Jesus is more than a savior, He is our HEALER.  He heals.  He have given us authority to pray for healing.  We must learn to pray for people to be healed.

It was such an honor to be up front this weekend, put oil on people’s foreheads or hands, and pray for them.  The first person I had the privilege of praying for was my wife.  What an amazing thing.

As I was thinking about the weekend, I was reminded that we are carrying out a critical function in the kingdom of God as we pray for each other… we are being priests for each other.  In 1 Peter we read these words:

“You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”

A priest is one who prays for someone to God, or even more significantly… pleads someone’s case to God on their behalf.  In the Old Testament, and even in some Christian traditions today, the priesthood is reserved for a few.  Here in 1 Peter, God tells us that the priesthood has been opened up to anyone who is intent on following Jesus.

Last night I prayed for healing from anxiety, depression, anger, inability to forgive, cancer, thyroid trouble, and several other infirmities.  Will God heal any of them?  I don’t know HOW we will heal them, but I KNOW that He will heal them by either removing the problem, giving them the grace to live and persevere with the problem, or heal them in heaven for eternity.

Here is the key for me…  I don’t need to worry about HOW God heals them.  I just pray passionately that He will.  That is my job as a priest.  I did that with all my heart.

I can easily imagine all of us taking this seriously.  I can see those in need actually wanting help and asking for it instead of letting our infirmities become our identities.  I can see people not hesitating to PRAY PASSIONATELY for God to heal someone knowing that He will.

You are part of a royal priesthood.  Let’s pray for each other!

The topic:  salvation.  being united with Jesus.  destined to heaven.

This past weekend we kicked off the “You Asked For it Series” based on the 1000+ questions YOU asked us.

The standard questions that surround “Is Jesus the only way” were the kickoff place.  To see the message click here.

While I think it is valuable to ask that question, the question that seems much more important, both for Christians AND those who are truly seeking after God is “if Jesus is the only way, how can I know it by EXPERIENCING it?”

Here is why…  Jesus’ comment of “I am the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father but by me” John 14:6 is often seen as exclusionary and unfair.  I may be biased, but I don’t see it that way.  Instead, I see it as an extraordinary invitation.  I see Jesus saying… “Hey guys!  I have gone the extra mile to find LIFE…  in fact, I gave it all away to make it happen.  Come on!  Come on!  Come On!  Life is THIS WAY…  come on!!!!!”

If that isn’t good enough, Jesus goes on to say “I have come that they may have life & have it to the full.”  John 10:10.  Jesus came so that we could be FULLY ALIVE.

LOL… even Jesus had a mission statement.

And I love that mission statement… because I LONG to be FULLY ALIVE.

Back to the question…  “How do I KNOW that I KNOW that Jesus is the only way?”  The obvious question to ask is… “in my pursuit of Him, am I experiencing more and more a life that is FULLY ALIVE?”  IOW… “am I changing into something that is more & more like Jesus and the only way I can explain it is that He must be doing it?”

Preview for the fall:

THIS IS WHAT THIS FALL’S LIVE LIKE YOU’RE DYING GROUP EXPERIENCE IS ALL ABOUT.

How do we live FULLY ALIVE?  Why and how do we really LOVE JESUS?  How do we begin to see that change and begin BECOMING LIKE JESUS?  How do we naturally SHARE JESUS once we have Him?  What role does community in LifeGroups play?  How does all of this bring out a life that is FULLY ALIVE?

LIVE LIKE YOU’RE DYING

LLYD

coming this fall…  don’t miss it.

Evil is real.

For over twenty years I have been wrestling with something evil…  ME.

I think it is safe to say that a majority of people believe that we are generally good.  The biblical idea that we are sinful by nature is offensive to them.  The positive & proactive attitude this position has is certainly attractive to me at first glance.  I am in favor of trying to lean everyone toward being good.  BUT… in my experience with wrestling me, this just isn’t reality.

