Feed Me

Feed Me

Our family has been blessed in the last year with 2 of the most beautiful grand children. Our oldest daughter Mary and our son-in-law Tim have a daughter named Emmy. She is beautiful, and such a great baby. My youngest daughter Leah and son-in-law Tommy have a son named Baylee. Truly the happiest child on the planet. He laughs and smiles at everything.

I was noticing Baylee the other night when we were out having dinner. He was feeding himself. Now to say that he handled himself with a lot of manners was an overstatement. There was applesauce all over his mouth, and he stuffed cheese pieces in one at a time. It wasn’t pretty, mind you. But he was feeding himself.

Over the years that I was pastoring, I recall having multiple conversations with those who were exiting our church. I often heard this statement: “I’m just not getting fed.” Now to be honest, that statement use to send me into orbit. I could feel my face turning red. I would typically, as my wife would say, “get too upset”, which was something she would say to calm me down as I over-reacted to something one of my kids had done. NOT getting fed, huh? Well, I did feed them, and I could envision myself stuffing food in their faces! I recall shrinking in fear whenever someone would ask me if we could meet for lunch, fearing that they would use those same words: “I’m not getting fed”. Well, I have truly matured in these last few years, and I am much more compassionate in regards to those who are being developed. Therefore (with a much healthier perspective), I would like to share just a few thoughts on this subject.

Typically, our modern-day spiritual diet of “getting fed” is Sunday morning. One question is, what if I only ate one meal a week? In a word, malnourished would be the answer! Secondly, when I eat, what does my diet consist of? Cotton candy and hershey bars? You’re either going to be diabetic or overweight. Thirdly, at what point do I learn to eat on my own, and truly what does feed me? As for my grandson Baylee, he was eating on his own at 14 months!

Ironically, Jesus answered these questions. In the Gospels, in Matthew’s account, Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). There is a novel concept. Read it and do it. Simple enough huh? Of all the sermons we preach and hear, when do we act on what we heard?

When Jesus was dealing with the Samaritan woman in John 4:34, Jesus made a revolutionary statement:

“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”

Jesus was telling His disciples that the key to being fed was giving their lives away. Try it, and like Baylee, it might be messy. But the reality is if you’re not being fed, maybe it is because you are not getting involved in the lives of others.

Maybe we need to exchange our empty lives, by filling ourselves by serving others. In return we might just get stuffed.

For the Quest,

Mike

Changing the world one life at time

Have you ever noticed just how many one-on-one encounters Jesus had throughout his earthly journey? There was woman at the well, the healing of the blind man, the calling of Matthew...the list could go on and on. In the hustle and bustle of busy American culture, are we aware of that one person who God has put right in front of us for a possible divine encounter? With so much emphasis on larger churches and bigger is better , I believe if we could just embrace a less is more mindset, we would be more and more effective as kingdom agents in this world.

As I gauge the pages of the New Testament, I am amazed at how many instances Jesus spent time dealing with just one life. Most of the people He met or dealt with were in some kind of crisis. Just think your daily encounters with humanity! How many people do you personally come into contact with who are need of love? How about prayer? How about healing? How about a kind word? How about a timely word?

I love the words of John 17:21: In the same way the Father has sent Me into the world, so I also send you into the world . In other words, Jesus mission was really simple; He simply came into the world for those one-on-one encounters with people. The kingdom simply spreads through a viral encounter. The woman at the well influenced an entire city through her Jesus encounter (John 4:28-29). Matthew threw a huge sinner party (Matthew 9:10-11). When was the last time we had one of those? A sinner party! How about the madman who was possessed with a legion (you know, the guy who had so many demons that they couldn t count them)? Yeah, that guy! After his Jesus encounter, it says He begged Jesus that he might follow Him; however, Jesus sent him to the Decapolis, which was a region of ten cities.(Mark 4:18-19)

In LifeQuest, we focus on this simple principle. We can change the world one life at a time. Just this past year our experiences could take volumes of writing. I could tell you story after story of Jesus-encounters: at coffee shops, college campuses, in living rooms, in small venues and large, in church services, in pubs... wherever and whomever. This is what Jesus has called us too.

In our church growth days, we all asked the question: how will we grow this church? In other words, what is the strategy that we need to get people to the building? When we begin to think marketing, we have left Kingdom living. When churches puts this above our compassion for humanity, then people become a commodity instead of an asset. We stop thinking about kingdom advancement and start thinking strategy. Jesus thought assignment and target. This was His strategy.

