What is the Meaning of Christmas?

An evangelistic short film (10 minutes) from St. Helen’s Bishopgate in London on whether or not the Christmas story happened and what it means—featuring New Testament scholar Paul Barnett:

That's Christmas (Short Film) HD from St Helen's Church on Vimeo.

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The Secret Project



Last week I began a secret project.

Hints are:
  • You can touch it.
  • It is one of life's great blessings or most frustrating curses.

What do you think it is?
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Books to Give for Christmas - 2010

Are you struggling to find that perfect gift? Why not give a book? Some of the books I recommend are:

If God is Good by Randy Alcorn - This book wrestles with the problem of evil and suffering. It is filled with good stories and illustrations. If you have a friend in a difficult season of life, this book will do them spiritual good.



Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll - Mark is the pastor of Mars Hill church in Seattle, Washington. One of the hallmarks of their church is a focus on Christ. With a refreshing mixture of comedy and theology, Mark explains the greatness of Christ is a way everyone can understand.



Heaven by Randy Alcorn - While this is one of the longest and most intellectual books on heaven you will find, it is engaging and easy to read. If a loved one has recently died or if you want to whet your appetite for what lies beyond the grave for those with Jesus, enjoy this great read.



Money, Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn - I recommended this book last year but it is good enough to make my list again. Without doubt, this is one of the best books on the subject of money and Christ. You will be challenged and encouraged on how to use your resources for eternity.

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Faith EFC on FOX News



With Sarah Palin in town, Faith EFC became the backdrop for the FOX News report!
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Get a Plan to Read the Bible

Do you have a plan to read the Bible? God's Word is powerful and will change your life. Here are a few reading plans to get started:
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Motivated by Greatness - Ben Peterson

Ben Peterson forwarded me an article he wrote for Thanksgiving. I found it inspiring for our family and read it to my sons to encourage them in wrestling and life. Read More...
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I'm Basically A Good Person

How many times have you heard the phrase, “I am basically a good person?” We live in a safe community of home-spun people with traditional values. We enjoy low crime, low drugs, and good schools. While we have many good things going for us, there is something killing us. It is called sin.
Don’t let the comfort and safety of our community blind you to the sin in our lives. Most of us think we are “basically good people” because we don’t understand how the Bible defines sin. Like our morning look in the mirror, the Bible shows our problem with sin is much more serious than we first realized. Some ways the Bible defines sin are: Read More...
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Vision 2010 - Coffee with Pastor Kurt

If you missed the Strategic Initiatives of the Vision 2010 Update, let me take you out to coffee to tell you about them!

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Doctrine - What Do We Believe? - Trailer

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Is God Sovereign Over Death?

This past weekend, I preached on God’s sovereignty in the face of death and tragedy. While it is hard to comprehend how God is good, yet sovereign over the tragic deaths of those we love, the Bible tells us both are true. To help us in our thinking, below is a section of a paper I wrote in response to Open Theism, the belief that God lacks sovereignty over all situations.

Read More...
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New Logos Web Services

I am a fan of Logos Bible Software for much of my Bible study. Logos has just announced new sites to help implement its master plan. I encourage you to check them out!

Books.Logos.com shows a content-specific search interface for scanned books from a seminary library. (We plan to link Logos Bible Software 4 to this site in the future.)
Sermons.Logos.com shows how community-created content can be shared with new users on the Internet and (through a section in the Passage Guide) inside Logos Bible Software.
Biblia.com is an alternate interface to most of the content in your digital library that is easy to use over the web. For some users it may be all they need for simple Bible reading; for others it’s a way to check a book when they aren’t at their own computer.
Topics.Logos.com exposes the Logos Controlled Vocabulary to everyone, and lets users contribute web links and share reading lists that will automatically show up in Logos 4.
Almanac.Logos.com lets our community of users search and edit a growing database of information on the Christian world (particularly seminaries, at this point). This database provides a platform for connecting users by school, organization, denomination, and area of interest.
Api.Biblia.com offers the power of Logos Bible Software to other web sites, enabling mashups and creative ideas we never imagined.
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40 Bible Verses to Learn this Summer

As a freshman in high school, I traveled with Teen Missions, International to Switzerland. That was the summer I first sensed God giving me a desire to serve him full time. One of the most helpful parts of the summer was the Bible memory. I can still remember trying to memorize what felt like a Bible verse a day for the entire mission trip.

The verses I committed to heart are still with me, over 25 years later. I use them on a weekly basis in sermon preparation, counseling and my own personal walk with Christ.

As David, my oldest son, prepares for his freshman year in high school, I know one of the best ways I can help prepare him is to have him commit the same 40 verses to his heart. After some web searching, I found a list of the verses in KJV translation. I reformatted them into the New Living Translation and created a set of memory card.

Note: The format of these cards is intended for double-sided printing.

40 Verses to Learn in the Summer - NIV Translation

I hope others are able to use these cards to help their children memorize these key verses.
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The Mysteries of Heaven - Promo Video


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Does the New Covenant Trash the Old?

I recently completed a fifty-two week series on the book of Hebrews. This book has such strong emphasis on the new covenant we have through Christ that it appears to undervalue the Mosaic covenant.

Hebrews 8:13 says, "In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away."

While teaching that section, I compared the Old Covenant to trash. Was this too strong of a comparison? Was the Mosaic covenant undervalued? At the outset, let me be clear, none of God's covenants are trash. My words were intended to be strictly comparative to what we have in Christ. It is similar to my old computer. When I bought it, I spent good money for what was the latest technology. Today, it is nothing more than scrap metal compared to my Macbook Pro. The greatness of the New Covenant through Christ so greatly outstripped the Old Covenant that the Mosaic Covenant experienced extreme devaluation next to Christ. Read More...
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iPad - First Impressions

iPad - First Impressions

Like literally a million others, I bought an IPad site unseen after watching it demonstrated on Apple's web site. It is an interesting concept, a
big iPhone trying to turn into some type of laptop replacement. Trusting Apple's Business savy, I expect, given some time, the iPad concept will work. Since it is a first generation device, I hesitated making the purchase but eventually decided to go ahead. Apple's experience with the iPhone I hoped would make iPad's similar operating system a good platform to launch the new device.

Having lived with it for a while, It is beginning to grow on me. It is easier to carry around than a laptop. iPad's instant everything is a plus. The screen is bright and big. 3G wireless is a big plus. The iPad is exploiting an untapped market. Read More...
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Easter at the SAMI Invitation Tickets

I gave our congregation "invitation tickets" to help them invite friends to the Easter service.
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Easter at the SAMI Video Promo



Video promo I sent to the congregation for Easter.
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Marriage - Hold It High, Keep It Holy

Resources to help in the battle for sexual purity


Practical Steps for Purity and Counting the Cost of Sexual Sin.

Purity for Men
Amazon.com: The Purity Principle: God's Safeguards for Life's Dangerous Trails (LifeChange Books) (9781590521953): Randy Alcorn: Books
Amazon.com: Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is): Sexual Purity in a Lust-Saturated World (9781590525197): Joshua Harris: Books

Purity for Women
Amazon.com: And the Bride Wore White: Seven Secrets to Sexual Purity: Dannah Gresh: Books
Amazon.com: And the Bride Wore White Leader's Guide: Seven Secrets to Sexual Purity (9780802483416): Dannah Gresh: Books

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