Archive for Discipleship
Why Should We Worship? January 28, 2012
(Here are the things we covered in the night of worship!)
These Nine Things Are True About EVERYONE Who Is In Christ (And are true for those who do not know Christ!)
#1 – I Was Dead – Ephesians 2:1
#2 – I Was An Object Of Wrath – Ephesians 2:2-9
#3 – I Had No Purpose –Ephesians 2:10
#4 – I Was Separate From Christ – Ephesians 2:11-12
#5 – I Was Excluded From Citizenship – Ephesians 2:12
#6 – I Was A Foreigner – Ephesians 2:12
#7 – I Was Without Hope – Ephesians 2:12
#8 – I Was Without God – Ephesians 2:12
#9 – I Was Far Away – Ephesians 2:13
AND…JESUS IS THE ONE WHO BROUGHT ME NEAR – Ephesians 2:13
Stop Complaining About What You Don’t Have! January 23, 2012
One of the most common excuses that people seem to give for not doing something great for God (or at least trying something great) is that they don’t have BLANK, but if and when they get BLANK then they will do what God wants them to do.
However, if we are not faithful with what we have NOW then how in the world is He supposed to trust us with what He wants NEXT?
“But Perry,” you say, “I don’t have anything to offer. Our church doesn’t have what other churches have.”
I say bull!
This thought occurred to me the other day when I was reading through the book of Exodus and read through the exchange between God and Moses. God told Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the people of Israel go.
Moses freaked out, and understandably so…this was a BIG DEAL! How in the world could Moses do this? He had been on the backside of the desert for 40 years! He had actually murdered a man the last time he was in Egypt. He had never led anything other than a flock of sheep! This thing was way larger than anything he had ever participated in.
And so finally he asks God in Exodus 4:1 something like, “OK God, what if these people don’t believe me. After all, this whole burning bush thing is over the top…but I left my Iphone back at the house and cannot put this experience on instagram so that the people will see how incredible it is. They are not going to believe me!”
The Lord simply replied in Exodus 4:2, “…what is that in your hand?”
Moses told him it was a staff (like God didn’t know) and then God proceeded to use the staff that Moses had in his hand to bring about an incredible miracle (you can read this for yourself in Exodus 4:1-8!)
The object of the miracle wasn’t something that Moses had to go out and find…he already had it in his hand. (Just like in John 2 where Jesus turned the water into wine the water jars that were used in the miraculous transformation were already in the house!!!)
And then just the other day I saw this Scripture in Exodus 23:15, “…no one is to appear before me empty handed.”
Why in the world would God command people to not appear before Him empty handed if they needed something else with which to worship Him more effectively?
What I’m saying is that you already have in your hand what you need to take your next step in your walk with Christ.
Some are saying, “I don’t see how He can use what I feel like I have.”
I promise you…He can.
- Do you have confusion? He can use it to clarify truth about Himself and cause you to love Him more deeply.
- Do you have a shady past? He can use it to reach others who are currently in the same situation but feel as if there is no way they could ever get free of what they struggle with.
- Do you have pain? He can take pain and turn it into progress; in fact, He is the only one I know who can!
- Do you have just a few dollars to your name? He can take just a little and turn it into a whole bunch (remember the loaves and fish.)
- Do you have bitterness towards someone? He can take it, heal it and then use your situation to tell others that they can be free from the prison that unforgiveness puts us in.
- Do you have a special talent or ability? He can use it…and He knows how it needs to be used best because He loved you enough to give it to you in the first place.
He has blessed us all with the ability to do way more than we ever thought or imagined we could accomplish, but that process begins today, with what we have and with who we are. We just need to stop asking Him for the next best thing and start thanking Him for what we have in our hands! (AND…if we don’t know what it is that we have, then we should ask! James 1:5)
10 Things Fear Causes January 18, 2012
One of the most frequent commands in the Bible is “do not fear.” (Once again…it is a command, NOT a suggestion!)
And yet every leader I know (including the guy I shaved with this morning) deals with fear. As I’ve traced my own journey through fear in leadership I wanted to share 10 things fear causes in our lives.
(When I speak of fear in this post I am speaking of fear of man – see Proverbs 29:25 – and irrational fear.)
#1 – Fear causes us to reduce the size of God and elevate the size and opinion of man.
