On Your Way To......

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

We are living in an instantaneous culture. We are always going from place A to place B without thinking, or for many, caring about the journey.  We want our food instantly, so they have microwaves and fast-food. We want entertainment instantly, so they have on-demand movies and cable television. We want, we want, and we want it all right now, so we can have stress free and happy lives! But the truth is, when on our way to someplace, we forget the importance of the journey.

We are on the way to finding gratification for short-lived pleasures in our day to day lives. We think that with so many ways to fulfill all our desires we are happier today than any other time in history. But, you don’t have to look far to realize that’s just not true. We have more hurts, pains, and poor choices because we look at the right now versus the right way.

On any journey we take baggage with us to supply us with comfort. Our bags are not packed with shirts, jeans, and toiletries but with the junk of our lives. We pack away insults, hurts, abandonments, pride, and sins to hide them from the world. After a while we find out we are going nowhere fast because we are weighed down and can’t find our breath much less peace.

It’s when we are on the way to the cross that we see Jesus and His journey. We see the fulfilling, accepting, and abundant life in Him, and not the pleasures of the fast pace world. On our way to the cross we find heartfelt answers with purpose and meanings. But the journey needs to be seen, so I have just a glimpse:

On the way to the cross Jesus…. showed us the way, the light, the truth.

On the way to the cross Jesus…. showed God’s love unconditionally.

On the way to the cross Jesus…. made it personal for us and to us.

We are moving so fast that we either forget or have never really yielded our lives to Jesus.  It is scary to look inside and see all the junk we carry around and think we can just excuse it away, because the baggage is too big or heavy to unpack by ourselves.  Just ask, and with a true heart, give your baggage to Jesus. Give your anger, your guilt, your fear and your sins to Him. 

When you place your faith in Jesus, you are secured in Him forever. If you have simply paid lip service and have never truly given your heart to Him, surrender today. It’s never too late to make Jesus the Lord of your life, and on your way to the cross others will see you have made it personal.

Live Life Large 4 Christ!

Pastor Frank Lott

Stop Defining Yourself By Your Hurts-The 70 x 7 Principle!

Matthew 18:21-23 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 

“I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven. For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.”

Life is simple but we like to make it hard, painful, and many times just ugly with an unforgiving spirit and grudges. When we stop defining our lives by how we've been hurt and start allowing God to define who we are in His grace, things will start to change. You might even find compassion, love, and understanding; you know--that thing Christ gave to you called Grace!

We all have been hurt by the actions or words of another. Maybe your mother criticized you, a coworker sabotaged a project, or your spouse had an affair. These wounds can leave you with a lifelong feeling of anger, bitterness, or even desires of settling the score — but if we don't practice The 70 x 7 Principle, we might be the one who pays for it the most. By embracing forgiveness, we can also embrace peace, hope, and love. 

We must understand what forgiveness looks like before we can totally step into it. Usually, forgiveness is a decision to let go of anger and thoughts of revenge. The act that hurt you might always remain a part of your life, but forgiveness can reduce the grip it has on you and help you focus on the positive parts of your life. Forgiveness can even lead to feelings of understanding and compassion for the one who hurt you. The benefits of forgiving and letting go of grudges can make way for compassion, kindness, and peace. Living in the spirit of forgiveness can lead to:

• Healthier relationships
• Greater spiritual oneness
• Less anxiety and stress 
• Lower blood pressure
• Lower the chance of depression
• Lower risk of substance abuse

Forgiveness doesn't mean that you deny the other person's responsibility for hurting you or justify the wrong done to you. You can forgive the person without excusing the act. The 70 x 7 Principle brings a kind of peace or as I like to say “lets the offender stop living in your head rent free,” and allowing you to go on with life. It is a choice to live with bitterness or to live in a way that shows you have found a better way of living. 

Live Life Large 4 Christ,

Pastor Frank Lott

Ethos and Wishy Washiness

Psalm 25:20-21 Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.  May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, LORD is in you.

Today’s world is full of struggles and finding the thin line between the social norm, as well as your faith, in doing right before God. What is the right thing to do when the situation opens the door to either making things look easy, or taking the door which leads you to doing right.  There is a difference, one is temporary and the other is lifelong action. We need a creed or a belief to rest in, to make the decision second nature. Our steps should lead to not just an ideal, but an action based in character--Christ like character. 

What’s right is right under God? The problem in answering the question is that many people get caught up in emotions or false justice when it comes to character.  We must take decisive action and stand by what God says is true. 

Ethos is a Greek word meaning "character" which is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, or ideology with the power of influence on emotions, behaviors and even morals.  If your ethos is of God, stay with it, because it will never fail you. The social norm will go back and forth like the waves of the sea, God’s truth remains fixed confidently in hope, faith, and love. Yet in the world in which we live today, ethos is such a relative term. People say, “Well, that’s fine and good for you, but don’t impose your beliefs on me.”  So many have fallen into an era of moral “wishy washiness” that says truth and falsehood are neither absolute. God’s Word will never lead you off course. His word is our example of absolute grace, love, and character. In a world full of sin His word is absolute and is not a “wishy washy” concept, but an example of action.  

So, step out in faith and do what is right. Don’t compromise your foundational beliefs to just get a temporary benefit, but do what you know to be right before God and before yourself. In James 4:17 it states, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”  Your choice -Ethos of God or Wishy Washy social ideology?

Live Life Large 4 Christ!

Pastor Frank

My Addiction Can....

Psalm 72:12-14  "He will rescue the poor when they cry to Him; He will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them. He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and He will rescue them. He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their lives are precious to Him."

We, as a nation, are addicted to so many things from TV to drugs. Any addiction is a powerful thing, and addictions drive us to quench that overwhelming thirst. The most dangerous side of addiction is it is ruthless to both the strong, as well as the weak. The moment that thirst is fulfilled it grows in strength to make you more desperate to need/satisfy it. When we consider addiction we normally think about drug and alcohol abuse. It is bigger and wider spread than just in substances, it can turn into an unhealthy obsession of the mind and influence our actions.

Whatever your addiction is, it can become the most powerful force in your life.  Our obsession for any one thing can drive us to murder, to lie, to split personalities, and to fall deeper into depression losing ourselves with each passing moment. We find ourselves like lobster in hot water; it starts off innocent, but ends up cooking us from the inside out.

What if we desired God with a limitless and profound passion that He became the most powerful force in our life? What if we obsessed on only His will for us? It is my dream that we become addicted to God because He’ll drive us to give life, to be honest, to be of one master, and to find the escape hole in the world’s net of sin-- keeping us from being like the lobster.  A desire like that would fill the void we hunger and are longing for in everything else. It takes more than just words to fight back from worldly addiction; it takes actions of prayer, community, and forgiveness. God has the power to fix us, but it takes our desire to allow Him into our lives. 

Cry out – Cry out to Him!

Living Life Large in Christ!

Pastor Frank Lott

Hopeless to Grace-filled!

2 Peter 1:5-7   For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

 

In today’s culture our families have been broken, separated, or drowning in doubt. I know these are tough times for many of us to see grace vs. hopelessness. From a spiritual perspective, your home is the place to take your stand against the fires of hell and the winds of our sinful culture.

By God’s grace and power we must create a spiritual spot of protection to keep the storms of life from destroying families. The Bible is filled with examples of those who did not know how or felt like they deserved to be a leader. It is hard to allow God to rise up as well as keep His promises of provision.  But your testimony is the proof of God at work…just like Abraham, Ester, Peter, and Mary. They all allowed God to create a spiritual place for them to protect and raise them up to lead. They all have common threads-they all felt lost and wounded by the world. They also had great faith that put them in tough spots to lead from a God driven grace and not the hopelessness of the world.

We have testimonies and the only true bad testimony is the one not given. When the love of God is dropped in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Christ is easily first.  Then, we must practice working out of these things keep us from God. This is where your personal testimony comes in to play because OUR actions share more with the world than our words alone. We need to write it out and then write it to our hearts…. 

 Making your testimony- God Created a Need -Are you personally changed?

 

·        Describe the condition of your life.

o   In what way did God change your priorities?

o   If there has been no personal change can a person go to Heaven?

o   When you were personally changed or converted? What changes has Jesus made in your life that others can see?

 

·        What spiritual, material, emotional and/or physical needs are in your life?

o   How did your needs change… for the good from the bad?

o   What does James say about a professed faith that gives no evidence of change?

We go through trials, its part of His master plan to fine-tuning our faith. God allows us to be put into the furnace to burn off the pride, the anger, the smugness, the lust, the prejudice, or whatever sin that is present in our lives. Beware of the tendency of asking the way, when you know it perfectly well. Take the first step. Be unwavering when God speaks, act in faith and love of God. We have to get into the habit of listening to God about everything. When a crisis comes, we instinctively turn to God and to the world.

