Influenced to influence – Part I
This was taken from my sermon notes that I used in preaching at Haven of Hope on Sunday, July 12th, 2009:
I believe that God is challenging us to allow Him to influence our lives in a greater way. Then, it’s His plan for us to use that influence from Heaven to influence other people, nations, and the enemy for the glory of God and His Kingdom.
What is influence? One definition I was able to find said:
Influence occurs when an individual’s thoughts or actions are affected by other people. Social influence takes many forms and can be seen in conformity, peer pressure, obedience, leadership, persuasion, sales, and marketing.
For example, have you ever been walking through the grocery store or the mall and by the time you walk out, you are humming or singing a song? At first you think, where did I hear this from? Then you realize that the song must have been playing in the store.
When I was typing this message together, I tried to think of one of the most annoying songs I had ever heard and “Umm Bop” by the Hanson brothers immediately came to my mind. I searching online for a Youtube clip to use during my sermon as an illustration. I decided against it (but still think it would have been hilarious). However, about 10 minutes later, while I was continuing to type out my notes, to my horror I caught myself singing “Umm bop..bop..bop..umm bop”!!!! I was mortified and thankful that the house was empty. I laughed, but it illustrated my point beautifully.
As another example, have you ever hung around someone and start to pick up their catch phrases or accents?
Andy Stanley once said it this way:
Who or what you listen to will ultimately determine what you do.
Whether we intend to or not, we are influenced by the people that we spend time with, the music that we listen to, how we steward our time, etc.
Check back soon for Part 2 of this series where we will talk about how God wants to be our primary source of influence.
Can’t hide your motives
In Matthew Chapter 22 and verses 15 through 22, we find that the Pharisees are up to their old tricks. They want to try to trap Jesus into saying something that will get him arrested by the Roman authorities. So they asked Him:
Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
In the New Living Translation (which is becoming my new favorite), it says that Jesus knew their evil motives. If you read Matthew 22:16, you will find that just prior to their question, they were trying to be MAJOR “teacher’s pets”. They said to Him:
Teacher, we know how honest you are. You teach the way of God truthfully. You are impartial and don’t play favorites.
But Jesus was able to look straight through all the “smoke & mirrors” and look right into their heart at their motives.
My challenge to you today is to be real. Be real to yourself, others, and your God. God is able to see straight through it all. By “be real”, I don’t mean that you know have license to be a pain in the butt just because you happen to be one. What I mean is to be AUTHENTIC. When you talk to God, throw out the King James speak (unless you really talk like that), and speak what is REALLY on your heart – He sees it anyways. When you talk to others, be transparent and be real. Check your motives.
It is impossible to paint God into a corner. When we pray something, He can look right down to the core root of why we are praying that way.
For example, if I were to hear you pray something like “God, I am asking for a sovereign move of your Spirit on the hearts of men and women.”, I might think “Wow, that sounds pretty cool”. But God could look into your heart and see that, what you are really saying is, “God, I am way to afraid to talk to anyone else about you. I just don’t see the point in sharing my faith with others. Please just step in and pour out your Spirit on everyone so that I don’t have to talk to them. That would make me feel better”. Ouch.
God is not nearly impressed with your words as He is impressed with what words are truly flowing from your heart (whether you are speaking them out loud or not).
Check your motives at the door and be real. Authenticity is one of the next levels God is taking His church.
Quote for 7/10/2009
Leonard Ravenhill:
No man is greater than his prayer life.
Harvard’s Christian Heritage
This article was written by Jay Rogers and is currently posted at the Boston Justice House of Prayer website:
The “flapjack turning” at Harvard is a metaphor for an emerging philosophy of humanism. In the 1600’s, Harvard was dedicated to the glory of God, but by the latter half of the 20th century, Harvard had become the citadel of humanism in the modern world. As Ruth Nourse correctly points out, this change did not happen overnight but was a slow transformation inperceptible to all but the most astute observors. This revolution, however, is completely visible in the changing of Harvard’s seals throughout the past centuries.
In Christi Gloriam (Glory in Christ) appeared on the college seal of 1650. Later, a coat of arms appears containing three books and the Latin motto Christo et Ecclesiae (Christ and the Church) inscribed around the border.
