Message I delivered at the 2014 Torrent Conference at VC2.
Friday, July 11, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
So I never really
knew what St. Patrick ’s Day was really about.
It was never really something I thought about until today. Sitting at my
desk I decided to feed my curiosity and see what this holiday was really about. Watch this
short video and find out who St. Patrick was.
My challenge next year is to redeem this holiday for the Gospel of Jesus of Christ. Lets make it next year that when people say "St Patrick's Day" their first thought is not about green beer, parties, leperchauns, pots of golds or anything of the like, but rather they would think about the grace of God. I'm marking my calendar next year March 17 2015. Will you join me?
Friday, March 14, 2014
 |
The last message I preached recently was from Ephesians
4. To sum up the entire passage Paul tells the Ephesians to walk in a manner
worthy of their calling, that there is One Lord, One Faith, and One Spirit. He exhorts
them to strive for the unity of the Spirit. Paul is telling them to walk in
manner that shows that they are one body even though they are a diverse group of
people ethnically. The same can be said about us today and our spiritual backgrounds
as believers.
Under the great umbrella of Christian faith there are
many different traditions. All will admit to hold to the greater tenants of the
faith, that there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, who atoned for sin and that he
redeems us by grace through faith. What makes us differ are subjects such as spiritual
gifts, manifestations of the spirit, end times theology, proper worship attire,
church leadership, all this is stuff that won’t keep us out of heaven, but does affect how the
church functions, but should never affect how it worships.
What the problem seems to be sometimes is we get more
concerned for what makes us different than what makes us the same. We at times
are more concerned if this believer holds to the same view of the gifts of the
spirit that we do or what version of the bible they read. Once we find that
these other believers hold to different traditions than we do, we make sure we
both understand that there is a boundary between us. We may not always say it
or verbalize it but we sure say it in our heart.
Very seldom do I see people, even myself, stopping and
being in awe of the one thing we have in common, the blood of Christ. Isn’t it
beautiful to see that God saves such a diverse group of people to be the Body
of Christ? Even after Christ saves us, we all come to hold our own opinions and
views yes, but by the power of the Holy Spirit we are being made into one body,
knit together in love. What if we all threw ourselves head first into that,
when Baptist and Pentecostals could come together in one place and raise their
hands to heaven and be in awe of the one thing that truly brings them together,
Jesus Christ.
What if he was really the only thing that mattered? See striving
to keep the unity of the spirit is not that we all believe the same thing, but
that we all believe what is important, that Christ died for sin, saves men and
women, and calls them to turn from sin by His Spirit. Striving to keep the
unity of the spirit is that when I see there is some difference between us that
the bible does not say for us to break fellowship over, I should do everything
in my power to see that it does not divide us.
My prayer is that Jesus would be greatest theological truth
we strive for. The deep doctrinal truths we find in the scriptures were not meant
to divide us or to hurt and cut down our brothers and sisters but was meant to
lead us into deeper worship. Because friends it is only through Christ that we can understand truth, He is the beginning of all truth. We only understand forgiveness because of His forgiveness for us. We only understand love because of His love for us. The list can go on but if we only use truth to cut down then have we really learned Christ.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
So here are a couple of thoughts I've had that have followed
me into 2014 and what I feel will mark most of my thoughts and discussions this year. I have more thoughts but these are the first ones on my mind and I wanted to go ahead and put them out there.
“Discernment” ministries.
I’ll be honest and say that there
are plenty of ministries and preachers that I don’t agree with. I use to like
finding different ministries that said this person was wrong and was a “false”
prophet. But it doesn't take much these days to be a “wolf” apparently. Most of
what I've read lately is disagreement over secondary issues. I've heard my
Pastor say it doesn't matter if you are post-tribulation or pre-tribulation
what matters if we know the Grace of God and are we making that grace known. Even
though I believe we must contend for the faith there are people who are out
there making shots at many well-meaning ministers who love Jesus and desire for
people to come to the truth. I just wonder if those people are actually out
doing the work of the Lord (making disciples) or do they just invest their time
in shooting people down?
The Spirit doesn't have to be weird to be Powerful.
I’m reading a book right now about
discipleship. I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy the book, so I just flipped
through it looking to see how I felt about it. My eye happened to catch a
portion about the Holy Spirit and here is the quote that made me smile, “I’m discovering that most of the time the
power of the Spirit is subtle, not showy.” (Gospel Centered Discipleship,
Jonathan Dodson). At times I seem
conflicted because I consider myself a charismatic Christian, but many times
feel very disheartened by what happens among many charismatic groups. I always
leave saying “Why is that not the Holy Spirit I know?” The scriptures tell us
that that Holy Spirit will testify about Christ and will always point to
Christ. Instead a man or manifestation is made the focus, they won’t admit it
but it’s true. If you don’t understand what I’m talking about then you’re
probably better off that way.
The Gospel
I've discovered that so many people
have had bad experiences with the Church because they really have never heard
the Gospel. I mean they've heard of Jesus but what they heard was if you can do
all the right things then God will take you to heaven. That is not true, while
God’s heart is for us to live holy and righteous lives; He does it in us by His
power via His Spirit. Many people are stuck in this idea that they need to
conform themselves to God’s standards where what is closer to the truth is that
God wants to TRANSFORM us into the image of Jesus. One emphasizes your ability, the latter emphasizes God’s ability AND responsibility. I've come to realize
this year that the Gospel needs to be preached to those not just outside but
INSIDE the Church. That those sitting in your pews and in your small groups
need the gospel preached to them.
Monday, September 16, 2013
“He will wipe away
every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be
mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed
away.” (Revelation 21:4, ESV)”
I’ve been working on several posts the last couple of
days, but tonight as I sit at my desk working on several different projects I can’t
help but think of that coming day when death will be extinguished forever,
never to be seen again. In that day sorrow will never be felt again. The
scriptures say that death no longer has power over us, but in Revelations 20 we
see where death itself is destroyed, “Then
Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire...” (Revelation 20:14,
ESV).
“But according to
his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which
righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:13, ESV)
While I understand that these scriptures communicate a heartbreaking
message of judgment and destruction it also communicates a hope that we all
hold to as followers of Christ. That the work of Christ on the cross and in the
resurrection not only went to redeem man, but to redeem creation itself. The
scriptures say that the streams will flow in the desert, and that the lion and
the lamb will lie together.
“For I consider
that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory
that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the
revealing of the sons of God. ” (Romans 8:18-19, ESV)
Do you see what Paul says there? That the pain we feel
and trouble we experience now is not even worth comparing with what we will
experience in the age to come. I know that is not easy to say but we don’t
understand the glory we will live in.
“For behold, I
create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former
things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.”
(Isaiah 65:17, ESV)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
