Who is in the Middle?

The speaker at Ignite tonight, JP Pokluda, delivered an awesome message about the downfall of "us in the middle." When we put ourselves in the center of our lives, we set ourselves up for disaster. This mentality leads us only in the direction of failure. 

When we grow up, everyone is a winner. Everyone gets a prize. We are told that we are all rockstars. Even as we grow older we fall into this trap of obsessing over ourselves as being number one. JP gave an awesome modern day example of this when he read us the Christian appropriate lyrics of Drakes "The Motto." It goes a little something like this: 

Now she want a photo
You already know though
You only live once ‒ that’s the motto baby YOLO
And we 'bout it every day, every day, every day
Like we sittin’ on the bench, baby we don’t really play
Every day, every day, F what anybody say
Can’t see 'em 'cause the money in the way
Real baby what's up?

Now as funny as this was listening to a middle aged man speak the words of this rap, I couldn't help by being kind of taken back by the lyrics. We as college students listen to this stuff, and we can't believe this. It will mess us up. It brain washes us. We often find ourselves using God for what we want, whether it be grades, money, a boyfriend/girlfriend etc. We want to become great in the eyes of ourselves and others. Whoever wants to become great must serve. We're not going to be great, but He is going to be great. We are going to serve and love and care for people. JP said, "We can't follow the King and be the King." We continuously ask "what's in it for me?" And this distracts us from who Jesus is. We need to ask Him how can we serve Him, and how can we spend our lives poured out, loving people. 

Satan wants to take our attention and focus it on ourselves to distract us from the Kingdom. We must focus on the desires of God instead. Selfish ambition is fuel from Satan. God comes from full opposition, He gives Grace. We can't handle a life in the middle. We must live for Him and nothing else. We did nothing to be saved. This blows my mind every time I think about it. Take a look at your life, is the Gospel at the center of it? JP later asked this question, "if it was illegal to be a Christian, would they have enough evidence to convict you?" Are we at the center of it all or are we making Jesus the center? We are given our gifts and talents for God. These abilities are entrusted to us from Him. Are we using them to glorify Him? He will multiply our talents for Him. If we put the Son in the middle, everything else will be held in place. 

He is the greatest, live for Him

Courtney

Ordinary Us.

At McKinney, we've been studying how to accept the invitation that Jesus presents before us to be "beyond ordinary." This got me thinking about how much this applies to so many of our lives and needs to be addressed.  I often find myself in admiration of others who seem to easily live the life that Christ has called them to live. You know those people that radiate Christ's love so much that they seem special and different? We see them as having "it," and we so desperately want to have it.  It's the way they walk, talk, the look in their eyes, the ease and confidence that they carry, appearing completely secure in their walk with Christ. Well theres something that they have that we don't. Trust. It's the difference between us and those who we consider to be beyond ordinary. 

I sometimes find myself being called to do these beyond ordinary things, but I question Him and come up with all of the reasons why I shouldn't be a part of it. I think a lot of us do this. We think that what we are being called to do, is for those beyond ordinary people that we look up to. We tell ourselves that we don't have what they have. By doing this we are telling Christ that what He is asking of us isn't possible, even with Him in the mix. We often reply to His call by saying that it's way too big for someone like us to step up and take action. 

We have to trust in ourselves as being beyond ordinary so that we may trust His beyond ordinary plan for us. He's had this plan in place before we were even born, how insane is that? It's not about what we can provide, so forget that. We need to accept His invitation to let Him show us how BIG He is. He uses us to fill a need that He sees. He is higher than any other. He always has us perfectly positioned. We must allow Him to work in us. Our God is huge and powerful, why should we ever have any hesitation to go where we are called? We shouldn't. 
Charles Spurgeon once said, "My faith rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, what He has done, and what He is now doing for me." We have to be all in. When we rest our faith in Him, we will trust Him. 

Chris Freeland, the pastor at McKinney, summed up the entirety of this message in two sentences: God often calls us to meet beyond ordinary needs around us so He can meet a beyond ordinary need within us. When we trust God with ordinary us, He always reveals beyond ordinary Him. 

He is always up to something beyond ordinary, 

Courtney

Loving Your Wife Now.

Check out this rad videooo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH_OBesCINo&feature=youtu.be

"What if you loved your wife so much that you would do absolutely anything to put a smile on her face?
What if you did everything you possibly could to love your wife as much as God loves her?
What if you stopped what you are doing right now and started thinking and making the steps towards being the whimsical, Godly Husband that your wife will deserve?

And what if you started all of that NOW!? Before you even met her!?"

So, Mike Glenn is the Senior Pastor at Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, TN. This guy is like a celeb to me y'all. This summer I went to their Tuesday night contemporary service called Kairos. Two of my closest friends, Bethany and Kaissling, and I would go each week. I'm so thankful to be blessed to call them my sisters in Christ. Anywho, Tuesdays were our favorite day of the week simply because we couldn't wait to soak in some of this awesome mans wisdom. One night Mike was talking about the married couples relationships and said "Marriage is 100-100. The husband gives everything he has, and the wife gives everything she has. Anything less isn't enough."

