Finding a Church Home

Hello all, sorry it has been forever since I posted- I intend to write more regularly soon!! Here are some thoughts that really helped me when I was searching for a church home as a believer..I believe finding a church home is the most important decision a follower of Jesus will ever make. This is the place where you will weekly encounter the living God in a community of fellow believers who can support, encourage, and challenge you. As a disciple of Christ, I believe there are four essential parts the congregant must engage in and be able to engage in at their current church home!

1. Worship
1. This is the most important!! As a member of a Church, you must be able to freely worship the Lord in the house of the Lord- Through the music, the prayer time, as well as the teaching; you must hear, and see the Lord in all of those areas. You must be encouraged by the music, and connect with the Holy Spirit through it! You must be challenged, convicted, and encouraged by the Word of God; and you must feel the power of prayer through the Lord's revelation!
2. Psalm 95:6, "Come , let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker."
2. Discipleship
1. You must be continually fed through your church home in order to fulfill the fourth part of this list. In order to pour out, you must continually be fed. You need to be provided opportunities to be in small group Bible study settings which are intentional in studying the Word of God. You must be provided opportunities to also lead small group Bible studies if you so desire. Church is not on Sunday morning alone, and the place you decide to call home shouldn't think that either!
2. Matthew 28:19, "Go and make DISCIPLES of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit teaching them to observe my commands."
3. Fellowship
1. Ahhh, the community of other believers. It is so refreshing to be in the presence of those who have come together for a common purpose: to reach the lost, and build the found. You have to be able to surround yourself with people who can pray for you, encourage you, support you, lead you, and guide you. You must feel comfortable sharing with those in your church home, and allowing them to share with you.
2. Ephesians 2:19, "so you are no longer strangers, but FELLOW CITIZENS IN CHRIST."
4. Evangelism
1. When deciding a church to call home I highly suggest finding a church that values evangelism and has a purpose and a vision to grow. The sole purpose of what you learn in the discipleship process is to share it with those who do not know it, and strive to grow the Church! It is our mission to grow the Church of Jesus, and you will see, day in and day out, the beauty of a Christ in a growing church!
2. Acts 1:8, "For you will receive power when the Holy Spirit is upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH!!!"

Acceptance or Authenticity?

Acceptance or Authenticity?

Question: What is your aim in life? Acceptance, or Authenticity?

Whats the difference?

Well, the difference is the way we live our lives as followers of Christ. To live your life in the acceptance realm, you answer the question: How far can I go and still call myself a Christian? You seem to want to be a christian, but you also want to be well liked by your peers. You might go to church, you might play the part well, but you are hanging on for dear life because eventually the sin will pull you totally away. You are playing the part very well.

Or is your aim in life Authenticity? When you're being authentic, you answer the question How Holy Can I be? You desire to live a life that is pure, a life that is righteous, holy and pleasing to God.

I feel like all to often, we as Christ followers, desire to be liked. We want to sit on the fence. We look great on the outside, but inside we are just desiring to be accepted and not really desiring to be authentic.

Jesus desires us to be authentic in every way, in every area of our life. Our life goal should be, "How Holy Can I Be?" As you go through your day today, ask yourself this question: Are you living to be an accepted Christian, or an authentic Christian?

Be Blessed,
Toe's

Not about us

God made a very real truth clear to me today for the first time, and it has changed my outlook on a lot.  I have always known that life is not about me, it's not about us, and it's all about Him! However, I never really thought about that concept in the midst of trials.  The truth God made clear to me is that even in OUR trials, everything is still about Him.  Even in our trials, it's not about us.  I am going to leave you with that for the day. I know it is a short post, but it is a meaty truth that I believe you'll need to chew on for a while.  

Remember, in our trials, it is still all about Him.

Be Blessed,

Toe's 

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

Thanksgiving is a great holiday.  All of the food, fun, and family time we all enjoy so much.  However, something I realized this thanksgiving is we have so much to be thankful for on a daily basis, why does it take a scheduled day each year to remember it all? 

Why do we as humans have to have a holiday in order to tell our parents, or our spouses, or our friends, or our church, or our Savior that we are so thankful for them? Why, 364 days our of the year we take for granted everything AWESOME in our lives we should be thankful for, and put the focus on everything going wrong in our lives.  Perhaps, because its easier to forget the good, and focus on the bad.  

This year, I want to encourage you, each day to take time with the Lord, with your friends, with your spouse, with your family, and just be THANKFUL, and tell them how thankful you are for their presence in your life.  

God has blessed us with so much, an overwhelming amount of blessings that we do not deserve, as much as I love thanksgiving, we shouldn't need a holiday to participate in giving thanks.  I am so thankful for you- and impact you have on my life! Rejoice, and be thankful in the Lord today!

Be Blessed,

Toe's

Airport

Well, apparently you can't check your bags more than four hours prior to your flight therefore I am sitting in the airport, and have been for the past few hours.  It is an interesting place to hang out, people watch, and interact with new people.  It's always funny the type of people you can find in the airport, extremely diverse. 

