Filed under: All things Leadership
Why do we have to act spiritual? I mean what is being “spiritual” mean? Is it how long we pray? How much time we spend in the presence of the Lord? How many church services we attend? Is it how many tracts we hand out? I mean really what does it mean to be “spiritual?” Here is what 1 Peter 2:4-5 says:
1 Peter 2:4-5
4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
If, you look at those two scriptures the thing that stands out the most is that we are being built up FOR a holy priesthood. We are being built up for…others. The world is tired of seeing Christians being spiritual for the sake of being spiritual. But, we need to be built up in the faith or become “spiritual” so that we may help the faith or the faithlessness of others. Spirituality without a purpose leads to religion, but being spiritual so that others may be touched by the love of God is Christ-like. So, when people say I have been in church all week…ok great…but are you taking those “spiritual” sessions with God and applying them to your life so that OTHERS might be touched by his love?
I have come to the conclusion that most people love to ACT spiritual, but those that really are “spiritual” don’t have to act because they are people of ACTION. It’s great to have a powerful prayer meeting Bible study, or small group….but here is the test as to whether or not your efforts really are “spiritual.” Are people being changed by the power of God? Are others inspired to join in the fun and pursue God with everything they have? Is the truth being shared…even though sometimes it hurts?
Filed under: All things Church
I can’t wait! I really can not wait for this weekend! It’s going to be unreal. For those of you that don’t know…we are headed towards our first men’s retreat this weekend! Fort Meade, FL….Camp Wilderness….and a whole slew of men ready to rest and relax. HAH! We are going to go for some serious seeking of the Lord’s presence. It’s going to be unreal. I can’t wait. I am expecting men to get saved, rededicate their lives to the Lord, and bury…and I mean bury some things that have been holding them back. It’s going to be unreal…oh wait…I already said that!
Also, the church is celebrating its 2nd year anniversary this weekend. So, yea it’s going to be a packed, I mean super packed weekend! I’m believing for souls to be saved, lives to be touched, and most importantly, the name of the Lord to be lifted up and established here on Earth!
Here’s some ways you can help!
* Pray that God blesses our men this weekend!
* Pray that God touches our hearts with brokeness!
* Pray over our small group leaders and speakers this weekend!
* Pray over our church services this weekend!
* Pray, Pray, and then Pray some more!
Look for more on the men’s retreat on Sunday Night!
Filed under: All things Leadership
I read this last week of perrynoble.com. Uum wow….hard but true.
WARNING: The following post IS graphic…I use some language that may be considered offensive by some. This is NOT an apology…just wanted you to know!
I had the privilege of speaking at Clemson’s FCA the other night and I felt led to go in a direction towards the beginning of the message that I hadn’t planned on…and so I want to expound a little on a few things here.
I said, “My daughter is going to date one day…and the last thing I want her bringing home to meet me is a ‘nice Christian boy.’ If she does that I will probably have to punch that dude in the throat!”
Why? Simple–nice Christian boys are one of the reasons Christianity is not advancing the way Jesus has called us to. Why? Because a “nice” Christian boy will go to church, Bible study, raise his hands in worship and then go back to wherever he lives, sit at his computer look at porn and masturbate. And “boys,” it’s incredibly difficult to lead the charge against the gates of hell with your pants around your ankles. (Uh…this isn’t just college students–some married men are struggling with this as well! AND let me say I’ve struggled with this and the Lord delivered me from it seven and a half years ago! Here is a post I did on the subject.)
(YES…I said that word–and if it ticks you off then I invite you to get your head out of the sand and face reality…in fact, I did an entire post on the subject of masturbation…you can read it here!)
And the LAST thing I want my daughter growing up to be is a “nice” Christian girl. Why? Because these are the girls who WILL NOT necessarily have sex with a guy…but are not afraid to have oral sex and then justify their actions by saying, “well…we didn’t ‘do it!’”
We don’t need anymore “nice” Christian boys and girls…we need men and women who are madly and passionately in love with Jesus…who have a Philippians 3:10-11 mindset, who take Hebrews 12:2 view in life, who realize Philippians 2:5-11 was the BOLDEST move ever made and who want Matthew 22:36-40 to be true in their own lives.
Someone who is in love with Jesus just doesn’t care–they do not care if they are single, they want what Jesus wants for them. They do not care what people think about the type of house they live in or the kind of car they drive…they just want to see Jesus lifted up–even if that means sacrifice. They do not care if they are blogged about and/or ridiculed–they want to know Christ more and more and are willing to do ANYTHING He asks them to do.
