Receive Reject Redeem

At Calvary Assembly of God, we talked about the culture of media in our series In It Not Of It.

The main point I made yesterday is that we need to be aware of the messages the media is sending out, but not pre-occupied by those media messages.

Then we need to decide what part(s) of media we can receive, what part(s) we must reject, and what part(s) we can attempt to redeem.

The final point I would add for Christians who want to biblically engage their culture, is a point I made yesterday—

Instead of criticizing media … critique it. That means skillfully and artfully addressing it.

Instead of condoning media … challenge it by asking “Is this the best message” questions.

When deciding to receive, reject or redeem—or critique and challenge—use this filter from Philippians 4:8.

Does this pass the filter of being true … noble … right … pure … lovely … admirable … excellent … praiseworthy? If so, I can defintiely receive it. However, if it doesn’t meet ALL of these criteria, then I must decide if I can redeem it. If can’t redeem it, then it must be rejected.

Engaging Culture

There has been a debate in religious circles for a long, long time about how involved Christians should be in culture.

  • Get close to outsiders. But how close is too close?
  • Be friendly with your neighbors. But how friendly is too friendly?

The debate usually has two extremes: Either get immersed in your world, or don’t even touch a thing of this world. I hate either-or’s!

Instead I think there is a both-and balance that is very biblical. We need to ENGAGE our culture. Engaging culture means that we understand it and can relate to it, but we don’t give in to it nor compromise with it.

We Must Be In It But Not Of It

I’ll be addressing this topic in a new series at Calvary Assembly of God. I hope you’ll be able to join me to learn about the biblical ways we should be engaging our culture.

Weekend Review

I feel so full after such a wonderfully full-filling weekend.

On Saturday morning our worship team helped kick-off Lifewalk 2011, by leading some worship songs during the registration time. I love doing spiritual battle alongside this team! It was a great way to remind everyone why we were there.

God gave us beautiful weather for Lifewalk! Along our route we stopped to pray at Cedar Spring City Hall, The Springs Church, Alpha Family Center, and Red Hawk school. When we returned to our starting point in Morely Park, we were greeted with the great news that Lifewalk had raised nearly $12,000!

I had the privilege of addressing the Lifewalk participants just before we released our balloons. I spoke from Ephesians 2:10, where we read that God created us in advance to do good works that would bring Him glory. Unfortunately, tens of millions of babies have been aborted before they had a chance to do their good works, so it is now up to us, the living, to redouble our efforts. We need to do not only the good works God prepared us to do, but also the good works of those aborted lives. It was a somber, yet empowering, reminder.

20110620-063303.jpgOn Sunday morning I spoke to our Dads on Father’s Day. I told the story of Boaz the kinsman-redeemer from the book of Ruth. Boaz was a man motivated by God’s word, and a man who did not give in to culture’s pull. Boaz was also a picture of Jesus Christ as the ultimate Kinsman-Redeemer. I challenged our Dads to remember that they are the representation of Christ to their wives and kids.

The highlight of Sunday morning for me was watching all of our Dads serve Communion to the rest of the church. Powerful! What a reminder to all of us that Dads are to love and serve their families just as Christ loves and serves His Church.

To cap it all off, I got to have lunch with both my Dad and my kids. It was a very moving thing for me to not only honor my Dad, but to read the notes my kids had written to me. Part of what I wrote to my Dad was about the investment he made in my life. Then he and I both watched that investment being compounded in the lives of his grandkids. How awesome is that!

When I experience such a full weekend, only one thought dominates my mind: How blessed am I! I love living my life to honor my Heavenly Father, and I’m so grateful I get to share that life with so many other incredible people.

Father’s Day

I love digging up stories in the Old Testament that are so timely for today! And I’ve got a great story to share with our men on Father’s Day.

It’s the story of a man who had the title kinsman-redeemer. Culturally, we don’t practice this anymore. But spiritually, the concepts are so on-target for today. I am really excited to share this with our men this Sunday, and then to watch our guys step up to the challenge of becoming a modern-day kinsman redeemer for the families.

If you’re in the area, I hope you will join us for a great morning.

