I Am Second

My friend, Tim, posted a link on his facebook about this site yesterday. It's pretty sweet. Tim and I, along with the pastors from The Vista went to a church leadership conference in Dallas this past week, hosted by Bent Tree Bible Fellowship where Pete Briscoe is the lead pastor. His clip is pretty sweet. It's definitely worth taking the time to watch these videos.

My Dream House

Yep, this has to be the coolest house on earth.

First Dance

I found this to be rather moving. There is just something special seeing the connection between people.

Grace Giving vs. "Biblical Giving"

I'm half-way listening to some dude online talk to a group of students about the "Giving Revolution." He's discussing how he feels the Bible "compels us to give" and how it's different from those who say, "I give what the Lord leads me to give."

Wow.

The funny thing to me is that as I'm listening to him dissect what his views on giving are, it sounds like those who say, "I give what the Lord leads me to give" have a more biblical stance...because that statement would imply that their focus is on the Lord.

He spends a significant amount of time talking about how we just make up in our mind what we want to give and give it cheerfully.

Hhhmmm...

I think it sounds rather biblical to "fix our eyes on Jesus"...even in the giving department.

Ouch...he just said that the "act of giving increases our personal godliness."

Ok, I'm not going to write anymore about this. :)

Committing Sin vs. Believing Lies

A comment from my previous post is the basis for this post. So, what's the difference between committing a sin and believing a lie?

Believing lies are what lead us to committing sin. If we are in Christ (which means He is also in us) then the most natural thing for us is to do the things He does (because it's actually Him doing them through us). He is our life. He is our Source for life. He is our Source for living this life. That's the true reality for those who believe in Him.

However, most of us life as if there were a different truth. We live as if this life is up to us, that we have to live it on our own (or maybe with God's help). When we live thinking God expects us to live a certain way, then we are always under the pressure to choose correctly, live righteously, and be a good witness to those around us.

However, our righteousness only comes from God...who has made us in Christ the righteousness of God (1 Corintians something....it's late so I'm not looking it up right now). :)

Anyway, as we believe lies about who we are (i.e. that we're not righteous, that we're still sinners instead of saints who sometimes sin, that God isn't pleased with us, that we don't measure up, that we're not good enough, that we need to earn His favor, etc.) then we will act according to those lies.

For example, in the previous post, Haggard said that he was a loser. Believing that, he will act according to those thoughts. The truth, in Christ no one is a loser. No matter what we've done, we are secure in Christ and more than conquerors. Whether we experience that in our physical lives and in our souls is a diffferent issue.

Committing sin is acting on the lies we believe. If we are believing truth, we will live out truth, righteousness, and holiness. We will live this out because we will be surrendered to Christ, allowing Him to be our life (practically, in every moment, not just in our spirit).

The act of committing a sin is the by-product of a lie believed. May our lives be transformed by the renewing of our minds to His Truth. The Truth of who He is, who He is in us, and the new creation He makes all those who believe in Him.