re-MARK-able part 3

re·MARK·a·ble
part 3

What is the wildest thing God has ever ask you to do?
Immediately the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him. Mark 1:12

Immediately the Spirit- Into the wilderness-
Forty days and nights to be tempted- He was with the wild animals-
The angels attended him-

Alaska is like a zoo with no cages! And I’m not sure how to say it, but there was something so exhilarating about seeing a wild animal in its natural habitat.
It’s one thing to see a caged bear. It’s an altogether different thing to see a grizzly catching a fish twenty feet from your boat.

We were surrounded by eagles/moose/caribou …And what made it so amazing was that there weren’t any cages!

So after returning from the Alaska we took our kids to the zoo and it wasn’t the same. I’m ruined for zoos! I love zoos, but it’s just not the same seeing a caged animal. It’s too safe. It’s too controlled. So we were walking through the ape house and I had this thought as I looked at a caged gorilla: I wonder if churches do to people what zoos do to animals?

Zoo animals are ambassadors for their cousins in the wild….DO NOT LET THEM TAME YOU –
DON’T LET THEM TAME THE ADVENTURE OUT OF YOU !

1. You Feel Too Tamed, Too Civilized and Too Caged In?
Adam Named the animals in the wild habitat

So the LORD God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. Genesis 2:19

“Every man dies ….but not every man lives!” -William Wallace

The goal of church isn’t to take people out of their natural habitat and domesticate them–make them look like and talk like and act like Christians. When we pronounce the benediction at the end of the service we’re releasing people back into the wild. And they go back into their natural habitat as an ambassador of God’s grace.

2. You Opt for The Accessorized life over the Adventurous life?
The Rich Young Ruler – As I read the Gospels I don’t see the disciples getting BORED! Jesus always has a surprise up his sleeve.
Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Mark 10:17-31

“The center of God’s will is not a safe place but the most dangerous place in the world. To live outside of God’s will puts us in danger; to live in his will makes us dangerous.” – Erwin McMannus
3. Your Guardian Angles ARE BORED?
For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. Psalm 91:11

Is your guardian angel retired?
Does your guardian angel have anything to do?
The unnamed angels who appear most often in Scripture carry out a variety of tasks—all designed to serve God…

Worship and praise – This is the main activity portrayed in heaven (Isaiah 6:1-3; Revelation 4-5).

Revealing – They serve as messengers to communicate God’s will to men. They helped reveal the law to Moses (Acts 7:52-53), and served as the carriers of much of the material in Daniel, and Revelation.

Guiding – Angels gave instructions to Joseph about the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1-2), to the women at the tomb, to Philip (Acts 8:26), and to Cornelius (Acts 10:1-8).

Providing – God has used angels to provide physical needs such as food for Hagar (Genesis 21:17-20), Elijah (1 Kings 19:6), and Christ after His temptation (Matthew 4:11).

Protecting – Keeping God’s people out of physical danger, as in the cases of Daniel and the lions, and his three friends in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3 and 6).

Delivering – Getting God’s people out of danger once they’re in it. Angels released the apostles from prison in Acts 5, and repeated the process for Peter in Acts 12.

Strengthening and encouraging – Angels strengthened Jesus after His temptation (Matt 4:11), encouraged the apostles to keep preaching after releasing them from prison (Acts 5:19-20), and told Paul that everyone on his ship would survive the impending shipwreck (Acts 27:23-25).

Answering prayer – God often uses angels as His means of answering the prayers of His people (Daniel 9:20-24; 10:10-12; Acts 12:1-17).

Caring for believers at the moment of death – In the story of Lazarus and the rich man, we read that angels carried the spirit of Lazarus to “Abraham’s bosom” when he died (Luke 16:22).
If we are not living in such a way that our guardian angels are working overtime we are not living the spiritually adventurous life.
Wild or tame? – acsessorie or adventure? Working our angels or retiring them?

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

What is the next wild thing God is asking you to do?

