Life entry 8

"just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." - Matthew 20:28

There is a common thread in Jesus' teaching on life in the 8 verses in the gospels to this point. You have to give it away to have life.

If your not givin' your not livin'.

Matt. 6:25 - Life is more than food...

Matt. 7:14 - few find life...

Matt 10:39 - he who loses his life will find it...

Matt 16:25 - whoever loses his life will find it...

Matt 18:8-9 - give away desires to have life

Matt 19:16 - give away money to have life

Matt 19:29 - give away family, houses, anything to have life

Matt 20:28 - give away power to have life

In each of these verses you have to give up something to have life.

Jesus led by example and gave His life, to give you life.

Life entry 7

"The first will be last and the last first."
A favorite verse of elementary teachers and losers of games like this guy. >
but was Jesus teaching us to be content losers?
that depends on what you want to win.
You see Jesus just had a conversation with a rich man who decided not to follow Christ but to hold on to his money. Jesus ended that conversation by telling the man that he will not receive eternal life. The money he held as greater value than his soul would be his prize. On judgment day, the rich man is a loser. And suffers the greatest loss possible - eternal death.

Peter was a little uneasy after hearing Jesus inform the morally good man that he would not have Life.
And he asked Jesus," HAVE WE GIVEN ENOUGH?"
Jesus replied by telling Peter that everything you give up for God on earth will be repaid 100 times in eternity.
I do not know if this is a literal teaching that for every $ you lose in the name of Jesus you will receive $100 in eternity. But rather the certainty is that anything you give up on earth, family, money, land, to follow Jesus will be incomparable to what God has prepared to give his faithful servants in eternity.

basically Jesus told them. It's not over til its over.
You are not a loser til the game is over. Then look at the score board.

Life Entry 6

"If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. and if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire." Matthew 18:8-9

I was actually going to put a picture here of an amputees arm or leg to show the image Christ speaks about, but searching for the picture creeped me out so much I didn't. Sorry to disappoint you. But think about how a amputated hand or foot or eye completely grosses you out (google image amputated hand and see what I mean). Or think about how hard it is not to notice it on someone when they have a missing finger or a crossed eye or something like that.

Jesus says that the pain, handicap, and unwanted attention that an amputated body part brings,is nothing in comparison to the pain of eternal fire.
Well yes, of course. But ask yourself. Is following Christ worth losing something for you? It could be painful or ugly or worse, will you still do it?

Jesus is pretty extreme. But so is the reality of eternal hell.

Life Entry 5

Matthew 16:25  "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

 

This is the second time in the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus teaches this paradox.  This time following the lesson Jesus adds, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? or what would a man give in exchange for his soul?" 

What a question! What are you trading your soul for?  If you are not following Jesus with your life now, why not?  how much fun is more valuable than your soul?  How much money is more valuable than your soul? 

As I watch a little bit of Olympic games I think of the years of dedication these athletes commit to for this one moment of reward that last for a lifetime.  And how all of it is determined by the slightest variant of speed or ability - hundreths of a second, a slight hesitation, a miniscule misstep.  

you are preparing for the olympics of your soul.  Have you dedicated  your life to winning the gold?  or have you traded your soul for something else?

What will it be like when you see eternity? olympic failure or gold celebration?

Life entry 4

Matthew 10:39 "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for MY SAKE will find it." (NKJV)

Willie Wonka stole the moral of his story from Jesus. People who seek there own happiness and fulfillment never find it in themselves. Real joy is found when you give love and live for others. Sound like a religious trick to get you to do things for other people? You won't really know until you try. Or you could ask Jesus; or the thousands of others (maybe millions) who have learned that giving your life for others is the greatest life to live. Or think about the people you dislike the most: they are pretty selfish people aren't they? Think about your heroes. They are people who giev above and beyond what is expected? So where are you? Are you some one's villain or hero? Are you givin or taking?

To be even more specific Jesus said that you have to give your life for His sake . What does that mean? Think about that. Giving your life away for others, but not for the sake of your own joy and fulfillment later, but for the sake of Jesus being honored by your life. And other people not praising you for your great acts of kindness; but peolple praising your God for your reflection of His mercy.

Good luck with that.

LIfe entry 3

Matthew 9:18 "While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshipped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live."
Death is the great equalizer. Everybody faces death no matter how rich or poor, smart or not smart, happy or sad, all colors, nations and ages face death. When death comes all human power is rendered useless. Think of this man. He was rich but unable to buy life. He was a ruler but unable to command life. He was influential but unable to obtain life for his daughter. Everything that was valuable in his life just became worthless in one moment when his daughter died and he realized he had no power.
Faith is the great overcomer. At this point in his life the ruler had a choice. Become angry at God and shout, "Why did you do this?! Why did you take my innocent girl?! I will never forgive you!"
or He could go to God. Worship Him. And seek His help. That is what faith does. It goes to God even when things do not seem fixable and asks God to fix it.
Do you have faith enough to ask God to do the impossible for you?

