Four Monkeys where placed in a room with a pole in the center and at the top of the pole was a bunch of banana’s. So naturally one monkey started making his way up the pole to get something to eat and right as he got to the top he was shot in the face with cold water. Making the monkey retreat back down the pole with no banana. So then all the other monkeys tried and ended with the same result. So then the scientist removed one of the monkeys and replaced it with a monkey that had no bad experience with the cold water. That monkey immediately started to make his way up the pole but was stopped short by the other 3 monkeys by holding him down. One by one the scientist removed all the original monkeys leaving none in the room that had originally been sprayed in the face with cold water. To their surprise even though nothing negative had ever happened to the new monkeys any time one would attempt to climb the pole the others would pull it back down.

Interesting, isn’t it. The fears of the original monkeys passed onto the new monkeys and the new ones had no reason why to fear going up the pole yet they never could do it. I think this can happen in different areas of our own life. Maybe you have tried at starting a new business and failed so your outlook on it is pretty tainted whenever you meet someone that is about to try it out for themselves. You tend to push your fear on them unintentionally with the reasoning you are saving them from the same shock you received when you attempted it. Or maybe you are the one about to jump into something you are unsure of but you are surrounded by others that say it will never work. They tried and it failed so why do you think you will have any success at it. So instead of giving it a shot you succumb to the crowd and give up.

If I could tell you anything it would be this. Taking risks is better then living in what you call safety. Taking a risk allows you to see how big your God really is and it reminds you that you can really do nothing without him. Sure there may be a time you take a risk and fail but that doesn’t mean you as a person are a failure. Pick yourself back up and learn from the experience so you are better prepared when you try something again. Don’t live in the fear of your past mistakes because you will very easily pass it on to everyone around you. Don’t be a monkey.

Many of us just hoped on the culture train and never got off. We let the world tell us what to do. We let them decide our morals, our values, and the outcome of our life. Often, our life becomes a blur; you live day to day doing the same routine. You find you’re looking for something, but everything the world hands you is unfulfilling. The void inside you expands growing deeper and wider the more you try to plug it. The answer finally comes when you least expect it. It comes when you realized that you crashed into God.

As Jeff wrote, sin takes you farther than you want to go. Many times it starts because you just want to know how it feels. Then, you find the desire too strong and you can’t stop yourself (Romans 7). Ultimately, you loose hold of yourself and wonder how everything started. Yet, in an instant everything can change. But also in an instant, God can totally shatter the world you know, He takes your world and sets it in flames. Ever heard of trial by fire? Well, it has to start somewhere, but the good thing is when it finishes you come out gold (1 Peter 1:6-7, Revelation 3:18). The price of our sin is death (Romans 6:23) but God breathes his breathe in you and you become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17); your past doesn’t control anymore. God gives you just what you need in the exact time you need it.

One of Radius’s goals is we want to create “God experiences” in every thing we do, from worship, to the sermon, to different ministries, to just plain hanging out sessions. We want people to experience Christ in the way that they connect with the One True God. We want to take people where they are out set them on a collision course with Christ. We don’t want to change them; we want God to change them, that’s true transformation. People meet God where they’re and yet, they leave different. They’ll find that the culture trained crashed into the Holy Spirit train (thanks to Seth Green in Italian Job). Radius wants that genuine relationship with God. It’s the relationship that doesn’t wear masks but acknowledges the bad with the good. It’s that genuine relationship that exposes flaws but shines strengths. Realize, we want this relationship to last and just be a one day a week event, but a 24/7 choice. We want to be lost in Christ so when people look at us it’s not “us” they see but Christ who shines through us. Radius wants to make that “God Experience” happen in a way in which you won’t want walk away. We want it to be genuine so that despite whatever trial you may face you continue to pursue Christ. Simply put we want to crash you into God.

Posted in Chase's Blogs Tagged: Christ, Crashed, Culture Train, Daughtry, God Experience, Holy Spirit Train, In an Instant, Music, Quad City DJS, Rockin Sockin Robots, Shatterer of worlds, Truth Be Told ]]> http://radiuschurchaz.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/crashed/feed/ 0 radiuschurchaz http://radiuschurchaz.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/shatterer-of-worlds/ http://radiuschurchaz.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/shatterer-of-worlds/#comments Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:47:16 +0000 radiuschurchaz http://radiuschurchaz.wordpress.com/?p=108 ]]>

“I imagine that right now, you’re feeling a bit like Alice. Hmm? Tumbling down the rabbit hole?

You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” – The Matrix

Not to long ago in a house not to far away, Jeff lead a bible study, in fact it was the first study of core team of Radius. The topic of conversation was Paul. We discussed many things about him, but I’m going to focus on one. It’s been brought up many times in our Radius meetings; the topic was even in Frank’s following study. I am talking about the subject of Influence. No doubt, Paul had the power of influence. If you haven’t already read Jeff blog In an Instant…, it’ll give background to help you better understand what I’m talking about. Basically, what I’m calling the “Red Pill, Blue Pill moment”, for Paul, was when Stephen and Paul (then called Saul) met, Acts 6:8-11. You see, Stephen had influence in these verses. “Wait a tic.. You mean Wisdom, Chase.” I assure you I do not, I mean influence. Check this; yes, it said Stephen had wisdom that men couldn’t refute, not even Saul with all his background. Influence starts with refutable wisdom. When you have this type of influence it forces people to make a choice, “the Red Pill or the Blue Pill.” The Blue Pill being to reject the Truth and go about living your life your way, while the Red Pill is embracing the Truth and start living your life the way God intended it to be. This is what happened with Saul. At the time, the only action the men listening to Stephen irrefutable influence could think of was that of murder. I believe, the Influence Stephen gave them began to sink into some of those men, including Saul. Stephen took everything Saul though he knew and made it into nothing. Stephen shattered Saul’s world, much like Morpheus shattered Neo’s. Because of Stephen’s Influence it wasn’t long till Saul took the Red Pill Stephen had offered him and became Paul, just as Thomas A. Anderson became Neo. As Christians, we need to have this Influence.

We need to be shatterers of worlds. We have to Influence not only with the Body, within “Church” settings, but out there in the real world. We have to have an influence that people have no choice but to take the Red Pill, as Saul had no choice because Stephen shattered his world. He influenced Saul so much; Saul did a 180, as they say. We have to influence people to the point where they have to do that 180 as well. As Frank said, when Radius is said not only will people who are in the church world know what that person is talking about but people not in the church world will know too. Think of it as MTV. You say MTV regardless of who you are, what town you grew up in, if you watch it or not, you know MTV. Radius wants to influence this culture/world so much that people know it regardless of the circumstances. So let’s see how far the rabbit-hole goes.

You don’t have to understand everything to believe in something

A lot of people question, if God is such a loving God then why do bad things happen to good people? Or simply, where is God? It seems when we need him the most he’s so distant. People question, if God exists then why doesn’t he do anything about the man who gets so upset at his wife he shoots his own children in their sleep. Or something I just recently heard and you may have to, the father that put a shock collar on his kids and would shock them for fun. It seems like there is just so much evil in the world and God is doing nothing about it. How can I believe in something I don’t see?

The truth is we simple will never be able to understand why God does the things that he does. Why does it seem he’s sitting back watching us tear each other apart and not intervening, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that God is real. We can’t begin to understand his plan for our lives let alone the whole planet.

Take this for an example. Lets say you have a pet worm named wormy. Now one day you decide that you are going to teach wormy mathematics. Not wanting to start to hard you begin with the basics. So you set wormy down and you write 2+2=4 and you ask, ok wormy do you understand? However being the great teacher you are you see wormy just isn’t getting it so you say, ok lets try this with Apples. This for sure will get his attention. So you begin again. Wormy if you have 2 apples and I give you 2 more apples how many is that? Now unfortunately no matter how hard you try to teach wormy basic mathematics he will never be able to comprehend it, because he doesn’t have the brain capacity that you do. However, even though he can’t understand it doesn’t mean that 2+2=4 is wrong.

So lets throw a 3rd person into this equation. So now it’s wormy, me and God. What’s scary now is my brain capacity is more like wormy compared to God. I will never be able to fully understand what God is doing but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s true. God operates on a whole different level in our lives. Most of the time we never understand whats happening until after the fact and then we look back and have one of those “i get it now”moments. So when you are looking around you and you don’t understand why things are happening the way they are. Remember, you don’t have to understand everything to believe that God is still in control.

My dad followed in his father’s footsteps and after high school he went to bible college to become a Pastor. It’s great because I have never known my dad to be anything other then a Great man of God. Because of his father’s decision to serve God it inspired him to do the same, and because of my father it has inspired me to follow in his footsteps. It’s not like I couldn’t have done anything else but for me I have seen the reward of working with people. I have seen lives changed starting with my Grandpa and then my Father and I could never see myself doing anything other then doing what God called me to do.

So you may be saying I don’t have that kind of heritage. Well great, you be the first of generations to come that Love and serve Jesus. Trust me your Grandchildren will thank you.

Now I’m placing my self in God’s shoes. What if the people in my life treated me like a hobby? As long as it was convenient to be my friend, or as long as the marriage was relaxing. I would hate being treated like a hobby. I would feel cheap. One minute you love me the next its inconvenient for you? Doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.

God longs to be loved by us. It’s why He created us and He gave us the choice to. Think about it when Jesus walked this earth he asked Peter “do you love me?” Then there was the time that Mary Magdalene kissed and poured the perfumes on Jesus’ feet and he was so moved by her love for him that he said:Matt 26:13 “

¹³I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

This woman loved Jesus and what he had done for her and she couldn’t help but express it. Jesus isn’t just a Hobby. He is someone to love.

TO BE OR NOT TO BE>>>>EXCELLENT??!!

Excellence is not Perfection
- you don’t have to be perfect

Excellence is not Talent
- you don’t have to be the best at everything

Excellence is not Success
- it is not what you do it’s how you do it

Excellence is not meeting a standard, its exceeding the standard

Excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what you have to offer – Rick Pitino

And on that note, this just makes me want to say “Wanye’s world, party time EXCELLENT”

Simple Problem=Complicated Solution?

A person falls into a pit and can’t get out- how others respond to that person-

A subjective person came along and said, “I feel for you down there”

An objective person came along and said, “Well it’s logical that someone would fall down there”

A Pharisee said, “Only bad people fall into pits”

A Mathematician calculated how the individual fell into the pit

A news reporter wanted an exclusive story on the person in the pit

A fundamentalist said, “You deserve your pit”

A Calvinist said, “if you’d been saved, you would have never fallen in that pit”

An Armenian “You were saved and still feel in that pit”

A charismatic said, “Just confess that you’re not in that pit”

A realist came along and said, “Now that’s a pit”

A geologist told him to appreciate the rock strata in the pit

An IRS worker asked if he was paying taxes on this pit.

The county inspector asked if he had a permit to dig the pit

A self-pitying person said, “You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen my pit”

An optimist, “things could be worse”

A pessimist said, “things will get worse”

Jesus, seeing the man, reached down and took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit

Today opinions are like pie holes- everyone’s got one! If the above illustration were updated for today you might hear an environmentalist say “The pit is a result of global warming” or “We are looking to make the pits 100% organic”. An economist would say “With this economy everybody is in a pit”.

People always see the pit and have opinions.

They have opinions about why or how the pit got there in the first place.

They have opinions about why or how the man fell into the pit.

They have opinions if he deserves to be in the pit.

They have opinions about how to get the man out of the pit.

They have opinions about what is the right way to get him out of the pit.

Did you notice Jesus didn’t SAY anything, he DID something. Whatever happened to actions speak louder then words?

Sometimes I feel the biggest pitfall of man is our constant need to know and explain everything. It doesn’t matter the who, what, how, why, all that matters is that we get him out! I don’t care what it takes, how you do it, why it happened, at the point the man is in the pit that other stuff becomes irrelevant, no longer is prevention an option and debating the why or how doesn’t change the fact that he is now in the pit.

Why does the focus tend to become about the PIT and NOT about the MAN? Jesus saw the MAN and not the pit. We see the PIT and not the man.

We don’t need to know everything, I mean I flush the toilet and I know it goes down the pipes and goes somewhere but that’s about it. I don’t need to know who put the pipes in, I don’t know where it actually goes or how it even works, all I know is when I push on the handle it flushes.

Don’t get me wrong, knowing the word is important and I understand the need for doctrine but I have met “Intellectuals” who don’t believe in God who know more about the bible then most Christians. And I have met people who know all the scriptures and can recite quotes of what “Jesus said’ but they are mean, rude, selfish people. You can have a million scriptures memorized but if you don’t live one of them, what’s the point of knowing them. The only part of the Bible you truly believe is the part you LIVE! But the simplest thing Jesus tells us to do “love our neighbor as yourself, yet that seems to be the hard thing to do. Check it out..

Luke 10 – The Message

²⁵Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”

²⁶He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”

²⁷He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”

²⁸“Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”

²⁹Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”

Sounds like a simple solution to me, Loving God, Loving People (the signature on my email btw) And you would think that would be enough? No we need “neighbor” defined. We need “love” defined. We need to know what “how we love ourselves’” mean. We seem to be always looking for loopholes. And rather spend time debating about what Jesus said and trying so hard to decipher or interpret what he meant rather then just taking on action and doing what he said. I really think the whole Christian faith can be summed up in that simple statement- love god, love people. That is our role. Everything else is God’s job!

So why is it that we make simple problems = complicated solutions?

To be Continued..

Paul was originally named Saul and was born in Tarsus of Cilicia but grew up in Jerusalem. He was born a Jew and called himself a Hebrew of Hebrews.Philippians 3:5

Education:

Recieved one of the best educations as he studied under Gamaliel at UoJ (University of Jerusalem) Acts 22:3. A brief history on Gamaliel can be found in Acts 5:34. Gamaliel was a the leading Pharisee of the day.

Saul became a Doctor of Jewish law and was qualified to teach. Pharisees taught oral law(tradition) was equal to the written word. Which Jesus argued this point in Matt 15:1-9

So with that brief history of what Saul was raised in, why did he persecute the followers of Jesus with such passion? Well because of his education what the disciples taught was heresy. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. Hence why the pharisee hated him so much. So persecution of the Church was in service to God. He passionately believed what he was doing was right. Jesus prophesied this in John 16:2.

So why would God have chosen Saul. Obviously he wasn’t playing for the right team or was he? As Jesus said in John 16:2 “…a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.” Saul was Sold out to the Jewish Faith. He loved God and was committed to upholding what was passed down to him from centuries before him. All that was wrong was his passion was pointed in the wrong direction and God interrupted his life.

Acts 9 tells the story of Saul’s conversion. On his way to Damascus suddenly a bright light flashed around him and God spoke to Saul. Saying Saul why do you persecute me? Paul asked who are you Lord? and the response that would forever change his life was “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” in an Instant he understood what he was doing was wrong. In an instant his whole life was turned upside down. His whole theology was shaken and to top it off he was blinded. God then told him to go to the city of Damascus and wait.

So Saul really did have a choice to make. Forsake all of this education and embrace Jesus that he once sought to destroy or continue on with the way life had always been. Well if you don’t already know he chose the first one and God restored his sight to him. Later he would be called Paul and go on to write 2/3 of the New Testament.

Sometimes the difference of where we are right now and where God wants us to be is just one hard decision away.

Paul made that hard decision and it changed the course of history. His once passion to destroy the Followers of Christ was now aimed at furthering the Gospel he once tried to put out.

In an Instant Paul’s sight was taken, In an Instant Paul’s heart was changed, and In an Instant Paul’s life took on new meaning.