Hamster Wheel Christianity

Man there's a lot of noise and activity going on behind those four walls. So much energy and time spent in there. That little guy is so busy! He never comes out. You reach in and try to take him out of that cage and he bites you. He's just not used to being out. Poor little guy doesn't know how to socialize outside of his cage. If you get him out and put him down he'll run off into a corner all by himself. He gets scared being outside of the cage. Oh, well, pick him up, put him back in the cage where he's comfortable and feels safe, where he can run in his little hamster wheel and spend lots of time and energy going nowhere. But isn't he so cute?

Dear friends, the "church building" is to be a place to be fed the Word of God, equipped for ministry, worship with other believers, discipled, counselled, trained and empowered to be an effective witness for the Lord Jesus Christ outside of the church building, in your home, workplace, school and community. Yet so many church buildings have become a Christian Commune, a closed community, a week long retreat center, and a cage for saints.

I have a challenge for you, ask yourself these questions:

Do you live at the church building, work all week at the church building, volunteer constantly at the church building, go to school at the church building, socialize primarily at the church building and have community only at the church building? Is your weekly schedule full of church events, functions, classes or socials that only take place in a church building? Do you find yourself retreating to church building events in order to regain strength to live for the Lord? Do you find that participating in functions at the church property make you feel like you're fulfilling your spiritual responsibilities and that because you attend church events you must be growing spiritually? If the church building vanished today would your spiritual life fall apart? Do you find yourself hardly ever around unbelievers, and when you are around them you tactfully avoid them, or casually avoid conversations about Jesus? Do you never schedule appointments or coffee or meals or gatherings to intentionally be around unbelievers? When you think about the word "Church" do think about a building or property?

Perhaps you've answered "yes" to a few, some or all of these questions. Then you could be a committed member of "Hamster Wheel Christianity."

In Hamster Wheel Christianity there are a lot of activities, events, and gatherings all week long behind the four walls of the Church Building. Believers are very busy doing what they think they're supposed to do, but as the weeks and months and years go by there is not a lot of eternally significant fruit from all their labors. By this I mean that they're not necessarily becoming more and more like Jesus Christ in their hearts, and few are actually making disciples of the lost neighborhoods, communities, cities and nations around them. If you take them out of their comfortable church schedule or building and put them in the world around unbelievers for an extended amount of time they cower and crumble under the pressure, and rather than winning the lost to Jesus, they whine about how sinful people are and run back into their church building so they can feel godly and spiritual again among the godly and spiritual.

If I were the devil I think I would do exactly what's being done today. Could Satan's strategy be to get as many Christians as possible to commit to as many church functions as possible, located at as many church buildings as possible so as to place as much of the Body of Christ behind bars in a pious prison, playing church and convinced they're actually fulfilling Christ's Great Commission of evangelizing the lost and making disciples of all nations, while the world outside the Christian prison goes to hell untouched by the saints playing church?

It's a sad truth that today when Christians and non-Christians think about the word "Church" that they think about a building, not believers. I was talking to an unbeliever about Christ the other day and like so many others he implied that I should be preaching and talking about God "at the church" where people want to hear it, not out here in the real world. We live in a time in Church History where "Church" is a building not believers, and serving God is an optional career choice, where God's Word and the Gospel should only be preached behind the four walls of a church building, going to "church" is just a personal preference on Sunday, like a hobby, some people play golf, some people build model trains, others ride motorcycles, and some "go to church." What a sad concept of what it means to be part of God's Family.

As followers of Christ we should want to redeem the concept of the "Church" from all the worldly ideas, all the traditional baggage, and all the Hamster Wheel Christianity distortions. The "Church" is nothing less than God's own redeemed Children, Reborn People who have God inside of them, the Body of Christ, the eternal wife and Bride of Jesus Christ, a people who will live forever enjoying God together. This is no hobby.This is heaven's people living on earth. Not a bunch of hamsters in a cage, busy running in a wheel that's going nowhere.

