Command 1

I grew up in a christian home, went to a christian school, had almost exclusively 'christian' friends. I got saved at age 6 and called into ministry at age 13. I thought that I had a normal life and then when I grew up, I realized that it was anything but normal. I became a christian and decided to follow Christ because I knew it was right and I didn't want to go to hell. I remember telling a friend about Christ at age 11 and wondered how he had never heard the gospel. I now know that this world is unreached. I see today how many people don't know Christ and I wonder how come churches are not making changes to reach the world. I hear and see what churches are fighting over and think are we trying to arrange chairs on the deck of the sinking ship?
There's something deeper in my soul that is stirring. A question has come to my mind and a lot of other people over the years: why does the world not want to come to our churches? A lot of churches are taking this question and have made changes. Many today feel that the best way to get people into our churches is to make it better. I must admit that I have liked these changes. Better worship music and teams make going to church more attractive. Greeters at the doors, better preaching, and great things for kids are very attractive. I'm not saying any of these things are wrong. In fact, I think its a shame if we don't make church exciting. But there's still something missing. Is it people getting filled with the Holy Spirit and great preaching? Is it organized prayer and ministry teams?
I have said several times that I think the world is waiting for a church who says what they believe and live like it. They are wanting a church that has the faith and power that Christ promised. This is what God has laid on my heart: we need to keep the first and greatest commandment Deuteronomy 6:5. If we love God like we are suppose to, then there will be a lot less fighting in the church and more focus on our faith. If we keep this command, the world will see it. I know that there are a lot of sincere people that follow sincere belief systems, but that is still not following God. You can tell people everyday that Jesus or God loves them, but do you love God? That is the first and foremost question that we have to answer. If you do or don't, it will show.

Land Rush

In1889 there was a land that was owned by the Federal Government that was only in part being used by Indians as an Indian reserve. The government decided to sell the land not being used to anybody that wanted a piece. I'm not sure of all of the details of the Oklahoma land rush, but I know they had the land blocked off and everyone that wanted property bought a certain amount of flags for each set of acres. Then one morning they had everyone line up and at the sound of a canon, everyone took off to stake their claim of land. First come, first serve. (Unless you got shot over it) After making your claim, you set up house.
When I think of this event, I think of our calling in life. What area or what field has God called you to? In Joshua 14, Caleb comes to Joshua and tells him that when he spied out the land 45 years before this he had found the mountain that he wanted to live on and now he wanted to go take that mountain. I can't imagine getting up in the wilderness and going through every day for 45 years wanting a mountain, but Caleb did. He was now 85 years old and was ready to go get it. He had to fight off some pretty fierce opponents that lived there. He did everything he had to and God gave him that mountain.
So today, what mountain had God called you to take? Where is it that your going to stick your flag in the ground, declare that it's yours and defend it? It's time for God's people to have a land rush. 

Reliance

My mom had surgery the other day. Apparently it was pretty serious. The specialist looked at her last Thursday and cleared his calender so he could perform the surgery on Monday. I'm amazed at some peoples abilities. To know that people can study the human body and know how to cut them open, work on them and make them better. We call God the Great Physician and I've found a problem with that today. God isn't the Great Physician, He's the only physician.
In John 5 Jesus said that He could only do what He saw the Father doing. Then in John 15:5, Jesus calls us branches and Himself the vine. He finishes off the verse saying that without Him we can do nothing. I'm so guilty of thinking that I can do things on my own. I try to work as hard as I can to do things and make them happen. The truth is, if God's not doing it, then I can't do it. Jesus had to wait and watch what the Father did and then He did it. If He had to, then isn't that what we have to do. Look for what God is doing and then do it. That is reliance on Him. There's another part to this. When God gives you a task, there is a lot of work to do. The door He opens and the work He gives is bigger than we can do on our own. That's when we have to rely on Him some more to help us get it done. A phrase my friend says is "God outsources the possible and only does the impossible". If we are trying to do the impossible on our own, we will fail. Remember, if you follow Christ, you are only a branch and have to be plugged into the source to get it done. A lamp that's not plugged in is only a decoration.

