Jump-In

This past week REAL Church was part of War Week. Hundreds of teens came in from across the country and helped with outreach projects in Detroit, Hamtramck, & Highland Park. During this week REAL Church hosted 3 Jump-Ins (carnival type days) in 3 days! It was so much fun!

There were tons of games, candy, laughter, and dancing. But most importantly there were so many salvations throughout these 3 days! The Name of Jesus was proclaimed in many communities where people are  searching for peace, hope, and comfort which only Jesus can provide!

 

I’ve been reflecting a lot on these 3 days of Jump-Ins. A lot of planning, work, and a million trips to the dollar store all went into the prep work for these 3 days. But I’m not complaining – anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a planner and that I really enjoy some good planning

But as I reflect, God had really been preparing my heart before these 3 days and is continuing to speak to me about hearing and obeying the Holy Spirit. I’ve been mulling over these these questions…

- How often do I go into work mode, serve mode, planning mode and slowly – or not so slowly –  allow the Holy Spirit to get squeazed out of the “plan”?

-How often do I actually expect and desire for my plans to drastically change because the Holy Spirit spoke to me?

-Why do I seem to seek God more before an event or big decision in my life but don’t always put priority on seeking Him during or after?

No amount of planning or preparation can ever replace God’s voice! I am striving to continually hear the still small voice of God amongst the sometimes chaos of this life!

The Message

Your lives are echoing the Master’s word all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore – you’re the message!    I Thessalonians 1:7

There is always someone receiving our verbal and non-verbal messages. Even when we are alone, we are prepping our  hearts and filling our minds with the type of message that we will then be to people.

I began asking myself what type of message I am to people every single day:

1. Am I the message of God’s hope,  love, compassion,  sincerity,  salvation,  & kindness. Or am I the world’s message of self-gain , personal advancement & the “American Dream”?

2. Am I  the message of the power of prayer & that miracles still happen today? Or am I the message of doubt and unbelief?

3. Am I  the message that with God anything is possible?  Or am I the message of worry & anxiety?

4. Am I the message that the Holy Spirit is alive and at work in me? Or am I the message of fear and insecurity?

The question is never if we are a message but what type of message we are being. Be THE message – the message of hope that comes from God alone!

Summer Vacation

I love being a teacher but I also love Summer Vacation! Here are a few highlights from my first week…

Extra time with my Dad on Father’s Day!

REAL Church‘s annual Big Splash! 14 people were baptized in the Detroit River!

Swimming with some amazing kids! 

 

 

Acceptance

It is not enough to know God’s will for our lives, we must also be willing to accept it!

What would happen if our prayers started focusing more on accepting God’s will than simply just knowing it? I wonder if  Satan tries to keep us pre-occupied with searching, confirming, and re-searching for God’s will – When the whole time God has made his will clear to us but we just haven’t wanted to accept it for our lives?

It is easy to convince ourselves into thinking that we must keep searching, keep asking, and keep praying because that is the “spiritual” thing to do.  But how much time is being wasted between God showing us his will for our lives and then us accepting it? How many more souls could be saved and how many more lives could be changed if we all immediately accepted God’s will for our lives!

Acceptance of God’s will leads to obedience and obedience leads to action! I don’t want to waste any more time! Praying for a heart that immediately accepts God’s will!

Passion

Passion seems to be something that can easily be stirred up in our hearts. Living in the city, passion is stirred up everyday – you want to help everyone  and it  is easy to jump on a  new cause or program. It is easy to let the emotion of passion guide our decisions instead of surrendering to God, the one who puts the passion in our hearts.

Passion can be a great thing but needs to be focused on what God is calling us to do. When passion is God given and poured out in our purpose and calling the possibilities are endless!

What would happen if we all moved past the emotion of passion? How would our lives look different if we each had a a God-given, focused passion that led to:

• Obedience – we stopped talking about our passions and started showing compassion
•  Holiness -  we rid our lives of anything or anyone that got in the way of executing our passions
•  Impact -  we allowed the Holy Spirit to impact others more than our personal passions

 Dream big – Imagine all that could happen when passion and obedience collide! Imagine the impact this collision could have on people, our communities, our churches, and the Body of Christ!

