faith Posts

What’s Your Story?

06 Mar , 2010 No Comments

My Story- the Grace of Jesus Christ

My story is the story of God’s transforming grace that has changed my life.  I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home and was going to church nine months before I was born.  My mom and dad are committed followers of Christ.  So I learned about Jesus from a very early age and when I was 9 years old I wanted to make a decision to trust Christ with my eternity.  Looking back, I didn’t know much but I knew He had died on the cross for my sin and that in Him I would find forgiveness and not have to pay the price for my sin before a holy God.  I sat in my grandfather’s house, with my dad, as they explained that God loves me and that Jesus had come to die on the cross so that I might have a relationship with Him.  I could live with Him, now and throughout eternity.  And so, with child-like faith, I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sin and I told Him I wanted Him to be the Leader of my life.  I know that it was then that the trajectory of my life was forever changed.

Throughout my teenage years I was in a great youth group and I got involved in Young Life and later Campus Crusade for Christ on the college campus.  I began to serve God through these ministries and through my many relationships.  My junior year of college I knew clearly that God was calling me into vocational ministry.  Following seminary, I was serving as a Youth Minister in Dallas when I had a “Grace Awakening” that was life-changing.  Though I was a committed follower of Christ and serving Him in a great ministry, I sensed my motivations were skewed.  You wouldn’t have known this outwardly, but inwardly I was driven by a need for approval, a kind of need to be needed.  Ministry provided me a way to help, encourage, and bless others.  In return I blessed by a sense of purpose because I was making a difference in the lives of others.  But I realized I was not serving to honor Christ alone, but because of what serving others could do for me as well.

Several things converged in my life at that time but perhaps the most significant was a new revelation from God’s Word, found in 1 Corinthians 5:21 that says, “He made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, in order that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  I understood the first part of that verse but it was the second part that changed my life.  God was telling me that He had forgiven me fully, accepted me unconditionally, and loved me completely.  Through Christ’s death upon the cross, He had made me righteous (perfect) before Him.  I realized anew that my identity was found in Him alone- not in my performance or through the approval of others.  I was able to embrace His grace fully and from that day on I’ve determined to live in it.  This is why I can genuinely love others- even those who disagree with me or are unkind to me.  It’s really not my grace to give, but God’s grace.  I’ve since learned that when I serve Christ for any reason other than to make Him known, it becomes a form of idolatry- serving ministry (or others) instead of Him.  On our best days, ministry is simply an overflow of the one relationship to which He has called us.  The greatest joy of my life is telling others about this life-changing grace of Jesus and being there when the Light comes on.

For more stories or to post your own, go to: www.10000stories.org

The Triathlon of Manhood

01 Mar , 2010 1 Comment

I’ve learned many life lessons from triathlon and the many life parallels of being a man.  In 1 Corinthians 9:24, Paul says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” His point here is not so much about competing against others as it is about the how you run this race of life.  He says race to win. The triathlon is an image or parable of a man’s life in many ways. It’s not enough to start the race, you must finish the race strong.  (In fact, they have a term for it when you “DNF”- did not finish- too many men DNF in life).  Many men start strong but very few finish well.  Along the way you’ll suffer many setbacks, you’ll want to give up, you’ll never win every race, you’ll suffer injury along the way.  You’ll need to train hard.  You’ll need to live a disciplined life, and you will definitely need some men to come along side you and train with you.  As individual of a sport it seems to be, you cannot do it alone.

But here’s the KEY learning: The idea behind “the triathlon of manhood” is this: We must focus on three disciplines in order to finish strong.  A man must do well in all three areas of his life in order to succeed as a man.

The Triathlon of Manhood

1. His spiritual life

2. His relational life

3. His vocational life

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthian 16:13-14 The NASB says it this way: “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14.  This passage has four imperative commands that tell us how to run and win this race.

Winning the Race

1.  Be on guard. Watch out! Be alert!  Many men are not aware of the schemes of the evil one.  You need know the Word of God, study it, and apply it!  Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”  Listen: there are moral conditions for spiritual insight.  If you want an ever-expanding and clearer view of God, you must keep your heart pure.  Wake up! Do not give into sin.  .

2.  Stand firm in your faith. Hold tight to your convictions. Real men are unmoveable in their convictions.  Guard your heart, be alert regarding what goes in to your mind, what you see.

3.  Be the man. Be courageous.  The one defining mark of a real man is courage. Real men humbly listen to the audience of One.

4.  Don’t stop loving. Everything you do must be done in love.  We struggle in our culture to combine the rough, adventurous, masculine, barbarian spirit of men with a loving, kind, and tender heart (that’s a tough thing) but it is a potent combination in the hands of God.

The ultimate ironman: Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ultimate man and He has finished the race for us.  He becomes, at the same time, our goal and the means (the power) to finish the race strong.  Men, commit to the triathlon of life and you will finish strong!

TEN Questions for 2010

05 Jan , 2010 No Comments

10 questions to ask at the start of 2010 (Dr. Don Whitney)

Take some time to consider these thought provoking questions and how 2010 might be different for you than previous year:

1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

Can he say that?

03 Jan , 2010 No Comments

Brit Hume says that Tiger Woods needs to turn from Buddhism to the “Christian faith” because only the Christian faith provides forgiveness.  Can he say that?  Of course, he can; because it’s true. Mr. Hume offers this bold assessment with a typical matter-of-fact demeanor, but this is the most important word I’ve heard on the entire Tiger Woods situation.

If we only care about Tiger  (the golfer) then we can simply predict his certain return to win more majors.  But if we care about Tiger (the human being) then we’ll hope he can find redemption for his “transgression” (his words).  The only way that Tiger (or anyone else) can find forgiveness for sin is through Jesus Christ.  Christ alone has paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross.  Christ alone took on our punishment because of His love for us (and because we could not pay the price for our own sin).  Brit Hume is simply speaking the truth of God’s Word. “For He made Him who know no sin to become sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

I hope  Tiger has come to the end of himself.  Only then will he realize that he is hopeless without the grace of Christ that is offered to him without cost.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LJKmWdJQc4]

TOP TEN in 2010- my New Year’s resolutions

30 Dec , 2009 2 Comments

TOP 10 for 2010

1. I will wake up every day and pursue Christ.

2. I will bring my best energy to the people I love the most (remembering that nothing makes up for failure in the home).

3. I will let grace rule in all of my relationships.

4. I will keep “prayer and ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4) my first ministry priority.

5. I will graciously and patiently lead us forward, recognizing the fact that there will always be naysayers (some people’s default mode is “no”) and that God often calls us to move ahead with those who will come.

6. I will constantly lead our church to rethink how we engage an ever-changing culture with the Gospel (so that we will not drift into irrelevance).

7. I will not let the regrets of the past or worries of the future impact my decisions in the present.

8. I will delve deeper and deeper into the mind of Christ to discover more clearly what He envisions His Church to be.

9. I will do what I do best and encourage and empower others to do what they do best.

10. I will daily live an authentic and contagious Christian life (and have lots of fun doing it).

… all by the grace of God.