Never Give Up!

Yesterday, I was playing the Wii with my 7 yr. old son, Jacob...at halftime we had to quit...I was winning 27-7. Jacob: "Dad, if we didn't have to quit, you know I would win." Me: "no, it's more likely that you would have lost 54-14, but I love the attitude!" If you're losing right now...it's ok, you're still in the game! NEVER GIVE UP!

Christmas is almost here!!!.....Don't Worry!

I am excited about the new series of messages we are beginning as we approach the holiday season. In the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5-7, Jesus addresses some powerful topics that are time applicable to us all. Sunday, we will talk about The Power of Worry, from Matthew chapter 6.

A recent attitude survey of more than 1500 people showed that Christmas comes second only to financial problems at the top of everyone’s stress and worry list.

I don't know the source of your stress, worry, or anxiety, but I do know the source of peace that can help you deal with the difficulties you face.

Isaiah says, "You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength"(Isa 26:3-4 NKJ).

Please pray for our time together this Sunday as we look to the words of Jesus to get a positive perspective about life and how to deal with worry. I look forward to worshiping with you this week!

Much to Be Thankful for

Today, ESPN.com is running a pole asking, "What "F" are you most looking forward to today? Family, Food, or Football?" My guess is that football will win by a landslide. I won't lie, I'm looking forward to 3:15 when the Cowboys and Saints take the field. Right now, we're getting the food ready and will definitely eat too much for lunch. We'll spend some time today together as a family and with some friends for whom we are thankful. It's going to be a really good day!

But there is an "F" we often forget to mention in our giving of thanks...our FATHER. Today, as you give attention to all the other "Fs", don't forget to stop and reflect on all that God has blessed you with, how He has delivered you, healed you, SAVED YOU, set you free! If you get a chance today, read II Samuel 22. David sets the example of what a thankful heart looks like as he praises God, our Heavenly Father for the specific blessings in his life.

As you Give thanks, get specific and bless the Lord today, with a heart of genuine gratitude!

True Identity

The past few weeks have been defining for so many people. It's exciting to see how God works in people's lives to set them free. God never intended for us to be prisoners of our past. Praying God continues to set us free and to empower us to live out of the identity he created us for!

Jesus said, "You are the Light of the World....Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

Listen Now!

Will God Give You More than You can Handle?

Over the past 3 weeks or so I have heard a lot of people say, "God won't give you more than you can handle." I just want to help everyone get a true understanding about this little phrase: First of all - the Bible never says God will never give you more than you can handle. We actually get this statement by paraphrasing I Corinthians 10:13 which says,

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (ESV)

The meaning of this verse is that God will not allow you to face a sinful situation where He doesn't give you the strength and the moral fortitude to escape the sin. God has given us the power to be overcomers. But the the truth is, God will give you more than you can handle and there is a reason for it. It's because God doesn't want you to handle it. He wants you to give it to Him. So....when you feel like you can't handle any more....understand God wants you to surrender it all to Him.

Here's a verse to help you: Matthew 11:28-30

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (ESV)

Give Your Life Away!

Sunday was an amazing day at Clearpoint. I just wanted to say thanks to our Worship Team for leading us to the throne. Thanks to Rene & Cynthia Martinez and Francisco Miranda for sharing their story of how God is using them to be "Radical Givers!"

God is so good and continues to show up week after week in so many different ways. Here's a challenge: Let God show up in someone elses life through you! This past week, I experienced just that - God presented so many opportunities to serve people, counsel people, and give to people. Giving and serving others will change our lives and the heart-beat of our church!

Galatians 5:13 says, ".....through love, serve one another." I want to challenge you (myself included) to serve someone this week. GIVE YOUR LIFE AWAY to someone this week and see how that works for you.

Also, please join me in prayer for SERVOLUTION! Servolution begins March 26th and runs through April 4th. "It's not an event; its a culture. Infusing this culture into the DNA of our church will change the view of the world and our perspective of the needs of those around us. It's pursuing the lost, the forgotten, and the poor to show them a God who is passionately in love with them."

