tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91859204753157534572024-03-13T22:07:43.282-07:00Light Before the TunnelDiscerning Truth. Abandoning Self. Trusting Him.Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-77025619324130183692010-12-11T07:29:00.000-08:002010-12-11T07:31:49.950-08:00A Few New Blog PostsFor those of you who still follow my blog on here please subscribe to my new feed at www.RyanJMoreau.tumblr.com. All of my new posts are on that new page. You can click the title of this post and it will re-direct you to the new site or you can type in the new URL.<br /><br />Hope it blesses you. Thanks for reading!Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-46264378482329971772010-12-03T09:29:00.000-08:002010-12-03T12:05:36.762-08:00THE BLOG HAS BEEN MOVED!!!I've moved the blog over to www.RyanJMoreau.tumblr.com.<br /><br />You can click the title of this post and it will direct you to the new page.<br /><br />I've moved all of the old posts/entries from this page over there. <br /><br />Thanks so much, Ryan!Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-62705573702969992282010-12-01T12:30:00.000-08:002010-12-01T14:03:57.052-08:00What If?What if we could drop our desire to be relevant, significant, powerful, extraordinary and spectacular? What if we could peel away the layers of lies that allow us to be consumed with...us? What if we stopped trying to be the person who not only tries to impress others but also desires to impress ourselves? What if we could stop complaining about the gifts we lack and start allowing God to cultivate the gifts He gave us? What if we could stop being critical and learn to become grateful? What if we could solely focus on a life of love, beauty, grace, peace and justice? What if we could empty our fears for the sake of God? What if we could trust Him, obey him, and completely depend on Him? <br /><br />We would be Jesus. Amazing Guy. Amazing God.Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-34915327591046046482010-08-02T10:19:00.000-07:002010-08-02T22:21:06.824-07:00If You Had One Day to Serve...Thanks to a friend's Facebook post, I was deeply moved this morning by an article in the Dallas Morning News. With plenty already to do today as we aim to get settled in our new place, prepare for another little girl in two weeks, and try to run a business I've been completely stunned after reading it. Mentally, my mind is being tossed around like one of those front load washing machines. My only thought was to express this myriad of emotions by sharing through my writing as an outlet. There is nothing that I say that will seem fancy or deep. There is no particular goal in mind with what I am sharing or saying. Just a thought that I hope you will consider as you go about a day that's sure to be filled with emotions of stress, anger, and frustration. I truly hope you will consider clicking on the title of this post and have your Spirit touched by an article that is the same thing our God is all about...love. <br /><br />Before you click, please consider this brief thought. It's something I've had the Lord share with me during prayer lately as well as in conversation with others. That thought is understanding the importance of loving your family. It's the number one priority, ministry and job in your life. To you followers of Christ, your ability to find life and joy within family is part of what makes you like the triune God. A God who manages to live as a family in perfect harmony, a family that is in essence one unit. To make your family the number one priority in your life is not to make God number two. Instead it is glorifying God by seeing this life through the lens of Christ. Jesus is so much bigger than a priority and we must not lose sight of the fact that following Jesus is not about something else we must do. It's about being transformed and coming to know what it really means to live by the grace of God. It means becoming the kind of person that can't help but love God and love others. <br /><br />Loving others starts at home. Your immediate family is the first thing each day that tangibly allows you to love God and love others more than yourself. It's what allows us to find joy in the midst of sorrow and gratefulness in the midst of heartache. It's the place where we have the oppurtunity to share the love of God most frequently. However, with so much emphasis placed on "finding a ministry" for Christians these days I truly believe we are once again settling on great things while neglecting the best thing in regards to the aforementioned buzz word, "ministry". I would never argue that some are called to great things like heading to other Countries to build houses, help the poor start businesses, or making sure people are getting clean water just to name a few. Let's face it, even Scripture tells us that the poor will always be with us and by loving the "least of these" whether widows, children or poor we are undoubtedly blessing them and blessing God. However, we far too often miss out on the ministry that is our immediate family as well as the life that can be found in loving and serving them. Our family is a gift from God, not a curse that gets in the way of us doing "great things" for Him and the world. We need to expose this lie that there is a greater thing that we can on this Earth than to share what true love looks like, the undeniable, inclusive, unconditional love of Christ with our spouses and children. This love for our family is what makes the love of Christ come alive. We become hypocrites in our own home when we treat our husbands/wives or children in an unloving way. <br /><br />Sadly enough, we within the Church have no excuse for having our own children feel neglected by Father's who are constantly focused on their businesses or on finding, growing and enhancing "their" ministry. We too frequently have mom's that are more concerned with looking the right way, saying the right things and having the right friends than they are with teaching their kids what true love looks like. I hope that after reading this article, though clearly a non-Christian one, we come to see how short this life is. Hopefully it also helps us to see the importance of creating an environment of love that allows us to leave a legacy when we're gone and ultimately glorify God more than any other thing we could have done.Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-23244807963916404962010-07-06T23:35:00.000-07:002010-07-07T08:26:07.458-07:00Social Justice or God's Justice?A brief thought (definitely not all thoughts on this topic) before I head off to bed. It's not perfect, it's not meant to be, but I have to get some of this out as the church continues to be lied to about ideas and movements which do not come from His spirit...<br /><br />No matter what's being fed to this generation, Jesus' message was not one of "social justice" and "causes". Both of those, while seemingly good things on the surface are not the best things in the eyes of our Creator. Deep down they are guilt driven (not from God), politically driven and in most cases both. Instead, Jesus was all about God's justice and the Gospel. It is those two things that led and still lead to the call of sinners to repentance, death to self, the importance of receiving grace, sanctification, transformation, service and a life of love which is Kingdom driven. <br /><br />While the "social justice" folk constantly remind the "out of the loop" Christians that we "should be" taking care of widows, orphans, "the least of these" and those in need, they fail to recognize that only a thorough understanding of God's justice and the Gospel is what gives a follower of Jesus the freedom (not the obligation) to love God and to love others like those mentioned above. It's that love, which comes from the Holy Spirit, that moves us to joyfully give to those who are in need without ever knowing how much is actually given since we believe it call comes from God's hand (not our own innate goodness) anyway. <br /><br />We must not miss the fact that in this movement of "social justice" Satan has been lying to us, riddling us with guilt and shame, telling us "that's what Jesus would be doing today" and moving us from the truth so that the Gospel will be forgotten or lost in the translation. There is a huge difference between the justice's and we must remember that God's justice and the Gospel is more concerned with saving souls, while social justice is more concerned about people's finite feelings, making people "equals" (not a biblical command) and tugging at their heart strings by using an unquestionably good God-given emotion like compassion against us so that we forget to keep the "main thing, the main thing". That main thing is the Gospel who is Jesus Christ. Don't forget that Satan knows Scripture, but like Jesus on the mountain, we must be able to discern when it is being taken out of context. <br /><br />Social Justice cannot be God's mission as it sees people as inherently good, deserving of good gifts, a good life, and a lack of pain and suffering. God's justice is so much different, different enough that I question if "social justice" can actually come from the God of Scripture. God's justice says that the wages of sin is death, that deep down our righteousness is as filthy rags and apart from God is where we deserve to spend eternity if not for the Gospel. I am certain of this, when reviewing the differences above, I can't help but see how a counterfeit Spirit has taken over the Church, cancelled out the Gospel with a message of "do good and you'll feel good" and caused many Christians to live outside of the Kingdom without recognizing it. We must not share a gospel of "social justice", or "equality for all" leaving out a Gospel that is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. A Gospel that removes our sin, guilt and shame by bearing it on a cross so that we may fellowship for eternity with our Lord. A gospel that de-fills us and in turn fills us with the Holy Spirit. <br /><br />The message seems fairly simple, the answer to social problems is Jesus. The answer to political problems is Jesus. The answer to your life's problems is jesus. The answer to the sin problem is Jesus and most importantly the answer to your eternal problem is Jesus. <br /><br />Love this quote below:<br /><br />“I believe in justice: but I am not a preacher of the gospel of justice, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us to justice. I believe in love, but I am not a preacher of the gospel of love, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us to love. I am committed to peace, but I am not a preacher of the gospel of peace, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us to peace. I believe in the value of the simple life, but I am not the preacher of the simple life, but of the Gospel of Christ that calls us to the simple life. Let us beware of the ultimate plagiarism of borrowing some great concepts from Jesus then running off proclaiming these concepts and not sharing the Christ that empowers these concepts.”~ Myron AugsburgerRyan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-39654638132206692032010-04-04T10:24:00.000-07:002010-04-04T11:47:32.947-07:00Easter, C.S Lewis and More...“There is a stage in a child’s life at which it cannot separate the religious from the merely festal character of Christmas or Easter. I have been told of a very small and very devout boy who was heard murmuring to himself on Easter morning a poem of his own composition which began ‘Chocolate eggs and Jesus risen.’ This seems to me, for his age, both admirable poetry and admirable piety. But of course the time will soon come when such a child can no longer effortlessly and spontaneously enjoy that unity. He will become able to distinguish the spiritual from the ritual and festal aspect of Easter; chocolate eggs will no longer seem sacramental. And once he has distinguished he must put one or the other first. If he puts the spiritual first he can still taste something of Easter in the chocolate eggs; if he puts the eggs first they will soon be no more than any other sweetmeat. They will have taken on an independent, and therefore a soon withering, life.” ~C. S. Lewis<br /><br />Easter is decision time for all of us. First and foremost it is a time when we must decide between grace and works. By accepting the truth of today(grace), we must see Easter as a day to remember how God draws near to us, not because we've done great things to deserve it, we constantly do the right things, we show up at church on Sunday's or because we know the right people. In fact today is a time to accept the fact that God chose to reconcile His people in spite of the fact that "All our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Is. 64:6). <br /><br />Today is a day in which we must refuse to celebrate our worth first (though today proves our worth to Him) and instead is a day to celebrate with gratefulness, thankfulness and awe just what a loving Father has done through Christ. By accepting today as a day to celebrate God's rescue mission through Christ, we can't help but be grateful to Him even if we do recognize how much we mean to Him during this weekend. By seeing God for who He is, a righteous, unconditionally loving, judge (sound like a paradox?), we come to realize that we are nothing without Him, unable to save ourselves and the resurrection of Christ and the defeat of death has eternal implications that are now received as opposed to earned.<br /><br />While many (not all) preachers use Easter to share how God can do great things (the impossible), share who Jesus is and what we can do during this life because of Him, I can't help but be discouraged by the people centered message I've heard the last six years on this glorious, majestic day. Today is not a day for a topical sermon with bullet points that tell us how to have a better life because of Easter. It's not a time for a message about how God will resurrect us "too" if we stay faithful to His call. It is not a day to try and act more like Jesus because of what He did through His life, death and resurrection. Today is a day to believe that Jesus' defeat of death is able to bring a sinful, lost, striving people back to the Creator who loves them. Today is a day that God ushered in the truth of His Kingdom. Today is the day that Jesus proved who He claimed He was. <br /><br />There is no doubt that we will feel joy today, but the start of this joy doesn't begin with how we get a new life (a true and good thing) or that we finally know what we have to do (accept, believe, have faith-all good and true things) to get back to God. Instead, today is a day in which we must first realize, recognize and celebrate that we don't have a distant God, we instead have a God who loves us so much that He has brought Himself closer to us through the life, death and resurrection of Christ. We have a God who by defeating death has also defeated the striving ways of the human being to draw closer to Him. We have a God that sees us as heirs and aims to share eternity to those who accept this grace through Christ. <br /><br />Christianity is not a religion for enlightenment though it is typically taught that way in America today. (Michael Horton and others have coined this teaching "moralistic, therapeutic, deism"). Easter is not a day of enlightenment or meant solely for individual spiritual excitement that brings out what some would call the God in us, or the ability to see as God sees, or brings us closer to God through some vain effort. Christianity instead is a special ops mission in which a personal God came as man (Christ) to save us from eternal damnation and offer a new Spirit that spares us from the sting of death through His death and resurrection(by clothing us in the blood of Christ's death which washes away our sin). The God of Christianity separates Himself from all other worshipped (created) god's as He offers the gift of grace on Easter that no other religion can offer. He does it by drawing near to us first through the life, death and resurrection of Christ so that we can't take the credit for our salvation and so we may stop wasting so much time trying to earn it. <br /><br />Easter is a time to choose to accept what Christ has done for us on this morning. Period. The choice is the only work involved and the grace undoubtedly precedes the work. The saving grace is already there through Jesus, we don't get it because we choose it but instead by choosing it, we receive it. Easter is a day of truth. It's the reality that the Natural and the Spiritual are not separate but instead live together in the flesh of the risen Christ and His gift to us. Like the boy in Lewis' story above, when we choose to see Easter as God's day and gift to us first, the gift we receive because of the day(chocolate/salvation) will always point us back to Him. <br /><br />May you all have a Happy Easter! May the Lord bless you by the presence of His Spirit and may He relieve you of the stress of striving in your Spirit to reconcile yourself to Him. Today is a day to accept and believe what He has done through Christ and now, out of a response to what we are, we will choose to share His love not just by deed but also in creed.Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-77869946297622192132010-03-06T09:22:00.000-08:002010-03-06T10:02:56.847-08:00My and MineI read a wonderful prayer this morning out of A.W Tozer's book "The Pursuit of God". In a culture that whispers sweet little lies in our ear about how "the world is ours", I couldn't help but post it to give us some perspective. In my own life, I recognize that a life following Christ calls for a total abandonment of our "self" and absolute trust in Him (thanks Jesus and translated by Oswald Chambers). At the same time, I continue (wrongly) to see the "dying to self" that Jesus calls me to as an act to do or a law to follow in order to be right with Him/God. I sometimes fall into the trap that creating in my own power a life of charity or a life of poverty is what God needs from me in order to truly know Him. Fortunately to you and me, my own best thinking isn't close to God's eternal perspective.<br /><br />The "death to self" that Jesus speaks of, or that "harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom" thing that we aim to keep away from are matters of our heart. They are not matters of God's grace to us and in fact are misread to the point that we see them as something to "check off" of our list of things to do to get right with God. Thankfully, Jesus is speaking of being transformed from seeing gifts on Earth as ours as opposed to on loan from Him. The kind of transformation of the heart that only comes through God and time spent with Him. <br /><br />So what is it that Jesus wants us to actually die to? It's the things we still hold onto in this world, the things that cause fear and discouragement if we are to lose them. They are the things we call "my" or "mine". Wives, children, jobs, "callings", health, wealth, toys, etc. Those two words, "my" and "mine" always speak of personal possession and when they are used by a person, God's question to them will always be, "What is occupying your heart that keeps me from having full reign over your life?". It's a question that is scary to the carnal(natural) Christian, but to the follower of Christ, the one who is filled with the Spirit, it is a realization that God wants us to experience the freedom in Christ we read about but rarely see in person. <br /><br />Just last night as I laid in bed with my fourteen month old daughter who has been dealing with a fever between 100 degrees and 105.5 degrees over the past two days my mind began wandering. Sure I had been to the Doctor's office earlier in the day and was assured that this is normal and that it's viral, but as I randomly checked her temperature though the night and watched it vary from 99 degrees to 105.5 degrees I got scared. At the point that I became so tired that I couldn't keep myself up I began praying for her (again). Before I could enter into the prayer, God stopped me, asked me to let Him have her back, reminded me she was His and not mine and told me that I'm a better helper to Him when I get some sleep. My response was a recognition that I still have some "my's" and "mine's" in my life that need to be relinquished to obtain freedom in Christ and while I hate to see my little girl not feeling well, I'm thankful to have a God that can be trusted in all circumstances.<br /><br />If you are having marital issues remember that your wife or husband is His and not yours. If you are having job/money issues remember you are His and not your own. If you are unwilling to live off of "savings" because you feel like that is your little "security" in case things really get bad, guess what? Your "savings" is His too (guilty of this one). Your life is His, nothing is your own and recognizing that is the beginning of freedom. <br /><br />By the way, that little thing about making my life one of charity and poverty. I've come to realize that while minimizing and only using what is needed is beneficial, it is NOT mandatory to the heart that is fully occupied by God. As a matter of fact, many men and women of God throughout Scripture have attained wealth. The reason that it was allowed to them (and not me) was because their hearts were not controlled by these "things". It's not a matter of if the "things" that are useful in our life are bad because they're expensive. It's instead a matter of them getting in the way of God as He reigns over our entire heart. When God is reining over your entire heart, the "things" you want and desire seem to change on their own.<br /><br />***<br /><br />Father, I want to know Thee, but my cowardly heart<br />fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them<br />without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide<br />from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling,<br />but I come. Please root from my heart all those<br />things which I have cherished so long and which<br />have become a very part of my living self, so that<br />Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival.<br />Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious.<br />Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to<br />shine in it, for Thyself wilt be the light of it,<br />and there shall be no night there.<br />In Jesus' name.<br />Amen.Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-66405071433645939962010-03-01T12:35:00.000-08:002010-03-06T09:22:13.562-08:00Painting By NumbersI get the oppurtunity to hang out with a lot of guys. Whether it's to listen about their life, speak truth into it, watch sports or any other reason, I'm truly grateful to get this oppurtunity to share being alive with them. It really is a time of personal growth and reflection and also teaches me a lot of new things about intimacy with Jesus that I can't get from one on one time with my wife. Over the past week, I've had a fun little discussion with one of these guys about the idea of creativity. It wasn't the normal discussion about creativity involving topics like how we know God is creative, or a question about the importance of meeting Him as a Creator in Scripture. We didn't discuss how our own creativity is another "thing" that makes it clear we are made in God's image or what we can do in terms of disciplines to get our creative minds running. Even the idea that we live in a culture in which, quite honestly, creative people are vitually worshipped didn't become a topic either.<br /><br />Instead we talked about my blog. Seems kind of weird right? He told me that he checks in on it to read whatever insight or questions I may be raising about the "status quo" in the Christian life. He told me that he does that because he felt like the idea of creative writing and thinking is what is lacking, especially in Christian culture. He went on to say that he thinks I'm creative which was a compliment I have not heard many times in my life, especially as somebody who is thought of as being analytical on the verge of critical. Ironically, when he asked why I've stopped writing, I responded with a reason that had to do with what I felt is a lack of creativity. I said that it seems like I'm posting about the same things as many other people who are much more prominent than me (in the world's eyes, clearly not God's) and in fact felt a bit like an idiot for doing so because their stuff seems so much more original than mine.<br /><br />That quick discussion is what fueled today's blog. He went on to tell me that he liked what I had to say because even though other people may also be saying it, the way I write it seems like I don't want to copy anybody else (that got me worried). Instead he said that he feels as though my writing comes from my heart, not fearing anybody but God in what I say and that he likes the idea of being stretched to consider if he ACTUALLY believes, what he says he believes. <br /><br />That type of creative critical thinking is what brought the idea of "painting by numbers" to my mind. When I was a kid I wasn't a great artist, but I was really good at coloring. Staying between the lines was an easy thing for me and when I found out about the paint by color kits I realized that was the perfect place for me to show off my artistic (but clearly non-creative) abilities. I was tired of other kids getting attention for how great they could draw or paint and this was a place I could shine. All I had to do was be the best at using the colors that were picked out for me, on a picture I cared nothing about. When I was done, I may have painted a beautiful bird that made me look artistic even though it lacked inspiration and creativity. I was willing to settle because it made life easier and me look good.<br /><br />Does that story sound familiar to anybody? Are you living a life that you call creative but is actually just a life that is more "paint by number"? Are you doing all the right "Christiany" things without ever thinking about them? Are you going through the motions by attending religious services, small groups, prayer meetings, retreats, or seminars just to realize that you are there to take and not to give? Do you serve because you were told it's a specific day to serve, but not because you have a heart for service? I could go on and on but it is my belief that we are living in a Christian era of copycats. It's easier that way. We copy culture, we copy poets, we copy preachers, we copy marketing ideas, we copy business strategies for "church" growth, we copy movies and give them Christian names in order to attract "non-believers", and even worse (or better if it's that guy on American Idol doing a NEW version of "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul) we are the kings of "cover songs". <br /><br />I don't know what it's going to take for Christians, followers of Jesus, to get a mind of their own. I'm not saying that we should be wasting our time trying to make things "untrue" that are eternally true. I'm not saying we shouldn't believe that God is the Alpha and Omega or that maybe Jesus was only a man. What I'm saying is that we need to be willing to let God speak to us clearly instead of us trying to please those around us by how good of a "Christian" we are. I'm saying to get out of the box of doing all the right "Christiany" things without ever getting intimate with Jesus. Im' saying that teachers of the word need to remember that it isn't persuasive speech that does the saving but in fact it's the Holy Spirit and the enabline of the heart by God. When it comes to creativity clearly Van Gogh used things that existed in order to show the world the way he saw it. I can guarantee you that he had seen the nighttime and stars before he painted "starry starry night". I'm just saying that God has given us a mind to use for both analysis and creativity. He has given us a mind to challenge ourselves. I can remember Jesus saying to the Pharisees in the book of John how they looked and looked through the Scriptures in order to find eternal life when instead the freedom of eternal life was just found in following Him. Following Jesus looks different from person to person but there remains one constant when we're truly following him and that is the fact that we can't copy another person's way of doing it.<br /><br />God wants to inspire you. He does it through His Spirit as you follow Jesus. Allow your heart to be transformed into the person God created you to be instead of who you try and create yourself to be based on what you think is cool or "in". When we create ourselves to be something we're not, we're not being creative at all, in fact we're creating ourselves in the image of something that already exists. Don't settle for painting by color, God isn't worried about you impressing others, He just wants you to have the freedom to glorify Him with the gifts He has already given you instead of trying to borrow the gifts of others to impress Him or them. He loves you, now let Him live in you and work through you in a way that could only be labeled creative.Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-31866005914918262372010-02-27T10:07:00.000-08:002010-02-27T10:14:33.806-08:00I'm baaaaack!This is bad news for some and good news for others. My "couple weeks" break turned into a month and a half. Anyway, after a lot of meetings and people asking why I haven't posted any new content I realize it is time to start writing again. I'm aiming to post twice a week starting March 1st. If anyone still receives my blog, then you will be the first to know. I will also be posting on Twitter and Facebook when new articles come up. Feel free to forward it to anybody you think may benefit.<br /><br />The first post is tentatively titled "Painting by Color". Hoping this clarity from God blesses you like it blessed me. In the mean time be praying for revival, revolution, friends, family, Haiti, Chile and so many others. I'm really looking forward to challenging your thinking and life in the "status quo", especially those living like "Casual Christians" starting next week. Also, be praying for me that I make much of Jesus with this blog. I write for Him, not for me, you or anybody else.<br /><br />Blessings,<br /><br />RyanRyan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-52687575551441562522010-01-14T17:06:00.000-08:002010-01-14T17:08:22.466-08:00Little Break....I've had a lot going on over the past two weeks which is why you're seeing more links than my own writing (though I share many of the same views as the links I post or at least consider the questions that are being asked). I hope to be back with some Spirit filled insight into individual transformation and communal growth in the next couple weeks. I hope you see all of the blessings God has bestowed upon you this year and please make sure to be praying for the people of Haiti!<br /><br />Much Love,<br /><br />RyanRyan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-71102028091945034102010-01-14T16:56:00.001-08:002010-01-15T08:31:17.328-08:00"Organic Church": Is it really a movement? (Frank Viola's reply to the Christianity Today Article)I've quoted Frank Viola alot. I've shared my thoughts on "Church" frequently, especially the "organic" variety. I've posted some recent questions and links on this topic that have had me answering if I'm still a "Christian" in my social circles. In other words, the importance of God's vision for His bride is at the forefront of my mind even if the questions I'm posing make the casual Chrisitan and even the committed follower of Jesus uneasy.<br /><br />Therefore, I'm posting a recent article Frank Viola used as a response to the previous post I had regarding a Christianity Today article on "Organic Church". I suggest you read it as it gives more insight into what his, my and I hope God's view is for those who desire to live a life by the indwelling Spirit of our Lord Jesus.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Disclaimer: Frank Viola is not of Minnesota Twins fame from the 80's and the 90's, so don't get your hopes up that a left handed pitcher with a perfect mustache cares more about Church life than how well his curve ball is breaking.</span><br /><br />CLICK THE LINK ON THE POST TO READ THE ARTICLERyan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-34942099345670909962010-01-07T21:19:00.000-08:002010-01-10T09:43:16.172-08:00Can Organic Church Last?It seems I write about it daily. I think about it constantly. I wish I didn't feel led this way as it's much easier to stick with the status-quo. I'm speaking about Organic church and it is the current trend in the Christian faith with the hope of bringing back a more authentic community life, an end to silly institutional spending and an abolition of the clergy/laity divide while re-instituting the biblical view of an all member functioning community in which the body becomes the true expression of Christ as it moves in the way the Spirit leads it. Many believe it is the answer to the lack of transformation in the individual and the way for the church to get back to her true definition. Regardless of how you feel about it, it's here and it's gaining steam.<br /><br />Today, I've posted a link to a great article I read in Christianity Today that gives a great outline and description of what is happening and what has historically happened to similar visions for the Church in the past. I hope you check it out and gain insight, perspective, hope and an opinion about where you stand in your own relationship with Christ, His bride, and your perspective on where the church is headed.<br /><br />If you are like me, a bit torn in your view of "church life" and you hear this still small voice calling you out of institutionalism but unsure if you are walking into a possible heresy (that is Organic Church life) I urge you to read this. If you are living the institutional church life, have no issues with it, but wonder what those crazy revolutionaries are fighting for when it comes to Organic Church I urge you to read it. If you are looking for something interesting going on inside your family (your eternal family) that you may not know a lot about, I urge you to read it. In other words, check it out and let me know what you think.<br /><br />(Click the title for a link to the Christianity today article)Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-8899827320429400602010-01-06T12:16:00.000-08:002010-01-06T12:34:08.285-08:00"A Jesus Manifesto" by Frank Viola and Leonard SweetI had to post this link after reading Frank Viola's and Leonard Sweet's "A Jesus Manifesto". It was written to and for the entire body of Christ regardless of specific views of members regarding ecclesiology (church), eschatology (end times), Soteriology (the way in which humanity obtains salvation), the presence of spiritual gifts today or in light of political, social or economic views. This "Manifesto" is strictly about Jesus (which is why the entire trinity is not focused on) and is a great foundation for what He hoped we would become.<br /><br />Within the "Manifesto" we truly see it is Jesus who is Lord and Head. Both authors make it clear that they don't necessarily agree with the different sets of beliefs listed above. I clearly have certain views within the realm of being a Christian, but like the authors, that doesn't separate me from being part of the same body as many of you who don't share those same views.<br /><br />I truly hope you consider reading this "Magna Carta for Restoring the Supremecy of Jesus Christ", and would love to hear your comments, thoughts and insights. There is no better unifying factor in the Christian life than to have Jesus as the King, Lord, Savior and Head. He is the Alpha and Omega and he desires His body to be unified under His headship. I hope this writing helps us to recognize that we are truly dead outside of Christ and that if we all would <span style="font-style: italic;">allow His Spirit to transform us</span> into the kind of people who love like He did, the problems of pride and self-righteousness could be eliminated and unity in the body would come to fruition.<br /><br />(To see the article please click the title of this post)Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-68396154237212599372010-01-05T12:30:00.000-08:002010-01-10T09:41:16.671-08:00"Budweiser vs. Microbrew" what Newsweek says about Church in AmericaAs most of you know I'm passionate about Jesus, I'm passionate about truth, I'm passionate about love, I'm passionate about God's word, and I'm passionate about God's plan for sharing the truth, love, and word of Jesus through His body...the Church.<br /><br />This morning I read an interesting article in Newsweek's online magazine about the cultural Christian shift from institutionalization to a more organic and biblical form of community life. In the article Gary Laderman, professor of American religious history at Emory University and author of 'Sacred Matters' stated, "What's going on is a kind of deinstitutionalization of religious life," when he was asked why American Christians have grown weary with the current ways of practicing their faith.<br /><br />Though the article is interesting and agreeable on the point it aims to make, ( it expresses a major concern for the institutional tradition of the way we "do" church) it still fails to focus on the main issue in regards to the mass exodus of some 1,000,000 Christians per year leaving institutional churches (per the Barna Group), the lack of genuine transformation of individual Christians, and the total disunity within the "body of Christ" (The Church). That main issue is that Christians have grown tired of playing the part of the "American Christian", a part that is focused on keeping America "Christian", the using of the pulpit as an opportunity to press the political beliefs and religious interpretations of a few clergy on to the mass amounts of listeners while they care more about the appearance and marketability of their congregation than transformation and discipleship within the membership (don't tell me it's different, show me). Within this issue is that while the church preaches to the individual listener there is a lack of biblical community within the body as we have been taught like children to be seen and not heard for fear that the congregation speaking up is what would lead to disunity (shaking hands and giving your name before we get entertained is not community). Though Pastors have the best of intentions to keep things orderly, their hierarchical positions have deadened the Spirit of the congregation as very few manage to function, and their fears of disunity are strictly a fear that they may need to re-think the way their program currently works. In a nutshell, followers of Christ are tired of playing the part of Christian, following a select few and their views while the Headship of Jesus and the love and unity of believers is left in the dust.<br /><br />It also needs to be said that meeting in a house doesn't make a Christian community any better than the one who meets in a church edifice. This is especially true if people are leaving the institution in order to meet together while still holding on to the un-biblical hierarchical structure and liturgy that bores the masses on Sunday's. I truly believe that the main reason for this move from institutional church life is due to a desire of the body to share in authentic worship within an all members functioning community with Christ as Head (see 1 Corinthians 14, Ephesians 5, and all through Acts). The desire doesn't come from the need to be known or "do" church better, but instead, due to the Holy Spirit which desires us to be a unified visible expression of the love and truth of Christ within local communities. While we currently have church buildings on every block from multiple denominations, God's desire to bring true unity within His body cannot co-exist with the current "sheep stealing" that goes on. Especially if these sheep are already part of the Kingdom of God through their relationship with Christ and know their Shepherd(John 10).<br /><br />In these tough times, ones in which the faint of heart have a buffet of choices in which they can get their daily fears from, the Holy Spirit is moving in the hearts of Christians to usher in the Biblical Kingdom of God through the love, generosity, grace, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I do agree that a lack of institution is where God moves best as the Headship of Christ is allowed to be re-established as he supplants the "CEO Pastor" that currently runs the body in America (and the world). However, I'm also aware that some may disagree with my views on why the move to de-instituionalize the Church is happening and I want to be clear that my main desire is that we would aim in this New Year to re-hire Jesus back as the Head of his Church so that we may get the true answer of what he's doing.<br /><br />May we all come together in love, regardless of our views on denominations (that includes you non-denomonationals too), politics, baptism, eschatology or any other view that gives us pride as opposed to humility. Let's aim to give Jesus his church back, regaining our understanding of who we are in Christ as well as our roles in His Church.<br /><br />(For the whole Newsweek article, please click the Blog title entry)Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-35786440441033310322010-01-04T18:04:00.000-08:002010-01-04T18:12:45.094-08:00Keeping you Mentally Healthy...I came across this blog entry on the John Piper "Desiring God" site. As many of you know I've dealt with Panic Disorder and General Anxiety Disorder in years past and this link is a great list of things you can do to prevent these harmless yet annoying and debilitating conditions along with burnout, stress, pride and depression. Along with the link above on the title of this post, I'm also copy and pasting the 10 points directly on to this blog in case you have trouble. I encourage you to see the entire article so that you get some history into who wrote the list and why it was written.<br /><br />I'm hoping you all are off to a wonderful New Year! I pray that we all will be a blessing this year both individually and as a body to those we come in contact with. Make your life one of ministry like Christ who "Came to serve, and not to be served...". Like Abraham, we have the ability to be a blessing because we are so blessed.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>10 Resolutions for Mental Health <p> 1. <em>At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky</em> and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me. </p> <p> 2. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, <em>I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence</em> which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle, and an end. </p> <p> I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death when he said: "There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing." </p> <p> 3. <em>I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours</em>, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. </p> <p>I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence, but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood. </p> <p> 4. <em>I shall not turn my life into a thin, straight line which prefers abstractions to reality</em>. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do. </p> <p> 5. <em>I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others.</em> I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work. </p> <p> 6. <em>I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person.</em> I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their "divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic" existence. </p> <p> 7. <em>I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood</em> and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the "child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder." </p> <p> 8. <em>I shall follow Darwin's advice and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music</em>, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music. </p> <p> 9. <em>I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies</em> but will instead, as Charles Williams suggested, "fulfill the moment as the moment." I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now. </p> <p> 10. Even if I turn out to be wrong,<em> I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic</em>, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega. </p>Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-36788257660892691772009-12-31T12:56:00.000-08:002009-12-31T14:53:55.034-08:00Trusting Truth- 40 Days of Psalm 37 (Day 40)"The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him." -Psalm 37:40<br /><br />Wow! The year is over. Can you believe it? We have so much to be thankful for, so much to be grateful for and so much to look forward to. Thank God I decided to weed through my thought life on the blog this morning as I was interested in seeing what I became neurotic about these last twelve months (if you know me personally, the term neurotic is almost an understatement once I get caught on a subject). I'm so grateful that during this time of reflection I was able to recognize that outside of my own hand written journal this blog was true therapy. It became my way of asking myself to answer my own hard questions, challenging myself to search for truth and drawing a line in the sand that I was going to press into the truth of God in Christ even if it makes me seem nuts. My blog life became the area in which I could no longer lie, I could no longer deny and I could not run away from what I had typed. If I said it, I was going to have to answer to it.<span style="font-family: arial;"></span><br /><br />Another great aspect of this personal blog review was that by His grace I was able to see that I/we never finished "40 Days of Psalm 37". In my defense, it wasn't that I actually forgot about the importance of going over this Psalm, but honestly, I have been on such a search for truth within the Christian culture (or lack of truth), that I unfortunately began to compartmentalize my "transformation" time with God as something I didn't need to share on the blog (even though that's where the Psalm 37 series stemmed from) and turned to asking questions about the way we Christians have been transformed by culture as opposed to God's Spirit. Just to be clear, my hope in leaving the Psalms series was never to make you feel bad about the way we've done "things" in our walk with God but instead to challenge brothers and sisters in Christ as well as anybody who stumbles on to this little blog (if they're a friend I'm aware it was out of pity) to search for truth. I pray that my questions and answers always turned them to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.<br /><br />Today's Psalm truly encompasses the answers to all of my questions and supports my thoughts about Christ as I've pressed into Him over the past year. It also sums up the entire series of "Trusting Truth...". Today's message of Psalm 37:40 is that we need to be reminded of where our eternal security lies and how much we can trust the Triune God to deliver us from finite evil. He is the only eternal security available in a world that is sure to burn. The author David states this so clearly and if we are to read the entire Book of Psalms the way it was written (without chapters and verses) we would see the beautiful, passionate, truthful, hopeful and authentic confessions of a man who knew the truth of God's love and eternal plan of salvation even as he struggled with depression, enemies, fear, violence and uncertainty in his own life. His words in the Psalms are a constant reminder of God's constant unchanging love for us, even in the midst of our sin, trial and denial.<br /><br />From the point of view of a realist (I don't consider myself a blind optimist or pessimist) the year 2010 promises to be one of hardship, turmoil, suffering, uncertainty, fear, and downright panic in the lives of those who don't know Christ (as well as those who say "Lord, Lord..." but never have truly known Him). We live in a world dominated by those who desire power, money and control and that will not change no matter who is in office or running big businesses. In my opinion this passion to rule the world through politics has less to do with their position as much as it has to do with their eternal condition. Without the only One who is a refuge in the time of need, the One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the One who causes all of creation to sing of His majesty and the One who makes His eternal Kingdom an option now through Christ; those who don't truly know God must continue in the darkness of a finite life trying to catch the air in their little finite hands.<br /><br />I don't claim to be the Old Testament prophet type but these coming days of 2010 and beyond promise to be extremely difficult for followers of Jesus. We can expect to be persecuted, made fun of, mocked, starve, and even be killed (Sound familiar to somebody we know and love?). We can also expect continued disunity within the "body" as we love the Lord but don't look to Him as the Head that directs His members. Because of our forgetfulness of who wants "Headship" we lose sight that we are to be the expression of who he is, and resort to being an expression of who He'd want us to be if WE were Him.<br /><br />With these coming days of tribulation I hope that we don't see this season as a reason for us to rise up and "try harder" to bring people to Christ through our own efforts of great teaching, evangelism, or through politics in the wisdom of the world. Though these things may be a great plan to man our own wisdom and hurried nature is never the best plan to God. Plus, for the record, I'm not sold on our own best ideas of marketing Christianity to the masses which have failed miserably in their attempts to bring people to actually know Jesus as opposed to hear about Him constantly.<br /><br />Instead, I'm hopeful that we will be transformed by the "renewing of our minds" instead of by one great book by a Christian author who seems to be in touch with one area you are passionate about. I am hoping that we begin to become the ones who are willing to trust and obey God even if it means turning the other cheek so that the "slapper" may know the love of God. I pray that we will take on the mind of Christ in every area and be transformed by the Holy Spirit so that we may live out the love of our risen Lord. And while I oppose gay marriage, I am never actually for the gay bashing that goes on because of it. I truly do find it hard to understand why is it that we reach out in love to the drunk in the street, the witch doctor in Africa, the drug addict on skid row or the corporate millionaire who just lost His wife to cancer but our Western culture of Christians has decided to hate gays? Does that mean we need to "save them"? No! God is the enabler of the heart. But it does mean we need to love them, in spite of their lifestyle. In case we forgot, Jesus wasn't worried about positions, race, creed, religion, or social status, so we need not be. "Repent and follow me" was a message to the Pharisee as much as it was the Samaritan woman. All I can say is that our response and action towards those not like us should always be from the transformed version of us, not in our Pharisidic Christian version that picks and chooses the laws and sins we think need the most treatment.<br /><br />In my opinion, the coming year is a time in which we don't need to figure out how to get Christianity right and instead need to re-focus on becoming like Christ through the transformation by His Holy Spirit and through communion with the rest of His body who serves under His headship. We constantly need to be reminded that "winning souls" has nothing to do with us or what we've done and instead has everything to do with Him and what He's called us to do corporately. We need to remember that loving people has to do with a calling from God to be the love of Christ to a world in the darkness, and not as another way for us to try harder to make God love us more by doing what He asks. He can't love you any more than He already does! Lastly, we need to remember like David tells us in this Psalm that we have an eternal refuge in God, we have the eternal answer to death in Christ and that we can put all of our trust in a God who promises to deliver us no matter how difficult things may get. The message of 2010 is the message Jesus gave a bunch of ragtag guys in the 1st century,<br /><br />""If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:24-26)<br /><br />Friends, brothers and sisters, the call is to trust and obey. To allow God to be God and us to be an expression of His love as we come to the end of our "self's" for His sake.<br /><br />May your new year be prosperous in the relationships you build, in the truth you obtain, in the love you give and in the light you walk in! See you next year!Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-18455155869070771152009-12-21T15:44:00.001-08:002009-12-21T16:26:23.799-08:00A.W Tozer with the Quote of the Day..."If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation it must be by other means than any now being used. If the church in the second half of [the twentieth] century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler-of-the-synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting. Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will not be one but many) he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom." - A.W Tozer<br /><br />I had to share this quote. I feel it would be a disservice to only share things that "I think" without helping you know where some of these thoughts are coming from. I'm aware that I might have shared this before but it sure blesses my soul and I hope it moves your mind like it moved my own. As I can't say enough I love the Lord Jesus and I love His Church more than anything. From the inside out I desire to be transformed into Him so that the world may see and experience His love, grace and freedom. I love that we have the opportunity to be his DNA through belief, faith and then transformation. There is so much more freedom in Christ when we follow His word as opposed to the word of those who want Christ to be and look like their idea of a "perfect God", or even worse, share a created Christ that appears like the perfect American Christian with all the answers to the "problems" of life.<br /><br />In this world we see "test tube babies" all the time. I just watched the movie, "My Sister's Keeper" in which a child was genetically engineered to perfectly match the organs, blood type and bone marrow type of a sister dying of cancer. Sadly, many of us have become "test tube babies" in Christ. We have genetically engineered our Spirits through our own effort and knowledge to look like, act like or feel like what we think Jesus to be or want us to be. Through great teaching, great books, great vision, great worship and great ideas, our culture has helped us to be "great Christians". Unfortunately, Jesus has so much more for us. He wants us to literally be Him, sharing His DNA. He even tells us how to be transformed into His likeness...by death to self.<br /><br />Though the ideas of "Fire and Brimstone", "What would Jesus Do" preaching, and the push to "serve" (though many times out of guilt or shame) may marketable in the pulpit, make you feel better about yourself and may even be considered "good" things; It must be said that these good things are absolutely not the best things, nor is it God's plan for His children. As Oswald Chambers says, "Good is the enemy of the best", and as a culture who desires instant gratification, we accept the good as fast as we can get it even at the expense on missing out on the best things God has for us. <br /><br />I encourage you to not fall into the trap of selling your life solely out to "movements" because they "feel" right even if they are using the name of God or Jesus. I pray that you don't follow Preachers simply because they say the right things about God or about something you are passionate about and scratch your itching ears. Be sure to "test everything" against God's word and allow yourself to be the person whom God can transform into the likeness of His Son as we trust and obey in Him.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Note: I also want to say that by seeing things like movements and great preachers as "good" vehicles that can be used by God, we never lose sight of the best thing which is Jesus our Savior, Lord, King and Bridegroom. </span>Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-78832270540504032412009-12-16T08:34:00.000-08:002009-12-16T08:48:48.116-08:00The "Three Gospels" According to our CultureTwo days ago I came across a great blog post/article regarding the "Three Gospels" of the church on Frank Viola's blog. As I read this bit of wisdom and knowledge I not only became aware of how I've consistently treated my relationship with Christ (and others) in a way that doesn't prove my allegiance to the King but also how I've been foundationally wrong even though I aim to make God's Word the ultimate authority in my life and constantly write and live with the "best of intentions". Unfortunately the "best of intentions" is usually driven by my own guilt, shame and condemnation and those intentions spring out of a desire to make things right. Of course the desire to make things right, work out our salvation and live like there is not grace even though we sing that it saves us is what defines legalism.<br /><br />Being a "legalist" is something I've battled with in my walk with Christ over the past seven years. As I've gained more head knowledge through reading, conversation, "doing" ministry and knowing the right people I've missed out on the transformation of my heart that Jesus offers and Paul of Tarsus speaks of. As most of you who read this know, my goal in this blog is to encourage you to abandon yourselves, discern the truth and trust wholly in Him through obedience; unfortunately many times I get so caught up with being "right" in the way this life takes form that I fall back into my legalistic ways.<br /><br />So, without boring you any further I encourage you to click on this link (or on the title of this article) and check out Frank's blog.<br /><br />http://frankviola.wordpress.com/Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-51056665458135952302009-12-13T11:27:00.000-08:002009-12-13T12:03:39.015-08:00Doing, Playing, Being or..."Areing"?I have a confession again this morning. The confession is not that I've sinned, but the confession does involve missing the mark. In fact, my confession has to do with the realization I've come to in the way I've wanted to "fix" the church as if it's mine. Like those who've come before me, I've tried so hard, in my own power, with the best intentions to fix the way we Christians "do", "play", and now the way we try to "be" the church. I've realized through a revelation in my quiet time this morning that I've decided to try and do brain surgery on something (the church) that only needs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. We don't need a new brain, we just need to re-train the one we were given by the God. <br /><br />Christmas is a funny season for Christians. We, most of the time, out of the goodness of our hearts love to show those our love by buying them gifts. It's a beautiful thing to show people how much we care for them by giving them something we know they need or have said they want. As a person who loves to give, I never feel better than when that gift is received with grace, love and appreciation. Most of the time it is in a smile that I see I've done right, or in a few words like "I love you", but more than anything it's in the way I'm treated as a result of what I gave. When we give a gift out of love, and the response of the recipient is to simply receive this gift in love, and then respond by just accepting the gift as opposed to feeling like they must pay me back, my mission has been accomplished. In the same way, when we are just able to accept/receive God's gift of new life to us, and the death of sin, as well as the taking on of the DNA of Christ as his Church and bride that gets to live in His perfect Kingdom then we will begin to experience the freedom of who we "are".<br /><br />This morning i realized as an advocate for "being" the church, I am part of a group that is still striving to "do" it right. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am already part of his Church and that is where freedom lies. Freedom is never a response of guilt but of love. The same way that Eve was Adam's DNA since she was made from his rib, I am part of Christ's DNA as I am a member of a church that was born out of him and I can find freedom in accepting who I am in Christ. I truly believe with all my heart that a revival and revolution is coming from within the body as we begin to see, in glimpses, how God sees us. The beginning of that revival comes from the fact that we are worthy to be loved, worthy to accept forgiveness and worthy to be a member of the Church regardless of what we've done in the past. If we are to believe in a God that is all knowing, all loving, all powerful as well as everywhere at the same time, then we have to believe that God knew of our sins before we would commit them. The proof of him being aware of that sin is the sending of His only begotten Son to take those sins to the cross so that we may have fellowship with Him.<br /><br />Nothing surprises God! Nothing! Your sins of omission and your sins of commission do not catch God off guard. But...what pains God, what hurts the feelings of God is the fact that in spite of his gift of forgiveness for sin, in spite of his gift of new life and a new marriage with Him through Christ, we have responded in finding out how He we can "repay" Him. If I can urge Christians one thing this Holiday season it is to learn how to be a great receiver. When we learn how to accept a gift, we learn how to appreciate the giver and the thought of his present. When we aim to "repay" for what was given, it becomes more about us and what we can do to show we're worthy of such a thought. It's hard to accept but you are worthy of God's love. It's hard to accept but you are "His Masterpiece" according to Ephesians 2. We can't make ourselves any more of God's masterpiece by playing the part of His Masterpiece. As His church and bride we are perfect in His sight and therefore we can begin to experience the freedom of Christ when we see what we already "are" instead of what we need to do, be or play the part of.Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-53240568013233277522009-12-02T13:12:00.000-08:002009-12-02T15:00:03.363-08:00Perspective and Confessions of an Ordinary GuyAbout a week ago I wrote about saving a word like "amazing" for those special moments in life in which God speaks to your Spirit and your Soul. After my meeting this morning, the only word that comes to mind is "amazing" when I begin to describe what God spoke to me through the conversation, the love, the growth, and the understanding I developed as I spent some time with my Brother-in-law. A little background on the relationship is that my Brother-in-law has been an integral part of my everyday life and most importantly in the development of my Faith over the past six years. We began dating our wives at virtually the same time in Jan/Feb of 2004, we were there for each other through the times that nobody else would have a clue what it's like to date or marry a triplet (did I mention our wives have the same DNA?), we have prayed numerous times together, have spoken the truth in love to one another when it wasn't easy, have taken numerous trips together and have basically shared all of our lives together. Whenever you end up marrying "multiples", you have no choice but to become as close as brothers. However, over about the past three to six months, as he has engaged further in his position as a youth Pastor and i felt the Spirit of God moving me to question the makeup of the institutional church, we have slightly drifted apart in our ability to talk about "all things Jesus".<br /><br />So, after he read multiple blog posts over the past month or two when it appears that I have been filled with the spirit of a renegade for the deconstruction of the institutional church, he decided it was time we meet and talk about the "elephant in the room", especially since in many ways it appears I'm calling for an end to his job as we know it. He noticed that even though I was and am posing important questions to those in the church, those who work in the church, those outside the church and anybody else who reads this blog, I have rarely included myself in the problems that I'm blaming on the "institution" and somehow separate myself from the very thing (the Church) that I'm trying to put back in to what we currently refer to as "church". Ironically, just last night as I was praying I felt something tell me (not audibly) that though my deconstruction may be correct and even important, unless I aim to build back up what I'm tearing down, then all I'm causing is disunity within the body of Christ (just as much of a sin as leading people to worship where they attend on Sunday instead of Christ or the creation of "churchilebrities").<br /><br />So, without getting into personal details and with the encouragement of my brother-in-law it's time to clear somethings up...<br /><br /><br />1) <span style="font-style: italic;">Do I hate the church?</span> Absolutely Not! I'm a member of the Church and recognize that I don't use the word "we" enough when speaking about the Church. I'm incredibly passionate about the body of Christ and truly believe that the revival and reformation that followers of Christ are hoping for will most certainly take place within the "institutional church" as we know it. This may mean a breaking off of some of the members to pursue house churches and just as likely it will be a reconstruction of how we "do" church by the Holy Spirit. This doesn't make you or me "emergent" or "emerging" but it does mean an end to the fear that we must be "relevant" within culture or fear that we are letting down John Calvin or Martin Luther. The Kingdom of God is above all Earthly cultures and wisdom and I expect that by the power of His Spirit, the culture of the Kingdom will regain its influence, power and attraction as the body hands the power back to the head who is Jesus Christ. I don't have all the answers to how this will work or what it will look like, but I know that it's already happening. I also know that it won't happen out of the wisdom of man (me included) but instead by the wisdom of God (see 1 Cor: 2 and 3).<br /><br />2) <span style="font-style: italic;">Do I hate you if you work at a church?</span> Absolutely Not! I feel terrible as I read anything that I've written or that others have written that aims bazookas and chucks grenades at those working "in the church" (guilty at times). Though i would not be true to my study of Scripture if I denied the fact that I don't believe in a paid "clergy", I don't know if that is the BIGGEST problem within the institution and I don't believe it's something that MUST be fixed. If it must be fixed, all I can say is that it's a God sized problem that can only be fixed by God himself. For the record, I do believe that a teacher should be paid a "fair wage" as Scripture says, I also believe in the financial support of missionaries which in my opinion now includes local churches due to the lack of those actually following Christ in America, and I believe in the cheerful giver who has the ability as a follower of Christ to prove that God has total control of the money he allows him or her to make (that's a tough one personally). With that being said, I only hope to encourage you, edify you, exhort you, and serve with you as part of God's "Royal Priesthood". I have realized that even though I am trying to raise important questions, I may have demeaned your current calling and in no way am I in a position to do that.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">3) Do I believe that we all need to attend a church?</span> Without getting fully into the semantics of the word "church" today, the answer is YES! Surprise coming from me? Let me be very clear, all followers of Christ are called to be part of a community of believers that without question meets together and lives life together. We are called to serve together, take communion together, pray for one another, edify each other, exhort one another and give to each person as they have need. With this being said, this doesn't mean that there is only way to experience church and that is by going on Sunday. It should also be said that showing up at a Starbucks with a Christian friend and reading the bible is not the same as "going to church" and should actually be referred to as fellowship which is also extremely important to sharing life together within the body. I must also note that most of my issues with the institutional church have to do with the squashing of the Spirit of God that is in so many of the "congregants" by the traditions of our liturgy. As we sit in pews, fall asleep, cheer, raise their hands, listen, think, or whatever else we do during a service time we are rarely encouraged to do anything but fill compartments of the "church life". Therefore, I'd urge the institution to let go of their tight grip on programs, methods, being relevant, being up to date, or being concerned with offending people and instead trust God that the building he wants to speak through is his people who come together as "living stones" (1 Peter). By allowing for this, even within the institutional church, we actually build one another up and become a real family. I doubt people at home aren't allowed to talk with the exception of 5 minutes of pre-planned time on a Wednesday night and I don't see what that should be any different whenever a community of believers meets together no matter the day of the week that they meet.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Is Jesus the only way?</span> Yes! Not because I'm saying it, but because He did. "If God says it, that settles it" as my mentor always says. Next question!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Do I always think I'm right, and if you disagree should you stop reading the blog?</span> The only person who is always right is God himself! I aim to be clear that when I pose questions, they are just that...questions. Many times I will give opinions, but more often I aim to present facts. It's a fact that the institutional church is on the decline and house churches are on the rise. But, that doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit isn't in both. I realized this morning that there is an adrenaline seen in my writing when I get passionate about something and instead of being constructive, it is often times destructive. Please know, that in all humility, I don't always believe I'm right, but I do believe God is always right. Therefore, if I'm stating a fact, it's not always because I want it to be that way (see the Jesus question above) but because God states it SHOULD be a certain way. I also want to be clear that the institution, the house church movement and the missional church movement are all part of God's sovereign, eternal and moral wills. Anything we do inside of those wills of God are ok. In other words, we may disagree on some little things but our questions when reading the work of somebody else should not be whether or not we're personally offended. The question that should be asked is, "does this piece of writing offend the God of Scripture?" and if you answer no to that question you would then ask, "what can I personally do to remedy my own situation and relationship with Him"? Just so you know, most of the time the answer is to let Go and give everything to God. We have to get over ourselves enough to allow His Spirit to transform us because we can't transform ourselves into the image and love of God. It's not easy for me to be right in my head when I'm writing, only to be corrected by a friend, a reader or God. But we're all after truth and leaning on tradition and comfort never helped anybody grow in Christ.<br /><br />I'll stop right here for now. If you have any more questions for me, comments for me or anything else I'd love to hear from you whether by email or by comment. The most important thing I was asked this morning was "Ryan, what are you hoping this blog actually does? Is it your ministry?". The answer to that question was that I hope I can be the hands of Jesus as I type that pull people out of the rut of being a "Christian" on paper but have never seen the Spiritual Transformation that produces the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22. Personally, I'm embarrassed to say that in my own life, things like anger and pride continue to have a hold on me. There are places and areas of my life that I need to let go, places where I still must come to the end of myself and places in which I block the presence of the Holy Spirit. I don't apologize for asking hard questions or making you uncomfortable, but I do apologize for creating any disunity in the body because of my lack of focus to "Be completely humble and gentle; patient, bearing with one another in love. Making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Eph 4:2-3). I hope that from here on out this blog becomes a dialogue in which revival and reformation can spring up within all aspects of the church and the resurgence of God's people to influence a culture as opposed to us being transformed by it. My aim is never to be relevant, Jesus wasn't worried about relevance, he was concerned with truth. Truth is what sets people free and the truth of our freedom comes by grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Amen!Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-40963988841059120272009-12-02T13:06:00.000-08:002009-12-02T13:12:34.750-08:00The Riley Project Update...After conferring with my most trusted ally (my wife), we've decided that we will decrease our food budget by $4 a day for the 25 days of Advent in order to give $100 towards "The Riley Project". I hope you all will consider some way that you can sacrifice something yourself (even something small), in order to help fulfill Riley's dream.<br /><br />I also forgot to mention that on the Goodfellow's blog there is a link to make donations. Please use that link directly in order to help give water to those who don't have any. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-3166848199495091292009-12-01T20:59:00.001-08:002009-12-02T08:29:43.294-08:00Support "The Riley Project" for Christmas (or whatever you celebrate)Two days ago, on the day before the beginning of advent a friend of mine posted on his blog that his family of six was going to eat rice and beans every night for 25 days leading up to Christmas. Knowing his desire to share the love of God with this hurting world, I had to dig a little deeper in order to find out what was behind the beans and rice. As I read further, I saw that the beans and rice meant so much more than going on a low caloric, high fiber diet to look great in Christmas card photos. Instead, Blake and his family have decided to partake in a well giving ministry headed up by his eight year old daughter Riley, hence the name "The Riley Project". Her goal of raising $5,000 in order to give clean water wells to the places on Earth in which people die from a lack of good drinking water is within reach as she only needs $800 more. When I saw how close she is, and how I easily spend $800 during Christmas time on food and gifts "in the name of the birth of Jesus" yet rarely share the love of Him, I realized I could possibly help.<br /><br />So with the permission of Blake, I'm posting his blog below regarding the "Riley Project". I hope you will consider what he and his family are doing in order to take small steps to combat selfishness during this season and instead spread hope, love and actual life. It was Christ who is able to give us eternal life, and instead of focusing on the finite things like toys and food which both waste away, the thought of giving life through water to the starving and thirsty during the time in which we celebrate the birth of our "living water" seems appropriate.<br /><br />On a side note as you consider helping I'd like you to realize that during the Holiday season Americans spend $450 Billion dollars celebrating the holidays. This means more consumerism which is just as prevalent in the "church" as it is outside (if not worse), and an additional 12 pounds on the average human belly (per another study I read outside of the blog). If we decided to gain only six pounds, that is most likely worth a minimum of $50 that we could donate just by eating half as much (less cookies, Starbucks, muffins, candy, etc...). Also, within the "church" I can't help but be discouraged during the Holiday season to see so much money wasted on the unnecessary construction of more "church" buildings including an embarrassing $120 million dollar project in Dallas. But I have to ask does God really need "bigger barns" to attract people? What a waste! During this Season I can't help but think that we have lost sight of what it means to be Jesus to the lost, the hurting, the widows, the helpless, the meek, the Poor in Spirit, and the like. Instead of trying to make buildings and cutesy messages to attract people, maybe, just maybe we can become eternally attractive as we bear the image of our Savior in the way we love.<br /><br />Please take this as a small challenge to walk the walk. By no means am I saying you must do this or else you're selfish, instead I'm just asking you to consider it. And oh, by the way, even if Jesus means nothing to you, or being a Christian is silly, or maybe you're a Jew, Muslim, Agnostic, Hindu, Buddhist or something else, if you can find it in your heart to do something truly "good" during this season then please consider helping the dream of an eight year old come true. Starting now until Dec. 24th figure out a way to even donate a dollar a day to give water to those who have none. Please contact me if you want to help or contact Blake directly through the blog below. Thanks and have a wonderful Holiday season!<br /><br />Blessings,<br /><br />Ryan<br /><br /><br />This article below was taken from http://www.goodfellowfamily.blogspot.com/<br /><br /><h3 class="post-title entry-title"> <a href="http://goodfellowfamily.blogspot.com/2009/11/rice-beans-and-riley-project.html">rice & beans and the Riley project</a> </h3> As I shared in my last post, we have realized that we have so much (too much) and that we can no longer sit comfortable while others are suffering. We have also become pretty disgusted with what Christmas has come to mean in America. It is all about consumerism and spending money and giving to people (us included) that already have more than we need. We do not want to raise our children with a sense of entitlement. We want, as a family, to focus on Christ's birth at Christmas and find ways to honor Him with this season.<br /><a href="http://www.rileyproject.blogspot.com/"><br /></a><a href="http://www.rileyproject.blogspot.com/">The Riley Project</a> is close to being finished (although Riley says that she will never be finished raising money for wells). Riley has about 800 more dollars to raise to reach her goal. We are ready for Riley to reach her goal because we are ready for over 250 people to finally have clean water. They are dying while they wait (I know that sounds dramatic, but, well, it's the truth).<br /><br />So, during Advent (November 29-December 24) our family will be eating rice and beans every night for dinner. We will be donating the money that we save on groceries to The Riley Project. We can't take credit for this idea. I first saw a blog where a family ate rice and beans for a month and gave the money that they saved to a friend's adoption. Then, our friends Kinzi and Jay approached us with the idea that they would fast and give the money that they saved to The Riley Project and asked us if we wanted to participate. As we discussed it and threw around ideas, we landed on eating rice and beans for Advent. I honestly can't think of a better way to both prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth and raise more money for the well then to sacrificially give of ourselves in this way.<br /><br />In many ways we are very excited about rice and beans and what it will teach our family. But we are also very selfish and really, really don't want to eat rice and beans for 25 days straight. It's not going to be fun. I hate beans. But every night, as we eat our rice and beans, we will think of those we don't have anything to eat, we will think of those who are going to get clean water, and we will think of Jesus who sacrificed much more than us.<br /><br />I mean, really, who am I to complain about eating rice and beans when there are millions of people who would be beyond thankful to know that they were getting rice and beans every night?<br /><br />Who am I to think that I deserve more than rice and beans?<br /><br />We are asking anyone who wants to, to please join us in giving something up in order to give to The Riley Project. You don't have to eat rice and beans for 25 days. You can eat rice and beans for a week or one night. You can give up Starbucks or Coke and give the money that you save to the well. You could come up with your own idea. I am also giving up my nightly ice cream which is a really, really big deal for me. We already had a family give up eating out for a month and donate their saved money to the well. We have so much that we can give up.<br /><br />(I also just wanted to say that you can participate for any reason- it doesn't have to be in preparation for Jesus' birth. This is just one of our reasons. You obviously don't have to be a Christian to give sacrificially. In fact, most Christians are really bad at sacrificial giving.)<br /><br />So, after 25 days of rice and beans, on Christmas Day, our family will write a check to charity:water for the amount of money that we saved. It would be so beautiful if the final $800 needed to build this well was raised by Christmas Day because of sacrificial giving on the part of people all around the country.Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-88321304539688772962009-11-29T12:29:00.000-08:002009-11-29T12:46:53.900-08:00Little Devotional for the day...It's been a while since I've written anything. In my own defense during the last 10 days it has been my birthday, Thanksgiving and I've been sick. Anyway, because I'm not feeling too great I haven't had the energy, strength or inspiration to write. However, that doesn't mean I don't have the ability to read and think. Therefore, I read a devotional this morning at www.JeremyCampCamp.com (yes I typed that correctly), and thought that I needed to re-post it on my blog.<br /><br />The devotional is based off an excerpt from Frank Viola's book "From Eternity to Here" and is a strong reminder of who God is, where he dwells and why need to get over ourselves enough to trust Him. In reading it I was also able to discern that in the body of Christ, it is of the utmost importance that the sum of the parts in the is always greater than the parts. Too often we are only edified individually due to the way Western Christianity operates ("me first" individualism) as opposed to strengthening the body as a whole . Regardless of how good a "christian" you may be, how many church services you show up at, bible studies you're a part of, or how well you've "got it together"; we always need to be aware of who we are in God's grand scheme of things. I hope this message blesses you like it did me...<br /><br /><p><span><span><strong><span>A Homeless God<br /><span>by Frank Viola</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span><span>"As you come to Him, the living Stone -- rejected by men but<br />chosen by God and precious to Him -- you also, like living<br />stones, are being built into a spiritual house." (1 Peter 2:4-5a)</span></span></p> <p><img src="http://www.lifetoday.org/images/content/pagebuilder/18757.jpg" alt="From Eternity To Here" /> </p><p><span><span><span>This week's devotional comes from Frank Viola's book </span><a title="http://www.lifetoday.org/site/R?i=9-aO4Cu5dUplupDyz0q5YA.." href="http://www.lifetoday.org/site/R?i=9-aO4Cu5dUplupDyz0q5YA.." rel="nofollow"><span>From Eternity to Here: Rediscovering the Ageless Purpose of God</span></a><span><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=liftod-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1434768708" alt="" width="1" border="0" height="1" /> .</span></span></span></p> <p><span><span>Part of my roots are in the Charismatic movement. In that experience, I was repeatedly encouraged to seek God for a "visitation" from heaven. As a result, I harbored the illusion that if God visited our church, He was pleased with it. I later discovered that God is not looking for a place to visit. <em>He is looking for a place to dwell</em>.</span></span></p> <p><span><span>The pages of history are littered with the sobering fact that God is no longer present in the places He once visited. Go to the landmarks of past revivals, and you'll quickly discover that the crowds have diminished. The joy is gone. The life has evaporated. In many cases, those places are but hollow shells today. </span></span></p> <p><span><span>For me the intriguing question is: Why does the Lord leave? The answer is telling: because <em>he was not completely welcomed</em>.</span></span></p> <p><span><span>He was allowed to visit, but He was not permitted to be head. That is, He was not granted the right to make the decisions.</span></span></p> <p><span><span>Visitations bless us for a short season. But a dwelling place for God is something for His interest and His desire. Blessing is merely a byproduct. It's not the prime product.</span></span></p> <p><span><span>Contemplate this thought: If God "visits" a church, it betrays the fact that it doesn't belong to Him. A homeowner doesn't visit his own home. He lives in it. In a divine visitation, God will bless His people. But He will eventually move on and search for a home that He can call his own. Thus if the headship of Jesus Christ is not fully yielded to any given place, the best the Lord can do is visit. He cannot take up residency.</span></span></p> <p><span><span>Our Lord is in a quest for a place to lay His head, a place where His headship is operative, a place where He does what He wishes, a place where he can feel comfortable and find rest. This is the indelible mark that a particular church is in fact His house. Anything else is but a layover for Him.</span></span></p> <p><span><span>Like any homeowner, God builds His house in His own way. If the home is His, He arranges the furniture the way He wishes, for He is the master of His own home. </span></span></p> <p><span><span>In this connection, I want you to imagine countless living stones scattered all over the earth. I want you to see innumerable living stones living their own individual Christian lives. I want you to see scores of living stones who loved God, but who are isolated and independent of other living stones. Many attend religious services, but there is little to no "building together" among the members.</span></span></p> <p><span><span>That is precisely the situation we find ourselves in today. And what is the net effect? <em>God is still homeless</em>.</span></span></p> <p><span><span>The burning intent of your God is that all of His living stones be built together with other living stones to form His house. Not for themselves, but for their Lord. To be the house of God, <em>by</em> God and <em>for</em> God.</span></span></p> <p><span><span>"Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain." (Psalm 127:1)</span></span><span><span>"From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." (Ephesians 4:16)</span></span> </p><p><span><span>Jesus Christ did not die and rise again just to forgive you of your sins. He died in order that His father could obtain a home. The Lord saved you and me for a high and holy purpose.</span></span></p> <p><span><span>Without people who are being assembled together, God is a wandering, homeless God. And we are wandering, homeless Christians. Your Lord wishes to build Himself into a people, and He wishes to build a people into Himself. He is after a building, not a rock quarry. He wants a house, not a heap of stones nor group of scattered rocks. The Lord Jesus Christ is looking for willing vessels who will abandon their Western-style individualism and live a shared life with others under His exclusive headship. This is our high calling.</span></span></p> <p><span><span><strong>This Week<br /></strong>Make a home for the Lord in your life. Each day, give Him complete headship to arrange your life as He wishes. Then begin to connect with other "living stones" by building relationships with fully committed believers.</span></span></p> <p><span><span><strong>Prayer<br /></strong>"Lord, take complete control of my life. Dwell with me so that I can be yours. Be with me and be my God. Amen"</span></span></p>Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-4194858041851685632009-11-18T16:10:00.000-08:002009-11-18T17:26:57.957-08:00"Amazing" Biscuits and Gravy...About two months ago I was having lunch with a friend who wanted me to try out, in his opinion, the best biscuits and gravy in Orange County at a little place called the "Snooty Fox". Because I was not counting calories or grams of fat at the time I accepted without hesitation. As I was shoving the food down my throat with the excuse that I wanted to finish these little teasers of heaven before my actual meal came, he asked me, "Aren't these biscuits....AMAZING?".<br /><br />There it was. That boring, overused word that has become the adjective of choice within my inner circle. Even with my dislike for the way we use the word so shallowly, I still find myself using it at times even if it has been my pet peeve over the past six months. "No", I replied to his question, but I'd say they are "Ama" (pronounced 'amay'), you know... about half way to 'amazing'." With a confused look on his face, one that clearly showed his inability to decide whether to laugh or be insulted, he quickly asked what I meant. I responded that I didn't mean to offend him, but that I've grown tired of our lack of creativity when it comes to words within our "Christian" culture.<br /><br />The importance of our words in Scripture is seen numerous times. Their importance, power and influence (see Proverbs 18:21, James 3, and Luke 6:45 along with so many others) have the ability to give life or give death. I went on to say that when we pay no attention to what we say, letting our mouths run on auto-pilot we take God's word lightly. If there is importance in every word that rolls off of our tongue, then why do we pay such little attention to the detail of our words. Then, being the brat that I can be, I defined the word "amazing" for him according to dictionary.com. It means, "causing great surprise or sudden wonder." In my opinion, if biscuits and gravy can give us the same response as having a baby (clearly amazing) or accepting God's grace (which we sing is "amazing") then we have lost our sense of awe and wonder. A sense that young children have, and Jesus encourages us to mimic.<br /><br />The conversation then blossomed into a discussion about what truly is "amazing". We came up with things like our ability to create (which in my opinion is what makes us most like God) through mediums like art, architecture, music, poetry. We also brought back the discussion of how a newborn and God's grace are truly "amazing". Knowing that I like to share my life in Christ on this blog, he then asked if this topic of discussion would become an entry. I answered with a resounding, "I hope so" expecting to write it about it within a few days. However, because of the busyness of life, I failed at that attempt. When asked why I hadn't written, I told him the truth, I hadn't been inspired to write about it yet, letting him know that once God gives me a reason, I will put my fingers to the keyboard without question.<br /><br />Fast forward to this past weekend when God would inspire me to write about my biscuits and gravy. The inspiration came from my trip to "The Garden" in Long Beach. As I mentioned in a previous entry, one of the most beautiful aspects of my visit to this community of believers was that the Gospel, The Kingdom of God, was being preached unashamedly. The message being taught was taken from the "Sermon on the Mount" and dealt with making vows. It wasn't fluffy. It wasn't geared towards making a better individual in Christ, but instead was being taught in a way that would greatly increase the power of the body (which is another reason that I know the Spirit was leading that service). In a nutshell, the message, which was thoroughly researched and prayed over, dealt with the importance of our words. It dealt with followers of Jesus, not needing to "swear" by anything because a word coming from a person who has the Spirit of God in them has nothing to prove. Ironically, the message touched on how we use words to impress others and even more frequently impress ourselves. Many times we feel the need to "swear" by something because we cannot be trusted. In the same way, we use words like "amazing" and "awesome" in order to describe something we want others to see the same way we do.<br /><br />If you are offended by this, then I'm missing my mark. In no way am I trying to tell people to never use the word "amazing". But I am saying that we need to pay more attention to what we say and why we say it. Are we using these words because they are truly how we feel or are we saying these words to make us feel better about our experiences? Are we trying to make others like the things we like by puffing up an experience, or are we possibly trying to make others think "highly" of us for finding something that is actually "amazing"?<br /><br />I believe these are all valid questions for a person who follows Jesus. Too often we want people to see things how we see them, or to find us cooler than somebody else because we know where to find the most "amazing" food or clothes for example. When we are doing this, we are finding our worth outside of God. The way we use our words always speaks to something rooted deeper within us. Instead of using our words to allow the authenticity of our lives in Christ to flow out of our mouth, we many times, use words to create a fake excitement, make others jealous, make us feel better about what we're doing and actually reveal a strange insecurity about own life. I'm not urging you to drop words from your vocabulary but I am asking you to check the deepest parts of your Spirit to see why you feel the urge to market your life by using words that should be saved for the greatest gifts and delights from God. When we are able to allow the Spirit of God to take over our life, we come to find out what the word "amazing" truly means.<br /><br />P.S- To my friend I had lunch with, I hope to have some REALLY REALLY good biscuits and gravy with you soon. This is also a disclaimer that I in no way thought you were insecure about how good these biscuits of gravy were. Instead, as creatures and habit, as well as being tired and lacking creativity, we used the word "amazing" for something that was truly "ama".<br /><br />P.S.S- I am not blind to the fact that God's hand is in everything. His gifts and delights can be in things both big and small which makes Him (not the gifts) "amazing". But quite often, instead of thinking about what God's gift really means to us, we instead call it "amazing" to our friends and run off like that's a thank you note to God. Instead of taking the easy way out, knowing that he is the giver of every good gift, do Him a "solid" and use the blessing He's given you, to bless someone else without using words that may make somebody feel below you.Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9185920475315753457.post-48438190415181115612009-11-17T21:50:00.000-08:002009-11-17T23:09:24.645-08:00Trusting Truth-40 Days of Psalm 37 (Day 39)"The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble." Psalm 37:39<br /><br />For all I've talked about trusting God over the past four months, I still struggle with a lack of obedience to Christ in all things. I find myself striving, sprinting and struggling to provide my family all they need, as if I'm responsible to clothe them, feed them, and keep a roof over their heads (Matthew 6). Like most who claim to be a Christian, a Disciple or whatever us followers of Christ are now being referred to, my actions reveal a hidden belief that I can continue on in a life of stress even while I claim to be coming to the end of "me" for the sake of Christ. In other words, I constantly live in a lie because it's easier than trusting the truth. Of course, my own best thinking has only caused friction between my family and my friends, as well as causing an all out war between my flesh and my Spirit. As I ponder the reason that I've chosen to live in this ugly paradox of confessing Jesus with my lips, and trusting my heart to little "g" gods such as money, power, comfort, and good health; I came across today's passage of Scripture in Psalm 37 (fitting considering it's the second to last one in this series).<br /><br />Psalm 37:39 is a blatant reminder to those who follow Christ and have accepted his gift of eternal salvation. What is the reminder you ask if it's supposed to be so blatant? It's that ALL of "the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord". Get that? ALL! So often we get wrapped up in God's grace only when we are feeling grateful for our gift of heaven (a good thing). But how many times have we received his salvation in the mundane things of life and have forgotten that "every good and perfect gift if from above"? (James 1:17)<br /><br />The word salvation defined is: "the act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction, etc." Do you see where God is taking us with this passage? Every bill we make, every breath you take, He'll be saving you (tacky but couldn't help it, plus Sting and Puff Daddy gave me permission). But seriously, every breath is a part of His salvation for us. The gift that allowed you to pay your bills is part of his salvation. The love you receive from a complete stranger, or better yet your ability to show the love of Christ to one of your enemies is a part of your gift of salvation. Salvation is not just a one time thing when we die; salvation is an all the time thing we receive when we allow God's Spirit to live in us. Anything that is received in this life, is part of our salvation and a picture of God's amazing grace. The beauty of this salvation of course is that He gives it to us because of Jesus, we don't and can't earn it ourselves.<br /><br />Can you trust God and his salvation for you? It's easy to freely give (especially when we refuse to be honest with ourselves that many times we give to feel better about ourselves or look good to others) but are you able to freely receive his saving grace. The end of the Psalm 37:39 says, "...he is their stronghold in the time of trouble". Do we really believe that the one who saves us, is the one who will keep on saving us? Do we believe that his love for us is unconditional? Do we believe that our God is all knowing, and knows what's best for us?<br /><br />Freedom is not found in what we can do to get "more saved". Freedom is not found in being in the right Life Group, attending the right "church", having the right friends, taking the right trips, having the perfect job or "running a ministry". What I'm trying to say is that true freedom in this life is only found in coming to the end of ourselves, getting over our fears, our aspirations, and our shallow hopes in favor of trusting a God who gives salvation to those who ask and obey. A God who saves us in the biggest of things as well as the small ones. Quit treating God like He's just a "saving fairy" who gives you a cloud and a harp when you die. Just to be clear, he doesn't currently live where the Care Bears live or tickle you constantly so that you giggle your way through your toughest circumstances. He isn't a stork dropping off babies and He doesn't take you out to get ice cream while you walk your puppy together. God doesn't meet you at certain places more than others because you heard they are "holy". (hence the tearing of the veil) God is a God who is always with you, who desires to fill you and guide you, as well as love and protect you. Whether in the good times or in bad you have permanent access to God's salvation through Jesus. Sound a bit like wedding vows? Maybe that's why he offered us his hand in marriage.<br /><br />The next time you use a debit card instead of a credit card be thankful that God has given you enough to pay your bills. The next time you are depressed, be thankful that God allows you to have feelings. The next time you question whether or not God loves you, envision Jesus dying on a cross. The next time you wonder if death is defeated, study the facts of the empty tomb and those eyewitnesses who saw our Lord. The next time you think you must save yourself, remember that without God you are walking dead. The next time you feel like you've "gotta make it happen", remember that there is another option, and that option is to trust and obey God with everything that he has already gracefully given you.Ryan J. Moreauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03085282038807122855noreply@blogger.com0