Saturday Sneak Peak: Perfect Love

There may be nothing else in life that produces such great joy and such grueling sorrow as love.  Have relationships been a source of support for you or a source of difficulty?  I imagine most of us would say it has been both.   This week, we kick off the Summer of Love series, and our goal is to discover why love is so elusive, and what we can do about it together.   My prayer is that we would receive the grace to live in love.

Praying for you all as you seek to make God the ultimate affection of your life! 

Your Nomad Pastor Team

The Final Word: Baring My Soul

When was the last time you really and truly bared your soul to God?  The following story is an excerpt from a sermon on prayer from Tim Patrick, Pastor of Faith Baptist.


When we carried our son and daughter-in-law to the airport in Birmingham, as they left to go overseas, I cried.  I had told myself not to cry.  Get this picture.  My oldest son felt led of God to spend his life serving in southeast Asia.  He was about to leave.  I knew that for the rest of his life I would only see him for short visits.  I knew that I would never spend extensive time with my grandchildren.  I had the audacity to tell myself that I was not going to cry.  When they started through security, I cried.  I didn’t just cry.  I wailed. People were staring at my as if there was something wrong with me.  There was something wrong.  My heart was broken.  I cried!  There was no pretense.  There was no cover up.  People could read me like a book.

That is what happens when we get real with God.  We bare our soul to Him.


Would like to encourage everyone to attend a worship night tonight at Nomad Community Church in Melbourne, FL.  If you are not local tune in at www.ustream.com.  

12 Rounds with God

Two More Thoughts on Prayer

"The battle of prayer is against two things in the earthlies: wandering thoughts, and lack of intimacy with God's character as revealed in His word. Neither can be cured at once, but they can be cured by discipline."  -  Oswald Chambers

"Praying Hard is going twelve rounds with God.  A heavyweight prayer bout with God Almighty can be excruciating and exhausting, but that is how some of the greatest prayer victories are won.  Praying hard is more than words; its blood, sweat, and tears.  

Praying hard is two-dimensional: Praying like it depends on God, and working like it depends on you.  It's praying until God Answers, no matter how long it takes. Praying with a holy desperation."  -  Mark Batterson

Circle Up and Pray...

As we contemplate the Jericho prayers we are called to Circle around,
I am assuming we all get that we need to be a people of prayer. A people set apart
and called to prayer and action.

Be reminded of the following statements as you venture into Higher, yet soggier – at
least this week – ground.

Always put God’s glory above personal comfort.

We often pray misguided prayers because we are not omniscient
(all-knowing). It’s ok – pray anyhow – we are commanded to pray without
ceasing.

No doesn’t mean No – Many times it means Not Yet!

Seek God not answers – In seeking Him you will find the answers!

Not wanting to sound like a Christian greeting card – I nervously post these
statements. But here’s the truth. These statements are true and we need to be
reminded of them.

This week let’s circle up and pray the promises of God. Looking for a few to start
with. Here are a few to feast on – no fast-food praying!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed
away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17

Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

I fight Authority...Authority always wins

In the words of singer/songwriter John Mellencamp:

"I fight authority, Authority always wins
Well, I fight authority, Authority always wins
Well, I've been doing it since I was a young kid
I come out grinnin'
Well, I fight authority, Authority always wins"


Isn't that how it works with God? We try to fight His authority by replacing it with our own. While that may appear to work in the short term...it never actually does. God's authority always wins. If we spent as much time seeking God's will in our lives as we do fighting His authority, we'd be in much closer proximity to God. 


Pray this prayer with me...God, we submit to your authority. We seek your will in our lives and will listen closely to your Word. Please turn us away from what the world wants and redirect us back to you. It is only in you that we will find our true identity and purpose. 


Amen.

Tuesday Quote: Holy Invasion

"From creation to incarnation to salvation to final redemption, ours is a story about a transcendent God who from outside stepped into our story to transform us.  Ours is an alien wholeness where God’s nature, will and power come to us, initiate and maintain our transformation.  Although our cooperation is vital, transformation begins as a holy invasion of the kingdom of God.  We are helpless to transform ourselves significantly.  This is the uniqueness of Christian wholeness."  - Mark Foreman, Author of Wholly Jesus: His Surprising Approach to Wholeness and Why it Matters

The Closest Proximity

Radius Camp 2012
I'm about to board a flight for Chicago, where I will lead Radius Camp this week.  As I sit here in the Orlando airport, I can not help but have a huge sense of pride for each of you because you actually get it church!  You really do desire a proximity with God that is second to none and wish to convey this to your communities as well.  Thanks for not only being a great church but simply being church in the first place.  I'll be checking each day to update you on the mission camp.  Say a prayer for me.


