Are you content to just win or run up the score???
In Matthew 16 after Peter responded that Jesus was the Christ, Jesus made the declaration, "upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hell will not overpower it"
Hell cannot hold back the church. The church is not a building or creed or program but a movement of people who are passionately following Christ.
As believers we give hell and the devil way to much credit. Jesus likened Hell to a gate. A gate that was powerless to contain the movement of the Gospel. It cannot contain it. Also, gates are defensive not offensive. Designed to guard or protect. They never attack. Hell is always on defense, while the church is always on offensive. Aggresively carrying the light of the Gospel into the darkness. Hell's only hope is that the church quits playing offensive.
The good news is that victory is guaranteed. Christ has already won the victory. We win in the end. The kingdom of darkness is on continual defense while the church is on perpetual offense.
The question then is not will we win, but rather by how much??? How big of a dent in the gates of Hell will we make? Will we run up the score??? Forcefully advancing the Gospel without growing satisfied?
Every one of us as believers make a choice. To win or win big. Every church must make a choice, to win or win big. Resist the temptation to just win, keep pressing full court and win big...in your life, in your ministry, in your community.
Personally, I don't want to just win...I want to keep running up the score!!!
Blessings,
Darren
Monday, June 28, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
What are you planting?
Two farmers, one a novice and the other seasoned, are visiting over coffee early one morning at the local diner. The novice farmer, visibly shaken and frustrated, is complaining to the seasoned farmer about his recent harvest. The novice farmer is irate that his field has produced green beans. On and on he belly aches about how his worthless field produced nothing but green beans. Green beans everywhere.
Finally getting a word in, the seasoned farmer asks the novice farmer, "what were you wanting you grow?" "Corn, I wanted corn!" the novice farmer exclaims. The seasoned farmer graps his coffee of cup, leans back, takes a sip and then simply asks the novice farmer, "if you wanted corn, why did you plant green bean seed?"
HONESTY CHECK...ever find yourself wanting to harvest something you didn't sow???
Wanting love, sowing anger. Wanting financial peace, sowing debt. Wanting a stronger family, sowing work. Wanting spiritual vitality, sowing sin. Wanting honesty, sowing white lies. Wanting respect, sowing gossip. Wanting God's blessings, sowing disobedience
God's Word teaches us an invaluable principle in Galatians 5:7 "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows"
Green bean seed produces green beans. Corn seed produces corn. That is the way life works. God set it up that way. He also set up His Kingdom in the same way.
I cannot tell you how much time I spend visiting with people who want to continue to sow green bean seed and somehow magically harvest corn. Whatever you sow you will reap. Whatever relational decisions, financial decisions, family decisions, life decisions, spritual decisions you sow you will reap.
How silly the noivce farmer was to be so mad and irate about not harvesting corn. Honestly, if it was a true story we would consider him crazy! How many Christians do you know that are mad, even at God, about their harvest despite the seed they sowed! Isn't that just as crazy???
Likewise, don't you think it is funny for Christians to sing about, pray about, believe "by faith" every week about reaping a harvest of corn when they are planting green bean seed in their life???? Isn't that crazy??? I think it is.
If I want corn, I have to plant corn. The most spiritual thing I can usually do in my life is simply change the seed I am sowing!
What kind of things does God say we should plant in our life? Probably most important is the Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galations 5:22 "but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control."
I don't know about you but I would LOVE to have a HUGE harvest of these things in my life and my family. I guess I better get sowing seed...what about you???
Just don't forget to sow the right kind of seed!
Blessings,
Darren
Finally getting a word in, the seasoned farmer asks the novice farmer, "what were you wanting you grow?" "Corn, I wanted corn!" the novice farmer exclaims. The seasoned farmer graps his coffee of cup, leans back, takes a sip and then simply asks the novice farmer, "if you wanted corn, why did you plant green bean seed?"
HONESTY CHECK...ever find yourself wanting to harvest something you didn't sow???
Wanting love, sowing anger. Wanting financial peace, sowing debt. Wanting a stronger family, sowing work. Wanting spiritual vitality, sowing sin. Wanting honesty, sowing white lies. Wanting respect, sowing gossip. Wanting God's blessings, sowing disobedience
God's Word teaches us an invaluable principle in Galatians 5:7 "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows"
Green bean seed produces green beans. Corn seed produces corn. That is the way life works. God set it up that way. He also set up His Kingdom in the same way.
I cannot tell you how much time I spend visiting with people who want to continue to sow green bean seed and somehow magically harvest corn. Whatever you sow you will reap. Whatever relational decisions, financial decisions, family decisions, life decisions, spritual decisions you sow you will reap.
How silly the noivce farmer was to be so mad and irate about not harvesting corn. Honestly, if it was a true story we would consider him crazy! How many Christians do you know that are mad, even at God, about their harvest despite the seed they sowed! Isn't that just as crazy???
Likewise, don't you think it is funny for Christians to sing about, pray about, believe "by faith" every week about reaping a harvest of corn when they are planting green bean seed in their life???? Isn't that crazy??? I think it is.
If I want corn, I have to plant corn. The most spiritual thing I can usually do in my life is simply change the seed I am sowing!
What kind of things does God say we should plant in our life? Probably most important is the Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galations 5:22 "but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control."
I don't know about you but I would LOVE to have a HUGE harvest of these things in my life and my family. I guess I better get sowing seed...what about you???
Just don't forget to sow the right kind of seed!
Blessings,
Darren
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Spiritual Osmosis???
Thanks to Webster one definition of osmosis is "an apparently effortless absorbtion of ideas, feelings, etc."
One of the greatest misconceptions is that spiritual growth in our lives will "just happen" in time. By attending enough services, singing enough songs, listening to enough sermons, participating in enough Bible studies that somehow through a Spiritual Osmosis transformation is destined to happen in our lives and others.
Honestly, who hasn't watched people soak in church for years and years and years with little, if anything, seeming to "absorb" into their life?? What's worse, what about our own lives. How many truthes have I heard time and time again that just don't seem to effortlessly happen in my life! What gives???
Spiritual growth must be intentional. Check out the action words I capitalized in the following scripture from my devotion time this morning...
Prov 2:1-5
1 My son, if you accept my words and STORE up my commands within you,
2 TURNING your ear to wisdom and APPLYING your heart to understanding,
3 and if you CALL out for insight and CRY aloud for understanding,
4 and if you LOOK for it as for silver and SEARCH for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
Although not through Osmosis, God's Word promises that we can all grow spiritually. God has promised to empower us through his Spirit but we must ACTIVELY ENAGAGE in the process. In the New Testament a variety of ACTION words or phrases are used to describe Christ's spritual growth process in our life as well as our responses- being transformed, putting off/putting on, Christ being formed in us, maturing, growing, birthed in us, submitting, humbling, fighting fight of faith, enduring, testing, faith, etc. ALOT OF ACTION WORDS, NO OSMOSIS!
My point? God wants to partner with you and I to mature us into the image of His Son so that we can fulfill His purpose for our lives (Eph. 2:10). Where is God wanting to grow you? It won't happen by accident. Spend some time in prayer, pick an area needing spiritual growth in your life and take some ACTION. Make a decision to grow spritually. Follow the advice of Solomon, purpose in your heart to make spiritual growth a priority...I promise that is one prayer that God is always ready to answer!
Blessings,
Darren
One of the greatest misconceptions is that spiritual growth in our lives will "just happen" in time. By attending enough services, singing enough songs, listening to enough sermons, participating in enough Bible studies that somehow through a Spiritual Osmosis transformation is destined to happen in our lives and others.
Honestly, who hasn't watched people soak in church for years and years and years with little, if anything, seeming to "absorb" into their life?? What's worse, what about our own lives. How many truthes have I heard time and time again that just don't seem to effortlessly happen in my life! What gives???
Spiritual growth must be intentional. Check out the action words I capitalized in the following scripture from my devotion time this morning...
Prov 2:1-5
1 My son, if you accept my words and STORE up my commands within you,
2 TURNING your ear to wisdom and APPLYING your heart to understanding,
3 and if you CALL out for insight and CRY aloud for understanding,
4 and if you LOOK for it as for silver and SEARCH for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
Although not through Osmosis, God's Word promises that we can all grow spiritually. God has promised to empower us through his Spirit but we must ACTIVELY ENAGAGE in the process. In the New Testament a variety of ACTION words or phrases are used to describe Christ's spritual growth process in our life as well as our responses- being transformed, putting off/putting on, Christ being formed in us, maturing, growing, birthed in us, submitting, humbling, fighting fight of faith, enduring, testing, faith, etc. ALOT OF ACTION WORDS, NO OSMOSIS!
My point? God wants to partner with you and I to mature us into the image of His Son so that we can fulfill His purpose for our lives (Eph. 2:10). Where is God wanting to grow you? It won't happen by accident. Spend some time in prayer, pick an area needing spiritual growth in your life and take some ACTION. Make a decision to grow spritually. Follow the advice of Solomon, purpose in your heart to make spiritual growth a priority...I promise that is one prayer that God is always ready to answer!
Blessings,
Darren
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