January 25, 2012

Stop Complaining About What You Don’t Have! (Perry Noble)

By Jones

I don’t often do this but I read a tremendous blog by Perry Noble, pastor of Newspring Church, that I wanted to share with you…  Enjoy!

One of the most common excuses that people seem to give for not doing something great for God (or at least trying something great) is that they don’t have BLANK, but if and when they get BLANK then they will do what God wants them to do.

However, if we are not faithful with what we have NOW then how in the world is He supposed to trust us with what He wants NEXT?

“But Perry,” you say, “I don’t have anything to offer.  Our church doesn’t have what other churches have.”

I say bull!

This thought occurred to me the other day when I was reading through the book of Exodus and read through the exchange between God and Moses.  God told Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the people of Israel go.

Moses freaked out, and understandably so…this was a BIG DEAL!  How in the world could Moses do this?  He had been on the backside of the desert for 40 years!  He had actually murdered a man the last time he was in Egypt.  He had never led anything other than a flock of sheep!  This thing was way larger than anything he had ever participated in.

And so finally he asks God in Exodus 4:1 something like, “OK God, what if these people don’t believe me.  After all, this whole burning bush thing is over the top…but I left my Iphone back at the house and cannot put this experience on instagram so that the people will see how incredible it is.  They are not going to believe me!”

The Lord simply replied in Exodus 4:2, “…what is that in your hand?”

Moses told him it was a staff (like God didn’t know) and then God proceeded to use the staff that Moses had in his hand to bring about an incredible miracle (you can read this for yourself in Exodus 4:1-8!)

The object of the miracle wasn’t something that Moses had to go out and find…he already had it in his hand.  (Just like in John 2 where Jesus turned the water into wine the water jars that were used in the miraculous transformation were already in the house!!!)

What I’m saying is that you already have in your hand what you need to take your next step in your walk with Christ.

Some are saying, “I don’t see how He can use what I feel like I have.”

I promise you…He can.

  • Do you have confusion?  He can use it to clarify truth about Himself and cause you to love Him more deeply.
  • Do you have a shady past?  He can use it to reach others who are currently in the same situation but feel as if there is no way they could ever get free of what they struggle with.
  • Do you have pain?  He can take pain and turn it into progress; in fact, He is the only one I know who can!
  • Do you have just a few dollars to your name?  He can take just a little and turn it into a whole bunch (remember the loaves and fish.)
  • Do you have bitterness towards someone?  He can take it, heal it and then use your situation to tell others that they can be free from the prison that unforgiveness puts us in.
  • Do you have a special talent or ability?  He can use it…and He knows how it needs to be used best because He loved you enough to give it to you in the first place.

He has blessed us all with the ability to do way more than we ever thought or imagined we could accomplish, but that process begins today, with what we have and with who we are.  We just need to stop asking Him for the next best thing and start thanking Him for what we have in our hands!  (AND…if we don’t know what it is that we have, then we should ask!  James 1:5)

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Devotion, Ministry, Uncategorized

January 24, 2012

God’s Most Foolish Idea…

By Jones

Exodus 13:17

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter.  For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”

By nature, I’m a very impatient man.  Invariably, I dream today and want to do tomorrow.  In my mind, I know change can be slow, progress takes time and that you can’t force growth.

There are times when we hear God’s voice, we see the obvious path to success and, yet, we’re still forced down the longer, harder road.

  • It’s easy to rebel because we can’t see the pain right around the corner of the short path.
  • It’s easy to grumble because we don’t recognize the hidden flaw in our plan.
  • It’s hard to trust your direction when everything on the map you’re holding says you’re going the wrong way.
  • It’s hard to remember that God’s vision stretches infinitely farther than ours.

And it’s moments like those when we have to remind ourselves…  God’s most foolish idea is wiser than my most brilliant one.

He has a plan to bring us to the end of the race.  He will protect us when we need protecting and steer us when we need steering.  He will guide us when we need guiding and rescue us when we need rescuing.  He will send us down the long road…but it will be the right road.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Devotion, Uncategorized

January 23, 2012

You’re Prepared. Guaranteed.

