Worship abides forver

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever…”
– John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad

Repentance Brings Revival

The great revival in Ephesus reaches its climax in the final two verses of our text today. It is a stirring account of what the power of God can do in a human life. These new believers were dead serious about Christ. How do we know? Because they truly repented of their sin. Watch what happened:

"Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. A number of them who had been practicing magic brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars. So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect" - Acts 19:18-19.

Every time I read these verses, I think of Hollywood celebrities that have converted to Christ. I rejoice in their new faith, but wonder if they need to make a public confession of sin as those in Ephesus did?

When we sin publicly to the extent that multitudes are affected, only public confession of sin will undo some of the harm. Evidently, some of the people in Ephesus had publicly sinned to the extent that they needed to publicly confess. What a revival would break out if a well-known Hollywood celebrity publicly confessed that they had made movies for years that caused others to sin, and that they were turning away from such things to embrace God! Oh for this to happen today!

I can just hear it: "I'm sorry for those nude scenes I did, and those steamy sex-scenes where I acted out immorality for entertainment. I repent. I'm sorry for all the profanity, and vulgarity that came from my mouth, I repent. I'm sorry for glorifying violence and death. I repent. I'm sorry for mocking God, and leading young minds astray. I repent."

Wow. Can you see it? If this happened, revival could sweep America!

You see, a truly repentant person isn't concerned about dignity, only salvation. They aren't trying to save face or maintain a reputation -- they simply want to be forgiven, and help as many as they can, some who they might have misled, to find forgiveness too.

That's true repentance.

But there's more. When those in Ephesus repented, they didn't just say, "I'm sorry God." They demonstrated their sorrow through action. They squarely turned their backs on their old lives of darkness and evil, and literally burned those things that had kept them bound to the Prince of the power of the air.

I am convinced that the reason some churches are powerless to transform their communities for Christ is not because they don't have the right message, but because they have the wrong repentance. We say "I'm sorry God" but continue to consistently live the same old, worldly life that unbelievers live.

But it can't be done. No one can serve two masters. We can't serve two kingdoms. We can't march to God's drum while simultaneously tap-dancing to Satan's tunes. Worldliness and Godliness are never compatible.

Don't misunderstand. We will never be perfect. We will always make mistakes. God knows this, and his grace covers us. But at the same time, we must come to a point in our lives that the Ephesians came to if we ever wish to experience true revival or true conversion. We must repent. We must burn anything in our lives that separates us from God - sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively.

We may need to go home and empty our video or book or magazine shelves? It might be time to wipe out our computer hard drives and install filters? We may need to end a relationship that we know displeases God, or, perhaps it's time to walk away from our jobs, or face an addiction? Maybe it's time to get rid of our music that is constantly turning our hearts in the wrong direction.

Years ago I heard about a church youth group that went to a youth conference where they heard great preaching. Many of them became convicted that they needed to truly repent of the music they were listening to. So when they came home from the conference, they got together at the church, bringing all their worldly music with them. In each other's presence and the presence of God, they denounced the Satanic music that had caused them to stumble, and broke the CDs into pieces. There was a great revival in that youth group! The young people were on fire, and it sparked a new spiritual fervor in the whole church.

If we want true revival, we must have true repentance.

But do not fear. Whatever God's Spirit guides you to rid your life of; he will also empower you to do it. He will help you endure the cost. And make no mistake about it; sometimes there is a price to pay for true repentance. The folks in Ephesus lost millions of dollars, and we may lose money too, as we take our spiritual trash out! But there are other costs. Turning our backs on sin and cutting it out of our lives may cost us friends, or significant relationships, or family ties. But whatever it costs, God will honor your decision to repent, and he will empower you to succeed and to endure.

Then, revival will overtake your soul.

Source: http://www.celebratelife.co/content.cfm?id=336

Stop the drama

This is another installment of the conference I attended last week at church. I just can’t get over with the truth that the conference conveyed.

I love the preacher for preaching a fantastic message on the last night of the confab. He told the audience to stop the drama, that drama we usually do when we fall short of God’s glory.

