Sabbatical House

Lynsey and I were the recipient of a huge blessing. A ministry in town sent us on a few day Sabbatical house. It is a few days of rest, vision, refreshment, and whatever the couple needs at no cost to us! The couple who runs this came with us, cooked for us, prayed with us, and as they have been in ministry for so long it was a great relationship to build. I am inspired by their vision for this ministry, and the creative ways they are seeking so spread the "dream of God." Here is just a few pictures of the place we stayed. None of these do it justice, you really have to be there to believe it. We are so blessed.

An 8,000 square foot long cabin:











The view out of the master bedroom (which as about the size of our house) from our bed:












About 1/3 of the main room (it is so big it is impossible to capture on film:












The view out of the windows in the main room:











Me making friends with the bear carved out with a chainsaw in the main room:













Since we were right by Tillamook, We when to see the house my dad grew up in:











My Beautiful wife:











The air base in Tillamook where my grandfather was second in command:

Review: The Secret Message of Jesus

Several people asked me to review Brian McLaren's new book: The Secret Message of Jesus. So here is my review in the form of a top ten list.

10. The last 2 books he wrote were very controversial. I do not expect as much controversy from this book.

9. That being said, if people really understand what Brian is say and live it (which most people won't) this could be his most revolutionary book to date.

8. Great subject matter: all about the kingdom of God . . . This is a subject I have been studying in depth this last year, I am excited to see a good book come out on it.

7. If you are going to read it (which I recommend) you must read the whole book. It starts slow, and almost like he is trying to conceal what he is say (kind of like Jesus did). He approaches the kingdom of God from various angles, and as the book moves along it gains momentum (like the kingdom).

6. A book I enjoyed reading with it was The Good News about Injustice (which I just have a few pages left of). I recommend reading these two books together as the book on Justice develops one aspect of the Kingdom of God in greater detail.

5. My understanding of the Kingdom of God was enhanced because of this book.

4. Again, I may not be 100% behind everything Brian says in this book, but that is not really the point of reading is it. Learning is (for me) and enjoyment, I did both with this book.

3. Lots of people like to criticize Brian, saying that he is drifting away from the bible. Yet this books has more scripture than any of his books to date.

2. One thing I appreciate about Brian is after I read any of his books it gives me a deeper hunger for the Word of God. I have questions like "Could it really be?" and I am led back to scripture. In this case Revelation . . . A book I had given up on long ago.

1. One things I am taking away from the book. I have been struggling for a while to come up with other metaphors for the kingdom of God. "Kingdom" does not really communicate in our day and age like it did back in Jesus, for a ton of reasons. I have felt a need to explore new ways to communicate it. If Jesus were here today, what metaphors would he use to communicate his message. Brian explores some that are very helpful. My favorite metaphor for the "kingdom of God": The dream of God. We spread God's dream (desire) for his creation where a nightmare currently exists. God brings a better way to live where people find forgiveness and reconciliation.

It Just Arrived Today

The Book I have been waiting for, and ordered about 4 months ago. Waiting for the release of McLaren's books for me is like waiting for spring. Not that I agree with everything McLaren says, but each time I read one of his books it gives me fresh life in thought and spurs me on in my pursuit of Jesus.

About to enjoy the read.

Saved

This morning I read in Acts about the gentiles being saved, and the dispute between whether they needed to follow the law of Moses to be saved.

As I was reading I was wondering, at this point in Acts what was there understanding of being saved? Was it still looking for physical salvation from the Romans? Was it only about salvation in the afterlife? Was it being saved from the bondage of sin here on earth? Was it a combination of all of those things?

My understanding of salvation has grown in the last couple years, and it would be interesting to know how they understood it in Acts 16.

Misunderstood

I think one thing I really dislike is being misunderstood. I take great pains to articulate my thoughts to people clearly so that I am not misunderstood. If once a person I talk to understands what I am saying, it really doesn't bother me if they don't agree with me, it is just frustrating being misunderstood.

As I was reading this morning, in Acts 15, I felt sorry for Paul and Barnabas. Here they are trying to bring the good news about Jesus to people. They heal people, and the town things they are Zeus and Hermes and they start sacrificing to them. They try to explain that they are not, at the same time some Jews came from another town stirred up the crowd, and they end up throwing stones at Paul and Barnabas in effort to kill them.

Talk about being misunderstood, and facing deep oppression. It is amazing to me though how this does not slow Paul and Barnabas down this the good news of Jesus. They just continued on.

Observation about the Gospel

Just an observation as I read through Acts 13 this morning. Just about every time people are preaching the gospel (the good news about Jesus), they do so starting back with Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, and they show how Jesus is the fulfillment of the scriptures, and the promised one bringing salvation. As Paul preaches in this chapter he does so to a mixed audience as well, it is not just to the Jews, but to the gentiles.