Confidence Before God

Tuesday night was my third week to teach from the book of 1st John. If you've never read it, DO IT - Today! Then read it again tomorrow. Then read one chapter a day until you've read it again. It's rich and will bring clarity and confidence to your heart regarding your relationship with God.

These thoughts are from chapter three:

Do you ever doubt God's love for you? Do you ever question your relationship with Him and wonder, "Am I really a child of God?" I think that's pretty normal. When you read 1st John, you get a clear picture of who God's people are. John says in vs. 7:

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. ⁸ Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

(ESV)

Pretty clear, huh?

He goes on and says, there will be times that our hearts condemn us. What he means is there will be times when you will doubt and there will be times when you are confused about your faith and your relationship with Him. John says, "don't let your hearts condemn you." By this, God reassures our hearts: if we prove our love in deed and truth!

18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (ESV)

Remember this: the deeds we do are not to attain righteousness - we do good deeds because He has made us righteous!

Is your heart is condemning you today? Remember this: God is greater than our heart and he knows everything and because of that, we can have confidence, full assurace before God!

How's your confidence?

Monday Reflections

As I sit in the office today and reflect on Sunday's service and message, I am really blown away at how faithful God is. Not because Heather and I made it thru our second attempt to communicate God's Word together (though that is a feat in itself), but because of the responses I see people making to what God is saying to them. Sunday, Jesus showed His love to so many people - some were saved, some were softened, some were just reminded.

Think about it: God revealed His deep, passionate love for us on the Cross through His Son, Jesus. So, what does He expect from us? How can we respond when we know we can never match that?

Well, God already knows we can't match it, but He still expects a response. So, how?

Matthew 22:37 says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." - We respond by loving him back. The Greek word for "love" in this passage is: agapao - it means "to give Him all you've got!"

We don't love the Lord by telling Him everyday. In fact, I would venture to say, it would do us good to not even say it - at least for a while. God's not looking for your flowery, deeply emotional words. He's looking for you to simply show Him. Simply showing Him isn't really all that simple though - is it?

How do we show Him? It's called surrender! Don't think about it. Don't try to make sense of it. It will never make sense. That's the whole idea behind faith. If we could multiply and divide our way to a sensible plan to follow Jesus it really wouldn't be called faith - would it?

Crazy Love Week 2 Interactive Question

Can you relate? -- “The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time. He treasures us and anticipates our departure from this earth to be with Him—and we wonder, indifferently, how much we have to do for Him to get by.”-Francis Chan (p. 61).

Email your response to brian@clearpoint.org

Digging Deep!

Two weeks ago, I began a study on First John. Last night I said, "one of the most powerful tools we can put in our spiritual tool box is to learn how to study the Bible." Let me explain: Christians are often like "bulldozers" when it comes to the Word. A bulldozer pushes dirt around, spreads it out, makes it look pretty and smooth. Do you get the picture. We often spread the word around in our lives and make it look pretty. We take it, and spread it around to mean what we want it to mean, to fit what we believe or think, but we often miss the actual context; the real meaning of what God's saying.

Instead of "bulldozers", we should be more like a "backhoe." A backhoe doesn't push dirt around the surface, it digs deep, one bucket at a time. As we study the Word, we should dig, one bucket at a time, until we uncover the full meaning, and get a clear picture of what God intends for us to see and understand. When you dig deep, you will uncover more of God, His nature and His purpose. Dig deep! It will change your life!

Man, I had a great time on Sunday preaching with my wife, Heather. She probably wouldn't like to refer to it as preaching, so I will call it "teaching." It was the first time we've ever done that. It was an awesome experience for us to share with the church just how deep and powerful God's love is.

I mean think about it:

Love Truth #1: God's Love Runs Deep for You!
Read Luke 15 about he prodigal son - but read it from the "father's" perspective. If you do that - you will see just how deep the Fther's love really is!

