Be Offensive In Love (Part 1)

Posted on January 31, 2015 by ccpastormike

Thus says the Lord of hosts,“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord. “They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’; And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, They say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’ Jeremiah 23:16-17

Are you a watcher? I mean do you pay attention to the times we live in? Are you aware of the shift in what is considered to be polite and impolite conversation culturally speaking? Let me zero in specifically on evangelism. Have you noticed the huge shift in the methods of presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

I believe that many of the new approaches to evangelism are not well thought out and lack clear biblical support. The reason so many of these new emergent and hipster strategies are gaining a foothold in churches is because too many Christians have succumbed to new definitions of old words. Our society has determined that new definitions are needed in order to rationalize ungodly behavior. A case in point is the word tolerance.

In America tolerance once meant that everyone had a right to express their viewpoint and everyone had a right to disagree with a viewpoint. Today tolerance means that everyone has a right to express a viewpoint as long as it is a socially acceptable viewpoint. In other words, if you hold a viewpoint that is contrary to what the society at large believes, you are not free to express yourself. If you are brave enough to try then you will be met with a very hostile “shout down” by the more enlightened people in our midst.

This has clear implications for telling other people about Jesus Christ. It has become increasingly impolite and in fact culturally incorrect to speak about anyone “needing” Jesus. The Christian faith is being systematically muted by self-appointed “elites” and apparently many Christians are ok with this development.

I will be addressing this development in a five-part series of thoughts entitled, “Be Offensive In Love.” Stay tuned for Part 2.

God bless you today friends.

Gourmet Meal or Crumbs?

Posted on January 25, 2015 by ccpastormike

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Ephesians 5:22, 25

“Love makes the world go round” is a cute adage that is simple in its message but deficient in explaining exactly how that works. Love is as the poet says a “mysterious thing” and something that is both fleeting and enduring. Love has the capacity to satisfy the soul like a gourmet meal or it can starve the one who receives only crumbs.

Let me cut to the chase here folks. How would you describe your relationship with your spouse? Would you give it a thumb up or a thumb down? I don’t mean is everything going great right now because truth is, almost every marriage has a few pot holes every now and then. What I am asking is this – is your marriage on solid footing? Is the foundation of your spousal relationship solid?

If you cannot say “yes it is,” then let me encourage you today to begin the process of evaluating why. The decision to begin to build a solid foundation for your marriage may be an individual one, but to make it happen takes team work.

Taking the necessary steps to construct, restore, or repair a damaged marriage must begin with determining to love your spouse even though they may be behaving in an unloving way. Let me issue a caveat here – I am not suggesting that you should accept abusive behavior in the name of love, and that includes physical, verbal, or emotional abuse. But I am suggesting that you live the truth that love is not primarily an emotion. It is a decision in the biblical sense. So determine to honor your covenant vows to love your spouse through the thick and thin of life.

Next, determine to be honest and transparent with your spouse. This will require a generous amount of trust. Some information will be hard to share and the fear of being judged can be a tremendous weight. Press on anyway. If not initially, your spouse will in time see that your love for him/her outweighs the hurt, because the goal in being honest with one another is to begin to build accountability, which ultimately leads to trust.

When trust is an integral part of the marriage relationship then you are able to overcome those things that previously were stumbling blocks. In effect you are being equipped to demonstrate love in the biblical sense. Friends, your spouse deserves the best you can give not the left over crumbs.

That is a transforming truth.

Mike’s Mix For January 23, 2015

Posted on January 23, 2015 by ccpastormike

Here are some of the many sites I visited this week and the articles I read. What have you been reading lately? Share that in the “Leave a Comment” section above.

Dan Doriani serves Covenant Seminary as Professor of Theology. He writes “How Preachers Read the Bible For Themselves” posted on The Gospel Coalition.

Mike Leake posts something similar to my “Mike’s Mix” on his blog Borrowed Light entitled Today in Blogworld.

Facts & Trends addresses some strategies to minister to college age adults in “8 Ways to Keep College Students in Your Church.”

Chad Hall posts “4 Kinds of Fake Faith” on the Transformed blog. A good reminder to evaluate ourselves constantly in light of the Scriptures.

I recently completed a five-part series about the necessity of men praying for their wives as a part of my Transforming Moments spots for radio, so this article by Logan Merrick caught my eye – “Men Do We Really Love Our Wives?”

Enjoy your weekend friends!

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5 NASB

*As always, references in my blog do not constitute full and unqualified endorsement of everything you might find on another blog site. Be Bereans folks. Acts 17:11

The Gospel of Matthew – Chapters 1-2

Posted on January 22, 2015 by ccpastormike

In a couple of weeks I will be begin teaching through the Gospel of Matthew for the third time. In light of that I will be posting some of my old sermon notes from previous trips through this wonderful book. Feel free to share, use, and comment below. God bless you my friends.

Matthew 1-2

Any Sherlock Holmes movie fans out there this morning? Remember the “Hounds of the Baskerville? In that movie Sherlock Holmes and his faithful sidekick Dr. Watson went on a camping trip.

After a very good evening meal cooked and ate around an open fire the 2 went to sleep in their tent. Some hours later, Sherlock nudged Watson and said “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.”

Watson replied, “I see millions and millions of stars.”

So Sherlock asked, “What does that tell you?”

Continue reading →

A Prayer for Those Battling Sin

Posted on January 17, 2015 by ccpastormike

Puritan theologian John Owen wrote the classic work The Mortification of Sin in 1656 to analyze and apply what Paul meant in Romans 8:13 when he said, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you “put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Owen has much to share about the important topic of killing our sin including what we need to believe about our common struggle, what mortifying sin is and isn’t, and practical principles for putting your sin to death. Below is a prayer based on the book that should help us mortify our sin and live in joyful obedience to Christ:

Most Gracious Heavenly Father,

I come to you a needy and contrite sinner,
with no power on my own to put to death the deeds of the body.

Daily come to my aid making it my business
to mortify the indwelling power of sin in my life.

May I never attempt to mortify in my own strength,
forgetting that without Your Spirit my efforts will be in vain.

Lord, through Your Spirit help me put to death
the subtle and crafty strength of the enemy.

As I wake each day, give me strength to remember my task of killing sin,
and remember that sin will kill me if I do not kill it.

Keep me from ever letting up in my battle with sin,
knowing constantly that sin will take advantage.

Help my heart abound in grace that flows from your Spirit,
and destroy in my heart the consuming lust for sin.

Give me a life characterized by the mortification of sin,
and give me life, vigor and comfort
for my life and for that battle.

Lord, each day remind me to strive after total obedience,
and so weaken the power of sin upon my life.

Aid me to know the methods and occasions for sin’s success,
and to fight and contend constantly for holiness.

May I constantly be aware of the guilt, danger, and evil of sin,
knowing that without you, I fall into a seared conscience,
hardness of heart, and deception of my soul.

Lord grant that your holy law is always upon my mind,
so that it may guide me and cause me to fear you.

By the graces of Your Spirit,
implant humility to weaken pride,
purity of mind to cleanse uncleanness,
heavenly-mindedness to counter a love for this world.

May Your Spirit,
cause my heart to abound in grace and the fruits that are contrary to the flesh,
consume and expose the root of my sin,
bring the cross of Christ into my heart through faith.

For it is only by gazing at the grace displayed on the cross of Christ
that I will be able experience its sin killing power.

I pray this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ that is above every name,
AMEN.

Author: Kevin Halloran. You can follow Kevin on Twitter @KP_Halloran or on his blog Kevin Halloran – Books, Christ, Culture

Direct Link to this post – http://www.kevinhalloran.net/tag/prayer/