Shaping Culture

Message Focused

At D7 Church we believe that our message does not start when the speaker stands up and starts talking. The message starts before people even walk through the front door. The message usually starts in the car park. When you come to one of our experiences (we refer to our services as 'experiences' because one of our goals is to build a community of people that will feel welcome, loved, valued and celebrated. Ultimately, showing Jesus as relevant and real by creating such an awesome environment that people will not be able to stay away - we want you to experience something irresistible. 

We also understand that people are message carriers. We all have a message (good or bad) to share. At D7 Church we go to extreme lengths to consistently communicate one message: "You are so valued and loved that Jesus died for you!"

People Focused

We want everyone who walks through the door to feel like they are the most important person in the room. The way we make that happen is by:

1. Focusing on the people. Even though we have a job to do, the number one focus of our team at D7 Church is the people. People are the most important part of what we do because the people are why we do what we do. It’s all about people, Jesus died for people and we are commissioned to reach out to people. It’s all about people – nothing matters more than the people.

2. Giving people an experience. The experience starts with the welcome team member, to the worship team, to the pastor then back to the welcome team again until that person leaves at the end of the service.

This is one of the ways we shape the culture in our church.  

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Breaking The "I" Barrier - A Lesson in Humility

I once shared with our team about our responsibility in cultivating a humble heart. Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. Humility is essential and it is the key if we want to stay usable and if we want to reflect God. Here it is a little bit of what we discussed.

We are not individuals on a team trying to succeed in our area of expertise. Rather we are a part of a team trying to see how we can serve our team with our area of expertise so that the team can succeed. The world does things a certain way but we are Christians and we do things differently.We live in the world but we are not of the world (John 17:15-16)

Self Promotion vs. Humility

God favours humility and will take you much higher than your self promotion ever can. Don’t be scared that if you are humble you will lose out! God sees and He will lift you up - when the time is right! (James 4:10)

Remember God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5)

Tips to stay on track:

1. Watch your attitude
Does it need attention and self promotion? Is it seeking the kingdom first? - Think Matthew 6:33. Check your attitude towards your team and your church, is it focused on the big picture and serving the vision? Do you even know what the vision is?

2. Know why you do what you do
Why do you serve on team?, Why do you come to church?
Do you even know God? Do you have a relationship with Him?

3. Stay humble
Stay humble by watching what comes out of our mouth.
Stay humble by watching what you ponder on in your heart.

4. Follow the Son's example - Serve!
"...Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:26-28)

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5 Reasons Why I Teach My Children To Tithe

see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love. 2 Corinthians 8:7-8

Generosity, tithing (10% of your income) and offering sermons are never popular. Mainly because some people don't like when you mess with their god. They feel the need to defend it. They want to to be in control and do whatever they want with what doesn't even belong to them in the first place. If you cannot give up everything (including control) you cannot be Jesus' disciple. Jesus never asked for 10%. He asks for 100%. 

I teach my children to do two things with their money: 1) to bring 10% of their income to the church and 2) to put 10% towards savings.

We have to be intentional towards generosity. We need to display it to our children and God's House is a great way to do this. Some people right now are teaching their children to gather, be in total control and fearful when comes to trusting God. Tithing is the first step. There is also offerings and the whole concept of leading a generous life.

Do you have to tithe? No. Are there consequences? Yes. 

Here are five reasons why I teach my children to tithe:

1. Tithing teaches them gratitude, NOT a sense of entitlement. 
2. Tithing teaches them that God is in absolute control of their finances NOT them.
3. Tithing  teaches them to set their treasure in the right place. 
4. Tithing  teaches them passion and zeal for God's House.
5. Tithing teaches them the principle of firstfruits. God must ALWAYS be first.

What about you? What are you teaching the next generation?

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Emotion vs. Passion

Being around people that are passionate about the same things that you are, will fuel your passion. Nothing great is ever accomplished and sustained without passion. Emotions might offer a starting point but they will not produce sustainable results. Where emotion is a strong feeling, passion is an intense desire. 

Therefore same passion = more passion. Being around passionate people will generate more passion.

Emotion vs. Passion

Emotion says: “I will!” but then doesn’t (or if it does it can’t sustain it when emotions fade).
Passion says: “I will!” and it does more than what’s required.

Emotion gives some when convenient.
Passion gives it all consistently.