Discovery Church, family

re-MARK-able part two

re·MARK·a·ble

part 2

“Hey Dad, you wanna have a catch?” (Videoclip)

Illus. – Boy playing catch with God A little boy was out in his front yard, throwing a ball up in the air. An elderly passerby asked the boy what he was doing. He replied, “I am playing a game of catch with God. I throw the ball up in the air and he throws it back.”
– Chris and Ashton Play catch in church

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Mark 1:9-11

THE FATHER FACTOR

1. I CONTRIBUTED. – “Bio Dad” vs real dad =“This is my son.”

2. I LOVED. “whom I love”

3. I APPROVE. “With you I am well pleased.”

But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” – John 6:27

“It is a dangerous trap to be concerned with what others think of you, but if you trust the Lord, you are safe.” Pr. 29:25 (TEV)

WHY TRYING TO PLEASE EVERYONE IS A TRAP

1. IT CAUSES ME TO MISS GOD’S PURPOSE FOR MY LIFE.
“Our purpose is to please God, not people. He is the one who examines the motives of our hearts.” 1 Thes. 2:4 (NLT)

2. IT KEEPS ME FROM GROWING IN MY FAITH.
“You try to get praise from each other, but you do not try to get the praise that comes from the only God. So how can you believe?” John 5:44 (NCV)

3. IT CAUSES HYPOCRISY IN OUR LIVES.
Jesus: “You make yourselves look good in other people’s eyes but God
knows your hearts.” Luke 16:15a (TEV)
“You may brag about yourself, but the only approval that counts is the
Lord’s approval.” 2 Cor. 10:18 (CEV)

HOW TO BREAK OUT OF THE PEOPLE PLEASING PRISON

1. EVEN GOD CAN’T PLEASE EVERYBODY.

2. I DON’T NEED ANYONE’S APPROVAL TO BE HAPPY.
Jesus: “Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me.” John 5:41 (NLT)
“I am the One who comforts you! So why are you afraid of mere humans,
who wither like the grass and disappear?” Isaiah 51:12 (NLT)
“Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.” Ps. 27:10

3. WHAT SEEMS SO IMPORTANT NOW IS ONLY TEMPORARY.
“The world and everything in it that people desire is passing away; but
those who do the will of God will live forever.” 1 John 2:17 (TEV)
Jesus: “The things that are highly valued by people are worth nothing in
God’s sight.” Luke 16:15b (TEV)

“The best of your life is the rest of your life”

4. I ONLY NEED TO LIVE FOR AN AUDIENCE OF ONE.
Jesus: “I don’t try to please myself, but I only please the One who sent me.” John 5:30
Paul: “I’m not trying to be a people pleaser! No, I am trying to please God.
If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ’s servant.”
Galatians 1:10 (NLT)

5. GOD SHAPED ME TO BE ME.
“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.” Romans 12:2 (Ph)

Support this ministry @

http://www.discoveryprescott.com/

Discovery Church

re-MARK-able part one

Watch part one of the re·MARK·a·ble sermon here:

Mark is Gospel of “Action”. – “The Gospel of A man on a mission sent by a God on the move.”

Author Mark – who was the cousin of Barnabas who was the associate of Paul and Peter. – 16 chapters written in ROME/ Eye witness accounts.
Mark acquired a nickname: Colobodactylus, …— “stubby fingers.”
Key word of Mark – “Immediately”
“Immediately”–at least six time in first chapter alone.
“Immediately They left their nets and followed him”.
“Immediately” he was sent into the desert.
“Immediately he was healed.”

“The Gospel of Mark is the “white water trip of the New Testament” – Dan Hutchinson

Key verse – For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

A re-MARK-able outline:

1. The Gospel Of Cold Water In Your Face. – It’s time to wake up
Mark 1:8 – I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
2. The Gospel Of Great Preparation.
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” 3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’

“He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,” – Ephesians 1:9-12
Sometimes we lose the message in the message –illus
Letter from a college student to his dad.
3. The Gospel Requires A Response.
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” – Mark 1:14-15

The world has never been moved by the mildly interested – Winkey Prantney

Some want to live within the sound
Of church or chapel bell
I want to run a rescue shop
Within a yard of hell-C.T. Studd
‪#‎weneedmorestudds‬

Walk with God long enough….and some of your questions marks will be turned into exclamation points!

http://www.discoveryprescott.com

Thank you for watching

Discovery Church, marriage

50 QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU SAY “I DO”.

Fifty Questions To Answer Before Saying “I DO”

Welcome to an adventure in learning about yourself and your prospective partner!
Hopefully you will benefit from the time invested in filling out this little questionaire. The questions are intentionally hard and yes/no answers are few. But, you get out what you put in kinda like marriage! So please be diligent and please be as honest as you can. These forms are entirely confidential and will be disposed of after use, so feel free to risk it!

