July 1: Creation

So how did this all happen? It's one of those cosmic questions that we try to answer. Lets take a look at scripture to see what God says.

Genesis 1 (New International Version)

The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.


1) Do you believe the earth was made in 6 literal days?

2) Do you think evolution played any part in any species or animal?

3) What is your opinion of the scientific theories that don't match-up with scripture?

June 24: Finishing Heaven and Hell

How would you like to die? If you got to decide how you would die, what would you choose? I would like something totally wild, nothing common. An explosion
could be cool, one where no one else dies. I don't want to be responsible for that!

For sure there are two ways I don't want to die. 1) Drowning, and 2) Burning to death. Nobody drowns or burn to death quickly.

After we die, our reward can be Heaven, or the opposite is Hell. Last week we discussed Heaven. We shared what heaven may be like, and why we're looking forward to what the Word calls our Home. (Heaven)

To truly understand why we want to go to heaven, we need to understand what the other option is. Hell is described often in the bible. I think a great description of hell is in Mark chapter 9. It is interesting to note that one of the Bible words used to describe Hell is Gehenna, referring to the garbage dump of the valley of Hen, where there was fire constantly burning and the worms and maggots never lacked something to eat. They were always alive, always in existence. That’s why I mentioned burning as, what I would consider, to be the worst way to die. So imagine burning to death but never dying. That’s what I think Hell might be like. What do you think Hell would be like?

June 10: Beginning Our Series on Heaven and Hell

Several of you commented in our survey that you'd like to see the bible verses we'll be discussing ahead of time. 10 hours ahead of time probably isn't a good gap :), but we'll post next week's verses earlier.

Here's what to read for tonight:
Matthew 5:12
Luke 6:23

We're going to be talking about heaven. For whatever reason I don't hear to many messages on heaven. Heaven is our eventual goal. In fact, the Bible tells us that heaven is our home, and that we're just strangers here in this earth. So what do you think our true home (heaven) is like? Are the streets made of gold? Do you have a mansion? Are the gates made of pearl, and is St. Peter standing there like a bouncer? (Why does he have an Irish accent)


See you at 7:30 p.m. tonight!

Next week we finish-up by talking about Hell

Cinco de Mayo: Tacos and Game Night!

Everyone LOVES Tacos and Game Night! ;)

This Thursday will be a chill night. Nicole will provide the ground beef, but we're taking volunteers for the rest of the taco making goodness.

If every couple can bring one or two items, we'll be good to go! Leave a comment here, e-mail, or text what you're bringing.

Hasta luego!

April 29: Speaking in Tongues

So TNL is a group of people that come from different religious backgrounds, and speaking in tongues can be a topic that we don't all agree about. Let take a look at scripture and see what the Word has to say about it.

—Acts 2:1-4 "When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."

This verse is talking about the first time that the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues is seen.

These are other verses in scripture that talk about Speaking in tongues.

—Mark 16:15-18
—Acts 10:44-47
—Acts 19:6
—1 Corinthians 12:27-31
—1 Corinthians 14:1-5
—1 Corinthians 14:14-19
—1 Corinthians 14:37-40
—Jude 20

These are not all of the scriptures about speaking in tongues, but they are a good place to start your study.

Let's take a look at One more verse.

-1 Corinthians 14:27-28 "If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God."

This passage gives the following restrictions for the use of tongues in the church:
1. No more than three may speak.
2. Only one at a time (by course).
3. Tongues must be interpreted or not spoken at all.

So what do you think of speaking in tongues?

April 15: The Body and the Blood

Luke 22:14-20 (New International Version)
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God." After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."

Let's talk about communion. I want to know what you think. There are three common theological ideas about communion:
1)Transubstantiation
2)Consubstantiation
3)Symbolism

The first idea is predominantly held by our Catholic brothers and sisters. Transubstantiation is a belief that the bread and the wine physically turn into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Consubstantiation is a belief that the power of the body and blood of Christ is in the bread and wine, while the elements still hold their physical characteristics.

Finally, the third idea is very simple. Taking communion is done for remembrance only. The bread and wine are just symbolic of the body and blood, and have no physical or spiritual significance.

What do you believe? Let’s see what the word has to say about it.

John 6:49-55 (New International Version)
"Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink."

Imagine if someone told you that you needed to eat him! I would think that gentleman was ten different kinds of crazy! That’s what the Jews who heard Jesus speaking thought, too. But, Jesus repeated himself in verse 55. "For my flesh is real food and my body is real drink."

These are not the only scriptures in the bible about communion. You should research this topic and leave a comment about what you believe.

Think about these questions as well:

• Should communion only be given in church by a priest or pastor?


• Do we have to use wine and unleavened bread?


• Should we be concerned about how the elements were stored?


• Is there a time when people should not take or be allowed to take communion?

April 8: Re-Crucify Christ?

I like to challenge our group with problems or ideas that I'm currently dealing with. I gave a message to the Fuel Youth in Springboro last week. It was about sin that we continually deal with.

Do you ever feel like you have a sin that is harder to stay away from? The example I gave to the youth was me driving. I am a very aggressive driver. If you're "parked" in the fast lane going 15 mph under the speed limit, I'm going to get ticked off and ride your bumper until you move over. After I road rage a bit, I calm down and feel bad about my behavior. At this point I usually, and very casually, ask God to forgive me.

OK, so I'm not out killing people. But, I know I shouldn't act like this. Besides, that's just an example in my life that I'm not too shameful to admit.

After casually asking for forgiveness the other day, a song shuffles onto my iPod. It’s an old punk rock song that starts with this lyric:
"No more speeches, no more words, no more talking, no more noise. I've heard your speech, you didn't tell me anything, I hadn't heard before. You gotta give me something more, something more."

That's when I realized I just continually ask for forgiveness without even trying to change my behavior!

Later, I read Hebrews 6:4-6:
"It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace."

Now, we'll talk about the possibility of losing salvation at a later time. But the second half of that passage, starting with verse 6 is where I want to focus. That hit me like a brick! I keep re-crucifying Christ! I keep subjecting Him to public disgrace!