Filed under: Christian, Christianity, Commentary, General, Real Life, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life
“Leadership is the challenge to be something more than average” – Jim Rohn
I am intrigued by this thing called leadership. I often wonder why some do, and some don’t. Why some learn and others don’t.
Leadership is ultimately influence. But I believe great leadership is influence to do good. Too many people in this culture are poor leaders; leaders who influence people for bad.
When I was younger, even in my 20’s I had a desire to be famous. I guess I am not alone. Many people I have spoken too have wanted to be a “rock star” of sorts. This explains the popularity of American Idol show. But I have matured, at least some what; now rather than being famous I want to be influential. I want to help people have a better life.
I believe that in each person’s core we want to be a force for good rather then evil.
So that thought out; how can we grow our leadership muscle? Become more influential? Truly help people?
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1.) Prayer – I know I know this seems so trite! But it’s easy to say, easy to write (or type) but not so easy to do on a daily basis! Start today!
2.) Study God’s Word – Another easy thing to say, yet difficult to find time in our busy schedules to do. Start today!
3.) Sincerity – 1 & 2 done on a regular basis will make this one really easy!
4.) Practice – Do leadership. Start small, and God will give you bigger stuff!
“The key to great influence is being great at whatever you are doing now”
– Timmy Gibson
Filed under: Christian, Christianity, Commentary, General, Relevant Christian, Revolutionary
I ran across an article on the 360 Church at MMI, (thanks Todd) and thought it was interesting. Just an example of a church thinking outside of the parameters of a building, and focusing on making an impact in their community.
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“I wanted to make our focus less about the inside and more about the outside, in a personal sense,” Pastor McCoy says.
Specific in its direction and needs, the nondenominational Christian church sets out to redefine worship. The congregation knows what it does not want, say its elders: its own building, repetition, internalization, spectators.
Instead, it craves relevancy, challenge, action, improvisation and collaboration.
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You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan, You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God’s grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.
What’s your theological worldview? |
Filed under: Christian, Christianity, Commentary, General, Real Life, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life, Revolutionary, Suggested Reading
Recently a friend and former ministry collegue passed away at a young age. His sudden passing had everyone who knew him recalling what he had done and what he stood for. It was unmistakeable that he was a devout man, a man of passion, a man with a great call on his life.
It also got me to thinking about what God needs of us today, men of great passion and action.
Recall the immortal words of JFK when he stated, “Ask not, what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country!”
This is the same way God needs men to be today. Men who are not so consumed about what God can do for them, but what they can do for God. Men who are not afraid to take a stand for God. Men who are not afraid to follow where God is leading. Men who will not back down at the sneers of those around him, who may not understand what God has called him to do.
In these times we must be especially careful that we are moving in accordance to God’s will and in His timing.
2 Timothy 2
1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 3 Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. 5 Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
11 Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
12 if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
13 if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
A Workman Approved by God
14 Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,”[a] and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
Is God calling you to do something? Is He asking you to step out in faith and plant something, to grow something new? Has he put something different in you that others may not understand? Has He put desires in you that seem to go against the conventional flow of the mainstream?
Don’t let man deter you from doing what you know God has appointed you to do, as long as you are following God’s will in accordance to scripture.
Make no mistake about it, you will be called into question by man. They will question and doubt. Will you have the fortitude to withstand?
Filed under: Humor
Ok, so this entire post is SATIRE, it is written completely for some humor. A long time ago I was in a small group where a guy said that people who are Spiritual mark up their Bible. Because of this a friend of mine and I came up with our next business venture. Pre-marked Bibles. You can imagine the advertising. What’s sad is I have a feeling if we were to do this for real, we’d probably get some business.
Below you will find our pricing Chart. All prices do not include the cost of the actual Bible which will vary depending on version, style and preference. For a complete list of available Bibles please visit our web page.
