April 2011
1 post
ChristopherLazo.com is moving from Tumblr to...
This isn’t that big of a deal, but I wanted to communicate to my fellow Tumblrers that I will not be using Tumblr anymore. I will be using WordPress instead.
If all you’re doing is typing in ChristopherLazo.com into your URL, nothing should change for you.
But chances are, if your reading this post, you’re still on my Tumblr site, and that’s gonna get boring for you.
...
March 2011
13 posts
3 tags
In retrospect: silly sayings by people who were...
Below are five outdated quotations. One day, we will sound like this too if we keep tucking our tails between our legs every time a great idea comes along….
“The photograph is of no commercial value.”
-Thomas Edison, remarking on his own invention in 1880.
“There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.”
-Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize winner in...
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Watch
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10 things the e.book can do that a paper book...
If you know me, you know that I have an insatiable appetite for reading books. Some of you have also heard that I have recently converted to doing all my future reading electronically. This has come as a surprise to many of you, and believe me…me too. In case I didn’t mention, I LOVE books. There is absolutely no replacement (yet) for the look and feel of a soft page, the shape of a...
Watchadorn:
John 3:22-36 “Living in the Moment”
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Chris Lazo has added Mad Church Disease:... →
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Love wins, everybody wins, God loses.
That was the flavor I came away with after reading Rob Bell’s controversial new book, entitled, Love Wins.
There are plenty of reviews out there, some of them scathing and thorough, and some of them merciful and open by people I admire. So I do not need to post a long, point-by-point explanation here when others have done so. Instead, I will post four short reasons why I will not be...
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WatchA first hand view of the destructive power of the Tsunami that hit Sendai, Japan (Not to mention the 8.9 earthquake that came before). Here is another graphic article by the Guardian News.
Please pray for Japan.
Especially for the Christians who make up less than 1% of the population to be filled with love, compassion, and Spirit-filled mission in what remains of their home towns.
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Why do we sing so stinking long at church? Gimme...
Here are two ways we often approach worship in a gathered setting:
We are singing in order to fill up space
We are singing to prepare our hearts for the preaching
I disagree with both. Here is why…
Worship is not a preview (singing) to a movie (sermon) that we can’t wait to hear and see. Worship is the central reason why we exist, and why we gather together. All else is...
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Justification made simple
Imagine that you are under an unmanageable weight of financial debt that you are unable to support, and because of this you are driven further into despair simply by waking up.
Now image two things happening…
Some stranger paying off all of your creditors in full, rendering you debt free.
That stranger then deposits $10,000,000 in your savings account, making you rich.
Do you see the...
Chris Lazo has added Communicating for a Change:... →
John 3:13-17 "Costly Love" →
February 2011
13 posts
Chris Lazo has added The Experience Economy: Work... →
Chris Lazo has added The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders... →
6 tags
Cultivating Humility in my Christianity through...
If you’re like me, then telling yourself to be more humble doesn’t make you more humble.
What does make me more humble is humiliation.
Parody and satire have worked wonders in my life without completely devastating me, because they gently poke at prideful things about myself that I unknowingly embrace. Since the things I connect with are most likely to become an idol in my life if...
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3 Biblical Ways to Dream Big
I used to think of ambition as a bad thing. You know, as a worldly-motivated, self-centered desire to get somewhere or attain something. It reminded me of the Televangelists who would preach about dreaming your island house into existence, and after seeing them slice-and-dice Scriptures out of context for the silliest things (not to mention several botched attempt at manufacturing a Bugatti Veyron...
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What is the Fear of God?
To have a knowledge of a true fact does not necessarily mean that we are personally affected by what we know.
An example of this is gravity.
Many people know what gravity is and may even be able to explain the mechanics of how it works, but a skydiver will have something far more than intellectual knowledge. In addition to true knowledge, a skydiver has conviction. I would describe conviction...
