Trip Lee recently preached a sermon entitled “Inhaling Properly” at Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia, PA.

He takes a look at how the Christian needs the Word of God to live. We should depend on the scriptures like we do oxygen.

Listen to the message by going to the media section of the website and click “ReachLife Resources”.

You can also download the message here.

A Man’s Gift Will Make Room for Him (Proverbs 18:16)

What a wonderful responsibility I have. I get to use one of my talents as a means to share GOD’s wonderful plan of salvation with the world. I also get to challenge and encourage believers to continue to see Jehovah for who he is. I get to hear amazing testimonies of how my music has encouraged young, old, black, white, believer and non-believer. Our heavenly father will never cease to amaze me with acts of grace and mercy.

I’m also amazed by the platform I have. I’ve had thousands listen to my every word, seeking hope, courage, strength and enlightenment. I’ve had numerous calls, emails, and personal conversations with leaders about how they’ve used my lyrics for devotionals and bible studies. I’ve taught many retreats, Sunday services, and seminars because brothers and sister in the Lord appreciate my music. As I wrote in Great Day II Die, “I see the young ones watching, yeah we role models/ I aint trippin cuz I saw the Role modeled”. Basically, I know that we’re admired because of the talents and positions we hold, but more importantly I hope we’re admired because of the way we reflect Christ-like character in our everyday life.

I say this because I’m very aware of the grace GOD bestows on your boy on a daily basis. I’m aware that I must watch my life and doctrine closely (1 Timothy 4:16). But if I had a chance to do it all over again, I would tell Reach “No, thank you.”

“WHAT! SHO, ARE YOU SERIOUS!”

“Do you know what I’d give to be down with Lecrae, T-dot, and Trip? Do you know what I would do to have the opportunity to have a national audience? You have the chance to share Christ with thousands of people, through a talent that you enjoy doing.”

And maybe this is problem number #1.

I know many of us have great motives, great hearts, and great plans for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know many of us have a form of service that we would love to use on a national level. We know the plans of a man seem right in his own eyes, but GOD weighs the motive (Proverbs 16:2).

To many of us seek to be rappers or (fill in the blank) when we should seek to be servants, by any means. Not “Lord I’ll serve you with rap or (fill in the blank) by any means, but Lord I’ll serve YOU by any means.” More than naught in the scriptures you find Jehovah choosing his servants for the task that he wants of them, not the other way around. (Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Everybody…To many to name.)

My Struggle

Before I became a Christian I had the opportunity to rub shoulders with very important secular artists, producers, and managers. I had a group that sought to become successful hip-hop stars. We got radio play in California and did tour dates with major artists. We thought we had made it. When those dreams fell apart I was crushed. My desire was fame and wealth. So as a growing Christian I knew I needed to guard against this by any means necessary. I meet Lecrae and Tedashii in 1998. I was around Reach before it had a single record. Some have asked why it took me so long to do a solo album. I was content with serving the Lord in the capacity He saw fit for me. I knew I couldn’t handle the wickedness of my heart. From Real Talk to Amped, I knew that Sho’s heart needed to be refined by the grace and word of the Lord. I had no problem seeing the Lord use my brothers, and see him not use me in the same fashion. But I continued to encourage and spur my brothers on to love and good deeds. I signed a one album deal as an attempt to combat any struggles that may arise. Question- do you have this same contentment with your talents? Know that if you do rap or (fill in the blank), GOD has not promised the extras like: distribution, fans, great production, websites, great reviews or shows. All that other stuff is the Lord’s grace towards us.

Some of my issues with our Service

1) Too many people desire a form of service like Rap (fill in the blank) without knowing the Responsibility. James tells us to not be eager to be teachers (James 3:1). Rappers are esteemed in many circles like prophets, teachers or pastors. They get this status without any formal training. This can be very dangerous. Cousins, if I get another Demo from a brother who is not living out the responsibility in the local church, I will scream! Be accountable to a church (Acts 2-4). Grow in love, submit to authority, study the scriptures, live in community, and serve outside of you natural talent.

2) Some cats use their talents for entertainment purposes. From my perspective that’s cool, however if you use your talent in a church, you need to exhort and encourage the body (Romans 12, Eph 5:18-21 and Col 3:16).

3) I have trouble being sanctified by my form of service. We need to put ourselves in positions of service where we are being sharpened by that service for the Lord’s glory. I need to die to my selfishness and fleshy desires on a daily basis. I want to be the best rapper. I want everyone to love my music. I want to hear great testimonies of how my music changes lives. I pray to the Lord that I may be content with the role I may play in the movement of Reach or this music movement as a whole. In whatever form of service you offer to the Lord, please do it on his terms not yours.

I have some questions for us to constantly check our heart.

1. If you had/have this platform, is you life worth modeling? Do you know biblical truths?
2. Are you being sanctified by your service?
3. If GOD stripped your form of service would your life still look like Romans 12:1?
4. Do you get jealous of others success or compare your service to others?
5. Do you find yourself promoting self more than the Gospel?
6. Do you want your name mentioned among the best in your form of service, and get frustrated when its not?
7. Are you under the authority and accountability of a local church?

Lets not look like Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:9-25). He had an amazing gift in the world. He was accustomed to getting applause from men. He became a believer and followed great men. When he saw their impact, he began to lust after their positions and gifts because he desired to have the same impact with people. He knew not the true meaning of service or the true use for gifting. And that’s to edify the body.

-Sho Baraka

It’s been a long week!

Whew,  so much in so little time!  I do need prayer in the area of tension, not balance, but a tension between learning, personal holiness, loving others and being a light in society.

What I’ve been up to.

This week I find myself looking at blogs online, some from Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, and also pastors from churches around the country. I’ve been reading the book of Romans with some of the guys I disciple, 1st Peter with my wife, 1st John with men from the church, and 1st Timothy with people in my community bible study. So there are themes of Salvation and Soteriology, submission and persecution, authentic faith, and ecclesiology, or the study of the church running around my head.

