tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49073916593483502392024-03-14T05:57:14.460-07:00Rich on Faith and LifeRich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.comBlogger369125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-87456393371154998462020-06-27T17:09:00.000-07:002020-06-27T17:41:21.960-07:00Fake it Till you Make it?<span style="font-size: large;">I’m in a funk. I feel like I’m losing in so many important
areas of my life. Don’t worry, like my mom often says: “this too shall pass.”
Even though it’s temporary, when you’re in it, it’s like the vacuum of the
world is sucking the life right out of you.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have so much to be thankful for. God has blessed me more
than I could ever deserve. I know God is good and faithful. I know I can go to
Him for rest. I know I can approach His throne of grace to find help. I know my
salvation is secure because of Jesus Christ and that the Holy Spirit is with
me. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So why am I in a funk? I could probably give you a few reasons,
but instead, I want to share that it’s ok not to be ok. God understands and
there are probably more people in your life than you realize who also
understand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Throughout the Bible we find some of the most faithful people
in funks. Elijah prays for God to take his life saying “I have had enough Lord.”
Hannah is accused of being drunk because she’s in such grief over infertility
and praying so passionately for God to give her a child. David laments to God
in Psalm 13: “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How long will you hide your face from
me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow
in my heart?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How long will my enemy
triumph over me?” After Job faces loss like most of us will never know he
wishes he had never been born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
Jesus prays for His Father to “take this cup from me” in the garden before he’s
arrested.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes when I’m in a funk, I still have to preach. I
still have to perform a wedding ceremony. I still have to pray for someone. I still
have to lead a meeting. I still have to attend a coaching session. In those
times it is wise for me to fake that I’m not in a funk. It’s something I would
imagine many leaders in the secular and church world have to do at one time or
another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My question is this: is it healthy? Is it healthy to fake
joy, or love, or peace or any other positive emotion? Is it okay to fake faith when preaching a sermon when you are in a doubting season yourself?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If it’s not healthy, then what, do you just not do the
wedding and let the bride and groom down at the last minute. Do you just not
preach the sermon and say you can’t do it because you don’t know if you believe
what you are saying yourself? I don’t think that’s the right thing to do or the
professional thing to do. We can’t be happy and feel great and think life is
amazing all the time, so what do we do when we have responsibilities and aren’t
our best selves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Enter “fake it till you make it.” If I pretend to have joy,
or pretend that I really do believe in the message I’m preaching or that I am a
good leader…maybe just maybe…if I do it enough I will start to actually be
those things. In pursuing becoming the mother she wanted to be, author Leah
McLaren writes: “I wasn’t just faking it to make it. I was changing into the
person I wanted to be, simply by pretending to be her.” If we choose to act
like the person we want to be even when we don't "feel" like being that person, there’s a
chance those actions will lead to true feelings. If actions speak louder than
words, maybe actions can also speak louder than our feelings. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jesus didn’t feel like dying on the cross for our sins, He chose
to do it. He literally asked God to find another way in His anguish. He also
said “not my will but yours be done,” because He didn’t let his feelings
dictate his actions. He chose to put sacrificial love in action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I do think there’s a shadow side to “fake it till you make
it” that needs to be named. If we are always faking it, then there’s an
issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elijah, Hannah, Job, David and
Jesus all went through the rough times and the feelings that accompanied those situations.
They weren’t in chronic funks. Their funks were seasonal. If our funks are
seasonal we will only have to “fake it till we make it” to get through those
seasons. It’s when are constantly living this out that it can become dangerous
and we may need to pursue professional help from a physician or counselor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I’m so thankful I don’t have to fake that I believe Jesus is
Lord and that my salvation is secure in Him. I’m also thankful for a God who
calls us to agape love which might just include the idea of “fake till you make
it.”</span></div>
<br />Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-4034517386212071942019-12-05T09:42:00.000-08:002019-12-05T09:49:51.175-08:00Day 9 - Epworth and Coventry<span style="font-size: large;">We drove to Epworth today, where John Wesley was born and raised most of his young life. There's a famous story of the house catching on fire and all the children were out except John, who was stuck on the upper floor. A man standing on another man's shoulder pulled him out of the window and saved him, he was five years old. Susanna (John's mother) said John was a "brand plucked from the fire."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We toured the house (not original, but original floor plan and some original items) and ate at a local pub/hotel called the Red Lion where John stayed when he came back to visit Epworth as an adult.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The highlight of the day was visiting Saint Andrews Parish where John's father Samuel Wesley was the Rector/Pastor while they lived in Epworth. We held a chalice that was 950 years old the Wesley's used for communion. We also stood by the original baptismal where they woudl've each been baptized. It was a phenomenal experience!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the way to the hotel we stopped by Coventry Cathedral and joined them in an evensong service. The service and singing and Cathedral were beautiful. It's a modern Cathedral that combines classic architecture with modern art.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Another phenomenal Day!</span>Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-58758989100921396562019-10-09T09:50:00.001-07:002019-10-09T09:57:41.049-07:00Day 8 - Ministry Sites<span style="font-size: large;">Today was a day of touring various ministry sites. The United States is headed in the same direction that England is already in with most of the population being unchurched and highly secularized. Very old churches are finding ways to be the church within this new context. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Today we visited some of the sites doing creative ministry to reach an unchurched population. The church is not a building, it's a people doing missional ministry to bring people into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. We often call these churches that look different "fresh expressions." </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We began at St. Georges in Gateshead. It's an old Church of England church that was barely surviving until a new, young pastor came along whose wife convinced him that this where they need to be. </span><span style="font-size: large;">They saw a vision for the church and developed worship that people can relate too and a ministry called Alpha that gives people a safe place to ask the most important questions in life and point them to Christ as the answer. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">He talked about how the church has a famous organ that only gets used occasionally, but really, in our culture today, how famous can an organ be? Is it more important to do worship in the same way it's always been because of the organ, or is it more important to worship in a way that will reach people?</span><br />
