Posts by Chris Francis

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My Book Reviews for 2023

A few years ago, I had the idea to share the books I've read during the year. I didn't do it. A couple years ago someone suggested I share books I'm reading. I didn't do that, either. This year the idea came back, so I'm gonna' do it. The following are books I've read this year. All kinds. You may or may not be interested in them. You may or may not like them the same wa...

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Seven Prayers For Our Christmas Missions Offering

This Sunday we are taking our special Christmas offering. It's the only time of year we take a second offering and seek to give beyond what we give to the general fund (this year would be an exception to that rule, since we did a massive building fund-raiser). Zero dollars of this offering goes to True Life Church, its ministries, its equipment, its staff, its admin...

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If Jesus Rose, Then He's Always Working, And Then We Can Always Give Thanks

Let me state up front that I don't believe one has to be a Christian to feel thankful or to give thanks (in fact, I know non-Christians who are far more grateful in their general disposition than are certain grumpy Christians I've met). But I do want to make the argument that Jesus-followers should be more thankful when we consider what our faith is based on: the resurrec...

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Final Appeals On Election Day

I just voted. And I hope the people I voted for win. As most people in True Life know, I have never felt a release from God to endorse a candidate or party as the pastor from the platform. But as a Christian, as a member of True Life, and as a member of society - I am willing to explain to anyone my thought process for why I voted the way I did (as I have already). Howe...

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Come to Him, Weary One

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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 ‭11‬:‭28‬-‭30‬ ‭ I was talking to a Jewish person recently who was sharing how tired he was of the commands t...

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When Someone Is Offended By You

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift." - Matthew 5:23 This is not an explicitly traditional "Lent" passage, but hang tight and I'll show you how it ties in. During our...

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And They Praised God Because of Me

And they praised God because of me. - ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1‬:‭24‬ Paul wrote this to the Galatian church when he was recounting his testimony. Jesus got hold of his heart, then he spent some time with Peter and James, and then: Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: "The ...

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7 Reasons To Fast With Us During Lent

We are going to be fasting on Thursdays for the month of Lent. Here are seven reasons to join us: Fasting fights against food idolatry. Fasting is a way to fight against eating as a source of comfort or escape. It's a way of declaring, "As much as I want food right now, I want YOU, Jesus, even more!" Fasting reminds us we do not belong to this world. Sometimes w...

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What Does It Mean To "Be Filled With The Spirit?"

The apostle Paul said in Ephesian 5:18 "Do not get drunk on wine,which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit..." To Christians who already had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, Paul says to be filled with the Spirit. In the Greek, it has the idea of a continual present tense, sort of like "continually be getting filled with the Spirit." In this past Sun...

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The WHY and WHAT of Giving Thanks

16Rejoice always,17pray continually, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 We often worry about discovering God's will. Who should I marry? What town should I live in? Where should I go to college? Those are certainly important questions, but the bible is not exactly black white on them. Scripture i...

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My Introduction to Emotionally Healthy Spirituality From 2009

Below are my notes from Peter Scazzero's teaching at session 4 of the CMA conference on October 20, 2009. EMOTIONAL HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL MATURITY Like the iceberg that is 1/10 above water and 9/10 below the surface, what we see in the average Christian's life is only 1/10 of their spirituality. There is much more below the surface (fears, insecurities, hurts, etc.) that...

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Praying and Mourning For the Atrocities in Israel, Update on the Missionaries We Support There, and

This past Sunday Pastor Rigo prayed for Israel and for the missionaries we support there (join that prayer here). At the time, I only knew there had been an attack, but I was in Ocean City all day Saturday and didn't have a chance to really take in what was going on until after service on Sunday. I thought it was another exchange of fire across Gaza like in 2021. But t...

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Proverbs 29: When You Need Justice

Many seek audience with a ruler, but it is from the Lord that one gets justice. - Proverbs 29:26 - Injustice abounds all around us. And when we are feeling fed up with it, when it affects us personlly, then we look for solutions. We look for something - or someone - to put our hope in. It's normal to look to kings and presidents and governors and policies. And I don't th...

