Search Results for: commands of Christ

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March 19, 2015 by

ObeyGC2: Loving God by loving others

One of the main ways to demonstrate emphasis in Hebrew culture and writings was through repetition. Jesus clearly had some things He wanted to emphasize because He was fairly repetitious on some subjects. One of these subjects was that love is directly tied to obedience. Specifically, our love for Him is intimately related to our obedience of Him. He was also extremely clear in stating that a primary command He intended for us to obey was that we love others and show it in practical ways. This is a great way to summarize what ObeyGC2 is all about.

John 14:15

15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

John 14:23-24

23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”

John 15:9-13

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

1 John 5:1-3
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.

1 John 2:3-6, 9-11
3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4 The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

2 John 4b-6
5 I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

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March 7, 2015 by

ObeyGC2: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven

This of course is one of the opening lines to the Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Model Prayer. It says in familiar King James Version, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9a-10). This, of course, is the bottom line for all of us who claim the Lord as our King. This motive of loving service to our Savior and Lord is the reason behind our obedience to His desires and commands. That is the reason for ObeyGC2 The Kingdom of God is where His will is done. We express the Kingdom whenever we do His will. Until the final day when Christ returns in glory to establish His eternal Kingdom, when every knee will bow to Him, we must do what we can to make sure as many as possible bow in loving obedience rather than as vanquished foes. ObeyGC2 is one way for us to accomplish that end.

Phil 2:9-11
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

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Symbols

September 23, 2014 by

The symbols of the church have included the Lamb, the Lion, the Dove, and the Fish, but never the Chameleon.

George Barna is a widely published and oft-quoted pollster and researcher. One of the most disturbing discoveries he has made through studying the state of churches and Christians in the USA is that there is essentially no difference in the ethics of actual behavior between those who claim to be born-again Christians and those who don’t. I’m not talking about standards that people purport to hold, but how they actually behave. This is stunning and exceedingly sad. This is certainly not the situation God is looking for. He desires (and commands) that we be people who think differently and as a result, act differently. The power for this does not lie in ourselves (which I believe is the largest part of the problem in the USA now) but in the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Let us walk in the Spirit rather than in our own strength and wisdom.

Rom 12:2
2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

1 Peter 1:13-16

13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

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Occupation

November 20, 2013 by

God uses all sorts. It does not matter if you are a butcher, a baker or a candlestick-maker. The question is what sort of butcher, baker or candlestick-maker will you be?

Lots of people seem to think they can only serve God effectively if they are doing it as a full-time occupation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Actually, people who serve full-time have a difficult time even connecting with a world in need in many cases. Unless you earn your living doing something that is just plain wrong, you can serve and glorify God right where you are. If you are in the pornography business or you are a drug dealer or you are a “hit man” then please find something else to do. The rest of us need to figure out how to most effectively be God’s hands and feet where we are. Like the bumper stickers say, “Bloom where you are planted.” Of course we also need to be concerned about and acting on behalf of those who are beyond where we are day-to-day, but that will be another blog entry…

1 Cor 7:19b-24
Keeping God’s commands is what counts. 20 Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. 21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you-although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22 For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to.

Eph 6:5-9
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

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Paul Colburn

I accepted Christ at the age of 17. After spending a few years chasing the American Dream, I enlisted in the United States Army.  While I served my country in Desert Storm, I wasn’t serving the Lord the way He commands us to serve Him. After I completed my tour of duty and began college, the Lord began calling me back to Him. During this time, I met my wife Karyn who led me back to the church where I really began to grow as a believer. When we moved to Birmingham, Alabama, for work, I began doing local mission work with my church, First Baptist Church Pelham. After the tragic death of my best friend, I answered the call to go to Peru on my first international mission trip. The Lord changed my life forever on that trip, and shortly afterwards I answered His call on my life to go on staff with e3 Partners Ministry as a church planter. I was on staff with e3 from 2006-2020 and led many trips doing evangelism, discipleship, and church planting around the world.  I now do the same work through Biglife.  In 2011, God was calling me to do more, and I got involved with building MetaCamp. Karyn, my two daughters, and I moved to Dadeville in August of 2012, and I now serve as the Director of Camp Operations at MetaCamp.  Through my work with MetaCamp and Biglife, I have the joy of being able to partner with other believers to grow the Kingdom of God.