It's OK for animals to get used to cages, for a bird to be comfortable in a birdcage, or a dog in a kennel, or a fish in a tank, or even a hamster in a cage. But a Christian should never be comfortable just going to a church building, week after week, year after year. God's Children were not saved to be shut up, cooped up, locked up or leashed. We are not to be trained by the devil to stay in a cage, even if it looks like a nice building with a cross on the front and lots of fun things to do inside, that is not to be our home. God has saved us to send us out, not shut us in.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations..." Matthew 28:19

"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Acts 1:8

Update May 2011

Hi Everyone,

We're finally updating you all on what's been going on with us. I know there are a few of you who have asked us to update our blog for a while now. I'm sorry this update is so late, I've been wrestling with what to write, but I finally decided to just post this and leave it at that. Because I've procrastinated it makes it that much harder to clarify what's worth writing. I will try to post more regular updates following this one. We hope you are all doing well and enjoying the Lord and one another. We love and appreciate you all and thank you so much for your prayers, encouragement and support.

I wrote a lot of this down a while back and over the past few months God has allowed me to be humbled and see that I really don't "have it all together" like I thought. It's crazy how walking with God is a process of being built up and broken down at the same time. I've also been reminded that God cares more about who we are on the inside than what we do for Him on the outside. With that said, "church planting" begins with plowing up the church planter.

OFFICIALLY SETTLED:

Well, it's been 7 months since we moved to North Carolina last October, and God has completely taken care of us and established us in a new community and our roots are digging in deeper. It's crazy how the closing of one chapter begins the opening of another. We never really know where or how God is going to lead us but He does. I want to encourage anyone considering taking a step of faith to a new city, state or country that God will absolutely provide for you as you seek Him. Allow the assurance of His faithfulness to overcome your fears! I really believe God leaves a trail of His faithfulness throughout our past to encourage us to continue to trust Him for the future. Today Raleigh, North Carolina is currently our home on earth, but our citizenship will always be in heaven! We look forward to what God has in store for us here in Raleigh and how we might know and serve Him better.

COMMUNITY:

Moving to a new community for us began with a basic framework of: 1-finding a job 2-finding a place to live 3-forming new friendships 4-adjusting to the new environment 5-and reaching out to people for Christ! Believe it or not God has absolutely orchestrated all of this for us. We're thankful for that! It hasn't been a smooth ride without it's bumps and holes, but we feel like we're moving forward in becoming part of this community.

Here is how God has currently established us in this community:

1-Greg is working for a great Heating and Air Conditioning Company. www.gandmservice.com

2-We're renting a house in Garner, about a mile from Greg's work and just 10 minutes south of downtown Raleigh.

3-Holly moved in to stay with us last December, and she is working at a local Christian coffee shop just down the street. hollycochrane.blogspot.com

4-And the Kinzer family moved in and have been staying with us since January. Anthony has a great job with an electrical company here in Raleigh. triplekinzer.blogspot.com

5-We're all learning how to live, love and sacrifice together.

6-We've been learning the Raleigh, Garner areas of North Carolina and it is beautiful here.

7-We're experiencing the culture and community through everyday life activities and are looking for locations to minister, preach and share the Gospel.

MINISTRY:

Ministry takes place primarily through interpersonal relationships with those around us. We hope to grow those relationships as God directs. Here is a basic look at our weekly ministry.

1-Individually working to maintain a strong walk with God, marriage, family and friendships

2-Sunday Nights we have Dinner, Bible Study and fellowship at our home around 6pm.

3-Tuesday Night after the kids are asleep we have prayer at the house

4-Wednesday nights we attend a Small Group Bible study at Hope Cafe just up the street where Holly works. We've made some great friendships there. hopecaferaleigh.com

5-We have various "family meetings" and fellowship times throughout the week. God has been doing a deep work in all of our hearts here at the house, learning how to better communicate, not misunderstand one another, and how to practice genuine love and care for each other.

6-We've reached out to our neighborhood a little and the community in downtown Raleigh.

7-Individually we're sharing Christ in our daily and weekly encounters with people in town.