Out Of The Box

I know firsthand the difference the Holy Spirit has made in my life. Which is why I’m so excited to kick off a brand new series this Sunday called Out Of The Box: Unleashing The Power of the Holy Spirit.

…the Holy Spirit makes the Father’s love more real

…the Holy Spirit makes the Christ-like life more livable

…the Holy Spirit makes the Bible more readable

…the Holy Spirit makes extraordinary living more attainable!

And this Out Of The Box life is for everyone. A.W. Tozer wrote:

“For the Holy Spirit is not a luxury, not something added now and again to produce a deluxe type of Christian once in a generation. No, He is for every child of God a vital necessity, and that He fill and indwell His people is more than a languid hope. It is rather an inescapable imperative.” (emphasis mine)

I hope you can join us at Calvary Assembly of God this Sunday at 10:30am.

A Mother’s Prayer

“Youth fades, love droops, the leaves of friendship fall; a mother’s secret hope outlives them all.” —Oliver Wendell Holmes

I’m glad we get a special day to celebrate Moms. After all, none of us would be here without mothers! There is something unequaled in a Mom…

  • …her kisses heal
  • …her hugs reassure
  • …her counsel directs
  • …her touch soothes
  • …her prayers prevail

I can hardly wait for Mother’s Day to arrive so I can share the special day with my Mom. But I also have the privilege of being able to talk to all of the Moms at Calvary Assembly of God this Sunday about the power in A Mother’s Prayer.

We have a special gift for all of the Moms too! I hope you can join us for a special morning of celebration.

A Mighty Fortress

“I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord’s side.” —Abraham Lincoln

I agree with President Lincoln. Prayer changes things. Prayer changes me. Prayer changes my outlook. Prayer keeps me aligned with God’s principles.

Now more than ever, our nation needs Christians to pray. The Apostle Paul said it loud and clear:

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. (1 Timothy 3:1-2)

If our nation is to remain on the Lord’s side we need to be praying for our elected officials. We need to pray that they will have godly wisdom in carrying out their responsibilities. We need to pray that God will keep them safe.

Please join me on the National Day Of Prayer (NDP) this Thursday, May 5. Calvary Assembly of God will be open for prayer from 9am-7pm, and there will be special prayer times at noon and at 6pm.

If you cannot join me at the church, please pray on your own. You can get more information from the NDP Task Force by clicking here.

Cleanup Crew

Really proud of the cleanup crew that joined me in Cedar Springs today. As a part of Earth Day 2011, we were assigned a busy stretch of road past all the fast food restaurants. We declared, “This is our street!” and made sure every scrap of trash was bagged up.

We ♥ Cedar Springs!

Twenty-two

There’s just no other way to say this: Resurrection Sunday at Calvary Assembly of God was AWESOME!

So many people ministers made the day a meaningful and memorable experience of what Christ’s resurrection from the dead really means. I ♥ my church!

Here are some of the comments people shared with us yesterday:

  • It really showed what Jesus did for us
  • It was a cool and interesting way to learn about Jesus
  • Really epic!
  • That was one of the very best dramas I’ve ever seen!
  • Absolutely awesome! I finally went to a real resurrection celebration!
  • Anointed words this morning
  • Loved the dramas—very powerful
  • Powerful example in a modern-day setting of an old, wonderful Bible fact!

But the best feedback of all…

Twenty-two people accepted Jesus as their Savior!

Because Jesus defeated sin and death—because He is The Champion—we robbed hell of 22 souls!

Where, O death is your victory now?!? You have been defeated and Jesus is the Champion!

The Champion

The most amazing story in all of history (or should I say “His story”) is the story of God coming to earth to rescue us! We were made to be in intimate relationship with God, but our sin made us captives of satan—slaves to his power. Jesus came to set us free!

He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the Cross for my sins, defeated satan, broke the power of sin’s hold on me, and rose to life again! JESUS IS THE CHAMPION!

I’m so excited about this year’s Easter breakfast drama at Calvary Assembly of God called The Champion! This is a free event, but we do have tickets available to ensure there is enough space for everyone to attend.

If you would like to join us for a powerful, visual portrayal of Christ’s victory over sin, please let me know how many tickets you would like, and whether you want to attend at 9am or 11am, and I’ll set them aside for you. Don’t miss this one!