LIVING Sacrifice?

I read these familiar verses from Romans 12 today: 

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."  (Romans 12:1-3)

And, rather than speed right by them because they're so familiar, I decided I would stop and listen...to try to hear what God was saying to me (and us) through them.

I didn't get very far.

First, Paul says "Therefore" (told it wasn't very far).

What's this about? Well, anytime you see a 'therefore' it is (of course) a link to the thought just before it, and in this case, Paul was talking all about the Grace and Mercy of God, and how we did not deserve it, but that He gave it anyway--to Jews and Gentiles--and made us 'one' in Christ. We should not take that for granted, but should be humbled, appreciative, and grateful.

...and what should we DO with that?

"I urge you...to offer your bodies as a 'Living Sacrifice' to God."

Living Sacrifice? 

Isn't the whole point of a 'sacrifice' in the Scripture that it is dead? After all, before an animal is sacrificed on the altar in Scripture, it is always killed. It's dead. That's part of the power of the sacrifice!

Yet, Paul tells us to be a "LIVING Sacrifice".

How do we do that? How do we 'sacrifice' our lives on an ongoing basis.

Picture it this way: 

If everything you were involved in, everything you were passionate about, everything and everyone you loved was able to be held in your hands. Picture yourself putting those things in a box, and then putting that 'box' on the altar.

Paul is calling us to offer each one of those things up to God as a sacrifice...to give them over to God in surrender. In this way, we are putting God first in life, before all those other things, and that is an act of 'worship'.

But Paul is also calling us further...to live that way! To live every interest, every pursuit, every hour, every relationship, everything as if we're continually putting it back on that altar! 

It calls for focus and prayerful concentration...to live every moment as if you are giving that moment (and whatever you're doing during that moment) back to God as an act of worship.

If we do this, it will change how we go through our lives in a BIG way!

Imagine if you lived every moment as though you were offering it up to God, putting that 'box' on the altar. How would you live differently?

How much time would you waste at home or at work?

How much immorality would you allow in?

How many arguments would you have?

How much sarcasm would you allow?

How much money would you spend on trivial things?

If we 'got' this...if we really took it to heart...it would revolutionize our lives!

The holy life which would result, and the power of God that would show through would be amazing!

...and really, this IS our 'spiritual act of worship'. It's the appropriate thing to do.

Try it today. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring it to your mind throughout the day and help you to picture yourself giving each moment over to God, putting it on the 'altar' of worship. Then watch what He does.

It will be amazing!

The Eeyore Syndrome

Our family has always loved the Winnie the Pooh series. 

I like all the mix of characters, and how different they are:

Winnie the Pooh: an innocent, naive but trusting (and "silly") bear;
Piglet: the anxious, scared and insecure pig; 
Rabbit: the controlling, opinionated and precise gardener bunny;
Owl, the Wise expert in everything (at least in his own mind)
Eeyore: the depressing, negative, pessimistic, lowly donkey.

My favorite character is Tigger, with his bouncy, positive, bubbly personality. He almost never gets 'down'.

I sure wish I was more like him!

Unfortunately, I am sometimes more like Eeyore...and I think most of our culture is too.

Here's a radical idea for you to chew on: Christians should not be like Eeyore!

Think about it for a minute:

We are blessed people, by the grace of God!

We are adopted  by faith into the Family of God, and have the assurance of security within that family. 

We are heirs to all the promises of God, and have promises by God Himself that we are safe, secure, and loved. 

The God of the universe has moved heaven and earth to reach out to US, and He has blessed us with every good and perfect gift.

In fact, the Word says just that "Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession." (James 1:17-18)

Make no mistake about it: God loves us and actually loves us and treasures us! 

A God like that, who loves us like that, is not going to abandon us. He is not going to let us experience problems and difficulties that we don't need. He doesn't simply turn a blind eye or deaf ear to our needs and our trials...He wants what's good for us, and He knows how to bring it about.

What does that mean for us?

It means we can trust Him.

It means that, if we're going through tough times, He knows it. He does not let us suffer needlessly.

It may be for our growth, it may be to prepare us for blessing, it may be to help us to learn to really 'worship' Him at a deeper level, it may be so that we can have an influence over someone's else's eternal future...or any one of a thousand other reasons. But God has us there, and He is there in the midst of it with us!

Remember, He is working from an eternal perspective, and He is is working for our good!

If you are struggling with circumstances and you wonder why God has you in them, and why He's not intervening, don't despair! Don't give up! Don't assume that He is not the loving, caring, wise and powerful God that you thought He was! 

Instead, reaffirm your faith and trust. Pray your heart out. Let Him know your struggles and your needs...but don't turn your back on Him! He is still there and is still the great God who loves you.

Don't become an 'Eeyore', looking at your circumstances negatively. Rather, by faith, be more like Tigger--knowing He is going to care for you and help you to grow--'Bounce' on it. 

He is working--in your circumstances, on your behalf. He loves you and NOTHING can separate you from that love.

"Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? 

Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?...

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love." (Romans 8:35-38)

Where Do YOU Run?

We all have those days...

