“THE HIGH PRICE OF SHORT CUTS”

Quote = “The longest distance from here to there in God’s Kingdom is a “SHORT CUT”. *

TEXT: LUKE 12:13-21

The crowd numbered into the thousands, according to Luke, when someone from the crowd shouted to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

It’s amazing how family fights over stuff, It seems to have never change from age to age.

In this passage, instead of refereeing a family feud, Jesus spins a story about personal greed.

It’s a story about a foolish farmer.

From it we discover some principles for a life that really matters.

 

WHEN BUILDING A LIFE THERE ARE SOME SHORT CUTS WE OUGHT TO AVOID:

I. LIFE IS MORE THAN SUCCESS.

• I think most of us would like to make something of ourselves. There’s an urgency inside us to climb every mountain and follow every rainbow until we find our dream.

• There’s nothing wrong with a dream or a hard working person!

• As a matter of fact. Aggressive, self-starting people, who rise to new challenges are the kind of people I admire and enjoy being around. They never say never. They never wonder why. They never expect anybody else to do it for them. They roll up their sleeves and go to work. (Pastor Art)

• The farmer in this story is clearly successful. “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.”

• Crops don’t get planted on their own, tended by themselves, or harvested without some help. He plowed the ground. He planted the seed. He chopped the weeds. He beat the weather to get it in the barn.

• I like this guy! He doesn’t complain about his lot in life. He makes his lot in life productive.

• The problem with success is that it is a moving target. If you don’t do better tomorrow than you did today you feel like a failure.

• Quote = “Many people spend their lives climbing the ladder of success only to come to the end and realize it was leaning against the wrong wall”.

• After all, everything you’ve ever wanted will never be enough. Solomon, who achieved everything he set goal for himself, sadly says, “Vanity, vanity all is vanity.” (worthless)

(True Story)

In 1923, a group of the world’s most successful men met at Chicago’s Edgewater Beach Hotel. They included the president of the largest steel corporation in America, the greatest wheat speculator in the states, the president of the New York Stock Exchange, a member of the President’s cabinet, the smartest investor on Wall Street, the future director of the World Bank for International Settlements, and the head of the world’s largest monopoly.

Within seven years, Charles Schwab died in debt. Arthur Cutter died abroad in obscurity (unknown). Richard Whitney became insolvent (Unable to pay his debts). Albert Fall was pardoned from prison so he could die at home. Jesse Livermore, Leon Fraser, and Ivar Krueger all committed suicide. Life is more than success, for life is a moving target.

 

II. LIFE IS MORE THAN STUFF

• The person that Jesus is telling us about had a lot of stuff, but stuff rots and rusts and molds and STUFF gets in the way.

• (Not too long ago I preached a message titled: “Do you got the stuff?”)

• Listen to his predicament. It is a familiar story. The man with a lot of stuff says; “What shall I do? I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger barns and there I will store all my grain and goods.”

• He had a lot of stuff. So do we. You might not think you do, but you do (Get my sermon, “Do you got the stuff?:)

• There is a bumper sticker around which says, “The one who dies with the most toys wins.”

• The truth is the one who dies with the most toys, dies. That is the reality of life. George Carlin said, “The essence of life is trying to find a place to put all your stuff.” In a real way he is probably right though he was telling a joke. A close friend of mine owns mini-warehouses. Every time I see him I ask, “How’s business?” And with a big smile he says, “Business could never be better because America is full of stuff.”
• We have 32,000 self-storage businesses nationwide containing 1.3 billion feet of rentable space. One hundred million storage containers are sold by Rubbermaid each year so that we have some place to store our stuff. In fact, in the Tennessean today you can read that professional organizers will come to your house for as much as $75.00 per hour and organize your stuff for you so you can have a place to store it in a convenient manner.
• Life is more than your stuff. Life is more than your accomplishments. Life is more than your accumulation. Life is more than all the baggage you have, some of which you do not know what to do with. Life is more than what you have accumulated.

 

III. LIFE IS MORE THAN SECURITY

…Then I shall say to myself “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry”’ (Luke 12:19).

Since September 11, 2001, the world has been obsessed with security. We now have a whole department of the Federal government called Homeland Security. We stay engaged in a war that won’t go away trying to make the world safe.

