More Than Bread

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I believe God has planted in the very dna of our souls, a desire to matter; a desire to live a life that makes a difference... to find a mission worth dying for and even better worth living for. So let me ask you right now, you can answer in the quiet of your own heart, "What and/or who are you really living for? What is your mission in life?

If I could put it in simple, non-religious language, I think Jesus wants us to show people the heart of God. At it’s heart isn’t that our mission? Showing people the heart of God? 
I think we get that messed up sometimes.  Sometimes we think our mission is to tell   people how messed up they are...and we aren't.  Sometimes we think our mission is to fix people...and we can't. But what if He's just asking us to show people the Father-heart of God? That's a mission worth living for!

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Are you urgently hungry from something more than bread for your stomach? Here is what I think, while many things could seem urgent, what actually becomes consistently urgent is whatever we think will brings us life and is missing. In other words, urgency is defined by hunger. Urgency happens when we lack something which we believe will bring us life. 

 I could talk all day about how to get into the Word. I could talk to you about learning from a Biblical mentor and developing a Biblical core. We could talk about resources like "How to Study the Bible for All It's Worth" and commentaries that open up some
of those hard passages. But honestly, knowing how to get into the Word is less  important than wanting to get into the Word.  

See here's what I know... if hungry people can find food, hungry people will eat. The question is are we hungry for something more than bread?

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Once upon a time we were called, "the people who turned the world upside down." In this episode I want to challenge us to pray, "Lord would you do it again?" We want to live in an upside down world because what we have come to experience as right-side-up is all wrong.

And it all begins with a decision...it's a yes or no decision; an all-in or nothing doing  decision.  Will you go all-in as a Jesus-apprentice? If we go all-in, what he gives in return is nothing short of amazing. His love is all-satisfying. It will soften the hardest heart and and heal the deepest hurt. It will quench the thirst of your soul giving you the courage to live life with open arms. It will change you. It may hurt you...he will not stop at shaping your to become his masterpiece. His is a fierce, unquenchable love. 

Today he's holding out his hand to give you his heart. The question is will you give him yours. That's where it begins.

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I've always thought this story of Paul and Silas was a bit strange. This woman has been following them  for days, telling people that they are God's men.  They are legit; here to save you. But then one day, Paul gets annoyed and delivers her from demonic bondage and economic slavery and as a result they get beaten severely and thrown in jail; where we find them praying and worshipping at midnight. 

And then a miraculous opportunity for escape comes, but instead of taking it, they help their jailer discover the love of Father God. I used to think that was an accident. Now I think it was the goal. It was God's purpose. I can see heaven's conference room, "Hey we got this Roman jailer; he's so close to the Kingdom. How about we send Paul and Silas? Yeah, we'll get them thrown in jail, that way, there's no way they can miss him."

And all of heaven and a room full of earth, rejoices that night as not only the jailer, but his whole family discovers the love of Father God and they become followers of Christ. So who is the jailer that God's putting in your life?
 
What if God is ready to do it again? 

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Every time we come to the funeral of someone who loved Jesus...it should make us long just a bit more for home. Because no matter how great or how hard your life is at this moment, the best is yet to come. And I think that’s how the people on Jesus-team in the early church; I think that’s how they lived their lives. They lived like life was all about Jesus and dying brought the most incredible gain, so we’re not going to fear dying. We’re going all-out in this life for Jesus, because even if going all-out for Jesus brings us death, death brings us great gain. 

We can’t lose. The best is yet to come. So let’s go all out for Jesus and the mission of loving our neighbors all the way to Jesus.  Let's finish the race of our lives with joy!

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In Acts 16, we get introduced to two people Lydia and Timothy, both followers of Jesus. We know more about Timothy than we do Lydia, but it's still good to hear their stories. Their story is part of God's story and so is yours. Before we leave this episode we'll focus on bit more on Timothy's part in the story of God and how Paul mentored him.

And we will conclude with the mission of God that Paul helped Timothy fulfill...a mission of prayer and the Word and doing good in the world!

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At the end of Acts 15, we are introduced to John Mark. We know him best as the writer of the gospel of Mark. But I think it's safe to say, that without Barnabas we probably would have missed Mark. But instead of missing Mark, we gained an amazing gospel with a vital perspective on Jesus and His team. Barnabas was able to look past Mark's failure and see his future.

So who is your Barnabas? And who is your Mark?

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This episode is about what identifies us as followers of Jesus. What are the non-negotiables? Some of us grew up in a culture that emphasized what some call boundary marker religion. There were certain things that you did and did not do that were very important. Those things marked you as being in the group or not in the group. In my group, when I was a kid, you did not dance, play cards, go to movies, or wear long hair. You certainly did not get tattoos. Do those things and you were outside the group.  

But do you know what boundary marker religion does?  It focuses our eyes on the boundary instead of the center.  It focuses on distance rather than direction. The follower of Jesus has their eyes set on Jesus, running in His direction! That's how they will know we are Christians!

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In Acts 14 is a statement that I love to hate and wish I could ignore. "We must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God." Through many hardships and much suffering,  we enter the Kingdom of God. You have got to love that right? We get lots of joy and lots of persecution and then don’t care too deeply about what others think of you. We get the Word of God multiplying and people’s lives being transformed and miraculous answers to prayer and moments of genuine generosity and a whole bunch of suffering. Many hardships. 

And we can't help but ask the question, "Can anything good come from everything hard?" I'll whisper the answer, so it doesn't sound inauthentic, "yes."

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It's hard to miss, the book of Acts gives us front-row seats to the incredible joy that saturated the early church, even in the face of hardship, suffering and persecution. This joy wasn’t just a here-and-gone moment of emotion but rather a steadfast perspective and fullness of delight that came from the joy-giving power of the gospel and the filling of the Spirit. So before we dive into Acts 14, let's just pause for joy. 

Jesus once said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a party, a celebration of joy! And He calls us to live lives that invite people to the party.  What if the most joy-full being in the world is asking us to pause for a taste of His joy?