Preaching in blue jeans

After spending three years rereading the New Testament, Pastor Jim Butcher realized that most of what takes place in churches today is tradition, not biblically mandated. That's why the 39-year-old pastor preaches in blue jeans.

Butcher was comfortable as pastor of Poca Baptist Church in Poca, W.V., for 12 years. Then God gave him a new calling, according to the Martinsburg Journal:

Three years ago, I was at the dinner table and God spoke deep in my heart and asked me for a sacrifice. I wish I could say I said 'yes' immediately. After months of prayer, I knew that if I truly believed, I had to trust Him. Once I said 'yes,' He revealed that the sacrifice He was asking of me was to leave the warm and comfortable Poca Baptist Church to start a church for people who have given up on God.

Butcher started his new church, NewPoint Church, with six members -- Butcher, his wife, and their four children. His goal for the church is to be "biblically faithful and culturally relevant". The church now is up to 25 members.

I have completed "The Love Dare"

I recently completed "The Love Dare". There were so many times that I just wanted to quit, but I'm very glad that I kept at it and followed through with the book to the end.

I highly recommend "The Love Dare" for any married couples. It changed my marriage for the better, and would be an outstanding way for newlyweds to start their marriage.

Meeting God in the mountains

I often feel closer to God when I'm in nature. The awe of His creation inspires me.

Such was the case too for Lygon Stevens, a mountain climber who died in January in an avalanche on Little Bear Peak in southern Colorado. Stevens wrote 15 journals during her life, and her parents have taken text from her writings to publish a book, "Cairns for the Climb".

The Coloradoan ran an article on Dec. 7 about Stevens' story that included some of what was in her journals:

The book includes climbs in Colorado, Alaska's Denali (Mount McKinley) and Ecuador, as well as her last entry, next to a blurred photo of her climbing the west ridge of Little Bear Peak, the last image of Lygon, taken hours before she died.

'She really felt that God spoke to her when she put pen to paper,' her father said.

Though Nick (Lygon's father) had encouraged Lygon to keep a journal from the time she was 10 years old, he was surprised by the amount of writing his daughter left behind.

Her parents saw about 10 percent of her writing before they started unearthing the journals.

Some of the writing is what you would expect from a teenager and young woman, including insecurities about school and appearance, Nick said.

But they found nothing guile or sneaky.

Many of her poems and essays document Lygon's growing faith and understanding of God, much of it in the context of her mountain-climbing adventures.

'I climb because I love the mountains ... and I meet God there,' one undated journal entry reads.

"Cairns for the Climb" is available at www.heightsoffaith.org and at Probasco's Christian Bookstore, 344 N. Lincoln Ave. in Loveland, Colo.

Reaching out to the motorcycle community

Here's a cool video from the Contra Costa Times on The Live Ride Christian Church, which was started by the Rev. Rick Fish 10 years ago after God spoke to him.

The secret of Manny Pacquiao's success

Manny Pacquiao has achieved outstanding success in the boxing arena, having recently defeated Oscar De La Hoya. Beth Celis from the Philippine Daily Inquirer speculates that God may be behind Pacquiao's success:

Was it last year when he revealed to me his encounter with the Divine?

Manny said it was during the lowest point of his life when God 'spoke' to him and led him back to the right path.

Since then, his life has changed and he has achieved feats and wealth beyond his wildest imagination.

More than anything tangible, God’s blessing, I believe, is Manny Pacquiao’s most powerful amulet.

Pacquiao has earned many nicknames, including Pac-Man and the "furious Filipino". It's amazing what we can achieve when God is in our corner.

In search of unconditional love

I want unconditional love. I guess, while it would be nice to have people unconditionally love me, it's probably not that realistic. So I'm going to focus on giving unconditional love and grace to people.

I'm realizing more and more that unconditional love does not come from me -- it comes from God through me. I am so thankful for His unconditional love and acceptance of me in spite of all of my faults. Lord, let me be a vessel for your unconditional love of everyone.

An understanding of spiritual gifts

Recently at South Metro Vineyard Church we had a sermon on spiritual gifts. The pastor focused on 1 Corinthians 12 and worked to provide some understanding of this passage. Some of the key points of the sermon were:

1. The spiritual gifts really are gifts.
2. The purpose of spiritual gifts is to serve one another.
3. Spiritual gifts are God's way of working.
4. God makes Himself visible through spiritual gifts.

The pastor also said that spiritual gifts are given to the available, not necessarily to the mature. What spiritual gifts has God given you? Are you making yourself available to Him and letting God be God?

An update on "The Love Dare"

In October I wrote about how I was going through "The Love Dare". Well, I'm on day 31 in the book. It has challenged me in many ways. I got stuck for a long time on day 18, which dared me to prepare a special dinner at home. I don't really know how to cook. I burn grilled cheese sandwiches. One time, when my wife and I were dating, I told her that I would make potato soup. What I didn't realize is that it takes a long time to make potato soup. When she came over to my place for dinner, there was a kettle with a hard potato and some water in it. She was very graceful with me at that point.

So, I suppose it should come as no surprise that she was very skeptical of me making dinner for her. I was not sure how I would pull it off, but I did -- with the help of Let's Dish. When I told my wife to relax, because I bought food from Let's Dish, she still was skeptical. But she really enjoyed the food and my company -- and she later said that she felt bad about doubting me.