Suffer

Howard Guinness wrote a book called Sacrifice.

“Where are the young men and women of this generation who will hold their lives cheap? And be faithful unto death. Who will lose their lives for Christ. Flinging them away for the love of Him. Where are those who will live dangerously and will be reckless in His service. Where are the men of prayer? Where are the men who count God’s word as more important to them than their daily food?! Where are the men who like Moses of old commune with God face to face. As a man speaks with his friend. Where are God’s men, in this day of God’s power?”

This is such a burden on my heart! This is so true! Why are we not modeling what the Bible has set out for us? It is so clear in the bible that we will suffer for His name! The early Christian's clearly set the precedent that we will do anything to bring glory to the Father!

What has happened to that radical attitude? That is why we no longer look different in this world. That is why we have nothing to offer, because we have lost the edge. We have lost what Christ has commanded us. If we are to live for Christ, we are to die for Christ. I am tired of American Christianity, aka convenient christianity.

We can start a revolution. We just have to be all out for Christ. We need to go back to our roots and see that Jesus suffered. We need to see that Jesus said, If they persecute me, they will persecute you.  Being crucified on the cross is persecution to me, thus I know I will be persecuted.  I want to suffer for His name!

Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize and sail through bloody seas

My answer: NO! Why would we want that? Why would we want to go to heaven without fighting for His name? In every other area of our lives we take pride in fighting for something. Why do we think that the christian life is any different?!

As for me, I want to serve the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I am burdened that I have not searched for ways to stand up for Jesus in face of persecution. I don't know what you feel about this, but I want to look for suffering. I don't want to just get by and take persecution if it comes. I want to blaze ahead, sharing the gospel to the ones who need it. I want to share it to the ones who are forbidden to hear it! I want to be persecuted for our Lord Jesus Christ. What could be better than dying for His name?!?!

Obedience.
It seems like a word that we love to say, but hate to act out.
I mean, if we really were obedient to Christ, imagine what our community would look like?  I have been examining myself and am realizing that I have hindered the mission of God. He has called us to make disciples. But how many have I really made?
Examine yourself.
This is not a post to teach, but to just ask to examine yourself.
Are you a leader and living in sin? Do you find yourself amening passages in scripture and using them against people, but completely being disobedient to another passage?

I see christians tell people to show the love of Christ, but are unequally yoked.
I see christians stress the importance of worship, but find prayer a thing we are forced to do.
I see christians wanting blessings from Christ, but will not suffer for Him.
I see christians know just as much about the word as the day they were saved.

Why aren't we waking up! Obey the WHOLE WORD!
But I guess it's hard to obey the word, when you don't open it and read it yourself.


My heart is hurting. As I see Christians walking around living the life of chasing material goods, chasing physical needs, and never desiring to give Christ their all.
It honestly makes me sick when I hear of people who have not prayed to God regularly every hour. It makes me sick when I ask my peers if they are in the word, and their reply is simply "no". And it never changes.
What must we do to bring about this change?
What needs to happen to make people wake up and realize that Jesus is all they have!!

This post is not for unbelievers, but for believers... Have you made ministry your Jesus? Have you forgotten that its all about growing in Christ?

What We Can Learn From An Atheist

As I woke up this morning, I felt God really tugging on my heart.  So I prayed, and I found myself yearning for more of Him.  I then was led to read "The Coming World Revival" by Robert Coleman... I have never heard of this book before, but I found it in our library and felt compelled to start reading.
I have read a lot of stuff that I will blog about soon, but this jumped out at me the most.

An atheist once wrote in derision:

Did I firmly believe, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another... I should esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a life of suffering.  Earthly consequences should never stay my hand nor seal my lips.  Earth, its joys and its grief, would occupy no moment of my thoughts.  I would strive to look upon eternity alone and on the immortal souls around me, soon to be everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable.  I would go forth to the world and preach it in season and out of season, and my text would be "what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?"


This powerful statement has rocked my world.  You may not fully understand it the first time, but read it until you get it.  He is saying that, if he were a Christian, he would strive for nothing else than to tell people about Christ! That he would go through the worldly pain, that he would do anything to let people know about the everlasting happiness.

