The Solution To Our Three Greatest Problems

(This was spoken on March 27, 2005. )

As you just saw on the video many people don’t realize the importance of Easter.

They think it just has to do with Easter bunnies, eggs and candy. I loved all those things when I was a kid and don’t have anything against them now.

But today the significance of what we celebrate today is so much more than that.

Easter is the day that we remember and celebrate the culmination of the greatest events in history.

It’s the final thing that God did to solve our 3 Greatest problems.

I’ve been watching my two sons Will and Jack recently and I’ve realized how so many times they don’t realize what they really need, how to fulfill their needs in the best way or even which are the most important needs.

When they’re hungry they know they have a need, but they don’t realize that eating only sweets or candy will make them sick.

A couple months ago Jack ran outside and he was only in his underwear. I guess he thought being outside was a more important need than being dressed!

They know they need to be safe, but they don’t really know when they’re in danger.

The other day Jack somehow got into his medicine and took some of it. I had to remind him Jack you don’t ever take this unless Mommy gives it to you! OK? And I moved into a new spot that’s even higher out of his reach.

Most of us adults are the same. A lot of times we don’t know what we really need or how to fulfill those needs, or which ones are our most important needs.

We have so many needs calling out to us in our minds, that most of the time the most important ones get drowned out my the others.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow theorized that we are motivated to satisfy 4 categories of needs. He called this a hierarchy of needs. He said you don’t focus on the need of one level until the needs below it are satisfied.

Example:
If you haven’t eaten in 24 hours, then your main motivation would be physiological. Once your physiological needs are met you’ve quieted those needs enough to focus on the next level where you’re still unfulfilled. You’ll want to do whatever you can to feel safe and secure. Once you feel these needs are basically met you then seek affection and a sense of belonging. As each step is fulfilled it doesn’t motivate you anymore.

Here are the needs Maslow listed from the first (lowest) needs to our last (highest): (Remember: The first need needs to be fulfilled - at least temporarily - before we pay attention to the next.)

Physiological Needs
Food, Water, Air, Rest, etc.

Safety Needs
Safety, Stability, Protection, freedom from fear and anxiety

Belonging Needs
Affectionate relationships, friends, a sweetheart, kids, and belonging

Esteem Needs
External: respect, fame, glory self-respect

Self – Actualization
Higher meaning in life - Philosophy & Religion

*The danger for us is that we could live our whole lives not realizing our real needs – never focusing on our most important needs. We live a really unsatisfying life.

In Leo Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Illych” Ivan Illych says, "What if my whole life has been wrong?"

If we don’t come to realize what our greatest needs are, then the same that happened to Ivan Illych can happen to us.

I want you to imagine something with me…

You’re standing in the middle of a village.

As you look around you begin to notice how poor and run down a place it is. The houses and buildings are shacks made from random things.

You look closer at the people and they are dirty and dressed in rags. They all seem to be covered with scabs and to really be malnourished and sick. You watch them as they buy and trade different pieces of garbage that they’re treating like treasures.

The thought that’s running through your mind is how sad a place this is.

All of a sudden you hear a familiar voice behind you. You swing around to see who it is and you’re shocked by what you see.

There standing in a crowd behind you dressed in rags, dirty and covered with scabs is someone you recognize. It’s you!

You’re standing there clutching to a piece of garbage talking a group of friends in your same condition that you also recognize from work.

You’re standing there confused when all of a sudden your view of the whole scene changes. Your view scene begins rise above the crowd slowly and you see that this isn’t just a village your seeing but it’s a city, as your view raises higher and higher you realize it’s not just a city it’s a whole state, it’s the whole country it’s the whole world.

Your staring and realizing that the whole planet is in this condition when suddenly your view of the scene begins to lower again.

As you get closer and closer you notice that everything seems back to normal again. You’re finally back standing in that village again, but you now see that it’s just your neighborhood and everything is normal again.

At that moment you wake up and instantly sit up in your bed. It suddenly hits you and your realize what you’ve just seen.

You just saw the spiritual reality of the world.

You get up and try to go through your normal day, but everywhere you go and everyone you see reminds you of that poor, sad village you saw.


Today, I want to show you three of the greatest problems that we have. These are three of our biggest problems, because they each have a severe affect on us and there’s nothing we or person else can do to solve them.

After we look at these problems I want to show you how Easter is God’s solution to these three problems.

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The Missing Ingredient To Success In Life

(This was spoken on March 20 , 2005. )

Today, I want to talk to you about something that's missing in a lot of our lives.

This missing ingredient is the thing, that if we would add it to our lives it, it would have a powerful effect on us.

I want to talk to you today about a simple idea.

