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Making men MEN again. The David Alliance will help you slay your giants.
Episodes
Monday Dec 19, 2022
Monday Dec 19, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
The Big announcement…
What is the biggest announcement you have ever made?
It was fun making the announcement to a a big party of friends and family that Kim and I got engaged…
Jesus the Messiah is coming and God announces it to Mary- probably a good idea, then to Joseph… another good idea… But the next announcement comes as a shocker….
-2 The Shepherds. The Lowly, the least of these. They were dirty, thought to be untrustworthy.
Jesus was the son of David… David was a shepherd. it would be like Jesus to say… you know what, I am going to reveal myself first to those that our in my history. The least of these. the shepherds… David will get a kick out of this.
*What would it have said to the world if Jesus had announced his birth to the KINGS, Pharaohs, the Elite, the Rich and Powerful?
Shepherds are one of the only jobs that you spend enough time doing your job (feeding the sheep, protecting the sheep, guiding the sheep, sleeping with the sheep) and you smell like your job. You smell like sheep.
Jesus came and served mankind to the point of smelling like mankind. He ended up taking on the sin of mankind.
The Shepherds… though they are smarter, more trained, have more class and dignity… over time the sheep start to see them as sheep. The shepherd has the power of life and death over the sheep… and yet familiarity is corruptive. And yet Jesus allows this while on earth.
HE BECOMES MAN… SEEN JUST LIKE ANY OTHER MAN BY MANY -
John 10:26-30 Jesus says he is the shepherd and his sheep know his voice.
The Shepherds kept the flock outside of Bethlehem for the different festivals and feasts where there we’re sacrifices needed… and specifically the day of atonement when the High Priest had to get a spotless sheep to sacrifice in the holy of holies. Now the angels are showing up saying.. “hey you are out of a job”. There will no longer be a need for sheep for slaughter!
Shepherds looked over the flock. Much like Jesus did. There is much symbolism and it is easy to see why God would choose shepherds.
Jesus said the sheep hear my voice and and know me… Jesus was seen as a shepherd. he was seen as the lowest of the low (can anything good come from Nazareth?)
The Shepherds traveled 90 miles by foot with sheep to find Jesus!
*WHEN GOD TRULY REVEALS HIMSELF TO YOU, YOU WILL GO THE DISTANCE TO KNOW HIM!
And they set out looking for the savior in a manger, wrapped in swaddling cloths… These same wrappings were what they buried their dead in. A terribly beautiful reminder of Christ beginning and the end.
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
Proverbs 17:22 which says, “A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
Ecclesiastes 3:4 says, “A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”
Job 8:21 says, “He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.”
Luke 6:21 says, “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”
Laughter is the oil to life. It is the fastest way to lose the weight of the world off your shoulders.
Types of humor in scripture
- Irony - you strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.
- Hyperbole - You point out my problem while you have a 2x4 in your own eye
- Sarcasm - Elijah 1 Kings 18 Maybe your gods can’t hear you because they are using the toilet and their bowls movement noises are drowning out your voices
- Absurdity humor - Balaam’s donkey speaks to Balaam
- Pranks
A nation that opposed Israel captured the Ark of the Covenant, an artifact that symbolized God’s presence, and placed it in a temple devoted to a pagan god. The pagan idol fell facedown before the Ark—twice—with the idol’s head and hands broken off.
- Amusing laughter to scorn - Psalm 37:13 God laughs at the evil and wicked man
I love a good joke… but honestly I don’t have to look far to have a good laugh. While others are wringing their hands and fretting over the world falling a part. The politicians who are feeding their own greed, to those who celebrate abortion through their own religious entities in the name of the Lord, to the rich who are getting richer, the powerful who want to tell us what to do, to the IRS who taxes beyond its moral right and to the president and others who lie openly and abuse their power in the name of “what’s right”. I laugh, I openly mock and snarl in scorn… it will not last. My God is laughing with me. He sees all, knows all and the absurdity is you will think you are winning all the way to your last breath… but when you die- I will be laughing so hard my lungs will be burning. I will laugh my head off… How hilarious to think that sin goes unpunished. That you can so boldly promote transgenderism, LGBQT, BLM, ABC and save the planet, save the apes, save the global economy… I can laugh at the coming anti Christ and the tribulation and more… why? Because Im a sadist and unmerciful? No… I can laugh because God laughs at the evil, its funny… wicked people think they are above God. Everyone has been duly warned… President Biden has been warned… he calls himself a catholic only because it is a lie that will garner votes… but that is his own confession that he knows better… so yes I will laugh at his demise… you had your chance… now your just one big joke.
