God has been teaching me a lot recently. There is a common theme, however, that just keeps coming up over and over again. It’s something that I have always known in my head, but it’s something that for whatever reason I’ve had a hard time truly implementing in my life. I don’t know, maybe I have just kind of gone through the motions of my walk with Christ for so long, that I just couldn’t get to the point that Jesus has been calling me to over and over the last few weeks. And finally it broke me while Kelley and I were attending Jr. High Camp a few weeks ago. It took getting away from the normal, day-to-day activities, and easy access to technology (although I did have cell and internet service at camp) for me to finally hear and understand Jesus in a real and impactful way. What was He saying? Well that’s what I want to say to you today, as you read this article as well.
It’s not enough to just go through the motions anymore. Just stop it. Let Jesus become real in your life, or quit pretending that He is. In other words, let’s realize that awe that we are supposed to have of a God that gave it all for us, even while we were still sinners. If we aren’t able to be in awe of God because of His love for us, do we really understand what He did for us by going to the cross and dying for our sins? Romans 5:6-8 puts it this way;
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
If that doesn’t make you realize how awesome our God is then I don’t know what will. Again, it took getting away from the normal routine of life for it to become real to me this time. And I hope I remember to step away from the normal on a somewhat regular basis to reclaim that awe of God again and again. There is a lot of junk and muck that gets in the way through day-to-day living. We are all called to ministry in one way or another, and let me be the first to warn you; Ministry is messy. Being in ministry, whether paid ministry or volunteer ministry, can easily be described as being in the trenches. And being in the trenches is a very messy thing. Because in the trenches of ministry, we have to deal with our humanness and the humanness of those around us. It can bog us down, and we can become jaded. Through that jadedness, we can easily lose sight of the awesomeness of our God. But in that muck, in that messiness that we live in, God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
So take a step back, stop going through the motions, and find that awe of God again. Do whatever it is that makes you realize His awesomeness over and over again. While you’re reading this, Kelley and I are on vacation, and part of that vacation for us is taking a step back and making sure we are still in awe of the One that gave it all on the cross for us. Psalm 46:10 tells us that God said this about Himself; “Be still, and know that I am God…” That’s a call to be in awe of Him, and He tells us how to do it. Be still. Take a step back. Be in awe of the One who created it all and the One who gave it all because He loves us. Our God is and AWESOME GOD! It’s time we start living like it. God Bless
Tag: newsletter
A few weeks ago, I was flipping through the pages of Crazy Love by Francis Chan, looking for a quote that I was wanting to use in an upcoming sermon. This book is a favorite of mine, but I have to admit, it’s been about five years since I’ve set down and read it in its entirety. As I was flipping through the pages, I eventually found the quote I was looking for, but I came across another that struck me hard. I posted this quote on my Facebook page and said that I would write more about it at a later time. Well, it’s about a month later, but this quote is what I want to talk about in my newsletter article this month. So, let’s start with the quote. Francis Chan states;
“Lukewarm people feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith at age twelve, were baptized, come from a Christian family, vote Republican, or live in America. Just as the prophets of the Old Testament warned Israel that they were not safe just because they lived in the land of Israel, so we are not safe just because we wear the label “Christian” or because some people persist in calling us a “Christian” nation.”
Before I go any further, this is not intended to be a political debate. Honestly, I think that our relationship with Christ is far more important than any political holdings we could ever have. So, for the purposes of this article, I don’t care what voting tendencies you have. What I am concerned about is the growing statements by religious people around this country wanting the USA to become a “Christian” nation once again. I grew up thinking that we were a Christian nation, and that my Christianity and my patriotism was the same thing. Don’t get me wrong, I still love this country and am very patriotic, but I have come to realize that, if I let it, that can become my religion instead of actually following Christ.
