Jared Shingleton

A Living Hallelujah

jared shingleton — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:33:28 +0000

Those of us who have been involved in the church for any period of time we have all heard the word Hallelujah. We sing it, we read it, we write it, we play it in videos. But do we truly understand what Hallelujah is? You see I started wondering what it meant. What does the word really imply? Because often times I will sing it at the top of my lungs as a proclamation to the Lord without truly understanding what I am saying. So I started studying. Rather than taking time to bore you with the Latin and Hebrew translation of the word I will say this. The word Hallelujah comes from two terms. The first part of Hallelujah is a definition of praise. The second part of the word is simply God. Ultimately the word Hallelujah is two words coming together that simply mean “Praise God.” So I started thinking, what if our life was a Living Hallelujah? What if we woke up every morning praising God for who He has been, who He is, and who He will always be. I believe the life of love that Christ spoke about would become something real, and tangible. You see when we praise God we open our eyes to the greatness of who He is. And when we open our eyes to the greatness of our God we are moved to live a life that reflects the love He pours out. Church, I encourage you to become a Living Hallelujah. I encourage you to devote yourself to the praise and uplifting of our great God. I promise, the outcome will be beautiful.

How Do I Pray?

jared shingleton — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:32:13 +0000

So what is prayer? As a believer what should my prayer life look like? Often times we think of prayer as simple as something like the praying mantis. We can all look at the little icky green bug and immediately see why it is named the “praying mantis.” We look and see that it’s little bead of a head is slightly bowed, and it’s awkward hands in a “praying” position. But when we think of prayer do we only think of the things on the outside? Maybe you are a person who understands prayer to be nothing more than what we do before dinner. I know it may sound crazy, but did you know Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, showed us how to pray? We don’t have to wonder, or ask how to pray. We can simply look at the instruction Christ gave us. There are 5 steps in the way Christ showed us to pray. We see these steps in Matthew 6:9-13.

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

   “‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
   on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
   as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.” -Matthew 6:9-13

Step number 1, Acknowledge who God is.

Christ starts off by saying “Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be your name.” Now, I know what you’re thinking, is God a hollow tree? NO! Hallowed is not the same thing as hollow. What Christ is getting at is that we should always start off our prayer confessing to God who He is! We are to always start off acknowledging who God is as YHWH, The great I AM, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Holy of Holy’s. Wouldn’t it be weird if I started a conversation with my dad by saying “Hey mom, can I ask you a question?” Yes! It would be so weird. Because that’s not who he is. He probably wouldn’t even realize I was speaking to him. In the same way, we are to acknowledge and praise who our God is before we come to Him.

Step 2 – Pray for His work on earth

As Christ continues He prays “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” You see when we read through the Bible we clearly understand that in Heaven God’s will is always done. Not only that but it is done with happiness, joy, and freedom. When we pray we should ask that God will do His will here on earth, just as it is done in Heaven. Now you could ask “How the heck do I know God’s will?” That question I cannot answer for you. God has a perfect plan for each person in our world. God also has His plan. We are so fortunate that God invites us to be a part of His work and what He is already doing. As you pray for God to reveal His will within your own life you will often find those answers through experience, the church, God’s word, and prayer. You will come to know and understand God’s will and tasks for you to accomplish through these things.

Step 3 - Ask for what you need

Christ then says “Give us this day, our daily bread.” Notice it doesn’t say “Give us this day a huge steak, with a baked potato and unlimited french fries and appetizers.” Christ does not want us to ask God to give us all things in abundance. Christ shows us that we are to ask God for the things we need, not all the things we simply want.

Step 4 – Asking for Forgiveness

“Forgive us of our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” We are to always go before God seeking forgiveness of the sins that exist in our life. While we have been forever forgiven of our sins we are still to go before the throne and confess our sins to the Father. God desires us to be reconciled to Him daily, not just when we start feeling bad about pushing down that kid at the playground.

Step 5 – Asking for ways to deal with temptation and the enemy

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us for the evil one.” We are on a constant fight against sin, temptation, and satan. God has given us power to defeat sin, and to forever defeat satan, but He wants us to seek Him first in how to do that. I believe for all of us there are completely different areas of sin we are weak to. But what I also believe is that often times those weak spots are areas of our life we have yet to notice. I believe that is why God asks us to seek him and His ways to fights off sin, for it is only Him who can reveal that.

So does this sum up EVERYTHING God ever said about prayer? Is this the answer to all things prayer? No. But I believe there is a reason that God, in human flesh, told us to pray this way. And so this is how I will prayer forever. And I encourage you to do the same.

