:A Christian Blog

Luke 14:7And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

8″When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him,

9and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place.

10″But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you.

11″For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

12And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.

13″But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,

14and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

15When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

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Luke 6:42″Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

While I was reading “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey, one section in the book particularly caught my eye. It was about being proactive. I’m going to quote it here, because I sometimes have the same problem described.

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“I would challenge you to test the principle of proactivity for thirty days. Simply try it and see what happens…make small commitments and keep them. Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Try it in your marriage, in your family, in your job. Don’t argue for other people’s weaknesses. Don’t argue for your own. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, learn from it — immediately. Don’t get into a blaming, accusing mode. Work on things you have control over. Work on you. On be.

Look at the weaknesses of others with compassion, not accusation. It’s not what they’re not doing or should be doing that’s the issue. The issue is your own chosen response to the situation and what you should be doing. If you start to think the problem is “out there,” stop yourself. That thought is the problem.

People who exercise their embryonic freedom day after day will, little by little, expand that freedom. People who do not will find that it withers until they are literally “being lived.” They are acting out the scripts written by parents, associates, and society.”
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That seems like a great message and a great attitude to have in the world doesn’t it?

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I’ve spent a good portion of the night surfing through many Christian blogs. I was surprised to find that there are many blogs out there that have set up an online ministry. It seems as though everyone is a Billy Graham as soon as they get a blog. I’ll have to admit after looking back through some of my posts, I am guilty of this sometimes as well. Is this really what the world needs, another minister? Or do they need to relate. I know I am. I’m looking for someone that is going through the same struggles that I am. I’m also looking for someone that’s already been there, so they can guide me to the right path. Where are these blogs? Where are the Christian blogs that make mistakes, sometimes give in to temptation, get angry, and admit they aren’t perfect? How can we build relationships as bloggers, when the platform is the internet equivalent of a podium?

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As any Southern Baptist probably knows, once saved, always saved. Those that go back to their sinful ways are just “backsliding”. I guess that can somewhat define my blog for moment (not the sinning part, just the backsliding). I have been rather sick for a few days and even though I was able to post, I just couldn’t muster anything new or innovative to put on the site. My point here is quality, not quantity, and I hope that most of my readers use an RSS feed reader to keep up-to-date since you don’t have to visit the site directly. You just visit one central location each day and it tells you when this blog has been updated. Most blogs that put up internet ads to try to make a profit don’t really like this method, but since I never intend to try to make a profit from A Christian Blog, I don’t mind and even encourage it.

One note, however, is Casting Crowns. Being sick leaves you plenty of time to listen to music and watch television. The self-titled album, Casting Crowns, is one of the most inspirational I have ever heard. Every time my CD changer makes it around to that CD, I automatically want to go out and save the world. I’d highly recommend it to anyone that likes contemporary Christian music. Even if you don’t, just reading the words to the songs are worth the price of the CD. Their second CD, Lifesong, is a little slow for my tastes. I love upbeat music that has deep meaning and gets you going in the morning. I can’t define it, but Casting Crowns strikes a chord within me.

Being on a budget, I don’t exactly have the funds to just buy every Christian CD on the top 10 list. If anyone has any suggestions on music that is a lot like Casting Crowns, I’d love to hear it.

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A couple of days ago, someone searched for that that very question in a search engine and clicked on my site. It almost seems strange that a Christian would be asking this question, but in these times, where a lot of people claim to be Christian, so many in fact that I think the line has been blurred, it’s not that surprising. Of course, I didn’t have an answer for him at that time, but I hope to accomplish that with this post.

John 3:16″For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

17″For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

18″He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

So, there’s the answer. You must believe in God. I don’t see any rules or regulations to follow, the Bible is clear, whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. If you just can’t grasp the fact that it is that simple, then I encourage you to follow the two greatest commandments in addition to this, which is almost just as simple detailed in my 30-second Bible for Christians.

I’d also invite any of my readers to add their responses for anyone asking themselves this very question.

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What really got me thinking about this was a daily devotional email I received a couple of days ago and it mentioned Hezekiah.

2 Kings 20:1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘ Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’”

2Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying,

3″ Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight ” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him, saying,

5″Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD.

