Category Archives: Decisions For Christ

You Can Still Respond

26 Tuesday Apr 2022

Posted by in Baptism, Decisions For Christ, Holiday

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You can still respond to God’s call. If you were at church on Easter Sunday and felt a nudge on your heart, but you ignored it … don’t keep ignoring it! Hebrews 3:8 warns us against hardening our hearts towards Christ. It was a very special Easter Sunday as 148 people went public with their faith in Christ and were baptized! If something resonated with you, lean into it. Maybe you didn’t feel ready to get baptized just yet, but you left church with questions. That’s a great place to start! After all, Easter is about a relationship, not a religion. 

Baptism Response Story
Every Story Matters To God

After Jesus rose from the dead He went around Jerusalem and Galilee and traveled around other areas and was seen by thousands … at one time 500 people saw him and they had to be saying, “He’s baaaaccck!” My point is you may have missed that opportunity to respond on Easter Sunday, but He’s still ready to receive you today. Just like Jesus gave Doubting Thomas the evidence he needed after the resurrection, He will give you what you need if you ask.

Easter

Everything about Christianity hinges on what we celebrated on Easter Sunday. Christ died so that my relationship, and your relationship with God could be restored. What you believe about God is the most important thing in life. Your belief determines how you deal with your past, where you’ll go in the future, and how you live today. 

Respond

Once upon a time, I stood up in front of a group of people and said “I do” to my wife. Those two words have changed the trajectory of my life. I’ve been working out the implications of what “I do” means for 24 years!  I didn’t know everything about marriage when I said those words and it’s the same thing with Christ. You don’t have to know everything right now. Maybe you’re still processing, wrestling, doubting, wondering, and questioning if this whole “Jesus thing” is for you. Just because you didn’t respond immediately doesn’t mean Christianity isn’t for you. Take it one step at a time. But just know, you can come with your questions, your doubts, your discouragements and everything else. Over time, those questions will be answered, your doubts will be dealt with and your discouragements will be gone. 

Get Rooted

To be rooted in Christ, we must understand that Christ wants a relationship with us, not a religion. Every one of us (including the person who invited you to church) has rejected that relationship at some point. We all, in our own way, reject Christ from time to time. We’ve all opted to do our own thing, our own way and too often decide to be the god of our own life. Unfortunately, just like when we break man’s laws, we pay man’s penalties … when you break God’s laws, you pay God’s penalties. Either you have to pay for it or someone else does. Thank God Jesus said He would pay the penalty for you and me. Not only is that worth celebrating, that’s worth a response!! That’s at least worth investigating. It’s worth another visit to Skyline Church next Sunday.

See, I am absolutely convinced that if someone is presented the opportunity to know the real Jesus, what He offers, not the Jesus we’ve been presented in the media or the Jesus we learned about from a misinformed friend or relative, but the actual Jesus, NOBODY WOULD TURN HIM DOWN. The free gift He offers is just too good to pass up.

Here’s a quick synopsis of the deal you get when you accept Jesus’ free gift: Every sin past, present, and future paid for, my future home in Heaven secured, and purpose and energy to live today! 

Next Step

Our goal at Skyline Church is to help people find and follow Jesus seven days a week. We don’t do it perfectly but we take it one step at a time. As a matter of fact we’re starting a brand new series this Sunday, May 1 where we will be digging in and understanding the 9 characteristics God wants to see in our lives. Those characteristics don’t all happen at once. As a matter of fact, it’s all about progress not perfection. I hope you’ll lean into God this week and join us for church on Sunday. I want to encourage you, don’t ignore His nudge on your heart. My prayer for you is from Ephesians 3:18-19. “May you be able to feel and understand … how long, how wide, how deep, and how high (God’s) love really is; and to experience this for yourselves.”

