What Would You Do With ONE WEEK Left?

They made the announcement at churches and at schools.  They wanted everyone to hear.  The entire community had one week to make a significant changes in their lives:  in the way they cleaned their houses; in the way they looked; in their eating habits; and in their worship habits.  In one week, the judges would come and interview every person and if they hadn’t made a significant change, they would be killed immediately, no questions asked. Things were taken away for that week.  There were no food stores.  There was no electricity, no internet, no travel.  People were living on basic survival and what they had in their homes for one week.  Some tried to help others by writing on their doors “we have meat” or “Jeep to share”, hoping that others would come to them seeking help if they needed it.  One family did so, only to look across the street and see someone killing an old lady to steal her necessities.  Quickly the father said, “Erase that off the door, they’ll see!”  The mother said, “The paint is too thick!  Take the door off instead!”  As the teenage daughter sanded the paint off of the door, she said, “It’s not fair that my brother is away at college and doesn’t have to endure this hardship.” 

Many sought new beauty regiments, but only the well off could afford to do so.  Some wanted to change the color of their hair or their facial features, hoping that would keep them alive on judgment day.  One family tried to become more organized, finding a place in their home for everything neatly, until their 1 yr old son came through the room and overturned the organization bins , spilling everything across the floors.  Would the family be doomed?  They thought so, and immediately scrambled to find something else to better them.  The judges were coming!

Many flocked to churches to pray and worship at the last minute.  The sound of a loud voice came over the P.A., “They are coming!” and everyone started to worship harder and in ways they never have before.  “Perhaps my worship will make them spare me,” they thought.  “If I raise my hands or go to the altar they will see the outward change in me and I won’t be killed.”  The lady next to me ran to the altar she never had been to before and fell on her knees, waving her hands wildly, and swaying to the music that was playing, as the officials came down the aisles to evaluate the people and make their judgments. 

I don’t know how I knew.  I don’t know if someone revealed the secret to me in person or if I just knew.   A vision of a man came to me and said “It’s all a hoax; no one will be killed today. We just wanted to see if people would better themselves.  We just wanted to see if people would unify or fall apart.  We just wanted to see what people thought was “’better.’”  And that man was THE Judge.  So I ran to the altar myself.  I was right next to the lady waving her hands wildly, except I was actually worshiping something with my whole heart!  I was worshiping the Judge, the Lord!  I didn’t care what I looked like.  I wanted to worship with everything I had in me!  And then the Judge, in the form of a man, came to me, held my face, and knowingly looked into my eyes.  He said, “You knew it was a hoax, why did you come down here?  Why are you worshiping so wildly like these other people?”  I said, “Because I have to worship you.   I want to worship you!”  He smiled, I felt his approval, and then I woke up.

What does this dream mean?  Two nights this week, I've dreamt this same dream and the Lord asked me to write it down and to share it.  I think it's not really a coincidence that I've been writing a sermon called "A Church Jesus Wants to Belong To."

I believe the Lord’s message to me, to everyone, through this dream was His grace.  I believe the people in the dream were all Christians which is why they were all going to be saved in the end.  I believe that the Lord was showing me different people’s reactions to the Christian faith.  Some become helpful, inviting, wanting to let others in until they feel a threat and close their doors when they see the world creeping in.  Some want to look good on the outside, like those seeking beauty treatments or those trying to worship better before the judges came.  Some try in their own strength to organize their lives around the Lord.  God has his place, but not in all areas of their life.  Maybe he is in their church activities and their small groups, but he’s not with them at school or at work where they may or may not act like a Christ-follower.  Or maybe their organization leaves very little opportunity for the Lord to REALLY change them.  And then there are those that lock themselves in the church and just play church.  When a hardship comes they run to an altar, sometimes seeking to look good in the sight of others instead of the life-changing power that would be theirs.  If they believed in His grace; his undeserved, unmerited, complete grace; they would be saved!

God is ready and willing to meet everyone right where they are and to give the amazing grace that has already been bought and paid for on Calvary.  We don’t have to go to extraordinary lengths to better ourselves.  If we worship the Lord and seek HIS face, we will want to do the good works and actions that show others of our great love for Christ.  It’s when we worship him in our hearts, in full sacrifice, not caring about anything else, that He is pleased.  Everyone in that dream was trying SO hard, when all they really had to do was worship from their heart; it saved them and it will save us.  God wants to make the grace for sin exchange in our lives, but will we let him?   This doesn’t just mean that we believe in Him and “get saved”.  This means that we believe that everything that Christ was, we ARE!  Not we “can be”, but we ARE!  We need to believe that the power Christ has to raise from the dead, to heal, to know deep needs, to draw people in, even to offend the world, resides inside of us RIGHT NOW!  We don’t have to wildly beg at an altar for it; it’s ours NOW!  When will the church believe it?  When will you?

