TXT3

Brett’s Devotional Thoughts

3/8/09 – I love talking to people about Jesus.  I also love debating.  Sometimes those things don’t go together in a healthy manner.  I read Psalm 14:1-3 this afternoon.  The Psalmit says that the foolish say there is no God.  I agree because it takes a lot more faith to look at creation in it’s magnificence and minuteness and believe it accidentaly happened.  Sometime it’s easier to treat someone I’m talking to as if they are stupid rather than a person of worth.  I need to help the foolish become wise.  To do that, my response in tone, mannerisms, and humilty is very important.

3/7/09 – Read Numbers 5:5-10 is about making things right.  When I mess up and hurt someone it can be difficult to apologize and make things right.  This week, I was asked to relay an important message to a friend of mine from someone else.  I totally dropped the ball and forgot which led to some wasted time on behalf of my friend.  I was in the proverbial doghouse.  I reflected on that this afternoon and realized that instead of being sorry and trying to make things right, I tried to laugh it off and rationalize it.  I’ve got some apologizing to do.

3/6/09 – Sometimes God just uses your time with Him to work on you.  There have been a couple of things about work today that caused extremely high frustration . . . you know the kind where you just want to throw up your hands and quit . . . that kind of frustration.  I read 1 Peter 4 today and the title of the devotional is something about “the work place.”  That was my first sign that Jesus was going to tell me something.  He did.  I’m working on my attitude.  Thank you Jesus for 1 Peter 4:11.  I want what I say to bring glory to God.  Since that’s my aim, I’m going to have stop blogging for today

3/5/09 – No excercise bike today (apparently I didn’t shake this sickness).  I read John 11:17-27.  Jesus claims that He is the resurrection and the life.  Since I feel like I’m going to die, that is a good devotional   It is interesting that the Romans used to toss sick people out of the city because they were afraid of getting sick themselves.  The Romans only believed the gods were immortal so death was a scary thing.  It was the Christians who cared for the sick because they knew that if they died, they would be in Heaven and had nothing to fear.  I want to live like that today.  Unafraid of anything the world offers up.

3/4/09- Read 1 and 2 Thessalonians and several chapters of 1 Corinthians on the exercise bike (couldn’t do that yesterday with a 100 degree temperature).  Devotionally I read Titus 1:15-16.  I’m still teaching “The God Questions” on Wednesday nights and tonight we are covering “Do All Roads Lead To Heaven?”  This verse helps explains why that discussion is so difficult to have with some people.  I need to remember when I talk about Jesus today that some people’s thinking is corrupted.  You don’t get mad at that when they don’t get it.

3/3/09 – My devotional had me in Nehemiah 9:5-6 today.  The Bible tells us that God created the universe.  Some scientists disregard that because of a naturalistic presupposition they bring to their thinking.  Verse 6 says that God gives life to everything and the heavens worship Him.  This evening I think I’ll spend some time admiring God’s creation (namely the moon and stars) and spend a few minutes worshiping Him with the heavens.

3/2/09 – Hit the treadmill today and was able to read the book of Galatians and the book of James.  I’m trying to read the Bible chronologically and am finally in the New Testament.  My devotional had me in 1 John 4:19.  God’s word to me today: Love your wife and daughter above and beyond today . . . and do it in a practical form that they understand.  If you feel like that is too much to do at times, remember that I loved you first and will show you how to do it!

Brett’s Recommended Devotionals

Click on the image and it will take you to an online listing of the devotional

This is what I’m using now.  It leads you to think a lot about the culture that we live in and how believer’s should respond and impact culture.  It may not be the most practical devotional, but does a great job in challenging the way you think about the world.

 

 

 

 

This is a classic devotional that I love, but it is DEEP!!!!  I can remember re-reading some of the entries multiple times just to try to get it!  It’s so popular you could price shop and find it for a bargain.  It’s probably in most Christian book stores, too.

 

 

 

 

If you are interested in the family devotionals that I was talking about during the Download time last night, I’ve got some updated info.  You cannot order them online until April.  You can call an order them at 1-888-932-5827.  You will be asking for the Quiet Time guide (and by age).  They will ask you if your church has a club.  The answer is no.  If anyone tries this out, I’d be really interested in seeing what you think about it!

 

Application Ideas For This Week

* Make a plan to read the Bible through.  You could purchase a copy of the One Year Bible or download a reading plan.  Here is a 12 month plan and a chronological reading (if you have problems printing it, right click the link and save it to your computer.  Then print from there).

* Purchase a devotional book for a local Christian book store or check out The Message: Solo

* Set aside some time each night this week to sit down as a family and discuss what God showed you in the Bible today

* Follow the “meat and milk” theme and invite some friends that you would love to have in your small group over for a “Cook Your Own Steak Night.”  You provide the grill, everyone else brings their own steaks and sides.

Text Answers

This week, we asked TXT3ers to do a self-assessment during the message. In your spiritual life, do you consider yourself to be an infant, a child, a teenager, an adult, or an elder? We received 89 replies. The results?

