I am reading again through the OT books on the history of Israel found in Joshua-Ester. This morning I started in 1 Kings. “Be strong and become a man! Do the job the Lord your God has assigned you by following his instructions and obeying his rules, commandments, regulations, and laws as written in the law of Moses. Then you will succeed in all you do and seek to accomplish, and the Lord will fulfill his promise to me,”(1Kings 2:2-4)
Here we have the last words of a dying father, David, to his son, Solomon. In his last lesson on raising his son to be a man, David reminds him of what becoming a man is about. What does it mean to become a man, or a woman if he was speaking to his daughter? Listening to God and doing what God tells you to do. A man or woman of God is someone who actively listen’s to what God is telling them to do, and then does it. Actively listens; meaning spending time searching the Scriptures, praying and fasting, and seeking mentorship and accountability. And then when they hear what and where God is calling them to do or go, what the next right thing is for them to do, they obey and do it.
What is a Christian? What is a disciple? Cut away all the religious fluff, hoops to jump through, and traditions. A Christian, a disciple is simply; A person who listens to what Jesus is telling them to do, and then does it.
Jesus tells those who were following him, “…Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (Luke 11:28) = Blessed is a person who listens to what Jesus is telling them to do, and then does it.
God tells Abram, “When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless. Then I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” (Genesis 17:1) “Walk before me”= Listens to what I am telling you to do, and then do it.
Short and simple blog today. Spend time simply reflecting on:
Are you actively listening to God?
Are you doing what he tells you?
Please share your reflections with us in the comment box below.
Yesterday a good friend of mine, a brother in Christ lost his long battle with cancer. His life and death have been the thoughts of my mind and reflection my soul. We met for 2 years every Friday at the WH where he encouraged, motivated, prayed over me and held me accountable. He was a tangible example of God’s grace to me, an undeserved gift. He was a sound board onto which I would bounce my visions and ministry directions onto and off of for reflection.
A few weeks ago I asked Larry and others in ODC to respond to four questions to assist me in gauging how effective my leadership in ODC has been in making disciples and as a church in the eyes of those who are members. Here is Larry’s response to those questions. As you read them, you will understandwhy I will miss my Friday mornings with him.
What has happened at your Church since last year?
The house church is operating effectively and determinedly as one; tested by fire. A discussion of metrics such as membership numbers and finances is probably in order, but I can't help with that. I can say however, that people in the margins, whom Jesus called "the least of these" are hearing the Gospel. They respond to the Good News because it is the power unto the salvation they desperately need, rejecting addictions and personal failures and sorrows. I have observed that a cross dresser or a drug addict will get the same love, spiritual care, and plain spoken truth as a retired Service member, an insurance agent, or a housewife. People from all walks are also responding to Monday night community meals at Terranova's Italian Restaurant, and coming to house churches with stories of how they have been hurt or ignored in traditional churches.
I have fewer insights (or desire to access any that may be available) with regard to specific demographics for growth, dollars, baptisms, etc. than Gary may be able to reveal in pastoral consultation. Instead, I can offer an observation that reflects the words of our Lord, who told us that the world will know us in that we love one another. The following metrics are transparently observable:
* Grace, peace, and forgiveness readily replace obligation, guilt, or religious demands
* Sacrifices are voluntary
* People are submitting to one another in love
* The community is being served in love with evangelism, meals, prayer and developing friendships
* Blessing and care for one another is passionate among the brethren
* Jesus is glorified in every situation; even in our failures and befuddlements
* The equipping of the saints is ongoing. Evangelism, spiritual gifts, and healing, are sought with new zeal and
supported with prayer and study of the Word
Where are you now as a member and a church?
As a member, I'm a wide eyed observer who loves the grace and love that we all enjoy. Before God, I must state that my most important role is to be a friend to Gary; to pray for him, speak the truth candidly, support his efforts when he is on track and kick him a little when he is off track or when he's consumed by any anxiety or non-productive emotion. So far, my kicking skills are diminishing from disuse. I have also begun to disciple a few men in the fellowship whom the Lord has pointed out to me; an act of mutual submission and encouragement to good works. Normal Christian stuff.
House church is alive and well. The numbers fluctuate, but they are all but inconsequential for the discipleship training that is central to the work that Gary is doing (discipleship is for the willing, not the gold star earners). Some new converts fall away from fellowship to the allure of their old sins. Many return, some don't - or haven't. Some will come back with new strength; new resolve but under the threat of scolding or shunning. Mature Christians are welcome and valued for their insights. So far, the wolves have been kept at bay. It is a time of peace and personal growth with a focus on our Lord Jesus alone.
Where do you want to be?
I want to see what we are already doing to increase under the influence of the Holy Spirit, continuing to trust less in our plans, preparations and expectations than in what He produces. I believe that this is a season of equipping, but we dare not stop as equipped people to rest in our laurels. Instead, having freely received, we must continue to freely give of our gifts, inner healings, and insights to a hurting community.
What is holding you back from reaching your goals?
The work is not ours, but Christ's, so what would hold us back? Could we fail? Of course we could. All it takes is sin, lies, bitterness, backbiting, wolves with false doctrine creeping in as brothers, or any number of things that the scriptures warn us of.
We could also find ourselves 'held back' by our own anticipations. If our goal is numbers, we will find disappointment at the door often enough. If our goal is to honest, pure time before our Lord Jesus, empowered by His presence where two or more are gathered, we do not fail, but rather participate in and yes, rejoice in low numbers as part of Gods design on any given week. We are the servants that sow, but God forbid that clever speech should bring the increase.
The thing I fear most is trying to act or perform like a "church" instead of HIS church, the body of Christ, made up of those whom He has called out loudly.
On the other hand, the implied question appears to be, "What could be done to help?" Resources are always needed by Gary for his ministry and it hurts me to see his struggle from lack of financial support and other resources. It should flow down in support this GOSPEL INSPIRED, FIRST CENTURY MODEL of ministry that is still as much on the fringes of the American church experience as the desperate people it so often ministers to.
Larry
Again, I will miss our discussions and his encouragement. It was a tangible example of God’s grace. Take time to reflect and prayer over this: To whom am I an encourager and a tangible sign of God’s grace? Many of you reading these blogs do not attend ODC. You all have pastors, priests, mentors, ministry leaders, friends, family who need ‘Larrys” on there life. Who are the people for which you can say, “Before God, I must state that my most important role is to be a friend to Gary; to pray for him, speak the truth candidly, support his efforts when he is on track and kick him a little when he is off track or when he's consumed by any anxiety or non-productive emotion.”
Please share any reflections from this blog in the comments box below.
I watched parts of both NFL playoff games last night. Both were great games! It reminded me that in three weeks is Super Bowl Sunday. It is a day when millions of people will gather in homes and taverns to party, laugh, cheer, connect and share life together. It is one of the few days of the year that you have an excuse to invite people into your home, or accept an invitation into another home, and share stories and life together. Super Bowl Sunday is a required missional outreach event for ODC. Everyone needs to preferably host a Super Bowl Party or attend one. If you were looking for an excuse to invite your neighbors, co-workers, work-out friends, classmates, and others over to your house, Super Bowl Sunday is that excuse. It is also an excuse to accept an invitation into another’s home for their gathering. I do not care if you do not like football! Watch the commercials, eat the food, whatever. Like going to the Laundromat, flea market, or prayer walking the mall, it is an opportunity to encounter and enter into people’s lives in a real way. Here is why.
“Storytelling is powerful because it has the ability to touch human beings at the most personal level. While facts are viewed from the lens of a microscope, stories are viewed from the lens of the soul. Stories address us on every level. They speak to the mind, the body, the emotions, the spirit, and the will. In a story a person can identify with situations he or she has never been in. The individual’s imagination is unlocked to dream what was previously unimaginable.“
– Mark Miller
“Story telling is powerful.” Obviously Budweiser has picked up on this in the last few years with their Super Bowl commercials. They moved from the comedic frogs of Bud-weis-er to the now infamous stories of their heritage and horses. Those are always popular each year.
The reason is not merely because people love stories, which they do, but because story hits the heart and not merely the head. And, because they know that the Super Bowl is a story on the biggest stage, if they can develop a story within the story, they’ll win the rigorous marketing wars between companies vying for your attention.
And, if they hit your heart, that’s what causes action. We can all watch commercials that have facts about how this pill has caused people to lose weight, or how many dentists recommend this toothpaste, but that doesn’t move us…what moves us, is story, because it hits us deep in the heart. This is why the Super Bowl is important, and this is what the Super Bowl is about.
