"Sanctification" - Religion VS Relationship (Continued)

"It's NOT about making Jesus Christ Lord OVER my life, but about making Him Lord OF my HEART. Many do the first, but few do the latter." - JJ

Let me explain…

I believe that many well meaning Christians after trusting in Jesus Christ as their Savior begin to put a good effort into changing their lives. We go to church, we try to read the Bible every day, we try to obey the Bible, we try to get as involved as we can in "ministry" serving the church, and so on... This is all good, but I believe as Christians, we have neglected and lost focus in our discipleship of new believers in the most important area…

“But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.
- 1 Peter 3:15

Let me break down this verse and then continue to explain my thought above…

Step 1) Sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart (Surrender and brokenness before the Lord; total Surrender of all your life. Trusting God in all areas of your life, not just your eternal destiny)

Step 2) Be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you (your testimony and sharing the gospel)

Step 3) YET with gentleness and reverence. (Showing love, compassion, kindness and gentleness, and demonstrating God’s love to others, not just “Bible Beating.”)

Ok, so what I was saying before… I believe that our Christianity has become all about religion and we have neglected the most important process of becoming truly broken before the Lord in total and complete surrender of our hearts (lives). When someone accepts Jesus Christ into his/her life, we quickly get that person plugged into the church, we start giving them Bible studies, we begin to train them in how to share their faith with others (Step 2,3) and we complete bypass the most important step, “Sanctification of Jesus Christ as Lord in our hearts.”

I believe that the church is doing great at sharing the good news of eternal life. The Great Commission is being obeyed. God’s church is growing, but I think that not enough real true, DEEP healing is occurring in the lives of those we disciple. Don’t get me wrong, I think the healing process is occurring. God begins that process the moment we open our hearts to Him and we accept Him as our personal Savior, but I think that the Healing process has been neglected when it comes to discipleship of new believers. Why do I think so, because of my own experience, because of this NEW place in my life of brokenness before my God and King, because of the amazing healing that has occurred in my heart, because God has been showing me what the process was in my life, because as my heart has been healed, and because I now can see past my own wounds and hearts. Before, I was neglecting “step 1” because I was wounded and hurt myself. I could not see past my own insecurities, sins, hurts, pride, etc. So as I gave of myself and shared my life with others, as a man who still needed healing, I could not help others in that process of healing in them. As I stand now, healed, I look about me and I see SO MUCH hurt within the walls of the church. Yes, church is a place for those who need healing, but I find the ratio of those who are healed enough to help others in that process to those who need healing to be way off! The pastors cannot do it all...

My prayer is that God continues to do the Miracles (as He has been doing in me) and that more believers may come to that place of 100% brokenness before Him. That they may be healed to the point where they can turn around and help lead those around them to that same place of brokenness before God.


Disclaimer: Don’t miss-understand, One ONLY needs to believe in Jesus Christ and put their trust in Him for eternal life in order to be saved (Titus 3:5, Eph. 2:8-10, John 3:16, II Cor. 5:21). I just think that God as our Heavenly Father wishes to heal our broken hearts, so that we may better serve Him. God wants to do great things in us and through us (Eph. 2:10). Again, we first need a Savior, we then choose to make Him our Lord. But we ONLY need to "Believe in Him." - If you do not know how you can be 100% sure you are going to Heaven the day you die, click here and find out how you could know. I serve God, not for my salvation, but out of gratitude for what He has done for me. I serve God because I love Him!...

Disclaimer 2: The growing process is on-going. God is still working in my life. Though I find myself in an amazing place of surrender before my Lord, surrender is something that must occur daily as we make choices and continue to grow closer to God.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 1:6

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” – Hebrews 12:1-3

Continuing: I know that for me, I continued to put a big effort into “growing in Christ” and I put a big effort into reading the Bible, and in serving, but in my heart, there were many areas that I had not surrendered 100% unto the Lord. I was trying to obey God, and I was giving Him most of my heart, but I had areas in my Heart that still needed healing and areas in my life that I was not putting my complete trust in God. I had desires I was not surrendering before the Lord. I did had a desire to serve Him, but in my own terms. I had insecurities that I was not surrendering to the Lord and trusting Him. I appeared “healed” on the outside. If you asked anyone, I have been a “model” Christian all my life, but on the inside, there was still much hurt, shame, insecurities, etc. and it took God a long time to heal me. I was “image managing” my life. Today, I am a broken person before my loving Heavenly Father. To quote Mercy Me’s song “No More No Less” …

“I'm not trying to hide anything
I wear it on my sleeve
I'm not trying to be something I'm not
This is all I've got
I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel
Just trying to be real
I'm not trying to say follow me
I'm not the one who leads

Let me introduce myself to you
This is who I am
No more, no less
I am just a man who understands
Because of [God] I'm blessed
No more, no less

I'm not trying to prove anything
It's all about the change

I hope you stare just long enough to see
The heart that's beating here inside of me
Beyond all the things you may think you know
I'm just a kid trying to make it home, that's it
No more, no less”

You know, the world does not need more religion. Most people (if not all) are religious in some way or another. This is what God calls pure and undefiled religion…

“…to visit orphans and widows in their distress…”

Religion is good, but God wants our hearts, not just our good deeds.

