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Bible Challenge Week 10

Howard — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:21:08 +0000

I hope you’ve been able to keep up, because it’s readings like yesterday and today’s that really start to stitch the bible together as God’s story of salvation. If you’re up to date on your readings, today’s reading from Matthew was the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Did any of it sound familiar? Go back to yesterday’s reading and re-read Isaiah 53. Two passages separated by centuries telling very similar stories. This is the great benefit of reading the bible as we are – we get to see how it all fits together to tell God’s grand love story for us!

Ruth is another great example of this. At the close of Ruth there is a genealogy of the descendants of Ruth. Ruth, with her story of faithfulness and honor, is one of the ancestors of David. Matthew 1:5 lists Ruth and Boaz as part of the genealogy of Jesus. Their story plays a role in building a history of faithfulness that leads to Jesus.

I encourage you to look for the little signs that connect God’s word together. It is exciting to see how God has laid out all of history to lead to Christ. In the same way he has been preparing us to receive His Son. Have you received Him? Trust in Jesus and become part of God’s great love story for us!

In Defense of Exclusive Salvation

Howard — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:19:11 +0000

It saddens me that I feel like I have to write this post. Recently, through a number of unconnected friends, I have been relayed stories of people who, while they believe Jesus is Christ, do not believe that He is the only way to salvation. Their argument, in essence, is that Jesus is a way to salvation, but not the way to salvation. They believe that other religions offer their own way to God or that God will somehow make a way or honor someone else’s misguided faith.

Let me put this simply: IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU BELIEVE. THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IS THE TRUTH.

Jesus does not claim to be a way to God. He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” (John 14:6) That’s it. There is no other way. Is this exclusive? YES. By definition, truth is exclusive. There can only be ONE truth. Things that are close to the truth are still not truth. Would you accept your kids coming close to telling you the truth? No! Neither does God accept anything short of the true way of salvation.

Does this mean that Christianity is, by definition, intolerant of other religious beliefs? YES! Does this mean that Christians must be intolerant of those who don’t yet believe the truth? NO! We are called to hold strong to our truth, but also to be loving to others. Our attitudes go a long way in showing the love of God that is within us, a love that is for all people.

The only way to eternal life is through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the essential truth of Christianity that cannot be altered to make ourselves feel better about those who do not believe. And if we believe this, then we must seek ways to share this truth with those that are lost in the untruth of the world or of other religions.

What we believe doesn’t matter. Jesus is the truth, and Him alone. It is only through faith in Jesus that we are saved.

Bible Challenge Week 9

Howard — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:02:52 +0000

It hardly seems like 9 weeks ago that we started this journey! I hope that you are feeling as blessed by the experience as I am. Each time I read scripture I find God’s message for me. Sometimes the message is one of learning from the lessons of a nation lost in their own wills and without any guidance. Sometimes the lesson is a comforting and encouraging reminder from the voice of one after God’s own heart. And sometimes the message is directly to me – written over 1,000 years ago but speaking directly to my heart.

God’s message for me this week came last Sunday in the reading from 1 Corinthians 1:17 “For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News – and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.” Reading these words, I felt a great conviction to preach, not in such a way that brings me compliments and makes people feel good, but in a way that draws people to Christ. My job isn’t to add to the numbers of the church rolls, but to tell people of the good news of Jesus and the salvation that is freely available to them. This is my charge and my soul’s passion.

So let me put this simply – there is only one way to fulfill the emptiness of your life and that is through the greatness of God. But this greatness is not something that we can earn – in fact our selfish hearts keep us from connecting with God. But God loved us enough that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place for our sinful, selfish nature that we can have the abundant life that God intends for us. This is all God’s free grace offered to us through faith. Our true life can only be had through faith in Jesus Christ. It is when we trust in Christ as our Savior and turn over our will to His as our Lord that we have the life that God intends for us. And God promises that when we live in this faith, we will live with him forever. Without this faith, we will die in our sins and be forever separated from God.

Friends, more than scripture, I hope that you are discovering Christ as we read together. May He continue to be revealed to you as we seek His Word!

Restaurant Review – Nobi

Howard — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:39:40 +0000

To me, the difference between a good place and a great place is how they handle the simple things. The traditional Vietnamese char-grilled pork sandwich (bahn mi), for example, is markedly simple. French roll buttered inside and stuffed with cucumber, carrot, and maybe some diakon mixed into a tangy slaw, sliced jalapeño, char-grilled pork, and maybe some cilantro. Simple enough. Properly prepared, a bahn mi makes you wish you had room for one or two more. Improperly prepared and you hardly finish half of it.

Nobi has gone a long way towards tilting the scale towards a great bahn mi. The bread is fresh with a crisp outside and a soft inside. The grilled pork is well seasoned and cooked just right. The veggie “slaw” (for lack of a better term) is fresh and tangy. The sandwich has good balance and is definitely a great find for Galveston county. While one might encounter better if one ventures into the heavily Asian areas of west Bellaire Blvd, this is definitely the best in the area and worth a regular stop for a quick fix. My only request would be the addition of some cilantro, but the lack of it did not overly detract from the sandwich as a whole.

Nobi has a simple, but rather full menu for it’s location. Located in a small strip center that is anchored by a Shell station, Nobi provides a fast food atmosphere with quality handmade fare. Their iced coffee is good and, while I cannot attest to the taste of their entrees, the appearance and scent of a neighboring table’s lunch has me thinking about trying some next time. Their shrimp spring rolls were rather plain and lacked the vegetables, fresh basil, and flavorings that I am used to in spring rolls. I’d pass on them next time in favor of their egg rolls, which I would gladly eat my fill of if they came “all you can eat.”

Nobi is family run and has very friendly and helpful staff. They are more than willing to answer any questions for those new to their cuisine. While many other Vietnamese sandwich places have counter staff who, while friendly, have limited English and may be intimidating for an English-only patron, Nobi’s staff are very easy to understand and are not intimidating.

Stop by and support this great eatery! Who knows, maybe with a little interest we can get Nobi to expand into the tapioca tea market? (Nothing better than a bahn mi and an iced espresso with coffee jellies!)

Nobi Asian Grill

3640 FM 528 – in Shell shopping center at 528 and Blackhawk

Price: About $3 a sandwich, 6.99 for entrees

Food Quality: ****

Service: *****

Ambience: ***

Notes: The best sandwich in Friendswood! Buy two and save one for later!

Bible Challenge week 8

Howard — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:02:57 +0000

8 weeks down and now we’ve completed 2 books! I hope you are getting a lot out of the readings. It is amazing how God continues to reveal verses to me that I’ve read over time and time again. Continue seeking God in these daily readings.

Praise God that we are in the much easier to read section of Isaiah! Chapter 40 begins what scholars call the “book of comfort”. It is filled with promises of God’s loving restoration of Israel and speaks of God’s salvation to come through Jesus. One of my favorite chapters of scripture is Isaiah 44, which speaks of the foolishness of idols. It’s great to read and see the fallacy of idols exposed, but it is also a great challenge to us. While we may not carve out idols from wood or shape them from metal, there are many things in life that we put ahead of God. There are any of a number of things that we give worth to that really have no eternal value and can give us nothing in return. We can get lured into believing that money will bring happiness, but it won’t. Neither will selfish living or good deeds or power. While these may at times give us a false sense of worth, their ‘blessings’ are fleeting. We’re left with nothing but emptiness and a continued longing for worthiness.

We worship what we think will give us worth. But all the ‘worth’ of the world will never really fill the need of our souls. Our true worth is an eternal worth that can only be given by God. Jesus came to give us worth – to be the way by which God adopts us into His family. Our worth is in Christ alone, and nothing of this world will replace that worth.

We can either continue to see after worthless idols, or we can seek our worth in Christ.