This Super Bowl…like all others is filled with story and everyone wants to be part of it, talk about it, be around it because as football players will say, “The game is bigger than all of us.” Everyone wants to be part of a larger story, let’s use this opportunity as a door opener to the largest story ever told. How can we use the Super Bowl to simply point to the larger story of God without sounding like Westboro Baptist or the cheesy usher with a painted smile on his face?
“Story telling is powerful.” Obviously Budweiser has picked up on this in the last few years, Christians need to pick up on this as well.
1. Throw a Party
For our family, we’d rather throw a party than merely attend one. The reason is that it gives us plenty of ways to bless people and have them in our house. I feel like I can be like the Apostle Matthew and invite three people to my party: my friends, my Jesus and His followers.
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
12 When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.”
Matthew 9:9-12
When you invite others, you get to choose the crowd you hang with. Usually, for Christians, this is a bad thing as we over filter who we invite. But notice who was at Matthew’s party. Scum, Jesus, disciples. All mixed, partying like it’s OO31AD. The more this crowd, Jesus, followers and not yet followers hang, the better.
2. Encourage Story
Encourage story with everyone. Walk around asking people “story” questions, or ask people, “have you heard his story, it’s awesome…” Get your guests talking and listen. You learn so much about them during these stories. Be the story encourager at your party. Ask questions like:
1 How’d you and your spouse meet?
2 Why did you choose your career?
3 Who is your favorite NFL team and why??
4 What do you like most about living here?
Really, any open ended question will work. It’s not to bait and switch them so you can talk about how unless you eat Jesus’ body and drink his blood you can never be one of his followers. It’s so you can actually get to know them and their story so that when the opportunity comes, you know where their story needs redemption and who or what is their functional savior so you can point to the one and only Saviour who brings eternal redemption, now and forever. You’ll know how to serve them, love them and show them Jesus in the ways that will tell a story that will hit their heart.
3. Go Overboard with Food
You ever been to a party where there isn’t much food? Sucks. Don’t be that party…be a party that points to the Great Wedding Feast. Not only that, but take into consideration who is coming. Ask if any have allergies, or a special diet. When you take others into consideration, it shows you actually care and desire for them to be comfortable in your house. It also gives you yet another connection point to their story.
Don’t supply all the food though. Have people bring food. We are having people bring a main dish. The reason is that a main dish usually has a story behind it. Either of how they grew up, who taught them how to make it or nothing at all. But I usually simply ask, “Does this dish have any significance to you?” You’d be surprised how much story can come from chicken salad.
4. Ask the Spirit For Guidance
Who is pushing into you currently for relationship? Ask the Spirit to show you these people. Maybe for you it is your CrossFit gym. Invited all 400 members. You know that 95% of them aren’t going to come, but it gives you an open to invite them into a relationship with you, and is a personal invite.
Ask the Spirit for time with those people who are personally pushing into you and your family for relationship so you can ask them personally as well. For me, I don’t want them to merely get the Facebook invite, I want to ask them if they are coming and that it’d be great if they did. Everyone I have been given by the Spirit, I’ve asked personally and everyone one of them are coming. It’s awesome, even if one of them is a fan of my opposing team.
But, don’t stop there.
Ask the Spirit for guidance on listening to their story at the party and what you should say, or how you should listen or how to encourage further relationship. Remember, this isn’t about a football game, this whole day is wrapped up in story, so use this to learn other’s stories. Maybe you do get into a deep spiritual conversation, but maybe you don’t. Don’t beat yourself up. The Spirit will tell you when to speak, when to listen, when to keep it surface level and when to go deep. Just because you don’t present all of the Romans’ Road to them doesn’t mean you should feel guilted and shamed. The Spirit doesn’t guilt and shame you, that’s the devil’s game.
The more the devil can guilt and shame you the more you’ll have an agenda instead of listening to the Spirit on how to show off Jesus in the ways of Jesus in the power of the Spirit. Sometimes silence is the loudest witness. Don’t let the devil fool you into thinking you have to speak the name of Jesus at every party for it to be a “successful” party. But, always be thinking, how can I make this party be a shadow of our celebratory God that wants everyone invited to his party?
Take some time this week to ask, “Spirit, how can I ensure that what I say and do Super Bowl Sunday will be a shadow of your Story” (It’s a good thing to do everyday!)
Listen. Then obey what the Spirit gives you.
If you do that…no matter what happens, your gathering will not be a failure, but will have happened by the power of the Spirit to bring people along as far as he wants them to so they might know more about the only story line that ultimately matters. And who knows…maybe he’ll show you even more about his Story so you can marvel at how large his Story really is, yet how much he carefully and specifically loves and hears your specific “small” requests.
Please share your thoughts, reflections, and maybe other examples of what you use to invite other people into your story. Gary Liederbach- Lead Follower
One Direction Community
Email: garyl@onedirection.community
Website:https://www.onedirection.community
Facebook: One Direction Community-ODC
Begin The Year With A Gift!
I could use you’re the gift of your financial support for my family and those on the margins God has placed in my path I refuse to walk around. Please partner and support my family and ministries through setting up a monthly donation or a one –time gift by clicking the link below. Donation checks can be made out to ODC, 102 Champions Green Drive, Madison, Al 35758.
Thank You!
In my blog on Thursday, “Big Faith,” I elaborated on the point that how the story of our life and others turns out on earth has nothing to do with whether God is glorified or not. It may not have a happy ending on this side, but on the other side God is glorified. But whether it ends happily or sadly by earthly standards, cannot take away or hinder the glory that comes from big faith. God delights and honors that faith. God delights and multiplying that kind of faith. Faith that is exhibited in Immediate Radical Costly Obedience.
My elaboration was illustrated to myself and others yesterday. Yesterday (Saturday) morning myself and others from One Direction Community (ODC) had a service day and helped a man named Larry, who is a member of ODC and his family. Larry has big faith. Larry is dying from cancer. Hospice has come in and doctors are giving him less than 3 months left to live.
Larry is an amazing man of God. I have been meeting with him every Friday morning now for almost two years in a band group for accountability in our lives and walk with Christ. He has a prophetic spirit and is gifted in prayer, and his prayers have resulted in other’s lives having happy earthly endings by being healed. So far his years of prayers over himself for complete healing have not been answered. He was given less than a year to live several years ago and I believe that prayers have extended his life.
Yesterday, after we finished our service work the family invited us into their home. Larry was laying back on his recliner couch covered in a blanket with his wife at his side. We sat around the room on the floor and chairs and shared a holy moment with him and his family. He has a guitar and by his request I played and we sang “The Old Rugged Cross” and “Amazing Grace.” Larry raised his hand in praise as he sang the hymns. We laid hands on him and prayed, and we shared in the Lord’s Supper. It was such an honor to see him and his wife clinging to the cup and bread as they gave the elements to each other. Clinging to them and receiving them with tears in their eyes as the served each other. Are they wearied and tired from their journey they now find themselves in? Absolutely. Has their big faith diminished by the suffering they have been and are going through, and what appears not to be a “happy ending” by earthly standards? Absolutely not! Even in his weak condition when Larry spoke of Jesus his eyes lit up! Even weak as he is when he sang he lifted his hands in praise!
I think most of us in that room, including myself had tears in our eyes as we witnessed this holy and sacred moment that we were so blessed the family invited us to participate in. There is something extremely holy, extremely Christ-like, even victorious to be in the presence of a person who dies well in Christ. A person who in the face of his situation, as Paul stated in 1Cor. 15:54-56, though they know they are perishing,
“The perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We all walked out of that home impacted and so blessed by the real “church service,” the real presence of Christ we had experienced and participated in.
Please share your questions and reflections with us below in the comments box.
Good morning,
This morning I am going to continue my pressing into our IRCO 111.1 covenant. Multiplication is a critical aspect of discipleship. Multiplying disciples is at the core of being a Christian. It is the DNA Jesus instilled in his disciples. This same DNA was instilled in you when you accepted Christ as your Lord. But here is the question you must ask yourself: Am I a disciple worth multiplying? God does not want to multiply all disciples, but those who are his true disciples. God does not want to multiply mediocrity. You must examine and improve your personal prayer life and level of discipleship before you can step into trying to examine and improve your community. God desires to multiply those who exhibit Immediate Radical Costly Obedience (IRCO)
Immediate: Luther, “Delay is the sharpest arrow in the enemy’s quiver”
Radical: Rooted in Christ, you will stand out to the world.
Costly: not matter what is required.
Obedience: “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” (John 14:15) “Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him.” (John 14:23)
Throughout Scripture, God’s multiplication of disciples was achieved through those individuals who exhibited Immediate Radical Costly Obedience (IRCO).