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Pink Floyd and Jesus</div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: large;">Our next stop was the Ark. It was also an old church building that they have turned into children's play area. It wasn't as centered on Christ as I would've liked for it to be, but they do have a breakfast church for kids and parents once or a twice a month. At least a church building is being used to offer a safe place for parents to bring their kids.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our third stop was Brunswick Methodist Church in Newcastle. John Wesley visited Newcastle and preached. His first time preaching on the street 4 or 5 people turned into hundreds of people. He preached again the same day at 5pm and had thousands in attendance. Wesley bought land there and established an church and an orphanage. The church there today is struggling like so many others. They have just appointed a pastor there who feels called to bring new ideas and revitalize the church. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Our final stop was in Shieldfield at a ministry began by Jesmond UMC called SAW: Shielfield Art Works. They are in an area near a University, but the building itself is planted right in the middle of what we would call government housing. They are there to be a light and safe place for people to learn and share art. </span><br />
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Tried to buy this painting, it wasn't for sale.</div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: large;">We had one lecture on Faith in Culture when we got back to Durham, then several of us had dinner and walked around Durham. </span></span></div>
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<br />Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-80287789488038233982019-10-03T13:36:00.002-07:002019-10-03T13:36:39.434-07:00Day 7 - Dinner at the Castle<span style="font-size: large;">Woke up for a traditional service of morning prayer led by Phillip Plyming. It was simple, refreshing and beautiful. What a great way to start the day!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The rest of the day consisted of lectures. The two best were one by Phillip Plyming called "Lessons from Paul in Corinth" and one by David Wilkinson on the intersection of Faith and Science.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I didn't realize that a group of scientists in the 1800's decided that science needed its on professional arena. Science and religion were tied too closely together so this group called the X club set out to create conflict between faith and science to give science it's on professional arena. It worked and now there's this myth that faith and science are at odds with each other when in fact they compliment each other.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The day ended with something I have never done and will probably never do again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">WE HAD DINNER AT A CASTLE!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I felt like I was on an episode of Downton Abbey. The company was good, the atmosphere was beautiful and the food was delicious.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Seriously, I had dinner at a castle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">After dinner, Chris Westmoreland and I walked Dr. Liz Kent to her car because we are chivalrous. We crossed a bridge and she told us there's a possibility that C.S. Lewis got his inspiration for the lamp post in Narnia from this spot. I'm going with it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was an exceptional day of learning and eating at a castle that I will never forget!</span>Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-9631896039624023952019-09-26T08:41:00.001-07:002019-09-26T08:55:33.860-07:00Day 6 - Lectures and a Surprise<span style="font-size: large;">We began the day with morning prayer at St. Mary the Less chapel on the Durham University Campus. Our very own Kyle Idleman led the devotional. Here's the chapel:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The rest of the day consisted of lectures from Colleagues of David Wilkinson, most of who were professors at St. John's College.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There was quite a bit content about the current nature of Christianity in England and how to reach people within this new context.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's what the main lecture room looked like with the incredible Dr. Liz Kent sharing about the state and structure of British Methodism:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">During one of the breaks in between lectures I walked around Durham Cathedral and was surprised by an amazing location called the Cloister. I Geeked out a bit when I entered this area:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">For those of you who don't know, this was the setting for the outside hallways and courtyard of Hogwarts in several Harry Potter movies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I also found myself tearing up as I walked around the inside of the Cathedral itself, it was absolutely breathtaking. Pictures would not do it justice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We ended the night taking out one of our colleagues, Lowell Mcnaney, out for his birthday. We ate at bar and restaurant called The Shakespeare. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One of the consistent themes of the lectures was how to reach people in the current culture. I think the strategy in England applies to our culture here in the U.S. as well. People tend to come to faith through their experience of Christians and attitudes towards faith and the church more than through teaching, preaching and/or Apologetics. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Not to say preaching and teaching and apologetics aren't important or don't have their place, they do and they are. They still reach certain people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But the majority of people these days will come to faith through relationships and experiences of Christians, church and faith. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jesus said very clearly and plainly in John 13:35 "By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another." He also gave us great examples over and over again of reaching out in relationship to all people, but most controversially to people who society had labelled unworthy, unfit, outcast and unclean.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">May we love people the way we are called to love people so that we give God a reputation that makes Him irresistible to the people we come across in our lives.</span></div>
Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-79282897405239544402019-09-23T11:56:00.000-07:002019-09-23T11:56:16.489-07:00Day 5 - Jesmond United Methodist ChurchWe were up the next morning early enough to attend Allison Wilkinson's (David's Wife) Church in New Castle called Jesmond United Methodist. <br />
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On the way we say this famous sculpture, it's called the angel of the North:</div>
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The service at Jesmond was beautiful. Contemporary worship, biblical preaching, a welcoming Spirit and a genuineness that can't be copied. They had a homeless man come in off the street who had never been there before and interrupted the service a couple of times. The leaders handled it perfectly and reminded him a couple of different times that he was welcome there and that it was a safe place for him to be.</div>
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During the service they had a time called "Family Sharing" that was open for anyone to share a prayer request, praise or something they are passionate about happening in their lives. It really made the church feel like a family who could be real and open with one another. The love and support was so thick that it just couldn't be missed.</div>
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Allison preached from Luke 13:1 0-21. She did a great job of sharing a personal story that tied in well to how we can get distracted by what matters most, just like the religious leaders did. They had a high view of the Sabbath just as we all should, however, they held it above caring for someone in need.</div>
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Jesus reminds us that our value is not in what we do, can do, can't do, look like, health we have or don't have...but in our relationship with God.</div>
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She ended by reminding us: "Don't ever think an unnamed woman being healed doesn't send ripples throughout the kingdom of God."</div>
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After the service, Allison hosted us for a lunch provided by the cafe (Nineteen 01) they share a building with.</div>
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Then we sat through David, Allison and their son Adam each taking a turn to share with us the state of Christianity in England and the ways Jesmond is trying to reach people for Jesus. They grounded their lectures in Acts 17:16-34.</div>
