Saturate Challenge

Posted by Jan Horak on May 4, 2012 at 12:12 am

Psalm 119:9-16 (ESV)

9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare
all the rulest of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.

We all have passions. We have things that we absolutely LOVE doing. We all have things we would ‘rather’ be doing than homework, sitting in school or even chores. Some really have a passion for sports: Soccer, Basketball, Baseball or even uni-cycling. Others have passion for the arts or for shopping. I have a passion for science, building things and launching rockets and flying airplanes (model airplanes … at the moment). Give me something broken to tinker with and I will tinker with it until I can figure it out.

Given the opportunity to do so, we fill our time with our passions. Your schedule will wrap around the things you fill your life with. If I were to live my life in your schedule … I most likely would not be to happy as your life would be filled with things I do not enjoy as much as you do.

And then there are things we know we should be passionate about … yet just aren’t. For many in churches and youth groups we have a lot of passions … and we know we should be passionate about God, reading His Word, living out His Will … yet if we are honest we would have to admit that passion isn’t always there. Often it just feels forced.

How do you become passionate about God? His Word? Spending time with him? … by saturating your life with Him … because it is what fills your heart that will lead your life.

In series we will look at this very Question and search the answer. Looking and following the life of David we will find the answer. Psalm 119:9-16 will be our guide.

During the three Wednesdays we will be covering this series, we would like to invite and challenge you to saturate your lives with the living Word, take a look at your lives, your schedules and remove things that maybe shouldn’t be there as much: some of the songs you may listen to, some of the movies or films perhaps, some of the things you do just to fill your life. We challenge you to fill your life, your time, your schedule with time in His Word. Become a sponge that is filled up … saturated … dripping wet with the living Word of God. Even if you miss the lessons, take the challenge and read the Word. You can find the reading plan by clicking here. Read and follow along through David’s life … a man after God’s own Heart and learn how in good times and in bad times he was saturated and filled with passion about God.

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the lawt of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

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Posted in Wednesday Night Bible Study

Facial Recognition.

Posted by Jan Horak on January 17, 2012 at 10:50 pm

6 Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?”
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.

7 You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.

8 I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 4:6-8 (NIV84)

One Sunday morning at church I was walking through the hallway when I remembered that my youngest son would be in a new class. The ‘Waddler’ class. That is the age group of kids that have just started walking and are moved out of the baby nursery so they won’t trample on the littlest ones.

So this was my sons first week in this new class room. I will have to admit, it is a wonderfully cute sight to see a bunch of one year olds waddle through a class room. Each on his own course. Each really not that aware of what the other is doing or where they are headed. They occasionally take note of the others when they bump into each other or have grabbed the same toy at the same time, but in all reality they are little bodies that don’t really interact with one another …

So I stood there at a distance watching and being fascinated at this humorous sight of one year olds. When suddenly my son saw me and recognized me. His posture changed. His actions change. From a random seeming, self absorbed aimless waddle around the room, he switched over to a committed path with an expression of certainty on his face showing and voicing that he recognized me, wanted to be with me and was positioning himself to let the world know that I was his daddy and that we belonged together. In my arms. In my presence. From an individual doing his own one year old thing, to a child that belongs in his father’s arms.

And I will tell you, even though I really was just watching the strange and funny sight. Part of me wasn’t really trying to hide and all of me was thrilled when he acknowledged me and desired to be nowhere other than just with me. In my arms.

Our relationship with the heavenly father is not really any different. He watches us, not really trying to hide. He sees our actions and interactions. Observes our direction or lack thereof in our lives. I would suggest he is honored, thrilled and filled with joy when we do what we were created to do, and that is acknowledge him. Position ourselves so the world sees that we are his and let it be known vocally and expressing it through our words.

The volunteers in the preschool rooms don’t really like it when I watch my kids and I understand why, my son recognizes me and it’s all over. He only wants to be with me. Oh to have that same passion for our Lord.

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Posted in Blog, Seeing God

Mobile communication.

Posted by Jan Horak on April 20, 2010 at 5:29 pm

So here I am sitting in a car stuck in traffic and I was wondering what I could do that would be somewhat productive.

I have read the live feed of my Facebook friends and caught up on my twitter feed. And then I was just sitting here and realized something that I think we have all slowly been realizing. We live in a world of mobile communication.

It was one of those DUH moments. I can be in the mountains of Switzerland, in a car in Germany, even in a plane over the ocean, since January I could even be in outer space or obviously in my house or even at work and be in constant communication with the rest of the world from the palm of my hands. We are connected. We are or at least can be in constant communication. We are virtually addicted to it!

