Apr 2008
Taboo! [Part 2]
29.04.08 14:20 Filed in: Leadership
When did relational evangelism become such a cop-out?
It’s right. It’s the best way to evangelize by far. We talk about it as Christians not because of it’s effectiveness but many times because there’s no way to track it and so we feel relieved of our "Christianly duties".
We have a military base in our town. It's pretty famous actually. It's been in 2 different movies, A Soldier's Story and Biloxi Blues. Elvis Presley went through basic training there. It's called Fort Chaffee. In January of this year there was a huge brush fire that burnt down 150 abandoned barracks. In a matter of hours this raging fire tore through an important part of our town's history. In fact my grandpa stayed at Fort Chaffee after his time in Korea for 3 months before going back home to Rockford, IL. We went out to Chaffee after the fire (he happened to be in town and wanted to see it) and the very barracks he stayed in were gone. All that's left of these barracks are the chimneys and foundations hidden beneath the charred remains of the once epic buildings.
Any of you that have seen Chaffee, it was amazing. I didn’t realize how many old barracks we had out there. That destruction was from a fire that lasted a few hours, that has long since been quenched. But we have friends, family, students, etc that are going to a fire that will never be quenched and many of us are so desensitized to that statement, it doesn’t affect our hearts the way it used to.
It’s taboo. We just don't talk about it anymore.
I'm not saying that we all need to go find our lunch tables or anything.
DOES IT GRIEVE YOUR HEART TO HEAR THIS PHRASE, PEOPLE ARE DYING AN GOING TO HELL!?
Can I be brutally honest? I'm a pastor. And it really doesn't bother me that "people" are dying and going to hell. Maybe there's something wrong with me. Maybe you're more spiritual than I am. But if you were honest with yourself you would probably share my sentiments as twisted as they sound. So what are we going to do about this? I'll tell you what I did. I got ahold of a picture of Fort Chaffee and on the back I wrote down every name I could think of that needs a relationship with Jesus Christ. Then out loud, to myself, I said this phrase, "People are dying and going to hell." But I plugged in each of their names... because maybe I didn't care about people, but I care about that person. When there's a face to it, all of a sudden it matters more. Who knows maybe after all of this, eventually, I can care about generics. Maybe it won't be so taboo anymore.
Fort Chaffee Pic
It’s right. It’s the best way to evangelize by far. We talk about it as Christians not because of it’s effectiveness but many times because there’s no way to track it and so we feel relieved of our "Christianly duties".
We have a military base in our town. It's pretty famous actually. It's been in 2 different movies, A Soldier's Story and Biloxi Blues. Elvis Presley went through basic training there. It's called Fort Chaffee. In January of this year there was a huge brush fire that burnt down 150 abandoned barracks. In a matter of hours this raging fire tore through an important part of our town's history. In fact my grandpa stayed at Fort Chaffee after his time in Korea for 3 months before going back home to Rockford, IL. We went out to Chaffee after the fire (he happened to be in town and wanted to see it) and the very barracks he stayed in were gone. All that's left of these barracks are the chimneys and foundations hidden beneath the charred remains of the once epic buildings.
Any of you that have seen Chaffee, it was amazing. I didn’t realize how many old barracks we had out there. That destruction was from a fire that lasted a few hours, that has long since been quenched. But we have friends, family, students, etc that are going to a fire that will never be quenched and many of us are so desensitized to that statement, it doesn’t affect our hearts the way it used to.
It’s taboo. We just don't talk about it anymore.
I'm not saying that we all need to go find our lunch tables or anything.
DOES IT GRIEVE YOUR HEART TO HEAR THIS PHRASE, PEOPLE ARE DYING AN GOING TO HELL!?
Can I be brutally honest? I'm a pastor. And it really doesn't bother me that "people" are dying and going to hell. Maybe there's something wrong with me. Maybe you're more spiritual than I am. But if you were honest with yourself you would probably share my sentiments as twisted as they sound. So what are we going to do about this? I'll tell you what I did. I got ahold of a picture of Fort Chaffee and on the back I wrote down every name I could think of that needs a relationship with Jesus Christ. Then out loud, to myself, I said this phrase, "People are dying and going to hell." But I plugged in each of their names... because maybe I didn't care about people, but I care about that person. When there's a face to it, all of a sudden it matters more. Who knows maybe after all of this, eventually, I can care about generics. Maybe it won't be so taboo anymore.
