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| 5/1/2008 - Purity Part 2 |
Well, here it is. This is the much anticipated second part by our youth pastor, Josh Hanson. Enjoy
Purifying Pt. 2 - The Reason
Before I begin this I want to simply say that I am in no way writing this because I think I've got some great wisdom that everyone should hear. I am mostly writing this because I need it. It is very useful in thinking and praying things out to write/type them out. So here we go; we know God wants to purify us, but what is the real reason why? What is the core of God's purpose? [P.S. This may be pretty long so you might have to read it in spurts]
I'll start by saying that if you look up words like "purifying" in the Bible you'll find verses that seem pretty contradictory. Some of them basically say that Jesus purifies us and gives us purification; whereas others say that we purify ourselves. Other verses talk about how the Spirit is the one who "sanctifies" us...which means that he makes our actions and motives holy. As I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that this is truly part of the mystery of the Kingdom of God. Somehow the line is blurred and it becomes difficult to tell where He ends and where we begin. It is the union of our efforts that allows everything in our beings to become purified. If you've tried to "be holy" by your own power you can testify it can't be done by your effort alone, but anyone can also testify that if we don't take very definite action we will continue to wallow in sin and bondage. What is clear is that if you truly are tired of the same filth in your heart and you can see how you need purification, you can ask God with a sincere heart and he will lead you through the process. It's not something you can pray one time, though. It's something that must burn in your heart, "God make me pure; make me like Jesus." And somehow when you cry out like that you let go of your own effort and he joins you in your desire. His power comes on the scene and begins to change you, and you just let it.
Check out this verse because it has really changed my perspective on becoming like Christ: "Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart..." (1 Peter 1:22). Our souls are purified how? As we obey the truth; and we already know that this is only by the power of Jesus Christ at work within us. So then why does it say we purify our souls? "...for a sincere love of the brethren." And then because of that it commands us to love each other "fervently from the heart." The purpose for us asking God to purify our hearts is not so we act better. It's not so we can brag about how holy we are or so other people think we are. Our hearts are purified for one reason: so we can love fervently from the heart. Sin can simply be boiled down to selfishness, and selfishness hardens our hearts. Love is the total opposite: it is looking to the good of others not counting the cost to ourselves. Love gives us soft and tender hearts (which by the way is the most rewarding feeling we can have).
When we ask God to purify our hearts, we are asking him to remove the desires to only please ourselves and asking him to replace them with His heart...which is to bring life to others. If a person is having a struggle with pornography, for example, he is not asking God to remove the act of looking at a naked body; he is asking God to replace the desire to please himself by turning that person into a worthless object with a desire to honor God in everything he sets his eyes on and view the opposite sex with complete honor and respect as God's creations. God changes our hearts so that it is not simply a behavior change, but rather a work so deep that we no longer even desire the sinful behavior. And not only that, but then He inputs a desire to do the right thing! This is the only lasting change.
Before I really came to know Jesus intimately I began trying hard to stop cussing. I would cry to God every night asking him to make me stop but nothing would change. Every opportunity I got to use a cuss word to make others laugh I would take. Finally one night I got so sick of trying I basically gave up and simply asked for God's help. That night He met me...right there in my bedroom. He told me how much He loved me and that He rejoiced in my decision to be His son rather than being angry at my sin problem. My heart began to change and when I went to my first Acquire the Fire event, I was so touched by God's Spirit that I no longer had any desire to cuss. All I wanted was just to love Jesus like He had loved me. Cussing wasn't a big deal because I cared way more about pleasing Him than making my friends laugh. So I put my foot down on cussing and it has not been a bondage since.
That's way more than enough for this blog, but stay tuned, there will be a part three.
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| 4/10/2008 - Audio Update |
We finally have the bugs worked out and you can now download sermons on-line. We had to change the format of our recording, so unfortunately messages recorded prior to 4-2-2008 are not available on-line.
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| 4/8/2008 - What Was God Thinking? |
It's interesting the kind of conversations you can have dripping with sweat surrounded by people you don't know with absolutely nothing else to do. I was sitting with a friend in the sauna at the gym and somehow we got on the topic of a documentary he had seen that talked about Mormonism. There were three other people we did not know sitting in there with us and they joined our conversation. Admittedly, I don't know much about Mormonism, this is by design, so I mostly just listened as everyone else talked. One guy said he had a doctor friend who was always explaining to him the things you had to do or could not do as a Mormon.Ironically, this sounds about like the way many Christians’unconverted friends describe conversations with them. He was not impressed. He even used the old finger in the air quotation marks at one point. There was a lady who I am pretty sure was a Christ follower who explained that the Mormons are very big into tracking one's genealogy because they believe once a person becomes a Mormon they can still posthumously rescue wayward family members. I thought, “you have to give them credit, what a great idea to give people an incentive to be nice to their relatives. You never know when you are going to need them to bail you out of the fire, literally.” We were all also equally impressed with the commitment they show in that every Mormon, as far as we know, has to commit to a two year mission. It is often difficult to get every person who claims to be a Christian to commit to come to church two weeks in a row! The rest of the fifteen minute conversation pretty much went along these lines.
