Gospel On TV

It is amazing that every year at Christmas time, the good news of Jesus' birth is proclaimed in front of millions on TV through the Charlie Brown Christmas special. Let us pray that these words will sink in to non-believers enough that they will seek out a deeper understanding of the truths of Jesus Christ. God, may their hearts and minds be opened to the truth!

A Step Ahead Of The Devil

The other night at our Encounter service I opened my bible during the Communion time. It opened up to Matthew chapter 4. I just started reading there. There were a couple of things that hit me when I started reading...

And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Matthew 4:3-4

When I read Jesus' response the word "every" stuck out to me. "Every word that comes from the mouth of God." Do I do that? Live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. I feel like if we as believers were honest with ourselves we would have to say, we don't live by every word from God's mouth. We live by some words, the comfortable ones. The words of grace and forgiveness. We live by those and cling to those. But what about the rest? What about our call to die to everything and live for Christ? When will we be able to say as Paul did in Philippians 3, "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" instead of clinging to this world and just adding Jesus to it?

After thinking about the fact that I need to start clinging to every word and not just the comfortable words of God, I moved on to next few verses.

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you,' and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" Matthew 4:5-6

When I read this, It hit me that Jesus was a step ahead of the Devil. Go back to Jesus' first response, which says we are to live by "every" word that comes from God. Satan's temptation here comes with him taking a part of the word of God, not the whole word of God. I thought it was awesome that Jesus' first response addressed what Satan was about to do in the next temptation which is use part of the word of God to distort the truth.

Thank you God for opening my mind to what your Word has to say. May I live by and cling to EVERY word of yours and always use it to be a step ahead of the evil one of this world!

Remember

May our Christmas celebrations always focus on the gift of Love that we have been given.

Christmas Music

I heard about this on KSBJ yesterday morning and decided to see if I could find it online. The band at North Point Community Church borrowed IPhones and IPads and played Christmas music using instrument apps. I was really impressed and decided to share this. Hope you enjoy!

Roller Coaster Ride

Is that what your faith is like, a rollercoaster ride? I think back to youth camps during the summer or a big conference during the school year that I would attend, and I would get on fire for God. I would feel God speaking to me. I would know what he wanted me to do. I would go back to my life ready to take on the world for God. Then a few months later I would be back to my old self and the fire had kind of died out. Did that happen to you as well?

The reason I bring this up, is that I feel like this describes the life of many Christians, young, old, and somewhere in between. There are times that I feel overwhelmed with the presence of God in my life and I am on the spiritual equivalent to the highest peak of a rollercoaster, but then things happen and it drops off. Sometimes very rapidly and sometimes it is a gradual decline, but it always declines.

What causes it to happen? I know it isn’t God pulling away from me. I am the one that is pulling away from God. Either I am not reading my bible enough, or my prayer life is lacking, or the things of life have just distracted me. It is probably a combination of these and more.

I don’t want a faith that is like this and I don’t think that you want a faith like this either. When we are on fire for God, we feel His presence, hear His words, and are using the power that we have been given through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit. When we are not on fire, we are relying on ourselves and we end up feeling lost and confused about where to go, what to do, and how to overcome the struggles and temptations of this life.

I had a conversation with someone a while back where I explained the peak that I had been on. I talked about feeling the presence of God in such an overwhelming way and hearing God speak for a couple of months. It was amazing to feel this way for several months at a time. I then explained that I hadn’t been feeling it as much lately and I was discouraged and I wanted to get back to that place. Their response was something to the effect of “Well you can’t feel like that always.” I disagree. I believe that everyday I can feel the presence of God in this manner as long as I am pursuing it. If I don’t pursue it, then I won’t feel that presence.

I think back to a statement that I heard from Pete Briscoe at the Right Now Conference last month. He talked about Paul being a Christ intoxicated man. I loved that statement! I believe that Paul lived out the rest of his life after his conversion clinging to the presence of God and Christ in his life. And that changed who he was and how he lived. I don’t believe his faith felt like a rollercoaster ride. If yours is, it doesn’t have to be. Let’s cling to Christ and stop having a faith that is full of highs and lows.