What is really on my dome though is that a friend of mine is in South Africa serving the natives out there, while there are thousands of refugees moving to my city who need guidance, wisdom, food, and resources. There has also been 6 murders in my own neighborhood. It’s hard lately to absorb all this truth when you are hurting for the world around you. With a concert every weekend, a family, an album to record, and various other projects to oversee, I feel at times like I am really doing nothing. Still I know that God is growing me and patient while showing me his will and ways.

Praise the Lord!

I am excited at what God is doing with Reach. Trip is preparing to unleash an incredible project that aims to set peoples eyes on a biblical view of our God. The Before You Die gospel tract is being spread throughout the world, and I get to visit some prisons next month.

My Prayer

So my prayer is for a healthy tension between learning understanding the incredibly important doctrine of our faith and being a light to the world.

If anyone has any encouraging ways they have served in the community or missions let me know.

I love yall!

-LeCrae

Catechism Study - Question #8

Question:
What is the result of the state of man after the fall?

Answer:
All of us, because of the fall, have lost communion with God, are under His wrath, and are deserving of death.

Scripture:
“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”
-Genesis 3:8

“...among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
-Ephesians 2:3

“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
-Galatians 3:10

“For the wages of sin is death…”
-Romans 6:23a

Summary:

There is no question that the world is not the way it should be. Look around and we see suffering and pain in every area of life. As Romans 8:22 says:

“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”

Unbelievers hate to admit this. They will try to prove that the world can be improved by human effort, without God. They even say that there is no God, so that they can avoid the truth of God’s Word. We know from the Word of God, that the world is currently in a state of misery, and only the Bible provides us with a reason for that misery.

Our lost communion with God.

The first result of the fall that we read in the Bible is the fact that man has lost his communion with God. We lost the very thing we were created for - God. In the garden of Eden, God was the source of Adam and Eve’s pleasure, but since the fall, man has sought after getting that pleasure from created things rather than the creator. We all know that no matter what we try to fill that pleasure with in our lives, it always falls short. The joy may last for a little while, but we always seek something new to get it back. This was not true before the fall. God is the source of all our joy and only in Him can we ever be satisfied. We lost that because of the fall.

Misery in this life.

No matter whether we are rich or poor, we all experience misery in this life.  Just as Job states in Job 5:7:

“but man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.”

While each specific case of misery is different for each of us, they all are a result of the fall. Some experience disease and suffering. Others experience financial hardships and loss. All of us suffer in one way or another in this life. But as Christians, we know this will not always be the case.

We all will die.

As the author of Hebrews states in Hebrews 9:27:

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…”

Man was not created to die. Man was created to live forever. That is why death is so unnatural to us. There is something in us that says this isn’t the way it should be. While it is true that Christians have defeated death because of Jesus Christ’s victory, we too will experience death in this life. This too is a result of the fall.

There is everlasting punishment.

One of the most difficult things to believe about the effect of the fall is that all of us are guilty before God and deserve everlasting punishment because of our disobedience. That means all of us are deserving of God’s eternal punishment. We all have disobeyed God in our lives and as a result as subject to His penalty. As Romans 6:23 says:

“For the wages of sin is death…”

Conclusion

As we study the results of the fall of man, we realize that we these results in our lives every day. We see the results of the fall in the suffering, death, and actions of the world today. Is there any solution? Is there any way out of this state of misery?

Study Questions:

1. What is the main thing about our condition unbelievers don’t want to admit? Why?

2. What are four results of the fall?

3. What are some of the ways we try to make up for these results?

4. What are some ways that we see man has lost communion with God?

5. How would you explain these truths to an unbeliever? What do you think their response would be? What would you say to them?

 

There is no shortage today of evidence that the world is sinful. Turn on any news program or just type in CNN.com on your Internet browser and you will see that we are “messed up”.

What’s ironic is that all of these news events dont just consist of one people group. Rich, poor, white, black, young, and old. The wickedness of man is not bias.

You look at the story of Michael Vick, star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, million dollar contracts and endorsements, yet sentenced to 23 months in prison. And for what? Dog fighting. Look at Marion Jones, 3 time Olympic Gold medal winner, guilty of taking steroids and stripped of all her Olympic medals.

At some point we must ask the question, “What is wrong with us?”

What’s Wrong With Us?

Well there are two ways we can find the answer to that question:

• The World
• The Word of God

What does the World say is wrong with us?

Walk into any bookstore today and there are thousands of books written to try to solve these problems. The world says that we are really good people, we just make mistakes. All we need is a little help in getting our life in order and that will solve our problems.

If we just do this, then this will get better. And we buy that lie. Has that solution worked? I mean, with all of the great advice that we have been given over time, are we any better of today than we were years ago?

As John Stott says:

“Much that we take for granted in a ‘civilized society’ is based upon the assumption of human
sin. Nearly all legislation has grown up because human beings cannot be trusted to settle their own disputes with justice and without self-interest. A promise is not enough; we need a contract. Doors are not enough; we have to lock and bolt them. The payment of fares is not enough; tickets have to be issued, inspected and collected. Law and order are not enough; we need the police to enforce them. All this is due to man’s sin. We cannot trust each other. We need protection against one another. It is a terrible indictment of human nature.”

Lets take a look at sin through the lens of God’s eyes.

1. Sin is against the nature of God.

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)

God is so holy, that he cannot sin himself, or be the cause or author of sin in another. He does not command sin to be committed, for to do so would be to cross his nature and
will. Nor does he approve of any man’s sin, when it is committed, but hates it with a perfect hatred. On the contrary, as God is holy, all holy, only holy, altogether holy, and always
holy, so sin is sinful, all sinful, only sinful, altogether sinful, and always sinful. As in God there is no evil, so in sin there is no good. God is the highest good and therefore sin is the
highest of evils. As no good can be compared with God for goodness, so no evil can be compared with sin for evil.

2. It is against the sovereignty of God. Meaning that it says God isnt in control of all things.

“With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?” (Psalm 12:4)

When we sin, we say to God that we know are in control of our lives and not him. Although we can believe that God is in control, when we sin, we lie about that truth. We say that we want to be our master, not God.

