Heart Transformation

This week we heard from two men from Kansas City.  Being around the two of them was evidence enough of the widespread culture of the area.  On Tuesday and Wednesday, we heard from DA Horton, a pastor from the inner city.  The first time we heard him speak he told us that he speaks three languages… English, Evangelical, and Ebonics.  This guy is super passionate about the Gospel.  However, looking at him, or even hearing the way he speaks, you probably wouldn’t guess he’s a pastor.  Thursday, we heard from Darrell Shemwell who does…well, I’m not really sure.  But he’s a dear friend and mentor of Adam Donyes, and he is incredibly wise. 

DA talked with us about two of our fundamental pillars here at link year; Heart Transformation, and Maximizing Moments.  Romans 12:1-2 says,

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Here, Paul is challenging the Romans to offer their bodies as sacrifices to the Lord…but what does that look like?  It’s like you’ve baked a really fancy cake, and you are finally ready to serve it to your friends.  You cut it, plate it, and hand it over to them.  After that, it is theirs; whether they choose to eat it or not, whether they like it, hate it, or feed it to the dog.  It’s theirs.  Likewise, we are to give our bodies over to God.  Not just rent them out from time to time.  Eternal life starts now.  When we live with an eternal perspective, people will see the difference in our lives, and we will ultimately be able to point them directly to Christ.  In the second verse, Paul is warning against getting caught up in the things of this world; the here and now.  Rather than pretending to be a really great Christian, and obsessing over the materialistic things around us, we need to set aside the things of this world so that our outward appearance matches our internal content.  God is always transforming us.  He uses things in our lives to shape and mold us into the person we need to be, but it is our jobs to present ourselves to him.  We need to put our lives at his disposal. 

DA shared a story about a silversmith and his apprentice:

“A man once went to a silversmith and asked, How do I make Silver?” the silversmith replied, “I cannot make metal, but I can show you how to use it.”  So he put some silver in the fire.  After a while, he pulled it out, examined it, and replaced it in the flames.  He did this several times.  After a while the man grew impatient.  “How do you know when it is ready?” “When I can see my reflection,” the silversmith replied,
“then I know that the impurities are gone, and it is ready to be used.”

God will often times leave us in the flames in order to work out our impurities.  He is helping us grow daily in order to become more and more like him.  Eventually, we will be prepared to do exactly what he has laid out for us in his perfect will. 

DA made it very clear that you cannot be idle in the faith.  You can either live in autopilot, or you can maximize every moment of your life.  Ephesians 5:15-21 makes this clear.  Verse 15 says “look carefully then, how you walk…”  When you’re walking carefully, you are aware of everything around you, and you are super cautious.  Our lifestyles should be the same.  Wisdom is the application of knowledge, and we are called to walk as wise.  Apply your knowledge; live in the word you know!  Opportunities come with an expiration date, you can never get them back.  When we’re given opportunities, we must redeem them.  The God of this world blinds our eyes.  We need to look to the one TRUE God in heaven, and take the opportunities he gives us.  God didn’t create us to be stagnant sitting ducks.  We must live spirit filled lives.  You cannot glorify God under the influence of anything other than God. 

Darrell Shemwell talked to us about sovereignty.  God created everything from nothing.  We can’t even begin to comprehend that… to us, nothing will always be the absence of something.  We have no concept of absolute nothingness.  Because God created us, we know that he has absolute control over the universe, and over our lives.  He created and sustains all things.  He also shared with us a lot of information about predestination, which I would love to continue to learn more about.   At this point, I feel as though I have too many questions about it to be able to share with you what I learned. 

I hope that every one is having a great Holiday season!  Remember the reason for the season.  We are inticipating the coming of the savior!   The perfect sacrifice that God sent into this corrupted world to save us.  Keep CHRIST at the front of CHRISTmas.  God bless!

“Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” – Ephesians 6:19-20

What You've Never Had

            This week we had the great privilege of hearing from Brian Wang.  He is one of our directors here at the Link Year, and also potentially one of the funniest and sweetest men alive.  (Shout out to his wife Autumn, for being the only one to actually read this)  This week he spoke about Luke 9:23 which says

"And He said to all, "if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me."

           He began by describing our lives as a balancing act.  We are constantly trying to figure out how to fit everything in.  Between all of our commitments, getting things done for school, or even just around the house, and spending endless hours on social media, we often forget to make time for the one thing that should be the most important to us; our relationship with God. 