One example is Abraham. God chose Abraham to be the source of multiplication and blessing because he exhibited IRCO.
· Gen. 12:1-4.
· “I” Abraham immediately leaves
· “R” Because of God’s calling
· “C” he leaves behind his comfortable life and everything he knows.
· “O” He obeys God
“Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.”
· Gen 17:9-11, 22-23.
· “I” that very day
· “R” Because “God said”
· “C” Circumcision required putting his whole life and heritage to risk.
· “O” He obeyed what God told him to do.
“And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you…. When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him.
· Gen 21:8-14.
· “I” He arose early in the morning”
· “R” Based on what he heard from God
· “C” it costs him his son
· “O” he obeyed
“And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.”
· Gen 22:1-3.
· “I” “He rose early in the morning”
· “R” Because God told him
· “C” he would sacrifice and lose his only son.
· “O” Still he obeted God.
“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him”.
Open your Bible and read through these four stories in Genesis. Then take time in prayer to reflect. If you love God, you will obey what he commands, and his commands are not burdensome. They are not legalistic or negatively obeyed, but obeyed out of love. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt 19:29-30)
How is your love for God being expressed in your life through IRCO?
Please share you thoughts with us in the comment box below.
This morning I look at the third "1" in our covenant of IRCO 111.1 which is "meet once a week in a Band with 1 or 2 people of the same gender for accountability. This is a longer post as this is the one that most people are reluctant to obey. The other two "1s" of fasting and one hour of prayer take commitment, however they can be done by yourself. Committing to a Band weekly requires stepping out of your comfort zone and reaching out to one or two people and inviting them into accountability with you. However, It is the most important "1" that encourages the commitment of the other two.
Bands and spiritual accountability are at the core of discipleship and Methodism. The early Methodists were susceptible to friendship. They liked it. They sought after it. They knew they could not live this kind of holy life on their own. They could not hunger and thirst for God by themselves. They could not maintain the Spirituality of the means of grace by themselves. They wanted and accepted friendship because they needed it.
But it is a risky endeavor. Even Jesus knew that when his friends betrayed him. Will you get betrayed by friends as well? I guarantee it. By members of a small group, probably. But we can’t throw away the baby with the bath water. Personal accountability was what Jesus demonstrated as plan A for forming disciples in his church. And their is no Plan B. And Plan A is way down on the the list resources are spent on in most churches, tucked under a discipleship ministry.
We are called to put our complete sufficiency in God, by trusting others. It is a paradox. Indeed we put our lives in the hands of God by putting our lives in the hands of others. Through whom does God speak to us? Through whom do we discern the moving and working of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Through whom do we overcome the fears that hold us back and overcome the deceitfulness in our own heart that clouds our vision from seeing what we are meant to be doing? Through friends. This is why they got into bands and classes. Why they developed spiritual friendships. Because they longed for the fullness of life. They longed for the Zeal for God and neighbor and the salvation of the whole world.
Dallas Willard in his book the “Divine Conspiracy” states. "I know exactly what is wrong with our making of disciples and ourselves becoming disciples. The problem is not that we do not know what we need to do, we know what to do. The problem is that we do not do what we know we are to do. The problem is not that we do not know what we are called to be, but we do not seek what we are called to be." I have probably not told you anything really new here or anything you did not already know. You know it already! You need to do what you know! How do you overcome the perineal problem of being a hearer of the word but not a doer of the word? The person in James’s Gospel, the Christian that looks in the mirror and says to himself, "What a fine Christian you are!" "What a marvelous child of God you are!” And then turns his back and walks out the door and lives just like everyone else. I know of one way, accountability.
We need deep spiritual friendships. Joining with a few others in deep spiritual friendship who will help you take what you know you are called to be and motivate you to pursue what you are called to be for all it is worth. That is why I believe so strongly we first need to all be in a Band and prayerfully support each other. To share testimonies of how God is working, and encourage each other to embrace that need to look outside as well as inside and encourage us to ask, "Who do I need to share the Gospel with?" My ODC family and those reading this reflection. I pray that you will pray, seek and invite one or two people into forming and beginning a Band with you this week.
Here is the ODC document on Bands. It contains the explanation, format, and how you start and continue with a Band that we use. Please feel free to copy, paste and use this document as needed in your church or ministry.
Bands
. A BAND is made up of two or three people, all of the same gender, who meet weekly for 60-90 minutes for personal accountability for their spiritual growth and development. It is recommended the group not grow past three but rather multiply into two groups of two once the fourth participant has proven faithful to the process.
· A BAND is a simple way to release the most essential elements of a vital spiritual walk to people who need Jesus to change their lives from the inside out. This tool empowers the ordinary Christian to accomplish the extraordinary work of reproducing spiritual disciples who can in turn reproduce others.
There is no curriculum, workbook or training involved. There is no leader needed in the group. A BAND is the simplest form of spiritual community and provides ongoing accountability to learn, obey, and pass on spiritual truth. It incorporates the values of living a balanced spiritual life which results in the developmentand reproduction of disciples.
There are only two suggested qualifications for starting or joining a BAND group:
1. A desperate need for Jesus Christ (Luke 5:29-32).
2. Faithfulness in the process itself (2 Timothy 2:2).
THOUGHTS ON ACCOUNTABILITY
BAND groups involve the sharing of an extremely personal nature. It is imperative that you come to a clear agreement on the confidentiality of whatever is shared in the group. Discuss the limits of confidentiality, (e.g., how things will be handled if information is revealed which involves the safety of someone or illegal activities).
Consider using 2 Timothy 3:16 as an outline for application to your life:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. - 2 Tim. 3:16-17 (NIV)
· TEACHING- what we should know
· REBUKING- what we should avoid or stop doing
· CORRECTING- what we should do differently
· TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS- what we should begin or continue doing
Remember that accountability to Scripture involves not only applying it to one’s own life, but also blessing others by passing on to them what you are learning. Always consider if there is someone outside the BAND you should be sharing spiritual truth with and make this part of the accountability process.
Be specific when developing an application plan. Think through when, how, and with whom you will put what you are learning into practice. Make sure to follow up with checking on progress in succeeding weeks.
FORMAT OF A BAND: C.H.A.T. with each other.
1. CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
FELLOWSHIP
We are motivated by sharing struggles in mutual accountability. Start the time together by going over the Accountability Questions with one another (45-60 minutes).
2. HEAR THE WORD
DISCIPLESHIP
We grow spiritually as we read Scripture in context and in community. Continue the time by discussing what the Lord has impressed on you from your weekly Scripture reading. Your group should read 20-30 chapters per week (e.g. read the book of 1 Samuel or read the book of Ephesians 5 times.) Many people find it helpful to read aloud. If you prefer to listen to Scripture, you can download the “World English Bible” which is a public domain audio version, for free at http://www.audiotreasure.com/webindex.htm.
If someone doesn’t finish the reading in a given week then the entire group takes the same assignment for the following week.
:3. ACT ON IT
MINISTRY
We serve as we apply the truths of Scripture to living in love towards others day by day. Live out what the Lord impressed on you in the reading to apply it to your life and pass the truths on to others (5-10 minutes).
4.TELL OTHERS
EVANGELISM
We pray for those who need the Lord and reach out to them as we have opportunity. Close in a time of prayer. Pray for one another. Part of this time should be praying for the lost friends, family, and acquaintances for whom the group has been praying throughout the week (5-10 minutes).
WORSHIP
We acknowledge God in prayer and through our obedience. In your time of prayer, do not forget to praise and thank the Lord for who He is and what He is doing in and through you as a group and as individuals. Remember to, your obedience (Act on it) to the Lord is worship! (5 minutes)
ACCOUNTABILITY QUESTIONS
These questions are to be asked of one another in a weekly meeting of accountability (Proverbs 27:17). They are to stimulate conversations of character and confession of sin to God and one another in a safe environment which values honesty, vulnerability, confidentiality, and grace.
