Church Part 1
I feel that we are a long way from where the church first started. Give me a moment to explain this. I love the church (God's gift of community to the world), but the church of 2010 is far from the church of Acts 3. I am not talking about specific church locations but the all-encompassing body of Christ. Now let's keep in mind that the New Testament church wasn't confined to a building. The New Testament church was found in people and is still found in people. In 2010 we are so focused on how to do church and do church better, but God never intended for us to do church. He wants us to be the church. In Acts the church was built around a simple process. They were the church (extending God's hands of love and life) everywhere they went and then they met together and celebrated the life of Christ.
We treat Sunday mornings as a pep rally. We get together, sing and dance, jump and rejoice. But pep rallys make no sense if there is no game to being played afterwards. Let me make a suggestion. If you are not being the church daily and participating in Kingdom building, you should stop having pep rallies if you are not gonna play the game.

I need a Spotter

For those of you who don't know, I am a certified personal trainer as well as a youth pastor.  I was in the gym yesterday, which is my sanctuary away from my sanctuary.  I was doing what I believe to be the most overrated exercise, the bench press.  I mean how many times in life are you going to be in a situation where you are lying on your back and pressing weight off you.  Yet the most common question asked at the gym is, "Hey, how much do you bench".  The bench press has always been the most intimidating lift for me to do.  I am not the greatest at the bench press.  Yesterday I was attempting lift  275 pounds off of my chest.  I did it 3 times but not without fear.  I wanted to lift 300lbs yesterday but i was a little scared.  I knew I could do it but I never lift that much without someone spotting me (helping me).  I know I am capable of lifting the weight but I also know that I am capable of being weak and dropping it on my chest.
Let me parallel this story to our walk with Christ.  All of us need an accountability partner, someone who is there to strengthen us and hold us to a high level of integrity.  I realize more and more in my life that I need people around me to keep me in line.  It's not that I think that I am going to sin, but I know I am capable of sinning because I am flesh and live in a sin filled world.  In order to get stronger physically I need a spotter at the gym and in order to get stronger physically I need a spotter in life.

Community
Let's talk about true community. As a pastor i have always felt the need to portray the role of superman to those I lead, But I have never been comfortable doing that. I do my best to be transparent and honest. If I am not transparent then I might as well be saying that I don't trust God's people enough to hold me up when I am weak. True community happens when we open up and lean on each other. Stop wearing masks and saying you are ok, trust the body of Christ to hold you up. This is what the New Testament church was founded on. They devoted themselves to developing true community everyday. Be real, don't cover things up or sweep it under a rug. Confess your sins, hurts, pains, faults, one to another. God moves in true community. The Kingdom grows in true community.

Put it in the rear-view

It's tough to move past things sometimes. Maybe you have been let-down, disappointed, hurt, blamed, abused, etc., or maybe you have just made some bad decisions and stupid mistakes. Whatever the case, our past should be our past. It should be behind us, and what took place then should not affect our now or later. Having said all that preacher talk, it's hard to let go of what happened to us. Let me give you some advice the Lord has given me. Put it in your rear-view mirror. God spoke that to me and I thought, "Ok, that makes sense, but when i look in my rear-view I can still see it." Then the Lord showed me that if I am not moving toward His destiny for my life then yes my past will be seen in my rear view mirror. You see when you are in your car and you look up and see a tree in you rear-view, that tree doesn't disappear untill you move far enough forward to get it out of sight. We have to move forward to what God has for us to get away from our past. I think maybe Lot's wife learned this lesson a little too late.

Advance the Kingdom

For those of you reading this blog, I am going to assume that you know a thing or two about being a Christ follower (which may be dangerous). John the Baptist said "the kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force". Our duty as Christ followers is to advance the kingdom of God in everything you do. For some this may mean through teaching, pastoring, performing, or singing, but for all of us it means spreading the word of Christ everywhere we go. God gives us each a different set of skills and abilities, but what we don't realize is that they were given to us in order to advance HIS kingdom and not ours. So my question to you this morning is what are you doing to advance HIS kingdom with what he has given you. You could be a business man who could use income to finance the advance of God's kingdom. You could be a student who can reach one classmate at a time with the hope of Christ.
Everyday most of us wake up with the thoughts of how we can improve things for US or OUR kingdom. I encourage you to open your eyes and look at things through the scope of God's kingdom. How can you advance HIS kingdom today? Love someone, teach someone, disciple someone, show HIM to someone

Endurance
Somewhere in the middle of my seven mile run today God spoke to me. As a society we place much attention to those who are strong (physically). We hold weight lifters, football players, and ultimate fighters in high esteem. Those sports that place an emphasis on strength generally get the most attention. But the sports that are based on endurance i.e: running, swimming, and biking barely make the back cover. People would rather see a few moments of incredible strength than a lifetime of endurance. We have seen the what happens to the lives of those who cannot endure, whether it be a sports star or a religious leader. After all doesn't the Bible say that those who endure to the end shall be saved"

I really think God finds our prayers humorous sometimes. I have thought about one of my most common prayers, which is also probably one of yours too. You know it's the one where we ask God to protect us from everything that could even remotely harm us or make us uncomfortable. I have realized how counterproductive those prayers are. It's my belief that God doesn't want to protect us from everything and He would rather us not be comfortable. I know that may not sound like the God we sing about on Sunday. The bottom line is that nothing grows out of comfort or 24/7 protection. God allows things to take place throughout the course of our lives to cause growth and spawn intimacy with Him. People like Job, Paul, Peter, David, and Moses know this principle first hand.
Take a moment to go to 2 Samuel 22 or 1 Chronicles 11 and read about David's mighty men. These were brave, unstoppable warriors who laughed in the face of comfort.
Now, I wonder how life would change for us if we prayed stuff like:
"God, place me wherever you want today. Put me in the best position to glorify you. I want growth and all that comes with it. Thank you".