The command was so apt for me. I do not know if you can feel me but there are times in my life when I hate myself simply because of doing something I know I should not be doing and yet it is so hard to resist doing it and so I do it. And the things I should be doing , I do not do. Paul knows this best when he said: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Romans 7:15

I soak myself in tears for hating myself. The worst thing, probably, that I have for hating myself was bang my head with gnashing teeth. Drama.

Certainly, I do not view the message of the conference as a license to do sin, although, for baby Christians, it could be immaturely taken as a green-light signal to sin. But rather it consoled me knowing that Jesus is moved not by my tears but by the covenant He had made with His Father.

What a friend we have with Jesus

Jesus’ friendship with us was likened by the messenger that night with the friendship between Jonathan and David.

We can certainly ask no more than the kind of friendship these two has with each other in the name of the Lord. Jonathan loved David as he loved himself. He defended David and he was shameful of the treatment his father, King Saul, showed to innocent David. The latter being chased by the king for him to be killed. It created a fear in David saying “…there is only one step between me and death.”

It was a friendship that was founded in a covenant of showing kindness, of love that extends beyond their next generation.

Mephibosheth, a remnant of Saul

I could just imagine the fear that Mephibosheth had when he was about to face the person whom his grandpa, King Saul, so disliked to the point of getting rid of him.

And when they saw each other, the limping Mephibosheth was probably thinking that the meeting spells the end of his life. He is a dead dog, he supposed. He could have been crying as he beg King David not to kill him.

But it turned out not to be the conclusion of his time when he met King David. It was the opposite of what he thought it would be. Instead, King David restored the land that belonged to his old folk, invited him to the king’s table. He treated Mephibosheth as his own. Adding to that, he was given Ziba and his sons as his servants. What a perfect ending!

Crippled for life

The crying does not move Jesus but it is the covenant that He has made with His Father that moves Him. He came. He sought the lost and saved the sinners, like you and me. Thank God for the covenant! We are all at the verge of eternal suffering in hell but Jesus died for us and saved us from eternal condemnation. Just like what King David did to the cripple Mephibosheth, he restored us and made us as His own. We are His friends; we are his family.

There is an invitation for everyone to be a part of His family. Refusing this invitation makes you crippled for life.

Like a child

I am going to live a life in simplicity and humility. I do not have to have the answers. Answers are overrated. Even if you have the answer still you have the problem. An answer, even if it is the right answer, is not necessarily THE answer.

I do not have to figure out things. Rationalization or to reason out should not be my goal. Who is God now if I will figure things out? The moment that it seems that I have everything figured out is the moment that God will ensure that I don’t. That maintains His divinity – He knows and I don’t. Faith is a requirement. I just have to trust in God.

I am not promoting ignorance or immaturity. The Bible does not do so but it tells us to receive the Kingdom of God, that is his joy, righteousness, and peace, like a child (Luke 18:17).

The disciples did exactly that. In John 6:15-21, we read the story of them receiving an unfigured, unidentified dark figure which caused them to be terrified only to find out that it was Jesus into their boat. The bible tells us that they were WILLING to take Him in. And the amazing thing is that, in a nanosecond, in a blink of an eye, after receiving Jesus into their boat, we read in the Bible that IMMEDIATELY they reached the shore where they are supposed to go. Amazing!

There is a correlation between reception and arrival.

I cannot rationalize my way to the other side. I simply have to receive who Jesus Christ reveals himself to be, even if it seems ambiguous. When you are not where you used to be but not where you are supposed to be, be careful of the philosophy, beliefs, mentality, thoughts you are receiving or hearing.

An IMMEDIATELY is in your future. It is not ACHIEVED. You don’t need to work for forgiveness or for the Saviour, you just have to WILLINGLY RECEIVE it. Receive His grace by faith.

Jesus is not soda

One thing I like about the Spirit Led lessons by Ps Stuart Gramenz is that it provides words for important ideas that I cannot verbalize. And that eventually, because of its provision, I find my fingers hitting the keys of my laptop as if racing against the expiry date of the ideas.

For example, for the past few days, I have been thinking of how pathetic it is for young people who come to me and apologize for not attending the small group, cell group or others have called it meeting.