Baby: 4
Child: 5
Teen: 39
Adult: 35
Elder: 6

It’ll be interesting to do this same poll a year from now…

Music

Here is Our King, David Crowder Band
Song of Hope (Heaven Come Down), Robbie Seay Band
Mighty to Save
Shine Your Light on Us, Robbie Seay Band
Awesome is the Lord Most High, Chris Tomlin

Following  Jesus is a journey.  Growing takes time.  It really is one new step each day.  Last night we talked about growing from being an infant, to a toddler, to a teenager, to an adult, to an elder (in a spiritual sense) and I hope you made some sort of concrete decision on where you need to go next.  I know one thing for sure . . . the Bible has to be a part of that growth.

On a side note: Did you notice that most people last night thought themselves to be a “teenager” or an “adult.”  There were few “infants” and “toddlers” in the room.  That isn’t a good sign if we are truly becoming “adults.”  We should be investing in new believers and we should be inviting those who haven’t discovered true life to come to the experience.  Let’s change that!  Start praying for people who are far from God and looking for opportunities to be used by God to impact their lives.

This week I decided to blog every day.  I’m going to briefly put what I read about in the Bible.  Hopefully it will encourage you to do the same.  I’m going to put these over in the “Current Series” section of the website.  We’ll also put up our favorite devotionals and some thoughts on how you can apply last nights message to your life!  Check back a few times to see if it us updated.  I’d love for you to put a comment or send us a message about what you use to grow spiritually.  We’ll post it, too!

Two things you need to do:

1. Make plans to go bowling with us on March 15th.  We’ll be practicing community (like we’ll talk about this week).  Childcare is provided for young ones.  Bring you elementary school age and older kids with you! 

2. Make sure you sign up to receive a weekly text message from us.  It’s usually a reminder about what we talked about the week before!

See you Sunday night and bring a friend!

Amanda and I decided that we were going to play worship music in the background of our home all week long.  No, I haven’t forgotten what we talked about last night.  Music is NOT worship . . . it’s just a form of worship.  Worship is my response to the most important thing in my life.  If that’s Jesus, then every breath I breathe should be offered as a holy sacrifice to Him.  We want to use music (which we both love) to keep us focused on Jesus and focused on giving every second to Him.  I’m guessing it’s going to be harder to get frustrated at a two year old while Jesus songs are in the background, right?

We want you to apply what God is showing you to your life.  Check out the section called “Current Series” for ideas.  Try them out and then send us a note and we’ll post what God is doing in your life up there for everyone else to read.

I love iTunes.  I’m a slow adapter to technology so I was one of the last people to buy into this digital music idea, but it has revolutionized music for me.  I made a “Worship Week” playlist for our family and I realized two things.  First, I really love music.  I’ve got 7,348 songs (that is 20.2 days worth of unique music according to iTunes).  If you have more than that you’ve got to let me know, because we’re going to start a support group.  It doesn’t count if you download music from Limewire or other places, it has to be all paid for.  Second, there are some great songs out there that I forget I have.  Here’s my top 8 right now (some old, some new):

“No Other Name” by Unhindered
“Blessed Be Your Name” by Tree63
“Living For Your Glory” by Tim Hughes
“A Greater Song” by Matt Redman
“Marvelous Light” by Charlie Hall
“God Of This City” by Chris Tomlin
“Love Song” by Jason Morant
“Stand Amazed” by Chris Clayton

Let us hear your top 8.  Send it to the feedback!

6:50pm update – I can’t leave it at 8 songs.  I’ve got to add at least two more:

“Facedown” by Matt Redman
“Abandon” by Jason Morant

So a couple of us went to the AC/DC concert in San Antonio the other night and it got me thinking about the effects of a worship environment.  Sounds strange, right?  Why do 20,000 people pack the AT&T Center in San Antonio and sing at the top of their lungs while the very next day thousands of people will fill a local church and stand with their hands in their pockets during worship? 

How much does the environment pull a person into the moment?  Smoke, lights, and staging let’s you know that you are at a big event (of course the $100 ticket could have told you that, too).  Obviously, those things aren’t needed to experience God.  All you need is the Holy Spirit, but are we conditioned to connect and give everything when we are at the “event.”

How much time, effort, and money do you put into the visual, audio, and emotive expereince for worship . . . especially when you only need the Holy Spirit?  Great questions to think about.  At TXT3, we’ll have some elements that help bring people into worship, but more than anything we want the Holy Spirit to show up and blow people away.

20,000 people singing “Highway to Hell” with Brian Johnson . . . how many of them are really on that path, while the church sits complacently by and offers them nothing else?

I’ve changed the way I’m using conference time this year.  Instead of going to pre-programmed conferences, I’m using my time to go to individual churches to interview them and talk to them one on one.  I was doing just that in the big city of Waxahachie, Texas, this week.  One of the reasons I chose The Avenue was the fact that they recently renamed their church (it was formerly Ferris Avenue Baptist Church).  Talking to their staff left me reflecting on discussions I’ve had with people about what the term “baptist” says to people.  Unfortunately, it tends to say more negative things than positive things.  I’d love to drop the word “baptist” out of my church so that we could start fresh with people who are already jaded.

That’s why I’m getting more and more excited about the TXT3 Experience.  We are going to be able to redefine the church!  We’ll be able to worship and be a part of a community that shatters the negative sterotypes that people have of what it means to be a Christian.