In just a matter of time those who are pouring their life blood and efforts into all they want and need out of this world will be shocked to find out… it’s all coming to an end. Only those who know Jesus will live forever in a new heaven and new earth.
Thursday Dec 15, 2022
Thursday Dec 15, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
!Garth5150!
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
It’s one thing getting lost… (just on your own)
Its another thing getting lost with bad directions
And it is a whole other thing getting lost with bad directions and you are late to something important.
I was late once for a wedding… let me explain. I was the one performing the wedding. It was in another state. I had planned on leaving that morning and driving to Iowa and getting there with plenty of time… but that morning I was sent a text that caught my attention. It was obvious that I had been given the wrong information about the time of the wedding. I was standing there in the kitchen in my underwear, no shower yet, and my suit and shoes and tie were hangin up in my closet. I looked at my phone, I realized I had 2 hours to get there and the wedding started in 1 hour and 10 minutes. You can ask my wife… I ran up stairs in my underwear, grabbed my clothes, shoes and socks and jumped in my car and took off in JUST my underwear and sped away breaking every speed limit on the way. In fact I prayed to God and said “im going to go as fast as possible which will be unsafe and possibly cost me a ticket… all the while- getting dressed in a 3 piece suit- So please Jesus have mercy!”
Have you ever had an argument with a parent, friend or even spouse about the fastest way to get somewhere? You are sure that your way is fastest… and typically there is a way that is fastest, but its not worth the fight. However most likely both ways are about the same time.
So what’s the fastest way to get a healing? What is the fastest way to connect with God and feel intimate? What is the fastest way to get Gods blessing? What in fact is the fastest way to get an answer to prayer?
We want speed, we want results, we want it now.
Do you realize the best part of faith in Christ is that there is no best fastest way…
I love the fact that each disciple had a different personality, different gifting, different emotional mental needs - and Jesus met them all in their own unique way. He loved John, He reprimanded Peter, He called out James, He wooed Thomas, He gave Judas enough rope that he ended up hanging himself. He made the prostitute feel beautiful and loved, he made the adulterer feel forgiven, He made the blind man question what he wanted, He told the lepers go prove yourself, He told others not to tell anyone what he did for them and of course they still did…
But each and everyone of those he came in contact with he loved them in their own style… He loved them in the way that was best for them.
Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
A yoke is placed on an ox and hooked up to a plow or sickle and it is also a term used by pharisees regarding what they require if you are going to be their disciple… The picture of a yoke is work. But Jesus comes to say my yoke for you to learn is easy, light, you will even find rest.
If you are looking for God today… realize I can’t give you the best directions for you- I can only give you the best directions for me. You need to rest in God and the yoke he has for you. So do as his word says and ask God “Father give me your yoke, teach me, may I find your rest”.
You know, the best thing about a yoke is that it is made for two. And who do you think is yoked up next to you? You guessed it… this is why he can say “my yoke is easy, my burden is light”… because he shares it with us.
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
!Garth5150!
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
Hey I have been telling you about a new channel that myself and Cheri Milton Marriage and Family therapist are starting specifically now for relationships. We started loading content this week on all channels… called Mingle, Mate and Marry. So Today I am going to give you a little taste.
5 things Men must know about women:
1. Women want to feel loved unconditionally
Many women feel insecure - not about how they look as much as about our love for them.
Reassure her.
Pursue her.
Woo her
2. Women want to know… you are trying to understand. Trying to connect, trying to make the relationship a priority.
3. Women want to feel protected - we call it secure, but it actually is protection… do they feel protected enough to share their feelings, emotions, do they feel protected enough to tell you what they feel you need to work on.
