This is a blog which records and augments the messages of my favorite pastors nationwide. Most of them are ranked by the Church Report Online as the top pastors in the country, but I include others. Among the favorites are Andy Stanley, Johnson Bowie, Craig Groeschel, Erwin McManus and Perry Noble. This blog will hopefully serve as a subject matter resource for pastors or for those in need of a good Word. Enjoy!
In Victory Atlanta's "Godconomy" series, Johnson Bowie delivers his "Joyful Generosity" sermon. There are two economies for the Christian. There is the way God treats money in His economy and then there is the world's economy. Jesus says that at the end of the day we have to choose between these economies because we can't serve both God and money. As Christians, we want to do things God's way, right?
Johnson has had many opportunities to travel worldwide to places like Haiti, Belgium and Peru and he has an acute awareness of problems we have in America or "First World Problems" which he calls "FWPs". These FWPs are things that we regard as a problems but the rest of the world considers them laughable. Delivering his description these FWPs, Johnson mimics Jeff Foxworthy's "You might be a redneck if...", but substitutes it with "You might have a FWP if..." We might have an FWP if you are frustrated because the thermostat is set to high in the winter; if the Imac and Iphone runs out of batteries at the same time; If you are upset with your barista because she put to much sugar in your latte; If you are frustrated with your spotty coverage of 4G phones or if you are upset because you can't fit your phone in your skinny jeans!!
The majority of what we consider are problems really aren't true problems. The majority of people listening to his message aren't worried about where their kids are going to sleep or what they are going to eat. In our world in the U.S. there is a natural drift away from God's way of thinking, but when you see the dirt floors and sheet metal roofs of poorer countries, you get perspective. When you see the kid who works for $30 a month and this is what you spend on coffee, it adds perspective. Three billion people in the world live on less than $2 a day. Half of them live on less than $1 a day. A quarter of the people alive have no electricity. If you make more than $25,000 per year, you are in the top 10% in the world.
Last year, Johnson was watching the Wall Street protesters and he was thinking as he saw signs that said "We are the 99%" that, to the rest of the world, they were mostly all in the top 10% in the world!! If you earn $1000 over the summer as a teen, you've just earned more than most of the globe earns in a year. It doesn't feel this way though because we are in the wealthiest country in the world. Even our homeless live better than half the world! We have money. By the world's standards, we are rich. So, what does God have to say about this and about us and about the wealthy and about the poor and about our struggles etc.? I Timothy 6:17 says:
"Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and always being generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life."
Sometimes we get detached from our world and we just give to others who can do the work themselves or on our behalf. But God tells us to get our own hands dirty. You cannot buy your way into heaven. The price has already been paid by Jesus. His forgiveness and our faith gets us in. As Christians, our generosity is a good foundation. If we know that we were once building our own kingdom before we were Christians, but now we build up His kingdom, we have the foundation for heaven. It is good.
Generosity, though, can have conflicting meanings. Many think, "I tithe and then I keep the rest for myself." The other side or extreme of generosity is to give everything we have away. The reality is that neither one of these beliefs works. Tithing is NOT generosity; it is obedience. The other extreme is a commitment to poverty; how miserable! We should find Joyful Generosity somewhere in the middle.
The Coronado Bridge in San Diego has as many people jump off of it as does the Brooklyn bridge. Why? Because money doesn't solve our problem! It is our response to money that can determine what is going on in our hearts. Can you say you are a generous person? Jesus' radical generosity serves as the model for all of us to be generous right? If we are fully committed disciples of Christ, this is true. II Corinthians 8:9 says;
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor so that you through His poverty might become rich....
Jesus did not die so that Christians could drive Ferraris. Eternal life is the true riches for us. Jesus became temporarily poor so that we could become eternally rich.
"I am so glad that Jesus didn't give 10%"; that He didn't show up, skimp on us and just tithe His blood. He gave it all. He poured His life out. Laws of the Old Testament told us what to do but they don't address what Jesus' New Testament deals with, the heart.
It's interesting in the Bible, how Jesus talks to different people about the kingdom of heaven and to some, He tells to give 10%, yet to others He tells to sell everything and follow Him. Why would He do this? It seems it sends conflicting messages to Christians. Well, How much would you have to sell before you were giving your whole heart to God? The heart of Jesus is to pour it all out! For God so loved the world that He gave and we love God, so we give.
God delights in our enjoyment of his gifts. So God says, give it all away and then He says enjoy what you have at the same time! As a father, Johnson has never given his kids presents and then expected them to give stuff away. In the same way God delights when we delight in His blessings. God's not upset when we are wearing nice clothes or driving two cars. He's a good dad. In fact, He's the perfect dad. To Him, it's just not about giving 10%...
"If a man begins to doubt whether he may use linen for his sheets, shirts, handkerchiefs and napkins, he will afterward be uncertain also about hemp... For he will turn over in his mind whether he can eat without napkins or go without handkerchief. If any man should consider daintier food unlawful, in the end, he will not be at peace before God, when he eats either black bread or common food, while it occurs to him that he could sustain his body on even coarser food. If he boggles at sweet wine, he will not with clear conscience drink even flat wine, and finally he will not dare touch water if sweeter and cleaner than other water." John Calvin
Where, then, does it stop when someone is urged to give it all away? There will always more. If your family has more spoons in the house than people, should you get rid of your extra spoons? We must first learn to delight in what God has given us.
If you see a person with a nice car and you are critical of what he is driving because it is so nice, keep in mind that what you are driving is much nicer than what the guy with the moped is driving! See, it is hard to enjoy what God has given you when you are judgmental of others. God is a really really good dad and He gives us what we need for our hearts. All we have to do is honor Him.
Wealth can be a very good thing. A lot of people can mess up when they love money. Money is not evil but the LOVE of money is... Proverbs 6:6-8 says, "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, nor overseer nor ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest." God says this is a good way to live life!
Johnson's grandfather had a good deal of wealth and he loved Jesus. He gave generously to the church and to people. Johnson is still blown away by the number of people who come to him and tell him how his grandfather so greatly blessed them.
Having wealth increases your ability to be generous. Do you know why? BECAUSE YOU HAVE MONEY! If you are in debt, how do you help someone out? by co-signing? The good Samaritan had money. Members of the early church in Acts had money! They were gifted to give riches and they had the revelation that their wealth was not just for them. One of the best ways to be generous is to open up a separate account to be given away. Why is it that we trust God with eternity but don't trust him with tomorrow?
Our wealth becomes an issue when we care more about our tomorrow than someone else's today.
The bible says being in debt is like being the tail and not the head. How much time have you spent looking at a dog's tail? It's not a good place to be. When we get into debt, we "go turtle" and focus more on paying off debt. As a church, Victory Atlanta has had experiences of strategically taking on debt to dig wells, feed the hungry and to fight the slave trade. So they manage their funds strategically and find the room to be generous too.
A few weeks ago, Johnson was working on a sermon and his father in law dashed into the room and told him that there had been an accident. They dashed out and sped down the street to the scene where Johnson's SUV was smashed up and the airbag had been deployed. His wife was in the front seat and he jumped out, ran to the passenger side and hugged his wife asking if she was okay. Was his car more important at that point? NO. It was an important time that gave perspective of what is important.