            Think about water… It is really REALLY hot at 211°, but it does not boil until it reaches 212°.  That one degree will come eventually, but it is a process.  It takes time.  What can we do to increase our spiritual 'temperature' up that last little bit?  What areas can we improve in to turn it up that one last degree? Whether you think you can, or you think that you can't, you are right.  The only way we can get what we've never had is to do what we've never done.  We need to work to get that one last degree in our lives to reach our boiling point.  Following Christ isn't always easy, but are we going to give up because things get hard?  No, we push through, and grow closer and closer to our Father in heaven because of it.

            There are three steps to following Christ as laid out in Luke 9:23; self-denial, complete dedication, and willing obedience. But first, we must look at who he is directing this to.  The verse says He said to ALL.  Not just to some, or to the believers, or the Jews.  ALL. 

            "Let him deny himself…" Self-denial is the conscious choice we make to please God rather than pleasing our human nature.  It is NOT easy.  It stretches us, and it hurts.  God knows our end result, and he knows how to get us there.  He will push us HARD to get there.  Christ may call us to give up things we aren’t willing to loose, but because we are in full submission to Him, we are called to give up everything and run to him.

            “…take up his cross daily…” Complete dedication to Christ is to focus only on pleasing the Lord, not ourselves, and certainly not others.  Our purpose is not to show anyone anything except for the Lord.  Examine your life; what are you dedicated to?  Maybe a sports team, a club, school, or a job.  Are you committed to the Lord?  When’s the last time you put as much time and effort into a bible study as you do for a school project or test? We will one day be able to look back and see all that the Lord has done in our lives.  1 Corinthians 9:27 says, “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.”  We are too often focused on perishable rewards; the temptations of NOW.  If we can’t discipline ourselves, then the world will win.  We need to strive to earn the imperishable rewards that God offers to his good and faithful servants. 

           “…and follow me.”  Willing Obedience as a follower gives us an appeal as a leader.  The definition of the word follow is to accept as guide or leader, accept the authority of, or give allegiance to.  When we follow Christ, we are accepting him as our leader, and giving our allegiance to Him.  If we can set our pride aside, and follow for a change, people will be drawn to us because we are looking for the best interest for everyone.  Obedience is defined as a willingness to obey, or to comply with submission to authority.  Obedience builds trust, and you can only lead those who trust you.  When you are willing to be obedient, God can use you in incredible ways.  We looked at the story of Abram/Abraham.  In Genesis 12:1-4, God calls Abram to leave everything that he has and move.  In chapter 22, God has finally given Abraham his promised son, and is now asking him to sacrifice him.  Now, keep in mind, his wife Sarah did not get pregnant until she was 95 years old.  They waited a long time for this promised son, and now, God was asking him to kill him.  But because Abraham was willingly obedient to God, he woke up early (when does anyone ever do that willingly?), and went to a place so far away it took him three days to walk there…all along knowing that the journey would end with him murdering his own son.  You probably know the story… Just as they had built the altar, and strapped his son down to be slaughtered, God stopped him and provided a ram to be slain in place of Isaac, his son.  Abraham was obedient to God, and God provided for him.  Abraham became the father of many nations because he was willingly obedient to God. 

            When we develop an eternal time perspective, and continually strive for the finish line and our imperishable wreath, we will be living a life worthy of the title of Disciple of Christ.  By doing those three things, we will learn to be true followers of our savior Jesus Christ.  Not to say that it is easy, or even fun…it won’t be.  But the rewards will be great.  Most importantly, we will be living lives that are pleasing to God.  The only way to get what you've never had is by doing what you've never done.  

“Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” – Ephesians 6:19-20

Greatness and Temptation

This week we heard the word from two different speakers; Kyle Unruh, and Antoine Mack.  These men shared with us on two different topics, which happened to coincide perfectly. 

Tuesday, Kyle Unruh talked with us about the Plan for Greatness.  He started out by telling us that in deciding to come to Link year, we have made a decision of Greatness.  Because it is so out of the cultural norm, we have taken a risk; and where there is great risk, there is great reward.  If we choose to accept all that this program has to offer, we will be on a path to greatness. 

According to Kyle, there are four steps on the path to greatness.  It begins with a calling.  We looked at Mark 1:16-17, the passage in which Jesus goes to Simon and Andrew and calls them to follow him.  Now in Jewish culture, every boy goes to school at age 5 with the hope of being asked to follow a rabbi.  As they grow older, the rabbi picks out the cream of the crop, and sends the others back home to work.  The fact that these two brothers are fishermen shows that they had not made the cut.  So now, they take the opportunity that they had been denied earlier in life, and follow Jesus.  When God calls us out of our box to do something for him, why would we deny him?  With God on our side, who can take us down?