His assignment was to GO! His target was people. Everyday encounters. Think about this! Three years of His life was walking around where people were. Who is that life that God has put in front of you today? Whoever it is, that one might change the world.

Peace,

Mike G

†œ@ñÿ@NormalCJsH mH tH _HaJDAòÿ¡DDefault Paragraph Fontdióÿ³dTable Normal.aöö4Ö4Öl4Ö4Öl(kôÿÁ(No ListäþñÿòäHeader & Footer AM$$$¤) 0

00# $ °Ð°`°Ð/ °à=!° "° LN²

´

Ú

Ü

¼ÊäìLN°VXÄÌýüùüöüóïìèåüâÜÙüÖüÓÏÌüÉ„ˆ568:;<79xts*cjojpjqj@ˆphÿrhdshmhth_hh*>*KHEHwhÿ*ehrÊÿfHqÊ

ÿÿCJCJ6CJCJCJCJ

56CJCJCJ6CJCJ6CJCJCJCJCJ "»ºuº0ºˆ568:;<79xts*cjojpjqj@ˆphÿrhdshmhth_hh*>*KHEHwhÿ*ehrÊÿfHqÊ

ÿÿˆ568:;<79xts*cjojpjqj@ˆphÿrhdshmhth_hh*>*KHEHwhÿ*ehrÊÿfHqÊ

ÿÿˆ568:;<79xts*cjojpjqj@ˆphÿrhdshmhth_hh*>*KHEHwhÿ*ehrÊÿfHqÊ

ÿÿ"$(*»ºuˆ568:;<79xts*cjojpjqj@ˆphÿrhdshmhth_hh*>*KHEHwhÿ*ehrÊÿfHqÊ

ÿÿˆ568:;<79xts*cjojpjqj@ˆphÿrhdshmhth_hh*>*KHEHwhÿ*ehrÊÿfHqÊ

ÿÿLN²

´

Ú

Ü

LNVX "$(*ýýýýýýýýýýýýýýýõóõóõóõóýÆ $|$¤dð*$1$@& ]„^„`„$a$-DMÆ

ÿÿƐ$Y568:;<7s*cjojpjqj@ˆphsh mH H*>*KHEHfHqÊ

ÿÿÆþñÿÆBody AE$$$¤¤dð*$1$@& ]„^„`„$a$-DMÆ

ÿÿY568:;<7s*cjojpjqj@ˆphsh mH H*>*KHEHfHqÊ

ÿÿ•ÿÿÿÿ",,ÿÿUnknownÿÿ•`iTimes New RomanTimes New RomanESymbolSymbolA&ArialArialQHelveticaHelveticaaÒ0é0®0Î0Ò‰´0 Pro W3Ò0é0®0Î0Ò‰´0 Pro W3#ˆÐhëÚ†ëÚ†!€#@(0Root Entryÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ€>ÕÞ±»Ô‚ÍXÊ%@1TablepŸÿÿÿÿ»Ô‚ÍXʻԂÍXÊWordDocumentÿÿÿÿ»Ô‚ÍXʻԂÍXÊ(Data

ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ»Ô‚ÍXʻԂÍXÊþÿÕÍÕœ.“—+,ù®DÕÍÕœ.“—+,ù®|8 (0þÿà…ŸòùOh«‘+'³Ù0SummaryInformation(ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ»Ô‚ÍXʻԂÍXÊHDocumentSummaryInformation8ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ»Ô‚ÍXʻԂÍXʐObjectPoolÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ»Ô‚ÍXʻԂÍXÊÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ€>ÕÞ±€>ÕÞ±ÿÿÿÿþÿÿÿþÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ

þÿÿÿþÿÿÿ !"#þÿÿÿ&þÿÿÿþÿÿÿþÿÿÿýÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ

A legit healing no BS (New York Deli Style)

A legit healing no BS (New York Deli style)

My new favorite eatery is the New York Deli in Redlands. I mean really legit food. If you love middle eastern food, I highly recommend the joint. Great Phillycheese steak. Seriously could eat there everyday. Really cheap.

A few weeks back I struck up a conversation with a young Syrian girl who works there. I noticed she had a nasty red look in her eyes. You know, that bloodshot look when you have pink eye. I asked her if I could pray for her. Awkward was the feelin I got from her, but she relented and allowed me to pray.