3. It is against the fact that God is everything we need.

When we sin, we say that we need something more than God. We may say that God is all sufficient for us, but our sinning says that we need more. God is everything we need, there is nothing lacking in him at all. Therefore, when we sin, we lie about this attribute of him. We are like the prodigal son that says there is somewhere better to be than here.

4. It is against the fact the God knows everything.

When we sin, it says that we a smarter than God. That we know better than God does. We believe that God knows all things and therefore when we sin, we say that there is something that he does not know, and therefore we want to do it this way. This again is another lie we tell about the truth of God.

5. Sin is against the glory of God.

Man was created to glorify God and enjoy him forever. When we sin, we say that we are created to glorify ourselves and enjoy us forever. This exchanges to truth of God for a lie. It replaces the creator with the creature and there is no greater sin than to fall short of the glory of God.

So the next time you find yourself struggling with the temptation of sin, think about these truths and how they offend our Holy God. We hate when sinful people do us wrong, how much more does God hate sin because he is Holy?

Catechism Study - Question #7

Question:
Are all people affected by the fall of Adam? What does that mean for us?

Answer:
When God made a covenant (agreement) with Adam, it not only affected Adam, but every person that would ever come from Adam’s seed. The result of the fall of Adam is that we ALL sinned, and therefore are guilty before God.

Scripture:
“For ALL have sinned and fall short of the the glory of God.”
-Romans 3:23

“For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners…”
-Romans 5:19a

“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”
-Romans 5:12

Summary:

This understanding that every person in the world is sinful, is one of the hardest things for us to accept. It is the very thing that separates Christianity from every other type of religion in the world. The universal affect that Adam’s disobedience produced not only affected him, but every single person that has ever lived. This is essential to understanding the Christian faith.

For ALL have sinned…

No one likes to hear that they have a disease that is going to kill them. Many people put off going to the doctor to see if they are infected with a disease for the very reason that they think not knowing is better. Well the infection of sin is worse than any disease that a doctor can ever tell you about. Without the knowledge that were are sinners, we will never seek for a recovery from that sin.

Its not hard to prove that all people are sinners. Just look at the fact that all people die. Why do we die? Just as Romans 5:12 says, “Death came through sin”. All people would agree that everyone dies. The difference for the believer and unbeliever, is that the believer has a reason for why we all die. We die because we are sinners. Sin is the death sentence of all mankind.

Our relationship to Adam.

In order to understand why we are sinners, its important to understand our relationship to our first parent, Adam. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that we were not the ones that ate from the tree that day in the Garden. So why does it affect us?

Well, think of it this way. Do you look like your natural mom and dad? Do you have some of the same facial features? Height? Personality? Why is that? The answer is simple. Because you came from them, you share the same characteristics as they do.

Same is true with our relationship with Adam. All people that have ever lived came from Adam, and therefore we all share in the characteristic of sin that he had. Just like we have our parents eyes or nose, we have Adam’s sin. Everyone does.

Is this fair?

The common objection to this truth is that it is not fair. Most people will say that “I wasn’t the one that sinned. Why do I have to pay for the mistake of someone else?” The major mistake in that understanding is that we do not see ourselves being united to Adam in this life. Adam was not just a man, but the representative of all mankind. What he did affects all people, because we all fall under his representation.

Just like the decisions of our president affect the entire country, so does the decision Adam made affect all of humanity.

Why did God have someone else represent us?

Some people believe that they would have done better if they could just have represented themselves. But this is just another affect of being sinful. Its the wrong understanding that we are more intelligent than the eternal God! How crazy is that? Without Adam being our representative at first, we could never have another representative to replace him.

Christ - Our needed Representative.

All people will stand before God under one of two representatives. Either they will stand before God with Adam as their representative, or they will stand before God with Christ as their representative. The Bible is clear, that only those who have received the righteousness of Christ (those who are represented by Him), will enter the kingdom of God.

Conclusion

Therefore, we must praise God that He allowed us to be represented by Christ. If we were to stand based on our own life, we have no chance to be restored to God. It is only through this “change of representatives” that we receive eternal life.

Study Questions:

1. Who is affected by the fall of Adam? Why?

2. What is the reason why all people die?

3. What is our relationship to Adam? What does that mean for us?

4. What is our relationship to Christ? How do we get into that relationship?

5. Explain how people fall into two categories of representation before God. What does each category result in for eternity?

Catechism Study - Question #6

Question:
What is sin? What was the sin the caused the fall?

Answer:
Sin is the committing of any act (action, thought or deed) that breaks the law of God, as well as not performing acts that are required by the law of God. By Adam eating the fruit that was forbidden in the garden, he committed the sin that resulted in all of mankind becoming fallen.

Scripture:
“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.”
-1 John 3:4

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”
-Genesis 3:6

“See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
-Eccl. 7:29

Summary:

In Genesis 3:6, we read about the first sin in the bible. Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, with the command from God not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Later we see, Satan came and tempted Eve into eating the fruit, and Adam also ate. Because of this disobedience before God, Adam, and all of mankind were made sinners.

Some argue, “How can one little sin, eating a fruit, ruin all mankind?” While it may be hard to understand why something as simple as eating a fruit can be such an evil sin, we must look at sin through the eyes of God, not ourselves.

Because God is perfect, holy, and righteous, He cannot have fellowship with anything thing (or person) that is sinful. Doing so, would make Him allow sin into his presence (which is something God cannot do). Therefore, if we look at sin as God looks as sin, we will see just how evil it really is, regardless of how little it may look to us.

There are two things to remember about Adam while he was in the garden to understand our current condition today.
Adam had the FREEDOM to sin or not sin.

When we say that Adam had the freedom to choose to sin or NOT sin, we mean that no one forced him to commit that sin. Even though Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the garden, he could not force them to eat. All he could do to was try to persuade them to eat and therefore disobey God.

Adam had the ABILITY to sin or not sin.

