Am I A Christian? Part 1 of 2

by Josh Duncan

This is a question some people wrestle with more than they should. I say "more than they should" because God intends for us to KNOW His love and be confident that we are His. Consider these passages...

John 10:14
1 John 5:13

So why do people wrestle with this issue? Honestly, I believe it's because of how our culture (here in the south) has turned following Jesus into a religion built around the institution of church instead of a relationship initiated by Jesus.

I'm going to make 2 posts on this topic. In this first post, I want to deal with two common misunderstandings that have distorted salvation/following Jesus. Then, in the next post, I'll deal with the typical statements "I got saved" and "I asked Jesus into my heart".

#1 We think salvation begins with us.
Read Romans 3:10-12. Also, take a minute and read Romans 3:23-24. What do these verses say to you? Chances are you've read these passages before, but here's what they mean in regards to salvation... If it wasn't for God first loving us, we would never choose Him. Naturally, we don't want a relationship with Him. We desire to do things our way. This has been the case since Adam and Eve. Thank God that salvation begins by God first loving us and drawing us to Him! 1 John 4:19

Implications of this misunderstanding... You think it's up to you to make yourself right with God. You become confused as to who gives and keeps your salvation, which causes you to struggle with your salvation because you're basing it on your evaluation of yourself.

#2 Following Jesus means you're now to be a morally good person.
I recently talked with someone who consulted a pastor about their salvation. The pastor proceeded to tell them that if they felt guilty about the wrong things they've done, then they're most likely a Christian. Seriously? This is not grounds for determining salvation. Here's why...

Unless you have psychopathic tendencies, everyone feels emotion, including guilt and remorse. Atheists still feel bad when they do something wrong. Before I surrendered my life to Jesus, I felt bad about some of things I did. Salvation is much more than a moral issue; it's more than feeling guilty about something. Should you feel guilty about your sin? Yes, but has that guilt led you to true repentance and surrender? (I'll discuss that in the next post) Following Jesus is not primarily about attending church each Sunday, being a morally good person, gaining a college education, buying a home, getting married, and having 2.5 kids. Despite the fact that these things are what most Christians prioritize, following Jesus is much more than this.

Implications of this misunderstanding... You adhere to religious routines more than the Holy Spirit. You're constantly up and down in how you "feel" about God (or how you think God feels about you) because it's based off how good of person you are instead of the sufficiency of Jesus. You may be completely missing out on the joy of knowing Jesus.

Stay tuned for the next post when I'll discuss the misunderstandings behind the statements "I got saved" and "I asked Jesus into my heart."

Time with Our Father for Parents

by Jennifer Duncan

God Bless Parents! 

 Grocery shopping

 Before kids...                                   After kids...
                    

Dinner out

Before kids...                                     After kids...

        

Laundry

Before kids...                                    After kids...

      

Your house

Before kids...                                     After kids...

   

Juggling your career

Before kids...                               After kids...

              

Vacation

Before kids...                               After kids...

Being a parent can be a tough job, but there is truly no greater blessing! 

A lot of times we feel as if all we do goes unnoticed by our kids or spouses. Thankfully, our Father sees all we do and blesses us for our attempts to be Godly parents. We need to acknowledge that being a parent is an awesome responsibility God has blessed us with, and even when we are exhausted and our patience has ran out, we need to remember even our small, routine tasks should be done as worship to God. We tend to forget, as we've been learning, that our family and our home is the church, too. We have the opportunity, through being a parent, to show our kids and our spouse the love of Jesus. 

“Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” Ephesians 6:7

Unfortunately, we, as parents, don't abide in God's grace enough, and we end our day stressed out, frustrated and dreading tomorrow. And the many, many times we fall short, we forget He is the one who sustains us and gives us the energy to preserver day after day. This should take a gigantic load off our shoulders and make us shout "Hallelujah!!"

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly.  He delights in every detail of their lives.  Though they may stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”  Psalm 37:23-24

As I have discovered in my own life as a wife and mom of two small boys, if I don't begin my day totally centered on Jesus, by 9am I'm toast! Quiet, alone time with God, in prayer, study of the Scripture and listening to the Spirit is priceless as a parent. This quiet time with our Father (the best parent ever!) can be very hard to come by and may require some sacrifice and changing of priorities in our life. Maybe we need to get up earlier, or sacrifice time on the computer or watching TV, to have this one on one time with Jesus. 

Join me as I, we, strive to be more Godly parents and prioritize time with our Father everyday! I want to live in His grace and power to lead my kids in worship in our home each day!

          

Less Church Could Be Beneficial (WARNING: This is intense)

This is perhaps the most difficult post I've ever made because it confesses publicly much of what I've had to confess privately to God over the last two years. I'm sharing it not to boast in myself, but to challenge you to be who Jesus truly wants you to be.

