Can It Get Any Worse?

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I don't know about you, but when I see headlines like, "Gas prices' earliest-ever rise above $3.50 a bad sign for motorists" I don't get excited... at all. In fact you may say headlines like those pretty much make me want to quit life. I don't know what quitting would do, because I'd still have to buy gas. Sometimes I wonder can it get any worse? This month it's the rent. Next month it's gas, and who knows what after that.

I can imagine Nehemiah felt that way (And I'm willing to wager much worse). The City of God was rubble. It was the city of Nehemiah's people, Jerusalem. This struck Nehemiah hard. His memoirs tell us,

'The exile survivors who are left there in the province are in bad shape. Conditions are appalling. The wall of Jerusalem is still rubble; the city gates are still cinders.'
When I (Nehemiah) heard this, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God-of-Heaven. Nehemiah 1:3-4 My parenthetical.

Like you and me, Nehemiah wanted things back to normal. He wanted Jerusalem to be the great kingdom of his ancestors David and Solomon. Nehemiah didn't just sit on his hands and cry. He did something about it.

Nehemiah, a favored cup-bearer, approached his Persian king and asked if he could leave and rebuild Jerusalem. The king gave him permission. With God's strength and wisdom and against all the odds Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem in 52 days. It took a lot of help, work, and leadership, but Nehemiah trusted in God for the recovery of Jerusalem.

Gas prices go up. Pay goes down. Stuff breaks. The housing market flounders. Rent goes up. Blah, blah, blah... If we think voting for the right guy in the election is going to fix everything we're crazy. The people in Washington aren't going to fix this nation. They've tried and failed. It's time we get off our hands, stop whining, and do something ourselves. It's not about wealth, and it's not about gas prices. The recovery isn't a political issue. It's a spiritual one. The recovery is about bringing our nation back to the Godly one it once was. We are the recovery. We must rebuild the walls torn down.

I'm really looking forward to our new series called, "Change Your World in 52 Days." I think it will be mind-blowing and life changing. You can watch the promo below, and I encourage you to read Nehemiah before we start this series next week. It's a great story.

7 Ways To Keep Oceanside's Momentum

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The problem with momentum is the more of it you need the harder it is to get going. A 4 ton rock might have a huge amount of momentum while rolling down hill, but getting that rock rolling is very difficult. A 5 pound stone would be much easier to push down a hill, but it would also be far easier to stop.

Oceanside has struggled with momentum throughout our 9 year history. Buildings, health, finances, and confusion of Oceanside's vision and mission have all built huge walls that many times have taken years to breakthrough and overcome.

Once again Oceanside has a little momentum on our side. We've picked up some steam! People are getting their lives changed and we've seen real growth in our worship services. Events like Scaremare have given us little nudges to get us rolling. The question is, how do we keep this momentum? Here are 7 ways that I thought of today.

1. Provide The Finances Needed For Growth.
I wish everything was free, but few things are. If we're going to continue to grow and keep this momentum we're going to have to trust God and do some sacrificial giving. One of Oceanside's biggest barriers is money. Matthew 6:19-21


2. Stay On Board With The Mission.
Far too often people get confused about the mission of Oceanside. We're not left here on Earth to just build cool buildings and hang out together. We're here to build relationships and make disciples. Oceanside needs to be out there making friends and making disciples. That's our mission. Matthew 28:19

3. Love Each Other.
Dissension in the church can ruin momentum faster than you can blink. The sad part is, most of the time church arguments aren't about things that matter. Stay on task, love each other, and take care of each other. Hebrews 10:24-25

4. It's Not About You (Or me).
We often get way too caught up in ourselves. We think the church needs to meet our needs. But if Oceanside is going to continue to grow you're going to have to stop worrying about your comfort and start thinking about the greater mission of Christ's church. Sometimes we forget that we're not people who work and go to church on the weekends. We're the church and we work. Church isn't something we do it's something that we are. Colossians 1:16

I saw this tweet and had to share it with you.

5. Stay In Church.
It is most important that you are THE Church at your job, in your classroom, with your friends, and at home. But don't quit coming to church and small group. Sometimes that means getting up on Sunday is going to be really tough, and staying out late on Saturday might be a little too much. But the fact is your spirit needs the energy is received when Christ's Church meets together. Hebrews 10:25

6. Stay in God's Word and Take Care of Your Spiritual Health.
The temptation is going to be to let that time alone with God slip. DON'T YOU DO IT! In this time of momentum if you're going to participate and get involved where God's at work you'll have to stay in the Bible. You'll have to have deep prayer times with God. You'll have to be on your spiritual guard against Satan. Otherwise this whole thing will fall apart. Proverbs 4:23

7. Forget About Normal.
God doesn't need our normal. There was nothing normal about Jesus. If you're about a church being normal then you are at the wrong church. We're about changing our world, and a lot of times that means we're going to do some strange things. You might have to get on board with some weird things. Like what if we started meeting in a tent for church. Yeah, that would be weird, but it might just be exactly what we need to do. Learn to accept WEIRD and reject NORMAL. Matthew 7:13

There you have it! That's what I came up with. Are there any other ways you can think of to keep our momentum?

You and Captain America Were Made For More Than This

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Captain America

This past week was my birthday and I want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes. It was great and now that I'm 26 I feel so much older. After my party Allie and I escaped to the movie theater to watch the all new Captain America movie. We were on the edge of our seats the entire time. Explosions, excitement, and even emotion (something not too often seen in summer blockbusters) had us captured for the entire hour and a half.

Most of the movie takes place during World War II. It follows a very slight man named Steve Rogers who gets turned into a super soldier to fight for the U.S. Army. This scrawny man with a huge heart turns into a beast of a man with a huge heart that can out run a car and pickup a motorcycle. It's pretty fantastic.

Steve in the USO

Steve Rogers wants to fight on the front lines. Steve wants to serve his country. He wants to be a real hero. But the Army sees him as an experiment that needs to stay in a lab and be tested, and the politicians see him as a way to sell war bonds and build morale. Neither of those things are his dream.

The conversation that changed everything.

Depressed and ready to give up a woman sits down and talks to Steve. She tells him that he is made for more than just the USO. He is made to fight for his country. That sparks a flame in Steve's head. He puts on a helmet, his leather jacket, and uses his USO shield to storm a Nazi base. Single handedly he rescues 400 men. The Army realizes that he is more than an experiment and the politicians realize he is more than a showman. He is Captain America.

Captain America suited up.

This set off a spark in my mind too. We were made for more than the mundane life. We were made for more than just 70+ years and then dead. We were made for eternal life and made to lead others into that eternal life. That pang you get in your heart that says, "This can't be all there is" has been designed by God. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart. Yes, you were made for more than this. God made you for Heaven.

It's when we start living and thinking about our ultimate goal, Heaven, that we start living differently. Suffering for Christ on Earth isn't just something we put up with anymore, it becomes a joy. We don't make more money for the sake of getting more stuff. We make more money to give it away. We don't schedule our day for our own good, but we schedule our day for God's good. The list of things that change could go on. Paul says in Philippians 3:7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Everything changes when Christ enters the pictures.

Let me encourage you this week. Stop living like this is all there is. You were made for more than the mundane you were made for the extraordinary! God hasn't saved you so you could attend Oceanside on a Sunday morning. He saved you so you could serve Him and he would reward you greater than you can even imagine in Heaven. Take charge, break into satan's strong hold, and make him sweat! Satan hates it when you start living like you have a purpose. #KSITT