May God test you!?!?

Recently, I was listening to the podcast from Cornerstone Church Simi Valley and Pastor Francis Chan asked a very intriguing question.

If Jesus stood up on stage and said:

Plan A: This year I will give you everything you want. You will prosper, your family will prosper, you will get whatever you want but by the end of this year you will not be any closer to me.

Plan B: This year will be the hardest year of your life. You may lose your marriage, job, and children. You will struggle in everything you do especially when it pertains to your relationship with God but by the end of the year you would be closer to me [Jesus] that you could ever imagine.

Which you would you choose?

I only ask this because I know that I’d want to choose Plan B but I’d most likely choose Plan A.

Why is that?

Why is it that when someone sneezes we ask God to bless him or her? Aren’t we already blessed? We:

Live in America
Make more money than most of the world
Won’t die or get sick by drinking dirty water
Have access to education
Relatively healthy
Etcetera

I’ve just noticed that we are very blessed and maybe need God to test us instead. Most of us could use God’s testing, including myself, and would not enjoy the testing but the outcome. The problem is that God gives us a choice on whether or not we want to submit to His will for our lives. So I wanted to wish you something that may cause you much harm but in the end will also bring you closer to the joy of the Father and His glory. May we choose Plan B and may He test us and do so deeply.

Really? Really? We can’t do better?

Some things I’ll never understand if I live to be a 100 and this is one of those things…Why do a cartoon that has absolutely nothing to do with religion or Christianity need a Jesus voice? And out of all the people in the world guess who the voice of Jesus will be? You got it! Lil’ Wayne, he will be providing the voice of Jesus in the new cartoon “Freaknik.”

In order to understand this you must understand what “Freaknik” was you should understand its origins. Freaknik was an annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, primarily of students from historically black colleges and universities, begun in 1982. Atlantans’ reception of the festival was mixed. In its heyday, the fest attracted upwards of 250,000 revelers to the city. Many residents attended and enjoyed Freaknik, and others complained about traffic congestion due to street parties. City leaders eventually took measures to curtail Freaknik’s accessibility, and hence its popularity. As a result, Freaknik moved to Memorial Drive in Dekalb County then Daytona Beach, Florida and was shut down soon after there arrival for spinning out of control.

The show, which is a 1-hour musical, will be airing on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim in March and is said to feature many guest rapper’s, including Lil Wayne as the voice of Jesus Christ, who will be performing a music video for “Ghetto Commandments.”

The creative director of Adult Swim, tried to explain the shows concept and the rappers involvement. “Basically it was a Black Spring Break that went down in Atlanta and got shut down back in ‘98 or ‘99. So the show is going to resurrect that, and it’s going to be starring T-Pain and Lil’ Wayne and all these other artists like David Banner and some other dudes. It’s all drawn, and T-Pain plays the ghost of Spring Break, the Spirit of Freaknik. He brings this party back to Atlanta and the artists have done all this music for it, and it’s amazing.”

Outsiders View

“You have never met a mere mortal: You have either known an immortal horror or an eternal splendor”

~ C.S. Lewis “The Weight of Glory”

Now that I’m not in “full-time” professional ministry I’ve had the great opportunity to work directly with many people who are not Christians, don’t like Christians and sometimes hate us. I have asked some of them to share there story and there real view of Christians. Why you may ask? Given my testimony I have a passion for the outsider, though Christ seems to be drawing me to the “older b rother” (focus on vs. 25 – 32), and that passion leads me into some extremely interesting conversations. I’ve learned that each person has a story, a journey, and what many theologians call….. baggage. I honestly want you to hear there perspectives and join me in realizing how far we have to go. Honestly, most of you that read this probably feel that you are on mission and I’m not here to tell you otherwise but a constant reminder of why the message that we bring is so unpalatable to so many. I love those who will be sharing with us and I pray that you will join me in praying for them and our reactions to there perceptions (right of wrong) of those of us who follow Christ.

and how was your Christmas?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apWrS2uPBTg]

In perhaps one of the more spectacular YouTube performances of 2009, a child opens his Christmas present, an Xbox 360, and is transported to another dimension. Honestly, the only sane one in the room in the dog, no seriously watch and listen closely.

