Confessing Your Faults

100 NUGGETS OF WISDOM

This week's video clip is nugget #73 of 100 and 

it offers a fresh understanding of what it means to confess our faults.

My Grace Is Sufficient (Part 4)

URBAN LIFE LINE WEBCAST

***In this webcast Chris Green teaches from the topic: The Reaping Day Access Pass, on one of the most under estimated scriptures in the Bible. 

He sets this foundation to help Believers understand why it seems some prayers and expectations have not been met in their lives.

We Believe in the Security of the Believer

CHURCH, FAITH AND FAMILY

WE BELIEVE in the security of the born again believer which is based solely upon the finished work at Calvary. According to Hebrews 6, the only way the believer can disconnect his/her relationship with God is by the intentional and fully conscious decision to defect from the faith.

Grieving in Zion

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

 In this week's THROWBACK THURSDAY video clip, Chris Green explains the difference between comfort for mourning and consolation for grief as described in Isaiah 61: 2-3.

Covenant Covering (Part 1)

MIDWEEK BIBLE STUDY

 

Chris and Carol Green open their hearts before the church family regarding the true value of covenant relationships.

Obedience to God

UNLOCKING THE DREAM WITHIN

***The ultimate expression of faith is to be obedient to God.

Shaped by Lawlessness

100 NUGGETS OF WISDOM

  

This week's video clip is nugget #72 of 100 and it explains the Biblical scripture 

that emphatically declares that we have been shaped iniquity. 

My Grace Is Sufficient (Part 3)

URBAN LIFE LINE WEBCAST

***In this webcast Chris Green teaches from the topic: The Reaping Day Access Pass, on one of the most under estimated scriptures in the Bible. 
He sets this foundation to help Believers understand why it seems some prayers and expectations have not been met in their lives.

WE BELIEVE salvation is God’s granting of deliverance

CHURCH, FAITH & FAMILY

***WE BELIEVE salvation is God’s granting of deliverance and preservation from the penalty, the power and ultimately the very presence of sin.

Healing Begins In You

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

This week's THROWBACK THURSDAY video clip is from December 5, 2010.

Rescue the Runaway Bride (Part 2)

MIDWEEK BIBLE STUDY

 

Chris and Carol Green talk about their desire to have a church gathering where people can be themselves and can express their questions and doubts without fear.

Everything Has Led to This Moment

MIDWEEK CONNECTION

A couple weeks ago I shared a bit of our story with an assembly of prayer leaders and ministers, as we met to strategize and prepare for the Unite to Restore America prayer gathering that will be held in August at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA.

I told them how the Lord led Carol and me to Harrisburg in 2004, to start a ministry that would rebuild, restore and renew hearts and homes. Along the way we have had many battles and yet, we have met many other leaders in this community, most who also seemed to be very down and disappointed about how their lives and ministries have progressed through the years. Mostly it was the lack of progression that had so many of them so discouraged.

Like us, they had many expectations based upon prophetic words and prophetic promises that had been given to them in both private and public settings. In our ten-year journey in Harrisburg, there have been several pastoral prayer gatherings that seemed to get started with great fire and then fizzled out. Then there have been large prayer gatherings of Believers that seemed to spark some movement, but that faded out, too. There have been various pastors and leaders experiencing personal battles and ministry failures. Each time something has been launched in this region, it seemed to fade out over time.

I told the group how God has been connecting us to certain people and specific leaders over the past ten years. All of those connections, in spite our disappointment, still led to me sitting at that table, that night, at that moment. It all still led to this opportunity to become part of the preparation of this upcoming national prayer gathering.

I told them we must all stop looking back at the disappointments because all of those disappointments are merely the result of things not turning out the way WE expected. But what if things were actually going according to God’s plan?
I asked everyone, ‘What if God was accomplishing, all along, what HE had in mind?’ Maybe the other prayer gatherings and special meetings were simply God’s way of connecting the right people to someday come together at just the right time, in the right place, to pray for our nation.

I watched the Holy Spirit bring a lot of people encouragement through that revelation. That night everyone got on board with this new initiative of prayer.

I share this story with you today because the same thing applies for our church family.

Somehow, your journey to other churches and ministries still led you to Urban Life. Your winding path has led you to the precious brothers and sisters that you have now come into fellowship with and you now share in Holy Communion and divine intercession. Now you can know for sure that you are not alone in the journey. There really are others who are seeking God just like you. There really are others who want to praise and worship God, just like you. There really are others who love God and want to live for Him, just like you.

From our perspective, as your leaders, we were praying and asking God for a congregation that wanted to serve Him with all their hearts, the same way we wanted to serve with all our hearts. Our path and your paths finally crossed and look where we are today. The journey for each one of us has led us to this open door to sit at the same table with the Lord and to dine together, with Him.

Now we must stop allowing the disappointment of the past to hinder us from embracing this moment of destiny that has been set before us.

Our nation, state, city, neighborhoods and families are in crisis and WE have the solution. We have the answer. God has given us a testimony. He has given us gifts and abilities. He has given us technology. He has given us a strategy. And we’re going to take what God has placed in our hands and go forth to make a difference in our world.

We love you guys and can’t wait to see you this Sunday so we can continue to learn more about our God and how He wants to use us to change the world.

Agreement with God

UNLOCKING THE DREAM WITHIN

***We are not walking in faith and standing on the Word of God unless we have the same meaning of the scriptures that God has for the scriptures.

Lawless Hearts

100 NUGGETS OF WISDOM

  

This week's video clip is nugget #71 of 100 and it offers a definition of the word INIQUITY, in order to explain the hearts of people in today's world. 

Happy Father's Day

When I Think of Fatherhood

 URBAN LIFE LINE WEBCAST

***This edition of Urban Life Line is a special 30 minute webcast that features an excerpt of a Green family conversation on Father's Day.

WE BELIEVE sin and evil entered the world

CHURCH, FAITH & FAMILY

***WE BELIEVE sin and evil entered the world as we know it, when the first human beings in the garden of Eden, willfully disobeyed God.

 

Father Is Pleased With You

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

In this week's THROWBACK THURSDAY video clip, Maurice Hodges and Chris Green deliver a united message for Father's Day 2011.

Rescue the Runaway Bride (Part 1)

MIDWEEK BIBLE STUDY

 

Chris and Carol Green talk about overcoming the fear of making a commitment to a local church assembly or a gathering of Believers.

'Just Enough' Is Not Enough

 MIDWEEK CONNECTION

And suddenly we are experiencing a whole new move of God in our Sunday sessions. Last Sunday was absolutely the BEST gathering we’ve had all year.

From the very beginning, when everyone came in and began to share in laughter and fellowship, I knew that something special was about to happen.

As mom Dennis led us in corporate prayer, the Lord spoke a simple word in my heart. I heard the thought,
“Just enough is not enough; you have to want MORE.”

I knew for sure, that God was going to do something different.

Our songs of praise and worship were filled with new life. For the first time, the room was too small. Not because we had so many people, but because we needed space to dance. We wanted to do more than sing. We wanted to take our expression to another level.

We are very excited because the joy of the Lord is present in our gatherings. His love is flooding our hearts. In spite of the conditions of the city, state, country and world, we are filled with new hope and expectation for a new move of God.

When I tried to start the message, following our fellowship break, the presence of the Lord was so strong in the room that I could not begin to talk. That’s when a prophetic word of exhortation and encouragement came forth through our sister Dovonna Smith. Afterwards, God loosed me to preach; not just preach, but preach like I used to preach back in St. Louis. The boldness returned. The fire returned. The fighting, gangster-warrior mentality returned.

Secretly, I always felt this aspect of my spiritual warfare attitude would frighten the people of Harrisburg away, but instead, the Urban Life family was praising God and getting fired up about God’s purpose and plan, too.

I can definitely tell you that we are a different church family from who we were just a month ago. We are getting to know one another as we spend time together in social gatherings away from the Family Center. This means we are becoming more connected as we are building genuine relationships. We are stepping into the MORE aspect of what God whispered to me at the beginning of Sunday’s session.

We can honestly declare that ‘just enough’ is not enough for us. We don’t want to do ‘just enough’ to get by. We don’t want ‘just enough’ to survive. We don’t want to do ‘just enough’ when so much more is available to all of us.

Can you imagine how much God can use this church family to bring His love and life into hearts and homes if we don’t settle for ‘just enough’?

Oswald Chambers once said, “The GOOD is always the enemy of the BEST." At Urban Life, we won’t settle for what is just good enough to get a passing grade. We always want to give God our best. And we want to receive ALL of God’s best for us.

O’ how I hate the mentality in this community that rewards mediocrity and forces people to pay top dollars for inferior business practices.  Last week I found a very poorly designed website for a very important Christian event. As a leader in this community I must say, we simply cannot represent our God in such an immature way. We must strive for more.

We say it all the time at Urban Life: We must do the BEST we can with what God has given us! If we show ourselves to be faithful with a little, He will make us stewards over MORE.

Insight from God

UNLOCKING THE DREAM WITHIN

***How do you know when God is speaking to you?

Living in the FORETHOUGHT of God

100 Nuggets of Wisdom

   

This week's video clip is nugget #70 of 100 

and it offers the wisdom for living in the forethought of God. 

My Grace Is Sufficient (Part 2)

URBAN LIFE LINE WEBCAST

***In this webcast Chris Green teaches from the topic: The Reaping Day Access Pass, on one of the most under estimated scriptures in the Bible. He sets this foundation to help Believers understand why it seems some prayers and expectations have not been met in their lives.

WE BELIEVE man was created and made by God

CHURCH, FAITH & FAMILY

***WE BELIEVE man was created and made by God, from God Himself and the ‘dust of the earth’ (Genesis 1:26-28. 

A New Flavor

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

In this week's THROWBACK THURSDAY video clip, Chris Green describes the difficulty of embracing the new things that God will bring into your life.

Prayer in the Urban Setting

MIDWEEK BIBLE STUDY 

John Shuey teaches about prayer at Urban Life Church

This week features special guest teacher, John Shuey. 

Access his session at http://www.urbanlife-church.org/videos/Sundays_2010/Sunday-10-31-10.html

Normalcy Bias

MIDWEEK CONNECTION

We’ve come across a very interesting phrase this week. That phrase is normalcy bias, or normality bias. This refers to a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects. This may results in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for a disaster, and on a larger scale, the failure of governments to include the populace in its disaster preparation plans. 

The assumption that people make when they are suffering from normalcy bias is that since a disaster has never occurred then it will never occur. It can result in the inability of people to cope with a disaster once it occurs. People with a normalcy bias tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible.

In the case of many American Christians, they turn to every positive Bible scripture they can find or they constantly watch positive messages on Christian TV, to try not to think about what is coming. This is because people with normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before. They would rather act like they can't see it, can't hear it, or they never talk about it.

We realize the opposite of normalcy bias would be overreaction, or "worst-case thinking" bias. People who are like this have a tendency to take every tiny negative thing they see or hear as an impending catastrophe.

So we want to bring some balance and truth to you today.

For several years, America has been racing toward destruction like a blind-folded race car driver, streaking down the track at 200 mile-per-hour. We have outlawed prayer in schools; approved the killing of the unborn (resulting in abortions at a rate of over 3,000 per day); promoted greed, violence and explicit sexual acts on television 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; we punish good people while blessing the evil ones; we approve gay marriage; snatched away the basic rights of citizens through health care laws; and make every effort to crush the knowledge of God and the Bible.

For years we have talked about perilous times and learning to recognize the seasons we are in. While most of the Christian TV ministers continue to prophesy about a beautiful future for everyone, our politicians and government officials continue to lie to the public, even as they abandon the ship by getting on their secret financial life-boats because they know that America has hit an iceberg and the Titanic (our country) is sinking fast.

For instance, our unemployment rate in America is not 6.3% as it is reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor. It’s more like 13.1% The statistics they report only reflect the number of people receiving unemployment benefits. This statistic does not include the people who no longer qualify for benefits because they’ve been unemployed so long that their benefits have expired. It does not include the people who are on disability or those who are disabled, have no benefits, and cannot work. Yes, they are LYING to us.

Here’s some more issues they aren’t talking about:
•    1 in 6 Americans are on food stamps – 17% of Americans can’t afford food
•    The median income of America has dropped by 9% since 1999. So, NO, the current President hasn’t changed the downward slope. Most people make far less money now than they did in 1998.
•    43% of us Americans spend more than we make; nearly half the country is in debt beyond what they could ever pay-off.
•    In 1979, there were 61 American companies with AAA ratings; in 2014 there are only 4.

What most Americans don’t understand is that other nations have already banded together to do business with one another and they no longer need to use the U.S. dollar as their currency. That’s why gas prices keep soaring higher. The value of the dollar decreases, therefore it takes more money to purchase gas, food, and everything else we need or desire.

When this happened to Germany in 1923, that nation collapsed into poverty beyond belief. When it happened to Great Britain in the 1970’s they collapsed into poverty, crime, riots, protest, etc. That’s what has happened in recent years to Greece and many other nations that we see in the news, but the American media does not explain why these people are rioting and protesting in the streets. That’s because our media is feeding our normalcy bias.

Here is one report from Swiss company, Vision Bancorp: “…as welfare benefits expire, unemployment continues to rise, and persistent budget deficits force American politicians to cut welfare spending for all but the most needy individuals, we will see a dramatic increase in the number of riots and violence in the U.S."

In less than a month, on July 1st, a new law will go into effect right here in America. This new law will impose new limits on our personal spending. The law will set limits on how much we can spend and where we can spend our own money. This is the final step every nation took before it collapsed. This law is the signal to every nation on the planet, that America's financial run is over. The law will prevent us from making currency exchanges with other nations.  It will even prevent us from trying to invest in other currency so as to save our families from destitution. This new law is simply a means to slow down the inevitable collapse and force every American into the coming One World currency.

Some of our readers will check with their financial experts to see if what I'm saying is true, but many financial advisers will dismiss this warning because they have their own commissions, fees, reputations and companies to maintain for as long as they can. You will not get a straight answer from someone who is trying to save their own skin. That's why it's up to God's leaders to sound the alarm in Zion!

What do I mean when I talk about America's collapse? I mean, your job would end because your company would fold. Your money would be gone because the banks would close. Your debit card would no longer work and your credit card would be useless. Your savings or retirement would vanish overnight. Your social security checks, pension checks, and pay checks would stop, and any money that you had in your bank at the time of the collapse would disappear. Whatever amount of gas you had in your car, would be all you would have left. Whatever amount of food was in your home, would be all you would have left. There would be riots as people would storm through grocery stores and department stores for food and supplies. There would be no police because they won’t have a paycheck either.

This is not make believe! That's exactly what happened when Hurricane Katrina hit Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana back in August of 2005. They had been warned and warned, but the people and the government were stuck in their normalcy bias. In the end, hundreds of people died and the city of New Orleans was in absolute chaos. Now maybe you can see why America's government has been quietly preparing a new military to control the population when the collapse hits this country.

Pastor Chris and Carol, you’re scaring me! How could this possibly happen? We’re not trying to scare you. We’re trying to shake you out of your normalcy bias. This is not a possibility. It is an inevitable outcome…UNLESS… unless America turns back to God.

Matthew 24: 3-14 reads: As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, ' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Verses 21-22 reads: For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now--and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.

Verses 32-33 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.

So what's the proper response?

Get your heart and soul away from depending on your job, making money and pursuing the American dream. That's all dead and gone now. That pursuit is officially a nightmare. Now it's time to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. It's time to seek God like never before!  As you know, God has given the Urban Life family an assignment to rebuild, restore and renew hearts and homes. Are you with us? Let's do this!

Faith for the Dream

UNLOCKING THE DREAM WITHIN

***Faith begins when God speaks to us. 

It's not merely quoting scriptures back to God.

Living for HERE and NOW

100 NUGGETS OF WISDOM

This week's video clip is nugget # 69 of 100 and 

it explains what it means to be secular in your thinking.

My Grace Is Sufficient (Part 1)

URBAN LIFE LINE WEBCAST

***In this webcast Chris Green teaches on one of the most under estimated scriptures in the Bible. He sets this foundation to help Believers understand why it seems some prayers and expectations have not been met in their lives.