If you're a long time CrossPointer, you are already aware of what I'm going to share. But, we're a growing church and there's always a need to help our new friends.

So here it is, the big reveal: Bible study is important.

Da, da, daaaaa!

There are lots of essential vitamins and nutrients on the table for us to consume spiritually: prayer, fellowship, service, etc. But, one of the most important and easiest to access, yet often neglected, means of growing in your faith is serious Bible study.

This is why we have developed a program for Bible study that doesn't require you to buy expensive books every 8 to 12 weeks. It doesn't require you to be in a group with some spiritual guru who totally "understands." It truly is a tool to help you become a self-feeder with regard to your own Bible study

We call it Reading It Right.

The goal of this Bible study tool is to put you at a place where you can read whole books, short passages, biblical poetry, history, narrative… anything in the Bible and find something to apply to your life.

The key is to use the Bible itself to tell us how to read it.

Second Timothy chapter 3 says, "16All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

In case you missed it, that passage says that the Bible has four uses:
Teaching
Reproof
Correction
Training

Well, that to me looks like a legend to the map. The secret sauce a Bible study. The keys to Shangri-La…

OK that last one was just stupid.

We have taken these for uses and given them the generic descriptions of:
Summarize
Expose
Change
Prepare

Reading It Right Will teach you how to look for these four things in every passage you read. It will show you how to get the most out of your Bible study, and become a confident reader and able to apply what you've read.

Our hope is that as you learn to Reading It Right, you will grow in the faith, you will teach others, and the kingdom will continue to expand!

For more information on Reading It Right you can go to the website: www.readingitright.com

Or, stop by the welcome center at your campus and pick up one of the free quick reference cards that will give you the ins and outs of how to use this Bible study tool.

Many blessings, and I hope that your days are filled with good study and your future is guided by the words that you read.

I've been having a difficult time trying to figure out how I feel since we launched our series called Sent. But, now I think I have it.

It's prom.

You know, pretty excited and a whole lot of nervous. Kind of smiling through the nausea. Yep, that's the way it feels.

Any other series is just be about Bible study and teaching theological content. But, this one brings with it the promise of new work, hardship in joy, and everything that goes into the bringing about of new life in a new place through new work with a new campus called CrossPoint.

And not just one, but five new campuses.

Maybe it's not prom, maybe it's the feeling of bringing home quintuplets... now there's a thought for you.

To be a church that is Sent, means more than just understanding and believing. It means that we have to be at church of action, bearing fruit, connected to the vine that is Jesus, and willing to go through whatever we need to go through to become whatever He wants us to become.

Again, that can be a little intimidating. But, on the other hand, isn't that the way we want to live?

I will tell you the truth: I believe what we're venturing into right now maybe one of the most difficult things we've ever try to accomplish as a church. I'm fairly certain that we will be tired, we will have to do without, we will suffer some disappointments, and there will be days we will ask her so if the question, "What were we thinking?"

Yet, we've already seen God open doors and be present in a way that is almost tangible. Despite the difficulties, and after 20 plus years of ministry, I can say that there is no hesitation in choosing the hard road with God or the easy road without him.

I'm going to take the hard road any day.

And that's why, I'm inviting you to join us on this journey that we call Sent. It's not just a series, and it's definitely not for the faint of heart.

This is where the rubber meets the road, and Christianity takes on hands and feet… your hands and feet. To be the body of Christ.

So I guess there's only one question left, will you go to prom with me?

We are well on our way on a journey through Feral Christianity, and if there were one word I have heard consistently to describe this experience, it is ‘challenging.’


That makes me excited.


If the response had been anything else to a series in which Jesus asks us to take seriously what had been made legalistic in some cases and frivolous in others, I would be worried about us.


To know that lust in the heart is just as serious as is adultery with the body… that’s not really, fun.


To say that murder is wrong, but calling someone a fool is nearly equitable… that’s not really, enjoyable.


The things Jesus has been saying in the Sermon on the Mount are difficult, life-changing, countercultural, wild, and at the very least, challenging.


I have heard a term recently, as I’ve been preparing for these messages, that I have been looking for a way to share with you. So, here goes: rewilding.


I don’t think there’s a better way to describe what becoming feral is than: rewilding!


The challenge before us is to not let our previous indoctrination of what we, or our forefathers, believed outweigh what Jesus actually intended.


The hill we have to climb is one that makes sure we don’t sleep on tradition, but we stand on Jesus' commands.


The purpose for this series is that we would embrace the hard and harsh realities of what it means to be a true follower of Christ and simultaneously reject the easier path traveled by most.


We will look a little crazy. We will definitely be unorthodox. We will be moving in the direction against the flow.


We will be rewilding.


I imagine there is a process to becoming a Feral Christian, but I think that process will take care of itself if we just keep heading in His direction.


More important is not how we get there, but understanding where we're going.


Jesus is calling his disciples to this wild faith not because He wants to inconvenience your life, or satisfy your need for adventure. He is preparing you to change the world.


Acts 17:6 shows the world’s response to feral believers in the first century: “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.”


Man, I love that!