1. How have your insights from last week’s reading shaped the way you think and live?
2. Who did you pass your insights from last week on to and how was it received?
3. How have you seen God at work?
4. Have you been a testimony this week to the greatness of Jesus Christ with both your words and actions?
5. Have you been exposed to sexually alluring material or allowed your mind to entertain inappropriate sexual thoughts?
6. Have you acknowledged God’s ownership in your use of money?
7. Have you coveted anything?
8. Have you hurt someone’s reputation or feelings by your words?
9. Have you been dishonest in word or action or exaggerated?
10. Have you given in to an addictive (or lazy or undisciplined) behavior?
11. Have you been a slave to clothing, friends, work, or possessions?
12. Have you failed to forgive someone?
13. What worries or anxieties are you facing? Have you complained or grumbled? Have you maintained a thankful heart?
14. Have you been honoring, understanding and generous in your important relationships?
15. What temptations in thought, word, or action have you faced and how did you respond?
16. How have you taken opportunities to serve or bless others, especially believers?
17. Have you seen specific answers to prayer?
18. Did you complete the reading for the week?
EVANGELISTIC PRAYER
Each person in the BAND group is to list two or three individuals who need the Lord’s salvation. Write down the names of all those identified in the group on each card so that all of you pray for each of the lost souls weekly. Keep this card in your Bible as a bookmark for your daily reading so that each time you open your Bible you are reminded to pray for these people. You can use one or two of the these verses daily in your prayers and insert the names of those you are praying for into them.
1. Lord, I pray that You draw _____ to Yourself (John 6:44).
2. I pray that _____hear and believe the Word ofGod for what it really is (1 Thes 2:13).
3. I pray that ______seek to know You (Acts 17:27).
4. I ask you, Lord, to prevent Satan from blinding _______to the truth (2 Cor 4:4; 2 Tim 2:25-26)
5. Holy Spirit, I ask You to convict _______ of his/her sin and need for Christ’s redemption (John 16:7-14).
6. I ask that You send someone who will share the gospel with _________ (Matt. 9:37-38).
7. I also ask that You give me or ______the opportunity, the courage and the right words to share with _________ (Col. 4:3-6).
8. Lord, I pray that ________ turn from his/her sin and follow Christ (Acts 17:30-31; 1 Thess 1:9-10).
9. Lord, I pray that _________ would put all of his/her trust in Christ (John 1:12; 5:24).
10. Lord, I pray that ________ confess Christ as Lord, take root and grow in faith and bear fruit for Your glory (Rom. 10:9-10; Col. 2:6-7; Luke 8:15).
11. Lord, I pray that You draw _____ to Yourself (John 6:44).
12. I pray that _____ hear and believe the Word ofGod for what it really is (1 Thes. 2:13).
13. I pray that ______ seek to know You (Acts17:27).
14. I ask you, Lord, to prevent Satan from blinding _______ to the truth (2 Cor. 4:4; 2 Tim 2:25-26)
15. Holy Spirit, I ask You to convict _______ of his/her sin and need for Christ’s redemption (John 16:7-14).
16. I ask that You send someone who will share the gospel with _________ (Matt. 9:37-38).
17. I also ask that You give me or ______ the opportunity, the courage and the right words to
share with _________ (Col. 4:3-6).
18. Lord, I pray that ________ turn from his/her sin and follow Christ (Acts 17:30-31; 1 Thes. 1:9-10).
19. Lord, I pray that _________ would put all of his/her trust in Christ (John 1:12; 5:24).
20. Lord, I pray that ________ confess Christ as Lord, take root and grow in faith and bear fruit for Your glory (Rom. 10:9-10; Col. 2:6-7; Luke 8:15).
Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer for them is for their salvation.
- Romans 10:1
This morning I am am going to reflect on the second “1” in our covenant IRCO 111.1 which it to set aside at least once a week to spend one solid hour of more in prayer over your ministry and the ministry of our church.
“No one can believe how powerful prayer is and what it can effect, except those who have learned it by experience. Whenever I have prayed earnestly, I have been heard and have obtained more than I prayed for. God sometimes delays, but He always comes.” ― Martin Luther
“There is no power like that of prevailing prayer - of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heartbroken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat and blood. Add to this list from the records of the church your personal observation and experience, and always there is cost of passion unto blood. Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God.”….“Satan dreads nothing but prayer. His one concern is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, he mocks our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.” ― Samuel Chadwick
Prayer is not a last desperate hope in a losing battle, prayer is the greatest hope on which all battles are won. Prayer is the life breath of Christians and the church. We breath or we die, we pray or we die.Something miraculous and powerful happens through Gods grace in us when we set aside a large block of time of an hour or more to pray. The enemy knows this and he will use anything from a dripping faucet to social media to interrupt it. Some of us just have a hard time focusing on prayer for an hour and our minds drift and wonder. Don't get discouraged, keep at it!
As a prayer aid I am giving you a great tool for prayer I received from Curtis Seargent, it is the Prayer Wheel. The Prayer Wheel divides on hour of prayer into twelve, 5 minute long each sections. The prayer Wheel is a wheel or pie that has 12 slices. Each “slice” is 5 minutes long. It aides you remaining focused in praying for n hour by breakingthe hour down into 5 minutes sections. I have listed the 12 sections of the Prayer Wheel. Before you begin set the timer on your phone for 5 minutes or look at you clock. Then begin and spend 5 minutes in #1. Praise. After 5 minutes move to #2 Waiting. Continue praying this way through #12 and your hour of prayer will be complete. You can modify the time per section to 2 minutes each if you are at lunch or only have 30 minutes to pray, or add minutes to each section if you have more time to pray.
I pray you will commit to spending at least one solid hour a week in prayer. I would recommend you watch the movie “War Room” which is a great movie on the power of prayer.
Please share your comments on prayer. I would also love to hear reflections from those who have spent an hour of time using the Prayer Wheel.
PRAYER WHEEL
1. PRAISE
Start your prayer hour by praising the Lord. Praise Him for things that are on your mind right now. Praise Him for one special thing He has done in your life in the past week. Praise Him for His goodness to your family. (Psalm 34:1)
2. WAITING
Spend this time waiting on the Lord. Let Him pull together reflections for you. Think about the hour before you and the things you want the Lord to do in your life. (Psalm 27:14)
3. CONFESSION
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life which might be displeasing to Him. Ask Him to point out attitudes that are wrong, as well as specific acts for which you have not yet made a prayer of confession. Now confess that to the Lord and claim 1 John 1:9 so that you might be cleansed for the remainder of the hour before you, and then pick up and read the Word. (Psalm 51:1-19)
4. READ THE WORD
Spend time reading promises of God in the Psalms, in the prophets, and passages on prayer located in the New Testament. Check your concordance. (Psalm 119:97)
5. PETITION
This is general request for others, praying through the prayer list, the prayer cards, or personal prayer interest on behalf of yourself and others. (Hebrews 4:16)
6. INTERCESSION
Specific prayer on the behalf of others. Pray specifically for those requests of which you are aware. (Romans 15:30-33)
7. PRAY THE WORD
Now take the Scriptures and start praying the Scriptures as certain sections of Psalm 119 lend themselves beautifully to prayer expression. (Psalm 119:38-46)
8. THANKSGIVING
Spend these minutes giving thanks to the Lord for things in your life, things on behalf of the church, things on behalf of your family. (Philippians 4:6)
9. SINGING
Take your hymnal and sing a prayer song, sing a praise song, sing a song regarding soul winning or witnessing. Let it be a time of praise. (Psalm 59:17)
10. MEDITATE
Ask the Lord to speak back to you and keep a paper and pen handy, ready to relate the impressions that He makes upon your life. (Psalm 63)
11. LISTEN
Spend time merging the things you have read from the Word, the things you have prayed, the things you have thanked the Lord for, the things that you have been singing, and see how the Lord brings them all together to speak to you. (I Samuel 3:9-10)
12. END WITH PRAISE
Praise the Lord for the time you have had to spend with Him. Praise Him for the impressions that He has given you. Praise Him for the prayer requests He raised up in your mind. (Psalm 145:1-13)
I am up in Cleveland helping visiting parents Posts may be a little sporadic the next few days. 18 degrees and snow! Brrrr!
I will continue my reflections on our IRCO 111.1 covenant. To be disciples of Christ who are encouraged to exhibit Immediate Radical Costly Obedience 1: Committing to fast one day a week in prayer over your indwelling of the Holy Spirit, your ministry, and that of the church. 1: Committing to spend at least one solid hour a week in un-interrupted prayer. 1: Meet one time a week in a Band with 1 or two other same gendered people for true accountability. .1: Tithe at least 10% to the ministry of Christ and The Church.
I am going to look at the first "!" in 111.1, fasting one day a week.. When I reflect on fasting, I always start with Isaiah 58.
"Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.
3 'Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?
6 "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
(Isa 58:1-11 ESV)
God, when I read your inspired words through Isaiah, I understand the fast that You choose for me is a fast from my flesh, a fast from selfishness and self-centeredness. It's a fast that frees me from the tyranny of my self and turns my heart to the things on Your heart.
