So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

2 Corinthians 3:18

I read this verse the other morning as part of my quiet time and it got me thinking…

So many of us who have had the veil removed and can see the glory of God stop there. We fully accept the gift that is seeing God in His glory in our lives but we fail to reflect Him. We fail to show the world His goodness, His love or His Son, Jesus. I recognize that I am one of these people. I often fully accept the gift of God’s glory but fail to reflect Him.

BUT…

It is the second part of the verse that provides the solution for my particular type of lazy faith…

“…And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

The more we lean into Him and allow Him to work in our lives, His Spirit will change us into that same glorious image that has been revealed to us.

That is an awesome gift that I need to recognize and accept on a daily basis!

So as a pastor, how do you approach this opportunity to preach to a group of people that you only see these two times?

I am going to break this down list style. Yeah, bullet points…

1. If you are directing a message toward a group of people that you only see twice a year, you are missing it.

Jesus’ entire ministry was on the road. He didn’t really have a home base or a “church home”. He went to the people and he taught his followers how to do the same. If our strategy is only attractional and isn’t intentionally missional, we miss Jesus’ point in Matthew 28. He said, “Go,” he didn’t say, “Hang a shingle and hope they show up.” Get out in your community and build REAL relationships with REAL people and impact them for Christ. Don’t just sit back and wait on them.

2. Always bring it, at all times, every week.

Of course I know that you won’t always “have it” 52 straight weeks, every year. However, don’t ever be ashamed to preach the Gospel as Christ leads. Even though we want to break down the Gospel into bite size pieces that those unfamiliar with Jesus can understand and chew on, we NEVER WATER DOWN THE GOSPEL. Always. Bring. The Heat. Always. By heat, I don’t mean “fire and brimstone” sermons that scare people to Jesus. What I mean is, tell people the TRUTH about sin, the truth about death, the truth about life, the truth about hope. Tell them the truth about Jesus Christ. It is the best gift you can give them. Why are we so worried about being rejected? We do not carry the burden of their rejection. That burden is carried by God. It is His grace and merciful heart that is being rejected. Let Him carry that, you carry the message. As a Bible College professor once told me, “If you don’t preach the message of Christ, it is not a Christian message.” We get caught up in self-help crap when we have the life-giving message of Jesus. BRING IT! Don’t back down. Find new ways to creatively communicate TRUTH, yes, but don’t back down.

What are your thoughts?

Does Jesus care if we are Christians?

Ok, there it is…Discuss.

This year, that changes. My resolution this year is to trash resolutions. Instead, I am focusing on Christ and what He wants to change in me – focusing on the work He wants to do this year through my life.

Are we going to live out our God-created, Spirit-anointed, Jesus-saved being? Or are we going toady and defer to eunuch professionals?

First off, I had to look up the word “toady” in the dictionary. When I look up words in the dictionary I often find it more valuable to look in the thesaurus for words that mean the same…

Toady means:

brown-noser, lickspittle, flatterer, flunky, lackey, trained seal,doormat, stooge, cringer; bootlicker, suck-up, yes-man; kiss-ass, ass-kisser.

Yeah…Those are strong challenges by Peterson, but I am personally stretched by his words. How often have I spent time following the dreams of others and left God’s dreams for me sitting on the sidelines. I want more for my life. I want to chase after Christ with everything.

Have you ever wondered if how you’re living your life is worth Christ’s sacrifice? I know all the churchy stuff to say about that. I don’t need you to give me a lecture about the theology of how that’s not correct.

What I’m saying is have you ever been so disappointed at where you are with Christ that you actually wonder if what Christ did for you was worth it?

I know that God loves me. I know that I am worth more to Him than anything. I wonder if I frustrate Him sometimes and I know He’s got more for me than I’m taking advantage of. That’s the bottom-line. That realization drives me to live out my God-given awesomeness.

What about you? 

Are we going to live this life from our knees imaginative and personally? Or are we going to live it conventionally and second-hand?

Have you ever described your prayer life as imaginative? Me either. I too often lack consistency in my prayer life, let alone imaginative.

What would an imaginative prayer life actually look like? I know that I long for a prayer life and faith life where I am no longer surprised by how God answers prayer. An imaginative prayer life would boldly ask and faithfully anticipate God’s answer.

How often do we live out our faith in safety and comfort instead of risk and imagination? I find it easy to sit in mediocrity and live my faith secondhand through the extreme faith of others who are risking everything for the cause of Christ.

What about you? How do you see an imaginative prayer and faith life?

1. Are we going to live this life from our knees imaginative and personally? Or are we going to live it conventionally and second-hand?

2.Are we going to live out our God-created, Spirit-anointed, Jesus-saved being? Or are we going toady and defer to eunuch professionals?

3. Are we going to be shaped by our fears of Goliath or by God?

4. Are we going to live by our admiration for Saul or by God?

Surrender is a hard word to swallow. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I think of waving the white flag in humiliating defeat. I think of being held at gunpoint by the enemy that has captured you.

But surrender is the heart of worship…

Surrender is powerless because we no longer are in control. We have been backed down and have lost. We exchange our freedom for captivity, right?

Surrender is the heart of worship…

Surrender calls us quitters, yet, surrender is the heart of worship?

Which is it? Who owns the rights to the word surrender? Is it the heart of worship or is it at the heart of Satan’s plan to destroy us?

Yes…

Satan has perverted God’s plan for surrender (what hasn’t he perverted right?) by convincing us that we are somehow weaker or less important if we give up our agenda for God’s. I find myself doing this All. The. Time.

I find myself trying harder (there’s that word again…) to hold on to control, to not let things spiral out of control under my own strength and while on my watch. If things are chaotic or messy, I’m afraid of what people will say. Will they think I can’t handle my business? Will they think less of me or talk about me behind my back?

The truth is, I can’t handle my business. I’m not capable of living on my own. And people are imperfect humans. They will talk about us behind our backs. But here is where I find hope, rest and peace…

Surrender is the heart of worship.

In God’s dictionary, surrender is defined as strength, maturity and growth. We can’t be in the middle of the heart of worship of the Most Holy if we can’t get surrender right. How do I know this? I know because I surrender and un-surrender like on a weekly basis. Why do I let Satan tell me lies? How does it get such power over my life? Those are questions for another day, but you get it don’t you? You’re living there too aren’t you?

…or am I the only one? I don’t think I am. We’re all there.

My Pastor Steve Trammell said a few weeks ago, “The purpose of wrestling with God is to lose.”

Re-read that statement again…ok, isn’t that amazingly profound and yet so simple? The reason it so resonates with us is because when we lose to God, we win.

WE WIN.

Surrender is the heart of worship. Now, let’s go lose to God.

Tension can be negative. It’s annoying. It builds up over time (sorta like I mentioned here) and distracts. Negative tension is uncomfortable because it can crush you.

Tension can also be positive. It comes when we find ourselves in the midst of a situation where we are no longer so worried about what others think. When we look less at outcomes as positive or negative, and more at who we are becoming in the process of living in the tension. When we live in the tension instead of fighting it, we become stretched and not squashed. We grow through the tension, we don’t shrink under it.

I am learning to live in the tension because that is the only way we can really live. I choose to grow, not be crushed. I want to live my life, not survive it. I mean, really, isn’t that what Jesus dreams for us?

I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
John 10:10 (MSG)