The Rev.’s blog

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We all wear masks, we all pretend, but why? It's almost like we're hiding, but from what? It seems that we wear masks for the benefits of others and ourselves, whether its what we think they want or what we want. We live in fear of rejection, disapproval, and disappointment, but it's through love that we can overcome this fear. This is done through 3 avenues of being intention; getting real with ourselves, God, and others.

Getting real with yourself...look in the mirror
What’s your heart? Do you just see the outer appearance?
Do you want someone to know you? At what level? - don’t need to reveal everything!
Do you want connect?Are you willing to see the imperfection in others and not allow it to frustrate you?

Get real with God
How does God see me? masterpiece...
When no one is around, am I open with God? being transparent with God...
Can I trust God to really help me? He’s looking for is honesty and willingness, he’ll provide growth
Will you allow the truth to set you free? freedom allows for growth...Jn 8:32

Get real with others...it starts up front
The servant team...reverse hierarchy.
model openness and vulnerability...Journey Partners/ Small Groups/ BBQ
talk and work through struggles...times of connection
helping others in their struggles and needs...Matt. 25:31- 46 (seeing Jesus in them)

Check out the podcast @ www.casemountain.org
"The Revv"

At Case Mountain Community Church, we stripped away the formal dress code, religious jargon, and countless rules. We desire that you be yourself; no matter who that is. In fact, you might find that we're just like you. So come as you are, and from there, we'll all grow together.

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This June we will be going through a series called "No Perfect People Allowed!" This series will explore the ins and outs of our "come as you are" culture at Case Mountain Community Church. On May 31, I talked about creating a come as you are culture, which is through relationships with others. In order to have this come as you are culture, we must have grace giving acceptance, which is different than tolerance. To learn more, check out the podcast at www.casemountain.org. Throughout this series we will be exploring being authentic at church, grace-giving acceptance, unconditional love, living a transformed life, hope for the future, and what it means to be in community. For more information on the church, check out www.nppa.info.

The Revv
Be move by the love of Jesus!

A young "No Perfect People Allowed!" church helping other people.
Check out a podcast on our main website: casemountain.org
We meet Sunday Morning's at Orange Hall in Manchester, CT.

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Paul writes this to the Ephesians "In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. " Anyone who calls them self a Christian (Christ-follower) should heed this passage. We are being built to be a dwelling place for God. So what do we do, or what does God do to do this? God beings to change you through your attitude, heart, and actions. Being a non-christian means living for yourself and doing whatever you find pleasure in, while keeping away from pain. As a Christian, Jesus calls us to be others-centered, which cannot be done by our own means, but by the work of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote to the Galatians that the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5), but Scripture is full of different fruits of the Spirit (this is evidence of the Spirit being present in your life).  The greatest of these fruits/ gifts is revealed through the act of being others-centered; by being others centered, we can be Christ/ gospel-minded and bear fruit to God's glory. For more information checkout our podcast at www.nppa.info or check out the live show Sundays at 10:30a. 

Peace. 

A young "No Perfect People Allowed!" missional church helping other people. 
Check out a podcast on our main website: casemountain.org
We meet Sunday Morning's at Orange Hall in Manchester, CT. 

Habakkuk

"The Protestant position, as was the position of the early Church in the first centuries, is that the Bible is the Word of God. Not that it 'contains' it, but that it is the Word of God, uniquely inspired and inerrant. The Protestant Reformers believed not only that the Bible contained the revelation of God's truth to men, but that God safeguarded the truth by controlling the men who wrote it by the Holy Spirit, and that He kept them from error and from blemishes and from anything that was wrong." Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Spirit of God helps us, even as he did with the men writing the God's truth. The Holy Spirit is our helper, counselor, guider, keeper, and reminder (Jn 14, 15:26-27, 16). So the work we see God's Spirit doing in us, we see working in the men of old to record the revelation of God. Some have fallen away from the Church, because of the church, and do not believe that the Bible is God's revelation by His Spirit. We are misinformed when we think that we can leave the church, God, and Christ to make up our own thoughts and beliefs about God. What are they based on; feelings, emotions, or human laziness/ stupidity. Let us heed the first commandment and not make an false gods. We need to find confidence in the fact that we are kept by God's Spirit...

The Revv

A young "No Perfect People Allowed!" missional church helping other people.
Check out a podcast on our main website: casemountain.org
We meet Sunday Morning's at Orange Hall in Manchester, CT. 

Doctrine

Martyn Lloyd-Jones says, "Do we accept the Bible as the Word of God, as the sole authority in all matters of faith and practice, or do we not? Is the whole of my thinking governed by Scripture, or do I come with my reason and pick and choose out of Scripture and sit in judgment upon it, putting myself and modern knowledge forward as the ultimate standard and authority? The issue is crystal clear. Do I accept Scripture as a revelation from God, or do I trust to speculation, human knowledge, human learning, human understanding and human reasons Or, putting it still more simply, Do I pin my faith to, and subject all my thinking to, what I read in the Bible? Or do I defer to modern knowledge, to modern learning, to what people think today, to what we know at this present time which was not known in the past? It is inevitable that we occupy one or the other of those two positions."

1 John 4:1-6 makes this point very clear, that there is a division between God's people and the world's people. Scripture reveals that the philosophies and principles of this world are controlled by evil or the enemy of our soul (Gal. 4:3, 4:9, Eph 2:2, Col 2:8). We must be careful and seek truth that comes from our creator and not from the thoughts of our culture, world, or time. Our direction must come from God by His Word. We must seek God through the reading and studying of Scripture. John also pens how to understand which camp each person is from; check it out. Be careful where you get your direction and doctrine. Peace.

The Revv

A young "No Perfect People Allowed!" church helping other people.
Check out a podcast on our main website: casemountain.org
We meet Sunday Morning's at Orange Hall in Manchester, CT.

What authority does Scripture have in your life? Martyn Lloyd-Jones says "Men's opinions have taken the place of God's truth, and the people in their need are turning to the cults, and are listening to any false authority that offers itself to them." This is so true, we don't care what the Bible or any other books have to say, we pick and choose our doctrine from many different resources and paste them together to make a religion that fits our needs. Calvin says we do this so we don't have to humble ourselves under the true God. In our pride, we elevate a "god" (alcohol, drugs, sex, money, food, gossip) above us to submit to and worship. So who has authority in your life? Who do you submit to? Who teaches you doctrine; your bartender, your guitarist, your tattoo artist, your favorite actor, your drug dealer, your gossip girl, or your pastor?

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"What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like." ~ St. Augustine
Slowly, I am learning that the way to overcome the devil drama that is in my head, which is by focusing on other people. We must love our neighbors as if they were our best friend (Mt 7:12). We too, need other people for help, encouragement, and fellowship. Scripture makes it clear that we must "come together as the church of God." Jesus told us to go and help other people; healing, praying, and teaching others how to make peace with God and stay continually connected with God. We need the community of the church to continue to grow in Christ (Eph 4:11-16), be encouraged (He 10:24-25), and stay connected to God through the knowledge and faith of His Word (Rm 10:17).

We search and study the Scripture in Manchester, CT at Orange Hall.
No Perfect People Allowed!
We are a missional church; people helping other people.
Check out our website: www.casemountain.org