Category Archives: Bible
Speak to the Rocks
Last week Jeremiah 1:17 (The Message version is a little more harsh!) really spoke to me. In fact, I shared it with our production/worship team this past Sunday morning, to remind them that God wants us to say what He puts in our hearts to say and not hold it in. Just yesterday, my coach Pastor Perry Noble talked about that same verse HERE and had several questions as a leader you need to ask yourself. This post may be an extension of what he’s already said, but I feel like it needs to be said. God put it in me…so…here we go.
As a young pastor, just starting out, I used to preach for the crowd and not for the bringer of the crowd. In my second sermon ever, I was basically told that the crowd I was preaching to would let me know if I should keep preaching, or if I should just go home. I believed them. And that ruined me for a long time.
I spent a lot of time crafting messages that would wow a crowd, make people feel good at the end of it, and I would even hold back saying things that seemed offensive, brash, bold, and strong for fear of making someone feel uncomfortable. I saw other pastors do the same things, so I thought I was doing what would make God feel good. Then I remembered in Numbers 20 where God told Moses and Aaron to gather the people, SPEAK to the rock and tell it to yield forth water. Instead, Moses struck the rock and then God proceeded to tell him in Numbers 20:12…
12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.
Do you think Moses liked hearing that he would NOT enter into the promised land? After all that he had been through with them, for them and all the time he had spent leading them, God spoke powerful, painful truth to Moses and told him he would not be the one. I don’t think it made him feel very warm and fuzzy on the inside, but it needed to be said.
As pastors, God has told us to speak and to say the things that He has written on our hearts to the people we are entrusted to….the rocks. (Some of you really do feel like you speak to rocks every week!) Sometimes the Gospel is offensive and sometimes it doesn’t give us warm fuzzies at first. Scripture is sometimes for correction, and reproof, but it’s always profitable.
I don’t ever say things just to be brash or just to be “controversial”. But I do say things now that sometimes the people don’t like to hear, and to be honest, I don’t care if they liked it or not.
When God tells me to say something to the rock, I’ve gotta say it. Do you understand how high the stakes are if you DON”T SAY IT? To borrow from Perry’s last question he says..
God doesn’t play games…and basically tells Jeremiah, “If you aren’t going to be my leader then you aren’t going to be a leader–period!” We are called to honor Him…and in doing so we MUST understand that times will get tough (Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern!)
BUT…the reason He called you is because He trusts you to do HIS will. When He speaks we must understand that He isn’t doing so for our convenience…but rather for our obedience. What we do in the church MATTERS…the stakes are high…and ONLY through complete surrender to HIM can we really make a difference!
Pastor…teacher…leader….SPEAK TO THE ROCKS AND SAY WHAT HE TELLS YOU TO SAY!
What Will You Do?
Pilate said to them, Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? They all said, Let him be crucified!
In Matthew 27, Pilate asks the angry crowd what they should do with Jesus. They have him, in their possession to do with as they please. Their ansewer….crucify Him.
The very same question is posed to us as the church and believers as well. We have Christ. He is indeed in our possession because He lives in us. We in fact, not only have the presence of Christ, but we are also entitled to the same power that rose Jesus from the grave. I think we forget that sometimes. What then shall we do with Jesus who is called the Christ?
What is your heart shouting? Is it crying to crucify Him? (Matt. 15:8-This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me) Or does it cry something different? Does your heart shout with the power of Christ that brought Jesus back from dead? Does it speak of ways to honor Him with your heart and your lips, through actions both in spirit and in truth?
One of my biggest pet peeves in ministry is people who have the power of Christ, Christ in them, who live as though they are powerless. We often times act like the catepillar who turns into a butterfly but still thinks they are the catepillar, rolling in the dirt and not flying (Francis Chan illustration).
You are a NEW creation, not the same, and NOT powerless. You are powerful! The same power that caused the earth to shake and for demons to run is the same power that is within you! Church….big C Church…let’s stop acting like we can only do so much. We can NOT do so little! We have Jesus right in front of us….with us…in us. Let’s start acting like it!
What will you do?
Audible!
After the pastor’s retreat Monday and Tuesday of this week, I’ve decided to call an audible and change my message and speak about our intimacy with God this week. Who knows, maybe I’ll change it again after my trip to Unleash tomorrow, but for now, we’re sticking with this.
- Everything we do in ministry should be a result of our pursuit of intimacy with God
- When we are more intimate with God, we become better spouses, parents, and leaders
- If you’re not intimate with God, you’re spending a lot of time doing nothing
- Your calendar is full, things are getting checked off, but you’re still doing nothing
- Deep obedience brings forth the deepest intimacy
- Being intimate with God is more than the 5 minute devotional you get online in your email
Not sure where this message will end up, but I’m looking forward to unpacking it on Sunday @ The Ridge! Tomorrow I’ll try and blog some thoughts from Unleash.
Still Not There
Today, as I let you know yesterday, I’m in the mountains with some other pastors refreshing, relaxing, and discussing scripture, systems, and whatever else may come up. The big part of the conversation today will be centered around Time Management. To be honest, you could probably lecture just me for several days on this concept, because there are seasons in my life when I need it. This is one of those seasons.
- If I don’t manage my calendar, it will manage me
- I have to stop sacrificing my family on the altar of ministry
- I think it’s time I STOP doing ministry (I’ll unpack that one later)
- Believe it or not, my family is more important than anything or anyone in my church
- Don’t ever get mad at me when I say NO to something you want me to do
- Jesus wants me to spend more time with Him than he wants to spend reading blogs, surfing the web, or even planning for a message
Change Your Life
In Acts chapter 2, after Peter speaks to the multitude of people, apostles, and disciples, they asked a question…“what do we do now?” They were given instruction on how to now live with the Holy Spirit and the realization that Christ had been raised from the dead. Peter’s answer was simple; change your life.
The past few weeks at The Ridge, I’ve been talking about a crazy way to live. Living as if the words in the bible are literal, and as if Jesus were actually everyone we ever come in contact with. Imagine; what if that person you mumbled bad things about today at the office was Jesus? What if the person holding the sign at the end of the interstate today was Jesus? What does it really mean to love the Lord our God with all our hearts? Did Jesus REALLY mean we should love our neighbor JUST LIKE we love ourself? What would the world look like if we as believers actually lived this way?
These are just some of the tough questions we have been wrestling with the last few weeks at The Ridge. Now we KNOW what Jesus wants us to do with it…so now it’s time to change our life.
I encourage you, reader, blogger, pastor, worship leader, The Ridge attender, random person cruising my blog….treat people…everyone as if they were Jesus. Love people like you do for yourself. Try and take the words of the bible more literal…see if your life changes.
Be the Change