By Jones

Here’s a fact:  When God calls you to do something, He prepares you for the task.  Guaranteed.

David didn’t need Saul’s armor, helmet or sword to defeat Goliath.  All those “professional tools” just got in his way.  What David needed was to be the man God had created him to be and to fight the way God had gifted him to fight.

God has called you to do something.  I’m not sure what it might be, but I am sure that He’s given you the tools and the experience you need.  Quit trying to be someone you’re not and simply do what you know.  Let God lead, take up your sling and kill a giant.

3 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Devotion, Uncategorized

January 21, 2012

God Is IN You

By Jones

On Wednesday, I started re-posting a 4 part series that dives into “FOR / WITH / ONE / IN” as we’re exploring those topics at church this month.  Hopefully, it’ll help you think deeper as we walk through the series on Sunday mornings!

Check out Part 1, “God Is FOR You” here.

Check out Part 2, “God Is WITH You” here.

Check out Part 3, “God Is ONE Of You” here.

*****

God is IN His people.  And that’s always been His plan.  He created Adam and Eve and you and me in His image.  He literally imprinted our souls with His DNA.  He left His fingerprints all over us from the earliest days of forming us in the womb.  We were meant to reflect His Spirit in everything.

But the world was broken by sin…  The creation was given the choice to abandon the Creator…  And a barrier of separation was put up between God’s heart and ours.

God was FOR His people, but that wasn’t enough.  God was WITH His people, but that wasn’t enough.  Jesus was ONE OF His people, but that wasn’t enough.  Through the Spirit, God was once again IN His people.  Romans 5:5 says, “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

God is IN His people.  And that’s the ultimate goal of the Church…  To be the vehicle that God moves through to be IN the hearts of every single person He created.  The Church exists to create environments and opportunities for its culture to tear down the barrier between their hearts and their Creator.  Anything else is a waste of energy and resources.  The Church was never meant to gather an audience for a show.  The Church was created to reflect the God who is IN us.

*****

This might be a great time to take advantage of the option to have this blog show up in your email or on your RSS reader.  Just use one of the options at the top right hand corner of the page and you’ll be sure to not miss the rest of what’s to come.

 

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Devotion, Uncategorized

January 20, 2012

God Is ONE Of You

By Jones

On Wednesday, I started re-posting a 4 part series that dives into “FOR / WITH / ONE / IN” as we’re exploring those topics at church this month.  Hopefully, it’ll help you think deeper as we walk through the series on Sunday mornings!

Check out Part 1, “God Is FOR You” here.

Check out Part 2, “God Is WITH You” here.

*****

God is ONE OF His people.  And it was intentional.  Truthfully, the very concept of God being ONE OF His people is ridiculous.  So ridiculous in fact, that only an all-knowing God with a broad view of time could have possibly come up with it.

Since before time, God has existed outside of time in the form of three persons – Father, Son and Spirit.  He created a world for His people and then walked in the garden with them.  He commissioned the building of an Ark and then inserted His presence into it.  He mandated a tabernacled and then met His people in it.

From the beginning, God has met with His people.  But there was always a plan for more.  There was always a need for deeper intimacy.  It’s never been enough for God’s people to worship Him from a distance.  A relational God desperately wants relationship with His creation.

He wanted it so desperately, in fact, that He came to a manger and lived out a divinely ridiculous story…  He experienced the thrill of being born.  He learned to walk.  His parents potty-trained Him.  He went to school and learned math.  His dad taught Him how to build with wood.

How divinely ridiculous is that???  The Creator was birthed.  The Creator wore diapers.  The Creator studied for tests.  The Creator was taught to create.