May the Lord bless and reward you with a great marriage!

IMPORTATNT: (Please copy and paste these questions, print them out and answer them. Bring them to your pre-marriage sessions we have scheduled.)

PART 1
1. How much have you talked about the issues which arise after marriage?

2. Are you a Christian?
Is your mate?

3. Is there any challenge to this marriage? (Divorce, addictions, pregnancy,etc.?) If any, what has been
done about it??

4. What is your understanding of a marriage covenant?

5. What are your temperaments? (i.e., Sanguine, Choleric, Phlegmatic, Melancholy)

6. Why do you want to get married?

7. Do you like each other? ( It is assumed that you are in love.)

8. What irritates you most in your mate’s conduct?

9. Are you gratified by your mate’s manners?

10. Do. you treat strangers better than you treat family members?

PART 2
11. How do you treat your mother and father?

12. How do you like your prospective in-laws?

13. Are you easily offended?

14. Do you have a sense of humor?

15. Do you believe anyone should help you financially?

16. What is your attitude about the wife working outside the home?

17. Who will handle the ckeck book?

18. Are you going to pool all your resources?

19. How generous are you?

20. What is your plan for spending?

PART 3
21. What is your attitude towards debt?

22. How will you handle reverses? ( Unemployment, sickness, etc.)

23. Where will you live?

24. Do you know the difference between sex and love?

25. What will you do if you discover one partner is more highly sexed than the other?

26. What books have read on the subject of sex?
On marriage in general?

27. What would you do if you discovered that your mate was romantically interested in another person?

28. When do you plan to have a child?
How many children?

29. What is your feeling about birth control?
Are you well advised?

30. Are you flexible?

PART 4
31. Do you have same interests?

32. What is your attitude toward household chores and who does them?

33. What do you expect of your mate?

34. What does your mate expect of you?

35. How do you act during confrontation?
Why?

36. How does your mate act during confrontation?
Why?

37. Do you identify one’s success and/or failure as success and/or failure for both?

38. How will you handle criticism from your mate?

39. Do you believe in careful, sensitive listening?
Are you good at it?

40. Do you believe in talking over matters and sharing in decision making for the family?

PART 5
41. Do you believe in counselors to help you solve personal problems?

42. What are your long range goals?

43. What are your short range goals?

44. When did you have a physical check up?
What were the results?

45. Where do plan to go to church?

46. How will you treat your religious differences?

47. Are you willing to leave each other to God?

48. What is your concept of leadership in the home and family?

49. If you could change one thing about your mate, what would it be?
Why?

50. Do your parents (and friends) favor this marriage?

FINAL ARRANGEMENTS
Have you made all arrangements for the wedding?

Who is in your wedding party?

Where will the ceremony be?

What Time is the wedding and what time is the reception?

Have all the financial plans for the wedding be arranged?

Have you put together an outline of what you would like the wedding ceremony to look like?

May God bless as you begin this journey together.

Pastor Steve and Brenda

http://www.discoveryprescott.com

church farm, Discovery Church

Dedication Of Another Soul

Discovery Church, Discovery Expeditions

Arizona Hot Springs

Last week we did a hike in/boat out trip to the Arizona Hot Springs.

This is a great, 3.25-mile hike to hot springs near the Colorado River. The route runs down a deep, narrow, geologically interesting canyon for 2.75 miles to the Colorado River, turns to run downstream for 0.5 miles to the next major canyon, and ascends that canyon for about 5 minutes to a 20-ft waterfall and a ladder. Climbing the ladder brings hikers to the hot springs. the water temp is 110 F at its source, decreasing as it flows down the canyon. At the waterfall about 95 F.

Sauna Cave is about 1/2 mile from Hoover Dam.

The Kayak trip is about 7 mile from the Arizona Hot Springs to Willow Beach

Thank you Ryan and Mattie Smith and Tierra Wild for a great time at the Arizona Hot Springs .
http://www.tierrawild.com/

One side note; I was awakened around 6:18 a.m. by a small 2.0 earthquake 8km E of Henderson, Nevada.

What a great way to enjoy the Canyon.

