Life is War

"We cannot know what prayer is for until we know that life is war. Life is war...Our weakness in prayer is owning largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief.It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to cll upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of frontline forces and gives God the glory of a limitless Provider.

...Probably the number one reason prayer malfunctions in the hands of believers it that we try to turn a wartime walkie-talkie into a domestic intercom. Until you know that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for. Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission. It is as though the field commander (Jesus) called in the troops, gave them a crucial mission (go and bear fruit), handed each of them a personal transmitter coded to the frequency of the General's headquarters, and said, 'Comrades, the General has a mission for you. He aims to see it accomplished. And to that end he has authorized me to give each of you personal access to him through these transmitters. If you stay true to his mission and seek his victory first, he will always be as close as your transmitter, to give tactical advice and to send air cover when you need it.'

But what have millions of Christians done? We have stopped believing that we are in a war. No urgency, not watching, no vigilance."

Let the Nations Be Glad ~ John Piper

Food for Thought

Top 13 Reasons that Unchurched People Choose a Church
(research conducted by Ranier)

1. 90% - Pastor/Preaching
2. 88% - Doctrines
3. 49% - Friendliness of Members
4. 42% - Other Issues
5. 41% - Someone Church Witnessed to Me
6. 38% - Family Member
7. 37% - Sensed God’s Presence/Atmosphere of Church
8. 25% - Relationship Other than Family Member
9. 25% - Sunday School Class
10. 25% - Children’s/Youth Ministry
11. 12% - Other Groups/Ministries
12. 11% - Worship Style/Music
13. 7% - Location

Top 9 Reasons that Church-Attenders Choose a Church
(research conducted by the Barna Group in 1999)

1. 58% - Doctrine/Theology
2. 53% - People Caring for Each Other
3. 52% - Preaching
4. 45% - Friendliness
5. 45% - Children’s Programs
6. 43% - Helping the Poor
7. 36% - Denomination
8. 35% - Like the Pastor
9. 26% - Sunday School

Top 6 Things that Keep the Formerly Unchurched Active in the Church
(research conducted by Ranier)

1. 62% - Ministry Involvement
2. 55% - Sunday School
3. 54% - Obedience to God
4. 49% - Fellowship of Members
5. 38% - Pastor/Preaching
6. 14% - Worship Services

Thought Bomb

"Any purported belief without change is nothing but a base counterfeit...To say you trust without living as though you do is not to trust in any biblical sense."
~ Mark Dever

"There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have enough - a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice - which costs nothing, and is worth nothing."
~J.C. Ryle

Are you transformed in your inner most being or are you just like the world with a little self-righteous morality sprinkled into your life?

Love?

I just finished reading the first chapter of Mark Dever's book The Gospel & Personal Evangelism. I like what this book is doing to me, but it is a bit painful. The first chapter is titled Why We Don't Evangelize? 

Dever has a section in this chapter in which he challenges the reader to Plan To Stop Not Evangelizing and he give twelve steps to implement that plan: pray, plan, accept, understand, be faithful, risk, prepare, look, love, fear, stop and consider. 

The following is from the section on love:

We are called to love others. We share the gospel because we love people. And we don't share the gospel because we don't love people. Instead, we wrongly fear them. We don't want to cause awkwardness. We want their respect, and after all, we figure, if we try to share the gospel with them, we'll look foolish! and so we are quiet. We protect our pride at the cost of their souls. In the name of not wanting to look weird, we are content to be complicit in their being lost... 

...As Jesus said, 'Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks'. How much evangelism do we find flowing our of our mouths? What does that suggest about our love for God?

These are some difficult words to hear and many will not ask themselves the hard question. Rather, they justify their inaction and lack of evangelism. 

The greatest act of love you can ever show a person is to share the life transforming message of the gospel of Jesus Christ with people.

Let us stop excusing ourselves and start loving the LORD we claim to serve. I must go now and repent and then seek to share Christ with someone in this coffee shop.

A Quote to Make You Think

All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning.