Now before you begin to think that I have a multiple personality issue here consider the following from Romans 7…

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing. NIV

Why does Paul, the author of this chapter, talk as if there is “two of him?”  The answer if in the next verse:

Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.  So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. NIV

Second to finding out that Jesus and Carol loved me, THIS WAS THE MOST WONDERFUL THING I HAVE EVER HEARD!

Why was this so great?  Because I finally was able to understand the power of the enemy in my life and give it the respect it deserved.  There is an actual presence FIGHTING against God’s Spirit in me that is longing to become more like Jesus.

How can we live with this WAR going on inside?  Paul tells us at the end of the chapter…

Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Here is my experience:  Jesus knows about the war.  He loves you where you are and is ready to relieve you of the burden of winning it.  He moves into our hearts and begins to WIN.  We join Him, get traction, and watch the change begin to happen.

Need to stop monkeying around?  Ask Jesus to take the monkey off your back and nail it to His cross.

This is a great story of one of our women’s LifeGroups being Jesus…  Enjoy!

Our LifeGroup had a garage sale on Saturday, May 15th to raise funds to support Hillcrest Transitional Housing.  It was a dreary, rainy day. At first it didn’t look like we were going to sale much, if anything. I had 5 boxes of books at a freind’s and another 5 boxes at home – a collection of 10+ years and who knows how many hundreds of dollars spent.

A couple of hours into the sale, I had only sold 5 books when a Debbie Macomber fan got an extraordinarily great deal; 1-1/2 boxes of books for $5.  We were starting to make deals – buy one, get some free. It didn’t look like we were going to make much $.

About an hour later another woman asked me what I was willing to accept for my 2 boxes of Christian romance novels. I have to admit, I hesitated. Then, she started to explain she takes books to the Johnson County Detention Center – in other words – to the jail for their female inmates. So, I said make a donation to Hillcrest and you can take all my books – 3 boxes in all. As I helped her to her car, she started to explain further that she started this ministry because once upon a time, she had been incarcerated and there wasn’t any uplifting to read – Harlequin romances and other junk.

OK, she hooked me, so I offered her the other 5 boxes from my house – for FREE. She left her card and told me to call her to make arrangements for pick up. Guess what, she’s a Westsider. Said she had accepted Christ as a young girl, but lost her way, ended up in jail, rededicated her life, now shops garage sales to get positive, uplifting books and at her own expense takes them to the jail. Wow. Talk about how what the devil means for evil, God turns for good. She just picked them up today.

I feel so blessed to have been a part of this – a friend had challenged me a few years ago to share books that have meant something to me with others. Though I thought I would help make $ for Hillcrest, now I know God had an even better plan. I pray He uses these books to reach others with salvation and new start in life through Him.

Oh, BTW – somehow we raised over $300 for Hillcrest. I’m thinking loaves and fishes – Praise the Lord!!

“Nothing can erode a heart faster than lust.” 

This is a bold statement.  But then again Jesus has a seriously bold statement about dealing with lust.  He said that if your eye or your hand (even your strong working hand) causes you to lust to CUT IT OFF.  In other words, dealing with lust is more important than keeping your hand that can help you make a living.  Why is Jesus so strong with this?  Because He knows how deadly it is.

Advertizing agencies know how financially lucritive it is…

Recovery groups around the country know how addictive it is…

Men (and women) around the country know how powerful it is…

Sadly, in spite of all of this evidence, few take Jesus at His word about how serious it is. 

When I was in college I started a great habit.  A few friends of mine and I were concerned about the scenery we would pass on our college campus.  Spring had finally arrived and the ladies were ready to begin working on thier tans.  We had those high hedges in place and made a commitment to “look away” instead of staring and “going there” in our minds.  It is a habit I continue to this day… even to the point where I can come across cold to some people who I impulsively find attractive.  It is an involuntary reaction.  I just turn my eyes away.  If I turned my eyes away from you, I am sorry.  I promise that I didn’t intend to disrespect you… I just want to continue to respect ME and have a heart that God’s Spirit can work through.  In fact, turning away is the best way for me to respect you.

