Watch Out!

When things are going your way watch out! You may be living in the danger zone. For many churches and spiritual leaders when we live in comfort we may actually be in more danger than when we live in a time of crisis. Comfort subtly seeks up and robs churches and pastors of their vision and passion. When all the bills are paid, and the people are getting along it is easy to fall asleep at the wheel like a drowsy driver on a long straight stretch of “driving in place” across the Panhandle of Texas. Crisis creates urgency, passion and at times panic, but comfort lures people into complacency, simply going through the motions.
Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill in Seattle, warns about the dangers of comfort in his book Confessions of a Reformission Rev. He diagnoses the dangers of comfort in a very direct and disturbing way for many of us who find ourselves going through the motions in ministry.
“The comfort zone is the place a church commonly falls into once they learn how to survive…At this point, the propensity is for the church to settle in, accept its size, and slip into a mode of maintenance. At some point, the people will move away or die, others will get bored, and slowly the church will begin a cycle of decline unless it intentionally reinvents itself missionally to continue to grow by taking risks in an effort to reach lost people for Jesus.”
Sadly, this appears to be the place that most churches in America find themselves. Awash in a sea of people, churches have become closer to country clubs than hospitals, and slipped into the comfort zone. Statistics bear out this reality in harsh numbers that report that 70-90% of churches in America are either on a plateau or declining. Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, recently confessed he believed that most of the SBC church will die a slow death over the next twenty years—dying of “cancer of the comfort”.
Where did the fire go? Do we need a spiritual awakening in the pew or in the pulpit? Are we the proverbial frog in the kettle that has been slowly cooked by our changing culture environment?
Jesus and Paul stand out as clear biblical examples of leaders who had an unquenchable spirit about reaching people and changing the world. Even when Jesus had the “whole city at the door” he was not satisfied to stay put and establish his own version of a mega-church, but rather slipped away unannounced to touch the surrounding villages—because “that is why I have come.” In similar fashion Paul was relentless in his pursuit of people for the sake of the Kingdom. Paul noted to his friends in Corinth that “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Cor. 9:22b).
How often can we honestly say we have used “all possible means” to reach our community? Watch out when things are going good, you just might doze of and miss the next turn toward becoming all God wants you to be. I hope you enjoyed that. I'm not sure the Author but its so true have a great day and God Bless You! Love Jason

God's Perfect Gift of Love!

God’s Valentine gift of love to us was not a bunch of flowers;It wasn’t candy, or a book To while away the hours.
His gift was to become a man, So He could freely give His sacrificial love for us, So you and I could live.
He gave us sweet salvation, and Instruction, good and true--To love our friends and enemies And love our Savior, too.
So as we give our Valentines, Let’s thank our Lord and King; The reason we have love to give Is that He gave everything. We Love You Jesus Christ Thank You Love Jason!

Have you died?

Good Morning to all, this is one of the shortest post ever but PLEASE take the time to understand what Paul is saying! 2 TIMOTHY VERSES 11-13 read like this! 11. Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12. if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13. if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. The most important question I have for you is “Have you died with him?” Have you given your life up to serve him? I pray you wrestle with these two questions until you get an answer! If you want to know how to have a relationship with Jesus you can shoot me an email at jason.ashley@charter.net. I will be glad to help you in anyway and get you a bible as well as help you take your next step! I Love You All! Jason

HELL NO!!!!

I posted this back in January and it recieved the most hits and responses of any post I have ever written! So I felt like posting it again I HOPE AND PRAY IT ROCKS YOUR WORLD!This is what I call good ol home cookin straight from the heart! Is arguing causing people to bust Hell wide open? I think it is! Please let me explain! Some Christians and Churches would rather argue amongst themselves than reach out to their communities and reach out to one another! If I were the Devil I would keep Christians arguing all the time! Because if Christians argue people don’t get reached for Christ! You see some arguments I have overheard are about the most ridiculous subjects and most of the time based on man made religion, not scripture. If the Church and Christians would take time to look at what truly matters, think Kingdom Minded and simply open their hearts and doors to the lost Jesus could RADICALLY change the way non-Christians view THE CHURCH as a whole. Race doesn’t matter whether your Black, White, Hispanic, Latino or Green or Orange the truth is color of a person should not matter! We are all God’s children! What a person wears should not matter! If you don’t like what they are wearing you need to realize everyone is different and not every person that goes to Church wears a suit and tie or a skirt and dress. They should be welcome any day, any time, and in any Church! What a person drives, where they live, and who their mommy and daddy are should not be the reason you want them to stay or go! I am the son of a drug dealer and alcoholic that does not mean I am also living that lifestyle. Yes he is in jail and has been for over 15 years, which does not mean I will follow that same path! You see Jesus said come as you are! So why in the HELL would Christians put up a wall and actually think they can say who comes in and who goes out of the Church! The facts are Denominations and man made religion puts people in HELL! The same goes for arguments if we are arguing, people are not being reached! I am not saying that Church leaders and members should never argue that would be unrealistic! Good things can come from arguing, but arguing about some of the things I have discussed in this post could never have a positive impact! DO NOT FORGET…. THE CHURCH WAS CREATED TO REACH PEOPLE FOR JESUS CHRIST AND MAKE HIM FAMOUS! IT WAS CREATED FOR THE LOST! IT WAS NOT CREATED SO CHURCHES COULD TALK ABOUT ONE ANOTHER AND TEAR DOWN WHAT SO AND SO CHURCH IS DOING! WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM SO LET”S ACT LIKE IT! I will end this post with a question Would Jesus be welcome at your Church? Remember he dressed homely, most scholars say he had long hair, and he hung out with people that the religious despised! That’s the Jesus that changed the world forever! With Love for all Jason

The Spiritual Diet!

