Thursday, November 22, 2012

Re-Cap of 'From the Inside-Out'


I wanted to give a quick re-cap on the message from the HUB last night for 2 reasons:


      1. It’s an important message that is easy to mis-understand

      2. I had the flu and my squeaky voice might have distracted you because it certainly was distracting ME!



Here’s the message in 7 points. Enjoy:


       Your Focus will Form your Future.

Your direction in life will be determined by what you FOCUS on.

Ask yourself: “What am I focusing on?”


       As Christians, we’re simply called to focus on Jesus.

The crazy thing is, it’s easy to get out of focus.  Check yourself


       The problem of the ‘Rich Man’ in Luke 18 wasn’t his MONEY, it was his FOCUS

Read Luke 18:18-23

The problem wasn’t that this man had money; the problem was, his CASH was keeping him from focusing on JESUS


       The message of Jesus isn’t ‘DO’ it’s ‘TURN’

People who see Church as religious think the Church wants them to DO

However, religion says DO but Jesus says DONE. (@Propaganda #Hashtag)

The message of Jesus (and the Church) isn’t ‘DO’ it’s ‘TURN’.  He’s concerned with you shifting your focus to Him.  He wants you to see him, to turn to him.  LOOK at JESUS


       DOING changes you from the OUTSIDE-IN, TURNING changes you from the INSIDE-OUT

Grace is not about staying the same.  Grace accepts you the way you are, but loves you WAY TOO MUCH to let you stay there.

If you focus on Jesus, you change - but not from the outside in, it's REAL change. From the INSIDE-OUT

** It’s impossible to look to Jesus and live in sin at the same time.  #hello


       Jesus moves towards those who look to Him in Faith.

Read Luke 19:1-9

The Bible says Zacchaeus, un-like the Rich Man, just wanted to 'Look at Jesus'

When he looked at Jesus in Faith, Jesus moved toward him, called him by name and came to his home

I wish our generation would stop focusing on what’s wrong with them, and instead focus on what’s right with Jesus

*Notice that Zaccheaus did what the Rich Man couldn't; He gave his wealth away.  He was CHANGED as he focused on Jesus


       What’s CAPTIVATING you more than CHRIST?

Is there something in your life that's captivating your focus MORE than Jesus?

I want to challenge you to take a deep breath.  Turn from whatever your focusing on and fix your eyes on the King.

When you live this way - day in and day out, looking to Him, honouring him, reading his word, talking to him etc… watch Jesus begin to transform you into who you were created to be.  

From the Inside-Out

Love ya.

K.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Leaders, Followers, Decisions + Honor

I'm a little nervous about this post,

Why? Because I have little right to speak into your life when it comes to leadership - especially when we have access to so much great content from leaders all over the world.

HOWEVER, something hit me while I was driving home from work yesterday that I think will be helpful to young/inexperienced leaders like myself + I'd love to share it with you:

Great LEADERS are great FOLLOWERS and great FOLLOWERS make DECISIONS that HONOR their leader.

First of all, what makes a great leader?  A great follower!

As a young pastor, I have many in authority above me. The strength of my leadership is my ability to follow, obey + assist my leaders. And ULTIMATELY I follow Jesus. In fact, I follow my leaders because they follow Jesus.

Secondly, All great leaders are GREAT decision makers.

I found that my leadership increased as my ability to make wise decisions increased. Making decisions, small or large, increased my influence - especially when those decisions added value to the people around me.

FINALLY comes the big problem I see and the question we should ask:

Many young leaders are HESITANT to make any decision, especially big decisions.

Should I buy this car?
Should I pray for this person? Is it appropriate? What will they think?
Should I order the fillet minion or the chicken strips?

This hesitation is DECREASING young leaders influence.

So how do we learn to make right decisions?  I believe its really easy.

Always make the decision that HONORS your leader.

When I'm faced with a challenging decision I always ask these two questions:

Is this choice honoring to my Pastor?
Is this choice honoring to God?

Since all I'm doing is leading people to the person I follow - it's easy to make wise decisions.

So lead by following, follow by deciding, and decide by honoring.

K.