You Just Gotta Ask!

This is what I found when I got to the building this morning . . . .

We still had 'Who is Jesus?' on the door from Sunday and somebody wanted to know who Jesus was so bad that they broke out the front door window trying to find Him . . .

So, please tell all your friends who don't know Jesus that they don't have to get into our building to find Him :)

Tell them that He is everywhere and just waiting for them to ask!

"And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!" Acts 2:21

Filled Up or Filling Up?

You'd think I'm gonna talk about gas huh?

Nope, the Holy Spirit. Last Sunday I talked about that one of the fundamentals of following Jesus is relying on the power of the Holy Spirit. Since then I've had some great conversations.

And most of those have revolved around what it means to be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 says: "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit."

First of all the verb used 'be filled' is a continuous active verb. It's a daily, moment by moment filling. We are to be continually filled. (Just like, in the verse, we've gotta drink more to stay drunk . . . but just to be clear, I'm not recommending that!)

Secondly, it's not about quantity . . . but about submission. In other words, you don't get more (quantity) of the Holy Spirit. It's not like John Coffey in The Green Mile where he inhaled all the evil spirits so others could be healed. It's not getting more of the Holy Spirit from the outside, but it's the Holy Spirit getting more of us on the inside.

Yes, I know that in Acts 2 they were (literally) filled as the wind and fire came from heaven. But that was before Jesus had sent the Holy Spirit to fill His followers. Now, each of us receives our full measure of the Holy Spirit as we invite Jesus to forgive our sins and be the King of our lives (See 1 Corinthians 12:1-13 . . . And like they used to say with Brylcreem - 'A Little Dab'll Do Ya!')

There's no better picture that I know of than a story by Robert Munger called My Heart Christ's Home (you can read the entirety of it here). In it Munger compares our lives to a home. And each room in the home represents an area of our life. And it's easy to ask God just to come into certain 'rooms' of our life. But REALLY RELEASING the power of God requires that we invite Him into EVERY area of our life!

That is being filled by the Spirit. A daily, continual yielding each area of our lives to the control of God's Spirit. At times God will show us areas that we are holding back and holding onto and that just represents opportunity to grow in the fruit of the Spirit.

So as a follower of Jesus you ARE filled up. The question is: ARE YOU filling up?

Group Life

9 Creekers went through Groups 101 & 201 on Sunday evening . . . All of them are already beginning, or willing, to lead groups!

What I personally love about that class is that it reminds me why community is so important to God and important to us at Oso Creek. It's awesome to hear their stories about being in a time of great need and their group gathered around them and became Jesus to them in that season. Or, as one person said, they hate missing their time together more than anything else in the week!

As we read through the end of Acts 2 (41-47) as we did on Sunday, I'm always reminded that the Church didn't begin with a doctrinal statement, or a church growth strategy. . . it began with people gathering together and seeking together how to follow this man Jesus. Seeking to love Him and love one another. I pray that we never lose focus of the simplicity and power of community.

Where is Tonto?

On Sunday I began talking about values that must make up our foundation if we are going to have an eternity changing vision this year.
I've learned that values are most effective as they are expressed in ways that fit us and our context.

On Sunday I talked about one of the values that has recently become part of our culture: Don't Let What is Wrong With You Keep You From Worshipping What is Right About God. The ONE THING must be a real, fresh, powerful relationship with Jesus.

I want to share a second value in this blog: Christianity is NOT a Lone Ranger Sport!

God designed us to live and journey and grow in community! Acts 2:41-47 is my favorite picture of real, life changing, world changing community.

That's why we are so focused on our Life Groups. And beyond that, everyone being in smaller groups of 2 or 3 where we can pursue Christ together.

If you're not part of community (group), then you are living in isolation. My vision is that we have at least 30 Groups at the end of 2008 --- so that everyone has a place!

Apart from the encouragement and care and '(loving) kick in the rear' of others . . . you will never know God's fullest vision for your life. Find your Tontos!