Jason Helopoulos on: Good Reasons to leave your church

Jason Helopoulos on "Good Reasons for Moving On"

2 Lovelies

I’ve been lacking in blogs lately (Sorry).  More to come soon! Meanwhile, today I was the happiest woman ever. God blessed me and I was able to see my two best friends that are in different parts of the world at the same time (thank you skype!). Christy (left) is doing missionary work with her husband in Brazil. Visit their blog. Sarah (right) is in Korea teaching English. Visit her blog too! We all got to chat and wish my Capa a Happy Birthday! Thank you Lord for the time you gave us today!

Looking for a church?

I’ve been wanting to write a post on some things to look out for when looking for a church. It can be difficult and I know a lot of people in transition (getting married/moving/etc.) and it’s hard to know what to look for and easy to keep bouncing from church to church. I think Shai Linne makes it real clear what the 1^st mark of a healthy church is in his song “Expositional preaching.” So click play and follow along with the lyrics below!

(There’s a lot of confusion about what makes up a healthy church. So we’ll look at the 1^st mark. Because without this one, you’re in bad shape)

With our raps we adore our Master and Lord/

Jesus Christ who deserves all our claps and applause/

For the wrath that he bore, at the cross for our blasts, acts of a whore/

He gave up his life with a passionate roar/

Was raised up to heights where he sat at before/

After this all, he gave pastors the call/

To ministry found in second Timothy chapter four/

Verse 1 and 2, what I first wanna’ do is come to you/

The church, to reverse a funny view/

So let me ask a question: “What’s most essential?/

What is that gives the local church it’s credential?”/

Some would say music, some would say deacons/

Others say preaching the lost and soul-seekin’/

But if  we wanna’ give God the glory in our meetin’s/

The most important things is Expository Preachin’/

Where are the Whitfields? Where are the the Spurgeons?/

Preach the Word, preach the Word/

We need sound theology to deal with reality/

Preach the Word! Preach the Word!/

We got enough rappers, we need more pastors/

Preach the Word! Preach the Word!/

We need  and deep application/

Preach the Word! Preach the Word!/

(This verse is for the congregation, this is what you need to be listening for:)

Let me explain what I mean, it’s not too complex/

It’s preaching God’s word in its proper context/

As you listen, be discerning /

What you have to determine:/

Was the point of the passage, the point of the sermon?/

If not, then this problem must be confronted today/

Because he just used the Bible to say what he wanted to say/

And even if it’s delivered with fire and intelligence/

That’s basically making what God has inspired irrelevant/

Instead of applying the Word’s realities/

A lot of pastors relying on personality/

But give self-communication could never be a true replacement/

For the Holy Spirit’s illumination/

Without exposition you’ll lack major profit/

All you’ll get is tradition and your pastor’s favorite topics/

And that can be a slippery slope/

The word should be givin’ you hope/

This dude is just givin’ you jokes/

That won’t help you love Christ. It won’t help your obedience/

We need more expositors not more comedians/

Labor in the text, then faithfully connect/

You to the Savior, then wait for it’s effects/

God gives the increase; holiness, love, unity/

The Word faithfully preached builds up the whole community/

If not, your Sunday meal will not last/

And you’ll have to supplement it with a podcast/

No entertainers! That won’t sustain us/

Preach the Word! Preach the Word!/

Careful instruction-not a big production/

Preach the Word! Preach the Word!/

We don’t need theatrics and man-centered tactics/

Preach the Word! Preach the Word!/

We’re on the brink of eternity, please speak earnestly/

Preach the Word! Preach the Word!/

(This verse is for the Pastors):

Ya ‘all should be mindful of this devout thesis:/

All of the Bible is about Jesus!/

The Old Testament? Jesus Christ concealed/

The New Testament? Jesus Christ revealed/

This truth of the Lord, Christ boldly conveyed this/

In Luke 24 on the Road to Emmaus/

The lot of prophets and the teaching of apostles/

All of these point back to Jesus and the gospel/

So if the work of Christ is what the Word is about/

Ultimately that should be what the sermons about/

Forget applause, ya gotta let the cross rock ya/

All roads in the bible lead to Golgotha/

Whatever the text, faithfulness demands/

That we should hear the echoes of nails hittin’ his hands/

Don’t try to be original, save the old story/

And watch your people change, as they behold glory/

The Glory of Jesus, we need to see this/

Preach the Word! Preach the Word!/

Make Christ the center, so new life could enter/

Preach the Word! Preach the Word!/

Give us the whole counsel along with the gospel/

Preach the Word! Preach the Word!/

This is your duty, to show us God’s beauty/

Preach the Word! Preach the Word!

