Don't Waste Your Life

I found this song a few weeks ago on dontwasteyourlife.com a ministry of Desiring God. The song is written by LeCrea and has become my new anthem. I listen to it several times a day and it gets me fired up. The part that really speaks to me is this:

"Paul said if Christ ain’t resurrect then we wasted our lives/
well that implies that our life’s built around Jesus being alive"

Is our life built around Jesus being alive...?

Read the lyrics AND THEN listen to the video. If you don't like Hip-Hop, read the lyrics and listen anyways. His words are Truth.

Verse 1(LeCrea)
I know a lot of people out there scared they gone die/
couple of em thinking they’ll be livin’ in the sky/
but while I’m here livin’ man I gotta ask why,
what am here fo I gotta figure out/
waste my life?/ no I gotta make it count/
if Christ is real then what am I gone do about/
everything in Luke 12:15 down to 21/
you really oughta go and check it out/

Paul said if Christ ain’t resurrect then we wasted our lives/
well that implies that our life’s built around Jesus being alive/
everyday I’m living tryin’ show the world why/
Christ is more than everything you’ll ever try/
better than pretty women and sinning and living
to get a minute of any women and men that you admire/

ain’t no lie/ We created for Him/
outta the dust he made us for Him/
Elects us and he saves us for Him/
Jesus comes and raises for Him/
Magnify the Father why bother with something lesser/
he made us so we could bless Him
and to the world we confess him/
resurrects him/

so I know I got life/
matter fact better man I know I got Christ/
if you don’t’ see His ways in my days and nights/
you can hit my brakes you can stop my lights/
man I lost my rights/
I lost my life/
forget the money cars and toss that ice/
the cost is Christ/
and they could never offer me anything on the planet that’ll cost that price.

Verse 2 (Dwayne Tryumf)
(Note: verse 2 is not part of the music video)

Armed and dangerous
So the devil jus can’t handle us
Christian youth them a stand wid us
Livin’ n driven/ given a vision/ fullfillin the commission he handed us

London to Los Angeles
Da rap evangelist
Ma daddy wouldn’t abandon us
“I gotta back pack fulla tracts plus I keep a Johnny Mac”
So are you ready to jam with us

So lets go, gimme the word an lets go
Persecution lets go
Tribulation lets go
Across the nation lets go
Procrastination bes go

Hung on the cross in the cold
Died for da young and the old
Can’t say you never know
Heaven knows
How many souls are going to hell or to heaven so we gotta go in and get em

Verse 3 (LeCrae)

Suffer/ Yeah do it for Christ
if you trying to figure what to do with your life/
if you making a lot money hope you doing it right
because the money is Gods you better steward it right/

stay focused
if you ain’t got no ride/
your life ain’t wrapped up in what you drive/
the clothes you wear
the job you work/
the color your skin naw you Christian first/

people living life for a job/
make a lil money start living for a car/
get em a house a wife kids and a dog/
when they retire they living high on the hog/
but guess what they didn’t ever really live at all/
to live is Christ yeah that’s Paul I recall/ to die is gain
so for Christ we give it all/
he’s the treasure you’ll never find in a mall/

Your money your singleness, marriage, talents, your time/
they were loaned to you to show the world that Christ is Divine/
that’s why it’s Christ in my rhymes/
That’s why it’s Christ all the time/
see my whole world is built around him He’s the life in my lines/

I refuse to waste my life/
he’s too true ta chase that ice/
here’s my gifts and time cause I’m constantly trying to be used to praise the Christ/
If he’s truly raised to life/
then this news should change your life/
and by his grace you can put your faith in place that rules your days and nights.

Your Home - Your Church

This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit an awesome church in Nampa, ID Family Life Church. Pastor Steve Meistrell (@stevemeistrell) had some incredible words that are worth recapping.

Your Home - Your Church

Take responsibility for the fact that if you have been born, you are a member of a physical family. If you have been born into the family of Christ you are a member of a spiritual family. You don't get to choose whether you are in the family or not, however whether you are a CONTRIBUTING member or not is up to you.

The key is this many people want to be fed and taken care of, but fail to realize this is there family and there church. Pastor Steve used the analogy that if you (as a husband) asked your wife to make you Meatballs for dinner and she said no you don't get angry and make an ultimatum, or leave the family. That is a dysfunctional family! In the same way, you don't get angry at the person watching your children while you worship because you have to walk all the way back to the room to get them rather than them bringing your child to you. That is a dysfunctional family.

It just really highlights the point that You (ME) are responsible for your family and your church. Not your wife (or husband if you are a woman), not your pastor and paid staff. You make it what it is.


A couple of specific notes he had:

Following are a few of Satan tactics that he will try to use to break down
unity between the home and the church.

LACK OF COMMUNICATION: There must be a constant
effort to understand what is really being said/ when
misunderstandings arise they must not be promoted, but they
should be resolved by communication between the local church
and parents.

DOUBLE VISION: Satan will try to bring confusion by giving
every member a different vision, making it double-minded and
rendering it ineffective. Parents should be careful to support the
corporate vision of the church in their families and help inspire the
faith of the next generation to do the same.

Defaming leadership: When parents “have pastors for dinner” and
are always challenging the vision of the church leadership in front
of their children, they are undermining the influence of the church in the lives of their children and are ultimately giving their children an
excuse to rebel later.

Watch out for negative attitudes that can develop around inconsequential
things:
The number of church services.
The number of church activities.
The length of church services.
The type of music that is played.
The decisions concerning the facilities.
The building programs \ decisions concerning finances.
The particular DNA of that local church.