Jesus calls us to a different way of living, because He wants to turn the world upside down. And, if you’ve looked recently, this world could use some jostling.


So keep your nose to the grind stone, your feet on the ground, and your face to the wind… insert whatever metaphor will help you here.


But, let’s not give up on the incredibly audacious life that Christ is calling us to: Feral Christianity.


Let’s get busy rewilding.

Jesus not only gives us great advice, but he has the best advice. In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus shares a lesson about being anxious. Anxiety, depression, worry, and fear are all too familiar words to us. However, it will be helpful to clarify something up front. Anxiety and depression are two different things. In this passage, he is not talking about depression, but anxiety.

We often associate words like these together and mingle them. But they are not the same thing. Anxiety is something we’ve all encountered. Most of the time it's an unhealthy worry about the future. We worry about the outcome of this, or their reaction to that… What’s next in our near future can be a scary thought.

“Do not be anxious.” Don’t merimnaō. This word Jesus uses multiple times is a verb. It means to worry, to be nervous, to over think, or care too much. We can certainly help this, and Jesus is telling us not to do it. He charges us not to be anxious.

Depression on the other hand is a noun, and it's not our fault. Now, I’m not a doctor or anything. So I can’t speak too much to this, but depression may involve treatment, examining cognitive activity, or even prescribing medications. You cannot control depression. Jesus is not talking about depression in Matthew 6:25-34. People who struggle with depression are not being disobedient.

You can control being anxious about what the future holds. The consensus is that anxiety is a sin in this context. Depression is not a sin, but not trusting in God is disobedience. We need to have faith! (cf. Romans 14:23).

Hearing this may not immediately make us feel better about our present anxieties. Though, anytime you hear Jesus say “Do this,” or “Don’t do this,” and we do the opposite of what he says, the results will never be good. Nor will our direction be the way to life.

Jesus’ line of thinking in Matthew 6:25-34 may be summarized as follows: God is our good master—our good creator, therefore he knows what we need, therefore he will provide for our basic needs, therefore don’t worry about these things, therefore seek God and his kingdom, therefore what can you do today?

We are to believe God and walk with him day by day. Yearly bread would be nice, but he is our daily bread. And he is good! Jesus doesn’t want us to be worried about what the future holds, but hold onto God and walk closely with him. The future can be scary. That is why it belongs to God!

Since I know God is good, and he is my Father, I have no reason to be anxious. As long as he is first in our lives, and we are obeying him, we have no reason to be anxious! Tomorrow will have its own troubles. What can get done today? Focus on making this day a good one. Today is a good day to have a good day.

At some point or another we’ve all heard the phrase, “Only God can judge me,” or “Only God is my judge.” This idea gets passed around a lot. You may have seen people wear the phrase on a shirt, post it on social media, or even tattoo it on themselves.

But is this idea biblical? Does the Bible teach we are never to judge one another? Let’s look at some Bible verses.

Jesus teaches, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment” (John 7:24). The Apostle Paul teaches, “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?” (1 Cor. 5:12). These aren’t the only two passages on judging in all the Bible, but this gives us plenty to work with.

Some believe we are never to judge one another in any capacity. But that’s not what Jesus and Paul teaches. He says to judge rightly.

To clarify, and gain some common ground, we can certainly agree we are never to judge in the sense of determining if someone will go to heaven or hell. Only God has that kind of authority. We are taught never to distinguish who's definitely going to heaven or definitely going to hell. God is the final judge on making the call. 

We are, however, to be one another’s fruit inspector. We are to be our brother’s keeper. We are to correct our church family in love.

This is how we use the term judge, biblically. If you say, “Only God can judge me,” then according to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, what you’re saying is you're outside the church. You’re saying that other believers cannot provide correction because that’s only for God…

… If you’ve read your Bible, that’s not a good thing.

Since we are a family in Christ we are to correct and build up one another in love and in truth. If we don’t, the church remains weak, untrained, and unfruitful. Besides, we can all use some regular correction. Frequent tune-ups and feedback are good for us. Correction isn't easy, but it's beneficial. 

There’s one further thought I’d like to submit about rightly correcting our family in Christ.

Great discernment and wisdom is needed when correcting our family. Typically, when we learn something new about God or experience a conviction, the natural thing to do it get as many people on board with our personal convictions and discoveries. But rather than pulling people to where God has us, we need to meet people where they’re at.

Before Jesus ascended into heaven he said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (John 16:12). Also, Paul spoke of having meaty teachings for churches to learn eventually, but they were still needing the milk of the faith (cf. 1 Cor. 3:1-3).

We need to keep this in mind when correcting others. Some are not ready to hear the meat. Some still need milk. Meet people where they're at instead of giving everyone the meat you're chewing on. You’re probably farther down the road than those you minister to.

To provide beneficial teaching and correction, we must know who we are talking with. Rather than yanking others along to where we are, or where we think they should be, we need to meet others in their current mess.

We are to be our brother’s keeper. Correction is something every healthy family does in love. Without it, we don’t grow or mature. Jesus doesn’t tell us to never judge, but to correctly correct our brothers. In so doing, we press on toward Christ.