Forgetting Jesus

"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile."

Romans 1:16 (NLT)

 

There are some things that we need to hear over and over again. Things that we need to be reminded of on a daily basis. One thing I've heard again and again is this, "Keep the main thing the main thing."

 

Friends, I'd like to remind you that the main thing is the Gospel of Jesus. I need to be reminded of this. Our lives are cluttered. It is easy to be distracted. It is easy to become complacent. What would happen if we remembered God's goodness and the price that Jesus paid for us in every moment? Trial and triumph?

 

The Gospel is this: We are all sinners and we ought to face God's wrath. But, God doesn't want that. For some reason a faultless, holy, just God wants a relationship with bad and corrupt people. He wants that so much that instead of punishing us, He punished His innocent Son Jesus in our place. Through Jesus we can be forgiven and be made right with God. Jesus calls sinners to Himself and makes them new creations. This is the Gospel.

 

 

Is that sweet to you? Is it more than just church talk? Does hearing what Jesus has done still stir your heart for God?

 

I'm finding more and more that it is when I forget this good news, or when it grows old to me, that is when I struggle to love God and others like I should. When I say and do things that I regret is usually when I forget how high a price Jesus paid for me. When I give into temptation is usually when I forget to keep the main thing the main thing.

 

So I urge you, keep the main thing the main thing. Remember today that in Christ you are loved and adored. Remember that someone died for you despite you. That even though we were rebels against God, Jesus gave His life so that we could become friends of God. 

 

One last thing: 

If you have never made the main thing the main thing it is still the main thing. Even if we choose to run and rebel, Jesus is still Lord and worthy of our worship. I hope and pray today that you know Jesus and that He is Lord of your life. If not, you will still have to face His wrath. It's a lot better to bow now in victory than later in defeat. Jesus is calling, will you answer?

 

Keep the main thing the main thing. Don't forget Jesus today.

 

All About Jesus.

 



We Are The Church Part 1

We are the church. We are the chosen people of God. Chosen to be used by Him to accomplish His will here on earth. 

Wow! Almighty God, creator of the cosmos (Phil Robertson voice), redeemer of the lost, and sustainer of the earth chose us (yes, you and me) to be His body. You and me being sinful, totally depraved, helpless human beings. That's mind-blowing! 1 Corinthians 12:27 reads, "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." Verses 28-30 show us that we're not all the same. God has gifted each of us to do different things to serve Him.

I want to stop right here. Read the last sentence in the last paragraph. Don't you think that the gift of salvation to spend an eternity with the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of the universe is enough? I do. I mean think about it, if you're saved by God's grace that means that there was once a point in your life when you were lost. Lost and on a one way road to an eternity in hell separated from the love of God. Let us stop and rejoice and as Taylor said in her post, "You Make Me Wanna Shout!", let's celebrate! 

God didn't stop here though, He didn't just give us the gift of salvation. He blessed us with spiritual gifts to be a blessing to others and to glorify Christ. And if you really think about it, every single thing in your life, whether possessions, emotions, family, food, shelter, natural abilities, how you look, anything and everything in your life is a gift from God. 

Not all gifts are spiritual gifts, however, in its simplest and purest form a spiritual gift is: "A God given gift through the Holy Spirit received at the point of salvation used to build up the body of believers and to glorify Christ."

I strongly urge each of you to find out what your spiritual gifts are. You may be wondering, "Well how in the world do I do that?" It's simple. You can ask other believers and they can help you get an understanding on what your gifts are; or you can take a survey online or from another resource to aid you in understanding what your gifts may be; but most importantly, you need to try out different areas of service. Wherever God uses you most, is most likely the area in which you possess your strongest gift.

Here's a list of some websites with spiritual gift surveys on them:

http://www.spiritualgiftstest.com/test/adult

http://mintools.com/spiritual-gifts-test.htm

http://www.sdrock.com/giftstest/

Prayerfully think about what your gifts could be and ask others to pray with you. I hope this helps and I urge you to come back and read part 2 that I should be posting later this week, Lord Willing. 

Also, here's something to think about when discovering your spiritual gifts, "You've got to step out to find out." 

And remember it ain't about you, me, or anyone else. 

It's #allaboutJESUS

You make me wanna shout!

     I always look forward to a time of celebration. I love birthdays, weddings, and baby showers. If you're celebrating something, I will be right there beside you celebrating as well! It is exciting to decorate and plan out the party. Go buy nice gifts and wrap them pretty. I just love celebrations! 
     Yesterday as I was running on the treadmill, I turned on my iPod and went straight to my "Jesus Culture" playlist. (btw, if you haven't checked them out, you definitely should!) I have loved this band since I became a Christ follower. And yesterday I finally realized why I love them so much. A side from the fact that their music is the best (seriously), I love this band because they understand that Jesus is to be celebrated. All the time. I was processing all of this in my mind while sweating to my death on the treadmill, and I just go into full out worship mode. Hands up, singing/panting the words out loud, so full of Jesus. I love that everyday Jesus teaches me something new.