This past Saturday I was there in the evening, and one of the other servers told my wife that I prayed for this young girl. She told us that the next day the eye infection was gone! Marie is the server who was telling my wife and I that she thought it was a bunch of bull @#%% when she heard that I prayed for the young girl. Marie is part Turkish and part Greek, and was dropping the BS word right and left. She finally told me she had a horrible infection in her fingernail but didn’t believe all this healing BS. As I was leaving I asked her if I could pray for her finger. As I took her arm, I prayed as tears formed in her eyes. I asked Father to reveal His love through this as a sign of His love for her. Marie was speechless.

Can’t wait for this Tuesday and my chicken caesar wrap to see what Jesus has done in Marie.

Chow,

Mike

ReJesus

ReJesus

Spent most of my morning yesterday at Cal State interacting with college students. What really caught my attention was the interest there is with the person of Jesus. I enjoyed a conversation with 2 young Latinos who ironically had heard me speak recently at a gathering of Latino churches.

One of the two asked me what it meant by following Jesus? How can we follow someone who we can’t see? Great question I responded!

What does it mean to follow? Is it rules? Is it a creed? Is it going to church?

I find the later statement interesting. When I asked these 2 young Latino’s if they knew Jesus, they both responded “that they went to church”.

Spending some time reading a book by Alan Hirsch called “ReJesus”, Also reading the Gospel of Mark in tandem with ReJesus. I am wondering have we lost touch with Jesus? Just sayin..........Have we substituted our passion for church, doctrine, witnessing(whatever that is), you fill in the blank? As Larry Crabb says “ the only passion that will not destroy us is our passion for Jesus”. Thoughts?

Mike

Interested in God Not Religion?

Amazing day today at Cal State San Bernardino. The title above were some 150 plus cards we passed out today as myself, Iz, Jared, Brit, Jen, and Rebecca had interaction with a few hundred students.

Really eye opening. A young man approached me and poured his heart regarding his mental health. He stated he has cried out to God. Wants to know more about Jesus.

2 young Latino freshmen asked me about what it means to follow Jesus and could I teach them. Really cool stuff!

After 3 hours of interaction, prayer, and some rejection. LOL. I find it interesting that Christians want to know what church you are from, Catholics say they are interested in Jesus and Religion, other very humorously hostile professed to being humanist. The secular kind one young man professed. I questioned one young man over what it meant to be an atheist as he was running away.

All in all great when over 150 people agreed to pray for their campus, their friends, their professors, and yes even Obama. We desire to see a Jesus/prayer movement Saturate the campuses of Southern California and then the nation, then the world.

A massive prayer meeting is in the making.

Peace,

Mike

24, Jack Bauer, and Something to Die For

24, Jack Bauer, and Something to die for.

This past summer after dealing with the already-seen reruns and the great bore, baseball, Kathy and I decided to take on the 24 series on DVD. Now I had heard much concerning the show starring Keifer Sutherland. Being a self-confessed “Lost” fan, I knew that not much could steal my loyalty. Well, it is with much hoopla that I confess that 24 has stolen my affections. Action, drama, great acting, excellent writing...to say the least. Even on vacation Kathy and I were saying, “ Just one more episode” which sometimes would take us into like 3 in the morning. “Addicting” was a comment from a friend, “Guilty” I confessed.

Jack Bauer is a rogue agent for CTU(counter terrorism unit) always on mission to save the world from some terrorist threat. In season 6 Jack is released from a Chinese prison in which he has been in holding for 18 months. His release comes with a great price; he is released under one condition. He is placed into the hands of a terrorist whose family was killed by Bauer. Jack’s associates are heart broken when handing him over to a terrorist cell who have in their possession a nuclear device which could be detonated in Los Angeles. What follows is a heart wrenching exchange between Bill Buchanan (who is the head of CTU) and Jack. Bill apologizing for what seems to be certain death for Bauer, Buchanan is in agony for the many times Jack has sacrificed for his country. He even questions Jack regarding why he didn’t give information to the Chinese government so he could be released from torture and imprisonment.

Jack Bauer’s response was chilling to me and the purpose of this writing. He declared to Buchanan these words: “If I would have died in China it would have been for nothing. I want to die for something”.

Now you’re thinking this is another article about dying for Jesus, right? Wrong! We Christ followers here in the west know little or nothing about this subject. So no, I’m not talking about giving your life for Jesus. This isn’t about things that are really worth dying for. Think about that for minute! Death! Dying! Sounds romantic, huh? Not to me. What about you? Something or nothing? My translation is what is worth living for!

