Now that was a total loss

Wow ... Finally ... It's over ... The waiting ... The score 21-17 ...
So much hype is built up each year for this once a year event. Already the NFL is advertising the Fantasy Football Experience for the 2012 Season.
Every one contemplates what the commercials will be like. Will they be funny? Who will have the best one? Will the "stock babies" come through again? What will a Dorito's fan have to do this year to win their challenge?
And the game ... Will it be close? A blowout? Will there be the "unforgettable hail mary" pass that we can usually expect at some point?
Last night these questions were answered. Some in short fashion, some in good fashion, and some ... well, they had no fashion sense. So now we await the big tourney's for the basketball fans starting in March. Until then, what will sports fans do?
I have a suggestion.
Church ... with the same enthusiasm that we have shown for the past few months.
We have an opportunity to share an excitement with each other at least once a week. Worship services are generally held once a week, and sometimes even more often than that. When was the last time you felt an excitement for the coming service? When was the last time that you felt you couldn't wait to get in the doors of your house of worship? Or better yet ... When was the last time you even WANTED to get in the doors of your house of worship?
To some it's a duty, a drudgery of sorts. To not go is to: upset a family member, miss out on who is doing what to whom, miss an opportunity to rub shoulders with the important people in the community. Thus these people go week after week. Stand when told to, Sit when told to, bow their heads when told to (usually not in prayer) and leave when the first opportunity arrives.
To some they show up because they have always done it. They grew up going to church, so they are going to teach their family to go to church as a habit.
Guess what? If you belong in the above two groups you have a partner there right along with you. His name is Satan. He shows up every week, not particularly for the purpose that was intended, but instead to see who he may lose and keep those that he can from going astray from his deceptions.
And it's easy. Most people don't know alot about why we should worship or even how to worship. And there is generally no one to teach them.
My wife has never had an interest in football until we got together. Now she is learning the rules of the game and what different penalties mean and she is even developing some favorites among the players. (Watch out Aaron Rogers if she ever gets near! lolol)
What is different? I point out different things, answer questions and explain how and why certain things take place. Now football sunday is a lot more fun around the house (thanks to velveeta and rotel ... j/k)
Have churches and pastors forgotten to do the very same thing with the same people in God's House? Most of us in the ministry have become complacent in making sure that the congregations understand and are able to fully participate in worship. Standing when told to stand, sitting when told to sit and singing some words off of a screen or book do not make a worship experience.
And it's not about the style of worship either. When I allow myself to truly worship in His presence, you could play Jesus Loves Me and I would fall prostrate while praising my Savior.
When you understand the why's and wherefore's and anything else about the event, it makes it an experience. My wife now enjoys the super bowl and any other football game experience because now she understands what is going on. Why things happen the way that they happen. Not that it happens because that is the way it is always done.
Why don't you try to have a super bowl experience the next time your church doors are open.
Here is an easy way to do it:
(1) Sit in your vehicle in the parking lot (make sure the vehicle is off) and take a minute to pray. Ask God to show you and anyone else around you something fresh today and pray that your heart will be open enough to receive it. What a great way for kids to learn why they should be going to church and what to get from it when they see and hear you lead by example.
(2) Go inside the church, greet those along the way with a heart that truly means the words you say.
(3) Find a seat and instead of gawking at who else is there and with whom, close your eyes and clear your mind of everything that you left when you pulled out of the driveway.
(4) Silently continue your prayer, asking forgiveness for your sins and for the Holy Spirit to come within you and prepare you for worship.
(5) This time when you stand, stand in reverence. Sit in reverence. And sing like you mean it. Not just words, but praise that you want the whole world to know that you are glad that Your Redeemer Lives!
(6) This time when you leave, greet those around you. Don't rush out the door. Allow yourself time to be spoken to, both by God and anyone else in attendance. Go home with a heart renewed, awaiting the next service and a vow to live a more godly life in the meantime.
Then you can win every week, no matter how your team does that afternoon!

