Rocky Balboa speaks of being reborn

Rocky Balboa finds redemption. Can Rambo be next?

"No matter what, you can overcome your past," he said. "With help, if you look to God, you can overcome your past and be reborn."

Hmm. That's an interesting quote. You may be wondering who said it. Sounds like it would be from a prominent evangelical leader, or maybe someone with a powerful testimony, or perhaps a youth pastor hoping to break through to a crowded room of young people.

Or, would you believe, Rocky Balboa? See the rest of the article here......

Most Thankful for Hope

This Sunday: "Most Thankful for Hope"

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I know for many people the holiday season is not the best of times.....For some it is about bad memories and for others the stress of life makes it hard to be thankful and enjoy the season...

I am glad we have thanksgiving before Christmas....In 1789, George Washington wrote, "I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks..."

Abraham Lincoln wrote, (1863) "No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens."

I am glad we have Thanksgiving before Christmas, because we often need to be reminded that God has blessed us much...I have found that in my life if I can focus on the blessings, the problems become smaller and far more tolerable, and even as James teaches, become opportunities for joy.

The hope that comes in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ makes our past, present, and future become opportunities for joy and a life full of incredible experiences. We just need to be reminded as we are often distracted by the situations of life.

This Sunday we will look at what I believe is the greatest gift from God of which to be thankful. Hope.... People without hope die a slow and painful emotional, spiritual, and sometimes physical death. The Bible says a heart without hope is sick.

Who Will Save Thanksgiving?

Wal-Mart announced this week they will return the word "Christmas" to their seasonal greetings. Good move, especially given their faithful hick-hop constituency. No more generic salutations that so many of us carped about last year, when many merchants dropped Christ from his own holy day so as not to offend non-believers.

We still have a way to go. The nearby nursery is advertising "Holiday Trees" and the local school is staging a "Winter Pageant" with small children singing, "We wish you a Merry Sparkle Season!" But before we restart the campaign to reChristianize Christmas, would someone please save Thanksgiving?

I thought we had made some progress a couple of years ago when retailer Macy's repented of renaming their annual streetside festival "The Macy's Day Parade," abandoning thanks altogether. But now, it seems to me the beachhead is slipping. This year the radio station in my city that plays wall-to-wall Christmas music plugged in Rudolph earlier than ever. The station manager saw two snowflakes outside his office window at 10 a.m. on November 2 and by noon had switched the format to 24-hour Christmas tunes. True story. Chalk one up for Santa. And the advertising department.

We're losing Thanksgiving. ---- See rest of the article here....

Changed Life - Oswald Chambers

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new —2 Corinthians 5:17

What understanding do you have of the salvation of your soul? The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is— has God changed the things that really matter to you? If you still yearn for the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above— you are deceiving yourself. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and thought. And when a crisis comes, you are the most amazed person on earth at the wonderful difference there is in you. There is no possibility of imagining that you did it. It is this complete and amazing change that is the very evidence that you are saved.

What difference has my salvation and sanctification made? For instance, can I stand in the light of 1 Corinthians 13 , or do I squirm and evade the issue? True salvation, worked out in me by the Holy Spirit, frees me completely. And as long as I "walk in the light as He is in the light" ( 1 John 1:7 ), God sees nothing to rebuke because His life is working itself into every detailed part of my being, not on the conscious level, but even deeper than my consciousness.

Bill Hybels - Greatest Obstacle to Evangelism Today?

Article from interview by Outreach Magazine in Christianity Today.

Then what keeps people from engaging? What do you identify as the greatest obstacle to evangelism today?

Bill Hybels: Fear. The average Christian in today's churches is afraid she won't get something right or that someone will ask her a question she can't answer and she'll blow the whole thing.

And I say to people, "OK, then let's talk about fear!" If you could hear the voice of God prompt you to walk across the room and start a conversation and you obeyed—even if, by your standard, it didn't lead anywhere—if that hearing and obeying constituted success, could you do that? Most people say, "Yes, I could do that."

Then what if the conversation progressed to you asking him about his spiritual background? If that conversation goes nowhere, would you still be OK, knowing that you heard God and obeyed? What if he asks you for a book or CD, and that doesn't go any further, would you still feel like you succeeded spiritually because you heard and obeyed?

The idea of doing only what the Spirit prompts and not being responsible for necessarily leading someone to Christ or correctly answering a ton of questions just boggles people's minds. When you break down evangelism to small interactions, people tend to relax a little.

Last Sunday Was Awesome

LCC People are incredible. Last Sunday was a most amazing day. We started off the day with a couple of God-filled worship services. All morning I saw God move in our worship times and in the hearts of the people in attendance. We tried something new. Instead of waiting for the warm summer weather and baptizing in a pool, we borrowed a portable baptismal and in the second service we baptized six life committed Christ-followers. It was a very special and moving time for the baptizees and those of us who watched and celebrated with them. As I stood next to the first to get baptized and we finished singing our last worship song of the morning, I was so overcome with the presence of God and the emotion that accompanied it, I wondered if I could even speak. I heard from several others the same report of such a strong presence of God as His children gathered and honored His Son Jesus through believer's baptism. God you are so good. Thank you for your many blessings. Please pray for the spiritual growth of the newly committed followers of Jesus.

I don't know who loved the block party the most Sunday night, the kids or the adults. Our block party was a huge success. Thanks to the volunteers and your LCC staff, our first block party ran like a well oiled machine. It was incredible. The LCC family had a great time serving and hanging out together while the guests from our community were served food and candy and fun for their kids. Morgan and her band entertained in the cafe and it gave us a great feel of what our future coffee house ministry will be. I talked to many guests and they were having a great time and thankful for the event. We think we probably had about 500-600 people throughout the night. At one time there were about 200 cars in the parking lot.

John the apostle wrote: No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us. 1 John 4:12

I thank God always that I am surrounded by God's love with skin. Thanks to the LCC family and to our friends who pray for and support God's ministry at LCC.

Obedience or Independence? Oswald Chambers

If you love Me, keep My commandments —John 14:15

Our Lord never insists obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an "If," meaning, "You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so." "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . ." ( Luke 9:23 ). In other words, "To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me." Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (see Luke 14:26 ). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.

The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.