Who is He calling you to be?

As you know I have not been blogging for a while. Over the past month or so I have been going through a lot and I am only wanting to be the person God calls me to be and nothing else. Through my years in ministry I have sadly fallen into the cool factor of ministry. I can sit back now and see times in my life when I wanted to be cool and fit in with other pastors. Now as I look at some of those pastors all I see is pastors who are not called just cool and fitting in. I have gone through my twitter and Facebook and not following those anymore.

All I want to do and be is only what God has called me to be and nothing less. I think that I have been more on the less part of life and ministry. So I just thought that I would let you know. From here on I am no longer going to be mister cool pastor but rather a shepherd of His people, a man always and only wanting to be used by Him for His kingdom and for His glory.

Church planting is to sexy.

Over the past few months of my life I have been fighting the coolness of Church planting. I am very sick of seeing churches plant and start a church and it looks, smells and acts cool. Mean while people right outside its door are going to hell. Planting a church to me is not about starting a sunday morning look how cool we are service. It is about the Gospel effecting a community with a gospel community. This film has touched my heart today and I pray it will yours as well.

So here it is.

As you know I am a guy who does and will speak my mind. I am not afraid to let you know what I think about some pastors. One thing that God has been doing in me for the past few months is helping me how more grace because with out that grace I would not be saved.

So why am I saying this? What am I about to say?

I am sorry if at anytime I have made you upset by something I have said. I feel as if I have become known not so much for my love for the gospel and for Jesus Christ but more for being angry about things. As a Christian I want to be known as a man who is saved by God's amazing and unbelievable grace.

I just wanted to let you all know what God has been doing.

His Heart.

A chapter in the bible that I read every year and I try more then once a year is John 17 the whole chapter. This is the "real Lord's prayer". I love how Christ knows that He is about to be betrayed by men and yet He prays for us.

I love to read 9-11 and how He prays for those who God has chosen to be with Him and then He prays for those who will hear from His own that they may Hear God's word and be saved as well. As you read this chapter I feel that you truly get the heart of Christ. He wants to glorify His father as His father has glorified Him and He prays for His children.

I can easily find myself overwhelmed by the love of Christ in this chapter and knowing that starting in chapter 18 Judas comes and it starts. But the great thing about all of this is that Christ says in verses 4 that He is finished. Yes He has to go all the way to death on the cross but my sins and yours were taken care of in the garden when Christ said He will drink the cup. May you take a few seconds this good Friday and be thankful for this prayer of our Saviour.

John Chapter 17

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, "as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. "Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. "For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received [them], and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. "And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. "Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We [are] "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. "But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; "that they all may be one, as You, Father, [are] in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. "O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare [it], that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.

By His Wounds

By His wounds we are healed. By His wounds we are saved. By His wounds we have life and life to the full. By His wounds the curtain was torn in two. By His wounds we are called God's Sons and Daughters. All of this and much more because of His Wounds.

Thinking

So here we are a few days away from the day that Judas betrays Christ. As we know and celebrate on Friday Jesus Christ went to the cross and died for the sins of Man. It is because of His sacrifice that we are free from sin and death. You may think to yourself "well ya a church is suppose to talk about this". One aspect of the death of Christ that we should think about is Judas. People blame him but we are all Judas. Thousands of years ago Christ died so that we can be free but yet everyday we fall to sin and we betray the grace of Christ. God does not want to see His children be separated from Him and his perfect love. So may you take some time this weekend and just think about how God loves you and fall in love with the one that loves you Jesus Christ. Also may this Sunday as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour may it be a time for you to rejoice and celebrate as well that you are no longer dead to sin but alive in Christ.

Chosen?

Yesterday at Mosaic Eddie talked a little about this idea of predestination/elect. I thought that I would share just a short thought on this. A few years ago when I started to take a real hard look at what is called Reformed Theology this doctrine was a hard one to swallow at first. The main thought towards this that people do not like is the idea that if everything is predestined for us then all we are all God's little puppets. This is so wrong it is not even funny.

John Piper has a great sermon that clearly shows much more on this beautiful doctrine.

1 Peter 2:9-10

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

In this text Peter comes right out of the gate and says that we are the chosen race. This is such a amazing thought. God ,who is perfect and holy in every way you can think, turns to some and calls them a royal priesthood. This is a such a sign of love and grace and mercy. At first this is a hard pill to take but if you really sit back and think about how amazing this doctrine truly is you will bend your knees and be so thankful.

