Your Neighbor's House

http://www.theplaceswelive.com/

Safest Sex

This weekend, which just happens to coincide with Valentine's Day, I will be preaching a sermon on one of the Ten Commandments -- "You shall not commit adultery".

Here is a study guide I have developed for small groups of for personal use.

Here is the audio.

Here is the Power Point.

Here is the manuscript.

Valentine's Day Story from Church History

Do you know of the story of Abelard and Heloise?

Church History is definitely not boring.

http://classiclit.about.com/cs/articles/a/aa_abelard.htm
http://www.abelardandheloise.com/HomeH.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heloise_(abbess)

Accountability

Defn.: Responsibility to someone for some activity.
I recently came across this list of over 75 different accountability questions from lists going back as far as John Wesley and including the likes of Richard Foster, Chuck Swindall and Neil Cole. There are some great lists here and this would be a helpful resource to anyone who has relationships of accountability for their spiritual growth and character development. Click HERE to view the list.

Levi's Trip to Thailand

Tomorrow our son Levi is going to Thailand with the High School youth group.

Here is their schedule:

1. Thailand Orientation at the church (led by Kelly, Gary and Paula)---Friday morning, Feb 13.

2. Campus Ministries---Friday afternoon, Feb 13 (Go to Ramkamhaeng University the largest college in the world--over 250,000 kids). We can put the team at a large table with a sign "Students from the USA. Come and practice your English!" Yes, it is a little like being on display as zoo animals ("Don't feed the Americans."). But they will love it and get a chance to actually interact with some Thais who are 'trying' to learn English. Also they can pray for the school and the students to come to know the Lord.

3. Valentines Service---Friday evening, Feb 13 (Our Home Chapel).

Experience a real Thai service with mostly college aged students. This is the service I wrote you about that has opportunity for people on your team to perform a song or skit if they want to.

4. Community Prayer Walk---Saturday Feb 14---Near the Foursquare church is a small poor community of people. Foursquare has strong relationships with the children here. The childrens pastor has moved into the community and will show you around, allow you to see and visit with the kids.

5. KidsQuest Outreach---Saturday, Feb 14: A 90 minute evangelism show at a church in Bangkok or Pattaya. It is an opportunity to see one of the teams we trained perform a great show and immediately involve the kids in a discipleship program. You will also witness an alter call with the vast majority of kids coming to the Lord.

6. Slum and prostitute prayer walk---Saturday or Sunday, Feb 14 or 15:
Bangkok slums are notorious for drugs, rape and violence. Of course we will not actually go inside the slum but we can view the slum from a nearby location and pray for the people. Paula and I will also educate the team to the problems there.

7. Bangkok tour---Sunday afternoon, Feb 15. The team can tour some of the key important elements of Thai history, culture. The Grand Palace, a river boat ride on the Chao Phraya River (with excursions into the arterials), a snake show (not to be missed?).

Monday, Feb 16: Drive to Maesot, tour the town, have dinner and rest at the Guest House.

Tuesday, Feb 17: Visit the Elpis School. This is a school for 5-10 year old Burmese children. The kids are all sons and daughters of Burmese illegal refugees, but the government allows them to go to school until the 5th grade (after that, they are on their own...sad). The school is run by Filipino missionaries (Roselyn and Joy) who are great friends of ours and of Foursquare. The school is located on Foursquare property next to the church, but is independent and supported by various means.

Wednesday, Feb 18: Visit a Karen Hill Tribe village with Pastor John.
This will be an all day evangelism event. Pastor John will evangelize and the team can learn about the tribe and pray for and with them. One issue is that the vans will not be able to make the trip due to the poor roads on the way to the village. I'm assuming that the team is willing to do a little 4-wheel driving experience (an hour or 2) to the village.

Thursday, Feb 18: Visit the Home of Hope orphanage in Maesot. This is a small orphanage run by Foursquare Pastors Neill and Diane. The team can learn about the orphans, also make a monetary gift if they want. The 10+ orphans are Thai kids. They attend school plus make handicrafts that are sold at the coffee shop that Neill and Diane operate.
In the evening, Foursquare Maesot will have a service that the team can attend. They can also meet the youth team (about 25 kids between 13 - 19 years old).

Friday, Feb 19: Return to Bangkok

The Benjamin Button Syndrome

Have you seen the movie? It's about man who is born old and grows younger as he ages. It is an interesting concept and a very intriguing movie.

I recently heard a definition given for Christian discipleship as "growing in love for God and love for people." I like this definition because it truly encapsulates the direction we are all meant to progress as we mature as Christians. Our focus is then centered on the greatest commandment and the golden rule. As we lead others, it is our hope to see these outcomes in their lives as well. We are truly meant to progressively grow in our love for God and for our fellow humans.

Unfortunately, many Christians are plagued by the "Benjamin Button Syndrome". They begin their spiritual life madly in love with God and unabashedly determined to share His love with others. This "first love" experience becomes the high point in their spiritual journey. They then begin a slow regression towards apathy and complacency. Their love for God and for people slowly declines. Instead of moving towards maturity, they become increasingly immature.

We become more restrained and take fewer risks. Church and devotions become a chore. We grow cynical in our view towards the poor and the needy. We stop sharing the "good news" the further we move from that life-changing moment in their lives. We stop reading the Bible and memorizing Scripture. Our communication with God becomes limited to ritual. Our love grows cold.

This is not an uncommon syndrome. It must be addressed and corrected. How can we disciple others if we are headed the wrong direction ourselves? This problem was apparent in the church in Ephesus. Jesus had strong words for the people there:

"You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place." Revelation 2:4-5

It's time for the church to turn things around. This means it's time for us to turn things around. I challenge you as I challenge myself to make whatever correction is necessary so that you avoid the heartache and the pain that comes when one is afflicted with this sydrome which is supposed to be confined to myth.