Let’s Tear Down the Walls – It’s Time to Rise!

Let’s Tear Down the Walls – It’s Time to Rise!

A few years ago, I remember watching an Australian movie called “Danny Deck Chair”! It was a story of an average Aussie bloke that got fed up with his life and decided to strap 500 helium balloons to a deck chair and float off into the wild blue yonder!! 

Seriously, haven’t you ever secretly wanted to strap a boatload of balloons onto a chair and head out into the big blue sky? Maybe it’s just me, but I think cruising over my neighbourhood rooftops in a helium powered chairplane would make my day.

Well, Leave it to Pixar to take this common fantasy to an entirely different level. Instead of a chair, how about we fasten helium balloons to a house and float waaaaay past our neighbourhood to South America to find the adventure and triumph we thought we’d never see.

This is the basic plot of “Up” - one of the best reviewed and finest made films to hit the theatres in a long time and about to be released in the U.S..

(Not counting Hannah Montana: The Movie, of course…*ahem*.)

What is it that makes us want to fly away and experience a radical change from our oftentimes ho hum, black and white monotone existence?

Is it that we don’t have enough entertainment options? Let’s see, iPods – internet – Facebook/MySpace – 6000 satellite channels – Wii – Mii – and 200 texts an hour…and we’re still bored?

Yup. Because you are hardwired for something else. Because the God who created you downloaded a program in you at birth that can only run properly when you rise “up” out of your day-to-day doldrums and find adventure in fulfilling the greatest mission ever assigned:

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

These are some of the last words Jesus spoke before He returned to heaven. But they are much more than words…they are balloons that you can secure to your soul – and when you do, they will lift you away to places you never thought you could reach.

How? Well let’s look at each ‘balloon’ a little closer – and picture Jesus saying these words to you right here and right now:

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.”

Jesus Christ came back from the dead and conquered the one thing we will never be able to defeat – which is physical and spiritual death. Because of His triumph, we have the gift of eternal life – and that gives Him the right to plan out our course and journey – which is:

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.

This is called ‘The Great Commission” – because it is the responsibility of every Christian to ‘pay it forward’ by sharing the amazing news that sins can be forgiven, hope can be restored, and eternal life is available by simply trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation. This is the core of the Christian’s ‘job description’ and the primary reason we were left down here and not immediately taken to heaven when we trusted Christ.

Can you see how being faithful to these words can shoot your life out of Boredomville into the skies of endless possibilities? Think about it…each day is a new opportunity to share God’s love and Christ’s message of salvation. Each person you meet is a participant in the great cosmic battle for souls destined for heaven or hell. Each word you speak and action you take is helping or hindering the Kingdom of God on planet earth.

Of course you could ignore this incredible offer of exploration and adventure and continue to believe that you’ll find excitement in life in a website or a possession, you can just sit back, settled and moved into the retirement home and just imagined what might have been.

Or…you can tie on the Spirit filled words of the Great Commission and launch into uncharted spiritual territory. You have Jesus’ unlimited power, unconditional promise of eternal life, and unconstrained presence until the end of time. With a setting like that…you have nowhere to go but- UP!

We really need to understand that we need to “Tear Down all the Walls” and the things that have kept us idle and isolated!!  We need to rise and change the world one life at a time!!

The first step in obeying the Great Commission is waking up each day praying for an opportunity to share God’s love and Christ’s message of salvation in the good news of the gospel. The next step, then, is keeping your eyes and heart wide open for chances to start a spiritual conversation. In a nutshell, make a commitment every day to pray for your unsaved friends and family, pursue conversations about Jesus Christ, and persuade them to trust in Him alone for salvation.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (Romans 1:16).

Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! (1 Corinthians 9:16).

