The Random Mind of Zach....

Defining Love

2011-04-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

Defining Love… Deafenin...

“Love is God who labors and suffers to enthrall us with what will infinitely, eternally, and ultimately satisfy us.Himself.”

-John Piper

” By this we know LOVE, that He laid down his life for us…” -1 John 3:16a [ESV]

How we define love matters… How do you define it?

Andy Stanley on THE CHURCH

2011-03-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

Passage: Acts 15 —

4 unhealthy gravitational pulls in every local church (as seen in ACTS 15):

1) Churches always gravitate towards INSIDERS rather than OUTSIDERS.

We must fight the myth that we can just maintain what we have. Maintenance is a myth

2) Churches always gravitate towards law & away from GRACE.

We must fight the desire to categorize people — Because if we can categorize folks then they stop being people who need relationships. Suggestion: Acceptance of people allows for influence. No Acceptance = No Influence.

3) Churches gravitate towards complexity & away from simplicity.

Suggestion: to avoid diluting vision - Partner rather than Pioneer any initiative.

4) Churches gravitate towards preserving & away from advancing.

4 Standards Andy Stanley & His Team @ North Point Utilize to Anchor Their Church

#1. Lets stay more concerned about who we are reaching, not who we are keeping.

#2 Lets always err on the side of Grace.

#3 Lets remain focused on our unique calling.
#4 Lets remain open-handed.

*you have been handed the baton of the “local church”

The right view

2011-01-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

The sinner may see his sin in his sin, but he does not see his sin in his goodness, and he does not see his sin in his religion. It is his sin in his goodness that is most despicable, for there is the deception–and it is his sin in his religion that is most blasphemous, because it is there that he worships a false god.”

-John MacArthur

QUESTIONS:

How are you portraying God?

How are you portraying Humanity?

How BIG or SMALL is the Cross shown to be in your church/ministry/life?

The Cross

2010-11-07T18:55:00.001-08:00

“The Cross Alone Is Our Theology” - Martin Luther

“The Word of the Cross KILLS and makes ALIVE. It crucifies the old being in anticipation of the resurrection of the new.”

- Gerhard Forde

God is teaching me that the Cross attacks the BEST we have to offer not just the worst. Everything that I would find praiseworthy and my world would affirm:

My Wisdom
My Wealth
My Education
My Politics
My Moral Compass
My Creativity
My Passion
My Network
My Religion
My Influence
My Gimmicks
My Efforts
My Potential
My ______________

All that i was in the flesh… All that i am presently… All that i could become…. THEY ARE DEAD.

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” -Galations 2:20

As a Christ follower i live a life ‘by faith in the Son of God’…. A faith in a resurrection to come…

That is to say, my life should DEMAND EXPLANATION to the objective observer.

The Christ follower’s life should ONLY make sense in the light of a comingRESURRECTION OF THE SOUL.

This line of thinking segued to the Holy Spirit raising a question in my soul, “Brad, does your life make sense to the non-Christian observer?” ——

So i’ll extend the question to you—

Does your life DEMAND an explanation??

Does your life demand the reality of a resurrection to RECONCILE THE DECISIONS you are making on this side of eternity??

Is that resurrection the ONLY way to make sense of the way you handle your:

TIME….

$$$MONEY$$$$…..

INFLUENCE…..

EDUCATION…..

RELATIONSHIPS…..

ASPIRATIONS……

ETC……

Epiphany

2010-11-01T21:18:00.001-07:00

A Ministry Epiphany.
Revelation: Sin does not make people bad people, rather sin makes people dead people.

Romans 5:12 [esv] “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned–“

What are you trying to show me?…… (i asked the Lord)

His Response: Sin has made people dead people they aren’t just bad people. THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DEAD PEOPLE. I’m telling you this to help FOCUS your ministry objective.
The goal is NOT to make bad students into good students. Your goal IS to see dead students become living students. That miracle is ONLY possible through the finished work of Christ’s Cross.

You are WASTING your Life & my Authority if you are preaching about ANYTHING else.