On an archway, above a gate leading into the
Harvard Yard, curious visitors may view this seal inscribed in stone. This earlier version of the coat of arms, however, contains one difference. If you look closely at the books in the coat of arms, you will see that the top 2 books are turned facing upward, while the bottom book is overturned. The upward facing books symbolize the truth that is discernible through our five senses: the overturned book symbolizes that which can only be known through the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
By the mid 1800’s, the Harvard seal had fallen out of use. When Charles Elliot attained the Presidency of Harvard, he wished to reinstate the coat of arms as Harvard’s official school seal. This time, however, he made 2 changes. First, he added the Latin word VERITAS (Truth). Second, he turned all the books facing upwards, denoting the emerging philosophy of humanism.
What does God require?
Micah chapter 6 (NLT version) outlines a very interesting interaction between God and man. It’s the opening argument in an indictment against man by God Himself. Here’s what the Lord said:
Stand up and state your case against Me. Let the mountains and hills be called to witness your complaints. And now, mountains, listen to the Lord’s complaint!… Oh my people, what have I done to you? What have I done to make you tired of Me? Answer me!…I brought you out of Egypt (bondage) and redeemed you from slavery…I, the Lord, did everything I could to teach you about My faithfulness.
Wow! That kind of indictment would make the best lawyer from Law & Order seem like an infant.
In Micah 6 and verses 6 through 7, the people of Israel are trying to come up with something they can bring to the Lord. Yearling calves? thousands of rams? rivers of olive oil? sacrifice our first born son to pay for our sins? They were trying to identify physical things to satisfy God’s anger. However, God was more concerned with matters of the heart.
Micah 6:8 (NLT): No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
God wanted them to “do justly” (what is right), love mercy, and walk humbly in relationship with Him. I submit to you that we have warped that Godly order. Instead, some of us love judgement (instead of mercy), and we DO mercy instead of loving it. We aren’t walking with God, we are walking with traditions of men. We have twisted being humble to mean that we don’t want to appear too spiritual to others so we pretend we can’t hear God’s voice and we cast aside our desire to be like Him under the disguise of being “humble”. However, God wanted us to be humble AS WE WALKED WITH HIM, not so humble that we wouldn’t walk with Him.
Jesus Himself expressed his frustration with this approach when He rebuked the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23:
What sorrow awaits you teachers of religous law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law – justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
Sometimes we can place our emphasis on the wrong priorities and we find random obscure Scriptures to proof-text our pet beliefs. We’ve got to place the same emphasis on things that Jesus placed on things. I’m not advocating that we don’t tithe, but somewhere while the Pharisees were tithing on their income from their pet rocks and Chia Pets, they missed the priority of God: justice, mercy, and faith.
Micah had it right when He gave us what the Lord requires from us: do justly (what is right), love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.
How do we respond to setbacks?
I can’t really think of many human beings out there that enjoy setbacks. I don’t. Personal setbacks normally mean that expectations were lowered, dreams crushed, or plans unraveled. It can mean embarrassment, frustration, confusion.
This past Sunday, we weren’t able to baptize people at the local hotel pool like we had originally planned because of an issue with the pool. The problem was that, after the baptisms on Sunday, I had told Connor that we would take him swimming. My son Connor, upon finding out that swimming was not in his Sunday plans, was very disappointed.
On the way home, I got an idea. I told Connor we’d go swimming at home! I got home, put on my swimming trunks, filled up the bathtub with tons of water and then Connor, Hunter, and I got to go “swimming” in the tub. The kids loved it! There was also something so spontaneous about it (which for those of you who know me, spontaneity isn’t one of my strong points). Then, after swimming, we made a blanket tent in the living room, turned the lights off, pulled out some glow sticks and ate popcorn and smores while reading stories as a family! It was awesome and the kids had a blast!
In reviewing the situation, Connor had experienced a setback. It wasn’t a job loss, an illness, or even a dream dying. But to him, at 3 years old, it qualified as an “official” setback. As Connor’s dad, I didn’t enjoy seeing him disappointed, so I did whatever was in power to turn this setback around into an amazing time of closeness as a family.
The life application here is that we have a heavenly Father that knows how to show us His love in more creative ways than earthly fathers can. God doesn’t enjoy seeing us suffer setbacks, even if He knows it was something that wouldn’t have been good for us anyways. Many times in the Bible we read how God has promised to always be there for us, especially in times of need and when we experience setbacks. Words like “I will never leave you or forsake you”, “God is a very present help in time of trouble”, and “When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock” come to my mind. I know that there are others.
In times of setback, it is God’s desire, as our heavenly Father, to draw us close to Him so we can experience closeness/intimacy with Him. Just as I will always want to be there for my kids during their setbacks, God wants the same for us. I could totally picture Jesus, if He knew I was disappointed about not getting to go swimming, throwing on a pair of swimming trunks, finding a new location, and saying “Let’s go swimming together son!”.