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Then they treated us to a traditional English dinner provided once again by Nineteen 01.</div>
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I didn't take a picture of the food, but it was roast beef, yorkshire pudding (which is like baked pancake batter), potatoes, cauliflower with cheese and dessert. I didn't get a picture of the meal, I wish I would've, it was phenomenal. I did get a picture of the dessert, which I enjoyed with a spot of tea!</div>
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We ended the night experiencing worship in the way the college students do at the service designed for them. We sat in a circle being led in worship by a single guitar and the lyrics to the songs printed out for us. We had a time of singing, a time of praying, and a time of discussing scripture with just a couple other people...t was a beautiful and powerful.</div>
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Another phenomenal day, capped off by this shot when we arrived back to Durham that evening: </div>
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<br />Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-87008951595275741502019-09-20T17:32:00.002-07:002019-09-20T17:34:30.159-07:00Day 4 - Lindisfarne<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">We left the hotel for Lindisfarne at 9am. Lindisfarne is an island off the Northeastern coast of England. It's known by the locals as Holy Island.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There's one way on and off the island via a causeway and its only accessible by car during low tide. Otherwise it's surrounded by water.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The island has a recorded history since the 6th century. It became the center of Celtic Christianity under Saint Aidan, Cuthbert and others. It was a hub for Monks and Priests to be trained and then travel south throughout England bringing the gospel to the villages. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It's known as the birthplace of Christianity for England. From 715-720 monks and artists worked on what is now known as the Lindisfarne gospels. They are known for the beauty of the artwork in its pages.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We had a few hours (before the tide came back in) to explore the island and have some intentional time of quiet spiritual retreat. I found a gate with a quote on it that I sat by a few minutes to pray and meditate. I walked around the island, toured the castle and just had time to pray and enjoy God's creation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the gate was this quote: "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant." (RLS) I didn't know who RLS was until I got home, it's a quote by the author Robert Louis Stevenson.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I sat by the gate and confessed that for most of my ministry I've wanted to see the harvest. It's easy to judge myself as a pastor when there isn't much of a harvest and often failed in my work. The quote reminded me to be obedient to God and leave the results up to him. If I am faithful to Him, the desired results aren't the win, and the undesired results aren't necessarily a failure, obedience to Him is the win and that should be all that matters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As James writes: "Whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it - not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it - they will be blessed in what they do." We aren't promised success and God doesn't expect success from us 100% of the time. When we obey the Lord we are blessed in what we do, not necessarily the results of what we do. The blessing is in the obedience.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was a powerful moment for me to be reminded that God is in charge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We left the island at like 1pm and a few of us toured B</span><span style="font-size: large;">amburgh castle. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We arrived at Durham University where we ate dinner and got settled in to the dorms of St. James College for the next five nights. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We met David Wilkinson, the principal of the College and our contact and host. David is an ordained British Methodist pastor and has a Ph.D. in Astrophysics. He was humble, approachable and easy to talk to.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/images/profiles/2006/headandshoulders1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for David Wilkinson" border="0" src="https://www.dur.ac.uk/images/profiles/2006/headandshoulders1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Oh and by the way, the walls of the cafeteria and several other areas of St. John's college are lined with original Salvador Dali paintings:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I went out that night walking around Durham with a few other guys and had a great time of fellowship. What a phenomenal day!</span><br />
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Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-44032667185322987992019-09-18T07:24:00.001-07:002019-09-18T07:32:18.574-07:00Leaving Edinburgh - Day 3<span style="font-size: large;">We boarded the bus early on Friday, August 30th to head South towards England. On the way our first stop was a small church built in 1450 called Rosslyn Chapel. It has been restored over the years and continues to be a place of worship. It's a beautiful chapel inside and out and was a nice departure from the huge Cathedral's we saw on the trip. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large; text-align: center;">As pretty as the church was, the best part of the stop was what was happening outside. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There was a man just outside the chapel dressed up with old weapons and armor for people to try. He also loved history and had no problem sharing his thoughts on William Wallace. He said Wallace wasn't as tall as people think he was. According to him, the sword they claim was his was lengthened for Wallace's statue and he was probably barely 6 ft. tall not 6'7".</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">He also told us about a man just as significant in the Scottish war of independence: Andrew De Moray. While Wallace wreaked havoc in the South of Scotland, Moray did the same in the North. They combined forces at the famous battle of Stirling Bridge where Moray suffered a wound that would later cause his death. I wonder if Moray had survived he would be alongside Wallace in Braveheart?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our next stop was a cool town on river Tweed called Berwick Upon Tweed. We ate Fish 'n Chips at a local diner and had fantastic tea. It is the Northernmost town of England and was a neat place to spend a couple of hours. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Before heading to our hotel near Lindisfarne, we stopped at another neat town on the ocean called Seahouses. I mostly spent time hanging out by the water, walking on rocks and just enjoying the beauty of God's creation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'll tell you about Lindisfarne in the next post!</span></div>
Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-73730232684256911542019-09-15T12:38:00.000-07:002019-09-18T07:26:10.884-07:00Scotland - Day 1 and 2<span style="font-size: large;">For the last two weeks I’ve been in Scotland, England and Amsterdam. The trip happened through the Reynolds Lead academy with 19 other pastors from the Western North Carolina Conference. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I thought I would blog the hi-lights of the trip over the next week or so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We flew out on Tuesday, August 27th and arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland the next morning. We hopped right on the bus for a full day of touring. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Day One</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first stop was Hollyrood Palace which is a palace the queen still uses for events and hosting other dignitaries. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next we toured St. Giles Cathedral and Edinburgh castle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">William Wallace and Robert the Bruce guard the entrance to the castle:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In a parking lot behind St. Giles cathedral lies the grave of the Scottish pastor, scholar, reformer and founder of the Presbyterian church in Scotland John Knox. Someone literally parks on his grave today. Knox believed everyone should be able to read the Bible in their own language which was radical at the time. Seeing his grave in a parking lot was a great reminder of the truth that greatness in life isn’t about us, it’s about the Kingdom.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Day Two </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our second day in Scotland was a free day. Seven of us decided to rent a van and drive into the Northern highlands of Scotland. We stopped a couple of places along the way for pics and eventually got to a need little town called Oban. We ate at local pub/restaurant and had fish and chips and tried haggis for the first time. The fish n chips were good, I wasn’t a fan of haggis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We spent about an hour just walking around and enjoying our time. We headed back a different route so we could experience Glen Coe. It was a beautiful area. We stopped several times for pics and found an amazing Sunset over a lake with a castle in the background. It was beautiful. The pictures don’t do it justice. </span><br />
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<br />Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-38859198771494040442019-08-17T02:00:00.000-07:002019-08-17T02:00:00.140-07:00Fasting<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I preached on fasting this morning and invited the listeners to check out this blog for more content.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lately I've found I have more content to share than time to do it in on Sunday mornings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this case the extra content is from a book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In his book <i>Celebration of Discipline </i>(which I highly recommend) Richard Foster shares the portion of a journal from Elizabeth O'Connor regarding her experience of fasting. I found her progression helpful and fascinating:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">1.</span><span style="line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">I
felt it a great accomplishment to go a whole day without food. Congratulated myself on the fact that I found
it so easy…</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">2.</span><span style="line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Began
to see that the above was hardly the goal of fasting. Was helped in this by
beginning to feel hunger…</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">3.</span><span style="line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Began
to relate the food fast to other areas of my life where I was more compulsive…I
did not have to have a seat on the bus to be contented, or to be cool in the
summer and warm when it was cold.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">4. R</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">eflected
more on Christ’s suffering and the suffering of those who are hungry and have
hungry babies…</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">5.</span><span style="line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Six
months after beginning the fast discipline, I began to see why a two-year
period has been suggested. The
experience changes along the way. Hunger
on fast days became acute, and the temptation to eat stronger. For the first time I was using the day to
find God’s will for my life. Began to
think about what it meant to <i>surrender </i>one’s
life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">6.</span><span style="line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">I
now know that prayer and fasting must be intricately bound together. There is no other way, and yet that way is
not yet combined in me.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When fasting progresses from focusing on myself to focusing on God, we start to get it!</span></div>
Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-4808786455777838032018-05-03T08:26:00.006-07:002018-05-03T08:29:15.209-07:00Sermon Rewind: All Grown Up Part 5<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">In-Justice for All</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Theodicy is the study of how we reconcile evil and injustice and suffering in the world with a good and all-powerful God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The argument is if He's good, He would do something about evil and if He could He would do something about evil. Therefore, if God is all-good and all-powerful why doesn't He?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">More people have stepped away from faith (maybe not all the way into atheism, but away from faith) because they are unable to reconcile a good and loving God with evil and pain and suffering in the world. Fair enough, it makes sense.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's the deal though, pain and suffering and injustice is not an argument against God's existence. There's no rational argument against the existence or involvement of the God of Jesus based on injustice in the world. It's passionate and emotional and powerful, but it is not a rational argument. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">Injustice in the world calls into question the justice of God, not the existence of God.</span> Which means it makes more sense to be angry at God than it does to be an atheist. The existence of God is a different question than your personal experience with God.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">Jesus was the one who brought the idea of a God who is good and loving into the world.</span> Jesus is the one who showed us a God who claims that every single person on this earth is of sacred worth. Every single person matters. Every single person has dignity. Every single person is worthy of love and compassion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jesus introduced the world to this God in a time when there was neither justice nor dignity for most people. The rich ruled over the poor. The powerful ruled over the non-powerful. If you had the gold, you made the rules. Might made right. In a world where there was no dignity, women had not rights, children were not named until a certain age because the infant mortality rate was so high. Jesus comes along into that world and claims that God is good and loving. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Jesus' first century followers embraced a God who was good and just within a culture that was characterized by injustice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If the Christian God had been so fragile as to be argued out of existence based on injustice, the Christian God would have never made it out of the first three centuries. Because the Christian God's followers were persecuted consistently for the first 300 years of the churches existence. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If there is no objective standard for justice, injustice ceases to exist as well as justice. And if there is no objective justice or injustice, do you know what we are left with? </span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><b>My Justice</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><b>You Justice</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><b>Nazi Justice</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><b>Majority Justice</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><b>Isis Justice</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><b>Klan Justice </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><b>Nature's Justice </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><b>Street Justice</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><b>Power Justice</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;"><b>Rich Justice</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">When we reject God because of injustice in the world, we don't solve injustice, we lose the definition of justice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We love the idea of a God of love, but we are uncomfortable with a God of judgment. Here's the catch though: <span style="color: blue;">You can't have justice without judgment. </span> If there is not judgment of what is evil, then there is not justice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I think the reason we are uncomfortable with judgment is because we want God to do something about evil in the world, but it's usually someone else's evil and not our own. We don't want our contribution to evil to be pointed out. We don't want to be judged, we just want to be loved. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So what does the God of Jesus and the God of justice have to say about all of this. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">When God saw the stay of humanity, when God saw that we all fall short and deserve judgment. God didn't send a judge, he sent a savior.