8-Discipleship relationships are forming with a friend and his family from Greg's work. This has been a highlight for me personally. We all stumble and struggle through our own discipleship and yet God in His mercy still uses us to disciple others.

OPPORTUNITY:

1-We have moved here to "live out" our faith intentionally as they did in the Bible. You only get one chance to live an authentic Christian life of pursuing Christ, pursuing others with the Gospel and making disciples. We believe every Christian is called by God to actually live out and not just "believe" what is in the Bible. This is a life of experiencing God, not just believing in Him. We thank God that He so powerfully used Calvary Chapel Spring Valley to prepare us for wanting to prove God's Word and live like they lived in the Bible.

2-This kind of life is totally different than the world's way of living, and often even different than what we experience in the "modern American church." This kind of life should be convicting, contagious and challenging. We absolutely need God's grace and mercy every step of the way. Unfortunately the greatest opposition to living sold out for Christ is not the mocking world but critical, complacent Christians. God help us to pull others up rather than be pulled down. It is so easy to become complacent and just wait for God to set me on fire for Him. As time passes I realize that the powerful Christian life is not "automatic" but an intense battle of the will to sacrifice good things and extra time to simplify my life and spend time with God. It seems that the devil, the flesh, the world, and even good godly Christian activities violently attack our personal time with God in prayer, and His word. I am convinced that those who God uses the most to change this world are those who by God's grace have disciplined themselves to put God first consistently. May God help us all as the days get deceptively darker.

3-Coming out here has given me time to re-evaluate "church and ministry" and I'm praying God will lay a simpler model for us that intentionally focuses on Gospel preaching and discipleship relationships. We want God and people to be and remain the priorities. We want God to show us how to successfully do this. It has been refreshing to be able to freely examine various ministry models and philosophies. We live in a day and age where just about every kind and style of ministry has been attempted. The "Google Age" is both informative and potentially distracting.

4-As we've looked into the various Biblical mandates and models for ministry we have considered a more family integrated pattern of discipleship, ministry and worship. We are not sure how all this will work itself out practically but we're small enough to try different things. In light of our current culture today we can all see the obvious need for stronger godly families, more unity in the home, and parent instigated discipleship with their children. The modern drive for more individual independence it seems has invaded the family unit and church and the parents and kids have so personalized their own lives that there is little motivation for family or quality personal relationships in the home. We all battle to make home, marriage and family a priority while living in a self-focused culture.

5-I'm sure we'd all agree that personal discipleship relationships are essential and effective for accomplishing what the Lord has called us to do. And so our focus is one soul, one marriage, one family at a time. It has been awesome to see God answer prayers in this direction. I've been reminded that God does want us passionately praying for our unsaved co-workers, friends and family and He wants us ready to be used by Him to be an answer to those prayers. It's easy to lose heart, but if we keep it simple and focus on just a few, we can see God work regarding specifics. We're all new creations in Christ and therefore missionaries and ambassadors of the Gospel and Kingdom of God to those we meet each day.

6-We are convinced and believe the parents are to be the primary source of discipleship for their kids, and that fathers who live for Christ and faithfully train their families to live for Christ will help eliminate the current almost 80% fall away rate we see happening in youth ministries by the time a child graduates. These statistics force us to re-evaluate how to disciple kids and youth. We pray God gives a word of wisdom to His Church at large on how to do this effectively.

7-A return to biblical evangelism rather than embracing the many and diverse methods of evangelism today. By "biblical" I mean presenting the "Gospel" to the lost rather than simply talking about God or church or the faith. By "many and diverse" I mean replacing the saving message of the Gospel with "religious God talk." Certainly we must be discerning, and sensitive, and great listeners but we must be willing to share God's Gospel Message. Are we inviting people to church or to Christ? Are we ashamed of Christ but not ashamed of our churches so much that we'd rather invite people to a church building in hopes that the pastor or speaker will boldly share the Gospel? Every believer is called by God to know the Gospel and share it. We should communicate "repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." By "biblical" I mean being faithful to declare the message of Christ and the Cross and trusting God with the results. I see a need for training believers to effectively share the Gospel and quit making excuses. The schools, universities and ever increasing books by skeptics and atheists are equipping their followers to know how to oppose God, the Bible and our faith. We must rise to the occasion for in every generation the Church has had its critics and opposition, and by God's power has met the challenges. We need God's strength for boldness to overcome the fears we all face when seeking to break the silence and share Christ with a loved one, neighbor or coworker. It's intense! There is great opposition to the Gospel, and it is increasing by the day. But He that is in us is greater! And He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.

