Cross Culture Ministries

    This past thursday night we had our REGENERATION bible study for our college students.  God is moving in this ministry.  We had a great group, we had 19 total!  PRAISE GOD- He deserves every ounce of praise and credit.  I honestly felt the spirit with us thursday evening and He was moving.  Due to some things that came up we had to move our bible study from the cafe to our chapel where we meet for our sunday services.  At first I really thought because of the size of the chapel and the size of the group that it would be intimidating and everyone would feel uncomfortable.  It was anything but that, it was very intimate and possibly what we needed for this group.

    That night I had the priviledge of sharing the word and we talked about “Following God”.  You see we follow alot of different things in this world.  We follow sports teams; know every stat, every player and get more excited about that than seeing someone accept Christ.  We follow music and those bands that are in, that are cool and we know all their songs, know when their next album is coming out and even know more about the band’s personal life than they do (thats scary!).  We follow these things and more because we want to be in with the crowd, don’t want to be left out.  So whats the outcome?  We end up investing all of our time, money and brain power (what little we have).  We also invest our emotions, because we feel like we can identify with these people in the spotlight.  Its to the point that we are passionate about them or what they do and we want to share with everyone we meet.  We choose to follow people or things.  We looked at someone that chose his path, choses what he would follow.  We looked at Achan and what he did.  You see a couple of weeks ago I talked about Joshua and the battle of Jericho.  The Israelites had just come out of the wilderness and had to go to battle.  The Lord handed that city to them without one casuality, but with one stipulation, they could not touch the things set apart.  The items specified within the city was to be given to God.  Well somone among them chose not to follow this command and it had a huge impact, not only on his life but all of the people of Israel.  We looked at three ways of following God within the context of this story.  We focused on Joshua 7: 1-26:  [1] Follow God in Defeat, [2] Follow God through Obstacles, [3] Follow God into Repentance.

    [1] Follow God in Defeat (vs. 1-9):  You see the Israelites had to face another opponent and that was the city of Ai.  Joshua sent some spies over to check them out.  Any smart leader would do that, because you need to know the land, the people and the military; you have got to have a strategy going into battle.  The men cam back and told Joshua that “we got this”, there is not that many men in that city and lets send only 2,000 to 3,000 men to battle and save the rest of our army, give them some rest.  They got a little to big for their britches and somewhat cocky.  Joshua agreed and sent the 2,000 to 3,000 men to Ai.  Well needless to say that they got their rear ends handed to them that day and lost 36 men to make matters worse.  Joshua was messed up!  He tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the Lord and stayed there all day until evening.  Joshua started complaining about being defeated.  In (vs. 7) Joshua even questioned God’s direction and stated that he was afraid that the news would spread and then everyone would come and wipe them out.  That is really what our walk with Christ is like especially when we face defeat.  Really we need to reevaluate and see where our priorities are, are we spending each day talking with God in prayer, are we studying God’s word everyday.  Where is our focus?  You know, its easy to say God is in control when things are good!  Are we getting to big for our britches and what battles are we loosing that we shouldn’t.

    [2] Follow God through Obstacles (vs. 10 – 22):  When Joshua was in his pity party God told him to “Stand Up!”.  Joshua needed to stop complaining and listen, because there was someone among them that disobeyed and brought this outcome upon them.  There was a thief among them, someone had taken what God commanded them not to touch, to leave alone.  This was supposed to be like their tithe to God to show obedience, this would be just like today if we took our tithes and went out and bought a new cell phone, or a new xbox game, even going out and buying new clothes or new shoes.  This is stealing, which is wrong, actually its just plain crazy because this is disobeying God.  Not only was this person a thief but also a liar.  God told Joshua that He would not bless them.  He would not be with them and they would not win another battle until this is rectified.  There needed to be repentance among the people.  Joshua had to go tribe by tribe and interrogate and investigate.  He brought out the CSI dept., to fingerprint, do DNA testing and check for any possible fibers that may have been left behind to link someone to the crime.  Joshua had to go tribe by tribe and clan by clan.  What that means is that if my family was there then Joshua would have to go to the Crocker clan, which means starting with my grandparents (if still alive), then my parents, then to me, my wife and my kids if they are at the age of accountability.  After all this, what does he find but that this is a family affair.  The thief and liar was within his own family, it was Achan.  Joshua had to go to him and confront him with this.  Achan admitted to everything, he spilled his guts.  Told Joshua of everything he took, down to the last item and also told him where he hid the stolen goods.  When we are defeated in our walk its because of the obstacles within our paths.  We are like Joshua and Achan at the same time.  When we are having problems we complain, doubt God and get into our own pity party.  At this point we loose sight of those obstacles that got us here, we just sweep them under the rug and we end up there again down the road.  We hide stuff, we bury it just like Achan, when we really need to be like Joshua and clean house, confront the problem and give it to God.  That means repent even though it is painful, its needed.