Do they feel protected by how you spend money, budget, deal with your kids…
4. Women want to feel felt not fixed.
Don’t fix them, feel them… try to feel how they feel. Can you listen, replay and then tell them a time you felt the same way.
5. Women want to feel beautiful.
Not to everybody… but definitely from you.
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
!Garth5150!
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
There are quite a few boys in the gym and by boys I mean ages 17-25 who come up to me and ask me for advice on lifting. One young man in particular is trying hard to stand out, find his place… he suffers tragically with self esteem and awkwardness, but doesn’t see it. When he does come to the gym, he kind of works out, he brings a young girl with even less self esteem as him along. He points out how to lift, when to lift, why he isn’t so strong that day… etc.. But he will forever come up to me and ask me questions about lifting… he will share with me what new routine he is doing… always from some person on instagram. He will ask me why his deadlift isn’t going up, or how to help his lock out on bench. And I will graciously tell him what to do… But I know he won’t do it. So I finally got to a place where I said “look skippy, you don’t do what I tell you to do, so just keep lifting and you will figure it out, but Im out of advice”. He just passed it off and said yea ok cool.
Don’t you hate when people ask you advice and they don’t do it?
You know we often ask God for advice… but here is the problem - he doesn’t give advice. He gives truth… pure solid, unapologetic truth. We don’t get to choose wether it its the truth or not, wether it is good advice or not… we only get to choose if we will do it or not. If we don’t do it, we have simply chosen to live a lie.
he is not a counselor
a consultant
An advice column writer
He is not a hunch or a magic spell book looking for the verse that best fits our problem and our answer…
HE IS GOD.
Lets state the not so obvious… you don’t need faith to obey God. WHAT? Oh we need faith o please God, we need faith in his word and faith in who he says he is, and we need faith to move mountains… but to simply obey him???? no faith required. WE see the ten commandments needed no faith to obey, When Christ gave the 2 commandments… love the Lord your god with all your mind body strength, soul spirit… and love your neighbor as yourself… Don’t need faith to understand them or obey them. We just need to do them.
I think sometimes I must be that 17 year old kid that walks up to God in the gym and says “hey I uh don’t seem to have as much intimacy as i want… whadddya think I should do?” And he rolls his eyes and says “have you thought about rather than listening to music all day long you listen to the bible, and spend a little more time listening to my still small voice. And maybe try to serve your wife more and not complain so much… And I say… oh yea, well right now I am trying harder and just hoping my wife gets a better attitude… blah blah blah… And god just shakes his head and says… whatever…
I come up to him again and try to ask him some more advice and he says “look you don’t need another faith routine, you don’t need another book or seminar routine, you don’t need another spiritual revelation, illumination or rationalization… you just need obedience.
oh… yea, but that’s not fun and its all on me…
Yep, its all on you.
Read pray and obey, every day… do that and you won’t need much advice from God, you will be to busy obeying him.
Monday Dec 12, 2022
Monday Dec 12, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
!Garth5150!
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
Think for a second all the factors that go into serving God in the perfect mix. You have passions, dreams, desires, natural talents, gifting, spiritual gifting, abilities, skills, not to mention family upbringing and life history… all play a part in you finding the “fit” for serving God at your best level possible.
CHOOSE YE THIS DAY… THE STATE YOU WILL SERVE IN
Josh. 24:15 14 “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
NOW I WANT TO CHALLENGE YOU TODAY WITH THIS THOUGHT… SERVING GOD IS MORE THAN CHOOSING TO FOLLOW HIM….
IT IS SERVING HIM WITH YOUR GIFTS, TALENTS, PASSIONS, DREAMS, abilities, and so forth
*Have you ever wondered about those people who seem to be able to use everything they are good at, everything they are passionate about, everything they are naturally talented at… They find a place to use it for God. Its like they just naturally always fall into a place where God can use them… the truth is, it may look that way, But I find more often than not - they have gone through plenty of preparation, problems and patches of hard times… but if you don’t give up, in time it can be truly an amazing experience
How God creates our perfect niche
Paul - 13 years of prep
Joseph… Had a vision, told the wrong people
God taught him in every poor circumstance… even being the youngest of 11 brothers…
He was hated by his brothers
He was sold into slavery
Sold again to a General
He was falsely accused
He was jailed
He was forgotten
BUT HE KEPT USING HIS GIFTS, PASSIONS, ABILITIES FOR GOD.
