Jesus invites. If anyone desires to relentlessly, habitually, and passionately come after me, let him deny his small goals, selfish ambitions, poor definitions and let him discover the fullness of who He is by boasting only in the complete work of the cross of Jesus Christ. Invite Him to follow me (Jesus), never moving away from a conscious, purposeful awareness of who I am and what I am calling you to become.

- Jesus

I cannot imagine a life that is not in constant pursuit of Christ. I cannot imagine a life that is not defined by the truth of who I am in Christ and the unimaginable ramifications of being filled with His life and His grace and His covering and being utterly, fully, totally complete in Him. As I was talking about Christ and our lives defined by Him, I was lost in the wonder of allowing Him to define me. If that, alone, was what Christ does for me it would abounding and enough. Yet, as I 'take up the cross' and all that the cross entails, I find that Christ does define me. I also find that I am covered by Him. I am covered by His grace and His unimaginable love. Christ steps into my life and He removes my sin and my shame and He grows me in the grace and knowledge of who I am in Him. He writes His life and His truth and His ways and His plans and His purposes onto my life and I am captured by His grace.

As our band was playing that the grace and the cross of Jesus Christ 'covers me', I felt like we were in a sacred moment. What a thrill to represent a taste of what Christ has done for us. He covers our sin and shame by His grace. He writes His wonder, beauty, and majesty over our sin. We are new. New creations. New heart. New life. New definition. I love Jesus Christ. His grace is amazing.

I love you guys. Enjoy this week. Boast only and loudly in the cross! Jot a comment if you like.

By Grace... For Glory,

Mark

Replacing lies with truth... Discovering our true identity.... being defined by our Creator. One of the processes of spiritual growth is replacing the lies of poor definition (being defined by circumstances; words spoken into one's life; successes; failures; painful moments; great moments; promotion; job loss... this list could be endless), with the truth of who I am in Christ.

I know that I am accepted, free, rescued, adopted, a friend of God's, loved, redeemed, sealed by the Spirit of God, seated in Heaven, filled with hope.... the truth of who I am in Christ can be discovered over and over as I weave my way through scripture. I am free... free from condemnation; free to serve; free to join God in His amazing work of freedom and reconciliation of men, women, and kids to Himself. I am free (and constantly being freed as I discover who I am in Christ) to become... to release the possibility of Christ magnifying and amplifying His life through my own. Beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, it was amazing to experience the freeing, redeeming work of Christ in the lives of our students this weekend. Grace Campus Ministry (from Auburn U) brought truth to our campus. They brought the freeing truth of identity in Christ to our student ministry. They brought their hearts, passion, and love for Christ and poured it into the hearts of the EBC students. It was a remarkable weekend of worship, fun, laughter, and a release of passion for and toward Christ.

Last night, I sat in the room with our students and listened to them share their hearts. We have incredible (I MEAN INCREDIBLE) kids @ EBC. They shared stories... they encouraged one another.... they challenged one another.... You know, the coolest part of last night was that it was not an emotion fest. Our kids were impassioned, but also intensely practical. They are leaders!

As the pastor sitting in the back of the room, I honestly asked God to pour His maturity into my life so that I a might lead/ guide these kids well. I also listened to them and realized that I love being a part of the Emmanuel family. Do you know how beautiful it is to learn from students? I am challenged to be a man after God's own heart because I have a generation behind me who will not be silent about their faith. Yeah!

We are becoming. A part of the process of becoming like Christ is doing that in context of a family. I love the Emmanuel family.

So, props to Ian and Theresa! Amazing weekend. Props to Grace Campus Ministry and the band from FBC, Opelika. Ridiculously good weekend. Props to Jesus Christ. You came in Spirit and Power. Thank you!

Enjoy today.

By Grace.... For Glory,
Mark

Biblical Community is absolutely beautiful. Really, to consider Matthew 16.24 and Christ' radical call to His glory and followship of His fame is daunting to say the least. Jesus doesn't exactly invite us into a lightweight faith. Actually, He invites us to relentless pursuit; utter loss of self-centered ambition; and dying to personal gain with the hope of truly living for ultimate gain.