Requests for elaborate home security systems have increased greatly in the last two years. You can’t board an airplane or attend a ballgame without being security conscious. If the purpose of Al Queda was to instill fear in America, they have succeeded.

Jesus said, “Fear not those who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both the body and soul in hell.” Life is more than being safe. Life is about faith, hope and love. It’s about the courage to carry on, the determination to hang in there when the going is rough and the enemy is real. There’s more to life than being secure.

 

IV. A LIFE THAT REALLY MATTERS IS A SOULFUL LIFE

But God said to him, “You fool. This very night your soul will be required of you. Then whose shall those things be which you have accumulated?” Jesus asked it another way, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, to forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36).

Soul is the real you; it’s the real me. Soul is what makes us do what we do. The Bible is clear. Guard your soul. Nourish your soul. Don’t sell your soul. In a culture that is rich in things and poor in soul, we need to hear these words.

Is it well with your soul? We expand our minds, improve our relational skills, tend to our psychological well-being, exercise to stay physically fit, but what are we doing to keep our souls in shape?

Mike Yaconelli, author and founder of youth specialties said, “Until a few months ago, I had no idea I’d lost my soul. In the busyness and clatter of my life, as I traveled all over the world serving God, I thought my soul was just fine. But it wasn’t. I spent hours every day doing God’s work, but not one second doing soul work. I was consumed by the external and oblivious to the internal. In the darkness of my soul, I was stumbling around bumping into the symptoms of my soul less-ness. I was busy, superficial, friendless, afraid, cynical, but I didn’t even know where all these negative parts of my life were coming from. Then I began to learn there is a difference between believing in Jesus and being with Jesus, talking to Jesus and letting Jesus talk to me, acquainted with God out there, but a stranger to the God in here. Slowly my soul was reawakened by a loving Father calling me by name. I found my soul again.” A life that really matters is a soulful life.

 

V. A LIFE THAT REALLY MATTERS IS A SAVED LIFE

Salvation is to know that someone beyond us must do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. “Zaccheus was a wee little man. A wee little man was he. He climbed up in the sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see.” Did you ever wonder what heart hunger caused this chief tax collector to go to such extremes to see Jesus? It was not for gain or worldly pleasure. He had all these. Zaccheus was not only a tax collector, he was a chief tax collector. When the world has given all its pleasures and you have more plaques than will fit on your walls, there remains a hunger in the heart that God alone can satisfy.

Jesus sees Zaccheus lurching there, a little man up a tree. He calls him down. He invites himself to lunch. Before dessert is served, Jesus says, “Today salvation has come to this house. For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.”

We have heard the joyful sound, Jesus saves, Jesus saves.

Spread the tidings all around, Jesus saves, Jesus saves.

Bear the news to every land, climb the steeps and cross the waves,

This our song of victory, Jesus saves, Jesus saves.

 

A life that really matters is a saved life. We need to be rescued from the miry clay of me, my, and I and have our feet planted on the solid rock of Jesus Christ.

 

VI. A LIFE THAT REALLY MATTERS IS A SIGNIFICIANT LIFE

In 1888, Alfred Nobel picked up a French newspaper and read his own obituary. His brother had died and by mistake, the newspaper printed Alfred’s obituary instead. In it, Alfred Nobel was remembered as the dynamite king, the merchant of death, a person who had amassed a great fortune out of explosives used extensively in wars. Alfred Nobel didn’t like what he read. He set out to make a better name for himself. He established among other things the Nobel Peace Prize, which today continues to honor persons around the world who have championed the cause of peace. Alfred Nobel moved from success to significance.

All of us have within our bodies a fatal disease. We have a terminal illness called death. As a current country song puts it, “It’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you. It’s what you leave behind you when you go.” Who shall deliver us from our foolish ways? Who will save us from ourselves? Where is the life you have lost in living? Why not a life that really matters?

The advice of Jesus is this: Don’t look for short cuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easy going formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff even though crowds of people do. The way to life, to God, is vigorous and requires total attention (Matthew 7:13-14). So go for it. Don’t live a foolish life. Go for a faithful life. We don’t need bigger barns and bigger houses. What we really need is a bigger life! So why not a life that really matters?

 

BREAKING BAD HABITS

Many of our online viewers heard about the sermon I preached last Friday that was not streamed or even posted on demand. Because of the interest I decided to post my sermon outline on this blog. “Breaking Bad Habits”. Enjoy!

