It's Part 3 in our study of the book of Joshua, THE PROMISED LAND and in this week's message, we're getting ready for the victory that God promised us.
Special thanks to my good friend Peter Karras as he gives us four invaluable lessons on what it takes to move in and possess the land/life God promised us. We know it's there for the taking, but we need to do our part to turn the promise into a reality.
Read MoreSpecial thanks to Steve Messeh (yes, we're brothers) for delivering a fantasticly inspiring message this past Sunday: FORWARD BY FAITH.
In this message, we continue our study of the book of Joshua and the land God promised to His children in the Old Testament. But remember, we're not chasing a promised LAND the way they were; we're chasing a promised LIFE - a life that fulfills the myriad of promises God has given to us in His Word.
In Part 1, we set the stage for the Promised Life; this week, we move FORWARD BY FAITH!
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Imagine baking a cake and only using half of the prescribed ingredients. Imagine building a car and using only half of the needed parts. Imagine building a house and only using half of the lumber needed to build the house properly. No one in their right mind would ever expect that cake, or that car, or that house to turn out right…right?
But what if we do that with our Christian faith? What if we have the same approach toward being a follower of Jesus? What if we leave out half of the equation?
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"What happened to last week's message? Where is the sermon?"
That's the question that I've heard a thousand times over the past week and unfortunately, even though I have an answer, it probably isn't what you want to hear.
Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties outside of our control, last week's message was NOT captured on video. The room we rent went haywire and we almost had to abandon ship midway through the message.
But the good news is that we were able to capture an AUDIO version - albeit a somewhat below average recording - including the moment when things went haywire (go to minute 32 and listen for yourself).
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A lie believed as truth will affect your life as though it were true.
(read that one more time please)
I once did a little experiment on a Sunday morning. At the start of the sermon, I told all the people that I had secretly placed four $50 bills underneath seats in the church. I explained it as random act of kindness and I fully convinced them that this was true.
Of course it wasn’t true. It was 100% false. It was a flat out lie (which I've already repented about and confessed :) ). But the fact that it was a lie didn’t matter. What mattered is that people THOUGHT it was true. The reality of it being a lie wasn’t as important as the perception that it was true.
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Parents, if you could get your kids to do one thing, what would it be? Think before you answer. This is your chance. Don’t waste your one wish. You want something long lasting – something that will bear fruit in the long run. What would you say? Ready for my answer?
OBEDIENCE.
The most important trait that we, as parents, need to instill in our children is obedience. Obedience to teachers. Obedience to police officers. Obedience to librarians, bus drivers, firemen, and of course, most important of all, OBEDIENCE TO PRIESTS – especially the really cool ones who blog and do stuff like that!
Nothing is more important than this. Agree?
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Don’t answer too quickly. Of course we all know the “right” answer. We all know that God’s plan is better than our plan and that His ways are higher than ours. We know the right answer in our head, but let’s be honest – it’s not always easy to believe it, is it?
What happens when our plans get changed against our wishes? When the thing we planned for doesn’t happen the way we want it to or in the timing we "need"? What happens when our perfect plan is turned upside down by God against our wishes? What then?
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I ask myself that question every year when we take our annual family vacation to Myrtle Beach – the All-You-Can-Eat capital of the world! It seems like every restaurant in the area offers some kind of buffet special - giving you the chance to fill up on your choice of a variety of culinary delights (personal favorites are Captain Georges, Angelos Italian Buffet and of course, Mammy's Kitchen!).
There's so much food to choose from, the question becomes not "what do you have to offer", but rather "HOW MUCH DO I WANT TO EAT?"
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In my line of work, I get all kinds of questions from all kinds of people. People want guidance: “can youhelp me make this decision?” People want answers: “why would God do that?” People want comfort: “what can I do to get through this?”
But there’s another line of questioning that’s become quite common recently and it might surprise you. People want ASSURANCE – they want to know that what they’re doing is the right thing and that they’ve done it correctly. This applies to us more today than ever before – especially to all of my fellow perfectionists and "results-oriented" friends out there.
If that's you, beware: the spiritual life poses a significant challenge to you.
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The day we’ve been dreading has finally arrived. It’s here and we don’t know what to do with it. Do we run and hide? Or do we succumb to its pressure and surrender? What to do, what to do, what to do... What day is it?
