Your true identity

The past several weeks, my pastors have been focusing on true Christianity through love of others (based on 1 Corinthians 13).  Today was the final week and there was a lot of focus on how we show this love to our neighbor to our family and to our friends.  If we do not have love, then what is there to show for.  In my previous post about Identity, I talked about the problem of trying to love the body of Christ (The Church) when we cannot love our self.  The problem that we have in the body is our own identity crisis.  We are a new creation:  Ephesians 1:4-5 " For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-."  Colossians 2:13-14  "  When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross."  Colossians 3:12  "  Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." So what are we to do?  For we are all broken and sinful and continue to battle against are old flesh and against powers and principalities that desire to destroy us.  We try to do things are own way.  We hold back forgiveness.  We fail to love when Christ loved us first.  I would love to be able to tell you that I can resist all of these previous statements and that I am a mature Christian lacking none, however, I cannot.  You can ask my wife and my kids and my closest friends and accountability partners and they will all tell you that I fail regularly.  There are sometimes small victories and some good days (more like moments and minutes) that I do show signs of hope (Jesus's love shining through) but I have to admit that I get tired, selfish, hungry and angry.  I do sin every day contrary to my desire - so what hope do we have?

Our hope is not in our flesh, but in Christ Jesus.  He bore the sins of the world and took them all to the Cross.  In our sins and iniquity Christ bore all and conquered death.  For those who confess his name and bear his fruit, the Kingdom of Heaven is ours to claim.  There is no power or person that can take us away (snatch us) from the love of the Father.  We are a new creation who are called sons and daughters of God.  Galatians 3:26-27  "  You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."

Hear are some action steps for us to take:

1) Take out a piece of paper and draw a line down the center of the page  (On the left side write down this list:  Galatians 5:19-21 The Message (MSG) ^19-21 It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.).  NOW on the right side of the page, write down this list:  Galatians 5:22-26 The Message (MSG) ^22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. ^23-24 Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified. ^25-26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.".  Once you have done this, then check all those that apply to you and your life (your walk).  If you line up more with the left (the sinful nature - repent) if, you line up with the right, then continue to trust and obey and use your gifts to show those around you less of you and more of Jesus.

2) Get involved in a bible study (in a men or women's bible study).  Find accountability partners (those who you can be completely and bitterly honest too without being judged).  Look for mentors and look for mentees if you are bearing fruit of the Spirit.

3) Pray - continually (throughout the day)

4) Love (love others, love co-workers, love lost ones love family and love your neighbor as yourself (BUT first love yourself as a son and or daughter of God).

5)  What are some of your thoughts and ideas?

Let me know,

Dante

Identity Crisis

Recently, I had the privelege to teach our high school students in our youth group ministry.  I was asked to teach on the subject (question) of why do we need the church.  The youth Pastor played a poignant video prior to my speaking that was an interview of various students that had said why the church was irrelevant and why they were turned off by church.  The video, in my opinion, raised some really good and unfortunate honest opinions on some church members that are misguided in their relational ministries (note:  my opinion).  That being said, I began with a game (candy being the prize) and went right into various Scriptures:  1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12:5, Hebrews 10:24-25 and so on.Before this speaking engagement, I was going over my notes and timing myself for the youth pastor and scheduling.  As I was praying and reflecting I was struck by the fact that we are called (as the body of Christ) to love one another.  The thing that really struck my core is that some of us have an identity crisis, that is, that we do not love ourselves so how can we be expected to love others (encourage, comfort and urge)?  Thus, the identity crisis,  which is why my opinion is why we have problems of loving one another (because some of us cannot love ourselves).  I do not want you to take this as narcissistic or put "myself" before God's Kingdom, actually, quite the contrary.

