Where Do The Ten Commandments Belong? -- September 28, 2012

In July of 2011, my family and I went to Washington, D.C.  It was the first time any of us had been to our nation's capital.

The historic sites we visited left me awe-struck.

But there was one place we couldn't visit because it isn't open to the public--the CIA Headquarters Building.

I know that may sound weird.  But I'll explain.  You know I enjoy World War II history.  Well, in WWII, President Roosevelt created the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) because the U.S. did not have a unified intelligence-gathering agency.

After World War II, the OSS was disbanded.  But the need for intelligence gathering was soon apparent after a few years.  That's when the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was formed.

I'd love to visit CIA Headquarters to see three things:

First, the memorial to the OSS and the statue of Major General William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan.  Donovan was the head of the OSS during WWII.

Second, the CIA Memorial Wall and the Book of Honor.  Carved into the CIA Memorial Wall are 103 stars which symbolize the 103 CIA officers who gave their lives in service to our country.  The Book of Honor lists the names of 79 officers who died.  The names of the 39 others remain secret, even after their deaths.  They are remembered in the book with a simple star.

Third, the motto of the CIA carved in stone in the Original Headquarters Building.  The motto of the CIA is "And Ye Shall Know the Truth and the Truth Shall Make You Free".  If that sounds familiar, it's because the CIA's motto just happens to be John 8:32.

So what does this have to do with our lesson on Sunday?

Well, do you remember the dust-up a few years back about the giant Ten Commandments monument placed in Alabama's Capital Building?

It was the talk of the country for a while.  It was debated and discussed ad nauseum.  In the end, a compromise was reached.

How can ten rules cause so much divisiveness?

On Sunday, we'll look at the full text of the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20.  So you know what to expect, here it is...

"And God spoke all these words:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

“You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

So come join us Sunday morning at 9:50 a.m. as we take a closer look at "The Law". 

And if you want some extra credit, bring in a 3-page essay comparing and contrasting the Ten Commandments to Matthew 22:37-40.

Finish Friday strong.  Enjoy Saturday with your family.  See you Sunday!

Loyally yours,

Darren Bayne

"Passion, though a bad regulator, is a powerful spring." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Was It Really An Apple? -- September 21, 2012

Last Sunday, Scott preached about "The Good Samaritan".  He did a great job of taking a story everyone thinks they have all figured out and finding new truths.

Our lesson this week will be similar.  It's the story of "The Fall".  No, I'm not talking about college football season.  I'm talking about the fall of man, the original sin, the first mess-up.

Normally, I give you a link to our scripture passage.  But this week, I'm just going to print it here because it is only six verses.  It's kinda funny that the first time we humans were tempted, put up a pathetic fight, and did something we weren't supposed to took only six verses.  Actually, it took only 163 words to tell the whole story.

With that, I give you Genesis 3:1-6:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
 
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

So there you have it.  Satan asked one question and made one comment.  Human nature took it from there.

You'd think this passage was fairly straight-forward.  In a way it is.  But there are some nuances we'll look at Sunday morning at 9:50 a.m.  What nuances?  You'll have to be there to find out.

And if you think this is just a children's story you'd find in Brian's 'Illustrated Bible for Kids', you're in for a treat!

Finish Friday strong.  Enjoy Saturday with your family.  See you Sunday!

Loyally yours,

Darren Bayne

“God put me on earth to accomplish certain things.  Right now, I’m so far behind, I’ll never die.”  - From Calvin and Hobbes

'God Is Not Mute' recap -- September 18, 2012

We looked at what is theologically called "special revelation".  That refers to the specific things God said about himself to us through the authors of the Bible.

This is what the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist Faith and Message says about the Bible: 

"The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation."

We spent time Sunday morning discussing how important the Bible is.  But if all your Bible does is sit there, you won't grow as a Christian.  If the only time it's touched is when you bring it Sunday morning, it will do nothing for your family.  If you never open it, you won't be able to help this church take the gospel outside the church walls.

For the Bible to really work in your life, you need to read what's inside.  Now I sell books for a living, so I'm partial to the actual book.  But I'm no techno-phobe.

I have a copy of the Bible on my phone.  I do my daily devotion, Our Daily Bread, on the computer each day.  It has a link to the scripture passage that I click and read.

In every Friday's email, I use www.biblegateway.com to give you a link to our verses.  And the cool thing about biblegateway is that you can change the translation with just the click of the mouse.

Here's my challenge to you.  Start (or continue) reading your Bible every day.  Whether it's a daily devotion or a "Read the Bible in One Year" plan, take a look at what's inside your Bible.  You might be surprised at what you find.

And the more you read God's Word, the more your life will conform to His will.

Make it a great week!

Loyally yours,

Darren Bayne

“The glory of friendship is not in the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is in the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.”  – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The B I B L E, now that's the book for me -- September 14, 2012

One of my favorite movies is "The Replacements".  In the movie, the 'real' pro football players go on strike, so the owners hire 'replacement' players.  Gene Hackman is the coach; Keanu Reeves is the quarterback with confidence issues. 

