Posted by rbarry on Aug 01, 2011 | Category: Next Faith Steps
Train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:7-8)
These verses of 1 Timothy 4 are a good plumb line in my life: Where does my time go outside of work? Where am I putting the majority of my discresionary time? I love to run and workout with others, and as I get older less and less by myself. This verse is proving more and more true in my life as I watch the speed that the body de-trains. As a runner, your system will De-train 2x the speed that it will train. So, as far as your cardio system is concerned, if you run for 2 weeks and take off 1 week, you are back at the point you were before you started 3 weeks ago. Make sense? If my research is outdated, let me know. Here’s two things I see: 1. we are called to take care of our temple (1 Cor 6) 2. training for godliness will always pay dividends, trust me.
Have you ever asked people in your community about what this verse looks like in their lives? The goal is not condemnation with these questions, but to find out how we can encourage each other to invest in the greater of the two. What did physical training look like in your life last week? How many hours/minutes? What did training for godliness look like last week in your life? How many hours/minutes? How can I encourage you to train for godliness this week? Peace, rb
Posted by rbarry on Jul 19, 2011 | Category: Next Faith Steps
Here the 2nd group of questions that are from J.P.’s sermon series: LED
-Do I provide an excellent service or product, one I would be proud to attach to the Gospel?
-Do I actively share my faith in our work environment?
-Furthermore, where could I improve at evangelism in the work place?
-Does everyone I work with know that I am a Christ-follower?
-Furthermore, how can I communicate this to those that may not be aware?
-Would those around me be more attracted to my God or less attracted to my God based on how I work?
-How are my priorities defined in my work?
-Has work caused me to compromise spiritual disciplines?
-Has work caused me to compromise the quality of husband that I am?
-Has work caused me to compromise the quality of father that I am?
Posted by rbarry on Jul 06, 2011 | Category: Next Faith Steps
If you haven’t read any of Randy Alcorn’s books and feel like having some paradigms blown up, go pick one up. I’m having a Alcorn summer and plan on finishing three of his books, the first one of those dominoes just got knocked over Heaven. It contains one of my favorite quotes in all of the books I’ve read, “Every person reading this book is dying” (p. 446). How great is that! Morbid, but great! The scriptures call us to the following:
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. – Colossians 3:1-2
Communities should always be pushing each other to be living for Heaven, the imperishable, where moth and rust will not decay. Living in this way will always be worshipful, Christlike, and be the most loving way that we can live with others. I think everything I just said is a “given”, so I’ll just get to the great questions that Randy Alcorn lists in his book that we should ask ourselves and one another (p. 454-455). Thanks Randy.
- Do I daily reflect on my own mortality?
- Do I daily realize there are only two destinations-Heaven or Hell- and that I and every person I know will go to one or the other?
- Do I daily remind myself that this world is not my home and that everything in it will burn, leaving only what’s eternal?
- Do I daily recognize that my choices and actions have a direct influence on the world to come?
- Do I daily realize that my life is being examined by God, the Audience of One, and that the only appraisal of my life that will ultimately matter is his?
- Do I daily reflect on the fact that my ultimate home will be the New Earth, where I will see God and serve him as a resurrected being in a resurrected human society, where I will overflow with joy and delight in drawing nearer to God by studying him and his creation, and where I will exercise, to God’s glory, dominion over his creation.
Posted by rbarry on Jun 27, 2011 | Category: Next Faith Steps
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. – Pr. 15:22
Solomon, who was at one point in his life the wisest man (1 kings 4:29-31), which meant that he offered something to people that is more valuable that any other resource on earth (Pr. 20:15). Unfortunately, neither he, nor his son Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:8), put into practice the two communal invitations of proverbs 15. As a result, the decline started for both men, families, and a nation. The first communal invitation is being seeking correction (see earlier blog post). The second invitation of people of people who demonstrate wisdom is seeking counsel.
Dictionary.com defines counsel as:
1. advice; opinion or instruction given in directing the judgment or conduct of another.
2. interchange of opinions as to future procedure; consultation; deliberation.
As followers of Christ, we should seek counsel for 2 big reasons: 1) We don’t trust ourselves. Said another way, we believe that we have a corrupt nature which means that we will make decisions that may not be right, but make us comfortable and protect us. We can convince ourselves that anything is good. 2) It is a way to model humility, that other people God has put around me may know best. They may know my tendencies better than i do. They may know scripture better than i do. They may love Jesus more than i do. They may see my marriage better than i do. They are God’s provision for me. etc…
Application:
What was the last decision that you sought counsel on from your community?
What was the last financial decision that your group processed with you?
Who seeks out counsel more than you in you group? Why?
What was something that you should have sought counsel on in hindsight? Have you told them that?
Posted by rbarry on Jun 23, 2011 | Category: Authentic Sharing, Intimacy with Christ
If you missed Jonathan Pokluda speak last Sunday about How do we Discern God’s will for our Life: Being LED at Work. Go Check it out and process it with your community group. Go to: http://www.watermarkradio.com/
Here are some great questions that he sent us:
-Do I find identity in what I do?
-Furthermore, am I marked by my career more than I am a follower of Christ?
-Do I find identity in what I make?
-Furthermore, what is my first motive for wanting to make more?
-Do I seek to provide for my family above and beyond what they need?
-Furthermore, at what expense do I seek to provide for my family above and beyond what they need. (If they NEED $30K at a cost of 40 hours per week no travel, but I seek to make $100K at the expense of 55 hours per week and 20% travel, is this a fair trade off?)
-How do I steward the resources above and beyond what we need?
-Do I view work as an act of worship?
-Do I work diligently and ethically in the time allotted?
Posted by rbarry on Jun 21, 2011 | Category: Next Faith Steps
I’ve often thought the ultimate test of being in community is whether or not you are looking for correction from others around you. Are you inviting it? It’s the ultimate trust that communicates that you know that at the end of the day, we can’t trust our own hearts and that others can see us better than we can see ourselves. Sit in Proverbs 15 for a while:
5 A fool spurns his father’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.
10 Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die.
12 A mocker resents correction; he will not consult the wise.
If people are God’s provision for us and a means of grace to conform us into his image (see 1 Cor 12; 1 Pet 4:10), how often are we inviting others to speak into our lives, with no defense on our part of our actions?
Ask someone this week, “what is something that you see in my life that is inconsistent with Scripture, that you have not told me about”? Or, said in another way, “what have you seen in my life that dishonors Christ, but never had the courage to tell me?”
That’s community! More to come on Pr. 15. Happy Communing. rb
Posted by rbarry on Jun 10, 2011 | Category: Next Faith Steps
It’s been said around Watermark and within the scriptures that there are 3 ways to learn. 1. Through God’s Word (the least painful), 2. Through watching others make hurtful mistakes, 3. Personal Experience (the most painful). This week was another week where I had to learn through option #3, which caused myself and others pain and frustration.
If you’ve been in community or real friendship for any amount of time, you have had conflict, disagreement, or division. The problem is always where we start, the problem/sin with the other person which is not Christ-like. Here’s first rule of the playbook, that we can memorize but is one if not The Most Difficult verse to practice as a discipline.
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. – Matt. 7:5
Here’s the shift I needed this week and the shift we all need, which is the starting line. Start with the assumption that you are at fault.
Here’s the excercize: think of your last/current conflict and write down the answers to these questions:
- How many examples did I come up with on how I could how I could have handled the process better?
- When did I not walk in the Spirit overflowing with gentleness, kindness, patience, peacefully?
- Where along the way did I not put their needs first and wanted comfort for myself?
- How many people did I bring in specifically to help me see “my part” or correct my actions in the conflict (without gossiping of course)?
Thanks to Jon Marshall for sharing the above image on Flickr.
Posted by rbarry on Feb 15, 2011 | Category: Authentic Sharing, Intimacy with Christ
If you haven’t read Counterfeit Gods, It’s another great book that helps you really get below the surface level of the symptoms and work through issue of the heart. He does a great job of tying in the idea that your theology drives your actions. Here’s a great quote that would be a a fantastic exercise to work through as a group.
“Archbishop William Temple one said, ‘Your religion is what you do with your solitude.’ In other words, the true god of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention. What do you enjoy daydreaming about? What occupies your mind when you have nothing else to think about? Do you develop potential scenarios about career advancement? Or material goods such as a dream home? Or a relationship with a particular person? One or two daydreams are no(t) an indication of idolatry. Ask rather, what do you habitually think about to get joy and comfort in the privacy of your heart?”
Hope you find increasingly more freedom to be real with people this week as you uncover idols together. His people are His provision for you. He is the only place to find life (John 6:68).
Posted by rbarry on Dec 21, 2010 | Category: Applying God's Word, Developing Relationships, Intimacy with Christ, Living the "One Anothers"
Here is a list of great questions for your group to work through over the course of your group. Our elders try to work through one of the questions a week when they meet together. It’s a good bulls-eye of what the scriptures tell us to aim for. Pick 1-2 and work through them in community this week:
Community Group Assessment Questions
o Have you read and provided loving feedback on the 4B form of other members in your community?
o How consistent are you in praying for the burdens, or areas of spiritual growth, of other group members during the week?
o When was the last time you followed up on a prayer request with a note, phone call or question?
o When was the last time you celebrated a victory over sin of another group member?
o When was the last time you can remember when you were admonished by another member of your community to “excel still more” in your speech, conduct, love, faith or purity?
o When was the last time you admonished another member of your community in the area of speech, conduct, love, faith or purity?
o When was the last time you shared with your community what you personally read, learned and applied in your life from Gods word?
o What is the last verse your group has corporately committed to memory?
o When was the last time you discussed a spending decision with your community?
o When was the last time you discussed a giving decision with your community?
o When was the last time someone in the group was encouraged to serve in their area of giftedness and passion?
o Could you name the “Achilles heels” of others in your community? In what ways are you encouraging their growth in these areas? How have you helped them live wisely/be accountable based on your awareness?
o How are you spurring one another on to reach the lost? Does everyone in your group have a top 10 card?
o When was the last time y’all celebrated how an individual in your group was used to bring someone into a personal relationship with Christ?
o When is the last time you discussed, as spouses, the strengths and weaknesses of each other’s marriage?
o How are you doing at accepting and appreciating the one in the group that is most unlike you? Give an example.
o When was the last time you laughed together as a group?
o What was the last conflict in the group and how was it handled?
o When was the last time someone had to ask for forgiveness from the group?
o If your son or daughter was going to only rise to the level of spiritual maturity and faithfulness of the average “temperature” of your community, would you be excited?
o Do you know who your staff contact is for your community group?
Posted by rbarry on Dec 03, 2010 | Category: Applying God's Word, Authentic Sharing, Developing Relationships, Intimacy with Christ, Next Faith Steps
Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges
I just finished a great read that you may have knocked out before I did, but this is a great community resource. Over the last 3 years I have noticed a few aspects of how sin is dealt with within a community. The “gross sins” of our society like adultry, pornography, addiction to drugs/alcohol get a ton of attention, while all of the other “sins” fly under the radar. We are called in scripture as believers to radically deal with sin in our lives like to “gouge it out” and “train ourselves for godliness”, and “to love the Lord our God with all of our heart” (meaning all of our essence). This book goes after all of the sins that fly “under the radar”.
Here’s a few named in the book: worldiliness, pride, selfishness, ungodliness, pride, control, etc.
Here’s a great example: how many pastors have you ever known that got fired for pride or control? Does God want us to radically deal with these two issues in our life…yes.
So here’s why this is a great read, It helps us focus on areas of our lives that WE (not someone else) need to take ground in and ask for the Lord to transform us in. I say that because it’s alot easier in communal life to see other people’s sins as a bigger deal than your own and with greater clarity. In communal life think: your community group, your marriage, your family, your roommate, and coworkers.
So, If you have a problem identifying an area of your life that is ungodly, this is a book that levels the playing field and exposes the root of the specific sin and doesn’t just deal with the symptoms. I wrote down several areas in my life that I need to confess, ask for forgiveness, and train myself for godliness in these areas, while asking the Lord to change my heart. It’s a great book to read during the first year of community, so that you can invite others into your life to help you see blind spots. Hope you enjoy the book, and that the scripture in it produces conformation into the character of Christ. Have a great week of growing with others. rb