Why is lust so powerful? 

Because it is a close cousin to the most powerful force in the universe…  LOVE.  

Lust is love gone selfish.  Lust is love gone perverse.  Lust is about you.  Love is about God and others.  We ALL NEED LOVE.  We long for it.  We crave it.   LOVE IS HARD to give and receive at the most intimate level.  So we become satisfied by lust.

I would LOVE to live in a day when seductive dress, lustful advertising, and online pornography are as distasteful in people’s mouths as racial intolerance.  I would LOVE to live in a day when we were more interested in what we can do FOR people (LOVE) instead of what they can do for us (LUST). 

What will it take to turn the tide?

I like CLEAR signs.

When I am in a new city and driving around, I love it when the roads are clearly marked.  I feel lost and uncertain when things aren’t.

Recently I was away at a conference.  I knew where I needed to end up, but I wasn’t sure how to get there.  Coming out of the airport there was a HUGE sign that practically said “GO HERE AND DON’T MISS IT!”

I got to where I needed to go.

This weekend at Westside, we are celebrating the two sacraments (sacred activities) Jesus commanded us to keep…  communion & the Lord’s Supper.

Only two.  Two pictures.  Two pictures that point us to where we need to go…

The Lord’s Supper is a picture of the death & the return of Jesus.

Baptism is a picture of the death (under the water) & resurrection (back out of the water) of Jesus.

Jesus, by giving us these two pictures is saying…  “DON’T MISS THIS!”  “This is what it is all about… this is what I was all about.”

It is at the cross of Jesus that our sin died and continues to die.  It is the resurrection of Jesus that empowers us to become people that we can’t be apart from Jesus.  This is the heart of following Jesus, and the apostle Paul said it well…

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

DON’T MISS THIS!

It is amazing how God works things out.

I am at the exponential conference in Orlando.  Some of the world’s finest speakers and church leaders are on the docket to speak, and yet the most catalytic thought I received happened over a lunch we were having with some guys from the Austin Stone Community Church.

BTW…  those guys are incredible.

One of the most difficult leadership areas in groups is multiplication.  The only reason people want to create two groups out of one is to finally be rid of that person they can’t stand.    Here’s a tip…  they will follow you!

Anyway, a new thought has been baking in my mind over this concept…  STEWARDSHIP.

How does stewardship fit with groups?  As group leaders, we are not only stewards of the spiritual gifts God has given us… we are stewards of the spiritual gifts God has deposited into the believers in our group.  Part of my role as a spiritual leader is to help people discover and grow into the role God has created them to play.

To do any less is to waste the talents God has given them.

Until this week, that idea was only half baked.

Until this week, I was only considering the leadership gifts that pertained to group leadership in order for groups to multiply.  Now, I see that we, as group leaders, could be the people that help the next pastor, or church planter, or mission director, or movement leader discover that God has a role for them to play in the building of His kingdom.

I can’t image where I would be if my youth team leader hadn’t pointed out my gifts.  I can’t image where Billy Graham would have been if his group leader hadn’t done the same.

Could the next apostolic leader in America be in your group right now?

dream big…  God is in it.

We are asking an amazing question… “what if the church joined with God in His Mission?”

Here is a story of one couple that has decided to play a part…  enjoy!

“One of the last IMPACT sermons my husband and I attended was very IMPACTFUL.. so much in fact after seeing the video of that little girl about age 5 walking around at midnight in the pitch dark of night trying to find a place to lay her little head down for the night with nothing but a towel.. no pillow, not even a blanket..all by herself with no adults around to help her.. no one looking out for her behalf, no one to keep her safe, no one to get her dressed, no one to help her find food every day, no one to wipe her tears away when she’s scared, hungry, tired and just needed a Mom or Dad, she had no one, no one at all.. she was all ALONE!!! It was sickening and it’s unnecessary… it an outright tragedy!! That picture is still in my head of her all alone.. and I think about her every day.