But you know what? Mobile communication is nothing new. It has been around for millennia. And I am not referring to smoke signals, bird calls or other vocal signals. Mobile communication and the need and desire for constant connection have been with us since the beginning of time.

God gave us the need for communication. He gave us the ability to communicate. And he gave us the mobility of it all as well. He Himself walked in communication with Adam and Eve in the garden.

What have we done with this gift and ability? We have and are filling it ever more with others. Spiritual sounding blogs and tweets that we read more than the nice and compact, mobile and transportable ever tweeting Word of God.

What was the first thing you read today? The newspaper? The live feed on Facebook? The tweets of the people you follow?

Oh wait! You follow Jesus! At least some of you do. Well then you should think about your mobile communication. At least re-prioritize the time spent and the order of reading and responding. Some of it is useful, helpful and beneficial. But is it pushing the origin of all communication out of the center of your life? Where is God on your list? And is it a two way or a one way communication? Has He heard from you? Really heard?

Well I gotta go. There are others waiting to talk to me. I am almost home from my day trip. And you know what? The are some more things I need to talk to the Father about.

So after I posted this in the car this afternoon, I discovered this while preparing my message for tomorrow. In a sense this gets the point across while talking about a different topic and much more humerous than my post.:

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Posted in Blog, Talking to God

@ & #

Posted by Jan Horak on April 19, 2010 at 9:04 pm

Ever felt in need of purpose? Ever wonder if there was anything special in store for you in your life?

Imagine for a second, if you can, you were a certain key on a keyboard.

You look around at the other keys and they all seem to be used quite often.

There are the letters, they have the purpose to help create words that add up to a greater composition. They get used the most. They communicate great things. Some more than others, yet they all are used regularly. And you are not part of them.

The number keys also get used … and there are two sets of them! And well whatever they are a part of either is worth a lot or adds up to some really impressive formulas that can help interpret the way the world is put together. Yet you are not a number key.

Then there are the mathematical keys, they help hold the formulas together + are the reason formulas even make any sense.

Then there are the punctuation keys. They have the purpose to help make sense out of all the words by limiting sentences, (& they help indicate a side thought or snide remark … or EMOTION!!!!!) … yet you are not one of them.

You just sit there and wonder why you even exist.

You are the one key most people don’t even know the name for: the monkey hook, the funny looking a, the a in a circle. You are the @ key.

Then one day, some guy decides to give you a purpose. You are to put a name and a location together. You are placed into something called an ‘e-mail address’. And before you know it you are one of the most used, easiest recognised and important symbols used!

Then your neighbor the so called pound key on the phone, that number thingy key … # … he follows your lead. He isn’t used all to often either. He is beginning to wake up to the world around him. The noise you make when you are used is making him notice there is more to this world than just sitting around on the keyboard. He is even given a new name and with it a new purpose: The Hash-tag. And he now helps people track topics. He can join and help discuss and connect people with others who share a common interest. A great and noble task.

Now look back at your life. Your God given life. Your flesh and blood life. You may feel like that @ key that just sat around until it was given a purpose.

However you have a purpose. God had something very detailed in mind when he created you. You may have to wait. It may seem like a long time. The @ key has been around on our keyboards since 1902. It wasn’t till 1971 that it was used for e-mail addresses (that’s what Wiki says … so it has to be true) and then it wasn’t till almost 20 years later that the world learned the purpose of that key as e-mail took off in the early 90s.

You may just have to wait. Wait on the Lord that is.

While you wait do what you know is in God’s will. You may not have to wait long … or even not at all … before you sense purpose. Being in God’s will is step one. Learn his will, by being in his Word that would be step two. Then live out that Word in your life that would be step 3. And before you know it. You won’t be wondering about your purpose. Not really.

You may wonder if things will ever slow down … because in the middle of His will you will notice: The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few and really you need to help other find their purpose in Him so you can get this work done.

What about you? Ever feel purposeless? How? Why? and How long? Have you ever found purpose? How’d you find it?

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Posted in Blog, God is in Control, Pitching in to change the world

Unusual Silence.

Posted by Jan Horak on April 18, 2010 at 11:18 pm

I live about 2-3 Kilometers from a pretty busy airport runway. Come to think about it, I have lived close to airports for the past 26 years of my life.

I am really used to the sound of engines of all sizes on all sorts of planes, from fighter jets to cargo planes. After a while you really don’t notice them unless something changes. A new type of airplane flies in or they switch the direction of take offs etc.

