God | Heartstone Journey

Why People Dislike “Christians” And How To Change That

If you’ve spent any time reading the stories shared in the Bible, you see that the early Christians had a major impact on the world around them and truly left a legacy. The question I want to explore is, what kind of impact are we having on the world?

Yes, there are many “called by His name” that are being used by God to change hearts and change lives, but too many are bashing those He came to redeem. Bashing people because of the color of their skin, their race, beliefs and yes…sexual orientation. Bashing people for their political views or affiliations; Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, etc. Basically, bashing a world that doesn’t line up with a distorted “Christian view”. It doesn’t take much courage to label people; to categorize them based on the way they look, talk, if they drink, use profanity or what kind of music they listen to. Somewhere along history’s timeline, since Jesus set the narrative, we’ve made Christianity more about mass producing a church-going-whitewashed-perfect-holier-than-thou-we-are-better-than-the-non-believer tribe instead of meeting the brokenness of humanity right where it’s at.

Is any of this awe inspiring?

Remember the woman caught in adultery? or the women at the well?

To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to love God and others. He said it Himself, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” I don’t know about you, but I do this very imperfectly!

It’s tough to live out this high calling, to love ALL people while holding contempt for so many of them…isn’t it. If we truly want to wave the banner of Jesus Christ to a lost and hurting world, we need to drop the attitude… and man up with some good old courage and boldness (of course speaking the truth in love). Actions bring life to words and we need to inspire a bit more! Instead of dictating to the world how they should live, why don’t we start by showing them how to live by living it out and demonstrating it in our own lives. The problem is that many of us don’t live out the lives we impose on others and we just don’t inspire — at all! Don’t believe me? …ask your kids how amped up they are about the whole Jesus thing.

Ok, where am I going with this?

We Walk As Lions

Followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to live a life that actively demonstrates to others the worth of the gospel. If the Lion of Judah is running before you, let your life be a billboard for how valuable the gospel is and show that the effect it will have on the life of those who believe it is — fearlessness. Philippians 1:27–28 tells us to; “lead a life worthy of the gospel so that when I come I may find that you stand firm, unafraid of any of your opponents.” One of the ways that our lives can demonstrate the worth of the gospel is when the gospel makes “us walk as lions” — courageous and unafraid.

The righteous are the ones who trust in the Lord — the ones who have faith and place their hope on the mercy, power and wisdom of God. These are the ones who are free from fear. These are the ones whose hearts no longer condemn them (1 John 3:21). These are the ones that are right with God, because of His grace and not because of their merit. And their boldness with God (and with men) demonstrates the worth and the value of the gospel (Hebrews 4:2, 6).

Here’s a song from Skillet’s album ‘Unleashed’ to encourage you…righteous warriors of God!

Is God A Crutch For The Weak?

I recently shared a post across my social spaces with a quote card of a lion and the words, ‘Once you become fearless, you become limitless’ on it. The post narrative was from 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Didn’t take long to receive this as the first comment: LOL! “God” is for the weak!

Let’s explore this a bit…

Why Our Next President Won’t Be The Hope We’re Looking For!

With a nation deeply divided, the political landscape continues to heat up. One camp rooting for Donald Trump and the other camp rooting for Hillary Clinton, with an almost radical zealot zeal.

Have you ever noticed that we as humans continuously want to find a “king”? This is what disturbs me about these political campaigns, especially the election of the next President of the United States. Sure we call the show politics and the players politicians, but deep down inside we are trying to find leadership — a king. You know all the signs advertising the person’s name and crowds are chanting the names of their king-to-be. It’s as if we are working to establish a kingdom here on earth. Of course we show our support for our king-to-be in a non-violent way (wink wink), most of the time. Are you tracking with me?

In a sense we are transferring power from one kingdom to another and inevitability time reveals that all kings end up being the same. They live for their kingdom and not for us, the voters.

There’s something odd about us, isn’t there? Let’s rewind the tape back to ancient times when the people of Israel wanted a king and God tries to debate with them on how bad of an idea this was. God basically tells them that they don’t know what their asking for, but gives them what they want anyways. Here’s the rub…there is something inside all of us that wants to worship something, but we always seem to choose a “king” rather than choosing God.

God Is Calling You Out Of Your Hiding Place!

It was a warm, inviting sunny day as I climbed into the sanctuary of my car to begin my journey down to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, where the New England Patriots football team plays. Cruising down route 495 south with light traffic, no distractions, and dressed to impress in my business suit, I became lost in the reflections of the past week. Of course I was also thinking about how awesome it was to have this opportunity of attending an executive breakfast in the visitor’s locker room to hear Bill Belichick, the head coach of the New England Patriots speak. There was a welcoming peace that day in the comfort of my car that I was all too enthusiastic to embrace. In the peaceful silence, I was prompted to listen to one of the CD’s in the “Restoring the Father’s Love” series again.

I came to a place in the series where time stood still, my heart stopped, and my body went completely numb as the existence of the highway and the other cars around me simply faded into the background; I cannot truly explain what happened. My life began replaying right before my eyes as the Spirit of God brought me back into my past and unearthed something that I had suppressed deep within me for most of my life; I, too, had been abused at the age of ten. I wept all the way to my destination.

Why People Dislike “Christians” And How To Change That

We Walk As Lions

Is God A Crutch For The Weak?

Why Our Next President Won’t Be The Hope We’re Looking For!

God Is Calling You Out Of Your Hiding Place!

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Never Out Of The Fight!

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