God's Mighty Men I am one of these seasoned people that does not do well with Social Media but I joined Facebook to get our GMM site out there (We do have an expert taking over that task – so enjoy his expertise), but I really enjoy some of the articles that are posted. Our previous Worship Leader Peter Mullikin posted this article about “22 Things Christians Need To Stop Doing…Now!” and I thought it was really insightful on some of the issues that we do (Including me).
I am only going to share 11 of them at the present time and the other 11 later this week.
What I did was read each one and then looked at myself to see if that was an issue for me. For Example on the 1st one – this would be my response: “This use to really bother me – I seem to be a likeable person and if you did not like me… The big question was – WHY??? I finally realized that this quote is correct, but we have the POWER to do something about it. For those people who hate us, we still have the power to be nice and polite to them… This is a great tool… One of the areas on #1 that I really dislike is: Other Christians can be the ones that hate me…. but I have the same Power as Christ does and I will also be nice to them. I do have to say in the past I would look for those opportunities to push their buttons – but no more. Love wins as my Friend Nick would say…. but as number 11 says – not the Rob Bell one but the Jesus one…
So Please look at each of these (Below) and evaluate ourselves on how we are doing!!
Enjoy and do not beat yourself up – we can all improve on each of them.
Bobbyg
Christian preachers are often talking about the “mission” of God’s people, and this is absolutely right. Christians have a lot to do in this world, and our task to make disciples and take the gospel to the nations is immediate and apparent. But there are also other things that we should seek to cease in our lives. Here, Chuck Tate at Charisma magazine gives us 22 key things and attitudes that we need to cut out of our lives.
1. Quit expecting the world to like you. Jesus said it would hate you (John 15:18-27, Matthew 10:22).
2. Quit throwing your own teammates under the bus.
“We’re called to build each other up, not tear each other down. In fact, Jesus said that our love for each other proves to the world that we are really His true disciples (John 13:35, 1 Thessalonians 5:11).”
3. Quit gossiping. This includes sharing “juicy prayer requests” with no intention of actually praying (Psalms 34:13, Psalms 101:5, Ephesians 4:29).
4. Quit replacing prayer with “good vibes” and “positive thoughts.” No. Just no. Prayer moves the hand of God and the hand of God moves the world. “Prayer is much more effective than making someone feel warm and fuzzy inside. By the way, I’m not saying positive thoughts and good vibes are wrong (and they do make you feel good), I’m just saying prayer trumps them both (2 Corinthians 1:11, Philippians 1:19, Ephesians 6:18, James 5:16).”
5. Quit saying repentance isn’t necessary. It is. Jesus said so.
“And just so you know, there are 53 references to repentance in the New Testament. Now go repent (Matthew 5:17, Acts 3:19, Romans 2:5, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 John 1:9).”
6. Quit saying that the “portions of the Bible that make you feel uncomfortable” are irrelevant and nothing more than dated writings.
“All 66 books, 1,189 chapters, and 31,102 verse are the inspired Word of God. So the next time you think about throwing out the Old Testament, just remember that Jesus quoted it numerous times in all four gospels (John 1:1-4, John 1:14, 2 Timothy 3:16).”
7. Quit expecting unbelievers/non-Christians to understand the Bible and/or to live like Christ.
“It’s hard enough for Christians to live like Christ and it’s impossible to do so without Him (until the blinders are removed) (2 Corinthians 4:4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 5:24-25).”
8. Quit acting like the Great Commission (Go into all the world to preach the gospel) is the Great Suggestion.
“It’s a command. Go already (Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15).”
9. Quit thinking that it’s OK to be silent about your faith.
“Yes, it’s just as important to represent Jesus by how we live, but someone can’t respond to the Good News without hearing it … and they can’t hear it if no one opens their mouth (Matthew 10:27, Romans 10:14-15).”
10. Quit being more passionate about your political affiliation than your relationship with Jesus.
“If 99 percent of what you post on social media consists of bashing government officials and presidential candidates—you’re doing more damage than good (Romans 13:1-7, 2 Chronicles 7:14).”
11. Quit using the Bible to beat the “hell” out of people.
“That doesn’t work. Ever. I don’t care if you’re right—if you’re a jerk, nobody is listening. Love wins! (No, I don’t mean the book by Rob Bell.) (1 Corinthians 13).”
