Work Party At Carver (photo essay)

Knowing Jesus by Alesha Sinks

"Knowing You, Jesus, there is no greater thing”

I’ve been looking through my life and noticing all the little things that I make more important than Jesus Himself.

Motherhood
Marriage
Knowledge
Morality
Talent
Money
Ministry

And the cruelest realization comes when I remember that all these things are good gifts from God meant to bless me...meant to be used to make much of Him.

Yet, I've taken these gifts and blessings and callings and ministries and made them the main point. I’ve taken the means and made it the goal.

All these things...

That list just above...

All these things are the means to knowing and loving Jesus more. They are a means to making Jesus known and glorified. They are a means to hearing His voice and seeing His face. They are the means to a goal, and that goal is to know and love and glorify Him.

SO OFTEN I’VE TAKEN THE MEANS AND MADE IT THE GOAL.

And the means are meaningless if not done in pursuit of a goal. The means are meaningless if I try to make them the goal itself. All these lovely and beautiful and generous gifts from God will become tainted and pointless and unfulfilling if I try to make them more than they are...

The stuff of my life is a wonderful gift from a God who is seeking to meet me within the ordinary stuff of my life. He will meet me in my day to day, in my roles and responsibilities, revealing Himself to me and teaching me how to use those things to bring Him glory.

But I drift into the meaningless cycle of putting the means in place of the goal so quickly.

I FORGET THAT GOD DIDN’T SAVE ME TO USE ME; I FORGET THAT HE SAVED ME BECAUSE HE KNEW ME AND LOVED ME AND WANTED ME TO KNOW AND LOVE HIM.

And the only way I’ve found to keep the goal of knowing Jesus the main thing, is to remember this...

MY CALLING AND SERVING AND LIVING AND DOING ARE GIFTS; THEY AREN’T THE MEANING OR PURPOSE OF MY LIFE, THEY ARE THE GIFTS OF MY LIFE.

And a gift aways points back to a Giver. That is the point. He is the point. The Giver Himself is the point.

In all I do, in all the roles and gifts and callings and responsibilities He has given me, I want to see Him and seek to bring Him glory. Because this life of a Christian is about knowing God.

Not doing for God.

Not living out God’s mission.

Not accomplishing greatness in God’s name.

It’s about knowing Him…

AND IF I TRULY KNOW GOD, THE REST WILL FOLLOW.

How do you remind yourself that being a christian is more about knowing God than serving Him? Do you struggle to make the doing for God more important than knowing God Himself?

Be blessed

Our Power Source For Godliness by Travis Sinks

“Most of us are knowledgeable beyond our level of obedience."

Have you heard that before? It’s true isn’t it? We know what is right. We know what God’s Word says about our marriage, relationships, finances, lifestyles, thoughts, words, actions, and more… But we don’t seem to live it out.

We’re called to be “living sacrifices” offering our lives to God in surrender and thankfulness. In obeying Him, we are simply doing what is glorifying to Him and is also best for us. But the problem with “living sacrifices” is that they tend to run away when they're not being watched. When we take our eyes off of Jesus and onto ourselves and what we see around us, we can get caught up doing the very things we know aren’t best. We can run away.

So, how do we break the cycle? It surely isn’t by acquiring on more knowledge. The whole problem is that we already know what’s right and we don’t do it. Paul shares this very issue with us in Romans 7, expressing frustrating that he does the very things he knows he shouldn't, but he brings a solution for us in the very next chapter.

“If Christ is in you [as He is in anyone who believes and trusts in Him], although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you."

The way we can break this cycle of disobedience is exactly the same way we came to salvation in the first place: by the grace of Jesus. It’s not by reminding ourselves of what is right and wrong if we already know it, and it’s not by putting ourselves down or punishing ourselves in some way, as Paul even reminds us earlier in chapter 8, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Instead, we can find the power for godly change in our actions and words through the Holy Spirit.

I don’t say this to mean that there’s no decision to be made. There is constantly a decision to choose Jesus over our sin, but rather than trying to be better and stronger by constantly trying to lift a weight too heavy for ourselves, we need to choose to give that weight to Him instead.

In prayer.
In humility.
In surrender.

And as the saying goes:

"It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing.”

So start today. As we begun, “most of us are knowledgeable beyond our level of obedience.” What is that for you? In what way have you chosen not to obey God, and where do you need to surrender your life to Him? Let us keep looking up instead of in. And when we fail we need to remember God’s promises, like this one found in Jude 24-25, and draw near to Jesus.

"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."

Serve Sunday | An Interview with Ronnie

Happy Mother's Day Video

Pretending by Alesha Sinks

When you’ve been let down or ignored or forgotten or taken advantage of…when you’ve been hurt, it’s easy to hide.

It’s easy to slip into the shadows of fine. It’s easy to quietly let your soul retreating into hiding. It’s easy emotionally step back into a pattern of pretending.

BUT PRETENDING BEFORE OTHERS LEADS TO PRETENDING BEFORE OURSELVES AND PRETENDING BEFORE GOD.

If we think we are doing okay... If we think the little things don't matter... If we think we can gloss over the messy parts... If we think it's fine to avoid certain topics or areas of life... If we think we need to seem a certain way for the sake of others…

...then we are lying to ourselves. We are pretending.

And that’s the tricky part about pretending.

WE CAN TRICK OURSELVES WITH OUR OWN PRETENDING.

When I focus on presenting myself just right to you... When I focus on glossing over certain areas of my life... When I focus on manipulating facts just a bit in my favor... When I focus on showing you only the good parts…

...I start to become a pretender in all of my life.

I can’t pretend in front of you and not in front of God. Because I’m a whole person, not a network of little pieces functioning together under some sort of contract. I’m a whole person and all of me is affected by every decision part of me makes.

