Chicago Neighborhoods Get Ready for a New Church!

Wicker Park, Logan Square, Bucktown, and the Loop are just some of the places we hope our new non-denominational church will reach!  Metro Praise was established in 2005 with the hope of building a great church for the city of Chicago.  We set a goal at the very beginning to reach 100,000 disciples with 50 churches in the area.

Starting our new campus at the iconic "Chopin Theatre" in the heart of Wicker Park is just the beginning of the revolution!  On Tuesday, September 13th at 7pm we will be making Metro Praise history and hopefully Chicago church history.  We hope that with our "five loaves and two fishes" God will start a church planting revolution in Chicagoland.  We pray that this new location will be the spring board to greater things in the future.  Reaching children, families, youth, and even the homeless and hurting!

We will continue to be faithful in our ministry to reach Old Irving Park, Portage Park, Humboldt Park, and Riis Park from our current campus at 4323 W. Irving Park Rd.  However, we believe that as we rely on God's grace we can see every Chicago neighborhood changed for the glory of God! 

Let me know what Chicago neighborhood you would like to see the next Metro Praise church in?

Please pray for us and consider joining us for a life-changing service!  Our website is, www.metropraise.org

Here is our new promo video for Wicker Park,



Metro Praise is launching a new campus in Wicker Park Tuesday Sept. 13th at 7pm. Located at the world famous Chopin Theatre on 1543 W. Division.  We are a relevant, Spirit-filled, non-denominational church with a great love for God and people.   For for information visit us at www.metropraise.org

Steve Jobs Resigns and What We Can Learn from Him

Wow, hard to believe such an icon as Steve Jobs would have to resign because he is sick.  I am definitly an Apple fan.  You know the saying, "Once you go Mac, you never go back!"  The picture to the side shows "almost" all the Apple products I own, note "almost."

Here is a full list (including for our church) 4 macbooks, 2 imacs, 2 ipads, 2 iphones, and apple tv.  I love the do-dittles too, wireless keyboard and track pad.  Don't judge me, some people collect "precious moments," others "coke products," me... its apple products.  Well, atleast they can be used for ministry!


Here is a short list of what we can learn about Steve Jobs:

1. Second chances are never too late to take: He took back the failing Apple company and made it the best company in its field.

2. Never stop being you:  Steve Jobs always wore the same kind of shirt, pants, and shoes that he liked.  He didn't care about the current trends, he was just himself.  We all should be more like that.

3. Creativity is based on many creative minds: He brought the best people in together in their own field of experitse and let them dream.  That is why Pixar became so great and why Apple could invent something new every three years- great minds can invent great things.

4. Bad things happen even to the uber smart and rich:  Basically, I pray he finds Jesus and joins a great church.  He needs to find the real meaning of life- Jesus Christ.  I hope he might stop by our new Wicker Park church, find a group of young people who love his products and learn how to worship Jesus and be at peace with God.

What do you think about Steve Jobs, Apple, and the eternal soul? 

Metro Praise is launching a new campus in Wicker Park Tuesday Sept. 13th at 7pm. Located at the world famous Chopin Theatre on 1543 W. Division.  We are a relevant, Spirit-filled, non-denominational church with a great love for God and people.   For for information visit us at www.metropraise.org

Get Past Your Past!

Just wanted to post this awesome message from last Sunday.  Some in the service said it was their "all time favorite."  The message in based on the storm in Jonah's life and touches on the issues why we run away from God, but how God is always willing to give us second and third chances!

Do not let failures stop you from running after God!

Enjoy!

"Chicago for Jesus!"

If you haven't heard, we at Metro Praise have started a website to join together soul winners in the city to help better our efforts in reaching Chicago!  The website is called, "Chicago for Jesus!"  Please watch the video and then visit our new website, www.chicagoforjesus.org



We are offering the following:

1. Churches and leaders to post up their events and outreaches!

2. Disciples from all over the city to join large events like "The Taste of Chicago" and work together to win a city!

3. To get trained for free to start new outreaches in new local areas and help spread the word!

Thoughts About the Debate with Nadir Ahmed (Muslim)

I debated Nadir Ahmed last Sunday, Aug. 21st 2011, on the subject, "Who is Jesus?"  I will not go in depth to the debate and the points.  I feel the video can do that best.  However, I would like to take sometime to describe some of my thoughts:

1. Muslims claim over 20 prophets to be legit, but offer not proof for any of their work other than the Quran. Literally, nothing. Thus, it is really Mohammed versus over 40 writers of the Bible.