We must also realize that Adam was able NOT to sin. Before sin came into the world, Adam was able to be sinless. He was able not to sin. But after the fall (Adam eating the fruit), that state changed (and therefore all of us) are now able only to sin.

We cannot be sinless in this life. We have lost our ability to be sinless, because of Adam choice in committing that sin.

In future catechism studies, we will go through why we are held responsible for Adam’s sin. For now, we must know that because of that sin, all mankind become sinners.

Just as Romans 5:12 says “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”

God determines right and wrong.

We also see from the experience of Adam and Eve in the garden, that it is God that determines right and wrong, not man. We get this knowledge of right and wrong from God’s Word. That is why Satan had to lie about the promise God gave Adam if he disobeyed. Satan had to tell them “You will not surely die.”

We must get our definition of right and wrong from the bible.

Conclusion

As the catechism answers, sin is doing anything that breaks the law of God. But also, its not doing what the law requires. If we are honest with ourselves, we know that we cannot live up to the standard that God requires. Therefore we need a solution. Therefore we need Christ.

Study Questions:

1. What are the two types of sin?

2. What two things did Adam (and us) lose when he sinned?

3. How do we get our understanding of right and wrong?

4. Can we live up to God’s standard? Why or why not?

5. How does the law of God, show our need to be saved?

THE RECAP
On Saturday, Oct 20th, a movement began at Crichton College as cultures collided through the power of music!

Crichton College and ReachLife Ministries partnered to challenge and ignite Christians to break down cultural barriers within the church and begin to see the world through the Lens of Christ, not black or white, but rather “Red” for the blood of Christ.

Adam Thomason, the visionary behind the movement, welcomed the crowd and explained the reasoning behind the night’s event which he said had “little to do with a great concert and more to do with viewing people the way that Jesus views them.”  He explained that ultimately we were there to worship Christ.”  And with that the night was kicked off with the an acapella hymn that exclaimed “I Love You Lord,” immediately followed by the crowd igniting drum cadence from the students of the Stax Drum-line.

The crowd was a mix of races, genders and generations of people from Memphis and as far as Texas, North Carolina and Georgia, but each found themselves on their feet to celebrate a magical night. The concert interwove rap, rock, powerful testimonies of multiracial and multi generational Memphis leaders sharing their experiences of racial tensions and victories in Memphis TN.

Many wonderful things happened at the Red Revolution, but the climax came when the rappers and rockers took the stage together to combine rock and rap to perform six powerful songs from Reach records’ “Amped” album.  This portrayal of the ‘amplification’ of Christ through different cultures uniting for a common purpose proved that not only is the music better when the two combine, but its the way the people of God should live. The night ended with concertgoers flooding to the walls of the auditorium where a graffiti wall had been set up.  People of every background, age and race colored the walls with testimonies of what it means to live “Red” and of their initiatives to make the night more than a concert but a movement.

Sunday wrapped up the weekend with a panel discussion of the artists sharing such issues of community, fellowship, the hardship of embracing differences, and the fight for unity within the body of Christ.

Here are 5 things we hope those in attendance walked away from this event with:

1. Seeing through the lens of Christ is not optional.

“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
-Rom. 6:11

If only we would see ourselves as God sees us. He sees us in Christ. When we became Christians, we died to sin. We died to the “old lens” we used to live through. We became alive in Christ. We now are to see through a “new lens”. That new lens is through the eyes of Christ in all things-including race. Not seeing through this lens is not seeing at all. The world does not have the clear vision it needs to see how beautiful diversity is. We have no excuse.

2. A true Revolution must start with mind renewal.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
-Rom. 12:2

Sometimes we act before we think. This usually gets us in trouble. But if we can think before we act, we will be more equipped for the battle. Revolution involves battle. The battle is between the old and new way of thinking about race. How are we to change our thinking from the old to the new? It’s only by the Word of God. The world has fed our old way of thinking. The Word of God feeds our new way of thinking which allows us to be equipped in the fight.

3. Our true identity is found in Christ, not in our race.

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him…”
-Phil 3:7-9

Anything in this world can become an idol. Including our race. When we put the gift that God has given us before the giver of the gift (God), we become idolaters. When will we be able to say with Paul, “whatever gain I had, I counted as loss…”? We are to count everything as loss in comparison to knowing Christ. What hinders our knowledge of Christ? Sin. What the most discussed sin in the bible? Idolatry. Kill the sin of racial idolatry in your heart so you may gain Christ.

4. If you want to love your brother, fall more in love with Christ.

“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven - for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
-Luke 7:47

Luke tells the story of Jesus and the woman who wiped His feet with her tears. The Pharisees couldn’t understand why Jesus would associate with such a sinner. He then tells them a parable, which explains why the one who has the greatest debt, loves the forgiver of that debt most. We all at one time had the greatest debt before God. It was our sin. We have been forgiven of that debt by it being paid for by Jesus. We are to love Him most. That love should overflow to our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we want to love our brothers and sisters more, look at the sin in your life, then look at your Savior. Fall more in love with the Savior than your sin, and you will not be able to withhold love from any person of a different color.

5. The only solution is the blood of Christ as He is revealed in the gospel.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from on degree of glory to another.”
-2Cor. 3:18

As Christians, our veil has been removed. Although we have been freed from the penalty of our sin, the presence of it still remains. That’s why we need the gospel every day of our lives. No matter how much we try to kill the sin in our hearts, we need the blood of Christ. I must embrace Him and the gospel everyday until I die. As I “behold the glory of the Lord”, I am being transformed (sanctified), and becoming more like Him.

Let us all behold the glory of Christ in the gospel. Lord, forgive us of the idolatry of our hearts.

Lord, thank you for the blood of Christ.

Catechism Study - Question #5

Question:
How did God create man?

Answer:
God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.

Scripture:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
-Genesis 1:27

“...and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
-Eph. 4:24

“And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
-Gen. 1:28

Summary:
There is something different about man from the rest of creation. Of everything that God created, we are told in scripture that man was the only thing created in the image of God. Not only that, but man is also the only creation that is told to have dominion over the rest of creation.

