Dan Sardinas

LOVE WINS.

Mars Hill Church is selling the Love Wins. stickers again.  If you need to get one order one through their website here.

Stick it to your bumper, your back window, your school binder, your water bottle.

Early on in our history, as part of a teaching series called "Where Else Is The Cross True?", these black and white "Love Wins" bumper stickers became part of what marks our local Mars Hill community. Now we're making them available to our online community too!

Discounts apply as follows for orders made in quantities. [Discount applied at checkout.]

Quantity	Price per sticker
26-75	$0.75
76-250	$0.50
251 or more	$0.30

[Size of sticker is smaller than standard bumper stickers. We didn't need that much space for just two words.]

Missing the Obvious

We can get so wrapped up in the details of life that we miss the most obvious things!  I just took Spikey, our new dog, out for a long walk.  I was up early since I had crashed early the night before.   As soon as Spikey sees his leash he goes bonkers!  He jumps about 3-4  feet off the ground in pure excitement of looking at the outside world.  At 6:30 AM on a Saturday morning there is only ever one place I'm ever at.....in bed!   This early I woke up and went outside and the first thing I saw was the most AWESOME sunrise!  The sun was still very orange as it was rising and it made the nearby clouds illuminate with such brilliance.  As I continued down the road with Spikey in tow....I noticed some owls that were perched on their protected sites in the empy lots.  Pretty cool.  I then paid attention to birds that were singing and thought about how God cares for every single one of them.    I'm usually not a big fan of long walks or jogging or whatever.   But as I started to focus on the beautiful simple things of the walk...i began to forget how much I hated walking.  As a matter of fact I quite enjoyed it.    The sunrise, birds, Spikey, owls and the eager dog that wanted to make friends with Spikey were all intriguing.  

I then had a wierd thought.....if I woke up earlier I could enjoy this everyday.  The morning is a beatiful time.  However....next Saturday morning I will probably me still sound asleep in my bed...missing the most obvious.

To close....check out this video of this lady from the TV Show "Deal or No Deal" missing the most obvious!  It is quite funny!

Nooma: Whirlwind - 024

Now available for presale. This film will begin shipping the week of July 24, 2009. Get a free "view now" ticket code for viewing Whirlwind with every DVD pre-order.

A lot of us have gone through times in our lives that are difficult. Some have been small and hard to understand and some have been big and overwhelming. During these times we want answers, don't we? We want to know why. Why do we have to suffer? Why do bad things happen to good people? We just want someone to make sense of it all. But we don't always get the answers, do we? Sometimes we are left wondering. And those can be some of the most difficult times. Maybe there are times we need to be released from having to have all the answers. And maybe it's when we're released that we are able see there may be more going on here than we realize.

You can pre-order this Nooma here 

Time Warp

One of my new fav. show is called Time Warp on the Discovery Channel.  The basic premise of the show is that it shows things in slow motion.  And i mean super, super slow motion.  What they find is truly phenonmenal and mind blowing.  There is so much more to the world that God created all around that we just don't see cause it happens way to fast.  Without these high speed camera's we would never be able to enjoy so beautiful works of art!!!!

I was thinking tonight.....about the show.  What is it that we miss in ourlives because we are just moving way, way too fast?!?!?!  How much and how often do we miss the beauty that God wants to share with us?  I am way too busy.  Working 50+ hours and raising 3 kids is challenging in and of itself.  Sometimes I come home from work and I am so stressed out and so tired that I just want to zone out.  This is not good for my kids.   I need to stop...and slow down.  I need to sit and watch.  I need to appreciate and long for what I am missing when life is going to fast.   This is good for my soul.  How can you slow down?  It's amazing what you will see, hear and feel when you do.

Kind of reminds me of God says in the Bible.  "Be still and know that I am God."  HMMMM.   Check out this video of water.  Amazing!

And lastly click on this link for dancing water droplets!!!!!  http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/time-warp-water-droplet.html

Slow down.......time warp your life.  It goes by way to quick.  Let God speak and make sure you are still.

My own "Footprint" moment

The other day while at the beach;  I stood on the shore just far enough in so the waves would crash around me.  I love doing this.  Before long the natural will happen...the longer I stand in one spot the deeper I sink as the waves erode the sand around me.  As I stood there watching my kids play in the beautiful warm blue water I had a beautiful moment of truth.

So the longer I stood there in the sand the deeper I went.  If I took a step and left that spot I would see my once very visible footprint disapear.  I've seen this happen many times before in my life.... but never before have I thought about it in this way. 

Even though we know we are forgiven we still feel the weight of our guilt upon us for our past sins.  Sometimes we can't move forward because we make our selves  "sink" deeper underneath the weight of our sin.  Everytime we feel God's forgiveness come and readily made available we don't fully accept it....because somehow we don't feel we are worthy.  But what if we would just understand and accept the truth that God's Grace is bigger than our sin?  What if I grasped that Christ's sacrifice is more than sufficent to forgive me and everybody in the world?  If I just would accept this than my guilt and sin would disappear.  I then in turn could move on and be a powerful witness to the world.

The longer we stand in the sand and sink in our guilt and sin the longer we are defeated.  It's time to lift up our foot and take the next step and watch our past sins and guilts be washed away because of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for us.  When we recject God's grace and continue in our guilt we are making the impact of God's Grace upon our lives of null effect.  We should feel remorseful and repentant over our short comings...but once we approach God through Christ it is taken care of.  

So take your foot out of the sand and watch the waves crash on the shore and take away what was holding you back.  God is good!

Agents of Grace & Truth

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only [Son], who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John chapter 1 gives us a very descriptive telling of who Jesus is and what he did and does.  We see Him as the WORD who is God.  We see him as the creator and the light.  If there was any doubt who John was referring to it was clearly cleared up in verse 14.  John says that this "Word" (the full expression of God) became flesh (Jesus).  Not only did Jesus come but very specifically he came in Grace & Truth.  If the Kingdom of God is the central focus of Jesus life and teachings...then "Grace & Truth" is the way it it presented to the world.  

Grace is used in various ways throughout the New Testament.  The most obvious and often spoken of way is referring to God's unmerited favor towards us.  The world needs grace.  Jesus came to a world full of veangeance and evil.  He came to a world that was the complete opposite of Grace.  In fact Jesus was the opposite way in almost every way possible.  

The Romans way of expanding their kingdom was through the sword and coersion.  Jesus ways of expanding his kingdom was through the ways of Grace & Truth.   Complete opposites.  The Roman way brought more separation, hurt and war.  The ways of Jesus brought salvation, unity, healing and peace.  

Jesus died and rose again.  He's left the earth to return to his Father in heaven.  If Jesus isn't here then how does Grace and Truth continue?  My friends that's what the church is all about.  The church is the "body of Christ".  It is the way that God intends to bring healing and restoration to the world.  It is through the church that Grace & Truth are lived out.  

So here is my question for you....what does it mean to be the agents of Grace & Truth in the world?  Please leave a comment and spur the discussion.  I'll share my thoughts in my next posting.

Redefining Mission

We have all been there before....a church service where the leaders are begging for volunteers. You have probably even read it in the Sunday morning church bulletin. An all hands on deck approach to ministry is very common in modern church life. If you asked most pastors today they would argue that the problem is in the peoples motivation for Christ and his work. I have been there and did that many times. I now wish I would've known then what I now know.

The church is a living organism, made up of those who follow Jesus, who through the power of the Spirit live out the ways of the Kingdom of God. And they do this together.

Why is it that we are so focused on making the ministry within the church more important than our ministry in the world? Could the very reason most Christians don't share their faith be because we have conditioned them to be so busy with "church work"? The danger is that we have made something to be institutional that was meant to be organic. We have taken the beautiful mystery of community and sold it out for the latest fad.

One of my most memorable days at VWC is when we didn't have a service. In August of 07 we cancelled the formal service and met together to serve our community. We repainted a local park and picked up trash off of Oil City streets. It was a great day. However the turnout was not what I expected. I was hoping to have about 50 or so helping that day. We only had about 22 altogether. I was greatly discouraged as this was pumped up for weeks as a huge thing that we were doing. I played the normal "pastor card" and just said that people had issues with God. From that day forward my outlook began to change on ministry.

Release your people from the guilt of serving. The more pastors beg...the more guilt sinks in. Some people will cave and serve in a place out of duty alone. And then the inevitable will happen....they will burn out and their absence will create a larger void. It's time to redefine ministry and release people for mission.

I am not saying that people shouldn't serve in ministries in the church. But when we are taking people away from being a light in the world that is where I have a problem. If you don't have enough people to do a program then you cancel the program.

Lastly are we keeping people busy building our empires? Or are we releasing them to multiply the Kingdom of God? Redefine your ministry into your mission. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

From Death to Life - John 1:1-5

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning.

 ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

This is such a fantastic passage of scripture.  Today during our gathering at Fusion Church we looked at and discussed this passage.   We spoke on the Deity of Jesus and looked at how we are confident that Jesus is who He said He was.  The first three verses speak about the awesomeness of who and what Jesus is.  We see that Jesus is not only God but He is also the Creator of all.  Nothing was made without Jesus speaking all things into existence. 

Jesus is the author of Life.  John writes in verse 4 that specifically that "In Him" was life.  Out of God comes the very essence and purpose of life.  This reminds me of the Creation account in Genesis where it says that "God breathed into Adam the breath of life".  Within all of us is found this very breath.   Actually what is more amazing is that in the original language the very word for "breath" is the same word for "spirit".  Same word.  Inside of you God has given you life with the very air you breath, and this life comes from God.  

Everything was fine for all of 2 chapters in the Bible.  Did you ever think about that?  Of all the chapters there are in the Bible it only took 2 chapters for somebody to blow it.  Chapter 3 begins the reason for the very reason that Jesus had to die.  As we all know Adam & Eve fell when they disobeyed God and passed on their sinful nature to the rest of us.  God told them that if they disobeyed his one command that they will die.  And sure enough they did.  Not only did they die physically...but they also died spiritually.  They had once enjoyed such fellowship with God in the Garden...but once they sinned that ended immediately.  Death overtook them...