Love Truth #2: God's Love is an Undignified Love!
It's a holy love, but it's an undignified love. God will break every social and cultural expectation to show you how much he loves you. The father in the story (Luke 15), he did something uncommon, counter-cultural, undignified, he RAN to his son. Powerful!

Challenge: Let God Love You!



Crazy Love Interactive Question:
Can you relate? "The irony is that while God doesn't need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don't really want Him most of the time. He treasures us and anticipates our departure from this earth to be with Him - and we wonder, indifferently, how much we have to do for Him to get by." (Chan, p. 61)

Question - Crazy Love Week 1

This Sunday, Heather and I begin the "Crazy Love" series based on Francis Chan's book, "Crazy Love." Interactive Queston: What does Exodus 3:14 mean to you? "God said to Moses, 'I am who I am'?"

Email your thoughts to me: brian@clearpoint.org or post here!

Also, you can follow me on facebook and twitter if you're not already. Let's connect!

Thoughts from I John 1

Think about it for a minute. When John wrote the letter we know as the book of I John, he was 60 years removed from his ministry with Jesus, but was still as passionate about Jesus as ever.
His influence was powerful based one thing: EXPERIENCE! His experience with Jesus gave authority to his testimony.

Question: What's your story? Does your story give you authority when you tell people about Jesus. How about this: Does the story you speak match the story you live?

Now that's a challenge!

Everyone that knows me knows I am a huge football fan. I love the Texas Longhorns and the Dallas Cowboys! Always have! Always will! With the Super Bowl just around the corner, I am doing a teaching series called Game Changers. So, I thought I would share a few thoughts from Sunday's message.

Game Changers are Life events that make us or break us. The first game changer - Our Coaches: Those who lead us.

Why is a good coach so important? Because a coach is one person who is on your side. One person that's pulling for you. You will face a lot of critics in your lifetime; they will pick you apart; they will disect every aspect of your game; Critics want you to fail. Coaches - they want you to win. They're for you! Jesus was the greatest "coach" ever (Romans 8:31: If God is for us, who can be against us?").

Why is it important to have a good coach (mentor, leader, discipler, etc.)?

#1: A good coach recognizes and challenges the undiscovered potential of their players and invests valuable time to develop it.

A good coach is an encourager. A coaches encouragement does two things for his players: It builds courage and it builds confidence. We all need a dose of those!


#2: A good coach develops a gameplan that is executable and that gives his players the best chance to win.

Remember: It really is all about winning! (If you want to raise your kids to be spiritual warriors, you need to tell teach them this vital life principle).

Winning demands of you every day of your life: Spending time with the coach, studying the playbook, Learning the schemes of the other team and performing at a high level. NO ONE LIKES TO LOSE! EVERYONE LOVES TO WIN!!!!!!


#3: Key to being a successful: Execution. Nothing else matters if the players do not execute the game plan.

Watch Jim Mashall Video (Attached)

Jim didn't actually execute well, did he? He went the wrong way. Execution is critical. The critics never forgot that mistake and it will probably be the one thing that keeps him out of the Hall of Fame. But, no one really remembers that in the same game, Marshall caused the fumble that allowed the Vikings to score and win the game.

The coach knew Jim wasn't done. He left him in the game because he believed in him. The coaches are the game changers because when the critics are slamming you, breathing down your neck and picking you apart, the coaches are encouraging you, building courage and confidence in you and telling you to get back in the game.

Great coaches develop great players who play the game at the highest level possible. Some...even go to the Hall of Fame (Romans 14:10: we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.; Revelation 21).

Consider these:
Who's your coach? How are you playing the game (winning IS what it's all about)? Are you a coach or a critic? Who are you coaching?

Today's worship was unbelievable. God never ceases to amaze me! When we surrender to what He wants to do in our lives, His Spirit moves and we experience His presence; His Glory. Tonight, I'm just thinking about how defeated so many people feel right now. If you are one of thos people, remember these words:

1. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

2. It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. (Romans 8:34)

3. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword (Romans 8:35)

4. Yet in all things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:37)

5. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

I hope the verses help.