What does is mean to be created in the image of God?

When we think of being made in the image of God we must think of three areas. These three areas are in knowledge, holiness, and righteousness.

In Knowledge

When Adam was created, and he was without sin, he was able to understand God fully through creation. When Adam gave names to the animals in the garden, he had the knowledge required to give them these names. When he names his wife Eve (which means “life-giving”), he knew what that meant. Before sin was in the world, man had a true knowledge of God and creation. But we know this changed after sin came into the world.

In Holiness

When we talk about holiness, we are speaking about being “set apart”. When Adam was without sin in the garden, he found his highest delight in the Lord. Adam was in the perfect presence of God. In a sense, Adam was “set apart” of the things of the Lord because of the absence of sin.

In Righteousness

Another word for righteousness is obedience. Because Adam knew what God required (knowledge) and found his delight in Him (holiness) he was able to be obedient to God in his life. After the fall, this righteousness was lost, and man has needed the righteousness of another ever since, who is Jesus Christ.

Result - Total Depravity

There is a term you should know called “Total Depravity”. It means that after the fall, man lost any “good” in him, and therefore he is now totally depraved. Not that he is as bad as he can be, but he cannot pursue any good within himself. He has lost what Adam had in the garden, “the image of God”.

Because God requires perfection in his creation, and we have lost that perfection, we have a problem. This is the problem of all mankind. God created us perfect, we sinned, therefore we stand before God guilty.

The only way we can ever stand before God and be considered “perfect” again, is if someone else that is perfect takes our place. As Christians, we know the only person that ever lived on this earth that was perfect was Jesus Christ, and we know from the bible that he offers us his perfect life through that gift of faith in Him.

Conclusion

By understanding how we were created and what we were created for, we can see just how far we have fallen from the standard that God requires. Too many times when we try to explain to others their need for a Savior, we don’t explain their condition. They don’t understand that they have lost any good in them, they stand before God naked and guilty, and need someone else to come stand in their place who is perfect.

Share the good news of Christ with people. Don’t just give them the solution. Give them the problem. Make sure they understand the problem. If we don’t understand our problem, we will never seek the One who came to this earth to solve it.

Study Questions:

1. What does it mean to be created in “the image of God”?

2. What happened to lose that perfection?

3. What do we mean by “Total Depravity”?

4. How would you explain the problem all men face in this life? How would you explain the solution God provided?

5. Hard Question - If God created man “perfect” how come he was able to sin?

POSTED BY REACHLIFE

News travels. Bad news always seems to travel faster than good news. Thats true in our own lives. Whenever we mess up, people always seem to find out real quick. When we do something good, it seems to never get passed around.

How true of is that of the Gospel?

Check out this short clip of Lecrae in Zambia.

Why is it that in a little village in Zambia, a teenager knows about Fabulous getting shot, but not the good news of Jesus Christ?

Romans 10:14-15 says “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Share the Good News of Christ!

People are hearing all about the bad news in the world. Share with them the news that Jesus Christ came to earth to pay the penalty for our sins. Tell them that if we repent and believe on Him for our salvation, we will be saved!

What better news is there to hear?

Share it!

Posted by REACHLIFE

How would you answer this question -
“What’s an idol?”

Is it just some carved image that we read about in the Old Testament?

Exodus 20:3 says
“You shall have no other gods before me.”

Sometimes we think of an idol as just an image, animal or something that people in other countries worship as their god. Well those aren’t the only idols the bible talks about.

So what is idolatry?

Idolatry is having a greater desire for anything that was created rather than our desire for the Creator himself, which is God. There is only one thing that cannot become an idol. That is God. Everything else in our lives can become an idol if we allow it.

The most talked about sin in the bible is not lying, stealing, or adultery. The most talked about sin in the bible is idolatry. Yet for us Christians today, it is probably the least talked about sin in our lives.

A theologian by the name of John Calvin once said “The heart is an idol factory.”

So how can we identify these idols in our hearts so that we can overcome them?

Here are 7 questions that we may find helpful in revealing the true idols in our hearts. After each question there is a verse or two that state what the Word of God has to say about that question.

1. What do you truly love? What do you truly hate?

“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
-Matt 22:37-39

“For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God”
-2 Tim 3:2-4

2. What do you want, crave, lust or desire for in your life?

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”
-Gal 5:16-25

“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.”
-Titus 3:3

3. What are you really putting your hopes in during this life?

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
-1 Peter 1:13

“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”
-1 Tim 6:17

4. What do you fear? What don’t you want to happen in your life?

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”
-Matt 6:25-32

5. Who do you seek to please in life?

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”
-1 Cor 4:3-5

“For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”
-2 Cor 10:18

6. What do you think about most often?

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
-Col 3:1-5

“Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
-Phil 3:19

7. What do you pray for?

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
-James 4:3

“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “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.”
-Luke 18:9-14

Can you relate to any of these????

Catechism Study - Question #4

Question:
How many persons are in the Godhead? Are there more God’s than one?

Answer:
There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

Scripture:
“...There is no God but one.”
-1Cor. 8:4

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”
-Matt. 28:19

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
-2Cor 13:14

Summary:
What do you know about the doctrine of the Trinity? Do you understand it? Can you explain it to someone else? This question should help us to have a better understanding of what we mean when we talk about the Trinity.

We can explain the Trinity with 3 things:

1. There is one God.
2. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.
3. Each of these three persons is distinct from the others.

Some false teaching has said that this cannot be true. That one God cannot exist as three persons. We call these people “unitarians”. As Christians, we do believe that there is one God but that there are three persons in the Godhead. That’s why Christians can be known as “trinitarians”. 

Some people believe in a “unitarian” understanding of God, simply because it is easier to understand. Our human minds can’t grasp the fact that there could be one God yet three distinct persons. We must remember that we don’t get our doctrine of the Trinity because it seems “understandable” but rather we get this doctrine because scripture doesn’t give us any other view but this one.

Lets look at some verses to see where this doctrine comes from.

