I've decided how I'm going to do it. I've decided. I'm walking to Santa Monica, California from Jacksonville, Florida. Yup! That's how it's going to happen.

Interstate 10 is a stretch of Highway that begins in Jacksonville, Florida and extends through Florida (a very boring stretch of road) Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. It extends 2,460 miles. And I'm limiting myself to three modes of transportation - Walking, Running, or Biking. And I'm letting myself take friends along. Anyone who wants to walk with me, can help me get to Santa Monica. How?

I'm goal-oriented. I need a REASON to do something. I need a reason to BE something. So, I've established an OBTAINABLE GOAL. Some ask, "How is walking to Santa Monica an obtainable goal?" Here are the particulars...

First, I am not leaving Lake Park. I am making a chart, and I'm going to chalk off mileage as I walk here. For example... if I walk two miles on Thursday, then I now only have 2,458 miles to go until I reach Santa Monica.

Second, I'm accepting help. Why? Because no one can be truly successful at what they do or who they are without help. My friend Karen is an avid walker - like 5 or 6 times a week she walks. If she'll help me get to Santa Monica, then I can count her mileage, too. How does that help me? Because anyone being healthier is a positive thing. Especially people I care about.

If my children walk with me, and we walk 2 miles TOGETHER - then that's a total of 6 miles I can chalk off on my trip to Santa Monica. My goal is to REACH SANTA MONICA by March 3, 2008 - My 39th birthday.

Now what happens after that? Well, the earth's equator is only 7,926 miles. If I've walked to Santa Monica... that would only be 5,466 miles left to go, to get all the way around the world, (through the oceans, avoiding the Middle East altogether) back home.

I'm going to let myself do it any way I can. Because the point is not RULES... the point is GOAL. I want to get somewhere. If I walk three times this week, and only get three miles... then praise God, that's three miles off the 2,460 miles. But next week my stamina might be up to 5 miles. Who knows.

I am calling on all of you - especially those who are tired of sitting there. Help me walk to Santa Monica. If you can only muster a half mile each week, that's a help - heck, that would be 26 miles a year. I will keep track of your mileage, too, and will let you know at the end of the year how far YOU carried me on the trip.

You're probably already walking farther than you think. Buy a pedometer - and wear it at WalMart... and the mall. You probably already walk a lot farther than you imagine possible. I probably put in 2 or 3 miles every time I'm in WalMart.

So PLEASE help me walk to Santa Monica. I need your help. If you want to run, that's fine. If you'd rather ride your bike, okay. The only thing I won't count are your frequent flyer miles (no, I don't take those any more than the Airlines do) and your car mileage. No motorized or jet powered vehicles. Nothing by rail... unless your riding one of those pump-cars. Stationary bikes work. Treadmills work. If you're being chased for looting (as long as you're keeping an accurate count of mileage) that works. If the villagers behind you have pitchforks (and that happens to me way too much) okay, but I find it hard to keep up with the pedometer on those days.

Help me walk to Santa Monica. I need your help. I need your feet. I need your support. I've got a little over a year. I'm going to solicit church people. I'm going to solicit Internet Friends. HELP ME WALK TO SANTA MONICA.

See you at the PIER! Race ya!

I came to a startling realization this week. I climbed out of the bed, and went into the bathroom and stood staring at the mountanous form before me in the mirror. I had become Matt Foley.

Matt Foley was a character from Saturday Night Live, back in the late 1980's & early 1990's. He was a Motivational Speaker, who's life was a shambles. His catch phrase was "I live down by the RIVER in a VAN!" In other words, if you think your situation is tough... take a gander at mine.





Well, I've decided that Matt Foley is going to be motivation. I'm going to print his picture, and put it all over my house. I'm going to print him on t-shirts, and put him on my bathroom mirror. I'm going to use it as a visual reminder that there is a skinny person who's been devoured by Matt Foley, (the chubby who's taken over MySpace). And he's climbing out... STARTING NOW.