#2 – Fear causes us to lead people in the wrong direction. (Remember when the Israelites wanted to GO BACK TO EGYPT and being slaves because they feared going into the land that God had promised them?)
#3 – Fear causes us to stay quiet when we should clearly speak up. (Mostly because many times we are OBSESSED with what others think about us, see Galatians 1:10)
#4 – Fear causes us to be passive about an issue that the Lord has clearly brought to our attention. (As Edmund Burke once said: ”The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.”)
#5 – Fear causes us to seek consensus rather than really seeking the voice of the Lord.
#6 – Fear causes us to not engage the broken, the hurting, the misfits and the neglected because if we include them in our lives and actually invite them into our homes then it could get messy. (I’m so glad Jesus didn’t have that attitude…if He would have then I would have been screwed!)
#7 – Fear causes us to refuse to embrace change because we care way more about being comfortable than being conformed into the image of Christ.
#8 – Fear causes us to control things and take matters into our own hands rather than trusting the Lord and trusting others. (People who are control freaks really do fear when things don’t go their way! BUT…remember, control is the biggest illusion in the world, I wrote about that here.)
#9 – Fear causes us to conceal sin and shame in our lives when God’s Word is so clear that we should ask others for help – James 5:16
#10 – Fear causes us to seek the easy decision rather than seeking the right one.
A Conversation With My Daughter January 16, 2012
My daughter get’s it!
We were driving home from church a couple of months ago and I asked her this question, “Charisse, did you know that your daddy loves you?”
“Yes sir,” she replied.
“Well, do you know why I love you,” I asked.
“Because I’m your little girl,” she answered.
THEN I asked the BIG Question:
“Do you think daddy could ever stop loving you?”
“No sir,” she said.
“And why not,” I asked.
“Because I’m your little girl and I will always be your little girl!”
I smiled and thought, SHE’S GOT IT…she knows that my love for her is NOT based on her performance but rather her position as my daughter. Even though she will break some rules in the future and do some things that I am quite sure will grieve my heart…she will always be loved by me because she is mine.
I’ve told her on numerous occasions, “You can’t make me not love you!”
It’s funny though…even though I know this when it comes to me and my relationship with Charisse I sometimes struggle with it when it comes to my relationship with God. If I am not careful I will naturally drift into a performance mentality, actually believing He loves me because of how much time I spent reading my Bible, how many people responded to the sermon I preached or how well I fought the urge to sin…
And then during the times when I mess up, when I have a bad attitude, when I entertain a lustful thought…I begin the focus on who I am and think, “there’s no way He loves me, heck, I don’t even love me right now!”
But, what’s true about me and my daughter is true of me and my relationship with God (AND you too if you belong to Him!) That His love for us is not based on our performance but rather our position as His child.
The Apostle Paul said it best in Romans 8:38-39 where He said that NOTHING can separate us from God’s love! NOTHING! (And…if you will read those verses it’s a pretty extensive list!)
I believe it is essential for every believer in Christ to get this…because I am convinced that our lives would look so much different if we lived them out in the confidence that He loves us rather than the false idea that we’re somehow trying to earn His love.
God’s love is based on position, not performance…just felt like someone needed to hear that today.
Laziness & Prayer Do Not Go Hand In Hand January 11, 2012
A few weeks ago I put out a tweet that said the following…
“Covering laziness in prayer is not a spiritual discipline.”
It was retweeted several times; however, there were also a few people who said that the statement was confusing and asked for an explanation. So here goes…
I believe that many people in the Body of Christ use prayer as an excuse for inactivity and laziness.
Yes, I am ALL ABOUT PRAYER! I’ve seen Jesus do things through the power of prayer that would make a Methodist shout.
However, there are some things that we simply cannot “cover in prayer” and hope they will get better. Nope, we’ve got to take action!!! Things such as…
If you need to lose weight you are not going to “pray the pounds away!” It’s just not going to happen!!! You are going to have to get your butt up off of the couch and exercise. You are going to have to stop slamming cookies in your mouth. You are going to have to stop drinking 10 sodas a day! You can pray all you want…but if you do not put action with your prayer it’s NOT going to help!
If your marriage is in trouble and is on edge then you are not going to “pray it back into a great place.” You are going to have to start paying attention to your wife…and turn the freakin TV off. You are going to have to pursue her…and NOT just when you want something from her. You are going to have to stop being a jerk. And ladies, you are going to have to stop gossipping about your husband to your friends. You are going to have to stop telling your children their father is a loser.
