You would ruin MANURE

In the same way, any of you who dos not give up EVERYTHING he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:33

Salt is good,but if it loses it saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. Luke 14: 34-35

Jesus is addressing those who aren't willing to give everthing, who won't follow Him all the way. He is saying lukewarm, halfhearted following is useless, that it sickens our souls. He is saying that kind of salt is not even fit for the manure pile. Wow...how would you like to hear the Son of God say..."you would ruin manure."
When salt is salty, it helps manure become fertilizer...but lukewarm and uncommitted faith is completely useless...it can't even benefit manure.

CRAZY LOVE
ALL FOR YOU

NOT HALFWAY

When I was in school...I was in the Marching Band. It was a really BIG deal...We were really good and it was a privilege to be a part of it. Literally...the football team played so the band could march every week. It was that big a deal.
But when I started in the band...there were a few rules laid down...one of which was-you do what the director says, when he says it and you don't question it. Our band director owned us...and not just on the field. We knew that we REPRESENTED wherever we were. Once we put on the uniform, we were to remain in full uniform. There was no option to only partially represent. Even if it was blazing hot...we looked the part...all the time. Our actions off the field, dictated our participation on the field. If we did not maintain grades, exceptional behavior on and off the field...we were no longer welcome to represent. When he spoke, we listened. And if we chose not to listen, there were swift consquences...for EVERYONE, not just ourselves. He owned our time. We rehearsed 5 days a week for a less than five minute performance once a week. We spent hours in rehearsals....approximately 15 hours a week...after school, in addition to performances. And you didn't opt out for something better.
But I think the thing I remember the most...is He never demanded any of these things. We knew the rules. We knew the consequences. He never raised his voice or demanded that we listen. If we chose not too...he would stand quietly and say....I have all day...when you are ready...we will proceed. Immediately, we would realize that we would be here all night if we didn't link up and pay attention. But he never had to demand, he only required. And if the requirements were not met...you were not a part. It was that simple.
You either represented fully or not at all.

I was thinking about all this in relationship to our walks with Christ. Why is it we think we can represent Him...be a Christian (which means a little Christ...or Christ's representative) and not fully represent. Why is it we don't realize that He OWNS US and our time-on and off the field. Why is it that we don't understand that there are certain requirements that must be met to be a part of His "band"...He will not raise His voice and demand, but He does require...and if we choose to not live up to the requirements....then we will not be a part.
We would not have been a very good band if our director had settled for half hearted and only a little devoted followers. He required the best. And he got it. And those who chose to settle...and not live the life of standard...were not a part-and they missed out on being the best.
Likewise, God will not settle for half hearted, half devoted followers. He requires...not demands...the best. And he will get it...and those who do not...will not be a part.

Chan says it like this...Jesus didn't say that if you want to be a follower you COULD do it in a lukewarm manner. He said...Take up your cross and carry it.

Jesus requires....that followers NOT BE LUKEWARM...there is not an in between option for the less devoted. You are either a fully devoted follower of Christ or not a follower at all. ALL FOR YOU

Recently, the church offices-or what was the church parsonage-was moved. Because of the new Children's Theater, we need to move the house. A moving company came in and began to prepare for the move. I was amazed at the ordeal it was. They first removed all the brick, penned it up from underneathe so they could place the big steal bars underneathe for travel. They detached the house from the foundation and spent days totally undoing it, so they could move it. I kept thinking...why? What a pain? All this undoing just so it can move.
And then it struck me. It is a word picture for life. A house undone can move. A house that is all put together, is stationary.
Isn't it funny how we long to be all put together and have everything totally "done" in our lives? Isn't it odd that we spend our days making sure our life is not out of control or undone, and hiding what might be the fraying of any edges where that might happen. And in so doing, we are doing nothing more than making totally sure that we don't MOVE at all.
God has called us to be a people on the move. We are not to be sitting still, but to instead be walking forward with Him. And yet, instead of realizing that prepartion for that moves, means an undoing so that we are not attached to the location we are in, we choose to fight that movement everystep of the way by refusing to be undone. And in so doing...we miss Jesus...and all He has for us. For our undoing, means we are able to move. It means we have no other foundation than that which is moving us...the King of Kings.
I watched as they put that house up on wheels and rolled it down to it's new location. I thought....hmmm...a house undone, on the move, not clinging to past, but headed for something new. Perhaps, that is what God has for us, if we would simply embrace a little undoing....
to that I say....Let's Roll...put me on wheels and MOVE ME.
ALL FOR YOU

american idol

Last week on American Idol, the contestants closed out the show by singing "Shout to the Lord". The words to the song are strong and have been used to stir the heart of the church for years. However, I was somewhat disappointed, when they changed the words at the beginning of the song from MY JESUS, to My Shepherd, omitting Jesus' name from the song. Aggravated that they did that to Jesus name, I was a little disheartened. However, on the following night, they again performed the song, only this time to say Jesus' name. Idol redeemed itself.
I was thinking about how funny it is to know that even the IDOLS Shout to the Lord. The AMERICAN IDOL sang His praise and made His name known. It so affirms what the Word says in Rom 14:11, "For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall give praise to God." God is very specific in Isa 42:8 to say "I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images."
There is coming a day "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." It is GOING to happen. We can either choose to bend our knees or have them broken, but we WILL worship Him-HIS WAY. It makes me laugh to know that American Idol got to shout to the Lord...but so few of those who wear His name really do that. Maybe, we ought not let Idol out do those who are truly following Him. ALL FOR YOU

When you come in the back door of my house, entering into my kitchen...there are words that you can't help but see. I LOVE words...used to edify, they have the power of life in them. Jesus is the ultimate picture of WORDS...becoming life and dwelling among us.
Years ago, I read a book that talked about Sanctuary being a place where you are cleansed, where you come higher, further and closer to the Father. Those words are etched into my soul. And so, above my back door are words that read "Welcome to Sanctuary".
I want my home to be a Sanctuary...the place His glory dwells, where people may come and be cleansed, drawing higher, further and closer to the Father. I want it to be a Refuge, a shelter....a Tabernacle, a Tent, a Temple, a House that is His.
But today....those words are more precious than ever....I want those words to be true not only of a church or my house, but my life. To be a place, a life, where covenant has caused multiplication and where He dwells...where nations will know that He is the Lord because my life has been set apart and where He abides in my midst. I don't want Sanctuary to be a place...so much as it is about who I am...a Sanctuary because of His mark on me. ALL FOR YOU