Do you have the Attitude of Christ! P1

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Biblical Guy

Are you chasing your desires or our Lord? How can the answer to this question help determine what direction you take in life?

We Are To Have the Attitude of Christ! Read 1 Peter 4: 1-11

This is essential in church leadership to remember who we are leading and to Whom we are leading them to! So, we must ask the question earnestly and honestly: Are you chasing your desires or our Lord?

The answer to this question will determine what direction your church goes. This will actually determine what direction in life you go as well. Consider the context of the 1 Peter passage in leadership and life, sin. When we fail to lead people to Christ as LORD, we sin, this, as if, when, and how sin will entice you to fall!

Consider these key words:

“Arm yourselves” refers to as soldiers train and prepare for battle, we are to be trained and are to be prepared with Christ’s attitude, outlook, knowledge, and experience. We are to prepare for injustice and suffering!

“God’s will” is the determining factor in life! It all comes down to this; will you follow His will, or yours and the world’s? Which one do you think brings the most blessings and contentment to your family and the church you lead?

“Debauchery” means unrestrained indulgence, seeking sinful, physical gratification, or giving into one’s desires. This leads to being merciless and unscrupulous in one’s dealings with others! When we fight against one another, especially in the church, it is hurtful and even pathetic in God’s eyes (Gen. 4:8; Duet. 25:17-19; Joshua 7; Matt. 21: 1-17; Luke 9:54; Rom. 13:13; 2 Cor. 12:21; Eph. 4:19).

“Lust” refers to sexual immorality, meaning evil desires that trap us and bring down others who are around us-the very opposite of God’s call for us.

We must be always aware that sin is coming. And our biggest problem is pride. As we lead; we can either draw near to God to stay clear, or draw near to sin and our pride and thus away from God and His best for us and the direction He wants His church to grow and go.

The great news is that Christ gives us the ability to stand firm in Him. The key is, we need to want to! Peter’s people were being slandered and taken advantage of, and they were becoming disillusioned. Peter’s call was to stand firm in faith and not worry what others do as long as we look to Christ wholeheartedly. Just as we are to do in our churches today. Thus, the best defense to sin, pride, wayward trends, past mistakes is the offense of righteousness and demonstrating the good life in Christ (1 Pet. 2:12,15, 23; 3:9, 16; 4:4,14)!

Sin has and unbelievable power to weigh us down so it defines who we are and traps us in the past. We all have past mistakes and wrong choices, but Christ freed us so we no longer need to be weighed down by them! Peter’s congregation had a pagan background that was very alluring; he is telling them (and us) not to let it draw them or become a part of their new life.

Be the leader who leads people to the Wonder of our Lord, not to sin, not to your pride and not to faulty trends (Rom. 1:12:13; 6:1-14, 19; Gal. 5:19-21)!

 

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What is wrong with the worship in most Churches?

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Biblical Guy

We, the conservative and Evangelical church, for the most part have forgotten what it is all about!!!

The liberals and mainliners did these decades ago now we are doing it? How? Just as they did, by substituting what we want and throwing out what God wants! We just rationalize it better (well, not really). The prime problem we have is that most of us in ministry should know what worship is; but, in practice, we do not. We ignore the main event and place our emphases on the trivial and unimportant. We focus on our style and music preferences, the techniques and practices of the sound and the instruments, the trimmings and trimming and so forth, thinking we are being practical when we are not. Like in Revelation chapter three, while Jesus is knocking on the door, we ignore Him, too busy; too preoccupied. He is left outside of the Church when He should be front and center as Supreme, exalted, worshiped, and reverenced! While the technicalities are important to a degree, they are not meant to be center stage or even given a place in worship. Most pastors and churches totally ignore Christ in their worship (Rev. 3:14-22)!

The foremost aspect to keep in mind about worship is that it is not about us! It is not about preferences of style, order, procedures, music, who is leading, who is not leading, and so forth. Worship, which is real authentic and practical praise, is all about placing Christ first, acknowledging His Lordship and place, and our response of praise with reverence and gratitude to Him for who He is and what He has done.

The sad fact it most Christians in the pews do not have a clue about worship or praise-and may I go on so far as to say-even most worship pastors. Why? Because, we do not model and/or teach them properly! So, they are consumed with what they want and forget what He wants. We forget that it is about Christ-not about us!

In John, chapter four, we are given some key aspects of what God desires and requires concerning worship through His encounter with an outcast woman. He is seeking worshipers, real Christians giving real, effectual, true adoration from hearts that truly love God, who are grateful for His work, and are dedicated to His true Truth-not to schemes, trends, or feelings. This is also is a snip at the overly traditional church missing the point, both in the pretentious Jewish services then and the ones many of us lead today. The contrast Jesus was making is that there are too many worship services that are merely rhetoric, driven by obligation, meaningless ritual, and liturgy that just spins one’s pride and/or hides one’s heart (John 1:18; ; 3:3; 4;1-26; 14:16-18; Acts 2:33).

Are you ready for Worship?

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Is Jesus outside or inside your worship?

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Biblical Guy

 

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.  Revelation 3:20)  

Jesus is beckoning us to come to Him; He is doing this in a church worship service, where the people are doing their thing and He is left out!  He stands at the door of our souls and of our churches and asks us to open ourselves to Him and His ways. The request of Jesus is that the self-deluded and compliant members of a church who refuse to invite Christ into “their” church or be a part of “their” activities and lives are being called out by Him. So, He wants us to hear Him and then obey Him, yet we so often place other things in the way so we cannot hear and thus do not obey. He will come into our church even when it is dead; He will eat with us, and share the ministry, rebooting and rebuilding. It is never too late to acknowledge and grow in Him while we still have breath in us. But, Jesus’ point was that we should not wait, but get busy in Him now! He wants us to be victorious for His glory (Matt. 24:33; Mark. 13:29; James 5:8-9; Rev. 3:11-22; 22:7).   

So, do some soul searching and deep prayer and ask our Lord King, is my worship real, reverent, and practical? Does it honor Christ or draw people to just my place, my church, my ministry, my teaching, and therefore, He is left outside, knocking on the door?

We are given in Scripture a simple and clear proclamation: whatever you do, do it in the name of the Lord. This simply means our actions must reflect our faith. With our lips and lives, all we do must have as a focus the glorifying of Christ and the furthering of His Kingdom. This is a reminder that God is Sovereign; He is our hope and reason, so we must line up our lives to Him. We are not to have a pagan religious service, which means it is about me and not about Him. We are to make sure that our influence is right and our influencing of others is righteous. We are not about the over emphasizing of ritual observances and negated personal holiness. We are to “shape up.” All aspects of our lives must reflect His Lordship over us (1 Cor. 10:31; 1 Thess. 5:8)!  

Then, we can really worship and hold fast to the hope, to be unshakably confident—without doubt or hesitation—in our trust in Christ. The reason is because Christ is faithful, even when our friends and circumstances are not. Thus, our confidence is in Christ, not the people in the church or how we are tested or treated either inside or outside the church walls (Acts 21:26; Rom. 3:24-26; 2 Tim. 2:13; Heb. 3:1-14; 6:18-20).  

How can your church be better at leading others to worship? Better at leading others to a worshipful lifestyle of loving and strengthening one another for His service? Why do so few of us actually do it? What can you do about this? 

Do not force Jesus to stay outside of your church trying to get in!

more here:

http://www.intothyword.org/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=70204&columnid=3881

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