His Imprint on Us

We have been going through the book of Mark these past few weeks so I thought it might be beneficial to continue in my blog along the same lines. As we've been talking about how Jesus left imprints on us this is never truer than what we see in Mark chapter 8. This passage Jesus is exposed for who he is, the Christ, the Son of God. There are still those that he has yet to reveal himself to because their hearts would only be to destroy he, but there are others, like his disciples that have begun to figure things out. The challenge we face every day is do we truly believe in who Jesus is or has he become another great character on a long list of people we respect. Jesus is the Son of God, our Messiah, our Savior if we could only grasp a small percentage of what that meant it would completely reformat our lives. This truth is the message that makes all things new. We have nothing to do with the change that has come over a Christ follower. I appreciate John Lanferman's statement last week saying, we can do nothing bad enough to make God love us less and we can do nothing good enough to make God love us more. His love for us is absolute! We are not in control of His love; we can't manipulate it one way or another. His love is His to give and He has given it freely to us.

I enjoy reading the comments that Peter makes, both positive and negative. At one moment Peter is the star pupil and the next he's the class clown. Peter faces those same challenges we face today, discerning when we are to live in the natural or live in the supernatural.  We often think the answer to the question is found in the natural when it is actually found in the spiritual.  As a Christ follower our first response should be turning to the Lord for discernment regarding whatever we are facing.  This seems obvious, but I know personally this isn’t my first response.   

I would encourage you to read through Mark 8 again and feel the magnitude of what Christ is revealing and concealing at the same time.  Jesus was very intentional about making himself known.  This week let’s follow His example and be intentional about revealing or concealing the message of the Gospel.  There are those whose hearts are ready and there are those whose hearts are not.  Let’s be discerning as we love people.

Warren

Reflecting on a week of prayer and fasting

Hello Everyone,

I thought it would be beneficial to share some of the thoughts that surrounded this past week’s prayer and fasting.  For those of you that fasted with us if you haven’t found time yet to reflect on what God spoke to you over our time together it would be extremely healthy to do so.  If you’re at all like me, just letting a few days go by without jotting down a note or two, those thoughts could be lost forever.

Some encouraging thoughts from this past week:

1.      Listen; take time to just stop talking.  Our relationship with Christ is not a monologue, but rather a dialogue.  Have you ever been with someone that it appeared they weren’t at all interested in what you were saying only with what they had to say?  The Lord has too many of these types of relationships.  I had to ask myself, “is that the type of relationship I have with Christ,” me asking all the questions waiting for His divine response (only divine if it’s what I wanted to hear).  Doing better with this is not going to be easy, but the results are going to be a man that has an ear bent in the right direction.

2.      We are different; sometime we don’t like to be different, actually in our culture it’s frowned upon.  Being different is looked at as strange and weird, it’s more important to be popular.  What’s amazing about being a Christian is that our difference doesn’t come from what we do, but rather from what He does.  Exodus 33, Moses is having a real time conversation with the Lord and Moses wasn’t about to take another step without some kind of assurance.  The Lord says this to Moses, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.  For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people?  Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”  What is different about us from everyone else is that God goes with us.  It’s what He does that makes us distinct.  I’m encouraged to be who I am in Christ, I don’t need to be weird or try to be Joe religious, it’s His presence that distinguishes us from everyone else.

3.      I’m a disciple of Jesus making disciples for Jesus; Jesus at the end of the first gospel says to us, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”  Jesus is telling his disciples to reproduce, make more of who they are; disciples.  If this is our commission from Jesus why do you think it’s one of the most difficult truth claims to live?  We prayed into five areas during our five weeks together, these five things are progressive; each one precedes the other as we are transformed into “Disciples making Disciples”.

·         Truth…what we believe regarding the truth claims in scripture

·         Accept…when we finally stop wrestling with truth and reckon it to be so.

·         Live...this is when what we believe influences and changes how we live.

·         Team…there becomes a desire to walk with someone,  

·         Reproduce…the process of a disciple making a disciple starts all over again.

This is a commission from Jesus that we wrestle with until we find our way forward.  I call wrestling the discovery process, a time of growing, learning and developing. 

 

One thing I've learned this past week, we don't spend enough time praying and fasting. Let me just end this post by saying, "Try it, you just might like it."

Warren

Falling Down

Where does it all begin?  I enjoy the story of Paul's conversion experience. Here was a guy that in his own mind had it all figures out. In His own words he tells the church in Philipi, "...a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal a persecuter of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless."  What more do you need to know this guys had it all. What he believes was changed in a moment. The very truths that were sown deep into the fabric of his mind were about to be shredded. In Acts 9 we can recount what happened to Paul, "and falling to the ground he heard a voice..." Game over, Paul was now in a position to hear the truth. The truth that would shake him to the core and change his path forever.

What's New?!

