Tag: Accountability

The Choice is Yours

July 11, 2017

The Choice is Yours

I love the Lord, the global church, and I love Amazing Life Church.

All too often, in the church world, personal agenda’s cloud the opportunity to share Jesus. For the purpose of this thought, the word agenda is defined this way, “an underlying often ideological plan or program.”

In other words, at times, the Gospel is presented with an agenda. With that said, there should be a singular agenda in every church, and on the minds of every Christian. I am speaking of the story of Jesus and it’s power to change lives, circumstances, and even worlds.

After Moses had disrespected God and was about to die he had some things to do. He had to commission Joshua to lead the people into the promised land. As he was doing this Moses began to prophesy to the people. Here is a portion of what he said.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

15 “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity;

16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.

17 But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,

18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it.

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,

20 by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Deuteronomy 30:19 NLT

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!”

The word choose in verse 19 from the Hebrew means, “to decide for.”

Know this, whatever you choose, whatever you decide for, Heaven and earth is watching.

“Yes, it matters what you choose.”

Your pursuit of life, or your journey towards death, begins with a choice.

The children of Israel for generations had problems with choice.

Joshua had the same issues with these folks.

Joshua 24:15

If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

(Get Off The Fence! Was his point.)

One big issue with choice is accountability. It is much easier to choose if you can blame someone else when your choice falls apart.

There is a passage in Psalms that really strengthens and upholds the rest of my message. It is important to understand that when you choose Him, you choose all of His resources.

Psalms 119:129-130

129 Your testimonies are wonderful; Therefore my soul observes them.
130 The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

AMPC

129 Your testimonies are wonderful [far exceeding anything conceived by man]; therefore my [penitent] self keeps them [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them].

130 The entrance and unfolding of Your words give light; their unfolding gives understanding (discernment and comprehension) to the simple.

Psalms 25:12-15

12 Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
13 His soul will abide in prosperity, And his descendants will inherit the land.
14 The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant.
15 My eyes are continually toward the Lord, For He will pluck my feet out of the net.

Psalms 34:18

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

The prophet Isaiah confirmed this as did Christ when teaching before the Jews.

Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;

When you choose Him, you choose His benefits and His promises.

In what is known as the great commission found in Matthew 28, we read these words from Jesus.

Matthew 28:18-20 AMP

18 Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.”

With you always!!!

Today the word choose is defined basically the same. (pick out or select (someone or something) as being the best or most appropriate of two or more alternatives.)

You have to decide. Life or death, Kingdom benefits with Christ as your source for everything you will ever need. Or maybe you think you can make it on your own.

Christians are still struggling with this level of choice.

Today, the choice is yours. What will it be?

#lovewins #hopelives

Fear of Accountability

April 27, 2017

Fear of Accountability

Did you ever know someone who just couldn’t make a decision. No matter how hard you pressed they would never say yes or no. Never acknowledge their role in church or anything else.

The fear of making decisions, and acknowledging your purpose is generally tied to the fear of accountability.

I am no therapist. The conclusions I speak of are drawn from life experiences.

Early on in my Christian life I feared taking a position in church. Could I handle it? Was it God’s will? These questions and more arose because I was not yet sure of my role in the Kingdom of God.

I felt His call upon my life, but what did He really want.

With a lot of prayer and support from people who knew more than I did. I began to accept the responsibility of ministry and even the titles that go along with it.

Then that dreaded consequence came. Accountability.

Making mistakes is a given as we walk through life. Decisions made hastily, without prayer and consultation.

Whatever role you have in church, business, and life, there are consequences for the decisions you make. You will likely be held accountable for them.

Pastors and other ministries deal with this everyday. At least those who have accepted their role, and believe that they have a responsibility to their people, along with accountability to them and God as well.

Back to decisions. I want to share a couple of points from the book, “Futuring by Dr. Sam Chand.”

I highly recommend his books. Read everyone you can get your hands on. They are filled with relevant and important information on leadership and the church.

{1^st-There are no future decisions. Only present decisions with future consequences.

This helps us connect today with tomorrow.

2^nd-Most of today’s problems were yesterday’s decisions.

This helps us slow down in the decision making process.

Finally, Action takes place in the present, but it points towards the future.}

Awesome words from Dr. Sam Chand.

When we take the time to pray, seek counsel. Decisions become far less fearful to make. The fear of accountability will lose its hold on you.

Still there are those who will never acknowledge the role they are in. I will never really understand why.

When God called me to Pastor I have to be honest and admit I was afraid.

After so many years of being a youth leader, associate Pastor, teacher. After helping plant 3 churches in another area, 2 of which still exist. One for more than 30 years. The responsibility for this one was all on me, and my wonderful wife Betty.

What was my fear? It was accountability. Would it work, because I am not from this area? Would people come. Would we be relevant and useful to the community.

I want to be clear on something. Betty and I started Amazing Life Church from scratch. Our first service we had around 13 people. Only one was from another church, and He just came that one time for support.

We did not befriend people all over the county that went to other churches, only to get them to come to ours when we opened.

It was an act of faith. Propped up with courage, and a calling to fulfill God’s purpose for Betty and I, and our community.

God has blessed us with great people over the years. We are in our 14^th year. This July will be the 10^th year of our back to school bash. To this point we have put 3,800 backpacks in the hands of needy children. Along with school supplies and other items we could obtain.

So the question I asked myself when we felt the call, would we be relevant, was answered. Giving God the glory always.

My final thought is this. With God’s help and grace, Betty and I are accountable to God, ALC, and our community. It is a joy to listen to the voice of God as He directs, and fulfills.

Just so you know what this amazing lady looks like. I have included a picture in this post.

Have a great day. Be blessed as you follow Christ.

#lovewins #hopelives

Who’s Accountable to Who?