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jesus says: I did not come to judge the world, I came to save the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">-John 12:47</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Before God ever judges anyone in the world, He offers salvation. The God of justice saves us before He judges us and is perfect in His ju</span><span style="font-size: large;">dgment. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">For the complete video messages from this series click <a href="https://vimeo.com/album/4926020">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">These messages are adapted from Andy Stanley's series <i>Who Needs God</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-41138694813683551182018-04-24T11:32:00.005-07:002018-04-24T11:34:35.355-07:00Sermon Rewind: All Grown Up Part 4<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The God of Jesus</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Does what you do define who you are, or does who you are determine what you do? Wherever you land on that debate, we have to agree that what you do is a major indicator of who you are.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">So if we want to know what God is like, maybe we should look at more than just who Jesus was, but also at what Jesus did. Please remember, not many people followed Jesus before His resurrection, it wasn't until after His resurrection that the church formed. Christianity didn't begin because people came up with something to believe, it began because people experienced the risen Jesus then wrote about it. They saw him die, looked inside an empty tomb and decided He was who He said He was.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In John 14 Jesus tells his disciples, specifically responding to Phillip, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." In other words Jesus is saying, if you want to know what God is like, watch me. If you want to know what God would do, pay attention to what I do. In verse 11 Jesus says "Believe me when I say I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves." In other words, don't believe just for the sake of belief. I'm not asking to have faith for the sake of faith. I'm asking you to test the evidence. Do some digging. Watch me and what I do and determine for yourself if I am who I say I am. Don't have blind faith, believe on the evidence itself. Believe in what I say and what I do.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So with that in mind, what did Jesus say about God? Let's keep it simple, there's three main things.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: large;">First, He said God is Spirit (John 4:24). Spirit is spaceless, timeless and immaterial.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Second, He said God is Father (Luke 11:2). This is not the reflection of our earthly fathers, this is the perfection of father. What Jesus is trying to convey is that God is personal. God is not male, God does not have Gender. Any personal image used to explain that God is relational will fall short.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Third, He said God is Love (1 John 4:16). Okay Jesus didn't say this, Jesus went one step further and acted this out by dying on the cross for us. When we love each other we reflect the very nature of God.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you have ever thought "I just believe God loves everybody" you have to concede that before Christianity that statement would've never existed. The belief that "God loves everybody" was ushered into this world by Jesus. It is a distinctly Christian idea.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">May we love God and love one another the way Jesus showed us and taught us to.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">For the full video message go <a href="https://vimeo.com/album/4926020">here</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-45418240831497129932018-03-02T07:45:00.002-08:002018-03-02T07:45:44.334-08:00Sermon Rewind: All Grown Up part 3<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So in the second week we covered this idea that Christianity doesn't exist because of the Bible anymore than you exist because of your birth certificate. The purpose of your birth certificate is to document something that happened. If your birth certificate ceased to exist, would you cease to exist? Of course not, in the same way if the Bible ceased to exist, Christianity would still continue on.<br /><br />Why? It's simple, Christianity doesn't exist because of the Bible, the Bible (the New Testament specifically) exists because of Christianity. The Bible exists because people witnessed something that happened that was worth documenting. The Bible exists because within our human history this man named Jesus enters our world, says some crazy things, then backs up those crazy things by rising from the dead after he was crucified.<br /><br />Jesus is crucified around 30AD, three days later he rose from the dead and the church was born. <br /><br />On August 6th, 70AD the temple in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Roman legions. That historic event and others before it and surrounding it are not recorded in the documents of the New Testament because they had not happened yet. This fact tells us that the dating of all of the New Testament writings is before this time. This puts the dating of all the New Testament documents earlier than 70AD. And the earlier they are the more reliable they are. <br /><br />The writers of the New Testament were not writing what they believed, they were recording what they saw. They were documenting historical events regarding the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus.<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Once Constantine rose to power as the undisputed emperor in 312 AD, he needed to find something that would unite the empire. He chose Christianity. Under severe persecution Christianity grew exponentially leading up to Constantine's rule. <br /><br />This happened before anyone held a Bible in their hand. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd century Christians believed Jesus loved them before the Bible told them so. For the first 300 years of Christianity’s existence the debate was not centered on a library of books called the Bible, the debate centered on an event. <br /><br />The question wasn’t “is the Bible true” the question was “did Jesus rise from the dead?” And all the evidence well documented by those first century witnesses and writers point to a resounding yes. For people like John, Peter, Luke and Paul the unequivocal answer was "yes" and they were willing to die to for their "yes."</span>Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-57778404839748149972018-02-14T11:29:00.002-08:002018-02-14T12:29:58.986-08:00Sermon Series Rewind: All Grown Up part 2<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><u>The gods of the No Testament</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In this message we took a look at one of the main reasons people walk away from faith. We said that everyone who de-converts steps away from a version of Christianity. It might be super-liberal, super charismatic, super fundamental, super Baptist, whatever the case may be, people who step away from Christianity step away from a version of Christianity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There are two main characteristics of these versions of Christianity that people walk away from:</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">1. A Somebody-told-me-so-god: </span><span style="font-size: large;">Here's how God is present, here's what they said God is like</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">2. A Bible-tells-me-so-Jesus: </span><span style="font-size: large;">Everytime I asked a question the answer was, here's what the Bible says.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Whatever version of God we are presented with when we are young carries weight for how we think about God when we enter our adult lives. Karen Armstrong says this in her book <i>The Case for God</i>:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>"Many of us have been left stranded with an incoherent concept of God. We learned about God at about the same time as we were told about Santa Clause. But while our understanding of the Santa Clause phenomenon evolved and matured, our theology remained somewhat infantile. Not surprisingly, when we attained intellectual maturity, many of us rejected the God we had inherited and denied that he existed."</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">To some degree this is all our experiences. Because most of us were presented with a concept of God when we were very young. So I want to share some of these "gods" that we grew up with. Ideas, images, understandings of "god" that are popularly taught, or that we got into our heads when we were young, but that are wrong. That we need to let go of.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">1. Bodyguard god</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">-This is the god that never allows anything bad to happen to us.