Give me Your heart, Lord. Open my eyes to see the needs of those around me and fill my spirit with the power to do something about it. Give me time and passion for people in the ways that I can make a difference. Let me be part of the move of Your Spirit in my city and spheres of influence to rebuild the "ancient ruins," to "raise up the foundations of many generations" and "be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets" (v. 58:12).
Fasting is not about ancient rituals or even faithfully executing spiritual disciplines. Fasting is about putting You first, as Your Spirit overcomes my flesh so You can change the world around me through my life. This is the fast You choose. So by the power of the grace of God at work within me, let this be the fast I choose. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My ODC family, and those reading this, I pray that you will be faithful to our 111.1 covenant and begin fasting one day a week. I pray we will not be a church with a prayer ministry, but a church that fasts and prays. I pray the Holy Spirit gives you eyes to see the needs of the world around you and the power to do something about it in your spheres of influence today.
P:lease share your thoughts and experiences on fasting in the comment box below.
In my post Yesterday Asked you to covenant with me this year in I.R.C.O. 111.1 as a means to intentionally become more of a disciple of Jesus. We hear that word disciple allot now days in a church. To become a disciple, you have to first answer the question, "What is a disciple?" At One Direction Community (ODC) this is our definition of a disciple.
ODC Disciple Definition
A disciple is a committed apprentice of the Lord Jesus Christ who is growing in Love for God and others, sent out to make disciples, all through the power of the Holy Spirit.
…a committed apprentice… of the Lord Jesus Christ
ODC’s definition of disciple rests on the confession of the earliest Christians: Jesus is Lord. If Jesus is Lord, then no one and nothing else can be. This implies exclusivity: Lordship excludes all other claims to loyalty; and totality: there is no area of life that is not under the rule of God. Jesus modeled total submission to his Father to the exclusion of all else and expects his followers to do the same. This is not something we can do by ourselves. We need each other and the power of the Holy Spirit.
…growing in love for God
We recognize discipleship as a life-long process of growing… becoming more and more like Jesus. As God reveals thoughts, attitudes, and actions that are not “Christ-like,” a committed apprentice responds by changing to be more like Christ.
The ongoing growth process is a series of baby steps of immediately obeying everything we hear Jesus commanded us to do. His first command was to love God.
Loving God includes all that we are (our soul), the expression of our emotions (heart); the exercise of our will to obey what Jesus commands (strength), and the content of our thoughts (our mind). It is not hard to see why loving God is a process that can be costly, or that seems radical. Nevertheless, it’s what Jesus expects of His followers, His disciples. (Matt 22:37)
…growing in love for others
ODC wants to form disciples who are growing in love for God (through Immediate Radical Costly Obedience) and others (by putting them first). (Mat 22:39)
Loving others extends beyond warm feelings or treating people with simple courtesy (although that is not a bad place to start). It involves listening (for many people, being heard is so close to being loved that they can’t tell the difference). We notice their needs, and take time to meet those needs by serving them.
Loving others by serving them often means inconvenience, and the sacrifice of personal time and resources. Radical hospitality… inviting our neighbors to enter into our lives… sets people at ease and fosters trusting relationships. “Welcoming the stranger” demonstrates our love for God by extending His love to those who are right in front of us.
Loving others by the practice of seeing them spiritually through the eyes of God. If we want to minister to them as Jesus would, we need to be able to see them as Jesus does.
….sent out
Jesus exemplified the Missio Deo or “The Mission of God.” That is the spreading of the gospel that the Kingdom of God is at hand and ushering in that good news in a tangible way. Just as God sent Jesus in to this world to proclaim this gospel, Jesus sends us out to proclaim it as well (Joh. 17-18). Disciples are to be missionaries. Missionary defined as someone who forsakes everything but the Gospel, for the sake of the Gospel. Discipleship is actively following Jesus through the presence of the Holy Spirit out into their neighborhoods and communities. (John 17:18)
….and making disciples
Jesus’ last commandment to his disciples was for them themselves to go and make disciples. (Mat 28:19) His commandment applies to all of us as well. It is a good thing when we come to know Christ. It is a better thing when we lead someone else to Christ. It is the Greatest thing, the most Christ like thing, when we lead someone to Christ and disciple them so that they then lead someone to Christ. Moreover, the goal of discipleship is to become the most Christ-like.
…through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, this definition of disciple reveals our total reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit for transformation and growth.
A core value of our House Churches is that truth is revealed through the study of scripture, in community with others, under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Gifted teachers and great curriculum are valuable but can never replace the Holy Spirit’s work in exposing the truth of scripture. Reading a few verses directly, without external commentary, allows the Holy Spirit to flow through multiple believers whose various personal experiences, traditions, reason, and spiritual gifts reveal the simple and obvious meaning of the text.
How do you make a disciple?
First and for most in my desire to make disciples is to personally answer this question, “Am I a disciple worth multiplying?” God does not desire to multiply mediocrity. He desires to multiply those who exhibit Immediate, Radical, Costly, Obedience. Discipleship is the act and process of modeling and conforming yourself to Christ. I have come to understand that there is no “easy button” to achieve this; to become or make a disciple. It requires reading Scripture more than I ever have before, praying more than I ever have before, and being openly accountable to others in the body more than I ever have been before. How I become or “make” a disciple is simple, but it is not easy. If I am not willing to consistently embrace and model this, then I cannot effectively lead others to become disciples. I cannot lead them to a place I myself am not willing to go. And no program, training, technique or tool I try to use can replace lack of obedience. Am I a disciple worth multiplying?
Takes some time this morning and meditate on your level of discipleship and what becoming a disciple means to you.
Please share your reflections below as in the comment box.
"For he will order his angels to protect you in all you do.” Psalm 91:11
Last couple days I have had allot to reflect on.
Tuesday my daughters Paris, Milan and a friend where headed north on 65 and were a little south of Nashville. They were on their way to Wilmer Kentucky to visit friends they made their while I was in seminary. Paris was driving, Milan in passenger seat, and friend in back seat. Around 11:00am while Paris was switching lanes their car hydro planed. The car left the highway, crossed the medium grass strip and went into the south bound lane. It struck the rear of car going south. This caused thier car to jump up and it jumped over the guard rail of the south bound lane. It flew over the small trees on the side of the freeway, and over and down a steep embankment. Car rolled 5 or 6 times and came to rest on its roof and passenger side. Thank God they had seat belts on. Paris's belt snapped after the first or second roll and Milan held on to her as they flipped. They all yelled. “We’re dead” as they flipped. Paris ended up on dash in windshield. Milan went through passenger door window when car stopped on that side. A truck driver saw wreck and climbed down embankment and helped pull them up out of driver side window. They were all able to walk up hill!!!
I got a call from my daughter and Nancy I drove up there. They were taken by ambulance to the hospital. From rolling all those times they are bruised. Paris's head and face hit car and is swollen. Milan hit her head as well At hospital they ran x-rays and CT scans on them but they all came out good. So after observing them for a few hours for concussions they released them. All three of them are shaken up and bruised and have knots on their heads. They also have abrasions from seat belts and car. However, God's favor was with them. No broken bones, no cuts, no stitches, no internal injuries. Every window in car was broken and it was full of glass, but in all the tumbling none of the were cut by it. It was a miracle. If the car had rolled 3 feet to the right they would have went over a 60’ ravine to the river below. Angels definitely guided the car. We are praising God.
We got home around 10:00pm that night. Paris and Milan have been sleeping allot and chilling on the couch. They are black and blue and sore. Car is totaled, they have a story to tell, but they are alive and on our couch! Again praise God!! The police and EMT could not believe they were not severely injured. They said they were very lucky, we know they were very blessed!
At our house church last night we read Psalm 91 and reflected on the sovereignty of God and the protection available to those who “have taken refuge in the Lord” Psalm 91:9. We also shared and encouraged each other with our personal stories of divine intervention and rescues by God.
Read Psalm 91. Then take time to reflect on your personal stories and those you know of protection and rescue by God. May it be a time of encouragement for you.
Please share your reflections and stories below in the comment box.
Good morning,
I have fixed all my email and web domain issues and I will begin again posting my blog of my daily time in the Word.
I have spent the last couple weeks reading and re-reading through Matthew chapters 5-7 and Jesus teaching or sermon on the mount. It is an amazing sermon, and I agree with those who heard it and exclaimed, “When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed by his teaching, because he taught them like one who had authority…”v.7: 29. I think if everyone read these words from Jesus one a week and tried to apply them a little more each week they as individuals, the church, the world would be a transformed.
