THE PLACE OF  WORSHIP AND MISSION

 “The highest missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great commission (important as that is),nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing(strong as that incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God…) but rather zeal—burning and passionate zeal—for the glory of Jesus Christ… Only one imperialism is Christian and that is concern for HIS imperial Majesty Jesus Christ, and for the glory of His empire”  John Stott

“Mission is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Mission exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever. Worship, therefore is the fuel and goal of missions.”  John Piper

 Christianity is a lifestyle of worshiping the Father through following Christ. From the beginning it was centered in the person of Jesus not a religion. It’s all about moving towards Him and with Him. He showed us the Father; He did only what He saw the Father doing. He spoke only what He heard the Father saying. HE loved the world and gave himself for it. He loved the Father and gave Himself to Him. He lived the word and called others to walk and live the love life with Him. He died and rose and lives today in His church to send HIS SPIRT with and through HIS followers. He sends us to seek and save that which is lost, to destroy the works of the evil one, to proclaim the kingdom of GOD, preach the good news and make disciples every day in every way we can, everywhere we can.  Christianity is a movement of people living on mission with Christ. We the church are the gathering of those people who have heard HIS call are moving with HIM every day everywhere . 

True worship will always move us to the mission of revealing the one we worship in all HIS goodness, love and power in every way we can.  Worship leads to mission and back to worship.  MAY YOU be MOVED today by HIM, HIS LOVE and grace and POWER beyond religion and form to be transformed and bring transformation in and from HIS presence for HIS GLORY.

YOUR World where you live and work and THE WORLD out there- desperately needs the hope that HIS love and life give. The world is coming apart be the people who come together and love it to life.

Jon 

THE Kingdom of GOD is near

THE Kingdom of GOD is near

Well as you can see I have not been a very consistent blogger. I haven't written anything here in a year. It seems from the day I decided all over again to "ESCAPE CHURCHIANITY" and call others to follow me in the pursuit of eternity there has been a steady onslaught against our family, church and community, but GOD has so used it in my life to draw me near.

We have been calling the community of faith to BE a common-unity of faith and to not GO to church but to BE THE CHURCH!. We have embraced HIS CALL to GO! He has called us everyday in our everyday lives  "as we are going" to be the good news, to bring the good news, to communicate in every way we can this EVANGEL. The GOOD NEWS that GOD HAS A PLAN! WHAT WE SEE and WHAT WE experience now NO MATTER WHAT IT IS- IT IS NOT ETERNAL!   It will pass!

The GOOD NEWS is that though the world is full of evil and instability Jesus has split time and brought the eternal kingdom BACK to earth. The KINGDOM of GOD is HERE now! Where ever people say no to self and embrace HIS LOVE, where ever, whenever, we recognize HE IS WITH US and his GRACE is available to us, where ever when ever we declare HIS GOODNESS and GREATNESS, HIS LOVE and Forgiveness- where ever whenever we choose to embrace HIS MISSION of FAITH in the GOODNESS of GOD and OBEDIENCE by FAITH to the MESSAGE of GOD.... THE KINGDOM COMES!

HIS LOVE, HIS POWER to HEAL SAVE and DELIVER is available RIGHT NOW! HIS LIFE and GOODNESS, HIS VIRTUE is ready to be shared and expressed in and through the surrendered soul RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE where you live, work, rest and play....

Its time to stop compartmentalizing our lives and live an integrated life. He calls us to sit at HIS table, to be part of HIS family, to live BY FAITH and not by sight. Our job is not in the way of our call its part of it. Our circumstance is not the problem it is the test of our faith and the opportunity to demonstrate and declare our faith in HIM!

I pray that today you would stop and meditate in HIS WORD! Lay hold of HIS promises, partake of HIS divine nature, BE FILLED with HIS SPIRIT and HIS LOVE and LIVE in the overflow of HIS LIFE! May his healing saving delivering virtue flow like a mighty river in and through you WHEREVER you find yourself, and in WHATEVER circumstance AS YOU are GOING may you know HE IS EMMANUEL- GOD WITH YOU! Wherever you are HE is also. What ever you face declare HIS kingdom is HERE NOW! May you feed your faith in HIS WORD and EXERCISE YOUR FAITH  IN OBEDIENCE. You will BE the GOOD NEWS right where you are.

