Tag: Christ

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The Competitive Church

I made a decision a while back to make my blog about Jesus and not as a rant machine, however there are times we must compromise to say what needs to be said…

Jude 1:3-4 (NLT)
“Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches…”

Jude was writing a letter to the churches dealing with false teachers. I am writing my letter to the false Christ-followers…for many of them have ‘wormed’ their way into our churches (and our blogs) as well.

Dear “Christian,”
We are called to ‘Go’ into all the world to make disciples, to baptize, and to teach the things that God has commanded of us. We were commanded by God to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, and mind and equally to love your neighbor as yourself. Now it is evident that many of you definitely love yourself because you do no wrong, but in the apparent perfection that God has granted you, it seems that you have the special ability to point out your opinion of everyone else’s wrongs. But, I have to stop and ask, how is this loving your neighbor as yourself? Or in your perfection, was this not written to you? You can treat everyone else as you wish, as long as your neighbor loves you, right?

Here’s the way I see it…when you come to people’s blogs and leave divisive comments or send hateful emails, you have too much time on your hands. Without being judgmental, I would say the perception is, you are not fulfilling the great commission or the great commandment. In no way are you making disciples (for Jesus), you may be trying to make disciples for yourself, as you spew your venomous wisdom; you are not baptizing and you definately are not teaching or illustrating what God has commanded of us…to Love Him and to Love our Neighbor.

Recently a man decided to have a ‘willing suspension of the truth’ concerning a blog post from a friend of mine. It was talking about a new church that is starting in the area where he once served. An area that he prayed for, cried for, and sacrificed for. An area where all the churches in the county combined could not house the residence if they decided to come to church on the same Sunday. This is not the first attempt from this man to bring my friend down or to cause problems with others, but this time he is going a little too far by sending letters to the neighboring churches trying to stir discord amongst them and the pastor who is starting the church as well as my friend. I ask, are you familiar with Diotrephes? Please read what the Bible had to say about him…

3 John 9-11(NLT)
I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us. When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church.

Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.

I will let scripture speak for itself. It says that those who are God’s children will prove that through doing good. This man is not the only one that has done things like this. There are hundreds who infiltrate blogs everyday! I cannot judge any man’s salvation, but the Bible says you will know them by their fruits. I don’t see any of the fruits of the spirit in these type of actions, do you? I do not see any good in these actions do you? How can someone who truly know the love of God, spread such venom? In the Bible, we called these people Pharisees and Sadducees. Jesus told that group in Matthew 23, that ‘they traveled land and sea to make one convert and when they did they made them twice the sons of hell as they were.’ he said ‘they were like tombstones, pretty on the outside but dead on the inside.’ He said ‘they treated people like a dirty glass, they clean the outside, but leave the inside dirty.’ People like this would rather others look like they want them to, sound like they want them to, rather than to have them live like Jesus would have them to, why? Because they are not living like Jesus would have them to live! Continue reading “The Competitive Church”

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Chasing Daylight Chapter 5 Thoughts (Part 2)

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Here are some of the things that stood out to me from Chapter 5 of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus:

  • The journey that travels through divine moments is not an escape route from personal suffering. In fact, it strengthens our resolve to suffer in the now for the greater good that can be accomplished. It is a recognition that future moments are both born out of and connected to present choices.
  • If it is difficult to fail without risk, it is even more difficult to succeed without failure.
  • You do yourself a disservice when every story has a happy ending in this life. Its far more important that there be a meaningful middle. So often we’re paralyzed in our fear to do the wrong thing, and it is important to always move forward with all the wisdom possible.
  • It is as if we long to know God’s Will, but God refuses to reveal it.
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Chasing Daylight Chapter 5 Thoughts (Part1)

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Here’s what stood out to me from Chapter 5 of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus…

  • Divine moments require us to move from the invisible to the visible so that the invisible can become visible.
  • Its about volunteering when God is asking, “Who will go on my behalf?”
  • It is so much easier to choose to be invisible. Oh, there are other words for ‘invisible’ – average, mediocre, normal, compliant, predictable, safe – and the list could go on and on.
  • The most important decisions of our lives will require us to forsake invisibility and risk becoming visible. Whenever you choose to seize divine moments, you move from invisibility to visibility.
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2008 Orange Conference Session 5

2008 Orange Conference

Session 5

Louie Giglio

New Question: Can the church influence culture or lead culture?

  • The church is not poised corporately to take the lead in culture.
  • A whole new idea – What if we decided together to be the church of Jesus Christ? What if that was our Goal?
  • The church that Jesus said He would build…the one that Jesus said that even Hell would not prevail.
  • What if  we chose to be instead of just do?
  • John 1:1-3, 14-?
  • It’s an incarnate church – The Message “Jesus put flesh on and moved into the neighborhood” – We are the presence of God in the neighborhood.
  • The church is transcendent – We, “the church,” can transcend culture.
  • Jesus was before us, He is with us, and He will be after us.
  • Relevance is to be in step with, so to strive to be relevant means that we will always be behind someone. Trying to be relevant is tiring because you can never catch up.
  • One extreme is to completely avoid being culturally relevant…the other is to be oversaturated with cultural relevance. Relevance may have become the golden calf of the contemporary church. The golden calf of the future/emerging church may be social justice.
  • Because of Christ, we transcend culture…I cannot even type the notes for what Louie just said…Wow!
  • It doesn’t matter what is going to happen…because Jesus “Will Be…” – We can relate to people even if we do not have a lot in common, because Jesus “Is” Continue reading “2008 Orange Conference Session 5”
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What Fuels You?

An excerpt from Chasing Daylight, chapter 2, “Initiative”

Until our bodies turn to dust, there will always be a voice crying out within us to move from existence to life…The possibilities that await us in each moment are fueled by the potential God has placed within us…It is about the kind of life you live as a result of the person you are becoming. The challenges you are willing to face will rise in proportion to the character you are willing to develop. With the depth of godly character comes an intensity of godly passion.

It is in this process of transformation that we find the fuel to engage with confidence the opportunities placed before us…For some strange reason many sincere followers of Christ have come to think that their passions are always in conflict with God’s purpose.

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4) When you draw near to God, God infuses passion…When we delight in God we become anything but apathetic. In fact, we become intensely passionate. These desires of our hearts are born out of the heart of God…The more passionate you are, the more proactive you will tend to be (even if you boldly do the wrong thing!).

“The more passionate you are, the more proactive you will tend to be…” Wow! If that does not sum up a lot of things. If I were to apply that one statement to Christians alone, it may help pinpoint why some people do not get plugged into ministry in order to serve others in the body. It very well could be that they don’t get plugged in because of a heart issue…they may not be passionate about God, other people, or the ministry they are being asked to do. I’ve seen it first hand, if someone is passionate they are going to be committed, no passion…no commitment.

Green Freaks…are proactive about the environment.
Nascar Freaks…are proactive about watching cars drive in circles.
Animal Freaks…are proactive about saving the minks.
Jesus Freaks…are proactive about sharing the love of Christ.

What is fueling you? What makes you want to get involved with whatever it is that you are involved with?

It could be in the “Spiritual” world or the “Secular” world, but chances are, if you are proactive about it…you have a passion, a love, a longing for it. If you are not active with anything…you are just existing…not living, that’s apathy! Motivation for me is to be proactive in growing in my journey with Christ, as I grow, He will give me the desires that I need to be passionate about, and with passion I can act, therefore I can live.

If you are not living, chances are you’re not growing. What’s holding you back? God wants to remove those barriers and replace them with passion.