Thursday, January 27, 2011
Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al (High Quality)
Love this song. I'm sure that there is meaning to life in there somewhere. Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Calling the Sick...
"Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do. Now go and learn the meaning of this scripture: 'I want you to be merciful; I don't want your sacrifices.' For I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough" (Matthew 9:13).
No doubt about it! Jesus is a radical! Refusing to live up to the expectations of the religious elite, Jesus makes his home among sinners. He hangs out with the sick for they are the ones who need a doctor. If Jesus was the cure for cancer--then he would surround himself with cancer. If He was a custodian--then he would go to dirty and neglected houses. Better than any of these things--Jesus is a Savior, therefore, he surrounds himself with lost, hopeless, and broken failures. He calls sinners--those who don't already think that they are good enough. What is the most shameful and embarrassing thing about you? That's why Jesus calls you! He isn't calling your good stuff--it will only get in the way. He is calling the worst in you--the stuff that you wished never happened--the things that you hope no one knows about. He is calling the sinner in you. He is calling the brokenness so that he can provide healing. Why? For the glory of God! If I could point to anything in my life that merits salvation then I could glory in that. But because I am saved--not by my works--but by Christ's gift, there is nothing in me worthy of praise--only God can be glorified! It's all Him! "The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
No doubt about it! Jesus is a radical! Refusing to live up to the expectations of the religious elite, Jesus makes his home among sinners. He hangs out with the sick for they are the ones who need a doctor. If Jesus was the cure for cancer--then he would surround himself with cancer. If He was a custodian--then he would go to dirty and neglected houses. Better than any of these things--Jesus is a Savior, therefore, he surrounds himself with lost, hopeless, and broken failures. He calls sinners--those who don't already think that they are good enough. What is the most shameful and embarrassing thing about you? That's why Jesus calls you! He isn't calling your good stuff--it will only get in the way. He is calling the worst in you--the stuff that you wished never happened--the things that you hope no one knows about. He is calling the sinner in you. He is calling the brokenness so that he can provide healing. Why? For the glory of God! If I could point to anything in my life that merits salvation then I could glory in that. But because I am saved--not by my works--but by Christ's gift, there is nothing in me worthy of praise--only God can be glorified! It's all Him! "The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
Friday, January 21, 2011
Step Seven
Step Seven: "We humbly asked God to remove all our shortcomings".
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
I can't think of too much harder than becoming willing to give up the very things that I have used my entire life to cope with life's difficulties. "God, would you take away my comfort. Please remove my support and my coping mechanisms. Exercise out of me the very things that I substitute for you." Step Seven is a prayer for change. It is to beg God to do whatever is necessary in order to transform me through and through. Step Seven requires great courage and a willingness to embrace great pain.
"Step Seven goes beyond confession and asks God to change us....When we repent, we turn from our sins. At the same time, we turn to God. We turn from self-will to his will" (Don Williams, Jesus and Addiction).
This kind of prayer requires courage and but it also takes a great deal of trust in God. He does not strip us naked of our unhealthy shortcomings just to leave us barren and alone in some far off desert. He takes away the garbage that we have put our trust in for perhaps our entire lives so that he can replace it with something better--Himself!
"God loves us. God accepts us. We are his. We are no longer worthless and alone, bouncing around in a meaningless universe" (Don Williams, Jesus and Addiction).
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
I can't think of too much harder than becoming willing to give up the very things that I have used my entire life to cope with life's difficulties. "God, would you take away my comfort. Please remove my support and my coping mechanisms. Exercise out of me the very things that I substitute for you." Step Seven is a prayer for change. It is to beg God to do whatever is necessary in order to transform me through and through. Step Seven requires great courage and a willingness to embrace great pain.
"Step Seven goes beyond confession and asks God to change us....When we repent, we turn from our sins. At the same time, we turn to God. We turn from self-will to his will" (Don Williams, Jesus and Addiction).
