ConnectCommunity

Remain on the offense

Death.
Probably not the most exciting word to start a blog with, but I want to bring light to another aspect of death. The one that doesn’t immediately come to mind when you think about it.

Mel Gibson in his famed portrayal of William Wallace, the martyred 14^th century Scottish warrior, said: “Every man dies, but not every man really lives”. Wallace found his life in pursuing Scotland’s freedom from King Edward’s tyranny. To Wallace, living was not a beating heart, but what justified it. The Braveheart dictum remains true today.

I want to ask you to do the nearly impossible and disconnect that word from any loss you may have  experienced. Can you think of a few of the most elementary meanings of that word?

What comes to mind?

I think of words like: ceasing, end, inertia, passivity, and isolation.

Death tries to walk in before life wants to leave. It is this thing that tries to crawl up on us the moment our feet touch the ground in the morning. Like gravity, it’s constantly pulling us to a place of inactivity and nonexistent significance. Most of us picture it as a casket, or a headstone in a cemetery, but death is everywhere; it exists in thought, in fear, in the aborted dreams and unaccomplished goals. It is a calling not answered, a gift untapped, a talent not exercised. Death persists, and it is active until you are not.

How are you and I to live then? Life and death are at war against each other, and we are the battlefields. You can experience the tension in the simplest things. It is present in every regret and in every achievement. The wounds and scars are contrasted by strength and ability, and this happens in plain sight. Many times it goes unnoticed.

Have you ever failed at something, but instead of giving up you kept trying until you mastered it? From simple things like riding a bicycle, reading, or playing sports, to more complex things like developing a team, getting a degree, learning to play an instrument, or running a company. Some things may take a whole day to learn, others many lifetimes.

Every time you didn’t give up, every time you got back up and tried again you chose life.

Timothy was a young pastor and was put in charge of a church by his mentor, the apostle Paul. When Timothy is faced with challenges, Paul charges him with the following:

“…wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith”
(1 Timothy 1:18b-19 ESV)

and later:

“Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…”
(1 Timothy 1:11b-12a ESV)

Paul’s charge to Timothy is riveting and refreshing, it is active and it has attitude. Paul was Timothy’s life coach, a relationship that went well beyond academics. I get excited because I see a guy encouraging a pursuit of life with a passion that doesn’t shy away for fear of what might go wrong.

Wage the good warfare,
Remain in pursuit,
Fight the good fight of faith,
Take hold of the eternal kind of life.

In one sentence: Keep on the offense!

Many have made the unfortunate mistake of thinking of this “good warfare” as a mechanism to achieve uniformity of behavior.  They have likened the pursuit of “holiness” or being “Christ-like” to living as little as possible to avoid sin – which is in my view the equivalent of pursuing the title of “person-who-least-fell-off-a-bicycle champion” by not riding it at all. This type of attitude is based on fear, and is fruitless.

Paul’s encouragement is about the battle waging on the inside. Our thoughts, desires, dreams, goals, talents, potential, emotions and what we do with it on a daily basis; it is a recipe on how to maximize life and conquer death every day.

Jesus has invited us to engage life and master it, just as he did!
He remained in pursuit. His eyes were on the open tomb; on the conquered grave. “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” he said (John 2:19 NIV).

What is your life-mission?
What tools has God given you to better this world and make a positive impact on those around you?
What is death trying to embrace in your life?

Whatever it is, whether you know the answer or not, whether you are fulfilling your purpose or you’re still searching for it, let me encourage you to press on and remain on the offense.

Wage the good warfare,
Remain in pursuit,
Fight the good fight of faith,
Take hold of the eternal kind of life.

We love you.
-JD

Seeing is Believing

One of the primary purposes of Jesus’ ministry, in my view, is simply summarized in his last recorded encounter with one of his disciples, Thomas. The witness, disciple, evangelist, preacher, quickly became “Thomas the doubter” after he placed a contingency on his belief. “Unless I see in his hands the marks of the nails, and place my fingers into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will NEVER believe” (John 20:25 ESV – emphasis mine) he said. Now, between you and I, was Thomas out of line? Is his thought process really too difficult to get on board with?

You know what I think? I think Thomas was way ahead of his time. I think his reasoning was built for the modern era. Thomas is requiring a scientific proof in a society surrounded by philosophy and mythology.

Now, Jesus’ reaction is even more intriguing. He spent 3 years performing “you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it” miracles and teaching his disciples, including Thomas, about the Kingdom of God. This is not the first time Thomas was witnessing a miracle. In fact, it is very probable that Thomas himself performed miracles. He was one of the ones feeding thousands with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Thomas wasn’t only a witness, he was a member of the Miracle Mob. What if you were Jesus? What would you do after Thomas’ remarks? Here’s what Jesus does: exactly what Thomas asked. He didn’t decommission or “de-apostle” him. He simply walked through a wall and asked Thomas to touch his hand and side.

Jesus was announcing that the kingdom of God is a kingdom of personal experience.

A kingdom of mutual relationship and responsibility.

A kingdom where the king holds his end and your end of the bargain if it comes down to it.