Good morning peeps! I am honestly pumped up right now! My first week of diet and exersize filled with tuna, and chicken and lots of weights and cardio paid off! I weighed in this morning at 288 pounds down 7 pounds from last week! I am very excited but I have a goal to lose 58 more pounds! So please keep me in your prayers as I travel down my weight loss road! You know I'm talking about loseing weight but I still want to eat fatty foods even though I know they may be great while I'm eating them! However they are very bad for me! You know the same applies to sin in our lives our flesh craves sin and if we go forth with our desires to sin it can be damaging and cause major issues in our lives! Let's face it we all sin alot but the question I have for you is "When you sin is it willful sin or what i call the crap sin? Like crap I did it again! Or was it the type of sin where it's premeditated for Men it may be viewing pornography and for Women it could be thinking of ways to tear your husbands down or gossiping about people around you! The point I'm trying to make is we all need a healthy spiritual diet! The only way to get past reoccuring sin in your life is to dive face first into scripture and pray for your issues! Jesus is the answer for all of our troubles! He can help you through the darkest of days and lift the sin off of your shoulders! I will close with one of my favorite quotes and I pray as you read through this post YOU GET UNCOMFORTABLE! Love Yah! Jason "Error does not become Truth because it is widely accepted; Truth does not become error, even when it stands alone!"

Five Things!

Five Things Andy Stanley is Thinking About
Andy Stanley closed the last session of Catalyst talking about stuff that is on his mind...
1) To reach people no one else is reaching, we have to do things no one else is doing (Craig Groeschel) - we have 175,000 people within 10 miles of Northpoint, and we aren't reaching them. We aren't going to reach them by building another church building. We have to do something no one else is doing.
Become preoccupied with those you want to reach rather than those you are trying to keep.
2) The best idea for reaching the next generation isn't going to come from the existing generation, it's going to come from the next generation.
If you are over 45 years old, you aren't going to have any good ideas. It's your job to recognize the good ideas.
Don't do to the next generation what the previous generation did to you.
Be a student, not a critic.
3) I'm looking for what can't be done in church, but if it could be done would fundamentally change the church.
It always used to drive me nuts that the communicator and the leader had to be the same thing.
Multi-site solved this. Now the great leader doesn't have to be the teacher.
Like that, you may be the one to crack the code on something no one else has figured out that will fundamentally change our "business."
Pay attention to people who are breaking the rules. It's the rule-breakers who are oftentimes the problem solvers.
4) If we got kicked out by our board, and they hired a new guy, what would the new guy change or do different? Let's walk out the door and walk back in, and make those changes.
The problem with ministry is that we've fallen in love with the way we've done ministry.
It's not "no pain, no gain" -- it's "no pain, no change." Without pain, there typically isn't any change.
Ask: "Where are we manufacturing energy?" The things we aren't very excited about, it takes energy to get it done, but the results aren't stellar.
Acknowledge what's not working. Own up to it. And own up to why you aren't willing to do anything about it. What is it you fear? You need to deal with that. It is a leadership lid for you.
5) When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near. You look back with smiles and lots to celebrate, but you don't have a lot to work forward to.
Are you willing to be involved in the future more than the present?
Don't let success overshadow your vision.
Success breeds complacency and complacency breeds failure. I hope you enjoyed this post It rocked my world! Love yah Jason!!

No Reason!

Good morning to all I hope you slept very well and i pray your day is going well, now for my post!During the forty days from His resurrection to His ascension to heaven, Jesus was constantly appearing and vanishing before the disciples. I believe he was getting the disciples accustomed to the fact that, even when He wasn't visible physically, He still would be present and available spiritually. Before Jesus was crucified and resurrected, the disciples had expected the Messiah of Israel to come and establish and earthly kingdom, in which they would reign with Him. There was no doubt in their minds that Jesus was the Messiah, but when he was nailed to the cross, their conviction seemed like a gigantic blunder! Now, in the days following His resurrection, they began to realize how this was God's plan all along. Now they understood the prophecies of the Scriptures-that the Messiah would first suffer before He was risen and glorified. During this time, Jesus gave them this assignment: "Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you" (Matthew 28:19-20). After instructing His disciples to wait for the power they would receive from the Holy Spirit to be His worldwide witnesses, Jesus was taken up into heaven before their eyes (Acts 1:7-9). At that moment an angel appeared and told them, "Someday.....he will return!" (Acts 1:11). You see The Father's promise, the Son's plans, and the Holy Spirit's power-all these would unite to turn these disciples into the most significant movement this world has never seen. Their lives would always be marked by worship of Jesus, witnessing for Jesus, and waiting for Jesus to return. So shouldn't ours be the same! I want you to do what I call a www check this morning! Evaluate you worship, your witnessing, and your waiting. I pray this makes you incredibly uncomfortable. Love yah! Jason