8-Home Churches? What are your thoughts about home churches? I've really been thinking a lot about house churches. As with anything there are pros and cons. I find it interesting that for the first 200-300 years of the Christian Church the Gospel was preached throughout the known world and disciples we're successfully made without the assistance of a physical local "Church Building." The believers met in homes, had fellowship and went out into their communities to reach people for Christ and work with their hands in trades beneficial to their communities. Consider the revival and expansion of the church in China today. They are forbidden to build large buildings and the community of believers is exploding home by home. We've started a small a home Bible study on Sunday nights as our place of group worship, teaching and fellowship. It's been small and simple and we just give it to God to do with it what He wants. In mentioning house churches I want to say that I'm not opposed to church buildings because I recognize that God calls different people to different ministries. The Church of God is designed to be different and diverse. I praise God for the many large churches that are passionately and successfully reaching the lost and making disciples and using their large facilities for the Kingdom of God. I also recognize we are 2000 years down the road of church history and the expansion of God's Church and Kingdom through technology, buildings and millions of gifted believers. And so the applications and methods of ministry we see today naturally will look very different from what we see in the Bible. But the Message is still the same. May God give each of us discernment as to what modern methods to employ and what modern methods actually destroy. And may we be ever mindful that the "relevant ministry methods" of today become the "rituals and traditions" of tomorrow. God certainly uses all kinds of methods and means to accomplish His plans and purposes, but our ultimate loyalties should be fastened to our Master and His Message, not our methods of ministries.

We long to see the empowering of each individual disciple and their families, to see "Christ fully formed" in each person, and so a return to simple, intentional Gospel preaching and discipleship relationships we believe will accomplish this within our circles of influence. But may God lead each one of us to find our niche in the global Body of Christ and serve Him with all He gives!

TORNADO!

Yep, a few weeks ago we had some tornadoes in North Carolina and one of them was right up the street from us just about 2-3 miles away. The Raleigh area had 3 tornadoes in one day around the same time. We're all ok and it's been a true blessing to see how God's people, as well as others have risen to the occasion to network and serve those affected. Please pray for those who lost loved ones and homes, and pray that God's invisible Kingdom would be built up as the physical rebuilding takes place in the community.

$$$$$$$$$?

Some of you have donated to the ministry here over the past 7 months and we are so thankful for your generosity. Currently we have opened a "ministry account" with our bank, Sun Trust, and we are just depositing your financial support into that account as we seek God for His direction on how to spend those resources. We have used a little of the money to buy lunches for the homeless, Bibles, DVDs and other "give-away" items for evangelism and ministry. If anyone would like to know exactly how much is in the account and specifically what we have purchased with the resources I would be glad to tell you, just contact me personally. And please keep us in prayer as we seek God's direction in how to facilitate the finances.

THANK YOU!

Thanks again to all of you who think of us, pray for us, call, text or email. It's a real blessing to know we have friends and family out there who actually care about us and want to know what's going on out here "literally" in our neck of the woods. And for the rest of you we never hear from anymore, don't worry, we know, you're busy, we won't take it personally. We love you all!

Greg, Angela and James

"I beg you therefore, my brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." -Romans 12:1-2

Mommy and James at a park near the house

James and our neighbor's dog, Bella

Grammy Sheryl's big blue chair

Feeding the goose at the pond by the house

Jimmy jammin!

Worship band practices our latest song, "Out of Tune."

