Relationships

Abiding in Christ

~ Joe ~ Leave a comment

John 15:1-11 is a section of Scripture where Jesus teaches on our intimacy with Him and His Father. In it He talks about an abstract concept of “abiding in Him.” I think as church goers we think we have a good feel for what abiding in Jesus means, and maybe you do. But hopefully through this study we’ll be able to uncover some more truth about abiding in Jesus. I also hope each of us will be able to ask and answer the questions:

What does it mean to abide in Christ?
How do I know if I am abiding in Christ?
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Got Hypocrisy?

~ Joe ~ 2 Comments

Wired.com had a “Green” eco-friendly article up the other day entitled, American Consumers Not As Enlightened As You Think. Although the article reported survey results and expert opinions regarding the automobile purchases of American consumers, I think the first two paragraphs capture the heart of the article nicely.

Hybrids? Pfft. Clean diesel? Who cares. Americans want cars with iPod integration, photochromic glass and capless fueling systems – whatever the hell those are.

Give people a choice between a fuel-sipper with a map in the glove box and a gas guzzler with in-dash navigation and most of them are going home in the car that tells them how to get there, according to a “snapshot” survey by MyRide.com.

The great thing about this article is that it’s true! Although the mainstream media purports that Americans are converting to “green lifestyles” and leaving behind their misguided fossil fuel habits, their purchasing decisions show the contrary.

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I second that!

~ Joe ~ 2 Comments

Floating Axhead has a wonderful article called The Wal-Mart Way which does a great job of explaining how the modern church has tried to market itself and failed. The article mentions Wal-Mart’s new slogan of “Save Money. Live Better.” and compares it to the slogan of “Find God. Live Better.” that so many churches have slowly adopted. I fully agree with the article and appreciate Floating Axhead’s candidness on the topic.

Here are some of my thoughts.

Sam Walton may be right in saying, “There’s only one boss. The customer.” but that’s not how the church, the Body of Christ is organized and operated. The customer mindset may be fine for business but it’s not for church. In fact, I believe one of the biggest problems with church today is that people have brought the customer mindset into it. We believe that we are customers and the church is there to entertain us! And when you think about it, it kind of makes sense. People drive up and park there cars in large parking lots, walk into the building (which very rarely has a cross on it anymore), are greeted with warm hands and smiling faces, find a cushioned seat somewhere in the auditorium, and then…the music begins! They’ll have people welcome them from the platform and hand out “up coming events” literature to them. There will be musical numbers sung by the choir and soloists, and eventually, the main attraction — an eloquently delivered message from the minister. This whole time the “customer” has had to put forth no effort except for maybe dropping some money in the offering plate as it passes by. And many of them will only drop in as much as they think the show is worth!

Is this a picture of every church. Absolutely NOT!!! Is it a picture of your church? I hope not. But I know it is for many people.

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What Race are You Running?

~ Joe ~ Leave a comment

A simple scan down yesterday’s listing of the FOXNews RSS feeds reveals there was:
1 story about a parrot that could speak English
2 stories regarding pop/tv stars
3 stories about scientific/technical achievements
6 stories about politics/economics
7 stories regarding death/killing/kidnapping
7 stories about war issues
8 stories covering sex acts/sex crimes

Not necessarily uplifting news! But I think Kathy Griffin’s story truly showed the pulse of our society. I’ve included a few snippets of the story below.

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Responsible Freedom

~ Joe ~ Leave a comment

Ask anybody in America what they think is the best part about this country and it will most likely be “freedom.” I would agree; this is the land of the free! But at Christians we too are free. In fact, I would say we have a greater freedom than anything this world can give. We have freedom in Christ!

The Bible has much to say about our freedom in Christ. Here is a short list:

John 8:32
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John 8:36
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Romans 6:7
anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Romans 6:18
You have been set free from sin…

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Multiple Second Chances

~ Joe ~ Leave a comment

Have you ever wished that you had a second chance at something? I know I have. Maybe it was a bad purchase that involved a lot of money or something on the job that could have been done better. Maybe it was how we treated a friend or what we should have done for somebody but didn’t. Regret and wishing we had second chances may be a part of our normal life but with the Lord Jesus, it doesn’t have to be.

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Loved for a Purpose

~ Joe ~ Leave a comment

What do Christians always tell nonbelievers about the love of God?

They tell them that God loves them for who they are and nothing that they could do would ever change that, but how often do you hear believers telling other believers that?

Well, I’m here to tell you that God loves you, Christian! And nothing that you’ve done in the past, even after becoming a Christian, and nothing that you are going to do will change how much God loves you.

Romans 8:38-39 says:
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But why is this so important? Don’t Christians already know that they are loved by God?

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How Approachable Are You?

~ Joe ~ 1 Comment

You are a Christian. You’ve been one a long time. You gave your life to Jesus Christ and now you read your Bible, pray often, and you’re at church every time the doors are open. Your family, friends, and neighbors know that you are a Christian because you’ve told them so and because you can, and have, quoted chapter and verse to them from your Bible. (They also know because of all of the forwarded “Christian” emails you send to them.  🙂 ) You are a wealth of biblical information and are able to speak the truth into any situation, but how approachable are you?

Once people know that you are a Christian will they be able to approach you with real life issues and hurts? Are you accessible when they have deep spiritual questions that only the God of the Bible can answer?

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