Starting Over

On a recent trip I met someone who I hit it off with immediately. We were talking about churches and he mentioned about starting a church, and some of the local denominations. His next sentence caught my ears. “Why not start over? It has to be better than what we have now.”

Wow, what a statement. Starting over. That tells us a lot about how denominations are perceived. And also one other thing. Long established churches. It is not uncommon to wind up with a lot of clic’s and groups that can quickly make anyone start to feel like an outsider if they are new. I addressed this in a previous blog, so I won’t go into this again.

But I do want to address the idea of starting over. Starting over in many ways can be a path to a better life.

Christianity. When you accept Jesus as your Savior, you start a new life (hopefully), leaving behind the things that caused you to stumble in your life. Some people try to pin down exactly what actions are a sin. The bible is explicit on a few, but in a world that is rapidly changing, the list can grow quite quickly. So here is the simplest way to decide if you are in doubt.

(1) If you do something that makes other people look at you as a non-believer

(2) If you say something that makes other people look at you as a non-believer

(3) If you do something that makes you feel guilty

(4) If you do or say something that makes you wonder if it is right or wrong

Well, then it’s wrong.

Problem comes in what a lot of people do next, they listen to the words of an old popular song:

“If it feels good, do it.”

You cannot always substitute the “feel good” into the above to determine if it is the right thing to do. The only checkpoint for that is the bible. There are so many things that tell you what to do and how to do in the bible.

What? You don’t know what those are? Read the bible.

“But it’s too hard. I don’t understand it.” This day and age you can find all kinds of versions of the bible. Some versions stray from the original content, but the King James Version, New King James Version, and the New International Version are the ones who track the closest to the original document.

“But Keith, you just listed the King James as a version.” Yes, it is a translation, so it is a version. It is not the original document. Unless you are fluent in Greek and Hebrew, the documents that we have from that age would be “greek” to you. (haha, I couldn’t resist!). I personally prefer the NIV translation. The writers have gone back to the original document and they have tried to keep the translation current to the meaning of the language of today.

Find a version that you can read and start reading. Some of the items that are mentioned are hard to understand, especially in the Old Testament. My suggestion is to start with the New Testament and read one of the gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the first four books that start off the New Testament. Pick one and read it, then skip to Acts and read until you get to Revelations. Stop. Go back to the Old Testament and read it carefully. If you don’t understand a term, go to Wikipedia.org or go to www.biblegateway.com and look it up. These two sites are free, and they have a ton of resources for you to read. I use both of them for my biblical studies. Plus, if you cannot afford a bible or another translation of a bible, biblegateway has many different translations for you to read. Then go back and read the rest of the gospels, and finally Revelations. Revelations can be a tricky book to read and grasp. I highly recommend a study series by Dr. David Jeremiah, “Escape The Coming Night”, which will help you understand Revelations, as well as apply it to modern times. I have attended several of his seminars, and listened to him on the radio, and he is “spot on” with his teachings and preaching.

So start over in your life.

Start over by reading the bible.

“But I’ve read it already.” Well, I don’t doubt you, but did you absorb anything that you read? Read it this time, even a chapter at a time, and then ask God to reveal to you what He wants you to learn from it.

Start over by being a “new you.”

Be someone that even you wouldn’t recognize. When you get to church and the same group gathers to start their gossip. Stand up and tell them they shouldn’t. If they still continue, walk away. Leave the room. Make a statement by doing so that you won’t be a part that does not fit with the Christian lifestyle.

Start worshipping while in church. (I’ve covered quite a bit about this in previous blogs)

Quit checking out who is doing what in the sanctuary. Shut your eyes and start your private prayer time. Start by asking God to work in your life. Ask God to help you clear your mind of everything else that is going on around you, and start praying for yourself, your family, your friends, the people who are currently in your church, the people who can’t be in your church, and the people who should be in your church.

