The Ananias Mindset

It's been a while since I've posted but I think I will tonight...

I've been reading/studying the book of Acts recently and I just ran across the story of the conversion of Saul to Paul. One of my all time favorites, because I feel like most of us probably have a Saul Experience to speak of at some point in our lives. But tonight my mind and thoughts were turned from SAUL to ANANIAS.

Ananias was the one that prayed over Saul in order to "ordain" him to begin his ministry after his Damascus Rd experience. Ananias was a brave soul. He was apparently completely sold out and reliant upon God for strength, guidance, and wisdom or else I believe Paul may have never have been used as largely as he was. (Obviously, God had this planned from the beginning...) Saul was led by his "cohorts", if you will, into the town of Damascus, where Ananias lived. During the time of Saul's stay, Ananias was spoken to by the Lord about something very important. God wanted Ananias to go see and pray over Saul. This is a terrifying thought considering Ananias was a vocal believer and follower of God, and Saul was a well-known Christian killer, and God hater.

Ananias had the same response I would have, "What!? Seriously!? Have you heard what this guy has done? His reputation completely precedes him, how can you expect me to go see this guy? I'm not ready to die!" (My interpretation) But, God continues to explain His reasoning behind his decision, and tells Ananias basically, "Look, just like you, I created this guy. I have special plans for him. Yes, he's done wrong, and there will be consequences for that, but I'm not done with him. I have plans for him, and part of those plans are for you to go and pray with him and help him out. I've already showed that much to him." (again, my interpretation) Needless to say, Ananias goes to the place where Saul was staying; prays over him, talks with him, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit, the scales that were forbidding him from seeing were released, he was baptised, he ate to regain his strength and then he "immediately began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues..."

And, in case you didn't know, Paul becomes one of the GREATEST evangelists and preachers to ever walk the face of the earth. Now why was I so drawn to Ananias tonight? Because of this: Ananias did not care about how stupid it sounded, how crazy other people might think he was, or even about his own fears... all he cared about was following the clear and deliberate instructions that God had given him to follow. He knew it could be tough...I mean it was a murderer, a liar, a man that hated God and people that loved God. This was a guy that was rough and tough in every way possible. The whole reason he was in the area was because he was on a trip to judge and kill more Christians anyway. Yet, regardless of logic or popular opinion Ananias followed the direction of God and the Holy Spirit, and went to see Saul. And because of that Saul became Paul who was transformed and changed by the power of God, and became crazy about wrecking Hell.

What's the point for you and for me? How many times has God spoken to us and asked us to help a stinky homeless man, or love a poor white man, or embrace a single black mother, or financially bless a lonely mexican husband and we turned and deliberately ignored it? For several logical reasons I'm sure. Such as: We don't know how they will spend that money, or I can't be seen with that person, or they could do it on their own if they really tried, or loneliness if simply a choice. Here's what God spoke to me: Why don't we quit trying to logic our way out of following the directions, and follow the ultimate direction... "Love your neighbor as yourself"? Because if we were honest, if we were in need we would want someone to be just like Ananias and help us out regardless of reputation and circumstance. Who cares if they don't look, act, or talk like us? Who cares if it seems impossible or difficult? If God's given you the dream of vision, GO FOR IT, and support others who are chasing directions from God as well.

We can't follow God and follow people, it's one of the other. I can't let God live in and direct my heart and listen to my head every single time. God speaks in several ways, but we won't know anything about those ways unless we train ourselves to listen, and follow. What is God telling YOU to do today?

Society Haters

New Moon... A HUGE blockbuster movie that was just released as part of the continuing saga of "Twilight". I don't care for the movie personally, however, it seems as if most of teen girls in America do! In only 3 days in the theaters, the movie is heading towards breaking 2 box office records,expecting to beat out The Dark Knight. The movie is being shown in 4,024 theaters, and in 3 days the total gross for the movie is: $140,700,000... That's right MILLION! But, the "hottness" of Edward is not the only topic of discussion for this movie. I read blogs, Facebooks, and Twitters often (not to stalk...haha) and I've seen a recent trend being spread throughout church communities. So, I pose the question: is New Moon and Twilight treading on the thin line of a "work of Satan"?

