Best Of: Redefined!

Hey this is Jim Graham from the masculine dirty podcast where we explore relationship instead a religion every week their chosen Truth Network podcast is starting in just a few seconds.

Enjoy it. Sure, but most of all, thank you for listening you for choosing The Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network the chaos of coated in politics and its nuts out there and if we could only get the right politician elected to believe exactly like we believe the Navy our problems would be solved right. Pastor Alan Holmes, the author of redefined. What's wrong with that man. I think we all wish it was that easy. The gutter reminds me of the Old Testament when Israel was demanding a king. They wanted somebody to fix their problems for them rather than recognizing the key was to allow God to work through each one of them individually and that's what redefines all about and that's what Jesus came to offer us a personal relationship where he would build his kingdom, not with Aldis, not despite us, but through us to the work of building the kingdom begins in our hearts. You know anything about the sermon on the Mount. It was his first sermon his longest sermon. In this sermon he is laying a theological and philosophical foundation for his life and ministry and in the Beatitudes. He describes our relationship with God and how that relationship affects other people. So for example the first four Beatitudes are this blessed are the poor in spirit, which is humility.

Blessed are those who mourn, which is brokenness. Blessed are the meek, which is surrender, and blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. That's dependence.

So my relationship with God should be characterized by humility, brokenness, surrender independence that the Christian life and when that's true, the kingdom of God begins to grow in my heart. And as his kingdom is established in my heart it changes the way I relate to other people. So the next four Beatitudes describe now how my relationship with Jesus affects my relationship with other people so that this beatitude is, Blessed are the mercy which is merciful, which is just mercy. The next soon as Blessed are the pure in heart, which is authenticity. The next one is Blessed are the peacemakers, which is peace in the next as Blessed are the persecuted an idea. There is fate.

So in other words, my relationship with God is thriving. I relate to people in my world with mercy, authenticity, peace, and fate. And when that's true. Now I can be the salt and the light of the world.

But here's the problem right on America. In America we want to be salt and light, but we don't want God to have our heart ended in a day. What Jesus is saying is you're called to be salt and light, but it begins in your hearts when you look in the American church of the last couple of years and you see all the all the chaos and immaturity.

What's obvious is our relationship with God is weak.

I relationships with other people often is a disaster and so we've lost our saltiness are light is been put under a basket. So Jesus is trying to describe how can you be salt and light. How can we fix all these things that were concerned about in our culture, and he wants to do that it's very important. He just understands that that work begins in my heart and the way I treat other people.

And when we get that right vintage gather we can change our world is the voice of Pastor Alan Holmes, the pastor of definition church in Greensboro where if you hear any noise yes is the chaotic world of the chaotic world is like the traffic I just barely lost as well.

Serving the house back his work on the patio outside beautiful fall day of dawn wants and I have privileges that you're running so fast, so fast. I had my any my cures. I had to grab the sky and interview real quick about his brand-new book redefined, which is just a book is given logical hope is out now and you can get a copy@alanholmes.org you get a copy anymore books are still just type in redefined pastoral norms in your Telus you just let me back up. We had a came out swinging with the sermon on the Mount stuff. It's is just rich of you.

I will ever look at that Matthew five passage the same again after you become a disciple to me and teach me about this and read this redefined your brand-new book redefined pastoral homes.

Who is Alan Holmes that's a good question.

And when you read the book, you'll get here my life story so throughout the book I really talk about how God took me through this journey. In fact, maybe the most crucial thing to understand is that when you think about this verse four Beatitudes humility, brokenness, surrender dependence.

The truth is, that's not very American is not very human. The truth is we struggle with pride. We struggle with denial, we struggle with fighting, fighting, fighting, we struggle with independence, not dependence. So for most of us.

What happens is we have to come to a crisis moment where God exposes the true condition of our heart and leads us into a deeper relationship with Christ where he begins transforming our hearts because for most American Christians. The truth is all they're doing is managing their behavior that they believe in Jesus and the going to heaven, but the rest of their Christian life is about trying to behave.

