Okay, so I was having a conversation with my younger son on the way home from school the other day.  They’re studying “origins” in his science class and he is beyond frustrated because he’s consistently hearing the term “billions of years” when referring to the age of the earth.  Obviously, he is somewhat new to this arena and sees no issue with verbalizing his disagreement with his classmates and teacher on the age of the earth.  He is presenting a strong argument when confronted with “look, it says ‘billions of years’ right here in our science book.”  His response is bold and unapologetic.  For those people who are claiming to be Christians, he’s boldly, yet politely steering them to the foundation of their faith (the Bible) in which case he will say that if you do the math, the earth’s age is in the thousands of years old.  He’s met with blank stares, shaking heads, and has even received a “you can’t talk about the Bible in school” comment.

While he and I are working on softening his clear frustration with “you can’t talk about the Bible in school” comments, I was reminded of a larger struggle that many of us face today - not necessarily about discussions around the age of the earth and creation, but more about recognizing that when you stand with Jesus, you will be seen differently.  You will be thought of differently.  You will be heard differently.  You will be different.

Are you prepared for that?  I mean, REALLY prepared?

Jesus was pretty clear that “being different” was actually part of the norm for the Christian life.  In fact, He said you will be blessed when you’re not only seen as different, but when you’re called out - made fun of - persecuted… all for His name’s sake. (Matthew 5:11)

Blessed? really?  That doesn’t sound like a blessing to me.  In fact, because I can tend to be a “people pleaser” if I don’t watch it, that sounds like torture to me.  I’ve been seen as different most of my life for one reason or another, and while I’ve come to accept it, there are many that aren’t quite ready to be “that guy” or to be “that girl” who says those things, who posts those things on Facebook, who won’t watch this or won’t read that because we know it’s probably not the best choice if we’re trying to be more like Jesus.

But that doesn’t change what Jesus said.  Let’s face it.  He was human JUST like we are.  The Bible is clear that He was tempted in ALL ways like we are - and that may even mean that there were times He just wanted to fit in instead of stand out… but by the strength of the Spirit, He didn’t cave.  He set the example.  He didn’t do it rudely, viciously, or proudly.  He did it lovingly.

“Speak the truth in love…” (Ephesians 4:15) Jesus did it perfectly.  He was reviled for His words.  He was tortured for His words.  BUT, He was also blessed for His words.  How do I know?  Where is He right now?  yeah… I’d call that a blessing, wouldn’t you?

We can all learn a lesson from my 5th grader… and from Jesus.  Being different isn’t going to always be fun.  Sometimes it may hurt.  But through that hurt, blessings will abound.  How do I know?  Jesus said so.

#LoveJesus #LovePeople #BeBlessed

So, a funny thing happened…

… during our worship time Sunday morning.  The service was going well and I was about 5-10 minutes from ending my talk when it happened.

Within my talk, we were discussing how Mark 1:21-28 shows Jesus’ authority over demons, but the specific guy talked about in this passage apparently had internal demons he was dealing with, because if he would’ve been considered “unclean” externally, there’s no way he would’ve been in the synagogue.  That means he was most likely present at the synagogue before Jesus showed up and may have even been involved in the community there - all the while, hiding his “secret.”

BUT, when Jesus showed up and began speaking the truth - the ABSOLUTE truth that was spoken in COMPLETE love from GOD HIMSELF, the sin/evil/demon this man had been hiding couldn’t handle it.  He immediately recognized Jesus as “the Holy One of God” and was clearly unhappy that Jesus was there.  WHY??  We said that the reason is answered in 1 John 1:5-8 - “Light and dark cannot coexist.”  The Truth and a lie cannot continue together and things work out.  

We moved on to asking what YOUR secret is - what’s that sin that you’re dealing with that very few (if any) others know about.  And then we said that FREEDOM from the darkness can be found because of what Romans 8:31-39 tell us - we are MORE than conquerors!!!  We no longer have to be in the darkness when Jesus brought the light!  I asked if we as commUNITY church believed that we can be MORE than conquerors through Jesus, and the response was an underwhelming “yeah.”