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">2. On Demand god</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">-This is the god that does at least what we would do if we were god.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">3. Boyfriend god</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">-This is the god whose presence is always felt.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">4. Guilt god</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">-this is the god who enjoys making you feel guilt and shame about your life.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">5. Anti-science god</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">-This god forces you to choose between science and religion.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">6. Holodeck god</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">-This is the god that becomes whatever or whoever you want god to be.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'm sure there's more, but these are six wrong versions of God. The somebody-told-me-so-god that many of us were presented with when we were children. If you or someone you know walked away from faith or struggle with faith because of one of the versions of god there's good news, none of these are an accurate portrayal of the God of the library of books found in the Bible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">This series is based on Andy Stanley's series titled <i>Who Needs God?</i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fafdfe; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">For the full message video click </span><a href="https://vimeo.com/album/4926020" style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">here.</a><br />
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<br />Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-72988443688145194942018-02-13T12:13:00.003-08:002018-02-13T12:20:05.268-08:00Sermon Series Rewind: All Grown Up<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><u>Atheism 2.0</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We just finished the sermon series <i>All Grown Up </i>at Covenant which was based on Andy Stanley's sermon series <i>Who Needs God. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This series was received so well at Covenant I thought I would offer a summary of each message over the course of several blog entries. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The idea of the series is that we need a "grown up" faith to go along with living in a "grown up" world. We need "grown up" answers to our "grown up" questions. In an adult world we need adult answers to our adult questions. The answers we have carried with us from childhood don't always withstand the rigor and experience of adult life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first week was called Atheism 2.0. We referenced several books by modern atheists that have shaped the nature of atheism in our world today. Books like <i>A Letter to a Christian Nation </i>by Sam Harris, <i>The God Delusion </i>by Richard Dawkins and <i>God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything </i>by Christopher Hitchens. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">By discussing what we don't believe it can help clarify what we do believe and why. So we shared six belief's shared by atheists and discussed them:</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">1. The Illusion of the Mind</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">2. The Illusion of Freewill</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">3. The Illusion of Value</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">4. Something Came from Nothing</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">5. First Life Emerged from no Life with no Help</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">6. Natural Selection is Responsible for All Life after First Life</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1 Peter 3:15 reminds us: <i>Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I don't know about you, but for me, thinking through what atheists believe in a respectful way helps bring clarity to what I believe and why.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">For the full message video click <a href="https://vimeo.com/album/4926020">here.</a></span><br />
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Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-21187788504910421532016-10-01T20:04:00.001-07:002016-10-01T20:04:15.240-07:00Two Year Anniversary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: large;"><b>Today (October 1st) marks my two year anniversary as Pastor of Covenant Community Church. I have felt so blessed and privileged to be in ministry with this incredible body of believers. I have been living a dream and look forward to leading the church into the wonderful future God has for her. </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b>To mark my two year anniversary, I want to share ten things I'm most thankful for as Covenant's pastor:</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: large;"><b>1. The way the people at Covenant welcome anyone who walks through our doors</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b>2. The incredible support they offer their pastor</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: large;"><b>3. Their willingness to try new things</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b>4. Their commitment to serve the Asheville community</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: large;"><b>5. The incredible staff I get to work with everyday</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b>6. Their love for Jesus</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: large;"><b>7. Their desire to be a part of something bigger than their individual selves</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b>8. Their grace for my shortcomings as their pastor</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: large;"><b>9. The way they love on my family</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b>10. Their generosity </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: large;"><b>Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with the great responsibility God has entrusted to me, but I try to have the same mindset John had when he proclaimed "He must increase, I must decrease." I understand God has called and positioned me where I am for a reason, however, I also know it's not about me, it's about getting out of the way of what God wants to do through me and through this body. </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b>I have loved the two years I have been at Covenant and look forward to many more years and many more people connecting with God, each other and our community. </b></span>Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-15472714272994301182016-09-23T14:59:00.002-07:002016-09-23T14:59:17.306-07:00Lessons from Pain<span style="font-size: large;">I recently hurt my back while on vacation. I think I did it on a roller coaster (the Rocking Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios to be exact). I remember feeling a weird sensation in my back while riding it. It was about six hours later that the pain set in and I found myself lying on a bench telling my family to go have fun.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNTcvSG1ox2o9d9Bidbd62ihxyeBNRquY8OcN1hnJ3DJ0jREiVz1KFUkwQ-ln0ENRoZ6Jto-9Z6gAYMWxZGZDsngUWuiHdAAfrqzTw_MMzqrOybFW3CfoR_PyWWR0vmkYgCJ-tNNC713a/s1600/back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGNTcvSG1ox2o9d9Bidbd62ihxyeBNRquY8OcN1hnJ3DJ0jREiVz1KFUkwQ-ln0ENRoZ6Jto-9Z6gAYMWxZGZDsngUWuiHdAAfrqzTw_MMzqrOybFW3CfoR_PyWWR0vmkYgCJ-tNNC713a/s200/back.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I think it's a bulging disc and it has gradually gotten less painful (or that could be the Advil talking) after eight days. I didn't sleep on the floor last night which is progress.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In my better moments I have used it as an opportunity to ask myself: what is God teaching me through this? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's five things I've come up with.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b>1. I am loved</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It is very obvious that I have people in my life who genuinely care about me. It's not that I didn't already know it, this situation just confirmed it even more.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b>2. Help is available</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Many people have offered to help in various ways. One person even offered to help unload the van on our return knowing it would be at 2am in the morning. I reached out on Facebook for resources and people responded with options and prayers.