A kingdom for believers and for doubters.

It is true that salvation is for those who believe, and at some point we all have to take that leap, but whether you believe and see, or see and believe, the fact remains: if you are willing, there is plenty to see. After all, that’s what the Gospel is all about. Accounts. Accounts by those who have seen.

It is difficult, and I would dare to say frustrating, to reason with someone whose belief system is empty. Empty of experiences, convictions, and the ability to take one step beyond his or her physical senses. Those conversations are filled with theories and quotes of someone else’s experience, and in the end they are… well, empty.

What scientific theory can you bring against someone’s experience? Thomas “the doubter”, who might as well have coined the phrase “seeing is believing”, would not disagree with any of us if we told him it is impossible for someone to raise himself from the dead. Thomas would also agree that it is impossible to walk through a wall, but he would tell you about the man who did both things.

Just like the apostles, including Thomas, some of us have seen and heard things, and these experiences can’t be denied. So, if you’ve seen or heard I urge you to share it with the world. Don’t keep it to yourself. In the past 2000 years plenty of people have shared what they’ve seen, some to their own demise. Those have not condemned the world, or sent the world to hell because the world wanted proof. They pleaded for forgiveness upon those who had not yet seen. Even when ridiculed, threaten, or sentenced.

If you are not all there yet, but you’ve experienced something that has rattled your belief system and made you rethink the way you see the world, I invite you to take that step. Allow Jesus to walk through those walls and show you His hands. He is ready. You just need to ask.

-JD

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8

Why?

Some people have asked me why are we starting a church?

This is our why…

The Bible says in Hebrews 12:15 “Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God” (NLT). Years ago JD and I began to feel this specific calling – the calling to “look after” people and to make sure that no one “fails to receive the grace of God.”

Someone once said,”find what you are passionate about and you won’t have to work a day in your life.” Well, our passion is the Church. We believe with all our hearts that the Church of Jesus Christ is the vehicle God uses to show His grace and to look after people. It was designed to love people into wholeness and to connect people to their God given purpose.

Now, put those two together and you have our why. We want to passionately look after people, making sure that they receive His grace, through the one entity Jesus is coming back for – the Church.

-Alini

True relevance

“Relevant” was the buzz word years ago in church offices and youth ministry creative meetings. We don’t hear it as often as we used to, but the sentiment is still there, as it should be; that continuous drive and focus to maximize impact by staying up-to-date and in touch with culture and society is fundamental to be effective in any kind of platform. Whether you’re in ministry, business, education, stay-at-home parent or self-employed, if you learn a new skill, read about a new trend, and because of it you make an adjustment to your image, thinking, or behavior you are staying relevant.

Followers of Jesus have a drive to channel his message through the outlets of our various realities, and sometimes it gets murky. Granted, how are you supposed to make a 2000 years old man relevant? How can a man that never drove, never turned on a light or opened a refrigerator, a man that never talked about global warming or nuclear threats be relevant? How can a person from the first century have any genuine impact in our reality? Jesus undeniably impacted his reality, and if we transport ourselves to it we find it beautiful, breathtaking, and deeply endearing. But we can’t live there, can we? At some point we have to come back to our reality and put the kids in the car seat – not in a manger – and drive them to school. How are we to keep this ancient account relevant to our days? As I think about the meaning of being “relevant” as a follower of Jesus, I come to the following conclusion: Jesus is relevant. Period. He was relevant because he was. He is relevant because he is, and unless he is in our lives he can’t be relevant.

Some think that if they make themselves relevant, then and only then Jesus will be relevant. The truth is that the great commission has reached us not because it is recorded in the sacred manuscripts of the Bible, but because Jesus’ present impact has been as personal and real to us as it is recorded in the Scriptures. At some point in our encounter with Him it wasn’t just about the Jesus that walked on water 2000 years ago, but it was about Jesus today. Here. Now. That he was, no one can deny. There are historical accounts and years of aftermath to prove it. But that He is? Today? That’s personal. You can work hard to be relevant, but you can only show how relevant Jesus is with a revelation of his present reality.

I’m still young, but I have a few years of ministry exposure and stories that go back to my grandparents which lead me to the following realization: When you work hard to be relevant you are working an industry – It’s about image, culture, lingo, ethics, behavior, etc. When you work hard to display Jesus’ relevance you are working the human soul – It’s about purpose, destiny, the loose ends of a difficult past, and the hopes for a bright future. I think they are both important and necessary to reach our full potential, but we should never forget that only the latter approach can truly change someone’s life.

-JD Müller

Love One Another

My wife and I have been serving in ministry together for over 11 years. In all these years we’ve served in many different capacities. Through the seasons and different areas there was one common thread; one element that was a constant and the lifeblood of the part we played: Love. Jesus said “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35 ESV). I believe this is our responsibility to every generation that has gone before us, and to all the ones to come. We have the opportunity to not only tell the world of Jesus’ love, but to love them like he did daily.

We want to live our lives for this cause.

We want to love people for a lifetime.

We want to build His church in our lifetime.

We want to change the world.

We encourage you to do the same in your community!

Jesus Loves You!