from Everyday Church

Posted on February 19, 2012 by javaman56

I wanted to share this from Everyday Church over on Facebook. It pretty much explains my own thoughts and feelings. 

Everyday Church on writes,

Has anyone ever asked you, “Where do you go to church?” Its a common
question people ask Christians and yet the answer given is often misleading. “I go to (fill in the blank) bible church.” Why is this misleading? Because the bible teaches “YOU ARE THE CHURCH”. Listen to what the bible says about the church, “Greet also the church that meets at their house.” (Romans 16:5) Did you catch it? Paul identified the people meeting in the building as the church, not the building.

You might ask, “Why does it matter?” It matters because the concept of “going to church” breeds confusion. Not for the non-believer but for the believer. When Christians are asked, “What church do you attend?” They give the name of a building. When confronted regarding the correct biblical understanding of the “Church” as a people, they usually say, “Oh yeah, I know.” The reality is for most Christians, the Church as the “Body of Christ” is an after-thought when it needs to be a fore-thought. Why?

Most Christians tend to think of the building as a place to meet with God but the bible teaches, you are the temple of God and God is with you 24/7 because He dwells in you by His Spirit. (1 Cor. 3:16-17)

Christians tend to think of worship as something that takes place on Sunday morning, but the bible teaches worship takes place everyday in the life of the believer because it comes from your heart as a result of an overflow of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 12:1-2)

Christians tend to think they have to hear a sermon every week to be encouraged, strengthened and build up in the faith, but the bible teaches you have an on-board teacher who promises to lead you into all truth, the Holy Spirit. (John 14:25-26)

Christians tend to think, I can’t wait to go to church to see my friends, but the bible teaches, we are encouraged to not forsake assembling ourselves together daily. (Heb.10:24) ….DO NOT GIVE UP MEETING TOGETHER, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and ALL THE MORE as you see the Day approaching. The writer of Hebrews is encouraging the church to MEET TOGETHER MORE AND MORE. Why? because the way has been made, through the blood of Jesus Christ, that gives us unlimited access into the very presence of Almighty God! Believers should want to meet together more and more as a result of this amazing reality and for the purpose of stirring up one another towards love and good works. We need to stir up one another to love God and love people more and more, not just once or twice a week.

As a result of a lack of correct biblical teaching and thinking regarding who and what is the church, most Christians, over time, become frustrated with the Sunday morning, relationally shallow, program-driven, merry-go-round, church cycle and eventually try to return to their secular life, while Christians will compartmentalize their life, resulting in a perceived “spiritual life” and a “secular life”.

They will often then attempt to live an acceptable spiritual life before others, while at the same time concluding that Biblical principles somehow don’t apply to their secular life. Our desire is to bridge the gap and help the disciple to view the various components of his everyday life as a unit, and God’s involvement in every aspect of that life.

Andrew Murry says it best,

“God fills the world and every moment is present in everything. Just as it is with the Father, so now our Lord Jesus is everywhere present, above all with each of his redeemed ones. This is one of the greatest and most important lessons which our faith must learn. We can clearly understand this from the example of our Lord’s disciples. What was the peculiar privilege of the disciples, who were always in fellowship with him? It was uninterrupted enjoyment of the presence of the Lord Jesus. It was because of this they were so sorrowful at the thought of his death. They would be deprived of that presence. He would be no longer with them. How, under these circumstances, did the Lord Jesus comfort them? He promised that the Holy Spirit from heaven should so work in them a sense of the fullness of his life and of his personal presence that he would be even more intimately near and have more unbroken fellowship with them than ever they experienced while he was upon earth.

This great promise is now the inheritance of every believer, although so many of them know little about it. Jesus Christ, in his divine personality, in that eternal love which led him to the cross, longs to have fellowship with us every moment of the day and to keep us in the enjoyment of that fellowship. This ought to be explained to every new convert: ‘The Lord loves you so that he would have you near him without a break, that you may have experience of his love.’ This is what every believer must learn who has felt his powerlessness for a life of prayer, of obedience, and of holiness. This alone will give us power as intercessors to conquer the world and to win souls out of it for our Lord.”

