Richard Ellis Talks

God designs everything so that He gets the glory in everything. That means He does some things "backwards". The cross seemed foolish to the world, but it saves all who believe. Likewise, He'll use the weak and foolish because when they admit their need for Him, He's glorified in them.

In a world filled with segregation, the Church should be set apart, not homogeneous with culture. God calls us to love people -- all people -- no matter their race, location, or socioeconomic status. When non-believers look from the outside in, they should see the Body of Christ as a unified being, loving one another the way God loves each of us.

Each of us is a "cracked pot", scarred by our own brokenness. The good news is this: God wants to use those cracks to draw others to Him. And when we're willing to be vulnerable enough to reveal the cracks in our lives to others, God not only uses them -- He also repairs them.

The Bible is to a believer what milk is to a human being: nourishment. And while it's understandable that new Christians are infants in their spiritual maturity, there has to come a point when we stop acting like newborns and start developing into the life God has in store for us. The only way to do that is through spiritual growth.

The downfall of so many churches is their tendency to build walls that push away the very people they claim to want to reach. If we're not careful, we as the Church can become so exclusive that people who desperately need Jesus find themselves feeling unwelcome. We should be the family that welcomes everyone in, the family who isn't deterred by someone's brokenness but who seeks to come alongside them and walk with them through the messiness of life.

Ministry isn't just a "job" for vocational pastors; it's a way of living for all Christians. Each and every one of us are called to follow Jesus and the example He gave us of how to reach the lost, be ministers of revival and restoration, and expand the Kingdom.

 

We get one chance at this temporary life. We can choose to spend it living for God with the promise of eternal life in heaven with Him, or we can choose to give in to all this world offers and find hell waiting for us at the end. The choice is ours; what's it going to be?

Take a good look at your life. Is there an area where you're experiencing escalating consequences, and if so, have you asked yourself why that might be the case? In the same way that parents discipline their children, God disciplines us when we make poor choices. There are consequences to our actions, but God gives us those consequences because He wants us to learn, grow, and move forward.

There's a big difference between knowing God's Word, and knowing God. One involves reading the text and having the information in our head; the other involves truly believing with our whole heart. Religion requires us to attain knowledge and apply it to our lives in order to change our behavior, but God offers us so much more than that when He transforms us from the inside out.

If we’re not careful, we can make the mistake of thinking that the gifts God has given to us are ours to be proud of, or to do with as we please. But the Bible’s clear about the importance of humbling ourselves before the Lord. Without humility, we’re on the fast track to destruction as a consequence of our pride.