I hear those chains fallin'

Are you stuck? Do you have chains wrapped around aspects of your life? Are you without hope? There is an answer, His name is Jesus Christ.

Jesus can break the chains off your life, you can hear those chains fall and the metal clank on the ground, the sound of freedom. You can have true freedom in your life. Turn to Jesus, lean on Jesus, rely on Him, trust in Him. Call on the name of Jesus, there is power in His name. We don't call him because he needs us, but because we need Him.

Where are you in your life? Are you coming up short? Are you struggling at work, in school, in your family, in your finances, in your health? Are you struggling in some other way? There is one name that can fix all of that, his name can BREAK every chain in your life. You can have true freedom and joy. 

Here are a few scriptural examples...

"For God will break the chains that bind his people and the whip that scourges them, just as he did when he destroyed the army of Midian with Gideon's little band." - Isaiah 9:4

"On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter's side and woke him up, saying, "Get up quickly." And his chains fell off his hands." Acts 12:6,7


"...and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened." Acts 16:26

Listen to the song in the video below...if that doesn't get you pumped...nothing will.

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Joseph Series Week #4 - Trapped

Looking forward to Ignite tomorrow morning as we discussed how Joseph was "Trapped," and how we can apply his actions to our daily walk.

This week we will discuss how Joseph was stuck in a hopeless situation. In a few short years he had fallen from a fortunate son to a forgotten prisoner in a foreign land. This video illustration is an example of how we can respond when our lives aren’t what we expected.

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Joseph Series Week #3 - Tested

This week we are going to discuss how Joseph was tested. 

Decisions we make under pressure reveal who we really are. When Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him, Joseph had to make a split-second decision. This week demonstrates that as usual, the right choice was not the easy one.

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Joseph Series Week #2 - Promoted

We are going a little out of order from how Genesis tells the story and talking about Joseph's promotion from prisoner to prince this week! 

Difficult times do not equal failure. The hardships Joseph endured prepared and strengthened him. This week will reveal that once Joseph had matured into the right man for the job, God presented the opportunity for his leadership.

 

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Joseph Series - Week 1 - Abandoned

Tomorrow morning I'll be teaching the Young Adult's Sunday School class. We will be talking about Old Testament (Or as I like to say, 1st Testament) Joseph, primarily out of Genesis 37. Joseph was abandoned by his brothers, his own flesh and blood, sold into slavery, and nearly left for dead...how can we relate to such betrayal...

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Do Visitors Feel Welcome in Your Church?

I don't want to always sound like I'm chewing church people out, I'll preface this post by saying I'm equally guilty of everything I'm going to be talking about in this post. So let's just shoot straight for a minute, which is easier; talking to a person you know and like, or a complete and total stranger? Obviously for most people that answer is the person they already know. Talking to strangers is awkward at best for most people, mix it up and make the setting a church and you've got a whole new bunch of obstacles to make the encounter even more uncomfortable... but it doesn't have to be, and it shouldn't.

A saying from my dad, "You only get one chance at a first impression," this statement is never more true than inside a church. You only get one shot to show people who you are, as a church when they visit. If they don't like it, they are moving to the next church on their list. So the first impression they get of you starts early, with the people you have greeting them when the enter the doors of your church, or as they drive their cars onto your parking lot (I'm a big fan of having parking lot attendants directing visitors to the "easy to find and close to an entrance" visitor parking). 

We talked about it today in an impromptu staff meeting, what do you say to someone if you aren't sure they are a visitor? You don't want to offend someone who's been coming for years, and don't want to ignore a possible visitor... what to do? Get creative, here is an example of an easy and friendly question, "Good morning, how are you doing etc," followed up by a, "Now, how long have you been coming here?" Either they are a visitor, or you've just connected to someone in your church you haven't connected with before. It is a Win-Win.

As a church, we cannot afford to not be friendly, especially to visitors, what kind of Jesus Christ does that convey? "We are only friendly to people we know..." ? That's not the way Jesus rolled. I encourage you to extend a warm welcome to unfamiliar faces in your church this week, whether you are on the "Greeting Team" or not. As Christians we are called to be Christ-Like, He wouldn't ignore someone, so you don't either (myself included).

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Are you reaching the lost?

So I'm always playing the bad guy, the devil's advocate or whatever you want to call it. My question about all churches is, "Are you reaching the lost? Are you doing outreach? Are you practicing 'Evangelism' outside the 4 walls of the church?" For some churches the answer is, "Absolutely!" for others, there is pause...or even a "kind of" answer. 

By my standards...which I feel line up with those of Christ, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation," I feel like it is unacceptable for us to not be reaching out to those who don't know Christ!

Currently our church is in the midst of a restructuring of our Outreach and Evangelism Ministries. Previously we had a full blown church/ministry that's sole purpose was community outreach and evangelism. They, through the Lord's blessing and excellent leadership, were so successful that they are now their own sovereign church. The outreaches we currently have revolve around our Bus ministry for our Children's and Youth Ministries on Wednesday nights, and our Men's Basketball Ministry on Monday nights. Outside of that, we aren't reaching out to bring the lost in....so what to do? In a few minutes I'm about to be in a meeting with a few leaders that are going to be helping our church launch a new Outreach and Evangelism focused ministry. What are we going to do? I'm not entirely sure, but I promise you, we are going to be connecting with individuals who don't know Christ, connecting with church visitors and newer believers to engage them in Discipleship, and most importantly telling each of these people about the love of Christ as well as showing them first hand what it is.