There are obvious concerns for religious groups. Blood sucking vampires, scary life altering werewolves. A young woman incredibly wrapped up in the love of these two aliens. However, what is the "work of Satan"? Many say it's the pure thought of evil. That it's a glimpse into the "dark side", that we should stay away from the very thought and existence of evil. Which, I totally and completely agree, that we should. In fact, in Proverbs 6 it is said "If you have been snared with the words of your mouth...do this then, my son, and delivery yourself...deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hunters hand and like a bird from the hand of the fowler." (Proverbs 6:2-5, NASB)

But, let me pose another way at looking at this. Isn't evil everywhere? Think about this: We are chosen of God, born of HIS image, into HIS likeness, for HIS glory; yet there is evil all around. Why? Because of freedom of choice, REAL love! It's not real love if you can't DECIDE to love them, it's simply forced love. So, through that freedom of choice, that real love, we have been given the chance to choose grace and freedom, or an evil path. So, we live in a world where people, born in HIS image choose evil every day. So, by the reasoning presented in that of many Christians with this movie, and several other societal things, we should stay in our homes and never leave. Which is truly not true, because Jesus' last commandment was to "go into all the nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19, NASB)

So, is there something spiritually wrong with this movie? My personal opinion: no. It's simply a love story about 2 races that shouldn't even be discussing/talking/communicating, yet they fall in a blissful Hollywood love, breaking down racial barriers. So, if anything, I almost see it as a knock on racism. (which it also kind of reminds me of the Woman at the Well story. No Jesus didn't fall in love with her, but he helped her, and loved her, and helped her change her life, when the 2 races should never have been talking in the first place.) I could see the spiritually wrong point if Edward or the werewolf guy were out there, recruiting others to join them in the darkside in order to grow the dark kingdom or something, but that's not the point of the story. Really, it's not even the subpoint.

So, if we are to stay away from the very existence of evil, what are we to do? Here's what I think we should do, discern our OWN convictions, and what to stay away from, and not push them on others. Look, I believe we at the church have created 2 very unfortunate injustices:
1 - VERY immature, excuse driven Christians: What does that mean? Simple, we've taught Christians that if it isn't a gift wrapped, good looking package, and if it doesn't blare God's name everywhere it's not of God so we must stay away. Well, where does that actually happen? CHURCH! So, we've created people that aren't following God, they are simply following church. (If I just ticked you off, please stay with me, you'll understand in a minute) We've taught people to complain about Twilight, but not stand up against the group of Lesbians forming a group in a local High School, when we can't create a prayer group. Basically, we've failed to disciples Christians on how to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12b) Basically, we haven't taught people how to use the gift of discernment, or talk to God about their personal weaknesses. It's easier to create excuses.
2 - Church vs. Society: This one is deadly in the state of youth ministry especially. We've created such a culture of "society is bad" church goers, that we've started a mini war. Let me clear it up by saying this: ALL society isn't bad. Some is, some is out to brainwash you and your children; but not all. The Bible says all things were created in His name. Therefore, dance, movies, laughter, was created by Him... Satan just corrupted it. Here's a better solution I believe - what if CHURCH became part of SOCIETY? No, I'm not talking about conforming and taking the bad things and adopting them into church, I'm talking about learning from society. Because, let me tell you something that I even found hard to swallow a few years ago: Society is winning, and society will not leave! Let's face it, our future church is being mesmerized by lights, music, fun atmosphere,and love stories. Is it the TRADITIONAL way? No... maybe it's not how we'd like them to learn but it's a way to teach them valuable life lessons. What if the church took the opportunity to incorporate some of society's "tactics" to draw, used MTV's idea of discipleship (cradle to grave, Nickelodeon-MTV), and implemented their way of spreading the word through creating a buzz.

I realize, this could be a controversial blog today, and I'm ok and prepared for that. My goal isn't to say that any one person is wrong or right... it's to say, that I think we Christians are "more known for what we are against, rather than what we are for." (Mark Batterson, In a pit with a lion on a snowy day) I am against Satan terrorizing our kids, and our lives, but as I recall in 1 Corinthians 6:14 "Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up THROUGH HIS POWER." (NASB) It also says later in The Bible,that the same power that raised Christ, is the same power that is within us. So, what does that mean? We have the power to walk away from evil when evil is about to overtake us. It's not that we shun the world, because as we saw earlier evil is everywhere... it's that we stay away from evil that we can't handle at that time,because we aren't at the spritual level. It's time that we learn to discern what we need to stay away from, and what we need to engage in battle.

