It is All Because of Jesus

Ephesians 2:11Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)— 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

Over these last few weeks we have been looking at several "Tough Questions" that often pose as barriers to Christianity. One of the questions we have looked at is the question of "Can there be one religion?" Often times when this question is asked it is done so because our culture does not like anything that excludes another. Meaning, there can't be one religion because that would leave out all of the people who do not adhere to that religion. As we dug into that particular question we saw that we all end up being exclusive in our lives. We all pick one thing over another thus "excluding" ourselves from those who picked the "other."

As I was reading the scripture today, I was reminded that Jesus cannot be blamed for "intentional exclusivity." Meaning, it is not his desire to see anyone left out. Paul in this scripture is making an illustration to a Gentile audience reminding them that at one time, because they were not Jewish, they were excluded from a relationship with God, but NOW because of Jesus they can have a relationship with God. Everyone who is far away from God can be "brought near through the blood of Jesus."

Does Christianity make exclusive claims? Yes. But so does every other religion. The key is that Jesus is for all people. His purpose was to bring all people "near" through his blood.

Kay Warren on the church and Injustice

Yesterday was week 4 of our Tough Questions series. We asked the question, "How can the church be relevant when it has been responsible for so much injustice?" As in the previous weeks we have had special video commentators. Yesterday Kay Warren spoke to us again on the subject of the churches role in bringing justice to the world. See what she had to say below.



Don't miss next week as Dr. Al Mohler speaks to us concerning the question; "How can a loving God send people to Hell?"

The Church and Injustice

Looking forward to a great Sunday tomorrow as we continue in our Tough Questions series. Tomorrow we will be looking at the question, "How can the church be relevant when it has been responsible for so much injustice?" It is very true that the church has been responsible for promoting injustice in the world. One can't help to see the human limitations that have caused the church to be responsible for some great problems in world history. On the flip side the church, once it has figured out where it has gone wrong, traditionally responds with great effort. The church recognizes its role in the world is to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We are to be the agents of justice to the world. We do this when we see needs and then meet those needs.

Looking forward to another great Sunday!

Home Sweet Home

I was so privileged to be a apart to the Purpose Driven Church Summit. It was an incredible time of reflection and refreshment. There are a ton of things that I learned and I could probably fill several post's with it all. But here are a few of the things that I took away:

- It is about application not information.----We know way more about the Bible than we are currently putting into practice.

- Over the last 50 years the US has poured 2.5 trillion dollars of relief into Africa, yet their economy is worse off now than it was then. This is why the church is the answer for the world.

- Every time a new technology comes a long, revival in the church typically follows. Printing Press---Protestant Reformation

- Focus on Growing People, not Growing the Church. This should be common sense, but it is so easy to get off track in this area.

Our Global Mission--Day 3 PDC Summit

Notes from Rick Warren's talk about the global mission of the church.

Isaiah 49: 3 He said to me, "You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor."

4 But I said, "I have labored to no purpose;
I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand,
and my reward is with my God."

6 he says:
"It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

-Isaiah was discouraged, because His vision was too small.
- God was setting up Isaiah as a light to the nations.
- I want you to Go Global

5 Global Giants

1) Spiritual Emptiness--people are lost, sin has broken their relationship with God
2) Selfish Leadership--there are two kinds of leaders, selfish or servant
3) Extreme Poverty--in Rwanda the average wage is 67 cents
4) Pandemic Diseases--30,000 children die everyday of preventable diseases
5) Illiteracy/ Lack of Education-- half of the world is illiterate

What is the answer? The Church

How? What did Jesus do?

The P.E.A.C.E. Plan

1) Preached Reconciliation
- Peace with God
- Peace with Each Other

2) Equipped Servant Leaders
-the good shepherd lays down His life for His sheep

3) Assisted the Poor
-"appointed to preach Good News to the Poor."
-"but those who help the poor honor Him"

1 John 3:17 If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

4) Cared for the Sick

5) Educate the Next Generation

Acts 1:8But 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."

- count the number of "Ands"
- we dont get our "deal" figured out and then go to the world
- we do all three all the time

Personal Peace--- your sphere of influence
Local Peace-- your region/ county/ area
Global Peace--world

7 Distinctive's of Peace

1) Promotes, Plants and Partners the Local Church
- the church abdicated its role from society 100 years ago

2) Imitates Jesus' Model
- "don't take a purse"
- dont take a staff
- eat what is set before you
-you find the man of PEACE (open and influential)

3) Lead By Ammatures

4) Links Public, Private and Church Sectors
- a three legged stool will stand, you need all three

5) Attacks All Five Giants

6) Reorganizes Efforts Through a Network

7) Shifts to Sustainable Funding

Day 2 at the "Secret Conference"

A friend of mine shot me a text this morning asking if I was at a secret conference. If it is a secret, somebody let the secret out. There are over 1500 people at this Purpose Driven Church Summit. Yesterday was great. We got to hear from some of this countries best pastors. I am looking forward to today. First up is Rick Warren.

