God's Way IS the Best Way!

Last week I found a news article put out by livescience.com that talks about factors that bring true happiness. I was going to include it in my sermon on Sunday but time constraints prevented it.

The article's author Robert Goodier writes: Wealth, fame and good looks may be a formula for anxiety rather than happiness, a new study suggests. You can read the entire article here.

It is interesting that the findings of the study of what actually does bring happiness correspond with the teachings of the Bible.

Really, God is all about having meaningful personal relationships; with Him and others. He is also committed to helping us grow as people, conforming us into the image of His Son.

Do what God says and you'll find that maybe God does actually know a thing or two about how to get an abundant life after all.

Fan or Follower?

Last week I heard a news report about a pastor of a church who started a website called "Not a Fan." Its purpose is for Christians to be able to discern whether or not they are truly a follower of Christ, or just a fan of his.

You can get more information here at his website: http://www.notafan.com/

Although the packaging of the concept is fresh, the concept itself comes from Jesus himself. He wants us to not just be converts, but disciples who will follow him even to the ends of the earth. That was the goal when he said to his disciples, "Follow me."

Don't just read this blog entry and forget about it. Take time to ask yourself: Am I just an enthusiastic admirer of Jesus, or do I truly follow him? What is one thing that you can do this week to help you be a better follower of Jesus?

Starfish

I was at Costco last night and as I sat at the table waiting for Theresa to pick up our food, I was looking around the store, in awe of the sheer numbers of people there. I wondered how many of those people I saw would end up separated from God for eternity.

I prayed for them but was honestly overwhelmed at the sheer number of people. I wondered what just one person could do and whether or not I could make a difference. . .



Yes, one person can make a difference. But what if an entire church decided that they wanted to make a difference? What if it was our church?

Interestingly enough I had already started a draft of this post last week, with this video already attached. Isn't it amazing how God works?

Love Your Enemies, Part II

It would be tempting to just gloss over last week's post and forget about it, but I ask again: Can you imagine how much better God's church would be if we all strived to do this?

Maybe it might be more powerful to hear it said in this manner as opposed to a stick-figure cartoon:



It really is a shame that even in churches, God's people don't always do it for one another. Even sadder is the fact that rejecting Jesus' command is ultimately rejecting Jesus himself!

But do you want to know something funny? All it takes is one person to take Jesus' command seriously for God to unite people in Him. Ideally it would be from both sides but if just one person in an adversarial relationship decided to love their adversary and pray for him or her, it is easy to see how resolution can and will take place.

Are you willing to obey the one whom you call "Lord" and be the one?

Love Your Enemies

A short cartoon made by a friend of Shawn Kwon's...

Difficult to do, but how much better off would this world be if God's children took this command seriously? How much better off would churches be?

Luke 6:27-28
27"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Jesus lived what he taught:
Romans 5:6-10
6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! 10For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Sometimes we can get intimidated by not knowing the Bible very well (a situation that you realize that you have the power to remedy, right? but i digress...) but really Jesus' commands were not rocket science.

It's just so difficult to obey sometimes that we go through all kinds of mental gymnastics just so we can feel better about our disobedience with tough commands like these.

Don't settle for mediocrity - be a disciple and obey all that Jesus has commanded.

Revelation

Whether you realize it or not, Third Day is right - we have nothing without Jesus! Here's a great song from a great band. Who woulda thought they'd be on a late-night show? Cool!



May God reveal himself powerfully and clearly to you this week!

Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law.

Power to the People!

One school of thought in church leadership is that preachers must not talk of Greek and Hebrew lest the congregation believe that Biblical interpretation is best left to the "experts."

While it is true that people who have gone to seminary or Bible college may be better equipped to understand the Bible, it is definitely NOT true that unless you go to said school you will not be able to interpret and understand the Bible at all. In fact, I have encountered people without any formal training to be extremely knowledgeable in God's Word through their own reading and personal study.

Honestly I think the problem lies in the fact that many Christians have not learned to feed themselves in the Word daily, for whatever reasons. They neither study nor read the Bible on their own. Is it any wonder that people will automatically defer to the "experts" then?

It will always be natural to question whether or not we are interpreting the passage correctly, but it should not cause you to abandon your own personal Bible reading and study. If anything it should cause you to read and study even more. Otherwise you'll always be at the mercy of someone else to interpret for you.

Don't forget that Satan knows the Bible better than you do, and he will do all he can to twist and distort God's Word in your mind to help you be at best ineffective and at worst, harmful to God's Kingdom-work. If you know your Bible well, then you will be able to counter his attacks just as Jesus did during his temptation in the wilderness.

If you are having difficulty with your Biblical interpretation, stick to the 20-20 rule. This rule means that you read 20 verses before and 20 verses after your passage. That way you will have a better grasp of the context in which the author wrote the verse or passage in question.

Reading big chunks of the Bible daily and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to you through the Word will change your life more than any sermon ever will. When you learn to feed yourself in the Word daily (as opposed to being fed weekly by someone else) spiritual maturity will not be far away.

Don't take God's Word for granted. Learn to love it and you will go far in your walk with Jesus.