Think

I know, I know, you must be thinking, "Another video, and of John Piper on top of it." Take 4 minutes and watch this video. John Piper's new book is titled Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God. I should be getting this book this weekend. It looks awesome. This video covers what the book is about but does it in an awesome and creative way. I can't wait to read this book that challenges us to do "one of the most hazardous things that we do." Think! And do it to bring Glory to God!

Could Be Today

Getting prepared for this weeks lesson which covers the fact that we all could die today. This video is a good reminder that Life is temporary and we need to live for the eternal.

Duty

I loved this John Piper clip about the gospel saving us from morality. Yes, saving us from morality. Watch the clip to get the full explanation of what he is talking about. I will include this quote from C.S. Lewis that he uses, in case you can't watch the video.

"A perfect man would never act from a sense of duty; he’d always want the right thing more than the wrong one. Duty is only a substitute for love (of God and of other people) like a crutch which is a substitute for a leg. Most of us need the crutch at times; but of course it is idiotic to use the crutch when our own legs (our own loves, tastes, habits etc.) can do the journey on their own." --C.S. Lewis

Do you always want the right thing more than the wrong one, or do you just choose the right thing because you feel it is your duty? I know I am guilty of this. I do things because God wants me to, which is nice. It is better than choosing the wrong thing. However I pray for a change of heart to where I will prefer what is right. I pray the Gospel will so overwhelm our lives that doing things only out of duty or obligation will exist no more. If not, are we any better than the Pharisees?

What Are You Willing To Trade?

All You Need

Do you ever find yourself praying for the same things, especially when it comes to the way you live or the sins you struggle with? I do. I wonder sometimes, why I am still dealing with something when I have been praying about it for so long?

I read a short post over at The Rabbit Room by a Ron Block. I realized when reading it that maybe the problem is that I am not embracing what I have already been given. Click Here to read the full post.

Here is the part of the post that really stuck out to me.

“As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Col 2:6).

Remember, He does not give you strength - He is your strength! He does not give you victory - He is your victory! He cannot be your life without being all you need, for “in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him” (Col 2:9).

Then count upon the fact - and stop asking for what you have!--Ron Block

Next time you feel like you are struggling or you are stuck, cling to that beautiful truth. "He does not give you strength - He is your strength! He does not give you victory - He is your victory!"

Thank You Jesus for being EVERYTHING that we need!

The Coming of Christ

Sarah Grace and I are going through an Advent Devotional Book with the family this year to prepare for Christmas and teach our children and remind ourselves about the importance of the coming of the Messiah. The Advent Devotional that we are using is called the Jesse Tree Advent Devotional by Ann Voskamp and Nancy Rodden. This is being offered free through Ann's website.

The devotion includes

Bible Text- "Readings are selected to begin in Genesis and cover significant events throughout the Old Testament — each story pointing to the coming Messiah. It’s like an overview of the whole span of His Story — leading right up to the climax of the coming Christ!"
"A devotional that (humbly attempts!) to be a read-aloud for the whole family – engaging enough for young children and yet meaty enough for teens and adults."

An Action point for the day

A color ornament to hang on your tree to remind you of the stories pointing to Christ.

Yesterday was the first day. Sorry I am not passing on this information in time for you to start on day one but if you start now you can double up today and be on track.

If you want to get a copy of this wonderful devotion, click here.

I Believe

Here is a remake of Rich Mullins' song titled Creed covered by Third Day & Brandon Heath.

Third Day and Brandon Heath perform Rich Mullins "Creed" in the studio from Garrett Viggers on Vimeo.

Thanksgiving

This video made me laugh. Since Thanksgiving is almost upon us, I thought I would share it with you.

David Crowder Band Is Awesome!

When we listen to How He Loves, Gideon will say "Is this song about Jesus?" "Yes, son, this song is about Jesus" The he says, "Yeah, its about Jesus!"

Right Now Conference Day 2

Here are some of the thoughts that came out of Day two of the Right Now conference last week.

