Thursday, December 30, 2010

So, how are you finishing off 2010?

So, how are you finishing off 2010? If you are like me, it's possibly like running 300 miles an hour and then slamming on the breaks, hitting a wall, somewhere around Dec. 26-Jan. 2. A lot of people I talk to seem to be like that. There’s a lot of stress in the season these days. One really has to wonder how it came to that, because “stress” was about the last thing that God really wanted for us to associate with the birth of His Son. It was quite the opposite actually.

In the Bible, the prophecies that talk about Jesus’ coming tell us things like “God is right here with us”, describing His power and might and endless capability to handle situations and this world…and then it wraps all that up in words like “Everlasting Father”, denoting how this magnificent God views us all. One of the most interesting themes that is thrown out the Old Testament is the theme of “comfort” in Isaiah 40. Prophecy in the Bible usually has an effect for the people of that time, an alluding aspect to a future event and an over-arching principle for all of mankind. In Isaiah 40, the Israelites are just getting back in God’s good graces, so to speak, because they are being delivered from a country’s oppression that has been due to their lack of respect and obedience to God. Isaiah 40 starts off with “comfort, comfort my people” and then it goes on to link this prophecy with the life of Christ in the New Testament. We begin to understand that one of the big things about Jesus’ coming is that we are comforted in knowing that the Master Planner of the Universe is actively working over us with the care of a Father and has sent His valuable Son to rescue us. In a lot of ways, Jesus’ coming was meant to reduce the amount of stress in our lives, limiting us to one main concern, a relationship with Jesus as the source of our comfort.

God’s gift of Christ was supposed to streamline our cares in this world to our relationship with Him. We were supposed to see that God would provide, care for, protect and direct us by giving us access to limitless wisdom and knowledge that is found in the relationship with Jesus.

You see, What we’ve created is far from a simple gathering of a few shepherds with the family. This event was meant to take the pressure off and relax us…but somehow, we’ve found a way to turn it into one of the most stressful times of the year. Sometimes, I have to wonder if somewhere, when Christmas starts again, God just looks at our overstated plans and just, figuratively, shakes His head…and maybe chuckles a little.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Everybody makes mistakes :)

I've got to fess up to a slight mistake I made in the Biblical history of this morning's message.

In my time alone in the Word this morning before I left for Bay West, I was reading in Hosea 1.  I was thinking how that was a lot like Isaiah in that God used the names that Hosea was to name his children in delivering his message to His people.

Here's the problem...when I was talking this morning about how God used the names of Isaiah's children to show his prophecies, off the cuff, I decided to give an example...bad idea.  Unfortunately, instead of giving you a name of Isaiah's child's name, I gave an example of one of the children's names in Hosea [Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”)] that I read about this morning before church. 

Sorry about that.  Just wanted to clear that up.

P.S.  Thanks to Katye for pointing that out to me later.

Friday, October 1, 2010

The invisibility of repentance Part 1

Today's blog is not a solution...it's a beginning to a thought process.  Think of it as a jumping off point....you may not agree.  You may not find resolution...it's not sewed up and finished.  That's fine....Here we go...
This thought's just been running through my head and I'm a little concerned for the church of America today and it has to do with God's grace and forgiveness. 
I believe somehow in our society, we've gotten the impression that "admitting" or "confessing" your sin is enough for God's forgiveness and grace.  It's become accepted, almost, to some, for us to feel that if we own up to a sinful behavior, but tack on the end, "God will just have to forgive me", then somehow, someway, we feel that's enough to settle accounts with God.  Sadly, it's not.  I wish I could tell you that only giving the "head nod" and the "yeah, you're right" was good enough for God's forgiveness and grace, but it's just not. What then finishes off that forgiveness for God? REPENTANCE.
Repentance means that you turn around from the direction that you are heading, do a 180 and do it God's way. That's what it is. That's all it is. There is no substitute for that. In other words, if I'm not being kind to someone, then my repentance is to start treating them with kindness. That's what it is. If God has told me to do something, then my repentance is to do what God says, that's the only way that relationship with God is maintained.  Here's a thought for you to chew on...I'm not done with this, so really chew on this.

The grace of God is a magnificent thing, but it is designed to cover us until we come in line with God's Word...NOT instead of us coming in line with God's Word.

What do you think?
Next time....we'll start here.
 "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left."
Hebrews 10:26

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

The definition of God

You know...I don't think we take enough time to think through what being "God" means.  It's impossible to fully grasp.  God is unique and has a set of rules that apply only to Him.  Just wanted to throw out some random thoughts on the subject.

God is perfect...He lacks NOTHING.  In other words, He does not need you or I.  You and I must act on the basis of need.  We need food.  We need relationship.  We need rest.  God is in a total state of perfection...in other words, at every moment, He has NO need.  In turn, He never acts out of want or need...He acts ONLY out of free choice.  We cannot understand that, because every decision we make, every action we attempt, is, at it's most free, a coerced choice or a "forced choice".  At some level, every choice we make is effected by "need".  In fact, our entire life is colored by need.

God owns everything.  That's me, that's you, that's your Mom, your house, your stuff...it's all His.  In the faux ownership thing that we live everyday, really just minding HIS stuff, we don't like anyone telling us what to do with our (HIS) stuff...well, neither does God, and even more, because it is His stuff...and it really is.  He's not caught in the fake state of ownership like we are, attempting to "own" everything, including our own bodies.  He really owns it all.  Unlike us, He's not just holding it until the real owner decides to take it back.

God is not moral.  Before you lynch me, follow me a little.  I'm not saying that God is immoral.  When we say that something is "moral", we are saying that here is a "moral standard" and this thing/act/person conforms to that standard, therefore they are moral.  God conforms to no standard...He is the standard.  It would be more correct to say "Moral is God."  The standard by which we determine something being right or moral or just is what God is.  That's the only requirement.  In this sense, God is not just...Just is God.

Whatever God decides to do in the moment is right.  He is not bound as we are, by a standard that is out there that depicts justice or righteousness that we try to model.

For example, if God decided to completely flip the rules of life tomorrow (which He would never do, because He is unchanging and consistent to His character, but for sake of argument)...if He did...say...make murdering people right and correct.  That's just crazy, but I'm just picking something "nuts" to make a point.  If he made that switch in morality, then that would be the right and moral thing to do, because He is the standard of right...there is no other.

For us, we can easily fall into a very American mentality of thinking that the authority needs to meet our approval.  God cannot be judged or evaluated.  There would never be an evaluation that comes back but "that's the most perfect action to be taken".  Why?  Because whatever God does, by definition of "being God", is absolutely right.  The misconception that we all fall into at times is that there is a standard set that we are supposed to judge God by, that He should meet to determine if He deserves our allegiance.  That is completely wrong and it makes terribly misguided conceptions of God.  It lacks an understanding of what it means to be God.  Think about these questions...

What if whatever you decided to do was instantly a law of the Universe? 
What if gravity was your decision? 
What if what you felt defined reality?
What if the concept of perfection was based on what you are?
What if the way you are determined the way the world worked?
What if physics was based on you and not the other way around?

Getting the picture...to question God is not to understand who or what He is and to demonstrate an ignorance of life itself. 

There is no effort required to be perfect or all-powerful or all-knowing...it's just who He is.  It's more natural to Him to be all of those things than it is for us to attempt to breathe.  Easy and hard are irrelevant terms to God when "nothing is impossible" for you.  As I said, the normal rules and assessment techniques don't apply when it comes to God and when we attempt to say things like "God didn't do that right" or "God is wrong" or "I think it would have been better to have done", we just spout ignorance of the reality of the situation, not some sort of evaluative wisdom that God didn't understand somewhere.