In the book of John, Mary is at the feet of Jesus. She opens up a very expensive bottle of perfume (worth a year's wages) and pours it on Jesus' feet. This seems like a one-time, random incident until you look at what happened in the previous chapter. In John 11, Mary was weeping with with her sister Martha because their brother Lazarus had died and was buried in a tomb. Jesus appears and raises Lazarus from the dead. Fast forward to Mary and the perfume. Now you understand why she is basically pouring her life savings on His feet.
It helps if we can understand that whatever we don't get here, we will get in heaven. Let's say you never got to take your trip to the Alps. What is the new version of the Alps going to be in heaven?
The heroes of the faith knew that this world was not permanent. They were looking forward to the New Jerusalem. They were looking forward to a new world. They wanted less here so other could get there! We can save up and work towards things, but we need to keep in mind that one day we will close our eyes here and open them in heaven.
When we join our hearts with Jesus with the understanding of what we can do, what our purpose is here and what heaven is like, we enter the world of Joyful Generosity.
Beginning today's message, Johnson Bowie is on stage with his wife, Summer, closing out a series about family called "Raising the Next Generation". Getting questions from the audience and online, Johnson and Summer open with the intent of their message; How to Build Strong Children. All of our children have potential. We want our kids to grow up as believers and as leaders. Our kids are the future prophets, apostles and teachers.
A question that came in from the Internet is (all questions are in green); What is the most important thing to know as a parent? The answer is a long list, but the thing that seemed to stick out is the fact that parenting is intentional.
Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it."
We are training up adults. We are training them intentionally in the ways of the Lord. Parenting doesn't just happen where kids are raised up to love God. With this in mind, Johnson announces that they are going to list out the top 10 things to do when raising a child. These points apply in virtually any scenario where kids are being brought up.
1.Teach them to love God and to love His Word. Kids must know that. If we fail at everything else, this is the one thing to be sure we do. Johnson's dad is a Presbyterian minister. His family virtually never missed church, but there are way too many people who go regularly to church and are not saved. In the story of Samuel, Samuel's mother Hannah prayed to the Lord and promised that, if the Lord would give her a child, she would dedicate him to the Lord all of his days. In 1 Samuel 3, it talks about how Samuel kept waking up his guardian, Eli, because he kept hearing a voice (it was God), but as the Bible then says, "he did not yet know the Lord". By this age, Samuel was being trained up in the temple every day! He was active in the rituals, the prayers, the ministries and every aspect, but he didn't know the Lord! It is a tough thing to reach the heart, but it is the responsibility of the parents to try and culture the personal relationship with Christ.
2. Train them in godliness. This isn't telling and teaching, this is TRAINING. We have to roll up our sleeves and show them what God loves and what God hates. But just as big as the what is the why, we have to give the kids a vision of what we are living for. "Because I said so..." doesn't get it. If there is no vision, kids will rebel. When parents are not there, the kids have to know that God is there. Why is it that Christian girls are more apt to involve themselves in oral sex? Because they are obviously missing the point; that their bodies are temples of God! The vision, in this case, is NOT virginity; It's about PURITY.
Our job as parents is to have the hard conversations. We can't let the world teach them. We have to teach them. We have to be the ones who take on the awkward tasks. "When you bought the mini van, you became awkward anyway." It starts in the home! We have to model this, though. Kids can sniff out hypocracy a mile away. We are the gatekeepers.
However, even as we teach our kids God's Word, we have to give our children a chance to walk out their faith. Otherwise, overprotected kids will fall away and fail. We would rather our kids fail at home than away, right?
Another question that came in is; What happens when our kids are around parents with different values? This is another hard conversation. It is one where parents ask other parents to be honored on certain points. If this is blown off, we then train our kids why our position is the way it is and where in the Bible it says that this is why God says this.
3. Don't be afraid to discipline. "How many of you have been around undisciplined children?" Your kids will be thankful later on! Proverbs 19:18 says, "Discipline your children while there is still hope; otherwise you will ruin their lives." With vision, don't be afraid to make tough decisions. Proverbs 13:24 says, "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves his son disciplines him promptly." If our children know we love them, then they will be able to understand that we have to discipline. Also, when disciplining, the parents have to be on the same page, otherwise the kid sees divisiveness. What's more, treat all children, even adopted children, equally.
What do I do if my child is in unrepentent sin? It is a hard question to answer, but a) have the hard conversation, b) bring in some scripture, c) wrap your appeal in love and d) do not underestimate the power of prayer.
4. Develope deep personal relationships with them. It is easy for this to turn into a controlling environment. But we have to have a home of love to balance discipline. Kids will resent you and the faith if they don't feel love from you. Your kids should know that they are the most important thing to them. Important: You are going to get more of what you celebrate. If you will encourage rather than scold, the encouragement will yield far more.
5 Encourage them to honor and respect authority. The Fifth commandment is to Honor your Father and Mother. If we can teach our kids to do that at home, they will learn to honor others. There has to be a culture of honor. DO NOT PUT DOWN YOUR SPOUSE in front of the kids.
6.Teach your kids to forgive others. Matthew 18, the scripture says that, if we have an offense against someone, we have to confront them. We have to model for our kids how to forgive.
7. Challenge them to stand for what is right, not for what is popular. We have a whole generation of kids who are spineless and who do not stand. We have to teach them that the priority is what is right in God's eyes. Teach your kids that you and God will always love them no matter what. But they have to know that most people do not stand for what is right. Let them know that you will back them up here!
8. Disciple them to embrace a strong work effort. Teach and encourage your children to do good jobs. You are raising future adults. It is never too late. Teach them responsibility and how to earn money. Teach them how to do laundry and how to
9.Direct them to fulfull their God-ordained purpose. Help them to live every day for their purpose. Teach them that God cares what they do with their time. We have to come alongside them and help them to step into their future. The role of the mother is affirmation. But the role of the father is confirmation. Confirmation is laying out purpose and vision. Confirmation also speaks out value, "You didn't just do good (affirmation), you ARE good (confirmation)."
10. Inspire them to love all people. Model to them that, since everyone matters to God, they matter to us. We have to love people. In John 13, "As I have loved you, so must you love others." Give money to the guy on the street. If someone needs you, reach out to them.
Recently, Johnson took his son downtown to Safehouse Ministries. Beforehand, Johnson explained that there were many different people that they would see who didn't believe like or see the world like they do. But when he picked up his son from school, someone had laughed at him in class about going to minister to the homeless. "How did that make you feel?" was Johnson's response. "I'll never forget his answer"... "It made me feel bad for the homeless guy.
Already, Johnson could see his son learning to love what God loves and to hate what God hates!
"I grew up having to go to church every single week..." Not everyone goes to church. In fact, thousands upon thousands of people who claim to be Christians don't go at all! "I just don't understand that," says Johnson Bowie of http://www.fusion.org/. It's the new year and now and there are many people back in church. Johnson challenges those who are back with the question; Why are you back? Do we even know what the church is? Do we understand its value? Maybe we need to be reintroduced to this thing we call church. Despite the stained glass windows, the bad music, the hypocritical failures of pastors and the judgement of active church-goers, the church is still defined in the Bible as the "bride of Christ"! So, let's get to know this bride. Let's get a better understanding of who she is!! Jesus says we have to be founded on the rock, we have to know why we do what we do and why we should count church as important. Starting this journey, Johnson begins by digging into why and how the church was created.
