Hard to believe it is almost April. It feels like yesterday we were packing up our home and saying our goodbyes. There are many days where it becomes easy to forget why we are here. More recently I've been noticing that when I begin to lose focus or perspective, the Lord gently reminds me why it was He called us north in the first place. This type of reminder occurred this past friday. As I was leaving lacrosse practice I noticed one of our senior players sitting off to the side of the field by himself. I walked over to him, sat down on the turf, and asked him what was up. He began to share with me how nothing in life seemed to be "working out." He didn't get into the college he wanted, he didn't feel like he as good of a player as he should be, and the list went on. After listening and encouraging him as his coach, feeling prompted by the Spirit, I looked right at him and said, "I know this may sound churchy, so forgive me. But if your hope is built on college, abilities, and circumstances in life, you'll never find hope in them. This world is full of empty promises of permanent satisfaction. I learned that my biggest need wasn't to get into my favorite college, or even be the best lacrosse player. My biggest need was to be forgiven of my sin and reconciled to God. Jesus met that need. He is my hope." He quickly responded with slight irritation in his voice, "I can't do this right now. I don't want to get into this." We both got up and began walking back up to the school, when he stopped me and said, "Look coach, what is good for you is good for you. My mom got all religious when things didn't work out in her life too." I turned to him and said, "I don't love Jesus or trust Jesus because I believe He will make me feel better about myself, or change all of the circumstances that I don't like. I trust Jesus because He is my only option. He meets my deepest need. He forgives me of my sin. He is my only hope. I don't have any other option." This lead to an incredible dialogue of everything under the sun in regards to spiritual things. We reached a point in the conversation where he turned to me and said, "So coach, you really believe that anyone who doesn't put their trust in Jesus is going to hell?" I replied, "Yes, I do. Not because I say so, but because Jesus himself said so. There is only one way to be reconciled to God, and that is through Jesus." What he said next, was one of these moments I'm talking about, where God in His grace reminded me of why he moved Kristin and I to the northeast. He looked me right in the eyes and said with a little bit of sarcasm, "But coach, SO many people don't believe in Jesus!"
It felt as though the world stopped for a minute. Here, in a parking lot in northern New Jersey, I was not standing with just some senior in high school who has trouble in his life. I was standing with a human being, created by almighty God, in His image, who has a soul and will spend eternity with God in all His glory, or separated from Him in everlasting punishment. His words felt like someone was physically stamping them onto my heart. What a great observation from someone who does not even know Jesus as His savior and Lord. Yet, how often do we make this observation? There are too many people who do not believe and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin, who do not know this hope offered to them in and through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul said in 2 Corinthians, "we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
As disciples of Jesus, we are called to the ministry of reconciliation. We must live our lives with eyes open, looking for ways to lovingly, compassionately, wisely, patiently, courageously, boldly, and appropriately engage in relationship with others with the purpose of sharing the message of reconciliation. God saved me, not only for His own glory, but to also be a witness and testifier of this grace and mercy given to me. I encourage you to take a minute and consider the hundreds of people around you, who do not have life, true life. May God give us hearts that long to see many reconciled to God for His glory and pleasure.
Prayer requests:
- I have the priviledge of preaching this Sunday at Emergence for Palm Sunday services. Pray God is glorified and people are drawn to the feet of King Jesus.
- We are looking for an apartment, with a move date of May 15 - June 1 Lord willing. Pray the Lord provides the place we need, in the right location, price range, and time.
- Pray for Kristin as she continues student teaching and grad school, while discipling young women in the church, and serving me faithfully. She is an amazing wife, and is balancing a lot on her plate right now. Pray for energy and joy as she works towards being finished with grad school May 9!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Update and Prayer Requests
God is so faithful. Sometimes I don't know where to begin with these updates because He does so much in every given week. Coaching lacrosse began last week and it has been humbling to see the Lord use this opportunity for the gospel to go forth. Last week I was able to share with one of our starting attack men, who is a senior this year, about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Coming from a jewish background, we were able to have a dialogue about who Jesus is, why Jesus came, what He accomplished through His death and resurrection, and why He will return. One of our midfielders even brought his family out to Emergence on Sunday! As I was having a conversation with some folks in the lobby of the church, I heard, "Coach Reed!" Not a common phrase for me to hear during a Sunday morning. He introduced me to his parents and his younger brother, all pretty new to things concerning church and Jesus, and he wanted his family to come check out where his coach "worked." Praise God for His goodness in drawing hearts. Pray that God continues to give me opportunities to be appropriate and confident in follow-up and to be faithful with the opportunities the Lord puts before me.