It seems like 'everything' is going wrong, it seems that we're facing hostility from others. In fact, it bay be actually true that you and I face days in which we are literally being attacked!

Where do you run to?

On days like that, we have a tendency to resort to trying to 'fix' things by ourselves. We may breathe a quick 'help!' prayer, but we tend to try to 'figure it out'. If we know that we can't we'll call some friends who can.

On far too many occasions, if nothing else works and we are at the end of our rope, then we'll really pray...when we've got no options left.

Is God gracious enough to come through even then?

Yes!

...but wouldn't it be great if we could learn from past experience of His wisdom, love and power so that, in future situations, we'd go to Him first...and stay there?!

Take King Asa, for example. In 2 Chronicles 16, we find him and his kingdom (Judah) being attacked by Baasha and his kingdom (Israel). 

It was looking pretty bad for Judah and its king. 

So what did the king do? How did he handle this crisis? 

Did he call on the God of his ancestors?
Did he petition the God who had recently saved him from a much greater threat?

No. 

Instead he took silver and gold out of the Lord's treasury, and sent it to Ben-Hadad, king of Aram. He made a treaty with Ben-Hadad to protect him from Baasha and his army, and he used the silver and gold belonging to the Lord and the temple treasury to do it.

He robbed God and took what was His, and then he slapped God in the face by going to another person, instead of going back to Him (after He had already rescued Asa once). 

God sent the prophet Hanani to confront Asa about it.

Hanani said,

“Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. 

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.” (2 Chronicles 16:7-9) 

What was his reaction? 

Repentance? Sorrow? Brokenness and regret? 

No. Instead he threw Hanani in prison. 

Unfortunately, Asa's life from that point forward was filled with war, and he died that way. All of the good things he had done before, and all of the great things he'd experienced from God were out the window. 

Asa instead decided to 'figure things out' his own way, instead of relying on, and glorifying, God.

What is the message to us?

When we are facing tough circumstances, or attacks from others, don't wait to go to the Lord as a 'last resort', rather, go to Him FIRST--and remain there! Make the decision to fully follow Him, to fully lean on Him, and to fully trust Him, and HE WILL STRENGTHEN YOU!

He is searching for those who are fully committed to Him, and He wants to support us.

Let's make sure when His eyes see us, they see one who is running...to HIM!

For or Against?

What are you "For"?

What are you "Against"?

In our society today, people often get stuck into a category: 
"Oh, him? He's for _____"!
"Oh yeah...I heard she was against______".

And then we write them off, or welcome them in, depending on our point of view on that same subject.

So, what are you 'for'? Against?

As a believer in Jesus Christ, I want to be 'For' HIM! His Word, His example, His values, His approach.

Here's the problem: No matter how hard I try, I don't do it perfectly. 

Truth is, I'm never going to follow Him perfectly...not in this life, anyway.

I should continue to make that my goal, however!

So...when things get crazy--as they did this week--in our culture, I need to make sure I'm standing on the right side of the 'issues', from the perspective of His Word (after all, I'm a Jesus follower, not a culture follower)...but I need to make sure that I'm doing so in a way that honors His heart, approach and example also. 

I must strive to be defined by what I'm FOR as much or more than what I'm against. 

For example, I believe, based on the Word of God, and for other reasons, that so called "Homosexual Marriage" is wrong, and is outside the will of God. While I was not surprised that the US Supreme Court decided the cases before them like they did, but I was disappointed. 

However, I do not want to express my conviction in a way which is hateful or harmful to the person(s) who disagrees with me.

Obviously, this is one of the more 'divisive' issues of our day, but the truth is that there are many, many issues in which God, in His unchanging wisdom, calls us, His followers, to stand against the tide of our culture. Yet, we often err in HOW we do so...we give in to name calling, anger, even hatred.

We MUST commit to stand up for His standards, but we MUST do it in a way which reflects Him. 

Difficult? Absolutely! In truth, there is no way I can do this on my own. I must have the Holy Spirit within, guiding me, checking my motives and emotions. 

We need to remember that Jesus was the Perfect balance of Grace and Truth. As John wrote, 

"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believedin his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.


"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth...

Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:10-17)

So, whenever you make your stand--especially when it's against culture, let me suggest a few things:

1) Make sure you're standing based on the Word of God. Check it out. Study--be ready to defend your stand, based on what HE says!

2) Make sure you're standing in the example of Jesus Christ. Grace AND Truth. 

However, don't stop there! Don't just be content to stand on what you're 'against'. Stand for what you're FOR! 

3) Make sure you're standing on the Values and Priorities He would--love, holiness, and eternity are more important than 'winning the argument'. 

As we each try to embrace the Truth of God, while being changed daily by the Grace of God, He will use us to change our little corner of this world--one discussion, one relationship at a time.

We may never 'go with the flow' of our culture, and we may be called to stand against it at times, but we can rest assured that, as we do it in a way which reflects Him, He is pleased with us. 

Ultimately, that is the most important thing we can hope for: To glorify and please God.

May God guide us and give us the wisdom, love and strength we need to live for Him...in a world that doesn't!