There is one living and true God

There is no doubt that scripture speaks of only one true and living God. These verses should help to show that there is no other God but one God.

“...that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other.”
-1Kings 8:60

“For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth - as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords” - yet for us there is one God…”
-1Cor 8:5-6

“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”
-Isa. 44:6

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are God

Now that we see from scripture there is only one God, let’s look at some verses that show that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is God.

The Father is God:

“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he had made him known.”
(John 1:18)

The Son is God:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
-John 1:1

“Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!””
-John 20:28

The Holy Spirit is God:

“But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
-Acts 5:3-4

Scripture teaches that these three persons are distinct yet equal in power and Glory.

In early Christianity, there were many misunderstanding of the Trinity and many errors that people fell into. The most common error was the view that there was one God, but that God played different “parts”, sort of like an actor. They believed that while God could play the part of Father, there was no Son. And when he played the part of Son, there was no Father. We call this view - “modalism”.

The best scripture verse to refute “modalism” is Matthew 3:16-17, where we read about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit being present all at the same moment.

“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

So we see in scripture that although there are three persons in the Godhead, they are distinct from each other. As Paul says in Philippians 2:6:

“...who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped…”

Conclusion

We must remember that when we are talking about the Trinity, we must look at many verses in scripture to get our doctrine. Just as we’ve said in other catechism questions, scripture is inerrant which means there are no errors. So if we see verses that seem to contradict each other, we must find out how they relate, rather than how they disprove each other.

Once we take on that approach of scripture reading, we will avoid many of the errors that people fall into when they try to describe the Trinity.

Study Questions:
1. Why is the Trinity such a difficult doctrine to understand?

2. What do we mean by “unitarian”?

3. What do we mean by “trinitarian”?

4. As Christians, which view do we believe? Why?

5. What is “modalism”? Why do we believe it to be wrong?

6. How would you describe the Trinity to another person? What objections would they raise? How would you answer them?

 

Catechism Study - Question #3

Question:
What is God?

Answer:
God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

Scripture:
“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”     
-John 4:24

“God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”
-Ex. 3:14

“Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.”
-Ps. 147:5

“For I the LORD do not change, therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”
-Mal. 3:6

Summary:
God is unlike any being in the world. He has certain attributes (or characteristics) that make him different from anything or anyone else in existence.

First thing we must know is that God is a Spirit. As Jesus said “God is spirit…”(John 4:24). By Spirit, the most important thing to remember is that God does not have any material substance. God does not have a body. God is invisible. They only way that we can “see” God is indirectly. We can see Him through his reflection in creation.

But what else is God beside that. There are many more attributes that the Bible tells us beside just being a Spirit. There are two types of attribute that God has. The first are those which belong to God alone. We call these incommunicable attributes. The second are those that God has given man as well. We call those communicable attributes.

Incommunicable Attributes
There are certain attributes that belong to God and to God alone. He does not “share” these characteristics with man at all. For example, God is infinite. He has always existed. Man is finite, meaning that there was a time when man did not exist. Another example would be that God is unchangeable. He cannot change anything about Himself because He is already perfect. But man on the other hand is not unchangeable. Man can and does change over time. We get older and our appearance looks different than it did a few years ago. This is not so with God.

Communicable Attributes
But there are also characteristics that God has that man has as well. Some of these are that God has wisdom and man has wisdom. Another is that God has power and man has power as well. The thing that we must remember here when we look at characteristics that we “share” with God, is that there is still a difference between God and his image (man). Think of it as looking into a mirror. When you look into a mirror, are those eyes that you see in the mirror your eyes? Or are those eyes you see “the image” of your eyes?

Of course, those eyes you see are just an image. Same with the attributes we share with God. Me may have wisdom, but it is just a tiny reflection of the wisdom of God. Where our wisdom can change (for example, it can increase), God’s wisdom cannot change because He already knows everything there is to know. We cant confuse the fact that God is God alone, and we are just an image bearer of Him here on earth.

Worship Him
Learning these characteristics of God should lead us to worship Him. When we see something that overwhelms us (like the Grand Canyon), we are amazed by it. How much more should we be amazed at the God that created the Grand Canyon. Think on these characteristics of God and had them lead you to “see” Him in such a way that you desire to know Him more.

Study Questions:
1. What do we mean by the word “Spirit”?

2. What does the terms, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable mean?

3. What is a “incommunicable attribute”? What are some examples?

4. What is a “communicable attribute”? What are some examples?

5. How would you explain to someone that although we “share” some similar characteristics of God, they are not exactly the same? How are they different?

 

Catechism Study - Question #2

Question:
What has God given us to show us how we can glorify and enjoy him?

Answer:
God has given us His Word (the Scriptures) which are made up of both the Old and New Testaments.

Scripture:
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”
-2 Tim. 3:16

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
-Ps. 19:1

“For His invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”
- Rom. 1:20

Summary:
You ever realize that some of the smartest people in the world, do not believe there’s a God? There are many people that are so smart in some of the most difficult things to understand, but they don’t believe that God created the heavens and the earth. Instead they believe it was all just one big accident!

Why is that? Well, the reason is that God did not make man to know everything from his own doing or from himself. Because only God knows everything, only God can give a true knowledge of anything in the world. Ever since Adam and Eve, that knowledge from God has come in two ways - natural revelation and special revelation.

Natural Revelation
Natural revelation is that which we can know just from seeing God’s creation. When we look at the world, we know something about God because of His creation. This revelation from God in nature is enough to leave us without an excuse of knowing there is a God and therefore we are accountable to God for that truth. But it doesn’t just give us knowledge, it also shows us that God is worthy of our praise and worship because of His creation.

Special Revelation
There is also a second way God reveals truth to us. The second way is through what is called - special revelation. Think back to the Garden of Eden. Even then Adam needed to hear God’s Word spoken to him. Although he saw nature, he still had to see it through the “light of God’s Word.” It was not enough to see that the fruit in the garden was “good”, he had to see it through the truth of “God’s Word” which he did not. God’s Word told him “Do not eat”, but Adam disobeyed that Word and therefore fell into sin.

So through God’s creation we can have a certain amount of knowledge of Him. But God also has given us His Word (the Bible) in order for us to truly know Him. When we talk about the Bible, there are three things we must believe about it.

It is True
The first is that it is true (infallible). Because the Word of God is from God, and God cannot lie (Num. 23:19), His Word also cannot lie. Many people try to say they are errors in the bible, but they only do so because they do not want to be held accountable to it, not because they have proven that it has errors.

It is Clear
The second characteristic is that the Bible is clear. Even kids can understand it (Eph. 6:1-3). That doesn’t mean there aren’t things that are hard to understand. It just means you don’t have to have a PhD to know what God requires from you. You can understand it as well.

It is Sufficient
Finally, the Bible is sufficient, meaning it is the final authority on all things. That doesn’t mean we don’t use other means to gain knowledge. There are certain things that Bible doesn’t tell us. But we must always place that outside knowledge in the light of God’s Word and never above it.

Nothing is equal to or above the authority of God’s Word. Always seek to prove all truth through the lens of the Bible.

Study Questions:
1. What are the two sources of “truth”?

2. What are three characteristics of the Bible we must remember?

3. What does it mean to call the Bible infallible?

4. What does it mean to call the bible clear?

5. How is the Bible the final authority on all things? Does that mean we should never use anything but the Bible to learn about God? Why or Why not?

 

Catechism Study - Question #1

Question:
What is the purpose of man?

Answer:
The purpose of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

Scripture:
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
-1 Cor. 10:31

“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.”
-Rev. 4:11

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And on earth there is nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail. but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
-Ps. 73:25-26

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”
-Phil. 4:4

Summary:
Many people go through life asking “Why am I here?” But the bible tells us why. The thing is, we cant answer that question by looking at ourselves (which most of the world does) but instead looking to God and His Word. If you want to know how something is supposed to work and its purpose, we know that we would ask the creator of that thing. The same goes with us, we need to seek after God (through His Word) to know who we are and what we were designed for.

Before the fall, we were perfectly God-centered beings. But after the fall of Adam, we became man-centered and have struggled to know our purpose ever since. Instead of being satisfied with God (and Him alone), we became satisfied with ourselves (and other things in this world). Instead of seeking to enjoy God, we seek to enjoy ourselves and the things in our life.

By saying that we are to glorify God, we are not saying we are to make God “glorious”. God is already glorious just by the fact of who He is. We cant add anything to the worth of God. Instead we need to see glorifying God as “reflecting” God’s glory rather than adding to it.

For example, the world doesn’t make God glorious, it reflects His glory (Ps. 19:1). Same with us, we don’t make God glorious, we reflect it to others (which means it glorifies God!). Think of it like this, something created can not make it’s creator more glorious, it can only display the glory that the creator already has, and it does this by reflecting that glory through itself.

So what is the best way we can glorify God? Well, what is the best way we glorify things? How do we show others that we love our iPods, music, video games, etc? We show others how much we love those things by our enjoyment of them. Same goes with God. We show that God is glorious to us, in many ways, but ultimately by our enjoyment of Him. Now, that’s not the only way we can glorify God, but if we truly enjoy God for who He is, we will glorify him in other areas of our life as well.

Problem is, people don’t want to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Instead we are happy to enjoy and glorify things, money, the world, and even ourselves! We settle for such lower standards and enjoyments than the best thing in the world - God. And therefore we have sinned before Him and are held accountable for those sins. Thank God we have a savior in Jesus Christ!

In this life, we will never fully glorify God, or enjoy him fully as He deserves. That will only come after we are with God in heaven. But as we seek after God each day, we will continue to grow and glorify Him in our lives as we show his glory to others by sharing our faith, encouraging each other, preaching and teaching to others, etc.

So, every day seek God in all areas of your life. Reflect his glory to others. Show your enjoyment of Him to the world over the things that the world enjoys. By doing this, we point towards why we were truly created - to glorify God and enjoy HIM forever!

Study Questions:
1. What do we mean by “glorify”?

2. Why is it wrong to glorify things rather than God?

3. How is God glorified in our lives?

4. Can we add to the glory of God? Why or why not?

5. Why can’t we fully glorify God now?

6. Can an unbeliever glorify God? Why or why not?

7. Give some examples of how we can glorify God in our lives? What are ways He is not glorified? What is the main difference?

 

Posted by REACHLIFE

Ok, many of you have asked us if we were ever going to have an online study available on the website. Well, now we do. Here is the first online study from Reachlife Ministries.

We are going to go through a Q & A of the basics of the Christian faith. To do this, we are going to use a method called catechizing.

Heres how it works. Each week we will post under the Reachlife blog a few Q & A’s that have been used throughout church history to help students learn the fundamentals of Christianity. Each post will have a question, its answer, and a short explanation of the answer to give you  better understanding of it. Also we’ll post some study questions at the end of each short study so you can use this with others or in a group.

So, what is a catechism?
Basically its a short summary of doctrine. It was used in the early times of Christianity to help students learn the fundamentals truths of the Christian faith. Think of it as a doctrinal manual in the form of questions followed by answers to be memorized.

How should I study this catechism?
Check back every day to see when a new question is posted. For each question, read the question and its answer, followed by the short summary of the answer provided. This will help give you a better understanding of the truth and be able to explain it to others. Then try to memorize both the question and the answer as it is given. This will help to keep these truths memorized over time. In the end, if you’ve studied all the sections and memorized the Q and A’s, in the end you’ll have a tight understanding of the basics of the faith.

Can I leave questions or comments on each question?
Absolutely. In fact, we want you to. Post your questions, comments, whatever. Let others know what you’re thinking and the questions you have. We want to know what you’re thinking and how God is growing you with this study. POST, POST, POST!

Is there anyway I can print this out?
Yes, as we add more post, we will add this to the resource section of the website. Look under “Resources > Curriculum > Catechism Study. From there you can see them all at one time and print a copy in PDF format.

So get ready to dig in with Reach as we study the basics of the faith. Who knows, you may even see some comments from Reach artists on the posts as well!

 

Posted by REACHLIFE

Last weekend, REACHLIFE participated in a discipleship conference held in Chicago, IL. If you were at the 2007 Legacy Conference in Chicago, we know you enjoyed it! It was great to see such a showing of like-minded people together to learn more about God’s Word. If you couldn’t make it this year, we want to give you a recap of the event.

Thursday Night
On Thursday night Lecrae kicked off the general session and spoke on making sure we keep a God-centered view on every area of our ministry. He also touched on the importance of community in the disciple making process. That was followed by workshops given by various artists. Flame hosted a workshop on hermeneutics, JSon on evangelism, and Sho gave a talk on community impact. The night closed with a small concert featuring Flame, Tedashii, and JSon.

Friday Night
Friday night the workshops continued with shai linne giving a lecture on the Doctrine of Salvation. Trip lee also gave a workshop on hermeneutics as well. The audience was blown away by the content of these workshops! We concluded the night again with a small concert featuring Trip Lee, Sho, and Azriel.

That night Paul Washer arrived to get a feel for the conference and was gracious enough to sit down with about 15 guys and chop it up for three hours. Lecrae, Trip Lee, Json, shai linne, and others sat around Paul Washer and gained invaluable insight on so many topics. We discussed Biblcal Manhood issues, the state of the church in America, and the need for church plants to become a reality in the urban centers of the country. Paul Washer was so encouraged by the hearts of the artists and the audience! Finally after 3am, we headed out tired yet inspired to what God was doing with this event.

Saturday Night
Saturday night proved to be the highlight of the event for all. We all met at a old theater in Chicago to hear Paul Washer speak on “Self Examination”. JSon opened the night with a small show followed by shai linne giving a performance. Sho then gave a performance of “I see the Lord.” That set the stage for Paul Washer to come and speak to the crowd. It was amazing! He spoke on not only the need for self-examination in the Christian life but also spoke on the Cross of Christ, which left everyone’s heart heavy. After his message, the entire theater was filled with praying saints, coming together to pray for each other and seek the Lord in various things. It was a moment to be remembered.

The night was scheduled to close with a performance by Lecrae. but after seeking the Lord, Lecrae made the decision to only perform “Take Me As I am” and call it a night. It was an appropriate ending to the night.

Paul Washer was gracious enough to eat with the entire Reach family at IHOP and continue talking about the things of the Lord. He challenged the artists to continue using music as a means to “preach to the culture” and gave us all advice on different issues in our lives. He was moved by the entire event and then left for a missions trip to Peru.

Please pray that those moved by the events at the conference will continue to seek the Lord in life and take the knowledge they learned back to their communities.

If you missed the conference this year, be sure to join us in ‘08. We’ll keep you posted!

Posted by REACHLIFE

A fellow 116 Clique member posted an excellent article on the 116 forum recently. In it, he shares from a message given by Todd Friel on “13 Evangelistic Phrases That Produce False Conversions”.

It’s an excellent reminder that we need to be careful how we share the gospel with others. Although we may think we are being clear in what is required for conversion, sometimes we fall into using language that is very unclear to the unbeliever.

Read through these points he gives and let us know your comments below.

1. Make Jesus your Lord and Savior.
We cannot make Jesus our Lord and Savior, He is our Lord and Savior. We are living in rebellion to Him and He commands us to repent and trust Him.

2. Ask Jesus into your heart.
Does Jesus come into our hearts? Yes He does. The question is, “How does He get in there?” It is not by simply asking Him in; it is by repentance and faith.

3. Just believe in Jesus.
The demons believe and they tremble. We must repent and trust.

4. You have a God-shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it.
We have far more than a hole that needs to be filled so we can feel complete; we have a wretched, deceitful, sinful heart that needs cleansing. Repentance and faith applies the blood of the lamb for that cleansing.

5. Accept Jesus.
Whoa. We need to accept Jesus? This is entirely backward. We need Jesus to accept us-and He will, if we repent and trust.

6. Make a decision for Jesus.
Decisional regeneration puts man in the driver’s seat of salvation. When we repent and trust, Jesus decides to save us. That puts Him in the driver’s seat…where He demands.

7. It is easy to believe.
While the formula of repentance and faith sounds simple, a complete surrendering of self in repentance is anything but easy. It’s hard.

8. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
The only promises for the convert are trials, temptation and persecution. If that is how you define a wonderful life, fine. Otherwise we must command all men everywhere to repent and trust.

9. Come to Jesus just as you are.
We should come to Jesus just as the sinners we are, but He also expects a broken heart and contrite spirit demonstrated in repentance and faith.

10. Come to Jesus and you will receive forgiveness of sins and __________. (fill in the blank with money, health, a healed marriage).
Jesus didn’t promise healed marriages; in fact He promised broken homes because we would divide when one member repents and trusts.

11. Come to Jesus and experience love, joy, peace.
Do we get the fruit of the Spirit upon conversion? Yes. But if we come seeking the gifts and not the giver, we will receive neither. Instead, we must repent and trust.

12. Jesus is the missing piece.
Um, no, the God of the universe is not the missing piece, He demands that He is the center of our lives when we repent and trust.

13. Jesus is better than fame and fortune.
That is an understatement, and frankly, it is insulting. Saying Jesus is better than money is like saying that a steak dinner is better than eating a dung hill. He defies comparison and we trivialize the Son of God. Instead, we should be pleading with all men everywhere to repent and trust.

Remember, all of these statements are true in their proper context. We just need to make sure we are defining for people what they truly mean. Hope this helps in your witnessing!

-REACHLIFE

GET READY TO BUILD…

We have heard your requests, and we now have a blog for your reading pleasure.

Check back daily to read posts from Reach artists as they post their thoughts on life, the bible, music, and more!

Also, Reachlife will be posting continuous blog entries feeding you with resources and material to help you grow in your faith!

Please leave comments on the blogs and let us know your thoughts!

-REACHLIFE