Now picture yourself and any setbacks you have experienced. They hurt. You were surprised. Maybe it didn’t go how you planned. Picture Jesus. Picture Him wanting to wrap you in His arms as one of His kids. He WILL take care of you.
Rub-a-dub-dub,
Matt Legere
Quote by Bill Johnson
I recently watched a video of Bill Johnson online a few years ago and one of the things that he said stirred up something inside of me:
I’m here looking for one person. I love to see crowds burn, but I know that I can shape history if I can find just one. One person. You hear people say “Oh, if we could get 1,000 people in unity and prayer over this matter, we’ll get it fixed.” Yeah, maybe. One prayer of faith will normally do it from one person. Anybody can burn in a crowd, I want to find somebody that will burn by themselves. Anyone can burn in a movement. I want to find the one person that will pray when there’s no prayer meeting called. But will get up in the middle of the night when there’s no crisis. The one person who gets their victories when no one is looking. Defeats their lion and their bear so that when they have their day before Goliath, there’s all the confidence in the world and it’s not arrogance.
We’ve been called to do the impossible! I pray that you are encouraged this week to burn!
Dead Snake
Check out this post by Perry Noble: http://www.perrynoble.com/2009/06/22/dead-snakes-and-not-nice-words/
Here is an excerpt from the blog:
“I was in stride, had my ipod blaring and was enjoying the breeze while running up a hill. I happened to look down and my left foot was about to come down right on top of a snake…..AND…I felt REALLY stupid when I discovered that it was dead! (This seriously would have made an excellent youtube video!)…….As I continued my run I began thinking, “that’s the way that we, as Christians, respond to satan at times. He’s basically a ‘dead snake’ that has been robbed of the power he once had…and yet we choose to scream and dance around him because we perceive he can destroy us.”
How true! The snake is dead – now let’s act like we believe that!
Matt & Heidi Plus 2
In light of all the recent reality TV shows that have been gaining popularity in recent years, I pondered for a minute this morning:
“What would it be like if Heidi and I had our own reality show modeled after Jon & Kate Plus 8?”
There would be probably be some hilarious interaction on the “interview couch” between me and Heidi while I interject random “phhhrttt” noises when she’s trying to talk. Then there would be the scene where my 3 year old son Connor uses his golf club to stir the toilet and run around in his underwear with his cowboy hat yelling “emergency, emergency, the sky is falling!”. My 1 year old son Hunter, who has a whole lot more running through his head than we realize, would probably be attempting a back flip off the couch just to show he has no fear.
Yeah….TLC probably isn’t going to be knocking down my door, but I was pretty sad today when I heard that Jon and Kate were separating. It seems like for months I couldn’t even buy tic-tac’s at the grocery store without seeing a tabloid about the Jon & Kate rumours. As soon as there were some photographs taken that raised some potential questions regarding the health of their marriage, it seemed like the media went nuts with an agenda to split them up. While Kate says that divorce was probably a chapter that would have played out whether the cameras were there or not, the media frenzy surely didn’t help.
Once the media decides that you are on their list, there is no rest. They camp out and take random pictures of you blinking, sneezing, etc. so that they can have this horrible picture to post to an article whenever you do something they consider bad. They go after how you look (did you see that hair? should a mom wear that?) and then they question your motives (why did they go there? how could she spank her kids? where’s their spouse?). It reaches a point where they probably felt like there could be a story no matter what they did.
One of the quotes that really got to me is when Kate said “My goal is peace for the kids. If peace needs to brought about by this (i.e. separation/divorce), then I’m in agreeance.” I immediately thought of my wife Heidi and my boys and I determined in mind: “I refuse to have this by our story”. God is peace and His Kingdom is ruled by peace. If peace is brought about because I or my wife leave, I don’t believe that’s true peace; rather, it is the absence of conflict.
I need to love my wife and family more than my ministry, my writing, my job, or my blog. I love to blog and I love to minister, but if those things are placed on a scale with my family on the other side, it’s not even a close decision. That’s why I don’t feel guilty if my blog goes 2 months without a post yet my
3 year old son Connor still goes to bed saying how much fun he had. That’s why I don’t feel condemnation if my phone is turned off so I can wrestle with my 1 year son Hunter on the floor. I lose no sleep over missing tv shows, postponing my book/writing projects, etc. yet my wife can hold her head high and know that I cherish her and truly love her.
