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FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2009 What are the three things every person is really wanting in life? 1. They want to have faith in God and in others 2. The want hope, an expectancy of great things to come 3. They want love, unconditional and unending Those are the three greatest things in life according to 1 Corinthians 13:13 and should be the three most prevalent characteristics of the Church as well. I know at Life Church our desire is to build up a person?s faith in God and to be a congregation of people you can put your faith in. People should be able to have faith in their Church! We also want to be a congregation of hope (which means confident expectancy)! We expect you to prosper and be in good health, we expect you to have joy unspeakable, peace beyond your ability to comprehend it, we expect your marriage to thrive and your children to walk in the ways of the Lord. We expect you to have more than enough, to be made rich in every way so you can be generous on every occasion. We expect great things for your life and we will build up your faith so that you expect those things as well. First and foremost as a pastor I am dedicated to building a church committed to LOVING people. Loving you during the high points of life and loving you through the low points. It?s time for the Church to BE the Church in our actions. To be a church of Faith, Hope and Love 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009 Jude 1:10 Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals--these are the very things that destroy them. Jude 1:16 These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. I have been reading a lot of these news articles about a certain political leader who is spending all of his time faultfinding and criticizing the way his predecessor did things. My opinion is that it is easier to point the news media back to their favorite punching bag rather than have them examining his bad leadership. (oops, got on the political soap box for a second). The scriptures above warn against speaking against things you don?t understand and faultfinding. I find this to be common everywhere, not just in politics. People find it easier and more comfortable to search for and broadcast others faults rather than work on their own. And when we don?t understand something it becomes instinct to attack it rather than investigate it. I am not saying we should roll over and just accept anything and everything for the Word says in the last days men will not put up with sound doctrine. However, I don?t think we need to spend all of our time finding things to criticize either. The Bible says think on things that are good so why are we spending so much time thinking on people?s faults? So now I must repent for fault finding that political leader instead of praying for him and I encourage us all to guard our hearts against fault finding.
MONDAY, APRIL 20th, 2009
Abraham gave a tenth after he won th Leviticus 27:30 "'A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. Genesis 14:20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Genesis 28:20 -22 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." 2 Corinthians 8:7 But just as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us --see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2009
Luke 17:1 & 2 Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. Jesus said things that cause people to sin are bound to come but woe to the person who causes another to sin. I saw a video the other day of a Pastor?s wife overseas who is a pop superstar over there. She is trying to break into the US pop music market. Her music video had very sexual dancing, very little clothing on at times, sexually suggestive lyrics and some foul language at the end. In interviews she blamed the pressure of the US music industry for why some of those things were in her music video. I am sure she felt pressured to give into the demands of the US music producers and record labels BUT I wonder if she realizes she could be causing people to lust. Jesus said if a person looks upon a person lustfully they have committed adultery in their heart. Jesus also said it would be better to be thrown into the sea with a giant stone around your neck than to lead someone into sin. Again, Jesus said woe to the one who causes people to sin. What about in our life? Is there gossip, ungodly talk, flirting, indecent attire, bad attitudes, etc. that might be leading someone else into sin? In the third verse of Luke 17 Jesus said “watch yourselves” So I would say to ME and anyone else, let?s watch ourselves and make sure we are not one of the people through whom people sin.
THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2009
I was reading my Pastor's blog today and decided I would repost his on my blog today. Gee, Pastor Who is your Pastor you ask? My Pastor is Rusty Nelson of the Rock Family Worship Center in Huntsville, Al. Amazing Church that is only 10 yrs old but probably 3-4 thousand every Sunday. He is a man of great integrity, passion and vision. Enjoy his blog for today, I did.
The phrase "VANTAGE POINT", according to Webster's means, “a position or location that provides a broad view or perspective of something”; that is really the VIEW that FAITH gives you. FAITH is that STRONG belief and confidence toward God that involves commitment to His will for your life. Paul said in Romans 12:3 that we have all been given a "measure of faith". That word "measure" means to STRETCH OUT, to EXTEND. If FAITH does not stretch you then it will not produce anything in your life. This FAITH, this STRONG CONVICTION in GOD will always take you from where you are to where you are supposed to be. It is that place of TRUST that takes you beyond what you see and into what HE SEES. It STRETCHES you out of what "YOU WANT" and into what "HE WANTS". I heard my Pastor say years ago, “you've got to see it before you see it, or you will never see it.” What an expression of FAITH. We SERVE the ONE who has already planned our days and provided everything that we need to live out those days. HE sees our PAST, our PRESENT, and our FUTURE, all at the same time. HE is intimately acquainted with us and invites us to be intimately acquainted with HIM. You can see something from a whole new perspective when you change your view. FAITH changes your VIEW and allows you to SEE FROM GOD?S VANTAGE POINT! FAITH Rehearses GOD'S Promises until THEY become MORE REAL than life itself. YOU SEE, HIS WORD is HIS BOND and IT will NEVER come up empty, and HE will DO what HE SAYS HE WILL DO. You can put your COMPLETE CONFIDENCE and TRUST in HIM today. So, LET YOUR HEART SEE from HIS VANTAGE POINT.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2009 We call the firefighter who saves a person from a burning building and from 3rd degree burns or death a hero and rightly so. But how much greater a hero is the person who saves a soul from eternal death, spending eternity in hell separated from God burning forever and ever in the lake of fire. And in the words of Forrest Gump “that?s all I?ve got to say about that” (at least in this blog). Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.
TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2009 1 Timothy 3:5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) Part of managing your family well is managing your time well. I have known so many who were in the ministry but their family fell apart because of the excessive time they spent at their Church or on road singing at Churches or preaching revivals. It?s not just a preacher thing either. I have known so many people whose marriage fell apart because they spent too much time on the job or they let their hobby?s consume so much time that they neglected time with their spouse. Over the years I have learned that we must manage our time well. There are only 24 hours in a day and you need to manage the hours you have well. Because of the hectic schedule we keep we had to stop participating in a ministry we had been ministering at once a week for over 4 years. We loved the people we were ministering to and with but between the Church, the Dream Center, doing some evangelistic meetings and speaking at various churches to raise funds for the Dream Center we had to sacrifice hours of family and rest time. So Just as a good money manager has to know when you are spending too much and make cuts we knew we had to make some time cuts so we gave up being a part of that other weekly ministry and reclaimed over 4 hours a week of time. I said in a sermon a few weeks back that sometimes we have to learn how to say no. Everything and everybody is demanding our time so we have to prioritize our time and make sure the most important things and people are given time. Be sure you leave time in your busy schedule time to worship, spend time with your family, rest and relax and enjoy the other blessings God has put in your life. Manage your time well. 1 Corinthians 10:23 ?not everything is beneficial?
MONDAY, APRIL, 13, 2009 Yesterday I was teaching about the wounds of Jesus and the healing for our body provided in His sacrifice. I gave reasons why if it is God?s will to be healed some Christians still remain sick. One of the reasons is our lifestyle. Check out this verse. 1 Corinthians 10:23 "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive. Because of Jesus we have been set free from the law and thus we do not have to keep all the dietary guidelines of the Old Testament in order to be born again and go to heaven. However, the law of sowing and reaping still applies. You can enjoy a piece of bacon without losing your salvation but if you eat two pounds of bacon a day you may end up with serious health problems not because it isn?t God?s will for you to be in good health but because you sowed the wrong things in to your body. I have found that Oreo?s are permissible for me and God doesn?t mind me enjoying them occasionally but a month ago I gained 3 pounds because I ate an entire pack in two days. That pack of Oreo?s was permissible but not beneficial to my waist line or my health. Here is another example of what I am talking about. The Word says in 1 Timothy 4:8 in the KJV that “bodily exercise profits little” but it didn?t say it profits NONE (and these are the words of an overweight preacher who needs to get back to exercising). Exercise isn?t required to go to heaven but it might really improve and prolong your days on the earth. So let us be mindful of our actions (not just diet related ones) realizing that while some of them may not be sinful they also may not be beneficial to our health, relationships, emotions etc.
SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2009 There will not be an easier weekend to invite people to church all year than this weekend. It?s Easter/ Resurrection Sunday (which ever you choose to call it) and people will go to Church on this day that will not even consider it any other day of the year. So take advantage of this opportunity God is giving you. You don?t have to preach them a sermon or explain the Book of Revelation you just have to ask them come to Church with you. Go one step further and offer to bring them. At Life Church we are having a giant indoor Easter Egg Hunt with a puppet show, music, dancing, games, videos and a special message for the kids as another tool to get people to come. Even non-churchy people love to see their children having fun hunting eggs so invite your lost friends, neighbors and relatives to a church egg hunt, passion play or some other special service this weekend. Don?t let this weekend?s opportunity pass you by. Get on the phone, knock on some doors, send some emails, hop on facebook, myspace, or twitter. Do whatever it takes but let?s fill up our Churches tomorrow with people who need Jesus in their lives. You have a tremendous opportunity given to you by God so make the most of it! Colossians 4:5 ?make the most of every opportunity.
FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2009 Hebrews 11:15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Be careful what you think about. If you sit around and think about the life of sin you left behind to serve Jesus your mind will give you an opportunity (come up with a reason) to return. I had this guy in a previous church we pastored who kept returning to drug and alcohol addiction. He would do fine for several months until he would allow himself to think about all the good times he had fishing with his cousin. Now his cousin was an addict who always managed to somehow talk him into taking a little drink. Of course a little drink ended up becoming a big drink and then a bigger drink until he was out on a three day binge again. This guy I?m talking about loved to fish and loved his cousin. They had been friends who fished and hung out together all of their lives. Unfortunately this friend was one of those God?s Word tells to “come out from among and be separate”. That cousin was a stumbling block for him, the worst possible influence for a weak Christian. This guy would allow his thoughts to wander back to his cousin and the good times they used to have. His mind would tell him things like “hey, you have been clean for several months now, he won?t influence you” or “you are set free and you can?t be tempted by that anymore” not to mention the thoughts of “look what fun it would be to go fishing with him again!”. He would often give me this excuse when I encouraged him not to hang around his cousin “I am going to be light, a good influence on him” Anytime he thought about the “country” he left his mind gave him an “opportunity”, an excuse to return to it. Today I encourage you to guard your hearts, and put on the mind of Christ. Don?t allow your thoughts to wander back to your past sins lest your mind give you an opportunity to return. Philippians 3:13 & 14 ?But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2009
1 Corinthians 5: & 7 ?Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Prior to the feast of unleavened bread there was a day of preparation where they searched the house to make sure there was no yeast (leaven) in the home so that none of the food during this holy week celebration could be accidentally contaminated with yeast. This was a very important task since the Old Testament declared if anyone consumed yeast during this feast they were to be cut off from Israel. In the New Covenant we are commanded to search our hearts and remove any yeast (sin). For just as a small amount of yeast will work through an entire batch of dough a small amount of sin will work through an entire person?s life causing great damage. Paul exhorted the Corinthians to examine themselves before taking The Lord?s Supper (communion) to ensure their focus was on the Lord and not on being selfish and gluttonous. Many will celebrate Passover today, rejoicing that the Lamb of God was sacrificed for the sins of the world once and for all. As you celebrate the Death, Burial and Resurrection of our Lord be sure to check your heart for yeast.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2009 I was reading the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter one today. Most people just skip these verses and move on. But there is a wonderful message there. In Jesus lineage there was a prostitute, a pagan, some idolaters, a murderer, adulterer, a liar, and several very wicked kings. Many of these I mentioned ended up doing great things for God. Then you look at the Apostles Jesus chose. A tax collector (which in those days were known to all be crooks), a couple of hot heads who were power hungry, a guy with a big mouth and lots of fear, a doubter, and a man who tried to destroy the Church. God transformed all these men and built the Church with them. Then there is Moses who had a severe lack of faith, Samson who struggled with lust, Elijah fell into a deep suicidal depression, Samuel had a family scandal, and the list goes on. All of these people were flawed yet God used them. What hope and encouragement that gives us. I did a sermon series a few months back called God?s not so super heroes. The heroes of the faith were not invincible perfect superheroes but instead they were men and women just like us with failures and weakness yet they were chosen by God out of his grace and mercy to do great things. By the way, God has chosen YOU to do great things for Him! James 5:17 Elijah was a man just like us?
TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2009 Proverbs 20:5 The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out. You were created unique and with a purpose. God hand crafted you in the womb to do great things. As he told Esther through her uncle, you were created for such a time as this. Search your heart and ask God to give you the understanding to do more than just exist, more than just live an average life but to know and fulfill your purpose. When you draw out your purpose you will discover your passion. Passion is what drives us and keeps us going and encouraged even during the trials of life. The Apostle Paul went through incredible persecution yet never lost his joy or his passion because he knew his purpose. 1 Timothy 2:7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle?
SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2009 There was a statement in one of my Bible College text books I will never forget. “If you find two extreme views of a subject in the Bible the truth most likely is somewhere in the middle”. I was preparing for Sunday?s message which is week two in our new “Weapons of Mass Distraction” series and it is about the distraction of possessions and greed. It seems most people are one of two extremes when it comes to money and God. One group is consumed with praying and confessing for wealth while the other group is praying and preaching against the people who are praying and confessing for wealth. The truth really is in the middle. God has made it clear in His Word that he wants us to prosper and that it is okay for us to ask him for wealth yet at the same time he warns us in the Gospels to watch out for greed and to remember that life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. Tomorrow, at Life Church I will be taking the time to prove that throughout Scripture God declares it is His will for us to prosper but also showing where it is that we cross the line from desiring increase to walking in greed. I hope you can be there! |
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