Casey has mentioned Tim Keller's name a few times recently. Tim Keller is pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC. There are many excellent articles and sermons from Keller that can help to equip us as we seek to live and speak the gospel in this culture.
A Sampling:
1. "Evangelism Through Networking" (key words: incubator, cell group)
2. "Deconstructing Defeater Beliefs- Leading the Secular to Christ"
3. "Biblical Mandate for Mercy Ministries"
posted by wes
Reminders:
No Gathering at the UK BCM for the rest of this year.
No Bible Fellowship Group meetings on Sunday morning for the rest of this year.
Check out Andrew Peterson's site. Along with the Christmas CD, you'll find more biblical and thoughtful music.
Andrew Peterson
Andrew Peterson's Behold The Lamb Of God offers some fresh biblically saturated Christmas music that clearly communicates the story of the coming of Christ in the context of redemptive history.
This CD is a great tool to help you keep Christ at the center of your thoughts this Christmas!
Titus Jeremy Haskins was born five years ago today in Birmingham, Alabama. Wow! I have been a dad for five years now! The joy of watching Titus and his three siblings (Nathan 3, Anna almost 2, and Charis 6 months) is a testimony of God's grace in my life.
Titus was named after Paul's pastoral apprentice, Titus, in the New Testament. In Titus 1:4, Paul refers to him as, a true son in the faith. Our prayer for our son, by birth, is that one day we can call him a true son in the faith. We want more than anything for him to believe in Jesus for salvation from his sins. We also want to send him from our home one day as a gospel warrior.
Psalm 127: 3-4 say, "Behold children are a heritage from the Lord; The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth."
By God's grace, we are seeking to prepare this little arrow to pierce the darkness of sin in the world with the light of the gospel of God's grace in Jesus. Our desire is to see him speak the Good News to those who have never heard or believed, beginning in Lexington and extending to the ends of the earth.
After being called as a missionary to South America, Jim Elliot wrote his family saying,Grieve not, then, if your sons seem to desert you, but rejoice, rather, seeing the will of God done gladly. Remember how the Psalmist described children? He said that they were as an heritage from the Lord, and that every man should be happy who had his quiver full of them. And what is a quiver full of but arrows? And what are arrows for but to shoot? So, with the strong arms of prayer, draw the bowstring back and let the arrows fly—all of them, straight at the Enemy's hosts. Give of thy sons to bear the message glorious, Give of thy wealth to speed them on their way, Pour out thy soul for them in prayer victorious. And all thou spendest Jesus will repay.
May God graciously allow us one day to hear similiar words from the lips of our son!
Happy Birthday T-man.
Fly Arrow Fly!
Become better equipped to invest and invite by joining us for a four week semester of No Silence Discipleship Evangelism. Each evening will be broken up into three segments
- prayer for those we know who need Jesus
- accountability to share with those who need Jesus
- encouragement and equipping with tools to share with those who need Jesus
This semester of No Silence will take the place of invite teams on Sunday Night. Even if you have gone through No Silence before, this will be a good time to renew your commitment to share Christ with others.
Next week, instead of meeting at the BCM for the gathering we will be meeting at the Haskins @ 7:00p.m. Please remember to bring someone who needs to be encouraged with the gospel.
Haskins Address
525 Plainview Drive
Lexington KY, 40517
To give you a taste of her book, check out this article by Debbie Maken.
Rethinking The Gift Of Singleness
by Debbie Maken
Unique book on pursuing marriage!
Will definitely challenge your 'traditional' way of thinking about finding a mate.
Good read for both young women and men.
The Gathering question series (What is Truth? Who is Jesus? Is there only one Way to God?) Has prompted some good discussion concerning God-centered apologetics. Here are some good resources to get you headed in the right direction, when sharing your faith. Next week pastor David will be leading the discussion, answering the question Who is Jesus? Be there and bring a friend!
The Battle Belongs To The Lord
K. Scott Oliphint
An excellent call to defend the faith from a God-centered perspective, which will constantly lift your thoughts to the think about the greatness of God. 
