Flight – The Movie
2 Thumbs down. I think that this is only my second attempt at a movie review. I can’t even recall what the other one was mainly because the world of Hollywood matters little to me. Non-the-less, here’s my problem(s) with the movie, “Flight” starring one of my favorite actors Denzel Washington.
Read More
Identity Theft
As of late, I’ve been seeing a good number of posts, books, and even movies concerning the topic of , “identity.” The title for this post is a rip-off from one such comedy. I wouldn’t recommend that movie by the way. But one of my daughters was an “extra” in it so it was cool seeing here on the big screen
Some might make the argument that God is speaking to us about a topic that is important to Him. Others will maintain that Christian authors are merely trying to stay current with pop-culture. Whatever the reason might be for this sudden rise of material on the subject of identity, I for one am glad to see it out there. I will speak more about why I am glad at the end of this post.
Frank Viola has witten a wonderful, down-to-earth post about identity. In the post titled, “Who are you? Accepting your true identity,” Frank lists some 80 statements, taken right from Scripture, that speaks pointedly about our identity in Christ.
Here are just 6 of them:
You are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13).
You have been reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:18).
You have been accepted by God in the Beloved Son (Ephesians 1:6).
You are kept by the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:8).
You are free in Christ (John 8:36; Galatians 5:1).
You are in Christ’s hands out of which no one can pluck you out (John 10:28).
A lot of personal counseling occurs at Connections. Most of that time is spent helping people understand the good news of Jesus Christ. Often this means helping them to identify, forgive, and reconcile past emotional wounds that have caused them to have a skewed understanding of the work of Christ. Even in my Sunday-morning teaching, I seem to almost naturally turn toward sub-topics such as liberty, healing, and identity. I know for certain that when people begin to understand their true identity in Christ, most of their issues seem to go away on their own.
After reading Frank’s post, I can say that his list accomplish at least these 2 things:
- Identify what missinformation the reader may have about their relationship with Jesus Christ and,
- Give the reader a scriptural truth on which to stand
Read Frank’s post HERE
I often teach that if, “truth will set you free (Hohn 8:32),” that it stands to reason that a lie will result in bondage. Most of the people I counsel have been led to believe lies about their true identity As I stated early, By helping people understand the truth about their identity with Christ, the “issues” that they originally came to me about seem to take care of themselves.
Read More
What I Hear
From time-to-time I post an outline, of sorts, of what I believe The Lord is saying to His Body. This post is my most current list.
What this post is NOT is a detailed explanation of each point. Nor is this post intended to define, defend, or explain in any way the concepts of prophecy, discernment, or what I mean by, “God speaking.”
Read More
The Clock Watcher
I was never a clock-watcher. I think that’s one reason I consistently excelled in the corporations I worked for. When I was in management, I thought very little of the, “clock-watcher.” I am speaking of that person who, some 30 minutes prior to their shift’s end, began to watch-the-clock in great anticipation for the signal indicating that, “it’s ok to leave now.” Normally those last 30 minutes were very unproductive.
Read More
experiential relationships
Trust is built out of relationships. In the bible, such gems as peace and joy seem to come from developing a trust relationship with God. It also appears that this trust is only found in a long-term, an intimate, experiential relationship with Him.
Read More
choosing to be merry
Everywhere, we are hearing the immortal phrase, “Merry Christmas.” It is being shared by friends, family, and acquaintances. The closer the big day approaches the more frequent it will become. But what does it actually mean to wish someone, “Merry Christmas?” Is it simply the expected salutation of the season? Do we think of offering someone a “Merry Christmas” as our way of wishing them a time of joy, rest, peace and a fresh reflection on all the things that are good?
Read More
Why Did it Happen?
“Why did this happen?” “How could God, (if there is a God), allow this to happen?” Questions such as these are commonly asked after a tragedy. Whether it’s an untimely death, a natural disaster, or most recently an attack by a lunatic gunman, people long for answers when the unthinkable happens.
Read More
walking in truth
My “spiritual father” Dr. Farris Cox recently spoke at Connections. Farris has been instrumental at giving direction to Connections from the day we formed as a gathering. One of the things I have come to love and appreciate about him is that his guidance, and counsel always come from the scriptures as opposed to “great ideas” and/or current trends.
Read More
a new/old thing
About 5-6 years ago, my overseer placed his hands on me, prayed for me, blessed me, and set me in as pastor of what was then New Covenant Church of Albany GA. To some of you, this language may sound very lethargic and unbiblical – and to a large degree I would concur. However, this post is not being written to define the workings of the New Testament, but rather a particular truth that has been winding its way through our local church body since that day.
Read More
Hire the Person before the skills
This concludes the series, “My Top 5 Leadership Principles.” Parts 1-5 are linked below
and #5
“DO – hire the person before the skill set”
Leadership (as defines in the first post) normally searches and hires the brightest IT person, the most efficient cashier, or the most prestigious resume’. I submit if you are thinking in these terms you are potentially creating more problems than you are solutions. I promise that I will address those ”behind-the-scene” people. But humor for now as I illustrate my position.
Read More
recent comments