Life entry 2

Matthew 7:14 " Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life, and there are few that find it."
What can I say about this verse? I know that I do not like it. It seems with a loving God that the gate to destruction should be narrow including only the heinous criminals who commit sins that disgust me (murderers, rapists, child molesters). And the gate to life should be wide including everyone who does not commit egregious acts of evil (the rest of us). What I have not accounted for is that God is much more particular about what sin is than I am. If only the "good" went to heaven the gate would be slammed shut, with no handle, and blocked by giant weeds. God says that there is no one righteous compared to Him. And when you get to know people more personally you find that this is true. That is why Jesus is the door. He is perfect and offered himself in place for my sinful behavior. Thank you Jesus. So why is the gate still narrow if Jesus paid for the sin already? That question is only answered by you not by God. You are the one who chooses to walk in it. Why not?

life entry 1

I feel compelled in my preparation for Life Church to do a study of all the times life, live, living, etc are spoken of in the New Testament. If I was a real scholar I would have done the whole Bible, but I am not disciplined enough to read all the Old Testament too.
Entry 1
Matthew 6:25..."do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" (NKJV)

My first response is God, If I do not worry about what I eat or drink , I will worry about what I put on - pounds! and then new, bigger clothes!
seriously... isn't life more than consumption. eating ; and more than appearance. clothing...
how much of my life is used on impressing people who do not matter and consuming things that do not last for more than 2 hours.
If I could conquer these worries, "What do I want to have now? What do people think about me now?" SO much stress would be resolved.
WOW that sounds a little Buddhistic. If I can take away desires, I will take away pain and find Nirvana or something like that.
OR maybe I will find true LIFE when I trade my short lived faulted desires for desires that satisfy.
Matthew 6:33 Seek 1st the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you!

What is the Assimilator?

What do you think when you hear "Assimilator?"















I think of a robot with a directive or a great name for a luchador. but I have been learning that it is a much friendly creature than either of these. In preparation for the launch of Life Church in Cutler Bay, we are faced with the huge and pleasant task of reaching hundreds of people on one day. Let me explain.
Let's say we have a launch team ready and trained to present a great worship service experience on Sunday. Let's say we spend a lot of time and money on invitations and marketing to bring a crowd of 300-400 people to the first exciting service. Then What?
Already some people are thinking that does not sound very churchy to market lucratively and pray for tons of people to come hear the gospel presented in an exciting manner that is easily received by people from an unchristian perspective. But that is exactly what happened at Pentacost. A small group of men got in the middle of a giant crowd of people and with sounds of whirlwinds and tongues of flame they preached the gospel to people of all backgrounds and God aded 3000 people to the church that day.
Maybe we lack faith but we a praying for God to add 300 on February 1st. Now what if He does? Then what? That is where the Assimilator comes in. The Assimilator helps the people move from being a curious guest with some apprehensions about organized religion to a happily dedicated disciple of Christ who loves God with his heart, head, and hands.

Think about it. Most people believe that they are already saved and have a great relationship with God by themselves at home. What can we do to show them that their relationship with God is not as good as they think, and that they would have a better life, and a much better afterlife if they would join us in our committment to Christ.

What does the Assimilator do?

Assimilator

Happy 4th

Nothing says American Independence like Rocky taking a beating to the face so he can bring the world together! God bless America!

Communication is everything!

I am sure this nice girl had a clear answer in her head, but what came out is unintelligible! Witnessing, sharing your testimony, answering moral dilemmas, and preaching can sound a lot like this poor beauty contestant if we have not practiced our communication skills by simply talking to people more often about "real" topics of conversation as opposed to weather, sports , and pop culture.

Go ahead. Try to explain your faith to someone in a clear way and see where you stand.

Missional Church, Nacho Libre Style

You know you have been reading too many church growth and philosophy books when Nacho Libre becomes a prime example of missional church.



Nacho leaves the safe, moral, traditional, and slightly self righteous confines of the monastery to take the gospel to the world arena ( of Luchadores). He builds relationship with unchurched people who are resistent to the church ("I hate orphans") only to lead him to relationship with God in the end ("We should pray") Aside from his evangelism by surprise baptism, Nacho's principles are very good. Beware of the Stretchy Pants! Any time you "party with gluttons and drunkards" there is a danger of crossing from "being cultural relevant" to "uninspiringly sinful".

Honduras Mission trip

What is better than a vacation? A mission trip to Honduras.

Question

If a Panther met a Dolphin on a football field who would win? Easy. A Panther would eat the lifeless flopping marine mammal while he lay in the turf/baseball infield.

Choose Life

(Deuteronomy 30:10-20) "if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. "For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. "It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' "Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, "in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. "But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, "I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; "that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." (NKJV)