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You May Be Religious If…

1. You spend more time defending a doctrine than sharing Christ.

2. You confront people about using YouVersion in church.

3. You see church as something you do and go to rather than something you are.

4. You get angrier when you hear a cuss word than when you see someone hurting.

5. You find the homeless man on the street untouchable.

6. You’re more concerned with your giving record than your lost family member.

7. You dress for church to “give God your best”, but fail to give anything of value to your family.

8. You’re prouder of your Sunday School attendance chart than the baptism count.

9. You see prayer as something that must be done rather than a chance to talk with God.

10. You compare yourself to others for comfort rather than looking to God for transformation.

Matthew 15:1-9

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.

Any additions to the 10?

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Jesus Ain’t My Homeboy

When I was growing up, I always had a lot of friends.

Some of these friends were really close.
They were the ones that I spent most of my time with and loved being around.

Some of these friends were more casual.
They were the ones that I saw at school and occasionally hung out with outside of school.

When I would decide that I wanted to do something and wanted a friend to go with me,
I’d always call my close friends first.

Only after all of them seemed to already have something going on would I call my other friends.

It seems like a lot of people treat Jesus as “the other friend.”

Sometimes, I treat Jesus as my “other friend.”

We’re willing to pay some attention to Him on an occasional Sunday.
We’re willing to admit that He’s our friend.
We’re even willing to call on Him when all other options fall through.

BUT,

He isn’t our life.

He’s just a casual friend.

Jesus never died on a cross and got up from the grave to be our casual friend.
Jesus never died on a cross and got up to be someone to come to when all other options seem unavailable.

Jesus’ love demands our life.
Jesus’ sacrifice demands our life.
Jesus’ atonement demands our life.

I never want Jesus to be a casual friend to me.
I never want Jesus as my “homeboy.”

I want Jesus to be MY LIFE.
More today than yesterday…
More tomorrow than today…

He demands my firsts, not my leftovers.
He demands my  priority, not my remainder.

In every part of my life…

My family.
My work.
My finances.
My leadership.
My ministry.
My leisure.

I must be last!
He must be first!

11
Oct 2010
POSTED BY Jonathan Pearson
POSTED IN

Blog, Featured, Life

DISCUSSION 16 Comments
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Spiritual Anorexia

For as long as I can remember, I’ve battled a weight problem.

As a 10 year old boy, I can remember knowing that I wasn’t happy with the way I looked and felt.
In fact, I can distinctly remember thinking time and time again as I looked in the mirror, “I don’t feel like a fat person, I just look like one.”

You see, I knew that I was a mostly happy, energetic, polite, and nice boy.
I knew that I was just like all my other friends on the inside, it was just my outside that was different.

I became pretty determined as I entered middle school that I was going to make my outside match the way I felt on the inside.
I eventually lost a lot of the weight and am now pretty average for my height.
But, it’s still a struggle…

Some people reading this are in the same boat I was as a child…
Just the other way around.

You’ve been playing the Christian game.
You look good on the outside.
You seem to have it all together.
You’re really good at putting on a ‘spiriutal facade’.
You give your time and money to the church.
You know the right spiritual words,

But Jesus has never captivated your heart.

Your inside doesn’t match your outside.

You’re still left empty at the end of the day.
You’re left with very little joy, fading enthusiasm, and obvious emptiness.

You need to let Jesus change your inside.

You see, I’ve learned a few things in my 24 (as of Friday) years of life
One of those things is,
God changes people from the inside out.

Let Jesus be your Savior,
Let Jesus rule your heart,
Then, let him change your actions.

_______________

This is one of the GREATEST problems in the church today and something that I’m passionate about seeing changed. Please pass this post along to the people you connect with.

14
Sep 2010
POSTED BY Jonathan Pearson
POSTED IN

Blog, Featured, Life

DISCUSSION 12 Comments
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3 Experiences God Wants You to Have

The fact that God has mercy on us to keep us alive is amazing enough.

The fact that God desires the best for us is the icing on the cake.
The way that He works with us to glorify Himself and allow us to experience joy is simply astounding.

Here are 3 things that God desires all of His people to experience…

1. Salvation. God desires that we be reconciled to Him. In fact, He desires it so much that He was willing to part with His only Son for it to happen. God wants all to know Him. He wants none to perish.

2. Worship. God wants us to experience worship. God wants us to worship Him by accomplishing our purpose and living lives that glorify Him. Worship is essential to us. God desires it, but we are the ones that really need it. To find who He is and how much we need Him more today than yesterday.

3. Obedience. Our obedience to God reveals our faith in God. God desires that we experience obedience to Him. Through obedience, God is able to receive our love and bless us accordingly. Obedience is so much more than being a puppet controlled by God, it reaches deeper, it fulfills our need for purpose.

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Will you experience what God desires you to experience today?

What other experiences does God desire for you and I?

04
Aug 2010
POSTED BY Jonathan Pearson
DISCUSSION 7 Comments
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Come On Now

Last Friday, I went to get my eyes checked for the first time in…
too long!

As I was getting fitted for glasses and getting checked out, the lady at the front desk noticed my occupation.

She was asking me a little about it and then said something that’s been stirring in me since I heard it…

“I don’t go to church, I do believe in God. A pastor told me a few days ago that in order for me to know Jesus, I need to have a good understanding of the Bible and what was happening in history at the time it was written.”

WHAT?!

Are there really people out there that believe that?

Are there really people leading our churches and people that believe that Jesus is really that hard to accept?

After thinking through this a little, I’ve come to this conclusion…

The more I learn about the Bible and Jesus, the more simple I realize it really is.

Sure, studying scripture is always a good thing.
It helps you know your faith better and helps us glean wisdom that can only come for in-depth study.

But, to know Jesus, it only takes one thing…
FAITH.

That’s it.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.

Please don’t make following Christ about anything but what Jesus has done for you!

(Of course, I cleared this up with the lady that asked the question. No, she didn’t accept Jesus, but I think she got closer.) :-)

28
Jun 2010
POSTED BY Jonathan Pearson
POSTED IN

Blog, Featured

DISCUSSION 8 Comments