Jesus didn't stay out of evil society, in fact He was all up in the mix of it. I don't ever want to be so known in my community that I'm against a beer, but never known that I'm for Jesus Christ. Because if the God that raised Christ from the dead also raises us with His power, what I'm FOR will fix what I'm AGAINST! New Moon is probably NOT a tool of Satan used to brainwash your child. However, if you feel your child isn't at the spiritual place to sift through this subject, or if you just have a strong personal convition with this subject, then yes, stay away from this movie; but let's not give Satan more credit than he's due. I will not see it simply because it's not my "cup of tea". (Yes, I did really just say that...)

Let me leave you with this: I'm not for the darkness, and I'm not for everything society does; I simply stand for the thought that we could learn something from society in church, and for the thought that we as Christians don't need to wage war, we need to baptize in love.

(i hope i have not offended anyone too greatly, that was not my goal. God has just been working with me on several things, and this is one that was brought to the forefront of my mind in the past few weeks.)

My personal mission

With churches, parachurches, and many other ministries popping up seemingly everywhere pastors, ministers, or whatever other name you would like to bestow upon them are abundant. But is that any different than before?
We are all commissioned to go out and "baptize in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit." what exactly does that mean? Those compose the Trinity. Meaning they all represent the Creator, or the Father, or God. So, what do they all encompass as far as attributes? LOVE! Unselfish, neverending, non judgmental, helpful LOVE!
The kind of love the represent is the kind you and I can't fathom. It's incredible, crazy, indescribable love. It's the kind of love that respects a decision, honors a choice, embraces a fault, and forgets a wrongdoing. It's the kind of love that doesn't pay attention to your past or where you've been, but believes in your future and focuses on where you're going.
An insane love.
The word baptize is defined by my friend Merriam-Webster as: "to purify or cleanse spiritually especially by a purging experience or ordeal."
So we are to purify or cleanse people in the name of the Trinity or LOVE! The way we represent baptism today is by submersion. So we purify beginning with an experience of submersion to represent the power of the Trinity. But it goes far above physical submersion.
We are commissioned to baptize people in the Trinity or LOVE! So, while I believe physical baptism is important, I believe constant, neverending, non judgemental, insane baptism of the Trinity is also important. Because the Word doesn't say to stop after becoming physically baptized. Just says to baptize EVERYONE!
So, if we are to baptize people in the name of the Trinity, we are to help purify them with the experience of submersing them in their name- LOVE!
Your NAME is defines YOU! Gods name is love by His characteristics.
So, in saying all that I finish with this. With all the new ministries popping up everwhere, and all pastors coming into the fold- aren't we all pastors/ministers, and haven't we always been? Just because you don't preach on Sunday/Wednesday or make visits, doesn't mean you are excused to judge, hate, hurt, cripple, and be reckless with your words and actions. I commit this: what if you have a more important job because you ARENT "supposed" to?
So, baptize in the name of te Trinity.... Let's help God purify people with the experience of the submersion of the Trinity- insane, crazy, unfathomable, indescribable, non judgemental, forgetful, embracing.... LOVE!!!

Fence Riders

It's been a while since I've blogged, but here comes another.

Today, as I was washing mine and my wife's cars (taking advantage of the weather), I had my Ipod on shuffle, as usual, and one of my favorite songs came on. "Fence Riders" by Jimmy Needham. As I was listening, the chorus of this song absolutely grabbed my thoughts and my heart like never before the 100 times I've heard it. Read this:

Can I sing about my maker

And have you not roll your eyes

Can I weep about my Savior

And the way He died

I know it don't make sense

To those who ride the fence

But I'm sold out to Christ

So, when this grabbed me the way it did, I began to think and process scripture and things, and obviously began to ignore any other song for about 30-45 minutes. And here's what stuck out to me.

Colossians 3:23-24 "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive your the reward of the inheritance." (NASB)

I was immediately convicted of judging peoples personal God decisions in their lives. I began to think about all the decisions that I, and SO many others have made, that people didn't like or understand, and even the ones that others made that I didn't like or understand. I mean, the fact of following God and trusting HIM only in their lives was never questioned, I just didn't like the decision, because it didn't make sense, so I automatically wrote it off as "wrong" or "senseless". And I know others have done that to decisions I've made, throughout my entire life, and others.

As I look back on some of those decisions, maybe some of them were weird, strange, or uncalled for, but on each one of my decisions I believed I had heard from the Lord and I trusted and followed that, with ALL my heart.

I recently saw a video online of a man jumping from a helicopter and wrestling a Blue Marlin in the ocean. My first thought was "WOW", and then I wondered "What the heck is wrong with that joker?" He willingly allowed that to be posted online, knowing that people wouldn't like or understand his course of action or his decision to put his life in danger. But to him it made TOTAL sense!

