The Foundation Behind Moody’s Power

February 22, 2012 in Revivals with 0 Comments

D.L. Moody’s impact in the world was nothing short of remarkable. It truly was an act of God. Because of modern technology, for someone to speak to 10′s of thousands at one time and in one day isn’t that remarkable. For 1875, this type of stuff simply didn’t happen.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu/profile/abcdz2000

There are tons of areas in which we can draw from Moody’s life and ministry. But there is one thing he had that was the foundation behind the ministry…

His love for Scripture.

Here is what other people said about Moody’s relationship with God’s Word…

  • “Brother Moody is a firm believer in God’s word…His profound adoring love of the Scriptures has led some to think that he reads nothing else.” p. 392.
  • Mr. Moody has a “superior knowledge and grasp of the Holy Scriptures.” p. 433.
  • “Mr. Moody has given the Bible its due place of prominence.” p. 435.
  • Mr. Moody is “a man of one book.” p. 579.
  • Mr. Moody has “great Bible knowledge.” p. 591.
  • Mr. Moody “values Bible-study. He urges it on all. He leads many to it.” p. 678-9.

These quotes were from other ministers. They were peers and contemporaries to Moody. Other guys who no doubt read their Bibles. But they looked at Moody in awe in his love for Scripture.

What would other people, other ministers, say about my love for Scriptures? What would they say about your love for Scriptures?

His love for Scripture didn’t create a revival. Lots of people love Scripture. But his love for Scripture made its way into his real life through his study ethic. His study ethic caused something supernatural to occur in his ministry.

It is as if he had a clear understanding of his God-given appointment and he knew exactly what would give him the power to fulfill that appointment: God’s Word.

I want these posts on revival and Moody’s life to encourage us. Today, to encourage us to look at our Bible and think, “Is my love for Scripture so dominate in my life that other people would notice?” (Yeah, literally. Look at your Bible and think about the place it has in your heart). There is nothing that would transform us and impact we have on others more than a deep love for his Scripture.

Next: How did Moody’s love for Scripture practically work in his life?

All quotes from Boyd, Robert, The wonderful career of Moody and Sankey. New York: Henry S. Goodspeed & Co., 1875.

Moody’s Life and Ministry

February 22, 2012 in Revivals with 0 Comments

In our revival’s category, we’re going through a series on D.L. Moody. His life and ministry was remarkable. I think there is a lot we can glean from him that we can apply to ministry in our real life right now. This will be a “living” list, until we exhaust the series. Meaning this list will be added to as we add posts. We hope that this series is an encouragement to you and that the principles help you in your church ministry.
  1. The Foundation Behind Moody’s Power.
  2. Moody’s study ethic.
  3. How Moody was different from his contemporaries.
  4. The effect of his study.
  5. How he transfered this to others.

You can subscribe to the revivals content by clicking on the RSS feed on the left. This will enable you to receive these posts automatically when they go live on the Real Life Project.

It’s Better To Give Than To Receive

February 21, 2012 in Sermons with 0 Comments

Merry Madagascar is one of our boys’ Christmas favorites (yeah, we go for the classics).

Santa, who has amnesia because of a Christmas night crash, messes up Julianuary. Julianuary is the holiday celebrating the greatness of King Julien. All the lemmings (I think that’s what those creatures are) are supposed to give gifts to King Julien for Julianuary. Santa, who doesn’t know he’s Santa, realizes he doesn’t have a gift to give Julien. He proceeds to create a gift out of wood because, well, he’s Santa, and that’s what he does whether he knows it or not. He ends messes up Julianuary by giving every lemming a gift, not just King Julien.

Well, King Julien decides to pout because everyone got a gift, not just him. When Santa comes to apologize, he ends up persuading Julien to give his girlfriend Amelia (a skeleton. Yes, a sarcastic historical reference) a gift. Santa asks, “How does it feel?” King Julien replies, “Making her happy makes me feel happy. It gives me a warm, tingly feeling inside. Like pinworms!”

The rest of the story is King Julien likes giving so much that he gave presents to all the lemmings. He began to understand what love is. Love is…

Sacrifice for others.

At Christmastime, we hear, “It is better to give than receive,” and our retail stores love to let you give! But why is it that it is better to give than receive? In giving we find…

  • Joy
  • Purpose
  • Love.

But, we’re not just giving to the people we think are our friends. Jesus defines friends differently than we do…

  • Jesus tells the religious leaders through the Good Samaritan story that “neighbor” is anyone with a pulse. We love them through sacrifice even if we don’t like them, if they’ll make us “unclean,” or if they’ll make us late for a religious service–even if we’re leading the religious service.
  • Jesus calls his disciples friends. The same disciples he just predicted would run and deny. These actions are unfriendly, but he calls them friends anyway.
  • In Romans 5:6-10, we’re called “enemies of God,” but Jesus still died so that we can be reconciled to God.

Our friends are not just people we like. Our friends are anyone with a pulse.