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Proverbs 26: It Might Actually Be You

As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife. -‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭26‬:‭201‬ ‭ If you are in constant conflict with people, if you regularly find yourself in the middle of some kind of drama, there is a chance that there is some kind of strategic spiriual attack on your life. But there is also a good chance that you a...

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Proverbs 25: A Few Thoughts

Do not exalt yourself in the king's presence, and do not claim a place among his great men; it is better for him to say to you, "Come up here," than for him to humiliate you before his nobles." - ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭25‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬ This proverb is not saying it's wrong to be recognized or seen as important. But it is saying that it's wrong to be motiva...

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Proverbs 22: My Questions About Hot-Tempered People

Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person; do not not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared. - Proverbs 22:24 I have more questions than answers on this one. Maybe you all could share your thoughts in the comment section? Is this saying that being hot-tempered is contagious? That those who are easily angered rub o...

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Proverbs 19: The Wise Overlook Offenses and Lend God Their Money

A person's wisdom yields patience; it is to one's glory to overlook an offense. - Proverbs 19:11 When I was younger, I got picked on a lot. Eventually, I told myself I would not let anyone get away with it ever again, and so I started fighting back. But I took it too far. It went to such an extreme that if one of my friends jokingly gave me a charlie horse in between cl...

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Proverbs 17: How Is God Purifying You Right Now?

The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,but the Lord tests the heart. - Proverbs 17:3 The idea of testing here is not about grading the heart; it's about refining the heart. When gold is put through fire, impurities rise to the surface so they can be scraped off, and then the gold is purified. Likewise,the Lord puts the heart through a kind of testing that bring...

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Proverbs 14: Where Has Envy Robbed You?

"A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." - Proverbs 14: Envy is a focus on what we don't have, on what we think we should have, and it ends up stealing from us. Seems kind of ironic. The more content we are with what we have, the more we gain in satisfaction. The more focused we are on what we don't have, the little satisfation we have is ...

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Proverbs 11: The Secret to A Refreshed Soul

One person gives freely, yet gains even more;another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper;whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. - Proverbs 11:24-25 There is a lot of talk these days about self-care, about making sure we get our ME-time, about putting on our own oxygen mask before we try to help others. I don't disagree wit...

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Proverbs 9: Beware of Mockers....and Beware of the Mocker Inside You

Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you. Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭9‬:‭8‬-‭10‬). Sometimes it's not worth trying to correct...

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Proverbs 7: The Lie Of "Nobody Will Find Out"

"Come, let's drink deeply of love till morning;let's enjoy ourselves with love!19My husband is not at home;he has gone on a long journey.20He took his purse filled with moneyand will not be home till full moon." - Proverbs 7:18-20 This is how the shady woman seduces the man who we are told lacks common sense (v. 7) - she tells him her husband is not home and therefore the...

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Proverbs 4: Don't Follow Your Heart - Protect It!

Above all else, guard your heart,for everything you do flows from it. - Proverbs 4:2 When I was younger, this verse was constanlty used in the context of dating. It certainly can - and should - apply in that arena. We must guard our hearts lest we fall in love with someone who is not healthy for us. Many of us can attest to years - if not decades - of turmoil because we d...

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Proverbs 2: The Conditions For Gaining Wisdom

Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God. For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity" (Proverbs‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬, ‭5‬-‭7‬). In this...

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Proverbs 1 Blog: Newborn Babies and the Fear of God

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,but foolsdespise wisdom and instruction" (Proverbs 1:7). When I first held our oldest daughter Kayla right after her birth, I trembled. I was afriad of dropping her, hurting her, doing something wrong. Why? Because she mattered to me a great deal. It was not the kind of fear that made me stay away from her. No, I was i...

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How Peter Got Rescued

Yesterday we were reflecting on Peter's journey and where he went wrong the night Jesus was arrested. At the last supper, he was over-confident in himself and swore that he would never deny Jesus, even if everyone else fell away. When they went to the garden and Jesus asked him to stay up and pray, he couldn't stay awake. As a result, he wasn't spiritually alert. And th...

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Where Peter Went Wrong - Part 1

For the next two days join me as we track with Peter. His actions, his words, his motives. Scene 1: The Passover Meal 31 Then Jesus told them, "This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: "'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'[c] 32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee." 33 P...

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The Perfect Savior Had to "Learn" Obedience?

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him...-‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭5‬:‭8-9‬ ‭NIV‬‬ What does it mean that Jesus "learned obedience?" Was there a point when he was disobedient? Prior to becoming a human, Jesus was fully God and in perfect unity with the Fat...

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Where Judas Went Wrong

Let's consider where Judas went wrong. I see two things - one that led to his betrayal of Jesus, and another thing that is far worse. Then one of the Twelvethe one called Judas Iscariotwent to the chief priests and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an o...

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My Reflections On Our 10-Year Anniversary

Leading up to our 10-year anniversary this past Sunday, I did not have many thoughts or feelings. It wasn't a big deal at first. And then it hit me on Saturday night. There was gratefulness and sadness. There was excitement and there was grief. And then over the course of Sunday there was even frustration. I want to try to share a few of the thoughts that emerged as I...

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SEVEN PRAYERS FOR OUR CHURCH REGARDING OUR CHRISTMAS OFFERING

Usually the shorter the email, the more likely people will read it. This email is not short. Only some of you will read it. I hope it makes a difference for the "some" - enough of a difference to make it worth it. This Sunday we are taking our special Christmas offering. It's the one time of year we pray about how much more we can give beyond what we normally donate to...

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The Importance Of - And Danger Of - Trying To Be More Thankful

reflective

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) I was reading a blog post this morning about the importance of giving thanks. One scripture after another, like the one above, commanding us to give thanks. But it also made me think - indirectly - about the danger of trying to be more thankful. Let me expl...

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Passion Week Prayer & Fasting Campaign

Thank you for joining us in fasting praying for our church as we end Passion Week together. When we gather for Good Friday, we are rememeing that Jesus died so we could die. When we gather on Easter, we are reemmbering that Jesus lives so that we could live. So we will be fasting on Thursday or Friday (or both). What does this fast look like? Simply skip breakfast an...

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Obedience On The Day Before Resurrection Day

"The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment." - Luke 23:55-56 Today is Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. On this day 2000+ years ago, Jesus' body lay in a tom...

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Aching for the Kingdom Through Fasting

The idea of fasting stinks. I tend to get a little depressed when I know I'm going to be fasting. In fact, I am probably bothered more by the thought of fasting that I am by the bad news headlines I'm hearing everyday. Actually, can I be honest? It may even be true that I am more bummed by the prospect of being hungry than I am by the reports of people dying (unless I...

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Praying for Haiti and Afghanistan

As our church has been praying and fasting for what is happening in Haiti and Afghanistan, and as I have been reading over different resources, it seems like the need in both countries can be distilled down to the following four categories: Physical Protection and Physical Provision The people of Afghanistan need both, as do the people of Haiti. Both are facing ...

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Your Hunger Could Have Global & Eternal Ramifications

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid the...

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How To Know if Something Good Has Become an Idol

Yesterday we finished our series "Being a Wise Church: 7 Principles to Consider". But there is one lingering question that was not addressed clearly: How do I know when something that I enjoy and was once thankful to God for becomes an idol? How do I know when something that can be done out of worship TO God now becomes the object of my worship INSTEAD of God? For examp...

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Our Big 3 Goals for 2019

OUR FIRST THREE PRAYER GOALS FOR 2019 As we strive to continue being an authentic, inclusive and sending church that serves God out of rest in Him; and as we strive to enable us to move towards being a multiplying church that: Plants campuses in Monmouth and Ocean County and, Sends out missionaries around the globe There are three areas we are going to focus...

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Holy Habits of Our People (Fighting for Rest Wrap-Up)

As we finish our month of Fighting for Rest (and it sure has been a fight for some of us) I wanted to share some of the habits - holy habits - that different people in our church implement into our daily, weekly and monthly routines.Even though categories over-lap, I split them up since we have talked about them as separate habits throughout the preaching series. Take a lo...

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Business Meeting for September 9, 2018

Although I am extremely grateful that we live in a country that allows the church to meet in a public school and to have some of the freedoms that a nonprofit organization has, some of the legal business aspects to church can make things a little blurry.We want to obey the law, and we want to do it in a biblical way. Reconciling those two takes a great deal of prayer, exp...

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A TALE OF TWO CHURCHES: Dying, Uniting and Giving Birth To New Life

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. - John 12:24-25 One night in September, 2007, as the sun was setting over Los Angeles, California, I sat across the table from my...

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Break The Jaw

Psalm 3 Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. I used to think David was praying for revenge, for justice, for vengeance. But I was talking to a pastor who is much smarter than me and he said that the jaw and the teeth were symbols of the strength of an animal. A lion would have its prey in his teeth, his j...

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The Honeymoon Ended For Me

I've noticed something in the 4 1/2 years we have been a church, something most people seem to have experienced at True Life (not everyone, but most). Here's how it goes: A person comes into True Life and often loves our church right away. They hate missing service, want to help in any way possible, find everyone so warm and inviting, and re-arrange their schedules in...

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An Invite to a 19-year Old

One evening when I was 19 years old, I wandered into a church service that forever changed the trajectory of my life. I was living on my own in LA and having a really hard time. I had somewhat come to the end of being my own master. Then a young couple who I barely knew invited me to their church for a Wednesday night service because they were getting baptized. And God ha...

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Lack of Healing Due to Lack of Faith?

There are abuses with every doctrine in Scripture. And based on what you have experienced in your life, you will add your "Yeah but what about." after reading certain biblical passages. When John says that 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.." (1 John 1:9) some of us respond with, "But what ...

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DOES EVERYTHING REALLY HAPPEN FOR A REASON?

**the following is an excerpt from a recent sermon, which was not recorded due to technical errors. Does Everything Really Happen for a Reason? Have you ever heard anyone say that? Of course you have. Maybe someone said it to you after a difficult circumstance and you wanted to punch 'em? Now no doubt we all want to believe this. We especially like to beleive this after...

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Our Governing and Pastoral Teams

As we come out from under the board of the CMA, we have a few choices to make in how we replace that board: an elder board, a majority elder board, and a two-board system where the pastoral and the governing aspects are separated. I kept pushing this off until I had peace about which one. Now I have peace. We have decided to go with -- primarily based on the people in o...

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Five Upcoming Organizing Endeavors

Last Sunday I did a verbal version of this, which you can listen to it here. For the last couple months we've talked about how we are adding some organization to some things in our church. I want to summarize five of these different organizing endeavors, but first..... Just to reiterate - the point of organization is to create more movement. Movement creates the need ...

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Don't Rob Us Of Your Baptism Celebration

Baptism and the Lord's Supper are the two sacraments that Scripture actually commands us to engage in to celebrate the finished work of Jesus in his death and resurrection. There are other good traditions that various church movements have established to stir our hearts and fix our minds, but these two are essential. The Lord's Supper (or Communion / the Eucharist) is s...

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Are We Moving Into Another Building? - Part 2

About a year ago I wrote a blog post about this topic which you can read here: Are We Moving Into Another Building? We have now put a search for a building on "active" mode. But what are we looking for? In many ways, we still have a lot to figure out. About a month ago Stan Nancy Miszczenski visited a new church plant that was launching out of a leased retail space. It...

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Organizing for More Movement

When my daughter Kayla was a baby, we had a certain kind of organization to the schedule: when she napped, when she got fed, who was home with her when, how to get Jess naps, etc. But as Kayla grew and began crawling and eating food, the organization changed. Gates needed to be put up near the stairs, food needed to be blended. Now we have three kids at various stages ...

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I'm Sorry for De-Valuing Sundays

When I first got into church-planting back in 2009, there was a lot of talk, trainings, and workshops centered around how Sunday morning gatherings had been too overly-emphasized in past decades. I was taught and reminded of the other important vehicles for community and discipleshi So when we started True Life, I talked about Sunday mornings sort of in the negative: "o...

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The Three P's Of Mission

Two weeks ago - in Easter - part 2 -- I briefly mentioned the 3 P's of Mission. 3 Aspects of Mission that we as a church and each of us individually should be engaged in. CAN be engaged in. Here they are spelled out in a bit more detail: PRESENCEThis is about simply BEING the presence of Jesus, letting the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit ooze out of us onto those around ...

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One Practical Way to Remember Our Purpose

This past Sunday was "In the Beginning - Part 2: Our Purpose." Usually while preaching I end up leaving out some of my notes and expounding on something else. Most of the time, it's because the notes I left out just would not be helpful. But with this past Sunday's message, I feel it might be helpful to follow-up with a blog and include some of the things left out, mainly...

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For Whom Does Our Church Exist?

The following is an excerpt from a book I'm reading called "Winning on Purpose" by John Edmund Kaiser. I thought it went along well with the thrust of our sermon from this past Sunday (Resurrection - Part 2: Power to Go). _______ The first question for any band of believers who cares about their collective destiny is this: Why does our congregation exist? Before we look ...

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The Dangers of Santa, Alcohol, and Church Policies

September 18, 2012 Up until recently, predestination was the biggest hot-button topic amidst church groups that I've been around. But now - alcohol at church functions has taken over. And I'm glad it has. I'm thankful that at such an early point in the life of True Life Church people have raised questions and voiced concerns about alcohol being allowed at church function...

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Prepare Your Hearts for Bagels and Coffee

Since True Life launched in March of 2013, bagels and coffee has been a staple of our Sunday gathering. We have a whole team devoted to making sure we have it. But I think it's easy to take the bagels and coffee for granted. I think it's easy to treat them as common-place. As mere niceities. Or even worse, I think it's easy for them to become distractions to worship (an...

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2017 at True Life

What will 2017 at True Life be about? What will improve? What will change? What are some goals? Below is what I believe to be some things to address, tackle, plan for. In my time as a pastor, I have often been wrong about what I thought I heard from God, so I pray God confirms some of these things through our community. In fact, many of the things below are because of th...

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Ridiculous

In Matthew 24 Jesus said to his disciples, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14). Jesus is coming back, but first the gospel will be preached to every nation, every people group. This is both a sign of his coming, and also a way to usher in his coming -- by getting t...

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How to Read the Bible (A Five-Minute Video)

How to Read the Bible from True Life Church, NJ on Vimeo....

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Some Of You Will Be Disappointed Tomorrow

Tomorrow our nation will elect a new President. We have a mixed church that will be voting for different candidates. Therefore, some of you will be disappointed with who wins the election. Perhaps slightly frustrated. Perhaps extremely discouraged. There are high-stakes in this election, arguably much higher than the last election. Depending on where you get your news ...

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What's the Point of Sunday Mornings?

There are a lot of things I could write about this, but I'll pick four things. Four things that I pray God does. Four things that each of us have a part to play in. Sunday Mornings are a time to: 1. Ignite or Re-ignite Our Awe of God If we are not driven by awe of God, we will be driven by awe of something else.regardless of how much we know the bible. So our hope ...

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Grace is not Grace Unless It Costs

When I lived in LA, I used to go out looking for prostitutes. In fact, a group of us went out looking for prostitutes. We would buy them food, talk about the love of Jesus, and maybe even talk about how they ended up working the streets. I used to think I was being so full of grace by doing this. But looking back, although I still think it was a loving thing to do, I wa...

