January 2012
2 posts
What are you rejoicing in today?
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This could be the best cereal on earth. Peanut...
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November 2011
3 posts
Rudy
Last night, the wife and I watched the movie Rudy. We did so at my request. Recently I’ve found myself with an extreme desire to “get in the game” when it comes to serving as a pastor, but the Lord is withholding this for the time being. Not sure why He is, but that does not change the fact. I’ve found myself identifying with Rudy as of late. Two scenes of the film really...
In Good Company
Today I read an article by Christianity Today titled A History of Darkness. It describes a condition that Christians have often experienced throughout history that has come to be known as The Dark Night of the Soul. If you are a genuine believer, one who has accepted the Lord Jesus Christ and repented of your sins, I’d encourage you to read the article. You might at some point in your...
Being a Preacher
I saw this post on preaching by Mark Driscoll and I really liked it. Some great points to remember. http://pastormark.tv/2011/11/07/16-things-i-look-for-in-a-preacher Posted via email from jcvarner’s posterous | Comment »
September 2011
1 post
3 tags
Why Language is Important...Or Why Greek is...
Please note that I have very little knowledge of New Testament Greek. So if I am incorrect about something below please know that it was not intentional. Ok now that I’ve put that out there let’s discuss something awesome. Today in Greek class we were discussing John 1:1-5 in the original language of Greek, which is awesome I might add. We’ve learned enough in our class thus...
April 2011
2 posts
The Arrival of the King
Here is my most recent sermon. I gave it on 4/17/11 at FBC West. It was our Palm Sunday service and the title is The Arrival of the King. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask. <p>The Arrival of the King from Jon Varner on Vimeo.</p> Posted via email from jcvarner’s posterous | Comment »
Life Without Worry
This is a sermon I gave at Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church on 4/10/11. The title is Life Without Worry and the passage for the sermon is Philippians 4:4-7. I’d love your feedback. http://youtu.be/WVkwh4DUWiM http://youtu.be/DG7d2njBuvg Posted via email from jcvarner’s posterous | Comment »
December 2010
1 post
The Flesh
I’ve been reading a book on fighting sin and wanted to share this quote with you. “You can feel the hostility of the flesh whenever you approach God - it makes real love for him into work: Digging around the Bible to find a juicy new insight to impress your small group is like sailing the Caribbean, but poring over the Scriptures to find the Lover of your soul is like skiing up Mount...
November 2010
1 post
Inspiring Young Girl
A young girl (9 years old) decided to raise money to build a clean water well, to the tune of $5000. Yikes! That is a ton of money for a 9 year old. Read about her story here: http://www.parentdish.com/2010/06/30/california-second-grader-sets-goal-for-clean-water-worldwide/ Posted via email from jcvarner’s posterous | Comment »
September 2010
2 posts
Study Habits
I found this NY Times article on study habits. If you need to study or know someone who does you should read it. http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=654664&single=1&f=26 Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile Posted via email from jcvarner’s posterous | Comment »
Amazing Quote
So I just purchased Church Planter by Darrin Patrick on my Kindle3 (actually it is my first book I’ve paid for on it. I also just got it and I must say it. The Kindle is amazing). In the preface he has a prayer he prays with his son almost every night. It is so great I needed to share it. “God, make me a man with thick skin and a soft heart. Make me a man who is tough and tender. Make...
August 2010
1 post
The Unresolved Story
I just gave this sermon on Sunday and I wanted to share with you all. Posted via email from jcvarner’s posterous | Comment »
March 2010
3 posts
Either/Or Mentality vs Both/And
I found a great blog post about either/or mentality as opposed to both/and. I found it extremely helpful. http://tonymorganlive.com/2010/03/08/and-instead-of-or/ Posted via web from jcvarner’s posterous | Comment »
http://www.catalystspace.com/content/read/five_test...
Found this great article on tests for church planters by Perry Noble. Posted via web from jcvarner’s posterous | Comment »
Stop Stalking God
Last week I realized something about my spiritual life. God gave me a picture of what I have been doing in my relationship with him. Something that I have been doing for a long time, or at least it seems like a long time. He gave me a very clear picture. The picture I received was of a boy in high school searching around finding out all the information he could about a girl he really liked, or...