Here is my position, we are no longer are "old-self".  We, those who profess Jesus Christ, are a new creation.  Thereby, we are now sons and daughters of God.  When we realize this fact, then we can have  a healthy identity of who we are and then we can allow the Holy Spirit to grow us into who He wants and not what we once were.  2 Corinthians 5:17  (ESV) ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.^[a]The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."  God has intended for his church to be his bride.  God has plans for us, plans to be his disciples.  He gave us the Church so that even the gates of hell could not prevail against it.  If the body is acting in the way that Jesus intended, then that is a very beautiful thing to behold and to be part of.  It is a very powerful force driven by the Holy Spirit.  Did you catch that, we are no longer ourselves (in our pain and anguish of our old sinful self) - we are now his Sons and Daughters.  We are engrafted into his family because of the love of the Father!

When the body is working together for the purposes of God's Kingdom (reaching the disconnected and growing the connected) it is such a thing of beauty.  It is powerful and it is effective in preaching and teaching God's love story - He came down, he bore our sin to death on a cross, he rose again and he now sits at the right hand of God.  Why? Because he loves us.  He loves his bride.  Why do we need community?  Why do we always ask our parents (when we were young) why?  Because they really do know better when they are showing Agape love.  As a Christian (a Christ-follower, a disciple of Christ) we can be rest-assured that Jesus loves us, that he died for us and that because of his work on the cross, we are FORGIVEN of past, present and future sins - IT IS FINISHED.  Jesus said that for a reason.  He knew that he was faithful and obedient to his Father's will.  Jesus called us to do the same for Him.  To be his disciple means more than just being a pew sitter, it means for us to move from pew sitter to heavy hitter!  Jesus gave us the Church, so we can have community with the Saints to help us carry our burdens to do His will!

Any questions?  Please let us know!

Dante

Goodbye Dear Friend - Godspeed

It is with a heavy heart and tearful eye that I report to everyone that our dear friend, saddle-mate and fellow Legacy Dad - Gary Taylor - went home to be with our Lord last night at 6:45 PM.  Gary was a remarkable man, father, husband and grand-father.  Gary lived his life for the Lord and embodied the true spirit of a Legacy Dad.  As Stevenson wrote "Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same"  - Gary left a lot of footprints on many hearts.       The following email was sent from Gary's son.

"I write this with joy as my best friend, comrade and saddlemate has finally stepped into "full inheritance" Ephesians 1:14.  Gary passed into the arms of Jesus this evening at 6:45pm. His final breath was in total peace as he tilted his head up and looked at his wife one last time." 

We are envious of you Gary, as you now get to spend your days with God in Heaven basking in all His glory.  I'm sure the first words he spoke to you were - Well done good and faithful servant. You have fought the good fight, You have finished the race, You have kept the faith.

R.I.P. Brother - Your Legacy Will Live On Forever - Your Brothers Lance and Dante

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields.

Which wolf do you feed more

A Cherokee LegendAn old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him angry at a friend who he felt had done him an injustice, "Let me tell you a story...

I too, at times, have felt a great resentment for those who have taken so much, with no seeming sorrow or remorse for what they do. I have struggled with these feelings many times."  He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me engaged in a challenging conflict.”

"One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing.”

He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. He does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him, and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.

Sometimes, it is a challenge to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit. The same challenge is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Do you ever stop to ponder….which wolf inside of you do you feed more?

------

The apostle Paul states that when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, then we are a new creation.  2 Corinthians 5:17  17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!  Paul talks about the battle inside of each of us, the old self (our bodies dead to sin) and the new self (we are a new creation adopted as Sons & Daughters of God because of his gift of his Son Jesus Christ.

This morning in men's group's we talked about idolatry and the ideas of hoarding (both physical and mental and spiritual).   The hard part about life is that we each have our own proverbial baggage.  That is, to say, that we have stuff to deal with.  Stuff that could be given to us through brokenness from a family or from a habit or from any kind of manifestation of our past.  The key to this is to be content (or what I refer to as the secret to life verses found in 1 Timothy 6:6-8 and Philippians 4:11-13).