Every Thought Captive
Richard Pratt
The most simple manual on how to do God-centered apologetics.
Always Ready
Greg Bahnsen
Basic Training in learning how to defend the faith. An easy read but a weighty classic on apologetics.
I guess its that time of the year! Back to school time and Spring, bring with them the pursuit of soul mates. For some reason or another it seems, during these seasons more than others, we are constantly quizzed on our view of relationship, dating, and pursuing marriage.
Just so you guys don't think my answers are totally crazy, I found someone else who, for the most part, agrees with me. Michael Lawrence, an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church has written an excellent article on the issue of marriage. The article is titled, "Stop Test-Driving Your Girlfriend!"
While the article is directed at men, the ladies will also be able to deduce some pratical wisdom. The article deals with the selfishness that usually characterizes this issue. Lawrence gives good advice on how to ask the right questions and seek the right things when pursuing a wife.
While I have not read much on the rest of the website, you can access the article here. Stop Test-Driving Your Girlfriend
As I read the article, I was reminded that much of your frustration in finding a wife could be avoid by remembering to apply the gospel to your relationships with potential mates. Lawrence puts it this way:
The problem of course is that as a single Christian man, not only are you going to marry a sinner, but you are a sinner as well.
From a consumeristic perspective, no woman on this planet is ever going to perfectly meet your specifications. What's more, your unexamined requirements for a spouse are inevitably twisted by your own sinful nature. The Bible reminds us that though our marriages are to be pictures of the gospel relationship between Christ and the church, none of us get to marry Jesus. Instead, like Hosea, we all marry Gomer; that is to say, we all marry another sinner, whom God intends to use to refine and grow our faith in Jesus.
When is comes to baptism and the church, college students (even Christian college students) for one reason or another seem to be the most confused. Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, offers clarity on this issue in a sermon he preached at Ninth and O Baptist Church in Louisville.
Listen here. Baptism, The Church, and the Glory of Christ
Also check out Dr. Moore's blog and other resources from the
The Henry Institute
Lifestyle changing! I am sure all of you are enjoying our study through The Treasure
Principle by Randy Alcorn. Its a wonderful call to begin a new lifestyle of giving with eternity in mind. It calls for us to examine closely our checkbooks. It demands that we use eternal wisdom with every puchase. It should cause us to budget with a strategic game plan to give. Not just give, but sacrificially give. Such a lifestyle is completely freeing!
This week I was blessed by the following section on page 59 of chapter four, where he vividly descibes the freedom in sacrificial giving, freedom that comes from an acknowledgement of the Lordship of Christ over our money. Alcorn writes,
The act of giving is a vivid reminder that it's all about God, not about us. It's saying I am not the point, He is the point. He does not exist for me. I exist for Him. God's money has a higher purpose than my affluence. Giving is a joyful surrender to a greater person and a greater agenda. Giving affirms Christ's lordship. It dethrones me and exalts Him. It breaks the chains of mammon that would enslave me.
As long as I still have something, I believe I own it. But when I give it away, I relenquish control, power, and prestige. At the moment of release the light turns on. The magic spell is broken. My mind clears. I recognize God as owner, myself as servant and others as intended beneficiaries of what God has entrusted to me.
Our 2006 World Impact Conference will be October 1, 2006. Our featured speaker will be Dr. Tom Eliff from the IMB. He will be preaching during our Bible Fellowship hour as well as our worship service. He is a very powerful and challenging preacher. You do not want to miss this Sunday of worship.
Sorry for the summer lull! In a matter of weeks, information about the new school semester and other interesting stuff will be posted.
Thanks
"Christians are a race of dragon fighters. Our sons are born to this. Somone ought to tell them."
- D. Wilson Future Men
(Because the ladies like to see pictures of my children more than anything else. Just thought I would keep you interested!)
