Mark 1: Expositional Preaching

9 Marks of a healthy church. These are by no means the only points to look at when evaluating a church, but these are definitely 9 very important points.

They came from 9 Marks website. I would strongly encourage everyone to go through all 9 points on their website. There is much more detailed information that everyone should know when looking at a church. Also, if your staying at the church your at, how does your church handle these 9 points? Can it do better at these points? How can these points be initiated in a church that needs correction in these areas? What are the benefits of following these 9 Marks?

Here is the overview of Mark 1: Expositional Preaching

Why don't we just quit preaching? Considering the widespread popularity of engaging anecdotes and vivid vignettes, wouldn't it be more effective to simply tell a few captivating stories on Sunday Morning? And why think specifically about expositional preaching - that brand so often associated with excruciating boredom and half-empty pews? In our fast paced society of sports tickers and sound bite infotainment, can we really expect anyone to have the patience for a serious exposition of an ancient text? In an age that has developed a pungent distaste for the exclusivity of religious truth, how can the authoritative tone of expositional preaching hold any promise at all? In a voyeuristic culture inundated with glossy magazines and risqué sitcoms, maybe pastors would be wise to modernize - quit the text-centered approach and accommodate to our culture's predilection for the visual. So… what do you think? Why preach?

The purveyors of technique in today's marketplace of ideas cringe to think that anyone would still be lauding the sermon as an effective pitch. Times have changed. Truth itself has changed. What communicates to the postmodern mind is narrative, journey, epic, vignette; not linear arguments, objective conclusions, or exclusive truth claims. The days of expounding the meaning and implications of a text are long gone. Meaning, like beauty, is now in the eye of the beholder. Universally binding morality is thereby supposed to be a mere myth, and so the authority of the preached Word of God is brushed aside as obsolete. Winning the culture means playing on their new field. So we are told.

But God's Word has something to say about what we preach and how we preach it. What you'll find on the following pages is a brief Biblical rationale for the primacy of expositional preaching in the local church. But that's not all. You'll also find some practical resources to encourage and facilitate the continuing development and increasing fruitfulness of your own expositional ministry. We'll even walk you through the sermon preparation process. Learn what expositional preaching really is (and is not), and discover the difference between expositional sermons and other kinds of sermons. Learn how you can plan for feeding people a healthy diet of expositional meals months ahead of time, and thereby free yourself from worrying about what to preach on this week. Download audio samples of expositional preaching at its best. Hear Mark Dever's topical sermon on expositional preaching from the seminal 9Marks sermon series. Listen to Mark's lecture for pastors on expositional preaching. Print out learning guides and study tools that will help you mine the riches of the Word for yourself. And when you've got something of a handle on it….build it all into your younger guys. You ready? Let's get to it.

Benefits for the Pastor

 Releases the pastor from Saturday Night Fever - the dreaded dilemma of what text to preach tomorrow morning. 

Increases the likelihood of the pastor preaching the whole counsel of God over time.

Increases the pastor's command of the Word by forcing him to study difficult or often-neglected texts for himself.

Increases the Word's command of the pastor by giving him a broader exposure to the probing sword of Scripture, deepening his continued repentance and faith, incrementally increasing his knowledge of God, and therefore enhancing his Spirit-produced ability to please God in every way (Heb 11:6; Col 1:9-12).

Increases the pastor's God-given prophetic authority in the pulpit by grounding his preaching in the divinely intended meaning of the text.


Increases the pastor's God-given blessing in the pulpit by remaining faithful to the intention of the One who sent him to preach a specific message.




Increases the trustworthiness of the pastor's preaching in the eyes of the congregation.

Benefits for the Congregation

The congregation is released from slavery to the preacher's hobbyhorse texts and topics.

The applicational intention of the text is released to do its creating, convicting, converting, and conforming work in their lives.

Increases their knowledge of God and His word by broadening their exposure to all the different parts of Scripture.

Increases their trust in the inspiration, inerrancy, clarity, and sufficiency of Scripture.

Increases their trust in the pastor's preaching and teaching.

Decreases their likelihood of being deceived by false teaching.

Functions for them as a responsible model of personal Bible study.

I see some huge benefits in these points for any church wanting acurate, sound Biblical doctrine!

