John Lennon Was Right…

In the late sixties, John Lennon of the Beatles touched off a firestorm by saying that the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus.” Now of course I don’t believe that the Beatles were bigger than the creator of the universe, that would be stupid. I’m not even a Beatles fan, but in terms of pop-culture at that point in history, they were extremely influential, especially among teens, quite possibly more so than Jesus. Of course the Church was outraged (or so I’m told I was a first grade student at the time and had bigger fish to fry) as they should have been. The problem was their anger was directed at the wrong people. We were upset with a boastful English pop-star. We should have been upset with ourselves.

How does a rock band with a misspelled name become more popular than the Creator of the universe? I think the answer is that those who represent Him were asleep at the wheel and if you think they had problems, look at our culture today. Today lots of things are “bigger than Jesus” and it’s up to us to do something about it. It’s up to us to represent Him well, as He is as reflected in His Word. It’s up to us to use whatever gifts we have received to serve others. It’s up to us to love our neighbor as ourselves. It’s up to us to preach the Word in and out of season. It’s up to us to speak the truth in love. It’s up to us to humble ourselves. It’s up to us to love our enemies. It’s up to us to pray. It’s up to us to read, know and follow the Word of God and it’s up to us to lay down our pride, deny ourselves and take up our cross.

Jesus, speaking of going to the cross said, “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” Today, lifting Him up is up to us. Pointing to Him, going and making disciples, being His witnesses to the ends of the earth—these are our mission, church. We represent Him not as self-righteous judges, but as humble servants, using whatever He has given us in His name to bring Him glory. It’s up to us, but it’s all about Him, all about Jesus and as we faithfully serve, it’ll be as it was with John the Baptist. Jesus must become greater (in the eyes of the world He came to save) and we must become less until when people look at us, they see Him. The video below illustrates this. How can you use what you’ve been given (your gifts talents, resources,life) to lift Jesus up.

Nothing and no one is bigger than Jesus!

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
2 Samuel 12-13
You can also download your own chart here.

IllustrationFriday.com Shadows

IllustrationFriday.com Challenge: Shadows

The illustrationFriday.com challenge of the week was the word “shadow.”For this one I started to think about all the shadows that follow us around. The voices that we heard long ago that told us that we were no good, that threatened us and hurt us—those thoughts and memories that haunt us. The challenge for us is two fold. First of all is to watch our lives and be careful of the shadows we cast with our words, attitudes and actions. These shadows are not easily removed. Secondly, for some of us it’s time to strip away those shadows and seek a little truth. You are important, you are loved, you are blessed, you’re not an accident, your past can be forgiven. You can be healed. Something better is coming beyond the shadows. …on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. His name is Jesus and He loves you and wants to help. He’s the light of the world that can overcome any shadow. I’d love to tell you more. Leave a comment or contact me at amokarts@aol.com

Post-it Question #Trust30

This was today’s challenge from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance.

That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. Where is the master who could have taught Shakespeare? Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? . . . Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Identify one of your biggest challenges at the moment (ie I don’t feel passionate about my work) and turn it into a question (ie How can I do work I’m passionate about?) Write it on a post-it and put it up on your bathroom mirror or the back of your front door. After 48-hours, journal what answers came up for you and be sure to evaluate them.

Bonus: tweet or blog a photo of your post-it.

Here’s mine!

Post-it Question for me. What's Yours?

Enough?

Enough?

Did you ever have one of those days where you have serious questions as to whether or not you’ll ever be enough. I’ve been having a few of those recently. Am I a good enough artist? A good enough speaker or writer or pastor or husband or father…? I know there is always room for growth, but that’s not really where I’m going. I fully intend to learn and grow, and am trying to do that each day, but am I enough of whatever to face what’s in front of me today and will I have enough to see my vision become real? It’s one of those long dark nights of the soul, if I want to be honest (and I do).

