Assumptions...

Mr. Rogers with a beard. Sheppard dude. Longhaired, halo
wearing peacenik. White robed, soft-spoken pushover. Helpless,
broken man hanging on a cross.

Say the word Jesus and see what pictures pop into your head. Do
the images resemble any of the descriptive phrases I've listed above?
Probably. But does that make them true?

The new series we're undergoing as a church, Reset, challenges
us to abandon our assumptions and discover who Jesus really is all over
again. How about these phrases:

Divider.
Activist.
Revolutionary.
Crusader for social justice.

Are we still talking about the same guy?

That's just it, isn't it? If we were really honest with
ourselves, then we'd have to admit that each of us harbors a unique
version of Jesus built from a combination of cultural assumptions,
intellect, and past experiences. Our own, personal, Jesus.
Would the real Jesus please stand up?

Fortunately, we've got something more than just stained glass
pictures or cheesy movies to introduce us to our savior. Read the New
Testament book of Luke, join a Reset group, and have the guts to check
your assumptions at the door. Come with us as we discover Jesus all
over again.

- Don

* Picture Jesus and his disciples standing together. Do you see a
bunch of construction workers on a coffee break, or a theology professor
and his grad students sitting in the faculty lounge? Why?

* Would you agree that most iconic images of Jesus feature some
version of an effeminate man surrounded by lambs or children? Does that
sound like the guy who trampled on the social taboos of his day while
insulting the members of the cultural elite? How do you reconcile those
images?

* I can sum up my preconceived notions of Jesus with one
word-boring. But how do you think a person as nonthreatening and bland
as we've made Jesus could convince twelve men to leave their livelihoods
and families to follow him to their deaths?

The DARE Challenge!!!

This isn't the stick your tongue against a frozen pole type of Dare. This is a Dare for each of us to step out of our comfort zone and serve someone.

Each day you will receive a dare that you agree to fulfill that day and then post your experience, the good, the bad and the ugly in the comment section below.

Imagine what would happen if we all decided to take the Dare Challenge...

Don't just imagine it... Do it!

I Dare you too!

* To sign up for the Dare Challenge please email us @ news@lifepointvineyard.com

Thanks!

He called us his Three Horsemen. BP, Kelsey and I were three of his five Troop Commanders, great friends, and brothers in arms. Our Squadron Commander knew that he could count on us to together accomplish any mission that we couldn’t complete individually. Our relationship made the Squadron stronger, but more than that, our friendship made each of us stronger.

Like anyone deployed away from his family and loved ones for a year, I endured some dark times in Afghanistan. But the friendship and trust I placed in my fellow Horsemen helped see me through those moments. On countless days existing on little sleep while spending long hours in the cockpit, the sound of my friends’ voices checking in over the radio often brought a smile to my face. Knowing that they were in the air with me provided a feeling of security during uncertain times.

I can recall one mission in particular that went terribly wrong. While lost in the maelstrom of chaos that poets call the fog of war, the one stalwart I clung to was the conviction that if I too were shot down, Kelsey would come for me. I knew this without Kelsey ever voicing this sentiment, because if the situation were reversed, I knew that I would come for him.

The bond between the three of us didn’t develop in Afghanistan—we were a community before we deployed. Our wives were friends, our children played together and we ate dinner at each other’s houses. We’d invested the time and effort to develop our community prior to Afghanistan, so that when I needed friends the most, I already had a family to support me.

So what about you? Do you have a community that supports you? If not, do you ask God why he hasn’t sent anyone into your life? Maybe you should be asking him to point you towards someone who needs your time and energy in their life. Sooner or later all of us will face a trial like Afghanistan.

Don’t face yours alone. Take a step towards someone today.

-Don

• Is your small group a band of brothers or just a bible study? What can you do to grow authentic community in your small group?
• Andy said, “Christian life is designed to be a team sport.” Are you part of a team? Why not?
• React to this statement: Our faith in God is personal but never private. Who have you invited to share in your personal relationship with God?

Intimacy

Merriam-Webster defines the word intimate as to communicate directly and delicately. I don’t know about you, but that is certainly a characteristic I would like the relationships in my life to have. I am a wife and a mother so intimacy takes on many forms in my household. Intimacy isn’t the first word that comes to mind when thinking about parent-child relationships, but when I look at the definition above, it is one I want to strive for. I certainly communicate directly to my children, but how delicate am I? Too often intimacy is mistaken as simply a physical attribute of a relationship when it really it is so much more.
My husband, Bryson, and I were talking Sunday afternoon about Andy’s message. You see, Bryson’s story was similar to the story that was shared. He grew up going in a very religious household regulated by rules. It wasn’t that his parents didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ – they did – but they also felt it brutally important to live by certain rules. To quote Bryson, “I grew up with so many rules, that when I went to college and didn’t have any, I went wild.” Lucky for both of us, Bryson never lost sight of what was most important.

Our conversation didn’t stop there – what really got me was how Bryson related his ability – or lack thereof - to be intimate with God with his level of intimacy with his own father. Because his father hadn’t shown him what it meant to have a close, delicate, relationship, my husband was sailing uncharted waters when it came to experiencing God. I hadn’t thought about it that way, but for someone whose family life may have lacked intimacy it may be extremely difficult to be intimate with anyone else. Intimacy may not be something that is always taught, but it certainly is modeled.

After hearing my husband relate his struggles with being intimate back to his relationship with his father, I thought back to how the 3 points Andy outlined on how to cultivate intimacy with God can really apply in many interpersonal relationships.

1) Give the relationship your time. This one may be the easiest of the 3 --still difficult for many, but pretty self explanatory.

2) Be transparent. This is hard for most of us – possibly even harder with someone important to us versus with God.

3) Submission. Ugh. There is that word again. But, undoubtedly the most powerful of the 3. If you submit to God, your life will be forever changed.

So I challenge you this week to look for opportunities to be more intimate with the God that made you. Personally, I am going to start with the R-rated prayers. Sure, He knows everything about you, but do you know everything about Him???