Call me word sensitive. Yes I am. If you are a teacher and a “journalist,” misnomer is a crime, I believe. I do not like people calling a supposedly time with the Lord and a time for encouraging one another a meeting. Over the years, for me, inside our church, there are people who have equated the word meeting with business meeting and church planning.

It is not a meeting, first and foremost. The Sunday afternoon gathering of some select young people at my crib is a not a meeting but a time for leadership class where, for most of the time, we talk about John Maxwell’s great leadership principles. And then we talk about future activities and then we wrap it up with prayers.

Sunday afternoon at our house has been inspiring for me: first, because of the unswerving attendance, except at times when some had a “reasonable” reason; second, because it equips all of us who are there, including me. It is a great time to learn the principles and to be challenged to put these principles into action in the real realm. Although the meeting equips all of us budding church youth leaders, another thing that I am sensitive to, as verbalized by Ps Gramenz’s lesson on being spirit led, is that of people thinking of meeting as the source of refreshment.

The meeting is not Jesus. The meeting provides a venue for us to be equipped and to be connected to Jesus. We should not be turning up and showing up to the meeting. Instead, we should be connecting to Jesus, the only real thirst quencher.

We should not go to the meeting for the meeting itself. The reason of showing up should not be because of someone or of the lights and music or of the program. But most of the time, this is the case for some of us. Sad. Or should I call it unfortunate? Or how about pointless?

We should be excited to go the meeting because of Jesus, the thirst quencher. I have first heard of the term Tent of Meeting through Hillsong United’s More Than Life album documentary video ages ago. The Tent of Meeting in the Old Testament was God’s means of drawing undeserving people to His presence; so that He could be in their midst-in a way worthy of His holiness and glory. God planned to teach future generations many important lessons about Himself and about the Savior He planned to send into the world through the Tent of Meeting.

If you are a Christian, the Tent of Meeting is the place to be. For the reason that the Tent of Meeting is where we can meet up with the real thirst quencher. And it is always better to be spending even for just a day in God’s house than a thousand elsewhere, the psalmist David said. There is so much to be excited about meeting Him because he is not our ordinary thirst quencher.

As I googled the TV ad-sounding adage “quench your thirst,” I stumbled upon a truth. A soda is not a better thirst quencher than water. Apparently, it is because soda is loaded with sugar, either refined or unrefined that it quenches our thirst for a while but then after, we are thirsty again.

What is in a soda? It has nothing but empty calories and ulcer-causing acids. It is really not good for the health. It has no nutritional value. The ingredients in it eat away the inner lining of our stomach, which will eventually cause severe digestive problems. In sum, it contributes to major health problems like obesity, osteoporosis, coronary disease, strokes, cancer, among others.

Jesus is none of these things that soda is. He is not a one-shot thirst quencher. His thirst-quenching action lasts forever. He does not cause us disease. But He was the one who died on the cross to heal our disease.

Jesus is water. He provides water. To drink water is healthy. Water has no calories. Health experts suggest that we should drink a minimum of six eight-ounce glasses of water per day.

It can take the edge off your hunger and help us fill up. Water will slow us down if we drink it before a big, calorie laden meal.

Experts suggest for us to always carry a bottle of fresh, clean water and to take sips from it frequently. This will prevent daily dehydration, which can be aggravated when we overconsume alcohol, soda pop and coffee or tea, which all produce excess thirst.

But the sad fact is that people, young people, especially, do not bring the Water or take the Water that much or that frequent nowadays. It is like we have put Jesus in one corner or that we have put him inside a box that we only take out when we are in dire need of something or when we are in a problematic situation.

The truth is, in America, and is also the case in most part of the globe I believe, teenagers, in particular, drink twice or even thrice as much soda as they were drinking milk in 1977-78. This is just to point out that what is healthy (milk is an option for quenching thirst but water is still much better) is not being taken. The answer to the query I have in mind about “why do Christians these days don’t grow spiritually as fast as is the case in the early church?” comes easy.

In this contemporary world, people have always preferred the sweet taste, and what is fun, I would like to add, because these things are always attractive. But what is attractive is not necessarily good for the health. The sweet can only quench thirst for a while and worst, can cause decay.

