Thoughts from Luke 16
Money money money.
My use of money is a good test of the Lordship of Christ. Do I use my material goods to foster faith and obedience? Or does it serve my selfish gain?
When I obey God’s will, the unselfish use of my stuff will follow.
Money can quickly take God’s place in my life and become the master. Is it hard for me to give money away? Do I spend a lot of time (and more money) caring for and maintaining my possessions?
Money is a hard and deceptive master. It promises power and control, but can’t deliver.
I live in a world that measures my worth by how much money I make. Jesus doesn’t accept me based on my piggy bank.
The Pharisees saw their wealth as a stamp of approval from God. However, there are many times when God detests wealth in the Bible (when it causes people to abandon Him).
Prosperity may induce praise from people, but it won’t buy a devotion with God.
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I know many Christians who seem to have never read this:
Luke 3:8-9 (New Living Translation)
Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”
The crowds were coming out to be baptized by John because it was the popular thing to do. Many scholars believe that John the Baptist had already baptized over one million people by this time.
There were people seeking hope and salvation, through an act, but were refusing to repent (turn away) from their sins.
John had harsh words for people like this. Jesus’ words were more harsh.
Sometimes in church we baby these types of people because we don’t want to offend them. Boo.
Here’s the deal: God values reformation over ritual. Confession of sins and a changed life are inseparable. Faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26).
I pray for the many people in our community that believe they can show up and confess to a man, and then walk away to continue their sin without genuine remorse over their sin. I know not all people in this faith tradition believe that way, but I’ve certainly met many that do.
I alway pray for myself (!!!) and others in our church that we would seek to please and honor God with our lives, and not get caught up in rituals or weekly check marks.
Filed under: Church & Culture | Leave a Comment
Prayers via Twitter
Here are some prayer requests that came in on Sunday via Twitter. For more info on that. click here.
Please join me in praying for these needs.
@patsize: pray for velocity as we look to the new year.#gfc
@Lazyeagle1: Lord thank you for listening to me and for providing us with Gateway Fellowship! #gfc
@ajporlier: Pray for our troops serving everyday to protect our freedom and will to serve the Lord. and for my gracious and loving parents #gfc
@coinlady: My sisters Pastor lost his dad last week in a boating accident and Wednesday night his son Caleb died in a car wreck.#gfc
@EddieFrancovich: Asking for prayers that my ex and I both be open to what God asks from us tonight on a phone call about our divorce. #gfc
@mantlepro: Pray for Chi Alpha and the campus ministry at UTSA — that students would have a real hunger for Jesus. #gfc
@shariwitt: Pls pray for beth v. that the Lord will open the door for a job for her!! Thanks! #gfc
@JohnVanPay: Pray that my friends Rhonda, Drew, and Mike will give get deep rest and recover from their surgerie. #gfc
@jpsatx: pray for our country and it’s leaders #gfc
@Lazyeagle1: My mother has cancer surgery tomorrow morning and needs a prayer. #gfc
@coinlady: Please pray for Rhonda for a fast recovery.#gfc
@TomGoolsby: the rest of jills pregnancy is good and walker is born healthy #gfc
@jasondoanhc: For continued grace and blessings over my family #gfc
@drewwitt: pray for pastor Dixon in Zanzabar, Tanzania Africa #gfc
@gatewayhelotes: pray for Chi Alpha and new UTSA students this fall #gfc
@taftdrummer05: hey guys at gateway, I’m Josh from WHAG, and I need prayer for my finances and god to give me strength this week, thanks 
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Twitter? What Happened?
Just to clarify:
We had planned on doing an “experiment” in church this past Sunday, and all was well, until our filtering/display interface for Twitter hit a snag.
Apparenetly, Twitter went under some maintenance and took a heavy hit last week with the Iran Election drama. In the process of their maintance, they updated their API, and that caused a lot of developers to experience bugs. Twitpocalypse.
I understand that our church was one of the first to discover this problem with ParaTweet, and as a result, they are being very generous to our church by doubling our license time.
So, to all who signed up on Twitter this past week in hopes to use it in church, please accept my sincerest apologies. Thank you for trying this with us. We will use it. Maybe this Sunday? Maybe next? The situation was truly out of our hands, regrettfully. I wish it was in our court so I could be the solution.
I don’t like it when we can’t follow up on our word. When we say we’re going to do something, we do it. Our word and integrity is very important to us.
Until next time,
if you don’t have twitter yet, take the leap off of Facebook.
Drew
Filed under: Inside Gateway | 2 Comments
If you don’t have a free Twitter account yet, go to Twitter.com and sign up for free.
Watch this 2 min video on what Twitter is.
You can update your Twitter status many different ways. If you’re at your desktop, you can update through a desktop application. If you have a smart phone, such as an iPhone or BlackBerry, you can update through a smart phone application. If you don’t have a smart phone, you can update via SMS. I explain exactly how to ‘tweet’ via SMS in the video below.
What Does This Have To Do With Church?
I’m glad you asked. Our culture is increasingly interactive. We’ve always learned in interactive ways. And now, popular culture has gone interactive. American Idol, Dancing With The Stars, and most reality shows have embraced interactivity with the audience. The internet is changing into a social portal that is interactive and dynamic, not just static. The most popular internet sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and YouTube are interactive.
