the word "DISCIPLES" we know,
BUT BUT BUT BUT
do we know the word "MAKING" ? ? ?
i believe this is what we LACK -- the MAKING portion :-) LET'S MAKE LIFE GROUP LEADERS ! ! ! #makinglifegroupleaders
In Joshua 24:15, the Lord says that all of us have to choose whom we will serve, God or man, and which chair we will sit in. All of us are sitting in one of three chairs—the chair of commitment, the chair of compromise, or in the chair of conflict with God. When it comes to your faith in God, how real is God to you? How relevant is God, the church, and His word to your daily life? How about for your family? Which chair are you sitting in?
Key Scripture Joshua 24:15; I Corinthians 2
Key Points THE FIRST
Chair of commitment:
Do you have a spiritual nature?
In this chair we find those who have been born again and are walking in the spirit. They live a committed life and maintain a spiritual state of mind. They are holy in their actions and they seek God. They build their lives on spiritual things. These people are committed to God’s house every week, the word of God, giving and serving. As it relates to marriage, their spouse and their home are their top priority. The top priority is for their children to fear and love God.
THE SECOND
Chair of compromise:
Do you have a carnal nature?
Here we find people who have been born again and go to church - they even know scripture and honor the Lord in their heart. But they are living distant from the Lord. Their relationship with Jesus is more of an acquaintance than a friendship. People in this chair allow their lives to mix with things of the world such as sin and idols. This group lives with one foot in the world and one in the church. They consider the committed people to be extreme or fanatic. Their marriage may also be full of compromise. They may have a good working relationship with their spouse, but that’s about it. Their children are more influenced by the world than by their parents’ values. They cannot spiritually discern what to do or how to intervene when they see signs in their lives or their children’s that should cause concern, because they are carnal themselves, so they tend to look the other way.
THE THIRD
Chair of conflict:
Do you have a natural nature?
These are people with no spiritual nature. They are mostly un-churched and disconnected from spiritual influence. Anything goes when it comes to faith. God is not in their life or their home—closer to mother earth than Father God. They have a disregard of pastors and think they are just out to get their money. God never really crosses their mind because they are their own god. Their career is more important than their faith. They eventually give themselves over to a value-less life as far as spiritual or Christian values. In their home, there is no concept of going to church or giving any part of their life or resources to the Lord through His church.
Final Thoughts If your children were to declare which chair you are sitting in, what would they say?
Which chair do you WANT to sit in?
Jesus is coming again. Heaven and hell are REAL.
This is not a game. Joshua said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” How would you complete that sentence? “As for me and my house, we will serve _______.”
If you are in the seat of compromise, change seats! Read His word and spend time with Him every day. If you are in the seat of conflict, make a change today! The amazing thing about the Lord is that everything can change in a moment with a single decision. Choose wisely, friend.
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=== brucse wilkinson ===
While in college I heard a sermon by Bruce Wilkinson that deeply impacted my life.
I don’t remember the details of the sermon, but the key principles have helped me stay focused in my Christian life.
Try to imagine three chairs, side by side, on a stage.
Each of the three chairs represents a different type of person and faith, three different levels of commitment toward God. Every person reading this is sitting in one of the chairs. My goal is to help you recognize which chair you are sitting in and the results of that position. You can always decide where you want to sit. But you cannot decide the consequences of that decision.
Chair One:
COMMITMENT
The first chair person is a believer in Jesus, but has gone beyond accepting the gift of salvation to willfully being under Christi’s authority and direction. This person knows the Lord as a personal friend and Savior, and is developing a meaningful and growing relationship with Him for himself and those he’s responsible for. They are deeply committed to Jesus Christ in all they do.
Chair Two:
COMPROMISE
The second chair represents someone who has received new life in Christ but hasn’t decided how little or much they will follow Him. He claims to believe all the same truths as someone in the first chair, follows the Christian ‘lifestyle’ in many outward ways, and usually has the best intentions. But instability and inconsistency mark his course.
Children who grow up in a Christian home tend to sit in Chair Two. Also, it is easy for Christians to slide from Chair One to Chair Two.
Chair Three:
CONFLICT
The third chair stands for someone who has not responded personally to God. A third chair person may have always known he wasn’t a Christian, or may be confused about his spiritual state. Especially if he has grown up in a Christian family surrounded by God-talk, he may look, act, feel, and think like Christians – almost. But a gulf of sin and rebellion lies between him and God. Until he repents of his sin and surrenders to Jesus Christ for salvation, he is at odds with his Creator and his purpose in life.
A person who grows up in the home of Chair Two parents tends to sit in Chair Three. Having seen Christianity in name only, they reject it as they get older.
We find several Biblical example of this downward spiritual trend:
But one key example is the generations of and following Joshua.
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. So the people answered and said: Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods… So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel…. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. (Judges 24:15-16; Judges 2:7, 10)
First Chair: Joshua knew God and His works.
