Whatever it takes!

Do you have a "whatever it takes" mentality? To be successful, any organization must develop a whatever it takes mentality! This mindset will not let apathy, inconveniences, or selfish desires keep them from becoming the organization God intends for it to be. But far too often, organizations fall from a "whatever it takes" attitude to APATHY.

There are many things that can cause apathy. Sometimes we allow familiarity to breed contentment (or perhaps even contempt!) Sometimes we forget that we have a purpose beyond ourselves. Sometimes we allow the passive nature of our society to penetrate our thinking.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes to grow the Kingdom of God? Are you willing to dedicate yourself to building Christ's church? Are you willing to commit yourself to a cause that is greater than you?

Ask God today to restore your passion for people, your passion for His Kingdom, your passion for His Glory, and then go and do whatever it takes to make His Name Famous!

The cold snap in Georgia has been no fun. I am ready for warmer days, but the following pictures remind me that I need to be thankful for what I DO have... Enjoy.

As we begin a New Year, I think it is a fitting time to go back to the beginning. For the past month, I have been studying the book of Genesis. This ancient text answers so many of the questions that seem to plague the modern mind. The answers are there, if modern man would just seek them, and by faith believe them! During my studies, I came across the following quotes:

Why is there something rather than nothing? This is not profound for the reason that it is not even a true question. The question seems to give us a choice between something and nothing. But what is nothing? As soon as we answer that, saying nothing is really nothing, nothing defies description. In fact, it defies mental conception of any kind. So the question really boils down to: why is there something (J.M. Boice, Genesis vol. 1, p. 34).

·         Where did the universe come from

·         Who made the atom?

·         How did everything come to be?

Something is there, an immense, intricate, and orderly something. It was there before we were, for we cannot even imagine our existence without it. But how did it get there? And how did it get to be detected? (Ibid.)

I, for one, am glad that I am not a product of random forces, randomly acting on random substances! I am glad that I was "fearfully, and wonderfully made" by my God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His Glory the Glory of the Only Begotten Son of God." (John 1:1, 14)

The miracle of the incarnation! God became flesh! Regarding this glorious event, Pastor Chuch Swindoll writes in his book Jesus,

In the weakness of human flesh, the almighty Creator of the universe came to earth. However, when God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ, He did not cease to be God, nor did He lose His divine attributes such as omnipresence and omnipotence. He merely laid them aside for a time. Theologians call this choice kenosis, which derives from a Greek term meaning ?to empty.' Perhaps the best way to illustrate this is to tell the story of Thomas Mott Osborne.

In October 1914, Osborne entered Auburn Prison in upstate New York, and like all other prisoners, he was photographed, fingerprinted, stripped of his possessions, issued a set of prison grays, and let to a cell, four feet wide by seven and a half feet long and seven and a half feet tall. The only difference between prisoner 33,333x and the other 1,329 inmates was the issue of freedom. On his command, he could leave the prison anytime he desired.

After his appointment to Governor Sulzer's State Commission on Prison Reform, Osborne made it his mission to live as one of the inmates, study their experience, and emerge as their advocate. He voluntarily laid aside his freedom to experience life behind bars. He slept in a dank, drafty cell just like theirs. He ate their food and labored as they did. He even endured their most dreaded punishment, a night in ?the box.' While he could order his own release at any time, he was nevertheless confined. He wrote, ?I am a prisoner, locked, double locked. By no human possibility, by no act of my own, can I throw open the iron grating which shuts me from the world into this small stone vault. I am a voluntary prisoner, it is true; nevertheless even a voluntary prisoner can't unlock the door of his cell.'

Just as Osborne was at once free yet confined to prison, Jesus was omnipotent yet helpless as an infant, dependent upon His mother's milk for survival. He set aside His rightful entitlements of deity to become the least privileged of people?born among the poorest of the poor. This humble entrance into the world would characterize the rest of His days on earth and illustrate the difference between His Kingdom and the world's idea of power, authority, riches and privilege.

Thank God for the humility of Christ, who "being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but he humbled himself (kenosis) taking on the form of a servant..."

Bless the Christ of Christmas!

C.S. Lewis called the incarnation "the Grand Miracle." He wrote: "The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation.... Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this.... It was the central event in the history of the Earth?the very thing that the whole story has been about. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still ... (to) the womb ... down to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him" (Miracles, chapter 14).

This Christmas, cherish Unbelievable Wonder of the Babe of Bethlehem, the Unsurpassed Love of the Crucified Savior, and the Unmatched Glory of the Soon Coming King.

It's long over due, but on November 29, Cathy and I will finally be sharing our pictures and stories behind our recent trip to Swaziland during an assembly designed for the whole family beginning at 11:00 AM. You won't want to miss out on our tales of adventure and ministry.

I have been praying for the past few weeks that God would bring a revival to Bridgeway, the likes of which we have never experienced. Over and over I have been reminded that revival  is something that cannot be manufactured, but rather must begin with a commitment of the individual to repent completely, surrender wholly,  worship reverently, and walk obediently. God is the "Prime Mover," yet we the people must have willingness to allow God to start the work in us! "Lord, send a revival; please, start the work in me. Check out this song by TobyMac, and ask the Lord to Send a Revival! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFL2NDxF-CA

One of our primary tasks, one of the major purposes of the church, is to bring people to Jesus. Why do we have that responsibility? Because of people's lost condition. People without Jesus are lost.

Remember the story of the lost sheep? The shepherd searched diligently to find that lost sheep. Rememberthe story of the lost coin? The woman searched diligently to find the lost coin. The parables remind us of why Christ came. Jesus said of Himself, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). It's a sad reality, and I wish it were not true, but people without Christ are lost. Because of our love for them. What a pure motive! We attempt to bring people to Christ because these people matter to us. We are concerned about them and their relationship to Christ. Love compels us to act.

That day many had come to hear Jesus, some likely traveling great distances. But one in particular could not get inside to see Jesus. Some might look at this man and say, "He is unfit, a cripple." But four looked at him with compassion. They were different. They looked at the crippled man and knew that he too should see Jesus. The action of the four is a reminder that all persons need to come to Christ. The invitation is open to all. John 3:16 reminds us that "whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." The invitation is not just to the wealthy, the educated, or those who are "like us." It's open to all.

When the four men could not get near Jesus because of the crowd, they did not set the bed down and say, "We are sorry, friend, but we tried. You are just out of luck." Instead, they had a committee meeting of four and came up with a plan, unconventional though it was. Can you imagine the surprise of the crippled man when he heard the plan. "You want to do what?" Can you image the shocked expressions on those in the house? "Hey, have you lost your minds?" But what if they had not taken the chance? What if they had listened to the critics and naysayers? Sometimes God calls us to color outside the lines, to take some chances, and to do the unexpected. These four friends did whatever they could to help their friend.

These four men had one motive for getting their friend, for bringing him to the house, for climbing on the roof, for removing those tiles, and for lowering their friend through the hole in the roof. Their motivation was to see their friend healed. Jesus not only healed the man; He forgave his sins. How in keeping with the entire ministry of Jesus! From Galilee to Golgotha, Jesus' ministry made people whole physically and spiritually. And in this one man we see both of those happening. Mark 2:12 says the people were astonished and said, "We have never seen anything like this!" As we bring people to Jesus and see Him work in their lives, we too will be astonished and offer praise to God!

(http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/files/lwcF_PDF-LetsWorship-Wednesday-Words.pdf)