Emotion serves until it becomes uncomfortable.
Passion serves despite of discomfort.

Emotion has a strong sense of obligation.
Passion has a strong sense of purpose.

Emotion will lie to you.
Passion will always be true.

Emotion doesn’t count the cost and gives up.
Passion counts the cost and chooses to pay the price.

What are you passionate about? If people cannot tell you what your passion is you haven't got one. Why not start by being passionate about God's house (The Church)? If Jesus was passionate enough to build it and die for it, it must be something that we should also be passionate about and set it as the top of our priorities.

We Walk Together

The church exists to build people up and since one is too small a number for greatness, here at D7 Church we choose to work together. We are building the church through teams of passionate skilled individuals. Still there is plenty of room for learning and improvement.

Here is the thing about D7

• We exist for the broken NOT the perfect

• We care for each other and we put others first

• We do whatever it takes NOT whatever it’s easy

• We do whatever it's needed NOT whatever we want

• At D7 Church Jesus is the centre of everything we do. But we don’t use Him as an excuse NOT to do anything. Faith without works is dead.

We believe that God has not called us to be normal and fit in, He has called us to STAND OUT!  How do we do this? Together. We are a bunch of people that believe that our God is big and absolutely anything can be accomplished as long as we don’t mind who takes the credit. We are not ordinary, we are extraordinary.We are not conventional, but remarkable. We are everything but normal.

We are chosen by God for a higher calling, God's instruments empowered to do His work and speak out for Him, to tell others of the difference He has made in our lives. (1Peter 2:9-10)

The result? Life change. Testimonies of people being set free from addictions, depression, mental illness, the occult etc, all in a short period of our existence as a church.

That is why I believe that as Christians progress is our best product. We should constantly be thinking, 'How can I do this better?', 'How can I get closer to Him?' , 'How can I keep track and measure my spiritual growth?'.

Listen to our current series - A Love For the House here.

Men of Remarkable Honour

Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:10

Today's generation has done a great job at ruining the concept of honour. We think honour is something we give to someone based on their performance. Based on how much we like them. In the Bible, honour is to do with value, worth and weight. And it's something freely given. Honour is a strong biblical concept.

Honour is to treat with respect or reverence; having a good reputation characterised by integrity. Not to honour means to treat something as common. Where is the honour? Don’t you ever wonder that? TV shows women berating their men, men looking with lust at other women that are not their wives, children talking to their parents in a disrespectful way.

It is our responsibility to bring honour back. D7 church is a house of honour. When you value something you are able to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. Honour elevates, dishonour decimates.

Here are three things about honour:

1. It’s a decision not a reward. We might think that some people in our world don’t deserve honour, but neither do we because:
   
   ...God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
    
2. The amount you receive is determined by the amount you give (see Ezra 7:27-28, Gal. 6:7). Every time you deny honour you miss an opportunity to receive it. God deserves honour. The people in your world deserve your honour because they were created in God's image.
    
3. The amount you give is determined by the amount of value you perceive. Honour will protect, praise, prioritise. In a nutshell if you love you will honour.

In order to bring this to reality let's look at a practical example of honour. Are we honouring the women in our world? Are we honouring them by showing them respect? Do you treat woman as an object? Are you rude to them? Remember this: If you are rude you are wrong! Period. I am talking about your wife, mother, sister, the woman in church.

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. 1 Peter 3:7

In the previous verse, 1 Peter 3:6, the Bible says that women are prone toward Fear (great tip for us guys!). Those fears that the women have are legitimate. If a woman marries a man, she’s trusting him with the rest of her life that he won’t hit her, cheat on her, that he’ll work hard, that he’ll pay the bills, that he’ll love their children, that he’ll walk with Jesus and finish the race well, that if she gets sick, he’ll look after her. It is a terrifying thing for a woman to trust a man. 

Women have legitimate fears and what the word of God (the Bible) is saying is that men need to be in a particular way so that those fears are alleviated. We need to relate to the women in our world  “in an understanding way, showing them honour.” That’s a D7 man!  Now many of us will nod our head and say, “Yep, that’s me.” but the truth is that every man has areas of repentance and growth that are required in order for them not only to grow old but to grow up too.

D7 men you’re not looking for a girlfriend if you are single. You’re not looking for a roommate. You’re not looking for a cohabitation partner. You’re looking for a wife.

You’re not the flirt guy.
You’re not the download porn dude.
You’re not the “I got another girl on the side I always keep in case of emergency” kind of guy.
You’re not the wandering eye guy.
You’re not the “white lies” guy.
You’re not the “short fuse” guy.

We need to take responsibility for the well- being of the woman in our world. We need to protect them from harsh words, plain rudeness, physical harm, items that are too heavy for them to carry, our lack of commitment to their well- being, their reputation, their purity, their right to feel safe and secure among other things.

Starting now, how can you honour the woman in your world?

D7 men are gentlemen. And gentlemen you are stronger than the woman in your world.Do you ever hit her? (How about your tongue, do you abuse them verbally?), do you ever push her?, do you ever grab or restrain her?, do you ever raise a hand and threaten her?, do you ever intimidate her with physical violence?, do you ever give her "the looks"?

Losers do the above! There are simply no excuses for that type of behaviour. Women are supposed to feel safe around us. Christian, husband, father, employee. Those are your first four duties and they will take most of your life. You’re not going to have a lot of time so start working at it now.

Ask the women in your world for feedback and how you can honour them. Do they feel safe around you? Do they feel respected and honoured?

Vision Sunday 2011

The future belongs to those who plan for it. Some people spend more time planning their holidays than their life. That’s why focus is so important. We must make God’s priorities our priorities.  That’s how we will gain influence in our city. Why do we need influence as as a church? Because influence is the ability to bring change.

Gloucester is one of the most deprived places in England. As a church, D7 must go to extreme lengths to ensure that we are being God’s change agent in our city.

Everything we do at D7 Church falls within our discipleship plan. This is where our focus, priorities and influence comes from:

BELONG

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 

Matthew 25:35 

- As a church we've decided that we are not starting another city mission. In our culture it’s much easier to feed people than to invite them into our world. The best kind of ministry is the one that is not needed anymore, so they morph, they change into something else to meet a real need.

- There are way too many churches and not enough change. Churches are being ineffective because they are applying the right concept to the wrong context. The hunger that people in our culture have is relational.

- We need to be the kind of people that other people need to meet. If your gospel is not touching others is has not touched you.

BELIEVE  

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  

John 1:12

- We've been called to build a kingdom minded church culture. An effective and strong church will come out of that.

- See people through the eyes of compassion. Show people the same grace that has been shown to you. Build relationships, get to know people. 

- Why do we tithe? Because we believe what we read not read what we believe.

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
Malachi 3:10

SERVE  

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28 

  

- Don’t be a slave of material things. You are a human being, not a human 'buying'.

- Whole-heartedly Serving is essential.

Christmas Splendour & Audacious Faith

"I think I have audacious faith figured out. It has nothing to do with how much faith you can muster it has more to do with how much you have the audacity to ask for!"

- Angela De Souza

God has once again blown our minds away here at D7. We've made a discovery that is life changing purely by accident: The essence of audacious faith is... 'audacious asking'. As simple as that! When God smiles upon something there is nothing we can do to stop it! 

Our Christmas Ball for instance. Three times we came close to cancel the whole thing. It was just too much money, technical requirements, hassle etc. All these things disappeared, how? I don't know... try asking God!

Why is D7 Church's Christmas Splendour a miracle?

- We have [Dweeb] joining us as special guests. We couldn't have a better band performing at this ball. These guys are awesome, I highly recommend this band so check them out here!

- Paul James, leader of our amazing city and his collegues are coming to the ball.

- Brian Jones of GEAR is also coming.

- All the costs, technical requirements, hassles have been taken care of. The staff at the Gloucester Guildhall rock!

- Members of the homeless community are going to be our guests of honour. AWESOME!

- People from other churches are going to be present. Talk about church unity!

- The press is writing an article about the church and all that we are doing for the community. They are coming to the ball too. Come on church let's make the name of Jesus famous!

- We needed a place, preferably in Gloucester to house our guests before the Christmas Ball. We got a place and it's only 5 minutes from the venue from someone that is also a Christian and we barely know. Watch out, Christians in Gloucester are coming together. There will be nothing we will not be able to achieve.

- Loads of disconnected youth are going to be there. 

- Money has been donated towards catering.

- Things now are much bigger than we are and it just keeps on getting bigger and bigger.

