Blog Archives - River of Life Church

Give it Back!

5/31/2012

At 6:30am the music and mood changes in the high school weight room. That is the time when a group of high school athletes are lead by a trainer who is motivating them to push themselves physically. The hit songs of the 70’s and 80’s are drastically changed to current music that is loud and driving. Studies have shown that a group of athletes lifted more weight more quickly when they listened to the same music as a previous session, but the music volume and speed were slightly increased.

Sometimes before the loud, driving genre of music is played the trainer will put a motivational audio of Arnold Schwarzenegger giving six ways to become a champion. Schwarzenegger talks about not being afraid to fail, breaking boundaries, and working hard. His final point surprised me. He told the future champions to give back. Schwarzenegger points out that people have given for our benefit and the proper response is to give something back.

The idea of passing on to others has taken off in “pay it forward” challenges by various radio stations and organizations. Stories are told about experiences where a person was going to pay for the next customer’s cup of coffee at the drive through only to find out that their coffee was paid for by someone giving it back.

Giving back can happen when you volunteer coach, host a foreign exchange student, clean up a park, when you volunteer as a big brother or sister or volunteer at your local church. When you donate your time and talent to your community, you benefit those around you and you benefit yourself.

Luke 6:38
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

What ways does God use you to “give it back”?
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Why is the Football Team in the Weight Room Now?

5/30/2012

Many of the players of our high school football team are showing up in the school’s weight room by the droves. Why?

They are getting ready now for playing well in the fall. They are doing strength training, agility training, core development, and focused muscle development for those coming off of injuries. They have opponents that are also preparing for the fall season. They plan on being better than any opponent they face.

There is a spiritual application to be gained from the football team’s example of early preparation and dedication. The apostle Paul writes to a church in Corinth and uses sports training as an illustration for spiritual victory.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

What was on the line for Paul was the telling of the good news of the gospel to as many people as he could before the end of his life. Victory happened when a person heard and responded to the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was placed in a tomb, was raised from the dead after three days and appeared to more than 500 people before returning to heaven. The Holy Spirit was sent to give His followers power to live life for Him until He returns.

Paul planned on overcoming every opponent he faced that would try to prevent him from reaching this goal.

The best spiritual training for us involves a close relationship with Jesus Christ, a vibrant prayer life with the Father, and a clear leading of the Holy Spirit. Time spent in the spiritual weight room praying, worshiping, studying Scripture, memorizing Scripture develops our spiritual muscles and heals past injuries.

What have you found helpful in your spiritual weight room?
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Baccalaureate

5/29/2012

Tonight is our high school’s baccalaureate service. This is a student-initiated inter-church Christian service for the graduating seniors. A mix of students from various churches lead the worship and students are selected to share about their faith. When a pastor in the community has son or daughter graduating, they are invited to share a sermon to the graduating class. For many students, this may be the last service they attend.

Following graduation, there is a summer full of open houses, summer jobs, and heading off to college. Unless the college freshman is attending a religious university with required chapel, many students forgo attending any church and often neglect their spiritual life altogether. A survey by George Barna shows that 65% of Christian high school students will leave their faith. So, a room with 100 Christian students, 65 of them will stop attending church and leave their after they graduate from high school.

Several reasons account for this change. New freedom, the change of routine and busyness of their freshman year changes their routine of life. Proper sleep, balanced diet, regular exercising and many other healthy disciplines are cast aside during college years.

Another reason their spiritual life is neglected is because it was something they had to do while growing up in their family and had never become a real relationship with God who loves them. I call this the “take your medicine” or “eat your vegetable” syndrome. They had to do it because they were told it was good for them, but the more they went, the less they enjoyed Christianity.

Many students face the same temptations in college that they did in high school, but now away from family or friends experimented and after plunging in, found it difficult to get out. Other students had never thought critically about the big questions of life. A brilliant professor or the belief systems of other students pulled them off of unsecured moorings. Still other students walk away from their faith because they grew tired of seeing people profess faith in Christ, but did not live a faith in Christ.

The baccalaureate service comes at the beginning of a student’s most important years of their lives. The next five years many students serve in the military, graduate from college or tech school, start a career, marry and begin a family. More than ever, they need the words from the Bible to transform their lives.
Ephesians 2:4-10 (NLT)
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all He has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.

What would you say to the graduating class if you were giving the baccalaureate message?
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The 11th Memorial Day

5/28/2012

Today, we remember those who have fallen while serving our country. It is also a day to honor those currently serving to protect our nation. This is the 11th Memorial Day since the United States launched the Global War on Terror. There were 90,000 US troops in Afghanistan as of April of this year. The withdrawl plan marks the beginning of the end of a troop-intensive approach to the insurgency in that country.

