Of all the ways to bring Him glory here on earth there is only one that we can do better here than heaven. That one way is to share the Gospel with lost people. You see, there are no lost people in heaven. Did I need to say that? Does it not stand to reason that this is why God has us here on earth? Is this the reason He hasn’t taken us home?

Acts 1:8 (NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

When you become a part of His family, you receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Rather than take you home to be with Him, God grants you all power and authority here on earth to advance His Kingdom. Jesus says you WILL be my witnesses. It seems safe to say that we are here to bring Him glory by being His witnesses (sharing the Gospel) in our home, our neighborhood, and around the world.

This is why we are here.

In his book, In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day, Mark Batterson makes a great point. People are either complainers or worshippers. Your tendency, your default reaction is either to complain about circumstances or worship God. In reality, the circumstances that surround these two types of people are typically not that different. What is different is their perspective.

Consider Paul and Silas. By most accounts, they were having a really bad day. I would have understood if they vented a little by complaining, but that was not their mindset. They worshipped God and people took notice. I want to be like that.

Too often, we pray for God to change our circumstances. We should be praying for God to change our perspective. God, give us a glimpse of your perspective. Had Paul and Silas prayed for God to keep them from getting beaten and thrown in jail, if they would have prayed for God to ease the pain or provide a good attorney, they would have missed the miraculous earthquake jailbreak that gave God glory and opened the eyes of some of the toughest men in town to the power of the Living God.

She changed the rules so she wouldn’t lose. I felt like I had to teach a lesson about rules, but I also had to admire her quick thinking. I’m pretty sure every kid has tried that at some point.

It’s not just the kids! I was watching a “News” program yesterday. The host was interviewing an expert in marriage relationships. She is a a doctor. They were discussing the divorce of Al and Tipper Gore after 40 years of marriage. The interview ended with the words, “We must not label a marriage as a success or failure based on whether or not it ends in divorce.”

What?

God made marriage and the rules for marriage. One man, one woman, in love, until death. Those are the rules. They always have been the rules. The bride and groom commit to these by reciting them in their wedding vows.

The truth is we are losing. Marriages and families are falling apart all around us. When you are losing, the answer is not to move the finish line or change the rules. The answer is to study the sport, know the rules and prepare before the starting line.

1 Corinthians 12:18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

Are you doing what God made you good at or are you trying to do everything? We can apply this to evangelism as well. If you think it is your personal assignment to reach the whole world, you will probably reach no one. The job is simply too diverse and overwhelming for me to even wrap my mind around. God created me to reach the people around me. He has equipped me and placed me here and now for that reason.

That is what Oikos means. Literally, it is your household and more. It includes people you do life with, friends, coworkers, family, etc. Some would suggest that there are about 8-15 people in your oikos. Do you know who they are? Who are the people that God has strategically placed in your life, in your circle of influence? He custom made you to have an impact on their eternity.

Go do what God created you for.

Scripture holds a different view. First, debt is not a place for children of the King.

Proverbs 22:7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

As His children, we are to be enslaved to no one. When Jesus sets us free, we are free indeed (John 8:36). The reality is many of God’s children are in debt. What now? How do we handle that? Again, we are children of the King. When you enter into a lending agreement, you are making a promise to pay it back. Our Father keeps His promises. We, as His children, must follow suit.

Psalm 37:21 The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously;

Can bankruptcy be used as a financial tool? Can you use it to buy a little time? I can’t answer for every situation. What I can suggest is that you work with the lender. You have made a promise to him. Bankruptcy can get you off the hook in the eyes of the law, but if you wear the name of Christ, you must represent the Family. You represent the God of kept promises. Even if the law says you don’t owe it any more, the truth is, you borrowed money on the promise that you will pay it back.

Hebrews 12:14  Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy…

Make every effort.

It is finished. These were the last words of Jesus on the cross. What is finished?

• The nightmare of the crucifixion – Jesus had survived the most horrific day in all of history. The agony and humiliation of the cross were behind Him.
• His ministry on earth as a human – Jesus ministry was certainly not over, but His ministry in the constraints of a human body were finished. From here on out, He would minister in His glorified, resurrection, eternal body.
• Religion – The religion of the Law was finished. No more ritualistic attempts at being good enough for God. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice and as such His righteousness is imputed on us. We are good enough when we are sharing His righteousness.
• His life – Jesus was physically born of a virgin. He was fully human and living the human experience. He was now physically dying.

