self, homeless people sure could use some bug spray especially down by the river.) Amy was very grateful for the backpack we gave her. And she was especially grateful for the Bible contained within. Maybe she wanted us to think she was a Christian or maybe she really was. We did not ask the right questions. If she was anything like Tim, stating he was a Christian yet not knowing who Jesus really was, them I am worried for her soul. Either way, she attempted to persuade us that she was. I pray that we did not miss an opportunity to share the Good News. It is hard trying to spread the word of Christ yet avoid offending people. But isn’t that the logical reasoning people normally use when they choose to remain quite in these situations? Its just too hard. Maybe we should have been more aggressive. Then again, maybe we shouldn’t. As I told my brother –in-law as we were walking away, “we can’t save anyone, only God can….all we can do is plant the seed…God will nurture it in His time”.  Like I mentioned earlier, at first, Amy did not want her picture taken. She asked us to delete any photos we had taken. Then she thought about it and said it was ok. She said it would be good for others to see that even educated women could end up homeless due to circumstances. I did not inquire as to her education level. Maybe she had a sixth grade education and for her, maybe that was considered educated. Maybe she had a PHD in physics. I may never know. In any event, she considered herself educated beyond the normal “riverdwellwer that had no home”. For the moment, I nodded in agreement. Whatever she thought was ok by me. Later someone mentioned that they thought she had said she was a nurse at one time. That would certainly require some formal education. I wasn’t paying close attention to the conversation as I, for the moment, was contemplating the idea that I could be where she is with just a few unlucky breaks. If she was indeed educated (even if she was not) it didn’t matter. She was where she was at that moment. There was not a whole lot of difference between her and me. I could see myself sitting on that step right where she was…waiting on 7:00 am when the Salvation Army opened its doors for a new day. All it would really take is for me to have something like a health issue or some other bad break. Am I immune to bad breaks? Could I avoid the same fate?

I would never have seen these people had it not been for Andrew. For some reason, Andrew chooses to spend his time among theses “river people”, these railroad dwellers”, the people who sleep under bridges. He knows these people and they know him.

Because they know him so well, I can’t help but wonder about Andrew. Why does he spend his lunch hours riding his bike down the railroad paths? Why does he seek out these railway sitters along the tracks? Why does he know them by name and know there individual needs? Why does he choose to live in an old abandoned fire station that is right amongst them? Why does he spend his time, resources, energy, reputation, and hard earned dollars to convince to local government and community members to invest in community garden projects? Why does he have a vision of homeless people leaving the tracks and coming to these community gardens to till the earth to plant produce? Is he insane? Doesn’t he have a life? What is in it for him? I must say, that after observing Andrew for some time, I can’t answer any of those questions. All I can say is that he is different and he certainly not in it for himself. He takes an interest in things we so conveniently disregard as “out of my control”. Why worry about the river people? I rarely hear of them. When was the last time you watched the news and herd a story of a river person found dead on along the train tracks? I can’t remember ever hearing that.

Andrew is something else. He can expose you to a world that you have long forgotten about. Thank God Andrew has not forgotten. Jesus spent his time among the sinners and lepers. If you want to see Jesus Christ alive in someone, go spend an afternoon with Andrew. If you are breathing oxygen, you can’t help to walk away without seeing the active presence of Christ at work in him. Hmm, aren’t we all supposed to be that way? Is Andrew showing us the answer to the question “WWJD”?

The highlight of my day was walking away on my way home to my comfortable air conditioned house and reflecting on the evening's activities. Not so much the thought of relaxing on my patio after a hard day of “working for Jesus”, rather, it was what transpired on the way to the car that made a lasting impression. You see, I had taken my nephew and his dad with me on this local mission project. I thought it would be something that we all could do together and it would allow the wives a mid-week break from the boys. I thought it would be good for my nephew to get out and give back a little. As we made our way to the car, I was reminded of the incredible Christ-like influence fathers have on their sons if they choose to wield it. As we made our way to the car, my 12 year old nephew said this to his father, “Dad, I am glad I came on this trip”. His dad simply put his arm around him and said,”I am glad you came too son”. At that Point I realized that God does work in mysterious ways. Just when you think that you are working to make a difference in someone’s life, God may be making a difference in yours. The seed you may be attempting to plant in a strangers life, may be the seed that gets planted in your own life…or your nephew’s. It seems God is always using the circumstances, no matter how good or bad, to influence the next generation. I guess we need to keep sowing the seeds and let God do His thing. Maybe one day, my nephew may be a Jonathan.

