I have appreciated what Billy Graham has done with his life and I admire him. Below is a section from his website on how to become a Christian. Billy Graham has always done a great job of making it clear on how one can become saved. I listed the source at the end.
How to Become a Christian
The central theme of the Bible is God's love for you and for all people. This love was revealed when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world as a human being, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, and rose from the dead. Because Christ died, your sins can be forgiven, and because He conquered death you can have eternal life. You can know for sure what will become of you after you die.
You have probably heard the story of God's love referred to as the "Gospel." The word Gospel simply means "Good News." The Gospel is the Good News that, because of what Christ has done, we can be forgiven and can live forever.
But this gift of forgiveness and eternal life cannot be yours unless you willingly accept it. God requires an individual response from you. The following verses from the Bible show God's part and yours in this process:
God's Love Is Revealed in the Bible
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." —John 3:16 (NIV)
God loves you. He wants to bless your life and make it full and complete. And He wants to give you a life which will last forever, even after you experience physical death.
We Are Sinful
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." —Romans 3:23 (NIV)
You may have heard someone say, "I'm only human—nobody's perfect." This Bible verse says the same thing: We are all sinners. We all do things that we know are wrong. And that's why we feel estranged from God—because God is holy and good, and we are not.
Sin Has a Penalty
"For the wages of sin is death." —Romans 6:23 (NIV)
Just as criminals must pay the penalty for their crimes, sinners must pay the penalty for their sins. If you continue to sin, you will pay the penalty of spiritual death: You will not only die physically; you will also be separated from our holy God for all eternity. The Bible teaches that those who choose to remain separated from God will spend eternity in a place called hell.
Christ Has Paid Our Penalty!
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." —Romans 5:8 (NIV)
The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, has paid the penalty for all your sins. You may think you have to lead a good life and do good deeds before God will love you. But the Bible says that Christ loved you enough to die for you, even when you were rebelling against Him.
Salvation Is a Free Gift
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." —Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
The word grace means "undeserved favor." It means God is offering you something you could never provide for yourself: forgiveness of sins and eternal life, God's gift to you is free. You do not have to work for a gift. All you have to do is joyfully receive it, Believe with all your heart that Jesus Christ died for you!
Christ Is at Your Heart's Door
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." —Revelation 3:20 (NIV)
Jesus Christ wants to have a personal relationship with you. Picture, if you will, Jesus Christ standing at the door of your heart (the door of your emotions, intellect and will). Invite Him in; He is waiting for you to receive Him into your heart and life.
You Must Receive Him
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." —John 1:12 (NIV)
When you receive Christ into your heart you become a child of God, and have the privilege of talking to Him in prayer at any time about anything. The Christian life is a personal relationship to God through Jesus Christ. And best of all, it is a relationship that will last for all eternity.
If you are making this commitment to Christ today, please let us know. We would like to send you Bible study materials to help you grow in your faith.
Taken from "Your Christian Life" 1965, 1968, as "Aids to Christian Living," 1986 as "Practical Steps in Christian Living," 1995 as "Beginning Your Christian Life," 1997 as "Your Christian Life," Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
http://www.billygraham.com/SH_HowToBecomeAChristian.asp - Source
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Change in Leadership
I often go to: www.christianitytoday.com because it has some great articles on many different subjects.
In a book called: "Leading Your Church Through Conflict and Reconciliation" there is a chapter called, "The Ten Most Predictable Times of Conflict". In this chapter here is an excerpt found here that I wanted to share with you. After reading this, I think that every church leader (meaning volunteer or paid) should buy a copy of this book.
Here it is:
4. Change in leadership style
In another congregation, the pastor was introverted—quiet, reserved, bookish, but thoughtful and caring. The problem was he followed a highly extroverted pastor who loved being with people in the church and in the community.
Members felt awkward having to take the initiative in conversation with the new pastor, and they became impatient for the new pastor to warm up to them. In fact, the pace of his interaction was simply different than what they were used to, and that took some adjustment.
When a congregation hires, either deliberately or by mistake, a pastor whose leadership style differs from his predecessor, conflict is a near certainty.
Leadership problems are often "followership" problems. For a leader to lead effectively, people must follow effectively—people must actively cooperate with the pastor's style of leadership.
For example, some families experience more turmoil when their children become teenagers. It's not that the parents have changed, but that the children, now teenagers, have. They no longer want to follow the style of leadership their parents have been exerting for years. Leadership is only as effective as its followers.