And the glorious thing is, in the middle of this situation, that He is aware of our almost insulting ignorance and He's quite willing to walk patiently with us through the complicated and impossible process of understanding...why?  Because He loves us that much...and because, nothing is impossible for Him...another by-product of being God.

Please continue to pray for us at Bay West Church as we try to be the church of Jesus to west Palm Bay Florida.

Monday, September 20, 2010

A little reminder about relationships

I know we talked about why we have them yesterday, how important they are and that they are one of God's primary learning tools for us and a top-level revelation process about Himself to us...but really take this with you today.

We can, in an almost obliviously selfish way, go into autopilot thinking that our relationships are for us.  I challenge you not to live that way today.  Give it a shot and just try it.  The first time that you have that moment today where you think "What the devil are you thinking?" whoever your "you" is...stop it a minute...take a breath and ask yourself this question..."What is the goal of my next response?"

A few reminders...
"...to spur others on toward love and good (God) deeds..."  Hebrew 10
"...gently restore" someone from a sin  Galatians 6
"...to seek and to save that which was lost"  Luke 19

Take a breath...accomplish your purpose, which, btw, isn't to prop your rep?  Some people may look at what you do and think you are just taking junk...they might even call you a "doormat".

A huge secret/key to cultivating relationships with God's purposes in mind is to find your self-worth in pleasing Christ and not finding it in living up to the expectations of those around you.  It's not easy...but it's the key and it's the way you are going have to do it to succeed in living a life that follows Christ.  It's just the way it is.

Please continue to pray for us at Bay West Church as we continue to try to be the church of Jesus to the people of west Palm Bay Florida.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

So what is the heart?

Reading this morning...Proverbs 4:23 "Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."  It's funny, but I've read that many times, but some days the Word hits you differently than others.

It's really true.  Picture a flowing spring of water...picture a hole that it comes from, as it runs along the ground making the stream.  If you go to the source and pour in green food coloring, think about what would happen.  It would turn the stream green or at least, greenish.  Hopefully, it would run out or clear out, but it would effect it for a while.  Imagine setting up an I.V. of green food coloring that dripped at a steady pace into the wellspring or the source...it would effect the spring, turning it greenish or green consistently...whether that's good or bad, depends on your perspective on green and food coloring.

Apply that to our heart, the source, and our life, the stream.  We should be careful what we allow to dump into or to drip into our life, because it can turn it green or whatever...and as I said, the good or bad is dependent on your view of green, because what we allow into that wellspring of life can do either.  Carelessly allowing a temporary thing or even an ongoing habit/activity to "drip" can drastically effect many areas of your life. 

For many of us, the stream of life takes a turn around a tree, out of sight of the source of the stream, and looking at life there, we honestly can't tell why the life is effected in the way it is.  Nothing is poured into the stream at that point...nothing is in the immediate vicinity, but the life is effected negatively or positively anyway.  If it's negative and you are trying to solve it, it can be maddening...there is no cause, seemingly...nothing related to the direct issue...how do you fix it?   You just can't find the cause at that location...the problem is that it was what was dropped in at the wellspring, the heart, seemingly having nothing to do with it, and the effects show up far from the site of the problem.  It's just how it goes, and like it says in vs 19 of the same chapter, it can put you on a path of wickedness, that is darkness, and they "do not know what makes them stumble."

I picture standing determined guard over this spot of my life, making sure that whatever gets here, as best as I can make it happen, is Jim-tested and Jim-approved...better still, that Jim's test standards come from the Word of God.  Because what gets there will color my life...there is no way to avoid it.  Protect it.

Proverbs 4 is all about wisdom and it's got several cool deep nuggets that can shape your activity/thinking for the better in it...some of the verses I'm committing to memory right now are from here (incidentally, I just changed my Scripture memory process...awesome  Android app called "Remember me"...free app, it will even speak the verse to you if you need it...try it out.)

Try it out...Proverbs 4, I mean...the Android app is optional.  iPhone users are on their own.  :)

Keep praying for all of us on the leadership team at Bay West Church, as we try to be the church of Jesus in Palm Bay.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Interesting deal about "SMALL is big" from Last Sunday

Last Sunday, in the intro talk to our message series "Focus", we talked about the parable of the talents from Matthew 25.  We talked about how Jesus was teaching about the kingdom of Heaven, but the real issue that He was teaching everyone about was how to live and maintain in uncertain times...in situations where there is limited info and visibility is hampered.

In that parable, we learned that that zeroing in on the small things...the moment by moment decisions and honoring God with each one, keeps us in focus (which, is all about zeroing in on the small things and that's why they are so big.)

In that context, we talked about the guy with the 5 talents, 2 talents and the 1 talent...interesting bit of knowledge on those guys that I forgot to bring out.  A talent was the largest single unit of money back then in Jerusalem.  It was equal to 10,000 denari.  Interestingly enough, a denari was basically looked upon as one days wage....or 10,000 days of work.  If you worked somewhere for around 40 years, you'd probably hit 10,000 days of work or somewhere thereabouts...which in our culture is basically your working lifespan as an adult, give or take a few years.  In a sense, the talent was a life or a life's work.

When you begin to look at the parable of the talents as basically a "life" producing other "lives" and multiplying themselves in the Christian context...you begin to see the picture even more clear, as the layers of this teaching story really play out.  It spoke to me as in "what am I doing to multiply life with the life that I've been given?"  Or in other words, with this life-giving gospel that God has charged us all to take to masses and masses of spiritually dead people...am I hiding it in a hole in the ground or am I working smartly to allow God to use me to increase what He has?

Please pray for us at Bay West Church as we attempt to be the Church of Jesus to the people in West Palm Bay, Florida.

Monday, August 9, 2010

The way...

1   “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.
2   There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.  If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
3   When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
4   And you know the way to where I am going.”
5  “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6   Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
John 14:1-6 (NLT)

These verses are pretty familiar to those around church...but in these verses, we zoom by wisdom every day.  I think that all of us that follow Christ, at one time or another, have felt Thomas' pain..."God, I have no idea where you are going with this."  We've all sought direction.  We fall into a trap of thought that paralyzes us.  It says "If I can't picture the end result or know the exact end destination, then how can I know which way to go today?"  We all feel as though we need to see the end result to know how to proceed., but that's just not true.

We treat life like Google maps.  We have to know the ending address and we want to plug that in to let our personal Google app generate the map...then we want to choose the options of the roads we want to take to get to the end destination.  One problem is that God doesn't work that way.

He's already generated the map...and He's not giving it to us to manage.  He's in full possession of that.  If He handed it to us, the complexity of the plan would probably blow our minds and we'd be filled with thoughts of "no way THAT'S going to work."  So what He does is give us, not the whole enchilada, but one decision at a time.  He calls out the instruction and we move.  That's the point of this Scripture.

Jesus said "I am the way"...I will be your momentary guide.  Don't look for the end, look for Me..just go where I go and do what I do.
"I am the truth"...I will never steer you wrong.
"I am the life"...do not look for life's fulfillment and purpose outside of me.  Anything you find to fulfill those roles will break like plastic when you lean on them...only I can handle them.
"No man comes to the Father but through Me."  I'm all you need to know.

That's about it.  It's really about that simple.  Need direction?  Make the next decision you make be the most God-honoring one you can.  One after one, one breath at a time...from the little to the big...

Monday, August 2, 2010

One old adage debunked...