Note from Heather: Don’t think that because you are a woman the resources about preaching (that Shai Linne mentioned) are only for men. As women, they help us too. They help us to be discerning about the churches we attend. I read “He is Not Silent” by Albert Mohler. It’s about preaching. I will never be a pastor but that doesn’t mean it’s irrelevant for me. 

Fun

This week has been so much fun! Between making Independence Day art projects and only having 3 in my class today, I just had a blast with the kiddos! I have older 3’s and one of the art projects we did was “fireworks.” Using chalk on black paper they were able to look at fireworks from a book and then draw their own. Here’s what they came up with:

Apparently the man below is Jesus. When it was time to put the little people away in the house area one of the little boys said “No, don’t put Jesus in there!” He was very concerned that this old guy “Jesus” could not go in the same bucket as the toy furniture. He was right about that-but not so right about him being Jesus. We had a little talk. J Today another preschooler referred to the very same old man as “God.” Hm…what’s going on here? It’s these story books I tell you!

Also, for those of you interested here’s a few pictures of my very own classroom (temporary-but still exciting!)

I thank the Lord for all the little conversations we got to have about God and His good perfect and Holy rules.  God is good. He’s helping me to teach them about Him and His glory. 

Jesus is bigger than my sins

Psalm 106 is amazing. It talks about God’s steadfast love even when Israel was rebellious and unfaithful. It has been an encouragement and a beautiful reminder of God’s grace. This part (v36-39) in particular really blows my mind:

They served idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood, thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds.

The Israelites had become beyond unclean! Their sins against God seem to be the worst of the worst. Not just murdering (as sinful and evil as that is) but murdering children- in the name of idolatry. They were sacrificing their children to demons! How much worse can sin get? Their sin was BIG-there’s no way around it.

Here, anybody caught doing something like that would justly be put into prison if not condemned to death themselves. These would be just sentences for their crimes. It would be right for these things to take place. Concerning the Israelites, God did deliver them to be oppressed by their enemies. But his hand does not stop there. If we read further, God in his grace saved these undeserving, murderous, idolatrous, people (44-46):

Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress, when he had heard their cry. For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love. He caused them to be pitied by all those who held them captive.

God did not have to save them. He would have been perfectly just and perfectly good if he had not relented but kept them in their oppression. They deserved that. But God is a gracious God.

In comparison, we have never sacrificed a baby to an idol, but because God is Holy even the “smallest” of sin offends Him and it is rightly punished with Hell. But God is a gracious God.  He’s so gracious that he sent Jesus to die for sinners. We do not have to be condemned to hell if we will call on the precious name of Jesus.

As I read this story, I’m amazed at the grace of Jesus. If God relents on a whoring, murderous and idolatrous people then we must believe that there’s no sin bigger than His grace in Christ Jesus-not even sacrificing babies to demons. 

This song fits my praise:

Wonderful grace of Jesus

Deeper than the mighty rolling seas…

Bigger than my sins,

Greater than my shame,

O magnify the precious name of Jesus

Praise His name! Praise His name! Praise His name!

Let’s praise His name!

(This song was on the "Village Worship" CD-let it edify you too. It's free. )

God is Sovereign

Sovereignty. It wasn’t until recently that I really started hearing this word a lot. It wasn’t until even more recently till I’ve only begun to understand it. God has been showing me little by little.

First, it was through really grasping election, then it was through explaining it to children (that God is the Boss), and then just today I opened Suffering and the Sovereignty of God (by J. Piper & J. Taylor) and I’ve got a feeling I’m going to be thinking about this for awhile.

