I know this sounds odd coming from a pastor, but it’s true. What most people call church really is a “worship service.” They go to a building with other people to watch other people trying to get them to come into the presence of and hear Jesus. This isn’t bad, but it’s not church.
If you go to church and never interact with other believers – give and take – why not stay home and watch church on TV? You would have the same experience – good music (maybe even better!), hear good teaching (better as well?) and come away feeling just the same all from the comforts of your living room couch while still in your PJs.
Church is not a service, it’s believers interacting with one another. It must be a two-way street. The Bible has a phrase that describes this. It’s called the “one-another” phrases. There are over 40 of them in the New Testament. We’re not called to go to church, but to be the church.
One of the illustrations the Bible uses to describe the church is a human body (1 Cor. 12:12-27). Each part is connected to another part, as the foot is attached to the leg. Have you ever seen a foot walking around by itself? (Ok, aside from Hollywood!) Nope, it doesn’t happen. The foot helps the leg and the leg helps the foot. It’s the same way in the Church, the Body of Christ. Church takes place as we interact and help each other get closer to and stay in the presence of Jesus as we accomplish His purpose for our lives (Eph. 2:10).
In a service, a few people use their talents to help you “get something out of it.” In reality, however, it should all be about what Jesus gets out of it. We are the participants while He is the spectator of our worship, which should be actions based upon trust (1 Cor. 10:31) of which praise is one.
At New Hope, where I pastor, our service has what is called “Family Time.” It’s right after announcements and before the message where people get a small taste of practicing the one-anothers, like greeting one another (Rom. 16:16). Among other things, it can also be used to encourage (1 Thess. 5:11), serve (Gal. 5:13) and comfort (1 Thess. 4:18) each other as well. It’s an opportunity to be the church while at a worship service. Bible Impact Groups and MiniChurch (i.e. home fellowships) are also a great place to practice being church.
We need one another in each other’s business so the Spirit can change our lives (James 5:16 – “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”) So don’t go to church this week. Practice being the church.

Michael Jordan was quoted as saying:
“I’ve missed more than nine thousand shots in my career. I’ve lost almost three hundred games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Jordan failed many times throughout his basketball career; and yet, he is considered one of the most successful basketball players ever to play the game. Why? He grew through his failures. Yeah, he lost twenty-six games by missing the last shot. But how many countless games did he win because he took the shot?
Though our goal is perfection (1 Peter 1:15-16), failure is not the end of the world either. We have someone ready to give us a hand up if we fall – Jesus (1 John 2:1-2). So why waste time beating yourself up when you take your drug of choice?
Okay, you fell. You can either learn from your failure by avoiding that same situation next time (Matthew 26:41) or by processing why you fell through your biblically-based truth filter so you’re prepared for victory in the future (James 4:7-8). Or you can wallow in your failure and waste time berating yourself for falling.
It’s your choice. But do remember this simple truth. Jesus already took the beating for your sin, the taking of your drug of choice. Why let Satan get additional pleasure by doing it to you?

When my children were babies we’d play the game of hide and seek in plain sight. The game is played by putting your hands over your face and telling your child, “I can’t see you. Where are you?” Then you pull your hands away and say, “There you are!” Of course, they were giggling and smiling the entire time. We’d both get a kick out of it.
This children’s game isn’t so funny when we become children of God. We put our hands over our face and think He can’t see us. Yet Hebrews 4:13 states, “All things (which includes you) are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” He knows the drugs of choice (i.e. sin) we’re taking and what they’re doing to us, so why avoid Him? He hurts for us.
I believe one of the reasons Christians make excuses for not reading and listening to the Word of God is that they’re afraid of what they might hear God say. Dear brothers and sisters, you can’t pull the covers over God’s eyes. He sees everything! If you want to taste victory, rather than defeat, you’ll have to slow down and let Him expose whatever is causing you to take your drug choice, so you can be at rest in His presence.
You don’t have to run from God. Even though He sees all the nooks and crannies of your soul and mind, He tells you, “I love and accept you. I’m glad you’re my child.” Get into Jesus, the Word of God, and let Him bring peace in your soul and a smile on your face.
Commit to following what the Word of God says in James 5:16. Get into a Bible Impact Group with at least one other believer. Open up about your challenge and deal with it using the FREEdom process. And let your fellow BIG partners pray for you. As you do this, the Bible says you will be healed. It’s time to start running towards, rather than trying to hide from, God.

We just left the weekend behind to start a new week. Can you stay at rest while at work this week? “Wait a second, how can I rest when I have to go to work?” Good question. There is an even better answer…Jesus.
Sound too simple? Truth usually is. Jesus came to give us rest, not just on Sabbath or on Sunday, but every day of the week. Rest is not the absence of expending energy. It’s the expenditure of faith. Rest is the truth that you can’t work your way to heaven or work your way into a better life. It’s about trusting the work Jesus already did for you, not your work for Him. By faith will you live out this truth this week?
Can you rest in the truth that Jesus paid and paved the way for you to go home someday? Take a load of your brain as you get ready for work. Can you rest in the truth that Jesus is living in and walking with you everywhere you go? If so, relax while you drive to work. Can you rest in the truth that Jesus who started the work of changing your life for the better will one day complete the task? If so, chill out as your park and get out of your car. Can you rest in the truth that your life has a purpose wherever you make a living? If so, put a smile on your face as you walk into your place of business.
Rest doesn’t happen on the weekends or after your get home from work. If that were true, then Joshua would have given the Israelites rest when he conquered the land of Canaan. Yet Hebrews 4:8 says that never happened. They still had battles to fight, even after entering the land. Rest is about facing your daily giants knowing the battle is already won. Rest is living each day in His presence knowing He can and will take care of you. You can, therefore, relax any and every day of the week.
You don’t have to be busy doing “stuff” to get something Jesus already gave you – life, love, significance and security. No, you can put your feet up and enjoy the rest Jesus has for you each and every day. So go ahead. Relax while at work this week. Oh yeah, tell Jesus, “Hi” for me.

Jesus asked a gentleman sitting by the Pool of Bethseda in Jerusalem, “Do you want to get well?” (Come to Israel with me and Hope for Israel in 2013 and see it for yourself!) This sounds like a strange question to ask a person who’d been sick for over thirty-eight years. It’s not as strange as it sounds when you look at Jesus’ response to the man after Jesus healed him. Jesus said, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” (John 5:5,14)
It appears from this comment that this guy had done something thirty-eight years earlier that landed him in his current situation – the inability to get into a pool of water without help. So the question naturally arose, did this guy really want to change? Jesus gave this guy a second chance at life. Would he repeat the same behaviors that caused his sickness and end up back here at this pool or see God continually change his life as he kept walking? It was his choice now.
One of the principles I teach in my parenting classes is that parents can’t control their kids, only influence them. You can’t make your children do anything. (“I’m standing on the outside, but sitting on the inside.”) You can only influence their choices by either turning up the consequences or taking away privileges/things. A loving parent does this in order to help their children see there is a better and more satisfying way to live.
Even God can’t control us! He can sure influence us in the right direction, however. We were created with the ability to choose; thus, we must want to change. We see this truth in the Old Testament stories of God sending plagues, famines, crop failures, drought, war, etc. on the people of Israel. (Deuteronomy 28) If they chose to live in His presence, there was peace. If they chose to live their way, God would turn up the heat. His goal was to get them to return to the path to peace. He wouldn’t or couldn’t make their choices for them. Love demands that He do this.
God relates the same way with believers today. Living with a BWV is only the process of getting closer to and living in the presence of Jesus. But if you don’t use it or want to use it, no one can make you. It’s your choice. Walking with Jesus is an exercise of the willing. If you want all that Jesus has for you – love, significance and security – you must choose to keep your biblically-based filter in the “On” position. If not, you could end up sitting by a pool watching others see their lives changed.