This weekend something has been different. Noticeably different. And to be honest I didn’t even notice it at first, if that makes any sense. I just stopped and stood there and realized something was different. And it took me awhile to really notice. Something was missing. The noise, it was gone.

For 26 years I have always heard planes. Day and night. And now that was gone … and still is gone. And this silence is … well … unusual and because it is unusual it is almost uncomfortable.

I always thought I lived in a quiet neighborhood … and now it is confirmed. I do.

This has got me thinking. I had grown so used to the noise that what I would normally refer to as silence, now doesn’t seem all that silent. Real silence is … well … A LOT quieter.

Many of us have probably heard the verses of Psalm 46 quoted before: Be still and know I am God.

Some of us may have tried to find a quiet place in our lives; we may have even found what to us seemed to be a quiet time and a quiet place. We may have been able to ‘hear God’ better. Could it be though, that more often than not, we just turned the volume level down, yet never really turned the noise off? Aren’t we really honestly uncomfortable with just silence and not being on the go?

Now here we are all over Europe sitting still because, frankly we can’t go anywhere. No planes are flying, trains, busses and ferries are all booked. We have no other option other than to just stop and wait. By the tone of things on the news, Facebook and twitter, it seems to be a really hard thing to accept. No one wants to just sit, be still and wait.

For those of us who have faith it even tests us. We need to put just that very faith into practice and rely on God and know that he is in control. Obviously all of this is not in our control.

It is sort of funny that it takes something as prehistoric sounding as a volcano erupting in Iceland to teach us this: We are not in control.

Our technology is not all powerful. Our agendas for our lives, our coming and going, are not in our hands. We are simply overcome by something as basic as ashes.

What kind of noise have you become too accustomed to in your life? What distracts you from just sitting, being still, listening and waiting on the Lord? Have you ever completely unplugged? Everything? Have you made your life really, really quiet and just sat there, listening and waiting on God? My guess is that when your life is quiet, really quiet, the still small whisper isn’t that quiet at all.

That has been my experience with God. My life really had to be quiet first. It wasn’t quiet on my terms, but in His terms. And I wasn’t comfortable with that, yet it was then that I heard him the loudest and clearest. So try to be still and listen, who knows what kind of things God has up his sleeves to get out attention … honestly, I really don’t want to find out.

Read 1 Kings 19:9-13 for a story of hearing God and consider where you may be listening for God.

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Posted in Blog, God is in Control

Fish Eye’s View

Posted by Jan Horak on March 6, 2010 at 2:01 am

Short version:

Matthew 4:18-22 (NLT) & Mark 1:16-21 (NLT)

I was at the pool today playing with my waterproof camera. I was messing around and took a few pictures of myself through the water. Suddenly the thought hit me: Jesus called us to be fishers of men. Fishermen are normally above the water surface.

So what does the fish see? The bait? Our shadow? Does it even see our face?

If we are fishers of men, how do the ‘fish’ perceive us? Is it attractive? Or scary? Chances are if the fish can’t really see us for who we are, they will be scared since there seems to be scary barrier called the ‘waters of life’ between us.

You want to fish for men? Dive in. How else are you going to reel them in? Jesus used his loving arms.

Long Version:

I will be honest I am not much of a fisherman when it comes to fishing. But I do love fish. Not really to eat, but to watch. I have had an aquarium for about 12 years now, before that I helped my parents put in a pond in their yard. I have always found fish to be relaxing.

I watch them and let my mind wander and when it wanders it goes down some pretty strange paths. So I have always wondered how fish see and hear or perceive us. We can stare in awe and wonder at their beauty and be calmed by their peaceful presence in the water, yet they seem to shy away from us for the most part, until they grow accustomed to our presence.

You can even train them to do some wild things. (Just watch the videos below!) One of my fish always sits at the same spot of the aquarium at the same time every day waiting for his food, no fancy tricks.

I used to sit and stare through an aquarium and notice that I would see a reflection on the water surface making it almost impossible to look out of the water. So when I had my first water proof camera, what did I do? I instantly put it in my aquarium to see what the world looked like in the eyes of my fish. After all they spent a lot of time watching me, I wanted to know what they were really seeing … and hearing.

And not to my surprise, they saw basically pretty much the same thing I saw. Through the glass that is. The water surface was different. It depends on how still the water is. What they usually see doesn’t look all too attractive to me … actually rather scary.