For the Kingdom

Fruit of the Spirit

Ignorance is not a spiritual fruit

For the Kingdom

Lion of Judah

“Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die. ‘He that will lose his life, the same shall save it,’ is not a piece of mysticism for saints and heroes. It is a piece of everyday advice for sailors or mountaineers. It might be printed in an Alpine guide or a drill book. This paradox is the whole principle of courage; even quite earthly or quite brutal courage. A man cut off by the sea may save his life if he will risk it on the precipice. He can only get away from death by continually stepping within an inch of it. A soldier surrounded by enemies, if he is to cut his way out, needs to combine a strong desire for living with a strange carelessness about dying. He must not merely cling to life, for then he will be a coward, and will not escape. He must not merely wait for death, for then he will be a suicide, and will not escape. He must seek life in a spirit of furious indifference to it; he must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine…”

G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Spiritual Warfare - Part 3 of 3

2 Corinthians 10:4 & 5 - for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,(NASB)

So the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh,
But divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
AWESOME... So what is it? What is this secret? This key for destroying strongholds?

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God. AND we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

This verse talks about spiritual warfare being a knowledge and persuation enterprise, and Paul is saying the way to defeat darkness is to persuade with the truth.

So for us as followers of Christ, we need to engage ambassadorship with our minds. We need to learn techniques to cast down those speculations and apply them in our everyday encounters. I'm not talking about winning the world, going out and making spectacles of yourselves. I'm talking about just simply being prepared, as we should, for those people God brings into our lives.

So take some initiative to become trained! Study the Word. Know why you believe what you believe. And continue to pray for the Grace from God to do so.

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Most of the thoughts and comments from Parts 1,2, and 3 come from "The Student Survival Kit" by Stand To Reason.

I highly recommend this series and also "Decision Making and the Will of God" which I have links to in my sidebar.
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I love you all

WWJD - Part 2 of 3

Many people have the bracelets that say WWJD- What Would Jesus Do. I think this is all-in-all a great think, but I can't help but wonder; How are you to know what Jesus would do, if you have NO idea of what Jesus DID??

We must be students of the gospel. In order to have knowledge of the subject matter for effectiveness; we must study the Bible. If you think "What Would Jesus Do" in a situation and say to yourself, "He'd probably be nice, kind, sweet and accepting." Then you only know part of the truth. Jesus many times wasn't nice, kind, sweet and accepting. He over turned tables and called people vipers, thieves and snakes. A nice, kind, sweet and accepting Christ would never have found himself on a cross.

So knowledge is a very important issue when being an ambassador. Knowledge is also very important in every day decisions. When faced with a WWJD moment- if you don't know what Jesus did and therefore you don't really know what Jesus would do, what are you left with? Your own conscience and desires. Which have been proven faulty and sinful many times over.

So be encouraged to dig into the Word and understand the character of Christ.

I love you all

Ambassadors - Part 1 of 3

2 Corinthians 5:20 -
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

So we are ambassadors. An ambassador stands inbetween the people being spoken to and the sovereign, so that the words being spoken are to be as if they come directly from the sovereign.

That strikes me HARD! As I look at this verse, I realize that I maybe the only Living Bible that anyone every gets to see!
....EVER. My example! I believe that I (we all) need to be MORE intentional in our ambassadorship for Christ in our everyday life!

So what characteristics does a good ambassador have?

1- Knowledgeable- They must have at the very minimum the basic knowledge of the subject matter.
2- Message- They should be able to give a powerful message, a powerful, persuasive message.
3- Character- They must live a good character. If some one is a drunkard, a womanizer, mean or just plain rude. Then their knowledge and delivery won't do much good. They won't be effective.

We need all three to be effective. So I would like to challenge everyone living for Christ to set NEW goals. Set them higher. Purpose to be better examples, more knowledgeable and more persuasive. And then above all, pray for the grace to do so... because only the grace from God will give us the ability to do this.

And don't give up at the first stumble. Growth takes time. And when we fall, we need to learn to get back up, to make it part of the dance... cause we don't fall back to zero, the beginning or back to being new babes again. Only back a little, cause our foundation is growing ever higher and stronger with Christ in us.

I love you all

If you stumble,
Make it part of the dance!

You are What You Eat?

