A Common Theme

Last Sunday was week #21 of our study through the book of Revelation called The Reckoning. Almost every Sunday since February 19, we’ve been in the book of Revelation, and we’re loving it! There are many great things about expositional, verse-by-verse teaching, but one of my favorites is the variety of topics I end up teaching on. Expositional teaching forces me to teach things that I might naturally want to skip over.

Case in point: a message I called “Under the Knife” from Joshua 5, where Joshua circumcised a bunch of guys on a hill that became known as “the hill of the foreskins.” Yeah. You read that right. Imagine showing up to a church for the first time and repeatedly hearing about foreskins and circumcision!

Last Sunday, I taught on the Antichrist and his Satanic worldwide domination at the end of the world. Not exactly an easy text, or one that’s filled with tons of uplifting, encouraging verses.

Before we started Revelation, I spent 2 weeks doing an overview of the entire Bible – a series I called “The Book.” It was so fun and a great review for everyone before we dove into the final book of the Bible. Week 1 was on the Old Testament, and week 2 was on the New Testament.

One thing that all 3 of those messages had in common (among a few things) was that God used all of them to bring people to repentance and make public professions of faith!

Only God could use a review of 39 Old Testament books, a message about foreskins and circumcision, and a message about Satanic world domination through the Antichrist to bring new life in Jesus! Of course those are just 3 of many messages that God has used that way at Awaken, but those are a few of the most memorable ones.

Here’s the point: I make a concerted effort, every time we gather, to always take it back to the common theme of Scripture (and Awaken Church): the cross of Jesus Christ. Like Paul said…

1 Corinthians 2:2 - For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

When Paul left a city, church, or group of people, he wasn’t content with knowing that they thought he was a good speaker or that he had persuaded them into a new line of thinking. He had a special gift and made a conscious effort to take every conversation, topic, and witnessing opportunity back to the common theme of the cross. He lived for that. He would do anything necessary and make any sacrifice he needed to when it came to the Gospel. He wasn’t about winning arguments or debates; he was all about winning souls.

That’s what I want my ministry and life to be focused on as well. Whether I’m teaching about circumcision, Satanic domination, the Old Testament, or any other topic, when people come to Awaken, I want them to know this: they WILL hear about their need to be saved and Jesus’ ability and desire to save them. In other words, they WILL hear the Gospel. I refuse to waste an opportunity.

As Christians, we carry the name “Christ” within the title of our beliefs. Our lives should also be lived with a common theme in mind: pointing people to the cross!

The Danger of Isolation

Last Saturday, we had our second MAN Breakfast of the summer, complete with bacon, bros, burritos, and the Bible. We even had some giveaways and the “Manliest Mustache” contest (congrats to Greg Rockhold, whose mustache is older than about 80% of those who attended)!

One thing that I’ve loved about our 2 MAN Breakfasts this year, in addition to the fellowship and food, is what happens when we get a bunch of dudes together and get challenged by God’s Word. Our culture is lacking in Godly men, and it’s time for the men to step up and fulfill their God-given roles to lead and set the pace.

Last Saturday, I focused in on 1 main verse:

Proverbs 18:1 - A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment.

We talked about 2 very simple principles from this verse: 1) Isolation is selfish, and 2) Isolation is stupid. Our culture says that it’s not manly to admit weakness, but that’s a lie. We need each other. We were never meant to fight the battles alone. It’s no wonder so many guys are hooked on porn, cheating on their wives, drinking incessantly, all while acting like they have it all together. The Bible says that’s stupid: it rages against all wise judgment.

If you’re a man of any age, I hope you’ll take a few minutes and listen to this challenge from God’s Word.

Whether you take the time to listen or not, here’s the point: Don’t let your manliness get in the way of your Godliness. Our culture says to do it alone; God’s Word says to do it together.

Don’t check “NONE.”

There’s an alarming trend on the rise in the United States, according to a recent USA Today article about religious affiliation: nones are on the rise. Yeah, I spelled that right. I’m not talking about nuns in a convent, I’m talking about a rapidly growing group known as nones – people, who when asked about their religious affiliation in a survey, check the box that says, “None.”

Nones include atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, and people who have convinced themselves that they believe in “nothing in particular.”

Side note: everyone believes in something, even if they say they don’t.

The subtitle of the article says, “A growing number of Americans couldn’t care less about God.” Although that’s sad to hear, it’s not surprising. The part that concerns me most is the other side of the coin. Not only do they not care about or believe in God, but their thoughts are similar when it comes to the Bible and Satan…and that’s dangerous.

The Bible doesn’t mess around when it speaks of Satan.

Peter called him “a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

John, in the book of Revelation, reveals 5 names for him: “the great dragon,” “that serpent of old,” “the Devil,” “Satan,” and “the accuser of our brethren.”

The differences between he and God are many, but one of the main ways is how they operate.

Psalm 19 says that “the heavens declare the glory of God” and Romans 1 says that due to the proof of nature all around us, we are “without excuse” when it comes to believing God. Nature isn’t the only way He reveals Himself, though – that’s just general revelation. He’s also revealed Himself through what we’d call special revelation: the Bible, the Holy Spirit living inside of us, and even at times, coming down to speak with people. The Bible says that God desires all to come to repentance – He wants everyone to know about Him. In fact, in Revelation, He goes out of His way to get people’s attention: a group of 144,000 witnesses in Revelation 7, 2 surpernaturally-empowered witnesses in Chapter 11, and even angels that fly through the sky warning everyone in every language of God’s wrath and mercy.

