"Turning the world upside-down"

Don't you love that quote? Thats my motto. AS a Believer in Christ, a sanctified trouble-maker like Jesus, thats my goal, as I believe thats what Christ, the King, wants us to be doing.
Allow me to elaborate a bit. Think of some things that are important in your life, or even better, what do you view as success? Now, pick up the Word of God, do you and God agree? (Seek 1st the Kingdom of God, and....)
That itself, is the Christian Revolution!
Think to to ressurection of Christ Jesus. He defied what this world views as normal. Rising from the dead? Wow!
I had read through, (and shared through open-air) the passage in Matthew chapter 5. Most of us know this as the Sermon on the Mount or even the Beatitudes.
Look at it...(I read it through THE MESSAGE, talk about impacting). Here I'm going to use the NIV.
Blessed are you...
"poor in Spirit", "When you mourn..", "the meek", "those who hunger and thirst for righteousness", "the merciful", "the pure in heart", "peacemakers",. ...you when you are persecuted".

Wow, ok so which of those do you see our culture promoting, actually our culture pretty much disdains all of them. That's why we need to be revolutionaries!

A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, "a turn around") is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.

Jesus is King,
His servant,
Mike Miano

P.S.
9-11 just passed. As many of you may know, I have an "alternative view" to what really happened on 9-11. I was a 9-11 truther, and still am in many respects, for a while.
This 9-11 I went and asked 2 basic questions.
What do you believe happened on 9/11/2001?
Where was God on 9/11/2001?

The results where very encouraging.
Let me say this, I have not become "watered-down" on the political aspect, but I see the bigger picture. The revolution isnt about politics, its about the hearts of men. I do believe that when men's hearts are changed, so will politics.
AS the saying goes..Seek 1st the Kingdom of God!

"Some Pretty Bad Things..."

A message to try and sum up the radical, obsessive, crazy mind of Mr. Michael Miano. (Yes, its just an attempt! lol)
OK, so let me give a little backround, last month is the matter of a week, two people made this comment about me, "must have done something really bad in the past to be that crazy about God". I could go on for days about that comment, so the best place- MY BLOG!
Well, for the curious mind...Yes I have. I was a gang member and a leader, so use your imagination of the things I took part in, seen, and did. BUT, let me say this, the worst thing I have ever done, is something I still do in part, and you do as well. That is...Shun God and not live completely devoted, dedicated to living for Him. I mean every second.
Let me introduce you to the Jesus Christ, the Messiah, that I know.
The biggest problem today is that everyone "believes in God" or "believes Jesus died for them". The word believe almost provokes the thought that it might or might not be true. Not the case here, Jesus Christ living, dying and raising from the dead is a reality in my world. (Yeah, ask me for some evidence!!).
So, live with this reality. God creates man and woman. We decide to live for ourselves and it leads us to self destruction etc...FACE IT, we suck at life, we cant do it ourselves. So God, being as awesome and creative, and loving, as He is decides to come to Earth as man and live among us, to show us an example, and then die to make eternal life a reality! Truly follow Him, and His example and we will live forever.
Ok, so let me give some study information for those of you who might find the excuse, "ahh he just went off the deep end". 1st, I would reccomend the lastest trend- Crazy Love by Francis Chan (Confession- I have yet to read it, but study notes from others are enough to convince me).
Ok, first all sin is equal (JAMES 2:10-11), so its not that I have commited some crazy sin and am trying to make up for it. Plus, scripture tells us that we cannot earn salvation by good works, so regardless that wouldnt work(Ephesians 2:8,9).
You want to know why I am so devoted? Because the reality of Gods love for me, makes Him so worthy for me to live like that and also GOD COMMANDS IT!

I know ALL the things you DO, that you are neither HOT nor COLD. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like LUKEWARM WATER (BAD WATER), neither Hot nor Cold (GOOD WATER), I WILL SPIT YOU OUT OF MY MOUTH!
Revelations 3:14-22


Well hope that explained some...Always open to explain more.
with Love and Truth,
Michael Miano
A Freaked- Out Follower of Jesus Christ

http://so4j.com/what-is-a-lukewarm-christian.php

Yesterdays Devotional Reading

Well, it has been a while. Most of you loyal blog readers already know that I have some issues with consistency. These past couple weeks have had their ups and downs, physically, mentally, and of course Spiritually!
Yesterdays devotional reading came as an expressing of the “Living Water” for my thirsty soul. So much so that I wanted to share it.