Manly Dominion
Mark Chanski
(Our speaker for next year's Men's Retreat)
The Mark of A Man
Elisabeth Elliot
(Letters written to her nephew on how to be a man)
Future Men
Douglas Wilson
(How to raise men!)
Fidelity
Douglas Wilson
(Purity)
Last Wednesday we addressed the subject of manhood. As I suspected the ladies enjoyed this subject a lot more than the guys present. We began by saying, "Every problem in the home, church, and society can be connected at some point to a failure of male leadership."
We then traced this problem back to Genesis 3 and discussed our responsibility as men to lead, provide, and protect. Dr. Randy Stinson, the director of the Council On Biblical Manhood and Womanhood writes,"The Bible, when giving specific instruction and admonition to men, usually does so within three key categories: leading, providing, and protecting."
Our discussion ended with ways in which we can cultivate masculinity in our own lives. I suggested that we make sure that we are always inconveniencing ourselves for the sake of others (sacrifice) and that we repent of whinny and complaining attitudes so common among wimpy men.
I also want to recommend to you an article out of the Winter 2006 issue of Southern Seminary's magazine, The Tie, titled "Show Yourself a Man." In the article Randy Stinson, who is also a professor of counseling at Southern, give the following suggestions for cultivating masculinity.
Do the hardest task first
Attacking your hardest task of the day without delay will build your resistance to passivity. Waiting until the end of the day only reinforces your sinful tendencies toward passivity.
Make the hard phone call first
While this is similar to the first suggestion, it deals more with passivity within interpersonal relationships. Some men are willing to do the hard task first, but avoid difficult situations involving other people.
Run to the battle
One only needs to consider the life of the Apostle Paul to see that conflict is a regular feature of the Christian life. Men who think all conflict should be avoided, or who refuse to engage with those who would harm the body of Christ or their family, not only model passivity but fail in the area of protection.
Do your work now as opposed to later
From term papers to tax filing, the man who is cultivating biblical masculinity will not allow these things to rule him. He will exercise dominion over them by doing them in a timely manner.
Keep your domain in orderWhile most of us on occasion have a messy desk or car trunk, a life that is characterized by disorder is evidence of passivity. Your home, dorm room, garage, office and car should bear the mark of your masculinity as you subdue it and keep it in order.
Kill a bear or a lion
In other words, do something that is a challenge for you. It may actually be to kill a bear or a lion, but it may be a health challenge like running a triathlon or a marathon. It may be something as basic as riding a roller coaster or as edgy as snorkeling with sharks. It may involve debating the atheist at work or starting a Bible study at home. It may mean you need to finally share the gospel with your lost friend or deal with a family conflict that you have allowed to go on for too long.
Dr. Mark Coppenger and his son Jedidiah will be speaking at our 2006 Men's Retreat. Dr. Coppenger is currently teaching at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (where Jedidiah is a student) and is pastoring in Evanston, Illinois. You will not want to miss this time of encouraging exhortation. Everything begins on Friday the 19th at 5:00p.m. and ends Saturday 20th at 2:00p.m.. The cost is $67.50 per person. You can sign up at the Men's Ministry table this Sunday. You will also be able to get a conference brochure at the table.
JUNE 18-24,2006
This year we are taking a group of students to Grande Isle Louisiana for a week of ministry. We will be participating in VBS, a youth night, and construction work at First Baptist Church Grande Isle. This community was one of the many devestated by hurrican Katrina. We will be working with pastor John Boss who has been leading this church to spread the hope of the good news of Jesus Christ during such trying times. The cost of the trip will be $150.00 which will include food, lodgeing and transportation. If you would like more information, contact pastor Jeremy. (Do not let money be a reason for not participating!)
Charis Danae Haskins
Born April 5, 2006
9.01 lb 21 in
Charis with her big sister Anna
I am a life long Dallas Cowboys fan. I was a fan of America's team even before the days of Troy, Emmitt, and the "Playmaker" Michael Irvin. When I was ten, I wore a Danny White #11 jersey (that was 10 times too big for me) to school once a week. I even vividly remember when the great coach Tom Landry was let go.