INTRODUCTION:

It’s estimated that out of every 11,000 signals we receive from our senses, our brain only consciously processes 40. Therefore, we have to purposely target our bad habits, then WORK toward BREAKING them.

• Habits first begin as a single-thought, then they become a multitude of thoughts, which evolve into actions, then habits; Our habits make up our character, and our character dictates our life.

• Your ability to stop that initial negative thought from becoming a multitude of negative thoughts will determine your success this year.

• If you know how to change your habits, then even a small effort can create big changes.

TEXT: MATTHEW 21:6-11

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!” When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

• This day in the bible, the singing and praising reached such hype in Jerusalem that the city was ‘shaken.’ The KJV translation says, the city was ‘moved.’  The NIV uses the word “stirred”.

• But never forget. For Jesus, shaking, stirring, and moving are not enough (it is only the beginning for many).

• The same people that were “stirred up” were the same people “slaying him”.

• This past week we have had a “stirring event.” The party, The Storey (Tim) The messages, and meetings, stirred our hearts, but the question is, “Will we changed?” Will we break bad habits in 2011?

THREE AREAS ONLY JESUS CAN CHANGE:

1. HEAD

• The head is the control center of each one of us and represents our ‘mind’.

2. HABITS

• Habits are the great killers of a passionate spiritual life.
• Habits in a life are generally what controls life.
• We ask, do “bad habits mean I am not saved?” if you are “stirred but not changed,” going back to those habits will be easy because you’ll have no Holy Spirit to assist.

3. HEART

• The heart is a dead giveaway. We will never rise above what is locked away in our heart.
• Make no mistake, people know what is in your heart, it is the most transparencies of your personality.

“Out of the heart the mouth speaks”

“Out of the overflow of the heart flows the issues of life”

“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he

• Honestly,  you and I have no power to change our heart, it takes a professional. – Jesus Christ

• A bad heart is bad news.

• Pastor Julius knows (heart attack). When a heart goes bad, the person KNOWS something has to be done because it is impossible to live without a working heart.

• In the same way, to be stirred and not changed is to have a heart that is bad, diseased, and deceitful.

It’s not enough to be stirred, or shaken, it is required that our hearts be changed

• Once the heart is turned the feet will follow!

CLOSE:

• The nation of Israel, under king Ahaz, had developed many bad habits,  his son, Hezekiah set out to remove these habits from the people.

• The priniciple he performed to removing the bad hapbits were..

I. BEGIN IMMEDIATELY

2 Chron. 29:3 “In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the LORD and repaired them”.

• The best time to deal with a bad habit is NOW!

 

• To delay only allows the habit to get engrained deeper in our lives.

• Hezekiah is the son of Ahaz – one of Israel’s worst kings. Hezekiah had 16 years of bad habits to correct.

Hezekiah correction:

1. Hezekiah got things right with God – repairing the temple (the place God had chosen as his home)

a He opened the doors – Access to God

b He repaired the doors – Priority of God

Six Steps to Breaking Bad Habits:

1.    Change your environment. Certain environments are breeding grounds for certain behaviors.  You must consciously change your environment.

• • If you’re addicted to food, you may need to get all of the junk food out of your house and create a plan to never purchase it again.  If you’re in a bad relationship, you may want to create an environment that doesn’t include the other person.

2.    Extinguish the initial negative thought. As soon as a negative thought comes to you, you should say,       “Cancel, Cancel, insufficient, insufficient” and proceed to think of something positive.  Never think about the negative habit again.

3.    Surround yourself with church friends who are already what you want to become. Limit your time with people who aren’t what you want to become (e.g. If you want to quit smoking, you can’t hang around smokers all day. Today I was witnessing to someone on how to stop smoking drugs).

• • Some habits may require you to change what movies, television shows you watch what music you hear.

4.    Schedule a today to jumpstart your new YOU. Start this day by spending a few moments at this altar and at the offering baskets seeing yourself free from the habit.

• • Make a loyal commitment to God stating your new intentions;
  • During this time you must make the decision to change.

5.    Create a positive habit to replace the negative habit.

6.    Remember to come back to this preaching and begin again. You’ll have to jumpstart yourself again with a time of re-listening and affirmation to help reset your programming.

“CROSS THAT LINE – YOU’RE ALMOST THERE!”