What's new, boy is that ever a loaded question. There's only one answer to that question and it has to be everything. I think I'm honest in saying that in 2013 God has made everything new for me. Now I know how that sounds, but the truth doesn't always come across as a main stream thought. I've realized this year that the majority of Christians are so far from truly grasping what is available to them it's heart breaking.  In order for there to be a Great Awakening in the Church in America there first has to be a Great Reckoning. Now hold on just a minute, before you shout out "Lord bring the rain" let me explain what I mean by reckoning. The church today is full of a bunch of people that know the truth, have read the truth, would even say they enjoy the truth but have never come to a place where they have reckoned it to be true in their lives.   The Church is in need of a Day of Reckoning. Over the next number of posts I'm going to talk about what that would look like and how I believe it is possible even in a day where relative truth is a more popular phrase then absolute truth. Ok that's it for now, more to come.

People on Mission Part #4

It's been a little while since my last post, no excuses to follow just stating the facts.  We spent a few days praying and fasting here in May and as always God revealed some pretty cool truths to us.  A thought I wanted to share that relates to the theme of my past few blogs about being a people on mission was Praise is to Prayer as Prayer is to Mission.  Ok, let me explain.  We often times enter into a time of prayer offering up specific needs, I'm not saying that's wrong the Bible very clearly tells us to "Ask, and it will be given to you..." (Matt 7:7a).  When we begin with Praise our attention turns from our needs to the one that has met all our needs.  Praise is ALL about Him; praise positions us in a place where we enter prayer with thanksgiving.  It's what Jesus said to the disciples when they asked how to pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matt 6:9-10) Praise positions us to elevate Him and exalt Him and thank Him for the victory we have in Him. 

Prayer is similar to mission.  Prayer puts us in a position to be on mission.  We have this saying, "Together on Mission," but first it begins with being together in prayer.  One thing I admire about our family of churches is that whenever we're together we pray.  We understand that in order for us to be on mission together we need to pray together. 

A people on mission are a people that praise and pray together.

Warren

THE MORNING AFTER...

Well it's Monday morning the day after our two Easter services in Lebanon and in Corvallis.  I woke up this morning thinking, "I don't feel any different."  I'm not sure how I am suppose to feel?  Does one feel different after coming off a spiritual high?  The question I wrestle with is; isn't this how we are suppose to feel all the time.  Living a life for Christ IS a spiritual high! 

There was a time when I use to dress up for Easter service, put on my best suit and tie and represent.  Not sure what I was representing, but I looked good.  It's not that one can't dress nice, I think the problem I have is when one thinks that God appreciates it when we dress nice.  Really? Does God care about what we're wearing or does He care more that we think that what we're wearing really matters to Him? Did you follow that?  Easter isn't about the show, it's about the after party.  Our lives are a representation of our relationship with Him.  What we do at the show is nice, but how we live our life is really the truth about what we believe. 

What I love about the people that gather together at the River Center is that they get it.  They understand that our outward expression is not what matters and it's not that some of our folks don't dress up on occasion.  It's just that when they do they know its just dressing up.  When people have a genuine relationship with Jesus their heart is his.  My wife sent me a text this morning with three simple words, "I heart you."  Too some that may not make sense, but to me it meant the world.  Just so you know I replied back, "I heart you too."  Jesus has transformed our hearts, Easter is about transformation from death to life, from a dead heart to a heart that beats for Him. 

The Morning After may not have been anything different, but that's O.K. because everyday I'm reminded that my life is different.

People on Mission #3

I ended my last post posing a question, "Do you like, love, stand people?"  Let's decide this is no longer a question we wrestle with, we've come to the conclusion that though people are flawed and there are some we prefer over others we've made a decision that we like, love or at the very least can stand people. 

The first obstacle we face before we move forward on mission is can we be on mission with people that aren't perfect.  I'm not trying to be presumptuous, obviously I know that people aren't perfect, it's just so much more easy to be on mission with those that are a little more sanctified than others, OK maybe that is being presumptuous.  But isn't that what we're looking for?  Aren't we stuck at a crossroad of imperfection that either we cross bravely or we go another direction.  Didn't Paul and Barnabas face this same challenge after their first journey together.  Young Mark just wasn't up to the challenge and when that arrived at Pamphylia he took off.  There was what the writer of Acts refers to as "a sharp disagreement" that arose between these two friends.  The Bible never clearly assigns a winner or looser just that they both moved on separately.  We can see that later in scripture there was restoration between these parties, but nevertheless Paul wasn't able to work with Mark in his current weaknesses.  How hard it is it work with people that are as imperfect as you are?  The Bible clearly supports the doctrine that we need to be working together in unity, the question is how does that actually happen? 

The answer to that question comes from the understanding of our identity.  I'm not talking about what is on your drivers license, lets be real I don't know how anyone can be identified looking at that photo.  If we can see people in their true form; meaning how that person is seen by Christ, it will allow us to see beyond peoples weaknesses.  My father (Keith Stroup) once told me that if I can't work with someone through their weaknesses I might as well stop trying.  A persons weakness is only an opportunity for God to reveal His strength.