ScotLongyear.com

Sidewalk Prophets Live this Weekend

Scot — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:10:47 +0000

Join us at Saturday (May 19) at Maryland Community Church in Terre Haute, IN as we host Dove Award winners Sidewalk Prophets as well as Josh Wilson and Justin Hoeppner. Tickets are going fast and are available here.

Concert starts at 7PM (EST), doors open at 6:30PM.

Flight: How to Get Your Life of the Ground

Scot — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:43:42 +0000

Join us live Sunday at we start a new series called “Flight.” Based on the book of Proverbs, this series will challenge us to live by godly wisdom. Catch us live and in person at Maryland Community Church, 10AM or 6PM EST or on the live stream. Sermons are also available on the website and mobile app.

photo by alexbip

Night of Worship, April 26.

Scot — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:22:55 +0000

Join Mariah and I for a Night of Worship at Maryland Community Church. Thursday, April 26 at 7PM. We have a fantastic band and will be playing some new worship tunes and dusting off some older ones.
This is a fundraiser to help cover the cost of Mariah’s trip to Uganda Africa. While there she will be serving with a small team (me included), handling communication for the Pastor’s Discipleship Network conferences.

Good Friday?

Scot — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:30:09 +0000

But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will. - Lk 23

We often talk about how we should be surrendered to the will of God. At one point in history, God allowed Jesus to be surrendered to our will. He placed his son in our hands. We looked at the Son of God. We asked questions of him. We knew of his miracles. We were interested in his teaching. We were drawn to him.

And we killed him.

On a terrible, beautiful Friday, we did the unthinkable.

Photo Credit: Jes via Compfight

Featured photo by whfrank

Richmond Wandera meets the woman who sponsored his sister

Scot — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:01:59 +0000

Most of you know I am a huge fan of Compassion International. One of my good friends, Richmond Wandera is a former Compassion child. On a recent trip to Australia, Richmond was able to meet the woman who sponsored his sister.

How I Prepare a Sermon

Scot — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:02:47 +0000

Fasting for Friends. April 1-7

Scot — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:07:50 +0000

But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you - Matthew 6:17-18

During the week of April 1-7 we are encouraging the people of MCC to fast for one day. The purpose of the fast is to pray that our friends would come to our Easter experience and that they would make a decision to follow Christ.

Never fasted before? Here are some tips.

1. Check with your doctor before starting a fast.

2. Fast from food. A Biblical fast is a fast from food. A fast from x-box or texting might be nice, but it is not a Biblical fast.

3. Drink plenty of water and juice. Keep your body hydrated.

4. Pray. Instead of taking time to prepare and eat food, read the Bible and pray. As your body reminds you that you are hungry (and it will), use that as a trigger to pray. We are praying specifically for our friends to come to our Easter experience and that they would make a decision to follow Christ.

5. Break the fast lightly. A huge meal after even a one-day fast is not the greatest idea.

6. Pay attention to your body. Some people cannot physically fast, even for a day. If that happens, it is OK. Break your fast but keep praying.

7. If a one-day fast is too overwhelming, consider skipping a meal that you would not normally skip

Want to join hundreds of other people for the fast? Take a minute and text us your info. ”My name is (your name) and I am fasting on (day) for (name of friend / friends). Text to: 812-619-9023

Don’t forget to invite your friends to the Easter experience at Maryland on Sunday, April 8 at 9 and 11

photos by 27147 and theilr

How to Get the Favor of God

Scot — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:47:28 +0000

photo by roscoo

Humanity’s Ugliest Hour – Brought to You by Envy.

Scot — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:26:14 +0000

9 “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. – Mark 15

God had a plan: Christ would die. God set the plan in motion when he knit Christ together in Mary’s womb. Even before that, really. Christ would die to take away the sins of the world. But why all the trials, hatred, and drama? Why not get a few other guys, pay them and have them do the deed? Why get the whole city stirred up? Why the betrayal, beatings, abandonment? Maybe . . .

God wanted to expose the ugly brokenness of humanity.

We have the ability to envy Christ and as a result, to kill him. He hung on a cross for our sins, but the envy of men got him there. Make no mistake, he went willingly, but we played every card we had.

Humanaty’s ugliest hour was when we betrayed him.

Envy was the vehicle that carried him to the cross.

And it has been doing so ever since.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. – I Cor 13:4

photo by stuck in customs

What’s so Wrong About Porn?

Scot — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:03:51 +0000

We don’t sugar coat things at MCC. Last week we talked straight up to men, asking this question: are you a redeemer or a manipulator? (Check out the video here or on our mobile app). Let’s be honest guys, we have all manipulated women. We have several things in our life that teach us how to manipulate women. One of the greatest teachers of manipulation is pornography.

I run into some people who look at porn and think it is not a problem. So, what is the big deal, really? Is it such a bad thing to look at porn? I mean, I’m not harming anyone, right? Think again, porn may be more harmful than we think.

It captures our imagination. Look around. Much of what you see was created by humans who used their imaginations. See that chair? Computer? Shoes? Somebody thought that up with their imaginations, then they created it. I believe God placed in us a tremedous imagination. We should be imagining how we could creatively serve God instead of imagining how we could bed the chick we just saw on the computer.
Time. I’m HUGE on investment and return. What do you have to show for the 4 hours you looked at porn this week? Nothing but jacked up emotions and misplaced fantasies. Fail.
Future. The more you look at porn, the more you damage your future. It is a fact that images from porn burn into the brains of men. We rarely forget the first naked picture we saw. We take that into the future.
Disrespecting. Some of the latest studies suggest that men are projecting their porn fantasies into real life, expecting their wives or girlfriends to be as “exciting” as those on the screen. When their significant other doesn’t live up to the expectation of fantasy, there is a letdown. Might as well say “Honey, I was just watching porn and I want you to do the same things that this woman did.” Ultimate disrespect.
You are being lied to. You hit the website. There she is. Waiting just for you. She thinks you are hot. She thinks you are superman. She wants only you. Get a grip! She is doing this to make money. She is acting. And lying. And you are being played. Foolish.
Imprisoning. Your support and viewing of porn is keeping women in the porn industry. She is a woman. She has a soul. She has dreams. She has things she wants to do in life. Her dream was likely not to be imprisoned by you. Turn off the compter and set her, and yourself, free.

Porn Video

Sex Help

How to Battle a Porn Addiction

photo by sgis