~Oswald Chambers

A Quote to Make You Think

...all day long, at the moment you become aware of burdensome cares, cast them upon the Lord, who cares for you. Where there is worry and anxiety; there is the pride of self-reliance. The humble man, though he may be responsible for many things, is free of care -- he is care free. His life is characterized by joy and peace, for it is impossible to be worried while trusting the Sovereign One.

~C.J. Mahaney

Thought Bomb

Could it be that our evangelism languishes, our preaching loses authority, and our congregations lose focus because we don't have the doctrine of hell to set our face like a flint toward Jerusalem?

~Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck, Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be

Cosmic Treason

Every sin is an act of cosmic treason, a futile attempt to dethrone God in His sovereign authority.
~ R.C. Sproul

What is Prayer for?

“Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission. It is as though the field commander (Jesus) called in the troops, gave them a crucial mission (go and bear fruit), handed each of them a personal transmitter coded to the frequency of the General’s headquarters, and said, ‘Comrades, the General has a mission for you…And to that end he has authorized me to give each of you personal access to him through these transmitters. If you stay true to his mission and seek his victory first, he will always be as close as your transmitter, to give tactical advice and to send air cover when you need it.”

~ John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad, p.49

Meditation

"...God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." ~ Romans 5:5

As I was meeting with the LORD this morning I was studying Romans 5:1-11. Verse 5 stirred something up deep within me as I considered the application and implication of it.

I share it with you and ask that you consider the following question: How does the truth of this verse impact the way you are living today?

Think about it!!!

A Church Planters Dream

We had dinner with a young couple who has recently become a part of Pointway Church. John recently came to faith through the ministry of Teen Challenge. Last week before our cell group he called me and asked if it was alright for him to bring someone with him. I think you can guess what my response was. Tonight he asked me again if he could bring another person with him to cell group. Again my response is predictable.

In just three weeks this new believer has brought three pre Christians to our cell group. I am amazed at the way God uses new believers to connect pre Christians to our church plant. We are also working to start and Evangelistic Bible Study in the book of Mark with another group of his friends.

This goes to show the importance of having connections with pre Christians if we are going to be effective in reaching out with the gospel of Jesus Christ,who was after all THE FRIEND OF SINNERS. We must be missional in our thinking and seek to cultivate redemptive relationships with pre Christians.

Let me end this post with a thought bomb: Based on the relationships and social connections you have could you be accused, as Jesus was, of being a FRIEND OF SINNERS?

Vision - The Way We See When Our Eyes Are Closed

"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."

~ Michelangelo

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
~Ephesians 3:20-21

Why are we so small minded when we serve a God who can do FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY than all we can ask or thing?

A Good Word

"We depend on plans, programs, vision statements- but somewhere along the way we have succumb to the temptation to displace the foolishness of the cross with the wisdom of strategic planning."

~ Dr. D.A. Carson

True Saving Faith

"This is what true saving faith is like...First, you must wholeheartedly believe the truth of the gospel, and love that truth. Second, you must desire Christ and his salvation about everything else, and whole heartedly receive him."

"True saving faith means that you come to a deep, heartfelt conviction of how precious Christ is, and 'account all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, and coun them but rubbish, that you may gain Christ and be found in him."

True saving faith also means that you love every part of Christ's salvation - holiness as well as the forgiveness of sins."

Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification

A Quote to make you THINK!

"Christians don't tell lies they just go to church and sing them"

~ A.W. Tozer

Filled or Flowing?

I was studying Jn. 7:37-43 this morning and I was struck with Jesus' statement, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink, Whoever believers in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'"

As I meditated upon this statement a number of thoughts flooded my mind and heart. One question is sticking with me.

What is the connection between being filled with the Holy Spirit and having the Holy Spirit flowing out of your inner most being?


I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this one!

And Now This...

The "Now, This..." Culture:
Daily News and the Death of Wisdom

Why is Dan Rather not considered one of the wisest men in America?

Question?

What would you do differently regarding prayer if you truly believed that the success of your church plant/ministry/spiritual life depended on prayer?