God is ONE OF His people.  “This [Jesus] of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.” (Heb 4:15)  No longer was He sitting on a throne while His people were walking on dirt.  In the person of Jesus, He was sleeping under the same stars as His followers.  He was eating at the same table as His followers.  He was swinging the same hammer as His followers.  And that makes all the difference…

God is ONE OF His people.  And because He is one of His people, the Church is called to be one of their community.  The Church doesn’t just meet in a neighborhood, it understands the neighborhood.  The Church doesn’t exist outside of “those people” down the street, it is ONE OF those people.  The Church thrives when it intimately knows the culture it lives in.  The Church only grows when it understands the culture it wants to impact.

The Church is ONE OF its community.  It’s the only real way discipleship happens.  There is no growth – no change – without relationship fueling the need.  The Church was created to be ONE OF the culture its preaching to.

*****

This might be a great time to take advantage of the option to have this blog show up in your email or on your RSS reader.  Just use one of the options at the top right hand corner of the page and you’ll be sure to not miss the rest of what’s to come.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Devotion, Uncategorized

January 19, 2012

God Is WITH You

By Jones

Yesterday, I started re-posting a 4 part series that dives into “FOR / WITH / ONE / IN” as we’re exploring those topics at church this month.  Hopefully, it’ll help you think deeper as we walk through the series on Sunday mornings!

Check out Part 1, “God Is FOR You” here.

*****

God is WITH people.  And always has been.  He was with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  He was with Moses at the burning bush.  He was with Joseph in prison.  He was with Joshua at Jericho.  He was with David facing Goliath.  He was with Job in his pain.  He was with Jonah in the middle of the ocean.

It doesn’t matter where people have been or what they’ve been doing.  God has always been with them.  

God said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  God will always be with them.

God is WITH people.  And because God is WITH people, His people are sent to be WITH people.  It’s not enough to build a beautiful building and hold heart-warming services behind closed doors.  It’s not enough to just fellowship with people who look and think and act like you.  The Church doesn’t serve itself, it exists to be with an unchurched culture.  The Church only grows when it loves and interacts with its city.  The Church only thrives when it builds bridges to be with its community.

The Church is WITH people.  All people…  Poor people who can’t pay their bills.  Rich people who can pay but would rather not.  Self-centered people who feel entitled to a handout.  Sick people who need someone to love them.  Elderly people who need someone to talk to them.  Young people who need someone to mentor them.  The Church was created to be WITH everyone.

*****

This might be a great time to take advantage of the option to have this blog show up in your email or on your RSS reader.  Just use one of the options at the top right hand corner of the page and you’ll be sure to not miss the rest of what’s to come.

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Devotion, Uncategorized

January 18, 2012

God Is FOR You

By Jones

Starting today, I’m re-posting a 4 part series that dives into “FOR / WITH / ONE / IN” as we’re exploring those topics at church this month.  Hopefully, it’ll help you think deeper as we walk through the series on Sunday mornings!

*****

God is FOR people.  All people.  He created them.  He loves them.  He calls them.  His Son died for them.  But even more significantly than all that, God LIKES people.

It doesn’t matter how much junk you are dealing with.  It doesn’t matter how stained your life looks.  It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve pushed Him away.  It doesn’t matter how long you’ve rejected him.  He still likes you.

One of the toughest things for us to wrap our minds around is the weird concept that a wise, holy, jealous God would actually like me in spite of the idols in my life.  He actually likes me despite my habits and flaws.  He likes me even though he knows more about me than anyone else even guesses.

God is the biggest cheerleader on the sideline of my life.  He is calling my name in the middle of the race.  He is planning my victory celebration.  He has coached me and empowered me with everything He’s got and now He’s running down the field showing me the way.  He doesn’t just love me from a distance…  He likes me and He stands in my corner.

God is FOR people.  And because God is for people, His people are supposed to be FOR people.  The Church doesn’t just love its city, it likes it.  The Church doesn’t just serve its neighborhood, it looks forward to being with its neighbors.  The Church doesn’t just put up with broken people, it cheers for them.  The Church calls their name in the middle of the race.  And the Church stands in their corner.

The Church is FOR people.  All people…  White people.  Black people.  Gay people.  Straight people.  Muslim people.  Hindu people.  Funny people.  Annoying people.  Contributing people.  Needy people.  The Church was created to be FOR everyone.

