Category Archives: Discipleship

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My Emote-Control Part 1.5 | God’s Control of EVERYTHING

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Hey, control freaks (LIKE ME), do you really want to be free from needing control over every aspect of your life? Start here: mediate on the fact that God is in control of everything, so you don’t have to be in control of anything. Here are 30 (out of many more) verses as a starting place. Meditate on one of these all day for the next 30 days, and each time, ask God to help you believe what  it says about Him. I promise, your need to control everything will change.

  1. Proverbs 19:21: Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
  2. Romans 8:28: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
  3. Isaiah 45:6-7: God says, “That people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides Me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.”
  4. Matthew 19:26: But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
  5. Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
  6. Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
  7. Psalm 22:28: For kingship belongs to the Lord, and He rules over the nations.
  8. Joshua 1:9: Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
  9. Ephesians 1:11: In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of His will…
  10. Psalm 115:3: Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
  11. 1 Chronicles 29:11: Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.
  12. Isaiah 55:8-11: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
  13. Job 12:10: In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
  14. Jeremiah 10:6-10: There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you. They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood! Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is violet and purple; they are all the work of skilled men. But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.
  15. Psalm 24:1: A Psalm of David. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein…
  16. Matthew 10:29: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
  17. Revelation 4:11: “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
  18. Proverbs 16:9: The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
  19. Psalm 99:1-9: The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples. Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he! The King in his might loves justice. You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool!
  20. Genesis 50:20: As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
  21. Hebrews 2:8: Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
  22. 1 Corinthians 14:33: For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
  23. Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
  24. Isaiah 41:10: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
  25. Hebrews 1:3: He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…
  26. Proverbs 21:1: The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.
  27. Psalm 3:1-8: O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. …
  28. Isaiah 14:27: For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?
  29. Isaiah 14:24: The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand…
  30. Revelation 21:22-24: And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

A Letter from My Church Planting Resident

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My church planting resident, Copper, wrote this yesterday after we had a large meeting of several lead pastor’s from around the state of Georgia. I think his words are wise and timely, and I am proud to say that he has loved and served me well in these two years. If you feel called to plant, or is you are a lead pastor and considering taking on a planting intern/resident, please read and consider…

As I was listening to the lead pastors of the various churches in Georgia speak about wanting to multiply churches; I was genuinely excited for what the Holy Spirit is doing in our midst. One common concern I heard among the pastors who where aspiring to multiply was not knowing what the process should look like. As a man who is a planting resident currently, I wanted to encourage you.

When a young man approaches you about planting and wants your assistance the very first thing he needs to do is serve. As a person who will soon be planting a church, I can tell you that I am quite head strong, bordering on narcissism. I have found that tends to be the norm for mass majority of young planters that I have met. We think that we have the keys to the city, or that we are special in some way. Where others have failed, we will succeed. The truth or fallacy of that thought is completely irrelevant. Before God calls any man to lead, he calls him to serve, probably in obscurity. I tell you this because I don’t want you men to be scared to take on a potential planter without having the proper infrastructure. If you have places where a man could serve, you have the infrastructure. MAKE THEM SERVE.

Make them serve in ways that they perceive and in fact are beneath their leadership capacity. Make them serve when they disagree with you. Make them preach 30 minutes when they want and could preach 50. I want to be specific in this, they need to be serving you the lead pastor, as well as, the body at large. Scripture never allows for the distinction of serving the masses, without serving the one. They need to serve you well. I say this, because if they are in fact called to be a pastor, people will follow them, and they need to know what its like to be under authority. They need to know what its like to put forth your entire effort to make someone else’s vision happen. They need the sanctification of waiting and patience. It is my personal opinion that they should do it while having a job somewhere else. If you pay people to serve they are employed. They are not serving. I needed this more than I knew when I started at Renovation. The Ghost was kind enough to use these extremely frustrating times to work out long-standing idols that where inside of me.

If I had planted when I wanted to, I would have run it into the ground. For their own sanctification, they need to serve you. Whether you are established or two months old you have the systems necessary to train a future planter. I hope you find this helpful and encouraging. I am excited what the Holy Spirit is doing among us. I expect and pray for nothing less than total revival in our people, our cities, our state, and our region.

Christ Alone,

Copper Nelms

You Pray too Safe

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And so do I… I have grown weary with myself and the meager prayers I pray. “Give me health,” “keep my family safe,” “fill this room.” Those are all fine prayers, but they lack the desperation of a man longing to see a city change…a culture shifted toward Christ.