The thing that struck me as I reflected on this was both the beauty and the shortcomings of God's plan as he put forth in the Bible. Before you declare me a heretic and vow never to read my blogs again, let me explain. In Mormonism, as in every other man-made religion, salvation, however you define that, is based upon one's works. I guess it should be little surprise that its adherents are as committed as they are. (I know every religion has the pretenders who only give lip service to their beliefs but I am speaking of the true followers.) There is a built-in incentive to tow the line if you believe your salvation is dependant on your works. The Bible lays out a totally different picture.
In Ephesians 2:8 we are told that salvation is simply a free gift and is not based on anything we can do. Our whole salvation is because of what Jesus did on our behalf when he died for us and was then raised from the dead. The only thing required of us is believing Him and accepting the gift. The beauty of this is that anyone and everyone can come to God. Isn't it sad and ironic that so many see us as being exclusive? The shortcoming of the system is that without this works mentality many people resort to the "do just enough to get by" mentality. We often hear the term "greasy grace" bandied about. What was God thinking?
Hear we see the true heart of God. Sure, God has commandments He has given us. Life instructions may be a better term. These are for our benefit not God's gratification. When one follows these instructions there is safety, peace and joy. When these are violated the long term result is pain and suffering. The key is God never intended for His commands to be a constraint on us. He never intended for us to follow Him because we felt like we had to. In fact when we approach Him this way He calls it "dead works" and He hates it. (Heb. 6:1) We see again and again throughout the scriptures it is the heart God is after. Jesus explains in John 14:15 that if we really love Him, following His commands will be the natural result. He no more wants our devotion out of a sense of obligation or duty than a husband or wife would want their spouse's affection out of a sense of duty. God simply wants our heart and our obedience as a result of our love. Isn't this risky? Wasn't God taking a huge chance that His beloved creation might reject Him? Absolutely. However, any one who has ever truly loved knows that there are always risks involved. The greatest of which is the risk of rejection. And no one has ever loved like God loves.
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| 4/7/2008 - Audio and Message Boards |
Just a quick update on the audio messages. We are having to make some modifications due to some of the file sizes, so that is still a work in progress. Please be patient and we should have that resolved soon. Also, we had to disable the massage board due to some security issues. we are looking at possible fixes for that, but for now that will be offline. We apologize for that.
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| 3/17/2008 - Purity Pt. 1 |
It has been a while since I have put up a new blog. Hopefully, they will be more frequent in the future. This blog entry is by Youth Pastor, Josh Hanson. Enjoy!
Purifying Pt. 1
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Mt. 5:8
Pure heart = greater intimacy with God
"Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-3
When we are tested do we really react with joy? Or does anger, sadness, and resentment consume us? Are we focused on the trial or the end result?
"...and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit." John 15:2
Pruning is cutting off dead branches or pieces that are in the way so that the branch can be as fruitful as possible. Probably doesn't feel like a tickle to the plant, but in the end it is more beautiful and it more fully experiences its purpose! As the Lord prunes us we more fully experience a tender heart, which is more conducive to His presence...which is our purpose.
"...Christ Jesus, who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works." Titus 2:14
It is only by Jesus that we can become pure in heart. And that verse shows us he'll not only wash away our sin, but also purify us so that we become a beautiful people all His own! So, we're saved, we "love the Lord" like every other Christian, but are we allowing him to fulfill this verse? Is He allowed to purify our hearts so that we have a passionate zealous love for Him that is not watered down by other love for corruption?
When something is pure, it is the same through and through. Pure gold is gold and nothing else. Pure hearts love God and the things He loves and nothing else. Now that's a lifelong process, but we must allow it. Sometimes it means that the impurities deep in our hearts must surface. The Lord will allow the seeds of corruption to grow up and blossom in our lives so that we are able to see them. But remember who the gardener is? It is our Father in heaven. So when we find ourselves more sinful and fleshly than ever, it's time to run to His arms and ask Him to pull out those weeds that have grown up....and He will do it.
Are you feeling some fiery trials? Stop resisting and fighting and striving. Let the testing push you to Him so that He can reveal Himself to you and pull out the weeds of corruption in your life!
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