Regeneration

A few days ago I became an uncle again.  Owen Morgan can into this world and I got to hold him for a few minutes.  In just a few weeks, our second grandchild will be born (Timothy Jude Lyda).  I am so excited about these new births.  Its just such a picture of God and His perfect creation.

Physical Birth and Spiritual Birth.

R.C Sproul has written a commentary on 1st and 2nd Peter.  In it he addresses the topic of Regeneration.  In this blog, I want to share just a small portion with you.

About 1 Peter 1:3-5 Sproul writes:

We find in the opening statements of this epistle not only a reference to election but also a specific reference to regeneration or rebirth. This is commonly distorted in our culture by the idea that we have to have faith in order to be reborn or elect, but the sovereign God, from all eternity, decrees those to whom He will give the gift of faith, which is the fruit of regeneration, not the cause of it.

The Reformation church declared that regeneration precedes faith, which is a distinguishing article of Reformed theology. We tend to get that backwards and think that our faith is what causes us to be reborn. Unless we are born of the Spirit, as Jesus said to Nicodemus, we cannot see the kingdom of God, let alone enter it. Regeneration is what provokes and plants faith in our souls. The very condition that God requires for justification is by His grace sovereignly supplied. If we try to place faith before regeneration, we expect the impossible: the natural to rise up to the supernatural.

We expect those who are dead in sin and trespasses to exercise spiritual life. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians that God “even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Eph. 2:5). Every pregnant woman knows the human experience called “quickening,” which happens when she first feels life in her womb. That is the metaphor Paul gives to the Ephesians of what the Holy Spirit does to people while they are dead. We are as passive in our rebirth as we were in our natural birth. We had nothing to do with causing the conception in our mother’s womb.

Sproul, R. C. (2011-03-02). 1&2 Peter: St Andrew's Expositional Commentary (p. 29). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

I encourage you to find your JOY in the one who brought to life which was dead.

Heading North
Pastor Tim

Empty Pockets

Empty Pockets.

After returning from Connecticut last week, I believe that Lynn and I are still on an Easter celebration High. We celebrated with Oasis of Life church in Rocky Hill, and have been blessed by so many Christ followers in Connecticut. There are some great men and women that are serving our Lord in what I consider the frontlines of planting the gospel in New England.

Friday, Lynn had complete knee replacement surgery, and it went very well. She has endured a lot of pain the past 2 days, but today has been great improvement with reduced pain and more movement. We will be heading home sometime Monday before lunch. To all our family and friends, thank you for the love and prayers.

Today, I have just finished reading again the account of the 2 thieves that were crucified with Jesus in Luke 23:42. The crook said “JESUS, remember me when you come into your kingdom”.

I don’t know how many times I have read this passage in my life, but it just strikes me that this dude had nothing. He had no gifts, no wisdom, no future opportunities to serve, no opportunities to tell others of the Messiah, in short he had empty pockets. Then Jesus says in verse 43, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”.

This reject of society became an “heir of the King” with the simple words of “remember me” and with empty pockets. That is what we refer to as Salvation by Faith alone. Nothing else to do, just recognize that you are guilty and the sin in your life, separates you from God, and then recognize the kingship of the Messiah.

His grace is sufficient and His love is great, and His promise cannot be broken!

Heading North!

Pastor Tim

And the Word Became Flesh

John Chapter 1
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of Grace and Truth.

Let us be reminded today that the word became flesh. The purpose for the Christmas is eternal life through Jesus birth, death, and Resurrection.

Only in Jesus Christ are the topics of Joy, Peace, and Comfort, truly understood and attainable. Just think...we are created for His Joy!! My prayer for all of my family and friends is that your Joy comes ONLY from Christ the King of Kings.

To my Personal Family and LifeSong Family, I am so looking forward to seeing Gods great work in you as your growth leads you to tell the Good News. The King has come! There is much to do, there is much to pray about, and there is much life to live full out.

I have truly been blessed with an amazing wife and best friend. Sons that seek God. A daughter in love that is a example and love to me. A grandchild that I have not met yet, that is a gift only fitting for the King to give.

LifeSong Family - You are such a encouragement in my life. My life has been changed, turned around, shook up, and any other verb that you could add, by your hearts and prayers. In 2010, we will be drawn even closer to His Mission and purpose as we continue to Love God and Love People. WE must Go Big or Go Home! The King deserves our lives and we need to be prepared to give to Him Excellence!!

Gather, Grow, and Go
Pastor Tim

Best Friend

What is a best friend? What does it mean? Does it ever make you feel like you are missing something when you here someone talk about a best friend, or when you see two people “hanging out” together? Some people seem to have 100’s of “best” friends. How can that be? Well I’m no different that any other person and have some opinions on the matter.

Webster says:
a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile.

What ever. I don’t consider someone who is not being hostile toward me, a friend.

God says:
Proverbs 18:24
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 27:6
Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

Luke 5:20
When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven

What do we need to understand from this? A friend is someone who will remove their mask and allow you to see the good and bad of their life. The second part is “Best Friend” has the “want to” and the ability to forgive. “Best friend” means that I want to see more great things to come to that friend, than comes my way. Being friendless or “Best” friendless is a choice.

Maggie our border collie is a great friend. She senses when I’m down, when I am happy, and she expresses her love for me with a massive flexing of her body that I call the Maggie Wiggle. One time when returning from a trip she was so happy to see me, she peed on her self. Now I am not suggesting that … well you get the visual, all I am saying is as a person close to me said, “ In order to have a friend, you must first be a friend”. The next time you look around and wonder where the friends are, remember that we have to be intentional just like Maggie. We are the ones that are to go, and not wait for someone to speak or call. WE are the ones that must walk across the room.

Tomorrow I will travel to Edinburgh with my best friend. She has been my best friend for 25 years, and has put up with a lot of Crazy from my life. She has forgiven and been forgiven, she chooses to give, over receiving. She still loves me when I remove the mask.

Lynn, thank you for your love and best freindshipness.

Gather, Grow, & Go
Pastor Tim

Daughter in Love

Today is our Daughter in Love’s Graduation from college. Brittany is a amazing young woman who has blessed us so much with her smile, love for the lost, love for family, but most importantly her desire to please God. Lynn and I are so proud of her, and we celebrate this mile marker in her life. We ask that all of our friends and family to join hearts together today and celebrate what God has done.

Britt, we LOVE YOU!!!

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Tim & Lynn

Heroes

For whatever reason in my quietness this past week, I have thought about our 2 sons a lot. Don’t get me wrong, I think about them daily, but last week they just seemed to be on my mind and heart. Like any parent, I enjoy telling stories about our kids, like the time Matthew drove the car into the den, or Andrew and I trying to camp at the lake during a lake wind advisory. There is also this major disease that Matt & Drew have which effects their ability to maintain car keys…(my sister Kim has the same disease).

But I can not forget the look on Matt’s face when his bride Brittany came to him at the altar, and to see how she has partnered with him in ministry, or the look in Andrews’ eyes as he shares how God has spoken to him while studying a John Maxwell series…that’s almost the same look that he gives when he says “Erin”.

To be quite serious I am amazed how God has grown our two sons into Men that seem to be fearless in their pursuit to follow the Messiah. This passion and pursuit has impacted the ones that they love, as well as the ones that have been loved by them. By no means are they perfect, but they simply are a joy & blessing to be with. I often worried as a young dad, was I doing the “right” things, and even now I find my self thinking “is there something that I could be missing?”

I wondered was I too hard on them when it was time to spank them. Yep I said spank. That was an activity that was not any fun for us or them, and I realize that many disagree with the method, and do not spank, but as a famous TV Dr. said “how’s that working out for you?” At the Lyda house it was used as one of many tools to grow men. Prayer and Love are the other tools. I don’t know a lot of things, but I am glad that the tables have turned, and I now get be the one that is daily, and weekly learning from some men that pursue Christ, that not too many years ago I was driving them to baseball.

Matt & Drew… my heroes

Gather, Grow, & Go
Pastor Tim

To Love / To be Loved

Questions:
If God makes no mistakes, what does it speak to the world when we treat a person as if they are not good enough? Does that say that this person that God created is a mistake?

If I can’t love the person that I can see, how can I love God that I can not see? Even as Christians, we sometimes try to convince ourselves and others that we are in a right relationship with God (our daddy) all the while we can’t or won’t be LOVE to someone. How is it that we can have the life changing experience of salvation and not love others, even the others that take a little more effort to love? I think that the next question must be, do we understand what it means to experience the redeeming power and love of God’s forgiveness and receive the free gift of salvation?

1 John 4:17-21 The Message

17-18. God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ's. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.

19. We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

20-21. If anyone boasts, "I love God," and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won't love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You've got to love both.

Gather, Grow, & Go

Pastor Tim

Perfect Love

Today, Lynn and I are celebrating our 27th Valentines. Reflecting on that seems to humble me quite a bite. I think about Lynn many times a day and long to be near her all the time. Many times I feel completely lost, if I can’t see her face or hear her rumbling around the house, preparing for the Daycare. She is my perfect mate, she is my woman, and I would not want to be here on earth without her.

When we think of PERFECT LOVE, one must reflect on God’s word. Let’s take a look together:

1 John 4 (The Message)
7-10 My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.

11-12 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!

13-16 This is how we know we're living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He's given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we've seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God's Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we've embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.

Gather, Grow, and Go

Pastor Tim

Can someone live a joy-filled life in isolation from others?

Today, I spent some time with some friends from LifeSong as we worked together on a community transformation project. It was hot and sometimes overwhelming. I noticed a common element. All that participated was just happy being together. They were experincing community. 4 year old Jack kept us in Icey Pops and elbowed his way into any group of people that made eye contact with him. As we prepare for "In Home" small groups, I have been reading "Creating Community" by Andy Stanley. WE are built to be in each others lives.

Here is a short insert:

"Lost Perspective - When we live in isolation, we can easily lose perspective on life. That's because there is no objective voice calling us us toward balance. Our lows tend to be lower, and our highs tend to be higher. Our point of view becomes clouded and things tend to seem worse (or better) than they really are. Simple decisions can appear bigger than life and decision making can become more impulsive when we don't have others to point us back to "True North" And lest we forget, we can lose the perspective that, as believers in Christ, we are in a battle. We can forget that we have a very real enemy and he plays for keeps. We can lose sight that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, and our enemy's most successful strategy is to isolate us so he can attack and destroy us."

What is NOT good? See Genesis 2:18

Gather, Grow, and Go!

Tim