Well, let’s turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. I want to speak about reconciliation, as our position and responsibility. Looking to the text we realize that the Apostle Paul is admonishing the Corinthian Church. Judgment is upon us and we know we will face judgment on what we did with this life the Lord gave us (verse 10). SINCE, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we know the TRUTH, our job is to tell others, actually better put -PERSUADE! (verse 11).
To me this thought alone, judgment, is enough to make us out of our minds (verse 13), as many of you have heard my expression of visions and dreams concerning the Day of Reckoning. This “out of our minds” is what should give us the passion we need to express the seriousness of this message.
Verses 14-15, express that by Christ’s love and death, we are compelled to spread the message that all should turn to Him as Lord and Savior, “Since He died for us we should live for Him”!

We are ambassadors of Christ imploring (which means to express with earnest supplication) that all should be reconciled to Christ! Are you on the job?
Not hired? Yes you have. That brings us to the next part of my devotional. Now, let’s turn to Jeremiah chapter 1. Believe it or not the person you are today, was created and foreseen before the foundations of the world, and you were hired before birth. Verse 5 says it all- “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…”.

Let us all realize this truth. Let us listen and understand to the command of the Lord which enables us to be Ambassadors of reconciliation.
“You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 1:7-8).

"It's like being Born Again"

A continuation of the latest trip- Living Life!

Yes, so its still on my mind, actually it seems to be making me crazier and crazier. ha ha ha.
Well, to be completely honest, my goal was to be a risk-taker and complete the 3-day challenge given by liveontheedge.com, but spending almost a whole day in a car, then eating dinner, than playing in the pool all day, and then the car again really didn't afford me the opportunity to "live on the edge".
So, last night it happened again! I was watching the movie "Passengers", and the story line is that this woman is counseling these survivors of a plane crash. The one "survivor" is living very risky, such as jumping off buildings, using other peoples boats, basically living on impulse. Then, he made this statement- "It's like being born again". Wow- talk about a Word from God!

Where have we heard that before? "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).
I have never really thought about that. As Christians we are baptized, and this symbolizes are dying to self and to this world, and being born again in Christ.
If you are dead, and now alive, how should you live? Obviously, we should be living a risk-taking life, appreciating the resurrection power and so much more. That is, if the resurrection is your reality.
I have realized that, there is a healthy difference between spontaneity and routine, and that is being Born Again, and living in the Spirit! Amen!

"Divine Impulse", I guess it could be called.

My personal oath and quote of the day is this.... “Lord, I will follow Thee—but—.”....FORGET THAT!! Stop putting flowers at the base of the cross, pick it up and follow Him!"

No more excuses, let's be totally Freaked-Out!
Here is the Challenge: What do you do if you cannot die? How do you live if you cannot die? What do you do if you will live forever and the next phase will be unimaginably wonderful – forever?

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go."
— T.S. Eliot

Some Risk Taking links:

http://www.themoorings.org/life/basics/risk.html
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/Easter/Nine-Ways-to-Live-the-Resurrection.aspx

Don't Wanna Waste My Life!!!

I know, I know....I am obsessed with Lecrae. Get over it! ha ha ha....Actually I am obsessed with the term, because it is such a great "Kingdom living principle".

Its been said...107 people die every minute, 6390 every hour, 153,000 every day......


