.not here.

If you want to find me go to Mike's Wordpress

.questions.

Questions are such a powerful thing. There is this idea happening in the church that questions are an innocent thing. However like anything it depends on the heart of the person who is asking the question. If the person truly wants to know something then questions are great and need to be asked. On the other hand if a person is asking questions to mislead someone then they are wrong.

There are some leaders of the church who are trying to lead people down a path that is not true by the questions they ask. They are a lot like a salesperson. I have worked as a salesman for a few years now and our most powerful weapon is questions. I can lead people to a decision to buy what I want them to. I ask them questions that have them deciding that they want is what I have to sell. Now these leaders are saying that they are honestly just searching, however by their questions that doesn't seem to be the truth. They are trying to lead people down a dangerous path that does not lead to life by their truths.

So what I have to say is that we need to look at people's questions. We need not be fooled by the facade that they put on. We should never stop asking questions or leading questions. However the questions we ask need to be leading people to life.

Do our questions lead to Jesus?

Do they lead to the cross?

Do they lead to the resurrection?

Do they lead to Jesus as the only Way?

.new message.

Does the church need a new message?

A new way of saying it?

Both?

Neither?

It seems like there are two main camps in this discussion. There are some churches that are in the emerging/emergent movement that think that we need a new message and a new way of saying it. Why do we need a new message? Why do we need to get rid of the cross? Why do we need to get rid of the message of sin? How can the message of grace be as potent as it should be when we water it down?

On the other hand there are churches that have a message that follows the Bible however they don't want to present it in a way that people understand. What is the point of that? How does that benefit the kingdom of God?

May I suggest that we keep the timeless message and try to find new ways of presenting it to people. A few churches have done this well. By presenting I don't just preaching or teaching, rather more of a conveying. Now preaching and teaching are a very important part in this conveyance, however so is shepherding. May we in trying to find new packages to convey the truth not change the message. It seems that the ones who have changed the message were reacting to the methods and in fact overreacted and in that changed the message. My hope is that we as Christians and leaders do not change the message of the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Hopefully the church will reclaim the Gospel and let that be the only stumbling block and not the way we convey it to people. May Jesus give us the strength and wisdom to do that. Remember Jesus is Lord and Savior of all.

.human will?.

"We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified." (Galatians 2:15-16)

How often have we tried to be better people?

How often have we failed at being better people?

How often have we heard a sermon about being a better person?

How often have we as teachers of the Bible taught people how to be a better person?

How often is the answer Jesus?

I ask these questions because in my life I have tried to become a "better" person. I have tried to be a person that is more like what I read about in the Bible. I have heard so many sermons, it doesn't matter from what kind of church, about being a better person. Not often was Jesus the answer from conservative churches to emergent churches the answer was the same, human will and strength.
When I look back on some of the lessons I taught, they were about doing things. Doing things under our own effort. Some were about relying on Jesus for the power and guidance to change and be transformed. However not as much as I would like. I only hope that the ones about relying totally on Christ Jesus sunk in. So I hope when I am in a teaching position again the message that the students hear is Jesus, Jesus and Jesus. I want to be a one song band.

So have you found a place where Jesus is the hero?

Have you found a place where you are taught to seek Jesus?

Have you found a place where you are taught to rely on Jesus?

Have you found a place where Jesus is the answer?

I have and I plan on someday soon being that place for students. A place where they can come and fall more in love with Jesus and learn to humbly follow and rely on Him. I hope that we all learn and live out that Jesus is Lord and Savior.

.merciful?.

9. Q. Does not God, then, wrong man by requiring of him in his law that which he cannot perform?
A. Not at all; for God made man capable of performing it; but man, through the instigation of the devil, by his own willful disobedience, deprived himself and all his posterity of these gifts.

10. Q. Will God suffer such disobedience and apostasy to go unpunished?
A. By no means; but he is terribly displeased with our original as well as actual sins; and will punish them by a just judgment temporally and eternally, as he has declared, Cursed is every one who continues not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.

11. Q. Is, then, God not also merciful?
A. God is indeed merciful, but he is also just; therefore his justice requires that sin which is committed against the most high majesty of God, be also punished with extreme, that is, with everlasting punishment of body and soul.

.Jesus the gracious giver.

Jesus is amazing and provides in ways that are way beyond anything that I could ever dream of. He works in peoples lives, including mine. Jesus is Lord and Savior of everything!!

.all about Jesus.

It is all about Jesus. We as the church need to be proclaiming this all of the time. It is so easy to forget sometimes. Sometimes the message of the church can become moral-ism. Not that the things that are taught are wrong, the things taught are good things. However people are told to just try harder to do good. That however has not worked, has it? The church in America hasn't grown, we just have moved people around. We haven't changed America, on the other hand America has changed Christianity in America. We need to proclaim Jesus as the answer to everything. Not just for our salvation but also for our sanctification. We need to humble ourselves and rely on Jesus. When the church in America starts preaching Jesus and teaching people to rely on Jesus and his grace I believe that we will see lives changed for the glory of Jesus. May we make him the hero of everything and in everything proclaim that Jesus is Lord and Savior.