2. Though the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, give the best historic proof for the prophets accepted by Islam (Abraham, Noah, Moses, etc), they reject it because the Bible contradicts their Quran.

3. Yet, in the the debate when I was asked to give support for the accuracy of the Bible I gave the history of the companions (followers) of the Bible, contemporary non-Christian historians, manuscript evidence, and best of modern scholars (Richard Bachman, E. P. Sander, and even Bart Ehrman).  And this was rejected because it was contradictory towards the Quran.

4. Thus, the Muslim is asking the Jew/Christian to reject the best sources of the prophets and accept the Quran which was written over 600 years from the life of Jesus and over 1,000 from the OT prophets.  Simply because Mohammed, who didn't read or write, was given a "vision" from Gabriel.  Really? That was exactly what Paul warned about in Galatians 1, not to receive "another gospel." 

5. In conclusion, the only thing Muslims like Nadir try to do to prove the superiority of the Quran is by the prophecies- yet they are extremely vague, are not as great in number as the Bible, and are actually forbidden by Mohammed and Moses to be used as proofs.  Books and messages are to be judged by doctrine, not miracles or prophecies. 

Well, those are my "after thoughts," let me know what you think about the debate, here it is:



If you like this debate, you will love the ones on this website, www.answeringmuslims.com!  THE NATIONS FOR JESUS!!

Six Types of "Christians" to Avoid

Many people think we as Christians should never say to someone, "You should not come to church."  However, Paul in 1 Corinthians 5 actually teaches us when we should say to people, "you are not welcome."  Please read the passage and then check the post out:

1 Corinthians 5:11-12, "But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”


Therefore, here is a list of "Six Types of Christians to Avoid."  Note: "Christian" is placed in "" because they claim to be a Christian, but really are not.

1. A "Christian" that is sexually immoral:  This is someone who lives in unrepentant open sexual immorality- this could be sex before marriage, pornography, homosexuality, or any kind of perversion.

2. A "Christian" that is greedy: Someone who loves money, loves to have money, to boast about what they have and buy, and to not help the poor or hurting.

3. A "Christian" that is an idolator:  Someone who puts false gods before Jesus- their job, their cars, their hobbies, their selfish ambitions, or their false gods.

4. A "Christian" that is a slanderer: They spreads lies, half truths, harmful secrets about others to make themselves look good and never make it right.

5. A "Christian" that is a drunkard: Someone who over indulges in alcohol, gets drunk at parties & alone, and allows alcohol to change their behavior and moods.

6. A "Christian" who is a swindler: Someone who lies, lives a dishonest life, breaks the law, rips people off, and has a hidden agenda behind their business dealings.

_____________

What should you do if you are this person:

1. Repent of your sin

2. Stop making excuses

3. Ask for help to change

4. Become accountable to a leader

5. Ask God to transform your life

6. Live in repentance if you should fall again and do not indulge in sin


What should you do if you see someone claim to be a Christian and do these things:

1. Pray for them

2. Confront them and ask them to repent to God

3. If they do not, let them know you can hang out with them

4. Let godly leadership know so they can help

5. Help disciple and teach them to live free their sin


What about the "non-Christians" who live this way:

1. Love them

2. Ask them to repent and accept Jesus

3. Be their friends but not support their behavior (they reason why Paul says you cannot be around the Christian who lives like this, is because your friendship is a sign of support for their sin- but we can be friends with the world who does this because we have to reach out because they do not know anybetter)

4. If they accept Jesus teach them the same principles of holiness, so they will be willing to leave their old life behind

Three Marks of a Prideful Church/Group of Disciples

I have been motivated lately by my own personal tests in ministry to sincerely read the Scriptures and let them speak to me.  Thus, in my study of 1 Corinthians 4 I have been deeply impacted by how Paul viewed the church he had planted.  And how the disciples turned away from his leadership and were being led by spiritually immature leaders who thought they were "super-apostles" (1 Cor. 3:1).  



Here are the three things I believe he points out to show their rebellion and pride:




1. The Corinthian church claimed to be "wiser, richer, more popular, honored, and more powerful than Paul":  They actually thought that because they had more friends, more money, and more honor among the people than Paul that they were more spiritual than Paul.

⁸ Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! ¹¹ To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. ¹² We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment. 