God turns to some and pulls them out of the crappy life that they where in because of sin and rescues them from hell. We are adopted into his holy family. We are because of God's grace now called God's people. This goes back to moses rescuing ,not all but some, of the Israelites from pharaoh. Look at what He did through those people and they where called the chosen race/people. This is us and I am so thankful for it. Yes again this can be hard to think about but it is called the doctrine of Grace because by God's grace we are saved and called into His holy family.

Watch the above sermon and if you have any questions please feel free to email me and we can chat about it.

What a great week.

So the last few days I have been at the Gospel Coalition in Chicago and let me tell you it was a great week hearing and seeing some very godly men preach and teach God's holy word. I have been thinking about how I could share everything and even some of my thoughts about this week with you and I really think that it would take me forever and you would most likely get very bored. So what I have done is below are some links to some blogger that I follow that have done some reflections and even posted notes up on there blogs. Also I have shared below a few links for the videos and/or audio of the sermons and talks. Recommendations would be to listen to Tim Kellers sermon (two words its amazing) and Mbewe sermons.

Mbewe: Jeremiah 23:1-8

Timothy Keller: Exodus 14

The rest of the media

Blogging Theologically: He has great sermon notes from every speaker.

So I hope that you enjoy these links. I was very blessed by what God spoke about through these men of God. May you be blessed jus as much. If I find more

Blame God.

A few years ago when I was a teenager I had a bumper sticker that said Blame Canada. As you may think this sticker got me in trouble many times with people from Canada. Even though I thought it was funny I ended up taking it off my 1989 white van ( I was pimping).

I feel that at times we use the thought of Blame God when bad things happen to us. When a family member dies or a major earth quake happens we blame God. But yet when good things happen then we take all the credit for it right? This is all so wrong it is not even funny. Why do bad things like someone getting cancer or losing there job or a husband or wife running out on there family happen? It is because of sin and not God. We have to take the heat for it. When God made us we were made perfectly in the image of Him. Adam and Eve took and ate the fruit and at that very moment sin entered in the world and us. Bad things happen because sin entered the world.

This means that we should not be blaming God for the bad things but take some of the blame ourselves and lay it at the cross of Christ. Today I spent a long time in prayer and meditation on who God is and I started to cry uncontrollably because of how great God is. I do not blame Him for anything. But instead I thank Him that even though I am sinner He brought me into His family to live a life for his kingdom. To me that is a humbling thought.

A Mom's pride.

I am sitting here in my office reading Matthew 20:17-21 and can not believe what I am seeing. Jesus is talking about Him being betrayed and crucified and that He will return in three days from the dead and the first thoughts of the mother of Zebedee's son's was OK Jesus that is fine and all but make sure my sons sit with you in heaven.

Sometimes in our lives we can become so full of pride that there is no way to see our own sin. We are all ,sadly, full of pride and self but if you truly come to the cross and want to be humbled by it your pride will start to melt away. It takes years for it all to fall away but by the grace of God He helps us every step of the way.

The other sad thing is that as I read this story I can see my self in her shoes. Here Jesus is painting the bigger picture and all she sees is her own little world. We as called to be people that are kingdom focused and not self focused. So may we all pray for this to happen in our own lives as well as for those around.

Keep your facebook post to your self.

Over the past year I have seen how facebook is good and also how it is bad. Let me first put out there the good of facebook.

1) Facebook is good to reconnect with old friends

2) Facebook is good to spread the gospel.

3) Facebook is good to know what other people are thinking about things.

4) Facebook is good to post funny videos.

Now let me share with you why Facebook is bad.

1) Facebook is bad because you can reconnect with old "flings"

2) Facebook is bad because there is ,at times, to much openness.

3) Facebook is bad because you can share to much about what is on your mind.

4) Facebook is bad because it can hurt people.

I want to hit on this last part for a little bit. Facebook is bad because it can hurt people. Over the past year our so I have seen and heard how people in churches us Facebook to hurt people. They use it to slander people and because of that I have seen churches ripped apart. When it comes to posting thing on Facebook you really should keep in mind the thought of "if you can not say anything nice do not say anything at all". Now as I write this I know that I have ,at times, not followed this. However God has been doing a lot of work in me the last few months and this is one thing that I have watched at times.

So what are you using Facebook for? Are you using it for one of the good or is your reason on the bad list?

It is more then a religious action.

So as I have been studying and reading 1 Corinthians 10 today I stopped at 14-22 and it has caused me to do some thinking.

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.Consider the people of Israel: [fn] are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

Sadly in the church today most people come to the Lord's table a lot like the church in Corinth did. They come and take just because they have to. But the Lord's table is so much more than a religious act. But sadly most people do not get it.

