The Heap

I'm sure we all have stuff in our life that we have started and never finished.  Maybe it's college, or a project, or maybe a book you either started to read or maybe even write.  We start with great intentions of finishing but for whatever reason "it" winds up in a pile, or a heap.  Think about the great heap of things you have always wanted to do but never did.  Everyone has a heap. Between the birthing and fulfillment of an idea or vision, are powerful forces that seek to prevent it from ever materializing, in other words between the promise and payoff is the grueling process. More often than not our dream gets tossed in the heap of things we have always wanted to do but never did.  Maybe God is calling you and I to walk through the scrap yard and revisit the vision.  That vision can be recaptured only if we can identify, understand, and undo what stopped it the first time.  What are some things in your heap that God has laid on your heart to revisit?

Amazing Faith

I'm sure by now many of you have heard about the devastating wildfires that hit our area this past week. While there has been much devastation to property, the amazing thing is that over the 21000 acres that have been burnt, not one person has lost their life. Below is a video I want to share to with you that is a testimony of a family in our church that lost everything they owned in the fire that hit their home early Thursday morning. Go ahead and grab the tissue, because this is a story that will touch you at the deepest level and will inspire you like none other. My prayer is that I would have even just an ounce of the faith, hope, and love that Joann and Bob Portteus have.


bob and jo from Barefoot Church on Vimeo.

What If?

What if God wasn't here with us on earth? Imagine life without the touch of Jesus or the presence of his Holy Spirit? No forgiveness. No hope. No acts of kindness. What if God took away his grace and promise of eternity, what would the world be like?  One word, hell.  According to Jesus, hell knows only one sound, the "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 22:13).  From hell comes the unending cry of those that realize the opportunity they have missed.  What if they had one more chance?  What if we lived the Gospel and shared it like it was our last time?  There is no time for one more chance for those that don't know Christ, the time is now and the message is urgent. "And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgement, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people.  He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him" (Hebrews 9:27-28).

"So You're Dead Now What" Week 1

Sane Estimate

Let's face it, there are some things we want to do but simply aren't equipped to accomplish.  I, have the desire to be able to do back flips and gymnastics, but let's just say I'm much safer staying on my feet.  Paul gives good advice in Romans 12:3:  "Have a sane estimate of your capabilities."   In other words, be aware of your strengths.  When you teach, do people listen?  When you lead, do people follow?  Where are you most productive?  We need to identify our strengths and then spend our life majoring in them.  For many of us, it's taking a few irons out of the fire so the one can iron can get hot.  If we fail to focus on our strengths, it will prevent us from accomplishing the unique tasks God has called us to do and prevent us from reaching our full potential.  There is a lost and hurting world around us, but we cannot meet every need in the world.  We cannot please every person in the world.  We cannot satisfy every request in the world.  But we try.  And in the end we run dry.  Just like Paul advised, let's have a sane estimate of our abilities and stick to them.

Presumption

I was reading 1 Samuel 15 where Amalek attacked the Israelites when they were coming from Egypt.  God commanded Saul to strike Amalek and destroy ALL they had.  You probably know the story, Saul got 210,000 people together, he spared the Kenites, defeated the Amalekites and took Agag their king.  In the process he managed or maybe decided is the better word to keep the "good stuff" (sheep, oxen, fattened calves, lambs, etc).  He kept what was good in his eyes and destroyed what he thought was bad.  

Now here is where it hits home..."the Lord regretted Saul's appointment."  WOW!!!  I think my biggest fear in life is that, I would screw up so much that God would look down and say I regret placing you in a position to lead my people.  I mean the fear of going to hell for me is over, I know my eternal destination, but the fear of God lifting His hand from my life.  In verse 23, the formula for disaster is evident...Saul, watch this, PRESUMED he was supposed to spare some, but can I tell you that PRESUMPTION on our part misses the big picture, it lacks the clarity of God's voice.  Saul was so proud of what he had done, he greeted Samuel with a big smile and warm greeting with the "LOOK AT WHAT I DID" kind of attitude.  Our own rebellion, our own presumptions of God's will is what serves as the divsion, distance, and separation from God.  Saul was more worried about the people, he feared them is what verse 24 tells us....God has not called us to fear man or mortal beings, He has not called us to fear temporary obstacles or hardships, but to fear HIM, which produces humility, brokeness, and oneness with the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE...man I love these passages, WORD OF GOD SPEAK!!!