'Proximity of Authority'.
This ultimate reality is this allows us to trust God with every aspect of our life.  I believe trust puts you in the closest proximity because it is the greatest aspect of the fully surrendered life.  The fully surrendered life demonstrates 2 things, a complete detachment of things and a complete attachment to God.

What are you attached to that doesn't bring you in closer proximity with God?  Jesus said in Mark 4 that the kingdom of God was like the smallest of mustard seeds, yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in it's shade.  Just the smallest of trust can bring you closer to God today.  But we have to mistrust those things we've been holding on to that bring false security.  For all of us it will be something different.  It could be money, kids, jobs, boats, vacation homes, and even careers.  Even these things that God has blessed us with are just tools (even money!).  They are just tools, that God can use for us to further his kingdom to bring others into the same proximity we've experienced.  They in themselves don't bring lasting peace and transformation.  It is only when we attach ourselves fully to God, like he encouraged the rich young ruler from a couple of weeks ago that we find true peace and can actually experience a spirituality that is honest and real.

Spend some time today thinking on the words of Jesus that tell us to enter our journey with nothing but the sandals on our feet and the staff in our hand.  Stop it, I know what you're thinking!  You're thinking one bag will be enough or who will an extra shirt hurt?  It will hurt you!  Trust totally in God's provision for you today no matter what you are going through.  And when rejection comes, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony of who and what you're trusting in.  I promise, do this and you will experience God like never before.  

Ok, lets get real!
Comment below on some things in your life that have taken you away from God and how you overcame it and were brought back in proximity with Him.

Further Reading: 
Luke 10:3-11;   Mark 4:26-32;   Ephesians 2:1-10
Sit, Walk, Stand by Watchman Nee

Saturday Sneak Peak: Proximity of Authority

What is your definition of Authority?  How does that differ from how God views authority?

 Read Mark 6:9-13 and see how it changes your view.

We conclude the series on Proximity tomorrow by looking at how Jesus challenges our assumption on authority in regards to our calling.

It Just Got Real

This weeks 'Final Word' comes form E.J. Smith of Denver.  EJ is the Associate Pastor at Missio Dei Fellowship in Denver, CO.  He is also a musician, bloggist and social-activist and former touring mate with Pastor Bill (yes that means he's got stories!)

I was lying in the middle of my living room trying to make deals with God for my Son's life. My one year old possibly had cancer, and the possible tumors were near his heart. I was desperate, scared, broken; and there was no answer in sight. Life just got real.

Sometimes it feels like God has turned His gaze away and is not even paying attention. It can be a time in your life when you just need a comforting word of assurance (“God are you there?"), or maybe life just got real and you are desperate (Holy crap, are you There?!). The Psalms are amazing at capturing snapshots of our emotions, check out Psalm 13 (NIV):

"1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?    How long will you hide your face from me?2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts  and day after day have sorrow in my heart?    How long will my enemy triumph over me?3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, 4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him, ”    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.5 But I trust in your unfailing love;  my heart rejoices in your salvation. 6 I will sing the Lord’s praise,    for he has been good to me."

Notice the desperation. Life just got real, and the writer has no where else to go. He is afraid of not only dying, but his enemies basically dancing on his grave. But there is hope immediately in the text...God's love. The very essence of God, and the very reason He sent his Son into the world, gives us a reason to sing, rejoice, rely and expect God to work it out for His glory, and not ours.

Flash forward a few weeks...our family was waiting and praying in the lobby of the local Childrens hospital. After three hours, the surgeon comes out with a puzzled look. The tumors were gone. Amazing miracle aside, and it was, we had finally given our Son over to God, and gave up on our plans for him. All we could do is trust in and wait on God.

