Excited for 1 John

In a couple of weeks we move from the Gospel of John to 1 John. Be reading ahead and be excited for this new season! This is an awesome little book filled with tons of nuggets that are going to change the way we live and love. In the meantime, remember that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (1 Jn 1:5). All that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life-are not of the Father but of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God will abide forever (1 Jn 2:16-17).

We need to love the Lord, who is light, and walk in light, forsaking all of the stumbling in the darkness we mysteriously love so much.

Theology with a Passion for Jesus can Conquer Biology

Men- let's not let ourselves be ripped off by Satan and tripped up by our flesh (Hebrews 12:1).  Rather, let us abide in reality.  Jesus asked the Father to keep us, protect us, sanctify us, and send us (John 17:11-19).  Did His petition fall upon the Father's deaf ears? Or can His word fail? May it never be!  We need only to believe that it is so- because it is so (2 Tim 2:13). The enemy is defeated, he has no hold on us (Col 1:15). Our flesh is dead, we are no longer held captive by it's lusts (Rom 6:6-7). Jesus is victorious, He has conquered sin, death, and the devil, and we are in Him, our sin and our wages were put on Him and His righteousness and His reward was imputed to us.  All of this is ours by faith (Rom 1:17)  and faith is given by God (Rom 10:17) so ask and you shall receive (Matt 7:7-11).

So our struggles betray the fact that we are dwelling in unreality.  We are believing lies, which means that we are believing the father of lies and giving our allegiance (however briefly or fleeting) to him.  But Jesus said that we are not of the world just as He is not of the world (John 17:16), so our allegiance does not belong to the ruler of this world, but to the King of the universe! So let's stop believing lies and continue in Truth!


Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
(Philippians 4:8 ESV)

How to Kill Sin, Part 2

How to Kill Sin, Part 2: "How to Kill Sin, Part 2 on DesiringGod.org"

Men! TONIGHT WE DINE!!!
We're having a Thanksgiving BBQ tonight at Charles' house tonight at 6:30.  Bring you own meat, or whatever you want to grill, but be ready to share with your brother who can't bring anything, I know for some of us it may be late notice.  The important thing is that we fellowship together, so don't sweat it if you can't bring nothing, just come! 

Meeting at Reality Carp Tonight!

Men!

We will forego gathering together tonight at Charles' Grandma's house because we feel it is important for us all to be at REALITY CARP tonight at 7:00 to learn about how to serve the body of Christ at Reality.  The pastors and staff at Reality have put this night together to inform those who have a heart to serve (or will have a heart to serve [meaning we should all be there!]) about how we can go about that.  I'm not sure if it's a class setting, a question/answer type of forum or what, but I'm sure it'll be a fruitful time and a blessing.  So let's all try to be there.  If anyone needs a ride or wants to carpool, hit "reply all" to this email and let's make things happen.  

See you next week at Charles' as usual.

In Christ!

J

Help on Sunday- Be the Hands and Feet of Jesus!

Hey men! It's that time of year again to raid your closets, finds your jackets, and buy some tarps and sleeping bags at K Mart.  Then grab all that stuff and head on down to Alameda Park on Sunday and let's help clothe our neighbors and share the love of Jesus with them!  Here's the info!

200 SLEEPING BAG DRIVE

BLANKET BLESSING

TARPS

USED CLOTHING

 

This Sunday, October 10, 2010

Alameda Park (Micheltorena @ Anacapa)

2:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Street Art & Music

 

NEEDS:  Used or new Sleeping Bags    HEADS UP!

Our local KMART has offered our annual sleeping bag of $12.99 down to $9.99!!!! They are held under WORTH street reach. ASK for those. These bags go down to 35 degrees.
Grab 1 or 6 and join us!

 

Blanket Blessing is raising funds for a super warm washable, fire retardant, thin enough to roll into sleeping bag is only $10.50 delivered.

 

Tarps truly needed

 

Warm clothing such as jackets, coats, sweats, hoodies, beanies, socks, jeans/pants, t-shirts, shoes, scarves, gloves, umbrellas, etc

 

Please join us!

Come help us!

PLEASE share & spread these needs

 

DEBORAH BARNES

WORTH

street reach

serving & inspiring urban nomads

805.331.0865

www.worthstreetreach.com 

Lifesaverservices07@yahoo.com

each one reach one

Are You Motivated by Love to Think?

