Had a blast this weekend with Tony Cruz as he shared all weekend with us for our Student retreat – Ignition 2010. We missed the recording for Friday night, but here are the recordings for Saturday morning, Saturday night, and Sunday morning.
Ignite Students podcast – Saturday messages
Carpenter’s Podcast – Sunday message
It’s been a while. It’s been on my heart for a few weeks to get back to this blog but the events of life have been intense and plentiful, in a good way. I’m currently working two other jobs besides pastoring at Carpenter’s. Both are part time. One is as the Student Praise Band Advisor at Lehigh Valley Christian High School. I took this on at the after hearing about the need from Bob Brennan – the principal – whom I’ve bonded with through Lehigh Valley Unite. I’ve also begun my own home improvement business – Olive Tree Home Improvements. Couple those with a move to Nazareth a week from today and it’s been a bit nuts, but who’s life isn’t?
I’ve been thinking about this and confused by it for some time and just today it’s come to light more: what is the kingdom of God? It’s used in different ways throughout scripture – inheriting it, seeing it, its “at hand”. After some months of discovering various thoughts and prayers on this, here is my conclusion:
I was at first convinced that it was a way of life – following Christ and doing the things that Christ did in sacrifice and love. But recently I’ve seen that it simply doesn’t fit with some passages. Through 1 Cor. 15 and some thoughts from “Desiring God” (which has been changing me), I’ve come to see that it is much bigger than that, while that is part of it. Simply put, it is the knowledge of God’s glory – that being his greatness and love and compassion and… we could all go on. To inherit it is to know Him. The sacrifices from Matt. 13 fit in that it is far more valuable than all else.
This is the tip of the iceberg of these thoughts. I’d love to hear yours. It’s good to be back on the blog.
As you look now to your future, look boldly. Know that the God of all creation has provided you with all courage, and you will need to draw on it from time to time. Admit weakness and do not hide it. Recognize when you’re concealing your true identity from your Father who already knows you from the inside out. You are part of a masterpiece—a picture of this world that God chose to include you in on purpose. There’s no one more important or less important on this planet to Him… than you. So move freely in your true identity and fight the war of life along side our Warrior King Jesus. He has never been far from you, no matter where you are now. Do not trust your feelings over His revelations. He is ready to reveal himself. He is ready to reveal your true identity. Are you?
Take a walk. Right now. If it’s too late then read your Bible for a while and connect with God, get up early tomorrow, and take a walk just to be with Him. Then come back and keep reading.
Don’t cheat! Go! If it’s raining, grab an umbrella!
There is no success or failure in God’s eyes when it comes to discovering your identity. As we’ve said already, the process is God’s goal. But beware of the trip wires along the way. Your pride will creep in and grab for others attention over His. Your anger will flare up at crappy food and bad drivers. People you thought loved you will hurt you.
This is a battlefield and sometimes the strategy must change to keep you fresh and alert. Your daily connection time with God doesn’t always have to look the same. In fact it should change from time to time so you can see new things through new strategies.
Read Mark 8:22-26 and then Mark 10:46-52
Why did Jesus do it the same both times?
God does not change, but the world that he made does. While it’s foundations remain the same, to rescue an infinite number of different people, God, over time, has changed his strategies and tactics. So then should we. God does not set things in stone for us to follow from here until our death. In fact, we will often come to the same situation twice and the wise thing to do may be different each time.
So as the journey wears on you, feel free to change things up. Don’t use this as a license to become lazy, complacent, or stop growing. God doesn’t change, but he does move. As we follow him, we must move too.
I want to take the Delorean time machine back to Jerusalem on the night Jesus died. I want to see Peter lose his hand/eye coordination and lop off the high priest’s servant’s ear. I want to see him deny knowing God. I want to see Jesus’ last breath. And I want to be there to see what no one else saw—Jesus walking out of the tomb that couldn’t hold him in. Relive the death and resurrection of Jesus. Play the movie in your imagination as you read.
Read john 19:17-37 and then Matthew 28:1-10
If our identity is found in Jesus and he died, shouldn’t we also die? And if he rose from the dead, shouldn’t there be that symbolism in our lives too? There is. Letting go of your stolen identity—the one that Lucifer and his demons fed you from the moment you began—is like a death. While we know it’s good to lose it, there’s extreme pain in letting go of parts of us that we loved, even though they pulled us from God. Don’t puff yourself up and pretend these feelings aren’t there. Be honest with yourself and those around you. We all have them.
But the story ends later, not now. Discovering your true identity is like being raised from the dead. You’ve felt it, like feeling muscles you never knew you had. So now what? We have the experience that nothing can take away from us.
Read Matthew 28:18-20
Jesus has given you his authority—his identity—for a purpose! To lead people to him. Not convert them—it’s not a car or a house to “work on”. Not to save them—that’s His job. When you simply are yourself, you will lead people to Jesus.
