A Real Encounter With God

A Real Encounter With God

A real encounter with God changes everything. First of all it magnifies the Lord! Secondly it puts me, my ego, my sin, and my burdens in their rightful place.

Isn't that what churches are supposed to offer? Are we attempting to offer an encounter with the glory of God in creation as opposed to a real encounter with God in a way that only the church can provide? Is it possible the "manifested presence" of God is our greatest loss in the church world? Did not Moses declare; "Is it not your going with us that we are distinct among all the peoples of the earth?" Could this be part of the reason that the lost are not being found? Where is God's presence, really? The lost are not being found because the GLORY of God is not revealed in the church! The church world has shamefully become predictable and entertaining. Church was never intended to be a place where we serve God to the exclusion of meeting with Him.

Because of our church culture, we have perfected the ability to crouch within that culture instead of penetrating the culture that God has called us to. Evangelism is not winning people to doctrinal options and denominational loyalties. Evangelism is placing us deliberately into circumstances that will allow opportunities to witness about Christ as Lord. WHY? Our job is to get people to Jesus Christ and to get them back to Him in profound life-altering ways every week of the year. Church should be about helping people to discover and experience that reality fifty-two weeks a year. No personal quiet time, Christian book of the month, no community or small group or service can substitute for the absence of God coming down to meet with His church corporately. Instead of seeing ourselves as people attempting to connect with people, let us see the church as people attempting to connect with God and helping others to do the same. Eventually people vacate churches where God is not obvious, present, and working. Getting people back to church is pointless unless God comes back first. Let's get vertical!

THe Dog Poo of Life!

The Dog Poo of Life by Bruce Goddard [View From A Hearse Blog] [Re-Post]

Bubbles Mountain, located in Acadia National Forest in Maine, is 872 feet tall and is for most folks an easy hike to get to the top. But for me at least - it did take some effort.

I was told it would take 20 minutes to get to the top. That was probably close to being accurate. The goal was to hike to the top and enjoy the spectacular view and to discover the mountain top experience.

There were six of us that climbed the mountain. The trail was rocky and a little treacherous and for much of the way we had to go in single file. Treacherous in that some of the path was straight up and a fellow my age could easily sprain an ankle or break a leg or even a neck. The people with me were in the same boat.

But we reached our goal, the top of the mountain. It was definitely a gorgeous sight and there was at bit of accomplishment that we all made it up in spite of the obstacles. The mountain top experience was real but it was temporary. We spent a few minutes looking around and taking pictures and then it was time to head back down the mountain which was someone easier than the trip up.

Just as the end was in sight and our little excursion was almost done and we were walking out of woods - a not so funny thing happened.

I stepped in a big pile of dog poo. That could only happen to me.

I made an attempt to scrape it off my shoes before I joined my five companions in our vehicle but the shoes were not dog poo friendly. The treads were new and deep and dog poo was in every tread. And the odor I brought with me was not appreciated by the other folks in the car.

I finally got back to the hotel and tried to clean the shoes. I got most of it out of the not so dog poo friendly shoes but not all of it. A little bit of dog poo goes a long way - so I put the shoes in a bag and sealed it up. A couple of nights later I got the equipment I needed to clean the shoes and I was back in service with my not so dog poo friendly Nike’s.

Now to the point.

Life is an incredible journey. The mountain top experiences are wonderful but the prize is always in the journey. Sometimes there is dog poo in our path. We surely want to avoid it if possible but sometimes we just step in it. We are negatively affected and the people around us are negatively affected. And it can take some time to get over it.

The choice we have is to not let the dog poo of life rob us from the beauty of the journey.

It is definitely a choice we make.

22 Ways To Stay Humble

22 Ways To Humble Ourselves
by MARK ALTROGGE on SEPTEMBER 2, 2012


Christians should be the most humble people on earth.

We should be so because we have come to know something of God’s infinite greatness and our own unworthiness before him. Here are some reasons why we should humble ourselves before God and some suggestions on how to do it.

Why we should humble ourselves

– Because Christ was humble and we should imitate him.
– So that God can exalt us as he sees fit. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” James 4:10
– Because “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). We shouldn’t need any more reasons than this. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want God resisting me and I need all the grace I can get.
– Because there is safety in humility. Pride comes before a fall – the humble are less likely to fall, and if they do they don’t have as far to fall.

How to humble ourselves

– Contemplate the infinite greatness of God
– Consider your innumerable sins against God and the unbelievable mercy he’s poured out on you
– Contemplate your human frailty. Your every breath and heartbeat, your eyes, ears, strength, and mental health are all from God. He could remove them at any time.
– Contemplate your complete inability to control a single thing in this life.
– Realize that every good thing, talent and gift you have is a gift from God which he could remove at any time.
– Contemplate that if God did not keep you from sin you’d plunge headlong into it
– Confess your sins and temptations to God and others
– Ask forgiveness of those you sin against, even if they sinned against you first. Even if they don’t ask your forgiveness in return.
– Be quick to listen and slow to share your own opinions
– Don’t be so sure you’re right all the time
– Consider that there are multitudes far more gifted and godly than you are
– Cultivate thankfulness
– Contemplate your many areas of weakness – share them with others
– Realize you’re dispensable. If you died today, things would go on just fine without you.
– Realize that the things that bother you about others may be things you do as well
– Invite constructive criticism.
– Serve others. Wash others’ feet. Take on lowly jobs in your church.
– Take an interest in others. Consider others more important than yourself.
– Pray.  Prayer is an act of dependence and humility.
– Ask for help, wisdom and prayer from others.
– When others compliment you, thank them, then give all the glory to God in silent prayer.
– Rejoice when others are promoted, praised or honored.

What would you add?