Which wolf (which "self") do we feed more?  The old hymn of Turn Your eyes upon Jesus is so relevant to this post:

O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There’s light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free!

Refrain:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,  And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting.  He passed, and we follow Him there; O’er us sin no more hath dominion— For more than conqu’rors we are!

His Word shall not fail you—He promised; Believe Him, and all will be well: Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell!

So where to start today of doing some house cleaning in our physical, mental and spiritual lives is to put some good disciplines in our lives:  1) Read the word every day 2) memorize scripture 3) get involved in a bible study (men's group) 4) listen to preaching and teaching 5) worship and 6) pray continually - ask the Holy Spirit to reveal those "idols" in our lives that we need to remove and 7) Repent of these things and become new.

We can take a portion of such a great chapter in the Bible:

Psalm 119

 ³³ Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes;and I will keep it to the end.^[f]34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your lawand observe it with my whole heart.³⁵ Lead me in the path of your commandments,for I delight in it.³⁶ Incline my heart to your testimonies,and not to selfish gain!³⁷ Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;and give me life in your ways.³⁸ Confirm to your servant your promise,that you may be feared.³⁹ Turn away the reproach that I dread,for your rules are good.⁴⁰ Behold, I long for your precepts;in your righteousness give me life!

Make this your prayer today!  Teach me Lord your ways (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, body and strength and love your neighbor as yourself, on these two commandments all the Law and prophets hang).  Give me wisdom and discernment and understanding.  Lead me in the paths that you want me to take.  Incline my heart for your will O Lord that I may listen and do your will.  Turn my eyes upon Jesus.  Confirm in me that I am doing your will and not mine (less of me and more of you O Lord).  Turn away those things in my life that you no longer want from me.  Behold my life and my heart and my ways and reveal to me your desires.

Thoughts?

Dante

My faith and a zip line...Man up, Part 3 of....

  Man up, Part 3 of ....Strongholds versus God's KingdomThis past week my whole family and I were up in Michigan on vacation.  This place we go to has it all (beach, pool, hiking, zip-lines, rock-climbing, preaching and daily teaching and a kids' program to boot.  One of the days I took all 2 of my 3 kids, some cousins and my sister-in-law zip-lining.  My wife stayed back with our youngest who was not old enough for the zip.  When you cut through the trails and up the hill you see this long tower that you have to climb before you can be strapped on to the Zip-line.  There is a moment of apprehension that can be viewed in some of the kids that attempted this trial.  The picture to the left is my middle child.  She had no apprehension whatsoever in her.  She climbed, she trusted and then she jumped right off the tower trusting with wreck-less abandon.   Meanwhile, her cousin, who usually has no fear, climbed to the top without any hitch until she got to the point of complete trust in the Zip-line and the assistant who would undue the climbing rope and attach the Zip-line.  She freaked and she shook and she didn't want to let go.

After several minutes and a lot of encouraging from the ground level (cousins, uncles, mom and others) she crawled to the edge and sat down and finally let go and zipped down the hill.  As we said, she loved it, she loved it so much that she did it two more times.  This of course, made me think and reflect with how we are with God with some of the strongholds in our lives.  That is, to say, the things that we still want control over and that we don't want to give up to God.  Say for instance:  Finances, hobbies, sports, extra-curricular activities, or you plug-in what you are thinking of this very instant.  For me, it is really good and easy to trust when things are going without any problems or pain or hurts.  I mean, I know I love God with all my heart and that I trust him (most of the time) but then there are instances where I find myself putting me in front of him and trying to weather the storm or do it my way or maybe I think that I can handle it and maybe I feel like I just don't want to bother Him with such minute details.  Who are we kidding, right?