So, while there may never be a “Matt & Heidi plus 2″ show for the world to watch, I’m watching a story unfold before my own eyes of my family coming closer together and seeking God. My son Connor had been getting up in the middle of the night afraid and wanted to sleep in our bed. After a few nights of this, I talked to him at prayer time and the following was our conversation:
Daddy: “Connor, whenever daddy is afraid, I ask Jesus to help me not to be afraid and He’s right there!”.
Connor: “Daddy, where is Jesus?”
Daddy: “He’s sitting right here”. (Note: when I said that, the presence of God filled my son’s room and I knew that Jesus, God of all, was watching this interaction with my 3 year old boy)
Connor: “But I can’t see Him”.
Daddy: “Someday you may see Him (alive, face-to-face), but I can tell you that Jesus is sitting right here” (Note: don’t squash your son’s dreams of being able to see Jesus just because we don’t have the faith to believe for the impossible at times)
Connor: “Oh, ok”
Daddy: “So if you wake up in the middle of the night and you are afraid, say ‘Jesus, please help me not to be afraid’.”
The next morning, Connor slept in past 7 AM (which is a rare blessing!). He walked over to my wife Heidi and said:
”Mommy, Jesus helped me not to be afraid last night!”.
I will have a home filled with peace and I will have a home where the presence of God feels comfortable resting.
P.S. I’m hoping that the “Matt & Heidi plus 2″ name will work for a while. I know that “Matt & Heidi plus 3″ kinda rhymes, but hopefully people would watch the show whether the title name rhymes or not. :-p
Intercession in Roman History
In Roman history, intercession was a word used to describe when a tribunal or magistrate would veto legislation. A tribunal was essentially describing a person or body that upholds or defends the rights of the people.
These tribunals or magistrates would use intercession to stop motions or orders that would have adversely affected the rights of the people that they represented.
Once an intercession was given by a tribunal, the only way that the other magistrates/tribunals could nullify the intercession would be to threaten the tribunal/magistrate who issued the intercession.
We know that the enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy us and keep the nations of the world in darkness. If we look at prayers of intercession in the context of Roman history, you and I are issuing legal decrees that stop the motions or orders of the enemy.
You and I have been commissioned to go and make disciples of the nations. If we ask, God said that He would give us the nations of the world as our inheritance. As followers of Christ, we represent the rights of the inhabitants of cities, regions, countries, and nations that, spiritually speaking, can’t defend themselves. God has commissioned you and I as His ambassadors on the earth with the legal authority to intercede on behalf of individuals, nations, situations, etc.
If the enemy issues a motion or order that our city will be held by depression, you and I as intercessors have the authority and the responsiblity to veto that order and release God’s intentions in that city.
If the enemy issues a motion or order that a particular body will be overwhelmed with pain or sickness, you and I as intercessors have the authority and responsibility to veto that order and release God’s reality into that body.
There is nothing that the enemy can legally do to us to cancel the effects of our intercession. The enemy may try to make us feel afraid and threaten us, but there is nothing he can legally do to stop us when we have interceded for something or someone. He can discourage us to try to get us to “drop” or “withdraw” our intercession, but his hands are tied.
When we intercede, we are acting as God’s legal representatives on earth to uphold and defend the rights of people and cities in need of God.
Intercession is a powerful tool that the Lord has given us to see His Kingdom brought to the earth. We get the awesome privilege to be conduits that God can flow through to veto the power of the enemy and protect the rights of people who need to accept Jesus Christ.
What are examples that you know of that prove the power of intercession? Has this article helped you realize the power that you have in Christ as an intercessor?
Chicken a la carte
Hello everyone. I got wrecked by this video today that highlights the need of so many people around the world for simple things that we take for granted…..like food. This video shows how even our leftovers are things that leave others thanking God for.
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/1081/Chicken-a%20la%20Carte
Let this video challenge us to 1) not be wasteful and 2) seek God for the needs of our world.
Club 99
A few years ago, God connected me with someone who has become a very good friend of mine: Joe Gilletti. Joe has been a great encouragement to me and I’m thankful that he’s in my life.
He has a vision to see 500,000 young people experience the love and presence of God in the Midwest area. Sound big? You bet! Will it happen? Absolutely!
His vision is to launch what he’s calling Club 99’s all over the Midwest that will serve as a community center/outreach center to connect with young people – it’s going to be one of the most contemporary church models this country has ever seen.
On his blog (http://solomonig.typepad.com), Joe has posted a video in which he shares his heartbeat and passion for Club 99. Click here for the video link.
I invite you to watch this video and join with me in prayer that the Kingdom of God is brought to the Midwest in a whole new way!
Spring is here!
