Staying Locked In

"You are in error because you don't know the Scriptures or the power of God." Matthew 22:29

Jesus said this in the midst of a conversation with a sect of the religious leaders called the Sadducees. The Sadducees were questioning Jesus about details of what happens after the resurrection and trying to trap Him because contrary to the Bible they didn't believe in resurrection after death. (That's why they were Sad-U-See :)

Jesus never minced words. The reason you're so far off is because you don't know the Truth and you're missing the power of God!

I wonder, do we ever doubt the Truth, miss the Truth - because we're not digging in the Scriptures. Jesus says here that not knowing Truth prevents anyone from walking in faith and life!

What's your plan for knowing the Scriptures and knowing God's power?

Diggin' In

Do you ever feel compelled to study the Bible but aren't quite sure where to start?

Or, have you ever wanted to go a little deeper in understanding what the Bible is saying but don't know how?

On Saturday September 19th our Equipping Track kicks off the Fall season with an awesome class on Studying the Bible.

We will cover different approaches to reading the Bible, a process of how to study the Bible, different types of literature in the Bible, as well as other materials to help in your study.

To sign up call or email Susan Klaus: 361.779.2046 . . . saklaus@yahoo.com


There is limited childcare on a first come, first served basis - you MUST reserve that with Susan as well.

Easter Week Meditation . . .

As we celebrate the most historically important week in the history of the world, I want to encourage you to take some portions of the Bible and meditate on them.

Meditating (which you've probably heard me define as 'chewing the cud') is simply letting the words and thoughts and idesa roll around in your mind. Spending some time in quiet asking God to reveal to you: 'What does this mean?' 'How does this apply to me?'
And then just keeping parts of the Scripture that stand out on your mind throughout the day (I make notecards and carry them around).

Psalm 119 says: "Teach me, O Lord, to follow every one of your principles. Give me understanding and I will obey your law; I will put it into practice with all my heart. Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found."

It is God's Spirit using God's Word that changes our life!

Here are two passages that I would encourage you to use to meditate on this week:

1 Peter 1:3-5

Luke 24


God, give us passion for you and fire to love you! Show us the power of the resurrection of Jesus! Give us great expectation because He rose from the dead!

Spirit and Word

How's it going this week Plugging In and staying connected to the Spirit?

I've had my ups and downs like you . . . but I do find myself much more aware of God's presence and that's awesome! And I do find myself reading the Bible more purposefully and intensely, that's really awesome!

As I said on Sunday it's the Spirit of God using the Word of God that changes our lives. I can remember when I first began to understand that the Holy Spirit uses God's Words to guide me in decisions and give me peace when I'm feeling frustrated . . .

I remember when I first started memorizing Scripture and then the Holy Spirit would call that scripture back to my mind . . . and now daily as I'm staying connected to God's Spirit and dwelling in God's Word my ears are so much more responsive to God's voice.

As I've said before the Holy Spirit is not magic -- He takes the Living Truth and reminds us of it and applies it to our lives in ways that change us . . .

Keep beeping . . . and listening!!!

Pen in Hand

Last Sunday in Celebration I talked about being on this journey with God, and how we must actively Navigate the spiritual reference points for our life!
If not, we're in danger of a spiritual life that just goes in circles . . . or never gets out of the dock.

Some of the points of reference are unique for each of us, and some are the same for every follower of Christ -- one of the primary ones being the Bible. It is the Spirit of God using the Word of God that changes our life. It is our primary source of spiritual food. It is life.

I want to remind you about Creek Living Water . . . a blog with daily scripture and a guide for soaking in it. If you don't have a plan for reading the Bible, then I would encourage you to start there. [Click here for Creek Living Water]

And I want to encourage you in another way as you read God's Word. Do it with a pen in your hand.
Ask God to speak to you as you read and as He does write it down! Write it down in the margins of your Bible, or in a journal. Don't worry about if it's perfect, or even if it makes full sense right now. But write it down so that later you can go back and continue to listen to what God is saying.

I'll say it this way: If your pen is in your hand , then God can keep writing your story!

"I will walk in freedom,
for I have devoted myself to your commandments.
I will speak to kings about your laws,
and I will not be ashamed.
How I delight in your commands!
How I love them!" (Psalm 119:45-47)

Emailers Unite!!

We heard your requests for the daily Bible reading to come in an email format as well as the texting . . . and we are responding! (Check out older posts where I talked about this here and here.)