A simple idea that chould help you grow to the next level in your life. A simple idea that could help you to experience new things and see results like you never have before!

But first, I want to talk to you about a strange phenomenon that happens with caged canaries.

I know it sounds strange but you'll see how this fits in a minute.

If you have 100 canaries that have been raised from an egg and spend their whole lives in a cage, then what do you think will happen if you left the door to their cage open one day?

You're going to be surprised at what happens...

You'd think 100 canaries are going bust out the door? Right? Sorry try again... :)

Get this... 60% of the birds won't even notice! 60 out of 100 birds won't even notice that the door to freedom is right in front of them!

They're too caught up with their little busy canary lives, going from the perch to the food, to the water... Can you believe it? Well, ok. We still have the other 40 canaries right? They're going to head for the door right?

Nope! 20% of the birds will notice the door is open (good job guys -- that's better than the other 60!), but when they do notice it's open they have thoughts like this...

"Hey wait a minute! There's a hole where the cage is supposed to be!!! Something's wrong with our cage! Get back everyone!"

And 20 birds will fly as far away from the door as they can! 20 birds will run from their chance at freedom!

Things seem a little hopeless for our little friends here doesn't it? Well we've still got 20 more birds that can make us proud.

Let's see what happens...

What do the last 20 canaries do? The last 20 canaries notice the door is open and become curious. But only a FEW of them will be brave enough to take a step onto the ledge and peek out at what life behind the bars looks like.

And only an even smaller amount of the brave ones that peek out the door -- will be actually brave enough to take a leap out into freedom!

Why am I telling you a story about canaries?

We think, "Stupid birds!" But you know what? A lot of us are like these canaries.

The door to the cage we've been trapped in all our lives has been left open. We have a chance to live a better life - a better life than we could ever hope for. Jesus died to set us free, but we stay trapped in a lot of ways, instead of being free. Why? Because a lot of the time we never take action on the truth that we know! Many of us here HAVE taken action SOME action.

We’ve asked Jesus into our lives, we come to Sunday gatherings... But if we were honest with ourselves, how much of the truth that have read in the Bible, heard in Ben’s messages, have you really applied IN our lives?

A lot of us have heard read passages in the Bible containing powerful success secrets. We've heard life-changing truth straight from the "experts" themselves, but we a lot of the times we don't see much change in our life.

Again, why? It's because we haven't taken action and applied the truth in our lives!

*Action or application -- whatever you want to call it -- is the missing ingredient in many our lives! *

We don't need more knowledge. We need more ACTION. We need more APPLICATION.

If we had more action -- more application of the truth-- our lives could be changed powerfully forever!

You might not believe this, but a lot of you ALREADY KNOW EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW to see massive results happen in your life. You just need to start doing what you know! :)

That’s what Jesus was talking about. Turn with me to Matt. 7:24-27

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Our Secret Weapon

(This was spoken on February 27, 2005 6th message. Note: There is no audio for this message. )

As a kid I thought James Bond was cool, because of his crazy secret weapons. Weapons like these:

-Blue X-Ray Glasses: (The World Is Not Enough, 1999) 007 picks up this pair of blue sunglasses when he’s in Q's lab. They’re both stylish and functional and their X-ray ability allows Bond to wander though a casino viewing concealed weapons.

-Rolex Plus: This wasn’t an ordinary Rolex. It turned into a spinning blade that could cut through rope, a magnet, and even created a shield around 007 that could deflect the path of a bullet.

-Bond's Skipole Gun: While escaping from his attackers, Bond turns around and fires his ski pole, which doubles as a flare gun.

-Ring Camera: At Zorin's estate, Bond uses this small camera to photograph different people.

-Branch Keychain: This key chain had lock-picks that could open 90 percent of the world's locks. Plus, it had stun gas and an explosive. All three of these features were eventually used.

Explosive Pen: The now-famous exploding pen that armed up after three clicks. Boris loved this pen; until it blew up.


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As Christians, God has given us certain things to help us make it and survive in this world. One of the things that He’s given us is like a secret weapon.

It’s like a secret weapon, because it doesn’t look like a weapon, it doesn’t seem to be that powerful, but it’s one of the most powerful forces that God has given us to use!

You’ve heard of it before, but I bet you never realized how powerful a weapon it is.

Want to know what your secret weapon is? LOVE!

When we usually think of love we think of soft, mushy, gushy kind of feelings. That’s NOT the kind of love I’m talking about today.

The kind of love I’m talking about is a rare kind of love. It’s the kind of love that God has. It’s the kind of love that you can’t get from anywhere else, except from God!

This love is a powerful, not weak.

So when I say the word “love” today that’s what I’m talking about.

Some of you probably think I’m exaggerating when I say love is a powerful, but I’m not.

