The Opposite Way: Study on the Beatitudes

The Opposite Way: Week 5

Open: This Kanye West quote is the essence of hypocrisy and arrogance, not to mention the Rolling Stone cover below. He said in a Time Magazine interview...
“My goal all along was to be praised and talked about until I reached a level of total contentment with who I am and where I belong in the world, and on Friday night of last week, I reached that level,” said West, standing outside the screen door of his home in a pair of khaki slacks and a plain gray work shirt. “I finally feel satisfied and whole as a human being, which means I can stop being a famous pop star now.”
“So I just want to say thank you to everyone who bolstered my self-esteem by showering me with so much acclaim,” added West, sweeping some dust from his front porch. “Because it worked. I’m good to go.”

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. "This, then, is how you should pray:

"'Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.' (Matthew 6:1-13 NIV)

1. The Opposite Way is sincerity in giving
To be sincere givers we have to practice it. Give stuff away to your best friends. Swap your favorite thing with one of your close friends. What are you doing so that the grip of materialism is being broken in your life? You won't break the power of materialism by getting and keeping more stuff for yourself.

2. The Opposite Way is sincerity in prayer
Prayer is to be done authentically. Not with lots and lots of words or repetition. Just telling God what you feel and what you need, and how holy He is and how thankful we are

I got a phone call from someone recently with a wrong number. This guy who called me was looking for Marco. It was pretty funny how he thought that Marco had to be at this number.  He called back several times asking for Marco. I guess he thought he might all of a sudden get through to Marco by talking a lot.after telling this guy four times that he had the wrong number to check it and not call back again he started to text me asking for Marco. Here is how the text conversation went...

Caller: did u took marcos sell phone? Oh I sorry dis wrong number
Me: No I didn't "took" Marcos "sell" phone. This has been my cell phone number for two years you might want to go talk to Marcos and ask him what his cell phone number is. Please don't call back or text this number anymore
Caller: Half shortie call. Me
Me: STOP texting me "half shortie" or whatever
Caller: I sorry..nu 2 da sell phones..dis wrong number. Dis not marcos sell? Sorry
Me: NO STOP TEXTING ME or I call the cops
Caller: I don't nead no po pos comin round hear. I Ben pressing wrong number SORRY mista

In prayer we don't just keep talking and eventually get through to God like this guy who called me.  He kept trying to talk and thought that through his talking more he would get through to Marco. With God it is much different. We must pray in sincerity to ever draw near to Him. 

Here are some things to pray for...
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6:18-20 NIV)

Take a moment now to pray and thank God for how great he is. Tell Him truthfully, and authentically how grateful and thankful you are for what he has done for you in Jesus, and thank Him for how He blesses you everyday.

The Opposite Way: Study on the Beatitudes

The Opposite Way: Week 6

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? "And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:19-34 NASB)

Open: Does wealth and fame make you happy? Why or why not and give an example.
This is a video of Tom Brady video "there's gotta be more than this?" He has won three super bowls 2 times the super bowl MVP. He will make in 2011 $18 million dollars for an 18 week season with 16 regular season games. That's $1,125,000 per game. He is married to Gisselle a supermodel who is the most successful model in history banking $33 million. And this is his life. He says in this video "There's gotta be more than this". Check it out


1. The Opposite Way is serving God over Wealth
What are some examples of people serving wealth in our culture?
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Matthew 6:24 NASB)

2. The Opposite Way is freedom from Worry
Are the things Jesus says we worry in the passage below actually the same things we really worry about? Are they worth worrying about? Does worry do anything for us?
"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6:25 NASB)

Close: Francis Chan "the new Middle Road" Describes the way most people think about religion or faith or living the Christian life and he concludes that the christian faith is meant to be lived radically and wholly, There is no middle road, just a narrow one in which we follow Christ, or a wide road that leads to destruction.

 

The Opposite Way: Study on the Beatitudes

The Opposite Way: Week 4

"You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48 NASB)

Jesus shows us the opposite way in the Beatitudes...

