Fact: everyone struggles with lying. I feel like in this day and age, lying is right up there with money in terms of what makes the world go ’round. I once taught my youth group on the types of lying and how it can start off small but quickly it becomes a slippery slope. You know what I mean, the little white lies that skid out here and there. “Oh I love your new haircut!” or “I’m on my way, stuck in traffic.” These aren’t altogether the most revolting or wretched sins you could commit, but I think we all know that they can get out of hand and become a problem rapidly.

But how could you ever stop lying altogether? If at this very moment, I stop and think about all of the times I lie on a daily basis (not to any of you of course haha), I would be overwhelmed and condemn myself to Hades faster than you can say “No, that dress doesn’t make you look fat!” There is no way I could possibly stop every lie that slips through my lips, yet the Bible puts a very high importance on being truthful...or does it?

In the New Testament Jesus refers to himself as the way, the truth, and the life. He puts himself into a category as not just someone who tells the truth, but who is truth. Herein lies the quintessential difference between truth and honesty. Anyone could work themselves into being 100% truthful, but that doesn’t mean that they are honest. Have you ever spoken to someone, and it’s not that they have lied to you, but you just don’t trust them completely, and if you’ve ever met anyone like this, you know exactly the kind of person I am talking about.

When someone is an honest person, there is a certain vulnerability to that person, like they have laid all of their cards on the table. It’s almost like that person has become truth, like the Jesus, a.k.a. the truth, living inside of them is too strong to allow any deceit to cohabitate there.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

As evident through this scripture, the Lord sees through everything and looks to the root of all matters, both big and small. It’s definitely possible to have deceitful intentions and have it never manifest in an outright lie, but the Lord sees through that (and so does your spirit man, ergo the untrusting feeling around dishonest people). Honestly (no pun intended) it’s putting on a pharisaical mind-set when you present truth without honesty to God, people, or even yourself. It’s just like offering God your ‘whole heart’ yet you still keep back some for yourself. (Which is an action completely based in fear, but we’ll get to that later.)

We are called to be people of the light (or truth), just like Christ is. If we work on the honesty of the intention of our hearts, the rest will fall into place. Once you’ve captured your intentions and made them truthful, there will be nothing left to ‘lie’ about. This is a principle you can find in the Bible time and time again. At its very basic core, it’s the principle of letting God do the work in you instead of trying to work your way to salvation.

Now, I’d like to stop right here and clarify something. I’m not telling you that you should tell everything you know to everyone you meet. Via Proverbs, we know that it is wise to hold your tongue until you have something profitable to say. What I am saying is that when you do present information, it’s not the letter of what you are saying that counts, it’s the spirit of how you are saying it that is vital.

Foundationally, the only reason to be dishonest is fear. As human beings, we build protective walls based on events that we have perceived as dangerous. As children, most of us have learned that being completely honest usually yields negative or ‘dangerous’ results. That’s when our basic human instinct (BHI) kicks in to preserve at all costs. The Bible, which we hold to be the nature of God, teaches us that the truth will set us free. It disintegrates the lie that Satan would try to pawn off on us that dishonesty protects and truth will leave you wounded and exposed. We must retrain our BHI to recognize truth as the ultimate protector and lies as the ultimate villain, so that next time our BHI kicks in, truth will be our passage of choice.

I would also like to pause here to throw in a disclaimer. Truth based in honesty is not always the most popular choice. In fact, when you shed light on things that have hidden in darkness for so long, you are going to start stirring up some emotions at the very least. The truth will not only offend others who willingly choose to live in darkness, it will offend our own conscious and subconscious. We know this to be true strictly based on the life that Jesus led. Jesus offended people because He convicted them. Even if you walked away from this blog now and never applied anything that I am saying to your life, as long as you are saved, the Jesus inside you will offend, and that’s just the honest truth.

It’s time to let our basic Godly instincts (BGI) kick in. Let the Lord show you His absolute truth on every matter and you will break free from the chains of bondage that dishonesty has kept us in. When we set ourselves free, the Lord will be free to work in and through us unhindered. I don’t know about you all, but that sounds like the kind of life I want to lead – uninhibited by the bonds of sin.

I hope I haven’t lost you in all of this, I’m no scholar, but this is what I believe the Lord has laid upon my heart for myself as well as for the church at large. His truth is above all and walking in honesty is always the best policy.

-Jordan

After all I've learned the past few years, going to bible school, sitting in a million sermons, and talking about spiritual things with people around me, often unknowingly, I've thought within myself that I've have God figured out. Holy things become boring which often causes me to not want to seek Him. I don't like to admit that because I feel so humbled yet, it has been true.

But lately, God has been cornering me and showing me that I know nothing of who He really is, and the glimpse I have seen, is nothing compared to the majesty of this beautiful God. One of the most amazing things when I first got saved was that God was such a mystery to me. He left me wondering all the time! There was so much to learn and discover. I was so astounded by the sun rising when I was walking to the bus stop or the flowers in peoples gardens; it was like a piece of Him that was all around me. Sometimes I think we grow and mature, which is inevitable and so necessary but in the midst of our growth in spiritual knowledge, trials, or “church and life things" we forget, we can't really figure God out and when we try, we miss out on this unexplainable holiness of God that keeps us running after Him.