(Random thought from someone else):

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I once saw a sign in a health food restaurant that read, “You are what you eat.” So I pointed out to the waitress that this was true only if you are identical to (the same thing as) your body.

Further, if you are what you eat, then you couldn’t be something until you’ve eaten something. But you can’t eat something until you are something. So you must be something before you eat something. Therefore, it’s not true that you are what you eat.

The waitress looked a me and said, “You’ll have to talk to the manager.”—
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10 Tips to Help Your Prayer Life

If praying does not come effortlessly for you, try these tips for making your prayer life more focused and effective.


For a few hardy prayer warriors, talking with God is as easy as breathing; it happens almost effortlessly. When you ask them how they do it, they simply shrug and reply, "I just pray." Unfortunately, that's about as helpful as John McEnroe saying "I just hit the ball," when asked for some tips on more effective tennis. It may be easy for him to "just hit the ball", but most of us hackers need a little more fundamental instruction to get the job done. With that in mind, we've included here some practical guidelines that might make your time with the Lord more fruitful. Not all of the suggestions will apply to your particular situation, but if you begin by incorporating a few of them, I'm confident your prayer life will improve.
1. Choose a specific place to pray away from distractions so you can concentrate. Ringing phones and crying children will sabotage your "quiet time" before it gets started.

2. Pray at the same time every day, if at all possible. Make it part of your regular routine and it will become habit. Write it into your schedule and then treat it just like a daily appointment.

3. Pray out loud. Many people can pray under their breath or in their minds for long periods and still maintain intensity, but for most of us it's a quick ticket to dreamland. When we pray out loud we have to form intelligent sentences. We have to concentrate more on what we're praying about.

4. Keep a note pad handy so you can jot down different things that come to mind while you're before the Lord. Sometimes you'll get great ideas totally unrelated to what you've been praying about. If you jot them down you can quickly get back to the topic at hand without being too distracted.

5. Make a list to keep track of your prayer needs. This can be done several ways. Prayer needs can be listed by category like "Church," "Family," or "Unsaved friends." Or they may be listed by the days of the week. Each day you pray for a different set of needs. You may want to include prayer everyday for a different area of society that has a tremendous influence on the direction of our nation. These seven categories include 1) the church and religion, 2) the family and the home, 3) the media, 4) government, 5) education, 6) business and commerce, and 7) the arts and entertainment.

6. Redeem time for praying out of unused corners of your schedule. Those who have to drive to work can use the time talking with the Lord instead of screaming at traffic (just don't close your eyes!). Busy homemakers can combine prayer with housework, especially if the task doesn't require a lot of concentration. Joggers, swimmers and cyclists can use their workout time for prayer. Sometimes my best times with the Lord have been chats during long, early morning walks or jogs along the beach.

7. Change the pace during your prayer time. Include praise, thanksgiving and singing as well as petition. Spend some of your time reflecting on the Scripture, meditating on it and digesting its meaning.

8. Keep a prayer journal. Here are two variations of this idea. The first is to keep track of what you prayed for and when you prayed for it. Leave a space to jot down the answer when it comes. This will help you to keep alert to God's answer so you can thank Him promptly. Sometimes prayer answers come in the back door and you don't want them to slip by you. The second variation is to write the entire prayer in your journal. Make it a personal letter to the Lord on a daily basis. Just write "Dear Lord" instead of "Dear Diary."

9. Pray with someone else. Though some prayers can only be said in solitude, there will be times when you'll want to join hearts with another person in prayer. If you commit to meet on a regular basis, the accountability can really help build consistency. Such prayer trysts can become powerful, life-changing events.

10. Pray one-sentence prayers. If the thought of laboring over a topic wears you out, pray short, sincere prayers instead. A sentence or two may be all that's needed to exhaust the topic for you for the time being. If so, just move on to the next item without feeling guilty for your brevity.

Gregory Koukl

Giving Freely

The act of giving ones heart freely is truly noble, daring. It is an act of love that I hold in the highest regards in a persons character. But what happens when that heart meets a cruel, mean and hateful heart? Many bad hearts WILL be met when traveling this road. But will that freely given heart be able to face that hurt with their head up, with the grace of an adult and not the grief of a child, learn from the experience and move on? Or will it withdrawal into itself, it's cave, scared and scarred not allowing anyone to touch or hurt it again until it learns to "GROW UP?"