If churches used this sermon in in their intro or “101” classes people deciding to become a member of the Church would understand more clearly what they were signing up for and the level of commitment and discipleship required.
I read the verses 7:13-29, the closing remarks of Jesus in his sermon, and Jesus almost harshly, in-your-face, lays down the truth and reality of following him:
“But the gate is narrow and the way is difficult that leads to life, and there are few who find it. “V.14
“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” V.19
“Not everyone who says to me, ʻLord, Lord,ʼ will enter into the kingdom of heaven - only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” V.21
“Then I (Jesus) will declare to them, ʻI never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers! V.23
“Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed; it was utterly destroyed!” vs. 26-27
I think to myself, “What was he thinking?” “What kind of idiot pastor would end his sermon like this?!?” If I closed a sermon with those words today, my days behind a pulpit would be few. My congregation would leave. I would be labeled a hateful fundamentalist. How have we drifted so far that Jesus words are insulting?
Jesus was so un- politically correct. There is nothing “attractional” in the summation of his sermon. There is nothing “fair” in his words. He is not influenced by culture. No universalism of paths to salvation or saviors. His truth is consuming. His truth confronts and challenges and strips away any form of complacency and comfort, any notion that anything less than total surrender is acceptable. Anything less than going completely all-in, than complete obedience is an option. Saying Jesus is Lord, demands conforming to all the attributes of the source of that lordship, the life of Jesus.
Read Matthew chapters 5-7 today. As you prepare to celebrate the incarnation of Jesus the Christ into the world, and reaffirm his Lordship into your life, into your home, and bow and call him Lord, I pray you understand what his kingdom
And Lordship looks like. May the Holy Spirit truly prepare your heart , soul and being, may he “make straight the path” in you to acknowledge Jesus and all his attributes as your Lord.
Please share your thoughts as a comment below.
A little longer post today, but I have been reflectiong on it for a couple days now.
We are preparing to Celebrate Christmas, and Emmanuel, God with us. From his birth in a manger onward, Jesus became central to the identity of the church. Christians have always agreed that the church is all about Jesus—her very existence, identity, purposes, and functions are all completely bound up with this person who is at the core of it all. He is our Founder, Redeemer, Lord, and our Head.
If Jesus is God’s will in human form and the perfect expression of his nature, then we cannot bypass him and still remain in the Faith. Even our understanding of God is fundamentally changed by his birth: Whatever we now seek to know about God must pass through the lens of this particular person—Jesus the Messiah. Jesus is “the Father’s ‘summary statement.” Or as we put it in theological language, “Jesus is preeminent.” To get a feel for the importance of this, listen to Paul who in order to communicate something of the revelation derived through Jesus and this meaning on the church, had to resort to some pretty dense theological statements.
13 "He [God] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by and through him all things were created everything in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he existed before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the ecclesia (church). He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Col.1:13-20)
The ecclesia (church) therefore ought to be the one place in human existence where Jesus is to be taken with the utmost possible seriousness, enough to make him central to absolutely everything Christ-ian. For all Christians salvation depends on identifying with Christ. Christian Identity follows from Christian faith. Who could deny this? And yet, the church has consistently failed to fully represent Jesus in the world. As Alan Hirsch puts it, “One can perhaps say that any church is dysfunctional to the degree that it lacks focus on Jesus. In other words, the lack of Jesus ethos and presence lies at the root of all dysfunctional religion.”
Religion has a way of marginalizing the central role of Jesus in the life of his people—apparently he is too difficult to deal with. You might think that all this is basic Sunday School and goes without saying. But it’s truly astounding how churches forget their very nature and purpose as Jesus’s people.
Jesus is, and must remain, the defining criterion for everything important about the church. Where else can we go to gauge whether we are truly Christ-ian people and we are truly witnessing to the Jesus revealed the Gospels? Are we really consistent with the ethos, teachings, model, and agenda of our Founder?
Paul states, “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1Cor.3:10-11
Therefore, any attempt to circumvent or diminish the "preeminence of Jesus" in our lives (individual and communal), means that we inevitably end up with something far less than what God intended through us first place. We are either defined by Jesus or we are not. And history is clear when we are not defined and shaped by Jesus, other cultural and spiritual forces quickly will fill the gap and we move to becoming a false, illegitimate, and toxic religion.
By declaring our identity in Jesus, we clarify the most important aspect of the church…that it consists of the people who are redeemed by Jesus, who belong to Jesus, are led by Jesus, and are willing to be defined by Jesus in every way possible.
"We are being transformed into his image from one degree of glory to another. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2Cor.3:18).
As we prepare to celebrate the birth of the one who's identity will define our Christian faith, take some time today to reflect on, "Am I willing to be defined by Jesus in every way possible?"
Please share your thoughts or comments.
I spent time again in the stories of the birth of Jesus in Matthew 1:18-2:12 and Luke 1:5-2:2It is a story of heaven and earth missionaly moving, going out. being sent to people and places to achieve and present the saving grace of God in Jesus the Christ. Angels going out to Marry, Joseph and Shepherds. Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem. Shepherds and wise men going to see the babe in the manger. God, through the power of the Holy Spirit going to earth and being incarnate in Mary and becoming God in flesh. Christmas was a missional movement. From its very inception, Christianity was meant to be a movement of God. We today are called and sent into this movement of God.
Danny and Karen are two members of ODC who understand Christianity and the church is a movement. For several months now, every Sunday, they have been faithfully going to the Limestone County Flea Market. They started simply prayer walking the market, seeking to see where the Holy Spirit is moving in the place and praying with those who run the booths. Over the months of them going to the Flea market, relationships and friendships began to be made. At times they were frustrated by a lack of response, but they cried out to God and asked him to move through this market. God saw their faithfulness, heard their prayers, and answered them.
I received this email from Danny and Karen two days ago.
“Today we went to the flea market and prayed with several people. The Lord moved in a couple of new ways today, it was all him. First, Aldeleta met us and said she wanted to begin a house church in her home. She has several friends she will invite. We plan to start the week after next. She lives in northwest Huntsville.
Secondly, we met Bill Edwards, the manager of the flea market. We had seen him walking around before, and the Lord told Karen that we should talk with him. We did and he is a believer and was very receptive to us. We prayed for him, his business there, and a prayer request he had. He invited us into his office and asked if we would like to have a service at 8am on Sundays for the vendors before they set up. Someone had done that in the past, but did not do it any longer. We hope to start next Sunday. He gave us his card, so we will contact him this week and confirm everything.
It was a great day there. However, business is slow and a lot of the people are discouraged and need the Lord's help. It is a fertile field for his spirit to work.”
Danny and Karen came over to my house yesterday and they shared their excitement with Nancy and me. We praised and prayed! This Sunday at 8:00am they are starting a new ODC gathering of worship and prayer. Next Thursday they are launching a new house church plant in Huntsville. I am so proud of them! My role in leadership at ODC has always been one more of a coach. The whole reason why we do not do church focused on one person with pews facing forward in a classroom setting, but do House Churches, Community Dinners, Bands, and Discipleship 101 trainings is to train, equip and encourage people to take the field, enter their community, and make disciples of Christ.
Danny and Karen were not dependent on their pastor, or ask where or how they can serve or be missional in their community. They prayed, looked for an un-reached people group in their community, and then exhibited Immediate Radical Costly Obedience, and as “sent ones” went out. I did prayer walk with them a couple times in the beginning, however this outreach is a result of their faithfulness. It did not depend on or only happen if the “pastor” was with them. They knew the Holy Spirit was with them, and that was all they needed. As a result, this Sunday morning at 8:00am I am going to attend and support a new missional church plant of ODC.
Read Matthew 1:18-2:12 and Luke 1:5-2:2. Reflect on the movement of God in the story and in Danny and Karen’s story. Church is not a facility or a location, it is a movement. Pray over where is the “manger” or “stable” you are called to hang out at, prayer walk, and be the incarnation of Christ in your community.
Please share your reflections or questions as a comment below.
I read this morning Luke chapter 1 and 2 the Story of Jesus’s birth. What we refer to as the “ChristmasStory.” How God in his entirety and all his glory left his heavenly realm far from us, descended to the earth and in the babe Jesus, became Emmanuel, God with us. In the incarnation God took on completely human form and became like one of us. In this Christmas Story we see how God changed everything of how we are able to access Him, relate to Him and most importantly, imitate him. Before Jesus was born we had no tangible example of what God was like or how we were to follow him. Because we had no one to “follow.” What mankind had was a Temple form of worship, in which only a few elite priests could access the Holy of Holies and be in God’s presence. It was as very religious, legalistic, and distinguished form of encountering God. With this story God forever changed that. God changed encountering him to a very personal, simple level.