"On this day..it was a day like any other day, but it ended being one of the biggest proclamations that's ever been uttered on the face of the earth..." Everything had changed. Jesus gathered up his disciples and travelled to Cesara Philippi It was a horrible place for Christians because of the worship of Baal and travels "in and out of Hell". When Jesus and his "posse" came in, we see his question in Matthew 16, "Who do people say that the Son of man is (in other words, who do people say that I am)?." They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?" He asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then He warned his disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.
This was the first time that we see the belief in Jesus as Christ. Jesus declared Peter as the Rock. He says that the growth of the belief of Him as the Son of God would be unshakable. It would create the church. For those who say that Jesus never created the church but rather man did, that's simply not true! Right here in scripture, we see Jesus Himself say, "On this rock, I will build my church." This is the first time these words were ever said. It's the first time the word "church" was used in the Bible. The Son of God was going to build the foundation of the church on the proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah. From here, the story of Jesus progresses. Jesus is betrayed, He is crucified, He is buried and He rises from the grave.
In Acts 1:8, after Jesus had risen, He appears to the disciples and says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." After saying this, Jesus ascends into heaven and angels appear. Later, in Acts 2, we see 120 people gathered. It is the first time we have seen any resemblance of church. They are in the "Upper Room" and the Holy Spirit sweeps through the place. People are baptized. The festival of Pentacost was going on outside and they hear the commotion in this upper room and gather there. So Peter stands and gives the first sermon. Amazingly, 3000 people end up getting saved!! It was here that the church was born, again, on the belief that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.
Acts 2:42-47 says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." At the end, it doesn't say that people were saved and sent away. God added to their number daily. It wasn't lame prayer and passive attendence. There was enthusiasm and wondrous signs. It was an incredible time, but all of these leaders were about to experience persecution.
Did you ever hear the story about Stephen? He was a leader in the church and was giving a sermon. A man named Saul was in the audience and he started picking up stones and throwing them at Stephen. The crowd joined in and Stephen became the first martyr for Christ. When this happened, those in the church became fearful and the church (not a building) scattered. Although it was a horrible event, it served the purpose of spreading the church. People left and took the gospel with them. In His masterful plan, God later physically appeared to Saul, the rock thrower, and told Saul his name would now be Paul. Paul went on to become one of the greatest writers of the Bible, completing 2/3's of the New Testament. He also went on to plant many other churches.
Over time, there became this pocket of churches throughtout the land and, inevitably, conflict arose. We see this in the Bible when the Jewish widows were being taken care of before the Gentile widows and it became a point of contention. The question became, "What do we do with Gentiles or people who 'aren't really part' of the historical Jewish faith?" It was but one question of many as the church began to experience growing pains. Drawing from something he heard from a man named Cornelius, Peter addresses the widow problem in Acts 10:34-35. Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right."
In the first century A.D., the Ecumenical Council was formed. This was a council which gathered all of the church leaders together so that they would have unity of the spirit. One of the big questions was, what do we do about the Gentiles? People would ask, "What do I need to do to be saved?" And if you were a guy, when do we have to, you know..."snip, snip?" Whoa!! (Funny part of Johnson' message) So what did they need to do? How could they get to the heart of the faith and still hold true to it while making all these rules and steps of the faith? As a result of the Ecumenical Council's efforts, the first agreement, post-Jesus, was reached, which decided how to basically run the church.
It was progress, but then persecution of Christians began spreading in many areas and it even became illegal to believe in Jesus in some places. Christians were arrested and tortured. In 64 A.D., a huge fire had broken out in Rome during the time of Nero and, somehow, Christians were blamed for starting the fire. So, first Jews had hated Christians and now Rome hated them. There were reports that Nero dipped Christians in hot wax. As a result, some Christians began meeting in homes and cattacombs to avoid being detected. Around this time, "James the Just" was appointed head of the church in Jerusalem. He was the brother of Jesus and even he was stoned and crucified. Meanwhile, Peter and Paul were trying to convert Rome because it was key. "If they could convert Rome, they could convert the world." A famous apologist named Tertullian wrote, "but if you are near Italy, you are near Rome...What a happy church that is on which the Apostle poured out their whole doctrine with their blood...where Peter had a passion like the Lord." This is a 1900 year old statement, but it was a building block for the faith.
The "Apostolic fathers" Clement, Polycarp and Ingatius were church leaders who wrote pieces of what is now Catholic Bible. Pope Clement I was a actually a disciple of Peter and succeeded Peter. Somewhere along the way, Pope Clement became too powerful and was banished to prison. It is said when he went to prison, he brought peace to the fighting there. In fact, many of those prisoners were spiritually saved. But because Clement had influence even in the prison, he was taken, tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea.
Polycarp was a disciple of John. When he came to power, heresy immediately started creeping in. So Polycarp had the strong conviction of truth and started saying "Nope, that's not what John said..." He stood up for what he knew was the truth of Jesus. Polycarp refused to burn incense to the emperor of Rome as a deity and he said, "80 and 6 years I have served the Father. How then can I blaspheme my King and Savior? Bring forth what thou will" and they burned him allive. This to was a building block and testimony of faith.
Igantius was the third Apostolic father and also a disciple of John. They imprisoned him in Antioch and he was sent to Rome. On his way to obvious torture, he wrote six letters encouraging other believers and telling the church to keep growing. He was fed to the lions. "Defend the faith..." was the central message from his letters. He charged them to protect the Word and stand up for the truth of Jesus.
These three men defended the faith until the end. There lives helped make sure that the church was still sitting on the proclamation of Jesus was the Son of God and Christ as our Savior. Tertullian also said, "Blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church" Although it seemed like people getting killed for the faith knocked the church back, it actually caused the church to grow!! These men believed what Jesus said in John 12:24, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." There are so many of men who have died; men who preferred to give their lives than to sacrifice their faith. All through this persecution, the Messianic Jews thought Christ was the fullfillment of Jewish faith, but because Jesus had changed everything, it was unclear to them how they were to run the "new church". Were they simply to abandon all their traditions?
Ad 85 was the Council of Jamnia. It was a Jewish Council that said anyone who believed in Jesus as the Messiah was a heretic. This drove a wedge between the Christians and the Jews. A few other things started happening like having "church" on Sundays rather than the traditional Saturdays. More church fathers came into leadership and differences in the faith of the Jews became more and more apparent. Then, we read about this guy named Irenaeus who lived in the 100's. He was a disciple of Polycarp. He defended the faith against the Knostics and the pollution that tried to come into the church. He wrote a book called "Against Heresies", which presented arguments about the same stuff we fight today in the church!!
Tertullian came in later. This was the guy with all the good quotes and the guy who actually coined the term "the Trinity" which by the way, is not a term we find in the Bible. Justin Martyr later came and wrote the first christian apologetics. This is 1900 years ago! He was writing things that said "Okay, here is how you refute their refutes." He was talking about nonbelievers and how to defend the faith!