Art For Education

Here is the link to my project. I was excited leaving tonight knowing that several of yall offered to help. This really means alot to me. I never intended to enter this calling alone! I am all about teamwork as a way of learning and sharing knowledge. My experiences so far in working in this neighborhood have been great. The people are so happy to know that we are interested in helping them, as you will soon see. The City is behind us 100%. I look forward to watching God provide the resources to pull off this Community Garden project and am glad to know yall will be a part of this with me. I will keep you posted on a start date as soon as we wrap up design. If you know anyone else that likes this kind of stuff please have them contact me. I would hate to leave out an interested person. God Bless!

http://www.art4edu.info/

Pastor Michel--

Pastor Michel is who we stayed with in Africa. You will probably hear me talk about him alot over the course of this bible study as meeting him really changed my life. The majority of the people that I met in Burkina Faso are "On Fire" Christians. My suspicion is that since their living conditions are far from desirable, they have been forced to really think about what they are living for. It was very apparent to me that they are living to be SERVANTS for God's kingdom. They are very interested in pursuing meaningful realationships with other humans with Christ as center. Our big God, that we talked about last night, gives Pastor Michel these larger than life visions and then gradually gives him the tools to make these visions happen here on earth. Burkina Faso is a predominantly Musilm country and Pastor Michel has been successfully converting Muslims to Christians for almost 30 years now. He truly lives on faith, and has given his whole life to God. Every time I complimented his work he responded, "It is not me, but my God who gives me this strength." I look forward to sharing more of his inspirational stories. This recent experience has really challenged me to understand that our obligation as Christians here on Earth is to serve others while letting the principles from the Bible direct this servanthood. I also came to realize that all the material possessions in the world cannot make you happy. The majority of the people that I met from Burkina Faso had very few material possessions, but were truly filled with joy. This is an amazing memory I will cherish for the rest of my life. Kids running around with no shoes on in 122 Degree weather with Jesus in their hearts and smiles on their faces wanting to hold your hand. A daily relationship with Jesus is what will bring us true happiness and joy that can be shared with all those around us. See a brief summary of his testimony below.

http://africanhopeinitiative.org/story/

Great Start

What a great start to the study of "Chasing the Lion"! Although we did not get very far, we set the stage by contemplating the question, "How Big Is God"? Can we truly answer that question? I don't think so, at least not in a way that everyone would agree. I honestly do not think the human vocabulary contains the descriptive words necessary to describe God. But it sure makes you think about how your view of God impacts your decisions in life.

Understanding who God is and how big He is requires us to commit to life-long learning expedition.

Do me a favor and watch this short video and ask yourself the question…

"Do I really understand who God is"?

Click Here

You might be asking…"What's that all about"? I will give you a little heads-up on something. Once we finish this study of Behaiah and chasing the lions in our lives, I want us to think about going a bit deeper into the understanding of who God is. I want us to devote some time to understanding our Christian Worldview. We will talk more about it in the coming weeks.

One other thing, Wednesday, May5th is SJ life group celebration. Janeese wants to show group pictures during the event, so we need to take a photo next week. I will bring my camera.

Service Opportunities

Just wanted to let you guys know of some service opportunities that may interest you.



A Life-Sized Replica of the Tabernacle Returns:


Volunteers needed to help with the Rebuilding of the Ancient Tabernacle:


• Night Watchmen are needed for 2 weeks to stay at the church from 9:00pm to 6:00 am to watch over the Tabernacle. If you are interested in serving as a watchman contact Grady Springer at 315-1498 or gspringer@adem.state.al.us.


• Tour Guides & Tabernacle Greeters are needed each day for 2 hour shifts beginning at 9:00am – 9:00pm. If you are Jennifer Aughtman at 213-0197 or Ann Pemberton at 546-3744.


• March 26 & 27 will be workdays to put up the Tabernacle. All are welcome to come and help.


• Training for all volunteers serving at Tour Guides and Greeters will be March 24 6:30-7:15 pm in the Café.


• Please contact Janeese if you have any questions.