IT ALL CULMINATED IN HIS PERFECT POSITION
Where he became 2nd in command of the whole then known world.
Friday Dec 09, 2022
Friday Dec 09, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
!Garth5150!
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
Simon says is one of the stupidest games ever created… I hate playing it, I hate putting it on, I hate watching it, I just hate it. And why? Because simon says so.
All through out the bible we see where God calls people to do something and many times he provides methods, means, materials, masses… And then… sometimes he does provide… but it just doesn’t seem enough… a few fish and a few pieces of bread for 12K people… and many times God asks us to do things and he provides us with nothing… no money, no support, no provision, no vision, no back up plan, no talent, no supernatural gifting, no history to fall back on for confidence - he almost asks us to do something out of a total void. But what he does ask us is to do is the one thing that only you can do and that is obey.
As William Mierop wrote, and I quote “in John 15, the secret of abounding is abiding, the secret of abiding is obeying and the secret of obeying is abandonment.
You just abandon yourself if in trusting him… you just obey and not worry about the why or how.
Look I have learned early on that life is just plain hard. It just sucks sometimes… period. It just has seasons of waking up with a truck parked on your chest and your stomach on fire…
But on top of that if you make dumb decisions… spending money you don’t have, having children out of wedlock, always showing up late to work, looking at porn, lying, gossiping, laziness… You compound lifes hardships X’s a 1000.
Deuteronomy 11:26-28 sums it up like this: "Obey and you will be blessed. Disobey and you will be cursed.”
If I could add a pre-verse to this (and Im not adding to scripture) But if I could … or lets just say I am going give pre-commentary to this… I would add before this verse… life is brutal, but if you obey you will be blessed despite of it and if you disobey its brutality we will turn volcanic.
But what really is obedience…
Have you ever tried to set up rules for kids to follow… but they can always find a way to manipulate the rules…
You say Don’t eat any more cookies until you have supper and its only 1 in the afternoon. You come down 20 minutes later and they are eating cookies… but let you know they ate supper early like 5 minutes ago and now they are having cookies…
We can always manipulate our obedience or lack thereof -
But rule following is not truly the fullest concept of obedience in scripture. What is?
its the idea of positioning oneself under someone by submitting to their authority and command. We choose to revere them in our behavior.
Rather than saying to God “ok, give me the rules and I will try to live by them”. its more of a “Yo, you got this, I will follow your lead. Im under you Big G”.
We submit to his leading and not just his rules.
So in part we must know him, to hear him in order to obey him. OR IN FACT, we must know him to trust him and hear him to obey him.
Look when I was in 8th grade I went to a Christian camp and we we’re playing simon says… the point to the actual strategy was which leader could get the other teams kids out the fastest in the least amount of moves. So my leader of team Boanerges aka sons of thunder had to call the shots for the other team to see how fast he could get them to all fail. And in turn their leader had to call out the orders for our team to do and they had to see how fast they could get us to fail…
Except the other teams leader cheated… well not really but she did. oh did I mention She… as in a college age girl, blond bombshell, tennis shorts and top perfect smile…
look we were in 7th grade people… give us a break. But the point is, we were so enamored by this innocent, beautiful smily girl we were out in about 3 moves… I think it went like this… simon says raise your right arm… we did. then she said punch yourself in the face.. we did. and we were out… because simon didn’t say. the rest of the week we called her Simmer… as in hot. She never got it, hey she was blonde.
POINT being…. we we’re all in love with Simmer… we would do whatever she asked, no preface needed.
Obedience to God is the same way… seek to fall deeper in love with him and obedience will be the easy part.
Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
!Garth5150!
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
in 1978 Giovanni D’Arco of Italy was sitting comfortably by her fireplace when a spark jumped out and caught her clothes on fire… tearing them off she dodged being severely burned… the irony is that her name in Italian actually means Joan of Arc…
You do know how Joan of Arc died right?