May you call those  who receive it  to follow you as you follow Christ and BE the CHANGE YOUR WORLD NEEDS! AS you are going you will BRING the kingdom and make disciples, LOVE and Goodness will be multiplied and healing will flow to your world WHERE you LIVE!

Thank GOD for everything for ungratefulness is the greatest sign of an entitlement mentality. We are not entitled but OH WE ARE SO BLESSED! GIVE thanks and recognize those who think they earn LIFE , BLESSINGS and LOVE  never can appreciate it as GIFT from THE ONE ABOVE.

May HIS heart capture yours, may HIS LOVE enfold you and may every trial and test simply serve as an opportunity for you to exercise your faith, practice your obedience and EXTEND THE KINGDOM-  RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE AND JOY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT!

GOD is moving HIS kingdom is going forth and HE is calling us all to move with HIM. MAY we all be the move of GOD no longer a weekend show or performance, but HIS people, His FAMILY, his ARMY, HIS BODY working, living, loving, giving everyday in every way right where we live overflowing HIS healing GRACE and VIRTUE to a lost and dying world.

Heb 3:7 and 4:7 both say it: " Today is the day of salvation... " ( The word is SOZO in the Greek= healing, deliverance, redemption, restoration, salvation)

ESCAPE CHURCHIANITY  don't just pray for revival, awakening, change, healing for some day-
BE THE AWAKENING, CHANGE, REVIVAL AND HEALING TODAY!

GOD BLESS YOU AS YOU BE!

Don't hate your life LOVE IT!

ESCAPE CHURCHIANITY-  Don’t hate your life: LOVE IT! When your joy is based on WHO God made you to be then whatever you do is a joy. BE: then do. Col 1:23

Hey check out what GOD IS DOING as His people LIVE LOVE- way beyond the time of disaster and on throught into a lifelong friendship....  http://www.facebook.com/#!/crossroadsoutreach?fref=ts

For GOD's sake don't love as a technique, or posture love to look good, or fake love to feel good, LIVE LOVE from HIM to others! Put yourself between the GREAT GOD and GREAT needs and watch GRACE, MERCY, LOVE, POWER, BLESSINGS, LIFE FLOW from HIS throne through YOU ot others and BACK to heaven in PRAISE and THANKSGIVING!

Bless YOU!!!!

JON

MAKE ROOM for HIS WORD:

GOD KNOWS I am too busy often times. How about you?  I know I NEED TO MAKE ROOM!  The reality is that I can’t seem to escape certain pressures of life: financial pressure, pressure from circumstances out of my control, people pressure, pressure at work, at home, pressure to perform, pressure to conform to world of busyness, a world of so many voices, expectations, entertainments and constant activity.  What do all these pressures have in common? They are all working to conform us to our external environment.

This is where the series on making room is EXCITING to me! You see I have been learning and re-learning a secret to making room.  ITS NOT ABOUT THE EXTERNALS!  I mean look at Jesus’ life. The man was busy! Once he started his ministry – it was ON! I have been studying the book of MARK in preparation for an upcoming trip to Tanzania to train Pastor’s there and as I go thru the book it’s interesting in the NAS version how almost every other verse says: “Immediately”.  It’s immediately this and immediately that. It is really an ACTION gospel. Crowds gathering were trampling each other to see Jesus. I mean HE WAS THE ORIGINAL ROCK STAR! Even when He tried to sail away in a boat to escape the people, they followed on foot and were there when the boat landed.  PRESSURE! BUSYNESS! I mean Jesus got so tired He fell asleep in a boat during gale force winds and had to be woken up!

So what was HIS secret? HOW did HE make room?

