Inside Out

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So I posted yesterday about my gym…so I thought I would continue the trend.
I used to workout at Bally’s.
I don’t anymore.
I still go to the same building, but Bally’s was bought out by LA Fitness (or at least this location was).
So now I workout at LA Fitness.
And the whole “switch over” from one to the other got me really thinking.

You see, the change has not happened over night.
First, I saw some new faces on the staff.
Then, I noticed the LA Fitness logo on some printed flyers.
Then we got new membership cards to scan.
Now I’m seeing some subtle changes to the equipment.
Here’s what’s interesting…
The sign outside still says Bally’s!
Even though there is a lot of internal work going on,
people think it’s still the same old gym.
You see where I’m going with this?

There may be some changes God is calling you to make in your life.
But they won’t be external for a while.
God may call you (and probably is calling you) to do a lot of internal work first before anything gets done on the outside.
In fact, Jesus was quick to call out those who did external changes first, only to leave the internal stuff in chaos (read Matthew 23)
Now, I’m not saying that the external shouldn’t reflect the internal.
Sooner or later there’s gonna be a LA Fitness sign put up.
But once the sign is put up…
it will be a simple reflection of what has already happened on the inside.

I am learning this daily.
Let God change you from the inside out.
Not the other way around.

Have it your way

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I try and make wise choices when it comes to the food I eat.
“Try” being the key word there.
I don’t always succeed.
There are days when the craving for fast food arrives in all its splendor…
Tempting me to give in and enjoy the delicious yet fattening food
What’s worse?
There is a Burger King right next to the gym where I workout.

Talk about ironic.
Every time I drive to the gym, I have to drive past the Burger King entrance.
I have to endure the awesome smell of Burger King fries as I make my way to the treadmill.
There are days where I would rather just pull off into the drive-thru and satisfy the craving…
But I tell myself to just keep driving.

I know it’s a loose analogy.
But this idea of “choices” has never been more real to me than at this point in my life.
The decisions you make today will determine your reality tomorrow.
There will be times when the temptation will be strong.
But I encourage you to “keep driving”
You never know what’s at stake.
Don’t give up.
Don’t give in.
Keep going.

Let’s see, Tell Everyone

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This weekend in RustProof I taught on this idea…
Let’s see, Tell Everyone.
It’s a week before Christmas, so we went the traditional route
We read out of Luke 2.
And those two phrases pop up in verse 15 and verse 17.
Let’s see, Tell Everyone.
Let me explain.

The main point of my talk was simple:
The best way to use the gift of Christmas (Jesus) is to share it with others.
In fact, it’s the only true response when we’ve truly experienced Jesus.
And that’s exactly what the shepherds did in Luke 2.
After the angels had told them what was up…they went to see for themselves this baby that had been born.
But they didn’t stay there!
After seeing, they left to tell everyone what they had seen.

So many of us (Christians) are just content with seeing.
We have gone to the “manger” and experienced Jesus for ourselves.
Yet we’re still there.
We haven’t taken the next step.
We need to take the experience we’ve had and now share it with others.

The challenge was simple.
Move from a “Let’s see” faith, to a “Tell Everyone” faith.
Your friends and family deserve to know about the Jesus you’ve experienced.
It’s about time you tell them.

Satan’s watching your game film

Adam Mashni3 Comments

The Bible is clear about two things.
We have an enemy.
He wants to destroy us.
(to be fair, the Bible is clear about a lot of other things as well…I’m just focusing on those two)

In fact, 1 Peter 5:8 lays it right out there.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Satan is prowling around like a lion looking to devour someone.
A good question to ask would be:  How does he know if he’s found someone to devour?
I think the answer to that question is found near the beginning of the verse.
He’s gonna devour anyone who isn’t “alert” and doesn’t have a “sober mind.”

I heard a preacher make the analogy that Satan spends a lot of time watching our game film.
Of course, it’s a football analogy.
For a team to even have a chance at beating their opponent, they have to study their opponents’ game film.
What does the team do well?
Where are the weak spots on the team?
What routes do they always run?
They look for the weak areas of the team so they can attack those areas come game time.

That’s exactly what Satan does.
He watches you carefully.
He studies your weak areas.
He knows where he can attack.

No wonder Peter urges us to be alert.
We need to know where our weak areas are.
We need to know where Satan attacks.
Each of us has our own desires (see James 1:13-15)
So we shouldn’t be surprised at our weak areas.
Instead, we should be ready for it!

Seeing how Satan watches all of our game film,
I think it’s only appropriate we watch some of his game film.
After all, what better way to be alert and of sober mind than by KNOWING how Satan is gonna play the game.

Be alert.
Have a sober mind.
Watch some game film.

Students: 4 questions ya need to answer

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It’s Throwback Thursday – where I go back a year or two and grab my favorite posts.
Since posting this…I actually had the honor of giving a talk based around these 4 questions to our high school students.  
Still today I believe that these are four of the most important questions a student can answer. 

___________________________

heard a sermon preached on this subject, and it was worth blogging about.
below are four questions every teenager needs to answer

What’s in your hands?
what has God wired you to do?  when God interacted with moses, He asked, “what’s in your hands?” for moses it was a staff that eventually got turned into a snake (rad). what has God placed in your hands that can be used for his glory?  Is it a talent? a passion? a gift?  what gets you mad? what breaks your heart?  the thing that’s in your hands is God-given…and if you’ll give that gift back to your creator, then he’ll use it (along with you) to do some amazing things!

Am I know trying to win the approval of men or of God?
this question is taken from Galatians 1:10 – paul is addressing the issue of acceptance. “if i were still tyring to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”  as teenagers, you have to choose who you’re going to live for.  which audience are you going to try and please?  living for the approval of men is a waste of time…because ultimately it’s God who is going to judge your life…no one else.  it’s God who has placed HIS value on you…no one else. live for the right audience!

How can a young man keep his way pure?
Psalm 119:9
this is a question of integrity.
the answer? – “by living according to Your Word.”
you’re going to live your life according to someone’s plan…it may as well be God’s perfect plan for your life.
how often do you spend time in God’s word?  what’s the last verse you memorized? a lot of us have junk in our brains. images that we wish we could erase.  truth is we can’t erase them, but we can dilute them. spending time in God’s Word is crucial if you are striving for purity. after all, how do you renew your mind? by putting NEW things in it.

Who do you say I am?
this was a question that Jesus asked his disciples.
this question deals with our eternity.  who do we say Jesus is?
is He the son of God? just a prophet? a crazy man? our savior?
every person must answer this question. and in the context of this blog…every teenager needs to come to grips with this question…how will you answer it?  will you submit to Jesus now, and pursue his calling early? will you “put it on the back burner” until you’re grown up and filled with regret?

there ya have it.  4 questions every teenager needs to answer.

taken from a message given by Steven Furtick to a student audience (@ Elevation Church)

Don’t pull a Kanye…

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Remember that one time?
When Kanye ran out on stage and interrupted a tremendous moment for Taylor Swift?
You can find PLENTY of coverage of that here.

A while back the NRSM team at NorthRidge put on Fall Retreats for both High School and Middle School and our theme was “In Lights.”
The question we asked as “Who is really in the spotlight of your life?”
We all have the tendency to want center stage…but God might be calling us to be on the stage crew and open/close the curtains.

And to use the Kanye analogy loosely…we encouraged students to watch out for the tendency to steal the spotlight.
I especially have this tendency.
I love to get applause and affirmation.
But if I’m truly living out a Jesus-centered life, then everything I do will simply be a reflection of what Christ is doing through me…and all the applause and glory will be directed back to Him!

So, in your own life, don’t pull a Kanye.
Make sure God stays where he belongs.
Center stage.

Free

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Romans 8 is clear.
If you are in Christ, you are no longer obligated to sin.
You are Free.

Yet so many Christians don’t live in this freedom.
They live as if they are still slaves to their old nature…their sinful nature.
I’ve done it before.
So have you.

But the truth is this:
whatever is holding on to you is not as strong as the freedom you have in Jesus.

Jesus is stronger than the addiction.
Jesus is stronger than the worry.
Jesus is stronger than the pain.
Jesus is stronger than the guilt and shame.

It’s time to let go and let Jesus be strong in your life. 

The Glory of Life-Change

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My Church just got done with their biggest outreach of the year…the Glory of Christmas.
It was awesome.
To see thousands of people come through our doors to see a Christmas play is a cool thing.
As they find out, though…it’s not your normal Christmas Play.
Fireworks.
Acting that’s actually good.
Jokes that are funny.
Flying angels.
Scenes that are emotional and powerful.
And a Gospel presentation that’s compelling.

Hundreds of volunteers pour out thousands of hours into making this great.
And it’s all because they believe that Jesus can change lives.
That’s the glory of the Christmas story.
God became man in order to bring hope, life, purpose and peace.
And we’ll do everything we can to tell everyone we can.

Hope you got to be a part of it this year.

Who I’m listening to…

Adam Mashni5 Comments

As some of you know, I enjoy listening to sermons.

I believe that what you put IN is what you’ll get OUT.
So I choose simply to listen to a lot of people who love God and like to talk about Him.
Even though it’s not a huge list, I figured I would let you in on who I’m listening to.

Brad Powell (NorthRidge Church)
Andy Stanley (North Point Community Church)
Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill Church)
Craig Groeschel (LifeChurch.tv)
Steven Furtick (Elevation Church)
Carl Lentz (Hillsong New York) 
Pete Wilson (CrossPoint.tv)
Perry Noble (NewSpring Church)
Matt Chandler (The Village Church)

Who are you listening to?  Anyone I’m missing out on?

Bible reading plans

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“If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.”

Ever heard that before?
Pretty sure someone smart like John Maxwell or Zig Ziglar said it.
However cliche that is…I cannot escape the magnitude of truth that’s in that statement.
And what’s worse…it applies to EVERY area of life!
Fitness.
Eating right.
Goals in business.
Even spirituality.

As Christians, we can get caught up in a very dangerous trap –
We can talk a lot about the Bible without ever actually reading the Bible
It’s an easy trap to fall into.
It’s a dangerous trap to fall into.
We can actually trick ourselves into thinking we’re doing just fine when in reality we’re falling further and further away from God’s best for our lives.

The Bible is the key to staying:
Focused.
Encouraged.
Convicted.
Passionate.
Wise.

So how do we stay away from the trap?
Plan. To. Read. The. Bible.
Simple.
Not easy.

The one reading plan I love and challenge every Christian to do is this one.
YouVersion has a great resource where all their reading plans are in one place.
Check it out.

Bottom line:
If you’re a Christian, read the Bible.
If you’re not a Christian, become one.  Then read your Bible.