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Posts tagged with: Trent Renner
Jun 23, 2018    |      Comments Off on Church and the learning Tower of Pisa

Church and the learning Tower of Pisa

SethGodin.com just wrote a blog asking…”What’s inside the Leaning Tower of Pisa?”

The answer is Nothing. It’s a hollow tube.

One of the most photographed buildings in the world is empty.  But people do not care. It is an iconic building and wows people from all over the world.

I love that this is opposite of the reality of the Church.  The Church’s building sits empty most of the week…but it’s old news that the Church is not a building.

You are the Church. The bride of Jesus. The body of Christ.  Get a couple of people like you together, and God is there with you!  Grasp that!

The big question is, why aren’t people wowed by the Church all over the world?

There are negative and positive answers.

We know the negative reasons.  Do you know the positive ones?  Here’s one to remember…

“Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?” 2 Corinthians 2:15-26

That Scripture asks a very pertinent question in its last verse.  Who is adequate for such a task?

The answer: YOU!  You are adequate just as you are.  Oh, you might have to pick up your cross of sacrifice and live differently than you currently are…but that doesn’t make you inadequate.  It just makes you leaning…limping…wounded.  But that is what makes you remarkable.

I’m not sure I can trust anyone who doesn’t walk with some sort of limp…or lean. The Bible is loaded with  historical records of people that limp and lean.  I’m grateful for my wounds that cause me to now limp.  Your limp tells a story of victory and conquering.  Or it should.  If you’ll allow it, that thing, that wound, which caused the scarring that makes you limp, will make you even more remarkable…yes, your leaning can make you incredible.  There are millions of beautiful buildings around the world…but the ones that lean…they have looooong lines of curious gazers and photographers.

You are adequate.  You are never empty, if you are the Church.  You are worthy.  You can live your life in such a way that some people will go crazy wanting what you have.

Its not easy.  You’ll have to lean into Jesus more than you think is even possible.

 

 

 

May 3, 2018    |      Comments Off on What religious symbol is your favorite?

What religious symbol is your favorite?

While religious symbols can be important, the church has focused perhaps too much on them instead of the underlying reality they reflect.
 

The manger is feeding animals again. The cross is vacant. The tomb is empty.

 
May we befriend and honor the One who is still alive and visited each of those symbols for a very specific purpose…to provide us the opportunity to claim full forgiveness.
 
Focus on the living Jesus…not the symbols He used.  Jesus is alive and He desires to meet with you daily. Jesus desires you to finish the work He started. He is with us always, to the end of the ages.  If I can personally help you in growing closer to your Creator, Jesus, please let me know…I will walk with you. 
May 3, 2018    |      Comments Off on Spiritual Glasses On?

Spiritual Glasses On?

2 Corinthians 5:16…”From now on then, we do not know anyone from a purely human way.”
 
Do you view people with spiritual eyes? If you view, even your enemy through the eyes of Jesus…it will affect how you treat them…no matter how they treat you.  Get your spiritual glasses on and wear them everywhere. 
You will be remarkable! 
Feb 14, 2018    |      Comments Off on The Bible…Its way more than what culture has made it.

The Bible…Its way more than what culture has made it.

The Bible.
It’s definitely not (Basic. Instructions. Before. Leaving. Earth.) That’s laughable and falls way short. Remember… “The Word became Flesh and dwelt amongst us.” The Word is the Creator in tangible form.

The Creator of all, engaged 40 ‘writers’ who did not know each other, who were spread out on 3 continents, over a 1500 year time span, all sharing details that validate each other’s message received. Even if some got added, or some got lost over the centuries…the person of Jesus and it’s main message did not.

At its minimum The Bible is a library loaded with tragedy and triumph, hero’s and horrors of mankind that will capture your intrigue and capture better than a movie.

I have read it, studied it, prayed through it, and critical-eyed it. At its fullness, It is alive and relevant. Cutting. Life changing. The Scripture, in its completeness, is Jesus prompting you to rise and shine and live life to its full. It’s your wisest friend of hope, and your greatest rebuke of correction.

Have you just read it? Don’t just read it. Listen deeply to it. Slow down. Clothe yourself in it and with it. Take it in…Slow down in this short life! What’s your hurry? What are you working so hard towards? Where you going? How fast did your last 20 years go by? Your next 20 will go faster and then what?

Absorb The Word with the faith of a child…Daily, for the rest of your life. Don’t doctrinize it, systematize it, or theologize it like some foolish worldly education standard.

Become it.

Then you will fully be as you were created to be. It will be the greatest challenge of your entire life and you will celebrate its accomplishment in you for eternity with the others who did the same.

Oct 11, 2017    |       2 comments

A follower of Jesus’s job description

 

Maturity in Jesus is best described as a joyful friendship with Him.

I am mature in Jesus. It’s my  job to make others want to become mature in Jesus. It is my job to remain mature in Jesus.

I must never stop continually maturing in Jesus.

It’s my job to keep the attitude that I am not the owner of anything, and simply a faithful steward of all things owned by God.

It’s my job to look after the church family and be the standard for obeying Jesus’s teachings and commands.  I pray others will see my example and be inspired to replicate it. 

It’s my  job to keep my act together.  

It’s my job to keep my faith like a child’s.

It’s my job to keep finding new ways of looking at the world, getting in the world, and helping others of the world want to experience the remarkable forgiveness of Jesus.

Even if all my friends believe they’ve arrived and it’s time for someone else to sacrifice. Even if all my friends have quit and left me. I will keep my job, my focus, my determination. 

I must never settle.  I will never retire from the work of changing the populations of heaven and hell. 

There are so many who will be separated from Jesus for eternity if I choose to ignore the above standard.

This is my Job.  It is my choice.

I am a Follower of Jesus.
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