eat more work less

i had the opportunity to sit in on a Bible study class on Sunday and there was one comment that stuck out to me. it wasn't bad or made outside the lines of context, or wrong by any means. in fact it was terribly revealing. the class has been discussing Donald Miller's message called Free Market Jesus and a young lady said we shouldn't be trying to sell anyone Christianity.

i totaly agree, but my mind began to have a flashback similar to what you see in a movie complete with surround sound and i heard people of my past talk about christianity, the church, God, Christ, the Holy Spirit. they spoke of them as pieces of a program. this program they spoke of is one that "works" for whatever purpose they were going for.

in my ears i began to hear words that were words of the business world. they were words that people use to pursuade others to following.

words of a salesman.

if you tak an outsiders look into church, do you see
institutions?
do you see businesses?
or do you see a movement?
do you see a revolution?

have we taken christianity and put it inside the walls of denominational doctirne creating a well oiled institution?

have we taken scriptures and put boundaries on them in order that our church or program might provide a service to our customers that aligns with what they want?

when did christianity move away from being led by the Holy Spirit and replaced it with Vision Statements?


last week a question was given to me that i've been fleshing out since i heard it.

imagine that you are shipwrecked on a deserted island. you can read, you know of the outside world but have no past experience with church. on this island you find a copy of the scriptures and you begin to read. for the next five years you read the scriptures over and over, totally immersed in the story of these men and women. after five years you are rescued and taken back to the states. as your feet hit the ground, you begin to swell with excitement about being a part of this body of believers.

the question i want to pose to you from this story is, "what would you expect the church to look when you got back to civilization?"

think.

what would you expect to see?

what would you NOT expect to see?

how would the spiritual leaders act?

what would the church's focus be?

how would followers of Christ live?

what would they be concerned with?

what would "church" look like?

what it be about a building and where believers meet?

if Jesus was "pastor" at a church would anyone want to go there? would you go there?

these are all big questions and i realize that. i have hours of contemplation and conversation up on you about this. my good friends Sheldon, Evan, Jacob and myself had a great conversation that lasted almost 2 hours, and before then, Sheldon and I had a pretty intense, conversation on these issues so i've got some time on you. now i'm handing the questions over for you to ponder.

i want us to think about this because we have the responsibility as believers to do be the church. and being the church means doing things scripturally

so, this week we will leave the newsletter open ended for you to think.

if you've read this far... i ask YOU to respond to the big questions as well as sub-questions.

get together with others who aren't believers and ask them. you want honesty, go to the lost.


Go
think
talk
discuss
ponder
pray
meditate
write
talk
pray
eat
conversate

after you've done this.... email me what you're thinking.

let's dive in and ask God to reveal Himself to us.

but be ready, God may just ask you to change something, remove something, tweak something, step up, lead, teach, disciple, or give something up.

i ask you to prayerfully consider the question at hand and let your heart be poured out.

i'm excited about what God WILL reveal to you.

peace be with you.

read the rest of this blog:.

breathe HOPE

last week i told you that we would look at Hope during this edition and it shows how remarkable God's timing truly is.

just days ago, we the people, voted in an african american man for our president elect. regardless of where you sit on the political front, it is a great testimony to the progress of a nation in a positive direction. a direction that has been long overdue. we aren't going to discuss policies or any sort of political programs but we are going to discuss HOPE.

this change marks a monumental day of HOPE for all people.

imagine if you can -- a television in the heart of the projects is tuned in to watch a man speak to the nation. in front of this TV, a young african american girl sits, eyes wide with amazement, and ears intent on listening.

she watches and listens.

the speech is finished. her heart swells with something she can't describe. her mom, fresh home from a 14 hour day, tells her, "go to bed. you've got school tomorrow." she runs and jumps into her bed, excited about tomorrow because she has seen that her dreams are a possibility. she just watched a man who had the same skin color as her become a leader, but not just any leader.

suddenly she has HOPE again. HOPE not given to her by a man, not from a nation, but HOPE from God.

her morning, when she awakes, will be brighter than ever before. her cereal will have never tasted better.

HOPE does funny things to people.

it makes them speak out against injustice knowing great resistance lies ahead, if certainly not death.

Christ knew this HOPE. without HOPE driving us to pursue our heart's cry, we have empty motivation.

just over 45 years ago a pastor stood in our nation's capital and called the nation to HOPE. he called the world to see that there is still HOPE in the souls of people and he would ask them to change.

this pastor proclaimed the Gospel message that we must cling to and it's this message that brings our nation HOPE.

a message that all men are equal.

a message of raising up the oppressed.

a message of Love.

we are on our way up to the mountaintop that Dr. King spoke so passionately about. HOPE in what could be drives us to take the next step up that steep climb.

forget politics. forget where you align as a "conservative" or "democrat" and raise up HOPE again in our nation.

a HOPE founded in CHRIST. don't place your HOPE in policies or law to change the hearts of people. put your HOPE in the restoration that only CHRIST can bring.

regardless of whether you are ecstatic or beside yourself with the results of the election, You and I are called to be outside the lines of political parties moving to change the world from the ground up; one person at a time. this is our HOPE. HOPE that all people will know Christ.