Second Chair: The elders knew about God and His works.
Third Chair: The children of the elders did not know God nor His works.
By far the highest percentage of today’s church-attending Christians are, in my opinion, stuck in the second chair. I can tell you from personal experience that the most unhappy, frustrated, stressed and disillusioned people in the world aren’t nonChristians as you might expect, but second chair people who know Christ yet who fight Him and His leadership for years and even decades.
Choose today to sit in Chair One!
============
LINKS OF ACTUAL SERMONS
BY JENTEZEN FRANKLIN
BY BRUCE WILKENSON
BY VLAD SAVCHUK
============
SUPPLEMENT NOTES
First Central Baptist Church
Dr. Mark Wheeler
Passing the Baton
6/2/13
The Three Chairs1
Why do godly parents sometimes have rebellious children?
1ST Chair
COMMITMENT
2ND Chair
COMPROMISE
3RD Chair
CONFLICT
Key individual
Scripture
Joshua
Elders
Period of the Judges
Joshua 24:14-18
Joshua 24:31; Judges 2:7
Judges 2:10-12
First-hand experience
Second-hand knowledge
No knowledge
Characteristics
of God’s power
of God’s power
No experience of God
Convictions
Beliefs
Opinions
Results
Takes bold risks
Takes medium risks
Takes no risks
• Talk about your faith with your kids—explain your convictions, why you
Application
believe them, and how you developed them
• Give your kids experiences—ministry trips
• Help them see God firsthand—prayer requests & answers
• Take risks; dream big—learn to depend on God
Key individual
David
Acts 13:22
2 Samuel 12:13
Psalm 51
Solomon
1 Kings 2:2-4
Deuteronomy 17:14-17
Scripture
1 Kings 4:26; 10:14-29;
11:1-10 (8)
Whole heart for God
Half heart for God
Characteristics
Confesses sin
Compromises beliefs
Please God
Please others
Motivation
What does God think? What do people think?
Build a temple
Build a palace
Passion
• Practice spiritual disciplines
Application
• When you sin, confess it!
• What’s your passion or ambition?
• Whose opinion counts most?
Rehoboam
1 Kings 12:1-24
No heart for God
Rejects wise counsel
Please self
What do I think?
Build an empire
Key individual
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
Genesis 12:7, 8; 13:4,
Genesis 26:19-22, 25, 32; Genesis 28:20-22
Scripture
18; 16:14; 21:25, 30
33:20
Peace at any price
Schemer
Characteristics Friend of God
Worship
Work
Wealth
Priorities
God
Me & God
Me
• Is worship the high point of your week or just another activity?
Application
• How does your career fit into your life?
• Do you use things to win people, or use people to gain things?
• Allow God to call you to something. See your vocation as a calling.
If you find
yourself in this
chair:
RECOMMIT
REEVALUATE
REPENT
The legacy you leave is more important than the heritage you receive
COMPARISON OF
CHARACTERISTICS
1ST CHAIR
2ND CHAIR
3RD CHAIR
Primary Trait
Commitment
Compromise
Conflict
Primary Interest
People: Seeks to serve
others and love them
into the Kingdom
Prosperity: Seeks
success in life at
whatever the cost
Person (Self): Seeks
anything that makes
him/her happy
Foundation of Life
Scriptures: Guidelines
Saints: Follows other
for lifestyle and
Christians’ behavior —
behavior are taken from right or wrong
the Bible
Society: If the world is
doing it, it’s acceptable
View of Scripture
Is convinced it’s the
absolute, unchanging
Word of God,
authoritative for life
Believes it’s relative to
situation; brings
comfort but not
conviction
Ignores it as a relic of
another culture or time
Bible is a life-giving
book—meditate on it
Bible is an academic
book—read it
View of God
Knows God as a
personal friend; has a
deep relationship with
him and worships and
depends on him
Knows God through
salvation, but knows
him more as a doctrine
than a person
Ignores God
View of Jesus
Christ is Lord
Christ is Savior
Christ is a religious
leader
View of Prayer
Considers prayer an
unending, deeply
personal conversation
with God
Offers prayers as a
perfunctory ritual in
public and rarely in
private
Does not believe in
prayer—except in case
of dire emergency
View of Job/Career
Job is a platform God
has called him/her to
for the purpose of
ministry to others
Job is only a way to
earn money and get
ahead in life; faith is
ignored
Job is purely a means to
self-advancement and
prosperity
Bible is irrelevant—
ignore it
Questions to consider:
1. Which chair best describes your condition today?
2. If you choose to do nothing, which chair will your child(ren) most likely occupy?
3. What is one measureable change you can make which will help you or your child(ren) move to the
first chair?
1
The material is adapted from “The Three Chairs Principle” in the Walk Thru the Old Testament Live Event; “The Three
Chairs” booklet by Bruce Wilkinson, 1987; and Firsthand Faith: Recapture a passionate love for the Savior, by Bruce H.