The good news here in verse 32 is that all that God promised to their fathers God is giving to them because of Jesus. And in Verse 39 where you could not be justified from the Law of Moses you now can be justified in Jesus.

It seems like when we reduced the gospel to 4 laws that revolve around self, we lost something of the Gospel. We didn't lose it all, but we lost something.

Update on Kimberly 2

Thank you for all your prayers, and Marta thank you for asking about her.

Kimberly's baby lived just 1 and 1/2 hours, and died in her arms. I talked to her about having a memorial service for the baby, but for now she waved it off. She is planning on coming to our church this Sunday. She has had a hard life, and I am hoping that our church can enfold her into our family.

Donna, a member of our church who has been helping and loving this gal for years, just found out that her dad is going into hospice. So I would appreciate prayers for her as well. It has been a rough couple of weeks on her. Rick (her husband), Donna, and I are going to drive up to the hospital to see her dad hopefully later today.

Thanks for all the prayers.

The hand of God

I just can't get over how many miraculous things happen with the spread of the Gospel in the first century. Maybe it is just that Luke is recording all of them in one place so it wasn't as common place as it seems when you read through Luke, but as you read you definitely get the sense that God is the one driving the spread of the Gospel through the Holy Spirit. He is using faithful men and women to do his work, but he is the one who paves the way. In Acts 12 you see an angel free Peter from prison. The chains that held him between to guards just fell off.

I wonder to myself, maybe if we seriously under took the spread of the Gospel if we would see more miraculous things. Could it be that we don't see the hand of God more, because we are not involved in things that God desires to accomplish? Just a thought.

Surprise

As I read Acts 11, I am trying to put myself in the Jews shoes. For thousands of years of family history, your ancestors worshiped God, and understood this God to be the God of Israel. God told them not to intermingle with foreigners. There view of holiness was to be set apart from the rest of the nations and world. Not God is changing all the rules. He gives anyone who comes the same Spirit as the Jews who trusted in Christ. Now the Jews and the Gentiles share a bond that goes deeper than family.

Just about the time they thing they have God figured out, he throws another surprise at them that they never saw coming. I guess I never want to get the to place where I think I have God figured out.

Update on Kimberly

OK, so I just got back from the hospital (read my previous post -- she just discovered that news this week, with no previous knowledge of the baby's defect), and Kimberly who to the best of my knowledge is not a follower of Jesus (though she has been to my church I think once), had a dream. The dream was simple. Luke 10:9. That verse burned in her head in her dream, so when she woke up she looked it up.

"Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.'"

I caught her about an hour before she began delivery. We prayed together, and she believes the Lord gave her that verse because her son is about to go be with Jesus, that heaven was coming near to receive him, and to heal her! What faith . . . What a great God! Pray for Kimberly. Thank you.

What are you giving your life to?

What are you giving your life to? Is it worth it?

These are two questions that ring in my head as I am about to start reading my next book. Steve Pringle gave me a book recently that I am very excited to reading . . . It's called "Good News about Injustice." I don't really know what it is about, or how it will change me, but as I have been studying the Kingdom of God and the Gospel, I have realized how central the issue of justice is to the kingdom of God.

I am again reminded of Micah 6:8 "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Now that is a description of the Christian life!

I am off to grieve with a mother in the hospital who was just recently told she would lose her baby boy within 2 days of him being born. Pray for her . . . her name is Kimberly

jonknapp.net

So I just purchased jonknapp.net. Go there, and it will forward you to my blog (where you are at now--duh!). Now it is easier to find me on the web!

Stepping into God's Work

The spreading of God's Kingdom is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit in peoples lives. This is what I gather from reading Acts 10. God prepared the heart of Cornelius, and told him to seek out Peter. God prepared the heart of Peter and told him about Cornelius. The Holy Spirit did all the prep work to help spread the Gospel to the gentiles. All that was needed now was obedience from God's people to do the work that He has prepared for them.

Makes me think of Eph. 2:10 We were created for good works that have been prepared in advance for us. God has laid everything we need to do amazingly good, generous works to spread his kingdom. All we need is enough obedience, and courage to actaully step into them.

I am inspired by the story of Acts 10, I am glad Luke chose to include it.

The Gospel . . . a Candle . . . or a Forest Fire

Well I just got better from being sick, so I have been somewhat absent from my blog recently. I am feeling much better now.

As I think of the nature of God's Kingdom and the Gospel, and read Acts 9, I remember the power of the Gospel to change a life. Here Saul, the man who had given his life to killing and imprisioning christians, met God, and not only became a Christian, but he changed his name, and started giving his life to preaching the Gospel even though it put his life in danger.

God wants to change your life, and give you a new name, a new identity.

It is exciting for me. In our church it seems like people's lives are being changed. Maybe they have known God for a long time, but the spark of the gospel, and the kingdom of God is just starting to ignite. I know that this is definately happening in my life.