A young soldier, First Lt. Dan Chanski US Army, is on a brief leave from his post in Afghanistan. He made it in time to be present for the birth of his son, Jordon Joseph. His days of holding his wife and first child are numbered before he takes the long flight back into a very different world. Dan is my niece, Melissa’s husband and our families are very proud of his commitment of service to our nation.

Today we remember the fallen, honor those who serve with our thanks and our prayers for peace.

1 Timothy 2:1-3 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Remember

5/25/2012

Memorial Day, traditionally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembering those who have fallen in our nation’s service. During my high school years, I would play taps at local cemeteries on Memorial Day where special services included a color guard and a 21 gun salute to honor the fallen.

In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with her own poem:
We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

On Memorial Day the flag is raised to the top of the staff and then solemnly lowered to the half-staff position, where it remains until noon. It is then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day.

The half-staff position remembers the more than one million men and women who gave their lives in service of their country. At noon their memory is raised by the living, who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain.

From http://www.militaryfactory.com/american_war_deaths.asp
“In its first 100 years of existence, over 683,000 Americans lost their lives, with the Civil War accounting for 623,026 of that total (91.2%). Comparatively, in the next 100 years, a further 626,000 Americans died through two World Wars and several more regional conflicts (World War 2 representing 65% of that total). “

The war among ourselves remains the most costly war America has ever fought.

The Bible records a stone that was placed as a war memorial, reminding the people that God had helped them defeat their enemies and to remain unified under His rule.

1 Samuel 17:12
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped us.”
( Ebenezer means “stone of help”.)

Conflicts within nations, businesses, organizations, churches, families and marriages continue to be the most costly. Our nation needs to have a stone of remembrance that God has helped us and will be our deliverer when we are unified under His rule.

Here On Earth

5/24/2012

Bill Johnson is the pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California. A significant theme in his church, ministry and his life is that God wants to release things here on earth the way they are in heaven. The peace of heaven, justice of heaven, purity of heaven, healing of heaven and every aspect of heaven is to be prayed for, hoped for and lived for today. Jesus instructed His followers to pray for this, “here on earth as it is in heaven” and to promote this kingdom living.

In an article titled, “You’ve Got The Power!” (March 2012 Charisma) Bill Johnson writes, “While Jesus is eternally God, He emptied Himself of His divinity and became a man (see Phil. 2:7). It’s vital to note that He did all His miracles as a man, not as God.”

Johnson continues, “ If He did them as God, I would still be impressed. But because He did them as a man yielded to God, I am now unsatisfied with my life, being compelled to follow the example He has given us. Jesus is the only model for us to follow.”

I understand Jesus on earth was 100% God and 100% man. I always considered that miracles were beyond human ability because we do not have the 100% God part. I thought that the miracles done by anyone other than Jesus were extraordinary people. But, then I read passages like James 5:17 which says, “Elijah was a man justlike us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.”

Jesus told His disciples and included future followers that they would do greater things than He has done. I have concluded that Jesus really expected His disciples to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons and proclaim the kingdom of God. Jesus really expects followers today to do the same.

Like Bill Johnson, I am compelled to follow Jesus’ example. It seems like a very high and difficult standard to follow. The strategy is simple.
Only do what the Father is doing.
How?
By being completed yielded to God.

What is your reaction to Bill Johnsons’ statements?
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Correct Correcting

5/23/2012

Everyone is in a position of either giving or receiving correction; whether you are a parent, teacher, student, church volunteer, business owner or a new employee. Each of us can easily remember times of harsh or unfair correction. Hopefully you also have people in your life who build you up with encouragement and careful correction. These people are true gifts because they see your strengths, weaknesses and have your best interest in mind.

Priscilla and Aquila were a husband/wife team who gave correct correcting to a friend named Apollos.
Acts 18:24-26 (NIV)
24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

They realized two things about Apollos. One, he was sharp and smart with God’s word. Two, he was missing some key truths that should be part of his life and his teachings. With courtesy and respect, they corrected him in the privacy of their home.

Seven keys to giving correction:
1.       Publicly praise, privately correct.
2.       Begin by sharing strengths and positive points.
3.       Be truthful, factual, and respectful.
4.       Suggest brief strategies for improvement or change.
5.       Offer a time-frame for accomplishing the improvement and ask if it is a fair expectation.
6.       Schedule a follow-up meeting. (Step #4 and #5 are for a work review setting.)
7.       Finish with encouragement, review the strengths and share confidence in their abilities.