Those who once were full of LIFE...now were dead.  Their children were born spiritually dead.  Cain & Abel did not have the fellowship that their parents enjoyed with God.  The Earth was cursed as well as it had been corrupted with sin.  It was as if Adam & Eve had ignored Doctor Emmit Brown and had messed with the "Space Time Continuum". Something had to change.  Life had to be restored to the Universe and to mankind.  This is where Jesus comes in.

Jesus came to a Lost, Dark and Evil world.  This was a world that was very far apart from God and a planet that was filled with spiritual zombies.  Zombies are "living dead beings".  People without the LIFE that Jesus gives are exactly that.  We who were "spiritually dead" without any purpose need the Life that had been given to Adam and Eve.  The groanings of the Universe could be heard and God wasn't going to ignore it.  Jesus came and brought Life.  He not only redeemed us through the Cross but he also showed us how to live.   The ways of Jesus and the death of Jesus give us Life.

Jesus came to bring restoration to the universe. 

 ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

 He came to bring life to man so that he could be united with God the Father once again.  John tells us that "in Him was LIFE".  This Life is the light of man.  It is a light that shines in the darkness.   It is a life that overcomes evil.  It is the life that created all things and it is the Life that brings us back in fellowship to God.  We who were dead have now been brought back to LIFE.

It is amazing how this was accomplished isn't it?  Man was created with this LIFE from God.  Man disobeys God and sins and then begins to die and lose that LIFE.  Jesus then comes.....He lives.....He dies....and then He LIVES!   It is because He lives that we also live.

Ephesians 2:4-6

because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Stephen Colbert defends the deity of Jesus

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10,000

I know I've been slack lately in my blogging.  I'm trying to get better with that.  A video blog is soon upcoming. Before I head to work this morning I just wanted to say that www.dansardinas.net has hit 10,000 hits.  Just wanted to say thank you for your faithful reading.   Stay tuned...much more to come!

President Obama gives IPOD to Queen

President Barrack Obama and wife Michelle met Queen Elizabeth yesterday while attending the G-20 summitt.   I found the article quite amusing as it pointed out that the Obama's gave the Queen an IPOD.  Wow.  Now that's a gift that I can appreciate as an avid IPOD owner and fan.  The IPOD was filled with videos of the recent trip that the Queen made while she was in the USA.  The song has also a number Broadway Muscial hits and other popular songs.  You can read more about the IPOD gift here.

Which raises the question...what would Obama give to other world leaders?  How about getting the Pope the Godfather movies on Blue Ray Disc. Would he give  Hugo Chavez an book called "Presidency for Dummies" .  What if he gave Fidel Castro a beard trimmer to take off that disgusting beard?  Help me out here what would be some good gifts for other world leaders!

The real question...will the queen actually download some "Queen" to her IPOD? 

Kingdom: Denominational Chokehold

When Jesus was proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and focusing on people's needs...did he intend for Christians to be so divisive and split apart? I believe that one of the reasons that the church has had not more of an impact on the world is because of unhealthy views of Denominational allegiances. Now granted...I do believe that denominations have had their place in culture. But why are we so worried about whether we are Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Lutheran, Pentecostal, blah, blah, and blah?????

It would seem to me that many are more worried about who they disagree with 

than the suffering happening right under our noses. Is it more important to identify 

myself as an (Indepenant, Southern, American, General, Foursquare, or whatever) 

Baptist? Or should I be more concerned about showing people the Christ. I'm not 

saying you shouldn't be a part of a denom but sometimes I feel that it has a chokehhold  on the Great Commission. For the last 6 years I've been a part of the Southern Baptist  Convention. I did not choose the SBC over their doctrinal fidelty or because of it's leaders. I was impressed by their shared passion to share Christ around the world  together. The Cooperative Program giving from the churches is a phenomenal  achievment and raises millions of dollars to spread the Gospel. However I was  sickened the other day when I recieved a letter from one of the SBC leaders. The  letter said that this leader would devote most of this time in 2009 and 2010 to show  people who "Southern Baptists" are.

Let me be clear here....WHO CARES? Who cares who Southern Baptists are? 

Why are we concerned with who Jesus is!?!? Why are we concerned about who 

"Followers of Jesus" are? This mentatlity of caring about how successful or big 

your organization gets....stinks! It puts a chokehold on the Kingdom. It's almost 

as sickening to hear about another pastor comlaining that a church in their town 

has more people than he does. It happens again, and again and again.

Jesus talked about the Kingdom! Jesus talked about the ekklesia changing the 

world for Him. The term ekklesia is where we get our english word "church". It 

simply means a called out "gathering".It was a Roman term that Ceasar used 

to identify those who had credited deity to Ceasar. In Roman times...ekklesia's 

were gatherings of people who identified that "Ceasar" is lord. The church is just 

the opposite. The early Christians grabbed this term...and made it to be a 

gathering of people who proclaimed that Jesus is Lord!

Stop the choke. Pledge your allegiance to the Kingdom of God...not your group 

or denomination. I want to supportanybody who proclaims that Jesus is Lord. 

That Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life!