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The Powerful Holy Spirit and The Unity He Brings

Jesus said, "Your love for each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples" (John 13:35). And nothing turns non-Christians off from church like Christians bickering with each other about things that seem trivial from the outside. The following are a list of things that I've personally seen Christians get heated with each other over: - Consuming Alcohol- Pr...

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Are We Moving Into Another Building?

Many have been wondering - are we going to get into another facility? Are we going to move out of the school and into a more permanent building? Some of you guys are hoping we do. Some of you guys are hoping we don't. And that's okay. But we do want to avoid two extremes when it comes to this question. On one extreme that some people may fall into is the belief that we ...

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The Cost of Authenticity

While authenticity is a big buzz word in our culture right now, most of us aren't authentic enough to admit that being authentic is just too costly. Since our church started almost 3 years ago, being an authentic church has always been a big part of our vision. Being a church where we don't pretend to be anything that we're not, where we can confess the things we're str...

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Tips about Being an Intentional Ambassador

Our new Vision Statement is to be an authentic, inclusive and sending community where the grace of Jesus Christ deeply impacts every area of our ordinary lives. "Sending" is a word that was not emphasized in our original vision statement, and so I want to talk about it briefly. We talked about what it means to be a sending church in the first sermon of the month (Our Vis...

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The Post-Christmas-Blues and The Reality of Not-Yet-Fulfilled-Longings

Well the season of Advent is officially over, and once again Christmas has come and gone. And while a rare few people are glad it's over because now they can get back to their routines, most seem to feel a bit depressed today with the post-Christmas blues. We were high on the excitement and the buzz, but now it's over (my daughter Kayla even tried to convince me last nigh...

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Advent: Day 16

Take It Personally It may not be a popular thought at Christmast-time, but the very fact that Jesus came assumes something about us as individuals. It assumes we ares sinners in need of him coming. It assumes we are sinners in need of a Savior. And that need never ends. We don't pray a prayer one day in church and then have that need met once and for all. Yes, we are for...

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Advent: Day 1

Today beings the Advent season (it always starts the 4th Sunday before Christmas). The English word "Advent" is from the Latin word "adven- tus," which means "coming." The Advent season is a Church tradition that calls us to celebrate the first coming of Jesus, and to patiently long for the 2nd coming of Jesus. In the midst of a chaotic and busy time in our culture, Adven...

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Giving God Glory Through Gratitude

The Glory of God has to do with the weight, the girth, the bigness of God. His magnificent beauty, his extraordinary might, his incredible greatness. So to give God glory doesn't mean we have the power to make him bigger or more beautiful than he already is. It is more the idea of giving him the honor and the praise that his glory is due. It is to point at, to reflect, to...

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A New Name

When our first daughter Kayla was born, the hospital asked us what we wanted to name her. And we said to the nurse, "she's not ready to be named yet. We're going to wait until she feels ready." Just kidding. That would be ridiculous. But that's what a lot of people do with baptism. "Yes, I trust Jesus as my savior, but I'm just not ready yet to be baptized. I want to get...

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True Life Chronicles - Part 4

From September 13, 2013 I have read in many books a church-planting principle that goes something like this: Use Programs to build people, instead of using people to build programs. I agree with this in theory. But in practice, it's often more tempting to focus on programs because you can see the tangible progress of programs. Programs are easier to control, easier to...

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True Life Chronicles, Part 2

August 7, 2013 This past week has had many highs and lows for me personally when it comes to this church thing. I'm gonna' write about one of each, both of which occurred outside of Sunday morning. The low happened last Wednesday. A few months ago Dan Gina Sachowski, who are part of True Life, introduced me to a couple they are friends with whose 19-month old daughter w...

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The Search for Community

Since the beginning of True Life, we've talked about being an authentic and honest community. Below is an excerpt from a book I'm reading - "A Loving Life" by Paul Miller - about the search for community. _____________ The biggest problem people have in searching for the perfect community is just that. You don't find community; you create it through love. Look how this t...