The reason so much judgment is made on decisions for people to do what God is leading them to do, regardless of the "sense" it makes is because: What people do not UNDERSTAND, people often will not WITHSTAND.

Doesn't Christ call us to "Carry our cross", and to "not be conformed to the ways of the world, but TRANSFORMED by the renewing of our minds"? Doesn't that pretty much mean to do what Christ says and don't ask questions? My mom used to always tell me, as an answer to my unending questions of "why?" - "Because I said so." That was enough for me. My MOM told me to! My MOM said that I should do this, she's never deliberately led me astray. I need to listen to her, she TOLD ME TO!

But so often, when we feel God leading us in a certain direction, we weigh it in these measurements: What will people say? Will this "push me forward"? Is this a smart professional decision? Will people get mad at me? Will they really understand? And maybe the whole time we're weighing our options based on man, God is saying, "Because I said so."

Check this out: 1 Corinthians 2:14 "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." (NASB)

God may lead us to do some things that don't make sense to man, but are PRICELESS to Him!

SO, how can we not be the "natural man" stated in this verse? Simple: accepting the Holy Spirit in our lives, and let HIM lead us. THEN, we won't worry about what WE think of others decisions, and we won't worry about what others say about our decisions, "because they are spiritually appraised."

You see, when you accept the Holy Spirit of God in your life, and begin to let HIM lead and guide and direct you in new ways,allow HIM to help you grow and understand the KINGDOM of GOD in your life, then you accepting the MIND of GOD!!! (1 Corinthians 2:11)

So, here's my thing: I refuse to judge or pass judgment, conciously, of other people's personal decisions of following God in radical or different ways anymore. I refuse to allow people or circumstances dwarf or question my decisions that I feel God is leading me to make anymore. Because, if they AND I have the mind of God in our lives, who are they, or who am I for that matter, to question someone that clearly follows God in their lives, and is making a decision based on that. By telling someone that the decision they are making by following God is "stupid" or "dumb" or "nonsense".... guess what... I'm saying that I'm closer to God than them, and I have a stronger hold on the "mind of God" than they do. They should listen to ME, instead of the voice of God they've been following all along. NOT COOL!

So all those people that are questioning the decisions that fellow FOLLOWERS of God are making. All of you that have a problem with decisions that your FAMILY, and BODY are making in their own lives, all of you out there that dislike someone making a personal decision that helps them follow God and get closer to Him... stop riding the fence. You can't have the mind of God AND know it all! Because the mind of MAN knows nothing in comparison to the mind of God!

So, again: Can I sing about my Maker and have you not roll your eyes? Can I weep about my Savior and the way He died? I know it don't make sense to those who ride the fence...but I'm sold out to Christ! (Fence Riders, Jimmy Needham)

Any decision you make in your life, whether it's singing about your Savior in a crowd, or if it's weeping about how incredible your God is. Or maybe it's saying "no" to a few things in order to say "yes" to Him even more. Whatever your decisions in life may be.... Don't do it for the glory of man, do it for the glory of God. And your God Family, your BODY, that accepts the same Mind of God that you accept, will understand. The rest- pray they will stop riding the fence! Just make sure you're hearing from God!

(I promise this is not in response to anything in my personal life, or any career changes recently. It's simply something that the Lord laid on my heart, and connected scriptures with. It's a mini sermon that I believe a lot of people need to hear/read in order for encouragement in their spiritual walk. Pass it on/comment with thoughts.)

Regenerating Grace

Have you ever been reading The Bible and came across a familiar passage, and then upon reading it further and some study you find something in it that absolutely blows you away? Man, I read this and I about fell out of my office chair. This junk is SICK!!!

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come." (NASB)

Nothing new there right? Heard it a million times, powerful and life changing but we've still heard it all of our lives. But I decided to look it up in the Matthew Henry's Commentary. And when I did I read this, "Regenerating grace creates a new world in the soul; all things are new."

Ok, so it breaks it down right? This isn't the kicker but think about it a little bit. God loves us SO much, and cares SO much about our promises that He has given us that He is willing to forget eveyrthing from the past and make us new. ALL OVER AGAIN! In order to achieve the promise, we must be willing to sacrifice. (Hebrews 11:17-19) So in order to help us achieve our promises, and achieve the holiness we can achieve with and through Him, we are to be made new! I'm NOT THE SAME PERSON I WAS YESTERDAY!!