Danger alert: We can pursue “loving people” as the “what” not the “how.” Abiding in love for others is how we abide in Jesus, not what we do to be successful in God’s Kingdom. But, people who abide in the Vine will love like the Vine.

People all around us need friends. People who will truly sacrifice for them. The church should be the most friendly people on the earth. Not because we smile and give a handshake. But because we are willing to sacrifice for people…all people.

In Real Life…
Who around you is in need of a friend that will lay down their life for them?

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This is the 7th of a 10 part series called “Success in God’s Kingdom” based on John 15:1-15 that will run through February. By the end of the series, there will be a usable sermon series with ebook, Small Group guide, graphic and more. Chapter 7 of the ebook is ready for download (PDF and epub). I just ask that you click one (or all) of the options on the left side to help us build the community!

Success in God’s Kingdom Chapter 7: It’s Better To Give Than To Receive

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Subscribe to the sermon series right into your RSS reader of choice by clicking on the image at left. If you want to subscribe to all the feeds, we’d love that too! Click on the RSS button at the top right or click right here.

The Biggest Thing That Will Help SYA’s

February 20, 2012 in SYA's with 0 Comments

We want to impact Students and Young Adults. We want to help them. We want to see them graduate and stay with the mission of God for their lives. What would be the biggest thing that would insure this outcome?

From http://www.sxc.hu/profile/mzacha

Relationships.

They want to be on mission together. But really, don’t we all? We don’t want to be out there all alone. But, so often, we take the John Wayne approach to discipleship, even with students. We tell them, “It’s just you and Jesus.” Well, that is unbiblical and impractical. The church should be the BEST place to have GREAT relationships with parents, adults and peers.

If churches are able to give SYA’s ample opportunity to establish deep relationships in three areas, the likelihood of them staying on God’s mission increases dramatically.

What three relationships?

  1. Parents.
  2. Adults.
  3. Peers.

All kinds of research has brought this to light, but I read again this week research backing up these three relationships as vital to the health of a SYA.

So, we’re going to take a look into these three relationships, how they are impactful and what the church can do to help facilitate these relationships.

Oh, in the meantime, comment and let us know how these three relationships played a key role in your life…or how you would have liked them to play a greater role.

UPDATE: Richard Ross, PhD. and Youth Ministry Professor at Southwestern Seminary says this…

The research is rock solid: Teenagers with two spiritually-alive parents, life-on-life discipling relationships with two spiritually-alive youth leaders, and a heart connection with an adult outside student ministry . . . almost all with follow Christ all their lives.

Richard Ross
http://www.facebook.com/rossrichard

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Communion With God

February 19, 2012 in Quotes with 0 Comments

The life of fellowship with God cannot be built up in a day. It begins with the habitual reference of all to Him, hour by hour, as Moses did in Egypt. But it moves on to more and longer periods of communion; and it finds its consummation and bliss in days and nights of intercession and waiting and holy intercourse.

 –F.B. Meyer
Used with Exodus 24:18
Found in Thoughts for the Quiet Hour, Ed. Dwight L. Moody, Fleming H. Revell Company: Chicago, 1900, p. 11.

Getting a Youth Group Brimming With Disciples

February 18, 2012 in Quotes with 0 Comments

Baptized parents are Lost, Converts, or Disciples. Most of the children of Converts will increasingly live like the Lost. The ONLY way to get a youth group brimming with Disciples is to partner with your pastor and others to make Disciples of parent Converts.

–Richard Ross
SWBTS Youth Ministry Professor
http://www.facebook.com/rossrichard

Building a Solid Foundation

February 17, 2012 in Experiences with 0 Comments

All of our lives are a project. We are still under construction. Real Life Project exists to help people build their lives.

From http://www.sxc.hu/profile/svilen001

To every building project, there is one place and one place only that you start.

The foundation.

Nothing is more important than to build a solid foundation. The foundation impacts everything else. A solid foundation leads to a solid house. A weak foundation leads to a weak house.

It is important to get the foundation of our lives right.

Everything the Real Life Project does is to end up building people on the solid foundation of Jesus. He promised that a life that is built on his foundation won’t collapse. There will be storms, but his foundation is so strong, the building will stay upright.

Everyone needs a solid foundation, but we especially want to lead Student and Young Adults to a solid foundation. Imagine a flood of SYA’s living solid lives. Live that have impact. Lives that can’t be shaken. Lives that make a difference. This is what could happen if they have a solid foundation.

We want to help your church to build that foundation. We’ll have an ongoing presence through sermons and articles. In the days ahead, we’ll also be describing other ways we can serve you and your church to help you build foundations into people.

An Explosive Joy

February 16, 2012 in Sermons with 0 Comments

A chemical reaction is when two different elements come together to form a third, unexpected element.

When the two elements of Jesus’ love and obedience to his commands come together, a third, unexpected element is formed.

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).

Joy is the third, unexpected element.