FRUIT THAT REMAINS

Tonight, a subject that bears on this issue of church growth; BEARING FRUIT. Fruitfulness isn’t a choice. It’s a commandment of the Lord.

From the time Adam and Eve were told to be fruitful and multiply in the NATURAL. From the day when the disciples were told to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, to be spiritually fruitful,

God expects fruit. Tonight, we’re going to discuss fruitfulness, and the implications it has for our church.

John 15:16

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

We didn’t pick Him. He picked us. “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” We know this is the truth. God picked us. When we ask Jesus into our hearts, we feel like we’ve picked Him. But the truth He picked us. He loved us first.

1 John 4:10
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We love Him because He first loved us. We are picked by Him for a purpose. You were picked for a purpose. God chose you in Him. He created you for a specific purpose. You’re picked.

Eph 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We’re chosen for that very reason. That’s the depth and the premise behind our relationship with Him. We didn’t initiate this relationship with God. He did, and because of that, He’s in the driver’s seat of our hearts and lives. But why did He pick us?

He picked us for an ORDAINED PURPOSE.

“…and appointed you to go and bear fruit…”

You’ve been ordained to PRODUCE FRUIT. That’s your purpose. That’s my purpose. Fruitfulness ought to be our goal. It ought to be our purpose. What do I mean fruitfulness?

By fruitfulness – I mean being PRODUCTIVE in the kingdom of God. PRODUCING SOMETHING OF VALUE FOR GOD’S PURPOSES. The unfruitful Christian is not fulfilling his or her ordained purposes. We’re ordained for FRUIT. Fruit, winning people to Christ. Fruit, building the local church. With our time, our talent, our tithe. It’s our CALLING, to be fruitful. Unfruitfulness is not in God’s plan, He never designed that for us.

Bethel Church of God has been DESTINED by God to be a fruitful church. That’s what God has ordained that we be. I am destined to be fruitful. That is what God has ordained me to be. We’re ordained to FRUITFULNESS. It’s wrapped up into us, it’s part of the purpose for our creation.

But is that it? Unfortunately, no. Bearing fruit is NOT ENOUGH, we haven’t just been called to fruitfulness. We’ve been called to BEAR FRUIT THAT WILL LAST. “…fruit that will last…” Bearing fruit is not enough, we have to become bearers of LASTING FRUIT. Fruit that will be around for a while. Fruit that isn’t here today, and gone tomorrow. There are plenty of churches that are growing. But growing is not enough. We need to grow, and STAY GROWN.

Flash fire is here today, and gone tomorrow. But we need to be producers of fruit that will last. Fruit that will be here tomorrow. Fruit that, if Jesus tarries, will be here in the next generation. We want a fruit that is enduring. Fruit that can feed people tomorrow. Fruit that will change a generation. Fruit that will change a world. Producing for God is so important.

We know that there is a necessity to bear fruit. If we don’t bear fruit, according to John 15, we’ll be cut off. God help us if we don’t bear fruit. John 15, the first two verses read like this…

John 15:1-2
15:1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

God HELP US to be fruitful. But we can’t be bearers of FRAGILE FRUIT. The fruit is no good if it doesn’t last. The fruit is no good if it’s not enduring. You and I have to decide that we’re going to be bearers of LASTING FRUIT. How do we do that? We do that by being faithful. Staying in the church through thick and thin. Being faithful, regardless of what comes. It’s about being in through good times or bad. It’s about finding the place where God has called you to be, and BLOOMING where you are planted.

We bear lasting fruit through investing. Investment means putting your resources of TODAY, into something you might not see a return on until TOMORROW. Christianity is like that. Children’s Ministry doesn’t yield its truest reward until the children are grown. Bus Ministry won’t reap its truest rewards until the kids grow up. Investing – using today’s resources for tomorrow’s blessings.