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Angels & Demons

Angels and Demons…Faith and Science
Just when you thought you were safe from creepy crazed albino priest assassins from the Da Vinci Code…along comes the second instalment of top level conspiracies, whole lotta Catholic bashing, and meet the super secret Illuminati that I guess everyone now knows about.
Yep. I’m talking Angels and Demons the sequel (that I heard was a prequel?) to The Da Vinci Code. Only this time the film seems to have received two Vatican thumbs up – as their description is boiled down into the phrase ‘harmless entertainment’.
Although I heard the Hindus might boycott Angels and Demons – but I assure you that no Hindus, Catholics, Baptists, Atheists, or albinos were harmed in the making of this film.
Oh – and no animals either…
The core plot line of Angels and Demons revolves around a fictional historical conflict between a purely scientific group (The Illuminati) and an obvious faith based group (the Catholic Church). Without diving head first into the multiple layers of the story, the bottom line is that there is sharp disagreement over what appears to be two contradicting worldviews: faith and science.
But this really isn’t fictional, right? There are a whole lot of Illuminati-esque people who are convinced that a belief in God and a faith based approach to life began when the first con man met the first fool and convinced him/her that there is an invisible magic man in the sky.
Of course we all know, as well, that the Bible is just a dangerous book of myths with no ‘proof’ (scientific or otherwise) that might give people of faith a solid foundation to an apparently non-scientific belief.
Or…perhaps not. Let me ask you something. If you believe in the God who exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and you also believe the Bible and the Christian faith to be something as true as the law of gravity, do you have any solid evidence to back that up?
If not, you will never be able to enter into a meaningful and enlightening conversation with people who are under the false impression that Christianity is nothing more than a blind leap into religious nut job land, and that otherwise intelligent and rational folks must chuck their brains out the door when it comes to faith beliefs.
And if we have done a poor job of communicating why that isn’t the case, who can blame them???
So rather than be a part of the problem that perpetuates the ongoing conflict between faith and science, what if we became part of the solution that helps people actually talk about the issues at stake, and not simply name call and hurl insults from oftentimes ignorant and unloving positions.
By contrast, here are the instructions for how to approach the ‘Illuminati’ type people:
But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ (1 Peter 3:14-16) NLT.
Several key concepts here. First, just like 2000 years ago when this was written to Christians, you should expect opposition and attack for your faith in Jesus Christ – except back then the hostility came in the form of death threats! Yet even then, Peter instructs them and us to be ready to explain our ‘Christian hope’ – and to do it in a way that is ‘gentle and respectful’.
This is not generally what I have seen – and most likely neither have you. So how about this…would you be willing to begin a movement of Christians who take this charge from God seriously and really make headway into building bridges with our sceptical friends and family?
If so, here’s how to start. First, learn how to explain your beliefs in a way that shows how Christianity is truly a reasonable faith, and not a jump into craziness. Check out the section below for help on this.
Second, practice and pray for help with the ‘gentleness and respect’ method of debate. Ask yourself – “Am I harsh, judgmental, or prideful?” Also, develop a respect for those who value science and a purely rational/non-faith based approach to life. You don’t have to agree with a worldview to respect it. As well, you are asking them for respect, so definitely apply the principle of ‘do to others as you would have them do’ (Matthew 7:12).
Finally, be confident in the fact that your faith in Jesus Christ is based on solid evidence and rational belief. It is not a leap in the dark, rather it is truly a step into the light…so let’s let our light shine and illuminate the Illuminati folks of the world!

The internet makes it possible for Christians to find solid evidence for our faith in a shorter amount of time than in the past. This week, take some time and research your explanation for why you believe in God and have trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation. Here are a few sources to get you started:
www.doesgodexist.org/
www.gotquestions.org/Does-God-exist.html
Also, check out these books:
A Case for a Creator
A Case for Christ
A Case for Faith
All by the author Lee Strobel (www.leestrobel.com/)
As well, try to enter into conversations this week that could get the ball rolling with this subject and give you an opportunity to explain your faith in Jesus.

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone (Colossians 4:6).
We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.  I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children (1 Corinthians 4:12-14).
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:46-48).