I also remember the infamous day in the 2000 season when the Star of Texas stadium was desecrated by none other than Terrell Owens. This incident is known as the first of his many more obnoxious self-exalting escapades. As the 49ers stomped the-boys that day, T.O. sought to rub it in. Twice he ran to the 50 yard line, opening his arms to the sky to celebrate a touchdown atop the Dallas Star. The second celebration was ended by Cowboys safety George Teague. Teague leveled Owens, protecting the greatest logo in all of sports, from such disgrace. Teague was tossed from the game and Owen's was penalized a game's pay which he compared to impeachment of the president: "It makes me feel like this was a classless act. Like President Clinton and MonicaLewinsky, that was a classless act, and he didn't even get impeached for it." 
Dallas fans who are fierce in their loyalty (second maybe only to rival Steeler fans). So you can only imagine the sickness we felt when Dallas had signed the great nemace Terrell Owens. Many in Dallas were outraged. Shirts were made that say, "Defend the Star!" This move defintely proves that we live in a day where money matched by wins talks alot louder than team loyalties. (Remember Johnny Damon is now a Yankee. And I thought Emmitt being released to the Cardinals at the end of his career was distasteful!)
I am sure fans of America's team will soon calm down. I am sure we will begin to show T.O. the type of class that we are known for. We will soon forget all about the last six years of tasteless sportmanship. All of the boos will end before the regular season begins. I even think T.O. will have the descency to take his shoes off when he approaches the star from now on. In the end, Dallas fans will take full advantage of this opportunity to love and embrace our former enemy.
Right after he catches that first touchdown pass. At least, let's wait and see if he takes us to the playoffs.
The following was written by Pastor David for this week's bulletin:
Check out CJ Mahaney's last sermon at covenant life
Lost and Found pt 4: The Prositute
A great exposition on the importance of knowing your own sin.
What a great gathering we had last night! Jason Thompson's message, "Has the church lost it's way to Zion?" was an excellent exposition on the importance of the church in redemption. In case you did not take notes, his texts were Psalm 87; Ezekiel 37:24-28; Ephesians 2:11-22. Let Jason know how much you appreciate the word by e-mailing him at jason@rykersridge.org
Also, if you want to continue to give to the Thompson's adoption fund contact him at this same address.
After a month and a half, the church offices now have interenet access again. During this parenthesis, I was only able to check email once a day on a friend's computer, with barely any net surfing. As miserable as I was in the beginning, this fast from the web helped show me how easy it is for me to be subtlely mastered by the mundane things of life. On one hand, I need the web to communicate with others. On the other hand, the internet had become addictive. I would try a week or two without coffee next, but I am not sure that would really do me or anyone else any spiritual good.
Hopefully, this will lead to regular posting from your 'fearless' leaders (Casey not included). In the mean time, let me encourage you to remain faithful to your I2 groups. We strongly believe that these groups are key in seeing the gospel mutilply among our college students.
Pastor Jeremy
Begining on February 8, 2006 the Gathering will begin meeting at the U.K. BCM every Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. We will post a detailed schedule a.s.a.p. For now the line -up is the following:
February 8, 2006 Pastor Jeremy
February 15, 2006 Pastor David
March 8, 2006 Pastor Jason Thompson, Pastor of Ryker's Ridge Baptist Church in Madison Indiana.
April 12, 2006 Matthew Smith from Indelible Grace
We will fill in the blanks soon!
The following two blogs offer some great thoughts and helpful advice for all who enter the blog-world.
The Unbearable Lightness of Blogs by Mark Dever
The Spiritual Danger of Blogging by Dr. Russ Moore
Friday and Saturday, February 3-4, 2006
For more info:
Schedule
Breakout Sessions
Purchase MP3's From Past Conferences
Here's some sarcasm from some guys who do great student ministry at Redwood Chapel in California.(http://www.redwoodvanguard.org)
How to Become the Postmodern Equivalent of a Christian:
Christianity is not about truth. Rather, Christianity is merely a “spiritual” self-help program designed to make you feel good about yourself.