Fort Chaffee Pic
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Taboo! [Part 1]
28.04.08 14:17 Filed in: Leadership
Have you ever played the game Taboo?
"The object of the game is for a player to have their partner(s) guess the word on their card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card." --Wikipedia
It's pretty challenging to try to have to say what you're saying without saying it. (Did you catch that?) We do this a lot as Christians. We try to explain what we believe but stay away from what we consider "taboo". Let me give you an example: Yesterday I was riding with my friend Aaron Bettencourt and we came to what would be a busy intersection in our city. Across the street from us was a group holding a banner with the name of their church. They were red-faced and yelling at the top of their lungs about sin and hell and waiving their Bibles frantically in the air. They had a large banner with a picture of an aborted baby... abortion is murder... and of course what would any street corner "preacher" be without a sign that says, "Heaven or Hell, you choose."
What goes through your head when you run into situations like that? I have to be honest. It bothered me a lot.
But here's the kicker, I can sort of relate. See, I was the lunch table kid. The kid who at the end of my senior year stood on a lunch table and preached. I know what it's like to have this burning message inside of you that you just want to get out. I know what it's like to be so passionate for God that you make rash decisions that you thought would make a difference and they end up doing more harm than good. Some people stand on their lunch tables (or street corners) because they don't know better. Some because that's the best they could come up with. Others because they have been taught that evangelism has nothing to do with relationship.
But I didn’t know any better. I was just this passionate kid who wanted everyone to know about Jesus. The difference was I had lived it for years before I ever stood on a lunch table. My message wasn’t a you’re all going to hell experience, rather it was about how my life had changed. It took guts. It was ineffective. But it took guts. Once I had some more wisdom under my belt, I would get frustrated coming into contact with situations and individuals who are the street corner evangelists. I wasn’t frustrated at them personally, I was frustrated about the message of you’re all going to hell.
Do I agree that abortion is murder? YES
But will I say that at the cost of individuals who have had an abortion without any explanation or expression of love? NO.
They came across with this self-righteous, I know more than you, I’m better than you, yet I’m dressed for the 1920’s attitude.
LET ME BE REALLY HONEST... IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE GUTS TO PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE FOR JESUS, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO MAKE FUN OF OR CRITIQUE OTHERS WHO DO. REGARDLESS OF THEIR METHODS.
They may make mistakes, but at least they’re trying. At least they’re not hiding behind the guise of we just need to live it out and we never really do. Living it out, means living on purpose. It means you have ulterior motives to your life. (Those motives are positive for His gain, not manipulative for our own.)
I saw these individuals and here’s what I noticed in my heart...
I was frustrated at them.
THAT SCARED ME ONCE I REALIZED IT.
Before I was frustrated at their presentation of the message. And how it would turn off more people than it would help. But this time I was frustrated at them. I was sitting with Aaron in his brother Zach’s truck and I had to stop and think, Craig, have you forgotten what it means to reach people?
The bottom line is many of us, consider it TABOO to hold up signs saying you’re going to hell... yet we don’t live our lives on purpose so our friends, family, students, etc don’t go there.
"The object of the game is for a player to have their partner(s) guess the word on their card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card." --Wikipedia
It's pretty challenging to try to have to say what you're saying without saying it. (Did you catch that?) We do this a lot as Christians. We try to explain what we believe but stay away from what we consider "taboo". Let me give you an example: Yesterday I was riding with my friend Aaron Bettencourt and we came to what would be a busy intersection in our city. Across the street from us was a group holding a banner with the name of their church. They were red-faced and yelling at the top of their lungs about sin and hell and waiving their Bibles frantically in the air. They had a large banner with a picture of an aborted baby... abortion is murder... and of course what would any street corner "preacher" be without a sign that says, "Heaven or Hell, you choose."
What goes through your head when you run into situations like that? I have to be honest. It bothered me a lot.