It’s the day when LIFE GOES BACK TO NORMAL AFTER HOLY WEEK!
That’s right. We’re now midway through the week after Easter and life is back in full swing. Back to work... back to meetings... back to traffic... back to posting pictures of your breakfast on Facebook and Twitter... you know, the normal routine.
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Below is a post I wrote two years ago, just before the start of Holy Week 2016. As we near the start of another Holy Week, I thought this would be the perfect message for today. I hope you enjoy it and I pray that you all have a fruitful and blessed week as we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Read MorePart 6 in our series Building Blocks: A Life of Prayer and we've reached the final room in our house of prayer - the room where true intimacy and oneness take place between man and God: LITURGICAL PRAYER.
Liturgical prayer is what we were made for. It's where we find union/communion with God and therefore, is the ultimate goal when it comes to prayer.
Read More"If we truly love people, we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them, and this will lead us to prayer: Intercession is a way of loving others." Richard J. Foster
It's Week 5 in Building Blocks: A Life of Prayer and this week, we're looking at the most selfless (and therefore Christ-like) form of prayer: INTERCESSORY PRAYER. This is where we follow the lead of our Lord and use our time of prayer to carry the burdens of others.
Because intercession is the primary work of Christ, it should therefore should be the primary work of His disciples (US) as well.
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Prayer. A word that means different things to different people. We all know we need it, but then why do so few of us do it? Why does something which is supposed to be so simple end up being so hard? We know the importance of prayer and we could speak endlessly about the priority it should have in our lives...but in practice, we don't do it!
Sound familiar to anyone else?
Read More“We aren’t just reading words; we are seeking the Word thru words.”
You can't have prayer without Scripture and you can't have Scripture without prayer. In this week's message, Part 4 in Building Blocks: A Life of Prayer, we talked about the "office" in our house of prayer: PRAYING THROUGH SCRIPTURE.
We talked about what it means to meditate on Scripture and how we can begin practicing this essential aspect in our lives.
Read MoreIt's Week 3 in Building Blocks: A Life of Prayer series, and this week we're taking a look at the key to long term transformation and spiritual growth: STRUCTURED PRAYER, which involves having set TIMES of prayer and set WORDS to pray.
Do I really need structured prayer? Why is it so important? Can't I just pray whenever I want and however I want?
I answer those questions and more in this week's message as we discuss why we need to have consistency and balance in our prayer life if we're going to fulfill God's plan for our life - which is to be "conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29).
Read MoreIt's time for Part 2 in our series BUILDING BLOCKS: A Life of Prayer and this week, we're talking about the first room in our house of prayer: SIMPLE PRAYER, aka the family room of the house.
Simple prayer is ORDINARY people bringing ORDINARY requests to an EXTRAORDINARY Father. And while that may seem pretty elementary, it's the foundation of a life of prayer and without it, you'll struggle to achieve any level of intimacy in your relationship with God.
“casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
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What is it? Is it prayer? Is it fasting? Is it Bible reading or quiet time? What’s the ONE habit that’s most closely associated with my spiritual growth and zeal?
While I hesitate to say that any one habit is more important than another when it comes to spiritual growth (we need to find balance and not be overzealous in any one area to the disregard of another), there's definitely one habit that stands out as most closely linked to my spiritual growth.
In other words, with regards to this habit: when I’m doing it the most I’m growing the most, and when I’m growing the most I’m doing it the most.
(you may need to read that sentence again)
Read MorePrayer isn’t an ACT we do; it’s a HOME we build.
That's the main idea behind our latest series at The Well, BUILDING BLOCKS: A Life of Prayer. It's a series where we'll be talking about the different types of prayer needed to build a house of prayer - a place where Jesus can enter and we can meet with Him daily.
So if you're looking for a spark or revival for your prayer life, check out part 1 above.
Read MoreAt Christmas time, we don't celebrate that Christ gave to the poor, but rather that He BECAME poor. He became poor so that we could become rich.
As we wrapped up our series on IRRATIONAL GENEROSITY this week, we learned about a semi-modern saint who did the same. He not only gave to the poor, but he became poor so that the poor might become rich.
And in doing so, he teaches us the lesson that with every poor or weak or needy person that we meet, we have the chance to be part of a divine transaction - one in which we SERVE Christ IN others and we BECOME Christ TO others.
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