Feb 26, 2011

A man fell into a pit...

A man fell into a pit and couldn't get himself out.
A subjective person said, "I feel bad for you being in that pit."
An objective person said, "I knew someone would fall into the pit."
A Christian Scientist said, "You only think you're in a pit."
A Pharisee said, "Only bad people fall into a pit."
A fundamentalist said, "You deserve that pit."
Buddha said, "You're pit is only a state of mind."
A realist said, "Now, that's a pit."
An optimist said, "Things could be worse."
A pessimist said, "Things are going to get worse."
An engineer calculated how to to get him out of the pit.
A geologist told him to appreciate and study the pit.
The City inspector asked if he had a permit for the pit.
IRS wanted to know if he was paying taxes on his pit.
A politician avoided talking about the pit altogether
A mathematician calculated how he fell into the pit & the rate of his fall.
A News Reporter wanted the exclusive story on his pit fall.
A professor gave him a lecture on the principles of the pit.
A self-pitying person said, "You haven't seen anything until you've seen my pit."
A Charismatic said “Confess you’re not in a pit”
An evangelical said he needed to be saved from his pit
Jesus saw the man, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit. 

If you see someone in a pit - be the Jesus for them...

Peace


Check out my new site - Journey

Feb 8, 2011

Grace Anatomy

This past Sunday, I started a series on grace...

Here are the notes...


Ephesians 2:4-10
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

GRACE
This THING God gives us - not because we are deserving...
Rather because HE LOVES US & wants it so...
GRACE
The Limitless & Unlimited LOVE of God expressing itself in Measureless Grace through Unrecompensed Kindness - Is God’s Treatment toward us INDEPENDENT of our treatment towards Him...
There’s None righteous
No matter HOW GOOD or HOW BAD - we can do NOTHING until God does something...
The MOST Godly person you know - on their very best moment ever...
The MOST Sinful person you know - on their worst moment ever...
BOTH Needed the SAME thing - GRACE - the unmerited favor of God
You see we are ALL are Under the Same Condemnation - SIN...
God dealt with that through the CROSS
The Cross Frees God to Loose GRACE on US Unmerited...
Grace Comes from God’s LOVE
Love Compelled Jesus to the CROSS
And now, the Cross Frees Him to Exercises Grace Because the Penalty of SIN is PAID in FULL
We are all on LEVEL GROUND 
AFTER the Cross we are now all based on the MERIT of JESUS - not SELF
Same Grace for Saint & Sinner Required!!
I like this quote...
Every SAINT has a past & every SINNER has a Future!
If, Grace is free from merit - it’s free from demerit as well...
It’s the DNA of Grace to be FREELY Given to ALL...
GRACE can Never be Withheld or LESSENED because of DEMERIT
It’s called Saving grace for a reason...
If it ever had a Limit on it because of HOW bad we sinned - then some sin or sinners would be OOB or UNREACHABLE - UN SAVABLE
GRACE can NOT be INCREASED because of MERIT
The moment it EBBS or FLOWS into more or less - it no longer is UNMERITED favor...
GRACE can NOT INCUR a DEBT or PAYMENT
Gifts are just that - gifts...
Yet - how often do we tie it to something that we have to NOW DO
If it comes with something OWED it can’t be Grace...
Unmerited (Unearned) means exactly that!! 
Unmerited - PAST...PRESENT...FUTURE...
Grace is the Free Expression of Goodness from GOD on our Life - after the Cross
Not because we have or haven’t been good - rather because Christ made us good through believing in HIM

Peace

bob

Feb 7, 2011

Cravings...

I'm not sure if you've ever heard of Erwin McManus or not...but if not - not only should you, you should also do yourself a favor a buy a book or 2 of his.

He pastors a church in LA called "Mosaic".  He's a great communicator as well as someone that seems to really have a pulse on the Kingdom of God that reaches beyond what we do on a Sunday morning or within the confines of the church building itself...

Anyway, I really like him & his approach to things for God.

Here's a link to a video that is a bit lengthy, but is well worth the time it will take to watch it.

http://powertochange.com/itv/spirituality/crave-the-documentary/

The video deals with this search - all of humanity is on regarding the cravings of our soul.  It wrestles with some tough questions and realities that permeate our mindset of church and how it relates to the Kingdom agenda of reaching the world with the good news of Jesus.

Let me know what ya think after watching it, in it's entirety.

peace...

bob