Meeting our Needs

Every need we have has a tempting counterfeit. Counterfeits can look and feel amazingly real, but they’re deceptive. They promise what they cannot deliver. They may provide temporary satisfaction, but they are usually self-focused and fall way short of the incredible plan God has for meeting our needs.

Do you trust God to meet your needs his way? In His strength, you have the power to turn away from the counterfeits and seek satisfaction in the real thing. We have to admit our needs and see Jesus as the only option for meeting them.

What are some of the counterfeits you settle for in life? Where do you seek satisfaction when you should be finding it in God or others?

Remember Encounter will be awesome this week make sure that you get along!!

What is Easter all About???

Hey guys what is Easter all about??  Lot’s of people have many different ideas about Easter…………………………….!!

Of course there are even stranger ideas about Easter, like the one I picked up from a few blogs: “Easter is the day Christians celebrate the idea that a dead Jewish preacher came back as a zombie…”

So what is Easter to you? What really happened? Is it ridiculous to think that there was an actual event that occurred on a Sunday morning 2000 years ago that changed the course of history?

Or maybe we should be *smarter* and go with the conspiracy theories that Jesus was a great guy and all…but when you are dead, you’re, well, dead. So all this resurrection talk should be filed away with belief in the Tooth Fairy (sorry if you were still counting on that one), Santa Clause, and (of course) the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

I’ll admit that from a logical and scientific angle it seems impossible for someone to come back from the grave…but there is one more perspective I’d like you to consider, and that is a historical one.

As in, if there is overwhelming historical evidence that Jesus came back from the dead, then there must be a logical and scientific explanation as well. And most importantly, if He claimed to be the only way to heaven, then what you decide about Jesus’ existence really needs to move to the front of the line in terms of your worldview.

So let’s put the resurrection of Jesus on trial, then you decide what most likely happened on that bright and brilliant morning at the grave site of Jesus Christ.

Let’s first hear opening remarks from best-selling author Lee Strobel:

If we were to call to the witness stand every witness who personally encountered the resurrected Jesus and we cross-examined them for only 15 minutes, and if we went around the clock without a break…we would be listening to first-hand testimony for more than 128 hours…that’s over 5 days worth of testimony…who could possibly walk away unconvinced?”¹

Perhaps you are unconvinced? Let’s bring out the exhibits.

Exhibit A: The broken Roman Seal. This meant an investigation, an apprehension and automatic death for whoever did it…so obviously the Roman soldiers didn’t break it. The disciples? Well, they were in hiding, and I wouldn’t put my money on that group being able to overpower a group of soldiers.

Exhibit B: There was a huge stone that was moved uphill. We’re not talking about a small boulder here. This was a 1.5 – 2 Metric Tones of massive hunk of mountain that was supposed to stay where they put it. It didn’t.

Exhibit C: There was an empty tomb, and the disciples immediately proclaimed the resurrection right away IN Jerusalem where the resurrection happened! They would have been completely laughed out of town if the tomb wasn’t empty.

Exhibit D: The absence of the Roman soldiers who were guarding the tomb. This was a death penalty offense that would get you burned alive. Why would they disappear from the scene if they could simply produce the body and get off the hook?

Exhibit E: The resurrected Jesus stayed in town for 40 days. He appeared to more than 500 people in all kinds of different places, times and circumstances.

Exhibit F: The word of the angel who was outside of the empty tomb. Here are his exact words:

He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying ( Matthew 24:6).

That statement and corresponding evidence changed a frightened and hiding group of people into fearless witnesses who ended up dying for their belief in a risen Christ.

History shows it, billions believe it, and your life can be radically changed by it. So this Easter, get past the bunnies and chocolate and reflect on the most amazing day in all of history. Jesus Christ is alive, and you can have a relationship with Him starting today! That’s why the Bible lays it out in no uncertain terms:

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).

This is all well worth thinking about!! 

¹ Source: J.I. Packer quoted in God’s Outrageous Claims by Lee Strobel, pp. 170-171.