It is unexpected because we don’t think joy and commands go together. Commands are a kill joy–so we think. Jesus tells us that his commands produce joy.

This means obedient, joyless Christians are an oxymoronic statement.

God always intended obedience and joy to go hand-in-hand.

Joy is something that comes out of people abiding on the Vine. What should happen if a lot of joyous people get together?

A party should happen.

But why are our services more like a funeral than a party?

Manufactured joy is fake and has no substance. I’m not encouraging this. I want those who are bound by the yoke of obedience equals joyless lives. Live in freedom. Be joyful. Have parties celebrating the Vine.

In Real Life…
If 100 joyous people got together, what would it look like?

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This is the sixth of a 10 part series called “Success in God’s Kingdom” based on John 15:1-15 that will run through February. By the end of the series, there will be a usable sermon series with ebook, Small Group guide, graphic and more. Chapter 6 of the ebook is ready for download (PDF and epub). I just ask that you click one (or all) of the options on the left side to help us build the community!

Success in God’s Kingdom Chapter 6: An Explosive Joy

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Subscribe to the sermon series right into your RSS reader of choice by clicking on the image at left. If you want to subscribe to all the feeds, we’d love that too! Click on the RSS button at the top right or click right here.

 

Inspecting the Revival Conduit

February 15, 2012 in Revivals with 0 Comments

From http://www.sxc.hu/profile/hakill

When Moody started his ministry in Chicago, he was rejected.

He showed up to a Sunday School asking if he could teach. They said they had no extra positions, but if he got his own children, he could teach them.

I have no insight to their thinking, but when I read that story, I think, “That was their ‘brush off.’” I’m guessing that Sunday School leaders would never figure in a 100 years that Moody would show up the next week with 18 young people to teach. 18 young people from a rough background.

Even though Moody was rejected, he created his own ministry.

From 18 young people, a few years later he was preaching to 10-20 thousand people a day.

How did he get from point A to point B?

We just mentally chalk it up to God’s power and sovereignty, nothing more and nothing less. So then we are off the hook and celebrate how God moved in a previous time period.

Or is there something we can learn from Moody that we can apply to ministry in our Real Life?

Researching revival is about inspecting the conduit. The conduit by which God chooses to move. As we inspect the conduit of revivals past, we inspect our own conduit.

Are our arteries clogged?
Do we need to add some pipes?
Do we need to take away pipes?

These posts are about imagining a future where God is moving among the people. They’re about seeing God intersect real life in times past and praying it happens in the near future. Our goal is to give a glimpse of how God moved in years past so that you can image it in the years ahead.

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Are Love and Obedience Incompatible?

February 14, 2012 in Sermons with 0 Comments

The two concepts of love and obedience have become so separated that we think they cannot be compatible.

On one side, people focus so much on God’s love, there is no concept of the need to obey.

One the other side, people focus so much on God’s commands, that God is only for a select few.

Jesus addressed this with his disciples.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love” (John 15:9-10).

Legalism is focusing so much on Jesus’ commands that we make his commands our success. Then, in order to make sure we are successful, we end up making up our own commands. Our god becomes the rules. In the meantime, we forget about Jesus.

But as reactionary people, we have made a god out of something opposite. We can make a god out of God’s love. Like making up our own commands, we make up our own picture of God’s love. We think he is so loving he wouldn’t require anything from us. He would never discipline us or make us feel guilty for our sin. When we do this, we also forget about Jesus.

For Jesus, love and obedience are one in the same. They are how we abide in Jesus. If abiding in the Word and prayer are the foundation of abiding in Jesus, abiding in Jesus’ love and commands are the framework. Jesus’ love and commands give depth and strength. They are the beginning to what people can actually see.

The disciples struggled with this tension before actually finding it. They came to a point where they thought being a disciple was an exclusive group. Then, after failing, they bunkered into a locked house. They then went back to their old way of a fisherman’s life. Jesus had to go pull them out of the boat to bring them back on track. But, it was because of his love that he sought them out and pulled them out of the boat. Then they got it. When people tried to distract with rules, the disciples stood their ground against them. But they equally stood their ground when others said grace meant you didn’t have to obey.

Love and obedience are inseparable. It is a tension, but a tension we must figure out how to live.

In Real Life…
How do you live out the tension between abiding in Jesus’ love and abiding in obedience?
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This is the fifth of a 10 part series called “Success in God’s Kingdom” based on John 15:1-15 that will run through February. By the end of the series, there will be a usable sermon series with ebook, Small Group guide, graphic and more. Chapter 5 of the ebook is ready for download (PDF and epub). I just ask that you click one (or all) of the options on the left side to help us build the community!

Success in God’s Kingdom Chapter 5: What’s Love Got To Do With It?

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Subscribe to the sermon series right into your RSS reader of choice by clicking on the image at left. If you want to subscribe to all the feeds, we’d love that too! Click on the RSS button at the top right or click right here.

 

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