The Cycle of Belief

John 4:43-54

In the world that we live in, God has ordained certain laws and principles that exist regardless of our beliefs. The cycle principle simply says that in life there are series of events that come full circle and repeat itself. This is seen in depression; where depression will lead to fatigue which leads to isolation which turns into deeper depression. We also see this is addiction. When we are addicted to something we abuse it which leads to shame which leads to craving which leads to using again. Cycles can be a viscous thing and there are tons of them. Poverty leads to a lack of education which leads to limited job opportunities which leads back to poverty. Giving your body away sexually leads to feelings of guilt or shame which leads to the need to be loved which leads back to giving away your body as a way of attempting to feel loved. The cycle continues to go around until there is some sort of drastic event that stops it.

There is however a beautiful cycle that God has put into place as a means of increasing our faith and belief in Jesus. In this John 4 we see this cycle taking place in the life of the official who's son was on the verge of dying. Jesus takes this man from a place of shallow belief, to simple obedience, which leads to a greater life which then leads to deeper belief. In other words there is a cycle of belief that says belief in Jesus that leads to obedience to Jesus, leads to a life full of Jesus which then increases our belief in Jesus. Then the cycle starts over again as our belief, obedience and joy continue to grow.

This is exactly the cycle that God uses in our sanctification. Belief leads to obedience which leads to greater life which leads to greater belief. That greater belief then leads to greater obedience which leads to even greater life which further increases our belief. Its a beautiful cycle. Jump on board....

"Private Practice" It's just not for me.

I know this may come as an unusual post, especially from me. I tend to be pretty liberal when it comes to the things I watch on TV or listen to on the radio. I'm not typically "that guy" who's like "burn all your DVD's and CD's, their demon possessed.". I still love stand up comedy, sometimes with really bad language. I caught myself laughing hysterical at "Jersey Shore" last week as I watched my 1st episode. I can still jam out to some Eminem, JayZ, and Usher without my spirit feeling overwhelmed with conviction. I say that to prep you for what's coming next.

Last night I got home from an awesome date night with my bride. We watched the 8th inning of the World Series (Boring) and then headed to the bedroom. We turned the TV on because Beth wanted to catch the last 30 minuted of Private Practice. In 30 minutes of Private Practice I was exposed to:

1. Gay men having sex in a car.
2. A married man confessing he is homosexual to his wife
3. A gay man telling his wife and male lover that he is HIV positive.
4. Peter telling Violet that his mom was a slut and murder.
5. A man being told by (Sheldon; the Psychiatrist) that since his wife is a vegetable, that he should find another woman.
6. A man raping his vegetable wife and trying to get her pregnant.
7. A 30 minute quickie agreement between Addison and Sam.
8. Charlotte being beaten and raped.

All that in 30 freakin minutes. I could only imagine what the whole episode was like.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 is very clear and says: "It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality."

We know from God's Word that our maturity in Christ is directly tied to our sexuality. Honestly, this type of exposure to sexual sin is not healthy for any of our sanctification. If we honestly are committed to growing in Christ, I would warn us all to avoid these types of scenes. I am not saying that you have to boycott the show all together or anything like that. However, I am saying that as followers of Christ, we should use wisdom and discernment. If something (such as this) is clearly a hindrance to our sanctification, we should kill it.

Would love to chat more about this blog with my legalists, liberals or anyone else.

Our Small Group

Just 4 weeks into it our new small group and God is already beginning to change the lives of people in our little community. It is just beautiful. We have such a mixed crowd. You name it and their in there; all of us are at different levels with our maturity, belief, trust, doubt, etc. Although that s true, it s also a beautiful testimony of how the body is to come together to edify each other and push each other towards Christlikeness.

There is to way to much to tell through just a blog; but I wanted to just share that God is showing up in huge ways. I will give you one little example. Yesterday after our group was over, Mike (A guy who by his own admission has major doubts) pulled me to the side and said this. "Matt, I want to thank you for this group. I have been at Daystar for years now and have never felt so comfortable to share where I am honestly at with the Lord. I have just learned so much these past 2 weeks about the Lord, all due to this group. Thank You." I was pretty much blown away. He went on to explain to me that he felt for so long that he had to pretend to be somewhere spiritually that he wasn't so that he could fit into his previous small groups. Last week we talked about Progressive Sanctification and it really touched him. He was able to see that it is OK where he is at because God is progressively working in him.

Yesterday we talked about what it meant to be a Christian. Sounds basic but you would be absolutely blown away at how many people in our group unintentionally talked about how being a Christian meant to "Try Harder". It was beautiful to take them to 1 Cor 15 and unpack the Gospel with them. I literally felt them sigh a sigh of relief as God was teaching them to rest their lives in the hands of his sovereign work. That they didn't have to try at all but instead pursue the Lord with all of their Heart Soul and Mind. It was just so God Saturated. People were writing scripture referenced down so they could go home and read for themselves. It was awesome.

I had a chance to explain the doctrine of Justification and Regeneration to them as I could see them becoming enlightened by the Lord as their perceptions of Him began to change.

I took a lot away from our meeting yesterday but this stood out the most. Rather than harp on our struggles and the do's and don'ts. Lets point our groups to the Glory of Christ and allow God to do the rest. It really does work. (who woulda thought; haha)