March 20, 2017

Who’s Accountable to Who?

This blog has been a work in my mind for several days. Over and over I have written it in my mind since I read a post that disturbed me.

It was really nothing new except it made an insinuation about judging others. The completely misrepresented phrase used in the post was this. If you want a church that doesn’t judge, you must want a church that doesn’t care.

Really what these people are talking about is a couple of social and sexual sins.

Before all you law breathers start breaking open your extensive arsenal of sins, I must make two things clear.

One-What the Bible says is true. If it calls something a sin, that it is.

Secondly, God did not call me to preach death. He called me to preach life.

Here comes my answer to people who think they have the right to judge another. By the way, stop splicing the word. You know full well what you mean when you say it.

Many of these folks who would hold others accountable couldn’t be held accountable with an armored tank brigade.

It is simply a means to ease their conscience by telling others their sins and the penalty assigned. Somehow believing they are the watchman on the wall. I don’t mean to sound so hard but I have learned to measure results. This has never worked well.

I would believe in their sincerity if they would spread this speak the truth in love stuff a little broader. For example. Maybe they should quote Revelation 21:8 occasionally.

“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

That’s a good one, right?

Or how about Proverbs 6: 16-19.

16 There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

These are very relevant to the condition of the heart, and to the local body.

Once again I would believe that they really cared if they had the courage to address issues that hurt the church and it’s influence in the world.

So, after many days I pray that I have given something of a calm response to a very common issue that people deal with. It is, however a path I moved away from many years ago.

Jesus revealed in John 16 the role of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:8-11 NASB

8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;

9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;

10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;

11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

You see, it is the role of the Holy Spirit to convict. I stopped trying to do His job years ago.

Before I finish I think you need to know what to expect during a visit to Amazing Life Church.

We hold ourselves accountable to you.

Accountable to provide you a safe place to come and hear the awesome story of Jesus. His birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, is the essence of the Gospel.

We are accountable to you, to share a word that will speak to your heart and to your needs. A word that will quicken the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart about any issues you need help with.

To a more seasoned saint we are accountable to share a word that will enlighten, reveal, and inspire.

Finally, we are accountable to you to be ready to answer questions and concerns. Offering our prayers always, and help as possible.

One more promise. When you come to Amazing life Church, you will not be judged, and we care immensely about your relationship with Christ.

#lovewins #hopelives

“I Wonder If”

February 8, 2017

“I Wonder If”

Sometimes I just can’t hold it in.

The news cycles for the last few weeks have been different, to say the least. In my lifetime I have never seen such irresponsibility and anger from both sides of the political world.

I am not going on a political rant so don’t worry. I am one Pastor who believes that politics in the pulpit is divisive. I really don’t care if you differ. Do it like you want to.

My mission is to tell the story of Jesus. Equip the saints. Disciple the followers of Christ, and whatever else I can do in the name of the Lord.

I wonder if some of the responsibility for the confusion and fear can be laid at the doorstep of the American church.

For decades the message has changed, according to the messenger. Yet for thousands of years the message has remained the same, Biblically.

Before I go further understand this. I love the church. Local and global it is the only real hope for the world. The only source of redemption is the Christ we share. The only source of restoration to the Father, and the Kingdom Authority that has been passed to His church, is Christ.

If I could share one thing that everyone in the church would hear it would be, tell the story of Jesus. His birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension is the Gospel.

The church needs to share the Gospel, not the Gospel plus!!

I have never been a fan of the Reformation. This year is the 500 year anniversary. What Luther did had to be done. It is the aftermath that bred division.

In 1517 there were 2 recognized churches. The Catholic and the Orthodox church. Today there are more than 41,000 Christian denominations and religious institutions. This according to Christianity statistics.

Do you see my point. It is very difficult to preach unity in the house of God with so many different opinions of our faith.

Much of the division is structure, order, symbolism, that can be merged with a common message. It is my prayer that the ministry begins to seek this common ground.

I am not suggesting merging churches. Each church that was ordained by God has a purpose in their local area.

Back to our awesome country. We are the light of the world. The salt of the earth. The sin, fear, destruction, wasted lives. The anger, disappointment, unbelief, can be placed at the doorstep of the local church. At least to some degree.

Light cancels darkness. Salt preserves. The message is a life changing message. Somehow it is not reaching some of our age groups in a powerful way.

The message of the Gospel that was proved with signs and wonders changed the world in the years after Christ ascension.

The foundation of the church was built on the message of Christ, and the blood of the Martyrs. The greatest testimony of the time were those who faced death, praising God and singing Psalms.

In 2016 over 96,000 Christians were killed, just for being a Christian.

God has protected the American church from physical death by persecution for many years. “I wonder if” We have failed to die to ourselves?

Our society has moved, in some degree, away from any accountability. What I want, when I want it, and how I want it is the theme for many.

The church has not escaped this movement.

Praise be to God. Strong and powerful leaders of prayer have risen in the American church. These and countless numbers of local Pastors are crying out to God for our country.

Our prayers are being joined in synergy with all the prayers of the present and the past. Prayers that have cried for revival. A great awakening.

Prayers for the healing of the land. The healing of the broken and the hopeless.

Amazing Life Church is small in comparison to many churches. Yet we are huge in prayer. Believing for our community and putting boots to the ground. Making a difference in the lives of our school children, and the lives of people trying to find their way.

I pray that you made it this far. The love I have for the church and its place in the world consumes me.

“I wonder if” We would pray longer, give more, love with all our heart. “I wonder if” We would tell His story more. Reach beyond the limits in our minds, and step outside our religious box. “I wonder if” Our world would change. Our light would shine, and our faith would grow.

Do this and you will not wonder anymore. You will see the glory of God.

Thanks for looking. Praying blessings and favor for you.

#lovewins