If you are a follower of Christ, you probably said yes almost mindlessly, without even thinking about it.  Our loyalty to Christ almost demands we say yes, but why?  I think the answer is yes, but you still have to ask why?  Why would it still be worth it to follow Christ even if our eternity wasn’t affected by it?

This Sunday, I will explore the answer to this question as well as bring answers to…  What is the kingdom of God?  And, What is the key to Happiness?

Don’t miss this Sunday as we kick off one of the most important message series I’ve ever tackled.  Happyology!

I said this on Sunday and I want to take this opportunity to say it again:  The moment of salvation is the greatest miracle that can take place.  The transformation of the human heart is a miracle greater than any other.  Sometimes we place a higher value on healing or supernatural phenomenon but the Bible is clear:  When just one person repents and turns toward Christ, there is rejoicing in Heaven.  Don’t get me wrong, all miracles are great and we should be thankful but it is salvation that get me excited.  Thank you so much JTV for being apart of the miracle.  Your prayers are important, your giving is important, your inviting people to church is important and together we get to celebrate and rejoice.  I hope you are sharing in my excitement!

My answer was this:  I think that God allows the earth to tremble and quake the same way He allows us to make our own decisions.  What most people don’t know is that the earth is fallen the same way that mankind is fallen.  When Adam and Eve were cursed by sin, so was the earth.  If you read the account in Genesis 3, you will notice that the earth changes.

Another interesting scripture is found in Romans 8…

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

The Bible says that the earth is groaning as in the pain of childbirth.  Jesus says in Matthew 24:7-8, that in the last days the earth will quake and these would be the signs of the end.  But He also says else something interesting – that we should not be alarmed.  If there is anything that I can encourage you with, it’s this:  God is in control.  So while there may be earthquakes, tsunamis, wars or rumors of wars.  God is still in control.  I guess the main question would be…  Have you surrendered control of your life to Him?

• Honesty – if a person is on the shady side, they are a no go.
• Ladies, if a guy doesn’t open the door for you it may be a red flag.  He might get a pass if you think he doesn’t know any better but opening the door is a sign that he has a high value of women.
• If a person has some questionable friends, that’s a red flag.  Momma was right when she said, “You can tell alot about a person by the company they keep.”  That is a biblical principle.
• If they come off as critical, controlling or jealous, slow down, red flags are everywhere.  It is the indicator that they are not ready to date yet.
• THE ULTIMATE STANDARD for any follower of Christ is this:  Don’t date anyone who does not know and love Jesus.  2 Corinthians 6:14 makes it clear that when we partner together is serious relationship with someone who does not follow Jesus, we are heading off path.

LAST NUGGET:  Your standards are a based on your perception of what your worth is. If you believe that you have no worth then you will have no standards.  If you believe you have low worth, you will have low standards.  But if you realize that Christ gave His life for your, you will know that you have great value and will therefore have high standards or should I say Godly standards.

The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. Genesis 2:18-19

So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man. Genesis 2:20-22

• God made man first.

Don’t worry ladies, that doesn’t make us any better or more valuable, it just makes us different.  We have different roles and goals as men and God has given us different responsibilities.

• Man ordered his world with God before woman was created.

One of the biggest temptations for men is this:  ”I can do it on my own.”

• Man was sleeping when relationship began.

Sorry ladies, we were asleep when God created you and we obviously missed out on some things so please be patient.  Men, you need to wake yourself up to your wife’s needs.  Being asleep when she was made doesn’t give you an excuse, it just means you need to do some catching up.

• The Origin of Man is Leadership

In the beginning, God created man to work, have dominion, take care of the garden, order his world, name the animals.  All in all, God made man to be the primary leader on planet earth.  This is our design, it is in our DNA.

Many times, the leader is not the smartest, most talented or the strongest;  he is simply the one with the most courage.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Genesis 3:6

• The first sin of man was passivity.

We were given the gift and responsibility of leadership but in the most crucial moment we dropped the ball.  Instead of leading his wife, Adam stood by and did nothing.  But let me give you some encouragement:  IN CHRIST, WE GET IT BACK.  The Bible clearly challenges us to take up the responsibility of leadership in the areas of our marriage, children and our church.  Remember:  THERE IS A LEADER INSIDE OF YOU.  You don’t have to wonder anymore, you can just know that it’s in you by God’s design.