Rachel and I were driving to work a few weeks ago and she played a song by Addison Road I had heard before but I know it was on purpose that I heard it that day. Some of the lyrics said "If you touched my face would I know you? …are you fire are you fury are you sacred are you beautiful? So what do I know of holy?"  Hearing those words was very humbling to me. It made me wonder if I fear God at all anymore and if that is why it has been so hard to find Him because I thought there was nothing new to find.

As the church, we have to be careful of making God too small, too normal, too understandable because if we are all honest with ourselves, not one of us is able to truly comprehend this God we serve. We are just people who have been touched by pieces of him. Our minds are so generic compared to the vastness of God. We can't begin to try and wrap our head around this God who would lay down his own life or the kind of love or devotion that would take, because it’s not really comprehendible. In fact, it is completely crazy and that is what makes the gospel so beautiful and life changing. If you take that away, why in the world are we doing this thing called ministry anyway? I had a different blog written but this is what is really on my heart. It’s not really complex but just remember, the Lord is a mystery so approach Him in that way. He wants to show you a new piece of His majesty everyday you wake up and do life. Being stumped and sometime baffled in your spiritual life is the process we walk through that will always make us stronger if we always return.  But to be flying through the bible every day, coming to church and writing down a million notes, crying in worship, but never really being caught and exposed to the true holiness of God, is a scary place to be. When you are exposed to His holiness, its life changing! It makes three words in the bible break your heart or just the sound of a guitar brings you to your knees, and a sermon becomes a way of life. 

If you are having a hard time finding God right now in your life, maybe you just need to take off the ideas of who you think God is and what you have learned and let Him blow your mind, and trust me, you will want Him and search for Him! Let Him repaint a picture of another side of Him every chance you get. I believe that if we keep this heart, our influence on this broken world and church will be limitless and truly impacting on people that are also waiting to partake or be re-inspired in the mystery of the Lord!

We can't fix the broken church without the majesty and mystery of our God!

Psalm 145:11-14 (Amplified Bible) "They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and talk of your power, to make known to the sons of men God's mighty deeds and the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord upholds all those [of His own] who are falling and raises up all those who are bowed down."

-Wendy

"… But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8 is called the great commission. It’s the words of Jesus telling those of us who have the Holy Ghost to take His power and become witnesses of God’s saving grace; to spread the good news about Him to all parts of the world. However, even a brief look at the early church shows us those who heard these words did not go to Samaria much less to the uttermost parts of the earth. Where is Samaria and why didn’t they go?

Samaria, (also known as the Shomron in Hebrew) refers to the region between Galilee and Judea. For many reasons such as their worship of other gods and their intermingling with local peoples, the Jews in Jerusalem and Judea would have nothing to do with them; hence Jesus’ parable about the “good Samaritan”.

This great commission was not specific to time and place as some have said or a directive only to those who are called Apostles, (as the power of the Holy Spirit is readily available to all who have received Him), and is therefore equally applicable to us today regardless of our calling.

So are we then being told to hop on a plane and head over to Israel to finally reach the Samaritan people? No! I would suggest that, as Samaria today is another name for “comfort zone”. The first century church could have broken with their traditions and those things with which they felt comfortable, made the short journey north and before long had many churches built in that area. God’s power to bring in Gentiles would have immediately become evident as it did later on to Peter (Acts 10:15).  The same is true of us. If we would venture out of our comfort zone, the power of the Holy Spirit would be there for us.

Of the things I normally do for my mother, taking out her trash isn’t one of them. Those huge bins by the condo are filthy and the environment around them especially in the evening isn’t exactly appealing. Yet one day last week, despite having no real desire to do so. I took the trash and made the journey outside of my comfort zone. As I got closer, I saw a man there who was picking through the trash bins. As I neared he started talking, about what I don’t know pushing me even further out of my comfort zone. But then he said one word and it sparked the Spirit in me to turn the conversation around. I told him about Jesus, he listened, and I was able to pray for him! Now I don’t know what went on in his heart or if he’ll ever get the chance to hear words of salvation again, but when I travelled out of my comfort zone I met someone in need of Jesus. Because I was there, I believe I made a difference no matter how small, in that mans life.

So today I urge you to GO TO SAMARIA, it may be the uttermost parts of the earth and it may be right outside by the trash cans. But if you go, God’s power will be there with you and you will be a witness of Him.