Two other exciting things to mention are:
1) I will be preaching again on Palm Sunday. Excited to share the Word of God again with these people we are growing to love and know in deeper ways every week.
2) We are officially looking for a place to move into, Lord willing by May/June! Please pray the Lord provides the right place in the right area in His perfect time.
One other prayer request to mention is that you pray specifically for the Lord's leading over the next couple of months in regards to our future. We know God called us clearly to work with/alongside Emergence, for such a time as this, and we know He has us in the northeast for the proclamation of the gospel and to see churches planted. We are beginning to have significant conversations with elders and leadership at Emergence about effective ways to reach North Jersey/the North East with the gospel considering my gifting. Kristin and I have always said that we will follow Jesus wherever He leads us and however He chooses to do so. We are reminded often of the Apostle Paul who planned, prayed, and prepared to go to Rome, and was redirected at times by the Holy Spirit. We want to live our lives this way. We want to have open hands to His calling on our lives. It is all about Him and not about us. Pray for humility, wisdom, discernment, and guidance as we walk towards the next steps for whatever God has for us.
D. L. Moody said it well, "Spread out your petition before God, and then say, "Thy will, not mine, be done." The sweetest lesson I have learned in God's school is to let the Lord choose for me."
Two other exciting things to mention are:
1) I will be preaching again on Palm Sunday. Excited to share the Word of God again with these people we are growing to love and know in deeper ways every week.
2) We are officially looking for a place to move into, Lord willing by May/June! Please pray the Lord provides the right place in the right area in His perfect time.
One other prayer request to mention is that you pray specifically for the Lord's leading over the next couple of months in regards to our future. We know God called us clearly to work with/alongside Emergence, for such a time as this, and we know He has us in the northeast for the proclamation of the gospel and to see churches planted. We are beginning to have significant conversations with elders and leadership at Emergence about effective ways to reach North Jersey/the North East with the gospel considering my gifting. Kristin and I have always said that we will follow Jesus wherever He leads us and however He chooses to do so. We are reminded often of the Apostle Paul who planned, prayed, and prepared to go to Rome, and was redirected at times by the Holy Spirit. We want to live our lives this way. We want to have open hands to His calling on our lives. It is all about Him and not about us. Pray for humility, wisdom, discernment, and guidance as we walk towards the next steps for whatever God has for us.
D. L. Moody said it well, "Spread out your petition before God, and then say, "Thy will, not mine, be done." The sweetest lesson I have learned in God's school is to let the Lord choose for me."
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Jesus Is Truth
I was humbled by the privilege of preaching this past weekend at Emergence. We have been walking through the book of 1 John as a church, and as it landed, the passage given to me was on false teachers in 1 John 4:1-6. It was an absolute joy to share the Word of God.
When one is preaching, they are preaching to themselves along with the congregation, they are speaking convictions from their own heart and life, and not just "at" the people before them. So in this particular case, that couldn't have been more true. I'll spare you all of the details in case you would like to have a listen, if so it's available at www.emergenceNJ.org. But from the overflow of personal conviction this weekend I want to ask you a question: Why do you believe, trust, submit to Jesus Christ? Why do you believe whatever it is you believe about the person of Jesus? Why do you believe He is truth? Is your ultimate belief of Jesus because of something you heard from a pastor? From reading a really good book from the library? A compelling broadcast or interview on T.V? Or because you have personally examined the scriptures to know truth just like the Bereans in Acts 17.
The faith we profess cannot be blind faith. It must be a faith seeking understanding. We must know the truth personally, not just intellectually, so that when we are confronted with false teaching, we are able to properly discern truth from error.
John's clear, when it comes to false teachers he has one primary litmus test: what do they say about Jesus? What's their Christology, their understanding of Jesus Christ? Many claim that Jesus existed, but listen with a literate ear to whether or not they confess Him as the true Jesus, not a re-fabrication or redefinition of Jesus. There's one thing every false system will do, and that is they will deny the deity of Jesus Christ. Anyone who comes up with any teaching that leaves out Jesus, the true Jesus, is not from God. Whether Christian Science to Islam, if they deny his true humanity and true divinity, they are not speaking from God. If Jesus wasn't fully human, he never could have identified with us as sinners. If He was only divine, he never could have died and his death would have been meaningless. If we deny his humanity than Christ has no right to stand before the Judge on our behalf, which means he never could have taken our place on the cross. Today, culture put's this very core of the Christian foundation into doubt - Christ's redemption.