- This Ball is promising to be the best Christmas Ball Gloucester has had in years! It is good to see Jesus' church taking the lead.

Creating A Microcosm

Microcosm = a small place, society or situation which has the same characteristics as something much larger.

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

Matthew 11:12

Culture architecture can be hard work. One thing is to inherit a well established organisation where the culture within it has been tested and proved successful. But taking outsiders on this journey can definitely be time consuming. Take our church for instance, D7 is a baby church where most people come from an unchurched background, add to that addictions, deteriorating lifestyles, abuse, traumas etc and you have a nice challenge before you. Thank God for Hebrews 13:6!

That's why in our church we've had to create everything in a small scale. Our core team is going to dictate the culture for the rest of the church. In the way that the first 20 people in our church act, interact, give etc, will translate in the way that the next 50, 100, 10000 will also behave. So I insist that it is the primary task of my core team to set the culture for the rest of the church. We have to get this right from the very beginning as there is way too much at stake. We'll have to model and in order to accomplish this we have to create a microcosm. 

We are here to build a church; the closest thing people in modern society will get from Jesus. So we dress for where we are going not for where we are. We are dreaming big dreams. We’ve often looked bigger than we were, out of place, and “overdressed”. But eventually we will not look awkward anymore. You see, we will either dress down to fit in or dress up for where we are heading. For example we've had to apply reverse engineering concepts to what we do, we've had to start with the end in mind and that means that we are now prepared to accommodate more people than we currently have. The answers and the way we do things should be uniform. Different scenarios, one vision, one way! 

The limit is our capacity. 

The D7 Welcome Home Experience - Be Genuine

"Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language."  

Dale Carnegie

Welcoming people by name is a small thing, but it counts. In our church we understand that people want to be recognised and celebrated in some way. They want to belong and they want to be made to feel that they do count for something. 

The concept we follow at D7 to represent this next level connection is fairly simple: "connect, discover, respond". Three elements that  will contribute to the D7 Experience, a simple yet powerful model for meaningful interactions and quality relationships. 

Connect. This is when you meet people for the first time, you learn their names and you show them that they really matter by focusing on them.

Discover. This is when you hear their life stories and ask relevant questions, you learn about their individual situation, preferences and needs.

Respond. Although many of us find it easier to connect with people and learn about their life still many of us don't act on what we learn. This is the stage where you take immediate action based on what you learn. That can be  something as practical as food or help moving home or it can also be the fact that you need to go home and pray for wisdom on what to do. The main point here is to do something.

Genuine connection is never a problem when you truly love people. Is your church giving your new guests those memorable welcomes?

Culture Architecture

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again."
John 3:16-17 (The Message)

Firstly allow me to define three keywords:

The world is the kingdoms and costumes of the age we live in, an architect is a person responsible for achieving a particular plan or aim and culture is a lot of things that have been passed on, it is what people pick up on immediately, thought it may be imperceptible to regulars.

For our sake and the sake of the next generation we need to make sure we pass things that are worth passing on. That’s why at D7 our team nights are so important, here we will not only learn leadership principles and be empowered but you will also know what we are all about. This is extremely important in order to keep yourself and others connected. Culture is the glue that holds our church together.

Now, let's establish two things:

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him."
Colossians 1:15-16 (The Message)

1) God cannot be seen.

"The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence."
Ephesians 1:23 (The Message)

In this day and age how do people see Jesus? He is invisible!

2) Jesus cannot be seen.

Here is where culture architecture comes in.

You see God by seeing Jesus (but Jesus is also invisible). So you see Jesus by seeing His Body – The Church. The church is His body filled with Him.

The questions we need to ask is:

1) How does the culture of our church represent the culture around us?
Is it relevant? Are we being present? Is it Innovative? Are we contributing in creative ways in order to bring positive and meaningful change?
2) How does an unbeliever see our church?

The culture exists no matter what! Do something to contribute and architect culture. Each single one of us sets the atmosphere and the culture of our environment. Owing the culture will help us be more confident in bringing people to church. How does that look like practically? You bring the atmosphere with you, you get your attitude sorted before coming to God's house because you understand that it is not about our vision but His Kingdom, not about our fame but His name.

Princess From A Prostitute

You have to read this post, it brought tears to my eyes. Real stories of real lives.

Unity Has No Labels

Fundamentalist, liberal, post-modern, emerging, traditional. These are just a few words some people use in their Christian circles to label others and even themselves.