February 2010
8 posts
Make Every Effort
I just posted this to Saddleback’s Internet Campus Blog. Occasionally I like listen to sermons by pastors at other churches and recently I heard a sermon based on 2 Peter 1:5-8. After hearing the sermon I decided to go read the whole passage for myself. After reading it I felt that I should share it with you. 2 Peter 1:3-11 states: “3 His divine power has granted to us all...
Unplug
I just posted this to Saddleback’s Internet Campus blog and wanted to share with you. Sometime during the past few weeks I came across the image below and I wanted to share the concept it relates. It is the focus of a webpage (http://analogsunday.com/). There actually isn’t much to the webpage. Just the title and a short description about the goal of Analog Sunday. In our modern...
Ash Wednesday
Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend an Ash Wednesday service at a Lutheran Church. I think this was the first time I had ever been to an Ash Wednesday service. These types of services are something people in the low-church (Non-Liturgical) denominations often miss out on. To prepare for the period of Lent the service focused on the ash that was placed on our foreheads, for we are dust and...
Flee
I found this video today and I thought it portrayed a very important concept well. I am going to read into this film possibly beyond what the director, producer, writer, or anyone else that worked on the film intended (but that is the beauty of the postmodern interpretation of art; you get to add your own interpretation). In this film the young man is fleeing from the man in black. He...
Flee
</object><p>Nocturne from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.</p>I found this video today and I thought it portrayed a very important concept well. I am going to read into this film possibly beyond what the director, producer, writer, or anyone else that worked on the film intended (but that is the beauty of the postmodern interpretation of art; you get to add your own interpretation). In...
Preparing for Success
I just posted this to the Internet Campus blog for Saddleback. This week I spent time learning from Peter Scazzero in a large class setting at Radicalis (the Latin term for Roots), a conference we had at Saddleback. Peter is known for writing Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. On the first day he shared with us about setting up Daily Offices. A Daily Office is something monks do throughout the day...
A Different Perspective
It isn’t very often that people in America get a chance to see pollution that is found in other countries around the world. I found this picture of pollution going on in China, more can be found at here. The amount of pollution is scary. Use this as an opportunity to be thankful that our country does at times regulate what we produce. Posted via email from jcvarner’s...
Slow Down
This is a blog I wrote for the Saddleback Internet Campus Blog (http://saddleback.com/blogs/internetcampus/). So I decided I’d share it with you too.Slow Down! If you’ve ever been pulled over for speeding, these are the words you dread. You’ve been caught and you know it. You just hope he wasn’t paying attention to exactly HOW FAST you were going, or maybe he’ll be nice and let you off...
January 2010
2 posts
Prepared to Worship
Over the past few days I have been thinking about preparing oneself for worship. I’ve been thinking about the ways people used to prepare themselves for worship and the connection they found with outward appearance as opposed to what most people I know currently do. As I’ve reflected on this concept I realized something. Both groups have it wrong. Let me tell you the two groups I am...
The Mark of Cain
I was just reading a blog, here, about the Ghost of Cain. The author mentions how the desire to kill flared up in him while learning self-defense with a hand gun. The Ghost of Cain is not something we often experience in the civilized world but we do experience another ghost every day. We experience the Ghosts of Adam & Eve, so to speak. Each and every day we encounter humanity’s...
December 2009
1 post
scrip.ly + short urls for biblical reference
Check out this website I found at scrip.ly This site is pretty cool. It is a url shortener for a Bible passage link. It is like tinyurl. Posted via web from jcvarner’s posterous | Comment »
November 2009
3 posts
The Desert
For a little while I have felt like I have been being led by God to experience some temptations. It has been very difficult to deal with. At times I have felt like I am being drug through the gutter. I know God will sustain me but that doesn’t make it less difficult. Today I opened an email from my mother that was from “Prime Time with God”. I’ve never heard of that before...
The Sunglasses of Discipline →
I recently went on a road trip to see U2 with some friends. On our way home I took my place in the back seat, because someone else with us got car sick. Frankly I hate sitting in the back seat…
The Sunglasses of Discipline
I recently went on a road trip to see U2 with some friends. On our way home I took my place in the back seat, because someone else with us got car sick. Frankly I hate sitting in the back seat because you will generally be left out of the conversation and the music will be too loud to hear anything that is being said. So I had a lot of time to sit and think.As I was sitting in the back seat I...
October 2009
6 posts
The Holy Spirit →
Life Church.tv is starting a new series on the Holy Spirit. The video is great. Check it out.