Its funny what we could learn from an atheist.  And this is not the first atheist that has come out and made these statements.  I know some that have personally.  I think it should be a wake up call.  In my opinion, we should not feel bad for telling someone the gospel! We should feel bad if we don't!
We have the key to LIFE! And yet we hate our friends so much that we don't show them life.

What have we come to?  As I pray and meditate, what needs to be done to wake up this generation and make us realize that we need to share Christ?!  Yes, we need to share it in love. But also, yes, we need to share it! We need to have a sense of urgency!

I believe that if your heart isn't captivated on spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth, then there is definitely a problem.  There is a disconnection with you and the Father. Because, you may not be able to travel to the unreached. But you can do 2 things that will help the unreached hear the gospel.
1. Pray. Pray that God sends people there. Pray just that the gospel will be sent to the ends of the earth.

2. Share Christ where you are at.  First of all, you are expanding the kingdom.  Lives will be forever changed.  And second of all, that person you are leading to Christ here, may be called to go out into the world.  But if you never led that person to Christ here, then that person can never go there!

It is beautiful how God has made it this way.  We can all have our hands on global missions!  We just first need to be captivated with the mission!
We are to be sold out for THE cause! To reach and teach men and women, boys and girls for Christ!!!

Do you care for your friends? Do you care for your community?
Share Jesus.

3/14 Gathering

Last night was BOMB!
And honestly that is an understatement.  I just cannot believe how God showed up.

It was exactly what I prayed for! Recently, I have been typing out my prayers to God... May seem weird to some, but don't diss it until you try it! And more than anything else, I just asked God to show up. I knew in full assurance that if God showed up at the Gathering and showed an ounce of His glory, mighty things will happen.  And as I look back at the prayers I wrote out each day leading up to the Gathering, it is so encouraging to read the prayers I offered to God and see how He answered them in abundance.   In fact, I am now going to be addicted to prayer typing :)
The message I delivered was the most important message I will ever give. The Gospel! I am so passionate about this story (as every other Christian should be!) and I was so excited to deliver it to the people. Knowing it was so important, I told the crowd immediately that I will speak to them as if it will be the last time I will ever speak.  That I am speaking as one dying man to another, that has found the key to life.  I told them that I do not want them to go to hell, and I begged them to listen to me earnestly.

Of course, this was a huge thing to ask for, but I had faith in God that He would open the ears of the deaf, and soften the hardened hearts.  As I began, I spoke about our filthiness. How truly wretched we are. That we can never fully appreciate the Gospel and cling to it, until we are sickened with our own sinfulness.  This shocked the crowd, knowing that they have been brought up thinking that they can do anything through their own will power.

I won't go in to every detail (look up "Heart Cry Gathering" on iTunes and download the message if you want to hear it) but I then spoke about propitiation. And how God used Jesus as a tool to use so that He can justly forgive us.
It really hit home for many of them, because they have never heard of God having wrath before!  I had people coming up to me after saying "It's funny how I am so ok with God having wrath, because it mean's we are worshipping a Holy God!" And I was like "Exactly!"

After explaining the crucifixion and how to react to the gospel, I gave them a chance to come to the "Living Room".  It was a room we designed so that they can come and talk to me in private instead of in front of the whole crowd. And it was a complete success. The second I walked in the door, 6 came in right after and surrendered their life to the Lord. And 4 proceeded them. All together, 7 teenagers were added to the kingdom of God last night. Praise God! Get the warm water ready for April 11th!

He is Holy!
He is Loving!
He ALWAYS Provides.




It is amazing what prayer can do.

God, thank you for showing up.

God, I would rather die than preach tonight without the power of the Holy Spirit.
may you speak through me more than ever before, as I speak about the most important story ever told.

God. Show up tonight.

My thoughts

I am going through a lot of intense Bible study for my next sermon.  But as I reflect, I want to leave you this thought that God keeps on running through my head.


God's power shows up more and more as I find out how terrible I am more and more.
It has always been the time of me feeling the lowest, that the highest results of souls are brought to the Lord.
I love that God is so much unlike the world.  He hires the lowly, and for that I am so very thankful God!

 

  

Lukewarm hypocrites

  

Heart Cry Gathering