-Pastor Jim

Healing in the land
2 Chronicles 7:14-15  “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

Listed below are some recent headlines from various news sources throughout the country:

Washington (DC) Post-National - “Choose your own deficit”
CNN-US – “Storm may add to oil disaster”
Fox News- National - “Calif. father accused of trying to sell his baby for $25 at Walmart is beaten by jail inmates”

Recently, when I was at work, a few of my co-workers were looking up recent news online, of course, most of which was “bad” news.   This was not the first time that I found myself in the middle of a conversation where I had to hear of more and more unfortunate reports.  
So…It got me thinking…

I see a common trend in how believers and non-believers alike are conversing about these “tough times” that we are in.  Many come together and chatter over how the government is or isn’t doing this, how horrible it is that this criminal did this or that or how the economic situation doesn’t seem to be improving. 

We can all agree that all of these above scenarios can be true and can become worrisome if we choose to keep them as our focus. 

Being the problem-solver that I am, I started to then think: “I have listened to conversation after conversation of how times are getting tougher, and how it is getting harder and harder to live nowadays. God what is my part to play in all of this?” 

Have you ever found yourself thinking something similar? 

I started to go through the list of possibilities:
1.    I’m not a politician nor would I make a good one.  Okay, check…That idea won’t work.
2.    I really dislike being a person who talks about problems but does nothing about them. Okay, so where does this leave me?

The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 7:14-15  “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

Now more than ever, we need healing in our land.  

God spoke to King Solomon and told him this (2 Chronicles 7:14-15) when Solomon devoted himself and his “rule” to God.   Solomon prayed for wisdom and knowledge to rule God’s people with.  God honored his prayer because of his selflessness.  Solomon went on to build a temple for God.  This temple took years and years to build (see 2 Chronicles 8:1) and was made from the finest materials.  

I believe that there is a building going on now.  God is working and preparing His people for something great.  During this time of building, it is important to offer God our greatest and finest, just as King Solomon did in the building of the temple (I encourage you to read through 1st and 2nd Chronicles- The Bible descriptively explains what was used to build the temple).

Here’s what we can give God…  In 2 Chronicles, we are encouraged, now (I believe), just as the people were then: to humble ourselves- turn from our own way of thinking and doing things, to pray and seek God’s face- give of our time by truly offering up prayers of thanksgiving and prayers for our country (etc.), and to turn from our wicked ways- turn to God. 

This is our part to play in all of this.  Let’s really delve deeper into the things of God and remember what God says in 2 Chronicles, in order to bring healing to our land!


God Bless,
Melissa

*This is how good God is! Last night at Connections Church, unbeknownst to me, we sang a song called “Give Us Clean Hands.”  This song is taken from the scripture 2 Chronicles 7:14-15, and is the song that came to my remembrance as I was writing this blog.  What an encouragement and a confirmation!  It’s truly exciting to see that God is placing this word in the hearts of others as well. 

Acts 2:37-47

37Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 38And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.39For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." 40And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying,"Save yourselves from this crooked generation." 41So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
 

42And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Notice these 4 things the early church did daily according to Acts 2:42. They devoted themselves to…

   1. Teaching
   2. Fellowship
   3. Breaking of bread
   4. Prayer

By doing these 4 simple things, the early church became a powerful voice in their region. They had a powerful unity that could overcome anything. They even had favor with All People! (vs 47)

I believe the only way for the gospel to have survived the 1st decade is by this radical way of living! Everyday they were seeing one another, edifying and sharpening each other, and committing themselves to doing these 4 things together, and because they had such a conviction about the gospel message, God used them to turn their region upside down.

The church today is so far from this model because I believe we have no conviction of the gospel message anymore! We've lost that first love that we use to have and as a result we have lost our focus on what our real mission is on this earth... to save souls! But I believe as the end is coming closer, God is raising up people who have a heart for the gospel and the pure things of God. A group of people that are sick of man-made traditions and ways of thinking. As the days go on, we have to start thinking of becoming like the church in Acts. People who don’t care about the things of this world, but press on towards the heavenly call in God and follow Him.

In a lot of ways we are still too selfish when it comes to our lifestyles. We want to do what we want too much! We don't allow God to work on us and shape us into what He wants us to be. We see it even in the simple things like prayer. It should be a 2 way conversation, but too many times we come to God and ask Him to answer all these things that we are going through in our lives, and then when we are done we walk away and carry on with our lives instead of waiting to hear what God wants to say to us.  We must hear the voice of the Lord in our lives. If we are truly here for building the Kingdom of God, it means that we must die to our desires everyday. We are not here just to receive all the time, but we're here to give what we have to others.

The word "Fellowship" in Acts 2:42 means to: contribute something or distribute something. So when we come together during the week to fellowship, have something to give to someone else who might need something. Just make sure that what you are giving is coming from a pure vessel and isn't tainted by the world. When we die to ourselves it produces life in someone else. Lets look at the bigger picture of God’s plan for this area. We don’t know when the last day is for us. There is such an urgency for us to get right with God right now.

Today, lets search our hearts and see where we stand with God and make sure we are on the path that He wants us on and not on a path that is just living for ourselves. Lets repent of the areas that we missed it with God, and keep striving after the goal that has been set before us!

-Chris Duncan