Baby Niah and James perform their duet, "Just duet!"

Don't make me turn this car around...

Toddler Executive

Tool time

Huh? what?

Free cool guy stare with a knuckle sandwich

A Family of Friends!

Well, we are so privileged to have a house full of friends who have become like family. The Kinzer family arrived January 8th, 2011 and are staying with us until they get on their feet and get settled in the community with work and a place to live. God radically spoke to their hearts this past year through the Word and prayer and the people of God and confirmed their calling to come to North Carolina and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Calvary Chapel Spring Valley in Las Vegas sent them out as part of the "church plant team" here in Raleigh and God has raised up many to pray for them and us as we all seek God's will for this community and our own personal lives. They are great friends and wonderful servants of Christ!

There are 7 of us here now, which is a perfect number for starting a church! There's Greg, Angela and baby James. There's Anthony, Melanie and baby Niah. And of coarse there's Holly, who we all call Yaya! This is the family of friends God has sent here to serve Him as we love one another and the people in this community with the love of God! What a blessing. Our common bond is Jesus Christ and our common calling is the Kingdom of God!

God's Word, the Bible, clearly communicates that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are a family, "The Family of God." We are not a group of like-minded religious people, we are not a club or business, or students who learn from the same teacher, or buddies who share similar interests or hobbies, or groupies of the same band. We are a family, an eternal family that will be together forever along with all believers who have called upon the Name of the LORD throughout the history of time. And because we are more than friends, but brothers and sisters who have been born again by the Holy Spirit, with God as our Father, we care for one another as brothers and sisters should care for one another, deeply.

Please pray for us as we live together and serve God together.

Our prayer requests would be:

1-God's Love and Unity in our home

2-God's Kingdom to expand through each of our lives

3-Work and relationships in the community

We want to thank everyone who has joined us in this adventure either through your love and prayers, phone calls, texts, emails, financial support, etc. Thank you soooo much! We have totally experienced God's love through the Body of Christ during this transition, ministry and merging of lives. The Lord has built a small church family in our home and we pray our lives together will be an honest reflection of what Jesus said would mark His true followers: Love and Unity. We understand that we do not build His Church. He does it! As we love and follow Him, the overflow of that relationship is the building up of His Church! And we believe God is going to expand His Kingdom one precious soul at a time.

We love you all!

The Stephens Family

You can check out our friends here:

The Kinzer Family at: triplekinzer.blogspot.com

Holly "Yaya" at: hollycochrane.blogspot.com

I'm a Tree Hugger!

It's true, I'm a tree hugger.

But I only hug one particular Tree.

I cling to that old rugged Cross of Christ.

The True Tree of Life, Eternal Life!

And the True Tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil.

You see, it was on that One Tree that God displayed His greatest act of Love toward mankind, when Jesus willingly gave His life for us, dying on the cross for all the evil that we have ever committed, and then through His resurrection, and faith in His resurrection He gives to us freely the goodness of God, making us new.

The Bible says, "For He (God the Father) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

Through the death of Jesus we have been freed from ever having to keep any religious law to be right with God. Everyone who does not have Christ in them is under the curse of God's Righteous Law. God's Law, the 10 Commandments condemns us as sinners...as liars, as thieves, as blasphemers for using God's Name in vain, as idolaters for not loving God supreme, as murderers for having hatred in our hearts, and as adulterers for being full of sinful lust. The punishment for sin is death. Jesus died in our place, received our curse, and took our punishment on the cross so that God can now forgive us having received Christ's payment for our sin.

The Bible says, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), so that the blessings of Abraham might come upon all those who are not Jews in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Galatians 3:13-14

Jesus Christ rose from the dead as evidence that He paid our penalty and truly is God's Righteous Son and Savior. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a historical fact, not a religious fable. Jesus Christ is alive and able to give eternal life, spiritual strength and forgiveness of sin to anyone who comes to God with faith in that Tree, that old rugged cross of Christ, and His resurrection.

