That’s me with my Bible and a giant picture of a lace-covered-wedding-money-bag. (If you want to find out what that was all about you’ll have to check out the podcast)    I’ve grown to love the Bible.  I get to talk about it to the actionchurch crowd each Sunday.  I spend much of my week thinking about how what the Bible says applies to our lives today.

But…

I got an email this morning from my Bible…actually from my YOUversion Bible app on my iPhone.  It seems that I’ve gone a few days behind in my reading plan…and my Bible app knows…

“You’ve been doing great keeping up with your Robert Roberts plan.  It looks like there have only been a few days you didn’t get a chance to complete.  Here’s how you can quickly find them and get all caught up:”

I’m going to do that.  I needed that reminder.  Me, the guy up front talking about the Bible every Sunday, needs to catch up on his Bible reading plan.  And full disclosure here…I’m not actually “reading” through the Bible this year…all I have to do is insert earbuds into my iPhone and LISTEN to the guy with the awesome accent READ it to me.  I just needed a reminder to catch up.

I actually love the way the people at YOUversion crafted their reminder:  ”You’re doing great, but…”   No judgement.  No threats to post your name on Facebook if you don’t get back to work reading through Leviticus.  Just a friendly reminder that I was falling behind.

I needed that.

Do you ever need a “You’re doing great, but…” reminder about reading your Bible?

Do you ever need a “You’re doing great, but…” reminder about anything else in life?

Sunday we used viral songs of the past to illustrate how the story of Jesus being alive went “viral” in first century Jerusalem.  One of my favorite moments (after realizing my life-long dream of playing Achy Breaky Heart in a sermon) was seeing people up on the “hill” in the back of the theater doing the “macerana” as the song played.  Hilarious.  actionchurch finally becomes one of those “dancing in church” churches…and it was the macerana.

All of the songs we played had a couple things in common…besides being huge ANNOYING hits.  They were all simple.  They were all “fresh” for their time.  They were all “sticky”.  Critics Critiqued.  Other musicians mocked them for being so technically “easy” to play.  Average folks could NOT get them out of their head.  They were “sticky”.

That’s what I pray for each week at actionchurch.  I want God’s word to be simple…fresh…and VERY “sticky”.

Oh, and slightly less annoying than Achy Breaky Heart.

In this Sunday’s episode of the “CONSPIRACY” series,  one of the main story lines of Acts chapters 3 & 4 was the boldness of Peter and the other believers. (Thanks Chelsea for capturing that moment and posting it on Facebook.)  When powerful forces threatened them- they kept telling everyone who would listen that Jesus was alive.  When they were put in jail for preaching- they started preaching again as soon as they got out.  They had courage.  They were bold!

I ended Sunday by saying that we have so much less to fear than Peter and the early church when we share our faith with others.  They faced imprisonment and death.  We face someone at work laughing at us or someone at school calling us names.  They faced torture.  We face sarcastic comments on Facebook or twitter.   It doesn’t seem like we have a lot to fear in comparison.  Except for one thing.

One very important thing.

Many of us fear that in order to bold about our trust in Jesus, we’ll have to become a big fat jerk.  We’ve all met them:  The overly aggressive christian with a stack of religious pamphlets and an “answer” for everything.  We’ve met the christian who inserts themselves in everyone else’s business, and seems to have a pointed scripture verse ready for any mistake…any sin…any error…except for maybe their own.   We’ve all met judgmental jerks with precious few social skills but a seemingly endless supply of “boldness” when it comes to talking about the Bible…and it scares us to think that maybe being “bold” means to be “like that”.

Relax.  Take a few seconds to read these words of advise and inspiration that the Apostle Peter…yeah that Peter…the bold preacher in the book of Acts…wrote in a letter to followers of Jesus.  You don’t have to become an instant extrovert.   You don’t have to become a street preacher.  You definitely don’t have to become a big fat jerk to be BOLD about your faith in Jesus.

So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. ¹⁵ Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. ¹⁶ But do this in a gentle and respectful way.Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.  -Peter

(1 Peter 3: 14b-16)

Be Bold!

Last week, on Easter Sunday,  we “broke” the story of the conspiracy to cover up the resurrection of Jesus.  This week the story spreads…and the cover-up and crack-down reaches the highest levels of government, religion, money, and power.   If you invited someone last week…you will want to bring them back this week…because the story is just getting better!

