2 MINUTE WARNING

I am starting a new series today that God has convicted me to write:  Violent Like The Kingdom.  I hope you like it.

Let me start by saying that you would not even be reading this today were it not for something Jesus did 2000 years ago.  

He came from nothing, stood up to the oppressive Roman rule, called out the ungodly Jewish council, and declared that the devil would no longer rule here on earth unless we chose to let him.

For His great efforts, He was captured unjustly, patronized with an unfair trial, and sentenced to punishment.

They beat Him within an inch of His life and had Him carry the instrument of His execution to the hill where He would be killed.  There….He suffered an excruciating finale, was treated with disregard and dishonor, and was humiliated in every way.

And He did it so we can have this offer today.

Romans 5  19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.  20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In an incredible turn of fate, He changed the culture.

Sin would no longer be the focus.  Sacrifice and paying off the debt would no longer be the way of life.

It would be replaced by faith in Him and an overabundance of grace so rich, that we would never have to turn back…..because 3 days after His sacrifice, He came back to change the world through men who would be lead by His Spirit.

From one decision, as Paul puts it, Jesus took away Satan’s plan to harass and degrade us.  He put us in the pole position to live in the freedom of faith.

So today, I want to know…..

When are we going to move on this?

• • We FIGHT, as a society and individuals, to have our identity recognized.  And in doing so, we simply get more lost.  Our desire to be recognized disallows us from knowing who we truly are….Children Of God.
  • We live in a society today where we have all that we could ever want, but never have there been more broken people who do not understand that they are….Free To Be Delivered.

• We have all the knowledge we could ever hope to attain, but we have never been more lacking in common sense.  We act in foolishness when we should be….Wise And Anointed Followers Of God.

• We say LOVE more than we ever have, but we rarely carry it out.  If we are honest, we actually love ourselves at the expense of others when we should….Love Others At Our Own Expense.

God has set the plan in place.

He has set us free from all that can hinder us if we choose to walk in it.

He has given us the Counselor, or Holy Spirit, that we might cry out and have direction in where we should go.

He has set the pieces in motion that we can live as Children Of God, Walking In Freedom, Anointed and Wise, and Loving Others…..

Now we just simply have to do it.

Ask God to put a vision on your heart and begin to walk out that vision…..TODAY.  As your coach, I have to tell you:  Get Your Butt Going!  If Jesus had hemmed and hawed as much as we have, there would have been no cross…..He would still be there talking about theories on how to rescue all of us from the pits of hell.  Thank God He moved immediately on the calling God had put on Him.

Now it’s our turn.

Let’s walk out our faith and be Violent Like The Kingdom.

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

On the road to Syria–on his way to kill and exterminate Christians–with the world at his command….Paul was radically changed and became part of the greatest “religious” movement of all time……..

As I was getting ready this morning and preparing my heart to speak this evening…..I cried out to the Lord and asked Him to give me a word SPECIFIC to the group I was speaking to today.  And the Lord always delivers…….

I wrote down the words:

Quit Trying To Make God Be Like You

Wow.

I think that is so true.

Born under law.  Born into sin.  Born under conformity and the pressure to fit in….

Many of us do just that.  We make God who He should be in accordance with who we are.

And so the dance begins…..He is perfect and so we try to make sure that we show Him that, we too, are perfect.

Romans 4  18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him

God tells us NOT TO CONFORM and then to BE TRANSFORMED by the renewing of our mind.  What if that is not a word about doing but a word about letting go.  What if He is telling us to quit trying to be perfect and put on some “act” where we somehow try to please the Him?

Abraham was a messed up man in the twilight of his life…..yet he had faith in God and just simply believed…and worshipped…and followed.

What if I took that verse and put your name?

• Against all hope, Ed in hope believed and so became….just as it had been said to him

• Against all hope, Bill in hope believed and so became….just as it had been said to him

• Against all hope, Jordan in hope believed and so became….just as it had been said to her

We are never going to work into perfection in our own flesh.  We will never make ourselves “look” perfect by acting like we have it all together.  We are never going to fit in with the world…..and we don’t need to put on a show to fit in with the Lord.

So why don’t we just believe Him and let Him carry out His promise in us……

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

The Lord did something on Calvary 2000 years ago that allows something so incredible…..

He tore a curtain.

Mark 15 38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

And when He tore that curtain….it paved the way for all of us to come and know the Lord.  It allowed us to come before Him with NOTHING to offer.

This testimony from Curtis Martin touched my heart.  I encourage you to watch it from the beginning (I have it starting at 6:47) until the 9:15 mark…..

Our God has allowed us to come before Him just as we are…..that He might know us and begin to work His love into us and change us from the inside out.

It is the hope of all man.

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

God had a plan….and it wasn’t slavery.  And so He sent Moses with a message.

Exodus 3 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.   This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

It is the great circle of life.

We get enslaved.

We cry out to God.

The Great I AM comes and rescues us from bondage.

As we enter into this week let’s get it right:

Our Faith needs to speak to our circumstances….and not the other way around.