Secret Righteousness

jared shingleton — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:53:07 +0000

Today I had the opportunity to bless someone I had never met. I loved it. Oh the joy the Father gives when our lives reflect His. But I noticed that when I walked away I immediately ran to tweet what had just happened. As I was typing a passage in scripture came to mind. The passage was Matthew 6:1-4.

¹ “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

² “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, (OR TWEETS, haha) as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

I immediately heard the Holy Spirit speak in to my heart. You see, while twitter may not have been “announcing something with trumpets” I do believe we often try and gain honor or respect from others in the Christian community based on our deeds. Does it honor our Father? You see I want to do deeds that honor the most high God, not deeds that bring about my own honor, or my own status. It would be easy for me to say “But I want people to see what we can do when you really trust God.” But did you notice the screwed up part about that thought? It revolves around what we can do rather than what God is doing. I fear that we allow pride to sneak into our lives in the form of “Christian deeds.” I pray that we continue to help those in need, clothe those who are naked, and feed those who are hungry. But I also pray we do these things in a way that God glorifies.

At Hope we say Loving God, Loving People, Proving It. I hope that no one ever hears the “proving it” part as something that is to be proven to man. You see the proving it part is dedicated to you and the Father. Does this mean that others will not notice? NO! Other’s will notice a persons life that is in line with the Fathers. But I pray we never seek first the honor or approval of men before that of God. ”so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Wanting God’s Proof

jared shingleton — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 21:43:18 +0000

I meet a lot of people who disagree with Christianity because it simply can’t make sense! How could there be a God that is all knowing, all powerful, and all loving? I am convinced that in order to fully understand God and His love for His people we have to first accept His love by obeying his word. I’ve had friends who have asked me why God can’t just show himself in a mighty way to them before they choose Him. People want to see God prove Himself before they choose to follow Him. The same thing happens in scripture.

When God appeared to Moses Moses said “Lord, prove to me this is You, and I will obey you” God then said to him “This will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain” Why was it God didn’t prove it that moment? Instead He asked Moses to first obey Him, then He would prove Himself true to Moses.

I also have friends who want God to speak to them first, and then they will choose to follow Him. It’s a prayer I’ve heard before. ”God, just speak to me and I will then follow you.” That sounds like a more elegantly worded “God, I won’t follow you until you give me ability to do it without faith.” - What is the purpose of faith if we beg God to make everything so perfectly clear before we start? Wouldn’t that leave us at a point that we could make things work in our own ability, without the hand of God surrounding us?

John 8:47 says “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” This is a scary verse for some people. But the truth behind this text it that God often requires us to submit to His plan before He chooses to make his voice a reality. - In this case it starts with surrendering your life to Him.

Maybe today you are a person who is trying so hard to understand scripture for the text, but not within the truth. You see you are trying to understand a truth by worldly standards. You have to first understand that truth is a person, not a knowledge. Jesus said “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life” So to understand the truth that is within scripture we have to first understand Jesus Christ. Understanding Jesus starts with salvation – through surrender.

Is there a way to fully make sense of the Bible without salvation? What does scripture say?

1 Corinthians 2:14-15 “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to them, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. the spiritual man makes judgement about all things.”

2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is God breathed..”

In order to fully understand God’s work, and the scriptures, it starts with our surrender and promise to obey what He reveals. Scripture is nothing without the God that speaks his will through it.

I don’t clame to be a person who is incredibly understanding of the scriptures. Or a man that claims to understand the deepest of theologies. But I do know that as I read scripture, it is made clear to me through the Holy Spirit that lives within me and speaks through my obedience. - and in this way, it can be made clear to you as well.

Fellowship of the Unashamed

jared shingleton — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 03:48:50 +0000

I was taking a class on the history of the Israelite people not long ago. I some what enjoyed the class, but more so enjoyed the professor. He gave me a sheet of paper one day with a short article written on it. He told me to read it, and live it. I read the article and LOVED it. It was written by a man named Dr. Bob Moorehead. So now I challenge you. Read it and live it.

“I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made – I am a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean in His presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and I labor with power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, hired away, turned back, diluted, delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, give up till I drop, preach till I know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes my banner will be clear!”

I’ve been slacking..

jared shingleton — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 21:31:27 +0000

I have been slacking on finishing our “DEVOS” page. I need to get up to speed and finish it soon! On the flip side I have been extremely busy with all of the things going on in my every day life! So here is an update to the craziness I have been experiencing.

