Anytime there is life change in God's kingdom -- anytime someone gives their life to Jesus -- that is a reason to celebrate.
Read about two of them today.
Elevation Church saw 581 people commit their lives to Jesus this past weekend.
Newspring Church saw 516 saved from an eternity separated from Jesus.
1. This past week was a true whirlwind of activity. It was also a lot of fun.
2. The Southern Gospel Picnic at Silver Dollar City started last Thursday. As part of our involvement, the KWFC staff went to hand out fans on Friday. The KWFC fan is a very popular item with the peeps.
3. My family and I spent the weekend at the Grand Country Inn to make it a big weekend for us. The hotel is okay -- a typical one room, two bed type of room that served our needs for a sleeping place, but not much more. It was a far cry from the Chase Hotel we stayed at in Overland Park, Kansas, a few weeks ago, mainly due to the square feet available.
4. Part of the Grand Country stay included unlimited access to the Splash Country waterpark. Again, it was okay, but didn't live up to the hype they put into advertising. Even still, my kids had a blast, and I enjoyed the Lazy River (could've spent the whole day on an inner tube in that thing).
5. Sunday was our big day. My oldest son turned twelve, so we celebrated by going to Silver Dollar City. Beautiful weather, great time riding, and we discovered that my middle son is now tall enough to ride any ride except Wildfire on his own. He was super excited about that.
6. Came back home Sunday night for dinner at Cheddars and ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Good times.
7. By the way, I am hoping for some great deals from all the places I'm name dropping. It's probably wishful thinking, though.
8. In all, it was great to relax for a few days, and now it's time to return to another busy work week.
9. As an aside, our weekend getaway caused us to miss the new service schedule at North Point Church. Saturday night's are still the same, but a fourth service (video message) launched Sunday morning.
10. I'm also excited about the new Zone 45 for 4th and 5th grade kids. New room, bigger room, and tons of cool stuff for the kids. I missed the debut, but can't wait to experience it this weekend.
A few weeks ago, I was in a public setting with a little over a thousand people at a Christian event. During that event, someone gave a report about a ministry effort outside the country that had seen thousands of people come into a salvation relationship with Jesus.
This was a huge report. Yet, it was greeted with only a smattering of applause. What should have been received with celebration was relatively ignored.
That begs the question: When did we Christians in America become so numb to the work of Jesus that we stop celebrating Him and those He has drawn to Himself?
Elsewhere, I see efforts in churches to get out into their communities completely ignored by the congregation. A pastor friend told me a story of how he tried to get his church to volunteer at a local organization. The first time out had a good response. But, future volunteer efforts were met with a "been there, done that" mentality.
Here's what I see from personal experience. We, as followers of Jesus, would much rather throw money at an issue (or hire someone) rather than get our hands dirty fulfilling the Great Commission.
So, I ask you, where's your heart?
This week, I've offering ten observations about God, Jesus and the Church. Let's get started.
1. In Matthew 28, we read: Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." This is the Great Commission. Sadly, the church in America tends to treat it as the Great Suggestion.
2. In Matthew 16, Jesus says, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Translation: Jesus gave His church access to His incredible power. In America, many times we ignore what Jesus can do and settle for the stuff that we can manage.
3. Same chapter, a few verses later, Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" Yet, in our churches today, we'd rather let someone else do the hard stuff while we sit idly in our comfort zone.
4. Matthew 16:2-3, Jesus proves the old adage is true, "Red sky in the morning, sailor's take warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight."
5. John 2 recounts the first miracle of Jesus' public ministry. He was invited to a party. Okay, that isn't as much a miracle as his turning water into wine, but the point is that Jesus was a likable guy, and people liked having him around. Unlikable people don't get invited to weddings.
6. Many people like the picture of Jesus that is humble and peaceful. Jesus is showing us how to live. But, I like the Revelation 19 picture of Jesus where it says, "With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." That's ULTIMATE FIGHTER JESUS. And, He is totally awesome.
7. In Luke 15, Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son. In the story, the younger son is representative of the sinner, and the older brother represents the religious establishment. The older brother would have run the younger off is he had his way. Fortunately, there is a Father who runs to the younger to bring him back to the family. When encountering those who don't know Jesus, how do you interact? Are you father-like or older brother-ish?
8. John 12:7, Jesus shows incredible respect to women when Judas gets upset that Mary (sister of Martha and Lazarus) pour expensive perfume on Christ. His words, "Leave her alone." What do you do when people attack well meaning folks? Do you let the attack continue, or step in and tell the attackers to "leave them alone?"
9. Mark 3:13-19 lists Jesus' disciples. Even by today's standards, this is a bunch of misfits wouldn't be selected for anything spiritual. That's a testimony to the power of Jesus to transform ordinary people into extraordinary people.