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Advent - Day 25: Take It Personally

December 24, 2014 It may not be a popular thought on Christmas Eve, but the very fact that Jesus came assumes something about us as individuals. It assumes we ares sinners in need of him coming. It assumes we are sinners in need of a Savior. And that need never ends. We don't pray a prayer one day in church and then have that need met once and for all. Yes, we are forgiv...

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Humility Before God & Humility With Others Can't Be Separated

Feburary 26, 2015 This past week in our series on Philippians we looked at verses 1-16 in chapter 2 we talked about finding Joy through humility. I just had a follow-up thought about the relationship between having humility before God and having humility before other people. It can often appear like we have one while lacking the other, but really I believe they go hand ...

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Yep, It's Gonna' Be Awkward...And That's Okay

Feb 13, 2015 One of our 7 Big Prayers for 2015 is as follows: "That God would give us love for those whose sins offend us.and also the boldness to have awkward conversations to help each other grow." I've been praying this one a lot lately - particularly the 2nd part of it -- because I've been hearing about the need for quite a bit of these awkward conversations to be in...

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Starting the Day with Awe

FEB 5, 2015 Every morning I try to have what I call "time with God." Time alone in prayer, reading the bible, reading a portion of a book, listening to God. Some times I walk away from that time filled with awe over the grandeur of God's grace, God's bigness, God's sovereignty, God's power. Some times I don't walk away with that awe. And it makes all the difference for...

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Our Big 7 Prayers for 2015

January 13, 2015 On January 4th we began a new sermon series called "A CALL TO PRAY." Our hope is that we would be a praying church, a church that is utterly dependent on God's grace and power in order to make things happen. And for the first two weeks of this series we focused on "Our Big 7 Prayers For 2015" -- specific things that we're praying for regarding our churc...

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True Life Chronicles - Pt. 1

July 31, 2013 Today is Sunday, July 28th, 2013. We have been fully "operational" for 5 months now, and I got home from our service today and got the urge to want to start chronicling - on a weekly basis - the life of True Life Church. My hope is that others will join me in the chronicling (meaning - I hope others will write posts like this one because I won't feel like ...

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Loving Those Who Are "Stuck"

March 13, 2015 One of our Big 7 Prayers for 2015 is: 5. That God would give us love for those whose sins offend us.and also the boldness to have awkward conversations to help each other grow. Paul speaks to both parts of this prayer in Galatians 6. Galatians 6:1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that perso...

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One Problem With My Sermons

April 10, 2015 There are many tensions in the bible, where it seems like we are told different things that don't necessarily contradict each other, but do push against each other. For example, we're told that God is sovereign but humans have free will; we're told that God hates sin but lovingly runs after sinners; we're told that God accepts us as we are but refuses to le...

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Living in Light of the Resurrection (A Marriage Story)

April 2, 2013 This past Sunday -- Easter Sunday -- we talked about the resurrection and how if we believe it, then we should be living like we believe it. And I referenced a marriage story that I was sent a year ago by a good friend. It's powerful. Watch it: The Story of Ian and Larissa....

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Learning to Trust God in Our Suffering

January 15, 2013 At our last gathering, we talked about suffering and how our prayer is that we would learn to trust God to use them for our good and for His glory. In the middle of the sermon, we showed a video clip from a message by Francis Chan. Since last Sunday, more people have commented on and asked about that video clip than the sermon (no offense taken, haha), s...

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Christmas & The Newtown Tragedy

December 19, 2012 There are two things that I see everywhere I look - signs of Christmas, and the latest reports about the Newtown tragedy. In between holiday songs and commercials about sales at Best Buy, the news and radio have been non-stop with coverage on the Connecticut community -- from eyewitness accounts to interviews with psychologists and priests to politicia...

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Fanning the Flames of AWE

May 28, 2015 This past Sunday we talked about the importance of Awe -- how there is a difference between believing in the truths about Jesus and having an awe over those glorious truths. Belief alone -- in the sens of an intellectual agreement -- does not lead to worship or life change or freedom. Awe does. That was the purpose of the sermon on Sunday as we looked at 3 S...

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