Go Hulu Yourself!

I spent some time this weekend checking out the web-site www.hulu.com and it was really cool!  It is like a free on-line DVR of all of your favorite TV, Movie and Sports shows of today and in the past.

I let my son catch up on an episode of the animated Spider-Man and I got to scan a couple of old Buck Rogers episodes and some sports stuff.

Check it out…..If you have wifi and travel it would be a great option for waiting in an airport or at a coffee shop (with earbuds of course)!

So as it says from the jump Go Hulu yourself! 

What’s Next For Huckabee?

There is a great article in Charisma magazine on Mike Huckabee and what happened to him during his bid for the Presidency. They look specifically at some of the evangelical leaders coming late to support him and what impact that may have had on his campaign.

I am still very impressed with the qualities of Mike Huckabee and believe that his success was real and something that he can build on in whatever he does next.

Read the article below for more insight on Mike Huckabee:

The Preacher Who Dared to Be President

MY THEOLOGY………MY KING

Five Truths of the Bible….Once Saved Always Saved

Special thanks to Dr. Harlan Betz…..From whom I found this list:

There has been some question as to what my theological leanings are so I wanted to provide some picture into what I believe. I did not create this list but it accurately describes my view of Salvation. The “Theological Puritans” over at the Calvinist web-site Old Truth use their belief system to exclude people from Christian faith. It is a weapon by which they deem who is and is not worthy for “election” into the presence of God.  The principles below make up the core of my beliefs but at the end of the day I just think God sent his son to be murdered on a cross and rise 3 days later so that ALL people would have the opportunity to repent and recieve the salvation of Christ.  I think God is big enough to save us all. Watch My King to hear the REAL TRUTH!

1.Total Depravity

Man is totally depraved. Every facet of man’s nature and faculties is corrupted by the sin nature. There is nothing in man that can enable him to earn or deserve eternal life. God, in grace, draws all men (John 12:32; Titus 2:11), Man is able to receive and respond to the grace of God (Mt 23:37;John 5:24-25; Eph. 2:8-9). Man is a free moral agent with responsibility to respond to God’s grace (John 1:1-9; 3:16-17). Man can respond to God’s grace and come to Christ and he is called to do so (Rev. 22: 17)!

2. Unmerited Election

God elects a man without regard to that man’s merit! In fact, man cannot merit God’s saving grace! Election is an act of God’s grace (Eph. 1:4-6). Believing is a response to God’s grace. The Bible teaches both God’s sovereignty in choosing and man’s responsibility in believing. The Bible places foreknowledge before predestination (Rom.8:28-30). God desires for all men to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). God is not desirous that any should perish (2 Pet 3:9). Whosoever believes in Jesus has eternal life (John 3:16)! Men who go to Hell, go there because they are sinners who rejected God’s grace.

3. Limitless Atonement

Christ died for all mankind (Is. 53:6;John 4:14, 42; 1 Tim. 2:3.6; Heb. 2:9; 1John 2:2). His death is sufficient for all, but efficient only for those who believe (John3:15-17; Rom. 4-5).

4. Instrumental Grace

God’s common grace reaches all people and enables them to respond to Him (Mt 5:45; Tit 2:11; Ps. 19; Rom. I). God, in His grace, offers salvation to all. Some resist God’s grace and remain condemned (John 5:40); others respond to His grace and at the very moment they place their faith in Christ, they are made alive and have eternal life. They are saved by grace. (Eph. 2:8.9). Faith and regeneration in Christ are simultaneous (John 1: 11-13; 3: 117).

5. Preservation of The Saints

“Once saved always saved”, a believer is secure because of God’s preservation. If a person has placed his faith in Christ alone for salvation, he is guaranteed eternal life, regardless of what he: thinks, says, or does. If a person is a believer, he should live like it, but if he doesn’t, God will discipline him. He may sin, but he is still saved (Rom, 8:31-39: Heb. 12:1-11).

Contemporary vs. Traditional Churches

Reposted from a comment I left at  http://sovereigngod.wordpress.com/

There was an assertion that I and other contemporary church advocates dislike or don’t respect traditional churches. Actually I don’t have a problem with traditional churches.  I have probably been in one of those far more than the church I attend now. I feel more connected to my current church and I always find myself learning from the messages.

I think the difference for me is that when one of the large or small traditional churches in our town says that they had (X) number of people receive Christ my first instinct is to think man that is awesome.  I think isn’t it amazing that God can use so many different types of churches to achieve the same results. 

We don’t want someone to just attend our church….If they don’t like it or feel like they can be a part of what we are doing we want them to go to another contemporary or traditional church.  Our main objective as a church is to see the 60,000 unchurched people in our community find a church home whether it be ours our someone else’s.