This kind of prayer requires courage and but it also takes a great deal of trust in God. He does not strip us naked of our unhealthy shortcomings just to leave us barren and alone in some far off desert. He takes away the garbage that we have put our trust in for perhaps our entire lives so that he can replace it with something better--Himself!
"God loves us. God accepts us. We are his. We are no longer worthless and alone, bouncing around in a meaningless universe" (Don Williams, Jesus and Addiction).
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Step Six
Step Six: "We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character".
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up" (James 4:10).
In my view, Step Six, may in fact be the hardest step to realize when one is honestly working through the steps to realize authentic and transformational life change. Jesus asked the lame man by the Bethesday Pool, "Do you really want to be healed?" In the same way, step six causes us to internalize the question, "Do I really want to get better?" Do I really want to be done with all of the maladaptive coping mechanisms (those things that I do to keep from dealing with life)?
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up" (James 4:10).
In my view, Step Six, may in fact be the hardest step to realize when one is honestly working through the steps to realize authentic and transformational life change. Jesus asked the lame man by the Bethesday Pool, "Do you really want to be healed?" In the same way, step six causes us to internalize the question, "Do I really want to get better?" Do I really want to be done with all of the maladaptive coping mechanisms (those things that I do to keep from dealing with life)?
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Step Five
Step Five: "We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs".
"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed" (James 5:16).
Step Five is maybe the scariest of all of the steps. The thought of confessing sins can intimidate just about anyone. I've been in the middle of several confessions-gone-wrong and I so I completely understand why the thought of confessing sins would be frightening. People don't always keep confidence. People don't always extend Christ's grace and forgiveness. People don't always represent the gospel very well. Though scary, confession remains essential and a fundamental biblical principle. James 5:16 concludes, "Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much".
Don Williams in his book, Jesus and Addiction, writes, "Confession is the only way we can be free from captivity. Through confession, we're not only admitting our sins, but also giving ourselves to God to be brought into a right relationship with him through the death of his Son". It's the sharing of our stuff with Jesus and with His human representatives that allows the murky shadows to become brilliantly cleansed. It's not an option--it's essential in our spiritual development. We must confess our sins to each other. Williams continues, "If we don't seek others out in confession, we will miss an important spiritual, relational, and biblical truth--God ministers to us through others. They are often the means through which Jesus makes his intercession and mercy effective. As we confess, our hypocrisy will blessedly melt. We will no longer be religious but real. After people see our brokenness and tears they will extend their love and mercy in Jesus' name."
"To be freed from fear is to be free to face our sins and acknowledge our pain before God and each other" --Don Williams, Jesus and Addiction.
"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed" (James 5:16).
Step Five is maybe the scariest of all of the steps. The thought of confessing sins can intimidate just about anyone. I've been in the middle of several confessions-gone-wrong and I so I completely understand why the thought of confessing sins would be frightening. People don't always keep confidence. People don't always extend Christ's grace and forgiveness. People don't always represent the gospel very well. Though scary, confession remains essential and a fundamental biblical principle. James 5:16 concludes, "Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much".
Don Williams in his book, Jesus and Addiction, writes, "Confession is the only way we can be free from captivity. Through confession, we're not only admitting our sins, but also giving ourselves to God to be brought into a right relationship with him through the death of his Son". It's the sharing of our stuff with Jesus and with His human representatives that allows the murky shadows to become brilliantly cleansed. It's not an option--it's essential in our spiritual development. We must confess our sins to each other. Williams continues, "If we don't seek others out in confession, we will miss an important spiritual, relational, and biblical truth--God ministers to us through others. They are often the means through which Jesus makes his intercession and mercy effective. As we confess, our hypocrisy will blessedly melt. We will no longer be religious but real. After people see our brokenness and tears they will extend their love and mercy in Jesus' name."
"To be freed from fear is to be free to face our sins and acknowledge our pain before God and each other" --Don Williams, Jesus and Addiction.
Monday, January 10, 2011
A Few Suggestions...