6″I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”‘”

This is interesting to me, because Hezekiah wasn’t just sick, he was dying. He looked up to God after speaking to him and then Hezekiah wept bitterly. Bitterly? Sounds to me like Hezekiah was disappointed at God. Can this be? Can someone be disappointed with the creator of the Heavens and Earth? I think so. I think God wants this kind of interaction with his followers. He created us in his image, and so we have feelings like anger, resentment, and disappointment. When we get behind God like Hezekiah did, “Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight “, then are we are a follower of the one true God. I think if you are truly in the path of righteousness, then you can get healed like Hezekiah did, if it’s within God’s will. It would be no different than asking a parent for something. God is going to take everything into account, including your faith and commitment to him, and come back with an answer. I don’t think that’s anything new, but I believe that answer can even be “Your healed”.

I don’t just conjure up these thoughts, I read the Bible and then try to apply it to today’s world. I’d love to hear your comments on this, maybe my thinking is way off, but I think a lot about my interaction with God and how in the Bible their interaction was totally different, I’ll be doing a second post this week along this same lines about faith in the 21st century.

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If you want happiness for an hour – take a nap.
If you want happiness for a day – go fishing.
If you want happiness for a month – get married.
If you want happiness for a year – inherit a fortune.
If you want happiness for a lifetime – help someone else.

–Chinese Proverb

At the risk of sounding like I’m a paid blogger for John Maxwell, I’d like to again return to one of his books previously mentioned, 25 Ways to Win with People. Specifically, one of the ways in the book, “Be the First to Help”. I found this after going through the book to do research for Invest and Invite and immediately knew I had to blog on it. It’s something I struggle with on a daily basis. I seem to be so attuned to my personal needs or focused on the task at hand that I will forget to do something as simple as offering someone something to drink. The author breaks it down into four simple points to be successful at being the first to help that I will comment on.

Make Helping Others a Priority. The first point in the book is the strongest for me personally. I need to have a notepad that has this point stamped at the top of every page so that I remember this on a daily basis.

Make Yourself Aware of People’s Needs. This is something that I really think comes natural to everyone. At some point in their lives though, they put this natural ability into the back of their head and forget it. If you make helping others a priority, I don’t think this point will be a challenge.

Be Willing to Take a Risk. The book makes the point that sometimes helping others may actually hurt you, such as helping someone in a competition in which you are a competitor. This is, in my opinion, one of the best situations to help someone, because it really shows them you aren’t helping to gain anything.

Follow Through Once You Begin to Help. Of course, to counter the last point, not following through once you begin or promise to help is one of the worst ways you can help someone. They think less of you, and everything you represent. The goal, of course, is to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

I really like this book because not only does it break Winning with People down into 25 different ways, it also sums everything up at the end of every chapter. An excellent book to use as a resource later down the road.

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Many of the Christian blogs I frequent has posts about the new 100-Minute Bible that has been released in the UK. “Proponents say it is a gateway to the classic, a crash course in Christianity that will provide a useful tool to reach out to the curious, the lapsed, and the ignorant.”

I’d like to submit my own version of the Bible called the 30-second Bible. This one is completely endorsed by Jesus and ready to hit the shelves as soon as I get a publisher. What’s in it you say?

Mark 12:28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

32″Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Jesus broke it down into really simple terms, probably for days like these where there are many many things that aren’t covered in the Bible. Many Christians spend weeks upon weeks debating on things like abortion, stem cell research, and whether the newest TV preacher is actually the anti-Christ. I just find it really strange that loving your neighbor as yourself seems to be the one most forgotten. We mock, criticize, and sometimes pity our neighbor, but neglect to do one of the two greatest commandments that Jesus set forth to all Christians. Love your neighbor as yourself.

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While reading through Creating a Community, I found an evangelism strategy used by North Point Church called “invest and invite.” On the surface, it sounds very simple, and that’s exactly what impressed me so much about the strategy. I’ve been struggling to come up with an effective way to get non-Christians to come to church without giving them the “holier than thou” speech heard round the world daily that just fortifies the non-believer’s thoughts on religion in the first place. This strategy, however, really puts into words the way Jesus ministered throughout his journey here on earth. From the book, “We encourage our attendees to invest in the lives of unbelievers and then invite them to a relevant ministry environment.”