Then in 312, this humongous thing happened in favor of the church. Emporer Constantine was converted. He was first an official and later, Emporer. So Christianity, through Constantine, was legalized. After this is when churches and the buildings of worship started popping up everywhere. As the churches boomed, Emporer Constantine called the first Council the church had since the Council of Jerusalem. It was called the Council of Nycea, where all church leaders would come together. It's purpose was to again establish unity. One of the results for these meetings was "The Nycean Creed". This was 1700 years ago and many of us know that same creed today! It was a unity of faith mission statement. At the end of this creed, though, was a statement that would later create more conflict. Although its intent was honorable in defending the faith, it condemned whoever tried to come into the church and tried to change what was already established in the belief system. These people would be condemned by the church and this was stated in the creed.
The church started losing focus as we crept into the Dark Ages. It became political and started seeking power. It became more and more about money and some leaders started standing up against this to get the church back on focus. These men pointed us back to Acts 2:42. John Chrysostom was a catholic priest who was very unpopular with rich people because he loved poor people. He wrote "Do you wish to honor the body of Christ? Do not ignore Him when he is naked. Do not pay him homage in the temple clad in silk, only then to neglect Him outside where He is cold and ill-clad He who said, 'This is my body' is the same who said, 'You saw me hungry and gave me no food and whatever you did to the least of my brothers you did also unto me.' What good is it if your Christ's table (communion) is overloaded with gold and chalises when your brother is dying of hunger? Start by satisfying his hunger and then with what is left, you may adorn the altar as well." Chrysostom ended up being banished and his last words were, "Glory be to God for all things."
Then there was this guy named Augustine of Hippo. Sixteen hundred years ago, he comes up with this thing that was in stark contrast to what the Catholics believed. It was what was visible in church and what was invisible in church. Generally speaking, Catholics believed in the visible church. They seemed to believe that what you see in church is what you get in heaven. He called the church a "mixed body". He said that not everyone in church was going to heaven. He pointed out that there were sheep and wolves in the church. It was another step in pointing out a personal relationship with Jesus. Augustine was careful to point out that people were coming to church one way aned living another. He was pulling the focus back to Jesus.
In 1054 there was this thing called the "Great Schism". It was a break between the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. It created a Greek group and a Latin group. Thomas Aquinas, said to be the greatest theologian ever, came onto the scene and said (remember, this was 800 years ago), "With regard to heretics, two points must be observed. One on their own side; the other on the side of the church. On their own side, there is the sin which they deserve, not only to be separated from the church by excommunication but also to be severed from the world by death. For it is a much graver matter to corrupt the faith which quickens the soul than to forge money which supports tempural life, wherefore, if forgers of money and other evildoers are forthwith condemed to death by the secular authority, much more reason is there for heretics as soon as they are convicted of heresy to be, not only excommunicated but even be put to death. On the part of the church however, there is mercy, which looks to the conversion of the wanderer. Wherefore She condemns not at once, but after the first and second admonition, as the Apostle directs. After that, if he is still yet stubborn, the church no longer hopes for his conversion, looks to the salvation others by excommunicating him and separating him from the church and furthermore delivers him to the secular tribunals." Aquinas was intent on drawing lines in defending and preserving the faith.
St. Francis of Assisi. ("He was a sissy," kids Johnson) This was a guy who took a vow of poverty. He was trying to embody the life of Christ. He wanted to let go of all else so he could reach those who needed the Gospel the most. The story has it that he was a wealthy, influential guy playing sports and was popular. People asked him when he was going to get married and he said he was going to marry to a much fairer bride than all of theirs; the bride of poverty. His life was about reaching people. So, he goes to this mission trip to Egypt and he runs into this sultan and challenges him to a contest of fire. The sultan was absolutly taken back by this man willing to go out on such faith. St. Francis said he would step into fire, but if he survived, the sultan would have to convert to Christianity. The sultan responded by saying that just because he was willing to do this, he could preach the gospel to his people. The sultan had given St.Francis entrance into Egypt!
Then, there was this thing that happened on April 18, 1521. It was called the "Ninety-Five Thesis". There are very few things were more important. This monk named Martin Luther takes these 95 complaints against the Catholic Church and nails them to the door of the church. Attached to these, he makes these statements, " I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter and made of him jailer and hangman of my poor soul." The people above him tried to give him more stuff to do and keep him busy. But he saw that the church was adding all these things to the cross. For instance, you could pay for your sins and pay for higher positions in the church. He stood back and criticized them. Predictably, they excommunicated him and even tried to kill him. The new group formed by Martin Luther called themselves Evangelicals because they were returning to the gospel (Although this was known as the Protestan Reformation). At that time, the Catholic church motto was "Always the same". It can be understood why they wanted their belief to remain the same, but the problem was the church it drifted off focus. Stability in that, but the motto of the reformation was "the church reformed always being reformed according to the Word of God".
Alongside Luther came Huldrych Zwingli. He was a priest who began rejecting icons in the church. The church had heros and martyrs like Mary, St. Peter and St. Clement, but Zwingli begged the question, "Why shouldn't we just worship Jesus? The church fired back and leaned on what had become a misplaced motto; "always the same". Zwingli aslo asked why priests shouldn't marry and why communion wasn't actually the physical body of Jesus, but rather the symbolic body of Jesus.
In 1536, John Calvin comes along with Calvinism and predestination. This is when the Presbyterian church pops up. In 1545, a counter reformation to the Ninety Five Thesis emerged and the Catholic church defended their position saying their central message was still about Jesus. Back and forth movements then went on for a time. Back in America, the faith of the Protestant church continued developing. Puritans come and the faith keeps growing.
In 1962, Pope John Paul, at a Vatican Council, made a really cool statement. This was significant to Johnson. " In the study in Revelation, east and west have followed different methods and have developed differently their understanding and confession of God's truth. It is hardly surprising, then, if from time to time, one tradition has come nearer to a full appreciation of some aspects of the mystery of revelation than the other or has expressed it to better advantage. In such cases these various theologicial expressions are to be considered often as mutually complementary rather than conflicting. Where the authentic theological traditions of the eastern church are concerned, we must recognizse the admirable way in which they have their roots and holy scripture and how they are nurtured and give life to the liturgy. They derive their strength too from the living tradition of the apostles and from works of the fathers and spiritual writers of the eastern churches. Thus, they promote the right ordering of the christian life and indeed pave the way to a full vision of christian truth." This message was to churches who had been at war for 900 years or so! At the end of the day, he was saying, "we know that you love Jesus".
John Calvin , when Geneva was crashing down around him, used to call it the "Second Jerusalem" because of how christianity was blossoming. He said, "I know what I believe and what I've taught you to believe, but I need you to go and join the Lutheran church. His "Calvinism" was not in agreement with the Lutheran church, but he knew that it was still about the message of Jesus as the Son of God. It was still about unity. This was a man who was credited by some of the hard line denominations, yet he still knew it was about the true church of being followers of Christ. As it says in Ephesians 4:3-5; "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism."