1. He knew man was intended to live by the WORD of GOD regarding HIS life!  (Lk 4:4, Mtt 4:4)

2. No matter how hectic it got, HE took time to get away and be alone with the Father.   (Mk1:35-37 Jn 6:22,)

3. He Knew not to entrust Himself to people and their expectations.  (JN 2:24 )

So how do we make room? Make room to hear and receive HIS word implanted in your heart which is able to save your soul! Make room on the inside; take time to develop your relationship with HIS WORD! Meditate on it, study it, memorize it, quote it, pray it, ACT ON IT!

The simple truth is busyness and distraction is not nearly so much the problem as our lack of HIS WORD on the INSIDE to combat the pressure on the OUTSIDE.  ALL that PRESSURE is trying to CONFORM us to a way of living based on external pressures that will always lead to us being shaped by circumstance.

As you struggle with making room and the convicting messages be encouraged today by this simple promise in Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  “

You see as we give ourselves to HIM, as we offer our bodies every day, and make HIS WORD our number one source of INFORMATION, instead of suffering a CONFORMATION we will experience a TRANSFORMATION! The pressure on the outside will only serve to bring out the truth on the INSIDE! Busy people full of GOD and HIS word have an INTERNAL POWER that is greater than ALL EXTERNAL PRESSURE! What breaks, molds, shapes and conforms others, only serves as a catalyst for us to be changed, transformed into a whole different kind of person. The POWER of HIS WORD, HIS LOVE and LIFE will renew our minds and transform us, even when we can’t control the schedule, the circumstances or the people!

 AS this busy, harried, harassed world of ours that is killing itself, performing and conforming to external pressures as it fears GOD’s word and HIS WILL; We have the opportunity to prove to them that when we MAKE ROOM FOR GOD and HIS word  we are TRANSFORMED from the inside out. GOD’s will IS GOOD, ACCEPTABLE and PERFECT in spite of this broken world full of destruction and despair! What hope that gives! 

THE NEXT BIG THING....
           In our Pop culture it seems like we are always looking for the next big thing. It seems like a never ending search for something new, something big, something sensational. What if the NEXT BIG THING was a little thing? What if the biggest things are the things no one notices, no one sees or senses? What if even the BIGGEST things of all are made up of myriads of little things?

The chair you might be sitting on is made of invisible molecules, infinitesimal atoms. The vast immeasurable visible Universe was made from the invisible! What if life is like that? What if the smallest things are actually important? What if, things we think about, things we say and do every day actually count for something HUGE? What if apparently inconsequential people in unimportant places and everyday actions could affect eternity?

What if many small acts of service, done to make life better for someone add up to a life that deeply influences others and makes the world better? What if loving the unloved, reaching out to the rejected, sharing what you have with one who has not, could create a culture of love and caring? What if all kinds of little things actually affect eternity for someone’s? What if a chance encounter or small meeting, a short prayer, or a small act of kindness could have an effect for a lifetime?

My prayer for myself and all of you is that we could wake up to the new normal that Jesus defined for us: a life of submission to the Father, of listening to HIM, simply loving GOD with all we have and others as ourselves. Sharing that with a few, as we serve the many is not a big thing but it’s a lot of little things. It’s not being materialistic but being relational. It’s about listening to God and others.  

           Paul writing to the multisite church of his day writes:  Ephesians 5: ^14” for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”¹⁵ So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. ¹⁶ Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. ¹⁷ Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”

I hope together we can escape thoughtless churchianity with all of its corporate consumerism. We might walk aware of every little thing, each heartbeat, every breath of air, each living thing, every person, and then every little circumstance could be filled with meaning. Oh if only we could be careful of how we live, if only we could see the light of HIS life and LIVE there. There are so many opportunities to say and do the little things, to BE LOVE, to live love for HIM and those around us.

Remember GOD came down at Christmas not big but little. Everyone who was looking for the next BIG thing missed him! Thirty years of thoughts and actions no one noticed, three more years of ministry in the backwaters of the Roman Empire but what a LIFE!  May you be faithful to HIM in the little things that make up for a GREAT BIG LIFE!