How To Last In Ministry

How to Last In Ministry
Rick Warren- Presenter

- ministry is not a 100 yard dash, it is a marathon

2 Corinthians 4:-16

1) Learn to enjoy the Grace of God
- satan is always whispering that "you are not good enough."
- I am a trophy of Grace---"It is only by the grace of God go I"
A) I don't have to prove myself---my value has nothing to do with what I do.
B) I don't have to wallow in my failures
- never confuse prominence and significance
C) When you experience the love of God it will change your ministry
D) The sense of inadequacy will each you up unless you learn to enjoy God
E) The fear of man is a trap
F) Ministry is received not achieved

2) Be Authentic, Be Yourself!
- obvious imperfections in the pastor is a good thing

3) Remember it is Not About You
- v 5
- it is not about giving up when critics speak
- it is about remembering that our purpose and worth it Jesus
-if we are doing ministry for ourselves, we will not last
- cannot live life for the approval of others
- Why are you in ministry?
- lots of pastors start out as servants and end up celebrities
- for 15 years Saddleback was a portable church. They grew to over 10,000 without a building.
-if you are living for the approval of others, there are easier ways to do it than being a pastor.

4) Accept Your Human Limitations
- quit trying to be superman
-the pastor who is available to people all the time is not worth much when he is there.
-God often times puts his greatest gifts in the weakest individuals
-there is nothing perfect on this planet except the Word of God
-Ricks stages for dealing with weakness
-1...Denied them
-2...Hid Them
-3...Accepted Them
-4...Glory in the Them

5) Do Everything Out of Love
- value your wife
-takes unselfish people to grow a church
- perfect love casts out fear

6) Make time for Daily Renewal
-divert daily
-withdraw weekly
-abandon yearly

-none of us are very good at balancing ourselves
-who pastors you?
dont wait for someone to build a fellowship for you. Build a network.....

7) Learn to Live in Light of Eternity
- keep your perspective

3 Motivations in Life
Internal
External
Eternal

Session 1 From PDC Network Summit

5 Renewals the Bring Health to the Church

1) Personal Renewal
- If God is going to do something he is going to start with you.
- He is going to renew your heart
- Love the Lord your God with all of your heart soul and mind.

2) Relational Renewal
- end the war with people
- love your neighbor as yourself

How do you know if you have personal and relational renewal?
A) The singing gets better. People will love to worship.
B) People hang around longer after church is over. The church is not about content, it is about community.

3) Missional Renewal
- we realize that the church has a purpose
- we love other people
- we get the purposes of our church lined up again

4) Cultural Renewal
- the culture of the church starts to change
- teaching/ preaching becomes the key to cultural change

5) Structural Renewal
- there is no perfect structure of the church.

Going back to Cali

Ok...So I know that I just returned from California a few days ago, but I have returned to Ornge County for a couple of days for a conference at Saddleback Church. The conference starts this morning and is going to feature some of the best pastors in the country. The format for the conference is supposed to be discussion based and intimate instead of large format lectures. Should be a ton of fun.

The thing I hate about being away is being away from my family. I have not been here 24 hours yet, but I already miss Carmen and Ezra a ton. I talked to Ezra on the phone last night. He has such a huge vocabulary. I think he is going to be a genius.

Looking forward to being back on Thursday and then seeing everyone on Sunday! I will post some of the conference highlights here.

Easter Everyday

15For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit^[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.


The greatest act of strength that anyone can display is to defy death.

We all flock, and pay big money, to see people walk across a tight rope, ride multiple motor cycles in a steel sphere, hold their breath under water for long periods of time, etc. We are amazed by these "death defying" acts because they are rare. There are few people in the world who can stare death in the face and come out victorious. The problem with these valiant stunt men and woman is that it has been proven that there will come, or has come, a time when they will stare death in the face and they will not come out so victorious. Either the stunt or old age will eventually catch up to them.

