Stop Waiting on God

  My brother once told me a story about a really bad flood. No, not the one the bible speaks of with Noah. This flood he told me about was in Eastern Missouri. It was on the Mississippi River I believe.

  James told me about a guy that lived out on a farm and was a deeply religious man. I can't remember his name, lets call him Darrell. So the river started rise and the water actually mad it all the way to Darrell's Farm. Not just to the farm, it started to rise around the house. Within a few hours, the water was up to the rafters and it forced Darrell out onto the roof. He realized that he pretty much needed a miracle at this point, as the water was still rising fast.

Actual flooding in Missouri

  He prayed a bold prayer. "God, save me!" Not long after this prayer, a man in a small John Boat paddled up and called out to Darrell. Darrell quickly explained that he would be fine, God was going to save him. Despite the man in the boat pleading with him, Darrell would not be swayed. Not long after the first man, a larger boat manned by the sheriff motored up to the roof. The sheriff and the other people in the boat begged Darrell to come with them to safety, but Darrell again insisted that God was going to save him! Not 15 mins after that boat, a helicopter flew over, returned, and hoovered over the house. By this time, Darrell was standing atop the chimney, with the water up to his knees and rising fast. After 4-5 attempts to pick up Darrell, the helicopter was finally waved off and they left Darrell.

  The water continued to rise and lead to Darrell's unfortunate demise. He arrived in heaven and was immediately brought to God. He was asked why he was there. Darrell angrily shouted that he had prayed for God to save him, but God had done nothing to rescue him from his situation. God shook his head and stated, "I sent you a small boat, a large boat, and a helicopter. What more did you want from me?"

  While this story is utterly fictitious, it brings to mind a very valid point. We often find ourselves in situations where we cry out to God to save us. Then we wait. We wait for God to solve all our problems. We wait for miracles to happen. While I believe that God can solve your problems and can make miracles happen, I also believe he much more often works in very practical ways.

  Is it possible that the situation in which you find yourself, can be solved by the gifts God has already given you? Could your answer already be in front of you, but you are too busy waiting on miracles to happen? Perhaps your miracle is your talent, your personality, your drive, or your character?

  Prayer was NEVER meant to be a substitute for hard work.

   Pray and then get busy using what God has already blessed you with. Pray, do your best, try your hardest, be creative, and leave the results to God. Don't leave all the work at the hands of God. He wants you to do the work, he wants to provide the victory.

(Some people are in situations that are far beyond their control, and that is totally understandable. I believe that the number of these people are a small fraction of the people waiting on God to do all the work. If you are in a situation that is completely out of your control, prayer may be your first and last recourse. If this is the case, message me so I can join you in your prayer. Email me at: Josh@audacitychurch.tv

You can follow the blog on facbook HERE.

Now it's time for you to get involved in this blog: Do you believe God answers prayers? If so, what is the biggest prayer you have ever seen answered?

Rock in My Shoe (Guest Post: Niki Zimmerman)

   I really love to have guest posts on here as often as I can. This one is a real treat! Niki Zimmerman is a fantastically talented individual. She is a crazy good photographer (She actually owns "Go Ahead Images") and is a pretty sweet graphic designer! She is funny, a hipster, fashionable, friendly, dope, gangster, creative, kind, honest, and an incredible writer. She told me about her observations the other day and I begged her to share them with you. Here she is:

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   If you know anyone who talked to me for an extended period last night, you can ask them and they’ll know- I had a very painful rock in my shoe. It was right under the base of my 5^th metatarsal (yes, I did just Google that to make sure I said the right bone), and every time I took a step, it both annoyed me and hurt.

   Now, I wasn’t trying to complain about it. I’m just the type of person that can’t focus on anything else when something painful is happening in my life—or in my shoe. So it kept coming up in conversation. Finally, one dear friend ever-so-politely suggested that I should just take the shoe off and get the stupid thing out. Instead of heeding her advice, I decided… not to. And the excuses flowed aplenty:

This is actually Niki Zimmerman!

   “I can’t just take my shoe off! We’re in a restaurant—this isn’t Arkansas.”