Here is the thing about labels: You demote yourself from Son of God, passionate follower of Jesus to a fundamentalist or liberal or whatever you want to call yourself. Here is another thing about labels, you also get associated to that group and if their fame is not a good one your reputation also goes down the drain, creating an instant barrier between you and other people, causing instant division. Yet another thing about labels, you feel the need to defend your thesis or point of view instead of talking about the one thing that matters the most - the gospel. Or maybe this is just a subtle excuse for us to talk about our favourite subject... ourselves.

The amazing things He has done in our lives gets replaced by questions, dissections and discussions about methodologies overlooking the core message that is being preached. We get caught up in conversation about labels instead of discussing strategies on how to win those who are lost and (on a daily basis) crying out for answers.

Am I going crazy or Jesus did say that we would be known by our love for one another? Who cares about methods, as long as you are preaching that Jesus is God's only begotten son and the only way to heaven. Should we maybe stop over analysing and start getting busy with loving one another?

I think there are way too many Christians with too much time on their hands in this world. Lets stop the useless talk and start concentrating on what actually matters!

A Love For The House

I believe David was a man after God’s own heart because he was passionate about what God was passionate about. Check this out:

Psalm 26:8 I love the house where you live, O LORD, the place where your glory dwells.

Psalm 27:4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

Psalm 36:7-8 How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.

Psalm 84:10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Psalm 92:12-13 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

Love is a decision not an emotion. I don’t believe we have love as default. It’s a decision and we have to aim towards that place where our love is so strong that we will not have to keep on learning to love His house (His church) over and over again.

Are you passionate about God's house?

Kings Square

Last Sunday was awesome! In case you don't know we took our church into our community for the first time by having an outdoor service. It took us an hour and a half to get connected to a reliable source of electricity as we had problems with our generator (predictable!), we literally sung and played in the rain but I would not have it any other way!

The air was electric. We were all fighting the elements but were also pumped and everyone had a high sense of expectancy. History Maker by Delirious was playing in the Kings Square Shopping Mall, which added to the atmosphere. I prayed thanking God for the awesome encouragement, "Yes Lord, I want to be a history maker in this land!" By working together our team is writing history. Their history and the history of those involved. Yes we had a crowd, yes we connected and reconnected people to God's house. Someone even wanted to buy our band album (which by the way will be available at the end of the year!).

God is good, hell is too hot and people are dying for something fresh. Something that will not wear out the next day. Jesus is bringing them living water and we want to be part of it! So Well done team for an awesome work.

Gloucester here we come!!!

Our Dream Team

I really would like to say a big thank you to our most awesome team at D7 church (you know who you are). Your attitude, confidence, loyalty, commitment, godliness, courage, perseverance, creativity, talent, servanthood... the list goes on is changing people's lives in our sphere of influence. I can definitely see 1 Chronicles 22:5 taking shape through your excellent work.

When I mention how young our team is people often get surprised, amazed or just laugh in disbelief. However the heroine addict that is now clean is not laughing (if you know what I mean) he is been filled with joy through Christ his saviour. Someone who was mentally ill is now totally healed and in full time employment, enjoying his life and ready to start a family. A homeless man that had never worked in his entire life is now making a living and not begging anymore. The teenager that has been written off by his teachers is going to uni. Another bright teenager that used to spend all of his spare time in front of a computer screen playing games is now part of our core team and having the time of his life. People are getting better jobs, people are getting healed, we literally have seen Psalm 92:12-13 become reality in the life of D7 people.

Even though we are a new church we have already caused major damage to the kingdom of darkness. Our community is being systematically affected by the work we do and the best is yet to come!

Well done team... and remember your best days are yet to be written!

What To Think About

What we think determines who we are. Who we are determines what we do. John Locke once said; "The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts". Good thinking will produce more good thinking only if we make it a habit.

Our life is a reflection of the way we think. The word of God in Philippians 4:8 tell us what to think about; "...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

We are to fill our minds with things that will inspire others to come to Jesus.

What have you been filling your mind with?

Seeking The Remarkable

At D7 Church we are not seeking the sensational we are seeking the remarkable.

Sensational is to do with intense feelings or causing intense feelings, while remarkable is something worthy of noting or attention. Something striking or extraordinary.