This week we will FINALY be back up on rolling with our Wednesday night Bible study! Due to the crazy block parties we have been throwing we have had to cancel the past two weeks if our student Bible study. If you are coming this week go ahead and finish reading James 1! We will be wrapping up James 1 this week – Faith and deeds!

Things at Hope have been incredibly exciting. We had more people this week than we have ever had – 140! We love that we have had the opportunity to be involved in our community and cannot wait to see what God does this fall!

Speaking of community – I have exciting news! Several choice people and I have partnered together to launch a new ministry that will be built around connecting local Churches to spread the Gospel through out middle TN. Please pray for this. I am about to be VERY busy trying to finish up and work on all the loose ends of this project to be able to launch this Fall! More info to come later.

All in all life right now is more incredible than any experience I have ever had. I am experiencing community in a way I never have – I am seeing Christianity become real – I am watching students change the lives of others around them – and I am seeing God do amazing things! Things in my life right now are exciting, busy, beautiful. I love it.

New Page! “DEVOS”

jared shingleton — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 03:57:58 +0000

You will notice that there is a new page up on my blog! It’s called “Devos: Becoming “weird”.”

This page was created for Hope Students to study a devotional every day that is built to help jumpstart your relationship with Christ.

Why the becoming “Weird” thing? Well as we learned tonight the word “weird” actually translates to “Strikingly odd or unusual, suggesting the operation of supernatural influences.” Needless to say, we are seeking to become “weird!”

The Sean Affect

jared shingleton — Fri, 13 May 2011 06:39:22 +0000

Tonight was probably one of the craziest nights of my life. During my little sisters graduation ceremony (woo! go maci!) I received a phone call. If you know me at all you know that my friend Sean is my right hand man. If you’re hanging out with me, you’re probably also hanging out with him. Well the phone call I received tonight was from Seans sister. I answered and heard her explain that Sean had been jumped and was unconscious. She also told me that he was in an ambulance being taken to the emergency room. I immediately get up and leave. On the drive to the hospital all I can think about is the worst. I didn’t know how severe things were. I didn’t know if Sean was going to make it. I was lost in what might happen. I started lifting up prayer the entire drive to the hospital. We made it to the hospital to find out we have to sit and wait. It was in this time of waiting that I saw something happen that is not so normal. I saw a number of people I couldn’t even count show up at the hospital praying for Sean. I saw reactions take over my facebook feed. I saw a reaction occur that is not normal when someone is in the hospital.

Seeing such a giant number of people showing up to make sure Sean was OK got me thinking. These people showed up because they really cared about Sean and wanted more than anything for him to be OK. So what was it that had so many people showing up? What was it that made so many people give up their night to hang out at the ER?

Sean is a man that has truly developed what it means to be selfless. Sean always puts others needs above his own. He is the first person to help someone when they need it. He is the first person to encourage someone when they need encouraging. He is the first person to give his life up for his friends. Sean loves people in a way most of us can only imagine. I believe this is what Christ meant when he said to love people! I was taken back tonight when I saw the response to Sean being sent to the ER. I pray that I one day will be able to live out the same example of Christ that Sean lives every day.

Sean is now doing much better and is healing! God is good!

Sean, thank you for the example you are.

Theology – Life – Oh crap – I’ll fix it

jared shingleton — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 05:18:31 +0000

HA! I love this little comic. Made me laugh when I first saw it and thought it would be funny to throw in to this post. But I write this for all of the Christians who may read this. I want to challenge you to take part in something I think we may be missing. You see in my community I have started taking note to a lot of people who are trying to deepen their relationship with the Lord by studying more theology. Theology in itself is a good thing. But I have noticed a trend start that really seems to tick me off. The trend goes like this, Theology — Life — Oh Crap — I’ll fix it. I’ll explain each of these steps briefly.

Theology

This is the initial step to start seeking out theological truth. Your interest in the Word of God is high. You want more than anything to know YHWH more. You want to seek and find him. You want him to answer the door to the questions that have been knocking.

Life

This is the step where you start comparing all the theology you have been taking in to what the world actually looks like. You start learning what it means to apply theological truth to every day life.

Oh Crap

Oh crap is right! This is the moment where you realize the the theological truth you have been so invested in isn’t what our world looks like today. This is where you notice that half of the “Christians” in the Church aren’t really what they say they are. (as if what was written in Mat: 7:21-23 wasn’t enough for you to know that).

Now, each of these steps up to this point are fine and perfectly natural steps. It’s this last step that seems to ruin it all. So let’s move on and explain the last step.

