PANERA
June 24, 2008 by jason hirsch
Filed under The_Latest
I’m sitting in Panera as I type this & I’m currently working on some new series ideas. I don’t feel I’m a hugely creative individual, so coming up with new ideas can be a real struggle for me. It’s one thing to have an idea, it’s another thing to bring that idea to completion. I tend to make a great theorist, but execution is a little bit more difficult. Any thoughts or insights for me? I’m very open to learning from others that bring ideas to the table.
Here some of the things I’ll be communicating on in the near future. 1. The Calling of God, 2. The History of the Bible, 3. Ancient practices, 4. God’s plan for your life. Any help????
History of the Bible? Ancient Practices? I am curious.
Very cool my friend….
keith d
Personally something I have finally figured out awhile back, if I try to be creative for some anything to include a sermon, message, lesson or theme then it doesn’t workout.
When I think or look at a subject that is on my heart, I have to/must tap into my relationship that I have with my Savior, that is mine and mine alone. I look at how God ministers to me concerning that subject. It is then it is original to who I am as a Child of God and a Minister of Christ.
When delivered with my personal convictions and the Anointing that God has placed on my life that is mine and mine alone, it always seams to minister to whoever I share with.
The most powerful messages that have touched and impacted my where ones that came from the speakers heart where their personal relationship with their heavenly Father rest.
As far as packaging goes, thank God for those that are anointed in that area!!! In the past I just shared what I got from the process above and they ran with it.
Keith, I though you might be interested in those type of topics. Have you been listening to any great communicators lately, and do you have any fresh stuff?
Jason
I love it! I can’t wait to see which direction these “seeds” will go
I LOVE the “call of God” or the “God’s plan for your life” messages.
The “history of the Bible” is a great idea too… Perry Noble did a message on that about a year ago.
Hey bro,
Ancient Practices could be a whole series. Very cool!
The History of the Bible could be both tough and interesting. One sermon or a series? The big question is the direction you want to take. Are you attempting to follow a scholarly approach to history, or a faithful approach to the inerrancy of Scripture? Can the two worlds peacefully coexist? I believe they can, but many people do not. As Evangelicals we point to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 to state that the Word of God is without error. Yet Genesis 6 states that God tells Noah to take two of every animal, and a few verses later in Chapter 7 God tells Noah to take seven. Of course I pick on the most obvious example, but there are many. Does this mean that scripture is not God-breathed and inspired? Of course not. We know that the modern scholars believe there were four authors of the Pentateuch (unlike Evangelical assumptions that Moses authored all 5 books). The books of the Old Testament were often verbally shared for centuries before they were ever put down on in written form. How much was lost or altered during those centuries? The OT we have today is largely based off of a Latin from Greek from Arabic from Hebrew translation. We have no known original transcripts of the NT. The closest we have is the Gospel of John, circa 150 AD (give or take a couple decades depending on what you read). The original NT text was scribed from one version, to the next, to the next. Most manuscripts we know of today are much more removed than 5 transcriptions of the original text. Have you ever played the telephone game? We don’t even have proof of what was truly original. That barely brings us up to modern (last 2,000 years modern) of numerous translations. Did Martin Luther get it right translating the Word of God from Latin to German? What about the original King James text? I have only hit the very tiptop of a scholarly approach. Are the scholars completely correct? I doubt it, and every individual casts their own opinions and hermeneutics on the situation.
For a pastor to present the scholarly approach is scary. A scholarly approach could lead to doubt. Yet in today’s age, this culture does not want to blindly accept mere opinion today. To use a book to authenticate itself is not sufficient for most outside the church. We are the information age, and many look for verification of everything.
When is comes down to it, I try to blend faith with intelligence. I pray for discernment and read the great minds that have gone before. I teach my kids to do the same. Does it really matter how many of each animal and bird that Noah took on the ark? Does it matter if God flooded the whole earth, or just the land around Noah? Not at all. I teach my kids that what matters is that God found a faithful servant in Noah and saved him and his family from disaster. We often have these discussions at home. Did Joshua and the people of Israel really march around Jericho seven times, then scream and shout and the walls collapsed in spontaneous eruption? Who knows. What matters is that God made a promise to those He loved, and whether through an outright miracle, a hidden miracle like an earthquake, or whatever other miracle we can conceive, gave a fortified city over to the Israelites just as He promised. We could continue like this forever. Faith must meet intellect. I believe that is why Christ spoke in parables. He wants us to question. He wants us to think. He wants us to pray for discernment. He wants us to understand His plan for us and wants us to follow His “guidebook” in understanding that plan. I also believe that today we have the most accurate translations that ever existed, with the exception of the true originals. Study of ancient languages, married with things like archaeological discoveries of artifacts and texts have provided us with a wealth of knowledge.
I could go on and on. We could run circles around this for days. I have said nothing most people do not know, but have only hit on the extreme highlights. I will be curious as to which way you go and what you preach. Of course I will help with anything I can. The church (in general…not Epic) wants only the view of faith, and those outside the church want the intellectual approach. Balancing the two is a challenge. Very cool in my opinion. Of course you could find some professor clothes and list all the versions and translations in chronological order for an hour (just like a genealogy). I am sure that would go over real well!
Recent reads….the lectures of NT Wright from his website.
keith
Keith, you have to write a book with that blog. You da man! I love the perspective.
A very boring book that would be my friend!
Yeah…sometimes when I start typing. I can’t stop. It is a bad disease/addiction I have.
Vegas dreaming bro……
with Ancient practices, do you have a particular direction? the things of moses and the tent , babylon, time lines & world history, king tut? God’s plan what were you thinking of doing… the Jer. 29:11 ref or that man cannot over ride or veto God’s plans?
With the call of God… Troy and I had to change churches not because of any other reason except the call of God. It was that we value the calling and the one who calles us. Troy knew he was called to be a youth pastor and that wasnt going to happen where we had been attending (years and years ago). so we found the place where we could live out the call… after all you live what you value. we were there 8 years.
This is where I’m going with Ancient practices. I’m going to tackle Communion, Fasting, and Water Baptism. I’m going to share about these ancient practices that we participate in regularly at local places of worship, but often times we don’t understand the the context, or the depth of these practices that are so rich with meaning and purpose. Each week we’ll put into practice what we’re talking about. I think it will be fun!