EVERYDAY CHURCH is not opposed to believers meeting in a building or Sunday services. However we are opposed to teaching that confuses believers into thinking church is ONLY what happens on Sunday mornings when the bible teaches, “Everyday Church” because YOU ARE THE CHURCH EVERYDAY! Jesus repeatedly invited people to follow Him with their lives and He is inviting us to do the same,…..EVERYDAY!

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies “EVERYDAY” as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-3

>> check out on Facebook  Everyday Church

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The Love of God

Posted on February 11, 2012 by javaman56

THE LOVE OF GOD

Frederick M. Lehman, 1917

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

Refrain:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

When hoary time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Verse 3 was penciled on the wall of a narrow room in an insane asylum by a man said to have been demented. The profound lines were discovered when they laid him in his coffin.

Check out this rendition of the song by Mercy Me

Thanks to http://library.timelesstruths.org/

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Human Relationships

Posted on February 11, 2012 by skhshewolf

Human relationships are a baffling thing. The way people and lives become intertwined and emotions seem to hinge on one another’s. The caring and depth of feeling can overwhelm at times yet how often do people maintain a relationship for a lifetime? Friends, spouses, parent/child, other family, etc. Each and every human encounter in some way builds us and causes us to grow. Or at least it should. How many times does the opposite happen? Demoralization, degradation, emotional abuse/trauma. These can cause a person to be broken down, warp, break. Every little word, every little action, every little non action can in some way have an impact on another soul. Do any of us ever question, “Crap, how did I just make that person feel?”. We should be asking, “How should I make this person feel?”. Do unto others. Even in the midst of anger, depression, humiliation, listlessness. Do what should be done. Do what Jesus wants us to do.

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Eric Metaxas at National Prayer Breakfast

Posted on February 9, 2012 by javaman56

I laughed and cried as Eric Metaxas shared in this clip from the National Prayer Breakfast on February 2, 2012. He challenges all of us in what he had to say. So, I challenge each of you to watch, listen, and take what Eric shares to heart.

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Conception to Birth

Posted on December 5, 2011 by javaman56

This was posted on Facebook yesterday by LifeNews.com, also thanks to http://www.ted.com for posting on YouTube.com, it is an amazing video.

Image-maker Alexander Tsiaras shares a powerful medical visualization, showing human development from conception to birth and beyond. (Some graphic images.)

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House Churches

Posted on November 27, 2011 by javaman56

Chapter four of a book by David S. Kirkwood titled The Disciple-Making Minister

Here is great question to ask ourselves: How did the early church succeed so well at making disciples without any church buildings, professionally-trained clergy, Bible schools and seminaries, hymnals and overhead projectors, wireless microphones and tape duplicators, Sunday school curriculums and youth ministries, worship teams and choirs, computers and copy machines, Christian radio and TV stations, hundreds of thousands of Christian book titles and even personally-owned Bibles? They didn’t need any of those things to make disciples, and neither did Jesus. And because none of those things were essential then, none are essential now.

When people first hear of house churches, they often mistakenly imagine that the only difference between house churches and institutional churches is their size and their relative abilities to provide “ministry.” People sometimes conclude that the house church cannot offer the quality of ministry provided by churches with buildings. But if one defines “ministry” as that which contributes to the making of disciples, helping them become like Christ and equipping them for service, then institutional churches have no advantage, and as I pointed out in the previous chapter, they may well be disadvantaged. Certainly house churches cannot provide the quantity of multi-faceted activities of institutional churches, but they can excel at providing true ministry.

Some people reject house churches as being true churches, simply because they lack an actual church building. Had those folks lived at any time during the first three hundred years of the church, they would have rejected every single church in the world as being a real church. The fact is that Jesus declared, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst” (Matt. 18:20). Jesus said nothing about where believers must gather. And even if there are only two believers, He promised to be present if they gather in His name. What Christ’s disciples often do in restaurants, sharing a meal and exchanging truth, teaching and admonishing one another, is actually closer to the New Testament model of church gatherings than what often happens in many church buildings on Sunday mornings.

