jeff mikels

007-05 — Everyday Advent

Comment Published by Jeff, on December 30th, 2001 in 007 Advent 2001.

SCRIPTURE: Various

Who says Christmas has to end? A brand new year is starting, and brand new opportunities are ours to bring Christ’s Presence to bear on every aspect of our lives. Are you ready to take on the challenge of making Christ a real part of your everyday life?

Download Now

Subscribe to this series by dragging this link to your podcast software or RSS reader. This Series
Subscribe to all sermons by dragging this link to your podcast software or RSS reader. All Sermons.

Popularity: 5% [?]

You might also be interested in...

No Responses to “007-05 — Everyday Advent”

RSS & Trackback

Be the first to comment on this entry!

NOTE: If you've never commented here before, your comment might not show up right away.

Some of my Best Posts

The Universe Needs a Creator
I believe in God because the universe needs a creator.

The first reason I have for my own belief in God is that the universe needs a creator.

WARNING: I have a degree in philosophy and some of the concepts I use for my belief in God require the use of some technical terms.
The Resurrection of Jesus (Easter 2005)
Every year at this time, I begin to think critically about the resurrection of Jesus. Yeah, you heard me right. I said, “critically“.
How to be a wise blogging pastor?
Colossians 4:5 says this:

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

As a pastor who’s got a blog, I’ve been thinking about how this verse relates to blogging. I’ve been blogging for over a year, and I don’t yet have a “manifesto” like this guy on what my blogging policy should be.
What Are You Afraid Of?
If you like to talk to tomatoes. If a squash can make you smile. If you like to waltz with potatoes up and down the produce aisle, then you need to talk to my son.
There are no unplanned pregnancies
Yesterday was Mother’s Day 2005, and I preached a message on three women in the beginning of the gospel of Luke—Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna. While I was preparing for the message; though, God helped me to understand something that I had never really seen before. There are no unplanned pregnancies.
Thoughts on the Problem of Evil
It seems so capricious and uncaring that a God would allow his own son to suffer, until you get the bigger picture that God loved the sinful world so much that he sacrificed one son, for three days, to gain billions of children for a sinless eternity.

We look at all pain and suffering from the human side of the cross, from the perspective of the disciples on Friday. From that angle, the crucifixion is the most terrifying work of evil ever done.
Is there “Recovery” for the homosexual?
In the living room of my in-laws’ home I watched an episode of Law and Order that I haven’t seen before, and it bothered me quite a bit.

The victim was a young man who had tried unsuccessfully to “recover” from homosexuality through the counseling and support of a religious group called Regenesis. One of the supporters of the organization was a local doctor who had been promoting research that homosexuality was a reversible condition.
Why does God let us face trials?
James 1:2-3 gives the standard Christian answer to this question:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance…

Of course, knowing the Sunday school answer and being okay with it are two different things entirely, but this week, I have gained a new perspective on the question that I thought I would share with you. Here are some significant verses from my devotional reading this week:

Judges 2:20-3:4 (New International Version)

20 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did.
Helping People Resolve Conflict
When two people are in conflict with each other, bringing about resolution can be difficult. However, when two Christians are in conflict, the process of reconciliation should not be as hard as it is.

In conflict situations, I like to ask a few questions:

Describe all the sin in this conflict.
Barack On Abortion
I was disturbed to see this video from Barack Obama talking about his intentions regarding the abortion issue…

I learned about this video from http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/08/obama-and-freedom-of-choice-act.

Tweets

I liked a @YouTube video http://t.co/GDQVCEBo Eva Cassidy - Time After Time 1 week ago
This week is messy. We can do something next week though. 2 weeks ago
I'm still loving @Dropbox. 2GB account is free! http://t.co/b4b7Cwfh 2012-04-11
In 8 minutes, we'll be in a Q&A session with Michael Gungor. Any ideas what I should ask? 2012-03-30
I liked a @YouTube video http://t.co/urOZAq60 Are Shakespeare's Plays Encoded within Pi? 2012-03-14
I liked a @YouTube video http://t.co/YKUbH8w5 Johnny Mac Trick Shot Quarterback 2012-03-09
More updates...

Latest Comments

Thanks for the comments Morris.

I'd like to understand what you are saying a little better. Specifically, I want to know why you think my proposed solution doesn't make sense "outside the confines of a Western Evangelical Christian life."

My proposed solution has nothing to do with religious convictions but with a conviction that the problem of abortion starts as a problem with men not being able to control themselves. This isn't about religion. It's about the pragmatic consideration that the oppression of women is solved by men treating them properly. If every man kept his pants on, abortion wouldn't be a women's rights issue.

Your second claim about legislating morality is one that I understand and one that I agree with to a point. I don't believe we should "legislate religion" but legislating morality is what we do all the time. The government has said that murder is not just wrong but also illegal. Therefore, laws and morality have always gone hand in hand. Immoral laws should be eliminated. Moral laws should be enacted.

So what role should the church have in all this? Well, first of all, I want to agree with you that the past history of religion has not always been one of moral uprightness. There have been many atrocities perpetrated in history and evil people have used many excuses for their evil. It just so happens that religion has been used as an excuse far too often. Nevertheless, you can't blame religion as the cause of the evil unless there is something inherent to the faith that is taught which requires people to perpetrate that evil.

For example, the teaching of Jesus is that we should love our enemies, that we should show people grace and forgiveness, that we should proclaim good news to the broken-hearted. However, people who claim to follow Jesus have attacked religious enemies, have offered judgment, have proclaimed legalism, and have put a burden on the broken. Religious people were doing the same things in Jesus' day, and he railed against them repeatedly.

All I'm trying to say is that just because people claiming to be followers of Jesus have done stupid and evil things, you can't blame all followers of Jesus nor the church into which they are organized. It would be unjustified prejudice to negatively categorize an entire group of people based on the unfortunate acts of some members of that group.

Therefore, I do believe the church has something to say about current societal issues because the church was the first agency in history to promote the cause of women (see Paul's teaching on how husbands should treat their wives), the first in history to promote the welfare of children (Jesus, Peter, and Paul all taught the value of children), and the first agency in history to promote universal forgiveness and love for all.

My question, motivated by my faith and also by my concern for the pragmatic realities of life, is this: How can we ensure the welfare of every life--born, unborn, poor, rich, male, female, black, white, urban, suburban, rural?

In the case of women's rights and the rights of the unborn, I believe the answer lies partially in men being responsible, honorable, and respectful men.

Sermon Series

To jump to the latest sermons click here

007-05 — Everyday Advent

You might also be interested in...

No Responses to “007-05 — Everyday Advent”

Leave a Reply

Author

Some of my Best Posts

Search

Tweets

Google Shared Items

My Friend Feed

Latest Comments

Latest Posts

Random Posts

Categories

Tags

Sermon Series

Archives

jeff mikels

007-05 — Everyday Advent

You might also be interested in...

No Responses to “007-05 — Everyday Advent”

Leave a Reply

Author

Subscriptions

Some of my Best Posts

Search

Tweets

Google Shared Items

My Friend Feed

Latest Comments

Latest Posts

Random Posts

Categories

Tags

Sermon Series

Archives