Sunday’s message will also include, The Masters tournament, the General Lee, my favorite scripture, NASCAR fans, another possible “evil-cow” conspiracy,  and music from a brand new band- Divine Air.  You definitely will have to be there to see how it all comes together on Sunday. I’m sort of looking forward to seeing that myself…  Our great actionkidz crew has an amazing hour of fun and learning about Jesus planned for your kids as well.  (They will NOT be taught conspiracy theories about cows.)  :-)

It all starts at 10:30 am at Frank Theaters Queensgate (Directions).  Come earlier to enjoy  Coffee, Maple Donuts, bagels, and Muffins with the friendly folks of actionchurch.  Don’t miss it.

Every week as I prepare to preach, I have a simple objective in mind:  Read (and re-read) the scripture passage for the week while praying that God would allow me to understand how it applies to our present time and culture.  (Then I add a dumb video clip, a few embarrassing stories, and an awful 80′s rap song and my job is done.)  :-)

I need your help this week.  We have just one more week of the antidote series left before Easter.  I CAN NOT WAIT to tell you about the brand new series we will be starting on Easter Sunday and continuing for the rest of the month of April!  My problem is that there is just TOO MUCH stuff to cover in the fifth chapter of James.  For the last few weeks I’ve been trying to find a way to cram it into one cohesive (and hopefully coherent) sermon unsuccessfully.  I feel strongly that the latter part of James 5 is what we need to talk about on Sunday…along with spending some time in prayer and celebrating communion.   That’s where you come in.

Please read the first six verses of James Chapter 5.  Keep in mind that James clearly stated that his letter was not written to “greedy bankers”, “those people”, or “the one percent”.  It was written to BELIEVERS in Jesus.  Also keep in mind the “rules” for the Antidote:   Take only medicine prescribed to you.   Do not give your medicine to others.  Take ALL of your medicine.  If you are not familiar with the Antidote  ”rules” this post will explain further-

http://actionchurch.com/2012/03/07/use-only-as-directed/

Without further commentary, here it is:

James 5:1-6

5 Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.² Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. ³ Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment. ⁴ For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.⁵ You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.

Thanks so much for that James.  Yeah, I know.  It was much more fun to read when it was about those “other” people.

It’s tax season. Not exactly my favorite season. I prefer the Christmas Season. Bow hunting Season. (Even though I don’t care enough about hair bows to hunt them) I even prefer the flu season. Here’s one tiny little insight though, something valuable that I am reminded of every single tax season.

Every year as I finalize my tax information to be filed- I have this once-a-year, upside-down, thought. “I wish I had given more, and made less”. The rest of the year, it “hurts” to give…and I’m ALWAYS striving to bring in more money. During tax preparation, that all changes. The checks to church and charity that were so difficult to write are the most valuable. The income that I “kept”, the stuff that seemed so important and valuable, becomes a liability instead of an asset. Tax season turns everything upside down…

I REALLY hope Heaven is NOTHING like tax season…but I wonder If I’ll feel that exact same way when I get there?

Here are the directions I gave Sunday as we began studying the book of James as a church.   It’s important to remember that James states that he was writing to believers…Jesus Followers…in his letter.  Because of that, I believe the following “directions” apply:

Take only the “Medicine” given to you!    There is so much practical (and often painfully convicting) direction found in the book of James.  There’s no need to feel guilty if you are actually doing OK in an area that James mentioned in his letter.  In fact, Sunday I’m going to mention one area in James 2 that I think actionchurch folks are actually doing rather well!  No need to be a “spiritual hypochondriac”.  If it’s not for you…move on.  There’s plenty of other stuff in the book that ALL of us need to deal with…

Don’t give your “Medicine” to others!    I know it’s tempting.  I know we ALL want to do it sometimes.  But, it’s never a good Idea to give your “medicine” out to others.  ”Re-preaching” something you learned from the book of James to your husband, wife, or that jerk at work probably won’t be very helpful.  Besides,  true life-changes happen when we take the “prescription” James gave us in 1:22-25.  (Look in the “mirror” of Scripture, See the things that need to be changed in OUR lives,  and then do what the Bible says)  

Take ALL of your “Medicine”!  It’s tempting to do what so many people do with antibiotics when it comes to scripture.  It’s so easy to begin to apply what the Bible says to sin-sick area of our life…and then…as we begin to feel better…stop doing what is right and fall right back into the same sickness as before-often worse!   When you follow that pattern with antibiotics, it leads to drug-resistant diseases.  I believe it can also lead to “antidote-resistant” sin…sin that destroys our lives…but sin that we no longer even feel bad about.  It’s really important to take all of your medicine…

You now have the “use as directed” fine-print.  Hope you’ll read along with us in the book of James.  I’ll be talking about Chapter 2 on Sunday.