Here's another video that was posted this week that has a Holy Spirit led relevance to what we talked about on Monday.  Stinking amazing.  Francis Chan speaks at Jon Piper's Desiring God Conference called "Think" to some of my contemporary theological heroes, and asks the tough question:  Why do you think?
I cried.

Stand Therefore...

A few ladies posted this video on FB this week, and watching it I was stunned!  So cool how it covers the very verses we were talking about last night.  Be inspired!


Gianna Jessen from LMF CAM on Vimeo.

Mens Group Cancelled Tonight

Mens Group is Cancelled Tonight! there is a concert at the bowl. We will return next monday as normal  spread the word!    Spend time with Jesus this week!

If My Words Abide in You...

What value is there to knowing God's word? What is the value of scripture memorization? Why bother, right?  See what John Piper thinks...

Be Men!

Men!  Watch this video whether you think you'll ever plant a church or not.  Let this inspire us to fight the good fight of faith, strong until the end!

Marriage and Men

Men!
A couple of us were discussing relationships after our last meeting on Monday night and i mentioned that I would email this video by Mark Driscoll, Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA.  Rather than sending it to a coupla guys, I decided it would be better to post on here.  It's a sermon encouraging guys to be MEN in their relationships in a way that is Biblical.  I think there is something for each of us in here, but BE WARNED- this is no easy message!  Driscoll takes 2 Timothy 3:16 VERY seriously especially the words CORRECTION and REPROOF.  As you watch it you may find that you will try to defend yourself, but I encourage you to watch humbly and let the Word of God have its way with you.  Leading a woman in a Godly manner is a serious charge indeed, and Driscoll reminds us that we will one day give an account to God and explain how we led the women, His child,  that He gave us.  Why wouldn't we take that seriously?

Listen UP!

The Gospel of John

Hey guys!  I found this link recently for ordering these Gospels to give away, and it's the cheapest I've ever seen!  Anyway, I want to order some soon, but I thought I'd share this with you guys to see if you wanted to get in on it or donate.  Then we could split them up.  I know I'd like to have a few on hand at the shop once in a while.  So take a look at the link and see what you think and maybe we'll discuss it further on Monday.  Bring some cash if you think you want to contribute.  Love  you guys!
J

The Gospel of John

Scientific Evidence Humans are Born with Knowledge of Good and EvilAt the age of six months babies can barely sit up - let along take their first tottering steps, crawl or talk. But, according to psychologists, they have already developed a sense of moral code - and can tell the difference between good and evil. An astonishing series of experiments is challenging the views of many psychologists and social scientists that human beings are born as 'blank slates' - and that our morality is shaped by our parents and experiences. Good rabbit, bad rabbit: Simple experiments involving babies have shown that we have a strong morality instinct from an early age Instead, they suggest that the difference between good and bad may be hardwired into the brain at birth. In one experiment involving puppets, babies aged six months old showed a strong preference to 'good' helpful characters - and rejected unhelpful, 'naughty' ones. In another, they even acted as judge and jury. When asked to take away treats from a 'naughty' puppet, some babies went further - and dished out their own punishment with a smack on its head. Leading research: Professor Paul Bloom, of Yale University, said a series of morality tales featuring puppets were shown to babies of varying ages Professor Paul Bloom, a psychologist at Yale University in Connecticut, whose department has studied morality in babies for years, said: 'A growing body of evidence suggests that humans do have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life. 'With the help of well designed experiments, you can see glimmers of moral thought, moral judgment and moral feeling even in the first year of life. 'Some sense of good and evil seems to be bred in the bones.' For one study, the Yale researchers got babies aged between six months and a year to watch a puppet show in which a simple, colourful wooden shape with eyes tries to climb a hill. Sometimes the shape is helped up the hill by a second toy, while other times a third character pushes it down. After watching the show several times, the babies were shown the helpful and unhelpful toys. They showed a clear preference for the helpful toys - spending far longer looking at the 'good' shapes than the 'bad' ones. 'In the end, we found that six- and ten-month-old infants overwhelmingly preferred the helpful individual to the hindering individual,' Prof Bloom told the New York Times. 'This wasn't a subtle statistical trend; just about all the babies reached for the good guy.' Two more tests found the same moral sense. In one, the researchers devised a 'one-act morality play', in which a toy dog tries to open a box. The dog is joined by a teddy bear who helps him lift the lid, and a teddy who stubbornly sits on the box. They also made the babies watch a puppet cat play ball with two toy rabbits. When the cat rolled the ball to one rabbit, it rolled the ball straight back. But when the cat rolled it to the second rabbit, it picked up the ball and ran off. 'In both studies, five-month-old babies preferred the good guy - the one who helped to open the box; the one who rolled the ball back - to the bad guy,' said Professor Bloom. When the same tests were repeated with 21-month-old babies, they were given a chance to dish out treats to the toys - or take treats away. Most toddlers punished the 'naughty rabbit' by taking away treats. One even gave the miscreant a smack on the head as a punishment. Although the studies appear to show that mortality is hard-wired into babies brains, some psychologists urged caution. Dr Nadja Reissland, of Durham University, said babies started to learn the difference between good and bad from birth. 'Everything hinges on who decides what is normal,' she said. 'By saying pushing the ball up the hill is helpful, the researchers are making a moral judgement. The babies might just prefer to see things go up rather than down. 'In the other test, perhaps the bear closes the box to prevent the dog from getting in there because there is something dangerous inside. It is like a mother keeping children out of an area where there is something harmful.' Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1275574/Babies-know-difference-good-evil-months-study-reveals.html#ixzz0nUV3uN3R