Do you know when you will DIE? No, you dont! You could die in 10 minutes, you could die in 5 days, 10 years, 50 years, etc..But the FACT is you dont know. Unless of course, you take the death clock.
http://www.deathclock.com/

This has been on my mind alot (Living life to the max), I keep hearing messages on it and every movie I watch think about it. I'll brief you on some of the latest..Ok, so I saw the movie Revolutionary Road. Yeah, I have a wife thank you very much, stop laughing! Anyways, the couple was living an ordinary, boring life and the wife wanted to bring back the excitement they once had, before they allowed facts of life ( getting older, children, etc) to hold them back. They get so excited thinking about it, then...(I dont want to ruin the movie for you). Or how about The Hangover? Ok, block out all the sin and fornication nonsense, look at the deeper issue. These men were participating in a Bachelor party, which I guess is saying "Have a blast before you end it all", horrible stance for marriage (Marriage is the beginning of life not the end!!!).Anyways, these men had mediocre lives, and this night they lived out the life God had put in them (ok, well they needed to get drugged to do it, frown).

See the point though? When you die, will you stand at judgment thinking what you could have, should have, or failed to do? You don't know when that will be, so get on with what the Lord put inside you.

Now let me add a disclaimer to this. I got to thinking. I agree with this so much because I know the life that the Lord Jesus Christ has put inside me, what vision and calling He has placed in me, THE LIFE, so to speak. In no way shape or form and I saying go out and do whatever you want. This is a Christian blog! BUT, you have desires and dreams, fantasies, and callings, that God placed in you for a reason, are you living it out? Are you wasting your life?

The first thing I would advise you to do is study the Word of God, then examine yourself (what makes you, YOU?), then live it out! In this order!

I came across an awesome site, which if used in the right way can be of maximum quality to a believer, check it out.

http://www.liveontheedge.com/

Love in Christ,
Mike Miano
http://www.freakedoutfellowship.weebly.com
Also we are on myspace.com now
http://www.myspace.com/freakedoutfellowship

A day of learning

Greetings in Christ.
Well today, as was yesterday, and the last couple days, have been difficult. I don't know what it is, my patience has been tried. Well, Heavenly Father, continue to guide and strengthen me. Amen!
Today, I listened to some awesome messages.
First, I want to start with HUMILITY. AS Christians, we know how important this attribute is. I listened to a message from 2/42 Community Church, I urge everyone to check out their podcast. Well the message was about learning with humility. Many of us, myself included sometimes think we know it all. We totally don't! Some great examples of the human stupidity were given which I got a kick out of.
Hand Sanitizer- For external use only. Hello, its for your hands! Even more so, this was an excellent point- We pick up the sanitizer with our dirty hands, use it, then put it away! ha ha ha

hmmm...I could go on and on, but I just found an awesome website that makes the point!
http://www.rinkworks.com/said/warnings.shtml

Such smart creatures, we are? Right?
I just want to shout out a certain man who has expressed humility to me. Pastor Alex Bryant from First Assembly, The House
http://www.thehizzie.com
This is a man who has such humility, and is always willing to learn and teach that we don't have all the answers. IMPACT!

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2).
“Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor” (Proverbs 18:12)."
“Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life” (Proverbs 22:4)."

And now for another topic, REGRET. For the last couple weeks a topic that has resonating in my mind is LIVE EVERYDAY AS IF ITS YOUR LAST. Such an important topic.
Concerning regret, basically it is so true that most the things we regret are things we failed to do, not so much the things we have done.
So a major part of life is to recognize the things the Spirit is telling you to do, say, or whatever- that way you wont have regret.
Well thanks everyone,
goodnight and God bless
Michael Miano

Where Have all the Radicals Gone?

"...they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come here also (Acts 17:6)".