"You can tell how popular the pastor is by how many people show up on Sunday morning. 
You can tell how popular the church is by how many people show up on Sunday night. 
You can tell how popular Jesus is by how many people show up at prayer meeting."

This is an old adage from church leadership from a while back.  Someone should be due this quote and usually it holds true...BUT...not at Bay West last Sunday.  Why?  Because we experienced our largest total in the worship service for 2010, but there was one thing missing...the campus pastor, ME!

Some guys might be a little sad and while I guess I was disappointed that I couldn't experience it with you, the first thing for me was to let out a "YES!"...on the inside, because Matt texted me the total while I was in church in Arlington, TX.  (and yes, I checked the text message...couldn't wait so I did it during the "welcome" time at the Church on Rush Creek, where Katye and I attended on Sunday).  That's exactly what I want to see in our campus and church, a body that comes because of a love for Christ and not a love for a particular leader or anything.

Some accepted thoughts that I've enjoyed seeing fall so far as well...
"You can't grow a church in Palm Bay, for some reason." - God's proving that wrong.
"You can't grow a church without the cherry location." - While we love our school, we are out on the outskirts of east buddha..as we say in Bama)
"You need a lot of experience to get it done."  campus pastor - 1st timer, worship leader - 1st timer, children's leader - 1st timer and MANY of our leaders are taking on their first shot at both their responsibilities AND being a portable church.  God has brought the wisdom. 
"People over a certain age won't attend a portable church..." - WRONG
"People over a certain age won't attend if you don't ________ {insert church tradition here}" - God proves that wrong every Sunday.
What I've enjoyed seeing is that our services at Bay West are LARGELY ageless...one of the most diverse churches generationally I've been around.

Some popular stereotypes about church I'd like to continue to see broken...
"Americans are too lazy and self-absorbed to give and serve sacrificially."
"Churches only care more about what goes on inside their walls than what goes on outside their walls." 

Please don't see this as "pride", because our people only go as far as our God moves us and sustains us and guides us.  If we give in to God and His leading, all these things and many more restrictions can be broken because God is limitless...He does whatever He wishes.

That's the lesson here...if you submit to God, the limits that you thought were there, probably won't be and you'll live a life that is bound only by the limits that God, not man, puts on it.

Please pray for us as we continue to try to submit to God's leading and be the church in Palm Bay for Christ that He wants at Bay West Church.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

So what's the deal with baptism?

On August 8th, we'll be taking advantage of becoming a Christ follower by having baptism on the beach.   We'll be having a cookout/baptism at Howard Futch Pavillion over on the beach from 4-7pm.

I get questions about baptism and what we believe and who should be and all that jazz.  Does it do any good to baptize infants?  Does that help?  Where did it come from?

This Sunday, we'll clear a lot of this stuff up.  You won't want to miss it.

Things to remember:
August 8th - John James, former lead singer of the Grammy award winning band "Newsboys", will be speaking in our worship service.  John has a great testimony as God led Him, even in the midst of being submersed in Christian culture, to the REAL important things in His life. 
That afternoon - Beach Baptism

August 15th - VISION begins...don't miss it!

Please continue to pray for us at Bay West Church as we continue to try to bring Christ to the people of Palm Bay by being a church in palm bay.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

One thing I forgot today about what is and isn't good...

One more thing that I forgot to say today about what makes a "good" life.

For most of the planet, "good life" means that you do most things right, and everything thinks you are a great person...but as I said today at church, a "good life" has very little to do with what people think of me and everything to do with what people think of God.

What that means is that even in my failures, I can live a "good life".  As I live my life attempting to be honorable to God, I'm probably going to make some mistakes and fall.  If I'm living the world's definition of a "good" life, then I'm done pretty much...game over.  But if my life is truly about focusing everything I can to bring glory to Christ, I can still be living a "good life".  I can take advantage of God's grace and bring glory to Him by showing others that God's grace is amazing.

When I ask for God's forgiveness, accept His grace and point to His healing, I can bring glory and praise to God's great love, grace and healing power....doesn't make me look too swift.  I look flawed and imperfect...this is the place where people usually hide their failures, so they won't look bad.  That's not God's plan.  When we fail, we should not be reluctant to testify of where we failed and God showed up.

Like I said, that won't make us look too good, but that's not really the point is it.  It's all about "what people think of God" after witnessing my life, not about how great they think I am...think about it.

Please continue to pray for us as we try to be the church of Jesus to the people of Palm Bay, Florida at Bay West Church.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

For the city...

When we began to consider taking the Campus Pastor role for Bay West Church, going on 2 years ago, God really began to speak to me about some things.  I became very disinterested in just being "another church" in a city.  That's not a problem really, because every church needs to be who they are and what they are and collectively, the Lord works through His body (or bodies, if you think local churches).  I'm cool with that, but for some reason, I became disinterested in it.  Through the time, I felt that we at least needed to think on a little bit larger scale.

I shared with our Community Impact Team my vision for us in Palm Bay.  How can we effect the city?  What goodness can we bring to it?  I believe that we've got to think a little larger than the boundaries of our meeting place.  Then, as we discover this, how do we make unapologetically clear, without bragging or arrogance, that Christ is the reason for whatever the goodness is.  Because He loves us, in gratitude to Him, we try to make Palm Bay a better place...securing more opportunities to point to His greatness.

I began to think...does this mean that we partner with civic organizations?  Does this mean that we randomly give out kindness in small acts?  Does this mean that we tackle a need and see if we can make a dent in it?  Do we try to join with those who are looking to unite the church of God in a more citywide sense and really try to take on some of the problems in Palm Bay?  Do we invest in other churches and church/campus starts?  I believe the answer may be "yes" to all of them...but we must approach our opportunities with wisdom.  I personally believe that if we lift up the name of Christ, He will draw all men to Him...in doing so, I don't think we'll have to "do a sales job", per se at all.  It's also NOT about Bay West.  We could flourish or fade, but our focus must remain constant.  Our existence in not paramount, but our obedience is.

I heard a quote from Charles Stanley once that was particularly thought provoking.  He was in a particular situation and was asked if he thought he'd "win".  His response was something like this:  If I win, I win.  If I lose, I win.  I'm just supposed to trust God to follow Him with my actions and trust Him for the outcome.  As we look ahead, I'm trying to be as open to the Lord about what we need to do...I am very sensitive about saying things like "surely the Lord wouldn't have us..." because those statements are often made to find a reason to escape doing something that is too hard.

Personally, I believe in the power of Christ to change a heart, a city, a county, a state, a country and a world... I'd like to be a part of that...starting here in Palm Bay.

Please pray for our leadership here that as we look to find what God would have us do to follow Him.  Whether we last 3 years or 30 years or 300 years, the direction that I feel the Lord leading is toward one that will make a lasting difference.  Those directions usually lead to the necessary places, but the sobering part is found in realizing that the necessary places are not always the most risk-free places or the easiest or the most well-travelled ones.  be ready.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Family Fun Night a success!

Wow...it's done.  Thanks to all who helped setup.  Nice job Randy and Bevan...great to have good folks you can depend on on staff at Bay West.

All Things New...thanks for the use of the PA, a top-notch show as well, great spirit, and zero ego...nice.  Bay West Band and Christian's band were stellar...

To all the guys who worked double over-time Friday, Saturday and Sunday on the stage....way to go...good thing that won't have to be built again.

To all the bounce house foremen, superhuman hotdog cookers, balloon-wielding magic men, info table jockeys, bunch wrappers, tiny tot entertainment brokers and Bearbonez Productions...way to go!  Great job!  Hard work is rewarding...

