Actors in the Church

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefor I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

             2 Corinthians 12:9

Today's church has become a place full of Hollywood potential.  I come across so many great actors and actresses, it's almost unbelievable sometimes.  The body is full of people who act like everything is great and wonderful.  Week in and week out the church is full of people lying to themselves.

My main question: Who told Christians that it is wrong to share weakness? I completely grasp that Christ died for me and for that I should be joyful, but we live in a fallen world and still have our sin nature, so why hide it?

My wife was turned away from Christians growing up because of this exact behavior. She went to a Christian school and was completely blown away by the "fakeness" of people. The realness that she desires is someone who can be completely honest about their life, struggles, joy, etc.  She and I do not want to constrict our possible growth with our walk with Jesus by pretending, we want to grow closer to Him, even if it is painful.

1. Through our weakness, Christ is glorified  because it reveals our dependence on Him.

2. When sharing our weakness, true friendships and growth take place.

 

Why deny these? Share your weakness, glorify Jesus Christ!! 

Amputee

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.   -Romans 12:5-6

Shame on you!!! I say shame on you to those who fit into this category! Lately I have seen some of the people I consider closest to me abandon the whole idea of what the Apostle Paul called "The Body of Christ." We are all made in specific ways that can further the Kingdom of God, but I have been hearing a lot of people judge certain churches, say certain churches lack the presence of the Holy Spirit, or some churches have sinners running teams of volunteers. Shame on you!

Maybe sometimes we get distracted by life and forget to put God first. However, sometimes we completely amputate ourselves from church trying to make a church fit our needs when we are designed to serve the church.

Tangent: Last night a very close friend of mine said in regards to his wedding, "Wes, I noticed that you find out who your real friends are during the wedding process. Those who truly care about you will put their selfishness aside for you, but those who seem to be distant or unhelpful are too focused on themselves."

All in all, I have been heartbroken lately at the lack of Christ-like behavior in those who I would expect to step up to the plate in this hectic time. I have seen things of this world completely take over people's lives and God is only a distant idea instead of the prophet, priest, and king over their lives. 

I am not boasting, I promise, but it seems that I am always sacrificing for those around me. I have been sacrificing my wedding planning to help people because I LIKE HELPING OTHERS!

So I ask, please examine your motives and trust me when I say that if you are not in the Word, God is not going to speak to you, trust me. I believe Jesus and the Apostle Paul both believed in love in the form of discipline and so I hope some of you who are convicted by this repent and check yourself. 

P.S. We are all sinners saved by grace. Remember that judgmental thoughts are equally as sinful as someone who has pre-marital sex, a murderer on death row, or a child trafficker. Serve the church!!!

An infinite God can give all of himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others.        -A.W. Tozer

Over the last week I read through an amazing book called The Shack. I am not going to ruin what happens because I truly believe everyone should read this book. My favorite thing about the book, even though it is fiction, is that it paints what I believe to be the most accurate and true picture of God. I found myself crying and laughing unstoppable waterfalls of tears. Here are 2 of my favorite parts of the book (don't worry, I am not ruining it)!

1) On the topic of true submission, a fictional Jesus explains to the main character: "Genuine relationships are marked by submission even when your choices are not helpful or healthy. I am as much submitted to the Father as He is to me, and the Holy Spirit is to us as we are to the Holy Spirit." The last line here is what really got me, check it out: "In fact we (God) are submitted to every person the same way."

2) On the topic of religion and if all roads lead to Jesus, fictional Jesus says, " Christian, Mormon, Buddhist, Atheist, Democrat, Republican, whatever it is, only one road leads to the Father, but I will travel any road to find you."

Both of these thoughts just overwhelm me. Sometimes we get so lost in our own lives trying to please God that we forget we can't earn any more love. He loves us completely!! 100%

Please read this book! Whoever you are, wherever you are at in your life, I promise it will change your outlook on life forever!!!  

What Makes You?

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:2)

As I read this today, I could not help but think about how many people set their minds on earthly things, then, when and if there is extra time, they focus on Christ. Let's be honest here, what makes you? If you were to die this instant, what would you be known for? Not what would you hope to be known for or what sugarcoated comments would your friends and family say at your funeral, but what makes you? 

I'll go first. I believe I would be known for being too upfront and honest. I believe that people would say, "Wes put his passion in pursuing a life of ministry before Jesus himself." This is me being honest!! This would be my legacy!

What makes you? Are you sacrificing your dreams and goals to pay a monthly payment on your dream vehicle? If so, that is your legacy, you are the guy/girl with a cool vehicle.  Are you spending all your time focusing on your spouse or loved one and putting Jesus second? If so, that is your legacy!! Are you praying and reading scripture when you have nothing to do, but putting it on the back-burner when you have friends or girls/guys to hang out with? If so, this is your legacy!

Whether it's friends, drugs, money, music, or whatever, Jesus wants us to put him first then we will be blessed with our "other" passions!! Comment back, I would love to know your legacy!

 

Grace: To Me

I always understood the meaning of grace but never really "understood" the meaning of grace in it's true form. A couple of weeks ago, my friend Erik told me I needed to read this book called The Ragamuffin Gospel. It wasn't like a "you need to read this book" because it is good or well written, but more of a "you need to read this book" because you need to read it. As I started reading it, something flowed over me very heavily. I have been missing out!! Grace is something beautiful. If you know me, you know I love Jesus. Not the Jesus in movies, not a Jesus that is an imaginary friend, but I love the Jesus that I know and that completely loves me.

Over the past years I have been steered in a direction where I was trying to earn grace. I would wake up and think that I "needed" to pray or "needed" to read my Bible. The truth is I should want to do these and understand that Jesus needs none of this from me, He loves me completely, no matter what!! When my little brain wrapped around this, one gigantic tear making thought raced through my head, sprinted through my veins, and left my bones shaking.

This thought, or discovery, is something most people know but I somehow let it fly right over my head. The thought was that when we start trying to earn grace, Jesus' bloody sacrifice, his long drawn out flogging, his public embarrassment of being mocked and tortured, his sacrifice for us on the cross, is all in vain. I then pictured Jesus sitting with his elbow on his knee and his chin in his hand, wondering if his sacrifice was for nothing. I pictured him watery eyed disappointed in me whispering, " Why Wes, why?" 

I then realized, or remembered, Jesus came to free us from the law, to break the thousands of year old chains of sin from our wrists. He came to bring us life. Why? He truly loves us. Listen to me! Yes you! HE LOVES YOU! No matter what you have done in the past, what you constantly struggle with now, when you fail in the future, HE LOVES YOU!! This is love, this is life, this is grace.