It only takes a spark to get a woman glowing…
Im not here today to talk about martyrs, but rather the irony of life and following Christ. What do I mean?
In life we all have pictures of what a Christian looks like. Or maybe more what a super Christian looks like… ok, I will simmer it down a little, just a solid Christian looks like. And my question would be what does he or she look like???
You know John the Baptist gave heavy warning to the messiahs coming. he even said he was unworthy to untie his sandals… He belted out and belittled the religious leaders of the day… saying Jesus would come with fire and power from the Holy Ghost.. Gods spirit himself. he ate locust, he ate honey, he wore a leather belt and camels hair… in the summer…. really? Thats a bad dduuude. People came out to see him, he shouted repent, you are a sinner, he challenged all…
he was totally the opposite of Jesus, In fact as Larry Osbourne points out in his book “Contrarains guide to knowing God” he said even Jesus and Johns disciples we’re confused at who which what where… who is the one to follow, who is the right one? Who is living out the solid Christian walk per se’.
Johns disciples came to Jesus and asked are you the one?
and Jesus disciples came to him and asked how could this John Dude, be in his right mind.
But Jesus makes no bones about it… he says the Father is greatly pleased with John.
Lets get back to irony right… Jesus said we will be greater than John… John said he was the least and shouldn’t even take of Jesus sandals… Lets throw the apostle Paul in the mix… he is sooo arrogant he tells his audience to be like me… follow my example…
So should we be like Peter, bold loud mouth, should we be like John and meek, mild and thought himself to be Gods favorite? Should we be young and naive and a little impetuous like Timothy? Should we be highly detailed like Luke…
The irony is its not who you should be… it is truly about the fruit. Forget the pattern, forget the idol of the latest Christian talking head, Are you producing fruit? and if not, maybe its more about you trying to be somebody you are not. Look, if you know me you know I am a loud mouth, I am bold, mouthy, I can come across arrogant… but I believe (and with the help of my mentors and accountability partners) I am producing lasting fruit. Leading people to Christ, seeing healings and manifestations, disciplining people into full fledged followers of Christ.
Here is a simple prayer for today… god give me the freedom to be who you want me to be… and give me a piece of fruit to lead me… and by that I mean have peace and see fruit.
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
!Garth5150!
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
Hypocrisy is the homage (reverence) that vice (evil) pays to virtue (righteousness)… ouch. So true.
Hypocrisy versus life
You call me master and obey me not
YOu call me light and see me not
you call me the way and walk not
You call me life and desire me not
you call me wise and follow me not
you call me fair and love me not
you call me rich and ask me not
you call me eternal and seek me not
you call me gracious and trust me not
you call me mighty and honor me not
you call me just and fear me not
If I condemn you, blame me not.
For I am the consequence of hypocrisy
The problem isn’t your hypocrisy… and the problem isn’t my hypocrisy… the problem is that neither of us can see our own hypocrisy. As John Milton wrote in paradise lost (book 3) For neither man nor angel can discern Hypocrisy, it is the only evil that walks invisible except to God alone.
A book came out years ago by Dan Kimball, I did not read it, but the title was they love Jesus, they just don’t like the church. And I get it, and again I have not read it… I have heard Dan speak and he seems legit… but my thoughts on this are simple…
The world will hate us and love us at the same time for different reasons.
I stand for God and the world hates my views.
I love like God - i.e. give sacrificially to those in need, love the unlovable, pray and heal the outcast, seek out the sinner and love them even while they reject me… I love like God and they applaud me.
What I am talking about is, we are imperfect beings trying to serve and uphold a perfect love, a perfect message and a perfect example. Sounds somewhat unattainable… we are in a sense set up to be hypocritical with that goal in mind… yet that is the goal.
what should we do?
Here is the cure to hypocrisy… ready… its not hard.
Honesty + Openness + forgiveness
If I am honest with myself and realize I am a hypocrite in many ways - THAT I DONT EVEN SEE, If I am open with others and without reservation let them know I blow it, I blew it, I will blow it again… and then simply ask then to forgive me and ask God to forgive me… you can’t really be called a hypocrite if you follow that full equation.