If it is built on Jesus, it is part of the body. The history of the chruch is about men and women who are willing to lay down their lives for the faith. Too many times, we come and see churches bickering and going back and forth, but it ignores the fact that the church has been built on the blood of the martyrs, by christians used as human candles, by believers who were eaten by lions, burned at the stake, or sunk by an anchor to the bottom of the ocean. Don't take it forgranted.
"My prayer for you is that you would be unified." Johnson calls everyone to stand and and to cite the Apostles' creed (part of the Nicean Creed from 1300 years ago). It is a statement of unity in the church. This creed we heard so many times if we grew up in the church means so much more when we understand better its history.
"I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried, and the third day He rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence, He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen
This whole thing we call life is all about God; the man Jesus. Beginning his series, "Cha-Ching", Johnson Bowie picks up on this thought in Isaiah 26:8, "Yea, in the way of (Your) judgments, O Lord, have we waited for You; the desire of our soul is to Your name, and to the remembrance of You."
It's not about us! The stars scream out His name. If we don't glorify Him, the rocks will cry out. The Bible says that the earth, the animals, the sea and the mountains are all about God. Every breath, step and direction of our being has to be about Him. If we can just start falling in line with this and begin thinking about Him, we can transform our lives to reflect His glory.
In I Chronicles 28, the writer talks about God's great power; His shining greatness and strength and how everything in heaven and earth belongs to Him. He rules over all. Power and strength are in His Hands. It is our desire that everything we do would scream out the fame of our God.
So, how can we take this amazing truth and desire and then trim the whole idea down to one thing called money? How can we spend or give our money to glorify God? We are all in this game together as Christians joining together in an effort to do something greater than ourselves. What better time is there to talk about money than when times are getting tough? Gas prices have soared, home prices are plummeting and jobs are being lost.
Jesus talked about money more than anything else. Money defines our lives. We go in to work, log our time and then we get paid for the amount of time we've worked. We trade our life and our time for our money, right? So, when we spend our money, we are spending our life!! So, if we are making poor spending decisions, we are poorly spending our life! "If you buy a cup of Starbucks and you make minimum wage, that's 30 minutes of your life you just bought!" So, if money reflects our lives and our lives are to glorify God, how does that translate to how we spend our money?
II Corinthians 5 says, "And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again." How can we live for Christ in every decision we make?
I Timothy 6:6-10 says, "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
Contentment with a burger and a t-shirt is tough to accept, but money is NOT the root of all evil. The LOVEof money is the root of all evil. It's what our heart's intention is when we go after money that counts. Money is intoxicating. It is an opiate that addicts as easily and as completely as alcohol or narcotics. It's power to change us is close to that of Jesus Christ. Men trade their lives for it. Women trade their bodies for it. Families will trade their families for it. People will trade their church for it. Nations are ruled by it and destroyed by it. Most crimes are motivated by it. Most people are brought under it's control. A person who can maste the rule of money is the person who is completely mastered by the rule of God.
Money is a great slave, but a terrible master. Money is a great thing to have under you; a horrible thing to have over you. The best way to not have money be a god in your life is to not have it. Just give it away. The other side of this truth is that we can't give money away if we don't have it. We can't bless people with IOU's!! The reason so many of us don't have money is because we are giving it to the man; the credit card man. We do this because of all the bad decisions we've made in the past.
"I was at a leadership conference last year and Dave Ramsey was there...He's the Christian financial guru...with a daily radio show...'Total Money Makeover' is in the book store...He stands up and says...'STOP PREACHING ON TITHING'...it's like he had stood the golden cow up...but then he said...Stop talking about tithing unless you are willing to talk more about getting out of debt."
How many of us would love to be able to give or contribute to people's lives, but we can't!! Wouldn't you love to pay someone's way on a mission trip or just pay for someone's gas or to pay a single mother's electricity bill for a month? But we are chained by our debt! If we could tame money in our lives, we could live for the glory of God. Maybe if we could get out of debt, we could go when God actually says, "GO".
Malachi 3 says we rob God if we aren't tithing. In not so many words, God actually says we are cursed financially if we don't tythe. Most people WANT to tithe, but simply can't. But let's move beyond tithing and focusing on debt so that we could actually tithe 20%, not 10%, if we wanted to do so.
Why do we think that if we just had more money, we could tithe? There's a reason why people who win the lottery end up broke again. Money cannot change our spending habits. Many mulitmillionairres are more stressed about money that we are. Most of us just need to get out of debt. What would our lives look like if we could? This is our goal. We could worship God so much easier if we didn't have to honor our debts.
The national debt for the U.S. is now (at the time of this message) $9,357,639,867,792!!! The national debt grows by $4.7 billion a day. If you add these numbers up, our share is $31,000 apiece. So, a family of 5 would have to pay $150,000 to pay their share of the debt! But if you gave the government more money, they would just spend more money.
We pay taxes to the government and the pays $406 billion every year in interest. The total debt of our nation, including every person and every business is $53 trillion dollars. That's $175,000 per person. The average person will make $1.4 million dollars in their lifetime. But we spend 1/2 to 2/3's of every dollar we make in our life time paying for debt. The average American family has $9,300 in debt. The average college graduate already has $19,000 in debt. Most of them will still be paying on this debt when their kids go to college.
Every year, more people declare bankruptcy than graduate from college.
We are so messed up! Did you know they even put VISA cards on the new barbie dolls? Johnson went to UGA (University of Georgia) and the first thing most people would go to would be to the free UGA t-shirt table once you register for a VISA card. We don't think we'll use it at first or that we'll only use it for emergencies, but then, before we realize it, we've run up our debt. Johnson did some math to illustrate the really good experience of a $1,000 cruise to Cancun. Minimum payment is on $15 a month! But it takes you 15 years to pay the card off with minimum payments. That's an expensive t-shirt (to get the card in the first place)! Then, when you start dating, it really gets bad. The debt monkey starts to turn into King Kong. "I'm sick of seeing the richest generation of all time being debt ridden...Can we possibly break free from this to make the name and fame of Jesus Christ spread?"
Proverbs 22:7 says, "The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender." If we are truly servants to Jesus Christ, how can we stay in debt? What typically happens is, we get married as DINKs (double income, no kids), we buy our cars, we buy the house, we buy the furniture and then....she gets pregnant. "How are we going to do this?" The knife in back of this generation the fact that other people raise our children because wive's have to work to pay off debt. How can we possibly be a nation that glorifies God? We've traded off raising the next generation because we made stupid decisions in our youth. This robs God of His glory. Don't trade your kids and your future for the present.
Johnson read an article online called "Moms' New Battle: The Food Price Bulge." In there is a quote from a mother who says, "We are a typical middle income family. If we did not carry foolish debt, we would be okay. But with our debt burden combined with paying for two children in daycare, there's nothing left over at the end of the month." This sums up the life of so many people! Another 20 something girl says, "It is a life which is insult to injury. I want to get married and I want to have a family. But what if I want to have a child and take time off while he's an infant. Will I be able to do that with all this debt that I have to make payments on?" Do we really want to be the guy driving a fancy car with thousands of dollars we owe on it and have to work instead of raising our kids? Eventually, we even have to pay someone to take care of them! Where do we draw the line? If this whole world is about glorifying God, where do we stop?!?
Deuteronomy 28 talks about the curses listed out in the Bible if you don't do what God tells us to do. It talks about the curse of the "foreigner" who lends to us. The foreigner becomes the dog and we become the tail. "If you're wise, fine. But if you're not you will be the place where poop comes out." How many of us feel like our life is in the tail? Some of us are living this "tail life" because we haven't chosen to stay out of debt and to emphatically glorify the name of God. Why is the whole debt thing bad? It keeps you chained up to money. Most of us have desire to give. We want to bless people but we can't. Be free from debt so you can live for God. What if God called you tonight and wanted you to go to Germany for missions? Could you go? What about next month? Next year? Next ten years? Could you?
We have to get out of debt to go, to live and to give. The government, right now, is outgiving the church. This is wrong. We are called to be the light in the darkness, not the government! We want to be a people who can show the world that God loves them.
Johnson is 28. If by some miracle, he makes it to be 80 or 90, that means he has 60 or so years left. What happens after that? He's dead!! "But what if I want a big TV?" What if we started spending our lives today on things that glorify God? How can we start making money a "God thing"? Get out of debt to give to a kid, to take someone out to lunch to tell them about Christ, to give to the struggling mom or to bless someone. It is not about you. It's about God. Let's be these people. How do we do this? Next week, Johnson talks about this.
In order for us to really press forward in our life for God's Purposes, we've got to get free of our fear. Johnson Bowie, at http://www.fusionatl.org/p/12081/Default.aspx, continues his "Know Fear" series, titled "I Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts" by saying that we have to know the stuff that spiritually comes against us. In order for God to set us free, we have to ask God to expose us. Until we know who God is, we will continue to put the approval of man in front of Him. If we know what God says about us (He smiles when He thinks of us and He rejoices over us when we sleep), then we can step boldly into life. (picture labeled for reuse on flickr)
Last year, Johnson went skydiving at a Fusion event. The crazy thing about that is, Johnson was wildly afraid of heights. But he was determined to conquer his fear. In a funny tale about the episode, Johnson talks about the details leading up to the jump, his experience as he jumped and then the slow descent with the parachute. He was connected to a guide, which which made him feel safe, "but then he did one of the top ten stupidest things in my life." The guide reaches back and starts undoing buckles which absolutely freaks Johnson out. Even though Johnson was terrified as the parachute straps loosened, things obviously turned out okay. Johnson says he was not so much afraid of the height, it was fear of what was on the other side of the height, i.e. the fall and the hit afterthe height. Likewise, it's not so much a fear of the dark, but it's about what's in the dark.
What Johnson is talking about today is a fear of the supernatural. Are angels or demons normal? Is speaking in tongues natural? We're talking about the reality is that there is another dimension. God is with us despite the fact that we can't see Him. The supernatural events happen when the spiritual realm steps into the physical. Demons, weegie boards, bodily possessions, Satan and angels are all real. This isn't just a fluffy world. There are nearly 300 references in the Bible about angels. In Ephesians 6:12, it addresses this hidden world; "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (picture labeled for reuse at http://www.gallery.mobile9.com/)
Johnson personally experienced this when he was involved in a healing service and six guys couldn't lift a 100-pound unconcious woman who seemed possessed! When we encounter stuff like this, it scares us because we don't understand it, but the Bible gives us guidance. In Isaiah 14:12, it describes the story of Satan. Lucifer was an angel who wanted all the power of heaven. He attacked the armies of God, but was cast down. Lucifer is but a fallen angel. He is not the mini-me of God. In Revelation 12:9, it again talks about the great dragon cast from heaven. The word demon is a scary word; much scarier than "fallen angel". But if you hear the words fallen angel, it gives you the perspective that Satan has been defeated and we have God on our side. One of the keys to conquering our fears is to demystify the supernatural. Demons and devils were created and, at their core, they want to be worshipped. If we give them fear, we are effectively worshipping them.
Have you ever been in a service and someone stands up and screams? It's because they are trying to pull the attention off Jesus. When we give Satan a foothold in our lives, they hold on to it and torment us with it. "Something inside of me says, 'no'...I will not worship Satan. I will worship Christ." Most of the time, as Christians, fearful things get worse in our lives because of our new power as believers. There's power in the name of Jesus and, when we start talking about Him, the entire world seems to come down on us! There are strongholds everywhere. "When I decided to do this series on Fear, I came down with the flu and Jeremiah, my son, started having nightmares..." Johnson says, "Oh, it's on now, man. You're going in the room of my kid?" When leaders step into their positions at Fusion, there are so many blessings, but at the same time, they get a ton of resistance.
New level, new devil. Johnson Bowie
But we are armed and dangerous! Colossians 2 talks about how we were dead to the sin of the enemy and Jesus went down to satan's domain, took the keys and gave him the Tyson one-two punch. We need to know that God created hell for the demons, not for people. They are going to burn in an everlasting fire, but some of the world actually chooses to go the route of the devil! Demons are encouraged by this and they are trying to deceive us to burn with them. We need to encounter demons with the knowledge that they are already a defeated foe. Revelation 20:10 retells the fate of Satan.
Who then, can be against us? God is omnipresent. He's everywhere. "He's inside your earball." Satan is NOT omnipresent. "He's in Antartica somewhere." God is all-powerful. Satan is finite as a creation. God is everlasting, while we know the fate of Satan. Big God. Little devil (go to your high voice when you say "little devil"). God even assigns His angels to us. When we think about angels, though, we have a huge misperception. "So cute little naked baby angel...thank you for coming off your cloud...play me a song on your harp...But that's not what angels are!...Angels are stinkin' kickbutt warriors." We have these amazing warrior angels assigned to each of us!
Genesis 3:24 is the first description of the cherubim (angel). Seraphim have six wings and are covered with eyeballs! "What!! They don't have pictures of those on the front of Guidepost!" The archangel Michael, single-handedly defeated thousands of demons. In Revelation 2, there will be 4 angels on each corner of the earth to hold back the winds. Why is it that whenever people in the Bible encounter angels, the first thing they say is, "Fear not."? These are unbelievable creatures!
Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. What we have to grasp is that we, as his followers, have the power of God already in us. In Exodus, Moses comes to the edge of the Red Sea as they are running from the Egyptians. Moses calls on God, but God tells Moses that he already has the power and to use his staff! We can't call the angels down ourselves, but we have authority here. Multiple times, Johnson describes times when he was just minding his own business and this super lustful dream comes or this gory, bloody dream comes or he is scared by an experience. In the dream, he is stuttering trying to say, "Jesus". When he finally says it, everything leaves. There is no power in anything we say alone, but there is power in the name of Jesus. Phillipians 2 says that the name of Jesus is above the name of any other to the glory of God the Father.
It is Easter coming up (when Johnson delivered this message) on Sunday, "but I think so many of us are stuck on Friday." Something changed Johnson and the way he thinks about his life. "If you really want to find out about what God says about your power and authority, go through Ephesians a couple of times." God exalted Jesus to the highest place. In Ephesians it says that we are seated with Jesus in Heavenly places!! We are armed and dangerous and we don't even know it! Think about that! We are seated with Christ in the Heavenly realms. Luke 10:19 & John 14:12 tell us about our authority. Isn't it crazy that Jesus actually expected us to do what He did; even greater works!! It's because we are seated with Him. James 4:7 tells us to resist that devil and he will flee from us. Oft times, we only remember the "flee from you" part. But we must resist the devil.
One morning, Johnson was coming into a very dark church at night. "The only light I had was the demonic exit signs; you know what I mean?" Here he was, preaching about fear, and he was afraid. Then a little voice in him says, "I called you to flee from temptation, not to flee from the enemy. Johnson had a change of heart; "Armed and dangerous, baby...seated with Christ" Years ago, Johnson had this dream where he is on a mountain top. The wind is blowing and lightning is around him. On the other side of the mountain, there is this huge warlock who is about to fight him. Toe to toe, Johnson remembers how he had just been reading Elijah, so he screams "Fire of God!!" and this tornado comes down and scoops up the warlock.
"Stop asking God to rescue you when He gave you the authority." Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. "I'll give you a double cheese burger promise." Step into who God called you to be!
"Guys, I was watching the news the other day...anybody made the mistake of doing that lately?...I think they are required to depress you...somebody got shot...people are getting poisoned...a puppy was burned...the bird flu is coming..." There's so much fear floating around isn't there? Beginning his series, "Know Fear", Johnson Bowie addresses our perceptions of fear.
If it's not Satan, it's our parents or others. They should just start out the news saying they're surprised we made it through another day! We've even named our fears. Johnson looked up a few; acrophobia - fear of heights, arachnophobia - fear of spiders, aeriophobia- fear of flying, ecclesiaphobia- fear of church, dentaphobia- fear of dentists, glossaphobia - fear of speaking in public, turnaphobia - fear of being tickled by feathers. Aren't we all surprised to have made it through Y2K?
A lot of people carry around fear. Fear of death, rejection, harm, bankruptcy or of being single forever. We're on this journey of trying to recover our ancient path, but one of the humongus hurdles for us is fear. Fear is the prison of the heart. 2 Timothy 1:7 talks about how God did not create us to be afraid. We have power, love and a sound mind. God doesn't want us to be afraid, but to be more than a conqueror. We are to live life to the fullest. But so often, fear steals that away from us. We have to know the fears that are in our lives or we are going to be knocked down again and again. We can't always sleep with the TV on to kill the night time noises. We can't always drug, medicate or counsel our fears away. We have to call our fears out to a high noon and then whoop their butts.
For every thought plaguing our mind, God has a Word against it. He has a plan for our lives that is a billion times better than Satan's. More than 60 times in the Bible, God says, "fear not". If someone thinks they have no fear, they are called to help others not to have fear. God wants to drop kick our fears away. BUT....Not all fear is bad. God wants just a little fear in us; the fear of the Lord. In Proverbs, it says that the fear of the Lord is "the beginning of wisdom". Many of us have heard that before, but how many of us really understand it? Why is it that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom? Johnson doesn't presume to answer that for all of us, but he wants to try and share what he feels God is showing him. If fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then shouldn't we spend a lot more time on it? If we don't know the fear of the Lord, then where are we? At square one? If we can step back a little from how we're accustomed to viewing God, then we can see a little better.
Who are we to be in His presence? After God set the Israelites free from Egypt, He led them to Mt. Sinai. He gives Moses the Ten Commandments and then it says God came! This wasn't a stretch limo, God came down with trumpets, lightning and thunder, earthquakes, fire and smoke. The people were terrified, but Moses tells them to "Fear not". But, in the same sentence, Moses tells them to fear God! As the people stood in the distance, Moses approaches the black cloud. But doesn't it seem to be contradictory that he told the people not to fear but to fear the Lord. The word for afraid here is "yah rae" which means "to dread or to be frightened". But the word used for fearing the Lord is "year rah" which means "reverence". So, Moses is saying not to fear because God is testing them so that His reverence would be with them to keep them from sinning. He separates the fear of the Lord from being afraid of God.
The love of God is for us. There's a differernce. Being afraid of God makes us draw back from Him, but fearing God makes us press into Him. Sin cannot stand in His presence. God has two unchangeable attributes. 1 John 4:8 says God is Love, but Hebrews 12:29 says God is a consuming fire. God is love, but God will burn your socks off!! The God of all creation loves us, but He is also an absolutely terrifying inapproachable light. Yet He says that if we will draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. Philippians 2:12 says we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. He is wonderful and terrifying at the same time. We can't truly love God if we don't fear Him. These are two things that go hand in hand.
Johnson went to the Grand Canyon not expecting much. But when he saw it, it was amazing. It was a little bit like what God might be like. Or maybe God is like what you see in the Hubbell telescope. Every time we invent a new telescope, we see more stars. It keeps going... Revelation 20:11 says God is so terrifingly great, but there is no where for anything to hide from Him. He weighs the oceans in his hands.
Johnson was in Nicaragua last year and he took a twenty minute drive to the top of this volcano. When he went to the top of it, it was amazingly huge. Steam was coming up from the middle and there was a sign that said, "Warning, this volcano can erupt at any time." This sign said to hide under his car if it erupted!! But that's the last thing he would do. He would speed to the bottom! Looking at the volcano, he knew he was in the midst of something that could destroy everything within many miles, but here he was looking into it. He wasn't afraid, but he was respectfully awed. This was probably a glimpse of what it is like to be before God.
St. Augustine wrote many books and one of the first autobiographies. Over 1,000 years ago,he lived and there is this part in his autobiography which describes his death. He was slowly dying in his bed and his relatives were watching him peacefully drift off. Then he sits up and shouts, "I've seen the Lord. All that I have written is but straw." In Revelation, it talks about this massive throne with terrifying seraphins circling and shouting the holiness of God. The entire throne is shaking. Revelation 1 talks about how John is describing a terrifying God, with a sword in his mouth and fire in his eyes; a man holding stars with white hair.
Jesus is the terrifying, but loving son of God. This is the same God where people would not even write His name or speak it in ancient times. In Exodus 3, when Moses saw the burning bush, God asks him to take of his shoes because he is on Holy ground. Then He sends Moses back. Moses asks who he should tell the people is sending him and God says to tell them that "I AM" has sent him. This comes from four letters in Hebrew "YHWH". It's the inefible name.
Orthodox Jews won't even spell "God". They write G-d out of fear of Him. When men would write His name in the Bible translations, they would throw the pen away every time. Exodus 20:7, God says that we should not us the name of God in vain. Profaining the name of God means to make common. It's as simple as saying, "Oh God!" Take "I swear to God" out of our vocabulary! Why do people do this with God or Jesus? Why don't we say, "Oh Buddha?" In Matthew 6:9, Jesus is teaching the disciples how to pray and one of the first things He says is, "Hallowed be thy name". This translates to "May your name be kept holy". His name is not holy in many of our minds. We pay money to hear people defame the name of God in movies or to comedy acts! This is the same God with the seraphins crying, "Holy, Holy, Holy". The fear of the Lord is what keeps us from sinning.
Some people think that delayed judgement means there is no judgement. Where is the fear of the Lord? Sometimes, it seems that people think that Jesus came to make God less scary and less intimidating. But what Jesus did was, he became the door to give us access to this amazing God. This is the same God of the Old Testament. Don't fear men, fear God. We're called to realize that God is love and a consuming fire. 1 John 4:16 says God is love and that He can wash away all of our fears. He is for us and not against us. If our sins have been forgiven, then there is no fear of judgement. If there is no fear of judgement, there is no fear of death. If there is no fear in death, what do we have to fear in life? This is the beginning of wisdom. Fear God.
In the second message of his series, "Deal or No Deal", Johnson Bowie opens with several pieces of trivia; "Revlon has 158 shades of lipstick!...Sonic offers you 168,894 possible drink combinations!" That means, starting with the Chocolate Blue Coconut Dr. Pepper, you can have a different drink every day for the next 462 years!! Isn't that insane?!? There are so many choices we have in the world today. When we were in college, our schedule was pretty structured and consistent, right? But when we graduated and were free to roam the world, we faced choices that were extremely complex. What's more, we are faced with the pressure of making the right decisions because our lives become the sum total of our decisions.
How many of you wish you had some sort of Morse Code connection with God? Wouldn't that make life easier? Proverbs 4:7 says, "Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding." Wisdom is supreme. That's kind of a big hint on life! Great decisions with big choices is important, but great choices with little choices is almost as equally important. If you make bad small choices every day, they can add up to humongous problems. For instance, marriages fall apart one day at time. It's a slow series of bad choices that adds up to huge problems. We have to establish processes for choices. They can't just be decisions based on our feelings.
Jesus asked 3 questions to us to guide our decisions in life (from previous message in series):
1) Is it Written? 2) Is it Love? 3) Is it on God's Agenda?
God wants us to succeed. He knows what's best for us. But a lot of what He says is contrary to what we hear. We've heard "It's okay to look, but don't touch", right? But what does the Bible say about that? "Anyone who looks at a woman with lust in his heart, he commits adultry his heart with her." Johnson ran into a woman who told him she reads Proverbs any time she is faced with tough decisions.
We might ask ourselves, "What's wrong with going over to my girlfriend's house and watching a boring movie in the dark?" To answer this question, we have to ask ourselves what love is and we can find out about love in 1 Corinthians 13:4. "Love is patient, love is kind....love is notself seeking." If we think about the reason we want to go to her place, then we can conclude it is not a wise decision. Also, the Bible says not to place a stumbling block for a weaker brother. The neighbor might say, "I know what you were doing in there" and you might say, "No!! We were singing Kumbaya." See, if we knew 1 Corinthians 13:4, wouldn't it save us from so many relationships?
Then, the question in our minds should be, "Is it on God's agenda?" Does it further the kingdom of God? The three questions Jesus asks will answer 75% of the decisions we have to make, but what about the things that aren't as clear like who should I marry? Should I take this job? Should I go out of town?
Here is the key question we have to ask ourselves when it comes to making the small decisions; "In light of my past, considering my present and looking forward to the future, what is the wisest choice for me to make today?" Wisdom is the ability to make great choices when we don't have specific, direct advice from the Bible and remember that wisdom is supreme.
In "Deal or No Deal", you choose a single case and all subsequent decisions are made based on what we think is in the case we have chosen. Well, we all have a case. We all have history, life experiences and advice from friends in that case. We have junk too. There are really 3 things based on which people generally make decisions.
1) We make decisions based on our past. We are ruled by our past, by our fears and by our failures. We might be completely insecure because of the past or too proud because of our past. Here is the problem. Too often, our past experiences are contrary to the Word of God. Our past can steal our future. Remember Moses? Moses was controlled by his past. When he went to the burning bush in Exodus 3, God basically told Moses this was his big chance. Moses is being given the opportunity to lead God's people out of Egypt! God wants to use Moses is a huge way, but what does Moses do, not once but several times? He wines and complains about what he can't do. He says he's not good enough and that he has a speech impediment. Moses was killing God's present to him. At one point, it says God actually got angry with him. The Apostle Paul says, "I forget my past and I press on".
2) The second case is this; "Open the case". People are ruled by the present. "Have you seen my bank account? I can't tithe." They're miserable because of how they feel. What about the people who are cutting down the rain forests? They are killing their future because of current needs! These are the Carpe Diem guys. "Seize the day." It sounds exciting, but it often ruins our lives! Jeremiah 1:6-10 talks about how Jeremiah said he was too young and how he was negating God's calling.
3) The third mistake we make is when we make decisions based on our future only. These are the visionaries. These are the people who forget to live in the moment of the day. Eventually, they just burn out. Think about it. "God told me that you were going to be my wife." Does that reallly work? No! You can't tell someone that! For the future to happen, we have to take a step each day. It's like hiking to the top of a mountain, but tripping and getting hit by limbs on the trail because we keep looking to the top of the mountian rather than enjoying and paying attention to the journey. We can't forget about the day.
Did you ever hear about Lot, Abraham's nephew? There was this famine in the land. Abraham and Lot were loaded. They leave the family and go out and look at this huge, vast piece of land. Some of the land is beautiful and another part of the land is dry and will require work. Abraham gives Lot the first choice and tells him that he will take the other. Genesis 13 picks up here. So, Lot looked out and saw what looked to be best for him. To him it was a no-brainer. He chose what looked best. But disaster struck; absolute and complete disaster. Lot moved near Sodom and eventually moved into Sodom. Later, we see that he barely escapes with his life and he loses his wife. Lot would probably have done things completely different if he had considered things more carefully. But his choice, instead of God's will for him, was based on what appeared physically to look better.
Just because it looks nice doesn't mean it is right for us. We have to consider our past ,our present and our future. Here's what it boils down to; We have to learn for our past, we have to be able to look for ward to the furture, but while living in our present. We can't be told not to go into a bar, but our past experiences can teach us. We have to know our own tendencies and behavior. Which in environments do we flourish? This is the great wisdom of God in our lives. Here is where we can make great decisions.
Hang out with your girl in Barnes & Noble without going to her place and watching a funky movie in the dark and alone. Many of us are stuck in these repetitive sins. But it's not a sin problem, it's a stupid problem! We keep going back to that website or that street corner. We keep making the same choices and thinking it will work this time.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. -Einstein
If I want my marriage to look this way... What should I do? If I want to have a life that looks like this, what do I do? If I want my relationship with Jesus to look like this, what do I need to do today? This big. Is it is it written, is it love and is it on God's agenda? For the small decisions, again; In light of my past, in view of my current situation and looking forward to the future, what should I do?
James 1:5 says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." It that easy, but we don't do that! We just go out and make bad choices. God wants to stop that in us and he wants to empower us. He wants to glorify Jesus in our lives. He wants our lives to be a testimoney. So, can we do that? Can we get our eyes off our fears and align them with what God wants for us?
I'm just a guy that has a need to drink from the well every morning. After years of defining myself, God has shown me that He is the Definer and the ultimate Designer, not me.
In Victory Atlanta's "Godconomy" series, Johnson Bowie delivers his "Joyful Generosity" sermon. There are two economies for the Christian. There is the way God treats money in His economy and then there is the world's economy. Jesus says that at the end of the day we have to choose between these economies because we can't serve both God and money. As Christians, we want to do things God's way, right? 
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