christianity isn't political; it never was meant to be. disciples didn't overthrow the Roman Empire through government, they overthrew the message of the Empire and focused on the people around them.

christianity is a movement.

it's grassroots.

it's done on the ground, in our workplaces, and in our homes.

following Christ changes the lives of people around us. it changes their soul. this is what the disciples put their faith in -- the HOPE of the atoning blood of Christ revealed to people by God. trust in the sovereignty of God and put your HOPE in the Gospel message of love, mercy, grace, peace, kindness, and joy. it should be this HOPE that moves us.


the apostle Paul tells us, "through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have HOPE." before this Paul was talking about helping the weak by shouldering some of their failings on ourselves. then he tells us that all that has been written was for them to have what they needed to go on and that should give them HOPE.

he continues in this chapter in romans to urge us to accept one another as Christ accepted us, and that the HOPE of all people is found in Christ.

Paul then says, "may the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirt."

HOPE is rooted in Christ.

HOPE will not fail you.

HOPE is not false.

HOPE is what we must cling to.

HOPE that people will come to know the beauty of a relationship with Christ.

HOPE that believers can unite to serve God regardless of their denominational affiliation, gender or race.

HOPE in the revealing Word of God.

HOPE in our weaknesses and our failures.

today may YOU SEE HOPE IN ALL THINGS.

may your words be spoken with Love.

may your thoughts be intent on Christ.

may HOPE drive you to do more.

in all you do

speak HOPE

teach HOPE

breathe HOPE

read the rest of this blog:.

personal holiness

i have been reminded this week why i want to tell people about Christ, about His Love, about His Peace. i think it is different for everyone, but for me, it's HOPE.

next week we will look at HOPE but this week i thought it would be good to step back from time to time and allow other people use their gifts to encourage us, push us, and motivate us to stay strong in our pursuit of God.

so, an old friend of mine who i roomed with at Texas A&M will be your author. he is an amazing man who seeks the face of God whole heartedly. God has used him in my life in more ways than he will ever know. his life is an encouragment to me and a living, breathing testimony of the Gospel.

enjoy.


Personal Holiness
by Clint Kirby

The doctor reluctantly thumbed through the patient's file muttering something about a missed tee time. This surgery had been looming for weeks and he had exhausted every option of getting out of it. His nurses did their best to avoid bumping into him as he stood in front of the door to the operating room.
The patient had a rare disease and this surgery was his last hope. The doctor was going to try a difficult procedure that could yield a miraculous result, but more likely, a quiet exit from the world. The doctor's reputation as a competent, successful doctor was in the balance, but so was the patient's life.
The doctor closed his eyes and massaged his temples with his thumb and forefinger.'Why in the world did I agree to do this? This probably won't even work. How is this going to look to the other doc'

"Dr. Graydin. Excuse me, Dr. Graydin. We are ready for you."

Do you value your personal holiness over the lostness of others?

This question was posed to me recently and I have been wrestling with it ever since. Do I care about how I am performing as a Christian more than I care about people hearing and receiving salvation in Jesus Christ?

According to the book of 1 Timothy, we are to be "above reproach" (especially deacons and elders). However, I think we exempt ourselves from relating to the lost in the name of being "above reproach." Instead of engaging people who desperately need the love of Christ where they are, we pray for them to miraculously want to come to church on Sunday. I am not saying we shouldn't pray for the lost to come to church, but shouldn't we be doing something to share the love of Christ with them the other six days of the week?

If you think about people in need of Christ, what kind of people do you think of?

Where do they hangout?

What do they do for fun?

Here's the bigger question: How are they getting access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

The apostle Paul asks this question in another way in Romans 10, "How can they hear without someone preaching to them?"

The model of Jesus Christ in the New Testament shows Jesus going to the people in need. I am sure Jesus had some sort of home, but from the Gospels we can't really glean that he spent much time there. Why? He was in the homes of the tax collectors and sinners: the most reviled sort.

In that day, it was a big deal to eat a meal at someone's home. You had to be careful about who you dined with because you would become associated with them. Jesus was well aware of this because he was known as a "glutton...drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Luke 7:34)." A good question to ask is, knowing the ministry of Jesus, would we consider Him "above reproach?"

Now, Jesus was "above reproach" because we know that he was without sin (1 Jn. 3:5).Therefore, his tactics to reach the lost were not sinful. So instead, I think we should view his tactics as our example.

What is keeping us from trying to build relationships with the people who need Christ the most? When the disciples were asked about Jesus' approach to ministry, Jesus responded, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." Could Jesus have said it more simply?

In the story above I tried to show how much the patient had to lose versus the doctor. The patient was going to lose his whole life if the doctor did not go through with the procedure. However, the doctor was more concerned about losing his name and prestige.

Where do your coworkers go after work?

Would it make you uncomfortable to go there with them?

What would your Christian friends think?

Could it be that God has strategically placed you in the midst to be the light of the world?

Think of the most sinful place in America. If Jesus were here today, he would probably be ministering to those there. Why? Because that's where the sick are.

Who are the tax collectors in our context?

How are we going to reach them?

Are we more concerned about our reputation in the Christian community than the lostness of others?

read the rest of this blog:.