   “But they’re high tops, laced all the way up. That would take an excessive amount of time.”

   “No, no, I need to be taking pictures right now. Maybe later.”

   Eventually, though, the excuse river dried up and I couldn’t think of a good reason not to just deal with the discomfort. This stupid rock was killing me! But still… what if my feet smelled? Or what if people looked at me strangely? I distracted myself by taking pictures and making conversation, but the annoying twinge of pain stayed with me. Finally, I just stopped walking around and sat down.

   When I got home, the first thing I did was toss my bag on the floor and immediately begin unlacing my shoe, prepared to revel in the glory of being rock free! I pulled the shoe off and turned it over into my hand, smirking victoriously… only, it wasn’t a rock that fell into my palm. It was a pearl.

   It wasn’t an expensive, rare pearl; it was simply a craft bead that had somehow fallen into my shoe. But still—it was nicer than any rock I could imagine. Who knows what put it there? It certainly wasn’t useful to me while inside my shoe, but once it was out, I was able to put it away and I’ll be able to take it out and use it when it becomes necessary.

   I think that we do this often in our lives. If you’re like me, when something painful befalls you, it’s difficult to train your thoughts on anything besides that. Yet at the same time, there are plenty of excuses not to just take out the painful thing and deal with it: pride, fear, shame.

   We try to distract ourselves instead. We plug into 15,000 ministries, host movie nights, numb our minds with pointless websites, or pour everything into a relationship. But at the end of the evening, the rock still hurts and we still have to take off our shoes and remove it. And usually, it is just a rock. One that has been cutting into us for too long and one that will just be thrown away, but we’ll feel better when it’s gone.

   Sometimes, though, it’s not quite so awful— it’s a pearl that has wound up in a shoe. And while it’s entirely unenjoyable when it’s not being dealt with, we can take it out, realize its value, and put it away. Then someday, when it’s needed, we can take it back out and use this once painful thing to make something else more beautiful.

   I can’t help but remember the verse in Genesis where Joseph is talking to his brothers. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done: the saving of many lives,” he told them. I can’t say for sure if my shoe pearl personally intended to harm me, but it will be used for good later. Sometimes our life circumstances are harmful or hurtful, but God can use those things for good- to heal and restore!

   So do yourself a favor—quit complaining about the rock in your shoe, stop making excuses, don’t distract yourself. Sit down and deal with the things that seem negative, and just see what He does in your life.

Salty

Salt taste good. It adds some flavor to bland foods. Boring fries? Add salt. Dull chips? Add salt. Lame corn? ADD SALT! In most cases, we add some salt to make things go from boring to bazinga. Since most logical people will agree that this is in fact very true, the rest of this blog will be predicated (V. Found or base something on) on this principle: Salt adds flavor. 

This being said, I find it pretty interesting that the bible states that those that follow Christ are "the salt of the earth". 

The BEST kind of salt!

My friend Nate Magnuson recently tweeted, "To be salt, you gotta...preserve the culture, disinfect, and add flavor!" This got me thinking, are Christians all that salty? I mean, when was the last time a non Christ follower came to a Christian in search of some flavor? It seems that in totality, the Church has become what is bland and the world has the flavor. We see churches and Christians pulling from non Christians so they can            access their flavor. I'm pretty sure this was never the plan. Not that Christians have a corner on the creative and "Flavor" market, just that we should be leading the way. 

                                                                                         
                                                                                                   

How long has it been since the Church and Christ followers lead the way in creativity, art, ingenuity, innovation, music, and just plain flavor? There was a time when we had flavor. The printing press was invented to print bibles. The Sistine Chapel was painted to add beauty to a Church. Johann Sebastian Bach wrote much of his music while serving as a Church organist. In their day, these people were the bee's knee's. Somewhere along the line, we lost the flavor though.  

We (Christ followers and the Church) have gotten good at the disinfecting part. We know how to challenge corruption in many cases, but we have gotten so incredibly bland that people have lost interest. I think in many cases we have just stopped trying. Church architecture mostly sucks these days. Church web design looks like a hot mess in most cases. The music many Churches ask us to worship too is a poor replication of something that was a  sub-par creation in the first place. None of these things are in and of themselves indicative of a lack of a biblical perspective. However, when taken in on a wide scale, we can easily identify a lack of flavor. No creativity. A bland attitude. 