Today I was at the pool playing around with one of my underwater cameras. And I started to realize something; Jesus calls us to be fishers of men. We are the fishermen, the lost are the fish. So how do the fish see, hear or perceive us?

I have been a church kid, the raised in a Christian home kind of kid all my life. I am around a lot of people who have been in church a long time. I stand on the outside of the world looking at all the crazy kind of ‘fish’ there are, having forgotten what it was like to really be a fish. I wonder what may be going on in their minds. I wonder what bait might be the best to hook em and reel em in. But have I ever put much though into how they may actually see me?

When I go out into the community spending time with other outside of the church, I do spend some time in the ‘waters of the world’, but my vision is different than those who only know the ‘waters of the world’. I wear the goggles of Salvation that have changed my vision. I see past the surface of the waters and see beyond them to a loving Savoir. I know that when I break through the surface there is a place of refuge, peace, completion, soul refreshing, soul healing and soul curing. What looks scary to many is inviting to me, because I have experienced good things outside of the waters.

When you look at the verses of how Jesus calls those first disciples to be fishers of men, he doesn’t leave it at a calling; he dives in and does it just after they start following him. He goes into the temple and instantly we see people are amazed and at awe of the authority in teaching. He didn’t use bait, he made no apologies, he lived the love of the father and taught straight from the Word without wavering. And the fish were instantly drawn to him.

If he would have stood on the outside of the waters of the world, he would have looked pretty scary to the fish. He dove in. And not becoming a fish or fish food. He drew them in with love, attention, truth and by pointing forward to life outside of the waters. (the kingdom of the father)

I could go on writing, philosophizing and rambling. But it boils down to the question: What do you look like to the fish near you? Do they come close to you or do they shy away? What do you think may need to change if they aren’t coming close?

Next time you are in a pool, go to the bottom, open your eyes and look up. And think about the fish eye’s view.

Scripture:

18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living.19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”20 And they left their nets at once and followed him.
21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too.22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. Matthew 4:18-22 (NLT)

16 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simons and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living.17 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”18 And they left their nets at once and followed him.
19 A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets.20 He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men. 21 Jesus and his companions went to the town of Capernaum. When the Sabbath day came, he went into the synagogue and began to teach.22 The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law. Mark 1:16-21 (NLT)

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Posted in Being Fishers of Men

Making Ripples

Posted by Jan Horak on September 30, 2009 at 12:08 am

A splash at a pool may be quickly applauded and get some oohs and aaahs out of the people watching, but the ripples it makes and the ripples someone makes just swimming, or even just sticking their toes into the water are often quickly the same size. The splash itself is quickly gone.

Spiritually as Christians, we shouldn’t be living to always make great splashes, but to be constantly making ripples. Ripples are much more powerful in the long run and ripples go further and last longer.

One life touched, that touches another that touches another that touches another. That is the ripple effect. And that one person that touched the first and started the ripples made the bigger impact than the one who often makes the splash.

In Matthew 28:18 and Acts 1:8 Christ commissioned us to be the ripples, starting in the center, Jerusalem, them Judea, then Samaria and then to the remotest corners of the globe.

Once our lives have been effected by the love, grace and awesomeness of Christ, we are to take that love, starting with the people closest to us (Jerusalem), then to our neighbors, friends and extended family (Judea), then to the people close to us that we DON’T get along with (Samaria) , and then to EVERYONE else in the world.

When our lives are touched by Christ, we really have no choice or no option, BUT to make ripples and let that affect our relationship to everyone

This interview I had with Adam Durso was what put the thought of the Ripple effect into my mind. Adam is a really passionate Pastor. Passionate about reaching people. He was one of those people on the side lines I ran into at a conference. He was no guest speaker. Wasn’t there to teach or lead a small group. Only to observe. He wasn’t making a splash … but being a ripple. I am glad I was able to meet and talk to him. He has done AWESOME things in New York City. To find out more of what he has done and is doing check out the links below (or just Google his name):

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Posted in Churches making a difference, Learning from others, Pitching in to change the world

Being the New Kid in Town

Posted by Jan Horak on September 13, 2009 at 12:20 pm

In our community we say hello and good-bye a lot. That could even be an understatement. Each summer we see many families move away due to the orders of the parents pulling the families out of the web of friends and support they have built up and being placed somewhere else in the world.

And as new families move in here, students often feel labeled “the new guy” (or girl) and just as it wears off school begins and once again the first week of school they receive the label “the new kid” as they roam aimlessly through the school looking for the right class and trying to figure out who is out there and what group of people to connect with etc.

I had the opportunity to speak with Phil Dooley, formerly Student ministry pastor of Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia. The youth work is called Hillsong United and has become well known for it’s praise team, which he mentored and toured with. He was the worship director for the church for a year and on staff as one of the teaching pastors. Yet God called him to a new work. And he and his family felt and responded to the call. Now he is the lead pastor of the new church plant of Hillsong in Cape Town, South Africa. Hearing that he and his family left such a good work and a comfortable life in Sydney I thought it would be interesting to hear how that transition was for them.

In this interview you will hear him speak of the move and about overcoming giants in our lives. Phil had just finished speaking on David and Goliath. It was a wonderful message about David’s focus on God and how in light of who God is, everything else seems to pale, even if it is a giant … it isn’t in comparison to God’s greatness.

Phil is very passionate about the Lord and reaching people for the Lord. When I first met him he was in the middle of a mob of students and student leaders, listening to and praying for these students. And this was before his message.

I just read a quote by Tozer this week: “Speaking as a minister, it is my strong feeling that no man has a right to preach to a crowd that he has not prayed for.” Watching and having met Phil Dooley, I know he not only has prayed for the people he speaks to, he genuinely cares for them and their needs. As a matter of fact before we had a chance to interview him, there were some girls who had figured out where he was at and upon request he went out and spoke to them for a while first, ministering to their needs and praying with them.

His passion for ministering to the needs of students and the people around him is inspiring. And I would ask you when was the last time you have been truly passionate about God’s people, and serving them, listening to them, praying with and for them? Not because Phil Dooley does it, but because someone even greater set the example:

34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

Mark 6:34

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Posted in Learning from others

Showing Compassion

Posted by Jan Horak on September 1, 2009 at 1:18 am

It wouldn’t be very helpful to post a blog entry like my last one about churches and ‘going’ without offering a way to join in on the journey of making a difference in the world.

A few months ago I was at a conference and as I almost always have a camera with me, I decided to go and meet some people on the side lines of the conference. Often times it is the people on the sidelines that have a greater deal to say than the ones in the spot lights. They are often the quiet servants who are an essential part of the whole.
They are people who have hearts of service and are wired to work, work, work while others ‘get the glory’ yet the servants are the ones really doing the work that makes the difference.

I am not saying that I didn’t get a lot out of the conference I was at, on the contrary I did. However, in my non-skilled, complete lack of journalism talent approach to the interviews I am sharing with you on this blog, I really never know who I am talking to when I go out to meet them. In this case I googled the name of the man I was interviewing after I returned home. Only to find out I had interviewed the CEO of Compassion, Germany. About a month and a half later I ran into him again and he even recognized me, which surprised me.

After my first encounter with him, I sat down at home and researched the ministry that compassion offers. I have a huge heart for children and a great desire to help those in need. Often I sit and watch the news with tears in my eyes since it seems the need is soo great out there and my humble resources are limited. Besides having limited resources, the greatest need is almost always on the other side of the globe. So the feeling of helplessness sets in. I grew up in the age of ‘save the whales’ and ‘save the rain forest’ ( … strange that no one ever thinks about ‘save the people’ … oh wait a minute that was Christ’s idea 2000 years ago. )

As I was browsing through the site and looking at some of the children available to sponsor (without the intention of committing) I came across a child with the same, unusual first name of my oldest son. Nehemiah. I paused. I froze. And I thought: Wow … there is a kid on the other side of the world with my sons name, he is close to his age … but in great need.

That thought remained with me for several days. I shared it with my wife and we both felt that we should sponsor this child, it haunted me that there was a child in need and I could make a difference. When we went online to finally sponsor him, he was off the web-site. A little disappointed, since we had decided it would be a good thing for our oldest to see a child to pray for and help support another child; we tried to find out if we could still sponsor this one. As the days went by we discovered a girl a very similar name as our daughter and another boy with a very similar name as our son.

I learned two lessons maybe more, while processing all the emotions and thoughts that went through my head.

For one … when you have the opportunity to help, don’t wait. Do it. There are other children to help. But there was a connection that day when I saw the young boy on the site. I prayed and pray for him and praise God that someone out there is supporting him. But it could have been me, maybe even should have been me.

Second. I would say anyone who can read this blog has more than enough resources to help a child or a family somewhere else in the world. Let’s face it; even though we think we have limited resources … we are a part of the richest people of the world. One less meal at McDonalds, one movie skipped at the theater and a child can go to school for a month. A village could have a goat or two. A family a roof over their head. … A little strange … a small sacrifice for us … is a HUGE blessing for so many others.