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The calling of God as motivation
At first glance, Exodus seems like an epic account of the many accomplishments of Moses. While he is certainly prominent in the book, it’s God that is the redeeming Hero, and the central character of the story. What’s even more gripping is that God graciously surrounds Himself with a variety of normal people to accomplish His mission. Most of us know Moses and Aaron, but few of us may...
Chris Lazo has added Christ-Centered Worship:... →
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“The goal of preaching is not to get people to do what they don’t want to...”
– Bryan Chapell
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Top three books of last year
I love reading, so this list was hard to come up with. So let me qualify it by saying that these are the books that had the widest, and most fruitful impact on my life last year. Starting with…
Cross-Centered Life, by C.J. Mahaney.
Few books have convicted me enough to put me on my knees in repentant prayer. This is one of them. Mahaney redirects the Christian back to the power and beauty...
John 3:1-12 "Religion Can't Save You" →
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“Calling upon Jesus as Saviour and Lord, as an initial response to the gospel and...”
– David Peterson (Engaging with God, 159)
Chris Lazo has added The Discipline of Grace as... →
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The Law of God
Tells you what you need to do in order to achieve, but does not provide for you a way to get to it…
“For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man” [Romans 8:3, NIV]
January 2011
11 posts
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We see dimly
I believe Paul wrote this down as a profound encouragement…
“Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now” [1 Cor. 13:12, NLT].
I want to point out a few things:
we know imperfectly
we will soon know...
John 2:18-25 "Signs of Life: How the Resurrection... →
John 2:12-17 Religion Kills Our Worship →
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“If you wish to deepen the worship of the people of God, above all deepen their...”
– D.A. Carson
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Religiousity = outward show of worship
Religiousity can be described as holding a standard to achieve, without also having the power, ability, or true desire to ever reach it. This can plague us on a variety of different fronts:
In our body…
“This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matt. 15:8).
We have all the outward showings, but nothing changes inside.
In our behavior…
...
Ephesians 3:19-22 "A Revelation of the Power of... →
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Do you have a missional lifestyle that stretches...
Look at the disciple’s reaction to Jesus’ normal missional life…
His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman (John 4:27)
The disciples might have initially been put off by the radical nature of Jesus’ specific mission (to the Samaritan woman), but eventually, He would rub off on them…
Peter heals a woman (Acts 9:40)
Philip...
Chris Lazo has added Gospel Coach: Shepherding... →
3 tags
WatchIt’s 2010, uh…11!
(John missed out on the que, but not on the enthusiasm)
Chris Lazo has added Worship Matters as already... →
December 2010
30 posts
Chris Lazo has added God Gave Wine as Already read →
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The dynamics of cute
Me: Let's go to Santa Barbara.
Brianna: Ok! I'll go get "cute"
Me: You're already cute.
Brianna: No, I'm "indoors" cute, but I gotta get ready to go outside
Me: Outside??
Brianna: Yeah, there's "in" cute, and there's "out" cute
Chris Lazo has added When Heaven Invades Earth as... →
Chris Lazo has added Leaders Who Last as Already... →
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“Closer to the King” (from an iPhone,...
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The 7 Scriptures that have shaped my life the most...
Below are a list of profound passages of Scripture. Some of them sprung out of my daily devotions, a couple of them were part of a series for a college gathering, while others were chosen to preach on at my church. However they came about, they all have one thing in common; they all sent holy explosions through my own life, and upset my fragile grip on reality.
John Owen once remarked,
...
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My favorites iPhone shots of 2010
Aside from preaching and music, I am a closet fan of shooting photos on the iPhone which is a hobby I try to keep sharpened every day. These are thirty of my favorites shot from last year. All of them were captured and processed completely on an iPhone.
To see my whole collection, or to join me in the madness, you can visit my Tumblr or Flickr.
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Most Highly Favored Lady [Luke 1]
Mary’s example of faith comes in juxtaposition with the preceding example in verses 18-20. When Zechariah was told that his old wife would have a child, he immediately cast doubt, though an angelic messenger was personally delivering the message. Contrast this not only with Mary’s faith, but also with the more outlandish nature of the angel’s claims…
You, a virgin, will...
