Dundee Presbyterian http://www.dpcomaha.org Dundee Presbyterian Church of Omaha, NE. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:52:11 +0000 en hourly 1 Dundee Presbyterian Church of Omaha, NE. Dundee Presbyterian clean Dundee Presbyterian Church of Omaha, NE. Dundee, Presbyterian Church, Omaha, Nebraska Dundee Presbyterian http://www.dpcomaha.org/wp-content/uploads/powerpress/dundee_itunes-993.jpg http://www.dpcomaha.org Omaha, Nebraska Weekly Grasping Jesus http://www.dpcomaha.org/grasping-jesus/ http://www.dpcomaha.org/grasping-jesus/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:40:00 +0000 Dr. Robert Jordan http://www.dpcomaha.org/?p=1947 Read More...]]> Have you ever had the experience of trying to communicate an important message to someone who just doesn’t seem to get it? The experience is common enough that the question almost becomes rhetorical. Effective communication seems so essential to our human experience, and yet, we still haven’t come close to perfecting a process that ensures that the hearers of our messages will actually receive and grasp our intended meanings.
The mechanics of communication themselves are rather straight forward. The speaker formulates an idea in his or her head, filters that idea into words, and then speaks the words aloud. The listener, for his or her part, receives the spoken words, correlates them with visual and audial clues, processes them through his or her own history and knowledge, and then formulates a personal perspective on the speaker’s intended meanings. It’s a process that is fairly easy to describe.
So, what seems to be the problem? At the top of the list are those shifty, stubborn, highly trusted, often inaccurate personal filters we use to process the words that we hear. As yet, we haven’t found a way to implant miniature translators that can override our personal filters and allow us to hear exactly what the speaker intended for us to hear. Some people seem to grasp this shortfall and check their understandings through active listening skills before coming to conclusions or trying to formulate responses. The rest of us, to our own detriment, choose not to put in this level of effort and decide instead to trust the accuracy of our interpretations.
Jesus seems to be fully aware of the challenges associated with communication and of the relatively few number of people who choose to work at hearing messages well. When he ministered, Jesus compensated for the weaknesses in the communication process by utilizing short stories that would capture his intended meanings and deliver them in a package that would require the hearer to process the stories in order to understand the message(s). It bought the listener time to question his or her own filters. Of course this approach didn’t work for everyone. Many more seemed to have missed Christ’s messages than those who truly grasped what he was communicating.
How about you? We still have the stories Jesus told. Have you accurately grasped their meaning(s)? It can be awfully difficult to discern who has and who hasn’t truly understood Jesus—so difficult that Jesus encouraged his followers not to try to weed out the ones who failed to pick up on what he was saying. If we’re unable to isolate those who hear and get it from those who hear but fail to understand accurately, we can at least check and recheck our own understandings. This task requires courage, humility, and effort. We have to be big enough to assume that our first intuition and deductions might be wrong. We have to be small enough to ask for and wait upon the Spirit’s help. And we have to be willing to work at grasping Jesus over the course of our entire lives.
Try it for yourself. Spend some time in Matthew 13:1-52—long enough to clearly get what Jesus is teaching. It’s sure to be something we won’t want to miss.

]]> http://www.dpcomaha.org/grasping-jesus/feed/ 0 God’s Way Or My Way: The Long Arm of Christ http://www.dpcomaha.org/gods-way-or-my-way-the-long-arm-of-christ/ http://www.dpcomaha.org/gods-way-or-my-way-the-long-arm-of-christ/#comments Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:37:51 +0000 amorrison http://www.dpcomaha.org/?p=1952 This Link will download a PDFStudy Guide – Life of Christ: Kingdom Proclaimed 7Get Adobe Reader

]]> http://www.dpcomaha.org/gods-way-or-my-way-the-long-arm-of-christ/feed/ 0 Dundee Presbyterian clean 24:00 My Way or God’s Way: The Long Arm of Jesus http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-gods-way-the-long-arm-of-jesus/ http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-gods-way-the-long-arm-of-jesus/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:11:47 +0000 Dr. Robert Jordan http://www.dpcomaha.org/?p=1940 Read More...]]> Does Jesus heal?
Yes. Jesus does heal. Even today people will call upon the name of Jesus and receive healing from him—physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, and relationship healing.

Does Jesus heal all the time?
No. Just because Jesus does heal doesn’t mean he heals everyone all the time in the manner they desire.

Why not?
Healing is not just an act of God’s mercy and love but also of his providence. God’s providence is not a servant to human desire. God’s providence flows out of God’s wisdom.

Do you find that answer satisfying?
Not when I or someone I see is hurting and suffering. It’s good to know that God—with his infinite wisdom—is in charge, but unresolved suffering and pain still stinks.

Does my faith play a part in God Choosing to heal?
There are definitely times in Scripture when the faith of the person who received healing or the faith of others plays an active role, but there are also occurrences of healing in the Bible that don’t mention human faith at all.

Are we supposed to pray for healing?
Absolutely. God gives us the privilege of taking all of our wants, wishes, desires, and needs to him in prayer. There is even teaching in the Bible that encourages diligence in taking our requests to God. God’s providence will win out so we need not worry if we’re praying “the right thing.”

Do we have to pray a certain way?
The biblical accounts of Jesus’ healing stories demonstrate that Jesus was never formulaic in his healing ministry. Pray your heart to the holy God who has the power to heal.

What if I’ve prayed a lot but healing still hasn’t happened?
You can know that God has heard your prayers. You can also keep praying. You can even let God know how frustrated and even angry you might be. You would serve yourself best, however, if at the end of the day you remembered that God is God and God is good.

How can God be good if God doesn’t heal the way I want him to?
It’s a question with which you might have to wrestle. It can be a risky thing to define the goodness of God on the answer we receive to any one specific prayer we have. In our limited abilities and perspectives, we can fail to see all that God has done, is doing, and will do in the future. God demonstrated his love and his goodness in creating all things, in sending Christ and the Holy Spirit, and in establishing a covenant that provides for life with him eternally.

I still want God to heal.
Good. Continue to ask our good God to provide.

]]> http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-gods-way-the-long-arm-of-jesus/feed/ 0 God’s Way Or My Way: The Law of Christ http://www.dpcomaha.org/1936/ http://www.dpcomaha.org/1936/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:20:55 +0000 amorrison http://www.dpcomaha.org/?p=1936 This Link will download a PDFStudy Guide: Life of Christ: Kingdom Proclaimed 6 ]]> http://www.dpcomaha.org/1936/feed/ 0 Dundee Presbyterian clean 20:45 My Way or God’s Way: The Counter Culture of Christ http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-gods-way-the-counter-culture-of-christ/ http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-gods-way-the-counter-culture-of-christ/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:15:22 +0000 Dr. Robert Jordan http://www.dpcomaha.org/?p=1926 Read More...]]> Have you ever set your eyes upon a mountain with the splendors of its forests, the severity of its scars, the security of its presence, and the ominous threat of an impending storm? Have you ever stared at a waterfall and become lost in the rush of the river pouring over the precipice, humbled by the liquid explosion of water slamming against stone, and reassured by the spectrum produced as light and mist dance in response? Have you ever held a just-born in your arms and felt the squirming of little limbs, watched the scrunching of a nose and eyes and the puckering of tiny lips, and felt the grip of the littlest of fingers against your own flesh? Have you ever witnessed someone receiving unconditional love as words together with actions convey appreciation, tenderness, compassion, value, and soul-deep beauty?
If you have had even just one opportunity to observe any of these wonders and then attempted to communicate your perceptions to another with whom you are desperate to share the experience, then you know of the challenge of packing wonder into words. Try as you might, defeat is only a few, all-too-shallow phrases away. We’ve been told that a picture paints a thousand words, but that number often seems to fall exponentially short.
What if, however, you were able to put together just the right set of words that somehow became a beauty all to themselves, one that even the best of pictures could never capture? Poets attempt this feat as a course of everyday business. Through rhyme, meter, vocabulary, and numerous grammatical and syntactical slights of hand, the poet seeks to achieve what prose cannot: beauty and/or meaning in an economy of words that twist and comb and jerk and tickle the ear.
There is a piece of Scripture, known as the “Sermon on the Mount,” that is neither poetry nor picture, yet in its striking brevity describes the height of holiness, the costliness of conviction, raw courage, pure grace, humanity at its best, God at his most demanding, and hope. In fewer than 2,400 words, it covers the divine view of reality and life as it is meant to be lived. The text challenges common definitions of lust, divorce, and anger and then provides vital, transcendent, and everlasting redefinitions. The essentials of prayer appear in the essential prayer itself. Issues of anxiety and security and generosity and wisdom not only receive attention but achieve clarity. In other words, it takes 2,400 words to paint a picture of life in God’s kingdom, under God’s authority, in line with God’s heart.
You are invited to set your eyes upon this verbal panoramic and take in the glory revealed through the passage. A word of caution, however, is more than appropriate. Far too many people have rushed through the text like a kindergartner on a field trip at the Louvre. Some people have commented, “If you’ve seen one mountain, you’ve seen them all.” Not so with Chapters 5, 6, and 7 of Matthew’s Gospel. Read the words slowly on a bench in a park. Speak a paragraph or two aloud at your kitchen table. Read Chapter 5 before breakfast, Chapter 6 during lunch, and Chapter 7 after dinner. Memorize three sentences in three days. Attach a phrase, like “Seek first the kingdom of God,” to your breathing until you’re saying it without even thinking about it. Share the passage with someone you love.
Life is far too bland without mountains and waterfalls and just-born babies and unconditional love. Trying to live life without the understanding Jesus captures and communicates in his “Sermon on the Mount” is akin to death. Do yourself and everyone around you a favor; choose to live and to live the words of Christ.

]]> http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-gods-way-the-counter-culture-of-christ/feed/ 0 God’s Way Or My Way: The Need for New Beginnings http://www.dpcomaha.org/gods-way-or-my-way-the-need-for-new-beginnings/ http://www.dpcomaha.org/gods-way-or-my-way-the-need-for-new-beginnings/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:44:41 +0000 amorrison http://www.dpcomaha.org/?p=1930 This Link will download a PDFStudy Guide – Life of Christ: Kingdom Proclaimed 5 ]]> http://www.dpcomaha.org/gods-way-or-my-way-the-need-for-new-beginnings/feed/ 0 Dundee Presbyterian clean 27:21 My Way or God’s Way: The Need for a New Beginning http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-god%e2%80%99s-way-the-need-for-a-new-beginning/ http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-god%e2%80%99s-way-the-need-for-a-new-beginning/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:16:21 +0000 Dr. Robert Jordan http://www.dpcomaha.org/?p=1901 Read More...]]> Born Again
It wasn’t long ago in our culture that people generally associated negative notions with the idea of being a “born again Christian.” Many church goers would comment, often with a sneer on their faces, “I’m not one of those “born again” Christians.” It seems that somewhere along the way, the concept of being ‘born again’ picked up associations with emotional outbursts, dramatic conversion experiences, and televangelism.
To claim, however, that we’re not “one of those born again Christians” puts us at odds with the teaching of Christ found in John 3:1-15. In the text, we find Jesus interacting with a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus. Jesus informs Nicodemus that only those who are born again (or as some read the passage, “born from above”) can see the kingdom of God. He spoke of a rebirth effected by God’s Spirit and by water. The text clearly communicates that from Jesus’ point of view, rebirth—or being born again—is a necessity for any and all who would call themselves legitimately Christian.
Teachers of the Bible over the centuries have sought to capture the Bible’s teaching on the subject. Their work has emphasized the following terms and understandings:
Regeneration
The Bible explains that when that first couple disobeyed God, they introduced the state of being sinful into the human race. More than just a single act of disobedience, their choice altered our very nature so that every human now carries in his or her being a drive not to seek God or God’s best. In other words, we’re damaged goods even before we commit our first offensive act. Furthermore, our being damaged, or “fallen,” robs us of the ability to seek God on God’s terms. In his grace, however, God has reached out to us through Christ and through his Spirit. Regeneration is captured in baptism: we go down dead in our sins; we come up alive in Christ. (Rom 6:1-11; Gal 2:20; 2 Cor 5:17)
Justification
At the time of a person’s rebirth (or regeneration), God “justifies” that person, or sets him or her in good standing with himself. Essentially, God acquits a person of his or her sins and sinfulness and applies the “righteousness,” or the very godliness and goodness and sinlessness of Jesus, to the individual, with all the privileges and promises associated with being in a right relationship with God. (Rom 4-5; Gal 2:15-21; 3:10-14)
Sanctification
Even though a follower of Christ experiences regeneration and justification through the Son and the Spirit, there is still work to do in the person’s life and heart. Some have called this state an “already and not yet” experience. God has already accomplished our rebirth, but our full experience of the new us won’t occur until Jesus returns. In the interim, we’re called to participate with the Spirit in the great task of remaking ourselves into the very image of Christ. This journey is referred to by theologians as sanctification. Take a look at Rom 12:1-2; 2 Cor 3:18; Php 3:20-21; 1 Thes 4:1-8; and Titus 2:11-14.
So how do you get on board? Declare your sorrow for undermining God’s authority in your life and in the world and acknowledge Jesus as the rightful leader of your life and the one who sets you right with God. Bam. Done. You’re born again. Now you can join God’s Spirit in the good work of becoming just like Jesus.

]]> http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-god%e2%80%99s-way-the-need-for-a-new-beginning/feed/ 0 God’s Way Or My Way: Are You Willing to Follow? http://www.dpcomaha.org/gods-way-or-my-way-are-you-willing-to-follow/ http://www.dpcomaha.org/gods-way-or-my-way-are-you-willing-to-follow/#comments Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:31:44 +0000 amorrison http://www.dpcomaha.org/?p=1905 This Link will download a PDFStudy Guide – Life of Christ: Kingdom Proclaimed 4 ]]> http://www.dpcomaha.org/gods-way-or-my-way-are-you-willing-to-follow/feed/ 0 Dundee Presbyterian clean 28:42 My Way or God’s Way: Are You Willing to Follow? http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-god%e2%80%99s-way-are-you-willing-to-follow/ http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-god%e2%80%99s-way-are-you-willing-to-follow/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:16:33 +0000 Dr. Robert Jordan http://www.dpcomaha.org/?p=1893 Read More...]]> “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” – Matthew 4:19

Are you willing to follow Jesus where he leads?

Consider the Costs …

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Matt. 16:24
“Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” John 15:20

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matt. 10:34-39

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Matt. 7:13-14

Consider the Provisions …

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matt. 11:28-30

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt. 28:20

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” John 14:3

]]> http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-god%e2%80%99s-way-are-you-willing-to-follow/feed/ 0 My Way or God’s Way: The Clarity of Purpose http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-god%e2%80%99s-way-the-clarity-of-purpose/ http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-god%e2%80%99s-way-the-clarity-of-purpose/#comments Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:00:48 +0000 amorrison http://www.dpcomaha.org/?p=1899 http://www.dpcomaha.org/my-way-or-god%e2%80%99s-way-the-clarity-of-purpose/feed/ 0 Dundee Presbyterian clean 24:06