To become the postmodern equivalent of a Christian is to make Christianity a hobby and to:
Avoid anything that might remind you that you are a sinner.
Feel good about some fuzzy idea of Jesus and wear a cross necklace because somehow these two—Jesus and the cross—are connected.
Live as you always have (try not to laugh if someone mentions “repentance”) but make sure you say the magic words that will force God to let you into Heaven when you die.
Realize that now you will receive the arbitrary gift of Heaven when you die, but until then, it really doesn’t matter.
That’s all there is to it. Now you can invoke “Jesus feelings” whenever you want and you can feel slightly less embarrassed when Christian sentences are sometimes unavoidably voiced in public.
Here’s What the Postmodern Equivalent of Christians Do:
Since you feel really good about yourself and God, you might feel like you should occasionally give lip-service to Jesus Christ. When it is convenient, here are some suggestions:
The ultimate test of a religion is the feelings it generates. Thus, you should seek out feelings because Christianity only has value insofar as it makes you feel good.
Remember that faith has nothing to do with the real world and is merely a blind leap in the dark. Since it is a blind leap, there is no need to study about it. Besides, study can be demanding and sometimes, not even fun—and who wants a hobby that’s not fun? Not only that, someone might accuse you of being too intellectual.
When you have nothing better to do, or when you’ve done everything else (all the really important stuff), pray, open the Bible, and say some Christian sentences or phrases. Here’s how:
*Prayer: Ask God for stuff (because you deserve it) and implore Him to help you out when you are in a jam (making promises you don't
intend to keep is a useful technique).
*Bible: Occasionally open it to find isolated verses to justify what you want to do. The random open-and-point method is also useful. Actually studying the Bible is rarely recommended unless it is augmented with an entertaining video (commentary by movie stars, athletes, and contemporary Christian musicians is a plus).
*Christian Sentences: Occasionally say things like, “I’ll pray about it,” or, “Praise the Lord.” Particularly useful is the phrase “spirit-led” because nobody knows what it means.
Christianity is an individual thing and your faith is a private affair, so there is no need to discuss this with anyone. Particularly avoid those who take this Christianity stuff way too seriously.
As you can see, Christianity has nothing to do with real life. Thus, you should give your primary efforts and the bulk of your energy to getting on in the world (that is, getting on with real life) and when you occasionally feel “spiritual,” try the above suggestions.
Since Christianity has nothing to do with truth or the real world, the church really isn’t that important. But if you feel like you have to go occasionally, here’s what you should look for:
Look for the most entertaining worship services possible. Most churches are boring and haven’t learned what the rest of the world seems to understand—that fun is the highest virtue. By the way, some churches might talk about “joy,” but you want fun because joy can be boring.
It should provide “talks” and small-group therapy to meet your felt needs. Lots of “How to…” and “Three Steps Toward…” lessons are a good indicator. Also look for words like successful, integrated, happy, and financial in the lesson titles.
Make sure there are plenty of entertainers, “facilitators,” and leaders (they used to be called “ministers”) trained in creativity (that’s the most important trait in a minister…uh, leader). Of course, an excellent sound and light man is a must, as is a competent drummer.
Look for a place with good sightlines towards the stage (if they call it an alter, run away quickly). Stadium seating with cup-holders is a good sign. Choose a place that your postmodern-Christian-equivalent-friends call exciting and fun. If they use words like true or demanding, you know that place will soon get boring.
The basic rule to remember is that you are the Christian consumer and thus, you are in charge. So, find a church that understands this and will cater to your every whim. If it gets all uppity and starts telling you what to do and begins invading your private space, then it is probably old-fashioned and probably has ministers (uh, leaders) who haven’t learned the difference between the real world and spirituality. Keep this in mind and you can begin the fun of church-hopping and church-shopping today!