In the end, a refined faith is a treasure and a stronger family is better than gold. Through the refining process, you and I discover just how real our faith is, and so do those around us. Our personal testimonies show the journey and our growth in Christ. Ask in prayer for help in creating a spiritual place of blessing and protection for you and your family.

Living Life Large 4 Christ!
Pastor Frank

Jesus- A Passionate Lifestyle

In life, we at some point, ask the question, “Do I matter? What is God’s plan for my life?  Does God still have something for me?” The answer to these questions is, “Yes!” Regardless of your circumstances as a follower of Jesus, God is at work declaring and ordering your steps. He’s working in your home, in your family, and in your future. 

We need to be in a relationship first with Jesus, then our family, and with whomever God brings before us. We only have a limited number of days to live, would you live them large or would you just curl up in a ball waiting on death?  When we live large… it’s a bold and a passionate statement of following the word of God. We tend to end our lives before it even starts. The main cause is because we lose our passion due to the beat down the world gives us. God promises to lead us, to hold onto us, and to never ever let us go. In every part and every aspect of our lives, He is on the journey with us. We have His word on it! God calls us to be more than just bold about His gift of life, but passionate about it.

In today’s society, so many people have a passion and they bring change in the world around them.  Unfortunately, many of those changes are not of God.  The remedy for life’s unanswered questions is joy and contentment in what God has provided. The journey of life is peppered with encouragement from God. Once we learn to accept each day as a stepping to stone on the journey of life, then and only then will we enjoy what God has given you. The change starts with your first then to the world around you. If the change is done without integrity, then your questions are to how can I live for you Lord but how can I live for me?

2 Peter 1:5 Because of this, make every effort to add integrity to your faith; and to integrity add knowledge

We as Christians need to have more passion for Christ, instead of allowing the world without integrity to win!  See, we are on a limited number of days in each of our lives. We could die today or fifty years from now…it is how you live that matters. Live with a passionate lifestyle in Jesus, in prayer, and in living with integrity by God’s words. When you find the assurance in being content with God then you’ll see the signs your life has been protected! The journey is not how fare with go but who is leading our steps. 

Living Life Large 4 Christ

Pastor Frank Lott

“Not” A 2nd Class Citizen

It is true that most couples in America today have been or are going through a divorce. In fact, statistics show the numbers are 49-51% of marriages today will end up in divorce. This happens in the church as well as out of the church and those who are charged with showing forgiveness won’t or don’t know how. The church is losing entire families because of its reaction to those who get divorced. Then if a leader within a church gets divorce he or she becomes modern day lepers. In short the families of divorce become 2^nd Class Citizens within the vary community that relies on forgiveness.

The word "forgiveness" is found in the New International Version Bible in 15 different scriptures and the word “forgive” is found 63 in the same version. So, why is it not easily done? The answer is like the act itself, it must be with a genuine heart.  The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18:21-35 outlines the art of forgiveness. It is not about counting because it does not matter as long as the person seeking forgiveness is truthful and heartfelt. 

Matthew 18:21-22  Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

The framework of the passage (Matthew 18:21-35) is about Christians forgiving those who seek forgiveness. However, your forgiveness truly lies with God who forgives even the most horrific and unapologetic of sins. We as Christians tend to believe we have all the answers and are more than Christ-like. We become the judge, jury as well as the executioner of those who offend us with their actions. The controversy over whether divorce and remarriage is allowed is a bigger issue than killing or stealing for many. The truth is that it is all equal in the eyes of God. God hates all sin and in Malachi 2:16: “I hate divorce, says the LORD God of Israel.” Which is clear but, does that mean we who are divorced are 2^nd Class Citizen in His eyes? And I believe in my heart and soul the answer is NO!

The Bible makes it abundantly clear that God hates divorce and that resolution and forgiveness should be the marks of a believer’s life.  He also recognizes that divorce will occur, even among His children Sheppard’s. A divorced and/ or remarried believer should not feel any less loved or unworthy by God.  God uses our sinful disobedience to accomplish great good and in the process allows us to heal from pains of the world as we step through this world.  Besides, church leaders are not autocratic judges who lord over those who sinned more than them, but are servants who apply influence with concern and love ALL who have sinned.

I guess my point is that sin is sin and God hates it all, but He still loves us as divorced, remarried, recovering addict, fat, skinny and host of other things that would just be to redundant  to cover. If you think you are still a 2^nd Class Citizen because of what you did or you think others are lesser because of their sin please read and pray over Matthew 18:21-35.

Live Life Large 4 Christ 

Pastor Frank Lott