I am waiting for my flight to arrive home after an interesting weekend in Nashville at NYWC.  It was a great weekend for fellowship, and to affirm my passion for sound, conservative theology.  There were some speakers, and artists that presented such liberal views on theology. I actually walked out of a couple sessions on a couple speakers, and I have never done that before.  

There was a few pearls among the weekend, and one of them was Francis Chan. He is always so good, and so transparent. He always shares his heart with such a convicting, real passion.  He brought up so many great points about the direction our church is heading, and how we need to make a change and do something about it.  

I will write more throughout the week, just wanted to check in- Have a great one- 

Ps, we fritz, portis, and I made some dudes blog. It was awesome. Because clinton farted. haha 

Be Blessed,

Toe's

NYWC!!

Woo Hoo!!!! I am so fired up this morning! I am leaving in thirty minutes for Nashville!! I am heading to National Youth Workers Convention to hopefully be fed from some awesome worship, learn from some great teachers but most importantly I get to hang the entire weekend with DH, Fritz, and Clinton! It is going to be such an awesome weekend, good for us all to get away and just spend some time together!

However, as I was reading my Word this morning, and doing my devo's listening to Charlie Hall- one of the sentences in his song "Marvelous Light" really struck me-

"Sin has lost its power, Death has lost its sting, FROM THE GRAVE HE'S RISEN VICTORIOUSLY!"

Those words really spoke to me, and just reminded me of the amazing power and love our Savior has for us! It reminded me of the amazing victory we have in Christ! We are fighting battles day to day in this world, but our CITIZENSHIP (phil 3:20) is found in HEAVEN!!! Our reward is far greater than any trial, or tribulation we will face here on earth! As the battles continue to come our way, remember the WAR has already won and we are fighting for the GREAT VICTOR!! There is victory in every trial, and blessing in every tribulation. We as followers of Christ are called not to look to the mountian but to the mountain mover! We are called to look not at the water in front of us, but how Jesus walked ON THE WATER. We are called not to look at the problems in our lives, but the victories that Jesus provides each and every day! I will write this weekend I am sure- pray for fellowship, and growth! Have a great day rejoicing in Christ's victories!!

Be Blessed,
Toe's

Lecrae: Rebel

This album is dynamite!!! The words in his songs are so incredible!! I highly suggest you check out the album here: www.reachrecords.com

The song that I am listening to all the time, and has truly spoken to me is "Rebel Intro"...the lyrics are this:

Jesus was a rebel, a renegade, outlaw/ A sanctified troublemaker but He never sinned, naw/ and He lived His life by a different set of Rules/ the culture ain't approve/so you know they had they had to bruise em/ that's the way they do/ man, they swear they so gangsta but everyones the same/ everybody do the same stuff/ tattoos, piercing/ smokin' up and drinking/ money and sex plus them extravagant weekends/man if that's the high life/ I'll puff puff pass that/ you leave evaporated like you missing a gas cap/ I guess I'm passed that/ I am in rebellion/ I'd rather have a dollar in my pocket than a mill-ion/ I'm scared to worship money, and my wants over Elyon/ I'll remain a rebel while the rest of them just carry on/this is what I live fo/ this the hill I'm buried on/ if Jesus is the truth/ that means one of us is VERY wrong/ think about it

Verse 2:
No glory in me/ all glory to the King on the throne (Jesus)/ you either love Him or leave Him alone but you can't do both/ yeah, I know you heard that once in song/ I pray you hear 10 mo fo ya gone/ hey listen up, holmes/ stage is the corner/ crowd is the streets/ And I rap the bread of life cause they dyin' to eat/
I'm a rebel you know the kind that die in the street/Cause you refuse to conform, won't eat the kings meat yeah/ Christ rebelled by shunning the cultured/ He eatin' with sinners/ givin Pharasies ulcers/ He never got married, He was broke and plus homeless/yeah that's the God I roll wit/ ya boy gotta wife and no I neva cheated/ I'm prayin for humility whenever I get heated/ forget about the drugs/ rebel against pornography/ this ain't how it oughta be, homie/ this is how it's gotta be/ A rebel

Those lyrics have so much power. I Just wanted to encourage you today, are you a rebel? IT IS NO LONGER REBELLIOUS TO SIN!! We realize that the Bible says rebellion is SIN, but it is not longer to rebel to sin because EVERYONE IS SINNING. Jesus was a rebel who was counter cultural! Being a rebel is doing what no1 else is doing--standing up for Christ, following Christ, living a life worthy of the Gospel, who is doing that? THAT IS REBELLION in our world because everyone has conformed and accepted sin!

You wanna be a rebel, READ YOUR BIBLE- because no1 is doing it- that is rebellion- thats the only rebellion left!!!

All of this can be found on the Lecrae album, and so much more- I will write about some of the other songs in the future- but I encourage you today, BE A REBEL.

Be Blessed,
Toe's