1. The opposite way is to love your enemies

It's easy to love your family when they are so awesome
Lydia when she said sensory is in the house.
"daddy your handsome"
I was taking my daughter Lydia to the potty at target the other day.  That is the best place to have deep discussions in the mens room at Target.  She looked up at me and said..."Daddy your my sister"... I thought for a minute and said, "No, your my daughter, and I have a sister and two brothers". Lydia looked at me and pushed her poopie out and said, "Oh, good job daddy". It's real easy to love family, but it is a lot harder to love those people who you could call your enemies. A few years ago I got a call from someone who was going on a missions trip with a group from our church.  He was not able to go with us in the end, so I called him to tell him details about his ticket and he then began to attack my and my wife's leadership.  I have to say it was real hard to love him, and in all honesty when he started to attack my wife I think I lost love for him.Do we really love our enemies as Jesus asks us to here?  It is a hard standard, but that is the goal as Jesus has given us. 
What are some ideas to love your enemies. Jesus gives us practical ideas. He says we should pray for them, and greet them. It is hard to greet someone warmly and hate them.  It is also very hard to pray for someone and hate them you actually grow to love them after all. Some other things you could do is surprise them with something good. Be kind to them. Help them in some practical way.

2. The opposite way is to be perfect (morally)
Have you ever tried to stack three balls on top of each other? it is pretty much impossible. or have you ever tried to bounce quarters off a table into a water jug from an office building water cooler? Don't worry I will save you the time...it is impossible you could do it a million times and not get a quarter in there. That is why they have it as the million dollar challenge on the game show Minute to Win it, because no one can do it!
The same goes for being morally perfect. It is impossible we cannot be perfect!
This is impossible because the Bible says that no one is perfect
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23 NASB)
All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. (Isaiah 53:6 NASB)
1. So how can we be perfect?
2. Jesus was the only man to be perfect
3. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15, 16 NASB)
4. We cannot be perfect that is why we need a perfect replacement. And Jesus is that. He lived the life we should have lived and died the death we deserve so that He could rise from the dead on the third day to conquer our sins and all we have to do is as Romans 10:9 says, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." (Romans 10:9-11 NASB)

If you chose this counter-cultural way that Jesus describes in these few verses from the beatitudes you will be going the opposite way! He will and will continue to make all things new in you! Please feel free to worship now the God who makes all things new. Below Elevation worship band sings "Making All Things New"

The Opposite Way: Study on the Beatitudes

The Opposite Way: Week 3
The Beatitudes
Jesus shows us the countercultural way of life in Christ in the Beatitudes

My wife recently found a shed to purchase from Craigslist so I went to pick it up.  It was quite an adventure. We went to Point Richmond it is basically the furthest point out in the San Francisco Bay befor you get to water.  It was pretty crazy to get to, but we eventually found the guy he lives on a house boat in the bay and was selling us his storage shed. we must have strapped it down the wrong way becasue once we go on the freeway home it started to act more like a sail than a shed. It was floating from side to side in the truck bed most of the time. I realized that doing stuff the wrong way doesn't work but Jesus explains to us how to go the opposite way of our culture and it actually is the right thing to do and the way of most blessing. Here is what he says...

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:9-12 NASB)

1. The opposite way is purity

- Proverbs 23:7 says "as a man thinks in his heart so is he" Here are a few questions to ask ourselves to keep our thought life pure

- Where do our minds wander when we have no duties to perform?

- What are we reading? Are there books or magazines or files in our libraries that we want no one else to see?

- What are we renting at the local video stores, iTunes, Netflix, and YouTube? What are we spending our time viewing and doing online How many hours do we spend watching TV, etc?

- Is anyone holding you accountable? Use accountability!

2. The opposite way is Peacemaking

I met a young High School student who told me last year that he had been in like over 30 fights.I was pretty surprised and told him my story of how aggressive and angry I was also as a young man and tried to explain the way of peace to him, but he just could not get it. I found out later that he had dropped out of school and is in real trouble with the law and just not doing very good in his life heading in the wrong direction becasue he rejects the way of peace. do you reject the way of peace. If you do not pursue peacemaking then maybe you are actually rejecting the way of peace that Jesus calls us to. Here are a few practical ways to be peacemakers in our culture...
1. Be generous with your smiles.
2. Be kind.
3. Be honest
4. Think about consequences
5. Be fair.
6. Be more loving.
7. Be a voice for the voiceless.
8. Be forgiving.
9. Play with a child.
10. Sing.
11. Learn about another culture.
12. Help someone.
13. Breathe deeply.
14. Be constructive.
15. Let someone else go first.
16. Share.
17. Be a good neighbor.
18. Send a note of appreciation.
19. Tell your friends how much they matter.
20. Say "I love you" more.
21. Respect the dignity of each person.
22. Be a good friend.
23. Send flowers to someone
24. Lose an argument to a loved one.
25. Value diversity.

3. The opposite way is Persecution

You might be called to suffer for Jesus name. Will you be ready? I attended Columbia International University in college.  I was a resident of Memorial dorm. The dorm was a memorial to students who had attended CIU and had given their lives for the cause of Christ . Chet Bitterman was one of those men. 

