…for the rest of us

…is a true-ish statement.  Looks true.  Feels true.  It’s accepted as true.  But in reality, it’s not true.  This is one of the most infectious lies we can believe that carry us farther and farther away from God.

This is so easy for us to adopt because it’s the social norm.  But when we’re so consumed with chasing our personal, brittle version of happiness and we let that guide our lives, it only leads to disappointment, hurt, jealousy and anger.

If your spouse isn’t currently making you happy but some other person is, whatever you choose to do after that is justified since your personal truth is defined by “happiness.”

If you want to acquire more money and more things, then however you choose to get that stuff, whether legal or illegal, right or wrong, well, it’s not wrong for you, since your subjective truth is merely based on your feelings or emotional highs.

The Bible shows us in James 3:16 that this mindset only leads to disorder and messes and evils of all kinds.  And honestly, we don’t need the Bible to prove this to us.  Just look at the results of our past decisions based on our “feelings.”

God never promises to eliminate all of the messes or unhappy times, but when we decide to make Jesus the leader in our lives, it leads to a satisfaction and contentment that outlasts and outshines whatever “happiness” we’re chasing; which in reality what we usually chase is some emotional high, not a sustainable satisfaction.  God is more interested in making us more like Jesus, not being some anti-unhappy vending machine.

When we make Jesus the leader in our lives it allows us to navigate the highs with humility and the lows with the strength only found in God.

“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” - Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) from The Usual Suspects.

Wow how true that is.  Not only that, but the other greatest tricks involve lies…but little ones we consider true.  Sound good.  Feel good.  Accepted as good.  But really they’re counterfeit…true-ish.

One of the biggest ones we tend to buy into hook, line and sinker is that if we believe that Jesus is truly the only way to God, somehow believing that absolute truth makes us arrogant or dangerous.   But just believing or having knowledge of truth doesn’t make someone arrogant or dangerous, but rather it’s how it’s presented that shows others if we are loving or judgmental, merciful or hateful.

For those of us that are Christians, know this: we aren’t called to be the world’s moral police.  It’s not our job to change people.  That’s God’s job.  It’s our job to be loving, accepting, merciful and full of grace - and that’s not mutually exclusive with believing absolute truth!

But the fact we follow Jesus should be great news for our co-workers, friends and neighbors.  That doesn’t mean we have to be awkward, memorize some lame script and go door to door.  Not at all.  Love people.  Invite them to EastLake where it’s safe to check things out.

But we can’t believe the lie that we should keep “our beliefs” to ourselves when we truly believe that someone can have an eternal relationship with God!

Atheist Penn Jillette (of the comedy duo Penn and Teller) says it best:

Friday night was amazing.  14 baptisms!  This has to be one of my favorite things about EastLake, being a part of this amazing step in people’s lives.  Worship Night was a blast, and as always, we will be tweaking things for next time (like we do with everything) to make it even better.

A big storm rolled through yesterday and knocked power out in second service.  I got to speak in my boomy voice for the last ten minutes, but I’m bummed I missed the storm chaos.  I love thunderstorms.  By the time service was over it was sunny and calm.  Typical Kansas weather.

Yesterday we closed the [fanatic] series talking about the second big roadblock to daily worship: procrastination.  If complaining is the roadblock God want to point out that we do, procrastination is the roadblock where God wants to show us all the things we aren’t doing.

What is the one, big issue in your life you’ve been procrastinating to face? God shows us in the Bible that procrastination isn’t a shallow issue.  It’s something He takes seriously.  James 4:17 says In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.

When it comes to the things you know are the right thing to do, procrastinating is really delaying worship.  It’s delaying obedience.

And delayed obedience is the same thing as disobedience.

God has a greater purpose and satisfaction planned for our lives than for us to be trapped by the constant guilt and stress from delaying our worship and obedience.  He wants to be involved in every part of our lives!  At the end of the day, will we back up what we say and really trust that God has our best interest in mind and take that step forward and face the big thing we’ve been putting off for a long time?

God wants us to start now.

I absolutely can’t wait for tonight.  We get to let loose.  Witness baptisms.  Take communion.  Post another mile marker in this journey and reflect on how much God continues to work here at EastLake.

Are you coming?  It’s tonight at 7pm at Free Methodist Church.  Here is the FAQ that just went out if you’re still unsure exactly what it is!

Q: What happens at Worship Night?

A: We sing a lot more music like our Sunday mornings. In between some songs we will celebrate baptisms, which is one of the first acts of obedience after making a decision to accept and follow Jesus. If you didn’t sign up to get baptized, we will have extra clothes available just in case you want to make this decision tonight! (Click here for more info on baptism.) We also take communion by taking bread, dipping it in juice to remember what Jesus did for us on the Cross. But as usual, you can participate as much or as little as you feel comfortable tonight!

Q: Will there be childcare?

A: There will not be childcare provided tonight. However, this is Family Worship Night! Feel free to bring the family in the auditorium tonight!

Q: Should I bring earplugs for my kids? I know how EastLake likes to rock it.

A: We are providing earplugs for free! They will be at the front as you come into the auditorium.

Q: Can I bring my friends?

A: Please do!

Q: How long will it last?

A: We should be done around 8:30

Q: How often do you guys do this?

A: Four times per year - pretty much every three months.

Q: I don’t attend EastLake, but I’d like to come. Can I?

A: Absolutely!