</object> Posted via email from jcvarner’s posterous
The Holy Spirit
Life Church.tv is starting a new series on the Holy Spirit. The video is great. Check it out.</object> Posted via email from jcvarner’s posterous | Comment »
Check out this link (Shared via http://ow.ly):
Check out this website I found at ow.ly A friend shared this on twitter. I really enjoyed his perspective. We cannot spend to much time on any one specific task. If we do we will become unbalanced and not very useful. Posted via web from jcvarner’s posterous | Comment »
Service Without Requirements
A few weeks ago I watched this video. And I have to admit that was slightly concerned over the video. Why would these people willingly help people who would continue in their sin? It seemed like they were enabling the girls who lived there, and as a Christian shouldn’t I be against enabling people to sin? In the midst of thinking this thought a story from the Bible came to mind. The story...
Video Test →
Testing to see how this works with a video.
<p>Third Culture Video - Short from Newsong Church on Vimeo.</p> Posted via email from jcvarner’s posterous
Video Test
Testing to see how this works with a video. <p>Third Culture Video - Short from Newsong Church on Vimeo.</p> Posted via email from jcvarner’s posterous | Comment »
September 2009
4 posts
Creativity? →
I find that I’m not a very creative person, but I wish I was. I wish I had creativity sparked within me every once and a while. Occasionally it comes out but I’m not sure where it comes from and I’m…
Creativity?
I find that I’m not a very creative person, but I wish I was. I wish I had creativity sparked within me every once and a while. Occasionally it comes out but I’m not sure where it comes from and I’m unsure how to hold on to it for any significant amount of time. Creativity within humanity is often spoken of as one of the distinguishers of the Image of God. Of all of creation only...
Recent Reflections →
So I haven’t posted much in a while and I blame it all on the fact that I haven’t been doing much thinking lately. Lately I’ve spent a lot of time playing video games and doing the opposite of…
Recent Reflections
So I haven’t posted much in a while and I blame it all on the fact that I haven’t been doing much thinking lately. Lately I’ve spent a lot of time playing video games and doing the opposite of thinking. I used most of my summer to shut off my brain instead of thinking. I am by no means advocating this, simply stating the truth. Truth be told I would advocate the opposite of what...
August 2009
2 posts
Simplifying →
5 Things Only God Can Do...
FIVE THINGS ONLY GOD CAN DO!
Is someone interested in spiritual things?
Only God draws people to Himself. (John 6:44)
Is someone understanding biblical truth?
Only God reveals spiritual truth. (Matt. 16:17; John 14:26; 16:13)
Is someone under conviction of sin?
Only God convicts about sin. (John 16:8-9)
Is someone under conviction of righteousness?
Only God convicts about righteousness....
July 2009
5 posts
Epiphany Time
Since the end of my high school days I can remember think about and dwelling on some form of love or another. In that time I grew fond of movies that would deal with love, you know cheesy romantic comedies and the like. I also grew fond of love songs and books that dealt with love, well only a few and I’m not going to admit which ones. There were times when I would “fall” in love...
Life Change Preaching →
Our intern director forwarded this on to me. I thought it was some great advice so I decided to pass it on to you all. Even if you are not in ministry you can apply it. People always prefer positive out look as opposed to a negative one.
“The nearest anyone can come to finding himself at any given age is to find a...”
– Norman Maclean as quoted by John Eldredge in Fathered By God. This is a great book I picked up the other day. I’m just starting it but I really enjoyed the quote and thought I would share it with you.
I Am Second →
Go check it out. This site has some amazing stories.
The Prodigal God Series →
This is from Timothy Keller who wrote a book of the same name. His sermons have helped me to process the parable of the Prodigal Sons. You should check it out and they are free. Who doesn’t want free stuff.
June 2009
7 posts
Win Bible Works 8
Im not sure if you are like me but I really love Bible software, although I haven’t been able to afford anything good yet. So when I saw the opportunity to win Bible Works 8 I was really excited. Go check it out at http://cal.vini.st/2009/06/cal-vini-st-first-anniversary-giveaway/. Do the requirements and enter to win. I really hope I win. It would certainly make seminary much easier.
“Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty,
suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it.”
“Well, why don’t you ask Him?”
“Because I’m afraid He would ask me the same question.”
- Anonymous
“Any goal that is worth a successful attempt is worth a failed attempt. You...”
– Bill Reichart
Found at http://www.ministrybestpractices.com/2009/06/redefining-failure.html