I’m not writing this to bleed all over my blog. Maybe the post is simply to tell you you’re not alone. A lot of us go through this and it seems like when we’re in this place the outside stuff just piles on. Half my job is going away, my home is in need of a major repair. I have a son a year away from college. I have a vision for a ministry but it seems much further away than my need. The vision is beautiful but is it a pipedream, and will pursuing what I believe to be God’s will for my life put my family in undue stress? Is it really of God or is it just a dream? Is it time to “accept my limitations? Am I enough?

As I deal with this and wrestle with my thoughts, the verse about being double minded and not being able to expect anything from God as a result reverberates in my brain and it scares me more. Am I enough? Are you enough? Probably not. Am I supposed to be enough? Are you? Probably not. I think I’m in a place where I am being forced to depend on God and as much as I know that is what I’m supposed to do anyway, is it okay that I’m a little scared?

In the end I know what I need to do. Trust and obey, pray and make the next step, do the next right thing and repeat the process. He who began it will complete it. I can’t hold on to God and control at the same time and probably neither can you. We need to hold on to Him and trust that He’s enough. It’s one thing to know it and another thing to do it, but it is what I know is right. How about you?

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
2 Samuel 7-8; Proverbs 4-5
2 Samuel 9-11; Proverbs 6
You can also download your own chart here.

15 Minutes to Live #trust30

15 Minutes to Live #trust30

I’ve entered into a challenge from the Domino Project called #trust30. They are basing it on a book by Ralph Waldo Emerson called Self-Reliance. I’m not exactly sure what I think of self-reliance yet, I am just starting the book. Over my life, I have learned that God-reliance is better by far than self-reliance, nonetheless I decided to participate and blog and tweet the process.

Here’s the gist of the challenge:
#Trust30 is an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. Use this as an opportunity to reflect on your now, and to create direction for your future. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders will guide you on your writing journey.

Here is today’s prompt:
We are afraid of truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid of each other. Our age yields no great and perfect persons. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
You just discovered you have fifteen minutes to live.
1. Set a timer for fifteen minutes.
2. Write the story that has to be written.

If I had 15 minutes to live, I have serious doubts that I would be writing a story. More than likely I would live them like I live too much of my life, trying to cram in twice what I should. But who could blame me? It is after all my last 15 minutes. I’d want to spend those minutes with my wife saying all the things that I should have said. Telling her how much she has meant to me and how much I love her and thanking her for all she has done for me. I’d want to spend it with my sons telling them how proud I am of them, how much I love them and will miss them and giving them as much of the wisdom I have gained over the years as I could. I’d want to spend it with my family and friends saying many of the same things.

I guess if I had to choose, and it had to be spent writing a story, I would want to create a blog post explaining why thanks to Jesus, this is not really my last 15 minutes to live. It’s my transition to eternity. You see Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. He is God’s only Son and He laid down his life to save me for eternity. I would tell them of all He has done for me. How He took me from darkness into light and how every good thing in my life was given to me by Him because He loves me and I would tell them He loves them too and is waiting with open arms for them to come to belief in Him. I would beg and plead with them to consider His claims and come to a saving belief in Him. I would send the post to everyone I have ever loved and beg them to do the same. Why would I invest my last 15 minutes in this effort. Because it’s not really my last 15 minutes and everyone who comes to belief will share eternity with us. Oh that I would spend my last 15 minutes investing in eternity.

The good news it’s not my last 15 minutes but maybe I should live like it is. How about you?
If this post blesses you, share it.
God bless,
Dave Weiss
May 31, 2011

Illustration Friday: Asleep

IllustrationFriday.com Challenge: Asleep

When I saw the challenge asleep, I immediately thought of the verse “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:14-16) and I began to think about all of us who appear to be wide awake but we fail to see what’s going on around us and the many many opportunities we have to make a difference in the world around us.

Look around you, look for the opportunities to do good in these evil days and Wake up. Let the Light of the Lord shine through you.

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
1 Samuel 24-25
You can also download your own chart here.

A Word of Encouragement

A few of my friends over the past few days have reported being under one form or another of Spiritual attack often manifesting in real discouragement. I am not immune to this and I got hit with it too. There is one very important thing for us all to remember. Attacks usually, maybe even always come before a breakthrough. So when you’re feeling weakness, discouragement and other negative feelings, I created this guy or you as a reminder.

A friendly reminder for when discouragement comes to call.

Check out these verses of encouragement from the Scriptures.

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39

And Most importantly Jesus said: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28: 20

Press on brothers and sisters. You are not alone.

Yes You Can!

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
1 Samuel 22-23; Titus 2
You can also download your own chart here.

Illustration Friday.com/ Soaked

Another ways of saying soaked is all wet. This prediction definitely was that

Harold Camping’s latest rapture prediction may not have been soaked but it was definitely all wet. I believe in Jesus Christ and I believe He is returning, but in order to believe in Him we need to also believe Him and He said now one knows the day or the hour of his return. It’s not our job to predict His return it’s our job to obey His teachings and commands and love our neighbors, serve our neighbors, and show them that Jesus loves them and wants them to be in His family forever. We can’t do that with half baked predictions that violate the teachings of the Word of God. We need to invest our lives in people and love them like Jesus.

Obedience

Dichotomy in Oregon

I didn’t want to paint this painting. I was with my friends from VineArts Boise. We had spent the day worshipping and painting and praying and I saw a lot in them that I really wanted for myself, not the least of which was freedom in worship and in art. I wanted to let loose, not plan so tightly and just let the Spirit move. We were invited to visit a great church in nearby Ontario Oregon called Christian Life Fellowship for their Night of Worship. (They have a great art ministry there as well called EchoArts). On this evening the VineArts folks and I painted, the CLF worship team played and a really cool break dance group called WonForce danced. It was a great night, except for one thing. I didn’t know what to paint. Well that’s not entirely true. I had an idea which was to paint my painting Dichotomy, a painting I had done many times before. When I prayed I kept feeling like I should do that piece and I really didn’t want to. I wanted to paint something new, something I never did before, something wild and abstract that would just let me, well you know… run amok. But no matter what I did, no matter how many times I pleaded and prodded, the Spirit kept leading me back to Dichotomy. So finally I relented.

My only concession was that I did most of the painting with my hands and fingers which gave it a different feel. Toward the end of the evening, we were each asked to share the story of the piece. I know the story behind Dichotomy very well, but something strange happened this time. Something new came out. I usually talk about how this is the worlds most unusual portrait of Jesus—how He is both the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb of God. I did mention that on this evening as well. I also talked about he has been both my savior and my defender, not to mention Lord and King. What was different was this—I said until He is Lord we will constantly be crying out for Him to save us. Please don’t launch into an eternal security debate with me that’s not exactly what I mean. I mean that if we don’t make Him our Lord and follow Him, we will continually be crying out for Him to bail us out of the consequences of our actions. I know that story all too well too. How about you?

At the end of the evening someone approached me and told me how she related to the piece and the story behind it. A few minutes later I gave her the painting. It wasn’t the painting I wanted to do, but it appears it’s the painting I needed to do. We can’t always do what we want to do, but if we’ll walk in obedience, we’ll see God at work eventually. It’s funny. I’ve painted that piece at least eight or nine times and I have never kept if very long. It’s an image God gave me in a prayer walk and it does what I wish all my art would do. It speaks to hearts and minds about my Savior and Lord. My prayer is that everything I do and my entire life would speak that same message. That’s what I’m shooting for… How about you?

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
1 Samuel 18-19; 2 Timothy 4
You can also download your own chart here.

Weighing in on the Rapture

Thoughts on the Rapture Prediction

Seems to me someone needs to read this…
Mark 13:32 (Jesus said) “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

More on this tomorrow.