“Run on the road God has called you to travel!” Ephesians 4:1

 

Throw out all of the excuses and be obedient to running down the road God has called you to travel!  Chase after God given passions, no matter what the cost!

Approval

“Am I now trying to win the approval of people, or of God?”

Galatians 1:10

When decisions are made based on seeking the approval of people instead of the approval of God,  we slowly start to lose pieces of who God created us to be.

• Decisions based on obedience are replaced with decisions rooted in fear, pride, and insecurity.
• The Holy Spirit’s voice is slowly drowned out by the voices of people.
• A genuine and sincere heart is slowly buried by skewed motives.
• Doubt begins to lurk and  overshadow all aspects of life!

Seeking God’s approval doesn’t always lead to choices and decisions that please the popular majority. But it does lead to obedience, humility, integrity!

Questions?

Would I be willing to give up everything that I ever desired if it meant one person coming to know Jesus?

How broken can I truly be for people when the majority of my prayers are spent on my own wants and desires?

These are two questions that have been on my mind lately. They reveal my selfishness. My life, my prayers, my thoughts, and my decisions so often center around things that I want or desire instead of what Jesus wants for my life. I came to the realization that  - Longing for something that I don’t have is really the same as saying that Jesus isn’t enough for me!

But Jesus is enough! He is more than enough! When I start to doubt that He isn’t enough, I immediately  lose focus on what Jesus has called me to do – to tell others about the love of Jesus!

Which brings me back to the first two questions – I pray for a heart that truly breaks for people’s souls. I pray that I will be willing to surrender any want or desire if it means more people spending eternity with Jesus!

The amazing part about having a relationship with Jesus is that there is joy and freedom in laying down our own desires at the feet of Jesus. What Jesus desires for our lives is far better than anything we could ever desire!

God can do anything – far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!

Ephesians 3:20

Kids!

Every Wednesday a team of us from REAL Church get the opportunity to hang out with some awesome kids from Hamtramck! We get to have a ton of fun, dance, sing, dress up, and just act a little crazy But most importantly we get to share the love of Jesus with them! Please pray for us as we go into this community each week – pray for salvation for these children and their families!

 

Ambition

Ambition is an earnest desire for something and the willingness to strive for its attainment. Ambition can be a great motivator and a driving force when we are ambitious towards eternal things. But ambition can be a distraction, a lie, and a joy stealer when we are only ambitious towards the things of this world.

It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known!      Romans 15:20

Is preaching the gospel of Christ my number one priority and ambition or is it often overshadowed by the ambitions of this world – a job, success, wealth, etc.?How much time, effort, and money do I expend on Earthly ambitions vs. Eternal ambitions?

I pray that I will have one single ambition in my life – preaching the gospel to those who do not yet know Christ. That self-seeking ambitions will fade away and all other “successes” that come into my life will not be because of my ambition but only a reflection of how great my God is!

The Invitation

In Matthew 22, the Kingdom of God is compared to a wedding banquet that a king prepared for his son. It sounds like quite an extravagant party with all the best food – who wouldn’t want to go? People were invited to come. Not pressured, not begged, not forced, but invited.

Some of the people who were invited refused the invitation. Instead, the Bible says they  went back to their field and business. At first, this sounds crazy. If I was invited to a king’s banquet I would surely choose that over returning to my field or business.

But I realized that I make this kind of choice everyday. How often is God inviting me to something wonderful – intimacy with Him, time with Him, ministry opportunities, divine appointments, etc. But I don’t take the invite. I choose to go back to my work, my friends, my routine, my agenda and my comfort zones. I choose to miss out on the party God has for me because I simply don’t accept the invitation!

Whether God is inviting you to make Him Lord of your life for the 1st time or inviting you to go deeper in your relationship with Him – Accept it!  Whatever invitation God is extending to you today, say yes – you won’t regret it!