Pastor’s Blog

Make Us Dangerous: Types of Fuel

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:32:49 -0700

“Lord, make us dangerous!” That is my prayer for myself and our church - that we wouldn’t be bored - that we wouldn’t live “Cacoon Christianity” but that we would live like Jesus did - moving from one dangerous situation to the next and releasing the power of God to a wandering and wounded generation.

Yesterday, in my message “Fuel For The FIght” I explained that if we wanted to live dangerously, than we would need to be “fueled up”, because we can’t do anything of significant value on an empty tank. So here is a list of what “fuel” can be in your everyday living. Joshua 1 reminds us to meditate on God day and night, so when you read this list, try and apply it throughout your day, rather than just during a “devotional moment”

Types of fuel:
The Bible: Pretty self-explanatory. Nothing compares to reading the Bible, because it’s the definitive word of God. Everything you think, believe, and hope for should line up directly with the Bible. Sometimes people will read a chapter of the Bible and not understand how it could possibly relate to their everyday life. The key is not to get something out of each verse or chapter - the key is that you are filling your Spirit with the Word of God, and that in-turn, will FUEL your faith! Biblegateway.com has lots of versions and reading plans to assist you!

Prayer: There is nothng better than getting on your knees and verbally communicate with God. Prayer is simple - it’s talking to God, loving Him, letting Him love you, and surrendering your will to his.

Worship Music: I like all kinds of music...probabaly kinds that you can’t stand (country, hip-hop, jazz, etc). But there is nothing better to fuel your faith than worship music. If you are trying to rearrange your lifestyle so that you can be closer to God - music is a great way to start...turn off the radio, and turn on some worship music, and let God fuel your faith. We really enjoy the music from the International House of Prayer, you can download music here.

Godly conversations: We all like hanging out and having fun together, but when is the last time you had someone over for dinner, and had fath building conversations? I LOVE hanging out with people and dreaming about God’s plans for us together. One of my best friends, Matt Molt, always fuels my faith because he loves Jesus and we actually talk about God stuff! Here are some great questions to ask your friends...”what do you think God wants to do in your life this year?” “what is something you really think God is saying to our church right now?” “what have you been learning in the Bible lately?”

Reminders: Many times throughout the Bible, God asked people to “remember” past miracles to fuel their faith for coming miracles. If you haven’t seen a breakthrough in a particular area in your life, it can be easy to lose faith - but when we remember past miracles - we can have faith for future ones as well. What has God done for you in the last 20 years? Write them down, and let your faith be fueled!

Heros of faith: Hebrews 11 reminds us of what great people of faith did, and how we should let them inspire us to follow their example. I love reading books from men and women of God who are currently doing things that I want to do. Right now I’m scowering bookstores, and looking for great men and women of faith that are absolutely hungry for people to find Christ. Two books I can’t wait to read in the next month are: “I became a Christian and all I got was this Lousy T-Shirt” by Vince Antonucci, and “Wild Goose Chase” by Mark Batterson. Both of these guys are pastors who have crazy passions for Christ and are reaching TONS of unchurched people!

You need Fuel For The Fight! Get a burden for broken people, and then get fueled up so you can live the dangerous life - and do something great for God! I can’t wait to hear the stories unfold from Dangerous People in our church!

Guest Blog: Seth Godin on Urgent Financial Matters

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 11:00:23 -0700

This is from business guru Seth Godin on budgeting your money...With gas prices so high, we thought this may help your perspective on money spending. You can find his daily blog here

Urgent personal finance advice

If I could only share one piece of personal finance advice to grads or to just about anyone, it would be this:

Only borrow money to pay for things that increase in value.

It's a short list: your business, your house and your education, mostly. Stocks if you're smarter than me. That's pretty much it.

If you have credit card debt, you're in big trouble. Your bank account has a huge leak in it, and it's getting worse. Hence the urgency.

If you have credit card debt, that means that every time you spend money (even cash), you're borrowing money to do so. And so, if you're going out to dinner or buying a new pair of shoes, you've just broken the single most important rule of personal finance. You're spending borrowed money on stuff that is decreasing in value.

This is an emergency. It's an emergency because every single day you wait, the problem gets worse. A lot worse.

My suggestion: Go to defcon 4, and do it immediately. Shift gears to live well below your means. That means:
No restaurants
No clothes shopping
No cable TV bill
No Starbucks

It means:
Take in a tenant in your spare bedroom
Carpool to work
Skip vacation this year

Eat brown rice and beans every night for dinner. Act like you have virtually no income.

The result? You'll save $5,000 to $20,000 a year. Send all of it to the credit card company. Do this until you're debt free, the faster the better.

There. Now you're rich. Now you get interest on your savings instead of paying the bank. Twenty years from now, this emergency action will translate into perhaps a million dollars in the bank, depending on how much you earn and how serious you are.

You can thank me then.

Who’s Ready? He’s Ready.

Mon, 5 May 2008 10:43:27 -0700

One of my favorite portions of Scripture is found in Ezekiel 36. I’ve read this a lot before, but today something struck me BIG TIME...read it for yourself - and then check out what I had revealed to me below!

First God let’s us know what he wants to do in our lives and it those around us...check it out:

22 "Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations. 23 I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign Lord, then the nations will know that I am the Lord. 24 For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.

25 "Then...