Next, we need to develop a clear understanding of Sacrifice.  Looking back at this passage in Mark, these two fishermen dropped all that they had to follow Jesus, a rabbi.  He asked them to drop all that they know; their income, their business, their comfort, their livelihood… all that they have, and follow him.  And they did it.  Think about it, Christ came to be a sacrifice for all of us.  We are called to be like Christ.  We are most like him when we can make sacrifices for him. 

Thirdly, we must be steadfast.  Jesus tells Peter in John chapter 21, just before he leaves the earth, to follow him.  This goes to show that just because of God’s lack of physical presence, we are still called to follow him in everything that we do.  Not only that, but if we look back at the life of Peter, we see that he denied Jesus three times before He was crucified.  In asking Peter to follow Him, what Jesus was really saying was, “Peter, don’t screw up again… Turn and RUN from your sin!”  Likewise, we are called to turn from our sin, and seek God’s will in our lives. 

Last, but not least, we are called to allow our weakness to be manifested.  In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, we see Paul pleading with God to remove a ‘thorn’ from his side.  (This is more than likely some sort of physical or emotional struggle that could have kept him from working to his full potential.)  Instead of removing it from his life, God said to him “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (v. 9)  Kyle shared with us an old fable…

A young boy had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole that he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For two years this went on daily, with the boy bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of this accomplishment. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.  After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the boy one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house." The old boy smiled, "Watch your side of the path as we walk home.”  As they walked home, the cracked pot notice that on his side there were many flowers growing.  The Boy told him, “That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them." "For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house." Sometimes God uses our weakness in ways we don’t see for good.  The potential for greatness is here; we just have to accept it.  Wednesday, Antoine Mack talked with us about time perspective.  Temptation is a matter of time.  It’s completely psychological; it is a matter of internal conflict and dialogue.  We know what we want now, but we never stop to think how it will affect our future.  Temptation is the persuasion of now.  Time will end, but truth will remain.  Jesus tells us in John 14:6 that he is the way the TRUTH and the life.  Jesus is truth.  If we anchor ourselves to truth, we can see past now.  With our eyes focused on the truth that is the Word of God, we can develop an eternal mindset, and learn to resist temptation by seeing how it will affect us in the long run.  Without even planning it, these speakers really fit together well.  When we are seeking greatness, we are seeking God.  And with God on our side, who can stand against us?  We will be able to fight the temptation of Satan, and stay on the straight and narrow path.  The key to this is seeking God.  Following his call… Understanding his Sacrifice… Being steadfast to his word… And allowing our weakness to be manifested in his power.  With this in mind, we will be great, and we will learn to resist the temptations of the evil one.  “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” – Ephesians 6:19-20

Intimacy with Christ

This week we were privileged to hear from Shay Robbins, the men’s director at Kanakuk K-2.  Let me tell you, this man is passionate about others.  He is a truly caring man, who makes a point to invest in the lives of every person he comes into contact with.  It was a real treat to get to hear his heart over the past three days. 

            Shay spoke to us about having an intimate relationship with God.  In the Old Testament, God lived in the Temple.  Only the priest could enter in to the most inner place of the temple, the dwelling place of God.  As a precaution, they would tie a rope around his ankle, because, if he had any un-confessed sin in his life, he would drop dead right then and there.  There was no room for hidden sin in the presence of God.  He would sprinkle sacrificial blood on the holy of holies- the resting place of God, in order to atone for the sins of all of Israel. 

            Now, we don’t have to worry about GOING to find God.  He no longer dwells in the temple.  We have become the temple.  He dwells within us. As he died on the cross, his final words were “It is finished.”  With this, he ended the ritual process of sacrifice, and atonement.  He had made the ultimate sacrifice and atoned for all the sins of anyone ever.  All past, present, and future sins.  Paid for.  Imagine this as your debt… all of you past present and future debt- out the window.  Taken care of.  Now, imagine this for every single person to ever live here on earth.  Wouldn’t that make life easy? 

            Because of this perfect sacrifice and atonement, we are no longer separated from God.  We do not need to be righteous to be near to him.  We can have intimacy with him like Adam and Eve had in the Garden. 

            Sometimes, it’s discouraging to hear the stories of the bible, and think about the power of the presence of god in those situations.  Today, we don’t feel like we experience the power of God.  We are Distracted, uncommitted, and lazy.  We are separated from God by Darkness.  We base religion on knowledge and morality, not faith.   We care too much about prosperity to truly commit to God, and we are too unwilling to let go of the sin in our lives.  We hide behind our guilt and shame.  Mostly, we are afraid of what our lives would be if we truly committed to God.   To drop all else, and live for the Lord.  This fear eliminates the power of the believer. 