You Are I AM by MercyMe

You are the one who conquers giants

You are the one who calls out kings

You shut the mouths of lions

You tell the dead to breathe

You’re the one who walks through fire

You take the orphan’s hand

You’re the one messiah

You are I AM

https://youtu.be/JB4dvMZGMr8

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

On the road to Syria–on his way to kill and exterminate Christians–with the world at his command….Paul was radically changed and became part of the greatest “religious” movement of all time……..

Romans 3  21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

What Paul wrote to Jews back then is exactly what we could write to Christians today….and God’s word is like that…..

It transcends time and was as applicable to people then as it is to us today.

You see….

• The Jews thought that they were better than the gentiles, much like some Christians today.
• The Jews thought that they could make themselves right with God, much like some Christians today.
• The Jews thought that they could make themselves feel better by judging the sins of others, much like some Christians today.

But our reality is simple.  Without Jesus, we are rotten to the core—full of sin, detestable, and the enemy of God.

That is a hard pill to swallow…but it is the reality of life.  As Paul writes:  “ALL have sinned and fall short….”  Not some.  ALL.

And the prophet Isaiah wrote this back then to be the very truth that we need to hear today:

1. Our good works are like menstrual rags to the Lord (Isaiah 64:6).  I was shocked that the Bible would say something like this—yet it does.  When I first read it I wondered—how could He be so brash in such a holy book?  But the point is made—I CAN NOT make myself clean before God by DOING EVEN GOOD THINGS!
2. “We all like sheep have gone astray.  Each of us has turned to His own way.  And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquities of us all.”  (Isaiah 53:6)  Again—not SOME of us astray—all of us astray—yet the Lord has made a way for us through Jesus.

And so we choose.

We choose separation OR we choose to walk in covenant with God.

We choose to do it our own way or we choose to follow Jesus.

We choose death and darkness or we choose life and freedom.

I have heard it said that insanity is doing it the same way over and over again and expecting a different result…..and I have stubbornly tried that to no accord.

I choose Jesus.

He is my only hope and the hope of the nations.

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

On the road to Syria–on his way to kill and exterminate Christians–with the world at his command….Paul was radically changed and became part of the greatest “religious” movement of all time……..

Romans 2  1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?

I cannot fathom how hard it must have been for Paul to begin breaking down the very foundations of the traditions, the education, and the resume and that he had built.

I am sure that God had him do many things that he was not willing to do on his own accord.  After all:

• He had followed these traditions all of his life.
• He had spent years in his education.
• He had built an incredible resume.

But none of those things meant ANYTHING to the Lord.  In fact, most of those things flew in the face of ALL that Jesus stood for…. And He had to throw all of it in the trash and begin again……

Imagine changing your mindset to a place that not only welcomed your enemies in…..but put them in as equals.  The Gentiles could receive Christ and now walk in the same faith?…..This must have been a life-change that only blindness could bring about….

And so it is with us……

God does not CARE about your traditions.

You can not IMPRESS him with your education.

He will not even LOOK at your resume.

And thank God that He doesn’t…..

• If He CARED about your traditions, He would have to care about the sins that were passed down from generation to generation.
• If He was IMPRESSED with your education, then He would have to give you “credit” for all the things you learned from the world.
• If He had to LOOK at your resume, He would not be able to OVERLOOK all of the things that you have done.

I want to finish today by challenging you to put a new filter in……it is the end of the year and many of us should be changing the filter on our furnace…..so let’s do it on our spiritual furnace.

The filter is what all of our living air must run through….and it must be the Lord….

Job Change?  Not money, not benefits, not prestige—the Lord

More Kids?  Not wife or husband, not convenience—the Lord

College Choice?  Not prestige, not what would my friends think—the Lord

Buying Something?  Not the sale, not the value, not the debt—the Lord

All of our decisions, if we want to live our life in freedom and to the fullest, must go through Him…..He must be our lead, our counselor, our number one confidant.  He must be the filter by which we can breathe……

This was the radical thing that happened for Paul—he had to realign with God.

And that is my word to you today:

REALIGN—change your filter and your mindset and run all of your life through Him…….

And when you do—-be ready to walk into the best greatest season that you have ever experienced.

He….and only HE….can give you the greatest things you have ever laid eyes on or even thought about….

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

Why did Paul write Romans 1?  That is the question I ask as I read it.

Romans 1  18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.  21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

On the road to Syria–on his way to kill and exterminate Christians–with the world at his command….Paul was radically changed and became part of the greatest “religious” movement of all time……..

And so why, as the Jesus movement had its strongest momentum, did he need to write that?

Perhaps it was for December 23, 2017.

Perhaps it was for you and I to read it today……..

Perhaps it was so that we could build a foundation of change.

I know that God’s Word if for all people, for all times, and for all seasons……but I never cease to be amazed at the application it has on the RIGHT NOW.  And this verse is for the RIGHT NOW.

You see, we live in a different season……and in our season people need to hear what Paul wrote so many years ago……in my going there yesterday I began to be convicted that I needed to write that AFTER telling Paul’s story with Jesus and Jesus’ offer to all man…….So, today, I want to write to those who have accepted that offer and how we must move forward with Paul’s challenge.