After I watched this video a few times through I imagined myself as the woman on the other side of a man pursuing Christ like the guy in this video talks about, and I also imagined myself as the "husband" if you will. What if I began to live a life pursuing Christ, so much so, that I dropped everything to prepare myself righteously for my future husband? I can't even put my admiration for this guy into words. 

We worry so much about the "here and now" that we often stray from what's most important, the "then and how." We need to let God pursue us first. There's no way we can keep chasing after the things of this world and pursue God at the same time. My wish is that we look more and more like Christ every day.  

"How radically different would you live your life if you lived it in love?"

Live a life filled with love,
Courtney

Lately.

I thought I'd keep this short and sweet, just sharing with y'all what's on my mind :)

I've been learning lately that everyone has the potential for Gospel influence. Everyone who has been saved by the Gospel is empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel. How awesome is that? We should feel empowered as Christ followers to proclaim the Gospel proudly. Living Sent isn't just about you or me doing all the work. It's also about us seeking out others, loving them, equipping them, and sending them out. I want to equip others in figuring out this life as a Believer, and empower them. God has really been telling me to send love and Live Sent, so that's what I'm trying to do. 

He is showing me that no longer will the most important story be found on a Sunday morning inside of a building. The most important story will be found as Gods people (the church) live out the Gospel everyday in their various spheres of life, whatever this may look like from person to person. 

Be Bold.

With faith that endures no matter what and Gods spirit in your heart, you will experience amazing things in this life. Never stop believing, you're never out of the game. Never. I believe my life could make a difference to someone, to lots of "someones."

Joe White once said: "Dream Mighty Dreams; delight yourself in the Lord. He loves to make faith filled dreams come true." 
Courtney

Mary is a Badass.

John 12:1-8 says, "Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray Him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Yesterday at Church this verse was presented and I couldn't help but to break it down a little bit. As I sat there next to my roommate Jamie, (s/o to her) I added a little flare to this verse which made us bust out laughing. So I thought I'd share it with y'all now...

So basically... Mary is a badass and washes Jesus' ratchet feet with rlyyy expensive perfume ($$) and then wipes it off with her hair!!! She dgaf what Judas Iscariot thought and was like BYE I do wut I wantz #praiseHim (in her head, of course). Judas had sticky fingers (he wanted moneyzz $) and didn't care about the poor, he just cared about himself #selfish. 

On a more serious note, I sat there in awe of Mary's commitment to Christ. Feet were really nasty back then and for her to demonstrate such a symbolic act, usually left for the lowest of servants, is amazing. Nard is worth a years salary and she didn't care, because Jesus was worth so much more to her than that. She risked ridicule to perform a sacred act for Jesus, which I will never look upon lightly. 

Our church (McKinney Memorial Bible Church) is currently going through a series called "Beyond Ordinary." The Lead Pastor, Chris Freeland, defined this Beyond Ordinary sacrifice as:

A response to Jesus' work in the past. 
A response to Jesus' presence in the present. 
A response to God's promise for the future. 

We are called to be Beyond Ordinary in our community, no matter what that looks like for you, 
Courtney 

Changing by Grace.

Titus 2:11-14 "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."

If we identify ourselves at Christians, the Bible calls us to be wholly. There is a divide between who we are in the eyes of Jesus, and the way we flush ourselves day in and day out. Fortunately for us, the Grace of God helps us to catch up on the outside who we really are on the inside over the course of our lives. This is known as Christian growth. 

The purpose of Grace is to restore us as prosper image bearers. God's purpose for us is to be made into the image of Jesus to reflect His beauty and His perfections.  Our moral failure isn't our last word. We are God's adorning jewels. 

How does it happen? God is at work in all of us if we are in Jesus. He is at work, changing our hearts. What confidence is it to know that God is at work in us? The point of our growth is to know that God goes to work on us at the level of our love. He shifts the things that we find beautiful and lovable. Jesus shapes us by His Spirit to make us love all the right things. This tells us that God will actually go to work on the things that we love. We are not the people we once were, this is because of God's Grace. The enemy of our souls will tell us we stink and that is exactly how we know what failure is. Shame will pound us down and in that moment we say "yes I've failed, but Jesus loves failures." He has promised to go to work in me and He will never stop making me more like Him. God is more concerned with our change than we are: that ought to deeply encourage you. Once Grace enters our life, He isn't content to leave us there. 

We don't just sit back hoping to be carried along by the Grace of God. Our sanctification involves us doing something too. We are meant to pursue that which is good, and live self controlled upright lives. Repent, Believe, Fight. Grace is God's doing from the inside out. He changes the very loves in our hearts. What God has worked in, we are called to work out. God gave His son for us and He won't waste that death by not making us like Him. 

We are in for a lifetime of sure change,
Courtney