Soma Community Church

Gospel/ Family/ Mission

What is holding you back?

I don’t think people fall short of what God has for them because He is not revealing Himself, many (including myself) do so because He does reveal Himself. When He does this we are forced to face several things that MUST be overcome if we are going to achieve what He has for us. Here are some of this things that stop me:

1. Fear

If you do not say “oh crap” when God reveals what He wants for your life, then you probably did not hear from God! As you read through the biblical narrative you see many “oh crap” moments. We will never become who God has called us to be and do what He has called us to do if we do not face our fears.

  • Moses faced his fear of not being able to speak and went before Pharoah.
  • Noah faced his fear of not knowing how to build a boat

People that accomplish great things for God MUST fight through their fears because reality is than God has never asked anyone to do anything that was easy (other than receiving Christ).

2. People

When you want to do something great for God there will always be LOTS of people who try to tell you why you can’t do what He said for you to do. I have learned to never listen to anyone who just stands against the wall and does nothing but criticize those who are trying to stay in rhythm with the Father. In fact, despite the pain and hardship the fruit bore from doing what God has called you has been sweet and filling.

3. Procrastination

So many people who swear that “one day” they are going to do what they “know” God has called them to do but “one day” for most people NEVER comes. Why? In their minds “one day” is when everything is in place and doing what God has called them to do does not require any step of faith at all.

“I will do it one day” is a lie that we tell ourselves in order to justify our disobedience. God’s words are not to be considered but to be obeyed.

4. Underestimation

If God has called you then He has also equipped you and will sustain you. Of course the task at hand is large and seems “impossible”. This is why Zechariah 4:6 says it is by HIS Spirit and II Corinthians 12:9 says that HIS power is made perfect in our weakness! He did not call us because we are “able,” we are nothing more than common jars of clay (c.f. II Corinthians 4:7) that He wants to use for HIS glory and He has a history of taking ordinary people and doing extraordinary things through them.

These were just some examples from my life but I would like to know what holds you back, let me know in the comments below.

Only The Good Die Young

A few weeks ago I was supposed to go to a meeting in St. Louis (STL) and as apart of the program they were featuring a young lady named Jackie Hill.  Jackie is a poet from the STL who describes herself as someone who was

…molested by a family friend, bullied in school, and fatherless, which accompanied with a inherent separation from God, led her into a lifestyle of rebellion, homosexuality, drug use, porn addiction, and everything wicked.  Yet, she was loved and desired by a God who predestined her to know Him… after much debate with God, she BELIEVED all that He told her and made the decision, to turn from her sin and give her life completely to Jesus.

Let me just be honest with you, this young lady is real, simply real.  The talents that the Father has given her to use for His kingdom are immense and I am saddened to know that I missed hearing her live but her poetry has blessed me so much that I am compelled to share it with you.

It is only 4:20 long!   Take 5 minutes and concentrate on her words, look her in the eyes and listen to real talk because we need it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k08gjCPePhY&feature=plcp]

Dodging bullets in KC

I have many vivid memories from my childhood that do not reflect current reality.  Growing up on the outskirts of the Kansas City Metro (KC) yet consistently interacting with the each part of the city I was given a very unique perspective and love for the whole city.  Just like any other metro area, things change, some parts get better and vice versa.  One of these areas in KC is called “Bannister”  which is named after the road that the area is centered on.  While growing up I have so many great memories from this area.  After church my parents would take us down the Bannister mall to the SUPER WALMART to shop.  I remember seeing the traveling Lego collection (specifically the Lego Statue of Liberty, life changing), filling up on all the samples (don’t judge you’ve done it), and generally having a good time.  I also remember the night we were watching the news that there had been a “shoot-out” in the parking lot of the Mall and from that point everything started to go downhill, quickly.

Sunday afternoon my mother and I were trying to find a place on the Southeast side of the city to meet so she could see the kids and I could give her the camera we borrowed from my parents.  I pulled off of I-435 and merged onto Bannister Rd, an area I have been to thousands of times.  I noticed a gold Mercedes  (E-class) coupe flying towards me in the inside lane, so I continued on.  A few seconds later this car is next to me and the driver is livid, apparently he felt that I had cut him off (intentionally) and decided that he needed to scream this at me while we drove.  I sped up to try to get away (Sienna vs. MB E-class) and he easily kept pace with me so he could keep up his obscenity laced tirade.  This is the point I looked over and noticed a pistol laying on his passenger seat as he points to it and then back at me.  At this point my inner “Bryan Mills” comes out and quickly begin planning how to safeguard my family if he began to shoot (this is what happens when you grow up with a father who should have been in the CIA).  My wife, noticing that something is wrong,  asks what is going on, to which I lie to her and say nothing at all is wrong (I repent).  Eventually, I [skillfully] found a way to lose him and found a place to meet my mom.

What was the point of this story?  Well I want to tell you this for a couple reasons.

  1. I am part ninja…
  2. Ares of a city are just a microcosm of our nation which relish in prosperity, ebb, and then die.
  3. There are broken places everywhere and we were almost another stat for no apparent reason

In this [overly] political season we need to remember that it is our privilege to make the invisible kingdom [of God], visible through our [redeeming] fidelity to it.  So how do we begin to encounter these broken people for the glory of God and the good of the city?  I’d love to hear your thoughts below.

Listen to your heart?

** This is part 4 of my series on Christian cliches. They’re meant for good but end up doing more harm in the long run**

I know the question sounds counter intuitive in a culture where many motivational gurus and life coaches are saying,

“Above all things trust your heart.”

while the Bible says,

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” – Jeremiah 17:9

Who is right?