Following Him Together,

Pastor Dave

Break the Tape!

I love watching Track meets, especially the sprints. 

When those athletes get in the blocks and wait for the gun, you know that you're about to get some excitement! Then, BAM--they're off! They use the techniques they've practiced along with raw speed... A few seconds later, someone breaks the tape, crossing the finish line first. 

After the race, they will often talk about 'giving their all', and 'holding nothing back'.

I want that to be a model for my life.

I don't mean that I want to be an 'adrenaline junkie', always having to compete with others, rather I'm simply saying that I want my life to be 'all out', giving everything I've got to the important things in my life--God, my Family, the Church, my Community, and the World.

I want it to be a no-holds-barred attempt to WIN THE RACE! At the end of my life, I want to know that I was 'spent' for God.

"Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should." (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

It seems to me that many of us 'hold back', even in the 'God stuff'. We try to 'manage' our faith as a part of our lives, but they don't want to go too far, or 'get crazy'! 

As the Home Run movie recently reminded us, 'nothing great ever happens when you hold back'!

Near the end of his life, the Apostle Paul--who had traveled around the known world 3 times, enduring much hardship and pain, with the goal of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world--wrote this:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

This weekend, as you know, we have a LOT going on...the Mud Run, the Car Wash, some have Graduation Open Houses, there are parades, festivals...the question is this: Are these things part of 'the race' that God wants us to run? 

Let's run in such a way as to get the prize! Let's pour ourselves out in service and worship to God! Let's impact our world for His glory!

...Break the Tape!

Serving with you,

Pastor Dave

Why Should I? Why YOU Should!

There are many things we are told to do in life...

Eat your vegetables!

Do your homework!

Wash your hands!

Clean your room!

Most often, these directives are given in the form of commands from parents to children, but certainly we can all see that commands like this come from teachers, bosses, coaches...

At some point, we begin to wonder...'Why should I'?

It's actually fairly normal to do so...healthy, even!

    

    Depending on the attitude you ask it with.

It can be a defiant "Why SHOULD I?", or it can be a curious quest for information and enlightenment--"WHY should I do this?"

These questions even come up in matters of faith, and the exhortations you hear: 

Read your Bible!

Pray!

Go to Church!

Serve Others!

It is normal...spiritually healthy even...to ask "why"...but if we're not careful, we start to do so in a defiant, unhealthy or rebellious way, as though God were imposing on us.

The Answer to all of these questions is multi-faceted.

Why should you? 

Because it glorifies God, and as a believer, that is your chief purpose.

Because it strengthens you in the Spirit, necessary for the Christian life to 'work'.

Because it combines to make us more like Jesus, and

Because doing these things is part of how we 'embody' the person of Jesus to this world.

Remember, Jesus said "The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28), and "If anyone would come after me, He must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)

At KCC, we encourage you to GET INVOLVED.

We encourage you to serve with others, and to serve others.

We encourage you to participate in our "3 on 3" Saturdays, we encourage you to help out with the Mud Run, and to serve on one of our many Serving Teams.

This is not only so we can have a good supply of volunteer labor (although that is part of it), but more so that we can accomplish the world changing, life changing mission that He has called us to. 

This Saturday, for example, is a BIG day...lots to do. 

We will not be able to do it if we only have the 'regular' 3 on 3 people show up...we need some new participants!

Will it be you?

You'll be glad you did...and you'll understand the "Why"? 

 

The Key to Victory

How do you react when things don't go your way?

For many, myself included, you look for an explanation or someone to 'blame'. 

There simply must be a reasonable explanation for why I didn't get my way.

...but what if there isn't an explanation, and there isn't someone to blame?

What do you do then?

I think the Scriptures are pretty clear: 

Trust God.

Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, acknowledge Him with all your ways, and He will direct your paths."

There is both an 'active' and a 'passive' way of doing this: The 'Active' way comes down to "acknowledging Him" in all our ways. 

It means living as if He IS Lord--of the universe, of course...but also Lord and Master over our lives!

The 'passive' way is that of "Trusting in the Lord". This is more a mindset. It's a way of thinking which KNOWS that God is at work, and He has us in His hands. 

He has not lost sight of us, He has not forgotten us, and He is not insensitive to our situation. 

He knows what is best!

So, when we face troubles, we are to react differently than those who don't have a relationship with Him.

James wrote that...

"when troubles of various kinds come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 

So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." (James 1:3-4)

Again, it's dependent on our trust being in the Lord...HIS strength, HIS wisdom and HIS work 'behind the scenes'.

That's really why we at KCC are going through the "Rise Above" series that we are...because we are all going to face trials, and we need to know how to deal with them.

But look at what James wrote: That we should actually "Consider it an opportunity for great joy..." 

God doesn't only want us to 'survive' the trial...He wants us to 'THRIVE' within the trial! He wants to give us Victory over it and Growth through it!

Remember the famous passage from Isaiah 40:31: 
"those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
    They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
    They will walk and not faint." 

It comes down to this:

Trust.

He is worthy of it, and demonstrating it will change you!