Pure gold.

Do you remember that classic worship song “Amazing Love”? The verse goes like this:

I’m forgiven because You were forsaken
I’m accepted, You were condemned
I am alive and well, Your spirit is within me
Because You died and rose again

That song has become so commonplace in church worship that I tend to forget how well it echoes the heart and truth of Scripture, which I also tend to forget because I’ve heard it so many times.

I’m forgiven – not because I read two of the four Gospels after I sinned; not because I devoted nearly 90 minutes in prayer this morning; not because I attended all the church services this past weekend, including that fasting & prayer that no one else attends.

I’m forgiven because Jesus suffered the consequences of actions and of my sinful nature. He made me clean and His action is the only thing that’s made me clean.

Even though I know the truth about the price Jesus paid I still fool myself into thinking that I, in my actions, can make things right with God after I screw up. However, I completely rob grace of its power when I do that. I end up missing that grace is actually pretty amazing and is there for me, thanks to what Jesus did.

Amazing love
How can it be
That You, my King, would die for me?
Amazing love
I know it’s true
It’s my joy to honor You
In all I do, I honor You

Are you going to Conference? 

Well, we got a hold of someone’s packing list for this weekend so we thought we’d share it with you to help you out!

 

 

Anything we’re missing? 

 

 

In all seriousness, we’re praying that the Conference will be an amazing and truly life-changing time for all who attend. Go in expecting God! Don’t settle for less! And don’t forget to travel safely!

We wanna know. What’s happenin’? What is going on in your church that excites you? What makes you say, “Thank you, Jesus, I needed that!” or “I’m glad I’m not missing this”?

Maybe it’s the message – that something you just needed to hear. Maybe it’s the worship – authenticity straight from the heart to God. Or maybe it’s simply the relationship you have with the one-time strangers who are now family to you. 

Do you look forward to an English service? Is it the laid-back atmosphere of a Saturday service that helps connect you with God? Or maybe it’s something altogether different.

Tell us – what’s happenin’?

First of all, you guys should go read Shaun King’s blog entry entitled “Why Capitalism Doesn’t Always Work In The Church” (HT: Bear Cherian) and then return back here. I’ll wait. Really. 

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Does Shaun’s post ring true for any of you? Do you see yourselves in any of those descriptions?

I’ll admit, it hasn’t always been easy for me to be supportive of other churches as they grew, as they became more innovative and creative, as they implemented more programs for the youth, as they appeared more sincere in their actions and worship. My natural response upon seeing such prosperity in any other churches would be to tear down other aspects – not always verbally but at least in my mind.

“Oh, that church has more English focused services? Too bad all their kids are heathens.”

“Their worship leader is really talented and is really sincere? It’s a shame he doesn’t know jack about the Bible.”

Those examples may be a little harsh but that’s kinda how it played in my head. My jealousy got the better of me. I was good about keeping my thoughts quiet unlike the many who thought like I did and were determined to make their opinions known. In either case we were just as guilty of being un-Christlike.

We have to continually remind ourselves that we are not competing against the other HYPF churches, the other churches in the city or even the rest of the country/world. We have to step back and remember that we’re all together in the cause of proclaiming Christ and sharing His Gospel to the world.

Sometimes we desire change for our church. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, how often do we demand change because we see another church doing something new? Do you find yourself playing the comparison game where you rate your church’s effectiveness based on another church’s?

Too often we deny the uniqueness with which God created our church communities. We believe that God made each of us as individuals, distinct and different and with intent; why do we fail to accept that truth as it applies to our churches?

We all have the same ultimate goals. Describe it however you like but I believe we all want to know Jesus better, we want to worship him, we want to grow as a community in love, and share the love and grace we’ve received from Christ to others who haven’t heard it and disciple them. Nevertheless, each church body has different specific needs because they’re growing in different ways at different times. Because a separate youth service works for your church doesn’t mean my church has to try and have one. The fact that your church does 30 minutes of English worship shouldn’t determine if my church should cut out testimony time completely to accommodate more songs.