Friend, if you do not know where you are going the day your die, TODAY is a good day to find out. We do not know what tomorrow may bring, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the day I die, I will go to Heaven to be with God. You too can be 100% sure that you will go to heaven... Click Here and learn more. Don't wait till tomorrow, Today is the day you can put your trust in God as your personal Savior.

to learn more click here: www.jjsierra.com/theanswer

If you have any questions, if you don't understand something I said above, please feel free to send an email at: jj@coffeecupapologetics.com

I leave you with these last two quotes…

“We must give God and others their rightful place in our hearts.” – John Ortberg

“We trust God with our eternal destiny, but we have a hard time trusting Him with the rest of our lives.” - JJSierra

:: Hope ::

The difference between the world's hope and Christian hope...

"The world hopes in their deeds with uncertainty. We hope in Christ's deed with certainty!" - JJ

Dictionary.com
Hope  - noun: the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best:

We have a "better hope!"
"...(for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God." - Hebrews 7:19

Hope in The Living God:
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance." - Roman 5:1-3

"And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." - Romans 5:5

"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." - Romans 15:4

Overflow with Hope - By The Power of The Holy Spirit!

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." - Roman 15:13

Hope until the end!...

"we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end." - Hebrews 6:11

One Spirit for a Whole Lot of People

What is unity? (please tell me your opinions on this)

Hey guys, how's the week going this blog is about what God is currently doing in my life. Are we supposed to be filled with fuzzy feeling when we run into a person who rubs us the wrong way in our ministry? I can't recall a time when I felt "fuzzy" after someone undercut my opinion on something. In fact I had to suppress the urge to cave someone's face in on more than one occasion. I have not achieved the level of Super Christian yet, so I can't put a fake smile on and pretend that I agree with everyone around me when I really don't. It is ungenuine to be two faced with the closest people in your life. So how do we overcome the me-syndrome enough to still edify others without burning bridges?
If you can't back up what your saying then rejoice....God is disciplining you that very moment.By our love for one another we are known to be his disciples...what does that imply? I think it means that we love each other by the example of our Savior, who while we were still sinners died for us. He knew our lives did not honor his father and yet he still went to the cross. To a lesser extreme we should overcome the urge to exalt our opinions as an ultimate authority, none of us are prophets but we are part of a body of saints. We must hold fast to God and the Spirit of Truth that speaks to us so that we do not become conceited and believe we are our own truth.

Ephesians 4 - Unity of the Spirit - 1) Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2) with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,3being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4) There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5) one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6) one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. 7) But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.

In Corinthians 3 Paul writes that we plant a seed ,and God waters it. It is God who brings every good thing into our lives and nurtures us to grow in his glory. That is why it is so important that we are unified under God's will and the pursuit of it, because if we are not pursuing him then we are working against him. If we trust in Him, by which all things were made, then we don't need to worry about who we are or where we are because it will be exactly where he needs us. If we are unified by faith and love then we are allowing his hand to move us and strengthen us in the body.

So...we need to need unity in truth (why are we unified in the first place) and love (the means which we can stay in unity) so that we can be where God wants us.

First things first, examine yourself...How are your prayers going these days....How often and with what attitude do you read the Bible....Do some soul searching. We serve in different units but still march under one banner....and that banner is at war with the darkness of this world. If we cannot love each other then how can we give his love to a world in pain?

God Bless-Kyle

"The Funk" - Comment/Followup

So much of the Bible seems utopian, because we fail to TRUST GOD with our all. We want to believe in His promises, but we also want to do things our way and in our time...

The problem with our Christian walk (AKA, "The Funk") is that we don't trust God.

Fear, complacencies and the everyday affairs of this life "entangle" us so easily sometime (Hebrews 12:1-3).

"thinking to much" - "...It's too easy to get so caught up in the paralysis of analysis that we fail to act." - Brother Andrew "The Calling"

What I learned at Faithwalkers

Faithwalkers for those of you who have not been, is a life changing experience that can not be expressed as anything but God's hand being but on your heart for three days.