P.S. I’ve got to add one more.  Probably the most important one:

–Regularly contemplate the cross.  Nothing should humble us more than the perfect, sinless, Son of God willingly pouring out his life to rescue those who hated him and rebelled against him.

Reprint from Mark Altroggie

"Dead-Fish" Rahm Vs. Chick-Fil-A

To set the historical context of this sorted tell of Chicago politics let us go back to the Presidential Election of 2008 after President Obama won and Rahm Emanuel was named Chief of Staff to the President. The sending of a dead fish is what gangster folk-lore is made of. In an article in the Huffington Post Rahm has a "dead-fish" handed to him as a parting gift when he resigned from being Chief of Staff at the White house to run for the Chicago Mayor's position. In this article there is a reference to Rahm sending a dead fish to a pollster that he did not like. The whole dead fish illustration is an allusion to the Emanuel legend of his sending a dead fish to a pollster for whom he didn't care, replicating the scene from The Godfather when the Corleone's were alerted of Luca Brasi's death with a dead fish wrapped in Brasi's bullet-proof vest [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/01/rahm-emanuel-dead-fish_n_746738.html]. With his propensity of gangster folk-lore Rahm is right at home when he makes the following statement; "Chick-Fil-A values are not Chicago's values" [http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/cities-move-to-ban-chick-fil-a-supporters-launch-day-of-support.html]. Rahm's statement was in response and in support to Alderman Procco Moreno's statement that he would block the development of a new Chick-Fil-A in the first ward because he felt that Chick-Fil-A was discriminating a segment of the Chicago population.

Many are calling this "strong-arm" politics. Having grown up in Northwest Indiana/Southeast Chicago area, I would see this as business as usual in Chicago going back to the "Mayor Daily Machine." I do not think the mayor counted on the backlash from the evangelical community. Dan Cathy President of Chick-Fil-A stated that marriage is one man and one woman. Because of this, Chicago is strong-arming a business because of the rightful voice in the market place. Franklin Graham has spoken in favor of Cathy by stating, "I applaud the courage of Cathy and Chick-fil-A to take a bold stand for the biblical definition of marriage between a man and woman in a culture that has grown openly hostile to the Christian faith and its followers." [http://billygraham.org/articlepage.asp?articleid=8820]. Dr George Woods, General Superintendent of the Assembly of God had some powerful questions to ask in an interview with Charisma News: ““Are you saying that the Catholics are also unwelcome in Chicago because they don’t have Chicago values? That evangelicals aren’t welcome? That Muslims aren’t welcome? That Orthodox Jewish people are not welcome? “That other persons who have religious beliefs that marriage is between a man and a woman don’t have Chicago values and therefore they are excluded from your community? Do you intend to discriminate against persons of faith? Do you intend to marginalize them? Are you becoming, in your view, intolerant of persons of religious faith? [http://www.charismanews.com/us/33867-assemblies-of-god-speaks-out-on-chick-fil-a-controversy].

Mike Huckabee is calling a for a day of support, August 1, 2012 from his website [http://www.mikehuckabee.com/]. I think that is a good thing. Not because that I happen to like there chicken sandwich, but rather because Francis A Schaeffer alluded to the idea that Christian theology must be studied because bad theology demands an answer. The secularism of Chicago politics demands an answer.  Enjoy your sandwich!

"Living With A Sense of Loss"

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4

The wise person is reminded of the fact that he will ultimately die. He thinks about it momentarily and then he moves on. He understands that all will at some point die. He "THINKS" on it, but does not "MEDIATE" on it. The foolish person however, never thinks about death – to him all things will continue as they are in the present.

Listen to the words of the Old Testament preacher in Ecclesiastes 7:1-4[ESV]; "A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth."

We all have faced loss on some level and we will continue to face loss as time moves forward. The issue is not whether we will face loss but how do we live with a sense of loss? The preacher of Ecclesiastes gives us four principles on dealing with a sense of loss.

1.     We live in a universe in which God us ultimately in control – Eccl. 7:13 "Consider the work of God, who can make straight what He has made crooked?

2.     Be obedient – why bring your headaches/heartaches to your life through disobedience that you are going to face anyway. Ecclesiastes 10 is filled with illustrations of this fact. Listen to v.1; "Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor."

3.     Be active – today's talents have significance for today, not the future. Eccl. 11:6; "In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good."

4.     Enjoy life even though you are under the sentence of death – Eccl. 3:22; "So I saw there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?"

Life is sweet but the days of darkness are many [Eccl. 11:7,8].

Become A Lion Chaser

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out  problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and take risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lillies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!
"In The Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day" - Mark Batterson

Stress Is A Choice

An excerpt from Stress is a Choice by David Zerfoss

Several years ago while listening to my pastor give a Sunday sermon, he spoke about how life is made up of a series of choices. It made me realize that my hectic professional and personal life was of my choosing. Therefore, a life of stress had become my choice. Many of us hurry through life going from one place to the next, focused on conquering the next mountain, making the next deal, running the next errand, and believing we will never have enough time to do all the things we need to get done. Yet, there is all the time in the world if we just realize that we are the creators of this life we choose to live. That's right. Life is a series of choices and being free from stress is one of those choices. Whether your business life is overly complicated or your personal life (or both), you have chosen this current system of chaos. The world is a tantalizing swirl of getting the next "fix," tempting us to fit more and more things, people and processes into our lives, personally and professionally. And because we are so busy being busy, it's easy to be lured into the fray, with our lengthy to-do lists. Yet, the greatest achievements have often come from the simplest of ideas and in the simplest forms. To experience a simplified life, we first have to learn to slow down long enough to see through all the clutter. We need to realize that we are powerful magnets that attracted this life to ourselves—no matter what—good or bad.