Jason E. (you're awesome Jason!) is working on it tonight . . . so beginning in the morning you should be able to go to the website (click here) and sign up for the verses to come to you every day in a text, email or both!

Is It Changing Our Life?

On Sunday I quoted Rick Warren in saying: "We only believe the parts of the Bible that we do." In other words God's Truth is not meant to just be understood but to be digested in our soul in such a way that it transforms our spiritual/emotional/physical DNA and results in a whole new life.

Mark Batterson said this in his blog a couple of days ago:
"The Bible wasn't meant to be read. The Bible was meant to be meditated. Reading without meditating is like eating without digesting." (see the entire post here)

I've been challenging you to meditate on Scripture with us as we go through the book of James (click here to sign up to get the daily texts). And I'm praying that you will chew on it and swallow it in such a way that it speeds up your heart rate for following Jesus.

Mark went on to say in his post: "If we read the Bible but we don't feel a greater sense of intimacy with the author, The Word Himself, has it really accomplished it's purpose?"

Has it?

What's Gotten Into Your Life?

Garbage in - Garbage out. What goes in comes out. You are what you eat.

It's so true. Whatever we fill our life with, we become. If all we do is eat ice cream and Taco Bell, we grow to ice cream and Taco Bell proportions (and I confess I got some Taco Bell and ice cream in me!)

If all we fill our mind and soul with is worldly stuff, then that's how we begin (or continue) to think and live.
What are you filling your mind with?

This Summer as we go through the book of James I've invited everyone to read along with us each day. We've tried to make that easy by giving you an opportunity to sign up for a text everyday that encourages you to read and soak in a specific passage that day. Click here to check that out.

We also have another blog called Creek Living Water where everyday there is a passage to dwell on.

I just felt like God was telling me to encourage you today that it's God's Living Word that changes us. It changes us because when we allow it, it goes deep into our soul and through the Holy Spirit it speaks to our heart. If you are truly dwelling on it you CANNOT escape it's power!

The Bible is for NOW, today. Do you want your life to reflect a character of kindness and hope and confidence and love and peace? Do you want to be on THE journey, in THE game?
It begins on the inside of your life, not the outside.

What's gettin' in your life?

Wanna Text?

This Summer as we adventure into the book of James together, I'm excited about a new, creative way that we can hang out in James together.

You can click here (and then click the 'looking intently' button when it pops up) to sign up for a daily text that reminds you where we are 'looking intently' at what God says.

I'm constantly reminded that God's Word is LIVING and ACTIVE! And there is no greater power on all the planet than the Holy Spirit using God's Truth to shape our soul!

What are you waiting for? Quit talking . . . Start Living!

Sitting Still

Yesterday in Celebration I talked about preparing ourselves for success in following Jesus --- and the absolute necessity for us to continually hear from God through His Word.

Today I was reading Bob Roberts' The Multiplying Church and he hit a note that I knew was true in my spirit even though I sometimes struggle so much with it:

"Spiritual maturity is dependent on our ability to sit still and listen."


What do you think? What are you gonna do with it?

Cross Training

The last few months as I've been preparing for the Austin Half-marathon, my cousin and trainer, has had me 'cross-training.'

I run every other day. I do a 'maintenance run' one day (4-4.5 miles) then two days later I run 'intervals' (not my favorite . . . 40 minutes total . . . jog 10 minutes, then for the next 20 minutes alternate between 2 minutes sprinting and one minute jogging, then end with 10 minutes jogging). Two days later I do a maintenance run; then two days after that I do a 'long run', increasing a mile each week. Then I start over.

It was explained to me how all these workouts have their different purposes to prepare me (I won't go into the messy details).

I've been talking about having a vision of following Jesus in a multiplying way, and if that is going to happen there are many ways we 'cross train' in getting there.

There are many different 'spiritual practices' that help us to mature in different ways. To this point I've talked a lot about reading God's Truth because it is basic and vital.
But we also moved towards God by exercising spiritually in other ways. Here's a few of them:

- Times of reflection and prayer - we need this daily to not just read, but meditate and respond to God

- Journaling - for me it's an awesome way to express myself to God and to record what He is telling me

- Hanging out with other believers - don't think this is a 'spiritual practice'? Read Acts 2

- Fasting - Yeah, I know I hate not eating too! But I find peace in the midst of it. And don't put it in a box. Fasting is simply giving up something that we depend on so that we can focus deeper on God.