2. They boasted that they had "10,000 instructors" and thus didn't need their "spiritual father":  They believed that because they "church hopped" around and read all the books of other teachers and got the messages of the other "preachers" they did not need the leadership of Paul, who was the one who led them to the Lord and was their God-given leader.  (Note in 1 Cor., 1:1-3, "Paul was called by God to be their Apostle.")

 ¹⁴ I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. ¹⁵ Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. ¹⁶ Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

3. The church was so arrogant that they believed if Paul never came back, they could win over the whole church by their "words":  As Paul was traveling and now living in Ephesus they were convinced that if he never came back they could persuade the whole church to follow them.  Even though Paul was sending them Timothy, his "son," they were still going to rebel. 

¹⁷ For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. 

¹⁸ Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. ¹⁹ But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. ²⁰ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. ²¹ What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

  

_________

I pray for those reading this that they will see how churches and their members can treat the leadership of God.  To actually mock and ridicule them and claim to be more wise.  I do not write this blog from a place of going through this now, though I have in times past.  However, I write this blog to warn those who may consider doing such things or have done them and feel God has forgotten.  

Also, I write this blog to encourage other pastors and leaders that may feel at times that they are facing trials and tests with the people God has given them and think it strange- it is not, even the great Apostle Paul suffered these things from His people.


Therefore, here is a short list of what to do in times like this:

Church Member/Disciple

1. Submit to the leadership God has placed over your life
2. Reject intrusive and harmful leadership/counsel, i.e., "those who lead you away from your God-given leader."
3. Pray for your leader to remain faithful to their call so they do not grow weary in doing good
4. Grow in maturity in your own spiritual walk, most intrusive/harmful leadership takes advantage of weak-willed, sinful, and compromising believers.  


Church Leader/Pastor


1. Openly correct those who are causing the divisions among you
2. Remove the sin from the congregation
3. Bless those who curse you and pray for those who use you
4. Use spiritual sons/daughters to help restore order
5. Ask your church to pray for you so you do not grow weary in well doing

12 Signs That You Are Running From God

I have been wanting to write something along these lines for awhile, but just have not had the chance lately.  I know some in my life may think I am speaking directly to them, however, the list of people I have seen run from God started within the first week of me being saved and has continued until this day.  Though the reasons and excuses are always different, that fact remains- "people run away from God!"

I saw a close friend choose not to go to Bible college to stay with his friends, a pastor divorce his wife because he was unable to humble himself, a former boss who refused to cut the bad relationships out of his life and always lived with one foot in and one foot out, a fellow on-fire minister cool off and started making small compromises- until he lost his passion, and all this happened just in the first 9 months of me being saved!  However, even though it was over 15yrs ago, I remember their stories so vividly like it was yesterday.

Therefore, I write this list to help those who may have started to stray in hopes they will avoid these signs.  And for those who have already run away, that they will stop lying to themselves and come back to God.  So if you know any to send this to, please do so in prayer.  And for those who have received this message, it is because you are greatly loved! 

Definitions: I would like to clarify my terms before starting so people understand the full meaning of what I am saying.  (1) Running Away from God: This means the person could still be saved but is growing cold or that they have fully lost their salvation.  (2) Backslidden:  They either are lost and have been saved, or are saved and know what good things to do, but are not willing.

Therefore, when someone says, "I still love God, I am going to heaven.  Everything is great."  That may be true for them, but the real question is what does God say!  Thus, it is good to ask them questions like this, "Are you still on fire?"  "Are you accountable?"  "Are you the closest to God you have ever been?"  "Are you doing all the good you know God has command you to do?"

Sure the pastor who divorced his wife thought he was fine, he even had some friends support his decision.  However, God was not "fine" with it.  Of course, the young man I knew who dropped out of Bible college after a semester to stay in Ft. Wayne had tons of "good things" happen in his life.  But it didn't matter- he was running from God! 

Therefore, we are not to be "okay" with people's "Christianese" answers that allow them to hide from what is right.  We are to help "spur" our brothers and sisters to good works and reprove their deeds of darkness (Hebrews 10:24).  Christianity and discipleship was never defined as, "Going to church, singing in the choir, posting verses on facebook, and reading your Bible."  If that was the case, then everyone in the south is saved!

Here is a quote I have in our discipleship book that I believe says it best,

<> We give our free time to sports and entertainment, while Jesus gave His days to ministry and nights to prayer.

<> We want the American dream, while Jesus wanted the power of God to change the world.
<>We want comfort in life, while Jesus lived in constant conflict.

<> We want to be taken in and accepted by the world, when Jesus was put out and rejected by it.

