Jeff Johnston

I found this praise song this week, and I immediately got excited about all of the things that the power of the Cross has accomplished in my life.

Freedom. Grace. Healing. Strength. Peace.

It’s the the reason I have life today. It’s the reason I’ll have life tomorrow. It’s the reason I’m saved. It’s the reason I am forgiven and it’s the reason I am NOT forgotten.

It’s the expression of God’s love towards me.

I’m thanking God today, for the POWER OF THE CROSS!!!

Dive into this song… called “The Power of the Cross”, and allow your spirit to receive a fresh touch of God today! I included the lyrics at the bottom too if you want to follow along.

{Lyrics}

The Power of the Cross
Is in the blood of Christ
Given for us all
The spotless sacrifice
We are now redeemed
Ransomed with his life
We have now received by grace
The greatest gift of love
The Power of the Cross

Son of God, one of us
Bore the shame of all, yet blameless
Innocent, heaven sent
Bore the sin of all, yet guiltless

And He saw us here through blood-stained tears
And He said, “It was worth it all.”

Chorus

Son of God, perfect lamb
Made a way for us to know Him
By His blood we are one
Stand victorious and worship

Now He sees us free through Calvary
And He says, “It was worth it all.”

Chorus

Nothing is missing, nothing is broken
Now it is finished, His blood has spoken (repeat)

I am redeemed, I am set free
I am complete by The Power of the Cross (repeat)

Do you remember being younger, when it seemed like you ALWAYS had something in mind you wanted from your parents?

This was especially true around Christmas when, after being bombarded by all the toy commercials on TV and catalogs mailed to your house, you knew exactly what it was you wanted.  You woke up in the morning thinking about it. You fell asleep at night dreaming about it. Maybe you even made a place for it in your bedroom in anticipation of it’s arrival.

The mere idea of you getting hold of it brought sheer pleasure to your life.

In John 15:7, Jesus tells us that; “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”

Now this could be a dangerous promise to unveil to a 5 year old without giving some Biblical explanation along with it.  Can you imagine scores of little boys and girls, standing on this promise every time they asked God for the latest ‘My Little Pony’ or shiny new set of toy cars? A lot of parents would be backed into some pretty big corners!

I think there’s an important truth that’s anchored in this promise though, and it deals with the motivations behind what we’re asking for.  That’s because we’re not always good at asking for the right things.  We’re not always clearheaded to see God’s best for us. It’s difficult for us to see that, because it gets buried underneath what we want. Sometimes, we can even see it loud and clear – but our own desires push it right out of the picture.

Psalm 106:15 says, ‘He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.’

In other words, they got what they wanted, but there was a process of deprivation in their souls. They became weak, emaciated and malnourished spiritually. Because they shook their hands and stomped their feet at God, they finally got what ‘they’ wanted. But it came at a cost of this leanness. Their souls paid a heavy price.

It makes me think about what I’m praying for. Am I asking as I see fit or as God sees fit? Children always ask as they see fit and don’t see or understand the big picture like mom and dad do. Sometimes, we end up playing the same games with God.

There’s nothing wrong with asking God for things. The Bible teaches we should make our requests known to Him. It tells us to approach His throne of grace with confidence so we can receive in our time of need. I believe we need to push ourselves to seek God for big things. Big change. Big destiny. Big healing. Big salvations.

But, I also believe we need to pray as Jesus taught us… ‘THY will be done, here on earth, as it is in Heaven.’ We need discernment to know His will as we pray. We need to filter out the cries of our flesh.  And, we need to be careful what we ask for – because we may actually get it.

JJ

As I’ve been seeking God for direction for 2010, I can’t help but get excited about what He has in store for us at Kingsview.  We are heading into a brand new year, and I’m convinced it’s going to be an amazing time of God’s favor and growth!

Last year, as we were heading into the new year at Kingsview, we spent some time in a series called ‘Moving Forward’, which was such a great challenge for us to dream big and start taking care of all the unfinished business of God in our lives. There was a powerful song written with this title, and it was recently covered by Israel Houghton.

I just LOVE this song, and thought it would be great to share it with you all!

In our services at Kingsview yesterday, we preached on and prayed for an increase of faith to see miracles in our midst.  Sometimes, miracles are instantaneous.  Other times, it’s a process.  When the miracle comes right away, we PRAISE God.  When it’s delayed, we STILL praise Him.

Either way, if you need some help ‘putting your praise on’ today… you’ll want to worship with this song.  I’ve been listening to it today and getting a fresh sense of God and His amazing Self!!

In the midst of going, going, going, doing, doing, doing, and serving, serving, serving – once in a while a special kind of person will step out to ask how “I” am doing.  How I’m holding up.  Could they help more?  What could they do to support?  How could they PRAY better for their pastor?

So I’m going to answer that question.  Actually, I’m going to use ANOTHER pastor’s answer… just pass on some good teaching to help all of us support our spiritual leadership a little better.

On his blog (see the link at the bottom for more details), Perry Noble lists out the 5 best ways we can be praying for our pastor.  IF… no actually WHEN God lays it on your heart to pray for your pastor (whoever he/she is), here’s a great place to start.

#1 – His Walk With God – Pray that his relationship with Jesus isn’t one out of obligation…but of OBSESSION for HIM!!!  It is VERY tempting for a pastor to read the Bible for sermon prep and NOT to know Jesus.  Pray that His relationship with Jesus will be FRESH and that he will be filled with vision and passion like never before.

#2 – His Integrity – It takes YEARS to establish integrity…and it can be destroyed in seconds.  Pray for your pastor to keep his eyes on Jesus and OFF of anything that might lead him astray!!!

#3 – His Marriage – Pray that your pastor just doesn’t preach about a healthy marriage…but LIVES it out.  I promise you the enemy comes STRONG after his marriage…and his kids!!!  Lift up his wife and children by name as well!!!

#4 – His Sanity – He deals with critics, he deals with unrealistic expectations, he deals with accusations, he deals with pressure that is intense.  Pray that he will keep his sanity.  I recently heard of a survey that said only 10% of the men entering the ministry actually retire…the others either get disqualified OR drop out!  That is a 90% failure rate!!!  THE STAKES ARE HIGH!!!

#5 – His Health – I was in a meeting of pastors a few years ago…everyone of us were leading large churches…everyone of us were under 35…and over HALF of the men in the room (remember, we were under 35) had been hospitalized in the past two years because of serious medical problems (most likely brought on by stress and anxiety!)  Good health is so vital for ministry…and I can promise you that physical, emotional and spiritual health do not just “happen!”  Do not assume that just because your pastor is young that he is healthy…lift him up.

So – if you want read more into Perry’s thoughts on praying for your pastor… check out this link: http://www.perrynoble.com/2009/11/30/pray-for-your-pastor/

JJ

Seems these days everything we do MUST be profitable.

• The retirement account isn’t performing well, and it’s time to call the fund manager to make some changes.
• Your efforts at the local church aren’t making a significant difference, and it’s time to shift your time and talents to something more profitable.
• You drive home from work, thinking ‘what in the world did I even do today???’
• You’re talking with someone about deep issues in their life, but they don’t want to do anything different to get out of the situation they want out of.
• The baby sitter is slacking off, which means you better call the next eager teenager willing to make a buck and not poison your kids while doing it.

If you’re anything like me – wasted time, money or focus just simply GRATES away at you.  I love investing time into something worthwhile.  I’m not afraid to spend money on someone or something of value.  I treasure opportunities to sow my focus wholeheartedly into something of worth.

I want to be profitable.  In all things.  My time.  My talks.  My talents.  My relationships.  And when I’m not… you better believe I know it.  I feel it.  I’m tormented by it.

The other day I was reading Proverbs 21:5, which tells us;

“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty”

This really spoke to me in a fresh way.  If I want to be profitable in all these things, then I’ve got to have plans, and I’ve got to be diligent in seeing those plans through until completion.