What am I trying to get at? It doesn’t really matter if the USA is a “Christian” nation. Just like it didn’t really matter that the Jews lived in the land of Israel. It matters what we do and what’s in our hearts. We aren’t safe just because we say we believe in God. James warns that even the demons believe that there is one God, and they shudder. (James 2:19)
To borrow from our current sermon series, we need to WAKE UP and fall deeply, truly in love with God. We can’t go on being lukewarm in what we believe. And that is exactly what we are doing when we claim we want America to be a “Christian” nation again, because we think that makes us safe. We need to take personal responsibility for our relationship with Christ. Jesus warns what will happen if we stay lukewarm in our faith for too long. In Revelation 3, to the church in Laodicea, Christ warns about their lukewarmness. I’ll let you look up the whole section, for sake of space, Revelation 3:14-22. But just for reference, here is Revelation 3:15-16, which states; “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
Do I want America to come back to God? YES! But more importantly, I want to see as many individuals come to God on fire, not lukewarm. That is my desire above anything else, finding truly, completely, on fire lovers of God that can sweep across this nation, bringing others the good news of Christ! That’s the cry of my heart this Easter, and it starts with us, individually deciding what type of relationship we want with Christ. “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:14) God Bless.
There is a lot of evil in the world today. We were reminded during our time of communion the other day of the evil that existed during WWII with the Holocaust, and in a lot of ways, it seems like history is starting to repeat itself. We are hearing on almost a daily basis about Christians being kidnapped, beheaded, burned alive, or many other horrific things at the hands of ISIS and other groups. It seems like there is just more and more persecution happening around the world, and some of it seems to be starting here in the US as well. We should definitely be praying for all of our brothers and sisters in Christ for strength to hold to our faith.
But what is bothering me more than anything about all of this situation is the fact that most Christians, at least ones that are being vocal about what is going on, seem surprised that it is happening. They seem to not understand why this persecution is happening and they can’t understand that “in this day and age” why this type of evil still exists. I understand this, in the sense that we, as Christians, are called to love everyone. So in our view, we should be able to get along. “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21 NIV)
The problem is, we think this applies to everyone, but not everyone knows Christ. That’s why we are surprised when this evil still exists in the world. But it shouldn’t surprise us at all. Jesus, in fact, told us that we would face persecution because of our faith and relationship with Him. If we believe His word, then why are we surprised that persecution is still happening. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.” (John 15:18-21 NIV).
Pray for our brothers and sisters around the globe that are being persecuted. Pray for strength to stand firm in the face of evil. But don’t be caught off guard that this is still happening. Jesus told us it would, because the world hated Him first. We also have to remember that as far as it depends on us, live at peace as well.
God Bless,
Kraig
It is no secret, whatsoever, that I plan to focus on Spiritual maturity and depth over the coming year, for myself, and for our faith family. That’s what our current series of “Not a Fan” is all about. Becoming a truly committed follower of Jesus, and then growing in Him. So, we started off the year with a series designed to start the conversation of what a true follower looks like. There are still two more sermons in this series, but where do we go from there? What is the next step after we decide to become a completely committed follower of Jesus? As I have stated, it’s not just a one time decision. It takes making the decision daily to pick up our cross and follow Jesus. And there are going to be days where we fail, but we have to try and make that a daily decision.
So, what’s next? Starting February 15, we are going into a four part series on Spiritual disciplines. I know that at first glance, that may not sound exciting, especially since it has the word discipline in it. I get it, but have you ever put any thought into what Spiritual disciplines actually are? If you want a little head start with where we are going, we are going to be using Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline as our jumping off point for this study. Foster breaks the disciplines down into three categories, so we will be tackling our series this way. The first week will be a general study of what Spiritual disciplines are, and why they are important. And then we will take Fosters three categories, one each week.
This will be a very generally study, as we could spend a couple of months or more on them if we took each individual discipline by themselves. Foster’s three categories are “The Inward Disciplines (Meditation, Prayer, Fasting, Study)”, “The Outward Disciplines (Simplicity, Solitude, Submission, Service)”, and “The Corporate Disciplines (Confession, Worship, Guidance, Celebration)”. In his introductory chapter to the disciplines, Foster states;
Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people…Joy is the keynote of all the Disciplines. The purpose of the Disciplines is liberation from the stifling slavery to self-interest and fear.