A secondary but common meaning of the word tetelestai was “Paid in full.” What an image. Jesus paid the debt for our sin. His act on the cross is sufficient to pay the due penalty for our sin. One day, all who follow Jesus as Lord and Savior will stand before the throne of God. We will owe a debt in keeping with our sin. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). In that glorious court room of the One True God, Jesus will stand at our side and say, “Tetelestai… paid in full.”

Celebrate Easter!

I will be preaching on Acts 1:4-11. My desire is to encourage them with the idea that the Holy Spirit WILL grant them power and He WILL reach the ends of the earth. It is God’s desire for us to be on mission globally and it is by His power alone that we will accomplish the mission of the Church. By the way, Jesus delivered this mission to the church in Acts of which we are a part. The Acts church is the Christian church that operates under the power and authority of the Holy Spirit.

Although the task of reaching the world seems overwhelming at times, it is the desire of the Almighty God that we do so and it is His power available to us. That is a life-changing combination.

“The light that shines the farthest will shine the brightest at home.”

-Dr. Oswald J. Smith

When you aim to shine the light of Jesus to the ends of the earth, you are bound to feel the heat at home!

As we looked into this discipline of tithing we heard loud and clear from God.

Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

Challenge God on this? He said so. This is cool because God gives us permission, in fact, He commands us to test Him. What an opportunity to grow in faith. There is no way to lose here. God wouldn’t tell us to test Him if He wasn’t planning on passing. In fact, God is incapable of failure.

So, we took Him at His word. Individually, and corporately, we are testing Him. I asked the congregation if they were up to this tithing challenge. I said that if you are not in the habit of “Bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse (church),” we want to give you the opportunity to grow. Commit today to tithing for the next three months. If at any time you are not glad you are tithing, we will give you a full refund, no questions asked. If you don’t feel blessed by God, you can get out. Understand, that we don’t define blessing, God does, but we are leaving that to you. God says you will be blessed, and I don’t doubt you will recognize that blessing.

I asked anyone who was interested in this challenge to write the word “challenge” on their connect card and put it in the offering box. We had twelve families step up. I am so excited to see what God does in our lives. I can’t wait to hear the celebrations of God “pouring out so much blessing that you will not have room .”

I have been challenged or “invited” to fast in the past and I always have this great excuse. God didn’t invite me, you did. If God didn’t invite me, I’m not going to do it, and if you tell me I have to, that’s legalism.

Here’s the deal. God did invite me, in fact, He told me to fast. Scripture is full of fasting. There is almost an assumption that when you pray, it is accompanied by fasting.

• Fast is used 78 times in scripture.
• Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel, Anna, Paul, Barnabas, Esther, Jesus, and others all fasted.
• Jesus assumed His followers would fast. In Matthew 6:16, He says, “When you fast…”

He doesn’t say, “If you fast…” He doesn’t say, “If you decide this fasting thing is for you…” He expects us to fast. That was the realization for me. This isn’t legalism, its obedience. The fact is He told me to fast and I haven’t done it. I am waiting for His engraved, supernatural invitation to fast. The truth is I have more than that. He has told us to fast. Until I get His engraved, supernatural exemption, I must practice the discipline of fasting. I am confident that if I stick to this, He will turn it from a discipline to a desire.

God, I have used legalism as an excuse for disobedience. Please forgive me. Amen.

I fasted yesterday. I am processing today. My next blog will have my insights on the day.

As a man, I read that and think, “I want to make that list.” Can you imagine sitting around that dinner table and sharing those stories? I believe that somewhere in every man is the desire to be considered a mighty man. I also believe that most men haven’t a clue how to get there. I am convinced that men have a need to fight. How else do you explain the popularity of movies and video games that put us in the middle of the battle? Why is the market for these almost exclusively male? Who is watching Ultimate Fighting Championships? Men, 18-30, make up the entire market for this sport where spectators watch two guys beat the daylights out of each other. Can I just say for the record I respect these athletes. They are trained and conditioned to an amazing level. There is something inside me that draws me to watch, and then there is something inside me that makes me wonder how I could ever watch that.

This generation of men has become spectators watching someone else’s battle. David’s Mighty Men had their own battle to fight. More importantly, they had a cause worth battling for. Some combination of Kingdom, freedom, and family motivated them to do incredible things. We need to uncover that Kingdom-sized cause in our lives and share it with our sons. What is worth getting in the ring for? Is it your marriage, your family, your mission, your ministry?

Until we do, we will continue to be a weak, disengaged generation. We can either man-up or hide. You can recognize hiding by the way we turn out the lights and fight wars on the TV screen, put on a shirt that reads “Tapout” and convince ourselves that we would stand a chance in the octagon, or douse ourselves in perfume with a manly name like Axe in hopes that people will be confused and miss the fact that we are not we seem.