Here is what I mean.  If you look up dating in the Bible, you can’t find it.  There is no, “Thou shalt” or “Thou shalt not”.  There is no, “Thus saith the Lord” on the subject of dating.  WHY?  Because dating is cultural.  Anything that is cultural is optional.  We only FEEL like we have to date because of what culture has influenced us to think.  For guys it’s something like, “If you can’t get a date it’s because you’re not the man.”  For girls it’s, “Well maybe you’re not pretty enough.”  or “You’re just not datable.”  We take these thoughts and force ourselves into the cultural phenomenon called dating (remember, dating is a new thing.  most of human history marriages were arranged.)

But here is the NEW THEORY:  what if you didn’t date?  What if you just pursued God and His plan for your life and in the process of that life allowed God to bring the right person into your path?

LADIES:  The Bible says that if a man FINDS a wife, he finds a good thing.  So here is what I’m saying.  You love Jesus.  You pursue His plan for your life and just let the right guy find you.

GUYS:  Be the right guy.  Develop your character.  Pursed God’s plan for your life and I promise He will bring the right girl along.

Dating is not wrong or sinful (although a lot of sinning goes on in dating).  But dating might not be the best thing for you so just remember, you don’t have to.

In Matthew 18, Jesus says, “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.  It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.”  This is a pretty radical and even gruesome statement.  And while I don’t believe that this was a literal prescription for dealing with sin, I do believe that Jesus wanted us to take radical steps for dealing with sin.

• If you know you struggle with pornography – get rid of the internet.  Trust me Facebook is not that important.
• If being around people drinking alcohol will make you stumble – Stay away from the bar.
• If you there’s a possibility that you’ll hook up with that guy or girl – don’t go out with them.  Your relationship with God is more important than the relationship you have with that person, I promise.
• If you know you are tempted to do drugs – don’t hang out with people doing drugs.  Unless you have a “special garden” in your basement, the only way you can do drugs is to be around people who have drugs.  The radical approach is to cut off those people from your life no matter how hard that might be.
• If playing gold makes you cuss like a drunk sailor – take up knitting.  OK, maybe I’m a little off on this one.

The main point is this:  Sin may be fun for a moment but hell last for eternity.  There is no sin that compares to God’s plan for your life or the eternal joy that will be experienced in Heaven.  Keep your eyes focused on eternity and when you do fall, repent and turn to Christ.

In case you didn’t know.  A massive, 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Tuesday, January 12th.  Tens of thousands of people are without food, water, shelter or medical supplies.  JTV has decided to partner with World Vision to help the people of Haiti.  Through your donations we were able to help send food, clean water, blankets, and tents — to children and families devastated by the earthquake.

If you missed this past Sunday but would still like to help, please go directly to worldvision.org and you will be one click away from making a difference.  If you have already given , then please put the people Haiti in your prayers.

Again, thanks to all you great JTVers who gave this past Sunday.

I’ve always believed that salvation was NOT about knowing Bible stories, being a good person, singing some songs and listening to sermons.  But sometimes I’ve been challenged in my own heart with this question, “Do I know God?”  But even that is a incomplete question.  Jesus didn’t say that you get into Heaven if you know God, it was the other way around.  Many of us fall into the trap of trying to know alot about God, and while that’s good, it’s not everything.  Some of us know about God the way celebrity junkies know about their favorite actor or singer.  We know where they were born, how old they are, what there dog’s name is and there favorite flavor of ice cream.  But that doesn’t mean that the celebrity knows you.  If you ran into them on the street, they would have know clue who you were.

These 2 scriptures have it reversed…  DOES GOD KNOW YOU?  That is the real question.  For some of us, that’s a hard concept.  We say, “I thought God knew everything.  Of course he knows me.”  But that is clearly not what Jesus is referring to.  ENTER NATHANAEL…

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.  Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”         – JOHN 1:47-48

Nathanael asks Jesus that powerful question, “How do you know me?”  And in Jesus’ response, I hope there is a true answer.  The type of answer that sets you free, that makes a light-bulb pop on top of your head, that leaves you feeling like you just found buried treasure.  Jesus’ reply, “I saw you while you were sitting under the fig tree.”  At first glance there is not much to this answer until you dig a little deeper into history and culture.  You see, the fig tree was a where Rabbis’ would take there students to teach them and a place where the students would go on there own to have prayer and study with God.  THE FIG TREE WAS A SPIRITUAL HIDEAWAY FOR PURSUING GOD.

The way that God knows who we are is by us opening up our lives to HIM and inviting Him in to the problems, issues, dilemmas, joys, experiences, emotions and thoughts of our life.  When we express to Him our deepest pains and desires.  When we invite Him into every aspect of our lives, not just Sunday morning or when we need something.  God is waiting on us to find a fig tree and get under it, and while under a fig tree pursue knowing Him and open our lives up so that He can know us.

I’ve been challenged to spend more time under a fig tree, I hope you’ll do the same.