Game Plan

22 Tuesday Feb 2022

Posted by in Baptism, Challenge, Christian Habits, Decisions For Christ, Salvation

≈ 5 Comments

Game Plan For Battle 

playbook strategy

Do you have a game plan for spiritual growth? I guarantee your opponent has a game plan to defeat you, and it isn’t pretty. There was a big game on February 13, and it’s really no surprise that the best team won. I mean, I predicted this before the game that there was no way that the Cincinnati Kitty Cats could win. As you all know, cats are Satan’s spawn. And Satan never wins! Amen? (ok, just kiddin’ cat people, I have heard there are some good cats out there, I have just never seen them).

Spiritual Super Bowl

In order to be rooted in Christ, you need to know areas of weakness in your life that can uproot your faith. This is so crucial to our walk with Christ that I’ve written a book on it. We need to be aware of the field we’re on. Until we’re in heaven, our field is a spiritual battleground that is much more intense than any Super Bowl.

“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”

Ephesians 6:12
Super Bowl Game 2022
Super Bowl 2022

In addition, 2 Corinthians 2:11 warns us to not let the enemy outsmart us with his evil schemes. And we know that God’s opponent comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). But here’s the thing … Satan can’t force you to do anything. But he can sure try to devise ways to tempt you with the purpose of defeating you. 

Temptation 

Temptation is not an event, it’s a process. If you don’t do anything to keep the weeds of temptation off the field of your life, weeds will just naturally sprout right up. We need to be intentional about tending our crop to keep the weeds, beetles, and bugs out. And let me be clear, asking God to forgive our sins one time, only to immediately return to the offense is not enough to keep tomorrow’s weeds from sprouting. We need to continually choose to be on Christ’s team, which means confess (agree with God that I was wrong) and repent (stop doing the action), and that leads to a cultivation of our spiritual growth every day. I’m not talking about perfection, but I am talking about making progress.

If we’re going to prevent the enemy from infiltrating our lives, we need to know the difference between difficulties and temptations. 

  • Difficulties: Can be designed by God to help us grow.
  • Temptations:  Designed by Satan to pull us away from God.

We have to be intentional about cultivating a life that produces a healthy mind and focus in on God’s plan for our lives. We do that by reading His Word and not flirting with evil desires. 

Desire

Satan starts with the natural desires within you. What we think, becomes what we say, and what we say becomes what we do. A lot of times, we think that temptation is out there, but the truth is that it’s in you. If you don’t have a desire for something, you won’t be tempted. For example, I’ve never been tempted to smoke. I don’t like the smell. It’s that simple for me. Sometimes a Christian will ask me if they’re going to Hell for smoking cigarettes. I always say NO … smoking cigarettes will not send you to Hell… it’ll just make you smell like you’ve been there.  The things that tempt me may not be an issue for you, and the things that tempt you may not be an issue for me. 

Here’s the thing with desires though; whether it’s drinking, food, sex, sleep, or any other natural desire, the enemy will tempt you to take it to the extreme. Oftentimes, temptation is an attempt to fulfill a legitimate desire in an illegitimate way.

Doubt & Deception

Temptation goes all the way to the Garden of Eden when Satan said, “Did God really say _______.” The enemy’s plan is to get you to doubt God’s Word, God’s love for you, God’s plan for you, and that God knows better what will make you happy in life.

God’s opponent always replaces God’s truth with lies. The enemy uses the same old strategy again and again. And if he achieves his goal of deceiving us, it always leads to disobedience against God. Once we find ourselves in this scenario, we need to realize that we’ve signed with the wrong team. And the only way back is to confess, repent, and stop it. Sadly, many people are too prideful and tend to justify their actions, which ultimately leads to defeat.

Recruitment

Have you ever heard of National Signing Day? This actually just recently took place on February 2nd. Signing Day is when young High School athletes decide which college they’re going to attend and play their sport. Typically, they’re sitting behind a table with several hats on it. After sharing some words, they make a public profession of faith to a university by putting on a hat claiming loyalty to that University team. Sunday February 13, was National Signing Day for 120 people at Skyline Church. That’s a BIG deal! Every one of those people put on what I call the Team Colors. They got baptized and publicly claimed loyalty to Team Jesus.