Love literally is the most powerful weapon that we have!

Think about this…

• Anger can make a friend become an enemy, but only love can make an enemy become your friend!
• Jealously can separate, but only love can bring together or unite two people.
• Hatred can hurt, but love can heal/help someone.
• Bitterness wants to expose people’s sins, but love wants to cover them.
  

All of these other emotions are so inferior and powerless compared to love!

Love is so powerful it can actually…

Destroy anger and erase hate. Romans 12:20 says “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Example: It's hard to stay mad at your parents. Their loves diffuses your anger!

Dissolves fear. 1 John 4:18 says “Perfect love drives out fear.” Example: I remember being afraid at night until one of my parents came in the room.

Heals hurts. Example: When you're a little kid you can get hurt and think you're going to die, until Mom gives you attention. Suddenly, by a miralce :) you're better!

In an old video game we used to play when I was a kid, they had what was called a smart bomb. If you hit the smart bomb at any time it would destroy everything on the screen that was trying to get you.

Love is like our smart bomb. It can defeat anything, be used at any time and it always works. You can never use it too much!

1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 13
1 If I speak in the tongues F32 of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, F33 but have not love, I gain nothing...

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Love is powerful. It is the greatest power we’ve been given.

Today, I want to show you some things to help you understand this kind of love I’m talking about, so that you can see how important it is and be able to use it more in your life.

Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 John 4:7-12

One of the biggest reasons that we don’t use love in our lives the way God wants us to is because we don’t really know what love is.

• In a movie we see two people meet each other for the first time, not even know each other’s names, and then have sex. We’re told that’s love. It’s not it’s lust.
• We see a woman on a talk show that’s been abused by her spouse, totally mistreated, but she won’t leave him. People in the audience will be “dump him!” but she will just say “I can’t because I love him!” That’s not love. That’s co-dependency!
• We see a guy who won’t leave his ex alone. He won’t get on with his life, because he says “I love her!” That’s not love, that obsession – fatal attraction!
  

For many of us, our own experience with so called love hasn’t helped much…

• We’ve had people tell us that they love us and then later reject us.
• We’ve had people tell us that they love us and then abandon us.
• We’ve had people tell us that they love us and then cheat on us.

No wonder we don’t know what real love is! All we see is fake, weak, wanna-be imitations!

I have a friend who, when she was young had her uncle and cousin pull a prank on her. They taught her to count to 10 wrong!

They rearranged the encyclopedia's in this order:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 8, 10

They told her this was the correct way. When she went to school and they taught her how to count she got into an argument with her teacher about it. She didn't believe her teacher!

Unless we know what the real thing is, it’s easy to be fooled! If we don’t know real love, then we’ll never be able to show it to others!

So, how can we know what this kind of love is like?

Look at V. 9

We don’t really know what life can be like until we ask Jesus into our lives. We live a different quality of life in Jesus, than we do without him.

Do you want to see real love? This is it! Look at V. 10

4 Different words to describe love in the ancient greek language:

Eros – We get our English word erotic from this word. It describes intense or passionate love, highly sensual and even intoxicating. It describes strong desires ranging from patriotism to sexual love.

Storgeo – This word describes natural love, family love, love which is native or inherent in people. This especially describes the kind of love between a parent and a child. It describes sympathy or closeness because of some kind of bond.

Phileo - This word describes love of personal affection, fondness for something, often the love of friends. This kind of love is based on the loveliness or attractiveness of a person or object. We love like this because we find qualities in a person that appeal to us, give us warm and personal fondness for a person. This is what we’re usually talking about when we talk about love.

Agape – This love comes from the person giving it. It is based on choosing to love someone. Example: God placed such a value on us so that even though we deserved rejection and punishment because of our sin against him, he chose to love us and send Jesus to die for us and save us. This love loves someone because they need it, not because they deserve it!

Think of this as Extreme love.

This is a love you can only understand from experience! You can only begin to understand it, when you realize what God has done for you!

So how are we going to possess and express this kind of love?

This kind of love can never start in our hearts. It can only come from God through us!

Look at verses 7-8

Winter Retreat Story
When I was a youth pastor we let this guy come with us on our Winter Retreat who we barely knew. All we knew was that he had threatened a teacher.

Somehow we decided it would be no problem to come with us. :)

When we got to our retreat place the students started a snowball fight. This new student got hit in the face with one that had been packed too hard and it really hurt him.

He got in the face of the student who threw it and they were about to fight. I had to get in the middle and stop it. I thought me and him were about to fight!

The new student got so mad that he got hit and that I wouldn't let him hit the other student that he said he was leaving - and started to walk home. Me and Ben (the other youth pastor) ended up talking to this guy on the side of the road for about half an hour.