You see…..There is a movement on the other side of the one Jesus started….a movement that has been going on since the moment that Jesus came……It is the “No God” movement.  When the enemy found out we could Know God, he countered and schemed with the “No God Movement”.  It is the idea that we came about by accidental process, that intelligence “spawned itself” out of chaos.  It is to think that something intelligent and with great order came from something random and accidental…….

We know better…..and Paul is saying just that:  “Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of God for a lie.”

We are created beings…..

Fearfully and wonderfully made….

Born as an image of God….

Full of sin….

And in dire need of a Savior….We covet, we steal, we lust, we crave, we lie, we worship idols, and we fail miserably at all we aspire to be…..

Until we meet Jesus.  When we meet Jesus….He kills that part of us and we are born again.  God tells us that we are “being made holy” to remind us that we are free from sin but that we are not perfect—that He is not done with us yet.  That being said, we are free…..

But here is the TRUTH that all of us must grasp:  We are not called, by Him, to judge the world.  We are called to reconcile the world and to walk in a ministry of reconciliation.  (2 Corinthians 5:18  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation)

We are called to be ministers of the new covenant….to deliver the good news to the lost…….

So when you go to do so, what does God say we will encounter?  We will encounter EXACTLY what was written earlier—–a people that Covets, Steals, Lusts, Craves, Lies, and Fails….a people that fails miserably……

Don’t judge them.  Love them.

Give them a chance to “be made holy” by a God who can do it.

Love them like Christ did you.

It is the only way that we can get to:  Thy Kingdom Come…..which, by the way, is the first thing you pray for when you say the Lord’s prayer.

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

Why did Paul write Romans 1?  That is the question I ask as I read it.

Romans 1  18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.  21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

On the road to Syria–on his way to kill and exterminate Christians–with the world at his command….Paul was radically changed and became part of the greatest “religious” movement of all time.

Jesus Christ had risen from the dead–

And His offer to all man had been accepted by many.  And this movement was unique:

• It did not form a clique–ALL were welcome to receive Him:  Men or women, Jews or Samaritans, Romans or Greeks–the movement was so diverse that this diversity, on its own accord, it was a miracle.
• It did not require a resume–simply a RESPONSE to the Holy Spirit’s call on a wandering heart.
• It did not require a certain ceremony or a rite of passage or an educational accomplishment in order to join—just a radical inner transformation that made the outside appearance different.

And it was connected to Judaism but not restricted by it.  Those who were considered “heathens” by the Jews were now invited to be in the “front row”—to be promoted—above those who had been serving for years……Without radical transformation, they never would have allowed women, Samaritans, Romans, or any other person to join them in equality…..and they made this transformation overnight…..

Jesus does that to a person.

Has He moved that radically on your life?

Whether He has or hasn’t…..today is a new day.

Ask Him to come and transform your inner self that you might be born again in the Spirit, that you might begin to live, and love, in a way that the world has never seen.  That you, just like the people that encountered Him, might be transformed into a new way of life.

As I write these very words the Spirit is tugging on my heart as well—for His call on our hearts is much more important than the answer to the opening question…..The Answer (Him–Jesus) is far more important to us than the answer, or answers, to any of our questions.  So let’s stop and worship the only Answer that we have ever needed—-

And ask Him to transform us like He did a lost group of people 2000 years ago—that we might start a new movement—

A movement made up of:

• Democrats and Republicans who don’t adhere to either side—but are attached to their Savior and what their Savior cares about.
• Not only traditional Christians, but those who will hear the call of Jesus on their hearts and RESPOND to be born again.
• Americans and North Koreans and Mexicans and Cubans and every other nationality.
• Rich and poor.
• Educated and privileged as well as those who have no rights, those who have no status, or those who do not “look the same”.

And let us worship the Living God and allow His Spirit to take us into a new place….

A place where Jesus and His Word and His teachings—have importance, and respect, and honor…..

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.  To Him be the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory……..Forever and Ever.  Amen.

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

Romans 8  1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

If I am “in Christ Jesus”, the grave cannot hold me and the enemy cannot accuse me.  When I die, I will be born into greatness–honored and alive like never before.

Romans 8 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

If I am “in Christ Jesus”, I am not longer the bad ambassador, the representative who misrepresented the Lord.  Instead, I am recognized as IF I WERE God’s Son.

Romans 8  5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.  8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

If I am “in Christ Jesus”, I am ALIVE and full of PEACE.  If I choose to reject Him—I am a hostile…an enemy…of the very good that created me.

Romans 8 9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.  12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation–but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.  And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

If I am “in Christ Jesus”, I am part of the royal family.  I don’t need a formal invitation to come before the King, as in days of old.  Instead—-I can call Him Dad, or Daddy, and I can go before Him anytime I choose to…and I can go without fear, without shame, and without looking at myself like I did not measure up…..

I can go before Him as a champion, a victor, a hero.

If we have read this verse……and actually internalize it…and live it…it changes EVERYTHING.

I encourage you to read it.  To learn it.  To memorize it…..

Because changing everything is not God’s intention.

His intention is to change YOU.

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J