We bear lasting fruit through prayer. Praying to the Lord of the harvest… Praying that God will give us lasting fruit.

You might not realize this, but there is a secret wrapped up in this verse. Being a bearer of lasting fruit is one of the secrets of getting your prayers answered.

“…Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name…”

Whenever you become a bearer of lasting fruit. Fruit that isn’t fleeting. Fruit that stays around after the work stops. Fruit that is productive and useful. The scripture tells us that, “Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name…” Then, your prayers will be answered. Productiveness, then is a key to getting a hold of the throne of heaven. God answers the producers.

When Bethel Church of God is a productive church, producing LASTING FRUIT, then God will work to answer her prayers. When you and I become productive, producing LASTING FRUIT, then God will work to answer our prayers. But why is that? The answer is in this very chapter.

John 15:2-4
2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

He cuts off those that don’t bear fruit. Those that DO BEAR fruit, He tends to, and nurtures, He refines and prunes, so that it’s more fruitful. He wants the FRUITFUL BRANCHES to be MORE FRUITFUL. So He tends to them; He answers their prayers; He focuses on their needs; I believe that He pays more attention to those who produce for the Kingdom of God. He pays more attention to their needs. The goal is, He wants fruit, but it needs to be lasting fruit. We need to be fruitful, but it must be fruit that remains. Fruit that will be around (if Jesus tarries) beyond us. Fruit for today but also, fruit for tomorrow.

Sunday Morning, January 28, 2007

Colossians 3:1-23:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

When I talk about people… I need you to understand that I’m not specifically talking about you necessarily… I’m talking about all of us. So I don’t want anyone to think I’m blasting you, and ignoring me. This isn’t me pointing at you… this is me assessing generalities about PEOPLE. People are my business… and so I have an obligation to sort of size them up.

But people can be soooo stupid sometimes. I’ll use my own self as an example. I know I’m on the heavy side… AND YET I still bend my arms. KNOWING what’s wrong, and yet still doing the WRONG THING. Knowing that it’s taking years off my life… but I still go to the BUFFET. We all know what a BUFFET IS; A BUFFET is a “BUNCH OF UGLY FAT FOLKS EATING TOGETHER.” I look in the mirror… and can see that bulbous belly. And yet, if you say, “RYAN’S,” I’m like “YEAST ROLLS!”

Explain it to me; Why do people wind up DOING what will ultimately hurt them? We are quick to say suicide is a sin. But what about the people that are killing themselves SLOWLY?

Jannise and I know a man who weighed about 350 lbs and he was diabetic. For the diabetic, sugar is POISON. And yet, that’s what this man wanted. Every covered dish dinner he’d send his wife to the serving line for “just a little slice of that coconut cake.” He was constantly sneaking a cookie here and there, and we watched as the cut off toes, and then his feet, and then his legs. We watched him get heavier and heavier and heavier. The sugar killed him but he wouldn’t stop eating it.

How is it that we have ALL the facts but WE STILL DO STUPID THINGS? We know cigarettes will kill us. We know they have the same ingredients as rat poison. We know that they will give us cancer, and emphysema. We know that they can spur on heart problems… angina… even cause strokes. And yet, with all the facts, there are still people that puff away. And if you smoke, please know that I’m not sitting there faulting you. Addiction to nicotine has been PROVEN to be more addictive and harder to quit than heroine.

We know drinking alcohol will lead to addiction. We all know addiction leads to stupid behavior. And yet people DRINK LIKE A FISH and then decide, “I’m gonna DRIVE HOME.” Drinking, and driving a vehicle. Or drinking, and waking up with the Lord knows who…

What’s your point, preacher? People have this intense ability to love people and things. And I’m not telling you for a minute that it’s not good to love. It’s good to love people. It’s not good to love the wrong people. All the girls are looking for “Mr. Right.” Too many girls settle for “Mr. Right Now.”

Love is great. Loving the wrong things is detrimental. And yet we have a WHOLE WORLD of people who love the wrong things. People who love their drugs and their alcohol and their pills. People who are so desperate to BE LOVED they love too many people and wind up with some disease or with a baby before they’re ready to have one. People who love food so much they are killing their bodies by gorging them until they look like ticks ready to pop. People who love to be thin so much that they starve themselves, until they look like skin stretched over a skeleton. Some who are so spiritually hungry, they’ll pursue the devil or witchcraft or fortune tellers just to get an answer. THEY HAVE THIS INCREDIBLE LOVE but they LOVE THE WRONG THINGS. Some are saying under their breath right now, “Well, that’s the world, preacher. That’s not us… that’s not where WE LIVE.”

I guarantee you this, there is a lot more self-destructive behavior going on in this church than you can imagine. “Why, has somebody told you something?” Nobody has to tell me anything. I can tell you that it’s happening because there are HUMAN BEINGS in this room. Human beings have issues; and if you say, “I don’t have any issues…” Honey, that’s the worst issue of all.

1 John 1:88 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Romans 3:2323 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Rom 3:10There is none righteous , no, not one:

Titus 3:3-53 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

And even Jesus said when they called HIM “GOOD MASTER…”

Mark 10:18“…there is none good but one, that is, God.”

Isa 64:66 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags ; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

We have to get to that place of honesty where we all admit that we’re human beings; Where we all admit, “I’m not there yet…” Where we all admit… “I’m sanctified… but there’s a process going on in me…” “He’s taking me someplace, but I’m not there yet.” “I’m a work in progress.” “I’m a lump of clay on a wheel.” “I’m still in the molding process.” “I’m still in the forming process.” “I’m being worked on.”

And we have to get to that place where we acknowledge “We’re a bunch of MESSED UP PEOPLE going after MESSED UP PEOPLE.”

It can change our perspective a little bit. “They aren’t going to mess up our little church. We’re ALREADY real people, with real problems.” They need the Lord. They need us. This pursuit of Christianity… more specifically, this pursuit of Jesus Christ ought to transform the seeker. It ought to change us. It ought to move us. It ought to be obvious. There should be no question about it.

Paul poses the question; “If ye then be risen with Christ…” If. If. If. If. If. That’s a challenge. It demands a proof. If you’re really risen with Christ, put your money where you mouth is.

Folks, in this WICKED and PERVERSE generation it’s time for us to put up, or shut up. It’s time for us to put our money where our mouth is. It’s time to demonstrate our FAITH. If you’re really risen with Christ SEEK THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE ABOVE.

Paul was saying to the Colossians, “If you’re really a believer, the things you seek ought to be HEAVEN’S MATTERS; HEAVEN’S BUSINESS; HEAVEN’S HEART.” You ought to be seeking those things which are heavenly. Not a new concept for the believer. Jesus established it over and over again.

Matt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Go after God’s business first. Bethel Church, we have a burden of proof on us. If we’re really believers, if we’re really risen with Christ we’ll seek those things which are above. We’ll seek the plan of God, the will of God, the purpose of God. The burden of proof is on us.

When are we going to start DEMONSTRATING this faith? And let me tell you, DEMONSTRATION OF OUR FAITH is more than token worship attendance once a week. It involves a lifestyle of living for the Master. Not just Sunday… not just Wednesday… but EVERY DAY! If we’re really RISEN WITH CHRIST, Jesus ought to be an every moment of every day thing for us. We ought to eat Christianity, drink Christianity, sleep it, and live it. Because in these last days, recreational Christianity isn’t going to cut it. This faith isn’t for the hobbyist. It isn’t for the part-timer. It isn’t for the amateur enthusiast.

“How can you say that preacher?” Have you read the same Bible I’ve read?

1 Peter 4:17-18
17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

If the righteous are only BARELY going to get in, where will the PART-TIMER appear?

Friends, we have to get serious about this Christianity. We have to get SERIOUS. We’ve got to have a READJUSTED LOVE. Paul says, “ Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Set your affection. That word for “Set your affection…” is the Greek word PHRONEO. It literally means “EXERCISE THE MIND.” Exercise your mind ON THINGS ABOVE. Exercise; that implies PRACTICE… REHEARSAL. EXERCISE YOUR MIND on things above. PRACTICE THINKING ABOUT THE HEAVENLY… THE DIVINE.

I think one of the biggest problems with the church today is that we are thinking about ANYTHING but Him. Anything BUT the Kingdom. But you and I have to do this thing differently. We have to BECOME different. We have to be different. We can’t just PLAY church; we have to be the church. This can’t just be an exercise in futility; this has to be FAITH EMPOWERED; FAITH INACTED; FAITH GIVEN LEGS; FAITH BOUND UP WITH WORKS.

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above. LOVE THE RIGHT THINGS. Don’t love those things which can harm the cause. Don’t love those things which ROB YOUR LIFE OF FAITH AND HOPE. Don’t show an affinity for things that wind up damaging you. We’ll fuss at the diabetic that loves sugar. We’ll fuss at the two pack- a-dayer, with a hole in his throat that talks with a synthetic vocal box. “Why doesn’t he just quit smoking?!” And yet we sabotage our faith. We ignore the Bible day in and day out, and wonder why we can’t understand it.

We only pray when there’s a problem. If we took care of our cars like we take care of our faith, we’d throw a rod within a year, bust a block. Forget that; we’d be on the side of the road with no gas, wondering why the car won’t go. If your car won’t go without gas, why in the world would you expect your faith to move without prayer? If your car won’t go without clean oil, why in the world would you expect your life to function without the HOLY GHOST? If your car has to have tires, why would you expect your life to move without the support of the Word of God?

Tell me this; if your electric goes out, what do you do? Let me tell you what I do. My first thought is, “I need to call and see what’s going on. I wonder if it’s just us or is it everyone else.” “Maybe someone had an accident and hit a transformer.” But there’s always that thought in the back of my head. “Did I forget to pay the bill?”

When our lights go off, we’ll ask questions. But when our lives are in darkness, why don’t we start asking questions? “Have I missed God someplace? Have I grieved the Holy Ghost? Have I missed the mark? Is God trying to tell me something? Have I been to the altar?”

Why do we ask questions about the natural, but we’ll ignore the spiritual? Why? Why? Church, we have to start LOVING the right things. We can’t keep our affections on the world, and expect this church to go to where God wants it to go to. We need prayer meeting on a regular basis. Fasting doesn’t need to be a once in a while thing; it needs to be a regular thing. We need to stop thinking of the Bible as a space-filler in the Sunday School Quarterly. We need to start thinking of it as a LAMP unto our feet and a LIGHT unto our path.

“Well, what are you suggesting, preacher?” Give him fifteen minutes a day in a devotional time. Give him 15 minutes a day in prayer. “I can’t find 15 minutes alone.” Then leave your honey with the kids and DRIVE TO Lake Park; buy a loaf of bread and drive home. It will take you 15 minutes to get there, and 15 minutes to get home, that’s 30 minutes you can pray by yourself in the car. Leave the radio off, leave the kids at home (not alone) and drive for that loaf of bread and PRAY.

Some say, “I don’t need no bread…” You’re missing the point. Get your 15 minutes with God NO MATTER WHAT.

We’ve got to set our affections on things above, and not on the earth. We’re in a country full of spiritual diabetics because they can’t process the sweetness of the things of God. And yet they are constantly gorging themselves on the fat of televangelism and they are wondering why they are spiritual shutting down. There are spiritual anorexics, who are starving themselves of the things of God, and they wonder why they don’t have the strength to walk across the floor for God, let alone do anything of value. Those who introduce the toxins of the world into their faith watching the demonic television and movies; listening to the music that drains the spirit. And then we wonder why we have spiritual cancer; spiritual disease; we wonder why our lives are falling apart.

“Well, that’s different preacher.” Is it? We know what we’re supposed to love and yet we love what’s bad for us. We know what we’re supposed to be, and yet we become something else. We have to get serious about this thing.

I just want to know what your week will look like this week? You’ll work. You’ll do your grocery shopping. You’ll go to school. You’ll do your laundry. You’ll do some of that yard work you’ve been neglecting. You’ll cook some collard greens. You’ll fuss at your youngins’. What will your week look like? What? Tell me?

What if SOMEHOW, we DID KNOW when Jesus was coming back? What if we somehow found out that Jesus would return NEXT SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2007 at 11:45 a.m.? What if we were able to find this out; ONE WEEK FROM TODAY? You now have that information. Now, tell me, what would your week look like?

I can guarantee you, you’d be up here asking me after this service “Preacher, can we have a prayer meeting tonight through till tomorrow morning; all-night prayer.” I’d say, “Well, how are you going to eat?” You’d say, “Oh, I won’t need to eat. I’m fasting. Jesus is coming. I have to make sure my heart is right.” You wouldn’t care a thing about work, because your job wouldn’t matter in 7 days. You’d forget about the grocery shopping. “We’ll make it on what we have; we don’t need to waste one minute walking around a store. We need to be praying.” You’d say, “Forget about school; my kids need to be in the presence of God.” You’d go over the plan of salvation with them about a dozen times in those next few days. You’d say, “What’s a little dirty laundry? I’ll leave it for the heathen to wash once I’m gone. I’m going to heaven.” You wouldn’t care if your yard work got done. You wouldn’t even think about the collard greens. You’d do a lot less fussin’ and a lot more loving.

Jesus coming would change the course of your week. Why? Because your mind wouldn’t be on things of this earth; your affection would be on heavenly things. I wouldn’t have to beg you to sing. God wouldn’t have to drag tears out of your eyes. You’d weep spontaneously thinking about heaven and the loved ones you’ve lost. You’d spontaneously break into songs like “Amazing Grace” and “Blessed Assurance” I can’ promise you, you’d become the most passionate powerful Christian in the world. You’d pray without ceasing. You would. Trust me.

Do you know how I know? Because on 9/11, I was pastoring a church in New Orleans. And when those planes hit the towers I had a whole church full of people that were convinced that the end of the world was on us. They all wanted to pray then. They all wanted to sing. They all wanted to worship. They all wanted to get serious about God then.

A lot of folks have let Christianity become like a big game of Russian Roulette. Everyday they gamble that THIS won’t be the day that Jesus comes back. They forget their Bible for most of the week. They don’t utter a prayer unless someone is looking. They don’t ever share their faith. They don’t ever get serious about the things of God. You’d have to beg them to sing in a choir or share a solo or read a scripture or pray in public. And they are banking that Jesus won’t come today.

But one day the Rapture gun is going to go off. All our “woulda, shoulda, couldas” aren’t going to matter one bit. The only thing that’s going to matter is WHERE YOUR AFFECTION is.

If you have to, PRETEND. Pretend you only have ONE WEEK till the Rapture. Pretend you only have ONE WEEK to make full proof of your faith before God. Pretend you have to justify the claim that you are RISEN WITH CHRIST. ONLY ONE WEEK to seek those things which are above; that place where Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father making intercession for His own. ONLY ONE WEEK to set your AFFECTION on the things which are above. ONLY ONE WEEK to clear your mind of the things on this earth. Don’t waste the final moments of time worrying about STUPID THINGS. Don’t waste time’s final glimmers worrying about TEMPORAL THINGS. SET YOUR MIND on things above. “What preacher?” SOULS. PRAYER. THE BIBLE. BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST. EXPRESSING LOVE. Don’t waste a minute of this life on things that don’t matter. Get yourself a readjusted love before a bad love winds up killing you.