We were trying to convince him to stay. Finally, I went in to the cabin and gathered the youth group.

I told them that we could just stay mad at this guy and hate him, which was easy. OR, we could ask God to help us to love him and CHOOSE to love him even though we didn't want to.

Somehow everyone agreed to try and love him! :)

We could never love this guy on our own. It wasn’t possible. We had to ask God to help us. And he did. As we made the choice to love him no matter what, God helped us to do it.

The change in him and in us was amazing! On Saturday night (the incident was on Friday), at the end of our altar time, this new student stood up and apologized to all of us!

The crazy thing is that we ended up really loving him, once we decided to let God help us.

I actually do love the guy still now. I care about him. He still calls me every once in awhile and I actually like hearing from him and talking to him.

And it was all because we chose extreme love, love that loves someone because they NEED it, not because they deserve it.

You know why should love people like this?

We owe it to God and other people to love them -- especially when they don’t deserve it -- because God loved us this way.

Look at verse 11

The word translated “ought” here means “owe” to be indebted to someone.

Matt. 5:43-47

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor F27 and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies F28 and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?"

Buzz Lightyear
My son, Will, loves this toy. (Push button to make him talk.) He plays with him all the time, he talks about him all the time and he wants to watch he movie everyday, over and over. Will even sleeps with this thing like it was a stuffed animal. He’s got 3 of them!

Do I love this toy? No. But I love Will. Because of that, I’ve wiped chocolate from Buzz'sface, I’ve made him fly in the air, I’ve searched around the house for him, all because Will loves him. I show the toy love because of Will.

On Friday, Will was handing me all 3 of his Buzz Lightyears and I jokingly threw them on the ground and said “No Buzz!” You know what happened?

Will started balling not just tears of sadness, but anger and pain. I actually hurt his feelings when I hurt what he cared about. I ended up telling Will that I was sorry and showed him that I love Buzz by giving him a hug.

We should show love to others if for no reason except for the fact that God loves them. When we show them love God is happy. When we hurt them God is hurt.

Look at verses 19-21.

We owe it God. He’s loved us not cause we deserved it, but because we needed it.
Now all he asks is for us to love others in the same way.

Not with the fake, imitation love that we see all around us, but with the rare, powerful kind of love that he has shown us.

Verse 12

When we love like God does, then people will see God in us and be drawn to us and ultimately.

This concept of the power of love has actually been written about in some recent secular books: “The Radical Leap” by Steve Farber and “Love Is The Killer App” by Tim Sanders

Tim Sander Definition of love in business…

“.. a manager of people, an owner of a business, or a colleague should take to heart that when we get up and go to work, no matter what we do, we're supposed to grow other people without expectations. That's love in business.”

Tim Sanders describes a certain kind of person he calls a Lovecat. This is what he says…

"A lovecat is a person, to me, that is committed to growth; the only rational thing they do is grow people. And they do it by sharing really value-added knowledge. They do it by giving away their network, a person, a relationship where it makes sense. And they do it by learning how to sense and respond to people that need their compassion. And they commit themselves to that. It's a lifestyle.

"The lovecat reads books X amount of hours a week. A lovecat spends X amount of time organizing a personal network, and going through different rituals to try to connect people. And a lovecat's always got the radar on for an opportunity to show love. It's a lifestyle."

Tim says we should give away… "sensibly sharing your intangibles - your knowledge, your network, your compassion."

In an interview, Steve Farber said this…

“business and leadership is really all about love.”

In his book he uses the acronym L.E.A.P. It stands for Love, Energy, Audacity and Proof.

He explains it through one of his characters like this…

“The Extreme Leader consciously and intentionally cultivates love in order to generate energy and inspire courageous audacity. And he or she must provide proof that it’s all been worthwhile; proof through the alignment between word and action; proof through standing up for what’s right; proof through measurable, tangible signs of progress; and proof through the experience of phenomenal success as well as glorious failure.”

He encourages people to fall in love again with what they do for a living, fall in love with the people they work with and fall in love with their customers.

Remember V. 7-8

“Whoever does not love, doesn’t know God, because He is love.”

We have to start loving the people that God brings along our path. We can do it. He’s shown us how and given us the ability if we let Him love others through us!

My challenge to you this week is this: Use Extreme love! Use it in 3 ways…

1. Pick 2 people that you know and choose to show them love this week in word and in action. Think about what they really need and give it to them. Share your knowledge, your encouragement and your friends with them. Don’t tell them that you’ve chosen them just do it. See what happens in them and in you.

2. Show love in words and in action to whoever crosses your path. Whenever you see anyone this week look for what’s loveable in them and help them feel your love towards them.

