Posts by: Brian Dolleman

What’s more important – inviting outsiders or coddling insiders?

Should we be more concerned with keeping the holy ones happy or reaching riffraff for Jesus?

Should the church be an exclusive club for saints or a hospital for sinners?

Maybe Jesus (the head of the Church) has something to say about it…

Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.” (Matthew 9.9-13 MSG)

The highlights:

1. Jesus invited a tax collector (pretty despised dudes back then).
2. A bunch of disreputable characters were welcomed by Him.
3. This ticked off the Pharisees – the religious insiders.
4. Jesus said “go figure out what this means: I’m after mercy, not religion.”
5. Jesus said “I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.”

Takeaway:

Don’t be a Pharisee
(uppity, self-righteous, compassionless, wanting to be coddled and catered to).
Be like Jesus
(inviting, including, welcoming, grace-giving and focused on reaching outsiders).

My grandpa had a boat. He enjoyed fishing.

I remember playing with all the cool little things in his tackle box. I also have fond memories of playing in his boat that was parked in his driveway.

My grandpa’s tackle box had a unique smell; so did his boat… kind of a fishy smell.

I’ve been fishing a few times in my life and caught some fish (yes, they were small).

Here’s what I know: regardless if the fish are “keepers” or too small, you’re going to get “all fishy” because you have to get the fish off the hook. Your hands are going to smell fishy.

Jesus invited guys to follow him saying: “Come with me. I’ll make you a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.” (Matthew 4.19 MSG).

On another occasion, Jesus clarified what kind of people they were planning to catch: “I’m here inviting the sin-sick, not the spiritually-fit.” (Mark 2.17 MSG).

Fishermen smell like fish.

I’ve never been hunting, but I’ve heard stories of hunters covering themselves in animal urine in order to mask their human scent. Wow!

Jesus said we’re inviting the sin-sick.

The church is to be a hospital for sinners, not a country club for saints.

We should smell like fish. I’m not talking about sinning. We’re not becoming the sin-sick… we’re reaching the sin-sick!

Fishermen don’t become fish, but they sure do smell like ‘em!

If we’re going to reach people (like Jesus commanded), things will be messy and smelly – and that’s the way it should be.

Last week, Ed Young Jr.’s Tweet captured my attention. He said, “Jesus went up, the Holy Spirit came down, the disciples went out and the lost came in. Are you going out to bring the lost in?”

What a simple and profound truth… Jesus went up, the Holy Spirit came down, the disciples went out and the lost came in.

We are privileged to be part of God’s huge plan to bring Salvation to the ends of the earth. Let’s do our part by bringing in the lost!

“Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” – Luke 14.21

“Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.” – Luke 14.23

“Blessed are those who are invited…” – Revelation 19.9

Ya ever think about how life is one long battle against bad smells?

Every day we shower off that sweaty bacteria that starts growing on our bodies (some of us have to do this multiple times a day).

We brush our teeth (and tongue) daily. We rinse with mouthwash. Throughout the day we battle halitosis with gum, mints and Listerine strips.

Don’t forget all the applications of deodorant, nice-smelling lotion and cologne.

Each day, the routine stars over. Skip a few days and you’ve lost the smell battle!

As soap is to stink, generosity is to greed – it’s the antidote.

Greed smells. Stinginess is odiferous. Selfishness reeks.

Generosity keeps us smelling good.

“The gifts you sent… are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God.” – Philippians 4.18

Giving isn’t a one-time thing – just like showering or brushing your teeth isn’t a one-time thing. Our natural tendency is to start smelling (bad).

The smell battle must be fought on a daily basis.

Take a whiff. How do you smell today… greedy or generous?

Before I had LASIK on my eyes I was nearsighted (couldn’t see anything far away). After the surgery, my eyesight was corrected. No more contacts and glasses!

I’ve always loved this verse:

“He who has a generous eye will be blessed.” – Proverbs 22.9 NKJV

It speaks of the person who has a generous nature and is constantly looking for opportunities to give, bless, invest and make a difference.

Maybe the opposite of the generous eye is a “stingy eye.”

Some people have a stingy nature and look for ways to hoard, keep, hide, stash and protect their money.

Greed is no good. Look at every New Testament list of evil sins and you will find greed mentioned. Greed messes with your vision, erodes your faith, makes you fearful and paranoid.

When you’re nearsighted, your eye is oblong-shaped. The LASIK procedure burns away some of that extra tissue – making the eye more round, correcting it’s shape.