 I don’t think most of the folks at Old Truth (that I interacted with) could honestly make that same claim.  I don’t want ours to be the only kind of church but I don’t want to have to constantly defend its right to exist and do the mission of God either. 

Anything that minimizes the work of the Holy Spirit in my view is probably a bad thing for the Christian Church at large.  We as a faith are under constant attack from government, special interest groups, and in the most extreme case radical fundamentalists who would like to see Christianity removed from the earth. The amount of time devoted to tearing down other churches and ministries from these “Theologically Puritan” web-sites astounds me. 

For all of the labeling and criticism that the contemporary church movement gets…..We are far more complimentary of our fellow churches that what we get in return.  I think that it is far less important for a lost person to understand Calvinism, Arminianism or some other deep seeded doctrinal truth. They need to know that sin separates them from a Holy God and that asking Jesus to save them and repenting of past sin is the way to eternal salvation. 

I don’t claim to be the smartest person to ever post a blog but I do care about other people and their choice to follow or ignore Jesus.  I am proud of the work we are doing at Oakleaf Church and I welcome all who want to learn more about Jesus and be challenged in their lives.  

 

My Faith Journey…..God Inspired!

There seems to be some question as to the origin of my decision to follow Jesus from the folks at Old Truth. 

I believe that the Holy Spirit moved in my heart and that I made an internal commitment to follow Jesus Christ. It has changed my life and I will continue to say that it was the best “decision” I have ever made.

 Some make the decision to never follow Christ….That was not the path I wanted for my life. God does not supernaturally tap us with a wand and instantly we become saved. He through the Holy Spirit and the teachings of his son Jesus work in our life until at some point we finally stop running away from his teachings and through the free will that he has allowed us to have make a commitment to repent and ask God to come into our heart and make us a changed person. 

We cannot save ourselves….but God does want us to ask for that salvation.  That is what I celebrate for myself and all the other imperfect people who finally get to that point in their life.

Spiritual Decisions….Are they Real?

There seems to be some question as to whether decisions made by people at church services are real. On Easter we had 60 people indicate that they had prayed to receive Christ. There is a particular group out there that wants to question the authenticity of these types of movements of God. The web site is called Old Truth and the writer has a negative view of in service spiritual conversions.

Michael does a great job outlining where he stands on this issue so I won’t take the time to repeat it all. I would encourage you to read his response to what has been posted at the Old Truth site. Historically the oldest truth in Christianity is that people doubted the work and identity of Jesus Christ. So I guess this web site is named correctly. If I am going to err let it be on the side of people who step out on faith seeking real life change. It is this kind of high altitude criticism that has pushed people away from church. I choose people over religion!

Read any of Billy Graham’s books on his life and they are full of convert counts during the crusades. Do these not count as well? Was he wrong for mentioning them? I doubt he would be the target of these groups…even though it is exactly the same thing. The methods may change over time….The one constant is that the move of God can cause people to sell out and follow him. In a stadium or school auditorium the work of the Holy Spirit should always be celebrated. I will never be holy enough to question the power of Jesus….So for me 60 is an awesome number!

Easter at the Leaf!

We had a great weekend of activities at Oakleaf this Easter Weekend! It all got kicked off on Saturday with the Cartersville Egg Drop. We had over 5,000 people come to the event and we were only planning for around 2,000.  I think we will plan for more for the next egg related event but it was a great turnout for such a youthful church.

The weekend was capped off by three services on Easter Sunday with around 1350 people attending! That was an all time high for Oakleaf and something we are very proud of.  The best number of the weekend was 60….That is the number of people who took up their cross and decided to follow Jesus.  The series for Easter and next week is called Tattoo and we have had some people getting inked on stage!  It was an awesome message and pretty cool to see the whole thing live!

I can’t wait to see what God has in mind for us for the rest of 2008!  If your still playing Duran Duran in your iPod on a regular basis you might want to make sure you come to Oakleaf starting in April for the I Love the 80’s series!

TAP Pharmaceuticals is Over!

This has been an interesting and monumental week in my professional life!  I left last week for Las Vegas to attend the national sales meeting of my company TAP Pharmaceuticals.  Only three days later I left Las Vegas working for another company.

At the meeting TAP’s president Alan McKenzie annouced that the Lupron sales force would be going Abbott and everyone else would be going with Takeda in a 50/50 split of  TAP.  I am excited about my new opportunities but it is very bittersweet as many of my friends will now be working for a different company.

I just want to thank TAP and the people I have come to know and respect for the last 5+ years that I have been a part of this amazing 30 year story.  TAP took a chance on me and I have really enjoyed every part of my time with this company.  I know that I will have new experiences and new relationships with my new Abbott partners but I hope that the Spirit of TAP follows me in the months ahead.

Click Here Read Press Release