It is absolutely amazing how many wrong ideas there are concerning what it means to be a Christian. It would absolutely astound you, I hope, to hear what many people think makes them a Christian. Let’s look at a few things that some wrongly believe.
I will have to confess that I stand guilty when it comes to the area of anti-intellectualism. It’s not that I am anti-intellectual, if that were the case I would not have pursued three different degrees. What I am saying is that I have not made a conscience effort to be anti-intellectual, but I have not actively pursued it as well. I believe that some of what we have been taught in our religious upbringing has been wrong. We have been taught that all we need to do is to accept Jesus, be baptized, attend church, remember some scripture, tithe, and serve every now and then and everything is going to be fine. (more…)
In Revelation 3:2-3, Jesus speaks to the church in Sardis about this incredible gap between reputation and reality and He says here’s what you do. “Wake up! Strengthen what remains. Remember what you’ve received and heard. You obey it and repent. If you don’t wake up I'm going to come like a thief.”
How do you revitalize faith? How do you revitalize a relationship? How do you revitalize a sense of closeness with God? Jesus says here’s how you do it. And He walks them and us through it. He says, “Wake up.” (more…)
Christian. A very descriptive word within itself. It can stand alone on it's on merits and paints a picture in the mind that varies from person to person. But, what does it mean? Who does it describe? Is it an accurate word to describe those who use it?
The American Heritage Dictionary defines a Christian as "one who professes belief in Jesus as Christ and follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus; one who lives according to the teachings of Jesus." Sounds pretty reasonable and correct. That is if you want a dictionary version. Don't get me wrong, this is a definition that many Christians would work around to eventually and mutter robotically if they had to verbalize their faith.
Introduction: What happens in your life Monday-Saturday?
• Kids to school
• Work
• Cook
• Sleep
• Entertainment
• Social life
• Clean house
• Check Facebook a thousand times 😉
• Etc.
How do you worship God Monday through Saturday? Or, is worship confined to Sunday when you walk through the church doors? (more…)
Regardless of why you have read, experienced or have been led to believe about leadership, it is not all it is made out to be. While leadership is essesntial to any organization and to every home, many times no one has taken the time or effort to explain the pitfalls or being a leader. You may have a phenomenal leadership team and a groundbreaking leadership paradigm in your organization, but you still can experience these pitfalls. While you want to believe and teach that leadership by pluarlity happens in your organization, the truth is there is someone who is THE leader. Think about it; if someone has to answer to a Board of Directors, it's not going to be the team, it's going to be the leader of that team. If the IRS audits your company, someone from you company must give an accounting and it's not going to be a team.
[callout]Having been in ministry as a pastor for over twenty years and being a former accountant for Fortune 500 companies, I have seen what money can do to people. When money conflicts with our Christian life and values, the results can be heart breaking and devastating. I have had to deal with more marriages that suffer over money rather than infidelity It is a simple case of spending money you don't have to impress people you don't like on things you don't need. So how do Christians go about getting out of debt once and for all?[/callout]
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Remember that jingle from the TV series Green Acres? No? Google it. If you do, then you know this was cheesy sitcom about a city slicker and his wife who gave up the city to live on a farm and the results were always hilarious. Maybe you have heard the phrase this post is named after. It is pretty simple that when no one is watching the farm, the farm gets raided. The hen house will be raided by chicken hawks, weasels, and foxes. The pigs, cattle, and other livestock neglected will become starved. The crops will suffer and die. The phrase, "Who's watching the farm," basically is one that points to someone has to be in charge and be the leader. When there is no leadership on the farm or in your organization, chaos breaks outs.
[callout]I want to give you six leadership keys that you need to implement to keep the farm from being unguarded. These keys assume you have a plan and the vision is defined and you know what work must be done.[/callout]
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I admit it, I am a Batman junkie. It all started when I was five or six years old and got a pedal driven Bat-mobile to pedal around the yard with. Of course I was hooked on watching Batman (aka Bruce Wayne) and the boy wonder, Robin (aka Dick Grayson) and all the crazy villains they took on and defeated in every episode. I have passed that passion of Batman and Robin down to our soon to be five year old grandson(picture included) and am working on our two year old granddaughter .
One of the most familiar phrases when B&R were in a tight situation was Robin saying, "Holy (fill in the blank) Batman!" Thinking about this today got me to pondering about the (fill in the blank), the gap if you will. We all have gaps in our lives that need to be plugged by something other than a catchy phrase or phony smile. Allow me just a few lines to talk about the gap between our reputation and our character.
[callout]Reputation is what everybody thinks you are. Character is what you really are. And Jesus knows what your reputation is but He also knows your character because He knows better than anybody else. As He looks at my life and your life who better than He to say, “There are a few gaps here. You’ve got a few places in your life that people are thinking ‘this’ about you but you’re heading in the wrong direction. You’ve got a few gaps here, a few holes to fill in.”[/callout]
The gap between what you say and what you do. We can say great things but it’s tough to do them. You can say, “I love You, Lord,” but do you really? Let’s be honest. Isn’t it true that sometimes we love the things in this world more than the Lord? Little things. Like where I'm going to go out to eat or what movie I'm going to see. Do we think about that more than we think about the Lord? We don’t see God as even being a part of those things.
That’s the way you know the difference between what you say and what you really do – the gap. You say you want to be Jesus’ disciple, that you really want to follow Jesus Christ, but if you look at your life is there any real discipline in your life?
Let’s be honest, everyone has different values they believe to be correct and true. What I am going to address is your core values – the things that define what we believe and hold dear to our hearts. These are the values that not only define what we believe, but also define who we are in the eyes of others. These values again, are vast in numbers and time and space does not allow for me to cover all of them. I do want to go over a few that I believe have a role in the crafting of your personal vision statement. (more…)
