by Josh | Jan 4, 2017 | Inspiration, Reflection, Worship
Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord. – Genesis 12:7-8 One of our core beliefs and favorite phrases at Pursuit NYC is that “The best is yet to come.” Knowing that the God we worship is the God who promises to “give life and life to the fullest” (John 10:10), we contend, expect, and believe for God to move in powerful ways in our lives, schools, workplaces, and nations. But I believe that one of the greatest battles our generation faces is struggling with timelines. It’s easy to hear, read, and see what other people are doing these days and compare our lives to theirs. We might think, “I should be dating/married by now… I should have kids by now… I should be at this point in my career by now… I should be this type of person/spouse/friend by now… I should be further along by now…” And while the best is yet to come, I believe that it’s difficult for many of us to love God right where we are. BUILDING ALTARS I imagine that Abraham was confronted with loving God right where he was throughout his journey of faith. In the beginning of his story in Genesis 12, Abraham (then, known as...
by Sam | Nov 3, 2016 | Guest Blogger, Inspiration, Reflection
There’s a song from a modern day prophet that goes a little something like this: “Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. I shake it off, I shake it off.” I’m pretty sure T-swift was quoting the Bible. And I’m pretty sure those words are more relevant to us than we realize. There’s a story in Acts 18:1-6 about a dude named Paul. You may have heard of him. It says that every Sabbath, Paul was in the synagogues preaching to the Jews and Greeks. He spent ALL his time preaching the Word. And of course, the Jewish peeps oppose and insult him. In response, it says that Paul shook the dust from his clothes. In Matthew 10:14, Jesus sends his disciples out to minister and he tells them, “If anyone does not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet.” Shake off the dust. I love the picture this paints. The implication is that when we live a life of obedience – a life of saying yes to God – there will be difficult moments. That’s pretty much a fact. If you haven’t faced hard things, that means one of two things. Either you’re extremely blessed, or quite possibly you’re playing it too safe. When we begin to say yes to God, there will inevitably be disappointments, failure, rejection, opposition, discouragement, you name it. In other words, there will be dust and we have to learn how to shake it off. If you haven’t faced hard things, quite possibly you’re playing it too safe. Click To Tweet The issue is that there are far too many...
by Sam | Oct 20, 2016 | Inspiration, Reflection
I absolutely love this generation! This generation is full of so many people who are called, gifted, and anointed by the Lord. They are passionate and dream big dreams. They want to be used by God. They also have access to more resources than any other previous generation. Thanks to social media and technology, we can find out what God is doing all over the world. We know what sermons are being preached, what songs are being sung, and what books are being read in an instant. There is something to be said when there are countless videos of worship songs getting millions of views online! So many people, including myself, get inspired and encouraged by these things. Yet the temptation is to just mimic what others are doing expecting the same results. While what God is doing in building a worship culture around the world is both inspiring and powerful, let us not become a generation that is governed by what is trendy rather than what is true. I believe that God is wanting to disciple a generation in authentic worship rather than a generation that’s discipled by just worship culture. Here are some values of what authentic worship looks like. OBEDIENCE OVER SACRIFICE True worship is about obedience unto the Lord. Obedience in even the smallest of things is greater in the sight of the Lord than extravagant expressions of sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). We see this in the life of King Saul. Instead of obeying God, King Saul does what he thinks is best in his own eyes and understanding. He covers up his own pride by spiritualizing...
by Sam | Mar 7, 2016 | Guest Blogger, Inspiration, Reflection
I think most of us, including me, summarize perseverance by the simple mantra: “Don’t give up!” Perseverance is often measured by years, the amount of time invested, the number of sick days not taken. But I think “not-giving-up” can become an easy front. Plenty of people show up to work for years, to their churches and marriages and children for decades, and can look like they’re reliable. Except inside, they’re not there. Plenty of us can quit without physically quitting. We can live this way for years, thinking that “showing up” is enough and we can skate by on the bare minimum. In other words, perseverance is not just staying in, but being in. It’s being present and engaged. It’s not that we don’t have it in us to persevere. It’s that all of us wasn’t in the task at hand. Even a person who gets to the finish-line, who didn’t put their all into it, hasn’t really persevered. I do this, too. I can be there but not there. And I’m learning that being disengaged begins with my expectations. When our plans don’t turn out the way we want to, we tend to check out. Disengagement is a way of protecting ourselves from disappointment. This isn’t to judge anyone, because perseverance is hard. But I think it’s made harder because of the way we’ve been trained. Some of us have bought into an overly romanticized narrative. We get excited and inspired to do stuff, but the second we do stuff, it’s nothing like those first emotions that got us there. Here’s what I mean. I get really inspired...
by Sam | Jan 14, 2016 | Reflection
Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.” – Luke 9:46-48 In the book of Proverbs, the importance of wisdom is highlighted over and over again. There are those who embrace it and become wise, and then there are those who spurn it and become fools. Proverbs then goes ahead and paints a picture of what makes them different. One key difference that is repeated throughout the book is in how they receive correction. Simply put, a wise person will love you if you rebuke him, whereas a foolish person will hate you. Throughout the years of ministry, I have met tremendously talented and gifted leaders, yet what set the good leaders apart from the great ones had little to do with their ability, but their teachability. They are teachable and humble enough to receive. One way character is revealed is how you handle discipline and rebuke… even if it seems unwarranted! Character will take you further than your potential. A generation rescued from suffering and spared from discipline becomes entitled rather than empowered. We actually endanger them rather than encourage them if we do that. Your teachability will take you further than your ability. Click To Tweet In the passage above from Luke, the disciples are arguing on which of them is the greatest. By...
by Sam | Oct 8, 2015 | Inspiration, Reflection
“And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ … And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” — Luke 19:17, 24-26 In the Gospels, Jesus tells the parable of the talents as well as the parable of the minas (text above). Both of them have the same premise: three servants are all entrusted with differing amounts of resources. Two of the three produce a great return, but one of them does absolutely nothing with what he’s been given except in fear, bury it. Many of us have heard this story or are at least familiar with it, but can you imagine what it’s like to be one of those servants? After being given the talents, I would want to know what the instruction is. At least some next practical steps, right? Yet none are given! Okay, so I’ve been given these resources, so what now? You ever ask yourself that question, “What now?“ I often ask myself that question when I’m in a new season or in transition. What do I do now? What should I do now? Yet I believe the answer sometimes is to just use what you already have. Now it takes faith to just go for it....