Why is sovereignty such a big deal anyways? Well, I think it has to do with God’s glory (see John 9:3 below). When we ask questions like: Did God let/cause the Holocaust (to) happen? Or why did this little child get raped? Where was God? (These are questions about God’s sovereignty.) Can we really say, “Well God didn’t know that would happen” or “He has to let it happen because if He didn’t He’d be impeding on our freewill”? Often times those are the easy answers, but are they right? Does that thinking really match up with scripture? Consider God’s Word:

Proverbs 16: 4

The Lord has made everything for it’s own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Exodus 4:11

Then the Lord said to Him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”

Job 2: 10

Even when Job’s wife told him to “Curse God and die!” he told her, “Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil?”

Isaiah 45: 7

I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and [I] create calamity, I am the Lord who does all these things.

Amos 3:6

Is a trumpet blown in a city, and are the people not afraid? Does a disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?”

Eccl. 7:14

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day adversity consider; the Lord has made one as well as the other.

[And one of the most beautiful to me is…]

John 9:3

When someone asked Jesus why a man was disabled “Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him”

Check out this video that a friend showed me:

So I’m learning God lets, causes and allows evil things to happen. But they are for the purpose of Him getting glory and also for His people’s good (James 1:2-4, Heb 12: 3-11). Of course there are difficult questions that come along with this. May they cause us to know Christ more and give Him glory.

Who is the fairest of them all?

This week as I teach the children about People being made for the glory of God, I’ve been saying things like: God made us to tell Him “God you’re the greatest! God, you are the best! God you are the strongest! God you are the biggest of all!” Over and over we’ve been talking about this: during circle time, at the writing table, even while we play outside and singing songs. It’s been fun watching them getting it. Let me explain.

This week’s theme is Super Heroes and Princesses. So I’ve had the chance to read some books about fairy’s and princesses. I don’t normally try to tie the picture books into the truth I’m trying to teach. I just pick fun books.

However, this morning after I was done teaching them about how we were made to tell God He’s the best, one precious girl thought of God during the story.

I was reading about a character named Alice the Fairy (by David Shannon) spilling juice to magically turn her shirt from white to red, and literally using her wand to make it dark (by reaching her wand to the light switch). Then as I read about Alice asking of the mirror “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” I heard a sweet little voice that said, “God is the fairest.” Okay so I know teachers say this all this all the time but it really did “warm my heart.”

Now I know she didn’t know what “fairest” meant. However she did catch the –est ending. Since we were talking about God being the biggest, strongest and greatest-I’m sure she related that to God. But that does not make it any lighter. She is learning that God is always the best of everything. Though she didn’t know what fairest meant, she gets that God is the best of everything. And I'm thankful. Because He is.

Thoughts of a preschool Teacher...

So if you don’t know already…I’m officially a pre-school teacher! Horray! God is good and gave me a surprise teaching position for the summer.

This week was a lot about setting boundaries and getting to know them. Also, we learned about how God is the sovereign creator of all things.

Some things I will remember for next time I teach this is that:

• The 10 Gospel Truths were made for 5+ in mind (my kiddos are just barely four).
• I didn’t need to use all the object-ideas.
• Most of them don’t need to necessarily be used at circle time/devotion time but could be used throughout the entire day during free-time or outside-time.

For the devotion we memorized Psalm 24: 1. I did rearrange the verse (awkward-but I wanted them to understand what they were saying). I rearranged it like this: The earth, everything in it, and all the people who live in it, are the Lord’s. If you compare it to the ESV, it’s not so bad right?

There were only a couple of kids that were actually there everyday- so of course they got the verse! However, even the kids that only came twice during the week also memorized it! The capacity for these kids to memorize is amazing so it’s such an important time to fill them with the word of God.

One thing that has been fun this week was hugging and them and swaying them while singing: “Danny, Danny, God made Danny, with brown hair and brown eyes, and a beautiful smile!” I know that 5-year-olds are not so impressed with fun little movement songs. So it’s interesting to see how much a one-year difference makes. These kids love to sing and dance and don’t have as many reservations about it.

So I’m a teacher, the lessons were not perfect, hiding scripture in hearts is vital and I had fun making up songs about God as Creator. God is good. 

Video: 10 Gospel Truths

Friends, friends, friends, I cannot say too much about this booklet. If you have a passion for working with children or work with them in any way. YOU HAVE TO HAVE this booklet. It helps give children big facts about God while explaining it to them in a kid friendly way! If you'd like to see a promotional video on it go here.