One of the clearest marks of a disciple in Scripture is OBEDIENCE to Jesus. (John 14:15) We can have all of the knowledge in the world–but information without application is degradation! The Bible says in Psalm 95:7-8 that if we hear His voice that we should NOT harden our hearts.
Question–is there anything that God is calling you to do? Anything you need to stop doing? Anything you need to start doing? What is it that is going to take you from being a “nice” follower of Jesus to becoming someone who is radically in love with Him?
We all fight this battle…I know I have. In the past I have overcame a pornography addiction AND also an addiction to reading what was said about me on the internet, whether good or bad. WHICH God revealed to me was actually pride–the sin that got satan kicked out of heaven! AND I am constantly fighting daily to do what Philippians 4:8 and Colossians 3:2 says to do!
BUT–the LAST thing I ever want to be is a “nice” Christian man…I want to be a fully devoted FOLLOWER of Jesus Christ…the term Christian today has been so neutered! I don’t even like it anymore. (Stay calm…the term Christian is only used three times in the New Testament.) I’ve been that “nice Christian guy” in the past–but I want MORE…I want to see John 3:30 come true in my life!!!
What term do I like? JESUS LOVER! I want to be known as a Jesus lover…someone who is passionate about JESUS! My wife needs me to be in love with Jesus. My daughter needs me to be in love with Jesus. NewSpring needs me to be in love with Jesus. WHY? Because when I love Jesus I will do what He says…and that is NEVER a bad thing!
“Nice” Christian boys and girls will not change this world…EVER…all they do is put on a good front and then “live like hell” and think that no one sees. (I Samuel 16:7) BUT JESUS LOVERS…they are “all in!” Do they make mistakes? HECK YES! BUT…when they do so they ask for forgiveness, REPENT and then move on.
My passion is to raise up a church full of men and women who love Jesus…who don’t just play games but go all out to do whatever He asks. I am trying my best to do this…will you join with me? Let’s REALLY commit to knowing Christ and allowing HIM to be known through us…and let’s turn this world upside down for Him! He did it with some guys in the Gospels…I’m crazy enough to think He can do it again!
Filed under: All things Church
Uumm so wow! I mean really that is all I can say after this past Sunday. I taught on things that break down our community. The praise and worship team was just amazing. The staff was on their game and making everything look good. The service was packed and we had so many people missing. Man, it was an incredible, incredible service this week. Here are some highlights.
- Praise and worship did a new song that was just unreal. I don’t know the name of it, but you can bet that I will have that baby on my ipod soon.
- People had no problem reminding me of Tennessee’s loss. It’s ok. Satan is called the accuser of the brethren :P.
- The church was really hungry for the Word you could see it on their faces.
- The devil will take everything if we only give 99%.
- The men’s retreat is coming up!
- Our second year anniversary is coming up!
- The refuge is growing and Pastor Roy is really doing a great job with those kids.
- 1 Corinthians 12 is so powerful. Have you ever really stopped, read it, and meditated on it? It is pretty powerful stuff.
I know that a few of the guys are fasting and praying for a wonderful weekend coming up. I know that I am asking the Lord to change something up in our lives and bring about a peace to some decisions that need to be made.
Filed under: My thoughts on current affairs
haven’t been more excited about what God is doing in our church. I am excited about how things are working and moving.
I sat on the beach with my family today. I watched them play in the sand and I watched them play in the bay. My sons and Averee know no fear, they just kept going out deeper and deeper in the water. It was obviously very nerve racking to see them go deeper and deeper. I stood a few waves back watching them keep going. I was so nervous, but at the same time…a proud dad was rising up in me as well. Here are my kids that just a few years back were crawling and now…they are just moving and hopping around in the water with no fear. I was caught up by the fact that God is kinda like that. He never lets us get out of his sight, but is pleased with our no fear approach to life. We live so many ways in bondage to our fear. Fear of people, fear of failure, fear of what others think, or fear of criticism that we never get out of the boat. My prayer at that moment was a man possessed to see God move in our lives and upon the face of our church. I am desperate for it. If, we get comfortable God will pass us by. He wants us to be radical in our faith. He wants us to go for it. He wants us to go deeper and deeper until we have to rely on him to get back.
The day was going good until the afternoon when my Vols started playing the hated Gators. I was having a wonderful spiritual experience during the morning only to have a terrible afternoon (mostly me repenting every three seconds because I wanted to swear at the TV)! Have I ever said how bad I hate the Gators? I mean dude…..come on!
Last but not least, Sin! God hates it. It seperates us from Him. It hurts us and hurts Him. Can we rise above it and get passed this flesh so that we can be everything that God has called us to be?