At the age of six months babies can barely sit up - let along take their first tottering steps, crawl or talk.

But, according to psychologists, they have already developed a sense of moral code - and can tell the difference between good and evil.

An astonishing series of experiments is challenging the views of many psychologists and social scientists that human beings are born as 'blank slates' - and that our morality is shaped by our parents and experiences.

Good rabbit, bad rabbit: Simple experiments involving babies have shown that we have a strong morality instinct from an early age

Instead, they suggest that the difference between good and bad may be hardwired into the brain at birth.

In one experiment involving puppets, babies aged six months old showed a strong preference to 'good' helpful characters - and rejected unhelpful, 'naughty' ones.

In another, they even acted as judge and jury. When asked to take away treats from a 'naughty' puppet, some babies went further - and dished out their own punishment with a smack on its head.

Leading research: Professor Paul Bloom, of Yale University, said a series of morality tales featuring puppets were shown to babies of varying ages

Professor Paul Bloom, a psychologist at Yale University in Connecticut, whose department has studied morality in babies for years, said: 'A growing body of evidence suggests that humans do have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life.

'With the help of well designed experiments, you can see glimmers of moral thought, moral judgment and moral feeling even in the first year of life.

'Some sense of good and evil seems to be bred in the bones.'

For one study, the Yale researchers got  babies aged between six months and a year to watch a puppet show in which a simple, colourful wooden shape with eyes tries to climb a hill.

Sometimes the shape is helped up the hill by a second toy, while other times a third character pushes it down.

After watching the show several times, the babies were shown the helpful and unhelpful toys. They showed a clear preference for the helpful toys - spending far longer looking at the 'good' shapes than the 'bad' ones.

'In the end, we found that six- and ten-month-old infants overwhelmingly preferred the helpful individual to the hindering individual,' Prof Bloom told the New York Times.

'This wasn't a subtle statistical trend; just about all the babies reached for the good guy.'

Two more tests found the same moral sense.

In one, the researchers devised a 'one-act morality play', in which a toy dog tries to open a box. The dog is joined by a teddy bear who helps him lift the lid, and a teddy who stubbornly sits on the box. 

They also made the babies watch a puppet cat play ball with two toy rabbits. When the cat rolled the ball to one rabbit, it rolled the ball straight back. But when the cat rolled it to the second rabbit, it picked up the ball and ran off.

'In both studies, five-month-old babies preferred the good guy - the one who helped to open the box; the one who rolled the ball back - to the bad guy,' said Professor Bloom.

When the same tests were repeated with 21-month-old babies, they were given a chance to dish out treats to the toys - or take treats away.

Most toddlers punished the 'naughty rabbit' by taking away treats. One even gave the miscreant a smack on the head as a punishment.

Although the studies appear to show that mortality is hard-wired into babies brains, some psychologists urged caution.

Dr Nadja Reissland, of Durham University, said babies started to learn the difference between good and bad from birth.