3. Pick one person you have a hard problem even liking. Choose to show them love in the way you talk and act towards them this week. Again, look for loveable things in them.

If you do even one of these things this week, I can almost guarantee this will happen:

You will feel different and so will the people you’re loving. You’ll feel better and so will they!

If you make this into a habit – a way of living, by continually saying “yes” to this way of living, then you will become more likeable than ever before, you’re become more influential, and you’ll be happier.

The best thing is that you’ll be more like your Father in heaven and you’ll be making the lives of the people around you better!

Start using you secret weapon and you will change yourself and change your world!

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The Power Of Yes and No

There is a power that God has given us that will determine what kind of life we have.

This power will determine your relationship with God and your relationship with others. It will decide what things you have in life and what things you experience in life – whether good or bad.

What is this power? It’s the power of Yes and No.

When God created us he created us with the ability to choose. We have free choice. He gave us free choice, because he wanted real love and real love doesn’t exist where there’s no freedom.

We have free choice in the smallest decisions like what to eat or wear and we have it in the largest decisions like whether we will choose Jesus or reject Him.

*What we say “Yes” to and “No” to will give us the life that we have now and in eternity.

That makes it sound easy. Just say “Yes” to the good things and “No” to the bad things. Right?

Here’s our problem….

It’s easier to say “Yes” to the things that are bad for us, than it is to say “Yes” to the things that are good for us.

EXAMPLE:
It’s easy to say yes to eating junk food and it’s hard to say yes to eating healthier food. No one ever says, “Man! I just ended up eating way to much healthy food today. I gotta start eating some snacks!

But our problem is deeper than that...

It’s harder to say “No” to the things that we SHOULD say “No” to, than for us to say “No” to the things that we shouldn’t say “No” to.

EXAMPLE:
It’s harder to say No to temptation, than it is to say No to reading our Bible. No one says, “Man I’ve just been finding too much time to spend with God. I really have to find some time to just relax and watch TV or listen to music.

Because these two facts are true, this is what ends up happening…

We end up saying “Yes” to what we should say “No” to and “No” to what we should say “Yes” to!

Turn with me in your Bibles to Matt. 7:13-14

Jesus talks about the gate that is wide and the road that is broad. It says they lead to destruction. This is the easy way that many choose. It’s the popular way to go.

Then he says there is another gate that is small and the road that is narrow, but it leads to life and this is the way that only a few find -- a few choose. This is the hard way – the unpopular way.

The thing that I recently realized is that these gates and roads aren’t traveled on by “footsteps”, but by “mindsteps” – choices.

The choices we make put us on either of these roads in life.

The things that are easy to say “yes” to and easy to say “no” to are many times the things that will put us on the broad road headed through the wide gate towards destruction.

The things that are hard to say “yes” to and easy to hard “no” to are many times the things that will put us on the narrow road headed through the small gate towards life.

Ed Hillenbrand said this...

"It's not a matter of can or cannot, it's a matter of will or will not, everything is a choice, choose wisely."

H.E. Fosdeck said...

"He who chooses the beginning of a road chooses the place it leads to. It is the means that determine the end. "

And finally, Kahlil Gibran said it this way...

"We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them."


Where are the steps you’re making, in your mind, leading you right now in your life? Which road are you on?

Here’s something else I thought about these two roads and the way we make choices in life…

People run from pain and they run towards pleasure. 99.9% of our choices are based on this fact.

We usually choose the things that we think will give us pleasure or protect us from pain. It’s like a natural survival mechanism.

But the problem is this…

This way of choosing is ultimately wrong! Why?

Many times the things that give us short term pleasure will ultimately lead to long term pain.

Many times the things that give us short term pain will ultimately lead to long term pleasure.

*That means that most of the time when we’re running towards pleasure and away from pain we’re running the wrong way!

Think about it…

• If you want to lose weight will your answer be found in temporary pain or temporary pleasure?
• Will weight loss come from eating everything you want when you desire it or from saying no to yourself and suffering a little?
• If you want to be muscular, like our governor Arnold, are you going to have to choose temporary pain or temporary pleasure?
• If you want to do well in school -- get straight A’s -- are you going to have to choose temporary pain or temporary pleasure?

You get the point. The lie out there, that we all want to be true, is that these things can come with no pain, no denial on our part! It’s just not true!

Jesus says the road that leads to life is found through gate that is small and on the road that is narrow.

It’s the hard way that’s why only a few choose or find it.

Jesus taught us this upside down way of thinking and living in Matt. 16:24-25

“24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

He says we must “deny ourselves”. That means say “No” temporarily to want we desire – to some pleasures.