- Pre-Washed Bibles $6 (some styles cost more)
- Random Mark Up (3 Colors Only)$12 (every color thereafter is $2 each color, Max 12 colors
- Themed Mark Up $25 (See below for Denominational Preference)
- Baptist +$20
- Evangelical Free +$10
- Reformed -$5
- Charismatic +$10 (Charismatic Calvinist please call support line)
- Pentecostal +$15
- Emergent +/-$5
- Catholics +$50
- Open Theist +$19
- Do It Yourself Card Kit (A must for every wanna be) $10
- Margin Tabs $8
- Personal Testimony $10,$15, or $20 (See below)
- $10 Strait Testimony. You were born, your Dad and Mum shared the gospel with you when you were a little kid. You repented.
- $15 Extra Testimony. You were born, you repented. You back slid in your teen years. You came back around. Or we can do one for you with a little wild living in your teen years. Etc. For an extra $5 we can customize for you.
- $20 Super Deluxe Testimony. This is Mike Warnke territory here. We’ll make up all sorts of crazy stories for you. Prison? No problem. We guarantee you can use this testimony right out of the shoot.
- Please note, for an additional $10 we can write almost any style testimony you desire.
- Signatures. Impress all your friends with famous speakers signatures inside your Bible. Only $20 for up to 4 signatures. 25 Signatures for $100. What a savings!
- Margined End notes. Don’t have time to study? No problem we can solve all those issues for you by putting margin notes in for you. We can put in notes, “personal” moments. This feature is completely customizable. See below for pricing
- 3 for $12
- 15 for $50 (Save $10)
- Need some important dates to make your testimony complete? We can add some made up dates for you. Very reasonably priced at $4 per date.
- Good Husband/Wife Theme. Impress that guy or girl with the “Bible Study” you did on what the Bible has to say about being a good spouse. Only $30!! We can even add margin notes for you for an incredible low low price of $15 extra!
- Any Quality Theme just $30!!!
- Vocational Theme just $30!!!
- Don’t have time to pick out your own life verse? Let us do it for you! Only $4!
- Want the testimony to go with the life verse? We’ll have our fiction writers whip one up in no time at all for you, for a mere $15 extra!
- Want your binding broken? We’ll add that for $20
Look more spiritual at Bible Study for less than you ever thought possible.
Filed under: Christian, Christianity, General, Real Life, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life
GOSSIP – small talk, hearsay, palaver, chitchat. Gossip, scandal apply to idle talk and newsmongering about the affairs of others. Gossip is light chat or talk: to trade gossip about the neighbors. It is rumor or general talk that is damaging to reputation; it is usually more or less malicious.
I have learned in my 38 years of life, “those who gossip to you gossip about you”. What is even more disconcerting is that Christians engage in this SINFUL behavior with NO GUILT! It’s just nuts I tell ya, just nuts! It’s Christian Tabloids!
It’s like a Christian who justifies an adulterous affair (and says, “but I love her”), or a Christian who legitimizes stealing from work and says (“because they don’t pay me enough”).
Romans 1:29 “Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.”
2 Corinthians 12:20 “For I am afraid that when I come I won’t like what I find, and you won’t like my response. I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly behavior.”
Besides GOSSIP being a dark evil sin that we’ve all engaged in at some time, it’s bad for 3 reasons:
1.) It distracts us from doing the things that are really important; loving and caring for people, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, praying and reading the scripture!
2.) It is murder with the tongue. It seperates close friends, and it breaks relationships!
3.) It tears down people! Gossip produces nothing good in a persons life, period!
How to know when you’ve stumbled upon a GOSSIP:
1.) They gossip to you!
2.) The are unhappy. (typically about many things)
3.) The world is just out to get them.
4.) They do not have any TRUE friends. (have you ever had a friend gossip to you about another friend? That is not friendship!)
5.) Gossip follows gossips! (so if you are always in the midst of gossip… it’s YOU! You are the common denominator!)
Typically, gossipers attract other gossipers. So if you find yourself in a gossip crowd, I would recommend you inform your “friends” (if you can call them that) and challenge them that you want to be a true Christ follower and that you feel that gossip is not doing anything positive in or for your life and will discontinue partaking in the sin of gossip!
“Small people talk about others,
Medium people talk about things,
And big people talk about dreams and ideas”
Let’s be BIG PEOPLE!