INTRO:

Can you believe that in only three more months this year will be gone? It seems as if we say the same thing every ending of a year. “Man.. I can’t beleive how fast this year has gone!” Lol (It’s true, we all say that!)

When we are approaching the finish line of a year, there is that tendency to want to cruise downhill to the finish line.

TEXT: LUKE 23:13-15

13Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.

• In this text we find Jesus in the middle of what would be probably the hardest task of his life here on earth to complete. (To die by way of execution)

• From this passage of scripture I would like to take the principles that Jesus modeled to us in “FINISHING WELL”.

HERE IS WHAT I KNOW IN REGARDS TO FINISHING WELL:

1. God wants us to finish WELL.

2. We want to finish WELL.

3. Many don’t finish WELL.

4. The ones that don’t finish well predominantly lose it in the MIDDLE game, not in the END game.

Do any of you remember the World Series 2009 Yankees Vs. Phillies? Here is what the game scoring looked like.

Gm 1            PHI 6 @ NYY 1            Wed

Gm 2            PHI 1 @ NYY 3            Thu

Gm 3            NYY 8 @ PHI 5            Sat

Gm 4            NYY 7 @ PHI 4            Sun

Gm 5            NYY 6 @ PHI 8            Mon

Gm 6            PHI 3 @ NYY 7            Wed

The observation in this World Series Illustration is that in the beginning it looked as if the Philies were going to spank the Yankees throughout the rest of the series. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. Or in the words of “Reverend Sam Sanchez” “It’s not you drive, it’s how you arrive” (golfers understand this one – Lol)

Biblical Types of finishes in leadership

1) CUT OFF EARLY

–       These leaders were taken out of leadership by assassination, killed in battle, prophetically denounced, or overthrown. Some of this activity was directly attributed to God. Some of these were positive and others were negative!

“Samson, Ahab, Josiah, Absalom, John the Baptist, James…”

2) FINISHED POORLY

–       These leaders were going down hill in the latter part of their ministry. This might have reflected in their personal relationship with God or in terms of their competency in ministry.

“Gideon, Eli, Solomon, Saul”

3) FINISHED SO-SO

–       These leaders did fairly well but were limited in their ministries because of sin. They did not complete what God had for them, or had some negative ramifications surrounding their lives and ministries even though they personally were walking with God.

“Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat, David”

4) FINISHED WELL

–       Theses leaders were walking with God at the end of their lives. They contributed to God’s purposes at a high level. They fulfilled what God had for them to do.

“Abraham, Job, Joseph, Joshua, Caleb, Samuel, Elijah, Jeremiah, Daniel, John, Paul, Peter, Jesus”.

CLOSE:

Next blog, I will talk about “On Jesus finishing well”. Stay posted!

WHAT I LEARNED IN 1 DAY WITH PASTOR SONNY ARGUINZONI

He was here! The person who began Victory Outreach in 1967 and still going strong today. Founder/Pastor Sonny Arguinzoni was at Victory Outreach Church of Oxnard. This was a priceless day for our congregation. After Pastor Sonny preached I had the opportunity have him and Sister Julie over my home for lunch and fellowship. A few of the leadership were present with us.

WHAT I LEARNED IN 1 DAY WITH PASTOR SONNY & JULIE ARGUINZONI

1. Punctuality – Pastor Sonny & Julie arrived one hour early to my city and 30 minutes early to our church service.

2. Approachable – The first word that preceeded his mouth was warm. All my nerves calmed as soon as I heard the first word from him.

3. Commitment – He arrived from New York City the night before but held on to his engagement with our church in spite of his time difference and 3,000 mile difference.

4. Observant – From the moment we pulled into our church parking lot he noticed things.

5. Passionate Conviction – His sermon was so convincing and passionate. Anyone would believe what he had to say because of his conviction and passion.

6. Love for People – You can always tell when a preacher has a love for people by the way he spends time at the altar praying for them. Pastor Sonny loves people.

7. Time Giving – He was in no hurry to leave. He spent time with me, my wife and leaders.

8. Interested – He is interested in the current lives of people around him. He never fails to ask “How are you?”.

9. Visionary – In spite of a great crowd and lots of energy in the service. He could still find points to better your leadership and church atmosphere.

10. Fun – He knows how to have fun around the table! He speaks vision, growth and strategy, but there is always a laugh with it all!