Welfare Christianity

We all know what 'welfare' is, right? The majority working while the 'less fortunate' (or sometimes the 'less motivated') still get to pull in a paycheck. Well what if I told you you're living on a type of Religious Welfare? Think about it...

The majority of Americans work for their money getting taxed on every dollar so that some people without jobs (willingly or otherwise) still get their welfare checks.
The majority of Christians squeak by week to week on "Religious Welfare" nibbling on crumbs and doing bare minimum for God while comparatively few others are working around the clock being persecuted, ridiculed, and murdered to further the Kingdom. It's not enough to pop in to church on Sunday or to drop a few bucks in the offering plate each week. It's not enough to watch Joel Osteen or MC Hammer on the Jesus channel on Wednesday. You could memorize the New Testament in a week and own every Mark Batterson book known to man and it wouldn't be enough. Pray 24/7 and have more faith than all 12 disciples combined and it still wouldn't be enough.

In Matthew 28 Jesus tells us to go to all nations and teach them His commands. James 1:22 says, "22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." and chapter 2:14, 18, &26 goes on to say "14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 18But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."
Let me ask you a question, if you were out in public and someone was simply near you...would they know you're a Christian without ever talking to you?

**WARNING** You May Be Crazy!

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul risked his reputation to become "all things to all people so that some might be saved," in Acts chapter 2, the disciples spoke in tongues and people called them crazy and drunk.

When people hear us at Second Chance Church say we want to Risk Everything to Reach Everyone they probably think, "You must be crazy!" and maybe we are...
Filling bags w/literature&dog treats to pass them out around town,
Renting a helicopter&dropping eggs for Easter,
Extreme environment control during service (from fragrance control to blacking out the windows),
Voluntarily waking up at 5AM to set up an environment some people may not even wake up at 10AM to go to,
Starting a church that lives out of a closet,
15in15,
50in50,
Praying for double attendance by the end of the year,
Starting new campuses, and
Investing in new leaders, just to name a few. People think we're nuts, sometimes I wonder that about myself (but for completely different reasons)

In reality ones that tell us we're crazy are the crazy ones. I used to be one of those people, thinking you had to be crazy to believe in praying in tongues, had to be crazy to believe that resurrection can happen today, crazy to voluntarily watch some guy on TV yell at another dude in a wheel chair then slap him with a bible and he starts walking! Now that's crazy!!

But what's really crazy, is to think that our God is limited to the confines of our imagination, it's crazy to think that miracles stopped with the disciples. It's crazy to think that the Holy Spirit is somehow dormant or just not present. Let me tell you something, the Holy Spirit is here and when we decide to take a step of faith and start risking everything, to start looking crazy to other people, that's when we'll really see Him move. So let me ask you a question, Are you willing to Risk Everything to Reach Everyone, or are you too crazy?

God is good

What's On The Agenda?

     Something won't let me sleep. Maybe it's because we stayed up untill 2:30 this morning before sleeping, maybe it's because I've been sleeping all day. Maybe, it's because I've lost out on my time with God.

     These last few days have been pretty lazy...with nothing specific on the agenda it is easy to do nothing at all. It's easy to feel on fire for your calling but it is also easy to feel lazy when there seems to be nothing on the agenda. Lately I've been lazy. During Velocity 2014 there was so much on the 'to-do list' in just a few days and so much information and so many good ideas and great conversations that I was burning for days afterwards, getting to know the heartbeat of the people around you can do that. However, since being home it has dawned on me that I'm more of a candle in the window that a spark in a forest. I burn with passion for a few days, maybe weeks, but if no one drives by who will see my flame? I would much rather be a spark in a forest spreading the gospel fire uncontrollably to everyone who is near but that can't happen as long as I sit on my windowsill. So my empty agenda stops here, I will fill it with time set apart intentionally to be with my Daddy, to read His word and hear from Him. Then my flame will outgrow being just a candle, then I will be prepaired to hit the streets like a spark in a forest and spread His love to those I meet. This may not make sense and it may seem like I'm all over with my metaphors, but Daddy knows what I mean. Let me help you understand better too, are you a candle in a window waiting for people to come to you? Or are you a spark in a forest igniting those around you for Christ? What's on your agenda for today?

God is good