I've seen too many friends withdrawal, not to be seen again. And it hurts and saddens me to see it. But praise God, He is the great physician, who can heal and restore all who seek his face.

I pray that we all may be that Light that shows this path of love to the hurting, the lost, the down trodden.

My encouragement has been given.
The rest is up to you!
"the Christians"
"the Doers of the Word"
"HIS WORD"

Untitled Hymn:

Zephaniah 3:17

"The LORD your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior
He will exult over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

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I thank the Lord for blessings of hard times and struggles/trials of life. Those times soften us and make us moldable and pliable for our Lord and Savior to work a good work. They have given us an ability to truly enjoy the blessings we now have been given.

I hopefully will be updating more often now.
I love you all

July Seventh

Our day is upon us.
Tomorrow

We pray that the Lord will use our engagement, wedding ceremony, marriage and lives to glorify His name. Further His Kingdom. And work miracles in others lives!!

God Bless
"WE" love you all!

Envy In Life

Psalm 37-
Security of Those Who Trust in the LORD, and Insecurity of the Wicked.

A Psalm of David.

1 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
2 For they will wither quickly like the grass
And fade like the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
9 For evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.

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A group of simple but devout farmers stood by a dusty truck and expressed their frustration. One of their peers- a very irreligious man- had avoided church, gotten drunk on weekends, and generally rejected God. Yet here it was October, and he had the best crop in the county. Why had God rewarded this man's work when he flaunted his disregard for God's way? The conversation was intense, and the men seriously questioned their faith.

Finally one farmer who hadn't said much spoke up. "Fellas, I don't know everything 'bout the Bible, but I'm sure it ain't written in there that God settles all his accounts in October!"

People who follow God don't always see the immediate benefits of that trust. Worse, they sometimes have to watch others get away with doing evil. This Psalm promises that, in time, living God's way will give you "the desires of your heart" (verse 4).

But not necessarily in October!

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It says to "Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him" (verse 7a). The Psalm is not talking about waiting for direction from God to make a decision or some sort of action in your life. No "voice" or "leading". But rather to wait patiently BY not "fretting because of him who prospers in his way" at this time (verse 7b). (We can not take 7a and not apply 7b in context; it's one whole sentence.)

For His blessings WILL come in time, and while we wait, we are to carry on with our day to day lives "doing good", "cultivating faithfulness", "delighting in the Lord" and "trusting in His teachings" (verses 3-5).

If you do this, He promises to bring the blessings (verses 4b and 6).

I love you all

A Seekers Story

So it's been awhile since my last post... and I apologies.
Life has been pretty crazy lately with all the planning and stuff. I promise in the very near future to be back to properly maintaining this blog.

In the mean time, I would like to share a "Seekers Story" with you that I've read recently. It's a quick story, but with a bold message and a bold confession.

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I became a sexaholic at a very early age and developed a secret life. As the years went by, my addiction became worse and worse until evil was almost totally in command of my life. Pornography ruled me. I knew its power and recognized its hold on me, but could not act; I was powerless over the evil that gripped me. I could see my marriage of 28 years was fast coming to an end. Still, I could not change my course.

Then one day, four and a half years ago, at the urging of my daughter and wife, I went to a "Seeker service" at my wife's church. This experience ignited a spark - the beginning of my salvation. Although my secret was still hidden at the time, God began to slowly and gently open my heart. Finally my secret became known.

My coming to know Christ has been slow. Approximately ten months ago, after three and a half years of Christian counseling, 12-step programs, and church involvement, I began praying directly to Jesus to take my hand and lead me out of my despair and hopelessness. That was when my life really started to change.

Today I am beginning to feel like a human being again. God has worked miracles; my lifestyle and attitudes have changed. The power of prayer is real! I asked God to hold my marriage together and He did! It's on the mend. Can you believe it? Yea God! Yea God!

Even though more than half of my life is behind me, I am very grateful now for the opportunity God has given me through Jesus Christ to be born again. What a tremendous gift to a guy who for such a long time traveled down some very dark roads.

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"The power of prayer is real."
"What a tremendous gift.........."

Just a reminder that no matter what place in life your at, and how "dark" your roads may be. And with any problems you may face in life.
God IS good! And Faithful!