'Everything hinges on who decides what is normal,' she said. 'By saying pushing the ball up the hill is helpful, the researchers are making a moral judgement. The babies might just prefer to see things go up rather than down.

'In the other test, perhaps the bear closes the box to prevent the dog from getting in there because there is something dangerous inside. It is like a mother keeping children out of an area where there is something harmful.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1275574/Babies-know-difference-good-evil-months-study-reveals.html#ixzz0nUV3uN3R

Listen Up New Location

Listen Up Men, group is now east side!    817e Anapamu St apt# 2 93103.   Corner of Anapamu and Lowena Come enjoy a time of fellowship, worship and studying his word.  Park on Anapamu or Lowena be Blessed and I'll See you all tomorrow.

Men's Group on Mission Tonight!

Men!  Tonight we will be meeting at Peet's Coffee, downtown Santa Barbara, 1131 State Street 


Be there at 6:30.  Drink coffee, talk about Jesus, tip your barrista. 
We may be homeless for just this week or for the next few weeks, please take some time in prayer and seek the Lord on where He would lead us to meet.  Until He provides a new location we may just flip around from place to place each week so be sure to check back on the blog on a regular basis to stay informed!  Tonight rather than a teaching, i think it would be good for us to talk about community, discipleship, and victorious Christian living so let's all be thinking about these things throughout the day today and come out tonight ready to build one another up in the faith and encourage one another to love and good deeds!  See you tonight!

BARBECUE AT STEVEN'S!!!

Men!!
Tomorrow, Monday 4/12/10, WE ARE NOT MEETING AT DARRYL'S. Instead, we'll be getting together a little early to BBQ at Steve's place down south, just past Carp.  His address is 6693 Breakers Way, Ventura, CA 93001.  To see a map, click here.

Bring your own meat or vegan delicacies, and come hungry.  After we break bread (and tri tip) we'll come together to pray, worship, and be taught from the Word of God.  What better way to spend a Monday night?!

See you guys there!  Text all the guys and let's be sure that everyone knows about this, we don't wanna leave any men behind.  Call me if you need a ride, maybe we'll try to organize from the tattoo shop at 5:00 if there is a need.

Group Study This Week...

43 x Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot y bear to hear my word. 44 z You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. a He was a murderer from the beginning, and b has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. c When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 


Ok men, sorry it took me two days to get it up, but here it is.  These are some verses that Charles, Joel, and I put together over coffee Tuesday morning.  I encourage you all to read through these prayerfully and to add to the list as you study the word this week. For those of you who could not make it, we studied John 8:38-47 on Monday and we decided that it would be good for us to dig into the scriptures individually this week and come together at our next meeting to teach one another what the Lord has been showing us on the topic of the devil.  He is the adversary and he is real, so it is profitable for us to know a little about his character and his schemes.  


Below are several verses to get us started.  If you want to you can post comments on here and add to the list or put in your thoughts on what's posted here.  It would be cool to have a bit of dialogue going on the blog, but at the very least let's all try to dedicate a bit of time to this as we read the word this week and come ready to discuss on Monday.  Remember too that he is a defeated foe, Rev. 12:8. 


4 z You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.
Genesis 3 (all of it).
Genesis 12:3.
Ephesians 6:10-13.
2 Corinthians 4:4, 10:3-5
2 Thessalonians 2:4


He was a murderer from the beginning,
Genesis 4:8


and b has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. c When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 
Genesis 3 (all of it- again!)
Isaiah 14:12
Ezekiel 28:11-19


Other attributes of and schemes of the enemy as well as warnings and defenses against him:
2 Corinthians 11:3
1 Peter 5:8
James 4:7
Jude 8 
1 John 3:8

Another ListenUp Fieldtrip...

Men!  We won't be gathering at Darryl's house tonight as we have been presented with an opportunity to come together at Reality Carpinteria at 7:00 for a pre-release prayer meeting for Britt's first book Big God.
While many pre-release party's hype the author and the book he or she has written, Reality prefers that we get on our faces and seek the true Author and Perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ, that He would use the book for His Kingdom purposes and that the lost would come to know Him and His people would come to know Him better. So come out, and let's congratulate and encourage our pastor for his shepherd's heart and obedience to the King, and let's give glory and praise to our God because He is awesome!




Big God Announcement from Reality on Vimeo.



See you there!