But here's the kicker, I can sort of relate. See, I was the lunch table kid. The kid who at the end of my senior year stood on a lunch table and preached. I know what it's like to have this burning message inside of you that you just want to get out. I know what it's like to be so passionate for God that you make rash decisions that you thought would make a difference and they end up doing more harm than good. Some people stand on their lunch tables (or street corners) because they don't know better. Some because that's the best they could come up with. Others because they have been taught that evangelism has nothing to do with relationship.
But I didn’t know any better. I was just this passionate kid who wanted everyone to know about Jesus. The difference was I had lived it for years before I ever stood on a lunch table. My message wasn’t a you’re all going to hell experience, rather it was about how my life had changed. It took guts. It was ineffective. But it took guts. Once I had some more wisdom under my belt, I would get frustrated coming into contact with situations and individuals who are the street corner evangelists. I wasn’t frustrated at them personally, I was frustrated about the message of you’re all going to hell.
Do I agree that abortion is murder? YES
But will I say that at the cost of individuals who have had an abortion without any explanation or expression of love? NO.
They came across with this self-righteous, I know more than you, I’m better than you, yet I’m dressed for the 1920’s attitude.
LET ME BE REALLY HONEST... IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE GUTS TO PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE FOR JESUS, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO MAKE FUN OF OR CRITIQUE OTHERS WHO DO. REGARDLESS OF THEIR METHODS.
They may make mistakes, but at least they’re trying. At least they’re not hiding behind the guise of we just need to live it out and we never really do. Living it out, means living on purpose. It means you have ulterior motives to your life. (Those motives are positive for His gain, not manipulative for our own.)
I saw these individuals and here’s what I noticed in my heart...
I was frustrated at them.
THAT SCARED ME ONCE I REALIZED IT.
Before I was frustrated at their presentation of the message. And how it would turn off more people than it would help. But this time I was frustrated at them. I was sitting with Aaron in his brother Zach’s truck and I had to stop and think, Craig, have you forgotten what it means to reach people?
The bottom line is many of us, consider it TABOO to hold up signs saying you’re going to hell... yet we don’t live our lives on purpose so our friends, family, students, etc don’t go there.
Welcome to the Masquerade [Part 3]
11.04.08 14:15 Filed in: Life
Here is my final installment of my notes from
Wednesday night with one final question...
In who does your sufficiency lie?
The second part of the definition of Inadequacy: General feelings of insufficiency. Yesterday we talked about how often we don't feel good enough. We don't feel worthy of our purpose. We often put a lot of pressure on ourselves. But what if that pressure was meant to be on God?
Who turned the staff into a snake?
Who turned Moses’ hand leprous?
Who turned water into blood?
Who caused the plagues?
Who split the Red Sea?
Who freed Israel?
Do you see a trend here?? Who will help you in your God-given purpose? Your ability to fulfill your God-given purpose is in God and God alone! SOME OF YOU WANT TO BELIEVE THAT IT’S GOD BUT YOU’RE NOT QUITE THERE YET...
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 [NKJV]
And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6 [NKJV]
And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
If our sufficiency lies in ourselves we will lose this mind game of inadequacy every time. BUT... if we allow the Holy Spirit to move in our lives and let His grace be our sufficiency 2 Corinthians 3 says God will make us sufficient ministers of the new covenant.
Are you willing to leave your masquerade?
Are you avoiding your God-given purpose?
In who does your sufficiency lie?
In who does your sufficiency lie?
The second part of the definition of Inadequacy: General feelings of insufficiency. Yesterday we talked about how often we don't feel good enough. We don't feel worthy of our purpose. We often put a lot of pressure on ourselves. But what if that pressure was meant to be on God?
Who turned the staff into a snake?
Who turned Moses’ hand leprous?
Who turned water into blood?
Who caused the plagues?
Who split the Red Sea?
Who freed Israel?
Do you see a trend here?? Who will help you in your God-given purpose? Your ability to fulfill your God-given purpose is in God and God alone! SOME OF YOU WANT TO BELIEVE THAT IT’S GOD BUT YOU’RE NOT QUITE THERE YET...