I love you all

God's In Charge

1 John 4:4 - God's Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the devil, who is in the world

Satan has no power except that which God gives him.

To the first-century church in Smyrna, Christ said, "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer for ten days. But be faithful, even if you have to die, and I will give you the crown of life" - Rev. 2:10

Analyze Jesus' words for a minute. Christ informs the church of the persecution, the duration of the persecution (ten days), the reason for the persecution (to test you), and the outcome of the persecution (a crown of life). In other words, Jesus uses Satan to fortify His church...

Even when Satan appears to win, he loses.

From Max Lucado

Stand strong

I love you all

Let There Be Light

This is Thomas Edison with his invention. The light bulb.

And this is Philippians 3:14 - I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

We're running a race, we're fighting a fight, we're trying to "re-invent" ourselves to be like Christ. I think about Thomas Edison and how he finally invented the light bulb. He is an example of perserverance, of fortitude, and of character and how we as Christians should fight even harder to be like Christ (Phil. 3:14). But we often forget how hard the fight is at times. We use Phil. 3:14 as a key verse in our lives, only to forget about the preceding verse:

Phil. 3:13 - Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

Catch that: "forgetting those things which are behind"

Thomas Edison failed over 10,000 times before he finally got the light bulb right.
We fail constantly also.
Peter denied Christ three times. DENIED! Meaning:
1. To declare untrue; contradict.
2. To refuse to believe; reject.
3. To refuse to recognize or acknowledge; disavow.
Now that's serious failure!!

But we press on, forgetting those things which are behind, (but not ignoring sin and repentance; a broken and contrite spirit and heart: Psalms 51:16-17) continuing to fight, like Peter, like the apostle Paul.

Edison said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

But what again are we fighting for, what was Paul talking about apprehending in verse 13? It's answered in verses 10 and 11. That objective is to know Christ and all that is included in this knowledge, that is, experiencing His power, sharing His sufferings, being made like Jesus in death, and experiencing resurrection from the dead.

Phil. 3:9-15

So let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (Heb. 12:1).
Lets fight the good fight.
Lets not be held down by past failures.
But know that Christ's blood allows us to standup, straight and tall.

I love you all

Fighting For Freedom

There sits Simon,
so foolishly wise
proudly he's tending his nets
Then Jesus calls,
and the boats drift away
all that he owns he forgets
More than the nets
he abandoned that day,
he found that his pride was soon drifting away
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Matthew was mindful
of taking the tax,
pressing the people to pay
Hearing the call,
he responded in faith
followed the Light and the Way
Leaving the people
so puzzled he found,
the greed in his heart
was no longer around
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Every heart needs to be set free,
from posessions
that hold it so tight
'Cause freedom's not found in the things that we own,
It's the power
to do what is right
Jesus, our only posession,
giving becomes our delight
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We show a love for the world in our lives
by worshipping goods we posess
Jesus has laid all our treasures aside
"love God above all the rest"
'Cause when we say 'no'
to the things of the world
we open our hearts
to the love of the Lord
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Oh, and it's hard to imagine
the freedom we find
from the things
we leave behind
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Simon had pride, Matthew had greed. We all have our struggles! "But Oh, it's hard to imagine the freedom we find, from the things we leave behind!"

So now I'm engaged (to a beauty), and I find myself fighting for freedom. Not from her though :). A different freedom, a freedom from myself. My selfishness. I have new desires, new dreams, new expectations. But in those dreams and desires, there is no room for selfishness. I'm striving to be a good husband and a Godly head of the home. I'm learning new ways of loving, thanks to her, and desiring to love her like Christ loves the Church.

1 Corinthians Chapter 13

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

This is what I'm trying to learn. Without love, I'm nothing. It's not about me, her, or a wedding. It's about a marriage! A life, a lifestyle! And like William Wallace, I will fight for love AND freedom.

So, I want to encourage all the singles. Die to self NOW! There is no better time. Now is the time when you can become as close to God as you possible can with no distractions. Learn and grow, sacrifice. Your relationship with Christ will flurish, and you'll be way ahead for the future.

"But Oh, it's hard to imagine the freedom we find, from the things we leave behind!"

I love you all

New News

The future Mrs. Paul Grimm:

Elise Kaupp
from Gridley Illinois

The Lord has truely blessed us!!

