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!