WE ARE WHOLE PEOPLE AND WE CAN’T PRETEND IN ONE PART OF OUR LIVES AND EXPECT IT TO STOP THERE.

If we spend our time curating an specific image of ourselves to present to those around us, we’ll begin to believe our own lies. We’ll trick ourselves into thinking we are doing just fine or that our lives actually look exactly like what we say they do.

If I only show you the disciplined parts of my life, hiding the messy, lazy, disorganized parts, I’ll begin to believe that I am a disciplined person…with no room for growth.

If I only show you the thankful and joyful parts of my life, hiding the worried, anxious, ungrateful parts, I’ll begin to believe that I am a thankful, joyful person…with no room for growth.

If I only show you the strong and faith-filled parts of my life, hiding the fearful, weak, discouraged parts, I’ll begin to believe that I am full of faith and strength…with no room for growth.

WHEN I THINK THAT I HAVE NO ROOM FOR GROWTH, WHEN I THINK THAT I’M FINE, I’M LYING TO MYSELF.

So many times I’ve found myself feeling shallow and disconnected and joyless and I am unable figure out why because, “Everything is fine.” Until I realize that the “fine” I’m preaching isn’t real. It’s a lie I started telling others and believing myself and hiding behind when I came before God. It’s a self-sufficient, I-don’t-need-you-God kind of “fine” that  isolates me from others, disengages me from God, and starves my soul.

It’s okay to be full of joy, but it’s not okay to pretend we’re that way.

It’s okay to be happy and excited in life, but it’s not okay to pretend we’re that way.

It’s okay to choose thankfulness in all circumstances, but it’s not okay to pretend it’s easy…that it doesn’t require grace and strength from God.

And it’s okay if some struggles are private from others as long as we aren’t pretending we’re fine when we should be asking for prayer.

And it’s okay to not share everything with others as long as we are sharing everything with God.

We don’t want to find ourselves starting down the path of pretending, because...

PRETENDING BEFORE OTHERS LEADS TO PRETENDING BEFORE OURSELVES AND PRETENDING BEFORE GOD.

And I’m preaching to the choir with this post. I hope you see that. Because I see the tendencies in myself every week. I see my heart start to retreat into the shadows of ”fine”. But I know what’s down that path and I don’t want to go there. 

Let’s stop pretending.

FAST AND PRAY WITH US EVERY FIRST WEDNESDAY

As a church, we are going to be taking the first Wednesday in every month to fast and pray individually. We chose this day because many pastors and churches in the area are also setting this day aside to pray. At Redemption Church, we highly value prayer and incorporate prayer in all we do, and we know God works in mighty ways when we bring our needs to Him. This is a special opportunity to be unified with our brothers and sisters in Christ and lift of the needs of our community, our church, our leaders, and the world together. We would love for you to participate THIS WEDNESDAY and choose one meal to fast at home or work and focus that time to pray. Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

- Pray for church leadership and their families: spiritual vibrancy, physical health and emotional strength

- Pray for our Redemption Church family: for spiritual growth and maturity, healing and provision for those in need, and continued growth as new people come to know Jesus

- Pray for the lost in our community: to know the love of Jesus and follow Him

- Pray for the worldwide church: for protection, encouragement, and strength to follow Christ

A Beautiful Lesson by Jason Sanchez

The Lord taught me a most wonderful, power lesson this past Sunday that I pray I will treasure all my life. Church was packed, especially because we had an extra 14 brothers and sisters from Washington and New Mexico. This missions team has come down to install a heating system in our new house as well as build cabinets, insulate and hang sheet rock, paint in the orphanage and of course love on the children.

It was beautiful seeing the church full of people singing their hearts out in adoration to our Lord. As we transitioned into the bible study, I took my usual seat in the back to usher.  Sitting about 5 feet from me was a gentleman that has come to church off and on, sometimes sober while other times drunk.  This time in particular was the latter. Not only did he smell of alcohol but also of urine and body odor from probably not showering for a few days.  The smell was almost unbearable.  My initial thought was I need to ask this guys to sit outside.  As scenarios ran through my mind of just how to go about asking him to step outside, the Lord immediately and strongly began to speak to my heart.

Who was I to ask this man to leave the sanctuary?  It wasn't like he was being disrespectful or disrupting anything.  He was simply sitting there listening to the words of Jesus.  Why was I more deserving to sit in the service than this man?  Or anyone else for that matter sitting in the sanctuary? Was it because I got to take a hot shower that morning or had clean clothes to put on?  Maybe because I showed up on time for service, sang the songs or even lifted my hands during worship?  What made me more deserving that Sunday morning than this drunk smelling man?  Absolutely NOTHING!

You see that's the very message Jesus was speaking about in the gospel of Luke 18:10-14...

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Sunday morning I was that pharisee when I should have been the tax collector, asking God to forgive me and be merciful to me, to change my way of thinking about this brother next to me.

You know what probably was the most powerful part of that lesson?  While I was bearing the smell of alcohol, urine and BO, it was actually a sweet fragrance to the Lord.  Here sat one of Gods beloved, one whom He went to the cross for.  Here was a lost sinner, in need of hearing Gods precious words of life.

Isn't that the very reason why we answered the call to move down to Mexico and start an orphanage, 3 1/2 years ago?  To minister to the hurting, broken, lost, smelling children and others that are desperately in need of the very Savior that spared and saved my life.

God, please help us to not slip into the thinking of a pharisee.  May we be reminded that we are nothing more then smelly tax collectors who have been saved by Gods amazing grace, purchased by Jesus' very own blood!

Kids Sunday (photo essay)

Dominick & Blaise's Baptism (4-5-16)