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 [NKJV]
And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6 [NKJV]
And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
If our sufficiency lies in ourselves we will lose this mind game of inadequacy every time. BUT... if we allow the Holy Spirit to move in our lives and let His grace be our sufficiency 2 Corinthians 3 says God will make us sufficient ministers of the new covenant.
Are you willing to leave your masquerade?
Are you avoiding your God-given purpose?
In who does your sufficiency lie?
Welcome to the Masquerade [Part 2]
10.04.08 14:15 Filed in: Life
We started by talking about those of us who deal with
thoughts of inadequacy most are often the people who
most seem to have it all together. They are
often extremely successful. I ended my last
post asking if you were willing to leave the
masquerade? Are you going to quit pretending
that you don't have any problems with the mind game
of inadequacy. The second question I would like
to ask is...
Are you avoiding your God-given purpose?
You’ve heard God speak this to your heart. Odds are it’s the very thing that gives you those feelings of inadequacy. Often we don’t feel worthy. Let me clue you in, we aren’t worthy. We don’t deserve it. So then we make excuses as to why we aren't doing what God has called us to do. Typically people make excuses because they are either lazy or scared... So which are you? Lazy?? Or scared??
Maybe you strive to succeed, to be noticed in everything else but when it comes to this you make up every excuse you can to run away from it. When he was in front of people Moses seemed like he had it all together, but behind closed doors, (in Exodus 4) when it was just him and God--he was a wreck.
Part of our definition of inadequacy is an inability to fulfill a given purpose. Do you feel that you have an inability to fulfill your God-given purpose?
Are you avoiding your God-given purpose?
You’ve heard God speak this to your heart. Odds are it’s the very thing that gives you those feelings of inadequacy. Often we don’t feel worthy. Let me clue you in, we aren’t worthy. We don’t deserve it. So then we make excuses as to why we aren't doing what God has called us to do. Typically people make excuses because they are either lazy or scared... So which are you? Lazy?? Or scared??
Maybe you strive to succeed, to be noticed in everything else but when it comes to this you make up every excuse you can to run away from it. When he was in front of people Moses seemed like he had it all together, but behind closed doors, (in Exodus 4) when it was just him and God--he was a wreck.
Part of our definition of inadequacy is an inability to fulfill a given purpose. Do you feel that you have an inability to fulfill your God-given purpose?
Welcome to the Masquerade [Part 1]
09.04.08 14:13 Filed in: Life
Tonight at 180
Remix we
started a series called "Mind Games". I talked
about inadequacy and called it "Welcome to the
Masquerade". After my first point the tornado sirens
sounded and thus ended my message prematurely.
I wanted to post the rest of my notes on here
for anyone who wants to hear the rest of it.
I'll post it in 3 parts over the next few days.
Some of the most successful people I know deal with feelings of inadequacy.
INADEQUACY: An inability to fulfill a given purpose; General feelings of insufficiency [Wikipedia]
The interesting thing about inadequacy is that these feelings typically cause people to be very driven and successful in their lives. Thus may I say again, “Welcome to the Masquerade!” See you may have everybody fooled into thinking you have it all together, but let me be really clear... I may not know where you are with this issue right now, but God does. Those of us who deal most with this issue most deeply are probably those of us who nobody else would ever guess it.
Maybe you deal with inadequacy but instead of it pushing you to succeed you have the polar opposite effect--it cripples you to do anything of worth with your life. This has the potential to be a very freeing night for a lot of us in this room. This message will not change you--only God can do that... but in order for God to do so we have to be willing to leave our own little Masquerade. So let me ask you...
Are you willing to leave your masquerade??
It is at that point when God can really begin to use you. There was a man who was called of God. (Maybe you can relate?) He grew up in an affluent home. He had all the workings of success. In fact he was a leader. However, he didn’t see what God saw in him. He didn’t think the people God called him to lead would listen to him--he didn’t believe that he could make a difference. God spoke to him... (Have you ever had God speak something to you?) God told him to throw a stick on the ground and when he did it literally turned into a snake. It’s like something out of David Copperfield. Then God told him to pick it up by the tail and it turned back into a stick. Then in case that wasn’t enough God told him to stick his arm inside of his shirt and when he took it out it was leprous like snow. He put it back in his shirt and it was as healthy as before. To top it all off God told him to get a cup of water out of the river and pour it out on the land, when the drops of water hit the ground they turned into blood. True story. Imagine what it must have felt like to watch God perform real miracles without doing anything at all but listening.