Often congregations will choose a new pastor with the express intent of picking someone who offers a style of leadership different than the previous pastor—let's say the last pastor was an authoritative leader and the new pastor is participatory (a not unusual occurrence in congregations).
In this scenario, things may go well until there is a congregational crisis or major decision. Then people become anxious, and they revert to old patterns of behavior—and they expect others, like the pastor, to follow suit. They want the pastor suddenly to become decisive and bold. At this point, everyone becomes confused.
I have both seen and experienced this change in leadership. What I have noticed is that it is tough on both sides of the conflict (church congregation and leader).
Again, I think knowing these things would help a church know what they want and help transitions to become smoother when it comes time for the church to hire.
In a book called: "Leading Your Church Through Conflict and Reconciliation" there is a chapter called, "The Ten Most Predictable Times of Conflict". In this chapter here is an excerpt found here that I wanted to share with you. After reading this, I think that every church leader (meaning volunteer or paid) should buy a copy of this book.
Here it is:
4. Change in leadership style
In another congregation, the pastor was introverted—quiet, reserved, bookish, but thoughtful and caring. The problem was he followed a highly extroverted pastor who loved being with people in the church and in the community.
Members felt awkward having to take the initiative in conversation with the new pastor, and they became impatient for the new pastor to warm up to them. In fact, the pace of his interaction was simply different than what they were used to, and that took some adjustment.
When a congregation hires, either deliberately or by mistake, a pastor whose leadership style differs from his predecessor, conflict is a near certainty.
Leadership problems are often "followership" problems. For a leader to lead effectively, people must follow effectively—people must actively cooperate with the pastor's style of leadership.
For example, some families experience more turmoil when their children become teenagers. It's not that the parents have changed, but that the children, now teenagers, have. They no longer want to follow the style of leadership their parents have been exerting for years. Leadership is only as effective as its followers.
Often congregations will choose a new pastor with the express intent of picking someone who offers a style of leadership different than the previous pastor—let's say the last pastor was an authoritative leader and the new pastor is participatory (a not unusual occurrence in congregations).
In this scenario, things may go well until there is a congregational crisis or major decision. Then people become anxious, and they revert to old patterns of behavior—and they expect others, like the pastor, to follow suit. They want the pastor suddenly to become decisive and bold. At this point, everyone becomes confused.
I have both seen and experienced this change in leadership. What I have noticed is that it is tough on both sides of the conflict (church congregation and leader).
Again, I think knowing these things would help a church know what they want and help transitions to become smoother when it comes time for the church to hire.
Painted Cat
Here is one picture of many painted cats that I received as a forward from a friend in South Dakota.
I just love looking at this one.
If you want, I can send all of them to you.
100 Million Americans are unchurched
According to researcher barna the number of unchurched people in America now is approximately 100 million. Here is a section of this article which is found Here:
"When these statistics are projected across the aggregate adult population, the numbers are staggering. An estimated 73 million adults are presently unchurched. When teens and children are added, the total swells to roughly 100 million Americans.
To put that figure in context, if the unchurched population of the United States were a nation of its own, that group would be the eleventh most populated nation on earth (trailing only China, India, the churched portion of the United States, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Russia, Japan and Mexico).
Included among the unchurched is an estimated 13 to 15 million born again adults and children."
With the numbers continuing to grow, the church needs to ask the question, why?
I'll probably be going agaisnt many by saying that I don't think it's because more churches need to be: purpose driven, culturally relevant, have great coffee and donuts.
What I think churches need to do is seriously consider their relationship with Christ. Because if we as believers were madly in love with Christ, I think it would show in the church and people would want to be a part of a group that really cares for one another. That is why I think the bars are so popular some times because people are more friendly there than in church even if it is for the wrong reasons.
"When these statistics are projected across the aggregate adult population, the numbers are staggering. An estimated 73 million adults are presently unchurched. When teens and children are added, the total swells to roughly 100 million Americans.
To put that figure in context, if the unchurched population of the United States were a nation of its own, that group would be the eleventh most populated nation on earth (trailing only China, India, the churched portion of the United States, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Russia, Japan and Mexico).
Included among the unchurched is an estimated 13 to 15 million born again adults and children."
With the numbers continuing to grow, the church needs to ask the question, why?
I'll probably be going agaisnt many by saying that I don't think it's because more churches need to be: purpose driven, culturally relevant, have great coffee and donuts.