Open Doors gives voice to the persecuted

The Open Door Youth (ODY) released hip hop single “Comin For Me” to support persecuted Christians across the globe.

The release on November 16, 2010 was in time with ODY’s presentation to the United Nations of their Right to Believe petition. The petition highlights threats to religious liberty and supports Christians who face persecution.

“This is a wonderful opportunity, and a vital message to get out there to young people. Hip Hop is one of the most influential art forms in the world so what better platform? The Bible clearly states that when one part of the body suffers, we all suffer. We want to be a voice for the voiceless,” Jonny Goodchild, Open Doors spokesman, expressed.

ODY has teamed up with Preacher Boy Missions for this effort. Grammy-nominated and award winning producer Steven G.P. Abramsamadu produced the song. A music video has also been produced by Preacher Boy Filmworks and directed by Andy Mundy-Castle.

Singers involved in this effort are (MOBO) and Urban Music Award winners such as Jahaziel, Guvna B, New Direction Crew, E Tizz, McGladius from 29th Chapter, Armor MC, and S.O.

Rapper Jahaziel said that “Meeting with Christian brothers and sisters in Pakistan who’ve lost homes, family, and their freedoms for following Jesus is the starkest reminder I have ever experienced of what the Gospel of Jesus means. Their horrific plight inspired me to want to be on this track with other artists to give these people a voice.”

Rapper Jahaziel along with others want to raise awareness and encourage Christians to make a stand and take action against religious persecution.

Eight months ago, in Somalia, 15-year-old Anab Ghelle Hassan was abducted. She was seized by members of Al Shabaab, a controlling Islamic extremist group, because of her family’s conversion from Islam to Christianity.

The said extremist group wants to impose a stern version of Sharia (Islamic Law) and rid Somalia of its Christian community.

Sources: www.opendoorsuk.org www.soulsurvivor.com

Narnia star calls to support OCC

Georgie Henley asks people to support Operation Christmas Child (OCC) of the Samaritan Purse.

Henley, who plays Lucy in the Narnia films, in a YouTube video appealed: "Please, please consider making a box for a needy child. It’s easy and it’s fun,” she smiled.

She recounted that when their characters, the Pevensie children Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, first appeared in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2005, it was always winter and never Christmas.

“But sadly today, for millions of children around the world it’s still always winter and never Christmas,” she expressed.

“That is why 20^th Century Fox and MultiMedia are proud to partner with the Samaritans Purse Project, Operation Christmas Child,” she continued.

OCC is a project of international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan's Purse, headed by Franklin Graham. Since 1993, it has delivered more than 77 million gift-filled shoe boxes to needy children in some 130 countries.

This year, OCC wants to help 8 million children in 100 nations worldwide. It collected 521 gift boxes last year.

"I would like this chance to say thank you for the gifts that I received. I found a teddy bear and two face clothes so thank you for this," Naledi said.

Naledi is one of the children in Motshane District, Swaziland who received a shoebox of gift last year. Swaziland is a small country in South Africa.

When Trevor Hammond, International Operation Christmas Child Coordinator, asked Naledi during his visit in October 2010 what name she gave to her teddy bear, the girl replied with a smile, "Yes, Bananas!" She burst into laughter with her friends after.

Georgie continued, “Together let’s make this the best Christmas ever for more than 8 million children around the world.”

Getting involved as an individual, family, church, school, workplace or community group is simple. Visit http://www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk/ or click here to find out how.

The winner of the UK Kids Choice Film Actress in 2008 gave an early Christmas present of a sneak peek of the upcoming Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It is set to be released on December 2010.

This third installment of the Narnia films is a story of the perilous journey of Edmund and Lucy Pevenise, as well as their priggish cousin, Eustace Scrubb, as they accompany King Caspian on a voyage to find the seven lords. The latter were banished when Caspian’s evil uncle Miraz stole the throne. The trip brought them face to face with many wonders and dangers as they sail toward Aslan’s Country at the eastern end of the world.

Please click this link Operation Narnia to view a clip of the film.

Sources: www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk