The Life Map Blog

Friday, October 12, 2007 at 10:54 AM.   

In all I write and do it is not to ever take aim at others or people, but I also am out to show people there is a better way. A way that brings life. I best explain it as this, as crazy as it sounds, I'm out to help in changing the face of Christianity worldwide. Who am I, what experience, what ability, what talent do I have to do this or even think this.

Not all that much, I'm not all that skilled, talented or gifted. I can't even really keep a beat. But, I also know that our significance and the measure of who we are is not measured by those things. It is soley on our faith, not in ourselves, not in our ability, not even in the level of faith we think we have of faith...it is soley on our faith in God and our faith in who He says He is. There is no limit, no task, no vision, no person...nothing that can't be changed or carried out by any man or woman who knows this.

If you doubt this it is simply because you have created an idol of who you think God is or you need to repent of one of the two sins that stops God in His tracks. We know pride is one of the two. Pride will stop God from moving in your life and through your life very quickly.

Up until this year I didn't grasp the other one. Then one day when reading I came across the other one. It is dispair. Is dispair a sin? If a person is to a place of dispair it is the exact opposite of pride. Pride says I can do it all myself and I don't need God. Pride is pretty fat in pop Christianity. Simply because there is very little dependance on prayer in all aspects of the church today. From the top to the bottom. If no one prayed, if there was no prayer - honestly how different would things for most of Christianity today change?

The other side of Pride is dispair. This is where you stop thinking God is going to change anything or do anything. You basically think He can't. You basically in the depth of your heart are saying God I don't think you can do this. This has been more of my battle than pride in ministry and in much of my life. Things don't go as I hope or as I want and they don't for years and at times I grow very discouraged. God has thankfully brought me key allies who have been there to encourage me and help me focus back on God and remember who He is.

Today the body of Christ is following to a large degree a model that it has long followed because it has always been and knows no other model to follow to do any better. I do not think there are many who do what they do out of the wrong motive, but simply because they are going with the way it has always been or the way they know works for results. When we just follow the examples we are given over and over and we never ask God if they are the best way we keep doing it the same way. God brings about vast change in the church often through just a few, not the masses. How that comes from me or from those I influence is not the point - what is the point is that is comes.

The gospel has been made known to many now and we know it is by grace alone and not by works, but the gospel and the work of Christ does not stop at a ticket into heaven. It is so much more, but for the average men and women in our churches today that is what the Gospel has been reduced too. In even more it has even lost the truth of salvation and need of Christ and the reality of a very real hell. We have lots of evangalism ministries and lots of recorded decisions for Christ, but so many with so little change in the world makes no since. Something isn't working.

The divorce rate is high in our churches. Habitial sin remains a problem for many Christians in our churches - if not most. Discipleship is very, very, very rare. Few people know how to really walk with God. Few people hear from God or are truly surrendered to Him.

This is not because those leading don't care about people or don't want to help them, but because the models we are following can not bring about the changes we want. I am out to bring about a world wide change in helping others discover more in life in Christ and teaching them to do the same. The early model - the Christ model. Make disciples who then make disciples.

Christ told us to go out and make disciples of all nations. We are out in large numbers making converts, or so we think. We can not make converts, not real ones. We can however, make disciples and those disciples can go and make more disciples.