Decisions of the real church

DECISIONS THAT DEFINE US...

We have decided that teaching the Gospel without demonstrating the gospel is not enough. Good preaching, good doctrine, and being good people is not enough.

We have decided that having a good church club is not enough, good fellowship is not enough, and just being a member of that club is not enough.

We have decided that having good Bible studies is good, but not good enough, that just making it to heaven is not our goal, and that knowing about God without truly knowing and experiencing God is meaningless.

We have decided that having good programs is not enough; that change without transformation is intolerable, and that staying the same is not an option.

We have decided that gifting without character is futile.

We have decided that singing songs without worshiping is hallow and having meetings without God showing up is pointless.

We have decided that having faith without works is not enough and having works without love is not acceptable - that our function comes out of our relationship first with the Father and second with each other.

We have decided that reading about the book of Acts without living the book of Acts is unthinkable.

We have decided that confident faith is good and bold faith is better.

We have decided that hearing about the Holy Spirit without experiencing Him is silly, that believing in His presence without seeing it manifested in signs and wonders is hypocrisy, that believing in healing without seeing people healed is absurd, and that believing in deliverance without people being delivered is absolutely ridiculous.

We have decided to be Holy Spirit filled, Holy Spirit led, and Holy Spirit empowered - anything less doesn't work for us.

We have decided to be the ones telling the stories of God's power - not the ones hearing about them.

We have decided that living saved, but not supernatural is living below our privilege and short of what Christ died for.

We have decided that we are a battle ship not a cruise ship, an army, not an audience; Special forces not spectators, missionaries not club members.

We have decided to value both pioneers and settlers - pioneers to expand our territory and settlers to build on those territories - but we are not squatters - people who take up space others have fought for without improving it.

We have decided to be infectious instead of innocuous, contagious instead of quarantined, deadly instead of benign.

We have decided to be radical lovers and outrageous givers.

We have decided that we are a mission station and not a museum

THEREFORE:

We honor the past - we don't live in it.

We live in the present with our eyes on the future.

We see past events - successes and failures - as stepping-stones not stop signs.

We pursue learning in order to be transformed, not learning in order to know.

We are people of engagement not observation.

We focus on what could be, not on what is or has been.

We are not limited to the four walls of this building. Our influence is not restricted by location - not even the nations are out of bounds.

We raise up world changers - not tour guides. We train commandos, not committees.

We are a people of our destiny, not of our history.

We have decided that it is better to fail while reaching for the impossible that God has planned for us than succeed settling for less.

We have decided that nothing short of His Kingdom come, His will be done in our world as it is in Heaven will satisfy.

We have decided that we will not be satisfied until our world freaks out and cries out "Those who have turned the world upside down have come here too."

These are some of the decisions that define who we are

as a community and how we live our lives.

These decisions are not destinations - but rather journeys - journeys along an ancient path - we have not found some new way - but rather rediscovered the path as old as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The same path followed by Moses, Joshua and Caleb - Paul, John, Peter. The path followed by the first century church - a church that revolutionized the culture of the first century and beyond.

It is a path that will impact the world we live in today. It is a path of Bold Faith - believing that what God says is really true and acting on it; Outrageous Generosity - giving our life away in order to demonstrate His Kingdom; Radical Love - loving God with everything in us and our neighbor as ourselves.

It is a path of liberty, freedom, and healing. On this path you find significance, purpose, and destiny.

This is a path less traveled – however - it is not a path only available to a select few - but to whosoever will - may come. It is for people of every nation, tribe and tongue -for those in any occupation or vocation.

No matter where you are in your life journey - there is room on this path for you.

Decisions That Define Us © 2005 David B Crone
May be used or reprinted for personal use. For use in audio or printed publication for profit, written permission must be released by
author. Acknowledgement of author would be appreciated in all uses -audio and written form. Excerpt from the book Decisions that Define Us by David Crone.

Perfect sacrifice to perfect imperfect people

1. The Law cannot make anyone holy/perfect.

Heb 10:1 Amp
"FOR SINCE the Law has merely a rude outline (foreshadowing) of the good things to come-- instead of fully expressing those things--it can never by offering the same sacrifices continually year after year make perfect those who approach [its altars]."


a. This is proven by the fact that the sacrifices had to be repeated over and over.

Heb 10:2 NLT
"If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared."

Heb 10:11 MSG
"Every priest goes to work at the altar each day, offers the same old sacrifices year in, year out, and never makes a dent in the sin problem."

2. We have been made holy/perfect through Jesus.

Heb 10:10 Amp
"And in accordance with this will [of God], we have been made holy (consecrated and sanctified) through the offering made once for all of the body of Jesus Christ (the Anointed One)."

a. This is proven by the fact that Jesus' sacrifice does not need to be repeated. Jesus sat down, meaning he rested, because his work was COMPLETED.

Heb 10:12 NIV
"But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God."

Heb 10:12-14 MSG
"As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God and waited for his enemies to cave in. It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process."


3. Therefore, no longer consider yourself common, unholy, or unclean.

Acts 10:15 Amp
"And the voice came to him again a second time, What God has cleansed and pronounced clean, do not you defile and profane by regarding and calling common and unhallowed or unclean."

Acts 10:15 NASB
"Again a voice came to him a second time, 'What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.' "

Acts 10:15 NLT
"But the voice spoke again: 'Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.'"

Talk to the Mountain

Matthew 21:21 says;
"...if you have faith and do not doubt, you can plead and beg and repeatedly ask God to move your mountain for you, and it will be done."
Right?
No!
It says; "...but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done." NIV

Jesus tells US to do it, to speak it, to command it, not to ask that it be done.

Speak TO your mountain more than you speak ABOUT your mountain.
Don't tell God how big your mountain is, tell the mountain how big your God is.