jakerasmussen.com

I have signed The Manhattan Declaration, have you?

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Here is a Southern Baptist Seminary President and member of the Gospel Collation on why he signed his name to the declaration.

I am of personal conviction it is so much better to state what I am for instead of making a case about something I am against.  This declaration is just that.  It brings about the convictions of Bible believing followers of Jesus into the culture of today.  I am laboring in my city to see her a better place.  To see her made good though the obedience of followers of Jesus.  And to that end I have placed my name on this declaration.  And not only do followers of Jesus value this three things covered by the declaration but so do many others in my generation.  It is time to take a stand and declare we value the family.

Genesis 1:27

27 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:

John 3:16

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 39^th 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 42^nd 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

I 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?

The 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.

Tuesday 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

• Started a new series today called Man to Man.
• 5 weeks of preaching without notes. Scary and a little anxious at times.
• Met two cool new people this morning.  One just recovering from brain surgery and 17 years old, the other a nurse.
• I LOVE EpicChurch and the family which is being created.
• Really enjoyed lunch today after the Gathering.
• Best part of my day, HANDS DOWN, was the family time at the mall and then swimming tonight.
• Totally stoked about the TTT coming Tuesday from the Tour de France.
• Really enjoy eating Milk Chocolate with my daughter really late at night.
• Pretty excited that my mom is on Facebook and Twitter.
• Amazed that the life of a follower of Jesus is easy yet extremely hard all at the same time.
• Excited that Sunday started another great week. Not excited about the amount of trash piled up for me to take out.
• I really enjoy having Mat Johnson at EpicChurch as the Emcee.
• Feeling guilty that I didn’t ride at all this weekend but looking forward to this week riding with Jackson and Kyle.
• I love being married to my best friend, Jennifer. Oh yeah and she help proof read all my posts!
• Last…  I predict…  M. Cavendish, T. Farrar, T. Hushovd

For the first stage of the Tour de France I pick…..  Cancellara.  He is a stud and has proven himself to go the distance during long TT’s and this one starts out rough with along uphill climb.  Although, I would really like to see Zabriskie in yellow tonight, as it IS the 4th of July and he in an American TT monster!

I am excited to be an American for sure.  July 4th.  Fireworks.  Food.  Friends.  I am really looking forward to being with friends this evening at the Jackson’s clubhouse.  Being a Pastor I long to see relationships being built.  A lot of times the church expects deep relationships to be build by ensuring people are there on a Sunday morning or even at small groups, and while I do feel those are important, relationships are strengthened during special events.  When you are sipping a cold beverage, hot dog in hand, talking about the latest NBA trade and the daily results from the TDF; relationships are made.

I am also excited about the next series starting Sunday at Epic Church.  It is called Man to Man.  Preaching from the Bible, I will strive to bring a message from Jesus about how a Man should live.  If a dude was sitting eye to eye, knee to knee with God over a cup of coffee, what would God say?  And before all of you start Twittering or emailing me saying, “Isn’t a better title for this series ‘God to Man’, I know and maybe even you are right.  But, from THE man to A man is what we are looking for here.  I am jazzed about this Sunday though.  Looking at 1 Timothy 4!

Again 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.

OU, Cavs, Obama, Prop8, and other random thoughts.

Video Blog - May 27th 2009

Video Blog.  Join me on Facebook:  Jake Rasmussen and Twitter: @jake_rasmussen