Friday, November 21, 2003
I was listening to the radio the other night and I heard a song that hit me lyrically like a ton of bricks. The song is by a new group called Casting Crowns and it's called if we are the body.
The chorus goes like this
If we are the body why aren't his arms reaching?
Why aren't his hands healing?
Why aren't his words teaching?
If we are the body
Why aren't his feet going?
Why is his love not showing them
there is a way.
This song brings up a crucial point. The church is the body of Jesus Christ. A large percentage of people in the US proclaim themselves to be Christians. If this is true, why do things look the way they look? I think there are two things to consider. First, the church is a house divided, brothers and sisters fighting each other over things that are sometimes insignificant, while the world dies in its sin. Secondly we aren't practicing what we preach. Are our arms open? Are we welcoming? Are we loving? Are we seeking God's will for our lives? Are we authentic? Are we helping people use their God given gifts and find their God given purpose? We are the children of God and the question is do people see the family resemblance.
Brothers and sisters, revival starts at home. Revival starts with me. Examine yourself. Would someone want to be a Christian after watching the way you live your life? When you feel that's going all right, look at your church and ask the same question. Are you united? Can people see that you are Jesus' disciples by the way you love one another? Do you have vital relationships with other churches both within and outside your denomination? Are you working together to share the love of Jesus with a hurting world? We have got to stop being severed parts and start being the body of Christ. This will all start with prayer and fasting.
Jesus came that we might have life and have it to the full. Are you living the labundant life of a follower of Jesus Christ or does something need to change?
If we are the body...
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The chorus goes like this
If we are the body why aren't his arms reaching?
Why aren't his hands healing?
Why aren't his words teaching?
If we are the body
Why aren't his feet going?
Why is his love not showing them
there is a way.
This song brings up a crucial point. The church is the body of Jesus Christ. A large percentage of people in the US proclaim themselves to be Christians. If this is true, why do things look the way they look? I think there are two things to consider. First, the church is a house divided, brothers and sisters fighting each other over things that are sometimes insignificant, while the world dies in its sin. Secondly we aren't practicing what we preach. Are our arms open? Are we welcoming? Are we loving? Are we seeking God's will for our lives? Are we authentic? Are we helping people use their God given gifts and find their God given purpose? We are the children of God and the question is do people see the family resemblance.
Brothers and sisters, revival starts at home. Revival starts with me. Examine yourself. Would someone want to be a Christian after watching the way you live your life? When you feel that's going all right, look at your church and ask the same question. Are you united? Can people see that you are Jesus' disciples by the way you love one another? Do you have vital relationships with other churches both within and outside your denomination? Are you working together to share the love of Jesus with a hurting world? We have got to stop being severed parts and start being the body of Christ. This will all start with prayer and fasting.
Jesus came that we might have life and have it to the full. Are you living the labundant life of a follower of Jesus Christ or does something need to change?
If we are the body...
Thursday, November 20, 2003
Well it's time for another blog. I don't know if I mentioned this before but I just turned forty. I'm getting older and maybe less hip, (not that I was ever all that hip to begin with). I'll tell you it was a lot easier than 30. What's the difference? God! He has given me a new sense of purpose called me to the ministry and is showing me how to use my gifts to serve him. I encourage anyone who reads this to use whatever gift you have received and put it into God's hands. At the moment, some opportunities are opening to take the A.M.O.K. ministry out and about.
This past weekend, I did an arts ministry seminar and the people were stoked and having fun. I pray that they take it back to their churches and run A.M.O.K. In the afternoon I sat in on a youth ministry seminar and began to ear how Post Modern Ministry is so image driven. My confession is that I never thought this approach was post-modern, I figured it was just God's vision for ministry with the gifts He gave me. I think that is a key. I will never be hip enough to keep up with the culture, buit if I can be faithful and keep following Him, He'll keep me on the cutting edge or at least where He wants me.
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This past weekend, I did an arts ministry seminar and the people were stoked and having fun. I pray that they take it back to their churches and run A.M.O.K. In the afternoon I sat in on a youth ministry seminar and began to ear how Post Modern Ministry is so image driven. My confession is that I never thought this approach was post-modern, I figured it was just God's vision for ministry with the gifts He gave me. I think that is a key. I will never be hip enough to keep up with the culture, buit if I can be faithful and keep following Him, He'll keep me on the cutting edge or at least where He wants me.