Here’s the thing, you have free will. It’s a gift from God! We get to choose to do whatever we want in life. We can fall for temptations, give in to urges, and completely ignore God’s plan for our lives. But we do not get to choose the consequences after we’ve made our free-will decision. Do you know what team you’re on? Have you professed your allegiance to Jesus? And are you continually cultivating your faith every day by making progress in reading and feeding your mind with the truth of God’s Word?

Spiritual Super Bowl

Game Plan for Spiritual Growth
Game Plan for Spiritual Growth

If you could know your opponent’s game plan, you could have an incredible advantage. Why would anyone join the losing team? Christ’s opponent is sneaky, crafty, and devious. We need to be aware of his schemes so that we can grow deeper and deeper roots in our faith in Jesus Christ. If you don’t have a Game Plan for Spiritual Growth, I would encourage you to get one! At Skyline Church, I’ve created seven classes that will transform your spiritual life … I call it Your Game Plan for Growth.

Let me know if you’re interested and we’ll get you situated on the winning team. 

God Bless!

2022 Word Of The Year

05 Wednesday Jan 2022

Posted by in Challenge, Church, Decisions For Christ, Holiday, Oikos, Salvation, small groups, Volunteer, Worship

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Every year I pray and go through a process for a Word of the Year for our church for the coming year.  For 2021 God gave me the word THRIVE. In all the chaos of the season when people were suffering and reeling from Covid and all the governmental mandates and division that came from it, people were just trying to survive in 2020.  We decided that wasn’t good enough, and God made it clear that we are to Thrive. We have certainly experienced a thriving at Skyline Church. Over 1,176 decisions for Christ, 233 baptisms, over 15,000 people at Christmas nights––we’re seeing God move, and Skyline is thriving with more and more people! Over the last several months as I’ve asked the Lord for the word of the year for 2022, it became clearer and clearer that Rooted is the word for Skyline Church.

2022 Word Of The Year: Rooted

Def:  To establish deeply and firmly 

I believe the main reason God gave me this word is because we have so many people that have made a decision for Jesus but are not connected any more than a Sunday service. Pre-covid the national average for church attendance was 1.3 times a month. This is someone who claims to be a Christian and claims a home church! There’s no way to establish a deep and firm root base at 1.3x a month.

Rooted In Scripture

At Skyline Church, we’re not interested in building a crowd. That’s where it starts for sure, and of course we want to see crowds of people saying YES to Jesus. But we don’t just want a Sunday event, we want a Sunday fellowship! We want to truly help people get rooted in their faith, rooted in the church, and rooted in our community.

We have to disciple people and show them how to live out the process. Colossians 2:6-7, “And now, just as you (1) accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must (2) continue to follow him. (3) Let your roots grow down into him, and (4) let your lives be built on him. (Result: 5) Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and (6) you will overflow with thankfulness” (Emphasis mine). 

Process

We see the process stated above in Col. 2:6-7. It all starts with a decision for Christ. But then, our work really begins. We’ve got to help them get connected and rooted in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to teach them how to build their lives on Him. Only then, will their faith grow strong in the truth they are taught and that will cause them to overflow with thankfulness.

Are You Rooted?

I’m asking you to think through what rooted means in your walk with Christ. How can you get more rooted and how can you help others get more rooted (more connected) in 2022? Do you need to root yourself, your children, and your family? While we’ll always be focused on our Oikos, this year Skyline will be even more intentionally focused on helping people grow deeper roots whether they are brand new to the faith or have been a Christian for many years.

The first teaching series of the year will be called Rooted and it begins this Sunday January 9. We will look at key biblical practices that help people get rooted in the faith. Join us this Sunday at Skyline Church in Rancho San Diego, Lakeside, Kansas, or Online. 

This is going to be a GREAT YEAR as we see more and more people establishing deep and firm roots in their faith!