While God works hard at telling the whole world, Satan does the opposite – he flies under the radar. We live in a culture where people are clamoring for attention and trying to make a name for themselves. However, Satan would much rather be filed under the same category as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. If people think he’s a fairy tale, they’re not threatened by him.

That’s why an unprecedented amount of Nones in the U.S. is alarming to me. Satan loves for people to check that box because he knows those people are easy targets.

The Bible is very clear about the existence of Satan, his plans, his hatred, as well as his defeat and eternal punishment. Last Sunday at Awaken, I taught through Revelation 12, which is one of those passages that pulls back the curtain on the often-overlooked battle that’s been waging for our souls for thousands years. It was an eternity-changing message for at least 3 people on Sunday, and I hope challenging to many more. You can watch or listen to it in our Awaken Church teaching archive.

Here’s the point: don’t check “None.” Not believing in something doesn’t cause it to cease to exist. You’re playing right into Satan’s hand when you rule him out as a fairy tale.

Church: Community or Commodity

Americans are consumers. We are constantly on the lookout for better deals, bigger bargains, and more savings: stuff, stuff, and more stuff. If the customer service at a store or restaurant isn’t up to par, we complain; if the products at a store don’t measure up, we go elsewhere; some even switch stores or locations that they shop at based on the clientele. That’s ok…when we’re talking about stores. However, it’s a problem when the Church goes from being a community that we’re committed to to a commodity that we’re consuming.

Let me make this clear: the Church (capital “C”) is not a product. It’s the body of Christ. It’s His institution that He has built and is building. His plan is to use the Church to reach the world.

Some people try out a hundred churches that aren’t their flavor…or music style…or preaching style…or…whatever else. However, I was refreshed by a young college-age guy from Awaken named Chris. I sat down with him about a year ago, when he first moved to Clarksville, and asked about how he got to Clarksville and what brought him to Awaken. He had just moved to town for a college internship and one of his top priorities was to find a church. He told me,

“My time in Clarksville is limited. I knew I could easily spend my whole year looking for a church. So instead, I decided to pick one that teaches the Bible and get involved.”

Not only did Chris save himself the time, effort, and frustration of pin-pointing the “perfect” church (which, by the way, doesn’t exist), he blessed Awaken Church in the process. He immediately started showing up early to pray, joined in on cleaning around the church, taking out trash, and eventually began serving in Awaken Kids. Chris was 1 of 3 people who showed up about 3am on Easter morning to begin filling up the baptism pool! Chris became part of the family.

Here’s the thing that Chris understood that goes against the American consumer mindset: the list of reasons to leave a local church is much smaller than the list of reasons to stay and get involved. You should leave a church if they’re not teaching the Bible, or if they’re twisting it, giving unBiblical counsel, etc. However, music style, a list of available ministries, what the pastor wears, and how many tattoos and/or piercings you spotted (and about a thousand other reasons) do not make the list of reasons you should leave.

Christians, let’s commit to viewing the body of Christ the way it should be viewed: as a community, not a commodity.

The local church needs you and you need the local church. God gave you a gift (or gifts) and He expects you to use them to benefit others and glorify God (see 1 Peter 4:10-11). However, you can only be so effective if you’re bouncing around from church to church based on personal preferences that aren’t being met.

Find a church that teaches the Bible then commit to it. No marriage is perfect; no family is perfect; and no church is perfect. But you shouldn’t bail out on any of them just because “you’re ready for something different” or ____________________ (fill in the blank with your own excuse). 

Hebrews 10:24-25 - And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Independence Day

Never have I felt the sacrifice that so many people make for my freedom than since I moved to Clarksville. There is almost never a day that goes by when I don’t see someone in their Army gear driving around town or even showing up at church. In fact, some of my closest friends are often in and out due to their military career.

Last Sunday, we had the privilege of hosting a deployment send-off for some of America’s finest who attend Awaken Church. We had many families (military and non-military) who braved the 103-degree heat to show their support. We prayed for them, encouraged them, collected donations for their care boxes, and snapped some pictures. It was a very memorable day.

2 years ago, Clarksville felt the impact of a big deployment. Awaken Church really felt it, since the majority of our church deployed! One Wednesday night, I taught with 3 women in our service and 4 women watching 18 kids in Kids Ministry!

This time, although the church won’t shrink to a small women’s ministry, we will still feel the weight of a large deployment. Half of our worship team is deploying, as well as members of our Greeting Crew, Cleaning Crew, Awaken Kids team, and more. And although we hate to say goodbye for the next few months, I am happy to know that those who leave have a strong church family behind them.

To our military families: you fight for us, and we fight for you! Thanks for continuing our independence by sacrificing your safety and time with your family. You are in our prayers and will never be forgotten!

For me, July 4th has never been full of so much meaning and patriotism as the last 3 have been, since I moved to this great city! We love you all! Thanks for your service!