One of the buzz words of our day is the word “sustainable”. “Sustainable communities”, “Sustainable living”, “Sustainable environments”….

I am in the business of relationships and people, so I wanted to touch on a topic that I call “Sustainable relationships”.

Billy Graham’s wife Ruth used to say that “a good marriage is made up of two forgivers”. I like that because it gives us an option.

It gives us the option to not “bail” on the people in our lives. Yes, some relationships and some people are toxic and we should have the right to release them out of our lives .

As 1 John 2:19 states; “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”

I like what Dave Blunt is quoted as saying; “If you continue to do right things, eventually what’s wrong and whose wrong will eventually leave your life.”

But conversely I see an infirmity in our culture of what I call a lack of sustainable relationships …. A disease so rampant that keeps people, good people from staying in community together.

The old prophet in Amos 3:3 ask the question I am asking in 2014? “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?”

Jesus, as well as my camping propane stove have a few things to say about how to “hang in there” with people through out your life.

I like how Ashely Denton speaks to this issue. “Consider how an propane stove teaches something about abiding in Christ. If you think about it, a stove apart from it’s fuel source no longer functions according to it’s purpose.

One halmark of Jesus Christ’s lifestyle before his crucifixion and resurrection was the way he invited his disciples into close association with him. He chose a few to invest in. He knew that the best way to form a following of loyal disciples was to live with them in close-knit community. His actions show us that his mission was multiplication, and this would only happen if his disciples could learn to abide in the Father as he related to the Heavenly Father.

Jesus’ Disciples lived with him, learned how to serve, watched how to worship, perceived the proper posture for prayer, and developed a pattern of persistent proclamation of the Gospel by remaining close to him. They developed a habit of resilience to run their race by observing how Jesus ran his race passionately to the cross.

HOW JESUS CONDUCTED HIS RELATIONSHIPS
The Greek word for abide is: μείνατε (meinate). It is a word you would use to describe the palatable closeness you could observe between two really good friends. This abiding is exactly what we see when we read the eye-witness accounts of how Jesus conducted his life with the disciples in the Gospels.

BELONGING TO CHRIST…AS WELL AS THOSE HE LOVES
Here are a few other passages to help us grasp the meaning and importance of abiding in Christ:

but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. (John 10:38)

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. (Romans 8:9)

Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. (1 John 2:24)

DRIFTERS?
The opposite of abiding is to fade or disconnect from relationship. How easy it is in our walk with God to fade away, to chase the next shiny distraction. Yet in leaving the path of shoulder-to-shoulder closeness with Christ, we miss out on the good stuff of friendship with him.”

DISCOVERY CHURCH APPLICATIONS?
Ministry in the outdoors has a special way of using time in the outside the walls of the church building to expose where we have drifted away from the path with Jesus. Jesus knew this would be a temptation, so he retreated with his disciples quite often because he felt the need to be alone with them:
“Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples. “(John 11:54)

We all need to get alone with Jesus for some one-on-one time. In solitude we are shown again the incomparable joys of close relationship with God, and we are confronted by our frequent disloyalty to him. When we take the time to look at our tendency to drift away from the path will we begin to experience the fresh breeze of grace that comes through repentance.

ABIDE
Take some time to examine your relationships.
Spend some time in repentance for any ways you have faded away or avoided closeness with Jesus because of sin or laziness, etc.

To quote a friend of mine; “if a person disagrees with you, it doesn’t mean they hate you.” – Shawn Miller
Are your relationships with family and friends as close as you desire? Why or why not?
How might your relationships with friends, family, etc. be transformed by attending to your relationship with God?
Do you desire the close kind of relationship with Christ that the disciples had with Jesus? What is stopping you from stepping into this depth of closeness of Jesus? What is holding you back?

Loving God, Connecting People, Discovering Christ.

Pastor Steve

THE COLOR OF CHRISTMAS
Pastor Steve Lummer

RED: The Color of Christmas
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18

A DECLARATION WE ALL KNOW – “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

1. WHY RED IS THE COLOR OF CHRISTMAS.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Matthew 26:28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Seven tangible places Jesus sacrificed
1. Gethsemane 2. The Stripes on his back 3. The crown of thorns
4. His pierced hands 5. His pierced feet 6. His pierced side 7. his bruised body.

2. GETTING INTENTIONAL ABOUT GOD’S INTENTIONS.
1 John 4:7-21 – Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

3. THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS WHEN YOU LIVE IN GOD’S INTENTION
Romans 8:28-38 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ….36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

WHEN WE BLEED WE BLESS.
“Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.” Matthew 9:12 (message)
I just love the impact of some people that change history by their acts of courage.

The brave actions of one man ended the gruesome Coliseum games in ancient Rome for good. For his peaceful protest against barbarianism, Telemachus paid with his life. During the reign of the Roman Empire, Romans attended gladiatorial games at the Coliseum for entertainment. There gladiators would fight criminals, prisoners and vicious animals until death.