Wise leaders and people value honesty.
Proverbs 16: 13 (NIV)
13 Kings take pleasure in honest lips;
    they value a man who speaks the truth.
You may not always receive correct correction, but can still benefit from incorrect correction.

Six keys to receiving correction:
1.       Listen well.
2.       Do not defend or argue.
3.       Embrace what is accurate.
4.       Ignore caustic criticism.
5.       Ask if there is anything else the person wishes to include.
6.       Thank them for their comments.

Proverbs 16:23-25 (NIV)
23 A wise man’s heart guides his mouth,
    and his lips promote instruction.
24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb,     sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

What have you found helpful giving or receiving correction?
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Mark's World and God's World

5/22/2012

God’s world is so much different than my world. The way He chooses to do things is so much better than the way I do things.

In my world, if expectations are not met the consequences are negative. When our children were growing up, an unpleasant summertime activity was weeding the garden. There was a greater success if there was a specific reward when the weeding was complete. If the garden was weeded in the morning I would take them swimming, or some reward for their success.

If they breached the unwritten contract there would be a new contract without a reward and perhaps a punishment. Because they did not finish weeding, they were not going swimming and they had to clean their rooms instead.

God operates much differently.

Jeremiah 33:31-32
“The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,”
declares the Lord.

Right now I would be holding my breath wondering what harder task is ahead because of failing to do what God wanted us to do in the first written contract or covenant. But God’s new covenant is BETTER than the old covenant. God begins to explain that the sacrifices will end because Jesus will be the perfect sacrifice for our sins on the cross. Jesus will be our High Priest whom we can have a relationship with God through, not just the priests in the temple. The Holy Spirit will be God’s guide in our minds and hearts.

Jeremiah 31:33-34
“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Instead of a more restrictive or punishing covenant, God gave us a SUPERIOR covenant. I am glad God is in charge and not me, because I need to operate more like God in my life.

Time and Truth

5/21/2012

This past Sunday, was a great service! The time of worship was meaningful and vibrant. My son led us through Scripture on how to have a powerful prayer life. There were familiar friends and new friends who were there for the first time. Following the service, people stayed enjoying birthday cake brought by a family who had an extra sheet remaining from their child’s party. More delicious than the cake was the deepening of relationships through meaningful conversation.

Today, I am experiencing what many people go through on a Monday morning – a choice. My mental review of Sunday included a challenge to change. My prayer life can remain as it is or it can be raised up a notch. Nothing will change unless I intentionally do something different that I have been doing.

Just like growing deeper in a relationship, whether the relationship is with a friend, family member, co-worker, or a spouse, it requires an investment of time and truth. When you increase your time conversing and listening with a person, you will grow deeper in that relationship. When your exchange with one another is based on the foundation of personal truthfulness which goes beyond the safe topics of sports and weather, your relationship will grow deeper.

We will have the same vibrant growth in our relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit when our time and truth increases with Him.

So the Monday morning choice you and I have is whether we will intentionally make some changes to increase our time and truth with God. The challenge given on Sunday was to trade 30 minutes of TV, Facebook or computer time for 30 minutes of prayer time with God. Let’s go for it!

Prayer

5/18/2012

This Sunday, my son Elliot, is speaking at our church on the subject of prayer. I am looking forward to having him speak and hearing what he will share. Elliot believes that a Christian’s prayer life is vitally important. Prayer is necessary to walk in faith with God.

Elliot and I talked about the challenges of prayer. The more years spent walking with God, the more prayers you have answered and unanswered. Experience can affect your faith or intensity of prayer. You give your life to following God and believe that He wants to guide you, but sometimes the next steps to take are not clear. You hear news of a situation and are not able to pray intently at that moment, but are surprised to discover God answered the prayer almost immediately. You are convinced God heals today and that it is His will to heal a child’s illness, but they are not healed.

Prayer can be peculiar.

Prayer impacts Elliot’s life, especially in the area of knowing God’s vision for him. He took a break from college to manage a restaurant for a year to see if that is what God was opening the doors for him to do as a career. Elliot discovered that he was good at managing, but will return to college this summer because he really wants to be a teacher. His prayer life has affirmed the year of managing and the return to college.

Prayer must be purposeful.

One of the areas that Elliot has intentionally done in his prayer life is make prayer a priority. He prays a minimum of 30-60 minutes each day. He does not have a stopwatch or timer going. Elliot knows that a focused, unrushed prayer time for him cannot be accomplished in less time.

What have you discovered about prayer that has deepened you relationship with God?
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