To contribute to Paul’s financial support through Biglife, please follow this link.

Love God, Love People, Make Disciples

Love God. Love people. Make disciples – who do the same. These three commands sum up
the Christian life.

When Jesus was asked “Which is the greatest commandment?” he said:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
(Matthew 22:37-40)

But, it is not enough to do this ourselves. We must also make disciples, teaching them to
obey Jesus’ commands. Look at Jesus’ final words:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I
am with you always to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

The basic command is to “make disciples.” The other verbs tell us how. We are to make
disciples by going, baptizing and teaching them to obey.

Together, the Great Commandment and the Great Commission form a circle. The Great
Commandment teaches us that we must love God and people. The Great Commission
teaches that we must make disciples – disciples who obey all that Jesus commanded.
Obedient disciples must multiply; because they – in turn – love God, love people, and make
more disciples.

This cycle is the reason Christianity has expanded over the last 2000 years. This cycle is
why you and I are followers of Jesus today.

Look behind you. There is a simple test to determine whether you are obeying the Great
Commission: Look behind you. Do you see (following you as you follow Jesus) a chain of
disciples who are making disciples who are making disciples?

“A few year ago, I evaluated my life in light of the Great Commission. I realized that my
ministry had a superficial effect on many – but was not making disciples who made
disciples. I flunked the Great Commission test. I have spent the past few years of my life
rearranging things – investing more deeply in fewer – so that, today, I can see a growing
chain of disciple-making disciples.” -Mark Aspinwall

Curtis Sergeant

From 1991 to 2002, I worked as a missionary in China. My family and I arrived on an island with a population of about 7 million and fewer than 100 known Christians worshipping in unregistered churches. Historically, this island was where the Chinese government exiled criminals and those who had fallen out of favor. It was a poor, resentful and violent place. It was, literally, “the ends of the earth.” By 2008, there were more than 500,000 followers of Christ.

I quit working there in 1996 because it was already clear that the local believers did not need outside assistance. They were making disciples on their own – and transforming the culture in the process. These house churches were simple; but the members loved God, loved God’s word, loved each other and loved the lost. God worked powerfully through these simple groups to transform lives of new believers, and to multiply new disciples. Over time, God used these bands of transformed believers to transform the culture.

Though difficult, these were the most blessed years of my life. I learned what it meant to be a disciple – to truly follow Jesus. Together with my Chinese brothers and sisters, I learned how to make disciples … teaching them to obey all Jesus’ commands. I experienced God’s power at work through me and around me. I saw God change lives.

When I moved back to the United States, I found that many American believers have never experienced God working in this way. When I tried to introduce the disciple-making concepts that were foundational to the work God did in China, I encountered blank stares.

Most of us cannot merely hear the principles then put them into practice. We need to see, feel, taste, touch and experience before we can implement. This is the goal of MetaCamp: to teach you the principles for multiplying discipleship; and to put them into practice – at MetaCamp – so you can continue to put them into practice in your own life and teach them to others.

This is the “big idea” of MetaCamp: to provide an experiential learning environment for reproductive disciple-making. This is a way to obey the first commandment ever given: “Be fruitful and multiply.” “Meta” is a Greek prefix, usually meaning “beyond.” MetaCamp is beyond the “normal” camp experience.

For more information about me, visit my website at http://www.obeygc2.com. I am an MK (missionary kid) from Asia who served with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board as a missionary for a number of years among unreached people groups in China and as a global trainer. I also served as a VP (for Global Strategy) with the IMB before leaving to help start the P.E.A.C.E. Plan at Saddleback Church where I directed their church planting efforts for more than five years. I served as a VP with e3 Partners Ministry for three years before moving to Alabama. I still serve with them as a consultant.  I also work with 1 Body Ministries out of Tampa, Florida.

If you would like to support this ministry financially you can do so here.

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