I would think that most of you reading this at one point or another in your lives are brought to this very point in your lives (your walk of Faith).  We climb to our own successes and we get to that point where we are about to let go of the climbing line and strap onto the zip-lines of our faith.  That moment when we let go and let God.  For some of us, we have had pasts that we are to afraid to let go.  For others, we don't want to give up that control to trust (that stronghold in each and every one of our lives) and for others it is just plain fear.  If we are honest, I would bet that 100% of us fall in one of these descriptions in our lives.  Maybe it is co-habitation and we are afraid to commit and trust God's plan for our lives.  Maybe it is finances or some major decision in our lives that we will trust ourselves but are afraid to trust God.  Maybe for some of us it is those dark places in our lives that we don't want to let go of (alcohol, pornography, sexual promiscuity....(you fill in your blank)) and we are just too afraid to let go and let God.  For me, it was the point of my marriage (early in my life) when I had created my own sets of morality based on my twenties (not walking with God) and was in my early 30's trying to justify sin in my life to a Holy God.  I was in the early years of my marriage and finally had to have an honest talk with my wife and prayer with God.  I was reading through the Bible and was deeply convicted of my false sense of morality (making myself a god instead of trusting our Holy God).  I had to confess this false sense of morality and impurity to both my wife and to my Lord.  I asked for forgiveness to the both of them and my wife didn't judge me (like I thought she would) in fact, she told me to do something about it (get serious in my walk).  Basically to let go and let God do this work in my life.  So I did!  Both her and I started serving more in church and building in community.  I got more and more involved in the men's ministry and had brothers who (to this day) keep me accountable and pray with me and for me.  I have a wife who isn't insecure of our love and who trusts me  because she trust the God in our lives who is convicting me to lead a life worthy of His Salvation for me.  Not by works, I cannot earn my way to Heaven, but by Faith.  My act of worship (thankfulness and adoration) is my walk and worship of Him and to let go and Let God do this in my life - complete trust and complete obedience.  Do I always get this right, no!  As a matter of fact, I sin every day and I mess up all the time (I am a man and not God).  He knows my strengths and he knows my weaknesses as well).  He has plans for me, plans not to harm me and plans to prosper me.

Wherever you are in your walk right now, reflect on these things that I am saying and ask yourself, ask God and His Spirit to reveal the things in your life that you have to let go of.   Pray on these things and ask that he will remove the strongholds in our lives (our own kingdoms) and that he will show us His Kingdom in our lives and what he requires us to do for Him.  When you find yourself climbing that "proverbial tower" in your life (like my niece did this past week) and you are about to let go of the climbing line and jump in faith to what God has in store for you and your life then and only then can we see his will for us, his plan for us and what he desires most for us.  Hebrews 11:6  And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.  Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Four years ago (and then again 3 years) ago, I almost lost my wife.  She was extremely close to renal failure 4 years ago.  At that time, I had a 5-year-old, a 3-year-old and a 2-year-old.  I had a hard time trusting.  I had many nights of arguing and tears shed and battles with God.  After I put the kids to bed and did all the work that needed to be done while my wife was in the hospital, I would fall into bed and argue with God.  I don't recall all the tears or words that were said, but I did ask if this was his plan for my life?  Really?  I couldn't believe it.  That night I heard this song performed by Tree63 called blessed be your name.  There is a part of that song that says, "You give and take away, BUT blessed be your name!"  Job prayed that and said that when he lost everything (personal wealth, children, homes, etc.,) yet he praised God.  Oh, the weak faith that I have at times.  But that night I prayed that part of the song, knowing that he could very well take my wife home to be with Him.  I cried and I let go.  The next day I had this incredible peace (it was day 5 of the 6 days that my wife was in the hospital) and the phone rang that morning.  It was the lady who was the head of our prayer team and she said to me that her and 6 other ladies were praying for me that very hour that I had the peace.  My mother-in-law, who was 1500 miles away at that time had the exact time of peace - God is in control and all he asks is that we let go and let God.

Can we man up?  Can we let go of the strongholds in our lives and let God tear them down and peel those layers away?

Thoughts?Dante