Understanding the vitality of being in community with a few and having those 'few' stand with me holds the capacity to truly mark me for His fame. More than that, I am not merely committed to Christ (although, being committed to Him is a big deal). I am also committed to a group of people who share a common passion for growth togther in pursuit of Christlikeness. As I share life with my Bible Fellowship, I truly feel a connection and a level of account to them. Not only do I want to free Christ to live fully through me because I love Him. But, I also want Him to consume me because I love my Bible Fellowship and I never want to discredit the character of Christ before them AND, I want my life to constantly push them toward Him. That is fresh.

So fresh, that I actually want to believe that I could sustain my faith in the face of great evil... much like Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (along with Daniel). Four friends who truly get uncompromising followship of Jesus Christ (officially, God of the OT. Jesus was there, of course!). Their faith and mutual accountability drove them to live out Lordship in extremely practical ways. Further, their lives were totally interrupted by their faith in Him. Their diet, prayer, worship, choices, passion, friendship, refusal to compromise.... essentially, all of life was different due to their intersection with the living God. Biblical Community is right. Biblical Community is profound.

Believing all that was written above, I have to tell you that Sunday evening at the community center was off the chain. The Crestview Civic Center was packed with people, laughter, community, love, leadership, and the forming of beautiful Biblical Community in the life of Emmanuel. It was filled with good. It is wrought with potential. What will happen when our Bible Fellowships continue to develop a passion for the Word; others; and service together? The impact of Sunday evening was profound. The potential of what might be is beyond imagination.

I am asking God, with deep, visceral groaning, to birth His character and life within us. I am inviting Him to BE in our midst and to draw our body into His BEING. I love Him. I love our fellowship. I love structuring for His greatest glory and His greatest movement in our midst. May God shock our wildest dreams with the outworking of His presence.

Please feel free to comment by clicking below.

I love you guys.

By Grace... For Glory,

Mark

If you are going to be my disciple, you must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me - Jesus

In an account found in John 6, Jesus has a HUGE crowd; is at the height of popularity; could, potentially, stop and build the first 'mega' church; and He has the chance to go down in history as the first to immediately launch a fellowship with 20,000 attenders. Instead, He creates an intersection (which, by the way, He feels free to do over and over as people come alongside Him in His journeys). Jesus says that the way of followship is beautiful and filled with life, passion, and purpose. Also, the way of Christ is sacrifice and suffering and abandon to personal will so that we can live for the ultimate will and purpose - the glory and supremacy of Christ in all things, for all good things glorious.

Jesus does the unthinkable and calls the crowd to radical commitment to His Lordship and to worship of Him alone. The crowd thins.... a few remain... and those few pour out their lives as a drink offering before the Lord and their lives are marked with eternal value and consequence.

I long for the Emmanuel family to intersect with the life-consuming call of Christ. If we choose to follow, the Christ-life lived through us will lend itself to more than we can ask or imagine. There will be more life...more passion... more focus..... more challenge....more fullness....more of His glory.

Jesus has a pretty simple realization. Not all will follow. That's why He says, "If".. If you want to follow, then realize that there will be no small gods on the path. There will be no finite forms of worship. No personal agendas. No wasteful idols. The road to Christ will hold only one throne and one Person worthy of our worship. To Him (Jesus), who sits on the throne; He will receive all honor, glory, dominion, and worship forever.

Sadly, it seems that many will choose a path littered with small dreams, aspirations, idols, agendas, with little to no eternal consequence.

If anyone wants to follow after Christ, the invitation involves laying down of self and picking up one's cross and running hard after Him. I long to give chase. I long to do that within a pack of followers who charge after the heart of the King. As an Emmanuel family, let's go all in together. Our answer, together, being "Yes, Lord", we will go wherever, do whatever, speak to whoever, give whenever... Our answer, before You ever ask is "Yes, Lord!" Let's go all in!

Feel free to comment below.

By Grace... For Glory,

Mark