Honestly, I pray that your Christmas and New Year will be one that you remember. If you are in pain (spiritually, personally, physically, ect.) please remember that there is nothing that our God has allowed that won’t eventually lead to our joy and His glory.

I love you each, more than you’ll ever know.

Christless, expounding on nothing…

I love that a whole crop of young men and women that are passionate about the Gospel of Christ and sharing it everywhere. I have wanted to share this for awhile and hope that you enjoy this short clip of Pastor Matt Chandler and check yourself as your lead and teach others towards Christ

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5YzI7b92L8]

This was an excerpt from a sermon called “A Shepherd and His Unregenerate Sheep”
from the 2009 Desiring God Conference for Pastors please download and watch the rest of the sermon @ http://www.desiringgod.org/…

the “elephant in the Church”

I think it is about time to take on the “elephant in the Church”. The elephant in the Church (also elephant in the living room, elephant in the corner, elephant on the dinner table, elephant in the kitchen, etc.) is an English idiom for an obvious truth that is being ignored. It is based on the fact that an elephant in a small room would be impossible to overlook…it is called PORN. There are some scary statistics out there, especially when it comes to those who are believers in Christ. I guess deep down inside all we want is to know that everything is going to be all right. We ask ourselves the question…is there something wrong with me because I am struggling with pornography? If you are not asking that question you should examine your motives. With this issue comes a lot of shame and guilt. It’s a dirty little secret that you can’t let out and in the meantime you feel like pond scum. For men we have three main facts:
1. We all love to look at nude women (yes, I just said this on t church site).
2. We have all looked at nude women.
3. We all know where we can find pictures of nude women.
The question is what are you going to do about the facts? We can simply accept the facts and give into our flesh, or we can live a life of integrity and avoid the pitfalls and traps of Internet pornography. This is every man’s battle. Porn is a lie. Porn tries to tell you what sex should feel like, sound like, and look like. Porn is simply fantasy designed to do one thing- keep you inclusive to yourself. Porn will destroy the relationships around you, as you pull away because of your dirty little secret. As you consume porn, it becomes your life, and you will eventually lose your choice to the addiction. Stop now! Do it for yourself. Do it for your eventual wife. Do it for the kids you will have one day. Do it because it’s the right thing to do.

Facts and Stats
– Last year more money was spent on purchasing pornography the the United States spent on foreign aid (12 billion vs. 10 billion)
– Porn revenue is larger than all combined revenues of all professional football, baseball, and basketball franchises.
– US porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, & NBC (6.2 billion).
– Child pornography generates $3 billion annually.
– Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography = 11 yrs old
– Largest Consumer of Internet Pornography = 12 – 17
– Christians who say porn is a major problem in the home = 47%
– US adults who regularly visit internet porn sites = 40 million
– 70% of women keep their cyber activities secret.
– 9.4 million women access adult website’s each month.

So here are some Next Steps
1. Come Clean (Prov 28:13; James 5:16)
The first thing to do is get the monkey off your back. Get face-to-face with God, let Him know you are ready for change and tell another human being.
2. Work out your faith (James 1:4)
You will have to work this thing out. It might mean you join a local group like Life Ministries or another anonymous group. Nationally there are a number of 12-step programs devoted to sex and pornography addictions and countless other Christian programs.
3. Get Accountable (Galatians 6)
You must keep your behavior in check with a close friend or accountability partner.

Resouces:
xxxchurch.com (#1 Christian Porn Site, consisting of porn addiction help and a variety of other sexual addiction aids and tools)
x3watch (Internet Accountability, Mac or PC)
Pure Online (Online, Confidential, Streaming Video Workshops for couples, men, women and teens, Mac or PC)
Safe Eyes (Internet Filtering Tool for Parents, Mac or PC)
Every Man’s Battle (Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time)