This Sunday in the “But God” series we’ll be using an epic moment in Star Wars to lead into an epic “But God moment” in scripture, to answer an epic question many of us have about God and Life: “Can God really use the bad things that I’ve done (and others have done to me) for Good?”   I won’t say it’s going to be epic (because that would totally  be an embarrassing over-use of the word epic), but it should be an extremely useful and interesting week for anyone who hasn’t lived a perfect life with zero trouble…and zero mistakes.

This week we are looking forward to having Sister Brother on stage for the very first time at actionchurch.  The newly expanded actionkidz has an equally epic week planned for your kids…they’ll probably hate you if they miss it.

REMINDER:  This Sunday is your last opportunity to pick up tickets for you, your family, and all your friends for our 4th Birthday party and Free Movie night on Tuesday the 21st!   Along with a free screening of Star Wars Episode 1, we’ve got a yummy Star Wars cake that any four year old would love to share, some awesome door prizes (bring your tickets…you’ll need the number to win a prize), and other surprises planned.   We want to share our birthday celebration with as many folks as possible…so bring a carload…while tickets last.

It all starts at 10:30 am at Frank Theaters Queensgate (Directions).  Come early to enjoy a  Coffee, Maple Donuts, bagels, and Muffins with the friendly folks of actionchurch.

I’m always a little nervous when I see a Bible verse added to the name of a ministry or organization. It’s probably TOTALLY my hang-up, but it always seems a little over confident…a little braggy. It always comes off to me like: “Hey, check out our awesome youth group, it was mentioned in the book of I Kings 4500 years ago”  Or, “Hey, join our men’s ministry, it’s the only one officially sanctioned by Paul the Apostle.”  Or,  “Hey, check out our amazing small group, King Solomon mentioned it in the Song of Solomon”.  Maybe it’s just me, but I would definitely steer clear of that one.

We’ll probably never be a church that put’s scripture references on our t-shirts…but if we did…I read one this morning in the book of James that would be amazing.

¹³ If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.  James 3:13

Exactly.

After a month of preaching a sermon series based on  Galatians 6:7-9, I heard the best sermon yet on the subject of sowing and reaping, cultivating and growing, and the power of not giving up!  (unfortunately, I didn’t preach it…it didn’t happen at actionchurch…and you weren’t there)

Last night at my daughters Tae Kwon Do class, the instructor delivered a short sermon (his words, not mine) on the subject that I wish you could have heard.  Here’s my best memory of what he said:

“If no one would quit, everyone in this room would be a blackbelt. That would be amazing.  Someday you could say, ‘I’m a black belt in Olympic Tae Kwon Do’.  Everyone played soccer as a kid…but not many people in the world can say that they are a  black belt on a job resume.  It won’t happen by ‘magic’.  You can’t come in here once or twice a week and expect for it to happen.  I can’t do it for you.  You’ll have to work at home. You’ll have to practice everyday…but the system works…If you don’t quit, EVERYONE in this room could be a black belt.”

As the Master  went on to explain that everyone would think about quitting, that everyone would want to quit at some point,  that the only students that would make it to the end would be the ones who had someone (or something) that wouldn’t let them quit, it reminded me so much of what is also true of potential followers of Christ at Churches everywhere.

Following Christ is not easy.  You will want to quit.  I can’t do it for you.  You’ll have to do more that show up once a week and listen to a sermon to make it happen. But God’s plan works…and there are AMAZING blessings in both this life and the next that come from that commitment.

One of the best things we can do as a church…in our actiongroups…in the relationships we make at church, is to help each other resist the urge to give up.  We need to constantly remind each other that: “Everyone could be a blackbelt if no on quit”.   I wish you could have been there…it was the best sermon I’ve heard on the subject yet.

⁷ Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. ⁸ Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. ⁹ So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. -Paul            (Galatians 6: 7-9)