Top Ten ways to stop growing in Christ…or… How to be the average Christian:
1. Believe what you see in the movies and on television
(Actually, nobody really believes it, but you should think the worldviews and attitudes and priorities depicted are normal and desirable and you should do your best to copy them…especially unconsciously. For instance, everybody knows that homosexuality is normal and that premarital sex has no negative consequences…right? Those seemingly innocent teen magazines for girls are useful too; you should take them especially seriously.)
2. Date someone who is not a Christian
(This works best if you will date an unbeliever but expect him or her to behave like a believer. For you girls: if you can, convince yourself that you are dating him in order to witness to him. In any case, make sure you date based on looks alone. This will insure that you have a better reputation because you are seen with only the most beautiful people, and it eliminates having to get to know someone and what he or she believes. Hopefully, you will “fall in love,” and as you know from television and movies (see reason number 1), that feeling is irresistible.)
3. Make sure that not one of your friends is a stronger Christian than you are
(Nowadays, this is actually rather easily accomplished. If none of your friends is stronger than you, chances are good that you will never have to bother with being challenged or convicted. Of course, the best situation would be to insure that none of your most intimate circle of friends is a Christian at all. Make sure you have “church” friends and that they are different from your “real” friends.)
4. Go to church for what you can get rather than for what you can give
(Of course, this works best if what you are looking to get is not what you should be looking for in the first place. See below.)
5. When attending church, evaluate everything using categories like “exciting” or “boring”; never “true” or “false” (Admittedly, these categories don’t have to be mutually exclusive, but you don’t want to have to take the time and energy necessary to cultivate the attitude that finds truth exciting in and of itself. You want fleeting excitement like the kind associated with being entertained. Remember: most of the stuff at church is boring and boredom is the worst sin in our society. You should never be bored.)
6. Get so busy with everything else that you have no time for church things
(This works best if the things you are involved in are not necessarily bad things. In fact, it is better if they are good things; that way, there is no guilt or conviction that you are giving God your leftovers. Remember, church is all fine and good up to a point, but you have to have priorities.)
7. Make sure that your CD collection is larger than your library (your book collection) (There’s nothing intrinsically evil about CDs or listening to music. What we’re saying is that you should make it a priority rather than an amusement. Christian CD’s are especially useful if you can convince yourself that they are a substitute for study.)
8. Watch as much TV as you can
(This is not just for content (as useful as that is), but for the mindset this produces. The more television you watch, the more you will be controlled by feelings and images and the less able you will be to generate a sustained train of thought. And this, of course, leads to lack of concentration and the need to be constantly stimulated (see reason number 5). Get to the point where you can watch MTV and think there is nothing wrong with it. If you already think that, then you don’t have to worry about not growing in Christ.)
9. Never allow silence in your life.
(If you are not careful, silence can creep up on you and before you know it, you start thinking and examining yourself and your life and…there is no telling where all that stuff can lead. Keep your headphones on and stay distracted no matter what.)
10. Don’t confuse Christianity with the real world
(Remember that Christianity is neat and useful up to a point, but you have to live in the “real world.” You’ve got to do all you can to “get along in the world” and “be at home in the world,” so focus on what’s going to help you do those things. Also, tell yourself that facing temptations you could easily avoid will help you to be a Christian in the “real world” and that those others are just sheltered. If the teachings of Christ seem to get in the way of that, just remind yourself that you know what the real world is like and your youth leaders don’t. After all, they have taken this Christianity stuff a bit overboard, don’t you think?)
As you may know, last summer we took a group of students to minister among the Jaqaru people in the Andes Mountains of Peru. First Baptist Muscle Shoals is in the process of planting a good biblical church among this people group. For the summer of 2006, we are looking for students who will spend 1-3 months among this people group. You will be serving with members from First Baptist Muscle Shoals in helping to build relationships, evangelize, and disciple. If you are interested, please talk with Pastor Jeremy or Casey ASAP.