But here's the part that took me back: "regenerating grace"...WHAT? So I decided to look up the word "regenerating". I mean, I knew what it meant but I wanted to make sure. Here are the definitions I saw that were most relevant:
- to form again (ok, good one)
- to change radically, for the better (another good one)
- to restore to original strength or properties (HOLY STINKIN' COW)

Ok, so here's really what this verse is saying. You, by being YOU, have dilluted the original function and power of the cross of grace, but IF you will simply come to ME (Jesus) and let ME wrap MY arms around you, quit worrying about other stuff, the grace that I died for, will be restored to it's ORIGINAL strength and property.

The grace that raised Jesus Christ from the grave, the grace, that Saul later turned to Paul, was given after cursing and killing God's people and His name. The grace that Zaccheus experienced at his dinner table; the grace that Matthew the tax collector experienced when asked to "Follow Me". THAT will be restored to it's original strength or property. DUDE, that PUMPS ME UP!!! In order to restore grace to it's original property and strength SOMETHING must die. SOMETHING must pass away.Why? Because WE can't handle the true strength and property of real grace! WE can't understand, fathom, or grasp the reality of it all, but when we allow our flesh man to die, and the spirit man to take over, we CAN grasp it and restore it. SOMETHING must die and be "gone" in order for regenerated grace to become NEW in my life!

Maybe I'm a little behind, and maybe I'm the only one that this pumps up, but I'm telling you I'm jacked up today because of this. Grace can be regenerated in my life, by allowing there to be "less of me, and more of you." Holy stinkin' cow!I love regenerated grace!

Pack Rat

So, in the midst of flipping through the channels while attempting to fall asleep last night, I ran across a show, I don't even know the name of it. It was about Pack Rats. And this show was all about cleaning up the houses of these people. And man, if you could've seen how messy,dirty, and trashy these houses were you would be surprised! There wasn't 1 square inch of house that wasn't covered in "junk" or "stuff". These people would literally cry while trying to throw things out. It was as if they were asked to sacrifice their first child. It was crazy! I can't believe how they were acting. But, in the midst of that God began to show me some things.

How many of us are pack rats? Not a literal pack rat but a spiritual pack rat? There are so many people that are spiritual pack rats in this life. We take our emotional hurts, mental blocks, spiritual confusions, and we pack it way back in the back of our minds, and every time something happens, we bring that junk back up in the forefront of our minds. Whether it be something someone said, something that we did in our past, or something we allowed to happen to us; either way we have to learn not to be pack rats.

There is so much that God wants to do in our lives and most times the junk that we "rats" pack can keep us from accomplishing the supernatural things that God has in our future. "All things become new", "I am a NEW creation", "Be transformed by the RENEWING of our minds", "Focus on things above not the things of this world"...All of those things talk about one thing...DOING SOMETHING NEW AND DIFFERENT!! But, in order to do that sometimes we need to allow someone (God) to sort through our junk, keep the parts that can teach us something, and throw away the junk!

Don't be a spiritual pack rat let God make YOU new, and RENEW your mind. Don't let someone or something that happened in your past dictate your future. If we completely put our trust in God, and we get to the point of belief in God and who He created us to be, what could really be our limit? HEAVEN! (Thanks Nik)

What is YOUR junk that you've been packing, and you know that now is the time to sort through it and throw it out so that God can use us to our full potential. GOD is our helper, let Him clean us up!

Purposeful Pain

Reading 1 Samuel recently has completed rocked my world. I have a confession, I've always been pretty partial to reading New Testament books for some reason. Through some recent things, I've just decided to begin studying 1 Samuel and GOOD GRIEF it has ROCKED MY WORLD!!! I ran across some great principles today while reading chapter 12. Now, to be honest, I won't get it all out there because God is still helping me process a lot of it, but MAN it's solid stuff.

1 Samuel 12:8-11 is all about Samuel talking to Israel after the official confirmation of Saul as king. (Saul WAS ordained by God to take over, even during the rough times, in case you were wondering.) Samuel is talking to the Israelites about the trust that he has earned from them, then Samuel began to publicly remember some past times and experiences and Samuel begins to teach them a REALLY difficult and REALLY insane lesson. One thing I like about Samuel is that he was NOT afraid to tell it like it was!

He looked at those Israelites and reminded them of the time that Moses took them into the wilderness, and that God led them there, and God was on the front of their minds. Then Moses, through the guidance of God, found them a comfortable place and they settled there. Then the Israelites began to forget the God that kept them safe, and the vision that led them there! And they began to complain and completely forget about God! Then 1 Samuel says, "He sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king Moab, and they fought against them."

Check this out: God noticed that HIS people, the Israelites, had completely forgotten HIS visions, HIS direction, and HIS love! Therefore, God had a nice little plan, allow them to be in a situation where they realized exactly how small they really are without HIM! So, when these tribes began fighting against them, they SUDDENLY realized just how small and weak they were without the power, and desire of God in their lives! So, they began to cry out to God for direction, help, and grace again.

Then, God did something else INCREDIBLE! He heard their cries and blessed. SO, they had FORGOTTEN Him, He REMINDED them, then He BLESSED them! Sometimes we FORGET, so we need to be REMINDED, in order for Him to BLESS!!! But check this out: How did He bless? He gave them the 4 things they needed (and we all need) in order to "live in security". (vs. 11b)

He gave them:

1- Godly Vision > Samuel, name means: "Heard of God"

> He gave them a man that is heard of God and in touch with the heartbeat of the Father!

2- Logic > Bedan: A judge of Israel

> Judges are pretty smart people, with a lot of logic

3- Leadership Ability > Jephthah, name means: Mighty Man of Valour, Breaker Through.

> He led Israel out of the oppression of the Ammonites. He was placed in a leadership position to help LEAD the Israelites. It was HIS decision to use his LEADERSHIP ABILITY to better himself, and help a hurting nation. (that'll preach!)

4- Fight > Jerubbaal (Gideon): Name given to Gideon because he defeated the altar of Baal.

> Jerubbaal saw an injustice, got sick of it and did something about it.

God sent the Israelites, after forgetting Him when they were in a COMFORTABLE PLACE NOT WILLING TO MOVE, 4 helpers to cover the 4 sides, so there was NO room for infiltration...

Look at this: To live a life of security with Christ, we must cover all 4 sides of our tribe (our hearts, our spirits, our minds, our families, our church) with these 4 characteristics.

They FORGOT, He REMINDED, He BLESSED!

(dude, that's INTENSE teaching there. Don't worry if it didn't make sense at first, God's still helping me grab it all too. If you didn't get it the first time, read it about 40 more times, God'll help!)

The Nehemiah Project

I just left Youth Quest 2009 in Greensboro, NC. I had the incredible privilege of being under the teaching of some of America's GREATEST pastors, preachers, and teachers. Steven Furtick, Ron Luce, Chris Hill, and the worship of Steve Fee. Not to mention the great relationships that were formed.

But, something began to turn inside of me during these meetings, that I didn't like. I began to feel a sense of anxiousness, or uncomfortable feelings. Why? Not because these guys did a bad job or said something that I didn't agree with, in fact they brought the HEAT, every single time! Then why?

That was the question I asked myself throughout the weekend, then Monday night (the last night) I realized and understood why. Simply because, the dream and passion inside of me began to twist and turn. Why didn't I like it? Because it had been a while since I'd really felt it MOVE!

I have a dream and passion to speak to teenagers by the thousands, and help them understand what a REAL relationship with Jesus Christ is, and to help them unlock explosive destiny. I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL IT IS ACCOMPLISHED!!!!

So, again, why was that a bad feeling? Simply because it was inside of me, it began to move, and suddenly I realized something incredible...EVERYTHING that has happened and is happening is setting me up for the passions/dreams of GOD!

I realized that a man by the name of Nehemiah also had a dream and a passion that was placed inside of him at a young age and it hurt him to the core. There were times where he would push the dream and passion back and it wouldn't hurt anymore. BUT, there were also times when something would take place, or he would sit under some teaching/leadership that would MOVE that very dream/passion!

And Nehemiah quickly began to see something extraordinary...EVERYTHING that led him, big or small, to serve under the king, was setting him up to complete the dream/passion that God had placed inside of him. And Nehemiah was then, because of his obedience, released to complete BIG things under the name and power of the King of Kings!

But, just as Chris Hill said last night in his service, we need to go to Jerusalem and sit, until we receive the POWER! The power is in the timing, and the timing is the power.

I'm a person that dreams big, and a person that has a big passion. I'm currently a youth pastor, and will be for a while longer, I'm sure (God willing), but I have a lot of dreams, some of which have taken place, some of which will take place.

- Become a full-time evangelist

- Write a book

- Draw a picture for THOUSANDS of God lovers of what a God lover REALLY is

- Plant a church

- Become the best follower of God that I can be

- Become the greatest husband for my wife that I can be

- Become the most fun/incredible father in the world

- Become a mentor and leader to people near and far

- MORE...

I don't dream, wish, or desire these things simply because I want to be "famous" or "known" but because I believe God has given me a gift and a voice and the ability to relate to people in order to use.

I REFUSE to let ANYONE or ANYTHING take this away from me. As Satan will surely try to use whatever means necessary to take it away, I REFUSE to give it to someone or something that didn't give it to me in the first place!

I made a vow last night, God will always direct my steps, perpare my voice, and impart my knowledge. And I will begin taking steps even today, to begin working towards the passions/dreams God has placed in my life! Will you?

Doctors

1 Timothy 1:8-11 and Luke 5:31-32 are both parallel verses of scripture. Not only are they parallel but they are also incredible challenging.

What if I were to tell you that possibly, just maybe, what we know as church today isn't necessarily what Christ set it out to be.

See these verses have shaken my theology and way of thinking. After reading these something hit me, and hit me hard... what if what I've known and done for 23 years is just the TIP OF THE ICEBERG? What if, just for fun, church today, as it is seen and portrayed is nothing more than a resting place for everything else?

These verses clearly relay a very important and incredible message: I (being Jesus) didn't come for those of you that know me, I came for those who don't! So, where does that leave the ones that do know Him? IN CHURCH! What about the one's that don't know Him? OUTSIDE OF CHURCH!

We've created a culture that believes that church is where you go when you are saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost. If you aren't all 3, don't come in until you are. What would happen if each and every church, would take ownership begin to work within the confines of the original church?

Imagine with me, just for laughs, that the church was this:

- An encouraging, inspirational learning place to come weekly with other believers to be FED.

- A place to come and equip each other to do the REAL work.. OUTSIDE of the church!

- A place that didn't care about HOW we reached people, as long as we did.

- A place of desire and passion that longed for the heart of God in order to touch the heart of people?

Jesus ran after and sought God with angst, and power, and might many times during his short stay on this Earth, all for one purpose, to touch the hearts of the lost, and connect them to the heart of the Father.

I don't believe when the church was established it was to be a holding tank of doctor's or a place for people that are perfectly healthy to come and be "hypocondriacts" who act like something's wrong, when if we would simply grab the POWER and RELEASE of God, those problems wouldn't be there anyway.

Church should be an equipping place, not an acting place. We should come here to equip and help others worship, learn, grown, and move... but at some point, it's time to stop arguing and fighting over petty things and get our butts out of our well-formed seats and DO SOMETHING!

I've grown up in church and been involvled in ministry for 8 years now. I've seen/heard/experienced a lot. But, what if, REALLY, church was just the tip of the iceberg?

I think we do an injustice when we make our members and our fellow people believe that the ministry and connection to God is done INSIDE the church, when in all reality, it should be done OUTSIDE the church, and discussed INSIDE the church.

When the Philistines set up to fight the Israelites, and the Israelites lost, the Philistines stole the Ark of God. 5 tribes later, they FINALLY got some divine revelation...if we aren't HONORING God, there is judgment. The Philistines didn't want the Ark in order to HONOR it, they merely wanted to HOUSE it. Judgment was cast for HOUSING, blessings were REIGNED down for HONORING!

My question is really simple for me and everyone else out there: What am I doing? Am I really seeking to work within the confines of the church AND outside of them? Or am I comfortable simply HOUSING the presence of God (Ark of God)? I believe people that are completely RUINED for God, can't help but think, THERE'S GOT TO BE MORE TO IT!

(by no means am I "slamming" or demeaning the purpose of church, I am simply understanding there is more than JUST church as we know it. I believe church is great and important, when connected with the heart as well)

Doing Things Differently

You know, in the story of Cain and Abel, Cain did something very tricky. He lured his brother, Abel into a field where he could murder and then bury his brother in the field, where he thought no one would know. He said "Hey, Abel, come here, let me know you this. Meet me out there." Then as Abel showed up, little did he know that his life was ending shortly after.

A lot of times, I believe churches and church people do that. I believe we will ask someone to come check out something great in our fields, meet us there. There's great worship, great preaching, great friends, come check it out with me! YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS! And when they come to the "field" or the church, they are left out to dry, not knowing that in just minutes their lives may end. How will they end? They could be shunned, they could be frowned upon, they may not understand something, they may be asked to sit in another seat because "my family sits here every week". I believe churches have become people and places to HOUSE the presence of God rather than HONOR the presence!