The Bible says, "The God of our Fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance...and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit who God has given to those who obey Him." Acts 5:30-32

The Cross of Jesus Christ is the Tree of Life, because it is through that cross that God brings us into peace with Himself. Through that Tree we obtain peace with God and receive the peace of God! And before we can be at peace with God, our sins must be taken care of. So God, who is the source of all life, came and gave His own life for our sin, so that we can have true spiritual life and peace with Him forever. Jesus Christ was the invisible God becoming visible and dying for our sin. God was in Christ saving us from from the judgment our sin deserves. And it is the blood of God in Jesus Christ that paid for our sin, purchased our redemption, and purifies our souls!

The Bible says, "For it pleased the Father that in Him (Jesus) all the fullness of God should dwell, and by Jesus to reconcile all things to Himself (the Father) by Him (the Son), whether it be things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross." Colossians 1:19-20

The Apostle Paul, in speaking to early church leaders, reminded them that God's people were bought and paid for by the blood of God when he said, "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." Acts 20:28

And the last book of the Bible praises God and Jesus when it says, "...To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood..." Revelation 1:5

And so you see that it was on that "Tree" that God changes our eternities!

It was on that Cross that Jesus, the Carpenter that once held nails and wood, was being held by nails and wood.

It was on that Cross that God hung as a man, dying in my place, for my sins.

And I will never go to hell because of what He did for me on that Tree!

Therefore, "I'm a Tree-Hugger!"

Because Christ was willing to hug that bloody tree for me, I will gladly hug that tree for Him!

I will cling to that Old Rugged Cross and hug that Holy Tree forever!

And I echo what Paul wrote in Galatians 6:14 "...God forbid that I should boast in anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

Thank you Jesus!

G.P.S.

Recently my mom purchased me a GPS for my vehicle.

Not only have I found it incredibly helpful when it comes to driving around a new city, but I find in it an amazing illustration for God's Word, the Bible.

Think through this with me.

My GPS is portable. I can take it with me wherever I want to go.

It's reliable and dependable. Much time and effort have gone in to ensuring it's trustworthiness and accuracy.

My GPS tells me exactly where I am, where I've been, and where I'm going. It even tells me how fast I'm going whenever I'm moving.

If I want to get from where I am to where I want to be, then all I have to do is tell it where I want to go and then do what it says. It can tell me all day long what direction I'm suppose to go, but if I don't eventually put my vehicle into drive I'll go nowhere.

My GPS is in the language I speak. The words are in English and the person speaking the directions also is speaking in English. It's great to actually have a GPS translation in my own language. And the translation is accurate!

You see, all I have to do is put FAITH in my GPS and it will take me exactly where I want to go!

It doesn't even take a lot of faith. Just enough faith to get me to put the vehicle in drive and step by step, road by road, turn by turn obey the voice and commands given by my GPS. It's actually very simple and takes very little faith. The GPS does most of the work for me.

And if I make a wrong turn or miss my turn, its ok, because it will re-calculate my situation and get me on the right track in no time at all. It's wonderfully forgiving!

If only I would put that kind of FAITH in the Word of God, the Bible.

The Bible is God's Positioning System for us. God's Plan of Salvation, God's Powerful Solution!

The GPS has only been out for a few years now, and yet God's Word has been around for thousands of years steering, guiding and directing millions of people into forgiveness, joy, peace, eternal life and heaven.

All you have to do is read the Words and obey them. It's simple.

God's Word will tell you exactly where you are, where you've been and where you're going.

God's Word will tell you if you've taken a wrong turn and even how to get back on the right road.

God's Word will tell you if you're going too fast or too slow, and it will also give you a heads up if you need to turn right.

God spent over 1600 years programming/writing the Bible and ensuring its accuracy, reliability, precision and trustworthiness. He had over 40 authors involved in its development.

God's Word is conveniently available in most languages.

My GPS was over $100, but God's Word is free!

And God's Word is also wonderfully portable!

All you have to do is take it with you, open it up, read it...and it will tell you exactly where you are and where you need to be going.