HE IS TO BE CELEBRATED!

"But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world."

1 John 4:4 (NLT)

     I could read that over and over. Those words are so sweet on my lips. This makes me want to shout! Listen: YOU BELONG TO GOD! Creator of everything, He has no beginning and He has no end, yet He wants you. You are His! You are precious, you are valued, you are loved. And through Jesus' blood on the cross, and His resurrection three days later, WE HAVE WON THE VICTORY. Jesus snatched the keys to hell, death, and the grave from satan on that day. 

     If you play basketball and its the championship game and your team wins, what are you going to do? Celebrate! Well church, team Jesus has the victory over satan and hell! How much more awesome and worthy of our praise is that than the Super-bowl champs? LOADS! 

     Church, I want you to know that in joy and in sorrow we have a reason to celebrate Jesus. That is it. Jesus is so worthy of all of me and all of you. As a church I want us to become consumed with Jesus. I want us to celebrate Jesus in all we do, all the time. I want other people to remember Jesus, not myself. Lets sell out for our King!

     If you feel like you don't know Jesus, but you can feel something, someone bigger than yourself tugging on your heart, thats Jesus my friend. And He desires you, He wants an intimate relationship with you. Don't worry, you don't have to "clean your act up" before you accept His call. Just go, run into His arms. You wont ever regret it and I promise you, you will be forever changed! Have a collision with God's grace and love today! Lets celebrate!

Jesus Is The Remedy

I wanna share some points from a sermon that made me realize that only Jesus can really heal pain and how Jesus is the remedy to pain and hurt. You see at the age of 15 I lost my dad. Now my dad was my hero, my rock, my support, so when he passed away I was devastated. But I was very angry at God for taking my dad from me and my family, because my dad was a preacher. I would question God like how could You take one of Your most faithful servants? Through that anger I wanted nothing to do with God. I stayed out of church for the longest time and ran from God for 5 years. During those 5 years all I wanted to do was heal the hurting and pain I was feeling. I tried alcohol for the longest time that never healed my heart. I then tried drugs that just made things a lot worse, then it was girls and that left me more broken. One night I was invited to revival so for some reason I went. Thinking I was gonna get nothing out of it, I sat there with a broken heart. The preacher preached on Mark 5 the man in the cave story. But he put a different twist on it he pointed out how bad that this man was hurting. In verse 5 we read about him cutting himself to ease the hurt and pain. The preacher made this point that we do the same thing we use stones such as alcohol, drugs, and even others to heal our pain. If you continue reading the story you'll learn that Jesus comes on the scene and things change. You see Jesus heals this mans hurt yeah he casted out the demons, but Jesus healed the hurt. Jesus makes this man a whole new creation that people didn't even recognize. So if you're hurting because of lost of a loved one, or whatever youre hurting from give it to Jesus. Nothing in this world can heal pain, only Jesus can. Jesus is the remedy to all hurt and pain. That's why He says "come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened." Because Jesus is the remedy.

Jesus Is Enough

Hey everybody! For those that don't know me my name is Chris Snead. I'm friends with Seth Springs and Bradley Couick and let me just say these two guys are solid guys for Christ. We are all 3 in ministry or in school for ministry. From all 3 of us we love Jesus and look forward to sharing with you. I've had the privledge to hear both of them speak and share their testimonies they're amazing. Seth invited me to join this blog with the purpose of encouraging people to follow Jesus and for the followers to keep running the race. Now I haven't always been all about Jesus. I used to be about me, self satisfaction and just doing me. That lifestyle will leave you empty and searching for more and more. I'll share my testimony another day, but just wanted to put the welcome out there :). I look forward to posting more and getting feedback from y'all.

If you don't think Jesus is enough read John 4 and understand it. Jesus is more than enough :) have a great weekend!

It's All About Him.

What up everybody? Some of you may know me, some may not. I'm Bradley Couick and I'm a friend and brother in Christ of Seth Springs and Chris Snead. I'm new to this whole following Jesus thing, so bear with me. I have a past a mile long, but a future that spans throughout eternity by the grace of God. Lord willing, in the future I'll be writing posts to encourage y'all out there to continue to run the race with endurance along with anything else that God lays on my heart to write. I just want to be a vessel that Christ can use to shed His light into others. I've tried things my way for 20 years of my life and that got me into some really sticky situations (I may mention some of them in the future on here, stay tuned..). Now, by His grace and His grace alone do I even consider living for Jesus. It's amazing to me how far He's brought me in just one year and 19 days of calling myself a "Follower of Jesus". I remember praying recently, "Lord, I'll follow you as long as you make this an adventure." The thing about that prayer is, HE ALREADY HAS!! Never did I think that I'd be back in school, studying the Bible on top of that! God definitely has a sense of humor...