I had a friend one time ask me why I take communion and at the time I really did not know and so he told me to go to the back of the line until I get it. Today I do not even think about coming to my Lord's table unless I have come in repentance an thankfulness. It is not just something you do in church but we should strive to come to the Lord's table humble and thankful and take it seriously because Christ does and so shall we.

The Prosperity Gospel is crap.

So I do not know about you but I am sick and tiered of churches in america preach a message like" you want a better car,job,etc well God will give it to so ask for it because you deserve it".

Ladies and gents we dont deserve anything but hell and wrath and God gives us mercy and grace and yet we have the guts to go to him and say thanks for the job that I have but I deserve a better one so give it to me. If you belive this crap you are fooling yourself. God wants you to be satisfied in him and him only not the junk of this world but Him. THe king of Kings, Lord of Lords. Our Saviour. NOT OUR STUFF BUT HIM.

Please if you believe in this prosperity gospel please fall to your knees and repent of the idolatry that you are in and run to cross of Christ and be made new.

More videos:

Video 1

Video 2

Deal with it.

I was part of a church once where because of sin the church fell apart and is now at a slow death. One of the problems of what happened was that the elders just wanted to sweep the sin under the carpet instead of dealing with it. We do this all the time in our own life's as well. Lately I have heard and seen sin in myself and others like Idol worship, pride, greed and the list can go on and on.

We are called to go to the cross and deal with our sin. We are always going to be sinners but we are told to always stay close to God and repent and be humble. I was just reading today Romans 12:21 that tells us how to fight a good fight Paul writes " Do not be overcome by evil,but overcome evil with good". We feel at times that we are to weak to fight the sin that we deal with always but if you feel like that then you are not believing the words of Christ when he says in Matthew 28:18 that All Authority has been given to me. Christ live's in you so if He has the power then you have the power to fight and deal with your sin.

As I write this I want you to know that even though I am writing this I am not saying that I am perfect. Just as Paul says that all have fallen I have fallen but because of the cross we have hope and grace. Do not let sin run your life but put on Christ and do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Matthew6:1) but deal with it. Be strong my brothers and sisters.

Prince Of Peace.

The last few days I have been thinking a lot about one of Jesus' names The Prince of Peace. In the days that we live in I know that it is hard for people to truly see this. We have war all around us, people are loosing there homes and jobs and at times it may seem like there is no peace in the world. Let me tell you about a family that knows the prince of peace.

This past Sunday I was talking to a guy at Mosaic and I have found that they do not know if his wife will be around the next day. She has so many viruses and some of them the doctors have no clue what they are. This guy has not be able to work for about 11 years now but he leads his family and he is at church every Sunday and his wife is out greeting people and I could tell just by talking with him that they love the Lord.

You may think that your life is going nuts and your world is spinning out of control but before you go crying and throwing in the towel you may want to look around. Jesus Christ is the Prince of all Peace and if you will take time to speak with him he will show you that. He loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. We are not perfect but I thank God that we do not need to be to know the King of All Peace.

Be blessed this Christmas.

We are Sinners.

So I just got done watching a video from someone who I would say is leading people astray. This guy is saying that we are not sinners. WOW I am so glad this guy let me know this. O I forgot there is a reason that I have never been told this because we are sinners saved by God's grace. Paul him self says that he was the chief of sinners. Someone who says that he is not a sinner is sinning in that thought. We sin on a daily basis. Today we were prideful, lustful,greedy and the list can go on and on. We are saved by God's grace from our sins but until the day that we go home we will sin everyday.

Do not let someone lead you astray by saying you are not a sinner because that would give us something to be prideful about and that would be sin. We are sinners and we need to be thankful that God loves us sinner and draws us to him.

STOP

When was then last time you stopped and gave a great God praise. Right now take a few minutes and thank God for being such a wonderful God.

The Past

So today I was watching the news and I heard a clip from President Bush from his upcoming interview with Oprah. The clip really spoke to me. Oprah kept asking him to talk about Sarah Palin or Obama and he said that he is not going to wade in the swamp water. He is going to stay out of it.

As some pastors and/or church members leave a church it can be easy to bash there past church. But I really think that we need to not wade into the swamp water. We are called to pray for those people and that God's will will be done and by us bashing the church it helps no one. So next time you are tempted as you will be to just put a toe in the water stop and think about what you are about to do.

Jesus, Thank you

Bob Kauflin is leading worship with a great song that simply says Jesus, Thank you. Will you thank Him today?

Monday Thoughts