Here is my solution: STOP IT. For real. Stop. Stop believing it is ok to stifle creativity. Quite accepting a lack of vision and passion. Get away from people that shout that stuff has to always be the way it was in days gone by. There is a new theme for us. Flavor. Add flavor. Be what the world craves. You have the creative, passionate, holy, righteous, innovative, and miraculous spirit of God living in you. It's about time that we start acting like we have something the world does't. Be Salty my friends.

Church is Gay

Only 15% of US churches are reproducing. This is not a good thing. In fact it's kinda gay.

Hear my logic on this one:
Many churches spend a lot of time raising a ruckus about homosexuality.While, this blog post is not intended to frame my views for you on homosexuality, I will be throwing the term around rather losely, so if you are easily offended, now is a good time to quit reading this.This is meant as an object lesson on growth.

In many of these churches you will hear that being gay is unnatural, it's weird, that homosexuals can’t reproduce, and therefor being gay is just not right. Here is my point. For the most part, Church is gay. Well, 85% of Churches, statistically speaking, are gay. How are Churches gay you ask? Well, most Churches don't reproduce.  

Many Christians will rant about how wrong homosexuality is, but 85% of our churches are not reproducing them selves and that seems, according to a common argument, gay.

 How is this ok? Do we think it was Christs plan to save a few Christians and then have them only hang out with each other and make no attempted to love people that are different than them? How is that not gay? The Church is dying because we are not, as the kingdom of Christ, reproducing ourselves. Each church individually is gaining weight, but not reproducing! The church must stop carrying the attitude that they can be self-absorbed and only focus on existing churchs, or the church will continue to decline.

If a dude were to only hang out with other dudes, talk about how wrong women were, have house parties for only dude friends, and never interacted with the other sex, people might start to question their sexuality a bit. Why do we treat the Church and Christians differently in that line of thought? Why is it often ok for Christians to only hang with other Christians, talk about how horrible non-Christ followers are, have parties for only their "Christian" friends, and refuse hang out with people that are not already Christians? That just seems to be hypocritical a little bit. While it is not wrong to hang out with only Christians, its probably not what Christ had in mind when he died for all mankind. I think the news of Christ is to be lived, shared, and gifted. 

Have you noticed that churches often hang out with other churches and focus on their relationship with existing churches, rather than investing time and resources in new growth? This must stop. As a Big “C” Church, we must devote energy toward growing not just individually, but locationally as well. If the Church does not put a greater emphasis on growing itself, it will continue to die off. I'm not saying it's WRONG for a church to not plant new churches, nor am I saying it is WRONG for a Christian to hang out with other Christians. I AM saying that if things do not shift some of these habits, we will severely limit the potential and ability of  the gospel of Christ to be spread to people that need to hear it. 

Please note: I love my Church and I love my Christ following friends, but my heart aches for the millions that don't know the love of Christ and that are living far from God because they have never experienced life in Christ. I want them to have a brighter future. Please also note that I love your Church too. God's kingdom is way bigger than me or a church, it's a movement. This post is not meant to criticize, just to inspire us to reach higher. Whatever your church is called to do, do it well!

Thanks for your time.

The Hand Off (Guest post from Joshua Orebaugh)

Hey there Party People,This week you get a real treat! A guest post by an amazing fellow named Josh, not me, but probably cooler. This guy is an amazing musician, a great conversationalist, friend, leader, visionary, creative thinker, artist, and all around great fellow. The following are his thoughts. You should read them.                                                                                                                                                                                     --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      For all who do not know me, my name is Josh Orebaugh. For all of you who already do know me, please disregard the previous sentence in hopes that I have not lost your reading interests due to saying something you might have already known. Keep with me here.