To all the neighborhood folks who showed, it's our sincerest desire that you had fun and if there's any thanks to be had, point it Jesus, it was his party.

500 hotdogs....
boatload promotional bottled water...
3 bounce houses...
1 stage and 3 bands...
over 500 people...

Awesome outreach to meet more folks in the neighborhood...great times.

Load it up...."Jesus to the City" starts next week!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Jesus to the City

Just what are you here for...seriously.

When I was in Seminary, many times I would meet students who were there and when you asked them what they were involved in doing for the kingdom, they would say "I'm going to Seminary".  Usually this was followed by how "one day" when they were out of Seminary, God would give them a place to serve and then they would be "serving God".

I always had a problem with that type of philosophy.  I don't think there "comes a day when we will" serve Christ...I believe that day is right now. 
Sometimes, I feel like many of us act as those guys in Seminary..."some day" "one day, when ______ _____, then I'll ________ for God".  It might be couched in the sweetest and most innocent "I'm not ready" verbiage, but it's the same ol' thing.

At every place we are, we have something that God has for us in service to Him. God is not a big wasteful guy...truthfully, He's the most efficient leader I know.
God made you and you breathe...that fact alone is enough for you to know that You have something important to be about for Him.  Some where, some how, God chose for that miraculous power that's called "life" to been spilled on you...so you've got no excuse.  You have all the tools at this very moment to do/be/accomplish everything that God intends for you to do/be/accomplish at this very moment...what are you waiting for?

Stop "waiting" for the moment that just passed you by while you were reading this sentence, reach up and grab the next one that will be gone by the time you click off this page.

Jesus to the City...July 4th...see what it's about.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

This church is NOT...

Just being straight up.  Sometimes, we get the wrong idea about church.  Don't get me wrong, church is a great thing, no doubt, but there needs to be some clear boundaries, as to what church is for.  Church is a body of believers that do life together and encourage/help each other live/love/honor God.  God uses the church to speak to, to minister to, to help, to reclaim, to restore, to challenge and to aid in the growth of someone.  It's a wonderful thing to be a part of and to be about...there's no telling what my life would be without being a part of the church.  You can't love Jesus and not get the importance of church.  Kind of hard to be real close to me and not like my wife and the same is true of Jesus.  There may be some things about her you wish were different, but just as Katye and I are tied together, so are Jesus and the church, described in Scripture as "His bride" (that's a toughie for guys to reconcile, but it's okay...weirdness sometimes makes us look closer at a concept and end up understanding it more.).

But in learning about and being the church, there are a few things the church is NOT designed to do.
Here's one...the church is NOT designed to feed you.  A popular thing I like to point out is that in God's world, His creation points to evidence of Him.  That's not simply limited to a mountain being evidence of the majesty of God...it's all over the place.  My son is 1 and Katye and I do a lot for him.  We prepare his food, but even at the age of 1, he's expected to do things to feed himself.  We chop up food and put it on his plate, and he's expected to pick it up, put it in his mouth and digest it.  His body is expected/designed to integrate the food into his life.  If it doesn't, then we take him to a doctor/hospital or something and pray and seek help to heal him, because something is wrong. 

That's the way it is in our spiritual life as well.  We may start out as baby Christians, but with maturity comes the skill to feed ourselves, in varying degrees.  I love me some good preaching, but let's be honest, as adults are meant to be able to feed themselves, so are the children of God as they mature.  We are all expected, like physical children, to be able to feed ourselves in the Word.  That's important here at Bay West and at every church.

I think if Braden just continued to eat and not digest his food, just ate and ate and ate and never integrated his food into his body to sustain it, Katye and I would see him be bloated and unhealthy.  I believe that this is a condition in the church as well.  We see people who take in the Word of God in enormous amounts, yet they continue to wonder why they feel unfulfilled.  Their natural reaction is that they "aren't getting fed" enough, so they find another Bible study or another service or another radio program or podcast to fill their spiritual bellies again.  It can become an endless cycle, when the problem is not one of feeding, but of digestion.  They've never integrated what they've heard into their spiritual body to sustain it and they are wondering why they feel so spiritually anemic.

God's message is not a message of quantity.  Most of the time, we feel like the more we can get in the better we will be...and that's fine.  But more than quantity of our intake, we must observe the "quality" of our digestion.  If we refuse to listen to God's Word or integrate what God tells us into our lives, just endlessly searching for a better verse or a more palatable principle or a loophole to counteract the parts of the Scripture that we don't really want to hear...we will be spiritually anemic.

Naturally, for some, we go back to the church or the pastor and say, "I'm not getting fed" and in chasing the solution to the wrong problem, we never really get anywhere.  As a staff member in other churches, I've had this subject come up and the point that I try to make is that when someone says they aren't getting "fed", it's an indictment on their own spiritual life, not the pastor's teaching or the Sunday School teacher's teaching or the Worship Leader.  I have sat under some pretty anemic preaching in my lifetime...endured some music that has scarred my musician's ear for life, BUT, the only time that I have not been fed in my lifetime was due to one and only one reason...the lacking of my own relationship with Christ, because regardless of the theology or the Greek study or the historical emphasis or the amount of Scripture, God does the feeding and if I'm not getting fed, it's because there's a problem between Him and me...and it's not because He's not supplying things, it's because I'm refusing to eat what He has for me.  I'm not picking it up off the tray...I don't want to hear it...I'm taking it in, but I'm refusing to ingest it...or I'm just not allowing myself to daily sit at the table and eat, because I think I can survive on the 30 minutes of teaching that I get on Sunday.

Be careful, friends, and don't fall into this trap.  Never let your plate get empty...never allow sin to gum up the process and never retreat from your daily time with God's Word.  Listen to what He says and live His direction...I promise you, if you do that, you will never go "unfed".

Continue to pray for us at Bay West Church as we continue to try to be a church in west Palm Bay, Florida.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Urgent patience...

I was reading in John 9 the other night about where Jesus heals a man born blind.  The disciples asked Jesus why this man was born blind, was it his sin or his parents?  Jesus told them it was neither, but he was this way so the power of God could be seen in him.  Then there was this verse....

4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.

A couple of things... God will sacrifice physical comfort for spiritual gain.  We aren't too keen on that and somewhere in our psyche, we have programmed into us, just like the disciples, that everything that isn't comfortable is a punishment or a persecution...when actually, there's no guarantee that it is either one.  It could just be a sacrifice of praise to your God.  Are you okay with that?  To quote the great theologian Ben Stiller from the end of "Meet the Parents"...CAN YOU DEAL WITH THAT? 

That's a tough concept to assimilate....God creating you to go through a hardship so He can show His power.  This blind man had lived to manhood, completely blind, and it wasn't anyone's fault or a punishment, but was simply so God could show His power.  That's not the particularly lollipops and giggles God that everyone seems to try to sell, but the sovereign Lord that we are all forced to come to grips with if we follow Him long enough.  Of course, God loves us, but we forget that His purpose doesn't begin and end with this act of love.  Though valuable enough for Him to voluntarily die for, we are not more valuable than Him.

None of us really have any problem with God showing His power, in fact, we welcome that moment...it's the stuff before it that we have the biggest problem with.  It's also that God doesn't send us a postcard letting us know when this process begins that it's going to end up with Him showing His power.  Many times, we are in the dark until the moment that it happens, much like the blind man. 

