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Confrontation:

None of us like it, but most of us have to deal with it. Avoid it… Ignore it… Dance around it… Tackle it… All of us deal with conflict in our own way. But, what is the right way, the biblical way to deal with conflict. How do we confront someone and do so in a way that does not destroy the relationship.

When dealing with confrontation we must place truth above the relationship. We must be honest. We value honesty, yet it’s one of the hardest things to do. One of the biggest gifts we can give to a loved one is the truth. Even when the truth may hurt.

However, honesty in regards to confrontation is worthless if it’s not accompanied by proper interest.

When dealing with confrontation it is vital that we do so with the other persons best interest in mind. So how do we insure that we have the other persons best interest in mind? Here are three questions you should ask before entering into a confrontation:

1. What’s my motivation? Am I doing this to make myself feel better? Am I doing this to get something off of my chest? Check your motivation. Make sure it’s based solely on love.

2. Does this need to be confronted? Is this something that really needs to be confronted, or is it just me? Many occasions we want to confront someone on something not because they are doing something wrong, but because their doing something that we don’t like. Something different, or annoying.

3. Is my reason for this confrontation grounded in scripture? Spend some time in the word before you jump into a confrontation. Confrontation can strengthen or destroy a relationship. Make sure that what you’re about to do is supported in scripture.

Confrontation cannot be avoided; however, it must be approached with extreme caution. Confrontation can be a destructive breaking point, but when done so in a biblical way, it can be a breaking point taking the relationship to the next level of authenticity.

We all need to vent at times.  Life is full of hardships, burdens, and let downs.  It feels good to get our problems off our chest.  Hopefully you have a fellow believer that is willing to offer a compassionate listening ear.  Problem is venting can over stay it’s welcome.  People can only listen to so much of our garbage before they begin wishing they had never met us.

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Christ wants our vents, problems, and troubles no matter how big or small they may seem.  His yoke was conquered upon his death on a cross.  His burden was lifted with his resurrection from the grave.  He desires to give us rest.  A rest that is achieved by trading burdens with Christ. Swapping yokes with the Savior.  Because he defeated the burden of death and slavery to sin some 2000 years ago, he now offers you and I a light burden and an easy yoke.  He invites us to unload our problems on him.  Let him take control of our life’s struggles.  Let him take the weight of the world off of our shoulders. I am so thankful that we have a listening savior who never grows irritated by our constant rants.  He desires to give us rest if we will just turn over the keys to our house of issues to him.  Accept the offer of restoration of the soul from our savior who unselfishly took on the sins of the world so that we wouldn’t have to.

Is it possible that non-believers are more interested in what we do than they are with what we believe? Perhaps we should spend equal if not more time on showing people what we believe rather than telling people what we believe.

I posted this thought on my facebook page sometime last week.  It  is still lingering in my mind.  The church… What is it about?  Big screens, smart lights, great sound systems, and awesome worship bands. Is that what Christ had in mind 2000 years ago when he hung on a cross.  I’m not saying these things are bad.  We have most of them and if we could afford it we would probably have more.  We are great at talking about church, decorating the church, inviting people to church, and even challenging people to lifechange while at church.  But, how do we be the church?  That is what I mean when I say we should show people what we believe.

The Law

What is it?  What is its purpose? Why are we no longer bound by it?

First let’s define what the law is.  The law is the set of rules revealed by God through Moses.  The first five books of the bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, are known as “The Law”.  The purpose of the law was to point out man’s unrighteousness.

·         Leviticus 18:4-5 You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God.  If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them . I am the Lord.

·         Romans 5:13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given.  But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break.

·         Romans 3:20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands.  The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

Why are we no longer bound by the law?

·         Matthew 5:17 Don’t misunderstand why I have come.  I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets.  No, I came to accomplish their purpose.

When Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice he completed what the law was pointing to – righteousness. We are no longer in need of the law to make us right by God, but we still must understand how sinful we are. We now depend on grace through faith for our righteousness.

·         Galatians 3:23-25 Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law.  We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came: it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.  And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.

·         Galatians 5:1 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

What about the 10 commandments?  Do we no longer have to follow them? If Christ came to fulfill the law and we are free from it then why do we still have to abide by certain commandments? The central theme behind the laws and commandments is love.  The first 4 commandments deal with loving God.  The remaining 6 commandments deal with loving people.  (Exodus 20)

·         Matthew 22:37-40 You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.  The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.­

The first and greatest commandment deals with loving God, and the second deals with loving people.  You can see the connection here between the OT commandments and the 2 commandments of Jesus found in Matthew.

This is by no means meant to be an exhaustive answer on this topic.  It is simply a brief overview.  Please feel free to respond with any comments or additional questions you may have.

1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidnece we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know he hears us — whatever we ask for — we know that we have what we ask of him.

How big is your faith? Can you really ask something of God knowing that it is his will and be confident that he will answer it. And I don’t mean the “sometimes his answer is no” excuse for when we feel like God doesn’t answer prayer. I mean knowing that God would want something, ask for it, and know without doubt that he will answer your prayer. 

Today, RADLIFE.TV, held it’s first big community outreach event.  The weatherman forecasted rain for the entire day.  Our event started at 6 pm.  At 4 pm I stood on my front porch and gazed at a dark endless sky that looked to offer nothing but rain.  So we did what every good Christian does.  We prayed.  People began calling asking if we were canceling the event.  My answer was a confident “We will have faith that it will not be raining at 6 pm. So the event will go as scheduled.”  The truth is we had already purchased the food.  The inflatable guy was on the way.   Everything was lined up and ready to go.  I really didn’t feel like canceling was an option.  However, standing there looking at the sky that appeared to offer no break, I was experiencing some doubtful thinking, telling myself there was no way the rain would clear in time.  I even told God that I knew I was a man of little faith begging him to push the rain back. 