Exodus 4:10-17
Moses started as a leader... he was the son of Pharaoh--ruler of Egypt. The Bible talks very little about his experiences in Pharaoh’s house but he had every natural opportunity to succeed. He is confident and steps in immediately when he sees injustice. He messes up and murders someone. But this doesn’t throw him off. He sees more injustice and immediately confronts it. That doesn’t work and he runs away. Maybe you’ve tried and nothing seemed to work out for you. So now you don’t even bother because you feel inadequate. Moses’ “feelings” were wrong... In fact in Acts 7:22 it says that he was, “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.”
It’s amazing to me how that happens. You can continue to make excuses for why you can’t be used by God but it’s all, uhhh let me think of the word for it... GARBAGE!! Hear this... there is no record of Moses’ speech impediment until after his feelings of inadequacy manifest themselves. The first time it is even mentioned is when God calls him.
You can have every success in the world trying to fill that void but it will never be filled until you decide to leave your masquerade and allow God to move in your life.
Some of the most successful people I know deal with feelings of inadequacy.
INADEQUACY: An inability to fulfill a given purpose; General feelings of insufficiency [Wikipedia]
The interesting thing about inadequacy is that these feelings typically cause people to be very driven and successful in their lives. Thus may I say again, “Welcome to the Masquerade!” See you may have everybody fooled into thinking you have it all together, but let me be really clear... I may not know where you are with this issue right now, but God does. Those of us who deal most with this issue most deeply are probably those of us who nobody else would ever guess it.
Maybe you deal with inadequacy but instead of it pushing you to succeed you have the polar opposite effect--it cripples you to do anything of worth with your life. This has the potential to be a very freeing night for a lot of us in this room. This message will not change you--only God can do that... but in order for God to do so we have to be willing to leave our own little Masquerade. So let me ask you...
Are you willing to leave your masquerade??
It is at that point when God can really begin to use you. There was a man who was called of God. (Maybe you can relate?) He grew up in an affluent home. He had all the workings of success. In fact he was a leader. However, he didn’t see what God saw in him. He didn’t think the people God called him to lead would listen to him--he didn’t believe that he could make a difference. God spoke to him... (Have you ever had God speak something to you?) God told him to throw a stick on the ground and when he did it literally turned into a snake. It’s like something out of David Copperfield. Then God told him to pick it up by the tail and it turned back into a stick. Then in case that wasn’t enough God told him to stick his arm inside of his shirt and when he took it out it was leprous like snow. He put it back in his shirt and it was as healthy as before. To top it all off God told him to get a cup of water out of the river and pour it out on the land, when the drops of water hit the ground they turned into blood. True story. Imagine what it must have felt like to watch God perform real miracles without doing anything at all but listening.
Exodus 4:10-17
Moses started as a leader... he was the son of Pharaoh--ruler of Egypt. The Bible talks very little about his experiences in Pharaoh’s house but he had every natural opportunity to succeed. He is confident and steps in immediately when he sees injustice. He messes up and murders someone. But this doesn’t throw him off. He sees more injustice and immediately confronts it. That doesn’t work and he runs away. Maybe you’ve tried and nothing seemed to work out for you. So now you don’t even bother because you feel inadequate. Moses’ “feelings” were wrong... In fact in Acts 7:22 it says that he was, “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.”
It’s amazing to me how that happens. You can continue to make excuses for why you can’t be used by God but it’s all, uhhh let me think of the word for it... GARBAGE!! Hear this... there is no record of Moses’ speech impediment until after his feelings of inadequacy manifest themselves. The first time it is even mentioned is when God calls him.
You can have every success in the world trying to fill that void but it will never be filled until you decide to leave your masquerade and allow God to move in your life.