How are you taking responsibility for the health of your family and your church?

Creative God

Two weeks ago I was in Yellowstone National Park. I had the unbelievable opportunity to worship and pray in the wondrous beauty of God's creation. As I sat on a fallen tree and looked down at the forest floor, I could identify literally hundreds of colors in this small 5'x5' area.

The Holy Spirit reminded me. All Creativity comes from God. HE is the source. Often I think of the cool things I have made or done and I was just struck with the fact that he put those ideas in my head; and, everything we create is a mere imitation of what The Creator has already done. These thoughts brought up a few new points that I had not considered previously:

If we claim to worship this completely creative God, why do we get stuck in just a few methods of worshiping Him, and defend them as if they were sacred? Wouldn't this God who is the Creator and source of all creativity recognize these offerings of creative worship that we bring?

God declares that all creation waits for the day when it will be renewed to its full glory. This means that God has even more creativity stored up for the beauty of this earth. So much glory and creativity we can scarcely imagine how glorious it will be.

Since God is the source of all creativity. If we pray for God to pour out a tiny amount of His creativity on us, we could create completely unique ways of telling His story and worshiping Him. All for the glory of God.

In what ways are you tapping into God's creative potential for His glory?

Oh Hebrews... [Guest Post by Corbett Cutts]

Guest post by my good friend and brother in Christ, Corbett Cutts.

""'We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again.'" (Hebrews 5:11-12).

WOW! Nobody ever said the author of Hebrews was gentle with his words - but what truth those words hold.

I've read that passage 4 times in the past 24 hours and it wasn't because I didn't understand it or because I was falling asleep (usually why i reread passages) - but because each time i read it, it humbles me more than words can express. For the past twenty nine years I have associated myself in some way, shape or form with Christ. At times, I was seeking Him with all of my being; and other times, God wasn't even on the back burner...He wasn't on the stove or even the kitchen. Yet, I still knew who He is and what He offers. But the question remains - in those (nearly) three decades, where was my spiritual maturity? I am still a BABE in both my understanding of and my trust (faith) in Christ? Here I am professing my lifelong love for Christ and I'm not sure I can name all the books of the Bible..............

The point is that the author of Hebrews has me pegged. By now, i should be leading people spiritually. But I'm not, I'm scared and unprepared and it's a very sad truth. I know I lack the cranial capacity to know God fully and I am at His will for Him to reveal Himself to me in Scripture and His creation to know Him more. My epistemology is not to know all of God's being - that would be impossible. But my focus should be on using the tools He has provided me to shape my ethos.

God - my prayer is that this new season in my life will bring greater maturity and understanding of You. Not for my own edification, but so that I can be a more effective resource for you in transforming lives and helping those that are seeking You open their hearts to meet and receive You."

This is so applicable to us all. Thank you for sharing brother.

The Value of Small Groups

For those that know me well, I am a pretty positive person the large majority of the time. I do not see the point of being negative. You choose your attitude and how you react to the circumstances of life (positive or negative); however, yesterday was a difficult day for me. We had some unexpected expenses come up and although initially it did not affect me, I allowed it to affect my attitude and outlook. Not that I was angry or bitter at God or anything, but I was just down and unclear of how things would/will work out. I tried all day to work myself out through my mind and through prayer, but I could not seem to fully exit myself from this state. Then I had Small Group...

Spending time with others who are truly seeking God infuses us. It is like getting a shot of Holy Spirit Adrenaline right in the vein. It recharges our batteries. Even when you don't feel like it, GO! That is always the time when you need it most. Spending time with other people reading God's Word, praying in the Spirit and just openly living life together is how God intended the church. This is the Church that you see in the Acts. They came together daily and ate, prayed, worshiped... did life together.

Small Group (Life Group, Cell Group, CX Group all the same, different name) is where we really begin to grow in our relationship with Christ. Life would be much easier if we didn't have to interact with any one else. God put people in our lives to teach us. There will be times when you will be the encourager, mentor, leader and times where you will be encouraged, mentored and lead. This is the beauty of living in community.

So what about you? Are you in a Small Group? What other things have you let get in the way so that you are too busy to invest your time living in relationship with others?

If you are in the Meridian/Boise area I would love to have you at one of our CX Groups, but whether with us or elsewhere seek it out, it will honestly change your life.

The Heart of Worship

I believe that if you asked God, what one thing do you want most of me, He would say "Give me your heart, just give me your heart." Out of the heart flows everything else. All of our thoughts, actions, passions, desires, attitudes flow out of our heart. God wants it all. He wants our whole LIFE, not just certain parts of it.

I had the awesome opportunity to preach with Dusty last week on this topic at Connections, you can download that 30min message HERE

Honor's Reward

We visited Capital Christian Church in Meridian this past Sunday (one of the many advantages of a Saturday night service). My close friend and brother in Christ, Dimitri Nosarev had mentioned to me that a very well known speaker John Bevere would be there. I enjoy hearing good messages so mw wife and I joined his family, and man am I GLAD WE DID! It was an incredible message. The way the Holy Spirit gave him the passages and insight into the Word was amazing. We subsequently have purchased the book and study guide which are both very, very good as well. I wanted to share this sermon with you as I feel like it is an extremely worth while view.

Honor's Reward // 07.19.09 // Capital Christian Center from Capital Christian Media on Vimeo.

I also wanted to share with you the amazing message that Dusty Taylor gave on Saturday night. It was definetly Holy Spirit driven. We have been doing a worship series and this message is titled "Worshipping in Spirit and Truth". It is definitely worth the listen...

Click here to download.