There is one who stared death in the face and came out victorious. It wasn't for some freak show or his own benefit, it was for our benefit. He took the place that we deserved and willingly submitted himself to it. But the story does not end in the grave. The story sets itself apart from all stories on Easter. Jesus, as witnessed by dozens and testified to over the centuries, defeats death, thus showing the mighty power of God. Thus showing all of us that the story for us does not end at death. Death is no longer bearing down on us like a ticking time bomb. Death has been defeated and the promise of a new life is upon us. This is the message of the gospel. This is the message that I need to embrace every day.

Jesus, I pray that I am able to live everyday in the power of the resurrection. My life's purpose is clear because of the resurrection. I can live in freedom because of the resurrection.

Altering History

Had a great time speaking last Sunday at the Summit Church in Durham, NC. I talked about the fact that we stand at no greater time in history to see the gospel of Jesus spread around the world that will result in the redemption of individual souls and then societies at large. If you would like to hear what I said, you can listen here.

Thanks to JD Greear and the team there. I value their partnership with us in NYC so much!

Tough Questions Week Three

Looking forward to week three of our Tough Questions series. Tomorrow we will be looking at the question, "Does Following Jesus Mean I have to Give Up My Freedom?" Watch this video intro below to wet your apetite.

See you at 10:30 on the UWS or at 6 in Chelsea.

The Gallery Church Baltimore

Carmen and I are heading down to Baltimore today for some meetings. I am going to be spending the day with Ellis Prince dreaming about the future of The Gallery Church Baltimore. Ellis is doing a great job preparing the way for his launch this fall. He has made relationships in Baltimore faster than any church planter I have ever seen. It is really cool to think how God might use those as he builds toward their September launch.

It is great that our church has been so involved in church planting at this early stage of our existence. We have a desire to see churches planted in major cities all over the world. I believe that our cities have largely been neglected by major church planting efforts and that trend needs to change. It is going to be fun to see what God might want to do in the future!

Tough Questions: Video From Last Week

We are heading into week three of our Tough Questions series. The series has been great to this point. There are a couple of questions that I will blog about later this week. For now I have posted the two videos from last Sunday from Ellis Prince and Kay Warren. Enjoy!

Kay Warren



Ellis Prince

Traveling...Good to be Home

Had a great time hanging out with JD Greear and the guys at the Summit Church in Durham, NC. They are doing incredible things in their church. It was great to see and hear their passion for missions and church planting around the world. It was truly a privilege to get to speak in both of their morning worship services. It was the first time that I have had my message broadcast to a different location.

Also, had a great time in Southern California hanging out with the guys at Vision San Diego. The are going to be using the "A City Uprising" journal that we wrote last fall for an upcoming city wide outreach campaign. It has been cool working with them to get ready for this project.

Also spent some time with Kay Warren talking about the future of HIV Ministry here in NYC. There is a ton to report on this, but it will have to wait. Check back and I will fill you in on the details.

Sovereignty and Adoption

Ephesians 1: 3For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he^[c] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

These two verses have probably stirred up more discussion (controversy) than any other in the whole Bible. These verses are often associated with the "Calvinistic Theology" and point out that it was God who chose us instead of we who chose Him. Regardless of the debate surrounding them, we have to pay attention to the promises that are contained in them.

1) God is Sovereign-- When God "chose us in him before the creation of the world" this is pointing to a God who knows all and is in charge of all. This should give us great hope as believers. His being in charge is not only relegated to his choosing of us, but it points to the fact that he is in charge all of the time. Every situation in our lives has been orchestrated by him and will bring about his ultimate glory. We may not understand why certain situations are happening, but we can know for sure that he is in charge making it all happen.

God is at work in the world according to his perfect will and he is inviting us to abide with him. All we have to do is continually seek him and remain in him.

2) Adopted as Sons into Jesus-- Jesus makes all of the difference. He has taken the weight of the world (our sin) upon himself. He has paid a price that we deserved to pay, yet he gladly paid it on our behalf, thus giving us access to God the father. We have been adopted into God's family because of Jesus. We can worship God because of Jesus. We can know God because of Jesus.

Praise God for his adoption of us into his family and his sovereignty in all situations!

Kay Warren Speaking This Weekend At The Gallery (via video)

Join us this weekend as we continue our "Tough Questions" series. We will be answering the question "How could a loving God allow suffering?" We will be joined (via video) this week by Ellis Prince (Gallery Church Baltimore) and Kay Warren. Dr. Brad Cruse will be teaching this weekend. You are in for a big treat!

Here is a welcome from Kay!

Tough Questions

As promised, here are the answers to some of the questions you submitted during last weeks sermon. I have tried to categorize the questions as much as possible since many of them had similar themes. Also, I have posted video from JD Greear that will answer some of the questions. JD is a great friend and is the Lead Pastor of the Summit Church in Durham, NC. I interviewed him last week on the topic of "How Can there be one religion"? He spoke, via video, in last weeks message.