Here is the humbling, big, glorious truth in all of this. How do we ultimately know truth? How are we able to overcome the deception and lies of the evil one? By our intelligence? By our own strength and stamina? By our good reasoning? We know truth only by His gracious, sovereign mercy in giving us listening ears and eyes to see through the power of His Holy Spirit. Do not take any credit for your listening ear or your confessing heart or your correct view of Christ. Give God all the glory. It all happened outside of you. If we stand with Christ, listening receptively and confessing loyally, it is because only the Holy Spirit is able. He opened our deaf ears and blind eyes. Be humbled and thankful. As a Christian, there can never be arrogance.
Take a minute and praise the true Jesus Christ: Jehovah saves, Anointed One, King, Messiah, Redeemer, Lord, Savior, for who He is and what He has done. All for the glory and fame of God.
When one is preaching, they are preaching to themselves along with the congregation, they are speaking convictions from their own heart and life, and not just "at" the people before them. So in this particular case, that couldn't have been more true. I'll spare you all of the details in case you would like to have a listen, if so it's available at www.emergenceNJ.org. But from the overflow of personal conviction this weekend I want to ask you a question: Why do you believe, trust, submit to Jesus Christ? Why do you believe whatever it is you believe about the person of Jesus? Why do you believe He is truth? Is your ultimate belief of Jesus because of something you heard from a pastor? From reading a really good book from the library? A compelling broadcast or interview on T.V? Or because you have personally examined the scriptures to know truth just like the Bereans in Acts 17.
The faith we profess cannot be blind faith. It must be a faith seeking understanding. We must know the truth personally, not just intellectually, so that when we are confronted with false teaching, we are able to properly discern truth from error.
John's clear, when it comes to false teachers he has one primary litmus test: what do they say about Jesus? What's their Christology, their understanding of Jesus Christ? Many claim that Jesus existed, but listen with a literate ear to whether or not they confess Him as the true Jesus, not a re-fabrication or redefinition of Jesus. There's one thing every false system will do, and that is they will deny the deity of Jesus Christ. Anyone who comes up with any teaching that leaves out Jesus, the true Jesus, is not from God. Whether Christian Science to Islam, if they deny his true humanity and true divinity, they are not speaking from God. If Jesus wasn't fully human, he never could have identified with us as sinners. If He was only divine, he never could have died and his death would have been meaningless. If we deny his humanity than Christ has no right to stand before the Judge on our behalf, which means he never could have taken our place on the cross. Today, culture put's this very core of the Christian foundation into doubt - Christ's redemption.
Here is the humbling, big, glorious truth in all of this. How do we ultimately know truth? How are we able to overcome the deception and lies of the evil one? By our intelligence? By our own strength and stamina? By our good reasoning? We know truth only by His gracious, sovereign mercy in giving us listening ears and eyes to see through the power of His Holy Spirit. Do not take any credit for your listening ear or your confessing heart or your correct view of Christ. Give God all the glory. It all happened outside of you. If we stand with Christ, listening receptively and confessing loyally, it is because only the Holy Spirit is able. He opened our deaf ears and blind eyes. Be humbled and thankful. As a Christian, there can never be arrogance.
Take a minute and praise the true Jesus Christ: Jehovah saves, Anointed One, King, Messiah, Redeemer, Lord, Savior, for who He is and what He has done. All for the glory and fame of God.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Identity
Kristin and I just returned home from an awesome weekend up in northeast Pennsylvania at the youth retreat with Reston Bible Church's students and staff. I was given the privilege of speaking on the subject of Identity, which, in all honesty, was one of the most challenging series of sermons I've had to preach in a long time. Mostly due to the personal conviction of the subject. We walked through what Identity is, namely, wherever we find our purpose and significance, whatever we value most in life. We then explained why the sin at it’s root, is idolatry, because we worship what we think has the greatest worth. We then ended with a proper understanding of who we are in Christ, and how we are to understand our identity in light of that mind blowing reality, and how that changes our daily act of worship. My continued prayer from this weekend is not only that God would expose these things that we worship and value above Him, but that He would open our eyes to the immeasurable value of Jesus.
Prayer Requests:
1) Please pray for me as I prepare to preach at Emergence this Sunday, the 26th. I'll be continuing the series in 1 John at Chapter 4:1-6 dealing with false teachers. After a long weekend of study and speaking, I need wisdom from God and His Holy Spirit to fix my gaze towards the message He wants to deliver through me on Sunday. Humbled by the opportunity.
2) Continue to pray for extra energy and perseverance for Kristin as she continues student teaching. She is working so diligently, sometimes 11-12 hour days due to grad-work on top of ST. Through it all she has great joy in what she is doing, and is continuing to be an incredible, servant to me. I'm very blessed to have her in this journey together.