 
Merry CHRISTMAS and Bless you in every LITTLE THING!!!

JON

DULCE, My Bride of 25 years Christmas pic

Thoughts on living well....  

Matthew 22: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

Jesus sums it all up in this! LOVE! LOVE GOD LOVE OTHERS!

 

HE is saying that loving well is HIS definition of living well. Quality of relationships defines our quality of life. SO why do we live at such a pace with so many distractions that keep us from quality communication, quality relationships? Why do we allow the busyness of life  to steal the wonder of it and not take time to REALLY LOVE! Love God, love your family and friends, ove each other, love your nieghbor, love well and live well!   GIVE LIFE to this dying world LIVE LOVE and you will be living well!

Take some time and GO and love on purpose!

LOVE YOU!

JON

 

 

 

Escape Churchianity: THE PLACE OF  WORSHIP AND MISSION

 “The highest missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great commission (important as that is),nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing(strong as that incentive is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God…) but rather zeal—burning and passionate zeal—for the glory of Jesus Christ… Only one imperialism is Christian and that is concern for HIS imperial Majesty Jesus Christ, and for the glory of His empire”  John Stott

“Mission is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Mission exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever. Worship, therefore is the fuel and goal of missions.”  John Piper

 Christianity is a lifestyle of worshiping the Father through following Christ. From the beginning it was centered in the person of Jesus not a religion. It’s all about moving towards Him and with Him. He showed us the Father; He did only what He saw the Father doing. He spoke only what He heard the Father saying. HE loved the world and gave himself for it. He loved the Father and gave Himself to Him. He lived the word and called others to walk and live the life with Him. He died and rose and lives today in His church to send HIS SPIRT with and through HIS followers. He sends us to seek and save that which is lost, to destroy the works of the evil one, to proclaim the kingdom of GOD, preach the good news and make disciples every day in every way we can, everywhere we can.  Christianity is a movement of people living on mission with Christ, we the church are the gathering of those people who have heard HIS call are moving with HIM every day everywhere . True worship will always move us to the mission of revealing the one we worship in all HIS goodness, love and power in every way we can.  Worship leads to mission and back to worship.  MAY YOU be MOVED today by HIM, HIS LOVE and grace and POWER beyond religion and form to be transformed and bring transformation in and from HIS presence for HIS GLORY.

Jon Eastlick

 

TIME with HIm is LIFE giiving abundant and eternal time without HIm is an abyss of self towards hell...    Eternal life is continually KNOWING HIM - the more you know HIM the more he defines you in a way that transcends time, place and circumstance

God IS SPEAKING TO ME- I WISH I COULD UNPACK IT FOR YOU- BUT IN A NUTSHELL: In some ways its amazing how the reality of our dream UNFOLDS, when it is HIS dream. -- iT is not only grittier and harder than the fluffy somewhat unreal stuff we imagined but as we go thru the gritty stuff, the tests and trials that are merely there to make us strong enough to LIVE IN THE DREAM… then all of a sudden we realize it is MORE than we imagined- BECAUSE IT IS REAL AND IT is REALLY GOD doing it and NOT US !  Wish I had words to express the wonder I feel… I can only just a little bit imagine what Joseph felt like after it all unraveled and he had the aha moment- “what you meant for evil God meant for good”…. How many things and how many people do we get upset with that with time and perspective we would see, were all part of the a making of the DREAM into REALITY!  Hm hmm mmm… GOD what did I do all the fussing about- WHY didn’t I just praise you and trust you all the while!!!! LORD HAVE MERCY! Love YOU and GLEN KB and love the story GOD is writing: of covenant relationships! Lifelong, years in the making dreams come true…. I LOVE OUR GOD!!!!  I am so glad to be IN THE KINGDOM with such a wonderful loving ruler who works all things for good!

No matter Where you are, what you are going through. HOLD ON to that truth and keep dreaming! It is never too late or too difficult for our GOD to turn it around and lift you up from the bottom and put you right into your birthright IN HIM!

BLESS YOU GUYS!!!!

Love JON