Discovery Church

DISCOVERY REFLECTS ON 2014 IN PICTURES AND STILL IT IS NOT ENOUGH

Thank you Discovery and friends for a challenging but fruitful first full year of doing life together.
Brenda and I love what God has put together and how each and everyone of you make up the tapestry of something that is one of a kind.
Thank you for your originality.
Thank you for your compassion.
Thank you for being contributors not just consumers.
Thank you for being risk takers and lovers of God’s creation.
Thank you for trusting us.
Thank you for gathering with a community of faith, hope and love.
Thank you for trying a “new model” of doing “church”.
Thank you giving others hope who have given up on church.
We so look forward to 2015 and all the amaZINGness that you bring to our lives.

Simply thank you.

http://www.discoveryprescott.com

Steve and Brenda Lummer (justlikesummerwithan”L”)

The Grand Canyon

Here is a brief glance at Discovery in pictures for 2014.

Jesus Culture ENCOUNTER 2014 Sacramento …. Outdoor Nations Booth.

Our housing accommodations were more than five star.

Senior Trip Expedition put on by Discovery for Abundant Life School, Madison Wisconsin .

Discovery Church, what I am working on right now

The two faces of January and the two faced God “Janis”

Typically the week between Christmas and New Years are a week of reflection and vision casting for me.

So right now I am in reflection mode reading my past blogs since 2008.

As I get closer to the new year I will shift into vision mode.

I love reading about ancient Greek and Roman mythology.

January is named after the Roman god Janus who was unusual because he had two faces.

The mythical god had two faces, one looking forward and one looking backward, which symbolised that he had the gift to see both past and future.

“January”

The two faces of January and the two faced God “Janis”
This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. 22 Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. – Lamentations 3:21-23

Luke 24:8
“Then they remembered His words.”

James 1:26 “we look into a mirror and forget what we look like.”

THREE SIMPLE FORGET ME NOTS GOD WANT YOU TO REMEMBER .
1. REMEMBER YOU ARE REDEEMED.

Duet 15:15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you.
2. REMEMBER LOTS WIFE.

Luke 17 32 Remember Lot’s wife!
33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.
3. REMEMBER HE DOESN’T REMEMBER.

Hebrews 8:12 For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.
Improving one’s memory is not all that difficult. Most of us simply don’t expend the time or effort required. “The true art of memory,” wrote an English historian, “is the art of attention.” We can improve our memories by simply putting our minds to it and by following a few simple rules: 1) Remember to remember. Telling yourself that you want to remember this or that fact and concentrating on it will improve your memory immediately. We remember what we WANT to remember. 2) Sharpen your observation. Pay close attention to what you see and hear. Use images. Shut your eyes and try to SEE it. Notice details. really LOOK at things. Few people actually do. 3) Practice recall. Forgetting is most rapid soon after learning. It helps, therefore, to make a deliberate effort to repeat and review immediately. Repetition will help fix the fact or image in our minds. 4) Concentrate. Eliminate distractions. The mind is at its best when it is centered on one thing at a time. Avoid such things as fatigue, noise, and competing visual images during the time you are trying to learn.
Sometimes we as Christians need to stop along life’s road and look back. Although it might have been winding and steep, we can see how God directed us by His faithfulness. Here’s how F.E. Marsh described what the Christian can see when he looks back:

The deliverances the Lord has wrought (Deut. 5:15).
The way He has led (Deut. 8:2)
The blessings He has bestowed (Deut. 32:7-12).
The victories He has won (Deut. ll:2-7).
The encouragements He has given (Josh. 23:14).
When we face difficulties, we sometimes forget God’s past faithfulness. We see only the detours and the dangerous path. But look back and you will also see the joy of victory, the challenge of the climb, and the presence of your traveling Companion who has promised never to leave you nor forsake you.

I am Looking forward to looking back and forward this week.

Reflecting on 14 – looking forward to 15.

Steve

Christmas Eve, Discovery Church

Highly Infectious

The Christmas Spirit is Highly Infectious

“It is easy to laugh when everybody is laughing; easy to weep when everybody is in tears. The most solitary and phlegmatic man cannot walk through a park on a public holiday in exactly the same temper in which he would traverse it on a day on which he has its lawns and lakes and avenues all to himself. In spite of himself, he is influenced by the carnival atmosphere, and imbibes something of the spirit of the occasion. For pleasure is highly infectious. The gladness of the multitude communicates itself, almost irresistibly, to the individual. This vital principle never wields its spell with greater force than at Christmas time.”
– F W Boreham