I loved everyday of that conference because I was convicted to my core. God sharpened me to a great extent during those three days.
During praise and worship God gave me this scripture:
Ephesians 3:1-19

And then the second day he gave me the Entire chapter of Daniel 5. The King of the time had taken the cup out of the Lord's temple and used it in his dining hall for all his wives and guests. They dishonored the Lord by doing this. Using the cup for their own selfish desires instead of His glory. During dinner in the palace a "hand" appeared and wrote this on the wall: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. Which was a prediction of the end of his reign. No one could translate this for him until they summoned Daniel. They offered to give him a purple cloak, a gold necklace, and then make him third highest in the kingdom. This is what he replied:
17Then Daniel answered and said before the king, "Keep your (AA)gifts for yourself or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him.
He did not care whether or not his efforts were recognized or not but that he would be faithful and true in his motives. He served the king because that was what he was called to do. Not praise himself. He translated the words for the king and told him straight up that he was in the wrong with God and was going to pay for it. Then he still was rewarded even though that is not what he valued. That night the king died and a new king took his place.
I felt God convicted me of this attitude of pride and what was my motivation for giving the Gospel. The cup in Daniel represents the cup of salvation God has given me. What is the purpose of that cup? That I may have everlasting life with the Godhead of course but is that all. No, let it never be for us alone. Correct me if I'm wrong but our cups are supposed to run over are they not? The cup of life that God gives to all is to be for his glory not ours. When love is given it is not love if you are looking to hear "thank you" from the other person. It is to see that you have loved and if they are willing, that the person given the cup drinks it.
Recently after going to that conference I realized that I had an unintentional attitude of wanting to receive praise for my efforts in apologetics and there was a underlying sense of pride for the knowledge I've gained. God showed me that my cup was meant to serve Him with and not on myself. and that my strength should come from his love and the Holy Spirit, not my will to succeed.My knowledge is useless without love and a purpose of edifying others with it. For this reason we bow our kness to the Father, that we may do His will for us on Earth. He gave us a gift, a cup of living water that is his love, his power, and his glory. And for those of you who read and do not know Him, ask him for this cup for it is given freely. It is meant for "you" to have and how can you use it if you don't accept it?
It is my prayer that all who have this cup that your's would overflow.

God Bless you all, Kyle.

:: The Law ::

Question: What is the purpose of the "law?"

Romans 3:20,27-28 -
20) because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

-- Through the law comes what?... "Knowledge of sin"
-- Can following the "law" justify our sins?... "NO flesh will be justified..."
-- In who's sight do we need to be justified?... "in His [Jesus] sight"

Many people believe they are "good." The question is, accordng to who's standards? If we need to be justified "in His sight," then we're in trouble! Because who can live up to a standard of perfection?! Ha... But reading the rest of the chapter we find out that it is not by the "law," but by our faith.

2 Highlighted verses from Romans 3 --

27) Where then is boasting? It is excluded By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28) For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

....So then that leaves the question of "faith in what" or more importantly, "faith in who?"

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" - Romans 5:1

Here is more on "Faith" --
1) What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?
2) For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
3) For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS."
4) Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.
5) But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness...

-- To Be Continued... More thoughts coming soon...

Our FIRST News Letter - Dec. 2007

We finally finished our December 2007 News Letter. This is our first of many, God willing...

To Read (Download) The PDF of our News Letter click the link below...

CCA December 2007 News Letter (PDF)
File Name: cca_2007-12.pdf

Well, this is our first, if you have any comments, if you have anything you would like to share, feel free to write them here...

Psalm 119...
124) Deal with Your servant according to Your lovingkindness And teach me Your statutes.
130) The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

- God Bless

On a Personal Note

WHAT AN AWESOME TIME we had this morning!...

After our confab at the Serene Bean this morning, The guys and I went to Family Christian Store to buy a pair of Apologetics Study Bible by Homan Publishing... I have never seen such excitement over God's Written Word the Bible in all my years. Kyle had been praying that God would provide him with the funds to buy the Bible and Today we were both able to get the Bible. God truly is awesome. I have never in my 20+ years of my christian faith felt so much excitement and hunger for the Word of God. God has been truly doing an amazing work in my life. If you want to learn more about how God is a part of my Personal Life, go check out my blog at www.jjsierra.com/livingthedash -- Part of the source of this excitement for God's Word comes from my Brother Kyle and Danny Garcia. What a blessing it is to have such friends who truly love the Lord with ALL their HEART, AND WITH ALL their SOUL, AND WITH ALL their MIND, AND WITH ALL their STRENGTH (Mark 12:30).