One Direction

So, I broke down and watched videos of "One Direction" this morning.  After hearing that "What Makes You Beautiful" song 1000 times at summer camp and seeing one of my youth girls look at herself in every reflective object in my house last night (apparently one of the members of the group made that a "challenge" this week), I decided I needed to check out this newest boy-band phenomenon.  I watched three of their videos on YouTube (well, just thank God for YouTube, huh?).  Anyway, I have several reflections based on my experience this morning that I want to share with the world...well, at least my youth girls (so I hope they read this)...

1.  I'll give you this...the music is peppy and catchy.  I'm going to be singing that beautiful song in my head all day (as much as I'm currently trying to replace it as soon as possible with a worship song).  What is is about?  Have you thought of that?  What purpose do those songs fulfill in your life?  The Bible teaches us to meditate on the Word of God and things that are true, pure, and lovely.  Are you listening occasionally or meditating (rehearsing in your mind all day) on these songs?

2.  They are cute, I'll give ya that too!  If I was a teenage girl, I would like them.  In fact, I was a teenage girl once and I believe I was absolutely OBSESSED with a group called "New Kids on the Block".  I had the posters all over my room.  I used the VCR (that ancient piece of technological equipment) to videotape EVERY TV show they were on.  I even learned how to play the piano so I could play their song "I'll Be Loving You Forever" whenever I wanted.  I wrote them fan letters and learned every single thing I could about their personal lives through the teen magazines I saw in every grocery store newstand.  I even went to 3 or 4 concerts and bought every t-shirt, cassette tape, video tape, earings, trading card, poster, and button I could find with their names or pictures on them.  I also remember that my thoughts were CONSUMED by fantasies about the 5 boys in the "New Kids on the Block" (Danny, Donny, Joe, Jordan, and Jonathan, who was my favorite). I think I truly believed that if I thought about them enough, I could someday meet and marry one of them and then be able to do what married people do (if you know what I mean).  Be careful ladies, that your thoughts stay pure in all of this because I know mine didn't.

3.  As I watched a video of one of "One Direction's" concerts, I saw them perform a song called "More Than This".  Again, catchy tune, but what captured me in this video was not what what they were doing on stage, but the reaction of the young ladies in the audience.  Many of them had their hands raised in the direction of the young men on stage, singing the lyrics of the love song with them, "I can love you more than this."  I couldn't help but see the similarities between this scene and what I've seen at youth convention worship sets.  Young people, in a room with lights and fog machines, holding their hands up to the sky, singing the lyrics of the band.  The only difference in this video I watched this morning is that those young ladies were worshiping something very different.  They were worshiping 5 teenage young men, instead of Jesus Christ. 

I'm not against anyone liking a band, especially "One Direction" which seems to have cute, catchy, mostly wholesome songs compared to a lot of the mainstream music that is out there, but ladies (and parents) let's guard our hearts while we watch and listen to this music okay?  They are just human beings; they are not gods.  They may be cute, but someday, you will think your husband is WAY cuter and sexier, so don't dishonor him with your thoughts!  And let's make sure that our worship is really placed in ONE DIRECTION....towards GOD!

Thanks girls, for giving me something to watch/ do this morning!  And I agree with the boys in the band on one major thing... many of you "don't know you're beautiful!"

LOVE YOU!
Pastor Rachel

Adding to your faith...

In 2 Peter 1:3-11, there is a set of characteristics that Christians should develop in their lives.  It reads, "make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly-kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (NIV)

It's not enough that we just have faith in God; that is just the beginning.  We are to continue to grow into a life characterized by love.  The problem is that many of us get saved and then we want to get others to also have faith.  We invite them to church and we recite Bible verses to them and such (which are all good things), but we don't SHOW them the love.  We never took the time to become mature in Christ and live out our godly lives in front of them.  We didn't "win them over" with our compassion, love, and godly character first.  We have to remember that we will NEVER "make it" in our Christian walk until the day we see Jesus face to face.  We must keep trying to be more and more like Him until that day!

So many churches are looking for the special marketing campaign to get people to come to their church instead of focusing on these virtues and trying to expand them in the lives of their own people.  I'm convinced that if there were a church of people displaying the characteristics of faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, godliness, brotherly-kindness, and love,  the world would FLOCK to our doors! 

So, what about you?  Where is your faith?  What about your self-control?  Brotherly-kindness?  What areas do you need to work on to be productive and efficient in the Kingdom of God?