I’m reading a book about the guy that started (restarted
maybe) Little League baseball in the city of
Chicago
. In the book, he talks about his faith.
He talks about one of the first times that he said the Apostles Prayer in
community. The first two words struck me. Jesus said that when we pray we
should start with two very profound words. “Our Father…”
What images come to mind for you? What strikes you about that reality? Jesus is
calling God your father. Now, I’m going to be fairly transparent here. My own
relationship with my father is a work in progress. In fact, when I read “The
Return of The Prodigal Son” by Nouwen I marked the first two sections up immensely.
I marked the parts about both sons up with great abandon. I marked two places
in the section on being a father.
How about you? How do you relate to God? Do you view Him as
a loving father? Do you have problems seeing Him as the Father that wants you
to return? Can you see Him coming to the road everyday and straining to see if
you are coming from a long way off? It goes against the grain of everything I
was taught as a Child about God. Those type of characteristics were “womanly”
and kind of shunned by “real men.”
God as punisher, gotcha!
God as judge, gotcha!
God as destroyer, gotcha!
God as Grand record Keeper, gotcha!
God as strict, gotcha!
God as well, somebody who redeemed me but doesn’t really
want to have that kind of relationship with me, gotcha!
God as someone who anxiously waits for me to live in right
relationship with Him? Well, that is just too far outside my scope of
understanding. Even as I type this I can imagine people getting ready to throw
up a few verses about the wrath of God. Hold onto those for a moment and just
stop and think about God as Father. Think about your relationship with Him,
where is it? What’s good about it? What needs improved about it? Think about all the claims God makes to being
your Father.
If your relationship with your father wasn’t all that good,
it may not be all that comforting but I want to ask you to imagine something
for a moment. What if God wanted to be all the things that your earthly father
lacked? How would that change how you interacted with Him? What if God really
was the Dad that was there with a hug for you when things were just falling
apart?
What if God loved you no matter what? How would that change
how you lived? How would that change how you risked? How would that change how
you loved other people?
Go and read the story in Luke 15. Over the next few days and weeks I intend to
explore this more.
For now, May you live in the reality that God is THE Father
to you. May you know His love in a very real and intimate way. May you be
blessed in the knowledge that even when you find yourself in a Far Country He
loves you. May the next time you pray start with “Daddy…”
Filed under: Christian, Christianity, Real Life, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life
It’s interesting that Christians, who should know better, who only think of church from the perspective of; what’s in it for me? Especially those “Christians” who consider themselves “mature” ought to know WE ARE BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING. I am reminded of the great reality found in the Gospel of Luke:
Luke 12:48 “When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.” -NLT
I also think of the famous words, “ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country” and how if you change just a few words it applies to church; “ask not what your church can do for you, but ask what you can do for your church”.
I am not sure just where the issue comes from; is it our consumer culture that has messed us up to think church is about “getting” something, rather then “giving” something. Is it because most churches exist FOR the Christian, rather than FOR the lost person? Almost like church has become a gathering place for Christians, rather then a hospital for the hurting?
I see church being a lot like a hospital; a place where the doctors, nurses and staff are the Christians serving and helping to heal, feed, love, and serve the patients… rather then a Doctor/Nurse convention. There are far too many churches who function a lot like a Doctors Convention.
Now, don’t misunderstand me here! Church should “give” you opportunity to use your gifts to serve others, and “give” you opportunity to reach people for Christ, and “give” you challenging life-applicable biblical teaching to encourage you to live a godly life, and “equip” you for kingdom stuff.
Ephesians 4:11-12 “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.” –NLT
I know you want to be a self-less person who lives their life to serve God by serving others and helping people find a meaningful life in God.
“When you die you will not be known for what you acquired for yourself, but you will be known, loved and admired for what you did for others” – Timmy Gibson
Filed under: Christian, Christianity, Real Life, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life
Does God love Porn stars? I’m not trying to be hyperbolic with you; I sincerely want to know your opinion. I skim a few blogs here and there. A few months ago I watched one disparaging the video site that many consider to be a “knock off” of youtube. He had some fairly pointed things to say about the site. What set me thinking about this post was the fact that most of the comments sent his way dealt with his T shirt, which said “God Loves Porn Stars.” Many people were very offended by that idea. Many people had some moderately angry jabs to send his way.