</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b>3. I'm not alone</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">There have been so many people who know exactly the kind of indescribable pain I'm in. There's just something comforting about knowing that other people have felt what I feel. That kind of solidarity creates automatic empathy. Maybe pain is God's way of bringing humanity together. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b>4. If I want to do something bad enough, I can</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The next day we were at Magic Kingdom for the Halloween Party. It was a bid deal for our family. My 8yr. old daughter is into the Disney villains right now. Her favorite is Maleficent. At the end of the night they have a special villain show on the main stage at Disney world. She kept jumping up and down trying to see. I decided I would give her the best seat in the house: on my shoulders. After five or six attempts and various shots of pain, she was up there. She was going to see the villain show no matter what it took. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"><b>5. There's a reason for this</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe God is teaching me to be more empathetic, maybe I needed to slow down, maybe He needed to show me the support I have in my life...whatever the case may be, I know deep in my bones that God has a reason for me to be going through this right now. It's not fun, but I trust in His purposes.</span>Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-90884101442943509952016-07-01T07:00:00.000-07:002016-07-01T07:00:20.185-07:00Scared in or Loved in<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was visiting a young man in the hospital yesterday morning after his surgery and he put something so simply into words that it has stuck with me throughout the day. I'll call him John.</span><div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">John had family in town last weekend and one family member who attended Covenant with him isn't used to our type of church. We are a modern Methodist church and this man is used to his conservative baptist church. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It sounds like they had an interesting conversation after the service and John summarized it for me this way: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>You can be scared into it or loved into it and I'd rather be loved into it.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I hope I'm that pastor that always leads be to be "loved into" a living and growing relationship with Jesus Christ and not "scared into" it.</span></div>
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Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-29849812706585302492016-06-30T12:19:00.005-07:002016-06-30T12:23:09.880-07:00The Cost of Freedom<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIKPs-Xnf9EWKcqF_-JW6FKYO-wc-cYNC-OstZ_yK_mZHqrHzjBq14k5XsCvoGtnXN-rOk-0djqr4FPY2CDQQTMyQZ01bKpTstIIiBlMowuwuMJ85qm1sa7sNHBJ-kgYZhBcTLmYB35lJ2/s1600/Slide_The_Classics_v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIKPs-Xnf9EWKcqF_-JW6FKYO-wc-cYNC-OstZ_yK_mZHqrHzjBq14k5XsCvoGtnXN-rOk-0djqr4FPY2CDQQTMyQZ01bKpTstIIiBlMowuwuMJ85qm1sa7sNHBJ-kgYZhBcTLmYB35lJ2/s400/Slide_The_Classics_v2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I know it's late, but I wanted to recap the main idea from the sermon last Sunday. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Using the story of the Exodus, I landed on this idea: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>God doesn't just want to <u>set</u> you free, he wants to <u>keep</u> you free.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">After the Israelites were set free from being slaves in Egypt, they found themselves in the desert where they became slaves to their own devices. Some of them trade one type of slavery for another.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It started small, they complain about water and God provides. Then they complain about food and God provides them with Manna. They complain about not having meat, so God sends them quail. More quail than they can handle.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Each time they complain their attitudes escalate to the point of thinking they were better off as slaves in Egypt. God constantly reminds them to trust Him by obeying Him and the people continue to complain and distrust God.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">With the last complaint about meat, God gives them so much meat they get sick off of it and some of them die. Numbers chapter 11 recounts the story and ends with their bodies in graves of their own cravings...their desires, their cravings, their lusts (the KJV word used for cravings) lead to their deaths.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The Israelites who craved meat allowed that craving to get the best of them. They were set free from slavery only to find themselves in another kind of slavery.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Don't we often do the same thing? God has set us free from guilt and shame and sin and death and made a way for us to resist temptation. He has given us the Holy Spirit to convict us, lead us, guide us and be our advocate. Yet, we often allow our desires, our cravings, our lusts to move us into dangerous territory of prisons of our own making.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>God doesn't just want to <u>set</u> you free, he wants to <u>keep</u> you free. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And it takes being intentional about staying connected to God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit for us to remain in the freedom Jesus offers us.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In John 8 Jesus says it this way (31-32): "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Paul said it this way in Galatians 5:1: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The cost of freedom is discipleship. Discipleship is remaining in a a growing relationship with Jesus Christ by being intentional about staying in love with our savior. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>He doesn't just want to <u>set</u> you free, he wants to keep <u>you</u> free!</b></span><br />
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Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-7509779786187747842016-06-20T08:44:00.001-07:002016-06-20T08:44:57.903-07:00Sermon Recap: No Pain, No Gain<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Jacob wrestling with some sort of "God-man" in Genesis 32:22-30 is a fascinating story. I loved preaching on it this past Sunday to kick off our new sermon series: </b></span><br />
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<b>The video will be available by Wednesday morning <a href="http://www.cccasheville.org/messages">here</a>.</b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Jacob is so worried that his brother Esau is going to kill him and his family that he prays for God to save him then devises a plan to keep at least some of his family safe in case his fears come true. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>It's in this state of fear and worry that the "God-man" initiates a wrestling match with Jacob. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Commentator Terence Fretheim nails what I think is the point of the encounter:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">At the moment of deepest vulnerability and
worry for Jacob, God enters into the very depths of the struggle, binding God’s
self to Jacob at that level. Jacob is
about to embark on a life-long struggle and he now knows that God the wrestler
will be at his side. The willingness of
God to struggle with Jacob affirms a divine commitment to stay with Jacob. God’s promise (from 28:15) involves not a
passive presence, but an active, engaged relationship.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>God doesn't initiate this "wrestling match" to get Jacob's attention because God already has his attention (Jacob's prayer just a few short hours before this proves the point). God initiates this wrestling match to take Jacob's relationship with Him to an entirely new level. So much so that he changes his name from Jacob (which means "schemer") to Israel (which means one who wrestles with God).</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>God is the great pursuer of our hearts and even if it takes wrestling with us to bring us to a deeper relationship with Him, that's what He's willing to do. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>In the wrestling, it's our willingness to hold on to God (just like Jacob did) that will bring transformation to our lives.</b></span></div>
Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-63565294509735949662016-06-14T09:21:00.002-07:002016-06-14T09:21:56.651-07:00Something New<span style="font-size: large;">We have been in transition at Covenant Community Church for at least the amount of time I have been here (a year and a half). I have heard that even before I arrived it felt like this church was in transition.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Transitions have their frustrations, but they also have their benefits. You often do not see the benefits of the transition until you have moved out of that season.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The biggest benefit of this season of transition happened on June 1st. That's when we welcomed two new staff members who solidify our team and will be instrumental in moving us out of transition and into the church God is calling us to be.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">It's exciting to see the season of transition ending to make way for a new season with these two incredible women on our team: this is Ginny Allison and Shonnie Streder (and her family).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDz0gJDAzL6CLKdT97YXmAX53gYG_3fx-2EXb43uDbzQdSIh7VgOAWQeDRCIiPw_S_BH4KYXmyUMDcahdA3PlIBFvR8Nj2ZcjMT0rv7tf0EGJ7JTTecNRzkhPXbZo5PWHQPwKLLepOfus4/s1600/ginny+shonnie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDz0gJDAzL6CLKdT97YXmAX53gYG_3fx-2EXb43uDbzQdSIh7VgOAWQeDRCIiPw_S_BH4KYXmyUMDcahdA3PlIBFvR8Nj2ZcjMT0rv7tf0EGJ7JTTecNRzkhPXbZo5PWHQPwKLLepOfus4/s320/ginny+shonnie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">They have only been here two weeks and I can already see the difference their presence is making.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We inundated them with bonding time as a staff by holding an overnight staff retreat their first weekend in town. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We also officially celebrated their arrival this past Sunday with a church-wide potluck lunch.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It's so exciting to be in this season, I can't wait to see what God has for the future of Covenant Community church!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's to the benefits of transition and to a new season of becoming the church God is calling Covenant to be!</span>Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-80270669344584044112016-06-12T06:00:00.000-07:002016-06-14T09:07:02.753-07:00Quote from Sermon<span style="font-size: large;">As promised, here's the quote I ended the message with on Sunday:</span><br />
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Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-66800938800399643252016-06-06T11:29:00.001-07:002016-06-06T11:29:48.288-07:00Permission to Fail - Sermon Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Youth Pastor of Covenant Community Church - Ryan Robertson - preached this past Sunday. He did a great job telling the story of Peter's denial (John 18:15-18 and 25-27) and Jesus' restoration of Peter ( found in John 21:15-18)...he also created a new word for us all to use: <b>Shilt - </b>A combination of shame and guilt. <br />
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It was graduation Sunday and the point he wanted to get across is that it is okay to fail because God uses our failure to grow us and shape us. It is unhealthy to stay in the "shilt" when we have failed, therefore God always points us towards healing. Failure is not an "if" but a "when." And if we let failure grow us rather than define us, we move towards healing. <br />
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There's even objective science behind the truth that failure grows us. In her book <i>Mindset </i>Carol Dweck talks about how failure actually leads to more synapses firing off in the brain which creates more connections in the brain and actually grows the brain. Isn't that so cool! <b>God has designed the human brain in such a way that failure leads to growth. </b><br />
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Ryan's point was not "go fail," but it was "you will fail and it's okay, God uses it to grow you and shape you." The way Jesus handled Peter's failure was not to deny it, but to address it. However, Jesus didn't address it in a way that Peter had to dwell in it...J<b>esus addresses Peter's failure then pointed him towards purpose, towards something good and meaningful</b>. He restored Peter by acknowledging his failure and then by leading Peter towards his future.<br />
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Give yourself permission to fail knowing God's grace for you is enough to cover you and God's purpose for you is enough to move you forward.<br />
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<br />Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-6297607338668187182016-05-31T08:27:00.000-07:002016-05-31T08:27:22.058-07:00Sermon Recap - What to Mimic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In John 13:1-17 Jesus' washes his disciples feet. This is the ultimate act of humility. It is a foreshadowing of what Jesus would do for his disciples on the cross. He cleanses them physically in this text only later to cleanse them spiritually.<br />
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My favorite part of this story is Jesus' interaction with Peter. After Peter emphatically declares "you shall never wash my feet" (this is out of respect for who Jesus is) Jesus says in verse 8 "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." Peter still doesn't quite get it proving Jesus words just before this that he wouldn't understand what he was doing until later on.<br />
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The message centered around this main idea: "Humility is <b>our way to God</b>, because it's <b>God's way to us."</b><br />
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This act of washing His disciples feet was an act of humility for Jesus <b>and</b> for the disciples. Jesus disarms His disciples with this act and invites them into a new kind of relationship based on mutual servanthood.<br />
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At the end of the story Jesus tells his disciples to do for each other what he has done for them and that if they do that, they will be blessed.<br />
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May you be the kind of person who cultivates Christ-like humility and finds closeness with God and closeness with the other relationships that matter most in your life because of it.<br />
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<br />Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4907391659348350239.post-72534027329179412512016-05-26T07:57:00.002-07:002016-05-26T08:01:31.503-07:00Sermon Recap - Family Matters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On Sunday I had several one-liners that I need to be reminded of.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first one was this: <b>Proximity</b> does not equal<b> intimacy</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You can live in the same household together and fail miserably at intimacy. For intimacy to happen in a relationship there has to be intentional connection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The congregation seemed to like the video I showed, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtKQbM9laC8">here's</a> the full version.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That one-liner led to this one-liner: <b>Busy-ness </b>is the enemy of <b>intimacy</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Joshua warns the Israelite's of distractions and temptations from the culture around them in his final speech found in chapters 23 and 24. He then makes this declaration "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord." Serving the Lord means being intentional about building intimacy with Him and with the relationships He has placed in our care. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The final one-liner (with children in mind): When <b>experiences</b> outweigh <b>connections</b> we are relationally <b>impoverished</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have seen this in my own family in the family's of friends around me. We try to give our children opportunities and experiences that will help them become "well rounded" and before we know it we have them in so many activities that connection, intimacy and real relationships suffer. What our children need more than experiences, is healthy relationships. This is a call for us to slow down and make connections a higher priority than experiences.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For the full sermon go <a href="http://www.cccasheville.org/messages">here</a>.</span></div>
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Rich Tuttlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13005377122457046065noreply@blogger.com0