Telemachus was a monk. Telemachus was a little simple man who enjoyed living in the out back of beyond, places full of the wonders of God’s creation, a hermit. He was quite content and had no reason to want to do anything else, his life was devoted to prayer. But one day, he felt that God was telling him to go to Rome. He hated Rome. He enjoyed his monastic lifestyle, absent of the hustle and bustle of city life. But God needed him in Rome. So Telemachus left his reclusive lifestyle to obey God.

He entered the streets of Rome on January 1, 404 AD. Immediately, he was overwhelmed by the artwork and monumental architecture, and was also disgusted by the way man worshipped himself in that city.

He got caught up in a crowd of people and was almost involuntarily led into the Colosseum. As he sat in the there, he was shocked by the spectacle of bloodletting and sadism that was meant to entertain the masses. Humans massacring and butchering one another. He could not believe what he saw. As soon as the violence started, he stood up and screamed out, “In the name of Christ, stop this!” His voice carried well in the acoustic masterpiece. Everybody heard him. He ran down the stairs and into the center of the arena, all along repeating his plea, “In the name of Christ, stop this!” People laughed. Someone yelled from the stands, “Kill him! Run him through!” A gladiator threw him out of his way and then sent a spear right through Telemachus. The stadium fell silent. Telemachus, doubled over with the spear in his gut, blood spilling on the ground, dying, said one last time, “In the name of Christ, stop this!” A small old man, lifeless, blood soaked – dead – at the foot of a gladiator. His selfless act changing the course of history.
Silence. Then one man stood and walked out. Then another, and another, until the thousands and thousands of people in the Colosseum had left. But this was not the end. Although there were other factors, the death of Telemachus solidified the opposition to the gladiatorial battles. Emperor Honorius was so moved by Telemachus’ actions, he issued an edict, banning the gruesome gladiatorial battles. The Colosseum had witnessed it’s last fight. Telemachus was designated as a saint for his heroic stance for humanity and truth.
He had done more for God as well as humanity in those few minutes – impacting the lives of many than he had achieved all those years living in a cave out the back of beyond. It’s time for us too, to get out of our caves and yell to this world – IN THE NAME OF CHRIST, STOP THIS!!!

There is a big difference between living INTENTIONAL and living ACCIDENTAL.

We see it everywhere, the word…Xmas.

In our culture the symbol X can represent so many different things. Here are just a few for instance;
it may be used to name an unknown quantity, describe an obscene film such as X-rated, serve as a warning for poison and sometimes even used in place of Christ in Christmas (Xmas.)

In our culture since the letter X, in most cases, is used in a negative form, we just assume that (Xmas)
is negative as well. People seem to be outraged when seeing Christ’s name dropped and replaced by the symbol X. Every year I see signs, bumper stickers, shirts, etc. saying, “Put Christ back into Christmas.” I decided to do some research and check out the word Xmas. Wow, I was astounded at the result.

First, understand that it is NOT the letter X in our English vocabulary that is being represented here.
We see the letter X and obviously assume that it represents the negative. but that is not the case. The X originates from the first letter of the ancient Greek word for Christ – Χριστός (Christos), which translates in English as Christ. Therefore, the first letter of the word Christos is transliterated into our alphabet as X.

The idea of using X as an abbreviation for the name of Christ came into use in our culture with no intent to show disrespect for Jesus.

Actually, if you take time to study, even the symbol of the fish (which stands for Christianity) was derived from the first 2 letters of the ancient Greek word: fish -ΙΧΘΥΣ (Ichthys). This is actually an abbreviation for “Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr” – which means in English, “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.” The X in the symbol of the fish actually stands for Christ, and the connection of the X for the fish is the I which stands for Jesus.

There is a long and sacred history of the use of X to symbolize the name of Christ, 
and from it’s very origin it has never meant to be disrespectful.

I hope this blesses you with knowledge, so to not be offended, the next time you see the word Xmas.

Blog contents borrowed from Mikel French

Merry Christmas/ Merry Xmas

Here is the outline for the last message in the series Amazing Grazing taught at Discovery Church.

This series is based out of the 23rd Psalm.

AMAZING GRAZING
Part 4 “We The Sheeple”
Pastor Steve Lummer
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. Psalm 23:1-6 (kjv)

1. How can I get past the pain of my PAST?

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

1. DON’T IGNORE IT.
“I kept very quiet… but I became ever more upset. I became very angry inside, and as I thought about it, my anger burned.” Ps. 39:2-3 (NCV)

2. DON’T RUN FROM IT
“I wish I had wings like a dove. Then I’d fly away and rest. I would hurry to my place of escape…” Ps. 55:6-8 (NCV)

3. DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT
“To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.” Job 5:2 (GN)

4. DON’T RESENT IT
“You are only hurting yourself with your anger.” Job. 18:4 (GN)

WHAT GOD SAYS TO DO WHEN YOU HURT

1. LET GOD SETTLE THE SCORE.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

2. LET GOD SOOTH MY WOUNDS.
“You anoint my head with oil”

3. LET GOD SATISFY MY NEEDS.
“My cup overflows”

2. How can I have faith for the FUTURE?

A. Realize that God is WATCHING OVER ME!
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life

B. Realize that Heaven is WAITING FOR ME!
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:1,2

You cannot have a future when your past is bigger than your dreams.

Have a great life .

Pastor Steve