The problem with listening to your heart is we are forgetting that you are your own worst enemy. You have within you a voice that is dearer than the voice of God or any angel or man. This voice can comfort and convince you against any teaching or warning. This voice is with you twenty-four hours a day, and it always tells you what you want to hear and what to believe. It helps you make most decisions and if you continually listen to it you are a fool and will be led down a horrible path.

Your heart has a strong opinion on any and every subject, whether you know anything about said subject or not. Your heart reacts in an instant against criticism or reproofs, and it controls you with passionate desire for something it wants. Your heart can lull you to sleep about matters it says are unimportant, and it can keep you from sleeping out of envy or hate.   It is your internal set of desires and needs that affects your decision-making. This is not your conscience it is your anti-conscience.  It is not the Holy Spirit but the antithesis of it, please do not get them confused.  Unfortunately this is the set of passions that drives most men and women.

Do what your heart tells you is a creed believed by millions today. It is one of the great cultural myths of the Western world, a gospel proclaimed in many movies and songs and television programs and stories.  We have to have a higher standard of authority than our heart, a higher standard of authority than mere opinion, and that is the Word of God.

Instead of trying to accommodate the Word of God to our changing culture, we need to accommodate our culture to the unchanging Word of God.

**Over the next few weeks I would love to address other Christian cliches, if there are some that you’ve wondered about please let me know in the comments below and I will try to address them in the upcoming weeks.**

God helps those who help themselves?

** This is part 3 of my series on Christian cliches. They’re meant for good but end up doing more harm in the long run**

God helps those who help themselves?

Does He?

Really?

As you can see in this video, Stephen Colbert takes Bill O’Reilly to task for wrongly attributing this [sad] cliche (amongst other things) to Jesus, yet he is not alone. In February of 2000 George Barna did a poll asking if “The Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves” and the results were eye-opening:

  • 53% of Americans agree strongly [that is could be found in the Bible]
  • 22% agree somewhat
  • 7% disagree somewhat
  • 14% disagree strongly
  • 5% stated they don’t know

Of “born-again” Christians 68% agreed, and 81% of non “born-again” Christians agreed with the statement. Despite being of non-Biblical origin, the phrase topped a poll of the most widely known Bible verses. Seventy-five percent (75%) of American teens said they believed that it was the central message of the Bible.

The problem with this belief is that is directly conflicts with the Bible’s view of God’s kindness towards people, none of whom deserve it – “grace”. It suggests a spiritual self-reliance inconsistent with the God of the Bible. The essence of this cliche is that if you work hard and take care of your own business, God will intervene where necessary. In other words, do your job and God will do his. While we have responsibilities as those who bear the image of God, God is NOT OBLIGATED to intervene in our lives or act in prescribed ways, simply because we did our part. God does not owe us….anything! He is not in our debt; we are in His.

Let me be clear – THIS IS NOT IN SCRIPTURE. People treat it like it is, but it’s not. Benjamin Franklin penned this in the Farmers’ Almanac in 1757 and it can be found from other non biblical sources even earlier. God does not help those who can help themselves, simply because no one can help do so. We cannot save ourselves from our bondage to sin, nor from the wrath of God, so He does. Our own power fails us when we rely on it, rather than God. To believe that God helps those who help themselves, is not only foolish, but it’s proud. Pride motivates the belief that we can do everything by our own gusto and go-to attitude. That we can pick ourselves up by our spiritual & moral bootstraps, but, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”. This is hard for us here in the U.S. but we must learn to work through God’s grace and not our own works.

**Over the next few weeks I would love to address other Christian cliches, if there are some that you’ve wondered about please let me know in the comments below and I will try to address them in the upcoming weeks.**

God will never give you more than you can handle?

**  This is part 2 or my series on Christian cliches.  They’re meant for good but end up doing more harm in the long run**

You hear it all the time, you see it written on Facebook status updates and tweeted printed on everything.  Honestly, this phrase is thrown around a lot, and I do mean a lot.  Many people use this line to try to encourage a friend or family member whenever times are tough.  While it’s absolutely essential that we do everything we can to build up and encourage people who are experiencing trials and adversity, we need to make sure that what we encourage them with is the truth.

This phrase sounds very positive and affirming, but you will not find “God won’t give you more than you can handle” anywhere within the pages of the Bible.  It simply doesn’t exist.

It actually comes from a common misquote 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says:

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

When applied properly this verse very affirming, but it does not say that God will not “give you more than you can handle.” It’s talking about temptation only – that we will not be tempted beyond what we can endure.

Over and over again in the Bible, we see men and women who are given far more than they can handle. The prophet Jeremiah is a great example; he was charged with preaching repentance to the people of Israel, a calling that caused him to be beaten, plotted against and rejected by everyone, even his own family. Emotionally, that was far more than he could handle (as we see in his many laments).

The Apostle Paul is probably one of the most powerful examples of this truth found in Scripture. Paul doesn’t tell us these things to boast in how he took all this suffering and adversity like a man—he does it so that we might know that God will always give us more than we can handle. He ”boasts of the things that show my weakness” because those things show his (and our) dependency on the power and mercy of God.

When you say that God will never give you more than you can handle, I pray you can see that the focus is on you and not Him.  God will break you so that you will learn to rely completely on Him.  So let’s please stop peddling this lie as it only serves to hurt more than help.

**Over the next few weeks I would love to address other Christian cliches, if there are some that you’ve wondered about please let me know in the comments below and I will try to address them in the upcoming weeks.**

Soma Community Church

804 Fairmount Blvd
Jefferson City, MO 65109
(573) 635-4832

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