Have you ever been blind-sided by an amazing concept found in something so simple? Have you ever walked by something (or someone) for weeks, months, or years, only to one day have an “Ah Ha!” moment and be impacted?
I went out for a brief walk at work today and I looked at one of the trees and saw that it was beginning to bud because, as the title of this post says, “Spring is here!”. I have never really taken the time to look at buds on a tree. I’m not a gardener, I’m not a botanist, I’m not a florist, and I would find a way to kill a chia-pet. But for some reason, today, God used a small little bud on a tree to speak something to me.
The first thing I noticed about the bud on the tree is that it seemed so innocent. The bud was largely undamaged. The flower or leaf inside the bud hadn’t had the chance or the opportunity to be damaged by wind or rain. It was partially protected yet partially beginning to unfold and become who it was meant to be.
The second thing that I noticed was hope. It wasn’t yet everything that it was destined to be, but to see a whole tree filled with buds spoke hope to me. Inside the bud were all the atributes of a beautiful flower or a vibrant green leaf, but you could only see part of what it was meant to become. We don’t yet see a tree full of leaves or flowers, but it’s the hope of something that will bring happiness to people, oxgen to the atmosphere, etc.
The third thing that I noticed was in some ways an application of the previous thoughts of hope and innocece: life. I immediately thought of parallels to my own life and our collective lives in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 –
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away ; behold , all things are become new.
We are just like that bud. When we come to Christ, we are like that bud that I saw on the tree. We start out innocent. Much of who we are going to be and what we are going to accomplish is hidden to everyone..everyone but God. We have hope…hope that by being who God intended us to be that we can bring happiness and show Christ’s love to others. We feel full of life – new life. While we previously were calloused and hardened (much like the trunk of the tree), God made something beautiful out of our life.
As we grow and our destiny unfolds, there will be opportunities to be shaken by life..winds of adversity..trials..tribulations…rain…storms…but God knew what He was doing when He grafted you into the tree that He placed you into. He is our source of life, our source of hope, the One who holds our innocence and destiny in His hands.
Never forget the fact that the Bible doesn’t say that He will make new things, rather it says that He will make all things new. God has taken things that were previously existing (us) and made us new.
Let’s enjoy His presence and love and rest in the process that He has us in. Spring is here…this is a new season. I’m determined to bloom into what God wants me to be.
Quote for 4/6/2009
William Booth:
…In answer to your inquiry, I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.
Sunday Recap @ Haven of Hope (4-5-2009)
This past Sunday at Haven of Hope will go down as one of my favorite Sundays ever!! It was one of my favorite message that I’ve ever heard Pastor Jonathan preach! Even more powerful is that the word that he brought causes people to spring to action and seek healing from harmful mindsets regarding righteousness.
The word “Righteousness” is basically a government term that means to be in right standing with the authorities.
In the beginning, Adam and Even were in right standing with God; however, through sin/disobedience, they lost their identity and lose their right-standing with God – therefore becoming unrighteous.
Ever since that time, man has done everything that they could to become righteous again. God wanted to show man that through their own power, they’d never be able to be righteous. As we review the 10 commandments, all the feasts, and the 613 commandments found in the Old Testament, we see that it would be IMPOSSIBLE for anyone to actually do it all perfect and be righteous.
On our own, we CAN’T be righteous. We CAN’T do ANYTHING to EARN it! The kicker is that, even though Jesus came to be our righteousness and justify us, we STILL live in the mindset of the law that says “I can earn this…if I just prayed enough..if I just fasted enough…if I just followed this rule or that rule better….I could MAYBE become righteous. Jesus came on the scene and messed all that up.
Galatians 2:16 “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believe in Jesus Christ, that we miht be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law…”
Galatians 2:21 “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain”
If someone came into our home and told us that what Christ did on the cross for us was useless, unnecessary, and accomplished nothing, I’d be taking part in an impromptu Holy Ghost beatdown!
YET…when you and I live our lives with the thought that what we DO can earn our righteousness, we frustrate the grace of God and act as though His death was in vain. Our righteousness is like “filthy rags”, but He is our hope.
As soon as the message was done, we had a tremendous time of healing! Everyone came forward and told God that we wanted to trust in HIS righteousness in our lives. We asked that the law would be dead, but that we would be alive in Christ! Awesome..that never gets old to see new people seeking God, enjoying His presence, and receiving physical, emotional, mental, etc. healing from harmful mindsets.
Embrace grace. Trust in His righteousness. Go kick some devil butt.
If you are interested in buying a copy of this week’s audio CD, please contact Jonathan Jaynes at jonatikon@yahoo.com.