*****

Make sure you check out the next three parts of the drawing over the next three days…  This might be a great time to take advantage of the option to have this blog show up in your email or on your RSS reader.  Just use one of the options at the top right hand corner of the page and you’ll be sure to not miss the rest of what’s to come.

3 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Devotion, Uncategorized

January 17, 2012

Be A Servant. Not A Guest.

By Jones

John 2:7-9

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water;” so they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.  He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.

The master saw the wine and was surprised.

The guests saw the wine and were impressed.

The servants, though…  The servants watched a cup of dirty water turn into wine in their hands and were amazed.

Stop settling for hearing a good story or reading a good book.  Refuse to be a spectator to what God’s doing.  It’s time to get up, take the cup in your own two hands and ask Jesus to change your water.  I guarantee when you see what Jesus can do and will do through you, your life will never be the same.

The master and the guests enjoyed a great party and went home to sleep it off and wake up to a very ordinary tomorrow.  The servants witnessed the miraculous and went home to dream and wake up to a very extra-ordinary tomorrow.

Don’t be a guest.  Be a servant.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Devotion, Ministry, Uncategorized

January 16, 2012

Fear Is The Enemy Of Your Future

By Jones

Numbers 32:1-5

The Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for livestock.  So they came to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the community, and said, ‘If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants as our possession.  Do not make us cross the Jordan.”

The Israelites had waited and struggled and marched and worked for this exact moment.  God’s promise to His people was about to be fulfilled.  Victory was literally right across the river!

So what in the world was standing in the way of the Reubenites and Gadites?  If crossing the Jordan had been the plan all along, what was the hesitation?  If the Promised Land had been the focus of generation after generation, what was the problem?

In a word…  FEAR.   They’re afraid of what they don’t know and they’ve gotten comfortable with what they have.

That’s enough to bury any organization.  You can have the biggest vision, the best plan, the most talented people and yet still crash and burn.  The Reubenites and Gadites had just spent the last 40+ years following God through their worst nightmare.  Hunger, thirst, war, homelessness, plague, all in the name of the vision.  “I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.  I will give it to you as a possession.  I am the Lord.” (Exodus 6:8)

Too many people settle and cash out right before they succeed.  They travel a hard road, make tough decisions, face harsh criticism only to quit out of fear of what might happen if they actually make it.  It’s easy to see where you are and know where you should be.  It’s tougher to make a plan and travel that road.  It’s downright terrifying to enter a phase of life you’ve never seen before.

But it’s infinitely better to face the unknown in obedience than it is to be comfortably disobedient.

Fear is the enemy of your future.  Don’t let it keep you out of the Promised Land.

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Devotion, Ministry, Uncategorized

January 15, 2012

Thoughts From A Great Sunday!

By Jones

We launched Soma this morning with about 130 people and it was an inredible experience!

  1. God works ahead of His people.  When God began raising up leaders and bringing together a team 6 years ago, He knew today was coming!
  2. God’s vision is bigger than mine.  We set out 126 chairs preparing for a crowd of about 90-100 and God blew it up with about 130 people!
  3. God has plans for His children.  Every time we think a leader has “peaked” in their ability, God opens a brand new door to reveal never-before-seen potential!
  4. God is FOR people.  God loves us and LIKES us before we do anything!  He loves you just because you are…YOU!
  5. God is bigger than Satan.  Satan has attacked our leaders, our health and our equipment over the past days and weeks (our projector died on Saturday afternoon).  But integrity is protected, God gives strength and our equipment was all working by 10:20 am!
  6. God’s Kingdom is bigger than we’ve ever imagined.  I was reminded of this more than ever as I listened to the sound of worship bouncing off the gym rafters today.  There’s something powerful when God’s people join to worship!
  7. God’s Kingdom is strong and poised for growth in Brown County.  As cool as it was to have 130 at Soma, an even greater thought is that SIX HUNDRED people gathered at GCC today to be encouraged and sent out as the Kingdom!

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Devotion, Ministry, Uncategorized