Legalism vs. Grace - pt 1

/
The book of Galatians is a profound letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to a group of Christians who had become legalistic… a group of Christians who had become more concerned with living according to the law than living in the freedom that Christ provides.

We must remember that among the first Christians were Jewish leaders who were meticulous law keepers, so you can feel the contention as you read the book… Paul tackles it head on because the true Gospel message is one of GRACE through FAITH in Christ alone!

Galatians 3:1 “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?”

Pt 2 Why Legalism is so dangerous?

Feelings

/
I was having a recent conversation with someone and we were discussing the whole thing of “feelings”; can you trust your feelings, should you be honest about your feelings, and ultimately what are we to do with our feelings?

All great questions that aren’t always easy to answer, especially when the circumstances that surround our feelings can be a tad fuzzy. Though I did share some thoughts on - what we are to do with our feelings?

This person had mentioned she had to be honest about her feelings, and she couldn’t fake it… to which I challenged, “feelings can be fickle, and you can’t always trust your feelings. And I do believe we should be honest about our feelings, but we should not further support, encourage and empower our feelings, especially if our feelings aren't right.”

I am sure you are like me, and have had feelings that if acted on would cause many problems. Why did you (or me) not act on those feelings? Because if we did our spouse would have killed us, right?! Ha! Because there are times in our life that we don’t always FEEL it. We don’t feel like doing what’s right, but I believe with every fiber in my being that doing what is right is always right. Period! No matter the fuzziness that may surround the ordeal or the circumstances that may cloud the situation, when we have the opportunity to do the right thing, DO IT! It’s what Jesus did!

Peace!

Genesis 4:7 "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

Church Planting

/
This blog entry is more for those who are serving in leadership at a church i.e. Pastors, Staff, Volunteer leaders, etc.

I’ve only been in ministry for 20 years, and 11 years of that has been fulltime, and only 5 years of that has been as lead pastor guy, so my knowledge is limited. Though I am learning that you can have all the right “programs” and do all the “right” or “cool” things… music jams, dramas, video, fancy programs, creative ooz, multi-site video campus and on and on… but if you aren’t doing it from a right heart, it’s bull dukie!

Nothing wrong with all those things… we do many of them, BUT most important should be a heart to really reach people and help them grow in their faith.

I relate it to the “works” mentality… that says if I can just do enough GOOD things, God will love me! But the reality is that God loves you, even before we ever acknowledge Him He sent Jesus to die for us!

The “work” we do in Church ministry should be an outflow of the love we have as individuals for Christ. We should do it because we LOVE people, not because we want to GROW a church.

Go and love God, and each other… this will make the world a better place.

Stand Out

/

The Bible talks about being "separate from the world..." and I think that applies in many ways, but one way in particular is with our attitude.

Thankfully I work in a very happy place, with happy people, but many people I talk to say their place of employment in very unhappy.

Here are some questions to ask yourself on a daily basis to keep your thoughts going in the right direction:

  • What are 5 things I am thankful right now?
  • What are 5 of my positive traits?
  • What are my top 5 achievements?
  • Who are the 5 people who love me no matter what?
  • What are 5 things I am looking forward to in the next 30 days?

Here are the questions you SHOULD quit asking yourself:

  • What are the 5 things that make my life stink right now?
  • What are my bad traits?
  • What are my 5 biggest mistakes?
  • What 5 people hate me, or want to see me fail?
  • What are the 5 things I am dreading in the next 30 days


It reminds me of when The Apostle Peter didn’t like what Jesus said about His coming death… and said…

Mark 8:33 "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

The challenge for all of us is to have the "things of God in mind".

Thoughts Matter

/

What are you thinking about?

I’ve heard it said that if you dwell on your strengths, your blessings, your goals, and all the people who love you, then you will attract even more blessings, even more love, and even more accomplishments.

I believe this to be true.

I know for me personally when I focus on the bad, the unloving, the dirty, and the unhappy things in this world it makes my life a darker place. Don’t get me wrong, you always have those “bad” things, BUT what do you want to give your time and attention to?

