Connections

Faith of a Child

We had a record attendance today in our children's ministry today.  Shawn Thompson is doing a fabulous job at reaching the children of CRCC.  Kids are coming to Christ left and right.  A few months ago, we had a young boy give his life to Christ at home with his parents.  He told his parents that Mrs. Shawn said that God gave His Son as a gift to the whole word, but only those who open the gift can have eternal life.  His parents replied, "Cameron, what is the gift that you need to open." He replied, "Jesus, the slain Lamb of God."  WOW!  

Shawn told me today that she was talking to her daughter over the weekend.  She said, "Shelley what do you think of when you see the color red?" Shawn replied, "I think if love." Her daughter said, "I think of the blood of Jesus."

Kids get it!  They can hear from the Lord.  They have the capacity to enter into the Kingdom.  They are not tainted with the hindrances of this world. They are loved by Jesus.

I am realizing that my #1 responsibility as a Dad is to lead my girls to Jesus! He is more important than "My little ponies" and bed time stories.  Pray for me please as I teach my daughter about the love of Abba!  

It's easy to complicate the Gospel as we get older.  It's a good reminder to just get in the posture of a 4 year old and approach the Father.

Secrets to Breakthrough

This post is for those who were out of town Sunday at CRCC, as well as, the community that I only know in cyberspace.  I preached on "The Secrets to Breakthrough."  God has burned the story of "The Widow at Zarepheth" into my heart over the last year.  1 Kings 17:7-24 tells the story of God's provision through the most unlikely sources.  What's funny is....about 5 people have told me pastors that they follow around the nation also preached on this passage this week.  Must be a God thing!  Here are a few points that I realize from the story:

1.  Obedience is the watermark of being a Christ follower.  

-This widow was told to provide for the prophet out of what little she had. The potential cost of her disobedience could have resulted in the death of her, her son and Elijah.

2.  Stewardship is non-negotiable.

-All she had was a HANDFUL of flour and a LITTLE oil.  When she took what was in her hand and stewarded it...there was enough supply to satisfy her family and Elijah. God is good at taking a depleted situation and injecting heaven's activity into it so that things begin to multiply.

3.  Prayers offered in faith result in supernatural breakthrough.  Not all prayers are partnered with faith.  There was a prayer meeting recorded in the New Testament where a group was praying for Peter to be released from prison.  He shows up at the door and interrupts their prayer meeting and they are shocked. I do not want to be so intoxicated with the activity of prayer that I am shocked when the answer is at the door. 

The stories of people's personal breakthrough stories have been incredible. God is moving in mighty ways!  I would love to hear your story of breakthrough.  

Proof in the Practice

"If we are really convinced that prayer changes the way God acts, and that God does bring about remarkable changes in the world in response to prayer, as Scripture repeatedly teaches that He does, then we would pray more than we do. If we pray little, it is probably because we do not really believe that prayer accomplished much at all." (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine p. 337.)

Regardless of your thoughts on God's sovereignty and/or the concept of Open Theism (read this if you are not familiar...considered a modern heresy by many evangelical scholars), you cannot deny the gravity of this statement.  

What are your thoughts?

Bucket of Breakthrough!

As I have been prepping for an upcoming sermon, God has been burning something into my heart.  The deal is...we are in a Breakthrough Series at CRCC.  Wow!  We have seen some breakthrough in the lives of people....from God opening wombs to providing jobs, healing sickness and moving people into the deeper waters of intimacy with Jesus.

Breakthrough is the accumulation of smaller victories. I realize that at times I am asking God for massive breakthrough in an area of my life, yet I do not know what it feels like to experience a small victory in the same area...so they do not register. It's sort of like the Pirate's Bucket at Six Flags. 

Children wait anxiously under the enormous bucket while each drop of water contributes to the tilt of the bucket....until there is a down pour.

Collecting smaller victories is like filling up a large bucket of breakthrough that eventually gets to it's tipping point and manifests in your life. 

Creating A Hothouse

I heard a leader recently say, "Bananas do not grow in Iowa....not because it's not hot in Iowa....it just doesn't stay hot."  He was saying this to illustrate the need for farmers in Iowa to create "hothouses." 

A hothouse is a heated greenhouse; an environment in which growth or development is encouraged; a hotbed; to provide with an enriched environment with the aim of stimulating development.

There are seasons in which we are "on fire" for Jesus.  Then there are seasons where our growth is hindered because of the climate of our hearts.  Learning to create a "spiritual hothouse" is paramount for those seasons when growth does not come easily.

How to you create your spiritual "hothouse?"

Learning through Stretching

This year has been a difficult but great year.  I have learned a ton about me, a ton about people, a ton about Jesus! 