The replacement players come from all kinds of backgrounds:  grocery clerk, bouncer, soccer player, convict, boat cleaner, cop.  Coach Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman) must get this rag-tag group to come together and work as a team.

Here's one of the best scenes:


"You're playing.  And you think everything is going fine.  Then one thing goes wrong.  Then another.  And another.  And you try to fight back.  But the harder you fight, the deeper you sink.  Until you can't move.  You can't breathe.  Because you're in over your head.  Like quicksand."

What about you?  Have you ever felt like you're stuck in quicksand?  That the more you struggle, the worse it gets?

Everybody goes through times like that.  It can happen to a person, to a family, to a workplace, and even to a church. 

The question is:  What can you do about it?

The answer:  Go to the Bible.

You see, God gave us the Bible so we can learn from those who came before us.  The solution to most of life's stresses are found in the pages of your Bible.  You just have to pick it up and find it.

But you want to know what I think is the best thing about the Bible?  Not only will it answer your "What" questions, it also tells you "How".

The "How" of the Bible is wonderful.  It's the common theme that runs from Genesis to Revelation.  That theme is love.  The entire Bible is a love story about God for His people.

And as Christians, we are to show love to everyone.  But we are to especially show love to fellow Christians.

No matter the problem or situation, our commandment is to show love to others.

This week in Sunday School, our lesson title is "God Is Not Mute"; the subtitle is "The God Who Reveals Himself Through His Word".  It's session 3 in The Gospel Project.

What's this lesson about?  Short answer--the Bible.  Long answer (from The Gospel Project)--"God has not only revealed Himself through creation, He has also spoken to us through the written Word. In His Word, God specifies His intentions for humanity and His expectations of us. He shows us how the glory of Christ is the purpose of world history. We are to respond to God’s special revelation by aligning our lives with His expressed will."

Our scripture passages will be 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalm 19:7-11, and Luke 24:25-27.

At 9:50 a.m. on Sunday, we'll look at the importance of God's Word.  Turns out, the more time you spend in the Word, the easier it is to navigate this crazy world we're passing through.

So make plans to be there Sunday morning.

Well, I started with a football analogy.  So I might as well end with one.  Here it is...

What should we strive for?  One heartbeat. 

Who's heartbeat?  God's heartbeat.

Finish Friday strong.  Enjoy Saturday with your family.  See you Sunday!

Loyally yours,

Darren Bayne

“Whatever must happen ultimately should happen immediately.” – Henry Kissinger

"God Is Not Hiding" recap -- September 11, 2012

On Sunday, we looked at God's existence, attributes, and intentions through creation.  We talked about how mankind has used his creativity to come up with alternate ideas of who created the world.

Have you googled "creation myths" yet?  I told you that you'd get some doozies.  Anyway, we saw a video that sings about a non-Biblical explanation of how the world was made:



My question about that is:  "Who caused the bang?".

I hope you were in the worship service (aka Big Church) because Nate did a great job with his sermon.  He used John 13:34-35 as his focal verse.  That verse says: 

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

God showed His love for mankind by giving us life on this terrestrial ball.  He send Christ to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  If we call ourselves "Christians", shouldn't we love each other?  Something to think about.

Make it a great week!

Loyally yours,

Darren Bayne

“Talk that does not end in any kind of action is better suppressed altogether.” – Thomas Carlyle

Is finding God in nature enough to get you to heaven? -- September 7, 2012

Where in nature do you feel closest to God?

I feel closest to God when I'm by a stream.  The sound of the water gurgling across the rocks helps me clear my thoughts so I can concentrate on God.  The stream was flowing before I got there and keeps flowing after I'm gone.  This helps me concentrate on a God who was always and will always be there.

So what about you?  Where in nature do you feel closest to God?

This Sunday we will continue looking at creation in our lesson entitled "God Is Not Hiding".  It is Session 2 in your book.  We'll see how God reveals His existence, attributes, and intentions through creation.

Our scripture passages will be Psalms 19:1-6, Romans 1:20, and Acts 14:15-17.  (Who knew you could discuss creation without a Genesis passage?)

It amazes me how some people worship nature.  I'm not talking about enjoying nature's beauty; I'm talking about actually worshiping the things they see. 

God did an awesome job designing the world we live in.  He designed the whole world to point everyone to Him. 

But some people look at it like this: "Since God designed everything, He must be IN everything."  So, instead of searching for God, they settle for worshiping something God made.  This is just another form of idolatry.

Let's huddle up Sunday morning at 9:50 a.m. to dive into this further.

Finish Friday strong.  Enjoy Saturday with your family.  See you Sunday!

Loyally yours,

Darren Bayne

“I always wonder why birds choose to stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere in the world.  Then I ask myself the same question.”  - Harun Yahya