A Heart To Give

17 Wednesday Nov 2021

Posted by in Challenge, Christian Habits, Church Planting, Decisions For Christ, mission, purpose driven, seven church, Worship

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Oftentimes, pastors are reluctant to talk about giving because of the way culture has taught us to think about money. Culture talks about giving in manipulative, coercive, and guilt-laying ways. But as many of you know, at Skyline we don’t shy away from hard topics. We’re dedicated to teaching the relevance of Scripture in truth and love.

What does the Bible have to say about giving?

So then, what does the Bible have to say about giving? Let’s throw out the sales pitches and talk simply about what the Bible says about giving and how we view your gifts at Skyline Church. 

Perhaps one of the most popular verses known in the Christian faith is John 3:16. “God so love the world that He gave…” God GAVE His one and only Son for YOU and for me. There has been no greater act of giving than when Jesus went to the cross for all of mankind. And did you know the words “give, gave, and giving” are used over 1,500 times in the Bible? Giving is mentioned more than faith! If we leave out talking about giving we have left out a HUGE portion of the Bible.

Do you know why it is mentioned so often in the Bible? Because you can say you have faith all you want, but if you don’t give, you’re not growing in faith. It’s that simple. Skyline wants to produce followers of Christ that are growing in faith seven days a week. Growing people change. That includes how you view your finances. 2 Corinthians 8:7 is just one verse that teaches us that eventually our faith will be stretched in the area of giving, “But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”

A Heart To Give

Giving is always an opportunity. God wants us to grow in giving because that means we’re growing in faith. I remember meeting a visitor at Seven Church (now Skyline Lakeside) years ago that approached me after one of our services. He shared how he went to church three times throughout the year at three different churches, and every time the church was talking about giving. He was fuming and he accused churches of always talking about money. And now he was at our church and guess what we were talking about? Giving. I looked him right in the eye and said, “I think God is trying to tell you something.”

If you get frustrated when a church talks about giving, that’s a tell-tale sign that God is trying to work on that area of your life. And I’ll tell you the same thing I told that man … don’t give. Maybe that’s the first time you heard a pastor tell you not to give but I mean it. God is more interested in your heart than your money. Giving with a reluctant or resentful heart is someone who is giving in vain (2 Corinthians 9:7). God doesn’t want your money if He doesn’t have your life. 
Maybe you’ve been excelling in the knowledge of Scripture, serving, and doing all the “Christian things” you think you ought to like 2 Corinthians 8:7 talks about. But there’s going to come a time where God is going to stretch you in the grace of giving because giving reveals where your heart is. Giving allows us to express appreciation for what He has done in the past. It also allows us to check our heart and our priorities in the present, but most of all, giving allows us to grow in faith in the future. 

Why I Give

Giving allows me to evaluate my priorities and motivations. By nature, we have a tendency to make things all about ourselves. Think of the self-centered man in Luke 12. The wealthy man wondered what he should do with all his excess wealth. He decided that he should figure out how to hold on to more of it. So, he tore down his barns to build bigger ones. He kept all his wealth to himself, only to pass away and never spend the earnings he stored up on Earth. 
I remember the first time this idea of “giving” hit me. I heard a message from David Jeremiah at Shadow Mountain Community Church, and he challenged me. He said if you want to know where your heart is look at your checkbook. Sure enough, he was right. God owns everything. We’re called to be good stewards of all that He has put in our lives… And my spending was all about my interests, not God, not the church, not any kind of generosity. I had to decide if I was willing to live with a heart that only thought of myself.

My wife and I are giving to the 101010 Campaign and making a commitment like we’ve never done before because we want to grow in our faith!  And I know, he who gives little, gets little (2 Corinthians 9:6). This is no small aspiration for us as a church and it requires no small act of giving on our part. But we WANT to GROW in faith as a church!

10/10/10 Campaign

Skyline’s goal of the 101010 Campaign is to see more and more people give their lives to Christ. Truly, we want to light up the scoreboard in Heaven. We want more and more souls to one day call Heaven home. We have an incredible opportunity in front of us.

