This weekend Revolution returns to the old PHS gym on 8th & Waller St. I’ll be speaking on “The Crucified God” and Ryan Rolfe will lead the World’s Most Dangerous Praise Band. Coffee and Community at 6:30 and Pastor Justin will kick things off at 7:00.
We hope to see you there.
Grace and peace.
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In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea…
Thus begins the famous fifty-four line poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge that many of us read in high school. What most people don’t know is that the poem, as originally inspired in Coleridge’s mind, consisted of somewhere between two hundred and three hundred lines.
Due to a lingering illness, Coleridge had moved into a small, secluded farmhouse in order to rest and regain his health. One day, after being given some medication (most likely, good ol’ fashioned opium) to ease his pain, he fell into a dream-like state in which 200-300 lines of verse about Kubla Khan entered his mind. Upon regaining full consciousness, he vividly recalled the poem in its entirety and began feverishly writing down the lines as quickly as he could.
Then, just as he was writing down line number fifty-four, there was a knock on the front door of his farmhouse. He put down his pen and went to the door. It was a man on business from the town of Porlock who ended up detaining Coleridge for over an hour with various inquiries and idle chit-chat. When the gentleman finally departed, Coleridge ran back to his writing table only to realize that the vision was gone forever. A monumental work was whittled down to a mere shadow of what it was meant to be because he had allowed himself to be distracted by a man from Porlock.
This illustrates one of the great pitfalls that Christians face – allowing ourselves to lose our vision because we’ve become distracted by idle interruptions and mundane business. Jesus has cast us a vision of becoming mature, Christ-like disciples, and making other disciples in the process. It’s a clear enough directive, but we allow other things – even good things – such as family, work or hobbies to distract us and take our eyes off the guiding vision of our life in Christ. The devil makes sure there’s always a “man from Porlock” knocking at our door in an attempt to disrupt our primary calling to follow Jesus. The ones who ignore the knocking and cling to Christ’s calling and vision are the ones who end up with lives that are “monumental” rather than mere shadows of what they were meant to be.
Post by: Eron Elswick, Leadership Team
Worship – Grow – Serve
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This weekend Revolution will be held at Flohr Lecture Hall (in the library building) at SSU. Same time–6:30 p.m. Coffee & Community and worship at 7:00pm.
This weekend Ryan Rolfe and the World’s Most Dangerous Praise Band will perform an acoustic set and the sermon title is “The Prodigal Church.”
Hope to see you there and be sure to bring a friend.
Grace and peace.
Posted by Matt, Revolution Leadership Team.
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For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
(1Thess. 4:16)
Late Tuesday evening, near the end of a tough, emotionally-wrenching day for those of us who knew Storm Bratchett, my wife noticed that our 4-year-old daughter was quietly whimpering in her car seat as we were loading up to leave my parents’ house and head home. “Eden, are you crying?” she asked. Perfectly capturing the sentiments of the day, Eden replied, “Mommy, it’s not my eyes that are crying – it’s my heart.”
For all who knew Storm – even a little – the outpouring of grief came from deep down in the heart.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” (John 11:25)
As sad as Storm’s death was – and it was immensely & monumentally sad – it was not a tragedy. A tragedy is an elderly man, full of years, dying in “perfect” circumstances – [in his own bed, in a luxurious house, with no pain, still thinking clearly, having been given enough advance warning that all his affairs are in order, and with his entire, devoted family gathered around him saying their final “goodbyes”] – but not knowing Christ. That is a tragedy!
A Christian dying – even one who dies very young & unexpectedly – is not tragic. It’s unspeakably sad & painful for those of us left behind, but it’s not tragic. Dying without Jesus as your King – that’s tragic.
Thank God that Storm’s death isn’t tragic (forever) – it’s only sad (for now)!
For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory”. (1Cor 15:52-54)
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.“ (Rev. 21:3-5)
The promises of the Lord are true. Requiescat In Pace (Rest in Peace), Storm. As the Lord reckons time, we’ll see you again soon.
Post by: Eron Elswick, Leadership Team
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Our brother Storm Bratchett went to be with Jesus today. We will miss him dearly. Please pray for his family.
Rest in peace, brother. We’ll see you again at the throne one day.
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This weekend, in coordination with the XXX Church (link to the right), Revolution presents Porn Sunday with special guest 20 Ton Angel.
Why is porn such a problem even for Christians? What can someone do that is struggling with the issue? Join us this weekend at the old PHS Gym on 8th & Waller Street in Portsmouth. Coffee and Community kicks off at 6:30 with Porn Sunday beginning at 7:00 p.m. Our bros from 20 Ton Angel will then proceed to blow the roof off the dump! Hope to see you there.
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Fully God, Fully Man, Wholly confusing
Pod Cast above.
Also Please Pray for Free Market this weekend. If you have the time come by and lend a hand!
Worshiping , Growing, & Serving with you,
Ryan
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Within the past couple of years, there have been three books written by prominent atheists attempting to prove that God is a myth. All three books were national bestsellers, despite the fact that only two percent of the U.S. population classify themselves as atheists. At the other end of the spectrum, “born-again” Christians comprise forty-two percent of the population and purchase well over a billion dollars worth of Christian books each year. This leaves roughly fifty-six percent of the population who believe in God, but apparently don’t really want to be bothered by Him. If you can sell millions of books targeting 2% of the population, and tens of millions targeting 42% of the population, just think how many books you could sell if you targeted the 56% of the population who seemingly believe in God but apparently don’t want to be bothered by Him!
I think the book could be titled something like, Avoiding God: (Because, really, who has time for the King of the Universe?). If I were writing the book, here are some of the suggestions I might make.
The first thing I would do is minimize the amount of time spent in silence or solitude. To accomplish this, I would always keep a radio turned on in my car, a TV or computer turned on in my house, and an i-pod or cell phone stuck to my ear at all other times. Noise and distraction are the best ways to prevent God’s “pesky” guidance and demands from getting through to me and potentially messing up my day.
I would make sure that I rarely, if ever, prayed, always keeping the prayers either formal & lifeless or shallow & trite. This would keep God from getting “too close”, relegating him to the role of casual acquaintance or “bit player” in my life.
I would make the Bible the centerpiece of my………bookshelf, ever-praising it as a wonderful storehouse of moral & ethical teaching (without ever actually reading it and contemplating its true meaning). And I would definitely steer clear of helping the poor because it might provoke feelings of compassion & a sense of purpose to well up inside of me, causing me to see the Creator in the faces of the people I’m helping.
Of course there are many more “helpful hints” that I could provide, but I think you get the idea. Anyway, in spite of a potential market of 56% of the U.S. population, I don’t really think that such a book would sell many copies at all. I mean, why read a book about avoiding God when we already seem to do it so well on our own?
Post by: Eron Elswick, Leadership Team
“Worship – Grow – Serve”
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