As a youth ministry we have supported a child through World Vision, we are now on our second, since the first no longer needs support. At home, my children now remind us to pray for the two children we now sponsor through Compassion. The pictures of these children are on our piano, next to the pictures of my children with the same names. And if we find children with the same names as our other two (which are also unusual Bible names) then we will jump on board and as our children grow up, they can know that other children on the other side of the world are in a different life situation than their own. And I hope they will learn that we are blessed with more than enough ‘stuff’ and as we send letters and pictures and receive them and occasionally send gifts … I pray my children will develop a lifestyle of showing compassion. And maybe as they grow up, the world will be a more balanced place.

I encourage you, pray about getting involved, somewhere somehow and share the blessings you have so that a child somewhere can not only have a ‘better’ life, but a hopefully have a fulfilled life as you support a Christian organization that reaches these children for Christ as well. There are several organizations you can go through … don’t hesitate much longer though , the need only gets greater.

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Matthew 25:31-46

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Posted in Pitching in to change the world

Christians that make a difference.

Posted by Jan Horak on August 22, 2009 at 11:36 pm

I have sat in church most of my life. I have been involved in church most of my life. In my mind, for the longest time, it didn’t seem to make sense that there weren’t more people coming to church. Everything in my life revolved (and most of the time still does revolve) around church.

Christ came to found the church. He did not die to create a clubhouse. He did not build a church to be a sub-culture, a place of seclusion from the world around. The church was to be/IS to be a living organism. That grows, the breathes, that has a heart beat. It can be a safe-house or refuge for those who are weary from the world around for a time being. It is a place to find encouragement, stillness, refreshment, fellowship and receive new clear vision of what a Christian should be about. Yet we are not to be caught up in sitting around and finding rest, we are to return to the mission of being about Christ’s business, seeking and saving the lost.

So what exactly is a Christian supposed to be about? Sitting in church? Creating a club? Separating other Christians from the World? No. Jesus was clear about that: Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8 … GO.

We are to go. Now if individual Christians are to go, shouldn’t the church as a whole GO as well? Even while being a place of refuge, stillness, encouragement etc. the BODY can be on the GO. That is what is so great about fellowship, when we are not alone and are connected we can take a step back for a few moments to catch our breath while those we are traveling along life’s highway with, are on the front lines ‘GO’ing, ‘REACH’ing and encouraging us with prayer and support. Then we can join in again when we have had a moment of rest.

What am I trying to get at? Too many churches are just the opposite of what they are meant to be. I drive along the highways of the south in the US and I see churches on every street corner. I have even driven some of those highways at 9:30 am or 11:00 am on Sunday mornings. And many of those church parking-lots are empty. Some are full. Some are very full. With as many churches as I see, you would think the south would be a ‘Christian’ place. However the communities I drive through show no evidence of a local churches impact. When the church doors close, too many churches shut down. The fellowship, togetherness, the ‘go’ing often quits.

OK so some of the people do go. To the restau’rants’ around the corner. To rant about the sermon, to rant about the worship, to rant about the service at the restaurant on a Sunday (where people are working because church people expect others to not keep the Sabbath holy?). But do they go any further than that with the church on the go idea?

There are exceptions, I do know that there are groups of people who do go. REALLY go. And there are good examples of great beacons of lights that shine, Hope, Glory and Christ into the world around them and even beyond that.

One of those churches is Sherwood Baptist Church (www.sherwoodbaptist.net) located in Georgia, USA. I had the opportunity to meet one of the pastors and one of the church members from this church and speak to them a few months ago. I want to share this interview with you.

The vision of this church is awesome. When the statement came up by a staff member: I would like to do some Christian movies but churches don’t do that (or a statement similar to that) the senior Pastor responded: Why not?!

What followed have been 3 movies that have made a difference. These projects have grown a church and a community closer together while working to shine the light of the Gospel into the homes across the country and the globe.

What can you, our church, our youth ministry, your church, your youth ministry do to become a beacon of light, a ministry on the ‘go’? And even if we can think of some things we may be doing good and right … what more can we do? Where can we improve? How do we help other churches re-catch Christ’s vision? … Just a few thoughts going through my mind. Let us pray that the church as a whole get’s up and goes. And makes a difference, each inside of God’s vision for that individual church. Pray about your part of God’s global movement and join in and be on the go!

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Posted in Churches making a difference

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