I want to leave y'all with this thought/prayer from St. Richard of Chichester:
"To see Christ more clearly, love Him more dearly, and follow Him more nearly."

No matter what life throws at you or what the enemy throws at you, always remember that your sole purpose in life is to bring glory to Jesus Christ. It's all about Him.

What's your favorite food?

Take a second.

Think of your favorite food.

What comes to mind? Is it spicy, sweet, salty, or combination of flavors? Are you a steak and potatoes person or did something from Panera come to mind? Why do you like this food and what first attracted you to try it?

Mine would be a Cajun filet biscuit with tomato and mayo from Bojangles. Oh, and don't forget the Mtn. Dew from the fountain. It may sound silly, but man, the combination of flavor gets me every time!

Now think about the blandest food on earth. What comes to mind? Maybe rice cakes or oatmeal. Wheat bread toast and white rice are two that would top my list of boring foods.

Now, you know I'm not a food blogger, so what is my point?

If your relationship with Jesus was a food what category would it go in? Would it be a favorite that you get excited over or is the equivalent of a rice cake? Have you grown bored with the same old same old or is everyday a new adventure for you in Christ Jesus?

I believe it is easy for us to grow bored. Or, sticking with food, it is easy for our relationship with Jesus to grow stale. There are few things that I hate more than biting into a stale Dorito. No excitement. Little spice. Maybe a good bit of sour.

So, how do we defeat this funk? How do you turn white rice into teriyaki chicken and fried rice?

Here are a few questions that I usually ask when I'm seeking to taste the sweetness of Christ:

1. How's my bible reading/prayer life?

Yep, back to the bible reading and prayer stuff. If I'm not in communication with Jesus then I will not experience sweet communion with Jesus.

2. Am I in my comfort zone?

I'm pretty boring and don't usually try new foods. But, my wife Taylor loves that excitement. She often tries new foods when we go out to eat. Maybe the reason our relationship with Jesus grows bland because we're comfortable. What if you stepped out and trusted Jesus? What if you began to give generously or share the gospel with friends? I bet that wouldn't be too boring.

3. How are my relationships others?

A difference between me and others causes a difference between me and Christ. Maybe the reason you and Jesus are cold is because you have been cold to someone else in your life.



These are just some thoughts.


All About JESUS!

 

"So why do you and Taylor want to be missionaries in the UNITED STATES?"

Taylor and I have recently committed ourselves to be trained as United States missionaries. This has brought a little change to our lives. I left a job that I loved, we moved out of our first home and in with family, and we, God willing, will be moving 3 1/2 hours away to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in late July. This is all so that in turn we can move to somewhere up north or out west to be missionaries to our own country.

We're are about 2 or 3 months removed from this decision, and there is one common response that we get when telling people: "Oh...umm...that's...umm...WHY?"

An idea among some southerners, not all but some, is that there is nothing worth seeing above Virginia. Or, a "why go there when you could stay here" attitude. So why do we want to go there(to a different region) all the while staying here (the US)? Here are a few reasons...

1. There is Something Worth Seeing.

That which is worth seeing are families who don't have access to good bible believing churches come to have a saving faith in Jesus and there lives being turned upside down by the Gospel. I would say that is worth seeing. Being raised in the south most of us take it for granted that there are lots of bible believing churches. We take it so for granted that many southerners have grown desensitized to the good news of the Gospel to the point of it no longer having an effect on our lives. And, while we don't pay attention to what we have, others don't have the blessing of strong evangelical churches.

2. The Bible Commands It.

 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 (NLT)

That simple. Jesus calls us to take His Gospel into our homes, up the street, across the nation, and around the world. For some reason He has chosen to give us a strong passion for the "across the nation" part. That doesn't mean that we can forget the rest, but we feel like we know where we will be spending most our lives' time.

3. Our Nation Needs It.

Our families need it. Our neighbors need it. Our nation needs it. All the nations need it. Did I mention that our nation really needs it?

I am a firm believer that Christianity is on the decline in America. Our nation, for the most part, is not one that sees Jesus as Lord. We, for the most, are a country that ignores the grace that God has shown us. We should be a missionary destination.

The map below is one that I saw recently. It was produced by researchers at Gallup. This map shows the most religious and most nonreligious states in the US. We don't want to make the US more religious. We want to see our nation experience God and His goodness. I think this map should give us all a greater sense of urgency for the Gospel to be preached across our nation.


(Pinkest=Most Nonreligious/Darkest=Most Religious)

There are many reasons, and I could go on, but I think you get the point. Our nation needs Jesus. We must go. Will you?