<> We want to be thought of as reasonable and considerate with those who differ with us, when the Jewish leaders called Jesus demon possessed, crazy, and confrontational.

<> We live for the praise of people, while Jesus lived only for the praise of God His Father.

<> We will give to Jesus when it is most convenient and stop when it hurts or brings discomfort, but Jesus gave to us His entire life and in a gruesome bloody crucifixion He died for us all.

<>We are consumed with our wants, our needs, our families, our desires, and our dreams, while Jesus was consumed with God’s wants, God desires, and looked to others hurts, others needs and solved others problems.

<> We wish to save our lives, Jesus came to lose His.

<> Is it any wonder we fail to make the kind of difference Jesus made?

The Twelve Signs: 

1. You Cannot Stand to Be Around the Leadership That Either Won You to the Lord or Brought You to the Closest Places You Had Ever Gone - Hebrews 13:10.

2. You Make Excuses and Compare Yourself to Others in Your Group Instead of Comparing Yourself to Jesus and His Apostles - 2 Corinthians 10:12.

3. You Love to Point Out the "Speck" in Your Brother's Eye, While You Have the Plank In Yours - Luke 6:42.

4. You Expect People To Support Your Decisions but You No Longer Can Support Your Decisions by the Word of God - 2 Timothy 3:16.

5. You Say to Yourself You Are Not That Bad and Say Things Could be Worse - Revelation 2:4.

6. You Redefine What You Call "Christianity" and Being a "Disciple" So It Makes You Look Good - Luke 14:26.

7. You Are Easily Offended When Others Who Used to Lead You Question What You Do, Because You Feel You Owe Them No Explanation - 2 Timothy 4:10.

8. You Pick Friends and Churches that Make You Feel Good With Your Compromise - Jonah on the boat.

9. You Justify Your Actions By Your Actions, "If I Was Wrong, Then Bad Things Would Happen," You Forget That Sinners Can Live "Good Lives" Too - Psalms 73.

10. You Say if You Go Back to God, People Will Judge You and You Will Be Too Embarrassed - Luke 17:11-18.

11.  You Try to Make Grace an Excuse to Live in Sin and Compromise - 1 John 3:9.

12.  You Say You Are More Mature than Others Who Still Serve Jesus and the Church Humbly - 2 Corinthians 11:3. 

If you find yourself struggling with any of these signs, here is my advice.  Not "mine," but rather Jesus,' 

Revelation 2:18-20, “These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place." 

Note: For those who feel this blog reminds them of something they read before, you are very right.  I believe it is a modern version of Charles Finney's list of a backslider, for his list in the late 1800's click here.

Great Preaching Video on the Subject:  "Love Sick," Learn How to Keep Your First Love for God! 

What The Stocks Falling Can Teach Us

"Not again!"  I could not believe what I saw for the second day in a row, the plummeting of our cherished economy.  I am not an economist or a financial guy, but I thought I would weigh in on the state of the US economy in recent days and what it can teach us as Americans and Christians.

1.  Not to Trust in Money: In the 1950's America placed on the dollar bill "In God We Trust," but we still trust more in money than God.  I hope we can learn to start trusting in God before the dollar bill has nothing left to trust in.

2.  Jobs Need to Come to America:  Literally, Steve Jobs needs to bring some of the 32 billion dollar a year profits to America.  Just this week for the first time Apple Co. out profited the oil companies!  Jobs needs to bring the factory jobs of Apple to the US!

3.   Political Leaders Must Work With America's Top CEOs:  We need to stop having "community planners" run our country in White House and get some savvy business men to rebuild our nation.  Really!  Has anyone talked to the founders of "Google," "HP," or even "Bill Gates?"  All these companies got their break here in the land of the brave, they need to be brought in to help us get out the mess.

4.  Churches Should Set the Example of Success:  Christians need to rally behind good causes, help their neighbors, turn from greed, invest for the future, and pay off debt.  If the people in the US who claim to be Christians would first be faithful to God in giving and then second, set their priorities, we could display the traits of a good consumer in America again.  Remember, the consumption of the 50's wasn't with debt, but rather with hard earned and saved cash!

5.  We Need to Pray for Our Country and Leaders:  Paul commanded Timothy in the Bible to pray first of all for leaders and those in authority so that we could live peaceable and safe lives.  Watching the stocks fall simply reminded me to pray again, "God bless America!"

Psalm 127:1-3, "Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves."