I won't back down

A few years ago, Shine Roche McGowan lawyers had a tv ad of a bulldog who was shown in a tug of war with a red rag. The bulldog won. The message of the ad was that Shine lawyers hang on longer and they fight harder than other lawyers. They don't give up.

Like that ad, todays blog is on personal tenacity and determination in our walk with God, and the journey God has mapped out for us. It's a longer blog, but hopefully worth the extra read.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome."

Joshua 1:6 says, "Be strong (confident) and of good courage, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. "

God has a plan for each and everyone of us and there is a 'land' for us to inherit... but sometimes we need every ounce of courage and strength to get there.

Psychologists say that, in life, there are 2 key motivators for anyone to do something - the reason we do anything comes down to 2 things: either 1. We are motivated to move toward gain; or 2. We are motivated to prevent pain.

Most of what we do, we are told, is in the realm of preventing pain... If we don’t do them: there are consequences and pain associated with that - eg not turning up for work causes a world of pain - so we're motivated to turn up!

However, some of the things we do are because we want to move towards gain. For example, we read books that teach us things, we eat responsibly to lose a few kgs, we decorate houses to make them look nicer, we practice an instrument - all moving towards gain.

In moving towards gain, the cliche is true - no pain, no gain.

To make gains towards the plans and purposes that God has for our lives, to inherit our 'land', there are often seasons of pain necessary to see the gains come to fruition. Without working through some pain, we cannot make any gains.

Sadly, we can try to cut-off God's process of advancement to prevent the pain we start to feel. We start taking steps to immediately remove the pain, instead of pushing forward to what God has for us.

Personal tenacity and determination is about pressing on, it's about pushing past the pain towards the 'prize', rather than stopping when the going gets tough. And let’s face it - some days the going gets really really tough.

The bottom line is this - behind every fruitful life is a single focus...day after day after day after day.. that focus is on the 'prize'

Philippians 3:13 and 14 "Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."



In an American university football game was a teenager called John Martinelli (true story). He was tall, thin, gawky and wore glasses under his helmet. The opposing centre (Ozzie) was 6 ft tall, strong, and very muscley.

The game strategy of this opposing team was to take out John Martinelli. They wanted to hurt him so badly that he would be too scared to get back into the play cause he was hurting so much. They had been working on this strategy for weeks.

The game came around and on the very first play of the game… Boom! Ozzie hit John Martinelli so hard that he cracked his face helmet! John Martinelli had blood all over his face, his mask was broken.. The opposing team were applauding themselves, and high-fives everwhere.. They’d taken him out in the first play!

John Martinelli left the field, .. but then grabbed a new helmet and lined up again.

The opposing team couldn’t believe it. They were incensed.

So they jeered Ozzie up, and in the next play.. Booom.. they got him again … and again.. and again!

That entire game, they beat and battered bruised John Martinelli so hard that they broke his helmet 3 times. He was the object of their attacks the entire game.. and yet he never missed a play. Not one play in the game did he even back off.

He would line up and fire every play. He would not give up

John Martinelli received national recognition for his football. The secret of his success is that would keep lining up and he would not back down.

The secret was his tenacity.

When I hear this story – I think of Paul. He was shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned.. and yet he would not back down. He would not stop until he had ‘run the race’.

And I think Jesus. Even though he was battered and bruised and whipped and scourged.. and knew he was going to be crucified in the most torturous of deaths.. he would not back down. He did not give up. He would not give anything less than his all for the cause.

Be strong, and of good courage - because God has a plan! There is a land waiting to be inherited.. but it requires your unswerving focus and your stubborn determination.

I recently watched 'Barnyard' and they sing a Johnny Cash song that sums it up perfectly:

Well I won't back down, no I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down

Gonna stand my ground, won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down
Gonna stand my ground and I won't back down

Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground and I won't back down

Well I know what's right, I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around
But I stand my ground and I won't back down

Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground and I won't back down
No I won't back down.

Tithing Santa

This clip is pure genius.



A humourous look at a serious problem for churches. Hats off to the creative brilliance of Elevation Church.

Surely we could re-create this :)

Click Here to watch it

Mixed Nuts - Salted

On thursday, Pastor Andrew Staggs said to me, "sometimes you just see God in everything". This is true, and this blog entry is probably the most quirky so far. Today's blog is inspired by my afternoon snack. Mixed Nuts - salted.



Let me explain. About 2 years ago, I read the book by John Ortberg entitled 'Everyone is normal until you get to know them'. It significantly impacted me and challenged my concept of a 'normal' person. The reality is - none of us are normal. Everyone has warts and idiosyncrasies of some kind, it's just that some of us are better at hiding them than others (and some don't worry about hiding them whatsoever!). We are all a little nutty at some point or to someone.

Ortberg's point was that each person we encounter is like clothes on a 'clearance' rack - we accept them on an 'as is' basis. We can't take them back for a refund because they have imperfections that we weren't previously aware of.

I'm sitting here eating some Mixed Nuts - salted. I thought.. that's the Church!

We, like the world, are a collection of unique individuals who bring together our strengths, our weaknesses, our experiences, our shortcomings and our quirkiness. None of us are 'normal'.

We get offended, we get inspired, we have different likes and dislikes..

However, the difference between us and the world is our salt.

Matthew 5:13 says "You are the salt of the earth. "

Colossians 4:6 (NIV) says "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. "

The message says it like this: "Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out. "

Having speech that is seasoned with salt means that we seek to bring out the best in each other, we encourage each other, we refrain from tearing down one another, gossiping about one another, and judging one another.

Luke 6:37 "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults--unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don't condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you'll find life a lot easier. "

This is more than a good idea. It is very important. In John 17:23, Jesus prayed for the church. He prayed "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

Unity is one of the ways we show the world God's love for us and for them. We can't have unity when we place on each other our unrealistic expectations for them to meet our view of 'normal' - which is reflected in our actions and our speech towards others and about others. There is favour and blessing when God's people are unified, and more significantly, there is influence and impact.

Affectionately speaking, the church is an assortment of mixed nuts! By letting our words and actions edify one another, we can make sure these nuts stay salted.

The Mandatory Requirements to be Unleashed

In 2009, we are entering the season of being unleashed. This means that we are entering a season of doing more than we've ever done before, being more effective than ever and reaching a greater number or geographical area than previously known.

Eph 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us... (my emphasis)



Ephesians 3:20 is clear. The extent to which we are unleashed is proportionate to the extent to which the power of God is at work within us.

The Greek word for power is 'Dunamis' and it means:

1) strength power, ability
a) inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth
b) power for performing miracles
c) moral power and excellence of soul
d) the power and influence which belong to riches and wealth
e) power and resources arising from numbers
f) power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts

God's power is our strength, it is our authority, our equipping, it is our boldness and our confidence.

Colossians 1:10-12 says, " And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. "

The Power of God gives us the strength to endure the opposition - so that we can achieve more than we can imagine according to God's will and purpose. It is God's Power that lets us push through the trials, the attacks, the doubts, the distractions that we encounter on the narrow winding road where the signposts say 'unleashed straight ahead'

In 2009 I want to live a life worthy of the Lord - that bears fruit - because it grows in knowledge AND it is strengthed with the according to His Glorious Might.

If our unleashing is dependent upon and measured by God's power working within us, then I want more of that power!!

I don't want a mere lightening bolt of God's power, I want a continual flow that makes sure I finish the race.

How do I get it?? How do I keep it flowing? How do I make sure I don't have a 'brown-out' or 'black out'?

1. Power comes from the Holy Spirit

Act 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;"

The "power" believers receive from the Holy Spirit includes courage, boldness, confidence, insight, ability, and authority.

We mustn't quench the Holy Spirit when it prompts us to do something, to be passionate about something, to address an issue. Walk in step with the spirit and stay in tune with his quiet whisper.

2. Power shows up in our Weakness

2Co 12:9 ....for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

Power is perfected in our weaknesses because we stop trying to rely on ourselves, our own strength, and our own works, and we rely wholly on God. It is more of Him and less of us.

3. Power continues from obedience

1Jn 3:24 All who keep His commandments [who obey His orders and follow His plan, live and continue to live, to stay and] abide in Him, and He in them. [They let Christ be a home to them and they are the home of Christ.] And by this we know and understand and have the proof that He [really] lives and makes His home in us: by the [Holy] Spirit Whom He has given us.

God's Spirit continues to abide in us when we keep his commandments and follow His plan for our life. To keep the power flowing, we have to keep our lives submitted to his commands and promptings.


Being unleashed in 2009 is available for everyone! The Holy Spirit is available to and poured out on all, but the extent to which we are unleashed is determined by the extent to which we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, the extent to which we hand over our weaknesses and strengths, and the extent to which we are obedient to God's will for us. Let's keep the power at work in our lives to achieve far more than we can hope or imagine!

An interview with an Athiest

Interesting

Risk or Rust

On Sunday 7 December, Westlife announced it's theme for 2009 - "UNLEASHED". As a church, we have built the foundation to be unleashed to a new level of influence, a new level of impact and a new level of connection with the community. I was personally encouraged about my part in this.

I've been pondering this new theme since Sunday. How do we transition from the present season (perhaps a season of consolidation), to this new season of unprecedented release into what God has called us to do? How do we convert the vision into reality?

Today, I am reading "The Practical life of Faith" by Chuck Swindoll. In Hebrews 11:24-28, I read about Moses who, by faith, cranked things up a gear. His life was 'unleashed' to live out God's purposes.

Swindoll notes 3 risky decisions Moses made that unleashed him - 2 of which have challenged me for 2009:

1. Moses had a determination to leave the familiar.

Moses left the familiarity and security of his household. He left the comfort of what he knew well, and entered a challenging place of unfamiliarity.

2. Willingness to do the unusual.

Moses did the unusual step of sprinkling blood over the doorways to protect the first-born. This was an unusual thing to do, ut Moses was wililng to venture into unchartered territory.

"Unusual is the company that faith seems to prefer"

The 7 last words of any organisation are, "we never did it that way before".

W L Bateman says "If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always got."

We don't want to keep getting what we've always 'got', we want to crank things up a gear. We don't want to merely live in our 'success' so far, we want to be unleashed to make a serious difference.

Swindoll says, we either take risks or we rust. We either venture, or we vegetate.

* To have the determination it takes to leave the familiar, faith must be our security;

* To have the discipline to do the unusual, faith must silence our critics.

Bill Hybel's 'Axiom' is full of examples where they left the familiar, did the unusual and reaped the benefits of change.

For each of us to be personally unleased in 2009, we can't keep doing the same things we did in 2008.

Are there new connections we need to form?
Is there particular type of books we need to start reading?
Do we need to spend more time in the 'thinking chair'?
What new initiatives do we need to introduce?

One final thought - Joyce Meyer regularly says, "the higher the level, the higher the devil". With unleashing comes new and stronger attacks, temptations and opposition. Therefore there is one change that definitely needs to be made - We need to take our personal discipline in meeting with God to a new level.

Word of God Speak

The following video is by a church called New Hope in Hawaii - which shows the power of the daily quiet time with God. The accompanying song is a brilliant song by Mercy Me called, "Word of God Speak"

Check it out