But it does beg a question doesn’t it? Does GOD LOVE PORN STARS????? Could this really be true? Can people who engage in an act that so many people find repulsive really be loved by a Holy God?
The answer is so simple, so obvious that I almost cannot believe I have to say it, but after reading those comments and seeing other comments in this wonderful whacky thing we call the blogosphere, I believe I am compelled to answer the question. The answer is a resounding yes. God does love porn stars. I’ll follow up with something else that I believe will many peoples undies in a bunch, God loves porn stars as much as he loves any preacher, Sunday school teacher or gentle old lady that was married to the same person for over 75 years. God loves porn stars as much as he loves you. God loves porn stars as much as he loves me.
God died for those people just like he died for you and me. The real heart of the matter is we believe somehow we can do something will cause God to love us more. If we can get our theology just so, if we can make sure that we “contend” for the faith with enough passion we can somehow convince God to forget those sins that no one (except our family) knows about. Somehow, if we read enough “devotions” and do enough pious things we can cause God to love us more.
Conversely, we believe that God loves us less when we sin. So if he loves us less when we sin, he must really not love the person engaged in blatant immorality. The idea of God’s love being unconditional just doesn’t add up in our minds. Sure, most of us give it the lip service that it is due, but we don’t actually believe it we scoff at people who do. I believe it is God’s unconditional love for sinners that is so scandalous. Consider the story of the Prodigal Son, isn’t the older brother essentially saying, “You can’t love him the same way you loved me!”?
Moses was a murder, Noah was a drunk, Abraham pimped his sister, Jacob couldn’t tell the truth if his life depended on it, Samson was promiscuous punk, Joshua was scared, Rahab was a prostitute whore, Peter was an egotistical jerk, Paul was a murderer, and yet God not only loved these people, He redeemed them! He accomplished great things through them for His glory. Why? What did they do that was so special? The answer is a simple nothing.
God loves us because He is God not because of anything we have or have not done. Do I condone what Porn Stars do? Absolutely not, but I will not stand and shout down condemnation from Heaven for them either. God will judge them as He will judge me. I will share the truth with them. Part of that truth is that God loves them and that he calls me to love them.
Jesus was always creating scandals by who He was eating with. I believe if Jesus lived today he would be having dinner with the very people the church seems to love to scream about. I don’t see Jesus with gleam in his saying, “Someday you will rot in Hell.” Sadly, I’ve seen Christians say those things to people they have been called to love by a Holy God.
We need to put to bed this idea that by loving someone we are condoning what they are doing. Jesus’ entire life was lived differently than that. God’s love for us works on a completely different paradigm. He loves us even when we sin. The truth is that it is only by the grace of God that you and I are not porn stars.
I know some are going to be howling mad by that thought and though I have thought about many passages of Scripture to support these thoughts, I want to close with a line from an age old hymn.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,—John Newton, in the hymn, Amazing Grace
Filed under: Christian, Christianity, Commentary, Relevant Christian
Every once in a great while an artist will rise up that transcends time and continues to make an impact in their industry for many years. Steven Curtis Chapman is such an artist.
With the much awaited release of his 16th album on October 23rd, Chapman has once again ‘hit the nail on the head’.
As an artist that has cultivated his passionate artistry in the hearts of listeners for two decades, Steven Curtis Chapman prepares to release his sixteenth studio album and first new project in more than three years on Oct. 23.
The studio release from the five-time Grammy Award recipient and record-holding Dove Award winner is titled This Moment. Throughout the album, Chapman captures the vital importance of embracing the “Miracle of the Moment” – the title of the first single.
Sharing the thematic foundation for This Moment, Chapman said, “I want to remind people that God is more concerned with our day-to-day than we might think.
“He is not just in the valley or on the mountaintop. He’s on the straight open road, too. I hope we can begin to really experience what He’s doing in this moment,” the award-winning artist expressed.
[The Christian Post]
Chapman continues to make music that is relevant to everyday Christian life…and it is definitely worth listening to.