6.18.08

".......I am giving you my dreams, I'm laying down my rights, I 'm giving up my pride for the promise of new life"

Surrender

By Lincoln Brewster

I like these lyrics because they sum up what I decided to do with my life over 15 years ago which was to cross the line of faith and become a Christian. It hasn't always been easy, in fact at different times in my life it has been very hard to follow Christ (by my own doings). Although, since Turning Point (a revival at my old church lead by evangelist Ken Freeman) earlier this decade, I have decided to get very serious about how God could use me to further his kingdom. That lead me to were I am today at The Journey Church working in full-time ministry. Ponder these lyrics today. Have you given up your dreams or layed down your pride for the promise of new life with Jesus? If not, do it! You won't regret it. I am living proof of it.

6.17.08

James 4:8

"Come close to God, and God will come close to you....."

In our small group a couple of weeks ago, Pastor Erik mentioned this verse and it has reasonated with me for awhile. The one question I had about this was....what would that actually look like? I thought about that and God gave me a clear answer. It looks like a magnet. A magnet will attract some metal objects to itself. So, if God is the magnet and we are metal, we are bound to come close to each other and most likely stick together. The question is how do we get on a path towards God and stick to him? I would suggest praying, reading the scriptures, listening to worship/christian music, serve others rather than yourself, attend church regularly, get in a small group, etc. The list goes on and on but if you can start by just doing a few of these you will notice God's attractional pull on your life to stick with him. You will also feel that closeness with God that you want and actually need in your life.

5.28.08

Romans 5:8

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

I went to one of my favorite convience stores last week to fill up my plastic lawnmower gas container. While I was waiting to pay, I noticed a guy in front of me with no shirt and no shoes on. All he had on was a pair of blue jeans and an old hat. Oh, he also had a huge skull/pirate tattoo on his back. He was your classic redneck. Obviously the store owner didn't have a problem with the guy coming into his store half naked but I did. So after I left the store, I started pondering what I just saw and it hit me......God loves that guy no matter what he looks like or wears just as much as he does me. God also sent Jesus to die for that guy as well as me. So at the end of the day God, just like the store owner, has no problem with the concept of "No shirt No Shoes No Problem." Think about that this week.

5.17.08

Matthew 9:35-38

Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

I started thinking about these verses this week after we had our big "Celebration Sunday" at The Journey on Sunday. We only scheduled 1 baptism but had 4 more people step forward and be baptized. It was an amazing day. I haven't seen anything like that in a long time. The Holy Spirit really moved in people's hearts and minds. Now the question is....how do we top that or move beyond just baptizing 5 people? Well, the scriptures tell us that the harvest is great, but the workers are few. This means that lost people are out there we just need more people on mission to spread the Good News to reach them. The Elders and Lead Staff can't do it all that is why we need you on board to help. One way you can do that is to invest and invite. Invest in the people you currently have relationships with and invite them to church. If you do that to one of your relationships and that person does it to another relationship and so on, imagine what kind of impact we can make for the kingdom of God. Think about that possibility this week.

5.9.08

Acts 20:24
"But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God."

Last Saturday, I watched the Kentucky Derby with my wife Laurie. This is her favorite sporting event to watch on tv. We have been watching the race ever since we have known each other because she is a huge horse lover in general. We both love this race because it is the most exciting two minutes in all of sports because for those two minutes the horses give everything they have to the jockey to try to win the race. In my mind though, one horse stood out among the crowd of horses last Saturday. No, it wasn't the winner Big Brown. It was the runner-up Eight Belles. She was the only philly (girl) in the race with 19 other colts (boys). As some of you may or may not know, Eight Belles did finish second but broke both of her front ankles after she crossed the finish line. This meant that she had to be euthanized on the spot because that type of injury to a horse is almost always deadly. So I started thinking about Acts 20:24 and how it relates to Eight Belles. She did the work assigned to her by the jockey and trainer. She finished the race and then gave her life up for the cause. How amazing is that?

I hope I can be like Eight Belles. That I would consider my life useless unless I use it to do the work I am assigned to do by Jesus Christ which is to spread the Good News to the world in some form or fashion.

4.23.08

Rick Warren-wow!

I just met Rick Warren pastor of Saddleback Church in California and author of the book "The Purpose Driven Life." That book is the biggest selling book of all time behind the bible. He spoke to a group of roughly 100 church planters tonight. It was amazing. He truly blessed my life. More to come on this later! I am going to bed.

4.18.08

Acts 3:19
"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,"

The first part of this verse reminds me of last summer when I went on vacation to Florida. I was walking on the beach and suddenly something in my mind clicked--God wipes away our sins just like the ocean wipes away footprints in the sand when you walk close to the water. In order for God to wipe away our sins, we have to repent just as the first word of the scripture says. Repentance is basically a prayer for a change of mind, purpose, and direction. I believe if we do that, God will answer our prayer for repentance. The second part of the verse is a huge encouragement because we all feel better/refreshed when we repent of our sins and know that God wipes those sins away. It's like God removes an elephant off our shoulders. We all need refreshment from time to time or we become old and stale.

Our challenge for today is to:

1. Ask God to show us areas in our life that cause us to sin.


2. Repent of that sin or sins and make a declaration not to let that sin or sins get in our way again.

Don't you want to experience a time of refreshing from the Lord??