30-Day Challenge

The month of August marks our next 30-Day Challenge. These challenges are important because they have the ability to help us build good habits of Bible reading. This next challenge covers the section beginning with the book of Ezra and ending with the Song of Solomon. Some may think that summer is too busy to take on a Bible reading challenge, but this is the best time, because the habits of genuine faith should occur during times of busyness and times of calm.

Yes, it’s going to be a busy season, but how much more refreshing and uplifting shall we feel when at the beginning of our day, we can find the Psalmist inspiring us to stay fresh, or in the middle of our pursuits, Nehemiah’s attitude instructs us to not give in to distractions and distractors but stay focused. Or yet still, at the end of the day, we come home weary but still take note that our Promise Keeper who has never failed a promise leaves wise King Solomon to admonish “Fear God and keep his commandment,” of which Nehemiah said “one who does them shall live by them!” hmm, that’s exciting! Gives me the shivers!

The challenge begins on August 1st and continues through August 31st. It will include reading between 9/10 chapters a day for 31 days. It’s daunting and challenging to stay faithful to the task, but I believe we can do it and be successful. Please join Brother Dennis and I as we undertake this challenge. There are audio resources and other study aides available to help with this quest. Please let Dennis or I know if you have any questions. As you read, in addition to any new insights you glean, keep track of the references to Jesus and His messianic mission. We will get together for a fellowship in September to share a meal and discuss what we have learned.

Thanks, Christopher…

Join Ironmen for a Hiking trip to Denny Creek  Saturday, July 22

This is a popular trail, thanks to its gentle, family friendly grade with amazing destinations. Some of the features of this hike include a natural water slide area, Keekwulee Falls, and Snowshoe Falls.  This is a kid friendly hike so we are inviting all the men and boys that are able to come.  Below are some details to note:

The date of the hike is Saturday, July 22.

We will meet at the Main Building at 8:00 AM for donuts, coffee and vehicle coordination.

We will leave for the trip at 9:00 AM. It is an hour and a half drive to the trail head.

Bring a sack lunch to eat for when we get the top of the trail. (Don’t forget water).  After lunch, we will stop at the natural waterslide for fun break before heading home.  For questions and special situations, please talk to Jonathan Karkosky.

Hey Lakeview Family!!

You are invited to attend the First Annual Lakeview All-Church BBQ.  It will be hosted in the home of Gary and Katie Calkins.  You don’t need to bring anything except a heart for fellowship and a hankering for some BBQ.  The hope for deeper fellowship inspired a few folks to create this event for the Lakeview Family to spend some quality time together.  

Don’t miss out!!

Date of the Event:  August 5^th , 2017

Times:  11:00 AM to ????

-Dennis

So many good things coming up for the Lakeview Family to get involved in.  Senior Teen Session at Delano began yesterday, with several camp sessions to follow.  One event that I would like to underline today is the Spiritual Growth Conference for Churches in the Northwest.  Most have heard of Faithbuilders Northwest.  It is sponsored by several different churches, including Lakeview.  It’s intended to be a meeting place and a time for instruction for churches in the Northwest. 

There will be congregations there from Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and perhaps a few other places.  It is a retreat and a time to get a shot in the arm, the way that camp does for the young people.  Get a schedule and plan to take advantage of the program.  The dates are July 6-9th at the Eastvold Auditorium at PLU. One speaker I would like to highlight is Wissam Al-Aethawi.  His bio is below. 

I am Wissam, 37, an associate minister at Sunset church of Christ and a gospel preacher in Metro Detroit, MI. I was born and raised to a Sunni Muslim family in Baghdad, Iraq. I rejected Islam into atheism in the mid-1990’s, found a copy of the Bible in ’97, believed in ’98 and it took me another 12 years before I could find someone to baptize me in May 2010.

A graduate of the University of Baghdad, I worked as a civil engineer for 8 years after finishing my service as a Republican Guard. Then a Christian woman in the Amish country of Pennsylvania invited me to come to the U.S. I came in April 2011. Nine months later, I went to Sunset International Bible Institute in Lubbock, TX. I finished school and moved to Michigan by early 2014. I like reading, writing, and doing Bible studies. I teach in our church, at my house and other places on a regular basis. I dream of starting an Arab-speaking congregation of the Lord’s church in Dearborn.

Wissam will be speaking at Lakeview on Sunday, July 9^th during the morning assembly.

-Dennis

Prior to the arrival of the woman, Adam was given work to do, as an expression of God’s image in Him.  Genesis 2:15 states, “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.”  This work gave a man his purpose.  To exercise care and stewardship over the things that God has created.  These two words, care and stewardship, are words that define how men are to exercise dominion.  For some men, dominion means ruling with an iron fist, wrongfully assuming that he is the king over his dominion.  These are men who abuse their role, who abuse their wives and children, who distort the intent of God for the relationship of a man and the things he has dominion over.