Start to be a new employee/manager/owner

If you’re employed, go to work and be different. No gossiping. No backbiting. Start by telling someone thank you when they help, help someone when they need it, and start to be someone that others come up to you wanting to know what is different about you. PERFECT opportunity to be a witness for God in this situation.

If you do wind up in a place where you can’t be the Christian that you’re supposed to be, find a place where you can. Not all churches are Christian, though the name or denomination on the sign might indicate differently. If they need another book in addition to the bible, nope, not a Christian group. Resources that help you to understand what the bible is telling you are wonderful. But if someone wants you to study something instead of the bible, RUN FORREST RUN! Not all employers welcome a Christian environment. Employers are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of religion. Just be the example, and pray for God to change their hearts.

Start to be the spouse/(g)(b)friend that you need to be. If your “significant other” isn’t a Christian, rethink your relationship.

2 Corinthians 6:14 (NIV) says, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”

I’ll go more into this in a later blog series where I tackle relationships.

Be the “S O” that you need to be. Show them that you love them. Kiss them, hold their hands, do special things that cause you to have to go out of the way for them. Guys, hold the doors for the girls. And guys and girls, initiate bible study together. Have devotional time. There are plenty of resources for different types of devotions, based on what you enjoying doing and reading.

Start over in your mind. Quit being negative. God is not negative. Start to believe in what you pray for, and in what you do in your daily life so that others can be reached for Christ.

In other words, START OVER!

Put Your Actions Where Your Bible Is!

Hmmm ... I know what you're saying right about now:

"Okay. Whew. Dude. That was a lot to take in during those last few blogs, wasn’t it?"

So how do we use this knowledge today? The happenings that are mentioned in the previous few posts are not just for “back then.” They are for “here and now.”Problem is, most of us are too self-conscious to let ourselves truly worship in front of others. There are many things that need to happen in our worship. NO, they do not have to happen at the same time. But they should be an integral part of our worship efforts on a regular basis.

(1) Block out all that is around us and surrender to Him

(2) Prayer

(3) Singing/Playing of Instruments

We’ll look at these in depth in the next few blogs.

 

SURRENDER! Makes you think about the times when you’re watching a movie and the cops have the bad guys cornered. What’s the usual line? “We have you surrounded. Come out with your hands up and surrender.”

Did you know that God has you surrounded? His Holy Spirit is everywhere, along with angels. Satan will try to poke his pitiful crowd in the midst somewhere, but he is too small (only 1/3 of Heaven followed him, so for every demon, there are 2 angels) to do anything unless you let him.

So when you walk into a church service, know that you are surrounded there too. You’re in His house. So of course He’ll be there too. Satan will often times show up and see if he can yank anyone out, but when the Spirit fills the whole place, it’s all over but the shouting. (so to speak).

Try this next time you’re in church. There is usually something that is done at the opening of the service that requires you to stand. Opening Hymn, prayer time, whatever, it doesn’t matter. There is no real order of service that is better than one or the other.

Start out by surrendering. You say, “How do I do that?” Well, I’m glad you asked. Go back to what I mentioned earlier about the cops and bad guys. When the bad guy decides to come out and save their hides, what do you always see them doing? They have their hands raised, with the palms pointed toward the person that they are surrendering to. It is a sign to show that they are not hiding anything, and that they have no other weapons. Try to do the same. Raise your hands. You can keep your eyes open or shut, but try to focus toward Heaven, and tell God that you surrender. All of the junk that you walked into the church with. The bills, the kids and their unruliness, your spouse and their tardiness/nagging, everything. Say, “Okay God, this is all yours. I’m not going to try to deal with this in my own mind. I need you to use your mind and show me what is best to do.” Ask God for forgiveness. Yes, all of the other people may have done you wrong, but you’re not perfect either! Then pray. This is the next hardest part for most people. More on this in the next blog.