Then you have to actually exercise FAITH and trust it, put your life into drive and go exactly where it tells you to go.

If you do this my friend, you avoid many accidents, much confusion and you'll enjoy the ride a whole lot more!

I've had my GPS for only a month now and it has never let me down. And I use it all day, every day for work.

Well, G.P.S. (God's Perfect Son) saved my soul and changed my life 10 years ago!

I've been reading the Bible ever since and God's Word has never let me down.

I know where I've been, where I'm at, and where I'm going.

I'm enjoying the ride, staying in the right lane, and listening for the next command.

Jesus, take me home!

B.I.B.L.E= Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth

"Trust in the LORD with all of your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path." -Proverbs 3:5-6

"Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

-Psalm 119:105

"All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is beneficial for teaching, reproof, correction and for instruction in righteousness, so that the man (or woman) of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." -2 Timothy 3:16-17

"Obey God's Word! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it."

-James 1:22

Discipleship and Evangelism

Discipleship:

As a believer in Jesus Christ I am called to be His disciple, His student, His follower, even His willing slave. If a lost person were to watch and evaluate my life daily, they should see a life that reflects the behavior and attitudes of Jesus as revealed in the Bible, not a particular Christian church, denomination, style, tradition, trend or even minister. I should be cautious not allow the community, world, church or other Christians to become the standard for which I live my life and do ministry. I should be careful not to try and create my own kind of style or brand of what I believe a Christian is, I should allow Jesus and God's Word to establish that for me. I will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ alone and no one else on Judgment Day and give an account for what I did and why I did it. And so as a believer in Jesus I must make it my aim, like Paul, to have a blameless life, family and ministry. That will honor and glorify God, even if it doesn't get the praises of man. 1 John 1:6 says, "He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked." It is an exciting adventure to follow Christ no matter what the opposition.

I had a long conversation with a man the other day who said he was a Christian and asked me if I was a Christian. I asked him what a "Christian" was before I would say "yes." He went on to describe what he thought a Christian was and it was nothing that Jesus or the Bible taught. I said I was a believer in the Jesus Christ of the Bible and that I do not follow after "Christianity" but follow after Christ. I said, the Bible defines a "Christian" as a disciple of Jesus Christ. (Acts 11:26) He concluded our conversation by saying to me, "You claim that you do not follow after Christianity but you follow Jesus, and yet I choose to follow Christianity even though I do not follow Jesus." Can you believe that! I had explained what Jesus and the Bible taught about salvation and God and faith and what it means to be a Christian and when it was all over he was still determined to be "Christian" by religious affiliation, but rejected a relationship with the Christ of Christianity. My friends we live in a time where Christianity can no longer define what a Christian is. We live in a day where much of Christianity exists without Christ. And if the Holy Spirit were removed from the Church how sad that much of Christianity would go on as normal. Let us be disciples. Let them see disciples.

Evangelism:

God loves people. If God is living His life through me by the power of the Holy Spirit it will be evidenced by a genuine, passionate, pursuing love of people. All people! Any person. Jesus Christ does not sit dormant in the hearts of His people and passively wait for rebels and sinners to ask about how to get eternal life, be forgiven or go to heaven. He chases them down with His intentional love through the lives of His followers. If Jesus Christ left the glories of heaven to come and die for my sin, then I should be willing to leave my comfort zones to pursue people for Him. Of course we are to be led by the Holy Spirit, use discernment, be humble and ask God to open doors, but I cannot hide behind those things as an excuse not to share at all. God has given each of us a sphere of influence among the lost where we should be praying daily and specifically for those we work with, that God would open doors, and open hearts to seek Him and use us to share the truth. We should be willing to fast (not just skip meals) for a lost soul that is destined for hell. We should purchase gifts, perform acts of service, bake food, give money, coffee, Bibles, tracts, letters, phone calls, whatever it takes to win a person to Christ. In 1 Corinthians 9:22 Paul said he "became all things to all men that by all means he might save some," and I think I'm making a sacrifice when I become some things to some men with some means in hopes of winning some. In 2 Corinthians Chapter 1 Paul said that his afflictions and his comforts were for the salvation of others! Do we see the purpose of our afflictions as being able to bring others to salvation? Do we see the comfort of God extended to us as being able bring others to salvation? Paul saw everything in his life as useful to God for the salvation of others, not just his own personal spiritual benefit.The real work of evangelism by the Holy Spirit in the soul of a saint is a willingness to do whatever it takes to win a person to Christ. The amount of prayer, fasting, sharing and sacrifice a person is willing to make to see someone come to faith in Christ is just another extension of God's love for the world. For God so loved the world that His Son was willing to die for sins, and His saints are willing to die to themselves. God did not save me so that I could be forgiven and live for myself. 2 Corinthians 5:15 says, "And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again." I've got to trust and love God enough that I put away my fear of man, fear of rejection and fear of losing a cool Christian reputation that I'm willing to share the Gospel with someone I work with or meet at the store or a neighbor or family member. In Romans 1:16 Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes..." If we are ashamed of what we believe and afraid to share it, we look foolish for even believing it and we discredit the Gospel by not sharing it. Love for God and love for people must swallow up our fear of man. Paul was encouraging young Timothy to overcome his "fear of man issues" and share the Gospel message in 2 Timothy 1:7 when he said, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind." I am naturally a very fearful and insecure person. When I was a little boy, the first few times my dad took me fishing I was afraid of the fish. The hook, the worm, the fish pulling and flopping around was a pretty overwhelming experience to me as a little insecure boy. But over time, as I grew up and matured, that fear was replaced with the fact that the fish really can't hurt me, and fishing became more of a joy to me. I want to suggest that a mature, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led follower of Christ is not someone who is completely without fear, but rather someone who's desire to obey God and His Great Commission and their understanding of Truth is greater than their fear of men, and as a result they reach out to the lost, experience God's grace and find sharing the Gospel a joy, not a burden. Jesus, in Mark 1:17 said to His disciples, "Follow Me and I will make you become fishers of men." So, if I have not become a "fisher of men" then I am not a "follower of Him." Let us cast the hook, buy the bait, build the rod, whatever it takes. Let us be willing, like Paul, to become all things to all men that by all means we might, with the help of God, save some.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you had a great time with family this year. And to those of you that know Christ we hope you were able to break free from all the hustle and bustle of the Holidays and really pause and thank Jesus for His wonderful death on the cross for our sins and His wonderful life and resurrection! Praise God we celebrate a risen Savior and not some dead prophet or religious figure. Praise God that we can know and experience Him personally, and individually through His grace and by faith in Him. Thank God Jesus is not a religion but a Person we can love and be loved by. May this next year be full of passion and love for God and people. Happy New Year!

We had almost a foot of snow today. James named the snowman "John."
All bundled up.
James has a snow buddy with Holly!
Christmas Day we drove down to Fayetteville, North Carolina to visit with some great friends and awesome believers, the Taylors.

A couple days before Christmas we were blessed to spend some time with Angela's family.

Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

Holly has Arrived

Well, one of our best friends ever arrived yesterday! Holly has been a close friend of ours for over 10 years now and she just moved out here to Raleigh, North Carolina because she too felt the call of God to come and serve Jesus Christ here. She has been praying about this for a while and God over this past year confirmed that He was the One leading her and guiding her to move out here. We're so blessed that she is going to be staying with us as she gets established in the community. She is a gift from God to our family (especially James!) and we know that God has a great plan for her here in North Carolina. She has already been a shining light of the love of Jesus to so many in Las Vegas for so many years, we are excited to see God use her here in Raleigh. Please pray with us that God's Kingdom would come and God's will would be done in and through her life.

You can check out her blog @ hollycochrane.blogspot.com

James' 2 birthday pictures

We just recently got some new pictures of James from his 2nd Birthday party and thought we'd post them for friends and family. He is truly one of God's greatest gifts to our lives.

December Snow!

We had snow today! It was beautiful.

James enjoys his choo choo!