Until two years ago, I was constantly in church. By this, I mean I was actively involved in the activities that took place at the church building. I was consistently there Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and any other time something was going on. I was an avid churchgoer and even worked hard to get others to go to church with me.

As my life progressed, I met Jennifer, we got married, moved off to a new city, and we had to find a church to go to, which we did. Then, as I had always done, we sold out to the church... We were there for every service, every activity, and willing to invite others to come with us. I even became convinced that I could reach more people for Jesus if I pulled myself out of the normal rhythms of life and became a full-time church employee. God then allowed for this to happen. I had a full-time job working at a church, and I was now the one providing the leadership and activities for people to come, participate, and sell out to.

Before I say anything else, let me say that I'm so thankful for my past experiences. Without them, God wouldn't be moving in my life the way He is now. Nevertheless, I must be brutally honest about how God is now moving in my life...

Here's the ugly part of my church-going days and the truth I'm willing to say that most avid church-goers won't... I was a much better church-goer than I was a biblical disciple of Jesus. Honestly, being an avid church-goer was much easier than what I'm currently experiencing... easier, but not better. Let me explain.

Jesus never told me or you to go to church. He never told us to sell out to the church, be actively involved in all the services, bible studies, and activities of the church. You may ask, "Doesn't the Bible say we shouldn't forsake the assembling of ourselves together?" Yes. It does: Hebrews 10:24-25. However, the church as we've come to know it (generally speaking) is not what we're told to not forsake.

If you really want to look at this verse, it tells us what should be happening in these meetings... People encouraging one another to follow Jesus... We see this all throughout the book of Acts... People interacting with people through teaching, prayer, meeting needs, etc.

Where in Scripture do we see church described as an impersonal, mostly non-relational setting, where a few "expert professionals" spend a majority of their efforts preparing, organizing, and leading services so that the other 80-90% of people can merely consume what's being provided? Most pastors wouldn't say this because they depend on this model of church for their paycheck. I can say this because I was one of those people pushing the church agenda. I didn't realize my own selfish motives and insecurities until God exposed how many of my decisions were rooted in things other than making disciples.

Now, sermons, music, ministries, programs and some of the things we've come accustomed to aren't necessarily wrong. To some degree they can be important and helpful, but that isn't what the Bible defines as church. Our denominations and life-experiences may teach us that this is church, but Jesus doesn't. He actually says things like... Matthew 7:21-23 and Matthew 9:13. In these verses Jesus is basically saying, "I realize you did your church activities, but I never knew you personally as my disciple.

The real issue at hand is that most southern "Christians" identify more with their church than they do with Jesus. This is a major problem. Do you know what it means to follow Jesus? Can you describe what a surrendered life to Jesus looks like in terms other than being actively involved in the services and activities your church provides? Do you know how to talk to someone about Jesus without having to invite them to your church?

Why am I saying all of this? Because I reached a point where God was saying all of this to me. He was convicting me about my adherence to the church and my lack of surrender to His Spirit in my life on a daily basis. I was more focused on getting people to church than I was leading them to Jesus.

Due to the type of "church" God led us to start two years, we've had to die to the current modes of church and become much more focused on teaching people to follow Jesus throughout the rhythms of life instead of having multiple services each week, programs, and ministries for people to attend. We didn't fully get this at first, but we're making great strides now. As a result, we do one organized "church" gathering a week, where we're trying to encourage and train people to live out their faith, build relationships, and listen to the Spirit throughout the rhythms of their life. We hope their identity is found in Jesus not our church. During this time, some have said they need more church activities and have moved on. Some of this may have been our fault for not initially focusing enough on relationships and discipleship, but we haven't forced the issue with them and have graciously received their decision. For those who are experiencing Jesus with us, God's genuinely teaching us what it means to be a disciple, not a church-goer.

I wasn't a good disciple (according to how Jesus describes it), and I didn't even know how to be one when my life was consumed by "church" stuff. I'm far from having this figured out, but I'm much closer to Jesus now than I was a couple years ago even though I do far less "church" stuff. In the end, I can only blame myself for not previously taking the time to read Scripture and come to know Jesus apart from the filter of church-culture I had come to know.

As I wrap this up, I'm assuming you are thinking one of a few things...

-This makes so much sense... If this is you, what are you going to do about it? Don't just agree with what I've said. Get on your knees before God, repent, and ask Him to move you in the directed HE wants. That's what I did, and I'm growing from it and leading my family much better!

-I'm heavily involved in my church, and I follow Jesus... Good! I am too. Let's hold each other accountable that we don't elevate our church involvement over following Jesus daily. Let's make sure we're sharing our faith with people who don't yet know Jesus and not merely hanging out as a Christian social club.

-This is ridiculous... If this is you, please just ensure your opinions are not based on your preferences or what you've come to know through your church, pastor, or denomination. Instead, ensure you're opinions are supported with a systematic overview of Scripture centered on Jesus as Lord.