    [3] Follow God into Repentance (vs. 23 -26):  Now, the evidence was brought to light, it was spread out for all Israel and the Lord to see, even though God already knew what Achan had done and where he hid everything.  Now that everything was found out, now was the time for repentance and do as God directed.  What they had to do was harsh and I would not want to be in Joshua’s sandals at this point.  They couldn’t let this cloud of disobedience hang over them because it was blocking God’s blessings.  In (vs. 25) Joshua was face to face with Achan and Joshua asked him “Why have you brought this trouble on us?  The Lord will bring trouble on you today.”  Joshua was telling him that it was time to face the music and answer for the choice he made, the disobedience he chose to follow.  Achan’s punishment was death, he had to be stoned.  Not only that but after he was stoned his wife had to be stoned and all of his children had to be stoned and all of his livestock destroyed and all material possessions destroyed.  Not only that, after the whole family was stoned they all had to be burned and then their ashes had rocks heaped over top of them.  God’s blessings were restored, they were forgiven.  We are the same way, but this doesn’t mean that we will be stoned physically, or burned up physically.  It does mean that if we don’t let God have that sin within our lives that spiritually we will be stoned, we will be burned up so that we can be brought back into a right relationship with Him.  We need to get it right before God, before its brought to plain sight.  Don’t let the sin you chose to follow destroy your walk, testimony, family or even your church.

    What does it really mean to follow?  Following God begins with our obedience.  If we look right smack dab in the middle of the word obedience is a little three letter word “DIE”.  To be obedient to God we have to die to ourselves. (Php. 1:21)  “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  What does that mean?  That means we are not to die physically, but spiritually.  We are to drop our own plans and goals in favor of God’s.  We have to die to our agenda and die to our plans or the plans for your life that have been superimposed on us by whoever influenced us or by whoever said we were going to do this.  What it boils down to is that it takes FAITH!  I think faith comes in when you’re willing to lay that down and say “Okay God, whatever you say.”  

   This past week, on Thursday was just awesome.  We had a change of scenery for our REGENERATION bible study.  We went to Fuddruckers on WadHampton Blvd..  We had a blast and not only did we have fun hanging out and eating but we got to study God’s word right there in the parking lot.  One more thing that was just amazing is that we had our biggest group to date!  We had 17 people there, GOD IS GOOD!

    My brother Corey Smith brought the word to us that night and shared what God laid on his heart.  He talked about commitment and talked about Ruth (Ruth 1:15-18).  Corey did a wonderful job that night.  He brought us 4 points on commitment:  [1] Commitment is a problem in today’s world  [2] We are obligated to serve God when we proclaim Him as Saviour  [3] DO NOT be swayed by anyone  [4] How do we commit to grow Christians and as Cross Culture Ministries?

     Everyone of these are excellent points that we need to use to evaluate our lives and commitment to Christ.  [1] Commitment is a problem in today’s world.  That sentence alone speaks volumes because there is not much commitment in our churches today, it is all laid on the shoulders of the pastors and staff and that is wrong.  That does not any way shape or form line up with the Great Commission.  Corey shared a great quote by Marian Wright Edelman: “You’re not obligated to win.  You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.”  How true this is because we are obligated to give our best and keep trying for Christ each and everyday of our lives.  [2] We are obligated to serve God when we proclaim Him as our Savior.  Once we become His child we are commanded to serve Him it should be our soul passion to do so.  Deut. 6:5 – “Love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with allyour strength.”  Give your best, your all, Christ did so why should we give God our leftovers.  [3] DO NOT be swayed by anyone.  How easy this is to take place in our lives, especially when we are not grounded as we should be and we are at our weakest point in our walk with Christ.  We are not here to please man, but God and God alone.  It doesn’t mean we separate ourselves from human contact but rather make sure we let people know what we stand for and why through love and compassion.  Look at Ruth she was not swayed by her mother-in-law or the examples set by her sister-in-law (v.16).    [4] How do we commit to grow Christians and as Cross Culture Ministries?  We must committed to serving Christ in the good times and especially in the bad times.  People are watching us and we must be sure that we are living out our faith and live it boldly.  Ruth saw the commitment that Naomi (mother-in-law) had to God and Ruth wanted to follow her and find out more about her Creator.  Alot of people are searching and believing in other religions that promise that their god will return.  Marian Wright Edelman quoted it best: “A lot of people are waiting for Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi to come back — but they are gone.  We are it, and it is up to us.  It is up to you.”  We must do the footwork, God will do the soul work; BE INTENTIONAL!!