10. Mark 6 recounts that Jesus sent out his disciples to preach and conduct ministry. Verses 12-13 say, "They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them." This means that even Judas cast out demons and healed sick people in the name of Jesus. Sadly, that wasn't enough to keep him from committing the cruelist act recorded in human history.
TSL is a broadcast and webcasting term used in determining ratings for radio and web stations. It stands for Time Spent Listening, and means just what it stands for: The amount of time the average person spends listening during a particular time period.
I'm preaching to myself on this one. But, let me ask you a question. In your relationship with God, what is your TSL? One of the biggest problems that Christians in America face shows itself in the amount of time we spend listening to God. Our culture is fast-paced, media-based, and has constant demands on our time and attention.
If we want answers to our questions and/or problems, we "Google" it, or seek the "Readers Digest" version. Our microwave society has moved over to the digital, information highway, and demands immediate satisfaction.
But, the Bible tells us that God doesn't work this way. Psalm 46:10 tells us to "Be still, and know that I am God." To hear from God, we must silence all the noise and pre-occupations of the world. Our TSL with God depends on this.
I came across this opinion piece in the Washington Post recently. It's the story of a young woman, conceived with donated sperm from an anonymous man nearly two decades ago.
The saga of cyro-kids is turning out to be a tale that emphasises the importance of both mothers and especially fathers in the home. The gist of this article (and recent studies) is that kids need both of their parents in order to grow and mature properly. A mother and a father inside the home goes a long way toward raising well-adjusted children.
Moms and Dads, the Bible says that we are to train up our children in the ways that we want them to go. If one of you is missing from the picture, your children are only getting half of that training.
And, from what the article and the study I've linked suggest, these kids aren't too thrilled when we abandon them.
1. It has been a wild couple of weeks, filled mostly with vacation time, hence the lack of blogging.
2. For our vacation, we went to Kansas City. Had good times at Worlds of Fun, The K.C. Zoo, Union Station, Crown Center and more.
3. We stayed in Overland Park, and while there we visited a dying shopping mall. It was a sad place. Two anchor stores were still there, and not much else. It reminded me of the North Town Mall before it closed down here.
4. One oddity in that mall. A woman was selling cats that she had rescued. They were presumed to be abandoned or abused. I say presumed, because for all I know, she might've picked them up off the street to sell in her store. Here's the odd part: A sign out front was requesting donations of cat food. But, inside the store, this lady ways trying to pawn cats for $100 - $150. Smelled like a scam to me.
5. It was good to get away from the house for a few days, but it was also good to return. Now, we're getting back into school mode and regular life.
6. I always post something about church from the past weekend, and this weekend was exceptional. North Point Church's 2nd Saturday event this month was a Back 2 School bash. A thousand kids from low-income homes were invited to get new shoes, socks, underware, a toy, haircuts, medical and dental exams and groceries. My oldest son and I worked the toy table. That was fun.
7. Also exceptional at NPC were this weekend's services. We're doing a two week vision series, and this past weekend saw the initial plans revealed for North Point's new video campus. It'll be located in an abandoned nightclub on East Sunshine Street in Springfield. Tentative launch date is the second weekend in January 2011.
8. My wife and I had the chance to take in a video campus service at another church recently. There isn't much different in a video campus than at the live campus. Some people like to make a big deal out of not having a live speaker, but the teaching is still the same, the Bible is still the same, the impact is still the same. It's good!
9. As we get set for another school year, I commented to my wife last night that I don't really like the school year. For the next nine months, we will be confined to a school schedule. Everything will revolve around it.
10. Finally, as I wrap the Ten for this week, I'm going to be a captain for this year's Pregnancy Care Center Walk 4 Life. I'd appreciate your financial support when the time comes to raise funds.
As I briefly pointed out yesterday, God loves you. That's a wonderful thing. But, what am I supposed to do with that knowledge?
It would be one thing to just bask in God's love, and let that be all there is. However, Jesus gave us a clue about what we should do.
The Pharisees, trying to trip Jesus up on a religious legal technicality, asked him what was the most important commandment. With his response, Jesus tells us what we should do with God's love in Matthew 22:37-40: Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
In short, we are supposed to return God's love with all our being, much the same way that God loves for us. Plus, we're supposed to love those around us.
So, in our effort to become more Christ-like, this is a direct example on how we can behave just like Christ.
Just in case you didn't know, God loves you.
We live in a world full of pain and difficulties, and it is easy to get lost in all of our junk to the point that we forget this truth.
Jesus said in John 3:16 that God loves the world so much that he sent Jesus to pay the price for sin in order for us to have a relationship with God.
In Romans 8:38-39, Paul summarizes God's love this way: "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
That's an amazing love. And, it's a love unique to God alone.
I know some of you had to be wondering if I had fallen off the face of the earth. But, my recent blogging break was due to an overdue vacation.
See you tomorrow.
