Fighting for the Heart of the King

Taken from the Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus 

I loved the book. So much of what the church has become and is about really isn't even close to our King's heart. It's almost as if we will fight for and about everything except His heart. The church is seemingly passive with her mission and aggressive with her preferences. The battle many of our churches should be fighting is for the heart of our King to return to the weakened, sick, and some cases terminally ill churches scattered throughout the country and not engaging in worship wars, personal style, room temperature, color of paint and carpet, pews or chairs, Sunday school or small groups, budgets, and certainly not letting the world know what we are against instead of who and what we are for. If this post offends, while not the intent, check your heart because you may be fighting for the wrong king. #fightfortheheartofyourKing #thebarbarianway #ErwinMcManus #lovedoes #lovewins

Authentic Community

You know you are experiencing authentic community when masks get removed, personas are shed, and genuine love is shared one for another. I'm thankful that the group Tracy Pate and I do life with is maturing more and more in that direction. 

Thank you all for a great afternoon/evening. After a very tough week I feel refreshed and refueled for the week ahead. I pray and hope you experienced the same. Here is what I sense the Lord is saying to us: Stay focused on Jesus and don't become distracted by man. Pray for one another. Love without measure. Remain steadfast in faith. God has you, me, and us. Remember this, God is most glorified when we find our deepest satisfaction in Him. Love you all! Blessed to call you family!!

Put God First from My Utmost for His Highest Oswald Chambers

Great reminder from Oswald Chambers

Put God First

Jesus did not commit Himself to them . . .for He knew what was in man -John 2:24-25

Put Trust in God First. Our Lord never put His trust in any person. Yet He was never suspicious, never bitter, and never lost hope for anyone, because He put His trust in God first. He trusted absolutely in what God's grace could do for others. If I put my trust in human beings first, the end result will be my despair and hopelessness toward everyone. I will become bitter because I have insisted that people be what no person can ever be- absolutely perfect and right. Never trust anything in yourself or in anyone else, except the grace of God.

Put God's Will First. "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God" (Hebrews 10:9).

A person's obedience is to what he sees to be a need- our Lord's obedience was to the will of His Father. The rallying cry today is, "We must get to work! The heathen are dying without God. We must go and tell them about Him." But we must first make sure that God's "needs" and His will in us personally are being met. Jesus said, ". . . tarry . . . until you are endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). The purpose of our Christian training is to get us into the right relationship to the "needs" of God and His will. Once God's "needs" in us have been met, He will open the way for us to accomplish His will, meeting His "needs" elsewhere.

Put God's Son First. "Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me" (Matthew 18:5).

God came as a baby, giving and entrusting Himself to me. He expects my personal life to be a "Bethlehem." Am I allowing my natural life to be slowly transformed by the indwelling life of the Son of God? God's ultimate purpose is that His Son might be exhibited in me.

Wrestling with Emotion

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. (Psalm 13:1-6 ESV)

Wrestling with Emotion

No doubt I've had seasons where I felt as if the Lord had forgotten me, and in a sense was hiding from me. As I wrestle with these feelings, my thoughts become my counsel. They tell me you've blown it again, you'll never be good enough (which is true), you are a failure and you will never succeed, God will not help you, you are cursed, and on and on the list could go.  

But, just like David, I remember what is true. God's love is steadfast. With that reminder I refocus my thoughts and turn them into praise for who God is and for His faithfulness. 

So, when you go through seasons wrestling with your emotions refuse to take counsel from your soul and remember what God says about you and every situation and season you find yourself in. He has dealt bountifully with us.

Qualified by Grace

Qualified by Grace

As I read the psalm below, it is hard not to immediately jump to the conclusion that I'm disqualified right out of the gate. I mean, who can say they walk blamelessly and do right all the time? Who can, has, does, measures up against these standards? Guess I never will be Holy enough to dwell on the Holy hill with God if it depends on me. That is depressingly bad news at first glimpse. However, In light of the Gospel it is extraordinarily good news. In Jesus I am completely made righteous and holy. And yet, I will continue being transformed in and by the righteousness and holiness of Christ until I die, or He returns whichever comes first. I'm accepted in Him. As such, I get to unashamedly approach God with bold confidence knowing I am covered. I get to rest in and enjoy the wonder and beauty of the presence of God. The sin that once separated me from Him has been forgiven in Jesus and I am free to delight in unbroken fellowship with the God who created me in His very own image and likeness. Why? Because His Grace Qualified Me! You too! As many who will call on and trust in Jesus can once again enjoy the creator and sustainer of life up close and personal. No longer will you have to stand off at a distance, go through religious rituals, or depend on another man. Grace Qualified Us! 

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. (Psalm 15:1-5 ESV)

Life Lesson

Life lesson: you can't cheat consequences or out smart them either. Who do you do life with? Do they influence you positively or negatively? Find people moving in a positive direction, on the same faith journey, where there is mutual edification. Avoid those who pull you down and discourage your pursuits. After all misery loves company, so pursue those who are wiser, more experienced, and have reached the mile markers on the journey that you only dream about. Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. Proverbs 13:20

Where Truth Comes to Life

Community: Where Truth Comes to Life Appearances: Does the Outside Reveal What’s on the Inside? Several years ago I was watching a news segment and they were talking about various stores advertising furniture as being made from real wood. Stores such as Pottery Barn as well as discount retailers. I’m sure many of us have been shopping for furniture and we base our decision on what we see and the price that best fits our budget. We want the best bang for our buck. Automatically, in most cases, we think if we spend more money on an item the quality of it surely matches. This is not always the case. The news segment revealed that from the least to most expensive pieces of furniture were not solid wood. They were made from various products like fiber board and particle board with beautiful veneer affixed to it. In other words, what was visible on the outside was not reality throughout the piece of furniture. The same can be said of us as Christ followers. We can present ourselves as Christians in our appearances and yet what’s on the inside; the materials or character of the product doesn’t match. This type of replica or forgery is one of the greatest barriers to people coming or returning to faith in Christ. It is what most people away from God say the moment you ask them about their reasons for avoiding church, hypocrisy. It’s sad, but true! The Bible provides many examples of the inner life and how it transforms and affects what others see and hear from us. I will paraphrase a few. The good man brings forth good fruit out of what is stored up inside of him. Out the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Continue to bare the fruit of repentance. As we are transformed in our minds we should no longer be conformed to the pattern of this world. Genuine attributes like love, joy, and peace work their way from the inside out. These are just a few examples. The most difficult thing for me is to continuously stay yielded and committed to the inner disciplines that generates both inner and external transformation. It is far easier just do Christianity than to become a genuine Christian. This is why it is much easier to simply maintain appearances while at the same time getting lured into religiosity. People can see and measure my faith commitment by what I do rather than by who I am becoming. My guess is that this kind of stuff is what breeds tradition and legalism. Following external practices, codes, and rules replaces the cultivation of an intimate, deep, and abiding relationship with the lover of our soul. Just as important as maintaining personal inner disciplines is the commitment to pursue and live out these disciplines in community together. Sharing how the Lord is transforming our lives in a group setting creates and cultivates an environment that can bring about transformation among those gathered. After all, the ultimate goal and byproduct of group life is becoming REAL followers of Jesus Christ from the inside out. We are not interested in appearing to be something we are not. We are pursuing the reality of being and becoming more like Jesus. We are Kingdom apprentices manifesting the Kingdom of God Now!