I’ll fix it

This is the point where you think it now falls on you to fix everyone who is not living according to the theology of the Bible. This is the point where you start talking about the bad things and the things that have gone wrong in the church rather than focusing on God’s power that can fix it. This is where you become bitter in the fact that in your own power you cannot fix the church. You start getting pushy with people, and start thinking highly of yourself. Your pride grows because you feel like you know more on scripture than those who don’t stud theology.

You see it’s that last step that seems to take everyone by surprise. The same people I know who claim to be seeking out real theology are the people who are posting horrible things about Christians. I don’t care who you are if you think you have the right to call another Christian an idiot because his Theology might differ from yours than I beg you to stop reading the Bible. What ever happened to the “Child like faith”(Mat: 18:1-5) that you had when you first gave your life over to Christ? Do not think I’m saying that theology is wrong and that this process happens to everyone. I’M NOT SAYING THAT. But this IS an issue that I have noticed happen in several situations.

We can learn a lot from Matthew 7 :16-20.

“¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”

There are two different things that come to mind when scripture talks about “bearing fruit”. The first is the fruit of the spirit. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, faithfulness, Gentleness, Self control. Am I forgetting one? Any way the first thing we need to live by are these attitudes! These are the things promised to us by the Holy Spirit. The second thing that comes to mind when I hear bearing fruit is where scripture talks about how many people are accepting Christ because of you. Plane and simple, when is the last time you led someone to Jesus, and then discipled them? Is this happening? We have to understand that God cuts out the bad branches and the bad trees. Our job is to continue pushing towards the incredible things God wants to do in us every day.

If you find yourself writing and talking about the things that are messed up in Christianity more than the overwhelming goodness of our God then I challenge you with this. Try to go one week talking about nothing but how good God is and how thankful you are for the things He is doing every day. Don’t let your twitter/facebook feed have anything to do with your negativity towards the church/hypocrisy/injustice/etc. Only talk about the things God has done and how thankful you are for them. See if the Lord wants to teach you something in that. I’m going to do it with you.

Thank you God for your mercy and love. Overwhelm me with more of you so that others might see it.

Incredible Sunday at Hope!

jared shingleton — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:24:34 +0000

Here’s a post the my dad, (pastor of Hope Fellowship), posted on my family’s blog. Great Morning at Hope!

—-

Most church planters ask themselves this question. “What was I thinking when I took the step of faith to plant a new church?” Church planting is just hard…period. At times over the past couple of months I have asked myself that same question. There is so much to do. At times I find myself absolutely overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done. And then, God gently reminds me of who He really is and He alone does what only He can do.

Today at Hope Fellowship, God overwhelmed me.

This morning was the first time our young congregation participated together in communion. I borrowed an idea for communion that has been used by countless youth groups. We set up seven different stations on the outer perimeter of the gym at Rock Spring Elementary where we meet. Our church body was divided into six groups and rotated from station to station. At each station, a volunteer leader read scripture and challenged participants to reflect on the power of the Gospel.

The stations themes were:

1- Crown of thorns (participants hold and examine an actual crown of thorns)

2- Bitter vinegar (dip a q-tip in a cup of vinegar and taste the bitterness)

3- Cross and nails (drive a nail into a cross)

4- Temple veil torn (participants take small pieces of cloth and rip apart)

5- He knows my name (write name on poster and focus on our name recorded in book of life)

6- Roll dice (consider how Roman soldiers cast lots for Christ’s robe and possessions)

Each of these stations included scripture/prayer/quiet meditation.

We then transitioned into communion. No traditional sermon today.

We remembered Jesus Christ and His sacrifice as we are instructed to do in the New Testament.

The final station after communion involved the simple reminder that Jesus is the light of the world and that each of us who follow Him are called to be that same light. Everyone was invited to light a small candle from a large pillar candle on a table at the front of our stage.

All of this led to the most important part of today’s worship service. The invitation to respond to Jesus Christ. This is where we find hope. This is why I do what God has called me to do. This morning 6 people surrendered their life to Jesus! Forever changed.

I have quickly learned as a new church planter that the hard work, the challenges, the spiritual warfare, the times of being completely overwhelmed, are all 100% overcome by the power of Jesus Christ and what He accomplished at Calvary.

Thank you Jesus for today. Thank you for the wonderful gift of new life that I have personally experienced and thank you that 6 of my friends experienced that gift this morning.

What was I thinking when I took this step of faith to start a new church? I’m still processing all of that. I do however know that the fruit of our labor (family, friends, core group) when obedient to Christ is unstoppable! To Jesus be all glory