Here are the first three questions:

Question 1: Doesn't the Gospel of Jesus exclude a lot of people?




Question 2: What about all the denominations within Christianity, how do you determine which one is right?

Yes it is true that there are hundreds of denominations within Christianity. Most of these denominations were started for very good reasons. Usually they were formed in an effort to clarify and raise the importance of certain doctrines within Christianity.

Here are some things to remember when judging the "rightness" of a particular denomination:

- Does this particular denomination celebrate the essentials of the Christian faith (Virgin Birth, Sinless Life, Death, Burial, Resurrection of Jesus. Authority of Scripture, etc.)?
- How does the denomination relate to the local church? Jesus promised to build His Church, not a denomination.
- Is Jesus the main focus of this denomination?
- How does the denomination view grace?
- What is the mission of the denomination?
- Etc.

All in all, denominations are fine and some cases are very significant. I don't think it is wise to simply dismiss denominations as a whole, but denominations should never take precedence over Jesus and His church.

Question 3: What makes the Gospel of Jesus different?






OK...I will post more of the questions later. Thanks for submitting them. Would love to hear your comments.

God of Jesus

Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

As I was reading this verse this morning, I was struck by the first line where Paul says praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have always just seemed to glance over it, but today it struck me differently when I read it. I left out the words "and Father" and read the opening line as "Praise be to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ." It has always been easy for me to think of God as the father of Jesus, but I have never really thought about it from the angle that He was also the God of Jesus.

This leads me to one of the more troubling doctrines in the Christian faith, the doctrine of the Trinity. The doctrine of God in three persons (God, Jesus, Holy Spirit or Father, Son and Holy Spirit). This doctrine teaches that God is one but with three distinct personalities or functions. Tim Keller in his book "The Reason for God" says the doctrine of the Trinity is the like the divine "dance" of God. Each person of the Trinity has its role in the dance. Each has its function, equal, but different.

So then, how was God, God of Jesus? Because when it is stated like this it makes it sound as if God had superiority over Jesus and therefore they were different. In John 1:2 it says that "He (Jesus) was with God in the beginning." Meaning that Jesus was with God in the beginning or he was not created after God. So, what was Paul referring to here? I think Paul was referring to the role of God and Jesus specifically related to Jesus' time on earth. In other places in the New Testament we see that during Jesus' earthly ministry, there was certainly a submission by Jesus to the will of God the Father. We even see on the cross where God turned His back on Jesus and Jesus scream "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"

This all points us back to the idea that in the Trinity you have three unified beings that all have different functions. Just like in a dance each are moving in unity, but one will take the lead.

Possibility For and Product Of Salvation

Ephesians 1

S) 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints in Ephesus,^[a] the faithful^[b] in Christ Jesus:

2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

O)In his opening greeting to the Church at Ephesus Paul opens with the words "Grace and Peace". These words are pretty typical coming from Paul and most of the time it would be really easy just fly by his words and not pay attention to the significance of them. So this morning I want to take a second and reflect on the significance of their meaning.

Grace is the only thing that makes our salvation possible. When I thing about my life, I am the worst sinner I know. It seems that that things I know that I am supposed to do, I do not do. It seems that my heart is always 'prone to wander' from God. As much as I try to be good, I cant be good. The more I try to put things together and make them make sense, the more I seem to get frustrated. It is in these moments that I have to come back to grace. I have to remember that God's grace requires nothing of me for my salvation. I am saved by Him alone and my life will only make sense in Him alone. Grace is an amazing free gift that I simply need to accept.

Peace is the product of salvation. Because of the grace of God, I can have peace with God. Pretty good deal if you ask me. God bestows His salvation upon be freely because of His grace and now I can walk in peace knowing that I am no longer justified by my own efforts. My approval does not come from men. My joy comes from Him who is the source of all joy, Jesus Christ. Far to often I do not know how to embrace the peace of God. I fall back into my patterns of self doubt and pity. It is in those moments that I need to repent and embrace Paul's words, "Grace and Peace to you FROM God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

A) Every time I am discouraged today or doubt my efforts I am going to repent and reflect upon Jesus who took all of my short comings upon Himself because of grace and therefore has made peace possible.

P) God, I am sorry for the MANY times that I doubt you. Help me to embrace your grace and peace today!

Bible study acronym S.O.A.P. from Wayne Cordero
S- Scripture
O-Observation
A- Application
P- Prayer