What's one of the road blocks? The Word of God tells us that the Harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few, what does that mean? It means that there is LOTS of work to be done, ministry to do, and people to be reached, but the people willing to do that kind of ministry, and ministry in general are few and far between. On top of that is the fact that all of our outreach minded volunteers are already plugged in at our former outreach church. So what now? We develop new leaders, ministers, volunteers, etc. God has called us to reach the lost...all believers, not just some of us, or the Pastors, or the Rich people, or those with an "amazing" testimony, but all of us. You are called, serve your church by being a part of the ministry that is reaching out to the lost, its the Heart Beat of God.

I'll give you an update as our ministry expands and lives are changed, I'm believing on it.

-Ryan

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Time...it's relative right?

Here's a thought....

Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time at all, embrace the day!

Meditate on that for a few minutes.

Not much of a blog post, but I think that's a pretty big thought to chew on for a while...daily even maybe!

Check out my new About.me profile HERE get your name while its available!

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Why Young Adults are Leaving the Church...

This is a very well written excerpt from an article I read at CovPresChurch.org, very sobering and depressing on some levels, most importantly it is very informative...
To learn more about "Ignite" our Young Adult Ministry, click HERE!


"Why do so many young adults stop going to church?   Perhaps the most frequently offered explanation is that many students enter college with an inadequate understanding of “the Christian worldview” and an inability to “defend” it against professors who are “hostile” to the faith.  It is unclear how this theory emerged, but it is not supported by the research.  The NSYR found that only 11% of young adults who “stopped attending religious services” did so because of “disbelief.”  The number one answer given was “no reason or don’t know” (41%), followed by “disinterest” (17%).  (This study further found that young adults who attend college are actually LESS likely to “experience declines in religious service attendance and self-reported importance of religion” than those who do not.)

The researchers interviewed very few young adults who had become skeptical of or hostile toward the Christian faith in college.  The majority (about 60%) of those who had stopped going to church sounded something like Brad—one of the young adults who participated in the study.  He attended church pretty regularly with his family during his teenage years, but now, it “kind of depends on how busy the schedule is.  If I get a free Sunday, I’ll go…once in awhile.  But I’m not really into it like some people are.”  Brad did not “lose his faith” in college.  He still believes that “there is a God and…if you believe in Jesus and ask him to be in your life, [you] go to heaven…that sort of stuff.”  In his words, “I still have the same ideas now, I just don’t go to church like I used to every Sunday.  I’ve got a busier lifestyle…higher priorities.”

What the NSYR researchers found is that the young adults who were most likely to stop attending church were those who, though they basically believed the “right” things, lacked a real understanding of those beliefs, appreciation of their importance, and ability to apply them to their everyday experiences.  According to Christian Smith, director of the NSYR project and author of two books on the subject of youth and religion, it was as if the teenagers and young adults were being asked to speak a “second language” that sounded confused and awkward, especially when it came to how their “faith” impacted their daily lives.  Smith coined the term “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” to describe what he and his colleagues frequently heard in their interviews.  Most young people believe that God created the world and sent Jesus to die for their sins, but in terms of their everyday experiences, God seems to be little more than a cosmic therapist (to make them “feel loved, happy, secure,” etc.) and giver of moral advice (to teach them how to be “good” people and occasionally help them resolve their “problems”)."

There's a lot of info to take in from this article, one of the most important pieces shows only a small % of young adults leaving the church due to disbelief in God. One encouraging note is that the majority of these young adults have a good foundation in their belief system and aren't entirely abandoning the faith. They know God is there, and that Jesus died for them, but because of their stepping back from church, they do relegate God to the sidelines and seek him only when in need as opposed to serving Him at all times. They are a big fan of the Jesus that calmed the storm, but at this point in time not such a big fan of Jesus the teacher (This is not the case with all Young Adult Christians outside of church, but the majority).

The sad news however, is that the Church (as a whole) is no longer reaching or delivering the Word to Young Adults in a relevant and life applicable way. The claim is that their schedule and priorities are superseding their need to go to church, at least at the regular/traditional church times. That's really not a bad excuse, and I don't think of it as a cop-out. I remember being in college, taking 17-19 credit hours, working 2 or 3 part time jobs, being married, having labs, study groups, senior thesis projects etc...church can take a back seat.  What about the young adults who don't go to college and go straight into the work force, get married young, and have kids young? They are getting a real world shock, they are just fighting to get by, pay off their debt and make ends meet!

So what's the answer? Some might say..."Well they just aren't committed" or "They must not have had a strong foundation" or "If they were living right, they'd make church a priority." Are we really supposed to expect them to make the "super spiritual" "uber mature" adult decision to make church a priority when they are still just discovering what it even means to live as an adult out from under mom and dad's roof? Personally, I don't think any of those viewpoints are correct. Maybe it just happens to somewhat be the responsibility of the "Church" to try and find a means to minister and reach out to this group stepping away...?

