jeff warren Posts

“I’m Coming Back For You”

04 Apr , 2012 No Comments

“So always be ready, because you don’t the day your Lord will come.” Matthew 24:42

It’s interesting that on the final week of Jesus’ life He spoke much about His return. It should come as no surprise. The scenario is pretty simple as He explains it in John 14. “Don’t worry. I’m leaving for a while, but I’ll be back. And when I come back, I’ll take you with me.” The return of Christ is certain. His return is final. And when He comes again He will separate those who are with Him from those who are not. Separation is a sad thing. Jesus knew a lot about separation. He was about to experience a separation such as He had never known before. When He cried out, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?”, He was experiencing the abandonment of His Father. His Holy Father turned His back on His Son as He took on the sin of the world. And He did it all for you. He did it all so that one day, He could come back and take you home. He, who had been separated from the Father, was about to be united again. Soon He would experience the warm embrace of His Father once again; the weary traveler from a foreign land would find Himself in the loving arms of His Father. That’s the same reunion He wants you to know as well. When He comes again, every person who ever lived will be judged on whether or not they had received His forgiveness. He’s coming back for you. Who will you bring with you?

“So you must also be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.” Matthew 24:44

Pray: Lord, I want to live every day in expectation of Your return. Today I will realize that I have been given but one life and that it is brief at best. I will maximize this day for Your purposes knowing that the day is coming when I will be united with You.

You’re Invited to a Party

03 Apr , 2012 No Comments

In the final week of His life, Jesus invites everyone into the Kingdom.

“Come to the wedding feast.” Matthew 22:4

I once heard Billy Graham say, “Jesus has two verbs in His vocabulary: Come and Go.” Our God is an inviting God. He says, “Come.” “Come let us reason. Come and drink. Come to me all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, I will give you rest. Come and I will make you fishers of men.” And, “Come to the wedding feast”, He says on the last Tuesday of His life. His invitation is to life eternal with Him. His invitation is to come eat at His banquet table. Who can come? Whoever wishes. The invitation is both universal and personal. But you must decide.

Have you ever had a personal invitation ignored? If so, then you know a fraction of how Jesus must feel. It’s amazing that He leaves this choice to us. You can’t choose the weather, or your parents, or whether you’re born with a little nose or blond hair – or born at all. But you can choose to attend the wedding feast. You can choose to “come”, but you can also choose to “go”. The other side of this story, told with great urgency, is that we have a choice to go as well. This Holy Week many people are thinking about Christ’s death. Many more are not and have no idea what Easter is about. Will you go to them? Look for opportunities to tell others about the wedding feast. Invite someone to church this Sunday!

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14

Pray: Lord, I praise You for putting me on Your guest list for the big wedding feast. I praise You that You have made a way for me to have eternal life. This week I’m especially mindful of what it cost You for me to come. Today I will watch for others I can invite to the party.

The Day God Got Mad

02 Apr , 2012 No Comments

Holy Week- Monday

“My Temple will be called a house of prayer but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” Matthew 21:13

Most of us have the mental picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd with a baby lamb on His shoulders, carrying it to safety. We think of the soft images of Jesus in the manger as a baby or as a grown up with children sitting in His lap. But there’s one picture few of us ponder very often. It’s the picture of Jesus on the Monday before His death storming through the temple like a wild man yelling at people to leave! In one of the most dramatic acts of His ministry, Jesus said more about the priority of prayer than in a hundred sermons on the subject. He actually did this twice in His ministry and the first time He made a whip out of cords and was thrashing people out of the temple.

Why was He so mad? As Jim Cymbala states in Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, “His house was being prostituted for purposes other than what was intended.” The Bible never says, “My house shall be called a house of preaching, or programs that suit me perfectly, or lots of great music.” No, He says His shall be a house of prayer. Cymbala says, “I’ve seen God do more in people’s lives in ten minutes of real prayer than in ten of my sermons.” Then he asks, “What does it say about our churches today that God birthed the church in a prayer meeting, and prayer meetings today are almost extinct?” What about you? Is prayer your first priority? Is your house a house of prayer? Is your life a life of prayer? Determine that it will be. Let’s let our first priority of the church be prayer!

“The prayers of an upright person accomplishes much.” Proverbs 15:8

Pray: Lord, I want prayer to be the first priority of my church and of my life. I don’t want to grieve Your heart because of prayerlessness in my life. I will devote time to pray to You every day. I will be in constant conversation with You today.

Palm Sunday- Entering the Holy City

02 Apr , 2012 No Comments

“A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Matthew 21:8-9

At first glance this looks like the biggest celebration Jerusalem had ever seen. No doubt, it was an incredible day, enough to cause quite a stir among the enemies of Jesus. But think about it. What the people desired was a mock procession of a conquering king. Philip Yancey, in The Jesus I Never Knew, imagines a Roman soldier riding up to check out the disturbance. He had seen processions done right. The conquering general sits in a chariot of gold, with stallions straining at the reins and wheel spikes flashing in the sunlight. Following him would be officers in polished armor displaying the banners from the vanquished armies. Following that was often a procession of captured slaves and prisoners in chains, showing just what Rome does to those who are against her.

The soldier peers through the crowd to catch the object of the crowd’s attention. He can hardly believe his eyes. He sees a solitary, forlorn figure, weeping, riding on no stallion or chariot, but on the back of a baby donkey with a borrowed blanket across its back. There may have been a bit of triumph in the air on Palm Sunday, but nothing that would have impressed Rome. Not for long anyway. This same crowd would be shouting, “Crucify Him!” just a few days later. And yet, this solitary man seems to be directing the entire process of events…

“…but made Himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!”
Philippians 2:7-8

Pray: Lord, I humble myself before You. You could have come as a conquering king and held on to all the rights and privileges that were Yours as God. But You humbled Yourself and took on the form of a servant and died for me. I will do the same for You today.

God’s treasures

30 Mar , 2012 No Comments


I’m in Guatemala this week for several reasons. We have a team here doing soccer camps and evangelism. We’ve come to see and encourage our own Erin Threadgill who is serving here (great to see Erin)! We’re also here to see how we can more effectively accomplish the mission of Jesus in this country. We have a wonderful partnership with Buckner International and they do amazing work, meeting the needs of “the least of these”. I was especially moved again by our trip to the city dump this afternoon. After visiting a couple of orphanages and potential church partners, we made our way to “ground zero”, in terms of poverty and need in the city. We met with an amazing team of leaders at Casa del Alfarero (The Potter’s House). This ministry exists to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the families and the children who live in the 16 communities around the dump. 6,000 children live in these communities. All of these families essentially survive by scavenging this massive city dump.

As we talked and heard the vision of “The Potter’s House”, and saw what they are doing, the words of one of the leaders (Hector) kept ringing in my head. “We call all of the people we serve ‘treasures’ because that’s who they are to God. We are all God’s treasures.” I was reminded of a more crude form of the same sentiment I heard years ago: “God don’t make no junk.” God desires all people to be His treasured possession. YOU are His valued treasure.

“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” Deuteronomy 7:6