But what if….what if we asked God to give us bold prayers, ridiculous city and people changing prayers? Prayers that move God’s hands with both power and compassion. Prayers that can only be accomplished by the hand of an almighty God, and not by the ingenuity of even the most clever and gifted individual. So here is the prayer that I will be praying as I ask God to help me-

God I pray too safe. Would you help me to pray dangerously? Would you help me to pray foolishly? Help me God to pray in such a way that when that which I have prayed for is accomplished, there will be no doubts that God and God alone has answered. That God has visited us in a unique and significant way.

If you long to see the impossible happen, will you pray this prayer with me?

On How to Kill Sin Before it Kill’s You Part 2

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But, with that said, I do want to offer you the only answer to killing sin that has served me in these last several years, and that answer is a question. Do you, moment by moment, in the midst of the sin that you are about to commit, avail yourself of the power you have been given to ask Jesus—right then and there—to show you the way out? One of my mentors, Jeff Dunbar, brought that weapon to mind for me freshly in the course of thinking through this.

That’s the difference I think between managing and killing sin. When we manage it, we wait until after what is done has been done. Then we pray, we cry, we repent…but it’s done. What I have rarely heard in a decade of ministry, from myself or anyone else for that matter, is that when I prayed to Jesus, in that very moment of sin or when I was about to sin, I still sinned. Because generally, if your heart and mind are turned to Him, the very urge for the false savior that this sin is posing as begins to fade away. I hope this is bringing clarity and not further confusion.

You see, if you have been raised with Christ (which I believe you have or you wouldn’t be concerned with killing your sin), then He is truly the power that dwells in you. And if He is that power, then you must call on Him in the very moment that you feel powerless against the sin that is crouching at your door, not after it has already won the fight. From what I see in scripture, and what I’ve learned about people over these years, that is the only way we can truly kill sin: to attack it, minute by minute, moment by moment, with the power of Jesus, by calling on Him in every moment to not only show us how to kill it, but in that very moment, to give us the strength to do so.

On How to Kill Sin Before it Kill’s You Part 1

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I was asked after the sermon a few weeks ago from Colossians 3:5-10, “How Do I Kill My Sin?” The inquirer said, “You gave me the ‘what’ and the ‘why,’ but how pastor, do I begin to put it to death, rather than simply manage it?”

To answer this question, I’ll start with why I didn’t give a “how.” The danger in telling people what to do after they are confronted with the gospel and all of its implications on their lives is that we—all of us—have a tendency to take those things and make them into law. Then they turn into a means to modify our behavior, but never really deal with what is at the heart of why we are sinning. The reason we sin is because some part of us has ceased to trust Jesus, not only as Savior, but also as Lord. But, if I say at the end of a message, “Now here is how you kill sin,” it doesn’t build our trust in Him, it just gives us a way to not do something that displeases Him.

True Courage is Sacrifice Part 2

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Courage Is Not Always Measured by the Ability to Win; It Is More Often Measured by the Ability to Sacrifice

The gospel writer John says, “They took Jesus and flogged him (19:1)…And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head (v.2)… They…struck him with their hands and plucked the hair from His beard]….Then Jesus went out, bearing his own cross (v.17)…[And] they crucified him (v.18)…When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them (v.23)…After this they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth (vv.28-9). When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (v.30). And after all of this “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (v.34).

At any moment, during any part of this ordeal, Jesus could have destroyed all those who were attacking and oppressing Him. He’s God! He has ultimate power and authority! He is preeminent in all things, and in all things He is supreme! And yet, He did nothing to defend Himself, nothing to fight back, nothing to win. Was He afraid to fight back? No, He said, “No one takes My life, I give it away.” Was He unable? No, He could have at any moment combated their attack with all the power of heaven in His hands. But, He chose the path of sacrifice, and in this He showed what is truly courageous.

Do you always have to win? With your employees or employer? With your kids or your spouse? Do you always feel it necessary to win because you can, and if you don’t, then you wouldn’t be showing courage? Next time you encounter conflict, remind yourself of the most courageous man to ever walk the earth. He didn’t have to win, because in sacrificing Himself, He’d already won. True courage is, more often than not, measured by the ability to sacrifice.

True Courage is Sacrifice Part 1

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Courage Is Not Always Measured by the Ability to Win; It Is More Often Measured by the Ability to Sacrifice

I was recently invited to participate in an event as the guest speaker, and I said these words to a group of young men there. The event was called Camp Grace, a camp specifically for under-resourced inner-city children. Many of the kids were from right around my neighborhood here in Atlanta, so it was a privilege to get to speak to them because who they become will not only affect their lives, but it may affect mine as well.

For them, these words have meaning because in their neighborhoods it is the strong or most violent that is counted as courageous. The one who “Don’t take not $#!@ off of nobody.” But, if I could just get them to see that true courage is not always being able to win the fight, the argument, or the conflict by force, then it could fundamentally change how they interact with each other, and the other kids in their neighborhoods.

Jesus is the perfect example of this type of courage and strength.

When is the last time you read the gospel account of Jesus’ death and crucifixion? When is the last time, if you are a Christian, that you have taken in and meditated on all that Jesus suffered, not only in the actual crucifixion, but also in everything leading up to it?

Victory

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God has created us, all of us, to worship Him, love Him, glorify Him, have Him as our deepest affection and live for His glory. We are meant to glorify God in every conceivable way because it’s what we were made for, and it’s how we express our love and devotion to Him, and the world, though arbitrarily defined,  is anything that tries to prevent our doing that.

This isn’t just about watching porn or telling lies; it’s not that simple. Just because you don’t do certain things that are considered taboo or sinful, doesn’t mean that the world and the ruler of it is not fighting against you or influencing you. Your pride for not doing certain things is just as venomous and destructive to glorifying God as the one who can’t stop giving in to lust.

But the follower of Jesus has been given the power to overcome, to master the world by the power of the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t mean for us to just survive the onslaught, nor does He mean for us to take pride in our ability to religiously abstain from certain things while worshipping our ability to do so. No, we have been given victory, and that victory is our faith in the One who paid the price for the win.

As a follower of Jesus we have a promise in verse [4] of 1 John 5 that everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. Everyone who has God’s seed, God’s breath of life, has received the gospel, acknowledged their adoption and been filled with the Holy Ghost overcomes the world!

This means that we are not bound by lust! We are not bound by perversion! We are not bound by low self-worth! We are not bound by a need to achieve! We are not a slave to our past! We are not a slave to our sin! We are not a slave to pride! We are not weighed down by guilt! We are not weighed down by the lies of the enemy! We are not a slave to what they say about us or what somebody did to us! And we have nothing to fear from the powers of hell, death or the grave because we have the seed of God, the breath of life, the Holy Ghost and we are free! By faith we overcome the world and receive the victory that ends in the promise of eternal life.

This is the declaration of the Lord, that the victory that has overcome the world— [is] our faith. God has deposited something of Himself in you, and you have victory by faith! You are an overcomer by the power of God and your trust in Him! He that is in you is greater than he that rules over this world or the ones he uses!

Wiggle Room: How Some “Christians” Are Reconciling the Hard Saying’s in the Bible

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In the gospel of John, chapter 6, Jesus says

“44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 it is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be  taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me….47Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life….and 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Following Jesus’ saying

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

And Jesus responded

53 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.

And what follows Jesus final statement is at the heart of so much of post-modern faith that it is daily exchanging the truth for the lie about God, who He is, and how He has revealed Himself.

60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

It is a HARD saying…who can listen to it? Apparently not many. How do we know this, because they killed Jesus for this and many hard sayings, and it seems that many today are covertly and overtly killing Him over again by misinterpreting, misrepresenting, and misappropriating scripture to make it say what they wish, because the saying is hard, so they refuse to believe it…even though they purport to be Christians.
I recently read this article. You will have to go and read to understand the nature of the remainder of this post.

As I read it I was saddened and confused at this blatant abuse of the scriptures, and their twisting it to be interpreted the way the author wished because the author can’t or won’t reconcile God’s grace and benevolence with the hard sayings regarding how those outside of Jesus will spend eternity. Below is my response which I felt made a fitting blog post.

Though I see the point he is attempting to make, it is derived from a blatant isolation of this particular text apart from those that precede it as well as those that follow it. With that said, even looking at it in the isolated manner by which you present it, it still does not say what you are attempting to make it say. Sorry to be so direct, but the “truth,” which is absolute and not to be placed on the sliding scale of post-modernity, is that you have misappropriated scripture to make your point thus making it say what you wish.

To the point–this scripture is delineating between Jews and Gentiles, not “non-believers and believers” this is not only a biblical interpretation of the text, but a historical one as well.

This is, as was often the case in many of Paul’s arguments, an argument for the salvation of the Gentiles [Romans, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Ethiopians etc.] over and against any adherence to the law, which the Jewish Christians were at the time trying to force on them. Issues such as but not limited to: dietary restrictions, circumcision, celebrating the Jewish feasts, etc.

Paul’s argument was clear…they have the law on their hearts, and a conscience given them by God, by which they will be judged. In that way, you were correct, but in that way only. You see the point Paul is making is that they don’t need to adhere to the law [of God given by Moses] to be saved in Jesus, why? Because their conscience, and the law God has “written on their hearts,” have compelled them to Jesus, so following [as explained above] the law is immaterial to their salvation.

The lynch pin in this text? “By Jesus Christ” that’s how God is going to judge. Don’t quote this verse for your purposes and forget to dissect that little phrase, for without it you lose everything, and without Jesus you lose everything. This leaves no room, no way, but One. And rationalizing around it brings us no closer to understanding the truth or who God is.

Regarding the closing, “Everyone must take this journey of faith for themselves, however they conceive God to be.” We must conceive God in the manner in which He has revealed Himself or we will as Romans 1:25, which precedes the verse you manipulated, “exchange the truth about God for a lie.” I write this in love, but with truth, as a brother, and I hope you receive it as such.

I end this post as I did the comment that has made up the bulk of it. I write this in love, and in hope that we will stop seeking wiggle room for the hard sayings of the bible, and reconcile them in the character, nature, and love of our good and gracious Father, and what He has done for us, His rebellious creation, in Jesus.

An “Other-Worldly” Love-God’s Adoption of Us [Part 2]

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This is the lynch pin, because He chose us before the foundation of the world, and in love, He predestined us for adoption. So we are predestined, chosen, and adopted.

Before time itself existed, before the Evil one turned in pride from God to his own works, before this world was even created, before Adam and Eve were ever created, before the unveiling of creation itself…God chose His children.  Now, I want to slow down, and pause, so that you absorb the great, cosmic, joy laden words of Paul here…so that you can soak in what is being communicated here. As far back as imagination will allow, further, deeper into time, before the dawn of time, it was there that God chooses us.   Are you feeling the very tangible weight of such a statement? Do you understand all of the implications of this; that the Father chose us before He even created us? What a glorious realization!

What a wonderful, good, loving, merciful, gracious Father! We don’t have to earn, or merit, or work for His choosing, but He is simply pleased to choose us in Him. God’s choosing to save, choosing to die in the Person of Jesus, choosing His children from among humanity was not an arbitrary or whimsical decision. He planned for Jesus to die before Adam ever rejected Him. This is huge! This is the tension between His great transcendence and His accessibility, as He flexes His eternal authority and unstoppable love in the dimensions of time! This marks the security of our adoption, and though we are difficult children, He will never give us back.

During one of my pastorate before moving to Atlanta to plant Renovation I met a family in our church who had two adopted son’s, and two biological daughters. Their son’s were from New Orleans, and when they found out that I grew up in Baton Rouge, and had family in New Orleans, they were very excited to introduce me to their son’s. These two boy’s suffered horror’s as children that no person, let alone a child should ever have to experience. They suffered through sexual abuse, verbal abuse, physical abuse, and forced incestuous behavior with each other. Needless to say they were extremely broken…which made them extremely difficult children.

Growing up with their adopted parents the boy’s had done everything you could imagine, in fact when I met them the youngest had just finished a short stint in a juvenile detention center for drug and battery charges. At one point things got so bad that the father removed the family’s two daughters from their own home to a grandparents, because they feared what the boy’s might do to the two girls, but didn’t want to give up on the boy’s.

Rather than sending the boy’s away, or giving them back to the state, their father gave up his and his wifes biological children for a time, so that they, through the power of the gospel, could rescue these boy’s. They never gave up, they never gave them back, though these were difficult, no, more than difficult children to parent. They made extraordinary sacrifices to keep these children, to show them gospel love…and grace…and mercy. They pursued, and kept these boy’s despite the many complications it came with!

The truth is, that all of us who are in christ, are “difficult children”.  We are resistant often, “prone to wander…prone to leave the God we love”—-And yet, God will not give us back.  He will not give up on us.  His commitment to us is unbreakable.  An imperfect God…and imperfect Father would give us back.  A God with weak commitments would be done with us….but not “The God” of the bible…the God who exists (in reality),creates, and saves.

Some of you have experienced a father’s failed commitments to you, time and time again…and yet, our paternal God demonstrates his unshakeable commitment to us. That he would break into time, to keep his promises to us in Christ. God orphaned His Son Jesus on the cross, to make us orphans no longer. This is the power of His “other-worldly” love, and the wonder of His mercy and grace in securing our adoption.

So some of you are thinking, what do I do with this truth? I implore you to consider not what to do, but who to be. God wants His children to be all of these things described. Secure in Him. Secure in His promises. And consumed by His love. Once you figure out who you are in Jesus, what to do flows out of that identity…and in Jesus you are the child of the living God.