Truthfully, the blind man was fortunate.  I'm reminded of a story I heard Monday night in my LifeGroup of the an Eastern European cleric who attempted to take down Communism by defending the truth and overcoming evil with love.  When the troops came into the streets, he handed them cookies.  He finally was killed, finished off by being drowned to death, after being tortured within an inch of his life.  The people to which he preached revolted by the thousands, but they were true to his message as they marched through the streets shouting "We forgive". 

He never saw that moment in the story...he never saw the massive result of his life on Earth.  The truth is that many of us will never see the culmination of what God has for our lives...regardless of our lives, the ripple lasts longer.  The fortunate really get a moment of exhale, when they know it was really worth it...but it never compares to the moment when we see Christ face to face and really get it.

The thing we must remember...is the final statement.  The night is coming and at some point, your chance to make a difference will be no more....when no one can work.  There is an urgency...but we must not run ahead...but delayed obedience is still disobedience.  There must be a balance of tension and patience in life, where you are always ready, but never rushing.  It's the obedience zone...it's the balance on the waterskis between pulling and being pulled (one gets you a face of water)...because we all have tasks and we must "quickly carry" them out when the moment comes, not hesitating, but surging forward in urgent patience.

Look for it.  Don't miss it.

Please continue to pray for us as we try to be the Jesus' church in west Palm Bay Florida at Bay West Church.

Monday, May 17, 2010

A wonderful PROBLEM

Hey folks, in the aftermath of our message on the Family and why it matters in our "Family Matters" series, we are looking to start some new Life Groups.

The wonderful problem is that the ones we have are starting to get FULL! What we need is for some of you to pray about hosting one in your home and others to pray about actually facilitating the study.

This may mean that you are currently in a LifeGroup and God is leading you to step up in leadership and fill one or both of these roles (our goal is host and leader to be separate, but it works in some situations).  This may mean that you aren't involved in a LifeGroup currently, but would like to be in on the start of one of our new groups.  Please pray about this.

If you are interested and would like to know more, please email Dennis Smith (Minister of Education) at dennis@fbcmel.org or Jim Campbell (Campus Pastor - Bay West) at jim@fbcmel.org . Thanks.

Please pray for us as we continue to be the church for the West Palm Bay, Florida at Bay West Church.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Habakkuk...the ultimate 'SAY WHAT????"

I was thinking about a friend tonight who's had a really rough time recently and isn't out of the woods yet. What do you say? When things have been so tough, just what religious platitude do you throw out there? "Keep on keeping on"...yep, I'D hit me if I said that. When "trust in the Lord" is what my friend is doing and it's just going to be a process...a long one, perhaps, what do you say?  Guess I'll just pray.  It's especially hard when you've lain out for the very Lord that seems to have been the very One who left you almost stranded in the tough spot you are in. What's encouraging? Maybe a little company, possibly?
When I prayed for my friend, I prayed for the faith of Habakkuk. Here's the story (if you don't know it). Here's Habakkuk, trying to be out there being God's guy, standing up against evil, and he goes to God completely indignant against the nasty Babylonians.  He's all like just laying down how it is to God, completely expecting God to totally agree with him...Habakkuk is completely convinced that God is right there with him, and of course, who wouldn't be? But God completely throws him an uber-curve. "God, how can you let their evil continue?", and God replies "no, no, I'm raising the Babylonians up to do something you wouldn't believe..."


After God laid out the plan, I don't know if there was a long pause before Habakkuk's second complaint, but there should have been. My picture is a cartoony extra long Looney Tunes face on a guy just standing there with his scroll unconsciously slipping from his fingers...."Say WHAT????....bu-bu-but you sa......"
This moment was a cataclysmic theological change for Habakkuk. He was COMPLETELY bought in to one particular line of thought and it got just blown out of the water..."raising up" the people who were tormenting/violating/damaging him and his people and doing evil all over the place...God???  How???  He's in a tough spot, and it's almost like God just booted him from the chariot he road here in and sped off in it down the long dusty road out of sight.
Still, through the book, you see the faith that is beyond "belief" or theological theory in Habakkuk...a belief that is simply in the amazing God that He has served all His life...and at the end of the book in chapter 3 are these words, from the guy who's just been driven somewhere and left...
16 I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Wow...that's stout.  Throw me a curve, God and I'm with you.  Completely destroy my pre-conceived understanding that I've spent years building of You and I will still rejoice in You and be joyful as well.

Hang in there, buddy.
 Please pray for us as Bay West Church continues to try to be the church to the people of west Palm Bay, Florida.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

The Invisible Woman - overtime

Here's a pretty good video by Nicole Johnson called "The Invisible Woman" and it has an expanded view on the message last Sunday from our "Family Matters" series.  Larry played it at the Melbourne Campus. 

Remember that the "invisible creates the visible" and that is your character...the character of the Proverbs 31 woman.  It's interesting to see Nicole's take on not getting caught up in the resume and how she illustrates another point...not only does character connect and communicate...it rarely gets the credit it deserves...also, it's contribution isn't made for the benefit of the contributor or those close to the contributor here on Earth.


Watch it...it's pretty good and I doubt you'll be disappointed.



Please continue to pray for Bay West Church as we continue to try to be the church of Jesus Christ in the West end of Palm Bay, Florida

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

NEW MESSAGE series: Family Matters

Family matters...that's just a fact. No matter what composes your family, whether it's traditional, blended, multiple combined or you and your friends...families are important. God created the family and His Word has a lot to say about what He can do in our lives through our families and in His world.



Please join us for this 6 week discovery of some of the things that God has in His word for mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends and all of God's believers...all in the context of our family.

 
Please continue to pray for us at Bay West Church as we continue to try to be the church of Jesus in West Palm Bay Florida.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Within Reach outreach event was a success!

Here's a message from Jeff & Tracey Gwinn, Within Reach founders and coordinators.  They are a real testament to what you can do, if you just listen to God and follow His leadership.  You can make a difference in your community and in your world.  Jeff is just a guy who listened to God's leadership in vision-casting, dreaming and stepping out in faith to organize this ministry event last Saturday that Bay West worked in partnership with. 

Here is the link to the Within Reach Facebook page.

I hope everyone is rested up from the long weekend. If you were at the Within Reach event on Saturday I would like to hear from you on what you thought of our first event and if you might of seen God move in different ways or would like to testify of God's goodness then email me back or post it on our WIthin Reach FB page. I want to once again thank everyone you came out and was a part, we could not have done it with out all of your support,


Thank you and God Bless,
Jeff and Tracy Gwinn
Within Reach
 
Please continue to pray for us at Bay West Church as we try to be the church of Jesus in west Palm Bay, Florida.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Cool verses...

Proverbs 14:5-6
5 An honest witness does not lie;
      a false witness breathes lies.
6 A mocker seeks wisdom and never finds it,
      but knowledge comes easily to those with understanding.



This is such a true statement...it has to be from the Word of God.

Monday, April 26, 2010

"Go with the strength you have..."

11 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites.
12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”
13 “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”
14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
15 “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”
16 The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”
Judges 6:11-16

When God called Gideon, he wasn't even sure if it was real, and it looked as though he was a little miffed about all the stuff that had gone on in the country. God had already decreed that what was happening had happened because of Israel's specific disobedience, but they didn't really respond to correct that. So, God called this one guy, Gideon, who was just threshing wheat, to do what was necessary.


Gideon had a list of things that disqualified him and made it "impossible" for him to win, but God knew better. He told him in vs. 14 to "go with the strength you have..." I guess that's what all of us need to do. We need to stop complaining about what "we" don't have/get/like/agree with and go with the strength we have when God presents something unavoidable in our path, and the Midianites, if you read the backstory on this, were pretty much that...unavoidable.


Really, life comes down to one thing...are you going to be with the Lord and be obedient, or are you just going to keep coming up with excuses...urrr...."reasons" why you won't submit to what is obviously before you? Gideon figured it out...and he went with the strength he was given.

L
esson from the story: If God puts it in the path of your life, do it. "Go with the strength you have..." and you'll see that God will take care of everything that is beyond what He gives you...just like he did for Gideon...read the story.

P.S. Serving God isn't about what you are doing. Serving God is about Who you are willing to do anything for.


Please pray for us as we attempt to be a church in west Palm Bay for Jesus at Bay West Church.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Addendum to "Value influence" from today

We talked about the gift of "influence" that gives us in the way of relationships in our lives today at Bay West...and these are not just "saved" people. We all have lost friends and the question always comes up if we should distance ourselves from our lost friends.


A couple of caveats and a stressing of a point I made today:
1) People under the authority of others - Teenagers, especially. Until you are on your own, you are under the wisdom of your parents. Because of the mandate that God has given them, they need to have a say in who you choose for your tight circle of friends. Listen to their wisdom, because God has them in your life.

2) Jesus modeled influence management in several ways, but here's two. 1) He met with the Father regularly and often, and He studied the Word and knew it by heart. As we know in God's Word, this is prime way to keep yourself from trouble. 2) Jesus had a tight network of support through the believers around him...that helps for us to make us able to maintain our relationships out in the world in a healthy, God-honoring way.

A stressed point: the only way that ANY of this works is keeping the relationship with Christ as the trump for EVERYTHING. If you begin to value the approval of others above that, whether they are saved, lost, or Klingon...whatever...the structure crumbles when you look to others for things God is meant to provide or to place them at a higher priority level than Jesus.

Just wanted to stress that stuff. Please pray for us as we continue to try to be church in west Palm Bay at Bay West Church.

Friday, April 16, 2010

On the clock...retirement is not recognized

Just ran across this verse this morning in Quiet time.

Joshua 13:1 When Joshua was an old man, the Lord said to him, “You are growing old, and much land remains to be conquered.

For the folks who want to throw out they're too old...sorry, God doesn't recognize that.  If you're breathing, you've got a role to play.  The Lord said "you are growing old, you've got a lot left to do" and laid out the list for Joshua...not the retirement plan.  And if you think, God was saying "you are growing old, so one day you can't", thinking of his one day Earthly retirement, nope.  That's not true...the Scriptures say Joshua was ALREADY an "old man"...God seemed to be saying, "you've got this to do, before you die"...as long as you are here, God has a plan.  Retirement is just a man thing.  For God, there's only one place to retire to...that's Heaven, the rest of the time, you may change roles, you may do something different, but you are on the clock, man.  Act like it.

BTW...if you aren't reading the Word, you're missing something that God had for you that you needed today. 

Please continue to pray for Bay West Church, as we continue to try to be a church in west palm bay that honors Christ with all we do.  We meet Sundays at 10am ...

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Losing your life...

I was reading in Luke 17 and happened upon an interesting verse.

32  Remember what happened to Lot's wife.
33  People who try to save their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives will save them.

It's interesting that Jesus references Lot's wife here.   If you know the story of Lot, he was the kinsman of Abraham and he travelled from his home with Abe.  They chose to pick places to settle when they reached their destination and Lot chose to settle in an easier place...a lush valley.  Abraham chose the worse of the two, but God prospered him.

Well, Lot prospered as well...you know the place he lived.  It was in the region of Sodom and Gomorrah.  A place of wickedness it became and God got a little tired of the nastiness.  He decided to destroy the place and all in it.  Abraham pleaded for the place, mainly because Lot and his family lived there and God understood.  He warned Lot to leave and Lot did.  He left the easy life he'd created for himself and took his family with him.  The story goes that as they left, Lot's wife chose to look back and she turned into a pillar of salt.

No one really knows what was up with Lot's wife or why she did what she did, but in Luke, the reference to "remember what happened to Lot's wife" gives us some insight into a possible reason.  "People who try to save their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives will save them."  It is obvious that some affinity for what she was leaving drew Lot's wife back to look.  It may have been a great place for her.  She might have been away from the nastiness of the place and may have carved out a nice existence for herself.  Doesn't mean she was evil or anything...just means she enjoyed what she had.

I think we all can get into that mode.  We have a place of existence in which we are comfortable and it's natural to be drawn to that, to want to stay there.  Sometimes, like Lot's wife, God directs us to a new "place"...emotionally, physically, careerwise, maturity-wise etc...  Every time that God directs you to a new place, you don't automatically want to go.  It might make perfect sense to you to stay, because things seem fine...but there's a danger...the danger of Lot's wife.

When we become a follower of Christ, we begin to recieve our direction from Him and not from our desires.  And like Lot's wife, if we chose to hold onto the desires of the old life, we can become a pillar of salt.  Salt is used in both the positive and negative in the Scriptures...because we can all be both.  We are to be the salt to the Earth, in a positive way for Christ, but salt can also be harsh and distasteful.  I don't think Lot's wife turned into the positive kind and neither do we when we kick against the will for God in our lives.  We can become bitter and "salty"...insert adjective here...you know what I mean.  It can carry over into our existence, because when salt hits the plate in abundance, it seems to get on everything...even things that we never intended it to get on...it can bitter up our whole life for us, even things that are seemingly unrelated.

The problem is that when we think we can clamp onto the thing that God doesn't have for us anymore, it ends up like the bar of soap.  We end up losing our grip on it.  It's like staying at the party too long after the person (God), who was the reason you enjoyed it so much, has gone. 

The only way to save our life is to do the same thing we did when we became a follower of Christ...we lay it down at the feet of Christ and entrust it to Him.  It's difficult to do and there's nothing easy about it, but it's the solution...or we can choose the pillar of salt.  Lot's wife chose the latter and she lost it all...she never regained the life before, she lost the life she had at present, and she lost the better life that God had prepared for her that was ahead....by looking back.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Just because He hasn't lately, doesn't mean He won't now

I was reading in Deuteronomy this morning and happened upon the "changing of the guard" from Moses, who was "retiring", to Joshua...the new guy. Here's the account...take a minute and read it.

Deuteronomy 31
1 When Moses had finished giving these instructions[a] to all the people of Israel,
2 he said, “I am now 120 years old, and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan River.’
3 But the Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy the nations living there, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua will lead you across the river, just as the Lord promised.
4 “The Lord will destroy the nations living in the land, just as he destroyed Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites.
5 The Lord will hand over to you the people who live there, and you must deal with them as I have commanded you.
6 So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

What was interesting about this is that this changeover comes after 40 years of Israel wandering around in the wilderness. The land that God was going to give to them was the land He'd promised years and years before. He rescued them from Egypt and in "the great Exodus" they travelled toward this land, fighting battles, enduring strange stuff, being provided for in weird ways, on this incredible journey to what God had promised.

When they got to the cusp of what they had been promised, a group of spies were sent into the land and all but 2 came back saying "no way...the people are giants and we are not enough." The people as a whole revolted (a striking note to the inmates ruling the prison) and said we aren't going. God told them they'd wander about for 40 years...basically, in effect, letting the untrusting adults and leaders die off and God would bring the next generation into the Promised Land...they basically forfeited their prize and took on a bunch of grief and hardship for them and their children...kind of like...no, I won't say it. :D

Fast forward in time...So here...after all that, they are about to enter into the land and what does Moses tell them..."The Lord has told me...But the Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy the nations living there, and you will take possession of their land." So basically, they didn't have to life a weapon...God was taking care of it all. So, after all the mess about them being not big enough to take on the people of the land 40 years earlier...God did it himself and didn't even employ people.

That's a lesson for us, because if God puts a task before you, He may not even need you to do it, just to go along with it, because He might be going to cover it himself...without your "help"...just your participation.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

A life not wasted...

Was reading in Psalm 71 this morning...

6 Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me.  No wonder I am always praising you!

It's always easy to read the Bible from a too artistic sense, if you aren't careful.  You can pass by things and say "well, it just appeared to that guy that way" or "he was under a lot of duress" or you can say that "that writer was just caught up in emotion and being drama", but there's a catch there.  Once God allowed it to continue as a part of His book, it became holy writing...it became sacred and without error.  It's not just an opinion like this blog.  I can mis-step...I represent God, I don't transcribe for Him.  The Bible is without error in tone or emphasis or anything.  It communicates exactly what God is trying to say.  Remember...this book is all about us learning what God expects from us and what we can expect from God.

This verse is always eye-opening, especially in the days of pro-choice and pro-life...sometimes, you just need to look for what God places priority on and recognize.  If God chooses to begin His care inside the Mother's womb, then we should too...just sayin'.  From one abortion survivor to another...

Please continue to pray for us as we attempt to be the church of Jesus Christ in Palm Bay, Florida at Bay West Church.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Disaster Relief Team assembling NOW to go to Haiti at end of April!

Hey guys,

Larry mentioned a Disaster Relief Team being put together by the Bay West and Melbourne Campuses of FBC yesterday in the service.  Here is a link to the info on when the team is going and how YOU can be a part of this amazing relief effort firsthand  As Larry told us, over 40,000 people have come to know Christ in Haiti since the tragedy.
 
Click here for info and who to contact if you feel God leading you to step out and "be Jesus" to the people of Haiti.  Pray earnestly about whether God would have you to go and sign up quick, because there are only 8 spots and they will fill up quick.

Thanks for being the church of Jesus in Palm Bay and around the world at Bay West Church.

In Christ,
Jim

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Seeing isn't believing, it's only the setup for the payoff

Numbers 13
17  Moses gave the men these instructions as he sent them out to explore the land: “Go north through the Negev into the hill country.
18  See what the land is like, and find out whether the people living there are strong or weak, few or many. 19  See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps?
20  Is the soil fertile or poor? Are there many trees? Do your best to bring back samples of the crops you see.” (It happened to be the season for harvesting the first ripe grapes.)

These verses are the instructions that Moses gave his folks when they were supposed to "scout out" the land that God was about to give to Israel.  What ended up happening is that after 40 days of scouting the land, the team came back and about 80% of them were COMPLETELY opposed to trying to take the land...they were scared out of their mind... Even though, their nation had gone through a LONG journey, all the while, dreaming and relying on God through ENORMOUS struggles and hardship to get them right where they were...to this land.  It was their goal!  It was a motivation...and right at the edge of it, they were scared to death and said "no". 

My thought was "why even have them scout it, God?  I mean, You had decided on the destination...they had given up LOADS of stuff and followed You across treacherous ground to get there.   What was the point of evaluating now?"  Was this a bad leadership decision?  Of course not...it was a misunderstood command.

I think God does this to us...He asks us to really take a look at what's about to happen.  In His plan, He wants to us realize the immensity of the task He's about to accomplish.  It's not about deciding on an action, it's about setting up the praise for God and His power.  If we don't take in the huge task He's doing, our praise doesn't fill out, because without some sort of realization of how difficult and impossible the task is, we don't burst forth with how great God is through it.

Here's our problem...we think that when God calls us to "check it out", that somehow that's God saying "I don't know about this, what do you think?" and for a lot of us, we take that as our chance to get out of the scary thing in front of us...we run like scalded dogs.  We don't realize that God is just saying "Check this out...see how scary impossible the task is...got it...now WATCH THIS!"  Sadly for a lot of us, we have turned tail and are running at "see how scary it is" and we never get to the "WATCH THIS!" or even the incredible move of God that happens next that inspires us and challenges us and makes a statement to the entire world around how incredibly unbelievable God's ability and power is...  We miss the "I'm the master of it all" statement...sad.

Stick in there and realize that if God told you to do it...and you KNOW that for a fact... wait for the win, because it's coming.

Continue to pray for us at Bay West Church, as we try to be a church in Palm Bay and communicate Christ to west Palm Bay, Florida.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Psalm 50...what God is after

If you've ever wondered if God needed your money or stuff, here God talks about it in Psalm 50...

Psalm 50 (New Living Translation)
7 “O my people, listen as I speak. Here are my charges against you, O Israel: I am God, your God!
8 I have no complaint about your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you constantly offer.

9 But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens.
10 For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird on the mountains, and all the animals of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it.
13 Do I eat the meat of bulls? Do I drink the blood of goats?

Our sacrifices and offerings aren't about His greed, it's about controlling ours and honoring Him.

Here's the scenario that God is looking for with His people...
14 Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
15 Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.”


There you go...that's the deal in a nutshell. Why don't you read the rest of Psalm 50? There's more good stuff in there as well.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Some jewels from Psalm 49

5 Why should I fear when trouble comes,
when enemies surround me?
6 They trust in their wealth
and boast of great riches.
7 Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death
by paying a ransom to God.
8 Redemption does not come so easily,
for no one can ever pay enough
9 to live forever
and never see the grave.

So where's the hope, since you can't make enough to save you?

15 But as for me, God will redeem my life....

Yeah, I want to be THAT guy.

And one verse for all the artists and poets and songwriters out there, one of which David was...

4 I listen carefully to many proverbs and solve riddles with inspiration from a harp.

That's a good mission statement for artists...take solid wisdom and express it artistically for all to remember.

Please continue to pray for us as we try to be a church in Palm Bay in West Palm Bay, Florida at Bay West Church.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Just a point...

Read this today...if you've ever had to address the "being a Christian is fun, TOO" thing and wondered if it's Biblical or just sensible... Answer: absolutely Biblical.

Proverbs 10:23 (NLT)
23 Doing wrong is fun for a fool, but living wisely brings pleasure to the sensible.

I also like how the Amplified Bible puts it...
23 It is as sport to a [self-confident] fool to do wickedness, but to have skillful and godly Wisdom is pleasure and relaxation to a man of understanding.

So...make sure what you do brings you some "pleasure"...have a great day!

Please continue to pray for us as we attempt to be a church in Palm Bay that honors God here at Bay West Church.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

ALL Request Sunday is Feb. 28th

What's that special song that helps you connect with God the best? Expresses your heart? Inspires you to realize God's power? Faithfulness? Love? We want to know.

Over the first 6 months at Bay West, we've done about 40 different worship songs to help connect our people to speak out as a body to God on Sundays and continue singing throughout the week. On FEBRUARY 28, in our morning worship, we are going to put the worship sets together with songs from the list that you say hit you the best. Choose one or two songs from the list only and click here to send an email to us.

If you are a facebook person, there is also a place on our Facebook fan page to add your responses.

The deadline to have your submissions in are Tuesday, February 23rd.
We will only take songs from the list below.


In order to have an orderly and excellent service, we will ONLY take submissions here, before the deadline...NOT on Sunday morning.

**If you don't know the song by the title (we all do that), then just google the title or go to youtube and search the exact title...there's probably a music video that someone has done with it that could help job your memory.

Let The Praises Ring
Mighty To Save
Beautiful One
Blessed Be Your Name
Forever
Here Is Our King
Marvelous Light
Your Grace Is Enough
Awesome Is The Lord Most High
From The Inside Out
I Am Free
Sing To The King
Enough
God Of This City
How Great Is Our God
How He Loves
Jesus Paid It All
Mystery
O Praise Him
Angels We Have Heard On High
Come Ye Sinners Poor And Needy
Desert Song
Devoted
Here I Am To Worship
How Great Thou Art
Open The Eyes Of My Heart
Revelation Song
Sing Sing Sing
Today Is The Day
Your Love Oh Lord
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
Be Thou My Vision
Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground)
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Hark The Herald Angels Sing
In Wonder
Jesus Messiah
Joy To The World
O Come All Ye Faithful
Salvation Is Here


Please continue to pray for us as we attempt to be the church in palm bay at Bay West Church.

Monday, February 15, 2010

A solution is a solution...

Mark 1
23
Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit began shouting,
24 “Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One sent from God!”

25 Jesus cut him short. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered.
26 At that, the evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a convulsion, and then came out of him.

Was blowing through this story today and thought a couple of things.
1) Bet that convulsion wasn't so pleasant...but it had to be done. Couldn't Jesus have thrown out a "no convulsions clause" or something? Then I thought...a solution is a solution and sometimes, we don't get shed of unwanted and harmful stuff without a bit of a fight or some unpleasantness... Maybe it's still the same today...anyone....anyone...Buehler?
2) How long did that thing last? Doesn't really say and you'd probably think it was only a minute or two...but it could have been longer. I guess if you think about it and consider that it might not have been instantaneous, it gives you a different view on solutions from God. I don't know why Jesus chose to let it go down like that, but he definitely had a reason for it to be that way.
Could it be a teaching tool for the guy to stop a behavior that left him vulnerable for the attack? Bet he'd remember that...
Could it be that others around needed to know how bad this type of thing was, so they needed a little bit of a scary show? I don't know and the Bible certainly doesn't really tell us here, but...it all happened under the sovereignty of God... Something to think about.

I wonder if this guy was ready to give up or thought the whole situation just had gotten worse in about second number 2 of that convulsion?
I wonder if he wondered if Jesus really did know what He was doing for a minute?
Could the possessed man have thought that the spirit was more powerful than Christ because he didn't like the violent nature of his present state in the midst of the convulsion?

Anyway...it made me think that some of God's needed and "welcomed" solutions aren't without price/turmoil/conflict...that, in the middle of them, it might not really seem as He knows what He's doing if you only trust in the present and what you see. And, sometimes, they might take longer to complete than we'd want them to...

Please continue to pray for us as we try to be the church in Palm Bay at Bay West Church.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Another cool verse

Psalm 34
11
Come, my children, and listen to me,
and I will teach you to fear the Lord.
12 Does anyone want to live a life
that is long and prosperous?
13 Then keep your tongue from speaking evil
and your lips from telling lies!
14 Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

That's about as straightforward an instruction as you can find in the Scriptures.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Another nugget from Jim's QT

Proverbs 32
8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

In other words...I (the Lord) got this, stop fighting me on it. Good gravy, man! If you don't know and need to, I'll tell you. If I don't tell you, you don't need to know. If you are in danger, I am aware and will handle it. (If I say "duck!", then "duck!".)

Apply your God-given sense to reconcile these statements "Almighty God" and "I will guide you...best pathway for your life...I will advise you...watch over you."

If you do, you will see that just going along with what God advises is the best course of action. The only thing you can do to mess it up is to choose to disregard where He leads you and what He tells you.

Keep praying for Bay West Church as we continue to try to be the church in west Palm Bay Florida.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

From the QT of Jim...

Here's what the writer in Proverbs had to say in my QT this morning...thought it was cool.

Proverbs 8
22 “The Lord formed me from the beginning, before he created anything else.
23 I was appointed in ages past, at the very first, before the earth began.
24 I was born before the oceans were created, before the springs bubbled forth their waters.
25 Before the mountains were formed, before the hills, I was born
26 before he had made the earth and fields and the first handfuls of soil.

That's a message for us all, but especially all of us who think we just kind of happened along. What exactly does that say about your life?

Pray for us as we continue to be the church in Palm Bay Florida at Bay West Church

Monday, February 8, 2010

What do YOU think: An Interesting Verse from Jim's QT this morning

Proverbs 8:12-13
12 “I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment. I know where to discover knowledge and discernment.

13 All who fear the Lord will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech.

Couple of questions to mull over
(I'm not going to answer them)
  1. What things does the writer seem to imply are evil? (easy one)

  2. Why do those who fear the Lord hate evil? (the 64 million dollar question - it's answered in the verses)
Happy thinking.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Shades...

In the PULSE series, we are taking a read on our "spiritual pulse" by looking at different pulse points in our lives as seen in Proverbs 4. Last Sunday, we were looking at the Eyes as our installment of our sermon series pulse. We looked at Proverbs 4:25 and talked about how, even though that verse tells us to look straight ahead, a massive point of the verse centers around how we look, as much as what we look at or where we look. It's like looking at the world through red colored sunglasses...

When you look through the sunglasses, everything looks differently that it did without them. Everything would have a red tint to it...colors look different...things that were pretty look a little weird. You begin to notice different things about objects that you look at because the red sunglasses cause different things to be highlighted. Because of the way that some things look, tinted really red, you are drawn to some things and repulsed by others. Has the reality of the world changed? No...but how you look at it has.

In our case, it's like someone gave us Truth-colored sunglasses and for the first time, when we signed up for this thing with Jesus, we put them on and see the world as it really is for the first time. It's life-altering....things look different...things that were attractive now seem a little less of a deal. We notice different things about objects and different attributes that we didn't notice before are highlighted about objects we see. Because of the way things look now, you are drawn to some things and possibly repulsed by other things....Has the reality of the world changed? No...but you now begin to see it how it really is...because you are looking at it through different eyes, in a different way.

Decisions are now looked on differently. The reasons that we do what we do are different.

Please continue to pray for Bay West Church as we try to be a church in Palm Bay Florida.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Why the HEART is the key...

We talked about the PULSE point of the heart a couple of weeks ago. We talked about how it was the "seat of all of our motives". To illustrate, we had two treasure chests. In the one, we had different pictures or objects to show the different motives that we could live our life for and we talked about how most of us struggle with several motives, that at times compete against each other for dominance in our decisions. In the second chest, we had an envelope with the word "Christ" on it and we talked about how desiring a pure heart is a heart with only one motive in the chest...so to speak. We talked about all the "good" motives, such as family or being a good steward of what we have, things God has commanded us in His Word to handle responsibly and take care of. How are those taken care of if I only have one motive? The answer is that Christ takes care of all those things. Ecclesiastes 8:5 tells us the wise heart knows the proper time and the proper procedure for every delight and as we know from Psalm 9:10, wisdom begins when your #1 priority is set...that priority being God.

This battle for the heart is KEY to our lives here on earth. Why? Check out this verse below.

Mark 7
20
And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you.
21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,
22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.
23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

From our hearts, we sink or swim. When our hearts are pure, or basically have the one motive of Christ, we just follow them, sometimes with the opposition of our other senses. Still, we must always check ourselves and make sure our motive is not compromised in our decisions and actions, because that's where the problems begin.

Please continue to pray for us as we keep trying to be the church in Palm Bay at Bay West Church. Please pray that our hearts as individuals that make up the church can be centered on His purpose...only one motive in the chest.