For me I have decided I want to give my attention to the positive, the lovely, the good, the true, the happy… this makes the sun shine brighter in my life! (Philippians 4:8)

I believe:

1) You are what you eat!
2) You become what you think about!

No Lone Ranger

/
Life is a journey, and I really believe that it's important to journey with others by your side rather then being a "lone ranger".

Here at Olathe Life Fellowship I get to serve on a staff of several talented wonderful people; Brandon Hollis (most gifted musician in the world), Michele Huff (The happiest person in the world), Ralph Testerman (The kindest person in the world), Geoff Lundy (The only guy I know who can do the happy dance while playing guitar well), & Brad Hill (One of the few guys I know who is asking the right questions). I also get to work alongside many other talented volunteer leaders who serve so faithfully.

And on top of those individuals I get to be mentored by other great men who inspire me to fulfill God's purpose in my life! I just met with my mentor today and as always I was challenged, inspired, and encouraged to pursue my journey with passion!

Here is my challenge: Find someone who is ahead of you in ministry, or whatever field you are in, and meet with them several times a year to glean from their wisdom, insight and success. It's truly priceless!


Busy Doing Nothing

/
Do you run your life, or does your life run you?

Have you ever found yourself sitting down to knock out some emails, or just get some work done and one of your friends send you a funny youtube video... then you look at the clock to only realize you've spent an hour laughing your head off at some funny videos?

I have never done this, but I've had friends who have. (ha! ha!) I think if we are honest this (or something real similar) has happened to all of us at some time or another.

There are times I actually needed the break, and it refreshed me, but most the time I find myself "busy doing nothing" to only get to the end of an 8 hour day having accomplished NOTHING worth anything.

What I try to do: Plan my day, and then work my plan! Then at the end of my day I will have accomplished what I set out to accomplish... rather then another day gone by, busy doing nothing!

Healthy for Life

/
MEMORY VERSE: 1 Corinthians 6:19 “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” – NLT

The above verse gives us the premise for our March series, Healthy for Life... it's all about honoring God by taking care of ourselves. Typically in churches only the "spiritual" side of life is talked about, but we felt we should cover the physical side as well.

Let's face it, when we are not feeling good we are not able to do or enjoy the life that God has given us to the full extent. Though we can not control everything in life, we can control what we put in our bodies... and it would do us well to give our bodies the best possible fuel we can give it.

The Secret to Health

1) Limit the amount of Fast Food, Canned Food, Processed Food, Salt, Sugar, Cola, Meat and Dairy.

2) Increase Fruit, Vegtables, Grains, Legumes (beans) and Water.

3) Exercise at least 3 times a week.

4) Walk in the fruits of the spirit; love, joy, peace, kindness, etc. (positive thoughts)

Eat to live!

I Want to Look at Porn - pt 2

/
To live a “Secret Free Life” we must have what many people call “accountability”, I would agree, though that can be real superficial really. You have someone you call and say, “Hey I looked at porn”, then they say, “yea me too…” and that’s as far as it goes. No one is helping anyone. It’s really more of a “justification” partner if you ask me… you simply feel better knowing that you are not the only one messing up.

2 Corinthians 7:10 "For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death."

There are four things that really help me stay clean:

1) Having a few godly, trustworthy guys to be accountable to (guys that I keep no secrets from… they know everything there is to know about me)


2) Installing X3 Watch on all my computers (http://www.x3watch.com/) – it’s FREE!


3) Pouring myself into my relationship with my *wife. (fortunately I have a wife I keep no secrets from… she is actually one of my x3 Watch accountability partners) *Having a wonderful relationship with your spouse is definitely a huge plus… make it wonderful.


4) Lastly, and most importantly – I press forward in my relationship with God. May sound a little platitudinous, but it works for me.

If you do struggle with porn, tell someone you trust to help you overcome TODAY! Seriously, secrets will destroy you eventually.

I hope this has helped you… let me know.