Sorry for my resent lack of posting, I've been busy :D

A New Identity (long, but worth it)

Jesus had an uncanny knack for cutting through "small talk."

Nicdemus, an important member of the religious ruling class, came to Jesus late one night. Was he afraid to be seen with Jesus? Did he want to avoid the crowds? We don't know for sure. But when he began his conversation with a few polite remarks, Jesus cut right to the chase. His statement in St. John 3:3 can be loosely paraphrased, "Nicodemus, you're right about my spiritual position, but you're dead wrong about yours."

Jesus knew that Nicodemus didn't need a lot of tact- he needed truth.

Nicodemus's robes, his title, and his degrees impressed everyone in his religious circle. But Jesus saw right through those outer trappings. He knew that a human heart beat under all that finery- a struggling heart that was tired of carrying the weight, the responsibilities and the endless need to appear "in control" of his religious condition. So before Nicodemus could even formulate his question. Jesus gave the answer, telling him in effect, "What you need is a new start, Nicodemus. It's not too late."

If you, like Nicodemus, are counting on your accomplishments to lead to some sort of ultimate fulfillment or spiritual security, Jesus says the same thing to you.

Accomplishments can't be joy. Titles have no feelings. Degrees don't laugh. Even religion can get in the way of knowing God, because religion is mostly what we do. That's what was happening to Nicodemus, and what Jesus tried to address in their conversation. Life with God means becoming a "faith-follower" and "faithful follower," not trying to be a "do-gooder." Jesus knew that Nicodemus, a religious leader and teacher, didn't understand this basic truth.

Nicodemus needed to make a break with his religiously legalistic past, and to make a new spiritual start in his life, one that centered on a relationship with God based on truth and grace. Jesus called this new start being "born again."

Then Jesus made mention of something that happened centuries before, in Moses' day (verse. 14, from Numbers 21:4-9). When a plague of poisonous snakes killed many Israelites, Moses followed God's command to make a bronze snake and attach it to a pole. People who had been bitten didn't have to pray, go to the temple, try to drain the poison, or do any kind of "religious" act. They were simply told to take God at his word, look at the snake, and believe. Those who did were miraculously healed. Those who didn't died. (By the way, this biblical event is the origin of the snake on the pole in medical insignias.) By using this well-known story as a metaphor for his own crucifixion, Jesus knew that Nicodemus would get the point- God sent Jesus to earth so that people could believe in Him, trust Him, and have eternal life.

He further explained this principle in St. John 3:16-17, one of the most famous verses in the Bible. These verses contain the greatest message, from the greatest source, describing the greatest love, demonstrated by the greatest sacrifice ever given. It contains important news for everyone, especially those who think they have to "be religious" to get God's approval.

The bad new is that we can't do enough to gain God's approval. The good news is that God has already done it on our behalf.

What would prevent you from accepting Jesus' invitation to Nicodemus? Being born again isn't complicated. Simply agree with Jesus that you have a spiritual need that you'll never be able to fill through your own efforts. Then recognize that Jesus didn't come to condemn you, but to pay for your sins, forgive you, and to begin to remake you from the inside. Finally, come to Him as your rescuer and leader and ask Him to do what he said he was dying to do- give you eternal life. This is not a cheap gift; Jesus gave His very lifeblood to obtain it. But it is a free gift. And it's yours for the asking.

Note: Later in Jesus' ministry, Nicodemus defended Jesus when the religious leaders of his day condemned him unfairly (St. John 7:50-51). Nicodemus also showed up at Jesus' death, where he and another influential leader, Joseph of Arimathea, prepared Jesus' body for burial (St. John 19:38-42). Beyond that, we don't know anything about Nicodemus or his response to Jesus' invitation.

But God does.

-modified from The Journey

I love you all.

Drum Roll Please!

So these are my nieces Jacie (4yrs.) and Naya (2yrs.)
I know.... I know.... adorable!!
What can I say.... it runs in the family!!

Now I'd like to introduce my third niece born Monday at OSF.
You can see her pictures (six pics) at OSF website by clicking this link.

Alia Nicole Grimm
Born: 03-27-2006
Birth Time: 12:57 pm
@ OSF Saint Francis Medical Center
Weight: 7 lbs 10 oz
Length: 20 in.

God Bless
I love you all