lifting your soul to what is false

Hey guys, some of you have had questions concerning the message last sunday night at Collide. I want to #1 do a quick recap of the message and then #2 answer the questions that have been asked:

Sermon Recap -
We began by looking at Genesis 3 and the fall of man. We saw Eve in the Garden, she can eat from whatever tree she wants...except one. God had told her that if she ate of this tree she would die. Enter Satan on the scene. He comes up to Eve and he uses two tactics to lure her away from God... #1 he gets her to question what God had said. - "Did God really say _____?" #2 He shows her something that is appealing to her and makes her the offer that if she'll give up what God's offered her, she can have what he is offering her. Of course, he doesn't say it that way b/c she might catch on... he says, "If you eat of this tree you will be wise like God." so he even uses her admiration of God to draw her into what will separate her from God.

Again, #1 he gets her to question God's Truth and #2 He gets her to desire something 'greater' than what God's offered her. - this same tactic is what Satan used to tempt Jesus in Matthew.

Then we looked at Jesus' words when he said, "I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life." If Jesus is the truth, then why do we question what God says so often? God says, 'don't have sex before marriage, it'll be bad for your soul' and we say, "That's not the truth, he's holding out on us." and then we do it our own way, only to find out at some point that our way was purely foolish.

Then we looked at Psalm 24 where it says, "Who will be close to God... he who does not lift his soul to what is false." (paraphrase). The word for soul in Hebrew means, 'Desire, Lust, Appetite, Joy, etc' So what it is saying is that if you lifte your desires, your lusts, your appetites, your joy to what is false, you can't be close to God.

So we challenged you to examine your lives to find where you are doubting God and where you are lifting your souls up to something false. and to repent of those areas and to cling to the fact that Jesus is the Way the TRUTH and the LIFE. there is no other truth and there is no other life.. that was the challenge.

The questions that have been raised deal with "what does it mean to lift your soul up to what is false though." I believe we gave some good examples of this, but i want to make it really simple here...

It is NOT wrong for you to feel good when someone tells you that you look pretty (girls) or handsome (men). It's not wrong to feel proud and good about that. Encouragement is meant to make you feel good. The bible tells us to encourage others. What is wrong is when you begin to dress a certain way because you know it gets the attention you are craving. Ladies, when you wear that tight shirt or short shorts b/c they get you looks and attention and you feel good about it. men, when you dress the sharpest you can and pimp out for the purpose of getting others attention.

If you are a singer and you are on stage and lead us in worship or sing a song and people say, "Great job, that was such a blessing. You did amazing." It is not wrong to smile, feel good about yourself, and be appreciative of that. It is wrong if you get on that stage and give it everything you have for the purpose of impressing people.

It is not wrong to make a lot of money in your life, and have a nice car and a nice house and go on a vacation to a nice place. It is wrong if you have a nice car and a nice house and go on nice vacations because of the social status it brings you.

It's all in the motive. The motive of lifting up yourself to what is false. "if i could just get one more compliment, one more look, one more pat on the back." "if that guy would just notice me" "if i was just prettier, skinnier, smarter, more athletic... then people would respect me."

No, in all of life - give your appetite, desire, joy, affection, lusts to God. Strive to please him, not man. Strive for his attention and affection, not mans. Then you will draw close to him.

Ask more questions on here if you have them. I love you guys and we'll see you Sunday at Collide!

Turning Aside to see

So, I'm studying for my message tomorrow at Spring Training for our small group leaders... and I read Exodus 3:4. Moses has been taking care of the sheep. He notices a fire up in the rocks and this is what happens in verse 4 - "When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush..."

How many times does God do something to get our attention because He wants to speak to us? And how many times have we not paid attention, not turned aside to look at what he's doing and therefore we miss out on what he wants to say or do in us?

Today I challenge you to turn aside and see what God is saying to you.

No Rain?

Last week the report came in that we were going to have 3 straight days of rain... 3 days have passed and NO rain. I am greatly disappointed. I mean, how does that happen? How do you miss the prediction that bad? I LOVE rainy days. Obviously not every day... but especially those days when you can sit at home, read, drink coffee and watch it rain outside the big windows! I LOVE it.

Have you ever thought about rain? The word rain actually means blessings from above. Isn't it true? Maybe you don't think of it that way... but i lived in West Africa for a while where there was NO rain for the almost 6 months i lived there! Let me tell you... when rain did come... those people went nuts! they truly thought "blessing from above"... they didn't hide from it... try to not get wet... they danced in their muddy yards... they opened their mouths wide...they LOVED it!

Sadly, many of us don't open wide for the blessings God gives us... we run and hide from the rain he sends on our lives. The things that help us grow, live, breath, mature... why do we not embrace them rather than hide from them?

Have you ever wanted something really bad? Something that was even a really good thing to want. And then you didn't get it?

Let me take it a step further though, have you ever wanted to do something ministry - wise that would greatly impact hundreds if not thousands of lives with the truth of Gods love... and yet God spoke to you and said, "not right now"?

I mean, why not right now? right? It will impact lives with Jesus' love... so why not. Sometimes it doesn't make sense! This happened to me twice this week. Two things I had been praying about, dreaming of, and preparing for were shut down by God's gentle "NO".

It's easy to be bitter towards God because of this. I've been angry, frustrated, bummed, and bitter. Interesting that I'm preaching on Bitterness this week at Collide! wow. heartcheck.

I'm reminded that scripture says, "The Lord witholds NO good thing from those that walk in his ways." Therefore, I will not step forward in any ministry (no matter how good) until the Lord tells me to. I want the "good thing."

Christmas Break

hey everyone! we are taking a short break from Collide for Christmas. We will be picking back up better than ever on Jan 11th!

in the meantime, small groups still meet at FP Youth Floor on Saturday nights @ 6pm and Sunday mornings at 9:30 and 10:50.

love ME

So, how much do you really love yourself?

God is big, I am small

Share a time when you realized that you were so small compared to God.

Bread of LIfe

what was one time that you really knew that God was good and you took the time to enjoy him?

God is concerned

Question of the week: How do you know that God is really concerned about what happens in your life?

New Idea for blog

so i'm thinking about changing the format of this blog to get some more activity going. Instead of me being the one to make comments, etc... i'm thinking about simply posing a question or thought and asking for response. What do you think?