Experience Christ Church

Boundaries

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:16:51 -0400

This book, Boundaries: When to Say YES, When to Say NO, to Take Control of Your Life by Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend, is changing my life! I have read it and am now going back through and reading my underlines and working through the workbook. It basically illustrates the need for boundaries in our spiritual, emotional, and relational lives by comparing them to property lines around our home that delineate what belongs to us and what does not.
In particular, chapter 5 discusses Ten Laws of Boundaries and set the lens through which the various violations and proper limits apply. Here they are:
The Law of Sowing and Reaping - the principle of scripture and nature is that we reap what we sow. The problem is that sometimes people do not reap what they sow because someone else steps in and pays the consequences.
The Law of Responsibility - We are to be responsible for ourselves and the consequences of our actions. We should avoid being over-responsible, where we take others responsibility that they should be carrying upon ourselves.
The Law of Power - this law helps us define what we have power over, versus what we do not have power over. This is important for us to take responsibility for our actions and own the consequences.
The Law of Respect - just as we desire other people to respect our no, we need to respect when other people tell us no. In other words, respect other people’s boundaries if you want others to respect yours.
The Law of Motivation - your motive ought to be out of sincere love and gratitude, not to get something in return or our of fear of losing something.
The Law of Evaluation - you need to evaluate the effects of setting boundaries, but should not avoid setting boundaries simply because someone might respond with hurt or anger.
The Law of Proactivity - proactivity is the point you get to in boundary setting when you no longer “demand” your rights, you live them.
The Law of Envy - the problem with envy is that it focuses outside our boundaries on what others have that we want.
The Law of Activity - if we do not act, we will be acted upon. Passivity only leads to others invading our boundaries.
The Law of Exposure - to maintain clear boundaries, they must be clearly identified by being openly communicated.

Ordering Your Private World

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:21:00 -0400

(Excerpt from journal entry)

Lately, I’ve been reading “Ordering Your Private World” by Gordon MacDonald to guide me through my personal devotions. I’ve also been listening to Jerry Bridges “In Pursuit of Holiness.” Both of them place strong emphasis upon personal discipline in pursuing a relationship with God. MacDonald states in one place that pursuing a relationship with God has less to do with a one-time climatic experience, and is more like an olympic athlete who daily disciplines and trains his body. How true!

Something I’ve wrestled with lately is personal ambition (drivenness) versus spiritual leading (calling). MacDonald states that two signs of drivenness are stress and always being pressed for time - basically constantly pushing yourself to exhaustion. Jesus never seemed to be in a hurry, but we know that He got tired and needed to retreat for re-creation and refreshing.

What I wrestle with is how much of what I do is personally motivated and how much is Spirit led. I want to be able to discern between the two. I want to live according to my calling rather that my personal ambition. Give my best and leave the results up to God.

Prayer Time

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:00:07 -0400

This week, Christ Church is making a strong thrust in prayer. Even though this has been an integral part of this revival to begin with, as we enter our final three weeks of services, we believe it is the only thing left that can take our services over the top.
Tuesday evening, we gathered together from 7-9 as a church simply to seek the face of God and to have a move of His Spirit - and we did. As we concluded the prayer service, we began to prayer over major areas of the tent as they signify places in which people’s lives are touched. While we began to pray this way, God broke in and really blessed our time together. I am convinced we will see results this weekend from our time of prayer.
As you pray for Christ Church and the concluding weeks of our tent revival, please help of pray for the following areas:
Pray for the Spirit’s drawing
We are asking for a breakthrough in Spirit baptism
We ask that people would be baptized
We believe God for miracles and divine healing
Please seek God for several more Bible Studies
We appreciate you joining us as prayer partners and seeking the Lord’s face for His will during these final three weeks of revival.

Revival of Recognition

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:08:36 -0400

Pastor Greg Randol called me recently to speak a word of faith concerning our revival. He had been in prayer for our services, and felt God impressed him as to the great significance of our tent revival - that is is a revival of recognition.
In so many ways, I’m still looking for our services to meet my expectations, and at the same time, God has exceeded my expectations in so many other ways. One such way is the recognition we have receive in the community. I cannot begin to explain how refreshing it is to be able to mention our tent, and how many people acknowledge that they have seen it and have expressed interest in what we are doing. Many people have been interested in knowing where we’ll be meeting at the conclusion our tent services.
To answer that question, we’ll be meeting at the Hampton Inn on Weddington Extension off of Speedway Blvd. Our meeting time will be on Sunday evenings at 6:00 p.m. Going into this new meeting location and time, we are a larger and more robust church than we went into this revival being. We hope you’ll come to experience Christ Church for yourself.

Breakthrough in Praise

Sun, 6 Apr 2008 13:56:57 -0400

We had a major breakthrough in our praise this weekend. This is particularly awesome because it has brought our church to a new dimension of experiencing God’s presence. We saw God move in such a powerful way that people who walked into the tent were emotionally overwhelmed when confronted with His presence.
Most people would agree with this statement: We need to get out of our comfort zones. But what about when that makes us feel uncomfortable? Are we willing to do things that may be unfamiliar to us in order to enter new realms of worship and praise? Some people aren’t willing to do anything new, even if it’s Biblical. Here’s a revelation: If it’s in the Bible, it’s not new - it’s just new to you!
Here’s a concept that has help Christ Church. When we stretch to increase muscular flexibility, we gradually go to a place that is uncomfortable, hold it there for a few seconds, then push just a little further. That is the only way to stretch yourself. And that is how we have gotten to this level of praise, by pushing ourselves until it’s just a little uncomfortable, and then taking it a little further.
We invite you to join us on the journey to experience God in a greater dimension of praise!