In the story we just read we see that God chose Mary to be the mother Jesus. She was not distinguished at all. She was not of royalty, or the daughter of a high priest or a rich respected landowner. She was a poor, nameless 15-18 year old girl.
Her husband Joseph likewise was not who you would think would be the earthly father of the Son of God. He was not a King, or ruler, or a respected religious Clergy. Nor was he wealthy, owning much life stock and riches like the patriarchs of his faith Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. He was a poor carpenter. Who for the trip to Bethlehem could only afford one donkey for his wife to ride and had to walk the whole trip beside her.
The place Jesus was born was not distinguished or religious at all. The Son of God was not born in the Temple, or a palace, or even a nice home in a warm bed. But on straw in a manger among the animals.
When Jesus was born, who did the Angels and the company of heaven go and announce it to? To Rome and the Emperor? To Jerusalem and King Herod or in the Temple to the high Priests? No, to poor, common shepherds.
This whole story of Jesus’ birth, the beginning of Christianity, and the Christmas story is one of meager, common, humble, un religious beginnings. Jesus’ story ended the same way. After he is raised from the dead, who is the first people to see him? Women. Not to take offense with the women here today, but back then women did not count, literally.
Jesus told the women to tell the men to meet him in Galilee which is approximately 60 miles from Jerusalem. Jesus was saying it is not about Jerusalem any more, his church was about him, and a deep, intimate personal relationship with him. He wanted a personal relationship with us at our level. But we, human kind did not, and do not like this. Even though all of mankind has read this story we just read, that God became incarnate in man in the most humble, intimate, and personal way. We are uncomfortable with it. We still in some way do not believe it. That we are ok as we are. That God wants to dwell personally with us. That we are his plan through whom God will restore the world. God can’t just reside in me, in my home. To grasp that God is with us, Emmanuel, was just to simple. God can’t reside in me, he must live in something special.
So what did we do? We built the great cathedrals of St. Peter’s in Rome, St. Paul’s in London, and Notre Dame in Paris. Great halls ornate with gold and art work. We built temples again! Churches with carved altars, stain glass windows and gold and silver chalices. We did what is the exact opposite of what this story in the Bible tell’s us to do. We re-built the same thing that Jesus had his disciples walk three days away from. We chose cathedrals over mangers. Cathedrals are the opposite of a manger. They suggest the opposite of the incarnation, that God is made flesh among us, and that God is present in our ordinary lives. They proclaim God resides here and we must go to them to find God.
The church prefers seeing God in a gold box on an altar than a panhandler on a street. However, that is not the story of Christmas.
Read Luke chapters 1 and 2; Matthew 1:18-2:12, 28:7-10,16-20. Then spend time in prayer. How is how and where you seek and encounter Jesus like that of the Christmas story? How is it different?
Please share your reflections and questions as a comment below.
I read through the Story of Jesus' birth in Matthew this morning, During this next couple weeks leading up to Christmas day, please read through the narratives on Jesus' birth found in Matthew 1:1-2:12 and Luke 1:26-35, and 2:1-21.
"Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with Child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the Child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.' All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 'Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name Him Emmanuel,' which means, 'God is with us'" (Matthew 1:18:23).
Before the angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph of his destiny, the angel reminded him of his identity. The angel said, “Joseph, Son of David”, Joseph was a "son of David." He came from the royal bloodline of the King of Israel. He was a member of the chosen people of God. Though he was carpenter and probably a very simple man, living a very simple life, he also had royal lineage.
Once he was reminded and secure in his identity, Joseph could then fulfill his destiny. "When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a Son; and he named Him Jesus" (v. 1:24-25).
You need to be reminded and secure in your identity. Like Joseph, you are also a royal son or daughter with a royal bloodline. Through Christ, you are a son or daughter of God, a child of the one true King. "For in Christ (we) are all children of God through faith" (Galatians 3:26). Through Christ, I am also a rightful heir according to the promises of God (Galatians 3:29).
Through Jesus the Messiah, who came and saved you from all your sins, you are cleansed by His royal blood and can take your place in His royal bloodline (1 John 1:9). You can rest secure in your identity and fulfill your destiny as a part of "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that (you) may proclaim the mighty acts of Him who called (you) out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9). In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, You are sons and daughters of the King of Kings! Take Time today to meditate on this identity. I pray through time spent in the Holy Spirit, you will know the security of your identity as a child of God in the royal bloodline of Jesus Christ and live out your destiny serving and glorifying Him with your life today in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
Please share your reflections and/or questions in the comment box below.
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." -Luke 23:39-42
I am serving on the Kairos prison ministry team going into St. Clair Correctional Institution for 4 day this coming Thursday –Sunday, the 10th-13th. We are going in to share the Gospel with a group of its inmates. St. Clair is a level 5 maximum security prison. In the past year, there were more deaths per inmate in St. Clair then any other prison in the U.S. One of the things each of the team members do is write each of the 29 men a letter they get Sunday afternoon. I sat down now to start this and I am going through the list of 29 men I will be spending 4 days locked up with, and now I am beginning to write letters to them.
· 24 have murder, manslaughter or attempted murder convictions
· 9 have rape, sodomy, sexual torture, and/or child molestation convictions
· Most have robbery and burglary charges
· Only one has a sentence of 20 years or less
· 28 have sentences or 40 years or more
· Over half have LWP (life without parole) sentences, they will die in prison.
All three of the prison chapel workers serving on the weekend have LWP sentences and will die in prison, two have murder convictions.
There are ten cha-chas (inmates who serve as table runners and servers on weekend) All ten have LWP sentences and murder, rape, sodomy convictions.
My daily prayer for myself and One Direction Community is “Lord, send us the ones no one else wants.” The Lord is sending me to them next week. And I know the Lord is going before me, because if he does not my time and the time there of our Kairos team will not bare fruit. Changing and restoring these guys are way above our “pay grade,” but not above the one who out of love paid the ultimate price on the cross. His love and blood covers a multitude of sins: mine, yours and those of these 29 men. It is the covering of his blood that allows me, you and these men to be numbered with those who; “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” (Rev.7:9.)
And my prayer and hope is that because of these 4 days in prison, convicted rapists and murders, the ones no one wants, will be among the multitude standing next to you and I before Christ’s throne.
Read Luke 23:39-42; Matt 11:19, 25:35-40, Mark 2:15-17; 1 Peter 3:18-19
Each morning in prison, we will begin each gathering with this prayer that follows. Pray it out loud into your community and your environment. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to put in your path those that no one else wants.
Jesus, come join us
in our journey
as we seek your will
for this community
in this environment.
Teach us to love each others
as you love us
to give ourselves
as you give yourself
that the kingdom of God
might be made present to all.
First, both my voice and heart are a little rough this morning after my Cleveland Indians came up one run short in their 8-7 loss in extra innings to the Chicago Cubs last night in Game 7 of the World Series. As we Cleveland fans are so often heard saying, "There's always next year!"
I’m often asked how our organic simple church movement is doing and if I feel we are accomplishing all that I had hoped. I had that conversation yesterday at a Starbucks with a fellow brother in Christ. The answer is no. We are not the movement that I hoped for… yet. But that is partly because I have always felt that part of what we were doing was preparing the church for what is coming: persecution. I see our work as sowing seeds for a future harvest, and I believe that future is getting closer every day. Am I some fringe conspiracy theorist or “prepper”? No. But I’m not impartial on the question. In all of history, the freedom we have experienced in America in our lifetime is actually an anomaly. The Bible makes clear that those who follow Christ will be hated and will endure persecution. I suspect there is good reason for my thinking, but if I am wrong and persecution doesn’t come, I have not lost anything. But if it does and we are unprepared then we have lost much. We have this generation to make a difference in and will give account of what we did with the time given to us. I feel called to prepare God’s people for a future that is less open and free, but far more fruitful.
One of the heroes of my faith is Watchman Nee. God used him (and others like him) to prepare the church in China before the Communist revolution took over. He launched the “Little Flock” movement, which was a radical departure from the Western church model that had been planted in China prior. It was smaller, simpler in structure, in houses, inexpensive and reproducible. The churches met in smaller gatherings in homes led by ordinary people with real jobs. He brought the same sort of preparation that I have been devoted to enacting.
When the communists took power they arrested the church leaders (like Nee), seized all church property, kicked out all missionaries and burned all Christian literature. The organic expressions of simple churches meeting in homes not only survived…they thrived. The Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong sought to eliminate all religion from society in China, but instead mobilized the church and it grew from about 2 million Christians in 1949 to over 60 million. It is estimated today that there may be upwards of 80 million Christians in China.