One of the areas of greatest personal conviction from preaching this weekend, was understanding the truth in my own life, that sin is not only the breaking of rules. One of the primary ways the bible defines sin is not just by doing bad things, but making good things into ultimate things. Sin is the refusal to find my deepest identity in my relationship to God. Sin is seeking to get an identity apart from him. It is seeking to establish a sense of self by making something else more central to my significance, purpose, and happiness than my relationship to God. And we must be careful, sometimes these idols we worship and make as our identity we do in the name of Jesus. Our desire is what we want, not Jesus, and we believe that Jesus will get it to us quicker. What are you banking your joy and security in today? If it's not Jesus alone, you will be disappointed, and possibly angry or heart broken if it was to be removed from you. Where do you find your significance? In who you are as a chosen, loved, child of God? Or in the things of this world? What are you choosing over Jesus as the most important thing in your life, the basis of your identity, the source of your joy?
Because we all choose an identity, and whatever you base your identity in, becomes the object of your worship. And if it is not Christ, than when anything threatens your identity you will not just be anxious, but paralyzed with fear. If we take our meaning in life from our family, job, cause, achievement other than God, they enslave us, not liberate us.
Tim Keller said it right, "As people created in God’s image we will have a true, lasting, deep, rooted identity only in God’s love through Christ. Remember this, if your identity is not in Jesus it is in something else, if you live for your popularity and it doesn’t go well for you, you will be depressed. If you live for making a sports team or career, if it doesn’t work out for you, you will feel like a failure. But if Jesus is your center and Lord and you fail him, he will forgive you."
1) Please pray for me as I prepare to preach at Emergence this Sunday, the 26th. I'll be continuing the series in 1 John at Chapter 4:1-6 dealing with false teachers. After a long weekend of study and speaking, I need wisdom from God and His Holy Spirit to fix my gaze towards the message He wants to deliver through me on Sunday. Humbled by the opportunity.
2) Continue to pray for extra energy and perseverance for Kristin as she continues student teaching. She is working so diligently, sometimes 11-12 hour days due to grad-work on top of ST. Through it all she has great joy in what she is doing, and is continuing to be an incredible, servant to me. I'm very blessed to have her in this journey together.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Student Teaching, Preaching, Church Planting & Lacrosse
February is a busy and exciting month for us with a few new updates. Kristin has been enjoying her student teaching at Hawthorne Christian Academy, experiencing the demands of being a full-time teacher. It is so exciting to watch her love and passion for teaching increase each day. Our daily routine has shifted slightly as this has created long days for her, encouraging me to be a servant husband in the evenings and finding ways to love her well when I come home.
Next weekend I have the privilege of speaking at a retreat in Pennsylvania, February 17-20. A few days after returning, I will be preaching at Emergence in the current walk through of 1 John on February 26. On top of this, one other exciting piece of news is that I have been offered the position to coach the varsity lacrosse team at Wayne Valley High School! This will be a great opportunity for me to get involved in the community in northeast NJ and meet many who are outside the walls of the local gathering of the Church.
We are continuing to pray about the location of the church plant. One area we are strongly considering is a town named Paramus and its surrounding area. The Paramus area is located on the northeast side of the state. More than 50,000 people live there, it sits at the crossroads of major highways, 20 minutes outside New York City, a hub of cultural diversity, making it ripe for gospel centered kingdom impact. Our hands remain open with palms up as to where the Lord desires to go. We will continue to plan, prepare, and pray and move forward as the Lord directs our steps. Our main prayer as a couple has been that God would use us for His glory in whatever way He chooses.
This time in our life has brought a strong reminder of the power in the gospel. Beginning to settle into a place where so many do not know Jesus, and 5% of the population entering an orthodox evangelical church on a given Sunday, this is our hope for the revival of the northeast. As Charles Spurgeon said, "The Gospel does not need defending. If Jesus Christ is not alive and cannot fight His own battles, then Christianity is in a bad state. But He is alive and we have only to preach His gospel in all its simplicity, and the power that goes with it will be evidence of its divinity."
Prayer:
1) That God would give me (Mike) wisdom and proper balance of time as I prepare messages for the retreat February 17-20 and February 25 at Emergence while fulfilling duties in the Residency.
2) That God would continue to give us guidance and leading through the church's leadership and His Spirit where He desires us to plant His church.
3) God would continue to provide the energy Kristin needs as she student teaches through May 9
Next weekend I have the privilege of speaking at a retreat in Pennsylvania, February 17-20. A few days after returning, I will be preaching at Emergence in the current walk through of 1 John on February 26. On top of this, one other exciting piece of news is that I have been offered the position to coach the varsity lacrosse team at Wayne Valley High School! This will be a great opportunity for me to get involved in the community in northeast NJ and meet many who are outside the walls of the local gathering of the Church.
