be alive!


Revelation 3:1(b) says "I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive-but you are dead.

This scripture jumped out from the page into my heart last night.

I'll get straight to the point.

How many churches that you know of fulfill this scripture? I understand you can't judge who goes to heaven or hell, that is God's job. But the fruit thereof we are able to test the spirits to see if they are real or false. I've been to plenty of churches that have it all together on the outside, but inside it's as dead as a 2x4.

In the scripture, other churches may have believed that the Sardian Christians comprised a dynamic church, but their secularism revealed their lack of spiritual life. The church of Sardis needed to wake up or it would suddenly fall.

The city of Sardis had fallen when the forces of Cyprus (549/546 BC) and of Antiochus III (189 BC) made unexpected attacks through a secret tunnel and caught the watchmen off guard. The same would be true of the Christians there if they did not meet the requirements of...God. (Rev. 20:12; Eph. 2:10, James 2:20)

The churches need to wake up. It's about time don't you think?

The lights are great.
The fog machines are great.
The amazing worship is great.
The preaching is great.

It DOES set the atmosphere of worship. But more importantly is our insides. It's okay to have all those things in your church, but is the church alive on the inside...the hearts.

Pastor, this is for you. Lead your people that God has allowed you to be responsible for. Let your heart be true. Your relationship with the Lord is more important that all the factors that come with a building. If you don't step back and work out your salvation of the Lord with fear and trembling in your own life...your church will fail...or you will. God is seeking out those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. Not lights, fog, cameras, etc. But in spirit and in truth!

My prayer to all, is that God sees you are alive in your hearts and in your outward appearance. I love all those things! It SHOULD be a celebration every Sunday we come to worship. But beware of Revelation 3:1(b)...a reputation of being alive-but you are dead.

I love you. Thank you for reading.
Read More 3 comments | written & created by Randy M. Burris |

stones

Stones. You've thrown them before. At a tree. A mailbox. A can. A person. Yes you have, don't lie! Memories go back to when you were a kid and you used to throw stones at things. You thought it was fun! I remember when I was in 4th grade (who remembers 4th grade?) I do. Because this kid named Josh Masters pegged me on forehead with a rock. I had to be checked out of school to get stitches; it was so bad. I don't know whatever happened to him, but I remember that day vividly and physically. I've actually tried to google him, or find him on facebook and I can't find the guy. Maybe he's locked up somewhere!

Stones. They hurt. They hurt when your hit with them. They hurt when you throw them at someone. Like Jenny in the video. Her past with her father wasn't all that great. He was an alcoholic, he abused her, never took care of her; which led her down a path of neglect and eventually a deadly disease.

Let me ask you some questions.

Are you living a life that would produce a legacy? Are you doing all you can do to do good? Are you preventing stones to be thrown at you?

Wow. Live a life to please others! Don't be ignorant as most people are that say, "I don't have to please others, if I please God thats all that matters!" Yeah right! To please God, is to please others. Romans 15:2 says, "We should please others. If we do what helps them, we will build them up in the Lord. The scripture says in Verse 5, "May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other-each with the attitude of Christ Jesus toward the other."

Stones. I know you have some that you would love to throw. At a father. mother. friend. uncle. But I pray that God will give peace and healing in those areas. I know they hurt. You wish they could've been more to you. You wish they would've done more for you. It's the past now. Look ahead! See what God has in store for you. The sins of your dad or anyone else, does not determine who you will be in the future. YOU CHOOSE YOUR OWN LIFE! What someone else did in the past does not determine your future. LET GO OF THAT LIE!

Family and close friends have perhaps told you, "You're gonna be just like ____________ when you grow up!" No. You are your own person. You choose who you will be like! Thats the beauty of free will that God has given us.

And my advice to you...

...be like Christ.

I love you. I care about you. I may not know you, but I'm there in spirit with you waiting for you to change for the better. Read this prayer that I wrote and apply it to your heart. Don't just read it, apply it!

[Almighty God. Loving Father. I know you love me. I know you want what's best for me. Take me and make me who you want me to be. Take ALL that I am, and change me. Help me to become more like Jesus. Loving. Caring. Giving. Take all the resentment that I have toward people, my dad, my mom, my siblings, my family, my friends...and let love shine through. Heal me from disease of hate. Dear Lord, never let hate in my heart. But help me love like you love. Help me to forgive like you forgive. Most of all, let me forget like you forget. Take my heart, and wash it clean. Let it be as white as snow. In Jesus' name.]

If you prayed this prayer earnestly and believe it. Let it shine through you. Print it and stick it on your mirror or near your coffee pot. Somewhere where you'll see it everyday, and pray it until you feel no resentment, but LOVE!
Read More 1 Comment | written & created by Randy M. Burris |

what it is:


Church at the Orchard was launched today. I got up around 6:00a.m., took a shower, prayed, prayed some more, spoke to my wife, then we headed to the where we planted the church. We are inside of an AMC theatre inside what is called, "The Orchard Town Center Mall." I was excited, but there were a lot of emotions that were going on inside of me. Happy, sad, amazement, awe, upset, joy, and so many more. I wanted to be open to God's voice this morning and finding out that I'm going to have to be in tune more often. I don't take being a pastor lightly. It is a BIG job! Those who do take it lightly need to be out of the pulpit. I'm touchy on that subject, because too many pastors (and no, I don't think I'm perfect) have let the "fear of God" go in their lives.


God brought me to lead the church into the book of Deuteronomy. To teach what a covenant means. A covenant is not meant to be broken. Think about if God failed at everything He has said in your life; it would leave you infuriated! Deuteronomy is a covenant made by God to the people of Israel. Although Jesus has came and a new covenant has birthed...He didn't come to ABOLISH the law but to fulfill it. So I am teaching about the lives of the Israelites and their leaders, and how we can learn from them through the journey we take the moment we step out of bed. This is the time for, "new beginnings."


Read Deuteronomy 1:1-29


Look at the path they chose, the distrust they had in God, the fear they had in a people and a battle that God had already taken care of. But one thing is for sure; that in Deut. 32:10 God found them in a desert land, in an empty, howling wasteland, He surrounded them and watched over them; He gaurded them as His most precious possession.


Can I tell you that YOU are God's most precious posession! He loves you like crazy! He will take care of you, if you will just LET GO of what SLOWS YOU DOWN in your walk with Him. He doesn't care what you've done in the past, He is ready to forgive you, ready to love on you, ready to see you prosper!


TRUST GOD!


Let us keep our eyes on Jesus and never sway too far to the left or to the right, but let us run the race on a narrow path that God has prepared for us! (Hebrews 12:1, 2)
Read More 0 comments | written & created by Randy M. Burris |