* I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols.
* I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you.
* I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.
* I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
* You will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago.
* You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29
* I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior.
* I will give you good crops of grain, and
* I will send no more famines on the land. 30
* I will give you great harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines. 31 Then
* you will remember your past sins and despise yourselves for all the detestable things you did. 32 But remember, says the Sovereign Lord, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O my people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done!

33 "This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I cleanse you from your sins...

* I will repopulate your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The fields that used to lie empty and desolate in plain view of everyone will again be farmed. 35 And when I bring you back, people will say, 'This former wasteland is now like the Garden of Eden! The abandoned and ruined cities now have strong walls and are filled with people!' 36 Then the surrounding nations that survive will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted the wasteland. For I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I say.

37 "This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am ready to hear Israel's prayers for these blessings, and I am ready to grant them their requests. 38 They will be as numerous as the sacred flocks that fill Jerusalem's streets at the time of her festivals. The ruined cities will be crowded with people once more, and everyone will know that I am the Lord."

Did you catch what I caught? God lists all of these plans of blessing - he reveals his heart for his people - plans that are amazing and beautiful...plans that are powerful - that cause a turning of the tide - that cause restoration and harvest...

Then He says...I AM “READY TO HEAR” THE PRAYERS OF MY PEOPLE SO I CAN PUT THESE PLANS INTO ACTION. I AM “READY TO GRANT” THEM THEIR REQUESTS IF THEY JUST ASK!"

I say we take God at His word, and begin praying and requesting that He pour out the plans He has already made for us...not just for three days - but let's allow this "requesting attitude" to become the norm - and let's begin to EXPECT...because our God is “ready to hear” and “ready to grant”. Wow.

Risky Business and Weighty Speech - What to do before Easter: Part One

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:47:06 -0700

Easter is this week, and that means more people will attend church services this coming Sunday than any other time of the year. The potential for the hopeless, broken, and misguided to find Jesus is great – IF we as Christ followers will partner with God to connect with the people that need Jesus the most. So how do we do our part? First let’s look at Scripture:
Go into all the world... Mark 16:15
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard." Romans 10:14
Then the master said to the servant, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in that my house may be filled." Matthew 9:36
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." Luke 14:23
Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, who pleases me. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public. He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally he will cause justice to be victorious.” Matthew 12:18-20
Again he said, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.’ John 20:21

The bottom line is that we are to carry on Jesus’ earthly work. Just as he glorified the Father by connecting with and healing the broken and lost of this world – so should we organize our lives so that we have an opportunity to reach these people as well.

So how about you? Are you available for God to use you in bringing hope to the hopeless, or are you so consumed with day to day activities that there isn’t any room to be used by God?

Easter is this Sunday, and God is looking for a people that will carry out the Father’s business. If people are to be reached and healed, it will happen because we get involved. This week, look for ways to reach out and talk to someone about Jesus, or invite them to church this Sunday. You’ll never regret partnering with God.

More to come tomorrow!

Blessings,
Pastor Brian

Prayer - let’s not waste our time! Results please! by Pastor Brian Becker

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:39:15 -0700

Recently our youth staff went on a three day fast, and I was struck by the Scripture in Isaiah 58 that says:

6 " Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

What really impacted me was the action required for prayer and fasting to take effect. There are three key ingredients: FASTING, PRAYING, and GETTING INVOLVED. Let me explain:

FASTING
6 " Is this not the fast that I have chosen:

Fasting and prayer are weird ways that God gets things done. He uses unconventional and even seemingly immature methods in order to humble ourselves and show that He alone can bring the necessary changes. How can not eating something bring supernatural changes? Praying and fasting may seem pointless to you – but Scripture is clear that it is the method that God uses to accomplish the seemingly impossible! Jesus said in Matthew 17 that there are certain things in life that simply cannot be changed unless prayer AND fasting are involved! Make sure you fast in a way that pushes your thoughts and body to rely on God's power...if people could fast 2000 years ago without cars, heaters, recliners, etc...surely we can fast and still have the energy to do our jobs...don't let your lifestyle keep you from a true fast - you can work full-time, have a family AND fast and pray!

PRAYING
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?

What should we pray? Well –that the bonds of wickedness would be loosened – that the heavy burdens would be undone, that the oppressed would be freed, and that every yoke would be broken. Too often I have fasted food or something, but haven’t really committed time in the day to actually intercede/pray over these issues. I have wrongly assumed that since I am part of the fast, God is probably doing something about it – but prayer is essential – fasting without prayer is simply starvation!

GET INVOLVED:
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Perhaps we pray on our knees, but refuse to move towards the answer with our feet! We can't just fast and pray...for every person you are interceding for - you must touch them somehow, someway. God's desire is a relational partnership in bringing about deliverance. For example:
• If you are praying and fasting for your family to love each other more – do something that day besides prayer that increases the love – write a note, take your son or daughter out on a date.
• If you are praying and fasting for salvations to increase in the city – go get involved THAT DAY! Find someone, take a risk – and be the hands and feet of your intercession.

Be the vessel God can use to answer his prayer! Maybe this is why Jesus said we needed to PRAY for WORKERS – because there was a lot of prayer, but not enough people to carry out the answers to prayer! Refuse to pray for something that you won’t personally get involved with!

FAST
PRAY
GET INVOLVED

let's do this.

Pastor Brian