Religious Performance Blinds Us To Grace

Watch the video first, then read what's beneath it.



The moon walking bear and the players are like the presence of grace in legalistic churches. We can become so focused on our performance that we don't see God's grace dancing in our midst. To put it another way, Jesus could walk through the middle of our religious performance and we wouldn't even notice Him.

A Final Word About the 101 Lies Series

Thanks to each of you who have gone through this series with me over the past three and a half months. I appreciate the positive comments I've received, both from those of you who posted comments on the blog and those who have emailed me about this series.

When you saw me speaking here, it was all extemporaneous. I didn't have anything written down other than the actual list of lies, which I composed as I went along. So, now I'm having these videos transcribed and plan to organize the content and write a book from this material. I hope to finish it within the next three months, so stay tuned on my web site at gracewalk.org to see when the book will become available.

I do plan to do other ongoing video series. I've just finished writing a manuscript on How To Know And Do The Will of God, so I may tape some of the teaching from that within the next week or so. I also am thinking of doing a series on The Most Commonly Misunderstood Verses In The Bible, if I can determine which ones to use. I'd appreciate your input on that if you have ideas for which verses would be good ones to use in that series.

I will continue to write blogs almost every day, but probably won't have video blogs every day for about a month. I'm slammed with upcoming events over the next couple of weeks, then Melanie and I are going to take a much needed vacation. Keep checking back on this blog because I will regularly post articles and videos now and will resume doing videos practically every day sometime in May.

Thanks again for visiting this blog. The number of people who visit here quadrupled during the time I've done the 101 Lies series. I appreciate your encouragement. I'll keep you posted here of what's going on in my life, ministry and will add teachings like what you've seen in the past.

Lie #78 God Wants To Give You The Victory

I've neglected to go back and post Lie #78, which I couldn't post at the time it needed to go online because of a technical problem I experienced with it while I was out of town. So here it is:

Lie #101 Sunday Is The Christian Sabbath

Lie #100 We Should Keep Short Accounts With God

Ministry In Green Lake, Wisconsin

I arrived today at The Heidel House, a resort center in Green Lake, Wisconsin where I am speaking at the North-Central Conservative Baptist Association Pastors & Wives Retreat. There are about a hundred pastors and wives here for the weekend.There are about about 1200 churches in their denomination.

Tonight I shared the story of my own journey to brokenness, making comparison with the three phases of Moses' life -- the majestic years, the miserable years, and the miraculous years. I challenged the pastors/wives to embrace brokenness in their lives and come to the place of absolute surrender of their lives and ministries to the Father. The group seemed very receptive to the message.

Tomorrow morning I will speak on our identity in Christ and then on Saturday on the topic of intimacy with the Father. I enjoy speaking to those in ministry. There is no group of Christians who are more sincere, yet often none who need the message more. This group seems like fertile ground. Pray that the Holy Spirit will move among us and give revelation and grace to those here.

Lie #99 It's Better To Burn Out For Christ Than To Rust Out

Lie #98 You Must Forgive And Forget

Lie #97 The Truth Will Set You Free

Lie #96 If You Pray Long & Hard Enough, You Can Change God's Mind

Lie #95 We Need To Let God Out Of The Box

Lie # 94 God Needs You

Lie #93 We Shouldn't Do Anything That Might Offend Somebody

Lie #92 If You Don't Forgive Others, God Won't Forgive You

ASK STEVE MCVEY

Lie #91 God Doesn't Answer The Prayer of Non-Christians

Lie #90 Christ Empowers Us To Keep God's Law

Lie #89 We Need God's Law To Reveal His Righteousness

Stranded in Charlotte

I'm sitting in the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, where my flight has been delayed by at least three hours. I remember the days when I thought that the idea of traveling so much was glamorous. A person gets over that idea quickly once he begins to do it. I love being in churches and speaking to groups in so many places, but have pretty much come to hate airports.

I'm returning from Proctorville, Ohio, where I have been speaking since Sunday morning. Pastor Jeff Black, Pastor Mike Smith and the other staff are really excited about the message. It was great to be with these kindred spirits who are so strong and mature in the message of the grace walk. Churches with pastors who teach the pure grace of God often don't know how blessed they are. If you, like FBC of Proctorville, are blessed with such a pastor, I hope you don't take it for granted. One of the most frequent inquiries we get in our office is, "Where can I find a pastor who is teaching this message?" It isn't as common as you might think to find pastors who don't water down the gospel with legalistic teachings.

I spoke to one lady this week who really blessed and encouraged me. Eloise came up to me after the service two nights ago and described how "the light came on" after she read Grace Walk. She is 78 years old and said, "I can't believe I've gone all my life without knowing this, but I am so glad to know it now!" She continued, "I walked around my house for three days, saying out loud, 'I get it, Lord! I get it! You've done it all!'" She said, "I live alone, except for my little dog. I couldn't stop saying out loud, "I get it!' and every time I would, my dog would look at me like he was thinking, 'I don't know what you're doing. I can tell you're not talking to me, but I don't know what you're doing."

I understand Eloise, don't you? I often tell people that I caught "grace rabies" in 1990 and have never recovered from it. I love sharing this message. I love seeing people like Eloise experience transformation when the Holy Spirit causes the light to come on.

A grace revolution is underway, my friends, and Eloise proves that we're never too old to get in on it!

Lie #88 Faith Requires That We Act Positively In Every Situation

Lie #87 We Should Do Everything Jesus Said

The difference in the look of the video today is for two reasons. First, somebody emailed and pointed out that constantly watching the opening and closing to the video format I've been using is becoming less than a blessing in their lives at this point. It makes sense to me. I know some people are just now coming to the site and having to watch the title page intro every time they click a link can get old in a hurry.

Secondly, I've made a major leap in the computing world that causes it to make sense for me to switch the way I upload now. I finally became completely frustrated with Microsoft. I had to get a new laptop and the Gates Empire seems to be insisting that I go with the VISTA operating system, whether I want it or not. I had VISTA once, for 30 days and soon knew that it was demon possessed so I took it back and went back to the old tried-and-true Windows XP. But, alas, XP has apparently been excommunicated by the Microsoft powers-that-be. So I've switched over to a MAC. So far I love it. Using the iMovie software that came on it, I can produce and even upload my video to YouTube in one step. Thus the change in how I produce the video and how it looks.

I know this is more information that some of you want, but if you're considering a change in your operating system and hate VISTA like I do, MAC might be a great option for you. I should have done it a long time ago. After all, it only seems right that a Mc should own a MAC.

Lie #86 We Should Invite God's Presence Into Our Church Service

Lie #85 God Wants You To Be Happy

Ministry In Ohio

I am speaking this week in Proctorville, Ohio, just across the state line where I'm staying in Huntington, West Virginia. I am at the First Baptist Church with Pastor Jeff Black and his grace walking church. It is encouraging to see a pastor and church so committed to the message of grace.

I spoke this morning from Genesis 1-3 where the Bible shows how that, when God created man, the first thing He did was "He blessed them" and gave them everything they needed. It's exciting to see that our Loving God has always been a gracious God, even from the beginning of time.

Tonight I spoke from Jeremiah 31 where the Lord told of the day when He would make a new covenant with His people, "not like the old one." I showed how the Bible contrasts the New Covenant with the Old Covenant, which has been made obsolete (according to Hebrews 8).

I never tire of sharing the message of the grace walk. Again today, as is so often the case, several people came to me and shared how their lives were transformed when God revealed the truth of who they are to them as they read Grace Walk. I am constantly amazed by the relentless work of the Holy Spirit in causing people to read it at just the right time in their lives so that they are transformed.

As C.S. Lewis said in "The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe," Aslan (the Christ figure) is on the move! The grace revolution is underway and I'm excited to see that it is happening in Proctorville, Ohio.

Lie #84 God Looks At You Through Jesus Christ

Lie #83 We Are Positionally Righteous

Lie #82 You Can Backslide From God

Lie #81 Serving Christ Will Make You Closer To Him