Family Promise


• Assists families in the area to transition from homelessness to stability and independence. March 13-20 Saint James UMC will host homeless families. We need volunteers and donations of sheets, pillows, mattress covers, blankets, towels, etc. Bring donations to the Vaughn Road Welcome Center next to the library. There will be a large bin to put them in.


• If you would like to volunteer with FP contact Karen Gallahar @ karen.gallahar@morgankeegan.com


• Training Session February 25th @ 6:00 for anyone wanting to spend the night during Family Promise. Volunteers get a 1 day free pass to Disney World!


• Blankets needed.


Children’s Ministry:


• God's ZONE is asking for folks to save their clear plastic bottles (i.e. water) with their lids. We will use them for VBS. Containers will be out in the children's area for drop off.


• VBS will be June 21-23.



The Lighthouse Ministry at Saint James United Methodist Church for Our Friends with Special Needs.



• PALS (Partners Appointed by the Lord) are needed immediately to work one Sunday morning per month with the members who need assistance during Sunday School. PALS will be assigned “friends” and schedules will be provided. Please consider volunteering and being trained for this much needed ministry. For more information, please contact Chris Henderson 215-0427, Merrily York 239-8302 or Jeana Prim 215-3734 who will oversee this ministry. You may also sign up on your blue card in your bulletin.

Meeting Note

Just wanted to let you know that it looks as if we will meet once again in Lester’s office this Wednesday at 6:15. Brad will confirm this on Monday, however, I spoke with Lester after church today and he said as long as we dust, clean the windows, and vacuum, he had no problem with it. He was mumbling something about painting when I walked off.

I added a page to the blog that has meeting time/location information. Meeting Information. In the future when we change venues for the meeting, the current information will be posted here. Of course I will still email you about it, but the blog will be another way to get the information.

I am praying for an awesome week for you guys. I do not believe that God has created any empty weeks for anyone. He has something on his calendar this week for each one of us. We may not understand what He is doing or where He is going. We may be in store for great blessings this week or we may be tested beyond human explanation. Our job is to seek Him in all things, recognize that he is an awesome God, and know that nothing is beyond His power and grace.

See you Wednesday. In the mean time ask God to show you something awesome this week. I do not know for sure, but I think He really gets a kick out of it when we do that.

Outstanding Start

Wow. I got off to a great start at attempting to touch base with everyone after our first meeting. I must have tried to send an email 5 times, and to be perfectly honest, I think Brad is the only one that got it. Part of the problem is that I left the sign- in sheet in Lester's office so I am working from posit notes for email addresses. The results of doing so were that I got email replies from people asking me to take them off my distribution list. Some guy in Ohio really wasn't all that interested in Benaiah or Brazilian jiu- jitsu. It was just one of those days. I am sure someone out there got like 5 copies of the same email. I just don't know who.

Have you had one of those days lately? It seems I have had more than my share lately. Days were every single thing goes against me. Nothing is easy and everything seems overly difficult. Sometimes it is like Satan has organized a hoard of demons to specifically interfere with everything I am trying to do at that moment. I feel like just going home, crawling back in bed, and starting over.

I am going to think on this a while. What should my response be to feeling this way? Is it just s simple matter of the balance of the moon and earth rotation that gives us an off day every now and then, or is it truly forces of evil that are combating with forces of good in the heavenly realms and my doubt and frustrations are products of that battle? Does Satan want to interfere and cause me problems more so on some days than others? You know, I just wished he would have waited a bit longer before learning email. And I hope he hadn't learned to blog yet either.

I just wanted to say again how much I enjoyed meeting each of you last night. I am really looking forward to this group. I think it will be good for all of us.

Tonight I am going to start working on the discussion topics for next week. 2 Samuel 23:20-23

20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab's best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. 21 And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. 22 Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty men. 23 He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

From my extensive research, I have discovered that Benaiah was highly proficient in ...

Brazilian Ju-jitsu.

I will contact Brad this week and see what our prospects are for room to meet in. If he can’t get one, we will figure out something. Once the weather gets a bit warmer we will have some options with outdoor spaces. Maybe we can do something along those lines.

In the mean time, don’t forget about the group exercise I gave you. This group will take on some form of identification over time. This exercise will help us determine what we would like for it to be. It is ok if it changes over time, but starting out we need to express to one another we initially envision.