- Confession - not only does James say that it brings healing (James 5:16), but confession creates a covenant to follow God (I did a whole post on this, click here to check it out)

- Celebration - didn't know God was into that? The Bible says that all of heaven celebrates when one persons life is changed for eternity! When we celebrate Him it renews our heart!

- Giving - pay for person in line behind you at Whataburger and watch what it does to your desire to serve others.

This is just the beginning of the list! Don't limit your growth. Find new ways to seek God and take others with you.

Which of these would you expand on, or what have you found to help you grow more like Jesus, let us know?

Get Out of the Rut!

In this post I'm going to continue to expand on what I talked about Sunday (and in my post on Monday) in receiving, nurturing and living out God's Truth.

Remember I also said Sunday that Vision with Action is Hallucination! We can say that we want to soak in God's Truth but if we don't move towards that we're just dreamin'!

Earlier today in my basketball post I expressed a principal that when you get in a rut, you can't just stay there, but you've got to do something new! I mean you can just stay there, but ruts just lead to more ruts. You've gotta figure out, how to get out!

If you have really struggled in the past in soaking in God's Word, then try something completely new.
Maybe you need to try taking smaller bites. That's what we've provided with the Creek Living Water passages each day. Just a couple of verses to dwell on through the day.

Maybe you need to try a completely different reading plan where you're reading all the way through the Bible in a year (like w/the Daily Walk Bibles we have).

Or maybe you need to just take one book and spend a month reading it over and over - going deeper and deeper with each pass.

And here's a big one for a lot of you - you keep trying to do it on your own. Find somebody to read with you. Both of you read the same book or passages all week and then get together for breakfast (or whatever) one day a week and talk about it. Talk about what God is showing you.

Maybe instead of trying to read it in the living room, you need to go outside on the porch. Or instead of reading the old King James, you need to get you an NLT or NIV.

The point is that the same exact thing doesn't work for all of us. Find what works for you.

Now, help all of us. What have you learned works for you? What hasn't? Please let us know, you never know who you might encourage?

This is too important to your life to NOT figure out. I don't know about you but I don't want to spend 2008 hallucinating . . . but chasing the vision of MUCH fruit!

I Need Truth

Yesterday in my message, I promised to dig deeper into having vision for our relationship with God.
As I shared yesterday, I began the year reading in the book of James and the passage that's weighed on me the heaviest is James 1:22-25. The first verse say this:

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

Yesterday I talked about how receiving, nurturing and living out God's Truth is central to a fruitful, multiplying life. Period.

Man, I know how much I needed a new commitment to not 'merely listening', but truly engaging in Truth. And that takes time, it takes attention. It has to soak in me.
You know, Doing 'what is says' doesn't just refer to doing good things. It also refers to being - inwardly being - the person has called us to be. It is just as spiritual to humble ourselves into being still and not doing sometimes, as it is to do.

The bottom line is that fruit is born as we don't just listen through our ears . . . but we soak in our souls and follow with our lives.

I want to remind you that TODAY Creek Living Water began . . . an awesome blog that we have designed where you can go and get daily Truth. Check it out.

New Creeker Blog!

Beginning tomorrow (Friday-4th) a brand new Creek Blog is beginning! The purpose of this blog is to give everyone an opportunity to be immersed in God's Word every day.

The name of the blog is Creek Living Water. You can find it at http://creeklivingwater.blogspot.com/ -- or by clicking on it above.

The blog will begin by re-running a series (a slightly shortened version) that I ran via email nearly two years ago. The series was called Experiencing God's Word, and it is all about how to devotionally read the Bible. There are many of you who it would benefit tremendously from going through this 7-part series as a new (years) beginning in allowing God's Truth to change your life.

Then beginning Monday, January 14th the Creek Living Water blog will post a short passage every day that you can use to meditate on God's Truth. In addition the blog is going to be in a format that I've used for years to help me think and pray through the passage every day and then meditate on it throughout the day.

So, tomorrow, check it out! Creek Living Water!

You Version

Hey check out this new online Bible called You Version. It allows you to personalize an online version and also collaborate with a community of folks . . . and a lot of other cool stuff that I don't understand yet . . . What possibilities do you see?

And one of the awesome things is that it's been developed and implemented by a church - Life Church - for the purpose of blessing the Kingdom ..... Awesome!