Confront & Encounter

I'm starting the week off in John 4.  All I can say is that there are some HUGE things that we can take from that passage and more than anything I see Jesus as being radical and controversial, in other words, Jesus wasn't some blue eyed decaf sipping white boy.  In this passage as with so many others in the Gospel, you find an incredible confrontation with Jesus.  Jesus initiated the confrontation and stepped out of cultural expectation when He asked the Samaritan woman for a drink, Jesus went where the need was and I know He is calling us to do the same, to feed the hungry masses and not handing out samples to people who are already being fed.

The next thing I see in this encounter is that in order for us to truly experience the grace of Jesus, in order for us to experience salvation, we must come face to face and confront the sin that separates us from Jesus.  Too many times people say a prayer or "make the walk," or "raise their hand," without truly confronting their sin head on.  Just like in this situation in John 4, God is trying to REVEAL that sin in our life...we must take the blinders off and confront it.

Just like with the woman at the well, an encounter with Jesus causes transformation from the inside out. John 4:28-29.  God does not leave us the way He found us, we can definitely come as we are but not leave that way...this woman's way of life changed that day, her thinking changed, her attitude changed!!! 

True[ish] Week 3

So, Barefooters…who are YOU bringing to church with you this weekend? 

People need Jesus! We are NOT called to be silent but rather active.

We promise that we are going to do all we can as a church to make sure the Gospel is presented in a very clear and unforgettable way…

But the rest is up to you!

What do you need to do in order to get people here?

Maybe you’ve asked them 100 times in the past…ask them again!

Main street campus…times for this weekend are Saturday evening at 6:00…and then Sunday at 8:00, 9:45 and 11:30

Internet campus...times for this weekend are Saturday evening at 6:00…and then Sunday at 8:00, 9:45 and 11:30

8 services…with ONE purpose…to present the Gospel!

Don't Miss It

Read the Water

One of the most valuable skills for fishermen is to learn to "read" the water. Trout like to hide behind big rocks and below undercut banks with overhanging tree roots. At the head of a pool, they are likely to position themselves on either side of the current, or under the current, where the water slows a bit, in order to have the best vantage point for watching the bugs that are being swept along. They like deep, cleare, weedless pools, where they can easily see their prey, and they often hang out in eddies, where food is plentiful. It helps, too, to know that trout face upstream, with their noses into the current. If you know the direction a fish is facing, then you will know where to place the fly. Otherwise you can cast all day with perfectly good flies and catch nothing.

As disciples of Jesus, our madate is to be "fisher of men." It is a calling that takes us from the safety and comfort of the shoreline and invites us out into that place where the fish swim. It is a place of adventure, and a place perhaps of some risk. But if we are to be wise in this calling, we need to learn to read the rivers and know the pools of the students we are ministering to. We need to give careful thought to which way the fish are facing, what their habits are, and where they like to swim. If we want to reach students with gospel of Christ, we need to understand the culture in which they live. To put off considering culture where ministry plays out because of the hard questions it raises would be like a farmer refusing to consder the soil in which he intends to sow his seed because he does not want to get dirty. Culture is where ministry happens.

True[ish] Week 2

Do We Believe?

This past Wednesday at AMP*D, Jesus entered the hearts of 11 students...that's 11 students who stood up and declared they trusted in and called on the name of Jesus for His lordiship and salvation of their lives.  I shared with those students that night Romans 10:11-13 where Paul writes that "anyone who trusts, and everyone who calls will be saved."  ANYONE and EVERYONE.  Since last Wednesday I have read that over and over and asked myself continually, "do I believe that?"  and if the answer is yes, then am I living out Romans 10:14-15.  Seriously, have I been rocked by the presence of Jesus in my life so much that it leads others to wanting to have a personal relationship with Jesus.  Has Jesus invaded my life to the level where I explode with the overflowing message that Jesus and only Jesus SAVES?!!!  How can our world call on Jesus to save them if they have never heard him?  How can they hear about him, unless we tell them?  Are we preaching the Gospel then living it?  Or are we living it out and then preaching it out?  My prayer is that my life as a leader, without one word, would point people to the feet of Jesus.

AMPFEST 2009

True[ish] Week 1