Paul gives us a pretty good road map for how to reach those we aren't reaching in 1 Corinthians 9 

"19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Sounds to me like Paul said, "Become what you must to reach those who don't know about Jesus." ...like a Jew to the Jews...like the weak to the weak... get this one, "TO THOSE NOT HAVING THE LAW I BECAME LIKE ONE NOT HAVING THE LAW" ... "so as to win (to Christ) those not having the law." So I think Paul makes it clear, we aren't supposed to just sit here and twiddle our thumbs and expect the lost, the struggling, etc to just come find us, but we are to go seek them out and minister to them in their culture, setting, etc. We need to be doing our part to be reaching them on their level where they are at. Occasionally I'm in downtown Fort Smith, AR around lunch time and I see a community outreach that does sack lunches to the needy, feeding the hungry. Imagine if instead of making those meals available and advertising it to the homeless community, they just sat on their hands and had those sack lunches sitting in a fridge somewhere saying, "well we got the food here, if they want it, they'll come find it!"

We are re-launching our Young Adult Ministry at my church this month, my goal is for us to reach the young adults on a level that church isn't getting to them. Right now, our meeting time is going to be on Wednesday nights at 7:00, that may not be best in the long run. We have to start somewhere and that's where we are best equipped to start, as things progress and the ministry grows, we may evolve into another time, location, style etc for whatever best encourages personal growth as well as reaching more and more individuals. We must make the gospel readily available, even if it takes us outside of our "normal" comfort zone of Sunday mornings. We must also remember, we have a formidable foe in the devil, who is on the prowl like a hungry lion, ready to strike. Each young adult we alienate for our own "comfortable agenda" we make more available pray to the devil...

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Going the extra mile...

Sorry that I haven't been blogging lately, kind of been a little behind with church stuff and have been playing catch up all year so far. A young man got saved this past week and it really just stayed on my mind and I wanted to share about it.

We have a Discipleship Ministry at our church on Wednesday nights, WednesdaysOnPurpose. The ministry consists of discipleship classes that last about 90 minutes. Right now we have 4 different classes going on, to learn more about the ministry, visit our site: WednesdaysOnPurpose.com. 

Right now we are in the 2nd round of "Man Up", a men's class. Well the teacher of this class and his two sons took a first time visitor (who I'll refer to as Young Man) out for pizza after church. The class, as far as I know, went just fine and was engaging and interactive as always. The men of our church just love the class. Steve Gann, the teacher is one of the best we got. I digress, back to the heart of the story, Steve and his sons took this young man out for pizza after church and continued to minister to him, speaking life, testifying about all the great works that Christ had done in their lives, and the importance of living for God. 

The young man obviously was looking for God to show up in a big way. I met him before church, very polite and pleasant, I shook his hand, said hello, and moved onto what I had "going on" that night, I was too busy or caught up in my own schedule to really take the time to realize what God was about to do in this young man's life. But these guys, Steve and his 2 sons...they went the extra mile...the young man sat in church that night listened to the message God had for him, then some "church people" asked him to come join  them after church for some fellowship time. 

They continued ministering to him, outside the walls of the church, after church was over, probably past a time that was convenient for their "schedule". Long story short, that night, at the pizza place...they led this young man to the Lord. He accepted Christ, came to church Sunday Morning, came to my Sunday school class (new believers class), and as far as I know came to church Sunday night and I'm pretty sure is planning to come back to church this Wednesday. 

Steve and his family are continuing to lift this new believer up and encourage him. I'm praying God continues to show up in this young man's life in a new and awesome way.

My whole reason for posting this is to encourage any of you who might read this, to realize that Christianity isn't just coming to church, sitting down, clap a little, put a tip in the offering plate, then go home. Christianity goes beyond the walls of the church, it goes beyond our personal agendas, it takes us outside of our comfort zones sometimes. We need to daily be praying that God helps us to recognize the opportunities he gives us to minister to the hearts of those who are searching for Him.

go the extra mile...

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Invisible War Week 3 Tonight!

Tonight is our 3rd session of the Invisible War! I'm very excited to discuss more about the Spiritual Armor of God as well as its benefits.

We are going to talk in depth about ways to anticipate attacks from the Devil and how our spiritual armor lines up exactly with his types of attacks and schemes. 

So far in class we have covered the 5 Basic Truths of Spiritual Warfare:

1.   There is an Invisible World

2.   We are involved in an Invisible War

3.   Our Foe (the devil) is formidable

4.   We must respect our foe but not fear him.

5.   We fight from victory not for victory

Last week we discussed 2 important pieces of spiritual armor from Ephesians 6, the Belt of  Truth and Breastplate of Righteousness:
“¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place...

Here is a neat little graphic that explains the first 3 pieces of spiritual armor and their uses.

Also make sure to take a look at our class page on the WednesdaysOnPurpose site @

WednesdaysOnPurpose.com

If you are a Facebooker, make sure you join the Invisible War Facebook group HERE! 

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