"I'm Not Very Religious." --- "Neither Am I." -- March 25, 2014

"I'm not very religious."  "Neither am I."  But.. you are a Christian... a minister?"

"Yes. I was very religious as a young man. My folks had reared me that way. I was baptized as  baby. They saw to it that my older sisters and I were in church every Sunday morning. I can't remember ever missing Sunday School for 17 years."

"I joined the church. I took communion. I served as an usher. I was very religious."

"However, I gave it all up when I received Christ as my Saviour. As the Bible states, ' I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ' " (Philippians 3:7, 8)

Our religious is vain, so far as saving us from sin and transporting us to heaven is concerned.

"So, I'm not very religious. I wouldn't waste my time trying to force my religion upon anyone."

To the religious leaders of His day when He was here on earth, Jesus said,  “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!" (Matthew 23:15) NLT

How many have "quit this" or "begun that"; "joined this" or "left that", only to find that religion wasn't the answer.

"Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) NLT

"And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." (1 John 5:11) NLT

Someone has noted,

"If you don't know Jesus as the way, you are simply wandering.

If you don't know Jesus as the truth, you are only guessing.

If you don't know Jesus as  the Life, you are merely existing."

To receive His abundant (Better) life He has for you, pray a prayer like this:

"Dear Lord Jesus. I know I'm a sinner and deserve eternal hell; but I believe you died for sinners like me to pay for our sins. I believe you rose again bodily and are still alive. Come into my heart Lord Jesus, and save me from all eternity. Amen."

You too can say, "I used to be religious, but now I have a relationship with Jesus Christ."

Welcome Home!

Why Should You Flourish? - March 17, 2014

excerpt from "How To Maximize Your Life" by Brian Houston.

"Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God." (Psalm 92:13)

There is nothing I like better than to see God's people expanding and increasing in every area of their lives. I believe you are alive to make a difference, and an increased life empowers you to impact and influence others in a positive way.

There are some who would argue against the need for Christians to be prosperous or successful, but I present this question: Is it an option for believers to flourish when it is in their hand to do so, or is it a responsibility?  In fact, there are three important reasons why God's people should live flourishing lives. Firstly, when we flourish across every aspect of our lives, we are aligning ourselves with the objectives of Jesus. He said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10).

God's purpose and intention is clearly that we should have an abundant life - that means bountiful, productive, successful, prosperous, and flourishing! This kind of abundant life reveals and demonstrates the power of God to others.

The second reason why I believe it is important for God's people to flourish is that it empowers us to have a greater impact. Our ability to make a difference in the lives of others is limited if we are crippled by debt, sickness or emotional dysfunction. Certainly, our God is a present help for anyone in trouble, but His purpose is to help people to overcome these difficulties so we can be a position of strength to help others.

Thirdly, I believe if people cannot flourish, they are unlikely to stay planted. The House of the Lord should be an environment where people can flourish and become who God purposed them to be. I don't believe God intended His church to remain small and contained, bur rather to keep expanding and enlarging, giving people an opportunity to reach their potential.

Fact or Truth - March 3, 2014

This past week I’ve witnessed people dealing with what I call “fact” or “truth.”

In my world (church planting) I have experienced thoughts like:

            “You will never get this church off the ground. You only have 12 people and you need 35 to launch. Just quit and go do something else and don’t put so much pressure on yourself.”  Those are facts and they are basically correct.   However, I believe God gives us the truth – the truth in which He says, “I will bless you, I will never leave you nor forsake you…. I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevent it”

            I had a similar conversation with a friend who was concerned about our launch and said something along the lines of “I am discouraged. Things are not happening as I thought they might. We’ve been at this and I only see 5 people in this so far.”  I shared, “Wow.. that can be discouraging. However, I see 17 people not 5.”  I shared that I didn’t go by what I saw in front of me, rather I saw the potential.

            This “fact” only type of thinking can occur in many other areas, not just in my world. You might have bad credit in the past and now you’re trying to buy a house and trusting the Lord for His blessing. But then Satan puts the “fact” in our minds “How can you buy this house? Why you’ve mismanaged money for so long, your credit is so bad, you’ll never own your own home.”  Remember, Satan’s mission is to “steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10) and he will use even good events in our life to block us from becoming all we can be in Christ.

            Or you’re looking for work and you’ve had some problems in the past with the law. You may have some type of civil or criminal record. You have an opportunity for a job and to start on a clean slate, but the voice of fact (or as I sometimes call it “less”) says, “You’ll never get a job like this. Look at your background. People won’t hire someone with a “record.”  And so you don’t even try.

            In each of these scenario’s (and there’s many more I could share), you’re defeated before you even start, because you’ve bought into the “facts” not the “truth.”

            Our Heavenly Father is a God of opportunity, of potential and of the truth.  The facts may be right, but God says to us “you have potential and worth. I gave my only son for you. I’ve created you as a masterpiece so you could do my greater work.” (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:8-10).

            God sees our potential. I’m calling this the “Truth.” If God didn’t see any potential in us, He never would have sent His son Jesus to die for us. But He did see the potential.

            In the Old Testament I was reading one day about Israel entering into the promised land. God had given it to them (Joshua 1).  All they needed to do is step out and claim it.  Moses sent 12 scouts to look over the land. The report came back saying, “There are giants in the land with fortified cities.”  Ten of the scouts said “we cannot do this. The giants are too powerful. We are like grasshoppers to them.” However, Joshua and Caleb, knowing the truth that God had offered great victory, said “Yes there are giants, but we can take them. We can do this. God will provide.” (Numbers  13).

            Joshua and Caleb saw the potential, they saw what God could do. They knew the facts, but they also knew the truth. Unfortunately the people followed the bad advice of the factual ten scouts and then walked in circles for almost 40 years.

            So the next time you step out in faith to trust the Lord’s leading in some venture, don’t get discouraged by the facts; rather, keep your eyes upon the Lord and be encouraged by the Truth. God wants to bless us as we serve Him. He has created us as His masterpiece to bring praise and honor and glory to His name.