            Satan’s greatest strategy is to remove depth from our lives.  This is something that he is becoming more and more successful with.  Years ago, relationships developed through personal, face-to-face contact.  If you had a beef to pick with someone, you had to go to them, talk to them, see their reactions, hear their voice, think on your feet, and respond quickly.  Nowadays, our relationships are only as deep as the distance between our face and the screen in front of us.  Our relationships are becoming more and more shallow.   With this lack of depth comes a lack of intimacy, and with that comes a lack of power.  This power is divided into three categories- spiritual power (faith and trust), supernatural power (prayer and understanding), and the power to love well (love your neighbor as yourself). Without this power, we can not serve to our full potential as Christians. 

            We enter into God through Jesus (John 14:6), but we communicate with God through the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit has developed some what of a bad reputation amongst churches.  It is often overlooked, or pushed out of view.  It’s kind of the redheaded-stepchild of the Trinity.  I believe that this is because it is not very well understood.  The Holy Spirit dwells within every believer.  It is what speaks to us, and how we speak to God. 

            The power of God exceeds any understanding we have of power here on Earth.  Blows it out of the water.  But it is important to make things right before God before asking him to unleash his power in our lives.  It is important to vacate our hearts and minds of any hidden sin in our lives before coming before God.  This is the process of taking an authentic look at thin junk in our lives, and turning from it. 

     Psalm 139:23-24 -  Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way.

     Lamentations 3:39-40 - Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins? Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.

     Jeremiah 15:19 - Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will.

            God speaks to us in many ways.  He is ALWAYS speaking to us.  He does this through many different methods:

§  Through His word- 2 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12

§  Through Creation- Genesis 1, Romans 1:20, Psalm 19:1

§  Through God’s People- Proverbs, 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20

§  Through the Holy Spirit

§  Through Dreams and Visions

§  HOWEVER HE WANTS. 

Likewise, we receive it in different ways:

§  Revelation, or sudden knowledge

§  Illumination, or a new understanding of something old

§  Impressions/Nudging, or the ‘voice of God.’

§  Conviction, or letting us know when we have done, or are

about to do something stupid

            Having spiritual discipline will help to develop a close intimacy with God.  These disciplines include, but are not limited to Solitude, prayer, meditation, fasting, and study. 

            Solitude allows us to simplify our lives, and turn down the noise around us in order to hear God.  After all, even Jesus made time to spend alone with his Father.

            Prayer is our way of talking to our father.  Imagine the love a father feels in his heart when he hears the voice of their child.  He loves to hear from us.  However, this is an intimate part of our relationship with God.  It is not something that is meant to be done in order to show off.  God tells us that what we do in secret, he will repay us for (Matthew 6:18).  God makes it very clear in Matthew how we should pray to him.  Many people know this as the Lord’s Prayer. 

Hallowed be thy name.  Give Him His due Glory.  Humble yourself before him.  Think about it, if you had a friend that just told you how great you are all the time, wouldn’t you hang around them all the time? Duh, yeah.  Why wouldn’t you?  Why wouldn’t God dwell in the place where he is adored? Your kingdom come.  Jesus is coming.  Get pumped.   Your will be done.  Submit to his will. Give us this day, our daily bread.   Make requests for things you NEED, not want.  Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  Repent.  Lead us not into temptation.  Help us to live for YOU.

            Meditation is a deep contemplation and asking internal questions.  In Eastern culture, meditation is the detachment from life’s worries. Christian meditation is the detachment from distraction, confusion, media, anxiety, and pretty much any thing that takes our eyes off of Christ.  Once we are detached from all these things, we can attach our minds to Godly thoughts, scriptures, and other life lessons.  When we are obedient to God we will prosper. 

            Fasting is the practice of depriving ourselves of a necessity in order to learn how to truly depend on God.  It humbles us to the point that we can see how easy it is to depend on ourselves, but how rewarding it can be to depend on Christ.  In the words of Shay Robbins, “In our society, the gift of fasting is much more meaningful than the gift of money.” 

            Finally, by studying, we can learn more about the word of God.  Shay taught us to study by using the acronym S.O.A.P.  First, read a scripture.  Second, make an observation.  Find a way to apply it, and pray a prayer of understanding, thanksgiving or application. 

            Through these methods, we can develop a more intimate relationship with God.  The more you get to know God, the more you will want to know him.  Once we reach a level of intimacy with our Creator and Savior, we will be able to experience a new level of peace in our lives. 

           

            This is a lesson that everyone should hear.  For myself, it has shown me just how sweet a relationship with God can be.  However, it is definitely a work in process.  It will not just happen overnight.  It is something that we must work for in order to see the rewards that God has in store for us. 

  "Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." – Ephesians 6:19-20