After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the band of disciples who followed Him, set out and defied the religious institution and went against society norms, all in the effort to preach that everyone must "save themselves from this corrupt generation". That is the same message we as the body of Christ need to be yelling today. I sometimes sit and think about the current state of things, are we reading the same Bible about the same followers? This isn't some sit in church, clap your hands, sing a song, listen to a message and live a good life type of thing here, this is the call to be radical. Let us always remember the Spirit of the band of disciples who followed Christ, who we call Apostles, as well look to Church history for those who have blazed these trails before us.
The book of Acts is filled with exactly that- Acts of the Apostles. Peter on Pentecost preaching to multitudes, he is warning them and preaching with a passion, that they must realize the Truth. After a great healing, Peter once again preaches about repentance to the onlookers. These two stories alone show a pattern of consistency and passion, so much that Peter and John were brought up for trial to the religious leaders. Read how many believers were added to the Church. I say that not to point out that we need bigger walled churches, but rather to show that in some senses we have lost the passion for the lost. Only the Spirit of God can give us this radical passion, which will provoke us to get out there and be heard.
If today, there was to be a persecution of Christians in our land, would our testimonies and work shine so bright that we would be dragged away? I fear not, because most of us, unlike the Apostles are not being heard, or shaking things up. The Apostles made the world as we know it uncomfortable, unlike Christianity of today (Church-ianity) in which is the normal faith of the day. Everyone says there a Christian!!!
Polycarp, a faithful disciple of the Apostle John, was an example of a follower who during persecution was singled out and was martyred. This was a man who fought heresies in the Church and dedicated his life to the ministry. Or consider the Monks, such as Anthony or Francis. At a time when the Church was beginning to inter-mingle with the affairs of the world, these monks set themselves apart and fled to institutional church. Many of us fail to realize that this upset the "religious world" and Rome had alot of hostility toward them. Imagine that, the same Church that calls these men "Saints" actually disregarded them at the time of their service.

"Constantine adopting the Christian faith, resulted in a decline in Christian commitment. The radical believers who Diocletian killed were replaced by half-converted pagans" -Church History Textbook

Another great believer, Peter Waldo (1140-1218) led a band of believers much like the Apostles and are considered one of the first "back to the Bible movements". The Waldenses preached a return to the simple life of the Apostles, living a voluntary life of poverty and preaching. Once again, this radical move challenged the ideas of the day, so this was declared heretical and by 13th Century were pretty much scattered. Even more, lets look at the challenge of
John Wycliffe and John Hus, both who are considered Reformers of their day. They saw the problems in the Church and rather than complain, they took the initiative to make the changes. Many could question, where would the Church teachings be today if it wasn't for the courage of these two men.
Let's consider the Haystack Prayer Meeting. This is actually new to me. I have studied Church History for a couple years now, but up until I studied my Missiology course, I had never heard of this. Wow, the story of these young men who took another great radicals thoughts (William Carey- Father of Modern Missions) and considered them and prayed for them. These students had a divine moment in which they had to consider whether they were going to back or or give their all. These ordinary students birthed what we call "Foreign Missions" today. We all support that, right? Well, guess what, as widely received and welcomed as missions are today, they weren't always. The book," An Inquiry into the Obligation of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen", was very controversial, yet this led to what we have today. Wow, radical!


"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage (Matthew 5:13) THE MESSAGE BIBLE."

We cannot end a radical essay without the mention of people like John Wesley who led the Methodist Revival and now what we understand as Evangelical. Or William Booth who created the Salvation Army. Or how about the Azuza Street Revival. All these movements and moments were considered different at that time, but today they are what lead the Church. Have we lost the Spirit of revival?

Allow me to conclude with this honest admission. Church History classes were so boring, even reading the text, I couldn't wait to finish the reading for the night. But, so many times I would come across some of these men that I have mentioned herein, and would get excited, even to the point of "googling" more information. The men of Church History who were ostracized and criticized, persecuted and condemned, are actually men who have led the Church, the bride of Christ, to be what we are today. Have we lost the passion, the zeal, and the life that will make the mission, the Great Commission, complete?

"We have sunk into such a compromising way of dealing with the unconverted as to well nigh lost the spirit of the primitive preachers, and hence it is that sinners of every description can sit quietly as they do, year after year, in our places of worship".- Andrew Fuller

Since, I claim to be a "Jesus Freak", let us remember and prayerfully consider the "Jesus Freak Movement" of the 1960s and early 1970s. This was a mix of the hippie culture and Protestantism. Now, I am now not a hippie, but wow, God is so good, a Jesus Freak is someone who displays Christ in the way God created them. A hippie, a thug, a rock star, a quite mouse type, a goth, a anarchist, a pretty lady,
WE ARE ALL CALLED TO BE "JESUS FREAKS"!!!!

Written by Michael Miano
http://www.freakedoutfellowship.weebly.com