I heard someone say, "The Lord is stretching you so that you can occupy where he is taking you."  That has changed my perspective on many things. Here are some things I have learned this year as I have been stretched.

1.  A generation of Israelites perished in the desert before 2 men were raised up to lead the charge in taking the promised land.  There are parts of me that have had to die this year, so that I can occupy where God is taking me.

2.  Forgiveness is not an option.  I believe it is the single key that can unlock whether or not we keep the intensity in our pursuit of Jesus.

3.  The time between the promise from the Lord and the payoff (fulfillment of that promise) is a process.  You can't skip the process.  (I stole this from Steven Furtick).

4.  God will allow circumstances in our lives to see how we steward "offense."  Moving beyond offense is not an option if we are going to be effective in His Kingdom.

Vicarious Living Gets Creepy

Tonight as JoAnna and I were flipping through the channels, we ran across the Documentary Channel which was airing "Other People's Pictures."  Read the documentary blurb below.

"Other People’s Pictures is a documentary about collectors who share an unlikely obsession – snapshots that have been abandoned or lost by their original owners and are now for sale. The film is set at New York City’s Chelsea Flea Market where every weekend, dozens of collectors sift doggedly through piles, boxes and bins of cast-off photos, ready to pay anywhere from a few cents to hundreds of dollars for a single snapshot."

It was creepy. People going crazy over old photos of other families, athletes, school photos, etc..  Every person interviewed describes their obsession with vicarious living through other people. 

This is creepy to watch on TV as people dig through bins filled with dusty old photos, BUT how many times do we live vicariously through Mega Church Leaders, celebrities, athletes, ____________?

Doesn't feel as creepy to think of it like that, but it sure puts things into perspective. If this is your hobby, please don't email me your hate mail.  I'm sure I'm missing something. I'm just saying!

While living in New Orleans I worked in a homeless shelter for a year.  I will tell you that my eyes were opened and my stereotypes were dismantled that year.  My job was to man the Tuberculosis line and check men and women in at the door to the shelter. 

The Lord broke my heart for people and gave me a valuable lesson in the detriment of judgment.

Homelessness is a real problem in our world!  If you've been in a big city, you have seen this first hand.  Instead of passing judgment and assuming that I knew the backstory, I learned to engage people (they are real people with real stories, real families, real pain, and real gifts).  One of the most talented artist I have ever seen is a homeless guy in Greenville that hangs out in Falls Park.

Read this article....it may help to dismantle some stereotypes for you.  This article reminded me to take the time to engage the homeless and find out what dreams God has planted inside of them.  You may be just the one to ignite hope of accomplishing those dreams.

Authority {part 2}

Jesus had authority.  He didn't have to tell people he had it, he didn't have to announce it over the loud speaker at the Sanhedrein, he didn't have to shout at the devil....he walked in it!  Others told him he had it, he spoke with it, the demons recognized it and begged Him not to torture them with it.

So what made the authority of Jesus so unique?

He gave it to the disciples, it's commanded that we walk in it, he made the purchase so that we might have it.  Then why don't we walk in it more?

I was asking these questions when I collided with the scriptures. Most notably Luke 4....the temptation of Jesus.  Jesus emerged from the desert of testing with the power of the Spirit and authority. 

What 3 tests did He pass?  Glad you asked!

1.  Satisfaction Test:  Jesus was tempted, after a long 40 days of fasting, with food.  That's a novel idea from the enemy right?  Food for a hungry man.  Jesus resisted the enemy by quoting God's word, "Man does not live on bread alone."

2.  Worship Test:  "Just come up here an take an inventory of the kingdoms of this world. I will give you their authority if you worship me." These were the words of the enemy when he led Jesus up the mountain. Jesus responded, "Worship the Lord your God and serve him only."

3. Pride Test:  When Jesus was standing at the temple mount and had the opportunity to fly via angels....He resisted by saying, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test."

Authority comes when we deny our flesh, sacrifice our idols, and remove the axis of the earth from our skulls!  These are all magnets that pull us into the schemes of the enemy...thus resulting in a lack of authority.

Waiting on a Meteor Shower

"They say to best view a meteor shower we need to drive away from the glow of city lights and find a dark secluded spot where we can lay back and position ourselves so that the night sky fills our view. And even then we can only hope, watch and wait for the unexpected shift in the heavens, allowing us a peek into the unexplainable mysteries of a world beyond this one." Staci Frenes

Lately I have been trying to press into the Lord.  What I mean is that I have been straining to hear His voice, know His will, and discern His direction.  In times like this, I have realized that it is imperative to get away from the business of duty and enter into delight.  Positioning yourself is the key to hearing from the Lord and experiencing a shift in the heavenlies over your life.  I wish I would have made this quote....because I feel it in my spirit it today.