Anyway -- We are more then ever excited about coffeecupapologetics.com - We hope you can join us next time. Today we had the privilege of having Danny among us and he lead us through a solid study of what the Bible says on Salvation by Grace alone and not by works. We will be posting our study soon. We hope that as a result of the study you may come closer to an understanding of God's Love and Grace towards you and that you may believe in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior (if you have not done so already).

Andy, a good friend of ours also joined us today. It was great to be able to share that time with him also. I am on 5 hours of sleep, but I could continue to study God's Word all day. Once again, let me share with you Psalms 63 -- God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You... (Read Chapter)

May God Bless you today, and may he lead you to His loving arms and give you an understanding of His love, mercy and grace that is greater everyday (I can testify to that!).

What standard should we go by?

1 Corinthians 4 - Click Here To Read Chapter

Paul starts this passage stating that we are stewards of God and we must be found trustworthy, this means that we are not above being questioned on our character. In fact we more than anyone else on Earth should be questioned. We are ambassadors for God and should reflect his love in our lives. We must be examining ourselves constantly to make sure we still in line, we are accountable to one another.

But that does not mean we are each others' judges but only that I must trust you to tell me if I am not acting according to the teachings of the Word.

My standard, to apply my entire being to for evaluating, is that of Jesus Christ. We must go to the Lord himself for us to get an accurate judgment of ourselves. We can not evaluate ourselves because that is being self-righteous and we are not able to see all our flaws. Since God is the absolute Judge of all and knows all truth then, we only need to go to him for our frame of reference of what is true. This what Paul is saying in verses 3-4. We have to go to God so he can guide us and not use human judgement except with his standard.

There are some smaller gray areas that should not be argued about but leave them up to God. Do not argue over useless things because it benefits no one.

It's really funny that we as men can become so forgetful and proud. We get into a routine of not seeking God , still acting holy to others , and think we are our own source of holiness. This why we must seek God everyday so that we won't become proud or judgmental.

We should be humble and thankful to the Lord. The only thing we should boast about is the power of God and not our own words.

Expresso VS Instant

1O) God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2) Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. 3) Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. 4) So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5) My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. 6) When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, 7) For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. 8) My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. - Psalm 63:1-8

If you haven't figured it out yet, I like drinking Cuban expresso coffee :)
At work, I don't have an expresso maker so I drink instant "expresso" coffee, which of course does not taste anything like the real thing. Then I got to thinking... How I have chosen for the sake of ease and convenience to drink instant coffee instead of getting an expresso maker and taking the time to make the real deal...

- In a small pot, boil a cup of milk
- While the milk is boiling, add a touch of salt
- Brew the expresso coffee in an expresso maker
(Pilon is one of my preferred expresso brands)
- When both are done, add the expresso coffee to the HOT cup of milk.
(You could have your coffee dark and strong, or light and not so strong)

...When I want a REAL cup of Cuban Expresso "Cafe con Leche" I do it the right way.
What am I getting to with this. Well, I parallel the above with how I choose to have QT with God... Not "quality time" or "quiet time" but a "quick time" ... As in how short my time with God is. I barely give Him 30min of my time and I expect so much!...

"I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You..."

-- Oh how I have realized that I am NOT seeking God enough!... This morning as I prayed, I did not want to stop! But so many times it's a struggle to make the time to spend a focused time seeking God in Prayer and His Word. I don't want to do the "instant" version of my time with God anymore! I want the REAL DEAL.

May God put in us a thirst for Him like no other - Keep the Faith - JJ

CCA Update - Thanks Giving Weekend

So I'm here at my Parents house in Miami enjoying the GREAT weather and anwesome Grandma cooking :) Mh, Mh, Mh, Mh, Mmmmh!...

Anyway - We apologize for not posting if we were going to meet today.
God willing we will meet next Saturday again to get right back to studying God's Word and sharing our lives, building each other up. If we do not announce our meeting here try to get in touch with us to confirm if we are meeting or not.

...Today I was trying to find a passage I found that I wanted to post here but I could not find it, but in the process I ran into this encouraging verse: "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls." - Proverbs 11:30

In the top of the page of my Bible I wrote: "What good is wisdom if not to win souls?"

See you next Saturday - God Bless!

This is What CCA is ALL ABOUT...

3) This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4) who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

- 1 Timothy 2:3-4

Light Unto The World

"Preach at all times, and when necessary use words." - Unknown

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. - Matthew 5:16