Connecting through serving

Over the past 3 weeks we have conducted a 30,000 ft fly over on Spiritual Gifts. Sadly, it seems ignorance about spiritual gifts persists in our day. That is why our Pastors felt it was so important to clarify the roles of the spiritual gifts in our lives. My prayer as we re-enter the book of Colossians, is that you not only discover your giftedness but find creative ways of utilize them in whatever local church you find yourself.

One way to connect with Christ-centered community for you to be empowered with the gospel to serve God and others. Serving is one of the greatest things that we can do as disciples. We should be committed to growing as disciples by using our gifts and talents for God in a way that will bless others and make the community a better place. The Bible tells us that God gave each of us the ability to do certain things well (Romans 12:6‐8). The Holy Spirit gives gifts to believers to be used for the building up of the body of Christ. As a church, we need to help people find and use these gifts for God. Serving is a powerful connection point that many believers ignore or simply overlook. Serving others is certainly not encouraged in our individualistic society, to be a servant means that we must look after the interests of others. It means selflessness as opposed to selfishness. A servant asks, “What can I do for others” instead of “what can they do for me?”

Additionally, Christians must strive to be like Jesus, our perfect example. Jesus set the example of being a servant by saying, “For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). This scripture beautifully embodies the task of Christian ministry. Disciples are to serve and give their lives for others. Serving is the example that Jesus gave, and his followers should follow it. Jesus met both the physical and spiritual needs of the people he ministered to in the Gospels. As the Body of Christ, we become his representatives to a lost world.

Finally, a servant revolution in our churches will reach our community and show the love of Christ. Each week and month, our church provides dozens of different opportunities for people to make a difference through service projects that touch peoples’ lives in the community. These pathways of service help people connect to their community with their God-given ability to serve. Serving is one of the major connection points in our church. The church should be an army of servants who are making a positive difference in their families, their community, and the world. Help find creative pathways for people to connect to your church through serving.

For more information on Spiritual Gifts from a [trusted] Pastor’s perspective please check out this series of blog post. Click here…

HT: Winfield Bevins’

Do You REALLY Want To Be Like Jesus?

One of the most overused phrases among Christians today is, “I just want to be more and more like Jesus.” I am not saying that is something bad, it’s just that I don’t think that some people have a clue what they are talking about when they say those words. I don’t think I have a clue sometimes when I say this phrase. People from a churched culture grow up with a “safe” picture of Jesus, he had feathered hair, wore a white robe with a purple “Miss America sash, was a constant giver of hugs and carried a lamb where ever He went (there are some paintings in churches that would prove this). However, in reading Scripture that is not the only aspect of Jesus that I am seeing. I am discovering that if I want to become more and more like Jesus that I am going to have to drop my Sunday school perceptions and embrace the following:
#1 – Jesus Is A Warrior King!

Check out Revelation 19:11-16. I have never seen a picture of that guy in a Christian bookstore. One of my favorite stories is found in Matthew 21:12-16 where His passion is demonstrated by the fact that He whipped some tail in the temple. I am sick and tired of people saying that a Christian is always nice, a Christian is someone who is passionate for the things of God, which requires some table turning from time to time.

#2 – Jesus Purposefully Offended The Religious!

Keep something in mind, it wasn’t the atheists, agnostics or even the devil worshipers that murdered Jesus, but rather the most religious people in that time period. Why? Because He was such a nice guy? No not really it was because He…

Healed on Sunday, which in their mind was sinful! These people (who aren’t much different from us) missed a miracle because it did not fit into their formula and they considered Jesus “wrong” for doing what He did!
He hung out, even touched lepers which was a HUGE no-no in that time period.
He went to a tax collectors house for a meal, which was a social declaration!
He went off in Matthew 23 calling the Pharisees “whitewashed tombs, sons of hell and snakes!”

Jesus was not concerned with making the religious happy,He was dangerous, on the edge that’s who Jesus was!!!

#3 – Jesus Did Not Get Inward Focused!

Like it or not Jesus didn’t go to a bookstore, get a theology book by a dead guy, get a group of guys together that were just like Him and give the world the middle finger because He was obsessed with “going deep”.

If I meet one more group of guys who think they are becoming more like Jesus because they are theological superior to people but do not know a lost/ unchurched person by name or refuse to exercise their spiritual gift, yet claim to be godly, fisticuffs may occur. (For everyone who just got mad about that–please refer to #2 😉

#4 – Jesus Offered Forgiveness

The people Jesus was nice to were the broken, the poor, the outcasts, the prostitutes…those whom society had thrown away! He didn’t yell at them, He didn’t look down His nose at them, He didn’t sit in a church pew and wonder, “Why are they here?” He offered them forgiveness. We’ve all seen it someone goes through a painful divorce and they are pushed to the margins if not out. A teenage girl gets pregnant and the other people in the church forbid their children to hang out with her. I’ve seen it and so have you. Jesus NEVER told them their behavior was ok, in fact, He preached repentance. Jesus did not shoot the wounded amongst us.

