Category: Thoughts

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Authentic Community: Take Off the Mask

batmanSunday at New Passion was great!

I got to preach half my message as Batman.

Here was the opening thoughts to my message…We are less than a month away from Halloween. Halloween is the one time of the year where it is expected and celebrated to take a risk and be someone totally different than who we are. It’s almost like a free pass to wear that crazy outfit that you’ve always wanted to wear, or to try your hair in a different color. Most churches take a strong stance against Halloween, yet they promote a form of it all throughout the year.

A lot of churches encourage people to wear a mask & to dress in a costume, in order to feel accepted or to feel a part of the church. We overwhelm people with the burden of being someone they are not.

At New Passion, we value having an “Authentic Community” and we believe this will happen only by having “Genuine Relationships.” Both Authentic and Genuine mean real. So we are simply saying we desire to have a Real Community formed from Real Relationships. When we are pretending to be someone we are not, when we are pretending to have our lives all together, when we act like we have all of the answers…when we put on a mask and costume, we aren’t being real.

I already had this post planned and then I went and read Pete Wilson’s post today, so after you Join the Conversation here, go participate in his post about “Authentic Community” today as well (Simple but Not Easy)

Pete is right, “Authentic Community” is a huge buzz word in the Christian culture today. At New Passion we want it to be a part of our DNA as a church and as Christ followers. I have to go first. I have to take my mask and costume off so that others will do the same.

So now its your turn: How have you worn a mask as a Christian pretending to be someone you are not, and how can we as a church (Globally) ensure that Authentic Community is not just a buzz word, but a reality?

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Where Have All the Christians Gone?

christian-cross

I just read an article on Fox by Ben Feiler that was talking about the decline of Christianity in America. The article does not spend all of its time pointing out the downfall of Christianity in America, but also points out some of the solutions to the problem based on their study. Here are a few of the issues or wake-up calls that arose from the study:

First, catering to older believers is a recipe for failure; younger Americans are tuning out.

Second, Americans are interested in God, but they don’t think existing institutions are helping them draw closer to God.

Finally, Americans’ interest in religion has not always been stable. It dipped following the Revolution and again following Civil War. In both cases it rebounded because religious institutions adapted and found new ways of relating to everyday Americans.

Go read the entire article HERE and then come back and Join the Conversation.

What do you see as the biggest decline in the church? Where is the biggest disconnect between the church & everyday Americans?

What’s the solution?

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Embracing Faith Bigger Than Ourselves

hugging-huge-treeOne of the biggest steps of faith I’ve ever taken was to start New Passion Church. Since last November when I knew this was the leading of the Lord and that if I did not follow I’d be disobedient, I am continually reminded that this church and this whole movement of Christ known as the church is so much bigger than I am.

I’ve blogged before how it would be nice at times to have a flashlight so I could simply see what lies ahead of me. How will we get the money to afford this project? How will we have enough people to serve in this environment? Will people even show up? I type in the context of New Passion Church because it’s the most recent BIG faith act I’ve embraced, so everyday I’m living in the reality of that act. There have been times my personal life that my questions consist of ‘how are we going to pay for this bill?’ or ‘will this relationship ever be mended?’ – I believe that God always calls us to a faith that’s bigger than ourselves. I truly believe if we can wrap our arms around it or if we can control it, the journey that we are on or the decision that we are making is not of God. That’s why the E in our HEART is that we value Embracing Faith Bigger than Ourselves.

We looked at the story of Samuel, Saul, and Jonathan from 1 Samuel chapters 9-14 yesterday and from the scripture we saw how God always calls us to a Faith that #1 is Bigger than Ourselves #2 that Requires our complete Reliance on God and #3 that always completes God’s plan. – The Christian journey is a faith life, it is full of uncertainty. You cannot have faith without uncertainty…that’s why we don’t get the flashlight. Instead he gives us a blindfold.

Last week, we talked about how Religion allows us to set obtainable goals that we can reach on our own, therefore making us feel spiritual. If we can reach it on our own, we have no need for faith or a reliance on Jesus. Hebrews 11:6 say’s it is “impossible to please God without faith.”

Join the Conversation…Are you trying to control the outcome of your situation? Or Are you reaching out and embracing a faith that’s bigger than yourself?

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Have Intimacy With God

rocher-candy

On Sunday we continued with week #2 of our Rediscover Church series. We discussed how New Passion values “Having Intimacy with God” as individuals and as a church.

We took an in-depth look at Religion and how when we go through religion to get to God, we always end up further from God than where we intended to be. Religion allows us to set obtainable goals, that when reached make us feel spiritual, increases our opinion of self, reduces our opinion of those who have not reached our spiritual level, and reduces the effort that Christ made on the cross to redeem us and to have a relationship with us. (Phil 3)

I had to confess…For 6 years I bought Nicki her favorite candy, Ferro Rocher, and would stuff her Christmas stocking with them, because I wanted to give her something she loved. It was about a year and a half ago that I discovered for the first time that she in fact hated the Ferro Rocher candy because it had nuts in it. I could not believe she claimed she did not like the candy, I was 99.999% sure she had told me they were her favorite, but Nicki informed me that she never ate them, but didn’t tell me because she didn’t want to hurt my feelings.

My challenge was this, “How many of us do that with God?” We give him what we think pleases him through rules, rituals, and man made opinions (Religion) while He’s provided the only method that we can gain right standing with him, and that was through His Son Jesus. “What are you offering God? Is He pleased with it?” We watched about 4 minutes of Pete Wilson preaching about the Mathmatics of Religion from week 1 of Cross Point’s Religion Lies Series, he pointed out that Religion always adds to (Jesus) and that it always complicates that which God made easy. It tied in perfectly with our message. You should go check that series out on their website.

Join the Conversation…What are some ways you have offered God something you thought pleased him, when all he wanted was your heart?

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Love is Tough

love-is-tough-copy

I read the Bible and it makes love sound so easy. “Love God,” Love your Neighbor,” “Love One Another.” After all, love is a good thing, its one of those words that when you hear it, you think happy thoughts, right?

I think love is tough. Probably the toughest things to do. Its natural to be self absorbed but unnatural to be selfless. I don’t think you can have love without becoming selfless first. At New Passion Church we are emphasizing to our team that a part of our HEART is to have Authentic Community through Genuine Relationships. Its one of those spiffy sayings that can easily be said but overlooked. I know there have been many times that my intentions have been to love someone, but when it becomes difficult my natural tendency is to take the easy way out, give lip service but refuse to face or go through the difficulty to truly love an individual or a group of people.

I think God would agree with me that love is tough. I wonder if He ever had a conversation with himself about sending Jesus to die on the cross for people like us? I believe Jesus would agree that love is tough. Look at all He endured, yet on the cross made a plea for his father to forgive those who were murdering him. I think love is so tough and having authentic relationships is so difficult that God knew he had to keep it in front of us. “Live in Harmony with one another,” “Don’t let their be divisions in the body,” “Love your enemies.” Etc… Over and over again, we are being reminded to love each other. Why would we need reminding if it was such an easy task.

All of these things are easy, until you are faced with them & the difficulties & struggles that come along with them. However, I do not believe that you can truly have authenticity until you are willing to not only face those tough situations, their difficulties & their struggles, but to overcome them. We can emphasize our desire to have an authentic community all that we want, but it will never happen if we as individuals are not willing to actually love. Its not just a word…its a very difficult action. We cannot take the easy road of avoiding the struggles and difficulties in relationships, we have to choose to engage them head on.

I believe love is tough…what do you believe?