The church is a group of transformed follower of Jesus, who perceive themselves to be the Body of Christ in their local community and to the nations, and live as such.
This is a definition of church. Help me interact with it and let me know what you think about this.
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Trackback27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
rmale and female he created them.
It is my belief that God created all men with the same worth and value. God values each of us the same. And we see from the book John:
16 “For hGod so loved ithe world,9 jthat he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not kperish but have eternal life.
We know that each person is loved and valued the same from God. I fully believe this and I ask God often, though I am sure not often enough, to allow me to have the mind and heart of Christ and that I would see creation as God sees his creation.
I made a poor decision this morning while preaching at Epic Church. I made the choice to call Christians who try to do their own plans and try to pawn them off as “God is leading me” yet it is in direct contradiction to the Bible, Morons. I should not have called anyone a moron. Everyone no matter what the believe still have value. No one is more valuable to the Father than any other and we should not try to assume otherwise.
Yes, I said if you are saying God is speaking to you yet it in contradiction to the Word of God you are a moron. Here is the transcript starting in the 39th minute:
Starting in min 39:00 of the sermon, I am speaking:
“Why Mormons are heretical and demonic influences and that allah is a demon. As you look at this and you grab at and look at their doctrine please pray in light that they are very powerful spirits, they are gods with a lowercase g.”
“They were created by God and have fallen and belong to Satan. They are very powerful and you need to guard your heart and you need to guard your mind. Read them and contrast them with what we know to be true. Seek wise council. God does not contradict himself.”
“If you say, “Well the Holy Spirit is telling me there really isn’t the Holy Spirit, there really isn’t Jesus and there really isn’t God. He’s not going to go against his word. It’s not going to happen.”
39:50
“That’s a whole another sermon for another time. For all your people who say that, “God is leading me”. Well show me your verse. I don’t have one I just feel it. Well you’re a moron. Quit eating BK late at night. The problems with this is that modelism denies the relationships within the Trinity.”
Then in the 42nd minute of my sermon I used the word, “moron”, again. I said that I would sound like a moron to some when asked about who send me I just reply, “I AM.” Here is the transcript from this:
42:50
“There is yet one God and he is the Lord. He is I AM. That’s pretty flippin’ sweet if you think about it. “How are you to describe me” “God how should I describe you?” “Just say I AM.” I’m going to sound like a moron that you’re God and I AM” I AM is God.”
As a preacher of God’s Word and a herold of the King I should be wise in the way I chose my words. The word, moron, is not up lifting even harsh. I should have not have called Christians “morons” who misuse the calling of the Holy Spirit. And I should not have called myself a moron for trying to describe God to others as saying that God calls himself, “I AM”.
I have a lot to learn as a communicator of God’s Word. I will write more late but please forgive me for using the hard word moron in these contexts.
You can listen to my sermon this morning here. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2423642
Comments rss TrackbackI have been doing a ton of research for tomorrow’s sermon. In all honesty I was looking forward to Epic Church’s Porn Sunday. I was thinking it would be fun to talk about something so taboo. But in all reality porn and lust are destroying, yes DESTROYING, the life Jesus has created for us. We think we know best. We think we can “handle” our sin. You know what - we don’t handle sin, sin handles us. It is only by the power of Jesus that we are able to flee from sin. Not because we remove it from our lives but because Jesus takes it away.
Isn’t that the Gospel message? Not that we did anything, but that because of a deep unfathomable love Jesus has taken all of the crap of our lives and lives everywhere upon himself so that we may experience freedom.
Enough is Enough. Lust and Porn are so entrenched in our culture. I can’t even begin to think how or where to start to reverse the tide, but I tell you this - my life will be focused on Jesus and I will fight to the death for my purity. Purity with Jesus. Purity in my marriage. Purity in my relationships. I must allow Jesus to work within me and though me.
What are you going to do?
Comments rss TrackbackThe next three posts will focus on what Epic Church, and our lives for that matter, must focus.
Focus 1 - Our Focus Must Be On Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 12)
Epic Church must focus on Jesus Christ. As I prepare my sermons to the church I love so much I always ask myself this question, “How will this sermon glorify Jesus and allow Him to be the focus of our time together?” (John 17) This too is the focus of all decisions regarding all things Epic Church and all things Team Rasmussen. To be honest, sometimes I feel like I fail, just being honest. Without a doubt, if Jesus is not the focus of our lives and church, we will fail. And fail BIG TIME.
It sounds kind of silly to write a post or even say out loud that Jesus must be the focus of our church. I mean it should go without saying. Right? Well, one would think so. It would be like a baseball game without a hot dog, or a church planter without a Mac, chili without beans. You get the point, just sounds totally ridiculous.
I see all sorts of churches put their focus on something other than Jesus. At times in my life have been focused on other things rather than Jesus. Some churches put their focus on doing good things, giving a lot of money, building the best worship service, having the coolest artwork, having the best music and the list can go on and on. But, we must - let me say it another way; WE MUST have Jesus as our central focus in all we do. (Matthew 6:33)
This does not negate the need for other things to compliment our focus but they must not be the driving force behind what we do. It must be Jesus.
The message of the Gospel and person of Jesus will permeate all we do as Epic Church. Jesus lived a perfect life, died a gruesome death, fulfilled scripture, has given us hope, a future, a purpose, a heaven, and the list could go on and on. (1Cor 15) Because of Jesus we have Epic Church. Because of Jesus we have a story.
What does it look like for a church to be focused on Jesus? (Acts)
I have been asking this question for months. What does Epic Church look like when it is focused entirely on Jesus Christ?
For Epic Church when we focus on Jesus we will see radical life-change and authentic community. (Acts)
Look out for number two tomorrow.
Comments rss TrackbackTuesday is the big TTT for the Tour de France. Listen for my predictions at the end. Dinner tonight was awesome with the Epic Church team. Tonight was a reminder of why I love church planting and leadership. I know Jesus has called me and my family to church leadership and it has been a blessing to used by Jesus in our city and in His church.
OH YEAH!!! And I got to hang with a member of Stand By Red 5. He hooked me up with a FREE CD. This band is HOT! Check em out at: http://www.myspace.com/standbyred5 You can follow them on Twitter too at: http://twitter.com/StandbyRed5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4_1RFJo8xE
Comments rss Trackback Comments rss TrackbackAgain I am reading more of Mark Driscoll’s book, Death by Love. It has been a super good read thus far. Focused on Jesus whole heartedly and it has been good to catch this side of Driscoll. He is very pastoral and compassionate, yet leading with Jesus and calling people to Jesus. Good Stuff. We are almost to Plano Texas. We will be staying there for a day or so then home to Tucson.
It was cool to check out Epic Church online today until their feed went down. I am excited for the near future of Epic Church. There is a lot of work to be done but one thing is for sure, we cannot loose sight of Jesus or the power of the cross. We must all be willing to submit to God’s authority and repent of our sin and wickedness in order to be conformed more to the image of Jesus.
Comments rss Trackback“I’m all for dialogue. But as a replacement for preaching? This is a strange idea and could only come from a low view of Scripture” -Chandler
I was listening to a streaming event this afternoon about preaching. It was from the Acts29 BootCamp. And this quote came across my Twitter feed. It is making me think a lot.
As I create my thoughts around it, what are yours?
Leave a comment here on my blog. Or go to the Epic Church website HERE and leave a message in the forums. Twitter me HERE or email me at: jake@epicchurchonline.org
Comments rss TrackbackSitting in the Starbucks tonight studying for class and working on my sermon for Epic Church two weeks from now, titled: Growing a Movement. This picture came to mind as I see the people coming and going.
The church used to be the focal point of any community, the tallest building and the soul of the city. Only 50 years ago, it was the place where neighbors and near neighbors came together at least once a week. Today churches can be difficult to find in the city where the skyline is dominated by banks and business buildings. Still, the search for purpose goes on and the hunger for spiritual wellbeing is as great as ever. As it says in Jeremiah 29:7 - “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
It begs me wonder, what am I doing to on Jesus’ behalf for the welfare of the city? And what I am doing, is it enough? Maybe it is enough but could I be doing it better? And who could be doing it with me? Our communities have real problems, real hurts, real needs and as cliche as it sounds, Jesus is the answer. The question is though, how am I being Jesus to my community?
How are you being Jesus to your community?
Comments rss TrackbackI came across this article on the FoxNews.com website today. It caught my eye because it was talking about my gender, male, faking an orgasm. I thought I needed to read the article. It was a good read and I share it here because this information is sure to be included in the next EpicSEX series this fall at Epic Church.
Open communication within marriage is essential. Not only in the area of large decisions like which home to buy but also in the bedroom. For a healthy marriage to exist their must be open and healthy communication.
At Epic Church we desire to make our city a better place because of the Gospel. We deeply desire to see men and women marry and make babies. And it is a dream of mine to one day celebrate as a community hundreds and thousands of 50, 60, 70 year marriage anniversaries. Communication in all areas including the bedroom is 100% necessary. Maybe if you are a couple reading this article it would spur on some conversations about this area of your marriage.
Blessings!
The article:
Faking orgasm is almost always chalked up as a woman’s white lie. But a man can be just as guilty.The Orgasm Survey, conducted by economist Hugo Mialon, found that 24 percent — nearly 1 in 4 men — fake the “Big O.”
What’s perplexing is that society doesn’t acknowledge this issue enough. It’s supposedly only “her” problem. So what’s going on with him? And are there ways to have him trigger-happy in the saddle again?
When I was interviewing men for my first book, “The Hot Guide to Safer Sex,” I learned that players and committed men both fake it. Their reasons:
— He feels pressure to perform, including within a set amount of time. READ MORE
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