That is not Christianity. That's religion. Jesus came to transform my heart so my behavior is actually a reflection of who I a.m. instead of just something I managed to impress people into to keep my image up so in order for us to experience humility, brokenness, surrender dependence with the come to a point of of crisis and that happened the meeting and I my wife of 25 years. We got married in five months into my our marriage. She told me one day. I don't love you. I don't want to be married I will never be in the ministry in a more Michael and I was in seminary preparing to be a pastor but what I discovered was I was just religious and I love Jesus and I was glad he died for me and I was glad I was going to heaven but I didn't know how to really cultivate that relationship and allow him to transform into a deal my heart. I had all kinds of baggage and garbage from a pass in the way I grew up in a broken family and a lot of issues as I was dragging those issues into every relationship I had and I was covering it up by managing my behavior.

So in the midst of my crisis that exposed me I could no longer hide.

I can no longer pretend and really in desperation I began crying out to God, you've got fix this mess that is me. So I began to experience humility. You know most people's yet there's a saying Elina who said this, but humility often only comes on the backside of nucleation will was when my marriage was falling apart and I had to drop out of seminary in my image was shattered and I was humiliated that God, in my moment of humility could really produce a brokenness, a godly sorrow that led to repentance could begin producing a surrender rest stop striving and learn to to give up.

You know, producing a a dependence where rather than me trying to put this change trying to be more Christian.

I learned to depend on Jesus to produce his life and character in me. One of the greatest things about Christianity and people understand this is to it. Seems too good to be true to me is that God wants to produce in you all that he expects of and then he's going to reward you for what he produced.

We get to the other side.

That's how generous I bet he makes into so many Christians are striving in their discouraging the treatise they lost hope about the condition. There on heart, their soul, their behavior what's happening in our world and Jesus would just say here's what Jesus said back in Matthew 11 is a just come to me if you are weary and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, Miller's I'll do the heavy lifting. Learn from me, I am gentle and humble in heart, and you find rest for yourself. That's what redefined is all about Jesus came to lift the burden of religion and performance.

And lead us into life so encouraging Pastor Alan Holmes with his brand-new book is just out new little bit of hope little bit of encouragement want to go in and sit at the feet of Jesus Christ. You'll hear Pastor to unpack it from his pulpit. A definition church in Greensboro. Now he's provided for all of us to share this amazing message of Jesus Christ. Message of hope relationship versus religion from his book redefined, which is out now.

What's the biggest take away you want pastor's wrap of the segment on truth talk on Stu Epperson. What's the big thing you want people take away from this book, where they get it for themselves or give it as a just maybe they want to buy a case of these books just a blessing of the friends with you not. I think I would say this simple idea if we understood what Jesus really came to offer us.

We give up everything to have most people have no idea how good God is, how much he's for them. One of the things I love about the sermon on the Mount. Just think about this Jesus begins this sermon and nine times in a row. He says I want to bless you. I want to bless you. I want to bless you. I want to bless you on he will still lead us into a blast and abundant life, but we gotta let them have our heart okay.

The voters redefined his website as Alan Holmes ALLENHOL MES.org is churches definition church.

The book is out now you can get it you be blessed by and were so glad to have Jan there is the engine's role in that's what's going on in I you know just as interesting to the timing of your book in the sermon on the Mount. It we talk about that the turbulence the racism the cultural chaos. The political victory all in our culture right now or Jesus Christ was born in the fullness of time glaciers for for right God. God brought his son into this world. Born of a woman. She is a woman, prophesied in Genesis 315 and he came into a turbulent oppressive government.

All kinds of evil stuck on all kinds of mandates going on any came not to change the government but to change the hearts and that's where your book redefined goes right in our thanks for this book an extra being on truth talk brother pastor Alan Holmes.

Thank you so good to be here