In the previous chapter, I enumerated some of the advantages that house churches have over institutional churches. I’d like to begin this chapter enumerating a few more reasons why the house church model is a very valid biblical alternative that can be quite effective in accomplishing the goal of making disciples. First, however, let me state at the outset that my purpose is not to attack institutional churches or their pastors. There are multitudes of godly and sincere pastors of institutional churches who are doing everything they can within their structures to please the Lord. I minister to thousands of institutional pastors every year, and I love and appreciate them very much. They are among the finest people in the world. And it is because I know how incredibly difficult their jobs are that I want to present an alternative that will help them suffer fewer casualties and be more effective and happy at the same time. The house church……….. read the rest of the article

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Hallelujah Video

Posted on November 17, 2011 by javaman56

I POSTED THIS ON MY WEBSITE LAST YEAR AND WANTED TO SHARE IT AGAIN!!

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An Encounter With Christ

Posted on November 11, 2011 by javaman56

So many times today we hear of people having an encounter with [angels] or an encounter of some so-called divine being. Yet it seems rarely do we hear folks earnestly telling of their Encounter with Jesus Christ.

Here are my thoughts;

When an individual truly encounters Jesus one of two things will happen.

1.The individual will go away from Him.

or

2. The individual will be drawn to Him

What results, when we truly meet or encounter Christ, our inner most being is spotlighted, just as with this young ruler mentioned in the scripture passage. [Matthew 19:16-22]

Jesus used scripture to spotlight the young man’s sinfulness, yet he refused to recognize it. He wanted to know what good thing he could do, to inherit eternal life. If you look at the passage you will see Jesus used only half of the 10 commandments as a mirror to show the young man his need for repentance.

The young ruler was OKAY with part of the scripture but when it came to the part that spotlighted the root of his sinfulness, he was unwilling to let go.

As a result he went AWAY from Jesus, sorrowful.

Christ, even today, uses scripture to spotlight our sinfulness and challenges us to do as He asks and follow Him.

How WE respond to the spotlight should really concern us.

So many times though people are just like the young ruler they want to know what GOOD thing they can do to go to heaven. They don’t want the spotlight of God to show them the truth, that they need to repent.

I think this is why people evade an encounter with Him. They do not want to face what is in their heart. Again, as a result they also go away sorrowful.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In this next passage we see Zacchaeus also had an encounter with Christ. [Luke 19:1-10]

There must have been conversation and interaction between Zacchaeus and Jesus between verses 7&8, because in verse 8 we see the change AFTER the encounter.

Someone once said, “True confession of sin, TRUE repentance and genuine faith in Christ WILL result in a changed life from the inside out. No one can encounter Christ, accept His salvation and at the same time remain sinful, dishonest, and uncharitable toward others.”

This encounter with Christ should cause us to realize our NEED of Him, be DRAWN to Him, & subsequently SURRENDER to Him.

It is a turning over of our will to His will.

It is allowing Him to spotlight the sin and iniquity in our lives and letting Him change us as we confess and repent.

To be born again there must be a true encounter with Christ and be drawn to Him.

Once we have that encounter then we will understand and realize that He is;

LIGHT FOR OUR DARKNESS, A WELL FOR OUR THIRSTINESS, and A BANQUET FOR OUR HUNGERING.

Then in response to this realization we should be -

ENTHRALLED BY HIM, INDWELT BY HIM, OBSESSED BY HIM, POSSESSED BY HIM, CAPTIVATED BY HIM, and MOTIVATED BY HIM

He will be the center, the top priority of our lives.

As an infant takes its first breath of life, we too, when we encounter Christ and are born again need to breathe the breath of eternal life into the very depths of our being.

When we do this then we can live Christ to everyone around us.

This encounter with Christ can change lives just as the disciples were changed, just as Zacchaeus was changed, just as Saul was changed on the Damascus road, and just as some reading this today have been changed.

