Wordage

Published
by
Jeremy Secrest
on September 22, 2009
in General
. Closed

I’ve been reading Proverbs lately, and this verse stuck out:

“He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.” – Prov 21:23

It made me think of other verses that deal with our words: (ala Prov 18:21 – “The tongue has the power of life and death…“)

Jesus is referred to as the “Word” (John 1:1), and God’s Word – the Bible – is His communication to us. He wants us to read His word, He says “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” – Isaiah 55:11.

The power of our words gets mentioned a lot, and makes me wonder – Why did God create communication to be so important and powerful? I think we all know it is, but it’s sure easy to forget.

I don’t have any good answers, and I’m sure smarter people probably do.

Regardless, I know that there is power for good and for harm in my words…I really want to learn to harness that power for good.

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Tum & Roda – Myanmar

Published
by
Jeremy Secrest
on September 2, 2009
in General
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Meet Tum and Roda. Tum and Roda attend the Love Children Home in Myanmar. This orphanage brings the the love of Jesus to orphans whose options are pretty bleak.

James 1:27
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Tum and Roda live in a nation that suffers from injustices such as major child sex trafficking, drug trafficking, child labor trafficking.

You, as con.tin.u.um are helping Tum and Roda receive food, education and the good news of Jesus. You are helping bring light into a dark place.

Want to help? Check it out Wed at con.tin.u.um or email continuum@BTCchurch.com

Want to learn more about the Myanmar Mission or mission support teams?

(reposted from last year)

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The Love of Christ – this verse rocks

Published
by
Jeremy Secrest
on August 28, 2009
in General
. Closed

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38-39.

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I’m a college student again

Published
by
Jeremy Secrest
on August 28, 2009
in General
. Closed

I am officially a college student again. This week starts the first class (Church History) at Liberty Seminary Online. Hopefully I’ll pass.

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Jimmy Fallon Internship Video – Matt Staller

Published
by
Jeremy Secrest
on August 22, 2009
in General
. Closed


This is awesome, from our own Matt Staller.

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Doer

Published
by
Jeremy Secrest
on August 22, 2009
in General
. Closed

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” – Teddy Roosevelt

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Unity. On mission w Great Commission

Published
by
Jeremy Secrest
on August 20, 2009
in General
. Closed

As we’re thinking & dreaming about who we’re created to be as a community, let’s make sure we’re on mission with the Great Commission – meaning:

Let’s be focused and busy fulfilling the Great Commission – going out and making disciples of all nations. (Basically sharing Jesus with others and then the growing and maturing process of following Him.)

It’s easy to get distracted from this and point fingers at each other and at others…I’m as guilty as anyone.

The Bible says to “make EVERY effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”. It places a high emphasis on unity – being one like the Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit are one.

Let’s challenge each other that we are called by God as Christians to be people turned OUTWARD towards others, loving and sharing Jesus. Let’s be a community known for that, because we will NOT be a community that sits around and points fingers at each other and takes pot shots at other ministries – we’re just not.

Because when we do that, instead of being united and moving forward together, we turn inward and don’t move forward.
So, let’s not get distracted. The more we’re on mission, the more we’ll be unified. The more we’re unified, the more we should be on mission.

So let’s challenge ourselves on that – and totally call me out on that if you see me do it – and let’s be a community unified, moving forward in fulfilling the Great Commission.

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Reasons to Pray from Pastor Bret

Published
by
Jeremy Secrest
on July 29, 2009
in General
. Closed
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Artful

Published
by
Jeremy Secrest
on July 16, 2009
in General
. 1 Comment


This morning, listening to Jimmy Eat World, I was struck by the power of artful communication. It’s hitting me more and more (yes, i’m a little slow).

That’s why we love movies  -
they communicate a story and usually do it ARTFULLY.

It’s why we love songs -
they take an idea and communicate it in a way that resonates with us.

What if the church became the leader in artful communication?
What if we as a community led the way in being artful and creative in the way we communicate the gospel? What if we took our inheritance as the image bearers of God and bringers of Truth and shared it with the world? What if our speaking, relating, music, art, & film communicated God’s powerful Truths in the most artful ways possible? What if they were filled with excellence, skill, imagination, creativity, power and wonder? What if we could express the BIGGEST picture of God possible, (which would never be big enough, because He’s bigger than our imaginations)? It seems like that would honor God.

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Guitar leads and God

Published
by
Jeremy Secrest
on July 16, 2009
in General
. 1 Comment

I remember in college, as a young worship leader, I would intentionally play more simple chords and guitar pieces when leading worship, so that people would focus on God instead of my awesome guitar playing. (I guess I thought my incredibly mediocre guitar skills would cause people to leave their reverence for God and think “Wow, that guitar chord is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, and that guitar player is the coolest person ever!). True, dumb and presumptuous at the same time.

But do we sometimes think that? Do we think that to honor God in our music, we need to play bland, mediocre music with no soul or ability to move – because this is somehow what God wants?

When we look at the Bible, God created the world with obvious excellence, skill, creativity and diversity. These things being excellent in themselves bring honor and glory to God. They reflect His image as an excellent Creator. We also see that God gave people skill in artistic gifts (Bazalel and others) and He also commands people to play skillfully. Which brings us to a question – why do we sometimes think that good music robs something from God?

I know our hearts (especially mine) tend toward wanting people to look at us instead of God. But, I’m not sure the answer is to make mediocre attempts at creativity. Giving less than our best doesn’t seem it gives God glory.

We all go to a concert and want to see good music…it makes sense. Why then, would we think that great musicianship robs God of glory? Maybe instead, great musicianship (like guitar leads) SHOWS God’s glory and points us to Him – giving a bigger picture of who He really is. Now, going to a church where we have double, harmonic guitar leads…I find myself thanking God and marveling at His gift of talent and skill. I find myself getting a bigger picture of who He is. And it challenges me to bring my best in whatever I do – for Him.

No matter what I do, I need to make sure my heart is in the right place – trying to give honor to God instead of myself.
Let’s be a community where we strive for excellence – and hopefully express and honor God through it.

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