What I think churches need to do is seriously consider their relationship with Christ. Because if we as believers were madly in love with Christ, I think it would show in the church and people would want to be a part of a group that really cares for one another. That is why I think the bars are so popular some times because people are more friendly there than in church even if it is for the wrong reasons.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Money Saving Tips Website
I found a cool website on tips on how to save money. I'm sure we must be the only people who need to save money :)
The website is called: www.savingadvice.com and below is an article in a forum that I found it's source is: http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/money-saving-tips/15577-dreaded-electricity-bill.html
The article is entitled, "The Dreaded Electric Bill".
Here it is:
I dreaded our January hydro bill. I still remember the shock last January when I opened the bill, and it was over $300.00 This past year, we have implemented ways to cut our electricity consumption. This years bill arrived, and I opened it slowly. It was only $185.00 Quite a difference from last year.
We had cut our consumption from 3881 kw to 1904 kw for the same time period last year. We never really paid much attention to our electric bills previously because we were too busy going to work. And, we had a steady paycheck coming in so there was always the money to pay the bills. But, now we have simplified our life. We run a small craft business and our income is limited. So, a $300.00 electricity bill was not welcomed, and it certainly captured our attention!
Here are some of the tips that we implemented which allowed us to reduced our electricity bill:
- our biggest expense is our electric heat. So at night we turned down our heat by 10 degrees. We put an extra blanket on our bad. Yes, it was cold when we got up in the morning, but it only takes a few minutes to warm up the house.
- We also use our wood stove to take the chill off in the morning and in the evening. (we practice safe burning in our stove and have the chimney cleaned twice a year)
- We switched our incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs.
- We installed motion lights outside. Rather than having our outside light on all night, the light now only comes on if there is motion around it.
- Rather than turning the oven on to bake just one thing, we bake more than one thing (a roast, our bread and a cake) Once done baking, we leave the oven door open to allow any heat to circulate in the house.
- We buy bigger roasts. Once cooked, we slice the roast and freeze dinner size portions. We reheat the portions in the microwave rather than in the oven. Microwaves take less energy to run than an oven. This not only saves us electricity it also saves us time!
- We consciously turn off the lights when we leave a room. Our parents have been saying this for years, and finally we now do it!
- We use our ceiling fans to help circulate the heat in the winter and in the summer to cool down the house
- We reset our dishwasher to eliminate the dry cycle. The dishes now drip dry.
- We wash all of our dark clothes in cold water
- At night, we close our curtains, allowing the curtains to insulate against any cold air from the window. And during the day, we open all our curtains to allow the heat of the sun, however limited, to heat the rooms.
- While we still use our clothes dryer in Jan, we set it to dry for only 20 - 30 minutes. The clothes dry fine. Previously the setting on our dryer was for one hour! In the summer time we use our clothes line!
- We open and shut the fridge - sounds stupid, but standing at the fridge trying to decide what to get, uses electricity! The cold air from the fridge escapes making the fridge work harder and making our electric bill higher!
- We fixed the one leaky tap in our bathroom, so no longer does our hot water drip away causing our electric water heater to run more often.
- We also do not take long showers, we get in, we wash, we get out.
- We no longer let our hot water run. We fill up the sink rather than just run the hot water.
- Even a small thing like unplugging our coffee machine when we are done saves us money as there is a clock on our coffee machine and the clock takes electricity to run. We have a clock on our microwave and on our stove, so we do not need another clock in our kitchen!
- When we are not using our computer, we turn it off, including the monitor!
All of these things may seem small, but the savings do add up! And, in addition, we are helping the environment by reducing our electricity consumption!
To read more the source for this article is: http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/money-saving-tips/15577-dreaded-electricity-bill.html
I know that I could certainly put some of these tips into consideration. One thing that I would like to know is if you cover your windows with plastic, how much that actually saves or is it just not worth it.
The website is called: www.savingadvice.com and below is an article in a forum that I found it's source is: http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/money-saving-tips/15577-dreaded-electricity-bill.html
The article is entitled, "The Dreaded Electric Bill".
Here it is:
I dreaded our January hydro bill. I still remember the shock last January when I opened the bill, and it was over $300.00 This past year, we have implemented ways to cut our electricity consumption. This years bill arrived, and I opened it slowly. It was only $185.00 Quite a difference from last year.
We had cut our consumption from 3881 kw to 1904 kw for the same time period last year. We never really paid much attention to our electric bills previously because we were too busy going to work. And, we had a steady paycheck coming in so there was always the money to pay the bills. But, now we have simplified our life. We run a small craft business and our income is limited. So, a $300.00 electricity bill was not welcomed, and it certainly captured our attention!