He says “take up your cross” which means choosing temporary pain in exchange for eternal pleasure.

This is the secret he’s trying to teach us…

Lasting pleasure is many times hidden on the other side of temporary pain!

Do you know when a mother giraffe teaches her little giraffe babies to walk?

It is immediately after they are born. You really need to picture this…

These huge adult giraffes sometimes grow to 18 feet tall. Here she is, towering over this spindly little creature one-third her size trying its best to stand up on these skinny, wobbly legs and cannot.

Suddenly the mother backs up, comes running full speed and kicks the little giraffe and sends it flying.

The baby is sitting there dazed and confused.

Mom rares back again, lands another kick and once again junior goes flying. This can happen a number of times until this infant giraffe can get up before it's mother can knock it down!

Not exactly the kind of parent-child bonding we espouse. But, the result?

The baby giraffe learns to walk immediately.

Why does the mother do this? Because if this child does not walk, it will that day be lunch for a tiger, or dessert for a lion. The baby has to go through that pain in order to live.

Here's another story...

There’s a story of a scientist who was studying moths. And one day he was watching this one moth struggle to break out of its cocoon. After watching for awhile the scientist decided to help the poor moth.

He took some scissors and snipped the cocoon so the moth could slip out.

He thought he had just done a great thing for that moth until he looked closer and was shocked to see the moth. Where the moth’s wings were supposed to be were just curled up nubs.

The scientist then realized that by freeing this moth from temporary pain he cursed it to lasting pain. You see the pressure from the cocoon is what forces the fluid into a moth’s wings so they will expand to full size. By cutting the moth out of the cocoon stopped the process and now this moth would never fly.

• What temporary pleasure have you been saying “yes” to that is going to ultimately cause you lasting pain?
• What temporary pain do you need to run towards to prepare you to achieve that lasting happiness and pleasure God wants for you?

I’m not telling you that you can’t have any pleasure in life. Jesus said he came that we’d have life and have it to the full.

What I’m telling you is that the lasting pleasure you’re looking for is found in saying “yes” to things that might temporarily be hard and painful and no to the things that will really only satisfy for a moment.

There’s something that I’ve been learning about the power of Yes and No…

What I have today comes from the choices I made yesterday. What I will have tomorrow will come from the choices I make today.

I’ve been reading Genesis again recently.

When I got to the story of Noah this simple truth hit me: Noah had to build the Ark before the rain came! If he would have waited until the clouds started appearing or it started sprinkling, then it would have been too late!

He had to respond in the present and say “Yes” to God, so he would be prepared for what God had for him in the future. Faith requires response now to what is not yet.

The question I’m starting to ask myself is…

What can I do now to prepare for what I believe God wants to do? What can I say “Yes” to now to prepare for the future God has for me.


Habits
There’s something else about the power of “Yes” and “No” that I want to look at. It’s something that’s a relief and at the same time also warning.

Here it is…

It’s not, usually those things we say “Yes” or “No” to once that hurt or help us.

It’s the accumulation of “Yeses” or “Noes” that really matter.

THE FORMULA FOR FAILURE AND SUCCESS by Jim Rohn
(From the book The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle by Jim Rohn)

Jim Rohn says this...

“Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight. Failure is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. To put it more simply, failure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day.

"Now why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so foolish as to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she does not think that it matters.

"On their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A minor oversight, a poor decision, or a wasted hour generally doesn't result in an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, we escape from any immediate consequences of our deeds…”

He goes on to say this…

“Those who eat too many of the wrong foods are contributing to a future health problem, but the joy of the moment overshadows the consequence of the future. It does not seem to matter.

"Those who smoke too much or drink too much go on making these poor choices year after year after year... because it doesn't seem to matter. But the pain and regret of these errors in judgment have only been delayed for a future time.

"Consequences are seldom instant; instead, they accumulate until the inevitable day of reckoning finally arrives and the price must be paid for our poor choices – choices that didn't seem to matter.

"Failure's most dangerous attribute is its subtlety. In the short term those little errors don't seem to make any difference. We do not seem to be failing. In fact, sometimes these accumulated errors in judgment occur throughout a period of great joy and prosperity in our lives.

"Since nothing terrible happens to us, since there are no instant consequences to capture our attention, we simply drift from one day to the next, repeating the errors, thinking the wrong thoughts, listening to the wrong voices and making the wrong choices.

"The sky did not fall in on us yesterday; therefore the act was probably harmless. Since it seemed to have no measurable consequence, it is probably safe to repeat."

Cause and Effect
Here’s our problem: We want to live life without cause and effect. We want to say “Yes” to whatever we really want and only have good results.

We want to eat anything we want to and not gain weight. We want to not work out and be in shape. We want to not study and get and still get an “A”. We want to have sex without any regrets.