God knew this event needed to happen and he made the rain clear in our area.  We, as a church, are passionate about reaching our community and feel that is God’s will for us.  Why would that not be part of his will?  My moment of weak faith did not keep God from answering this prayer.  It was his will and I should have had confidence that he would answer my prayer with a resounding YES.  My worry only brought worry on myself, not on God.  He tells us that even faith the size of a mustard seed can do great things.  We should all hope to increase our faith so our worries turn into confidence.

I have sincerely prayed over the past couple of weeks that God would give me opportunities to reach people for Christ.   God is always giving us opportunities, the question is are we looking for them.  God is answering my prayers.  Those answers don’t always come the way we expect and they don’t always end with a decision of salvation; however, God uses every opportunity to meet a need that he has determined to be important.  As a pastor of a new church plant, it can be difficult to not look for the personal benefit to our church that each opportunity may present.  God did not call us to go and be his witness everywhere to convince people to join our congregation.   Our calling is to simply reach people for Christ.  It does not matter if they choose to go to church somewhere else.  I say this because I sometimes find myself looking at how RADLIFE.TV can benefit from an  opportunity that’s placed in front of me.  At times my motives are out of place.  My prayer is that God would continue to place opportunities in front of me and that I would serve God through those opportunities without attaching insincere motives.  I personally need to be more focused on God rather than being focused on growing RADLIFE.TV.  If I place my focus completely on God he will take care of the growing. Where do you stand?  Are you looking for your opportunities?  Do you have honorable motives?

John 13:4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin.  Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

The disciples were Jesus’ closest friends.  They walked with him for 3 1/2 years and the night before his death he washes their feet.  Think of all the things he could have said, thought, or even done the night before his death.  Pride, resentment, anger, or even sadness would have all been understandable reactions for you and I if we were in Christ’s shoes.  But Jesus, not thinking of himself or his impending suffering, showed love for his followers.   Think about Judas.  Jesus washed the very feet that would later lead the Pharisees and the guards to arrest him.  He knelt before Judas, knowing full well that he would be his betrayer, and washed his grungy feet.  Why the feet?  It is the dirtiest, nastiest, most unclean part of the body.  Walk around barefoot for a day and then look at the bottoms of your feet. 

None of us are any better than Judas.  We have all betrayed Jesus at some point.  All of us have turned our back on Christ at some point in our life.  We were not there to drive the nails through his hands, but we sinned.  Our sin is what sent Christ to the cross.  Romans 5:8 But God loved us so much that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.  Christ had full knowledge that while he washed his disciples’ feet and while he died on the cross, that every man thereafter would still be filthy rags.  Thank God that Christ wasn’t consumed with our unrighteousness.  Thank you Christ for being so humble that you were willing to die. 

Matt 20:28 Just as the Son Of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Check out this video.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqdRwLtUs3Y&feature=related 

“Lead One!”  Each one can lead one.  Leading people to Christ is not something that’s left to the professionals.  Our God is so big that we cannot possibly comprehend his greatness. Yet, He gave salvation one very basic principle.  Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. (Acts 16:31).The church has somehow made salvation out to be something very complicated to explain.  Consequently, most Christians are afraid to share their faith.  What if I say the wrong thing?  What if I don’t know the right verses? In week 2 of “Just One” we will look at the simple process of leading someone to Christ.  Yes! An evangelical, gospel presentation method.  It sounds so old school.  You can’t just walk up and present the gospel and expect people to get saved.  WHY NOT! (Sorry for yelling.)  Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. (1 Peter 3:15) When the time comes and someone is ready, we must also be ready.  One more “What if?”. What if what happened in Acts 2:41 could happen in Yukon, OK.  Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day – about 3,000 in all. As Rob Schneider says in most Adam Sandler movies “You Can Do It”.  Each One Reach One.

Go to http://radlife.tv to see when and where. 

Philippians 4:6-7 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Keys to experiencing ultimate peace:

1.       Don’t worry (easier said than done right.)

2.       Pray about everything

3.       Communicate to God your NEEDS. (Needs not wants)

4.       Be thankful for what God has done. (Not just in your life, but be thankful for everything God has done.)

If you ever have a desire to make a daily check list here is a great place to start.  It’s like the instructions you get with a new toy.   Only it’s not a toy.  It’s the instructions to experiencing a level of peace that can’t be put into words.

Are you having trouble with step one?  See step three.

Psalms 55:22

Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.  He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

1 Peter 5:7

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Matthew 11:28-30

“come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

When we worry we communicate to God that our problems are to big for him to handle.  And remember; no matter how bad or big a problem is, God is still in control and he still has a plan.

Having trouble with step two?  Do you have difficulty finding things to pray about?  Then see step four.  It’s a great place to start.  Surely you have something to be thankful for.

Step three. Don’t have any needs.  Be thankful.  Step four.

Step four.  Is there nothing in your life you can be thankful for?  Then pray about everything.  Step two.

Prayer is the most unused, taken for granted, blessing God has given us.  Go to him.  Spend time with him.  Talk to him.  Love him.  Because, he’s there and he would welcome your company.