With generations growing up and learning this way, we feel like the church can also teach the most important things in life, in an interactive way.
How many times have you had a question in the middle of a sermon, but you couldn’t raise your hand to get clarification? If you’re like me, a lot. Through Twitter, we can change that. We can be interactive.
How Will It Work?
At a designated time in the service, you will be asked a question, or given the chance to ask a question. Through Twitter, you can respond, and your response will appear on the projector screen. This will allow the pastor and church to interact with each other in a unique, timely, and efficient manner.
Watch and Learn
Watch this video to learn how to set up an account, how to SMS into Twitter (if you don’t have an application on your phone), and why we’re experimenting with this.
Checklist
- Set Up Twitter account
- Acquire application for phone or link mobile number under the Devices tab
- Begin ‘tweeting’ to be familiar with the process
- Follow other people on Twitter
Who To Follow?
For starters:
John Van Pay: @johnvanpay
James Rios: @bjrios
Drew Witt: @drewwitt
Seth Henderson: @sethhenderson
Juan Ginez: @Juanginez
Veronica Gonzales: @coinlady
Looking For Twitter Applications?
For Mac
Twitterific (iconfactory.com/software/twitterrific)
Tweet Deck (tweetdeck.com)
For iPhone
Twitterific (iconfactory.com/software/twitterrific)
For BlackBerry
TwitterBerry (orangatame.com/products/twitterberry)
Filed under: Inside Gateway | 2 Comments
I hate that painting of Jesus. You know, the one where He’s limp, passive, and nice looking. He’s just not like that when I read the Gospels.
Then there’s the modern day “Christian”. The nice guy. The quiet guy. The whatever guy.
In the passage below, Paul describes the Christian life with active and forceful words such as run, pursue, fight, and hold tightly.
It would seem like the Christian life is intentional, moving, progressive, and growing. This kinda ties into my last post.
I don’t understand the lazy “follower of Christ”, if they even are, who just sit around waiting for things to happen.
They like to run in place spiritually, relationally, and culturally. And maybe that’s one reason why the world mocks us on Family Guy and the Simpsons. Here. Here. We don’t really intentionally lead the people that are around us into knowing who God is.
We just talk a lot of noise and show them what He’s not. Good luck with that one.
1 Timothy 6:11-12 (New Living Translation)
But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses.
Filed under: Church & Culture | 1 Comment
If you owned a business, would you keep an employee who doesn’t get any work done? No. If you were a gardener, would you keep a plant that didn’t produce a harvest? No. If you were an investor, would you keep an account that wasn’t growing and producing? No.
I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve known some people in church for 20 years, and they’re still the same since the day I met them. They’re at the same place today that they were at two decades ago. No growth. No fruit. Spinning tires. No traction.
They’re literally going nowhere on their walk with God.
How is it that the church seems to be the one place on Earth where it’s acceptable to not bear fruit? To not grow? Wasn’t it Jesus who cursed the fig tree for being a living thing and not producing? He talked a lot about bearing fruit for the glory of God.
I’m not a scientist or biologist, but I’m fairly certain that if something is living, it is growing and reproducing. When something isn’t growing or reproducing, it’s dying or dead.
The sticker weeds in my backyard seem to be more regenerate than a lot of my “brothers in Christ”.
Galatians 5:22-23 (New Living Translation)
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
The fruit of the Spirit are the by-products of a Christ centered life. You don’t get them, and then get Christ. It’s the other way around.
When people call themselves Christians, but don’t have this fruit, I get really nervous – for them. Scripture would teach us that they don’t actually have Christ! Here and here. They may like the idea of Christ, but that’s different from giving your life to Him.
Some people would call this post legalism, but they would be incorrect. Legalism is actually trying to get the fruit, without Christ, by your own merit.
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Tags: bearing fruit, fruit of the spirit
I’m Not
You are never as great as you think you are, so don’t become prideful. And you are never as bad as you think you are, so don’t become crippled by insecurity. Simply give your best and be thankful that God has given you the opportunity to be a part of His great plan.
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Everybody is annoyed by the “know-it-all”. This person has a dogmatic opinion about everything. Oh, they KNOW how the world spins surely, and even worse, they have a running mouth! The know-it-all is usually against anything new, resents discipline, and refuses to be a learner.
Soloman, the wisest man who ever lived (next to Jesus of course), calls this person an idiot. Actually, he says “fool”, but I’m putting it in todays context
Proverbs 1:7
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Note to self: don’t be a know-it-all. I must be open to the advice of the people in my life who see things at a different perspective than me. My way isn’t the way.
Sometimes we forget that God knows it all, and we don’t.
Filed under: Personal Issues, Scripture Study | Leave a Comment
Tags: wisdom
Jesus & The Dumb Religious
I was talking to a friend this morning about how Jesus often reacted to the religious.
He was very sarcastic and seemed to pick fights a lot.
My description is “the Lord is a warrior”. He’s so terrifying and manly.
Most think of Jesus to be limp, passive, and nice.
Here’s what my friend said. It made me roll on the ground laughing.
“We all saw His example of how to handle the religious establishment. Go into a rage, jack up all their stuff, destroy their tables, and tell them they’re gonna burn. Now there’s a God I can get behind.”
I don’t care who you are, that’s funny (unless you’re religious).
Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment
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