But that’s not the way life works! There ARE consequences for actions.

This is the first thing we teach kids. We tell them, "If you do ____, then ____ is going to happen."

The Bible says, “You reap what you sow.”

One day on the way home from church my son Jack asked me, "How many roads are there until we get home?" (He meant how many turns were there.) I said, "I think three or four." Jack's response was, "But I want there to be TWO roads!" I said, "I'm sorry buddy, but there's going to be at least three." And he repeated, "But I want there to be TWO roads!"

Adults are the same way.

We’re not any different than Jack. We’re just taller! We say “yes” to something we shouldn’t and then something bad happens and we complain to God.

But we have to face the same reality that Jack has to face.

Jim Rohn goes on to say this about success…

“Now here is the great news. Just like the formula for failure, the formula for success is easy to follow: It's a few simple disciplines practiced every day..."

"… what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes every day to look a little further down the road? We would then be able to foresee the impending consequences of our current conduct. Armed with that valuable information, we would be able to take the necessary action to change our errors into new success-oriented disciplines.

"In other words, by disciplining ourselves to see the future in advance, we would be able to change our thinking, amend our errors and develop new habits to replace the old. "

Our yeses and noes overtime become habits. They become automatic responses.

Proverbs 5:21-23
"21 For a man's ways (habits) are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths (entrenchment, track). 22 The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. 23 He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly. "

The more I say “yes” to something the easier it becomes to say “Yes”. The more I say “No” to something the easier it becomes to say No.

The scary thing is this is true whether the thing we’re saying yes or no to is good or bad.

A Spanish proverb puts it this way...

"Habits are first cobwebs, then cables."

They start out being easy to break and as time goes on grow to almost being impossible to break!

They say that up to 90% of our normal behavior is based on habits. That means the way you dress, get ready, eat breakfast, brush your teeth, and a ton of other things are all based on habits.

I Corinthian 6:12 says...

"'Everything is permissible for me' - but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible for me' - but I will not be mastered by anything. We have so much freedom in Christ, but we need to make sure that we don’t use that freedom to enslave ourselves again. "

There's a story of how to break a habit…

An elderly teacher, with a pupil by his side, took a walk through a forest. Suddenly he stopped and pointed to four plants close at hand.

The first was just beginning to peep above the ground, the second had rooted itself pretty well into the earth, the third was a small shrub, while the fourth was a full-sized tree.

The tutor said to his young companion, "Pull up the first plant." The boy did so eagerly, using only his fingers.

"Now pull up the second." The youth obeyed but found the task more difficult.

"Do the same with the third," he urged. The boy had to use all his strength to uproot it.

"Now," said the instructor, "try your hand with the fourth." The pupil put his arms around the trunk of the tall tree and couldn't even shake its leaves.

"This, my son, is just what happens with our bad habits. When they are young, we can remove them readily; but when they are old, it's hard to uproot them, though we pray and struggle ever so sincerely."

--

Our yeses and noes can become habits that will either trap us or free us, so we need to be careful with what habits we’re feeding.

I know this might sound morbid, but I’ve been trying to ask myself this question…

What minor, small habit of mine will one day kill me?

Today is the day to begin breaking old habits that you’ve been saying yes to for years. It all starts with the first No.

Today is the day to start new habits that will change our life for the better. It all starts with that first yes.

The power of these two simple words “yes” and “no” to destroy our lives or bless our lives is incredible. It’s frightening!

And the scariest thing is that our yeses and noes will ultimately effect our eternity.

So what do we do?

I don’t know about you, but I know myself and I know that dumb enough, weak enough, and short sighted enough that I have the serious chance of destroying everything I have. If I don’t do something to guard my choices, then I'm in trouble.

There’s only two things we can do to help us say “Yes” to the right things and “no” to the right things.

Walk with Jesus – He will show me what to say “no” to and what to say “yes” to. Not only that, if I rely on him, then he will give me the strength to do it!

Walk with others – You need friends who will encourage you to make the right choices, help you make them, and get on you when you make the wrong ones!

The consequences of Yes and No are too large to trust our own wisdom and willpower. If we’re going to make it in life. Walking with God and others on this journey is not an option.

The Power Of Together

(This message was spoken on Feb. 13th 2005)

If you’re like most people, you want to achieve something significant, something meaningful with your life.

You want your life to matter.

Well, I have the way for you to achieve that. It’s found in one word and the word is: Together.

This is a fact: God has created us so we can’t achieve anything significant, anything of meaning on your own.

It will only happen when you’re with someone together.