We are continuing to pray about the location of the church plant. One area we are strongly considering is a town named Paramus and its surrounding area. The Paramus area is located on the northeast side of the state. More than 50,000 people live there, it sits at the crossroads of major highways, 20 minutes outside New York City, a hub of cultural diversity, making it ripe for gospel centered kingdom impact. Our hands remain open with palms up as to where the Lord desires to go. We will continue to plan, prepare, and pray and move forward as the Lord directs our steps. Our main prayer as a couple has been that God would use us for His glory in whatever way He chooses.
This time in our life has brought a strong reminder of the power in the gospel. Beginning to settle into a place where so many do not know Jesus, and 5% of the population entering an orthodox evangelical church on a given Sunday, this is our hope for the revival of the northeast. As Charles Spurgeon said, "The Gospel does not need defending. If Jesus Christ is not alive and cannot fight His own battles, then Christianity is in a bad state. But He is alive and we have only to preach His gospel in all its simplicity, and the power that goes with it will be evidence of its divinity."
Prayer:
1) That God would give me (Mike) wisdom and proper balance of time as I prepare messages for the retreat February 17-20 and February 25 at Emergence while fulfilling duties in the Residency.
2) That God would continue to give us guidance and leading through the church's leadership and His Spirit where He desires us to plant His church.
3) God would continue to provide the energy Kristin needs as she student teaches through May 9
Monday, January 30, 2012
Marraige
Kristin and I just returned back to New Jersey after a great weekend with family and friends. I was given the privilege of performing the wedding for my sister, and it was an interesting balance of being the brother, as well as the pastor. I deeply enjoy attending weddings and officiating weddings, not only because I get to see friends and family, but because it is a time to behold the glory of God as we are reminded of Christ and His enduring, faithful love for His bride, the Church. God will never leave His bride, ever. Praise God. It was a gift to celebrate.
I was also compelled to do an honest self-examination of my own life and marriage. For those of us who are married, consider the truth about your marriage. Do you believe marriage is primarily about you, or God and His glory? Do you believe that marriage is about staying in love, or keeping covenant? What is true hope for any "successful" marriage? Is it to be the most loving, kind, patient person? Or daily believing the amazing reality of what Christ did for you on the cross? Namely, Him taking our entire record of debt that stood against us, and instead of holding them up in front of our face, put them in the palm of His Son's hand and drove a nail through them into the cross. This is the beginning of how husbands and wives learn to live in relationship together, we are blown away by this reality, and we get our joy, hope and life from this.
I encourage you, in your marriage and any relationship, to take all that you receive vertically from God through Christ in the gospel: His patience, mercy, grace, forgiveness, long-suffering, love, humility and kindness, and throw them horizontally to your relationships here on this earth. The point of marriage is not us. The point is too look at God with wonder and awe and say "YOU are faithful! YOU are forgiving! YOU are patient! YOU are merciful! YOU are humble! YOU never leave your bride!"
Greater than any problem in your marriage, your sin that separated you from Him, God "has forgiven all, by canceling the record of debt that stood against you and I with its legal demands and set it aside, nailing it to a cross." (Colossians 2:12-13). Believe this with all of your heart, and bend it toward your spouse.
I was also compelled to do an honest self-examination of my own life and marriage. For those of us who are married, consider the truth about your marriage. Do you believe marriage is primarily about you, or God and His glory? Do you believe that marriage is about staying in love, or keeping covenant? What is true hope for any "successful" marriage? Is it to be the most loving, kind, patient person? Or daily believing the amazing reality of what Christ did for you on the cross? Namely, Him taking our entire record of debt that stood against us, and instead of holding them up in front of our face, put them in the palm of His Son's hand and drove a nail through them into the cross. This is the beginning of how husbands and wives learn to live in relationship together, we are blown away by this reality, and we get our joy, hope and life from this.
I encourage you, in your marriage and any relationship, to take all that you receive vertically from God through Christ in the gospel: His patience, mercy, grace, forgiveness, long-suffering, love, humility and kindness, and throw them horizontally to your relationships here on this earth. The point of marriage is not us. The point is too look at God with wonder and awe and say "YOU are faithful! YOU are forgiving! YOU are patient! YOU are merciful! YOU are humble! YOU never leave your bride!"
Greater than any problem in your marriage, your sin that separated you from Him, God "has forgiven all, by canceling the record of debt that stood against you and I with its legal demands and set it aside, nailing it to a cross." (Colossians 2:12-13). Believe this with all of your heart, and bend it toward your spouse.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)