Often in western Christendom we hear a lot about loyalty and commitment. Many things are asked of us to define our loyalties: sign this card, take this class, give a 100% commitment, tithe, show up on Sunday, invite your friends. This is how this is translated. This is how we define commitment.

I find this interesting. Jesus never talked about these kind of things. NOT at all. He defined a life of loyalty by the willingness to lay your life down for your friends, caring for widows and orphans, taking the good news to the poor. Rubbing shoulders with the outcast. Being like Him. Doing what He did. Alan Hirsch calls it the “conspiracies of the little Jesus’”.

Through His death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus became the reigning King. He is worth living for! When we began to demand loyalty to organizations, clergy, and churches, we usurp the place of the rightful King. When we demand loyalty from God’s people and define it by anything that isn’t producing Christlikeness, we become idolatrous. Men build their own kingdoms and define loyalty by how committed people are to their agenda.

Then, when their kingdom is threatened, they place unrealistic demands on God’s people. As Peter wrote in his epistle “The stone the builders rejected has now become the Cornerstone”. Scathing! We actually can build something in the name of Jesus and reject him in the process.

When Christians see Jesus as Lord, the idols of comfort and security and safety and convenience are severely tested. Jesus as Lord meant something to first century believers. It was a call to live the Life. That, my friends, is something to die for.

For the Quest,

Mike

A People or a Place?

A People or a Place?

Growing up in the deep south for much of my young life, I was very conscious of going to church. I recall all of the times I felt dragged, bribed, threatened, and warned by my well-meaning parents. To me it just didn’t click: an hour on Sunday, and if you were really spiritual, you would also go to Wednesday night prayer meeting.

Today there seems to be much discussion of this question: “What is the church?” Valid question! I have been having many discussions lately over this subject with seekers and serious church-goers as well. In our western context of church we have always seemed to focus on defining things and then carrying them out. We seem content with going to church rather than being the church.

Let me state that I believe that Jesus loves the church, regardless of her expression. For many, the church is a place or building that we frequent. For some it’s living rooms, and for others it’s cafés and coffee shops. Whatever your expression might be, it is apparent that the church in the west is in a paradigm shift. Now, this article is not some kind of reaction to fear, or a last days article, or even “life is over as we know it because there is a democrat in the white house”. This is a simple plea to rediscover the mission of Jesus in the world. (Church and mission, you say? Aren’t those 2 mutually exclusive things? I don’t think so.) Let’s just look at Jesus and His words about this sensitive subject.

Most of us, from our cultural upbringing, define church as a place. However, when defining church, Jesus uttered these words from Matthew 16:18:

“I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it”.

When Jesus used the word “church”, what was he saying? Well, He was defining a people, not a place! The word Jesus used was the word “ecclesia”, which simply means “the called out ones”. Isn’t much of the Bible defining a people called out for a purpose? As Charles Spurgeon says, we experience 2 conversions: “the call to come out of the world” and “the call to go back into to the world”! When it comes to church and mission, we see this whole way of life lived out in Jesus Himself. He took 12 men and basically sent them out to do church with the people they came in contact with. As I write this article, I sit at my office, which is a coffee shop in Southern California. I spent the morning with a young man who is very proficient in studying buddhism, I prayed for a young middle-eastern girl who had an eye infection, and I visited with some friends from the Fox Theater who recently asked our LifeQuest core team to cleanse their building from evil spirits. My point is that when all we do is define church as a place, we lose our passion for mission. Defining church as a people who are touching lives and seeing change happen brings liquid motion. When we embrace the Jesus model of church, we come in contact with all kinds of people. When Jesus entered the church of modern day Jerusalem in Luke 4:18, we see in Jesus the passion for church and mission.

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,[a] To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
These verses contain a revelation of the people of God on mission.

1) We are a people of presence. (The Spirit of the Lord is upon us.)

2) We are a people of proximity. (The poor, the broken hearted, the captives, and the blind are our target audience.) Know anyone like this?

3) We are a people of proclamation (To preach the gospel)

In this passage from Luke 4 we see Jesus upsetting the status quo by challenging the church of His day to leave the comfort and security of their 4 walls and touch lives. Instead of defining ourselves by a place, maybe we need a fresh and easy connection to a hurting world to rediscover church.

For the Quest,
Mike