Whenever I have to get up in the middle of the night, which is often right now with four children under four, I try to make any personal stops at the bathroom without turning on the lights. I’ve got a system: feel the wall to the door and turn left, feel the counter to it’s corner, turn right—toilet. But without those guidelines I’d never make it without getting hurt. It would, at the very least, take much longer and leave me disoriented… and that could get ugly.
As we journey towards a maturing identity in God, how do we know we’re heading the right way? Personally, I want specifics—I need to know what I’m doing wrong so I can fix it and what I’m doing right so I can do it again.
Read Galatians 5
Paul transitions after verse 15. He says “if you want to follow rules, then this is what that means.” But… verse 16 says “I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives “. Life in the Spirit of God is our true identity. What it looks like can be measured.
List the evidence of a sinful spirit from verse 16-21
List the evidence (fruit) of the spirit from verses 22-23
Now list the ones from list 1 that are present in your life and need to go.
List the ones from list 2 that you need improvement on.
To take this to the next level, ask a close friend to evaluate you on these lists.
I’d love to see the story of The Good Samaritan done today. Imagine an Iranian man’s car-jacked and brutally beaten and left lying on the side of the road bleeding… and bleeding. A Muslim priest walks by and avoids it for concern of being lumped in with terrorist rebellion. A catholic priest walks past and after serious contemplation avoids the scene so as to not soil his congregation, because helping the man may lead him into his church. Then a rebellious student passes by. Their heart breaks unlike anything they have ever felt. They pick the man up and drive him to the hospital, all the while bleeding over their new car. At the hospital the student leaves his cell number and a lump of cash they were about to use for new school clothes to cover any expenses.
After telling this story in Luke 10 Jesus says “Now go and do the same.” it’s not just about discovering our own identity so that I can now feel good and secure. Rather the opposite. Once we’ve discovered it I believe we’ll live in a state of subtle unrest as we feel as God feels.
The question is can you form intentional pathways in your life that purposefully take you past the people that God’s heart breaks for, not matter your discomfort?
Read Mark 5:1-20
Did Jesus know that this man was in this area? Of course—he knows everything. Then why did he go?
What is the result of Jesus’ intentional pathway past this man?
I have a friend named Karen. She is someone that knew me as a teenager and lead a big part of my life towards Jesus. Karen has the greatest patience and biggest heart to see students return to Christ. But she can’t sing a lick. I can remember being in church with her after spending the week at camp with the youth group and hearing her sing. “Holy cow!” , I thought. It defined “tone deaf” for me.
If you’re out of the church and not familiar with it, worship conjures up movie scenes of bowing down. It’s actually not far off. If you’ve been in the church long enough though we think of worship as music. I do—I have a worship team. I go to worship practice. Worship isn’t really music at all. Which is great news for you Karens out there. We’ve even been conditioned to think that those who are better at music are somehow better at worship. But reality is this: it’s not about how you sing, but when you could. Think of “singing” more like “expressing” . Could you sing or express worship after losing $200? How about when you’re late, and you get a speeding ticket? Or when your days plans get completely wrecked?
The movie idea of bowing down is simply a symbol of acknowledgement—knowing that there’s something bigger than us. In our case, a God who is coming after us in all love and truth, knowing us for our true identity already.
Take a look at Acts 16:16-40
Put yourself in the modern day equivalent of Paul and Silas. What would be your emotions and reactions to your circumstances?
How many people were effected by their worship?
I like historical movies—ones set back hundreds of years ago. They used to do this thing called a seal. When any kind of correspondence was sent from one to another, to ensure the privacy of it, wax was melted onto the flaps of the letter and a stamp pressed into it. If the seal was broken you’d know the letter had been compromised. The various elaborate stamps serve as a return address—noting whether it was from a king, or a check-yes-or-no-whether-you-like-me note. Paul uses this this as an analogy for what the Holy Spirit does for us in Ephesians 1.
Study Ephesians 1. Really study it—don’t just read it. Look up some background info online. Ask God some questions about things. Put the chapter into your own words and sum it up in a sentence.
The Holy spirit serves as many things for those who call Jesus king of their lives—it gives guidance, convicts of sin, reveals truth. But it also seals. This is the primary passage for the proof of eternal security—meaning once sealed, always sealed.
While your identity can be stolen over and over—this is the battle we fight against—but as a Christ-follower you can never truly be lost. This confuses us. It’s unlike anything else in our world. The best description I can come up with is this: God the Father sent his son Jesus to offer the gift of being called his son or daughter. Only his sons and daughters can enjoy fellowship with Him. Once you have been called a son of daughter of God, the Holy Spirit marks you and God will never not you his again. Spend some time thanking God for your seal.