For those of you who read my blog regularly, I would like to suggest a few others:
The history of Grace River Church is being recorded by Amy Fulton at http://www.observing-grace.blogspot.com/. Amy writes about Grace River from her perspective as our #1 sound guru. You'll find lots of pictures and commentary dating all the way back to our beginning as a church.
My beautiful and talented young bride Tina writes regularly at http://www.tinasamples.blogspot.com/. She also has a website at http://www.tinasamples.com/. Tina is a speaker, writer, worship leader and all-around God-gifted individual. She has a keyboard and will travel if you need a speaker/worship leader for an upcoming event. She has an amazing testimony and is a compelling teacher.
Our church website is at http://www.chasingrace.org/. In addition to info about our young church, we hope to soon have audio and eventually video of messages and worship segments. There are lots of pictures in the photo tab that you can check out. We have worshipped in 5 locations in our first year. Last summer we baptized 11 people in a inflatable swimming pool right in the middle of Windsor's Main Park. Exciting Stuff!
The history of Grace River Church is being recorded by Amy Fulton at http://www.observing-grace.blogspot.com/. Amy writes about Grace River from her perspective as our #1 sound guru. You'll find lots of pictures and commentary dating all the way back to our beginning as a church.
My beautiful and talented young bride Tina writes regularly at http://www.tinasamples.blogspot.com/. She also has a website at http://www.tinasamples.com/. Tina is a speaker, writer, worship leader and all-around God-gifted individual. She has a keyboard and will travel if you need a speaker/worship leader for an upcoming event. She has an amazing testimony and is a compelling teacher.
Our church website is at http://www.chasingrace.org/. In addition to info about our young church, we hope to soon have audio and eventually video of messages and worship segments. There are lots of pictures in the photo tab that you can check out. We have worshipped in 5 locations in our first year. Last summer we baptized 11 people in a inflatable swimming pool right in the middle of Windsor's Main Park. Exciting Stuff!
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Step Four
Step Four: "We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves".
"Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord" (Lamentations 3:40).
Step Four is perhaps the hardest of the steps to accomplish. It involves taking an honest and sober look at everyone and everything that has happened in one's life--the good and the bad. For me, it is a detailed record of my sins, my relationships, my failures, and my successes. It is to answer the question, "Who am I?" What have I done? What has been done to me? Don Williams writes, "Jesus comes to free us from the past. This includes our bondage to Satan, this fallen world system, sin, the law, and the flesh. As we make our 'searching and fearless moral inventory,' much of this will be specifically exposed. It will include the hurts that we've inflicted on others as well as the hurts that have been inflicted upon us". The fourth step takes time, it takes courage, it takes honesty, and it takes the searchlight of the Holy Spirit shining into the dark places of our heart that we would rather avoid. It's also a step not to take alone. It's advisable to have a counselor, mentor, or accountability partner that you can share your stuff with. A moral inventory can be extremely painful at times.
To find a Celebrate Recovery group in your area click here.
"Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord" (Lamentations 3:40).
Step Four is perhaps the hardest of the steps to accomplish. It involves taking an honest and sober look at everyone and everything that has happened in one's life--the good and the bad. For me, it is a detailed record of my sins, my relationships, my failures, and my successes. It is to answer the question, "Who am I?" What have I done? What has been done to me? Don Williams writes, "Jesus comes to free us from the past. This includes our bondage to Satan, this fallen world system, sin, the law, and the flesh. As we make our 'searching and fearless moral inventory,' much of this will be specifically exposed. It will include the hurts that we've inflicted on others as well as the hurts that have been inflicted upon us". The fourth step takes time, it takes courage, it takes honesty, and it takes the searchlight of the Holy Spirit shining into the dark places of our heart that we would rather avoid. It's also a step not to take alone. It's advisable to have a counselor, mentor, or accountability partner that you can share your stuff with. A moral inventory can be extremely painful at times.
To find a Celebrate Recovery group in your area click here.
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