Oh sure you can still be hypocritical, we all are, but no one will label you an outright hypocrite - at least not any sane person.
From straight talk counseling:
At the root of hypocrisy is fear and low self-esteem. We use hypocrisy to avoid looking at our shortcomings and figure out our part in it. It typically stems from a sincere belief that we should not be held to the same standards as others because we have better intentions. Our belief is juster, nobler, and sincerer.
I believe this to be accurate… but what does scripture say in return?
Rom. 3:20Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin. i.e. hypocrisy
23. For we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God
We are all hypocrites.
Next time your around people you are trying to win to Christ… be honest with them in a moment of vulnerability and tell them you are trying to represent Christ as best you can, and if they see any hypocrisy you would love for them to kindly point it out to you…
You may be surprised, when we are honest about our hypocrisy, it allows others to see theirs… and that is when they are open to the gospel.
Tuesday Dec 06, 2022
Tuesday Dec 06, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
!Garth5150!
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
Were you a pew sleeper? My son just posted a picture and story line of a young kid sleeping under a pew… oh how I can relate. And so can my boys. I loved the fact that they wanted to be at Youth group at the age of 5… when church was open we we’re there.
When I was a kid we went to church a whoooole lot. And I mean almost every day. My father was the pastor and we had services Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Saturday morning get togethers.. Now you may say that still doesn’t seem real excessive… oh did I mention I grew up right across from our church… I was there every day. Sometimes when my mom could not get my dad to pick up the phone or it was busy, she would send me over to get him. I probably was at church 4-10 times a day… and it didn’t hurt that I was into skateboarding and we had a huge parking lot with lots of things to olly over and jump.
But what if I told you…
You go to church a whole lot more than you think? You might say well garth I hate to admit it, but I am not that regular at church attendance.. I hope to get better but its not an every Sunday type of thing… well first lets look at what the church is.
The greek word for church is
Ekklesia – Most often translated “church,” but it actually means assembly, gathering a group of people for a particular cause. It depicts the body of Christ in both a universal and local sense. See Acts 19:32; Romans 16:16; Matthew 16:18; Revelation 1:4
But what that means is you don’t have practice worship on Sunday mornings between 8 and 11am to be a church. You don’t have to have a pastor there to be a “church”. You don’t have to have it on Sunday or take an offering or even sing songs…
however… We do need to still consistently meet as a church and it is still easiest to do it on Sunday because it is our culture. you can ask a total nonChristian person to come to church and they will say… “oh Im busy this Sunday”. Thats how much it is in our culture… if you were to say “oh we have church Thursday early mornings at 4am at the parking lot of the local YMCA… well they might think you are a cult… but I digress.
My point is this - and I promise you if you practice what I am about to talk about it can literally transform your life.
What if you practiced church out of church when you were with the church… worship, giving, testimonies, healing, scripture…
Hold, on let me back up and give a real life example. I was at a theater years ago (now this happens a lot, but this one time was sincerely anointed) My wife and I walked out from the movie and saw a couple we knew - not from our church but great Christian friends… we are talking and up walks another couple and their teens, then another couple, then a couple single guys that all knew one of us or more. We were all Christians… and in a matter of just minutes we were praying for one another, we were speaking into each others lives aka little mini sermons with scripture. and we even gathered up some money for one of the guys who was struggling financially. We had church in the theater lounge with 15 people, no band, no pulpit, no preacher… 9:15 at night with hundreds of strangers walking past us. oh and we represented 4 different churches and 3 different denominations…
We were the church
WE ARE THE CHURCH
so what if every time you got together - wether planned or unplanned with other followers of Christ you practiced what being the church was. We see in Acts 2:
41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread (Lords supper) and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
7 things… we can do anywhere anytime, any place…
yes I have baptized people on the fly… There’s a lake somewhere or a pool
Have taught, I have taken up an offering, I have fellowshipped signs and wonders the whole shebang out in public with other believers.
**maybe our problem in the church today is we are trying to keep the church in the church, rather than be the church where ever we go.
Lets start making other Christians feel awkward when we are around them in Wal-mart by being the church until… until… UNTIL every Christian starts to be the church outside the church.