We should pray for what God wants to do with our own churches, in our own churches, and see how He wants us to grow and change. Change isn’t a bad thing. But let’s have our change reflect what God wants and not just what we think or hope God wants.

 

Have you ever witnessed this mindset take form in your life? Please don’t tell me I’m the only one  :)

Stale. Stinking. Spoiled. The people woke early in the morning to the disappointment of yesterday’s leftovers gone rotten.  Worms flooding over jars that only 24 hours ago overflowed with sweet fresh and unseen goodness.  Blinded by the simplicity of a simple instruction:  Go get it. The manna, that is.

This simple story comes to us from the book of Exodus 16.  Frustrated with the lack of food, the people of Israel complained to God.  They argued that they had better food under the slavery of Egypt.  God answered their request with quail and heaven sent bread known as manna.  There was a simple instruction. Every morning the promise was to provide this manna in the field and every morning the people were to go the field and fetch their heart’s desires. 

But, the manna would only last for the day. 

Why? 

God doesn’t do leftovers.

Every day God calls us to a moment in the field of our spiritual lives.  A moment of dependence, obedience and discipline.  He calls us to this field to receive his manna.  What is this manna?  It’s a word, a blessing, an anointing or strength. It’s that hard-to-define something that comes from that definite source, our God.  And the lesson learned from the people of Israel in Exodus is a simple one.  Stay fresh.  Daily receive your manna.  To live off of yesterday’s manna is to live off of spoils.

It’s sweet, fragrant and new. Dedicate yourself to a life of fresh manna.

 

Jimmy leads a Bible study titled ”Identity” on the third Sunday of every month at Sharon Fellowship Church, 5314 Gasmer. Catch the podcasts at hypf.com.

Infinity is beyond the grasp of my imagination when I’m just trying to make it to tomorrow in one piece. Infinity is beyond me when I just want people to accept me. Infinity is beyond me when I’m reminiscing about the days when eight hours of sleep was even possible.

I’ll be chillingly honest here. I’m not as active in church or church activities as I used to be. When you’re not a leader, it’s easy to be a spectator. And that’s one thing that’s been utterly boring me about church. I loathe just sitting there.  I want to participate. I want to enjoy God and His people. But not in a fake, manufacture, conjured up way.

Since I’ve become a spectator, I feel alone in my spiritual wilderness. I left the “on fire for God” crowd and don’t have people around me to influence or pressure my beliefs. I imagine this is part of God’s process of washing away whatever tainted beliefs I had, helping me start over completely from scratch. You know how you grow up thinking certain things about God and church, only to realize these things are manmade, not God-made? Then you get mixed up and wonder what true and what’s not. I think what God is doing right now is separating me to shed some light on things.  Putting me in spectator status and taking off my leadership hat, so I can see things differently.

Not that there’s anything wrong with putting on the leadership hat. It’s been a tremendous blessing for me in the past, but I’m in a different stage of my spiritual journey. I hope I don’t sound too independent here either, since no spiritual journey should be “me”-centered.

I am also absolutely certain that God has things brewing behind the scenes, ready to surface soon. When I fast and pray every now and then, I feel one step closer to what He has in store. When I focus my prayers on others rather than on my mundane self-centered concerns, I feel one step closer. I want to serve Him with my heart, my thoughts, my actions. Not just my lips.

When you’ve been in church your whole life, it’s so easy to serve Him with your lips that sometimes you realize you weren’t even noticing the difference between lips and heart. So I’m here, trying to get rid of these lips. Trying to see what He wants me to see and walk into the road He’s paved.

I don’t want to get lost in my spectator status. But I do want to make the most of it with open eyes and ears to what God wants to reveal. To be continued…

Well, we have here yet another home on the web for HYPF. Hopefully, this can be a fun outlet to spread what’s going on with the organization, hear your ideas and opinions and definitely share in thoughts and laughs. Be sure to leave comments and check back often!