I thought.. that little girl could be right here in Kansas City, it could have been in India or Africa? I’m not sure.. but I felt like I wanted to reach into that video screen and take her and put her under my arm and hold her and tell her everything’s going to be ok.. we’re here for you, God’s here for you.. but I couldn’t do that. At that moment that very Sunday my husband and I looked at each other at the exact same time as if God had laid upon our hearts to make a difference… we asked ourselves..what could we do to not only help one child or adult but to help many???? We just felt compelled to do something and immediately we both said.. let’s write a check?? Let’s get a water well.. I’m not sure why we chose that, but we had been talking about it in our life group in previous weeks and how some of our ministries in India and such were in need of water wells and how little money it actually took to get a water well for those countries.. so that’s what we did.. and I’m happy to say we made the right choice.. thankfully God spoke to us and we listened but not only did we listen to what he was saying but we were obedient and put action behind it . I can’t say we have always been that obedient but this time we were and it feels good.

We just wanted to share our story with you and hopefully it will make an IMPACT on you too…

This story has made an IMPACT on me.  Can you imagine another 3500 stories like this IF THE CHURCH JOINED GOD IN HIS MISSION?

I really enjoyed sharing the story of the older brother this weekend… it is a hard message to hear but so important for keeping the joy and love of God in our hearts as we serve.  Stay connected to the vine that is Jesus… and you will bear MUCH fruit!

Easter…

as a kid: candy, puzzles, and new clothes I didn’t want to wear.

as a teen: guilt.  Hard to watch Jesus suffer while consistently making poor decisions.

as an 18 year old: can’t remember.  poor decisions cloud those days.  BUT…  soon after that Easter that God grabbed me out of my junk and invited me to come home.

this year after spending 14 days in Israel: on the verge of tears all of Good Friday, and screaming the lyrics “O Praise the One Who Paid My Debt and Raised This Life Up From the Dead” during the Easter celebration services.

The difference?

Walking WITH Jesus along His path to the cross in Jerusalem and experiencing His commitment in a visceral way.  Walking and meditating along Jesus’ path from condemnation to crucifixion was life-changing.  I will never experience this weekend the same way again.

Jesus emptied Himself do that I could come home to Him.  I ran home.  I continue to run home.

Jesus…  I LOVE you.  Thank you for your incredible sacrifice.  Thank you for your unending love.

I am yours.

Counseling #101:   Erikson’s Life Stage # 8  Integrity or Despair?

“As we grow older we tend to slow down our productivity.  It is during this time that we contemplate our accomplishments.  If we see our life as unproductive we become dissatisfied with life and develop despair, often leading to depression and hopelessness. Feelings of contentment and integrity develop if we believe we have led a happy, productive life.” from Wikipedia

The lesson?  Live while you still can.

Live with IMPACT

This weekend God worked through Schaun to prepare us to make our IMPACT 2010 commitments.  One of the bible passages he read was from Matthew 25… the parable of the sheep and the goats.

In this story, God returns and assembles everyone from every nation before Him and He separates them into two categories.  From the thousands of people groups around the world, each person will fall into one of them.  In short, the categories are the ones who had IMPACT and the ones who didn’t.

Those who chose to live with IMPACT were honored and ushered into heaven.

Those who didn’t were sent to eternal punishment.

Jesus motivates us with His love to have IMPACT.  He loves us so much and He doesn’t want us to miss the opportunity to live with integrity and joy.  Perhaps this is why He WARNS us against living with apathy and indifference to the needs of those around the world.  That kind of life is breathing…  but not really living.

Westside is moving from a great church to a GOD-THING church.  We are ALIVE.

WE ARE A CHURCH OF IMPACT.

Come live with us!