A lost focused, passionate for the house of God, totally sold out for the cause of Christ bunch of people. That's remarkable!

Loyal Christians are rare and extremely remarkable!

Christians willing to serve their church because they understand that the gospel is bigger than their personal preferences, issues and personal "calling". That's Remarkable!

Teenagers preserving their purity. That's remarkable!

A homeless man giving his tithe. That’s gut crushing, mind blowing and totally remarkable!

Jesus the son of God coming to serve. That's remarkable!

Jesus dying on the cross for the sins of humanity. Totaly remarkable!

We can summarise all of the above with the following remarkable statement by the apostle Paul:

I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.(1 Corinthians 9:22)

That is D7 Church's mission, this is what we live our lives for! If even Jesus made himself weak to the point of being beaten beyond recognition what make us think that we are any different? A bunch of people doing whatever it takes , becoming whatever they need to become to win the lost that is truly remarkable! Feelings come and go but the remarkable will definitely make history.

Winners And Whiners

"not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times. not one of them will ever see the land I promised..." 

- Numbers 14:22-23 

I have noticed that the world is divided into two kinds of people; the winners and the whiners. Whiners can be found on wholesale, the shelves are full of them. They come in bulk. Whiners are always ready to complain and give excuses why they “can’t”. Two million whiners did not see the promise that God gave them because of their whining. They touched God’s heart with their cry, they heard his promise, they saw his miraculous works, they tasted his goodness and smelled the fragrance of freedom. Still they complained. 

God was not exaggerating when he said that ten times they tested him:

They didn’t believe. Twice!(Ex. 14:11-12, Nm. 14:1-4)
Disobeyed Him. Twice!(Ex. 16:20, 16:27-29)
Worshipped something else other than Him. (Ex. 32:7-10)
and... They complained... FIVE TIMES!(Ex. 15:24, 16:3, 17:2-3, Nm. 11:1-2, 11:4)
This is what whiners do:
They worship themselves, something or someone other than God. They don’t think twice when facing a crucial decision, they find it easy to come up with excuses to disobey God. They don’t fully believe that he is able and that nothing is impossible to him. And, this is perhaps the most basic and loudest of them all... they whine and complain... ALL THE TIME!
Winners on the other hand are handmade, they are precious rare items found in small alley shops. They refuse to settle for the ordinary, they see opportunities instead of obstacles. Joshua and Caleb are great examples of winners. They trusted God to the core. They brought the minority report refusing to go with the majority. They saw opportunities instead of obstacles. They found reasons to move forward and take ground instead of coming up with excuses to shrink back.
Winners will not only see God’s miraculous power in action, but they will also ‘possess the land’. They may not lead a comfortable life but they will certainly lead a totally fulfilling one. They fully obey and trust God walking in total freedom as a result. And when they die they leave a legacy.
Are you a winner or a whiner?

Deeper - Worship

Everyone is a worshiper. Human beings actually need something to worship, it is human nature! The question we should ask ourselves is not “Am I going to worship” but “What/who am I worshiping?” What is our number one affection? 
There is a difference between knowing about God and knowing God. Worship is way more than music. It’s a lifestyle! Worship demands sacrifice in which Jesus must increase and we must decrease. Worship is the way we zoom out a little bit and focus on things vertically instead of horizontally. 
Never let what is wrong with you stop from worshiping what is right with God. We don’t come before God with what we have done right. Worship is a response to what he has done for us. 
What is our motivation? 
1. Our God deserves it. Not only when things go well but always!
2. It's our response to what he has done for us. He is our redeemer.
3. We love to celebrate what God is doing in our lives. We’ve been rescued by Jesus!
Worship is our response to what we value most. How do you know who or what you worship? You simply follow the trail of your time, your affection, your finances, your loyalty. Worship is a whole-life response to God’s greatness and glory. Worship is a verb, it’s something you do, it isn’t something you watch, it isn’t something you attend. Worship is something you enter into with all your might. Worship happens when we put words and action together. When we choose to do what is right God is worshiped! We move beyond the fruit of our lips to consider the fruit of our lives. 
Church is so much better when our services are filled with people who have been pursuing God for six days before they get there. Church as a “re-fill” is a recipe for disaster, the concept might work at Pizza Hut but it will never work on Sundays when we come to church. 
D7 Church let's turn our daily lives into a song of worship to him!