Sitting on a couch daydreaming of a better life won’t do it.  Even having a journal chock full of exciting dreams, but no plans to see them come to life isn’t enough.

I’ve got to be strategic.  And I’ve got to be diligent when I come up against resistance. Tiredness is my enemy.  Negative voices are my adversaries.  Procrastination is my nemesis.  I must push through my natural resistance factors if I’m going to be profitable.

How excited do we get when the retirement account is kicking butt and taking names?  What if we could translate that passion into the rest of our lives, and let that passion push us to be profitable in all things?

PLANS. DILIGENCE > PROFIT.

Sounds like a good plan to me…

JJ

We’re currently in the middle of a series called “The End” at Kingsview, and the focus is on what the Bible has to say about the end of the earth, and our transition into the next dimension of eternity.

During the series, we’ve been singing a worship song called “Revelation Song”, which is based out of Revelation chapters 4 and 5.

In this revelation, John is in the throne room of heaven. He is told that he is being shown what is going to be taking place there for eternity. From this throne come peals of thunder and flashes of lightning. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircles the throne, and before it, was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. The 24 elders present lay their crowns down before the throne and fall down in worship the One sitting on the throne. Along with the elders, there are angels, numbered in the “ten thousands times ten thousands”, along with every creature in the new heaven and earth, all singing a song of worship.

It is out of this worship we read about in Revelation 4 and 5, that this song was written. Allow me to share with you, Jesus Culture’s version of the “Revelation Song.”

I was reading in Galatians 6 the other day, and something that Paul wrote to the church of Galatia just JUMPED off the page to me.  He said;

“…WHAT COUNTS is a new creation”

Have you ever been at the place where the outward demonstration of your Christianity became more important than the inward manifestation of it?  If you’re anything like the rest of us, than you’ve probably already nodded yes to that one, and you know exactly what I’m talking about.

It frustrates me to no end sometimes, how we can end up “counting” the things that don’t really count… how we place significant value on some of the ‘outward’ demonstrations of our faith that aren’t of much consequence in the light of eternity.

How we dress for church.  What songs we sing and instruments we use to accompany them.  The nice brass communion plates that adorn the ‘in remembrance of Him’ heavy oak table starring in churches across the land.  Hymnals in the pews.  ‘Christianese’ language that we don’t use anywhere else in the world.  Attending church every week, but not necessarily participating in a deeper way.  Boycotting such ‘worldly’ events like Halloween and crawling into a shell when they come around every year (I even had someone try to convince me that Christmas and Easter were of pagan origin and it was an offense to God for us to celebrate them in our church)… GOOD NIGHT!!

We’re getting caught up in all the wrong things.  We’re trained to believe that if we fall in line with the status quo of the “program” of church, we’ll be just fine.  Meanwhile, some of the most important ‘inward’ manifestations of spiritual maturity go ignored for years in our lives.

This is EXACTLY what Paul was dealing with in Galatians 6.  He knew that the people of that church were losing focus off of the things that truly counted.  Instead, they were worried about making sure people were obeying the laws of circumcision.

In other words, they were teaching that their spirituality was directly connected to this OUTWARD act.  AND – if you had followed the crowds by coming into line with that requirement, you were then qualified to make a good impression on others, and even BOAST about your spirituality.

Doesn’t this sound a little familiar?

Rightfully so, Paul brought some much needed correction to their error.  He simply told them (in verse 15) that NEITHER circumcision, or uncircumcision MEANS ANYTHING… what COUNTS is a new creation.  What counts is having an authentic spirituality BEHIND the demonstration.  What counts is the evidence of an inward manifestation of that spirituality that is far more significant that the outward expression of it.

Let’s remember what counts, and do everything we can to lay hold of that.

JJ

This is another official update to the original “Shift Happens” video. This completely new Fall 2009 version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology.  For more information, or to join the conversation, please visit http://mediaconvergence.economist.com and http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com.