Harvey Mackay in his book “Dig Your Well Before Your Thirsty” says, “If I had to name the single characteristic shared by all truly successful people I’ve met over a lifetime, I’d say it is the ability to create and nurture a network of contacts.”

He goes on to say...

"No matter how smart you are, no matter how talented, you can't do it alone."

Redwood trees are amazing creations.

They are the largest living things on earth and the tallest trees in the world. Some of them are 300 feet high and more than 2,500 years old.

You would think that trees that large would have a tremendous root system, reaching down hundreds of feet into the earth. But they don’t.

Redwoods actually have a very shallow root system. They're secret to being able to grow so tall and resist the winds and storms? The roots of these trees are intertwined.

They are tied in with each other; interlocked.

So when the storms come and the winds blow the redwoods still stand. Redwood trees are a physical example of "the power of together."

Many people miss out on what the church is supposed to be. And that’s my biggest fear for us! They settle for a service – a weekly event, but they never experience the real power of the church in their life.

The real power of the church is not as a place, a program or time, but it’s the church as a group of diverse friends united in love and purpose.

Today I want to show you one of the most powerful analogies that God gives us in his word for what he dreams for us to be.

When we start living out this analogy will help us to achieve things that have significance, things that are meaningful, to as we talked about last week have an influence on eternity!

Hear the message below:

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The Secret To More

(This message was spoken on Feb. 6th 2005)

More. This one word describes what most people are constantly trying to do and get.

We live in a culture that’s never satisfied. People always want more. People are constantly trying to figure out how to do more.

Well, this might be a surprise to you, but this word “more” describes what God’s trying to do in you and through you your whole life.

This might sound weird, but there’s a way that you can actually do more than you’re able and have more power and wisdom than you really possess. There’s a way to produce more in your life than you ever have before.

But we the way to see this happen probably isn’t what you think. It’s not about trying harder, praying more, or anything like that.

What I want to talk to you about is what one theology book called, “…the key to the believer’s whole Christian life.”

We’re going to look at 8 verses where Jesus reveals the only way to really live a successful life as a believer.

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The Dangers Of A Busy Life

(Remember this message was spoken on Jan. 30th 2005)

It’s the beginning of a new year.

When you look back on this year what will it be like?

2005 could be the best year you’ve ever had or it could be the worst.

It could be the year that grow the most and become more of who you were created to be OR it could be a year where you stay the same and you’re the same person next year that you are right now.

And you know what?

The scary thing is that there’s ONE THING that’s going to decide what kind of year it’s like…

And that one thing is: What you do with the time you have.

Do you know how many hours you have this year?

Let's say that most of us here get 8 hours of sleep that leaves us 16 hours a day.

That means you have 349 days left starting tomorrow (this was on Jan. 30th).

That means you have 5,360 hours this year.

What you do with those 5,360 hours is going to determine what you accomplish and who you become this year!

Arnold Bennett “How To Live On 24 Hours A Day” said this...

“Philosophers have explained space. They have not explained time. It is the inexplicable raw material of everything. With it, all is possible; without it, nothing. The supply of time is truly a daily miracle, an affair genuinely astonishing when one examines it. You wake up in the morning, and lo! your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life! It is yours. It is the most precious of possessions..."

He goes on to say…

“…you cannot draw on the future. Impossible to get into debt! You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste to- morrow; it is kept for you. You cannot waste the next hour; it is kept for you."

Then he says…

“You have to live on this twenty-four hours of daily time. Out of it you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect, and the evolution of your immortal soul. Its right use, its most effective use, is a matter of the highest urgency and of the most thrilling actuality. All depends on that. Your happiness--the elusive prize that you are all clutching for, my friends!-- depends on that.”

There’s something that threatens our time this year. It’s something that we all deal with daily.
It’s something that seems to be getting worse and worse each year.

What is it? It’s busyness.

We live in a high tech time where we keep getting promised that we’re going to have more and more time, but we seem to have less and less!

“Time is the scarcest resource, and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed," said Peter Drucker.

Busyness is a dangerous thing. Here’s why:

• Busyness has the potential to rob you of what you could become.
  It has the potential to distract you from doing the things that would really matter most in your life and instead get you to focus on the things that urgent, but really don’t matter.
• It has the ability to get you so focused on doing that you miss out being.
• It can cause you to miss out on the most important things: your relationships with God and others.
• It’ll cause you to miss opportunities that come your way this year, because you’re so overbooked you end up with no time for them.

And if you don’t guard yourself from busyness, all these things will happen and more.

I don’t want that to happen to you this year. I don’t want you to waste this year. I want you to use every minute of it you can, so that you become more of who God created you to be.
I want that for me too!

Today I want to look in 3 places in the Bible that will help us to defend ourselves against the dangers of busyness.

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