Sometimes we need spiritual LASIK: to be reshaped, getting rid of the greed that impairs our ability to see clearly.

God, give us generous eyes; help us to say with conviction: “we live to give and we love to give!”?

We are blessed. We really do have so much.

Don’t feel like you are blessed?

Consider what happens in just 1 minute around the world:

250 babies are born,

113 are born into poverty.

The average person in the world makes $0.013, while the average American household makes $0.096.

The average person in India with an IT career makes $0.025, while the average person in the United States with an IT career makes $0.13.

Someone working in a Nike factory in Vietnam makes $0.0014.

120,673 pounds of edible food is thrown away in the United States; there are 107 deaths in the world – 18 will die from starvation.

Yes, we are blessed and we have more than enough.

“He will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.” – 2 Corinthians 2.10

“Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous.” – 2 Corinthians 2.11

We are blessed so that we can be generous.

We are blessed in order to be a blessing.

Let’s break free from greedy, selfish, fearful, tight-fisted management of the resources God has blessed us with.

Let’s go on new adventures in generosity!

A parent shared with me on Sunday:

My favorite prayer I’ve heard my daughter pray was “B!  I!  N!  G!  O! And Bingo was his name-oh! In Jesus name, Amen.”

How about you? Do you have some memorable kid prayers to share?

Sometimes we’d rather just complain.

It feels good. It’s kind of addictive too – once we get going, it’s hard to stop.

One complaint inspires another.

Speaking out the complaint seems to boost our confidence that we’re right.

Complaining is nice because it places the burden of responsibility on someone or something else.

I think we often choose to complain because it’s safe – it ensures that we won’t have to change.

But maybe safe isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And now, one final thing: Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:6-8)

Don’t worry (stress, whine, complain, freak out)… instead, pray!

Something happens when we pray. The circumstances may or may not change… but WE are certainly changed!

When we pray, God gives us a peace that goes beyond all our thoughts, cares and concerns about the situation.

When we pray, we take on a responsibility… to trust God and to get our thoughts right (to fix our thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and worthy of praise).

I know, sometimes we’d rather just complain… but if we have enough energy to complain, we have enough to pray.

Live dangerously and pray!

The risk is that God might change us… but it’s a change for the better anyway(being stress-free, worry-free and filled with a peace that supersedes our circumstances).

Live the adventure. Pray about everything.

Prayer is simply talking with God.

It’s not reciting a script or repeating a mantra.

It’s honest and real.

It’s spoken in everyday language.

In prayer, there’s no need for Shakespearean language!

There’s no need to speak in Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic or Latin.

You don’t have to put on a southern accent or preacher’s voice when you talk to God (He hears you all the other times you speak – just use that same voice).

We’re His kids! Kids don’t come to their parents and use fancy language or unusual voices. In fact, parents are especially gifted at understanding and interpreting what THEIR kids are saying.

Here’s what it says in Romans:

(This life you received from God) is adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “what’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. (Romans 5.15-16 MSG).

God knows and loves the real you.

You’re His child.

He wants to hear from YOU.

We don’t have any reason to be shy.

Kids aren’t shy around their parents.

Our parents have seen us naked, changed our diapers, bandaged our wounds, caught us lying, wiped away our tears…

Parents know their kids, flaws and all, and still love them.

“Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.” (Ephesians 3.12 NLT).

Be bold.

Come to the Father confidently.

He’s inviting you into His presence…

Come on in and have a conversation with your Heavenly Father!

First, let me give proper credit. This post is from Steven Furtick and can also be viewed here:  http://www.stevenfurtick.com/

If you’re in a spiritual funk today, you might want to…

Pray out loud.
Write your prayer out.
Read your Bible out loud.
Apologize to someone.  Even if it’s not primarily your fault.
Talk to someone you trust. If you don’t have someone, hire a professional.
Rest.
Exercise.
Start eating better.
Drive around listening to a sermon.
Turn up some worship music really loud. Shut the door. Sing along.
Go back and do the thing you know you were supposed to do.
Get organized.
Repent.
Encourage somebody who would never expect it.
Get back in church. Serve somewhere.
Quit complaining.
Go on a date with your wife.
Tell somebody thank you.
Give some money away.
Call on the name of Jesus.
Remember how far He’s brought you.
Realize that He’ll never ever leave you.

Just a few ideas to get you started.

You can take it from here…