Spurgeon this morning talked to me about foolish questions vs. wise questions. Questions not worth dwelling on would include those questions of religious ceremony, doctrine that is of lesser importance (ie: middle knowledge [guilty recently]), and other issues on which Scripture is silent. Instead, here are some questions worth thinking about:
- Do I believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord?
- Am I renewed by the Spirit in the mind, soul, body, and heart?
- Am I chasing fter the things of God or of man?
- Do I have idols in my life?
- Am I growing in grace?
- Am I adequately serving the Church with my gifts?
- Does my life make Jesus look beautiful?
- Am I awaiting the return of Jesus as a servant does his master?
- What more can I do for Jesus?
There’re some questions worth answering.
One of my spiritual gifts is discernment. I often have supernatural insight into the nature of situations and into the intentions of people. There are often people with evil intentions that hang around baby churches, looking to devour it and it’s people. Early on in Harmony history, I pointed one out, and he’s no longer around, to put it bluntly. He got to see how polite I am. 
But recently, I blew it. What I thought would be a good situation turned out to be the devil in disguise. Even against the Church with Help, the Devil is still a mighty adversary, a defeated adversary, but a powerful one.
My takeaway is this: we must constantly be on the lookout for enemies in our midst. Wolves in sheep’s clothing. They are out to do nothing but disrupt the flock…and ultimately eat sheep.
We shouldn’t send them to other flocks. The only answer to a wolf in the pasture is a gun.
[Disclaimer: I’m not advocating shooting people, but if someone is eating the flock…I understand.]
Oh happy day by Hughes……………………………………C
You make everything glorious by Crowder…………………C
Clinging to the Cross by Hughes……………………………Bb
Love is here by Tenth Avenue………………………………Em
Sadly, I popped a string again, this time it was not the D but the G, yes it sucked b/c I did not end up singing “Love is here.”
Haven’t blogged in a while. My apologies. Here’s some recent news and thoughts in my head:
- We’ve had quite a few visitors the past couple of weeks. It’s been great meeting new people! Some have even hung around.
- I’m stoked about tomorrow’s message! We’ll be talking about John 4, third places, grace in the flesh, and laboring for the rest-filled work of Christ.
- Miranda’s birthday was this past weekend. It rained, so we weren’t able to go out of town
, but we had a great time here in G-Vegas. - I’m headed to Vintage21 in a couple of weeks for coaching with Will Plitt, my original coach-like guy from back in the days. Looking forward to catching up with him, and learning a ton from those guys at V21. Harmony owes so much to them…
- Stoked about Christmas.
- We’ve partnered with 3rd street school for an indefinite amount of time. The band and I recently led one class’ music time this past weekend. Here’s some pics (link).
- I’ve been listening to Indelible Grace, at the behest of a friend. Great stuff.
- Harmony Thanksgiving will be off the hook.
- Rethinking some of the vision/values/mission stuff at Harmony. Retooling it, to be more precise.
- Pray for us.
Check it, let’s be realistic: We are only seeing the beginning of this corrupted economy.
- Last week 516,000 applied for unemployment (CNN).
- “This is just the beginning, huge layoffs are coming” Mayor Daley.
- Germany is in recession (they are the biggest economy in Europe).
- 2,700 homes are being taking away from homeowners everyday (CNN).
- The number of unemployed people increased by 6,03,000 to 10.1 million in October.
I am not trying to be negative here, but I just want to remind you that we must get back to the basics of Christianity. In Psalm 37:16-17 we find that:
16 Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.
But, what is the “little”? I think that in this topic I would apply it to none other than Christ himself. Born in a manger, mistreated, cursed, abandoned by his own and Father for our sins. Modern day death penalty does not even come close to his death. He was treated as a “simple” man with little worth. But yet His resurrection proves his dominion overall (including death itself). And I think His message of repentance and love is of greater worth then whatsoever we can find or be anxious of in this world. And this worth is what is known as “faith”, a gift that is not of our own but given by Christ. And this faith is what strengthens us to walk through these rough world economic times. Furthermore, it proves true what the Bible says about the material/flesh-like aspects that we produce in this world: though they are necessary and at times enjoyable for a while, they will all vanish. But Christ will NEVER vanish and nor will His followers.
How deep the Father’s love for us…………………………..Amj
Redemption by Johnny Cash………………………………….F#m
Beautiful Jesus by Kristian Stanfill……………………….Fmj
Happy day by Tim Hughes…………………………………….Cmj
Sing, sing, sing by Tomlin…………………………..D#mj
Jesus saves by Hughes……………………………….Bbmj
When I survey the wondrous Cross…………………Bbmj
Mistery by Charlie Hall…………………………………Amj
Check out Brad’s (drummer) input on Colossians 2:2-8
You must be grounded in Christ and walk according to his word so that when temptations or doubts arise you are strong in faith. These temptations or doubts can stem from lack of faith but we are assured that we can know and understand all things through “God’s mystery, which is Christ”
A practical example is when we as Christians are asked about our faith, that we do not stray from the truth but say and do what we know, through Christ, is right.
Acts 6:8-12: 8And Stephen, full of grace and(A) power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.9Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10But(B) they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. This morning I was reminded of the benefits that come in having a likeness of Jesus, as I read on how Stephen was so full grace and power; and how these two combined signify a fullness of God’s Spirit in the life of a sinner operating to testify Christ’s: dominion, love and righteousness. Ya, that is what Stephen was doing and that lead him to persecution BUT his enemies “could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking”. I think this is a good goal for us to have as we minister: to be full of Christ so that people cannot withstand but to join or leave.
Here’s a sneak peek at Sojourn Church’s upcoming new album. By the way, if you haven’t bought the previous 97 albums, go do that now.
Sojourn musicians work on “Refuge”
Enough said, Echo groups this semester have been loaded with Christ centered teachings leading those who have attended to multiply/increase their amazement of the Father’s love, revealed in Christ. And most certainly have also sowed a growth as a community of believers that have felt free to express their struggles and necessities, all in return to receive loving encouragement and support.
Currently, one lesson that has been speaking to my heart is the pastoral positive reinforcement voiced through the apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus, which he has assisted in planting. In Chapter 3:14-19, he makes sure to communicate how much he holds them dearly, by stating that he prays for them and does so specifically with one request: “that Christ may dwell in their hearts”. His desire is that they “may be filled with the fullness of God” and states that this request only occurs through “strength with power through his Spirit” so that again: “Christ may dwell in their hearts”. This is clearly a picture of the Trinity: Father, Son and Spirit, specifying that all three are in a mission to lead us to comprehend “the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you/we may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Overall, being filled with the Spirit is being loaded with Christ, which means one is full of the Father.
Ya I got to enjoy a nice weekend with my novia (girlfriend) and we got to celebrate our 3rd dating year anniversary @ Hendersonville and Asheville N.C and yes it was nice and affordable. But most importantly it was a great opportunity to spend some time together being that we are 4-5 hrs. apart. I must say it’s never easy to say goodbye to her, every time I see her I get caught up thinking that I will have to say goodbye sooner or later and that can easily defeat the purpose of us meeting. But any who, here is a list of things we got to do:
1. Visit Carl Sandburg’s house
2. Hike around the village of Flat Rock
3. Watch the World Series and see Rays get beat by the Phillies in game 3 @ a local bar in downtown Hendersonville , where there were only two Hispanics (including myself).
4. Travel around Asheville at night, where there were musicians playing on every corner, even under the highway bridge.
5. Lastly, I got to eat at one of my favorite restaurants in Gastonia, RJ Gators, their food is amazing (specially their Chicken Chino Cubano).