It will be evident to all that we come in contact with.

We will never be the same after a true encounter with the SAVIOR, the KING of KINGS & LORD OF LORDS, with JESUS CHRIST the RISEN MESSIAH, the SON of THE ALMIGHTY GOD!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Have you had a true encounter with Christ? What was your response?

Did you draw close and embrace salvation or did you turn away thinking you had too much to lose?

You see if you turn away, the truth is, you do have much to lose.

You will lose eternal life, happiness, and joy but gain eternal torment and damnation.

Are you willing to chance it?

A true life changing encounter with Christ is the answer for the apathy and complacency that permeates the church of today.

This true encounter will cause you to serve Him completely no matter what others may say or do.

A true encounter will cause true revival to break forth inside and make a real difference in your daily life.

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Why It’s Good to Doubt God

Posted on November 9, 2011 by javaman56

I came across this article and figured it was just too good NOT to share. I dare you to read it in its entirety, just follow the ‘read more’ link.

The Benefit of Doubt

Doubting one’s faith in God is a very tough place to be. Faith in God is what keeps it all together when you are facing one of life’s many challenges things.

Sometimes things happen in our lives—it may be one big catastrophe or a line of smaller things that pile up—and you start having a lot of doubts. At first, when you have those disruptive thoughts, you try to push them to the side, hoping they’ll just go away, before God notices.

They don’t and he doesn’t.

So you feel your faith in God slipping away—and it is unsettling, disorienting, and frightening to watch that happen. You doubt that God cares, that he is listening; you doubt that he is even aware of who you are—that he even exists.

In such a state of doubt about God, you feel like there is clearly something very wrong with you.

“Maybe I’m not smart enough. Maybe I’m a faker. Maybe I haven’t memorized enough Bible verses. Maybe I need to go to church more often.”

Whatever it is, you’re doing something wrong. It’s all your fault.

And so we do the only thing we have been taught to do. We do everything in our power to get out of that state of doubt as quickly as we can. For some, if doubt persists, they live lives of quiet desperation, ashamed or afraid to speak up. Others simply walk away from their faith.

Surely, doubt is the enemy of faith, right?

To have faith means you don’t doubt, right?

Doubt is a spiritually destructive force that tears you away from God, right?

Wrong.

There is a benefit of doubt.

Doubt can do things spiritually that nothing else can do.

Sometimes we think of our faith as a castle—safe, comfortable, familiar. But what if God doesn’t want us to be comfortable and safe? What if comfortable and safe keep God at a distance?

Doubt tears down the castle walls to force us on a journey. It may feel like God is far away or absent when in fact doubt is a gift of God to move us to spiritual maturity.

Doubt is not a sign of weakness but a sign of growth.

Doubting God is painful and frightening because we think we are leaving God behind, but we are only leaving behind the idea of God we like to surround ourselves with—the small God, the God we control, the God who agrees with us.

Doubt forces us to look at who we think God is…..read more

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Church Reformation

Posted on November 7, 2011 by javaman56

by George G Delo

One of the things God is doing in this hour is liberating His people from the bondages created by the traditions of men within the structure of the church. More and more people are beginning to see that too much of what we do and call church is based on the traditions and pride of men and they are ready for change to bring the church back to its scriptural basis. Only when we operate according to the word of God do we have true liberty. We must examine the life and practices of the church in light of scripture to see how it measures up. Anything which is contrary to the word must be removed as it will always result in legalism and bondage.

Tradition tells us that Paul the Apostle was beheaded in Rome around 66 AD. This tells us that the Book of Acts covers approximately 34 years of church history from its inception on the Day of Pentecost. Together with the letters of Paul, Acts lays out the established life and practices of the church giving us a picture of church leadership, the functioning of the body of Christ, and the basic doctrines of salvation. Over the course of thirty some years, the life and practices of the church were well established. Much like today, church size varied from place to place from small to mega size. The church in Jerusalem had at least 5,000 members at one time …..<!–more–>

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