Praying Can Be The Wrong Thing To Do

I grew up in "church" culture. My dad was pastoring a small church when I was born, so since my conception, I've been around church. While I'm grateful for all my church experience, all this time around the church has also developed some habits that aren't biblical nor Spirit-led. Let me explain...

One of the first things I learned about in church was prayer. Obviously, we are commanded to pray in Scripture. Prayer is a vital part of following Jesus. However, I think within the church (at least what I've experienced) we tend to use prayer as an excuse to not obey.

Here's how we do this...

We pray about things we've already been commanded to do
The Bible is full of commands for us to do as followers of Jesus. You don't need to pray about what the Bible has already told you to do. When you chose to pray instead of obey, you're being disobedient. For example, the Bible tells all believers to make disciples. So when you're presented with an opportunity to make a disciple and grow in your understanding of this, you shouldn't pray about it. You just need to do it!

We offer to pray for someone instead of meeting their needs
I think this is what James was talking about in James 2:14-17. It's much easier for us to say to someone, "I'll pray that God opens up a door for you" than for us to actually meet the need someone may have. Something our church is trying to do is to start meeting needs and responding to people as soon as possible. The changes we've made to our Sunday gatherings are making this possible. Yes, there are times when prayer is needed, but most often, God has already met the need if we would just be willing to look within ourselves.

We pray instead of making a decision
Sometimes God will align all the pieces, confirm something from multiple perspectives, and then leave it up to us to finalize the decision and move forward. In these situations, we don't need to continue to pray about what God has already made clear. I've seen this happen from so many different perspectives... in my own life, as a member of a church, and even when serving on a church staff. I've seen God make it clear what needs to happen, but instead of taking action, we remain passive under the excuse "Let's just keep praying about it." I've discovered we typically use prayer as an excuse in these situations when the step God's revealed requires change and adjustment that will most likely disrupt the status quo.

Should you pray. Yes, pray often, but you must also listen and respond to the Holy Spirit who is constantly calling us to obey.

In my next post, I'll talk about how attending church less often has made me a better follower of Jesus, so be sure to stay tuned for that.

How Are Things Going?

This is a question that most of us use many times each day during informal interaction with others. It may vary to some degree, such as us saying, "How's life?" but this is a common question we ask and get asked ourselves. Typically, our replies are honestly very shallow. We say things like "Good." or "Doing great." However, if we're being truthful, we quite often answer this question with a lie. We say things are good when they are bad. We give the impression we're loving life when we're actually drowning in misery wondering if things will ever turn around.

I thought I'd challenge all of us to honestly wrestle with this question... How are things going?... Are they going well? Do you feel like life is falling apart?

I believe it's essential for us to pause regularly, reflect on the circumstances of life, and make some adjustments. As you've probably heard it said before, insanity is doing the same thing over and over but hoping for a different result. Too many of us are driving ourselves insane because we aren't reflecting and adjusting on a regular basis.

Here a few reflections I've been making over the last couple of days in regards to our church...

For the past two months, we've been casting a fresh outlook on our vision and making some significant changes to how we think and act. Our Sunday morning gatherings have a completely different feel, but this is only the first step in a foundational-shift that we are trying to make. So how are things going?

Attendance was higher in June than it was in May, but attendance isn't really the key measuring point for us.

Here's what I'm celebrating... Connections! Throughout the month of June, we've seen people connect unlike at any other point in the life of our church. People are sharing burdens and getting to know each other. We've made this a major priority via our Overflow Connections, which are now a regular/weekly part of our Sunday gatherings. People are responding to each other's needs immediately. They aren't waiting on a pastor to give them permission. They are listening to the Holy Spirit and responding as they see a need.

At the same time, preparations are being made to increase our number of Overflow Connections as the fall approaches so we can better care for the people God connects to us!

Additionally, our understanding of success has radically changed. For example... we've been consistent in doing community events as a church, but our previous idea of success was a large crowd. We'd often celebrate the hundreds who would attend an event we organized. However, we've had to come to understand that large crowds doesn't equal success. For us, the only thing that ultimately matters at community events are connections. Did the people connected to The Overflow connect with people they didn't know? Did people from The Overflow learn the names of new people? If we don't connect with the community beyond giving them free food, fun, and thanking them for coming, we're missing the point!

When I reflect on the bigger picture, the entire makeup of our church has dramatically changed. Over the past 6 months, we've went from a mostly young (under 30) crowd to a very diverse crowd with ages, backgrounds, church experiences, etc all varying dramatically. I love the diversity that God's bringing together!

Looking ahead, we must begin to see people change how they view and live as disciples Monday-Saturday. We also must begin to take steps toward launching new Overflow Communities and then see this actually happen.

So what about you? Stop today and do some reflecting! Let God examine and reveal what's really going on.

-Husbands, ask your wife what you can do to ease her burdens.
-Wives, ask your husbands how you can support and encourage them more.
-Parents, ask your kids what they'd like to do for fun with you.