Proclamation: Declares the Power of Christ over sin & death NOT how to be a good person.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Carrying Your Cross

2010-10-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” - Mark 8:34-35 [ESV]

6 Observations of Carrying a Cross:

1) Carrying a Cross is UNCOMFORTABLE —

2) Carrying a Cross is NOTICEABLE –

3) Carrying a Cross is INCONVENIENT –

4) Carrying a Cross is UNCOOL –

5) Carrying a Cross is PERSONAL –

6) Carrying a Cross is PERMANENT –

“THE CROSS DOES NOT CONFORM TO YOU, RATHER YOU CONFORM TO THE CROSS.” - Dan Lian

Epiphany

2010-08-31T11:51:00.000-07:00

Revelation: Sin does not make people bad people, rather sin makes people dead people.

Romans 5:12 [esv] “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned–“

What are you trying to show me?…… (i asked the Lord)

His Response: Sin has made people dead people they aren’t just bad people. THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DEAD PEOPLE. I’m telling you this to help FOCUS your ministry objective.

The goal is NOT to make bad students into good students. Your goal IS to see dead students become living students. That miracle is ONLY possible through the finished work of Christ’s Cross.

You are WASTING your Life & my Authority if you are preaching about ANYTHING else.

Proclamation: Declares the Power of Christ over sin & death NOT how to be a good person.

The Grip of God

2010-06-23T10:22:00.001-07:00

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.

John 10:27-30

Jesus says, “My people hear me and understand me. As a result, they know me. I know them in the same way. Because of this relationship we have, my people follow and obey me.”

In Jesus, the Christian finds salvation and eternal life, a life that can’t be taken from him. No person or thing can take away the life you have in Jesus. Jesus said that no one can snatch (“forcefully take”) you, the Christian, from his hand (v.28), and nothing can take you from God’s hand either (v.29).

Jesus is saying that His hands and God’s hands are the one and the same (v.30). They both hold on and never let go. That’s life insurance!

There’s two views of the Christian’s experience with God: one is that we hold onto God and the other is that He holds onto us. The second option is the Biblical one.

God holds onto YOU. Think of a father and child coming near a dangerous intersection in a busy city. If contact is lost between father and child, the child, in his own ignorance and foolishness, may run into the street and die.

The father does NOT say to the child, “Won’t you please hold my hand? It’s very dangerous, and something bad may happen if you don’t. Ultimately, however, it’s your choice and I don’t want to infringe on your free will.”

No good father would treat a son like that. A father’s love for his son would cause him to do EVERYTHING possible to protect his child.

A good father, OUR Good Father, will grab his child’s arm and hold onto him no matter what. It doesn’t matter if the child screams, kicks, or rebels, the father will still hold tightly to his child, knowing it’s the only way to keep him safe from certain death.

The child can’t lose his life because his father won’t let him. The father protects his child from his own foolish ignorance.

THAT’S the strength of OUR Father’s grip…HE holds onto US because He loves us!

That’s the love the Father has for his children.

Want to be Healed?

2010-05-04T19:56:00.000-07:00

Do you want to be healed?

I think anyone in a state of poor health will always answer the question positively: “OF COURSE!” No one is going to respond, “No, I enjoy being sick. I hate having to function properly.”

The setting is the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. We’re told by the text that the “blind, lame, and paralyzed” gathered here. You’ll have to check out the first part of John 5 to see the whole story for yourself, but here’s the gist of it:

One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

John 5:5-6

This guy couldn’t walk or function in society normally for 38 years! And it seems like Jesus has the nerve to ask him if he wants to be healed! Here’s the man’s answer to Jesus:

The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

John 5:7

Of course this guy wants to get well! Being healed by Jesus didn’t simply mean that he could now walk, but it meant that his whole life would have to be transformed. Was he ready to stop receiving assistance and handouts from others? Healing sometimes hurts.

This man would have to begin functioning in a society where, for 38 years, he had previously been physically unproductive.

Jesus wasn’t dumb. He knew that the man wanted to be healed. I believe his question was directed less at the man’s desire to be physically well, and more at the man’s desire to begin living a transformed life.

Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

John 5:8-9

Some people in this life are satisfied to live in their paralyzed existence. Apart from Christ, that’s all we are—numbed-up paralytics rendered spiritual quadriplegics by sin. And far too many people are content living in that sad, spiritual state, being temporarily satiated by everything BUT Christ.

Here’s the part that causes Christians grief when they say “YES!” to being healed by Jesus—it means you now have to walk in the power of Christ. The implication behind being healed by Jesus is that you can no longer linger around as a cripple would, expecting people to spiritually spoon-feed you and “carry” you from place to place.

That’s why Jesus heals.

You now have to live and function in the power of the Holy Spirit daily, apart from which you’ve been debilitated all of your life prior to being saved by God. You have to truly desire that healing, and when Jesus heals you, there is no lying back down on the mat. Pick it up and walk.

“Do you want to be healed???”

Want to be Healed?

2010-05-04T19:52:00.000-07:00

Do you want to be healed?

I think anyone in a state of poor health will always answer the question positively: “OF COURSE!” No one is going to respond, “No, I enjoy being sick. I hate having to function properly.”

One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

John 5:5-6

This guy couldn’t walk or function in society normally for 38 years! And it seems like Jesus has the nerve to ask him if he wants to be healed! Here’s the man’s answer to Jesus:

The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

John 5:7

This man would have to begin functioning in a society where, for 38 years, he had previously been physically unproductive.

Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

John 5:8-9

That’s why Jesus heals.

“Do you want to be healed???”

Fight Together

2010-03-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

Resources for you to fight...

Book: FIGHT CLUBS- Jonathan Dodson

Accountability Questions....http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/642_pipers_pastoral_accountability/

MAKE WAR! FIGHT TOGETHER! RISE TOGETHER!

5 ways to make your teenager not care about God...

2010-03-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

In youth ministry, one of the hardest things I’ve had to experience is leading students into a growing relationship with Jesus, while their parents are doing the opposite. In a lot of cases, the parent wants the best for his/her teenager. It’s just that their definition of “best” might not match up with mine. There are some hard-and-fast rules to engage if you don’t want your teenager to care about God. The following are just a few.

1. Make sure their extra-curricular activities are priority over church. You should always make sure that their scholarships are intact, and that they don’t get kicked off the team. That’s definitely more important than their relationship with Christ and eternity, for that matter.

2. When your teenager screws up, ground them from church. Of course! If they don’t care that you take away their TV, cell phone, or friend time, hit them where it hurts. Take away church. Yeah – that oughta do it.

3. Don’t call them out when they need guidance. Always let them make their own mistakes. And if they’re about to do something super-destructive, it’s probably best that they learn on their own. Because learning it the hard way is always the necessary path, right?

4. Talk negatively about your church staff around your teenager. If your pastor messes up, make sure that you call a family meeting to roast him. You should definitely let your teenager know that people can’t be trusted, especially incompetent church leaders. Your teenager needs to know that trusting church leaders isn’t smart! If they don’t trust church leaders, there’s a small chance they’ll ever accept God’s direction in their life. And that’s the safer way to live.

5. Don’t model real faith. At the end of the day, the last thing you want to do, if you want your teenager to ignore God’s voice, is to follow it yourself.

Please know my heart on this issue. We parents need to be leading our families to Jesus every chance we get. Maybe it’s time to take inventory of who or what we’re actually leading our families to.

After all, actions speak louder than words

Weakness

2010-02-25T06:46:00.001-08:00

“The great problem of human beings is that they are far too easily pleased. They don’t seek pleasure with nearly the resolve and passion that they should. And so they settle for mud pies of appetite instead of infinite delight…our mistake lies not in the intensity of our desire for happiness, but in the weakness of it.”
- John Piper, Desiring God

“The way of Jesus is always local and ordinary”

2010-01-26T19:47:00.000-08:00

It is local in that we are to serve and love those who are local to us; in other words those who are right in front of us throughout the day.

And the way of Jesus is ordinary in that it does not have to be spectacular. It is simple. It is a cold Coke for the trash men. It is a good tip for the Sonic carhop. It is a sincere “thank you for serving us” to the flight attendant. It is taking the time to listen to the neighborhood kids. It is praying for those who God brings to the forefront of our minds throughout the day.