Here are some of the tips that we implemented which allowed us to reduced our electricity bill:
- our biggest expense is our electric heat. So at night we turned down our heat by 10 degrees. We put an extra blanket on our bad. Yes, it was cold when we got up in the morning, but it only takes a few minutes to warm up the house.
- We also use our wood stove to take the chill off in the morning and in the evening. (we practice safe burning in our stove and have the chimney cleaned twice a year)
- We switched our incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs.
- We installed motion lights outside. Rather than having our outside light on all night, the light now only comes on if there is motion around it.
- Rather than turning the oven on to bake just one thing, we bake more than one thing (a roast, our bread and a cake) Once done baking, we leave the oven door open to allow any heat to circulate in the house.
- We buy bigger roasts. Once cooked, we slice the roast and freeze dinner size portions. We reheat the portions in the microwave rather than in the oven. Microwaves take less energy to run than an oven. This not only saves us electricity it also saves us time!
- We consciously turn off the lights when we leave a room. Our parents have been saying this for years, and finally we now do it!
- We use our ceiling fans to help circulate the heat in the winter and in the summer to cool down the house
- We reset our dishwasher to eliminate the dry cycle. The dishes now drip dry.
- We wash all of our dark clothes in cold water
- At night, we close our curtains, allowing the curtains to insulate against any cold air from the window. And during the day, we open all our curtains to allow the heat of the sun, however limited, to heat the rooms.
- While we still use our clothes dryer in Jan, we set it to dry for only 20 - 30 minutes. The clothes dry fine. Previously the setting on our dryer was for one hour! In the summer time we use our clothes line!
- We open and shut the fridge - sounds stupid, but standing at the fridge trying to decide what to get, uses electricity! The cold air from the fridge escapes making the fridge work harder and making our electric bill higher!
- We fixed the one leaky tap in our bathroom, so no longer does our hot water drip away causing our electric water heater to run more often.
- We also do not take long showers, we get in, we wash, we get out.
- We no longer let our hot water run. We fill up the sink rather than just run the hot water.
- Even a small thing like unplugging our coffee machine when we are done saves us money as there is a clock on our coffee machine and the clock takes electricity to run. We have a clock on our microwave and on our stove, so we do not need another clock in our kitchen!
- When we are not using our computer, we turn it off, including the monitor!
All of these things may seem small, but the savings do add up! And, in addition, we are helping the environment by reducing our electricity consumption!
To read more the source for this article is: http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/money-saving-tips/15577-dreaded-electricity-bill.html
I know that I could certainly put some of these tips into consideration. One thing that I would like to know is if you cover your windows with plastic, how much that actually saves or is it just not worth it.
Friday, April 6, 2007
New Iowa Hawkeye Men's B-ball Head Coach
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a Iowa Hawkeye fan so here is the latest on Iowa Men's B-ball from there website: http://hawkeyesports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/040207aae.html
"IOWA CITY -- The UI Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has scheduled a media conference for Tuesday at 4:45 p.m. to officially announce Todd Lickliter - the 2007 NCAA Division I Coach of the Year - as the new head coach of the UI's men's basketball program. "
I'm hopeful that coach Lickliter will be a good coach for the hawkeyes. As long as they beat the cyclones I'm happy (that's for you Mike W ;)
"IOWA CITY -- The UI Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has scheduled a media conference for Tuesday at 4:45 p.m. to officially announce Todd Lickliter - the 2007 NCAA Division I Coach of the Year - as the new head coach of the UI's men's basketball program. "
I'm hopeful that coach Lickliter will be a good coach for the hawkeyes. As long as they beat the cyclones I'm happy (that's for you Mike W ;)
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Trip to South Dakota
Tomorrow our family will be headed to Aberdeen, SD to visit with friends that we made while I was youth pastoring at a church there.
It's been quite awhile since I've been there so I'm really excited to see people and have fun this weekend celebrating Easter.
For more info on Aberdeen, SD Click Here
Great thing about Aberdeen is that it's a nice size town and they have a great drive through coffee place "Gotta Hava Java". Down side to Aberdeen is that they are about 3 hours away from any big city such as Sioux Falls, Fargo, and Bizmark.
It's been quite awhile since I've been there so I'm really excited to see people and have fun this weekend celebrating Easter.
For more info on Aberdeen, SD Click Here
Great thing about Aberdeen is that it's a nice size town and they have a great drive through coffee place "Gotta Hava Java". Down side to Aberdeen is that they are about 3 hours away from any big city such as Sioux Falls, Fargo, and Bizmark.
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