To which I responded that we don’t really believe it.  It was about that time that it happened - 

EVERY LIGHT in the building went out.  Complete darkness.  I found out later that some thought I had planned it.  I did not plan this one (though, that would’ve been a good idea).  So what happened?

One of two things happened - 

1.  the devil showed up to prevent the Light and the Truth from being preached any more (that didn’t work out too well as cell-phone lights and flash lights came on within a minute).  The darkness WILL NOT STOP the Light from being preached!!  EVER.  Jesus Himself said the gates of Hell will NOT prevail against His church because HE WILL BUILD IT. (Matt. 16:18)  That ol’ devil tried to trump the preaching of God’s Word and he failed miserably… and for that, we PRAISE KING JESUS!!!!!

2.  The Spirit showed up to find out just who was willing to step out of the darkness into the Light.  Those who had the lackluster response when I asked who actually believed Romans 8 had their eyes opened in a very real and literal way.  We saw people step out of the darkness, literally and figuratively.  We saw people repenting of their sins around the pulpit.  We saw a 16-yr old finally confess Jesus as her Savior and desire to make Him her Lord!!!  

In any case, God was glorified through the power being knocked out!!!  We all got a wake up call!!  And let me say this - if you didn’t believe Romans 8:31-39 before, do you believe it now?  I certainly hope so, because you saw it in effect Sunday morning.

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!!!!

As a follow-up to Sunday’s talk about Jesus’ call to the disciples to “Follow Me,” we need to make sure we remove the roadblocks that your head and your heart are already putting up…  It’s SO EASY to get fired up after a good talk on Sunday, but lose all momentum by Monday afternoon or Tuesday.  We so easily lose sight of God’s greater purpose for us (and we’re not alone - don’t forget the disciples went back to fishing when they thought Jesus was gone - John 21:3).

Remember what we said Sunday?  Sometimes we don’t sugar-coat it - we just refuse to follow Jesus.  Other times, we’re REALLY GOOD about leaving our nets immediately, but we’re HORRIBLE about going back to pick them up again because our faith in our plan is greater than our faith in God’s plan…  And as I was reminded Sunday afternoon, there’s a third option that says some of us are deceived into thinking we are following Him when we’re really not doing anything - to be a bit more clear, we’re great at planning to fish, leading to fish, preparing others to fish, talking about fishing, but we never actually fish!!!  A great challenge on this can be found here.  We never go out and actually begin to tell others about our story (or to say it differently, Jesus’ story in us)!!

What’s stopping you, commUNITY church from not just talking about fishing, but actually casting the nets, casting the line, stepping into the water, and PLANNING TO CATCH SOME FISH?!?!  Seriously, what’s stopping you?

Here’s one thing that’s stoping you - you’re scared to.  You’re scared to bring up “the Jesus stuff” in conversation.  You’re nervous about what your friends and family that have known you for months/years/decades will think of this “change” you’re going through… which leads to another stopping point...

Here’s another game-stopper for you - you’re nervous about what’s already going on inside you.  You’re recognizing change in your own life that you still haven’t processed yet.  You’re not quite sure what God is doing in you, and you think you like it, and you know its necessary, but because of all these changes, you’re apprehensive to engage someone else because you’re still not sure you understand it, so how can you talk to someone else about it.

Perhaps something else at the opposite end of the spectrum could be true for you - you’re not seeing any change in your life.  You feel like a stagnant pond where there’s really not much going on except the odor is getting stronger…  And if that’s the case, how can you talk to others about what Jesus is doing in your life if you don’t see anything??  So, that would lead me to ask how’s your life in prayer? How’s your life in reading the Word? How’s your life being connected to community and other believers?  If those aren’t present, I think I know the reason for the stagnancy…

So church, let’s be clear - we’re called to fish.  We’re ALL called to fish.  Some of us are called to help teach others to fish, but we’re ALL called to fish - that’s not the question.  To make this clear, watch the short video below.

Church, I love you… I know you can do this.  Now, let’s lay all the weights aside and go fishing!!