EJ Smith

Man of Rejection

"He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.  Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not."  - Isaiah 53:3

 What is the scripture saying to you today?  Especially in terms of the 'Proximity of Rejection'? 

Here is my Family

"Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!  Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."  Mark 3:35

We face rejection in some way shape or form all throughout our life.  Unfortunately we often allow it to reshape us from what God wants us to be.  This reshaping distorts what God is doing which is restoring us to the image of his son.  In spite of our rejection we find acceptance and grace at the feet of the father.  But what is God's will?  Essentially is everything we've been saying in this series of coming closer to God.  The Gospel of John gives us a bit of insight on that will.  

 ³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:37-39

Jesus made it clear that the will of the father was that none should fall away; that Jesus should never lose any that God has given him and the reality in that verse is that when we follow Jesus through rejection we are doing the will of the father.  When we suffer as he suffered, He is in turn bringing us closer to the father.  But also look at verse 40, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."  Brilliant isn't it?  Not only does he not reject those who call on his name, he says no matter what I will raise you up.   

We often find this hard to believe that God won't reject us when we call on him first for salvation and that we can experience a life of transformation.  Many of us feel we are too far gone.  We've done too much.  The beauty of the Gospel from Genesis to Revelation is that God doesn't reject those who are his Mother, Brothers, and Sisters.  Consider what the Scripture teaches:  Jacob was a cheater, Peter had a temper, David had an affair, Noah got drunk, Jonah ran from God, Paul was a murderer, Gideon was insecure, Miriam was a Gossip, Martha was a worrier, Thomas was a doubter, Sara was impatient, Elijah was moody, Moses stuttered, Zaccheus was short, Abraham was old, Lazarus was dead.

If you haven't already, establish a relationship with Christ today and begin to apply his principles to your life and experience the life changing transformation that is closer proximity with God.  I promise you, he won't turn you away! 

Further Reading:

John 6:25-71

Searching for God Knows What, by Donald Miller

Transformation, by Bob Roberts Jr.

Saturday Sneak Peak

Ok, this is going to seem overly simplistic.  Know that I am doing it on purpose and tomorrow morning this will be made way clear as we study Mark chapter 3 and 6 together. Ok, here goes . . . . .

WHAT EVIDENCE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IS THERE FOR SALVATION?  Meaning answer me, how one can truly know they have been saved (New testament word for redemption)?  

I look forward to your answers and hope tomorrow blows your mind and causes us to great Christ-centered action.

Praying for you as you pray for me!  Read Mark 3 and Mark 6 if you would like to look ahead.  Here's a hint, the answer is found in one or both of these passages.

Final Word: Give It Up

We are excited to welcome Jan Puterbaugh, the son Nomad's very own, Harry Bailey.  Jan is the Pastor of Insane Details at Life Point Community Church in Lake Mary, FL.  Jan and his wife Kelly are also great friends of Bill & Dena.   

Give It Up

It wasn't until I gave up everything in my life that I gained everything in my life. That's a pretty tough statement to make!  As a believer, as a follower of Jesus we often are trying to live life on our terms and wonder why there is an empty place in our heart, indeed, why we are walking around still missing something deep in our life.  Often, intentionally, we are trying to "fill a hole" with many things. Money, possessions, following the rules, being a "good" person, helping others.....yet we know deep down that a "hole" still remains....something is still missing.

In the story of the rich young ruler found in Mark 10:17-22, we see someone who had everything.  He followed the rules and had achieved much.  Yet, he was not ready to fill the hole in his life. Jesus told him to sell all His “stuff”......why?  Because Jesus knew that it was his "stuff" that was keeping him from true faith…….it wasn’t about the “stuff”…..it was about the focus of the man’s heart.

We often live our lives in a cloud of self-absorbing achievements...searching for joy, peace and true fulfillment. I think that often our achievements, both in stuff as well as achievements in what we do in life; make us feel "safe".  Our lives become rather "static" and predictable.  As a follower of Christ, our lives should be dynamic and risky, meaning that we put our trust in Jesus rather than ourselves and "things". The funny thing is, in living out this dynamic and risky life in Christ, we find true fulfillment in our surrender to Him...... and that hole becomes filled with love, with  joy and with peace.

What is it that is keeping you from surrendering your life to Jesus? Is it stuff? Is it achievement? Is it unforgiveness? Is there anything that you would be unwilling to give up in order live eternally with God?