If you want your kids to admire and respect you it’s not going to happen through “just praying about it.” You are going to have to spend time with them. You are going to have to talk with them, even the awkward subjects. You are going to have to admit your sins and shortcomings to them and ask for their forgiveness. You are going to have to STOP trying to be their friend and actually be the parent!
If you are broke then you are not going to just “pray money into your bank account.” You are going to have to put God first in your finances. You are going to have to STOP spending money you don’t have to buy things you don’t need to impress people you don’t like. You are going to have to get on a budget and live within your means.
If you are struggling with a particular sin that is kicking your rear end you aren’t going to “pray it out of your life!” (By the way, many of you have tried that, I just wanted to ask, “how’s that going for you?”) Nope…you are going to need to do what James 5:16 says and confess it, OUT LOUD, to another human being who is stronger than you spiritually and that can help you fight through this issue!
If you are a church leader and there is a situation that is dominating you and your ministry, you’ve got to do something about it!!! David didn’t just pray and pray and God, through his prayer times, took Goliath out! Nope, David picked up five rocks, walked down into the valley and handled business. You cannot be passive about an issue and believe that “through prayer” God will just take it away. If you are a leader and God brings an issue to your attention…He most likely did so because He expects you to take ACTION!
I could go on, but you get the point. Prayer is essential! Prayer is necessary! Prayer is commanded! Prayer is a powerful weapon which we should make more use of in the church; however, God did not just call us to PRAY about His will but also to PARTICIPATE in it. And too many times Christians are willing to pray about things and think we’ve done our part…and then get angry at God because He did not do something amazing to compensate for our laziness and passivity.
Don’t just pray to God…but participate with God as He moves!
Let this be the year that we don’t just pray big prayers…but we take bold steps and believe that as we pray and participate we will see God do amazing things!
I Don’t Believe God’s Through With You! January 5, 2012
I am not sure who I am writing this to…but I feel led to let someone know…
GOD IS NOT THROUGH WITH YOU!!!
For weeks, months, maybe even years you have bought into the lie that “it’s over” when it comes to you doing something great for God; after all, you did (fill in the blank)…and because of that there is no way He could ever use you.
Let me be very clear and to the point: If God were done with you then He would have killed you…but the very fact that you have air in your lungs right now means that HE IS NOT THROUGH WITH YOU!
“But Perry, I screwed up,” you say!
Of course you did! We all do…which is NOT an excuse to go out and screw up your life, but rather a reminder that in the Bible the ONLY people God used were people who had screwed up.
- David committed adultery AND murder (talk about a guy you don’t want to invite over for dinner! Seriously, David would not have been allowed to serve and most likely attend a lot of churches!) HOWEVER, David repented of his sin (see Psalm 51) and today we know him as “a man after God’s own heart!”
- Moses killed a man…and God used him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the border of the Promised Land.
- Paul was a murderer…and God used him to write most of the New Testament.
- Peter denied Christ and chose to walk away from Him…and God used him to preach on the Day of Pentecost where 3,000 people accepted Christ in one day!
I could go on and on, but you get the point…your past does not disqualify you from an amazing future if you are in Christ!!!
God’s not through with you…and…as I so often say, if you don’t let your past die then it will not let you live and one of the consequences of that is you will allow the enemy to talk you out of the amazing things God has planned for you.
When we repent of sin (which is the most powerful thing we can do in our walk with Christ) we become unstoppable. And so, if you screwed up…and if you have repented of sin…then STOP believing the lie that there’s no way God could use you! Take a look at I Corinthians 6:9-11!!!
God’s not through with you! GET UP…GET ON YOUR FEET…and do whatever He tells you to do!
I Can’t…He Can December 14, 2011
I can’t change someone’s heart…He Can!
I can’t do the impossible…He Can!
I can’t turn a bad situation into something amazing…He Can!
I can’t bring dead things back to life…He Can!
I can’t guarantee how things will turn out…He Can!
I can’t heal your hurts…He Can!
I can’t see the big picture all at once…He Can!
I can’t take something broken and turn it into something beautiful…He Can!
I can’t fill your heart with joy…He Can!
I can’t tell you what your purpose is on this planet…He Can!
I’m so thankful that HE CAN trumps I CAN’T in anything that comes my way!