First, invest. I think it’s very important that this is the first step. I put a lot of thought into how to just get the non-believer to believe. Something that’s very hard to do when the most important part of Christianity is believing. You can’t just start out with talk of belief in an almighty God and if you don’t you’re going to hell. That puts them on the defensive right from the start, and from then on, they have a mental filter for religious talk when you speak. So, how do you invest in someone’s life? Help a person in need? Let’s assume this is a peer, someone at work or at the local gym. They probably don’t need clothing or food. You may not have the opportunity to help them fix a tire or let them borrow a cup of sugar that often. So, how do you invest in a person’s life that is on the same level that you are?

My first thought was to go to another book on my shelf, 25 Ways to Win with People by John Maxwell. The book outlines 25 ways to make others feel better about themselves, therefore appreciate you and value your friendship. I’m going to go over three of them that I think most apply to the goal of getting a person to come to church with you.

1. Start with Yourself. I love the quote out of the book by Harry Firestone, “You get the best out of others, when you give the best of yourself.” Make sure your emotionally healthy and happy. The task at hand involves sharing this happiness with others and showing them Jesus through you and your actions. Remember that investing and inviting a peer will require accountability.

2. Pass the credit onto others. This is especially effective if the person your trying to invite works with you. Selfless acts that build up others. Don’t just do this for this person, but for others also. Make it a daily occurrence to build up other people by crediting them and giving them compliments. People love praise and it brightens their day to get it.

3. Listen with your heart. “The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said” — Peter Drucker. Even though this is a very passive way to invest in someone’s life, it’s one of the most important. Why? Listening opens up opportunities in the other areas. When you really listen to someone, even if they seem to only talk about work, you can often hear needs and problems surface. Maybe this person and their spouse haven’t had a night out in a long time and you could give them a gift certificate to a local restaurant. That’s just one idea, and I’m betting there are plenty more if you really start listening with your heart.

It’s very easy for most people to give money to a charity but investing in peer’s life takes focus. Changing your daily routine from one that focuses mainly on your needs to one that puts some of that focus on someone else will take time. A good way to accomplish this change is notes around the house or at work that will help focus you everyday on your goal.

There are many different ways to do this. I’d recommend starting small. Invite them to a church function outside of church. The more friends they have from your church, the better chance they have of getting into a routine of attending church. Of course, there are two possible answers to your request.

Yes. Great! Reduce any anxiety they have about attending church by letting them know about what will be going on and be prepared to answer any questions they have about what will be happening. If they are anything like me, then one of their worries might be getting singled out once they get there. If they are nervous about this, take steps to insure this doesn’t happen by calling friends, letting your pastor know about them coming, etc.

No. This isn’t as bad as you think. By investing in someone’s life, it not only helps them, but helps you as well. Hopefully, you now have a friend and there will be other opportunities to get this person involved with church and hopefully in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Also keep in mind that it’s possible that another “Christian” hurt this person and now they are cautious towards religion in general.

For some, this won’t be as rose-colored as I make it seem I know. It can take anywhere from weeks to years to make something like this happen. Trust in God, pray about your goal, and let him lead you to victory. The outcome may be a little different than you expected, or take a little longer than you thought, but by investing in someone’s life and inviting them to church, you’re on the great commission given to you by Jesus Christ.

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Not that I think anyone cares, but sometimes I find myself looking for new books to read and often spend more time than I should at Amazon looking for books. Here are just some books that I currently have on the shelf waiting for me to read that are at least worth checking out if you’re in the market for a new book.

The Barbarian Way (Just finished this one)

Creating a Community

The Tipping Point

Today Matters

Of course, all authors were speakers at Catalyst 2005. I really wish I could hear all the authors of books on my reading list before reading them because it really gives you some idea of what they are about. The only one I can say I’m not really anxious to read is Today Matters by John Maxwell. He didn’t really impress me at the conference and the last couple of books I’ve read by him seem like it is republished material that he’s already talked about. I think he has some great ideas and insights, but tends to try to turn those into 2 or 3 books instead of just one. I still buy and read his books for the same reason I read all my other books: new ways to think, vision, and ideas.

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