     I am an easy going twenty-four year old man whose life seems to be non-stop, hopping from one event, person, or priority to the next. I am not saying that I do not have “free” time, I just often fill it with other opportunities, or obligations. Even in this small, but ever growing city called Wichita, I have been able to have a consistently busy life similar to those in the bustling streets of New York City or Los Angeles. Who would’ve ever thought?

     Here’s the deal, I have been blessed with a great opportunity to be an investor with a terrific organization of people. A group of people that have been investing in me, allowing me to turn around and invest in others. Because of these people, I have grown as a leader and want to encourage others to do the same. That is why I am writing this. I know what you are thinking, “Okay, here comes the sales pitch.”--- No! That’s not my goal at all, please keep reading. I promise that I am not selling anything, but rather sharing my thoughts.

     See, I care about other people and enjoy hearing life stories! Even more than that, I enjoy being a part of someone’s life and taking the time to share, laugh, and live life with them. But as of lately, I cannot help notice something wrong in my approach to new friendships. Something that has been bothering me, and I hope it will bother you as well.

     I call it “The Hand Off.” 


     Something that I have been guilty of for years, but am just now realizing is a problem. Here’s an example.

     I feel that I naturally want to be associated in a conversation, but only if the topics are within the boundaries of my knowledge, or expertise. I find myself having an insincere desire to learn unless it will benefit me, and really only me. I’ll still learn about another person, but I will not concentrate so much on the details of who they are. I just gather enough facts to be able to tell myself that “I now know them.” I’ll even go as far as introducing another person who understands the topic of discussion relating to the “newbie“, in hopes that I can eventually step away.

     Now I know what you are thinking. “Did he just do what I think he just did?” Yep! The Hand Off.
*(I am not a jerk, and that this does not happen all the time)

     We all can probably look back in our lives, or even in our past week and see that we do this quite often without thinking about it. We are not intentional with meeting people for where they are at, or who they are. Instead, we just want to meet others like ourselves. We have a tendency to push away sincerity when we only stay within the boundaries of what we know. And if you are like me, that is not very much.

     Let’s dare to step out and start approaching others who might not share our likes, dislikes, educational background, work ethic, skills, up-bringing, addictions (healthy or non healthy), tastes, and
interests.

     I dare you to learn about others with sincerity. Allow relationships to build, and lives to be changed.


In Christ, Josh Orebaugh

When the NFL Sounds Like Love

I was sitting in Bartelli's Pizzeria the other day trying to have a conversation. I say "Trying" because I seemed to be the only one talking. The dude I was attempted to converse with was not all that interested in picking up much of a dialogue.

“So how is your day going?”

“Ok”

“What do you do for a living?”

“Work at Sprint”

“Where do you live?”

“Southside”

This may not be exact, but is pretty darn close. I tried and tried to get this fellow to follow me into a conversation so I could talk to him about this Church we are planting here. He just was not interested. I found this odd, because he had met us at Bartelli’s specifically to TALK ABOUT THE CHURCH!

I was baffled for a bit until I spotted something. I mentioned the Kansas City Chiefs and he looked excited. I began asking him about the upcoming football season and if he was a fan. About 30 mins later, I had learned he goes to KC every year and watches them play at Arrowhead stadium. We had talked about their draft picks, their new Offensive Line, the recent acquisition of Steve Breaston, and lots more. We had an awesome conversation but not one mention of the Church came up. At the end of the conversation, he stated, “Whenever you start having weekly services, I’ll come check it out.”

I learned a lesson just then. God’s love sounds like the Kansas City Chiefs to some people. It sounds like baking to others. To some people it may even sound like bicycling, car restoring, house painting, music making, or flying. Caring about what people care about, is the key. People are attracted to people, not organizations. My father always told me, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

People don’t want to know your 5 year plan, how your small groups work, or if you have an awesome kids program. They want to know that you care about them. So talk to people about what matters to them. Talk about football. Because the NFL can sound like love to some people.

A few weeks after that meeting I was lamenting that there was a family there that night that I had not had a chance to tell about what our church plant was all about. Someone close to that family stopped me and stated that the family had told them that they were impressed that we really wanted to know about THEM more than we wanted to tell them about what we were doing and that they really liked that. That family is now part of our team.

Here is the lesson I learned. Our world is hurting and needs something. What they need is for people that claim the name of Christ to love them like Christ loved them, to care about them, and take interest in THEIR lives. Churches are built one relationship at a time. Who can you talk to this week and let them know that you care about them?

Hospitality Throat Punches Skepticism

Hospitality is a forgotten art. I think all of us would do well to learn about what Hospitality is and how it can be lived out. I studied up on this idea and here is what I found. Here are 5 things you should know about what hospitality is and what its place is in your personal life.

1: Hospitality is not only for people just like you.
We often practice hospitality to people that look like we do. People in the same socio/economic class, or the same race, the same age, the same background, or the same belief system that we are, tend to be the ones we are very hospitable to. I think this is because if we make them feel comfortable and welcome, we ourselves feel comfortable. However, we need to understand that hospitality should extend ESPECIALLY to people that are NOT like us. We should be hospitable to those that are not of the same class, race, age, background, or belief system. If we are to spread the love of Christ, we must take active steps to welcoming everyone just like Jesus did. He went out of his way to speak with the woman at the well. She was totally different than he was, but he spent time relating to her life. Jesus was a master of being hospitable.
2: Hospitality is not doing whatever makes YOU feel comfortable.
Many people have this idea that Hospitality is having your friends over to watch a movie and provided them chips and salsa. We have a tendency to think that if we like something, others will as well, or at least we think that they SHOULD like it. Hospitality does not look inward. Hospitality looks outward. It looks at the people  that need to be welcomed and finds ways to embrace them. It seeks to make the guest feel comfortable. As a church, this may look like having popular music playing at an event instead of the "Christian Music", or maybe having a meeting at a local restaurant instead of at your building. Why is this important? Because when we take steps to make the people we don't know feel welcome and comfortable, we remove barriers between us that allow us an opportunity to get to know them.
3: Hospitality is a sacrifice.
Hospitality is not convenient. It takes time, effort, and dedication. If you are only doing what is easy for you, then you probably are not being very hospitable. Generosity and Hospitality go hand in hand. To grasp this, I think we first have to understand that we don't own anything. The stuff that sits in our house is on loan to us from God. How can we claim ownership of something that God owns!? To get to the root of being sacrificial in our hospitality, I believe we must adopt the attitude that says, "What I own is yours, if you need to use it or take it, do so." When I have people in my home, I attempt to make it clear that everything I own is already theirs. If they want my food, take it. If they need my money, take it. If they need my bed, it is theirs." Obviously, this is MUCH harder to live out than it is to say, but it is true. Am I saying that if a stranger came to me and asked me for my car keys I would hand them over? Probably not. But I AM saying that God blesses us, so we can bless others and that if we have a mindset that we own all this "Stuff", we probably are not being sacrificially hospitable to people.
4: Hospitality breaks down barriers.
Hospitality should be breaking down barriers for you. If we are truly making an effort to welcome people and make them feel comfortable, whether it be in our home, church, business, or party, we will begin to see that people are more receptive to our friendship. In many cases, we pull down walls to enable us to share the message of Jesus Christ. I heard once that the message of Christ is not inherently offensive, but people that proclaim that message and look nothing like the Christ they say they represent, are offensive. If we seek to welcome and embrace people of all colors, beliefs, and backgrounds with a sacrificial hospitality, I think we will see emotional barriers crashing to the ground. It is almost impossible to remain guarded, when you feel comfortable and at ease.
5: Hospitality does not make sense.
If people can understand why you are so hospitable, you might not be doing it right. Why is this true? Because real hospitality doesn't actually make much sense. Giving away what you "own" to another person for free, or making someone else feel comfortable because you love them even if you have never met them, are not ideas that are common in our society. Sacrificing for the sake of a stranger is ...well, strange. People don't understand that concept. However, if we love like Christ loved, we will do just that. We will go out of our way to welcome people into our homes and churches.


If we get back to the art of Hospitality, we will amaze ourselves with how receptive people are to the message of Christs love. If we reflect Jesus' welcoming, gracious, and comforting attitude, we may begin to understand why so many people were drawn to Him.