Engage! Part 2

I referred in my last post to a second movie about engaging. It was in the movie Top Gun and the lead actor (Tom Cruise) had gone through the loss of his best friend and co-pilot. He was now back in the pilot seat and going against some bad guys, or at least his friends and fellow pilots were. The dog fight was pretty fierce and Tom pulls out of it from fear and struggling with the past. His commander at this point yells at him to engage.
I think we all struggle with past hurts and fears. It keeps us sometimes from moving forward or even stepping out. My wife and I had two miscarriages after Micah. It was some of the most discouraging time of our marriage. It's times like these that make you not want to carry on. Very few people gave us sympathy or seemed to even care. We struggled with the idea of having to go through it again. It kept us from trying again to have another baby. It was during this time that Teresa remembered a dream or more like a vision she had had. It was about her and I holding Micah and another baby. We knew that we were going to have another and it encouraged us to try again.
The pains and struggles of the past can either keep you from moving forward or you can move forward one step after another.Philippians 3:13 talks about forgetting the things that are behind. This forgetting is a continual act. Hebrews 12:1-2 talks about getting rid of the things that entangle us and the sin that sets us back. It's up to you to move forward. In Matthew 9:18-26; Mk 5:22-43; Lk 8:41-56 the Bible talks about a ruler came to Jesus and told Him that his daughter was dying. Before they could get very far, a servant came and told the man that his daughter had died. Jesus looked at the man and asked him to have faith. Jesus went with him and raised the girl up. I believe that if we stay engaged and keep doing what we are called to do, no matter the circumstances, the power of God will show up. My hope is that you engage and stay engaged.

Engage! Part 1

There are two moving I like that have the same word yelled loudly. The first is in the movie "The Incredibles". The dad (Mr. Incredible) is focused on his job and his daily struggles and forgets about what is happening right in front of him in his dining room. The kids are going crazy chasing each other and the mom is trying to get things in order. The mom finally yells out "engage", hoping he'll do something. Finally he does snap back to life and sets that back into place.
We get that way sometimes. We get so focused on our struggles and daily living that we ignore the life that is going on around us. I feel that this world is going to hell in a hand basket and many Christians are worried about the seating arrangement or the music being played. Luke 12:17-27 Jesus talked about a farmer that had a huge crop and he was worried what he was going to do with it. So he tore down barns and built bigger ones. Then the farmer is told he is a fool and that his soul would be required of him. What was so wrong with that? The farmer was more concerned about taking care of himself then the world around him. The next verses says "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat ; neither for the body, what ye shall put on." Our focus is to be on the Kingdom of God and not on the things of his world. So in the words of Mrs. Incredible: Engage!
I share about the other movie in the next post. Have a Kingdom minded day!

A billion dollars

I heard a commercial yesterday where a girl was singing how she wants a billion dollars so bad. I thought, how many people wish for that same thing? But my next thought was how sad it would be if they got it. What am I doing with what I have? That's the biggest and best question I can ask. Jesus once told a parable about a three guys. (Matthew 25) They were each given a certain amount of money. One that was given 5 talents made 5 more and the one given 2 talents made 2 more. But then there was this one guy given 1 talent. He sat on his. It didn't do him or anyone else any good. The leader who had given these men the money, told the first two that made more money that they had been faithful over a few things, they would be in charge of many things. The one who didn't do anything, what he had was taken away. This tells me that Jesus was a capitalist. This also tells me that He expects me to do something with what I've been given. In Luke 12:48, the Bible says that if we have been given much, there will be much required. This tells me that whatever we have been trusted with, we better have something to show for it. We have been given 24 hours a day and they same power that Jesus had. What will we have to show for it? Will we be faithful with what we are given? 1 Cor 4:2

Taking over

One of my Dad's favorite stories is about a shoe salesman sent to a small village on the other side of the world a long time ago. He didn't sell anything and telegraphed back that there was no need for him to be there since no one wore shoes. The company flew him back to the US and a couple of years went by when the company sent another salesman to the same area. The new salesman telegraphed back to send a whole warehouse full of shoes, because no one had shoes there.
Many Christian's perception is like the first salesman, in that, there are so many people around us that need Christ that we don't have anyone to share Him with. Our world is full of lost people that need Christ and are waiting for the real Christian to stand up. Our mission can be overwhelming. But we need God's vision.
I believe God has called me to this place to take over. He didn't call me to start a small ministry to sit around and stay small. A healthy organism grows and increases, gets stronger to reach it's full capacity, reproduces to make other healthy, strong, growing organisms to repeat the process. My pastor has a great statement: what multiplies takes over. Think of a cockroach. If you see one, you know there are many hiding. They will multiply and take over if they aren't stopped. Our vision should be to multiply ourselves until we take over the area. 2 Timothy 2:2 should be at the forefront of your ministry. Don't look at the lack of God around you as downfall. Take the opportunity to take over.