Chet Bitterman Missionary to Colombia, South America

He said in relation to dying for Christ, "I am willing." Every day I walked out of memorial dorm and prayed that I would be ready and willing to suffer for his name like Chet Bitterman. So not if but WHEN you suffer you can and should rejoice that it has been allowed for your good and Gods glory!

The Opposite Way: Study on the Beatitudes

The Opposite Way: Week 2
The Beatitudes
Jesus shows us the countercultural way of life in Christ in the Beatitudes

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:6-8 NASB)

Open: what is blessing? It is more than asking a blessing over your meal before you eat. Check out this hilarious video "PRE-BLESSED FOOD"

Being blessed means "inheriting the kingdom of heaven, being comforted, inheriting the earth, being satisfied, receiving mercy, seeing God, being called sons of God, your reward in heaven is great. This is the type of blessing we should seek. It is counter-cultural to seek blessing that is not monetary or tangible in this life.

1. Opposite way is hungering and thirsting for righteousness
Righteousness is doing what is right just as Jesus did. Here is a Righteousness test: "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:8 NASB)
If you can say you do these things in every situation then you are righteous. We cannot do these things all the time but we can seek them.

2. Opposite way is being merciful
Mercy is receiving what we do not deserve. The feeling that motivates compassion. Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity continued to grow during her life-time, and at the time of her death, they had 610 missions in 123 countries, including hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy, and tuberculosis. They offered soup kitchens, children's and family counseling programs, orphanages, and schools. We can say that Mother Teresa practiced mercy to the most needy.

Mercy, detached from Justice, grows unmerciful.-- CS Lewis

This also is a good test to see if you are practicing mercy...
"Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:16, 17 NASB)



3. Opposite way is seeking purity
Seeking to be unstained by sin

My brother was made fun of for seeking purity and not looking at pornography and partying in middle school. He told the guys who made fun if him, "the Holy Spirit lives in my body and i don't want to make him feel uncomfortable."WOW! do we seek purity to this extent that we think of the Holy Spirit and his presence with us always. When we do we will finally be going the opposite way.

The Opposite Way: Study on the Beatitudes

The Opposite Way: Week 1
The beatitudes:
Jesus shows us the opposite way to live a countercultural life in the beatitudes.

Open: when Simone and i were on our honeymoon we took a short trip to Prague. We found ourselves going the opposite way on a tram street. That was not a good thing and We could have been really hurt, but going the opposite way of Jesus is a good thing and it will be the best thing for you to follow the countercultural way of Christ.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
"Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:3-12 NASB)

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit. (Blessed are the spiritually needy)
The world says that you are blessed when you can see the blessing. "The haves and the have nots". Jesus shows the opposite way is the way of need and spiritual poverty. We are blessed and filled if we are needy spiritually. If we are self sufficient and don't lean on the Lord for our spiritual filling, then we have everything we need already.This is a movie that came out a while ago about greed and envy and how we as people ar typically not satisfied with what we have. Are you satisfied only always in Christ are you in need of him and only him or are you in need of things of this world?

The degree of our reliance on God is directly proportional to the degree of His filling. An illustration of this could be three different sized cups from small sized to large sized they all three show us from their size their capacity to be filled. Some with more water some with less. For us those who have greater spiritual need can be filled by God with greater capacity much like the bigger cup.

2. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted (cry, weep, wail, grieve, sorrow, suffer)
Our world says blessed are those who are happy all the time having fun, doing enjoyable stuff, having great vacations, never being sad, etc.

What type of stuff do we typically mourn for? Are they always the type of things we should be mourning for? What has God said we should mourn for.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; (2 Corinthians 1:3-6 NASB)

3. Blessed are the Gentle for they shall inherit the earth (meek, lowly modest, small, humble)
Praupatheia is the Greek word here for gentleness. It could also be translated composure in the face of wrongs, Ignatius calls it a virtue that all believers should acquire.
"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:29, 30 NASB)
The world says that the strong rule! The go getters, the athletes, the powerful, the leaders, the good looking, But Christ says the opposite way is becoming more and more gentle.
I met a student at the local high school where I minister who said he had gotten in like 50 fights. I tried to explain my story of how I had also been an angry guy and gotten in a lot of fights but I had found the opposite way of gentleness and peace and he just couldnt get it.
Christ's counterculture way could even maybe be dangerous because the world is aggressive and violent, and we should be gentle, needy, and sad or mournful. Are you ready to follow Christ's countercultural opposite way?