# 5 – Jesus Was Passionate About Obeying His Father!

Jesus had a passionate desire to obey God. He recognized His Father as the absolute authority in the universe and He went to the cross and gave His life as an act of obedience and worship. If we are going to be like Christ–obedience, not prostitution (being paid to perform a service) is required.

#6 – Jesus Had A Vision To Reach People!

Jesus had a desire to reach the NATIONS (Matthew 28:18-20 and in Acts 1:8)!
Now I am not the smartest man on the planet, but that’s a lot of people. Jesus told three parables in Luke 15 about something lost being found, and then said the angels in heaven rejoice when people cross over the line of faith. though we must grow we must also be about the outsider coming in.

#7 – Jesus Was Not Normal!

Jesus, in His teaching and mentoring tactics, was just simply different! He taught with authority, He told stories, He didn’t go line by line, verse by verse through the Old Testament, He used modern illustrations, He connected with the hearts of the people and they got it! He was not normal in who He surrounded Himself with, He didn’t go for the religious professionals but rather men who were crazy enough to believe and follow Him. He didn’t fit in with the religious system of the day and they killed Him for it (though He did have the last laugh!).

These are just my thoughts/rants I wonder what you think…

Do I want Jesus OR a Genie in a bottle?

Recently, I was heading out the door to go and meet with a friend of mine or coffee. As I was getting ready to leave the house my daughter came running up to me, hugged my neck, looked up at me and smiled & said, “Daddy!”

So…what did I do? I did what ANY dad would have done at that point…I stopped in my tracks, picked her up and gave her a big hug! It felt so wonderful to receive attention from my child and I REALLY was enjoying that moment…

Until…

She looked at my sunglasses on my face & said, “ooooooh” and reached for it.

Let me explain…

A few days earlier we had been shopping when i bought them and she was enamored with them them. Additionally she had been wearing them around the house and playing with them (even after i asked her to stop) all morning long. She walked around the house with it…and even tried to put it on her head, like daddy. When it was time to leave I took it from her and told her I had to go and that is when she ran after me and began to give me attention.

You see her attention and affection was not because she wanted to be close to me but because of what I had that she wanted. As I sat there thinking about this for a second God spoke to my heart and said, “This is the way you treat the Gospel many times!”

I am so guilty of times in my past where I prayed like crazy, raised my hands in worship, made HUGE promises and so on but NOT because I was in awe of who He is, but rather I wanted something from Him and falsly assumed that if I did the right things and gave Him enough attention that He would finally break and fulfill my selfish desires. THAT IS RELIGION! THAT IS REPUGNANT!

God knows my heart! He knows my mind! He knows my motives and He will not be tricked or deceived by empty worship.

One of the things I’ve been continually praying over the past year or so is for Jesus to continually make my motives pure and if there is ANYTHING in me that is not of Him to help me see it and get it out of my life. It’s not the easiest process to go through but it’s been incredibly liberating!

At the end of the day I am praying that I will not want what I think Jesus can give me…but simply just want Jesus! It’s a battle and I think there will always be a struggle to try and manipulate Him but it simply cannot be done.

So how about you? Are you pursuing Jesus, OR are you just after you believe He can give you? Just something to think about today! I wish I were an expert on this, but I am struggling just like most of you are. However, in His grace, mercy and patience He is blowing my mind as I work through this. I hope you will work through this as well!

Gospel – Centered Life

This summer we will talk a lot about being Gospel-centered as a church and/or community, and I really want to encourage Gospel-centered living amongst the people in our class. From time to time you will we get asked by our newcomers, “What exactly does that mean? What does it look like?” Here is a brief explanation.

The Gospel

Before we jump into gospel-centeredness we need to be clear about the gospel itself. In the simplest of terms the gospel is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that accomplishes redemption and restoration for all who believe and all of creation. In the simplest way I can state this is the gospel, the “good news,” that God redeems a fallen world by his grace.

Gospel-Centered

Therefore, to be gospel-centered means that that the gospel – and Jesus himself – is our greatest hope and boast, our deepest longing and joy, and our most passionate song and message. It means that the gospel is what defines us as Christians (Gospel Identity), unites us as brothers and sisters (Gospel Community), changes us as sinner/saints and sends us as God’s people on mission (Gospel Practice). When we are gospel-centered the gospel is exalted above every other good thing in our lives and triumphs over every bad thing set against it. I essentially serves as the only filter by which we view the world in which we interact.

More specifically, the gospel-centered life is a life where a Christian experiences a growing personal reliance on the gospel that protects him from depending on his own religious performance and being seduced and overwhelmed by idols. This summer my want and prayer for each of you is that we become gospel-centered and that the subsequent life produces:

Confidence
When the gospel is central in our lives we have confidence before God – not because of our achievements, but because of Christ’s atonement. We can approach God knowing that he receives us as his children. We do not allow our sins to anchor us to guilt and despair, but their very presence in our lives compels us to flee again and again to Christ for grace that restores our spirits and gives us strength.

Intimacy
When the gospel is central in our lives we have and maintain intimacy with God, not because of our religious performance, but because of Jesus’ priestly ministry. We know that Jesus is our mediator with God the Father and that he has made perfect peace for us through his sacrifice allowing us to draw near to God with the eager expectation of receiving grace, not judgment.

Transformation
When the gospel is central in our lives we experience spiritual transformation, not just moral improvement, and this change does not come about by our willpower, but by the power of the resurrection. Our hope for becoming what God designed and desires for us is not trying harder, but trusting more – relying on his truth and Spirit to sanctify us.

Community
When the gospel is central in our lives we long for and discover unity with other believers in the local church, not because of any cultural commonality, but because of our common faith and Savior. It is within this covenant community, if the community itself is gospel-centered, that we experience the kind of fellowship that comforts the afflicted, corrects the wayward, strengthens the weak, and encourages the disheartened.

In Galatians, Paul lays down a powerful principle. He deals with Peter’s racial pride and cowardice by declaring that he was not living “in line with the truth of the gospel”. From this we see that the Christian life is a process of renewing every dimension of our life– spiritual, psychological, corporate, social–by thinking, hoping, and living out the “lines” or ramifications of the Gospel. The Gospel is to be applied to every area of thinking, feeling, relating, working, and behaving. The implications and applications of this idea are vast and deep and I pray that they change us throughout this summer.

A rebuttal to “Five Reasons I Hate Telling People I’m Christian”

Almost every day I work with people who have a past with or a strong aversion to Christianity. Many times the persons actions and words will completely change and they will quickly conform to what they think I would like for them to act like. It is very frustrating! On the other hand some people do not shape up but amplify their behavior in order to get under my skin, disgust me, or just offend me. I find this really funny! People are rarely just themselves when they find out what I want to do and this can be traced to our societies perception of Christians in general.

A while back I read a blog from a fellow blogger named John Smulo. He wrote a post entitled “Five Reasons I Hate Telling People I’m Christian”. As I read this simple post I was struck with this thought, I like his thought provoking post most times but this one I did not ( see what see said please check out his post here). So I wanted to spend some time giving my “Six Reasons I Love Telling People I’m Christian”

When I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m not shouting “I’ve been saved!”I’m whispering, “I was lost. That’s why I chose this way”
When I say, “I am a Christian,” I don’t speak with human pride I’m confessing that I stumble, and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m not bragging of success I’m admitting that I’ve failed and cannot ever pay the debt.
When I say, “I am a Christian,” I don’t think I know it all I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught.
When I say, “I am a Christian,” I’m not claiming to be perfect My flaws are far too visible.
When I say, “I am a Christian,” I still feel the sting of pain I have my share of heartache which is why I seek His name.

Despite the all of the preconceived notions that coincide with the word “Christian” I truly believe that it is my job to represent the one who saved us. The first known usage of the term can be found in the New Testament, in Acts 11:26: “the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” The term was first used to denote those known or perceived to be disciples of Jesus Christ. In the two other New Testament uses of the word (Acts 26:28 and 1 Peter 4:16) it refers to the public identity of those who follow Jesus. I think that the word should be redefined and fought for by those of us who follow Christ. Because of my skin color many people have presuppositions on who I am and what I do/ sound like. It may not be fair but I refuse to accept those false assumptions as true, neither should we do that with Christ name. We need to live preaching the Gospel to ourselves and living it (through words and actions) to the Glory of God and for His praise.

This is just my opinion I could be wrong!

What do you think? Comment below…..

on Blast!

***Please take a second to [carefully] read this billboard***

A New Mexico man’s decision to lash out with a billboard ad saying his ex-girlfriend had an abortion against his wishes has touched off a legal debate over free speech and privacy rights.

The sign on Alamogordo‘s main thoroughfare shows 35-year-old Greg Fultz holding the outline of an infant. The text reads, “This Would Have Been A Picture Of My 2-Month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To Not KILL Our Child!”

Fultz’s ex-girlfriend has taken him to court for harassment and violation of privacy. A domestic court official has recommended the billboard be removed. But Fultz’s attorney argues the order violates his clients free speech rights. “As distasteful and offensive as the sign may be to some, for over 200 years in this country the First Amendment protects distasteful and offensive speech,” Todd Holmes said.

The Supreme Court recently weighed in on the distasteful “Free Speech” of the Westboro [former] Baptist ~~Church~~ Cult and I want you to please respond to what the billboard says.

What do you think is he justified or is this wrong?

Where does your free speech end?