Agree or Disagree

2010-01-26T08:19:00.000-08:00

BEING SPIRITUALLY EMPTY IS NATURAL SEASON FOR A CHRIST FOLLOWER?

Devo for You

2010-01-25T18:03:00.001-08:00

Have you ever had a time in your life when things were going badly and you could have really fallen apart, but you prayed about it and God gave you this awesome sense of peace? That has happened to me by the side of a highway with a broken-down car that contained four very upset children. It also happened when our church lost several important members at once, when things were not going well for us financially and we didn’t know how we’d be able to cover out expenses. Have those kinds of things ever happened to you? What is it? It’s God’s Spirit speaking peace to our spirit.

God doesn’t just speak information to us; quite often He speaks words of encouragement, peace, comfort and strength. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). God speaks peace to us.

He also speaks encouragement as well. Our church has gone through some very difficult times when attendance and giving was way, way down. Still, God spoke encouragement to me to keep moving ahead and to keep my eyes on Him. I can’t take credit for those thoughts didn’t originate within me. I know it was God speaking to me to keep me going. I’ve seen Him do it to people whose marriage was falling apart, to those who had lost a job or a loved one, and in all manner of situations.

Unfortunately we don’t always recognize that it is His voice speaking to us at such times. When we don’t then we don’t thank Him and give Him the credit that is due Him. When we do recognize this comes from Him we are better able to recognize and listen to His voice next time we need peace or encouragement. Instead of shutting that voice off we must know it is from God so we listen to it.

This peace and encouragement comes when we turn to God in difficult situations. It can be in response to prayer, Bible reading, singing or anything that focuses our attention onto God.

Charles Stanley explains it this way:

As you pray and read, trust the Holy Spirit to quicken your spirit to His truth. You may feel this as a warmth inside, or you may feel a great sense of absoluteness about a particular verse. Sometimes the words on the page of your Bible may seem to stand out to you as if they were written in bold headlines. Sometimes you may not be able to get away from a particular passage. It comes repeatedly to your mind, and you can’t seem to shake it from memory.

Spend time now letting God fill you with His peace and encouragement. Ask Him for it in areas where it is needed and listen to His voice speaking that to your spirit. Thank Him for it.

Careful little thumbs what you text

2010-01-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

I was reading II Corinthians 10:10 today: "His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing." That text triggered this thought: some of us are very different people "in person" than we are "behind the computer." And I don't think that is healthy or holy.

I'm not just talking about bloggers who write irresponsibly about that which they do not know. I think it's easier to slander someone orspread gossip from the comfortable confines of your computer.Somehow the medium excuses the sin. It doesn't. All it does is a keep a written record of what you've done wrong. I'm not trying to get on a soapbox. I just think communication mediums can be used for good or evil. They can help us grow spiritually or become a spiritual snare.

To redeem an old saying: be careful little thumbs what you text. That goes for blogging, twittering, and emailing too! Keep it righteous! After all, God is blind copied (BCC) on everything we write!

How you can help...

2010-01-15T10:04:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for an organization to channel your money through for Haiti—and you probably should be—here are some options.

Update: Another ministry to consider giving to is Real Hope for Haiti Rescue Center. They're operating one of the only clinics near the epicenter that's open right now.

What do you think...

2010-01-12T14:28:00.000-08:00

If God is Love, and We are called to Love, and we are called to Love Others, then how does our ability to Love others display who Christ really is?

Do People Even Know We Have One?

2009-05-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

Something to think about today: when a parent or student visits your church, it needs to be obvious when, where and what your student ministry is all about. Walk around your church like an outsider this week and see how you do. Can a first-time guest easily identify your ministry to students exists, and know how to easily get into it? This is something that has come to my attention what can we do to make Student Ministries visible to our visitors, church body, and passers by. Does it mean permanent signs instead of posters, I don't know, but we need to let our students know that we have something for them, that we care about them, and for the parents to know that your students are a priority and we care enough about them to have something great for them.

What needs to change, I don't know but I can tell you that this week I will be walking around like a visitor with a purpose.