What does that mean? That means, we like to come to church and get the goosebumps because the air conditioning is too cold (HOUSING), but when it comes to welcoming/caring/loving someone new or different it's a chore (HONORING). The blessings of God come when we HONOR, not HOUSE! See 1 Samuel 4-6.

I believe that we as a church need to come back together as a BODY not a denomination. We need to unify the means by which we all believe, Jesus Christ, and allow HIM to be our guardian and our love.

People say, "we can't be too seeker", "Atmosphere doesn't matter", "GOD is the draw"... which there are parts of each of those statements that I agree with, I also understand that Joe Blow out walking down the road that doesn't care about God isn't going to be drawn by God, he will be drawn by the HONOR of the presence, exhibited by the relationships, culture, and love in the church and the church people.

I believe we need to all realize one thing: Christianity isn't about perfection, it's about relationship! To have a successful relationship, it takes investment, intimacy, and sacrifice... 3 things I think a lot of us have forgotten. But I think God is calling us back to!

So what will I do? I will refuse to allow myself to simply HOUSE the presence, I will descipline myself to HONOR the presence. I refuse to be so stuck on a tradition that I can't see the importance of people, drawn together by the love of Christ! Whether that means a new song, a different atmosphere, or something else isn't up to me, that's HIS decision!

Never Let Go

I was watching one of my favorite shows the other day "Dirtiest Jobs" and they were doing a show in Alaska. And as these cars drove on the ice, the ice would break and consequently the cars would sink. Well, somehow, they would be down there long enough for it to ice over, and then the DOT would end up having to remove these vehicles. They showed the process of the removal and it was really interesting.
As I began to think about this just today, I realized something. There's some of us out there who have dreams,passions, desires, and a "push" inside of us that maybe we had forgotten about. Maybe it's been buried or sunk for a while, and maybe it's time for the DOT to remove it.
Nehemiah has always been a great story to me. This guy, A CUPBEARER FOR THE KING, had a dream/passion bigger than him. And it would not let him go. He thought about it, prayed about it, eat/slept this passion, and he even cried about it. It was so noticeably "ruining" him that the king noticed and pursued a conversation with Nehemiah about this. When asked Nehemiah began to pour his heart out to the king, which in turned granted him permission and provided a way for him to accomplish his passion.
GOD removed from inside of him what had been festering and "baking" in his spirit for a while. One thing about it though, Nehemiah NEVER let his dream completely sink, he was just waiting for the right equipment to remove it.
WE (I say "WE" on purpose) need to make sure that our dream never gets sunk in an icy ocean. If it has been, we should "seek" so we can "find" in the frozen graveyard of dreams...

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Are Signs...

The popular song by The Five Man Electrical Band, (don't ask how I know that), hits a chord with me. It always has.
"Signs, signs, everywhere signs, blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind. Do this, don't do that, can't you read the signs?"
If you think about it there are signs everywhere. Arbys, McDonalds, Payless Shoes, Target, Wal-mart, the local car wash...signs ARE everywhere. But what if there are other signs everywhere, only the can only be seen by certain people. You know, kind of like "I see dead people", except it's "I see weird signs".
1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."
That scripture has been turned into a quote time and time again. What if the part of "...will provide the way of escape also..." isn't just talking about hard times, but just life in general. Stick with me.
You know we go through things in life a lot that aren't necessarily "hard" or "tough" they are just, well, situations for lack of a better term. And what if while we are seeking our loving Father for direction, guidance, and such things, he is showing us signs. Signs that only we can see if we are close to our Father and sensitive enough to realize He has a big plan for us, beyond what we can imagine. You know what I'm talking about. That sign that tells you over and over again not to be with that guy/girl, or that sign that tells you that what you're about to do isn't the smartest decision, and God's showing us signs that only we can see.
The deal with signs is really kind of a simple thing though: we can listen to them or we don't really have to. I mean think about it, you see a "Wet Paint" sign, you can touch the wet paint or not. It's your call, the sign is just a warning.
What if the words of the Five Man Electrical Band song "Signs" really does have a spiritual meaning to our lives and our relationships with our Father. So, as we go through life, and if we have a working relationship with Christ, I think it would almost go without saying that it would be incredibly smart for us to look for the signs that are "blocking the scenery and breaking my mind."