Fill your heart with Jesus and gain the freedom to live life in a dynamic way! Gain eternal life and you will be able to live your life to the fullest. Surrender is the key. Lose your life in order to truly gain it!

Tuesday Quote

"I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works I do:  and 

greater works than these he will do." - Jesus Christ (John 14)

Can soil change?  Jesus seemed to think so.  

Inconveniencing Ourselves for the Kingdom

Yesterday I used an illustration from Matthew about the Rich Young Ruler.  I have included some of my thoughts along with the thoughts from a recent article I read from Sermon Central.  Fascinating is the life that lives everyday to get closer and closer to Jesus Christ.  

August 17, 2009

Caritas in Veritate

The sure path to eternal life, to enjoying the presence of God continually even before we die, is to imitate Jesus.  Jesus, the source of grace, is the great example of bringing the good that is God into contact with a world that is weak and prone to evil.  The young man in the story did not want to give up his many possessions.  They brought him comfort in this life, and probably cost him union with God, the only treasure worth having.  When we listen to the Holy Spirit teach us about charity in truth being the authentic path to human development, we may very well hear words that direct us to experience some sort of inconvenience.  When you consider the inconvenience is helping someone come to Christ, I'd say it is well worth the time.    

The New Testament teaches the principal factor of development for each of is emulating the life of Christ.  Christ is the perfect human, and therefore our model for one who facilitates human development.  When we travel this path, we must do so with the ardor of charity and the wisdom of truth.  God's love, which is experienced as grace opens our lives to gift and makes it possible to hope for a "development of the whole man and of all men."

To love in truth is a great challenge for the Church in a world that is becoming progressively and pervasively globalized. Jesus warns that the risk is that the de facto interdependence of people and nations would not be matched by ethical interaction of consciences and minds that would give rise to truly human development.  Only in charity, illumined by the light of reason and faith, can we pursue development goals that possess a truly humanizing value. Authentic development proceeds by sharing goods and resources, something that love, operating as justice, and only love, can guarantee. The Church offers ethical principles and moral motivation, not technical solutions. That is how progress can be truly human.

Call me crazy, but Jesus might actually call us both as individuals and as a church to sell all our possessions and give them to the poor.  May we all get closer to Christ everyday first in salvation, and the every action of our life and meditation of our heart will bring continued glory to the father as we live in closer proximity to God.  

Further Reading:

Matthew 19:16-19:22

Radical, David Platt

Saturday Sneak Peak: Proximity of Identity

Last week we looked at the different soils that make up our spiritual journey.  So let me ask you a question:  Can soil actually change?

Read Mark 5:1-43

Sunday we will look at the idea of how Christ takes the message of the kingdom into the community and begins to change people showing he is Creator, Liberator, and Reconciler.  The disciples as well as the people Christ reaches out to learn that the kingdom of God is boundless, humanizing, redemptive, and all-inclusive.

It's going to be good.  See you Sunday or online if you listen to the podcast and comment.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor B   

The Last Word - 6/1/12

So I found this great wikihow on a few changes we can make this week to draw closer in proximity to God.  Here are my faves:

1.       Don’t speak about religion:  One might practice a religion personally, but discussing it surely creates ill-will and distance from God.

2.       Be generous: Generosity is one of the great attributes of God we all identify well with. We like generous people. God loves generous people.

3.       Maintain hygiene: It helps keep the mind clear of the things that take you away from God. Being clean will remove laziness and procrastination of anything you must do. It is said "an idle mind is the devil's workshop"!

Now, I’m not one to talk religion, hoard or walk around smelling bad...but are these really the best changes we can come up with to draw us closer to God?  Yet, if we are honest, have we not tried to clean up, talk right and be generous to have a better relationship with Jesus?  Have we not put all our efforts into changing all the wrong things? 

My encouragement to you comes from Jesus words in the parable of the sower.  Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.  If we have ears to hear, we will be ever seeing and perceiving, ever hearing and understanding; that we might turn and be forgiven.  Instead of trying to manipulate a change this week, open your ears to hear the transforming words of Jesus.  And from those words of life, we will find the change.

Pastor Dan

www.nomad-7.com