Kit Dotson, a friend from Tennessee says this about the importance of Spiritual disciplines;
The importance and beauty of spiritual disciplines is that in practicing them, we are intentionally aware of the presence of God. They do not bring us into the presence of God because He is constantly present. To often though, we find ourselves going hours, days, or weeks with no awareness or thought of the creator of the universe who loved us and sent His Son to die for us. When we are forgetful, we tend to wander. When we are aware of the amazing presence of God, we have the hope that we will be transformed. Spiritual disciplines are intentional opportunities for us to live in full awareness of God and be changed to look more like His Son.
I hope that this short introduction to Spiritual disciplines helps you get interested to learn more. Foster’s book, The Celebration of Discipline is one of many books if it’s something you would be interested in learning more about the subject.
Because of Him, Kraig B.
So, we are in a new year. It’s almost unbelievable that 2015 is already here. Whether you missed the last Sunday of 2014 at Central or not, I want to recap a little about our year in 2014 and highlight a couple of things we are looking forward to in 2015, one of which we did not talk about last Sunday. I love the new year. It’s a great time to start something new, and build on what happened over the past year. Or it can be a time for a fresh start, forgetting what happened in the past year. But I don’t want to forget what happened in 2014. There was some struggle and hardship, but there has been a lot of good that has come out of all of it as well. Kelley and I got to meet our new faith family and get welcomed to a new church better than we could have ever imagined. Thank you for that Central! We are here for the long haul and look forward to working with you to reach the community in Carlsbad for years to come!
We talked publicly about some of the plans we have for Central in the coming year last Sunday, and I want to recap some of them, and let you in on another. We want to focus on spiritual maturity in the year to come, and plan to do this a number of ways. This includes an emphasis on Bible study, in fact starting January 1 many of us are attempting to read through the Bible in 90 days. We also want to emphasize our Sunday school and Bible study programs. Our sermon series for the year will be concentrated around the idea of spiritual maturity. And we also announced that in the fall of 2015, we will be launching a church wide small group program. We are excited about all of this, and we feel that God has His hand in all of these plans.
Along with spiritual maturity, we want to focus on outreach to our community, specifically to those that are not attending church somewhere. This is what I want to draw your attention to now. I had it in the announcements of the last newsletter, but wanted to highlight it in my article this month. Valarie Waddle is in the process of beginning a stay at home moms group for moms in our community. This will be a group designed around encouragement for moms but it’s also going to serve as a potential outreach for Central Christian Church to our community. We don’t have many stay at home moms in out church right now, so many of these moms that Valarie will be reaching will be unchurched moms. What better way to reach out than providing a support group with other moms. We want to support Valarie in this effort, whether we see any actual growth in our attendance on Sundays or not. This is where you come in. First, we ask for your prayer for this effort, but also, if you know of any stay at home moms in the community, let Valarie or myself know, so that we can reach out to them. Let’s start reaching our community for Christ, one person at a time.
Because of Him, Kraig B.
*December 2014 Newsletter article*
It’s one of my favorite times of the year. I’ve got Trans- Siberian Orchestra playing in my headphones, trying to figure out what to get all my friends and family, and honestly, missing the cool weather and snow that this time of year brings back in TN and OH. It’s the season of Christmas! There are many things to look forward to during this time of year. Getting to spend time with family, eggnog, Christmas cookies, presents, and countless other things.
None of those things even comes close to comparing to the best thing that we get to celebrate during this time of year. Jesus was born in a manger, the lowliest of places for the God of the universe to begin His time on this earth as a human.
But He did that so that He could live a perfect human life! Through His perfect life, He was able to become the sacrifice for our sins, and take our place on the cross, giving us a chance to have a relationship with God. A relationship that was broken by our sin. The cross that we celebrate around Easter, and frankly all year, is important. But so is Jesus’ birth, because it is the beginning of the greatest part of the best story ever told.
We get caught up with all the gifts and celebrations of this time of year. And there is nothing wrong with those things by themselves. It’s when we let them take focus from the true meaning of this season. It’s not Happy Holidays, it’s Merry Christmas! Let’s remember the real reason we celebrate this time of year. Christ was born as a human to ultimately go to the cross for our sins! Enjoy all that this season has to offer, but remember Christ above all.
Because of Him, Kraig B.
Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak 