Quick Note

A Quick note, "Safe? 'Course He's not Safe! But He's Good" is Finally Up! YAY! Hope to see everyone there!
-David Shore

Who will you serve?

FOR ONLY ONE

A simple Gospel message,
In a little church one day,
Touched the heart of one who listened,
As the congregation prayed.

There'd been an invitation,
Inviting all to come,
But kneeling down to pray,
Was only one.


CHORUS
For only one,
He would have suffered,
And given up His life.

For only one,
He'd have borne the shame,
And made the sacrifice.

For God so loved the whole world,
He gave His only Son,
But I believe that He'd have done the same,
For Only One.


Now some may say, "Why bother,
For only one or two?"
But Jesus knows the feeling,
When the only one is you.

So if you hear Him calling,
Don't be ashamed to come,
Even if you're the only one.

CHORUS

For Only One,
He would have died for only one.
You are the One.

CHORUS

Who will You serve?

We will often say, "We will serve the Lord!" How much do we know what that is? Are we willing to do anything? Many of us say that we would die for Jesus, but are we willing to live for Him? More often than what we call earth-shattering displays of loyalty and sacrifice for our Liege, he calls us to serve. To be like Him.

I've Come To Serve

The disciples were assembled,
In the upper room.
They didn't know that Jesus,
would be leaving very soon.

They talked about His kingdom,
as they readied for the feast,
Who would be the greatest,
And who would be the least.

One said if there's a greatest,
I hope I'm the one.
Others talked of miracles,
They had seen and done.

No one noticed Jesus,
As He rose up from His seat.
Till knelt before them,
and began to wash their feet.


CHORUS
I've come to serve you.
I've come to serve you.

And if you know my Father's love,
The way you say you do.
Then you will serve each other too.


I wish I could have been there,
To see the look each man's face.
A single act of service,
puts us all back in our place.

But though we're called to minister,
And do miracles in His name,
Remember when you're sent by Him,
The reason that He came.

Chorus
Chorus

Yes you should serve each other too.

Yes you should serve each other too.

Yes, you should serve each other too.

At church we have a rather unique youth who has many talents, and his actionsare often altogether intriguing. He does have one characteristic though, that is somewhat less than endearing to his many friends. You see, when he *ahem* sits upon the porcelin throne, such a stench is released that even he cannot stand to be near the room.

On one certain day, several of us in the youth church had gone out to eat at a local restaurant, and he had eaten a rather large meal, and it was looking for a way out. So, being himself, he went into the youth restroom and *ahem* sat upon the throne.

What he did not know was that in about 15 minutes, we were going to clean the youth building from top to bottom, and that means every room.

Including the restroom.

Suffice it to say, when he opened the door, we scattered. Several of us had been talking near the hallway which leads to the restroom, and we instantly decided to leave that area for sweeter smelling places. However, the restroom still had to be cleaned. In the end, our Youth Pastor decided to (later in the day) clean the room himself, and most of us were overjoyed.

The sad thing was that none of us volunteered to clean that room. I would have been by the church again in an hour or so, and I could have told him not to worry about it, just leave the cleaning supplies by the door, and I could get to it later, but I didn't. Neither did any of the other youth with us.

That's just a comical example of how we often are not willing to serve as we should.

I've often said here that we don't love like we need to. If we were to Love, to truly Love, our instinct would be to immediately do what needs to be done. To care more about people than ourselves. To care about people more than even our Reputation. Jesus hung out with the prostitutes and thieves. To the Priests and Pastors Jesus' reputation was not very good. For the most part, Only to those who were of no use to those in power respected Jesus. Do you still want to be like Jesus?

Do you still want to say, "What Would Jesus Do?"

If Jesus came today, instead of 2,000 years ago, you would see him not in a church, but on the side of the road, laughing and talking with the prositutes. He would be in the middle of a Gang War healing the wounded and loving the lost. He would be Love.

Do you still want to be Like Jesus?

Do I still want to be the Face of Jesus to this world?

I love you Lord,
And I lift my voice,
To worship You, oh my soul rejoice.

Take joy my King,
In what you hear,
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.

Do we want to Love?

We could not only lose our lives, but would would almost assuredly lose our reputation. There is a scripture that speaks about life, but it applies here too.

"Then He said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" Luke 9:23-25

I believe that the same applies to anything and everyting we lose for Jesus. It seems that Jesus was setting a principle in motion that far transends what we understand. For whoever wants to save his reputation will lose it, but whoever loses his reputation for me will save it.

When we finally get to heaven, do we want our Jesus to look at us and tell us that we were so concerned with our reputation here that we missed the countless opportunities that were set before us?

If we follow Jesus like we ought to many (if not all) of our friends will not understand why we do what we do. They may even ignore us or desert us, but we will have done what our Liege-Lord commanded of us.

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.
-Rosalynn Carter

Let's make it Real. Real beyond real. Let us be a ray of heaven in this land, a Light unto the world. In darkness there is fear, and the more complete the darkness is, the greater it's strength. But in it's strength is it's greatest weakness. For the light of a single candle can hold all of darkness at bay. As for all the darkness in the world, it cannot put out the light of a single candle.

"So Does one take a light and hide it? Does one be a Light and then cover oneself in darkness? NO! "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

How do we shine before Men, so that they may see us and praise our Father in Heaven? Well, first off, to been seen, we have to be where people can see us. When you are in church, don't just sit in the back row and slip out as soon as service is over. When you start to worship, don't just stand there by your seat. SHINE before men! If you are in a church that wants to grow, start by growing yourself! Go in front of them and Lead them in worship.

Stand at the alter, do whatever it takes. So what if people think that you are trying to draw attention. You Are drawing attention, but to Jesus. Yes, you are drawing attention away from the music, from the preaching, from all of that, but if you truly are only trying to "Let your Light shine," you are drawing the attention to Jesus!

But first we must be striving for two things.

First we need to do everything in our power to be able to say what Paul said, "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ." -1 Corinthians 11:1 Follow Me, as I follow Christ. That is not something that we are often told to say, but Paul says to imitate (Follow) him as he follows Jesus, and he says to follow (imitate) himself. So in following him, we are supposed to be able to say to others, "Follow me as I follow Christ."

How do we do that? By striving for the second thing! That is Love.

Jesus has many things to say about Love. One of them is this: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"-Matthew 22:37-39, and another is this: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."-Luke 6:27-28

In 2 Peter 1:3-11 the Bible shows the exact steps we need to take to get to Love.

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

2 Peter 1:3-11

To me, this seems to be the core of what we are to do. Jesus said that the two most important things are Love. Loving God and Loving your neighbors. Peter says how to Love.

The next few posts here will attempt to define what 2 Peter 1:3-11 means. Consider this post... The Prelude. Consider these lessons... The Prelude to Love, The Journey of Faith.
-David Shore

We have lost ourselves.

Hey all, I thought I would explain what I'm about to do, in case no one has seen this style of teaching before.

This will open with a comment by someone, and be followed up with a question from the same person. Next, verses from the Bible will answer the question. These verses will be from the Disciples, Prophets, or any of those who followed God. Lastly, verses from the Bible, in which the writer is referancing something God was saying will finish with words of engouragement and/or challenge, with the last referance being an answer to the first question, quoted from the lips of Jesus, and cleaning up all that was said before.

" We have lost ourselves." -Aaron Bruun

"What will it take for Christians to wake up from this ever-deep slumber? What will shake this broken generation from the darkness that it is enwalled in?" - Aaron Bruun

"I have held my peace a long time, I have been still and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once. Hear you deaf; and look you blind, that you may see." -Isaiah 42:14&18

"I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor deamons, neither heaven nor hell, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity toward God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, you who are in the flesh cannot please God." -Romans 8:38-39&5-8

"For this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your Faith Virtue, to Virtue add Knowledge, to Knowledge add Self-Control, to Self-Control add Perseverance, to Perseverance add Godliness, to Godliness add Brotherly Kindness, and to Brotherly Kindness add Love.

For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins." -2 Peter 1:5-9

"And Jesus immediately said to them, 'Take Courage, it is I! Don't be afraid!'" -Matthew 14:27

"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.

These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them." -Isaiah 42:16

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." -Isaiah 43:1-3

"Follow Me!" -Matthew 4:19

And so, "Do not merely listen to the Word, and deceive yourselves. Do what it says." -James 1:22

Your brother in our Liege-Lord Jesus,
-David Shore

Quick Note and New Blog

Hey all, for anyone who has been reading these posts, I am starting a new blog this week, the title being, "Safe? Of course He isn't safe! But He's Good" It's address will be, http://www.outofborderland.blogspot.com

I'll also keep posting here, so stay tuned!

Hope to see you all there!
-David Shore

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

In heavenly armor we’ll enter the land
The battle belongs to the Lord.

No weapon that’s fashioned against us will stand
The battle belongs to the Lord.

CHORUS
We sing glory, honor, power, and strength to the Lord.
We sing glory, honor, power, and strength to the Lord.


When the power of darkness comes in like a flood
The battle belongs to the Lord.

He’s raised up a standard; the power of His blood,
The battle belongs to the Lord.

CHORUS

When your enemy presses in hard, do not fear
The battle belongs to the Lord.

Take courage, my friend, your redemption is near
The battle belongs to the Lord.

CHORUS 2X

We sing glory, We sing honor, power, and strength to our Lord.
We sing glory, sing honor, sing power, and strength
Power and strength
Power and strength to our Lord.

The Battle Belongs to the Lord.

That seems like something that we so often forget. Last Saturday (June 18th, 2005) I was battling against anger, fear, and rage within myself, I was doing all I could, and after a while of a loosing fight, Our Liege starting singing the first two verses of that song to me. I stopped, and said out loud, "The Battle Belongs to the Lord." And the battle was over, just "like that."

And I began to sing,

We sing glory, honor, power, and strength to the Lord.
We sing glory, honor, power, and strength to the Lord.

I worshiped like that for almost an hour. I really thought that it had been maybe 20 minutes at the most, but I was called for lunch and it had truly been nearly an entire hour. I guess that this is something that I needed to be taught, for if I had not been reminded by our God of the simple truth, I would most likely be soon discouraged as I begin to do everything I can to "Bring the Children Home" and things do not work as smoothly as I would like. But in truth, The Battle Belongs to the Lord.

Sometimes we go through great battles in our lives, times when we are in every essence beaten. It seems that we only then turn to Liege and not just ask for his help, but give the Battle back to Him. If we would only realize that the Battle is the Lord's, maybe we would not fall so easily, nor so often as we seem to do.

The battle belongs to the Lord.
No weapon that's fashioned against us shall stand.
The battle belongs to the Lord.

If we try to hold on to the battle and fight it on our own, we will not have Liege behind us, before us, and around us. If we remember to give our battles up whenever we walk in, Then No Weapon that's fashioned against us shall stand. For the Battle Belongs to the Lord.

And We sing Glory, Honor, Power and Strength to the Lord!
We sing Glory, Honor, Power and Strength to the Lord.

So often we say "The Lord helped ME do this," or "I overcame this temptation," or "I have won the victory." In doing such, we give glory to ourselves. In my own speech I hear myself saying these things. I say "The Lord is helping me through this" when I should really say "The Lord is carrying me through this, and teaching me along the way." Then we give Glory, Honor, Power and Strength to He who is Worthy, the Lord.

When your Enemy presses in hard, do not fear.
The battle belongs to the Lord.
Take courage my friend, your redemption is near.
The battle belongs to the Lord.

In Isaiah 35, the Bible says, "Be strong, do NOT fear; your God will come."
In Isaiah 41, the Bible says, "Don NOT fear, I am with you" and "Do NOT fear, I will help you."
In Haggi 2, 1 Peter 3, Lamentations 3, Jeremiah 46, they all say, "Do NOT fear!"

People define courage as being afraid and keeping on going. In Matthew 14 and Mark 6, The Bible says to "Take courage," but immediately after that, it says "Don't be afraid!" Through God, we will NOT fear!

The Battle Belongs to the Lord!

A book which I have been reading is entitled, "Your God is too Safe" and shows how we Christians have turned from thinking of God as a powerful and uncontrollable entity, into thinking of Him as nothing more than a figurehead who is safe and predictable. As C.S. Lewis said,

Safe? Of course He isn't safe. But He's Good.

Although He will demand things of us that we don't want to give, He is Good. We can be like Jonah, who obeys only after a Leviathon is sent after us, and even then with no love for the people and a griping mouth all the way, or we can be like Paul who sees Jesus and decides to joyfully give and change his life, loving those who hate him.

Even when we are fighting with ourselves and our own flesh, if we will surrender to God, The Battle Belong to the Lord!