My goal is to influence as many people as I can to experience Jesus. You have 8-15 people in your Oikos (relational network) right now who don’t know Christ, but they will within the next 10 years! That’s what it’s all about. A church of our size is committed to being a model church in our community. That means stewarding your giving well, devoting ourselves to growth, and teaching the relevance of Scripture. I have no business telling you how much you should give, but I do believe in teaching you about sacrificial giving. Whether you give $5, $500, or 5 Million,  I want to encourage you to ask God what you should do. If you’re wrestling through how to steward your finances, I want to invite you to watch your 10/10/10 series on the idea of giving on the Skyline YouTube page. 

With all of us ALL IN, we will absolutely be able to light up the scoreboard in Heaven!!

An Invite Can Change A Life

11 Wednesday Aug 2021

Posted by in Christian Habits, Decisions For Christ, mission, Oikos, purpose driven, Salvation

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What is Salvation and How Does Someone Get It?

Salvation is very simply the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. If we accept this free gift we are spared eternal separation from God. Although salvation is purely based on God’s grace, He chooses to use people like you and me as channels of that grace.

In Colossians 2:6-8, it says, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”

When we admit our need for Christ and we believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose again to save us … we gain salvation, which is to be eternally connected to our Creator and Lord. We do not gain a religion or a ritual, but a real relationship with the Lord of the universe. A real relationship that has changed billions of lives including mine. So, why hasn’t this “real” relationship changed the lives of those in your Oikos? (more on that later).

Why Is Jesus The Answer For You?

As we cling to our hope in Jesus, we also need to share our hope with others. In the past year we’ve talked about how essential church is because we ALL need hope to cope … maybe now more than ever. While hope is in demand, there is by no means a short supply. Not only is there more than enough grace, but it is sufficient even when you feel unworthy (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Who in your life needs to hear about the hope you have in Jesus Christ? Why is Jesus the answer for you? It’s not a trick question. Your story matters to God! That’s why He uses us to reach others. At Skyline Church, we believe that God has supernaturally and strategically positioned every one of us to share the “Good News” about Jesus. On average, we all have 8-15 people in our Oikos. “Oikos” is a Greek word in the Bible that means “relational network.”  It means to share the Good News with your friends, family members, grocery clerk, gym buddy, neighbor, etc.

These 8-15 people are the ones you come in contact with regularly that may not have put their trust in Jesus … yet. This is how the Kingdom of God is built.  It isn’t by standing on the corner with a megaphone and a sign yelling at people to “Turn or Burn.” Not only is that impersonal, but the one yelling can come off as a real jerk. The Bible doesn’t tell us to act like jerks. Rather, it tells us to be more like Jesus, which means loving people right where they are in life. I want to encourage you to invite them to Skyline Church this weekend and let them decide for themselves if God’s message is true that there’s no perfect people allowed. Because no matter where they’ve been or what they’ve done, they will be welcomed. Romans 15:7 says, “So warmly welcome each other into the church, just as Christ has warmly welcomed you; then God will be glorified.”

Never forget, an invite can change a life. I’ll never forget my friend Mark inviting me to baseball chapel. My entire life began to change after that invitation. You just never know what the Holy Spirit might be whispering to people’s hearts when you come along and extend an invitation.

An Invite Can Change A Life

You may be thinking, “Pastor, they’re going to say no if I invite them to church.” And I’d say, that’s okay, invite them anyway. This world is full of difficulty and hardships and people have put their hope in a lot of things that haven’t lived up to their expectations. People are tired of being let down. While we know and have experienced that Jesus is the ONLY one that is WORTH putting our hope in, others are still coming around and it may take more time. Many times it takes more than one invitation for a person to say “yes.”  Whether you’re the first or the eleventh person to invite them, or somewhere in between … God isn’t done with them yet, and it’s only a matter of time before they say “YES!”  If they have a pulse, God still has a purpose for their life. Their story matters to God and it matters to us. We hope this weekend they say “yes.”  But don’t let a “no” discourage you into thinking they will never experience the blessings you have in your faith and salvation. God has something incredible planned for their life and you can be a part of that story by simply extending a welcoming invitation.   Because truly, an invite can change a life.