A man should work for the good of, and care for the things in his sphere of influence.  This is a challenge because it takes more than the abilities of a man to be successful.  What is often missing with the man who abuses his role, is a relationship with God.  Even if his life includes some of the things of God, if it does not intersect with God, then how he fulfills his responsibility is going to be twisted.

If a father relates to his children only based on the chores they are supposed to do, that child would grow up with a warped sense of love accomplishment and self-worth.

This chart illustrates that a man cannot maintain integrity in their faith just by doing some things.  When a man’s life intersects with the life of God, he becomes able to faithfully represent God in the things that he does.  In the Sermon tonight, as we consider the things that make a godly father, the things that make a godly man, our goal will be to reach toward maturity as Image Bearers.

-Dennis

Wes Hanson will be leading the Teen Challenge Youth Event on Friday of the Workshop.  See the Website for more details.

-Dennis

This statement is not originally mine, but it does resonate in my heart.  Someone said, “I am thankful for the members and leaders of the Lakeview church of Christ a generation ago.  By their faith and vision, we have a comfortable place to worship and carry on the tasks of ministry.”  Because of this place, countless lives have been impacted for eternity.  Sometimes we can lose track of that in our criticisms of past generations.  Yet, in our evaluation of the legacy of the past generation, we seek to establish a positive legacy of our own.  That means that every generation must do its part, if the legacy is to endure.

We are at a point in the history of Lakeview, when the current generation of members and leaders are called to act in a way that will positively affect the generations to come.  As a group, we have decided to add to our building to create spaces that we can use to teach the good news of Jesus.  These spaces include classrooms for children and adults, a large multi-purpose room for fellowship and other special functions and a foyer area to create a space for welcoming our guests.

Funding has always been a concern.  At this point we have close to half of what we need already in the bank.  To close the funding gap, the elders have chosen to issue bonds that will generate the cashflow that we need.  This is something that all members at Lakeview can participate in, as the bonds become long-term investments.  This funding approach offers many benefits to members and friends of members.  These benefits will be explained during a bond purchasing weekend that will be scheduled for the near future.

To facilitate this bond purchase weekend, Lakeview needs to form four essential task forces.  These are:

Appointments Task Force

Hospitality Task Force

Publicity Task Force

Special Purchase Task Force

Please talk to me (Dennis) if you have questions about the functions of these task forces or would like to head up a task force.  This is an important step in our building journey.  The involvement of everyone will help us reach our destination.

When we become a Christian we really do receive a brand-new life from God! Then we face a startling reality: We have a Brand-New Life, but we still live in the Same Old World! ”

Our view of sin may change, and what we know about Jesus may change.  The world, however, continues unchanged.  The same selfish attitudes and destructive habits define the people around us.  The difference is you now are standing on the outside looking in, and perhaps even an advocate for a better way to live.  This makes you a threat to the world system.  This makes you a target.

“You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

The events that we may define as faith challenging are really events that are strengthening our faith.  The difference is our ability to keep our eyes on the goal, our faith…the salvation of our souls.

“Now the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little.”

brand-new life as we live in the same old world!    -Dennis

Humans have the amazing ability to find solutions to complex problems.  The sciences are a wellspring of knowledge that yields answers to the difficulties we face.  Experiences can remind us of how we fixed something in the past.  However, when it comes to the sin problem, we have very few solutions that go to the core of the issue.  Many ignore that we even have a sin problem, but the Bible suggests that not only do we have a sin problem, we are in debt to the Creator. We are flawed and those flaws disable us from being able to fix this problem.  Resolving this debt we owe to the Creator is virtually impossible, and in the end, it leads to death.

I say virtually impossible, because the Creator has made a way.  He has applied the laws of the universe and has provided a solution.  It’s a solution that has been determined before the foundation of our world.  It is a perfect solution that takes into account all the variables and what-ifs.  In essence, the Creator paid the debt Himself, taking on the form of a slave, humbling Himself and becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

We call the characteristic of God that led to this solution, grace.  Grace is a power that combines enduring love, mercy and action.  It is not offered because we deserve it.  Indeed, humans often chose to rebel against the Creator.  We all have sinned and fallen short of the image in which we were created.  God offered the solution, and we accept it by faith.

James tells us that true faith is active and a response of the heart that is stirred by grace.  If we have faith, that faith will be demonstrated by obedience and good works.  That is the implementation of the solution.  When we accept it by faith, we give our right to self-determination, and accept the path that grace lays out before us.

God proved His authority to rule our lives by bringing Jesus back to life.  The body that was beaten and torn and left for dead on the cross, humiliated and disgraced, robbed of dignity and vitality, returned to life as a demonstration of great power.  He lives today, and is our Lord, if you will accept His rule. 

Christians are people of the resurrection, a new form of life and a new way to live.  Today, the day that many set aside to acknowledge in some way the life, death and resurrection of the Christ, can be a day of renewal for God’s people.  May it be a day of introspection that leads you again and again to embrace the ultimate solution. -Dennis

-Dennis