    I will end on this, God will bless a work of commitment: (1 kings 8:23)  “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below – you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.” 

    Thursday night we had another great turn out for our REGENERATION bible study.  We discussed “Bold Choices” and how we face choices day in and day out.  We make small choices and we make very important choices, which at times we make them it seems out of habit, no real thought is involved.  What we must realize is that alot of choices that we make take guts- takes FAITH!  We looked @ Joshua and the choices he was presented with to make not only for himself but for an entire nation.

    We looked @ Joshua 5:13 – 6:16.  Joshua was in a leadership position and he was bringing the Israelites out of the wilderness, after 40 yrs.  They started eating from the land, the manna had ceased.  They were looking for a permanent home, very tired of wandering.  We looked @ 3 choices made: (1) Choice of Obedience and Respect. (2) Choice of Jericho or Just Say No! (3) Choice to Follow or Forget It!

    In 5:13-15 we see that Joshua was approached by a man, they were near Jericho @ this time, and Joshua asked if he was friend or foe.  Joshua found out he was the commander of the Lord’s army.  There are many theories to this, some say it was God the Father, some say it was God the son (Jesus), could also have been an angle, possibly Michael.  Joshua realized that he was in the Presence of the Lord and immediately bowed his face to the ground.  His choice was made out of obedience and respect.  Joshua shared a W.O.R.D. (Worship Obedience Respect Devotion).  Then Joshua asks what was the message that the Lord had, what was required.  Joshua was ready, ready to serve in what ever capacity necessary, he made his choice no matter the cost.  (1)CHOICE OF OBEDIENCE AND RESPECT.

    Joshua learns that he is to attack Jericho, but not in the conventional way.  The Lord tells Joshua that the city is handed to them.  All that was required was to march, sound the trumpets and shout- do this for 7 days.  Jericho was one fortified city, no one allowed oout or in.  I’m sure the thought of no way they could get in crossed Joshua’s mind, but did not let that distract him from the task at hand.  Joshua knew God would take care of them, because he had for 40 years!  Joshua agreed to the mission, made his choice once again, but now had to relay this to the people.  This leads to the last point…..

    (3) CHOICE TO FOLLOW OR FORGET IT!  Joshua presented the strategy, God’s plan for providing a new home.  The people had a choice, being human they probably thought, “we have been in the wilderness for 40 yrs., and we are really tired and really don’t need anymore enemies to contend with, and plus what about the possibility of causalties.”  This also had to cross there minds, ” How are we supposed to look threating marching around a city like we are throwing Jericho a parade, and besides this place cannot be defeated, its to strong.”  The people accepted the mission they did not really state those comments but rather immediately started to march, they made their choice.  They chose to follow, march, sound the trumpets/ shout, obey.  These are chocies that take guts and take faith.  There are victory are in our choices.  I’m sure it was an amazing site to see about 40,000 people marching around this city and sounding the trumpets.  I bet the mosincredible site was the 7th day when all 40,000 shouted in unison after the trumpets, this was probably one of the greatest worship events in history to this point.

    After looking at this we need to consider the choices that we will make. Our lives are like the city of Jericho.  We have huge walls around us, we are tightly shut up and let no one in and nothing out.  We try to solve our own problems and heal our own wounds.  There is one thing, Christ is wanting to be a part of our lives.  When He gets close we reinforce the walls, add more bricks, more dirt, more mud, more sins, we try to run.  Christ at times tries to get our attention, but most of the time He is waiting on us, waiting on us to SHOUT to Him, so that our walls will crumble and allow Christ access to our lives.  By doing this we can gain access to our identity; let Christ reveal who we are, let Christ reveal our passions.  It doesn’t matter how small the decision, let Christ be involved in the choices that we make.

    Our choices define who we are, in our character, the way we handle situations or people.  Our beliefs, such as Is God real, or Am I part of His plan and if so what is my purpose.  We need to be who God wants and designed us to be and that is serving Him, giving Him our all, no regrets.

“CHOOSE TO FOLLOW CHRIST; CHOOSE TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE!”