Contrast this with the church of Russia. The Russian Church was dependent upon three things: holy buildings, holy men in robes, and holy services performed by those men in those robes and in those buildings. When the communists took over Russia, they seized all the buildings and arrested and persecuted all the leaders of the church. The church was devastated. It did not thrive. Granted, there was a remnant that struggled to survive underground, but the Christ followers were not able to see the exponential growth the Chinese church did.
I carry deep inside a feeling that part of everything I am doing now is just preparing the bride of Christ for what is to come. Like Nee, I have been striving to bring health and simplicity back to the church, and with that an ability to ride out any storm that may come.
If tomorrow the church you attend and all those around you were seized and all the buildings, worship centers, and materials burned to the ground, pastors and priests arrested and/or killed, what would surface out of it? What would reproduce? What would you do? Are you being prepared to share the Gospel, your testimony, make disciples and lead a simple church? Are you prepared to “Go and make disciples”? (Matt.28:19)
Read John 15:20-21; 1 Timothy 3:12; 1 Corinthians 4:8-13; Matthew 5:10-12; and Luke 2:10-12. Then spend time in prayer reading again the last paragraph above and reflect on how persecution proof and reproducible is your faith.
Please post your reflections, questions, and prayers below in the comment box.
At the core, the DNA of your identity and the identity of The Church has to be the belief in and surrendering to the statement, "Jesus is Lord." Belief and conviction in the Lordship of Jesus is at the heart of discipleship and the heart of being a follower of Jesus. I don't believe the church in the west is doing "Jesus is Lord" well. We have a "Jesus is Lord" problem.
My morning comments are shorter this morning because my attached video is longer. The video is a recording of an one hour webinar I participated in with Alan Hirsch, Jessie Cruickshank, Neil Cole & Dave Rhodes. The conversations and reflections in the video get to the heart of "Jesus is Lord," and real Christianity.
I highly encourage you take the time to watch this video and I would love to hear your comments.
Or 3 PRACTICAL WAYS TO BE MISSIONAL THIS HALLOWEEN
Halloween is coming upon us. It’s interesting to me that for many this becomes a “hot button” topic to discuss. I was sitting in the Waffle House yesterday morning with an ODC member I love and and grateful he is in our life. Our talk over coffee came to Halloween. He stated how he hate's Halloween and went on to explain why. So today I want to address the question: Should we as Christians engage in Halloween or should we abstain? In actuality if you start reading about Halloween’s roots, it’s hard to find an answer of where it came from. But, regardless of where it comes from, the question at hand should be: Why is Halloween celebrated today? For most of us, Halloween isn’t a time where we celebrate the dead and go and skin a goat and sacrifice it to Satan. For most of us, it’s a time to dress up our kids as a super hero and send them to strangers’ houses to get free candy.
It has become just part of our culture in the West and has very little to do with the “darkness”…it’s not good, it’s not evil…it’s just something we celebrate, like the 4th of July. I know we might have stories of darkness, but there are also many stories of overdrinking and evil happening on our other holidays as well.
The whole of the Bible talks of God bringing reconciliation and redemption to all things back to himself. To bring peace to all things. Not only that but Paul speaks (1 Cor 8) to us about pagan festivals and says that there is nothing in them that is powerful, because there is only one God and everything and everyone comes through him and are because of him.
Paul then talks about eating food sacrificed to idols…saying…it’s no big deal, unless you have a brother who would be deeply hurt by it because they struggle with the idol and eating of that meat because they actually used to do those things.
Here’s how to contextualize for Halloween:
If you have a brother who used to worship Satan and they used to sacrifice goats and drink its blood, then it might be a good idea to work through Halloween with them and whether or not it would make that brother stumble. This does NOT mean, if you have a brother who thinks it’s merely wrong to celebrate Halloween then you should put it to the side. That’s never the intent with any of the passages of making a brother stumble…if that was the case, many of us would be in sin because of all the things we do that make other Christians merely uncomfortable. Jesus was not about making people comfortable.
And Jesus would have made many people stumble with the life that he led around sinners as he ate and drank with them. Again…making a brother stumble and making a brother uncomfortable are completely separate issues.
With all that said, what are we to do with Halloween? If we are to look to redeem Halloween, what does that mean? If we are to do all things to the glory of God, what does that look for Halloween?
First, a few things you should probably STOP doing:
1 Dressing Your Kid Up as St. Paul or Moses
2 Calling the Halloween Party at your church building a “Harvest Party” and taking all your people away from their neighborhoods
3 Wrapping a tract around an apple and handing it out to the kids who are trick or treating and calling it “evangelizing”
None of these things redeem anything, but just add to the notion that Christians want to be apart from the world and create their own subculture. Instead, let’s be like Jesus and celebrate like he would have.
When we look at the life of Jesus and our God, we see that they always pursued the sinner and the world. They loved us right where we were and engaged us in the ways that we’d understand who God is and what He has done.
Not only that, but Jesus used the everyday celebrations as a way to build relationships so he could speak into the lives of those around him. He was continually at parties. So much so, that when Matthew was called to follow Jesus, it seemed normal to Matthew to invite Jesus and all the apostles back to his house to party with all his “sinner” friends. (Matthew 9:9,10; Mark 2:14-17)
People knew that Jesus was about celebrating, he was about truth, he was about pursuing and he was about building relationships with people. With that in mind, how can we then show people THAT Jesus to our communities during Halloween?
1. Be THAT House
You know “that” house. When you were a kid and you went to a house and said “trick or treat” and they handed you a full size candy bar, it was like winning the lottery. It was such good news, you’d tell strangers dressed up like a clown zombie where to find the goods. Everyone knew that house in the neighborhood and if you didn’t have one in your neighborhood, you’d travel what seemed to be miles to get to that house. Be THAT house. We have been blessed to be a blessing. Think about how this shows people the Father. Everyone is expecting to get a small fun size bar. It’s what they’ve earned by dressing up and having the courage to knock on your door and say “trick or treat.” What they know they haven’t earned is a full size candy bar…it speaks to this idea of grace and blessing.
You don’t need to tell the kids this, but it starts to tell the story of what your house is about to the neighbors. It tells a different story than what they expect or are used to and this is exactly the story of the gospel. Spend the extra cash to make that happen. If you can’t afford it, get your Missional Community to all pitch in. Ask your church to put it in the budget for next year…whatever you gotta do…be that house! You’ll be amazed at what doors that opens with your neighbors.
2. Be a Welcoming Presence
If our God is about pursuit, blessing and welcoming then what would it look like to be about pursuit on Halloween? How about instead of staying inside your house, be in the driveway or front porch. I know this isn’t available for everyone because of weather, but what would it look like in your neighborhood for people to feel welcomed to come to your house and feel blessed by it?
For The Liederbach's, we are going to have fire pit in our front yard. We will be cooking hot dogs over the fire and making s’mores. We put invitations in all our neighbors mailboxes It’s a way for us to come together and hang out and bless our neighborhood. It shows that we are more than about handing out candy, but we are here to bless the entire family and in a sense, welcome you into our lives.
Again, it shows something quite different than every other house. I’ve heard of people doing this for years and the neighborhood now expects it and people come and hang out and have a great time meeting neighbors.
If you can’t be outside, how can you bless the families that are walking around your neighborhood? Maybe offer coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc. to the parents and trick or treaters that come to your door. Again…think, “How can I be a blessing and show that we are a welcoming and pursuing people like our Dad?”
3. Celebrate
It is not secret that Jesus loved to party. So much so, that people kept inviting him to parties. Pretty amazing to think about. If we have a Dad in heaven that loves us and accepts us, not for what we do or have done, but because of what his Son has done for us and now we are heirs to the throne of heaven…don’t we have the most to celebrate?
We should be defined as Jesus was defined: a glutton and drunkard. He was celebrating so much that the religious saw him as a glutton and drunkard but the sinners and the world saw him as a dude that they’d like to hang with. Where have we gone wrong here? Christians shouldn’t be the ones avoided for parties, but should be the ones that people are most excited to have come around because they bring the “better wine.”
made it almost a rule in our house that if we are invited to a party…we are going and we are going to think through how we can bless that party as much as possible. We are always invited to parties because of this. People know what Nancy and I are about, but they also know that when we enter a room we won’t make it weird, but we hopefully make it more enjoyable by being there. We have literally had people say, “if Jesus is like this…he was a lot different than we’ve ever been told.”