Paul was a Christ Intoxicated Man. We need to strive to be Christ Intoxicated.—Pete Briscoe (This was actually from day one; I just wanted to make sure I added it in. Think about that statement. If you are intoxicated, it changes you, and you act differently. We should be so overwhelmed with the presence of Christ, that it changes who we are, how we act, and what we do.)

Don’t wrap yourself with an identity achieved; wrap yourself with an identity received. –J.R. Vassar

Look for the significant, not the sensational. –J.R. Vassar

Revival is when God’s people are saturated by His presence. –Joann Hummel

Your identity is not in a position it is in a person. Our identity is in Christ Alone! --J.R. Vassar

Don’t worship your work, but let your work be a form of worship. –J.R. Vassar

What if every job paid the same thing? Would you be doing the same job? --J.R. Vassar

Bigger is not necessarily better when it comes to saving souls. We need to God size our church, not super size our church. –David Kinnaman

Bigness ≠ Deepness --David Kinnaman

The Greek word for church is Ecclesia. It stands for “called out ones.” --Tony Evans

We don’t need to grow the church; we need to be the church. –Tony Evans

This was a great conference. I hope to go again next year. Between now and then I look forward to the Gospel Wakefulness Conference at Conroe Church of Christ with Jared Wilson as the Key Speaker on April 1-2, 2011 and the Sent Conference, which is at Champion Forrest Baptist Church in Houston on April 8-9, 2011.

It Is Almost Here!

Thursday November 25, 2010. A day for Joy! A day to create memories! A day to… SHOP! Oh, did you think I was talking about Thanksgiving? No, I was talking about the Toys-R-Us sale of the year, which has been moved from Black Friday to Thursday. Yes, Thanksgiving Day. A day that could be used for family, joy, memories, or helping those in need, but now instead we can go shopping one day earlier, to fuel our materialism and in most cases waste money on gifts that people don’t need. In a year they probably won’t be using them, and in 10 years they probably won’t remember them.

I know, I sound like Scrooge! It is not that I don’t love Christmas. I truly do love Christmas time. I watch Elf year round and proudly blast “Santa Clause is coming to town” (The Live Bruce Springsteen 1970’s version) from my radio and sing as loud as I can. I have just started to have some concerns for how we celebrate Christmas. Here is my main concern. For a day that is supposed to be celebrating the birth of Christ, we spend an awful lot of time, and money, making it about people other than Christ.

I have recently read a couple of blogs about Christmas time and the giving of gifts. I liked what both had to say. One was from Jared Wilson titled The Goodness of Gift Giving: the Real Christmas Conspiracy. The second was from Ann Voskamp titled: Christmas: Thinking About Whose Birthday It Is. They take two different approaches to answering the Christmas question. I suggest you read both of them.

For those of you who have stuck with me to the end of this post, let me say, I am not telling you that you are wrong for buying gifts for your family. I am not telling you that my family is not buying Christmas gifts any more. Our boys will have stuff under the tree. But it is just that; it is stuff. It is stuff that will rust or rot, stuff that will get lost, forgotten, or destroyed. It is not eternal. So what I am is asking is that we as believers spend some time in prayer this year before we do go out and do some binge shopping. Pray about and consider what your plans are for celebrating this holiday. And however we are going to celebrate, let us be certain to spend more time this this year sharing the truth of Christ and the truth of why we are celebrating.

Thoughts From The Right Now Conference

Choose Daily, Hate Injustice, Work as Worship, & Act Swiftly.

Last week I was blessed with the opportunity to go to the Right Now Conference in Dallas with three of my brothers in Christ. The conference was great. It was a breath of fresh air and it challenged me to make changes in my own life and to encourage changes in the life of my church. I am posting some great statements that I heard from this conference. They are only punch lines & thoughts of lessons and do not explain the full context of what they were addressing, but I feel like these thoughts were beautiful and can encourage and challenge you with out the full context. These statements came from sessions on day 1 of the conference. I will include more stuff from day 2 later. Share your thoughts about any of these statements. I pray they encourage you.

We must never allow the authority of books, institutions, or leaders to replace the authority of *knowing* Jesus Christ personally and directly. When the religious views of others interpose between us and the primary experience of Jesus as the Christ, we become unconvinced and unpersuasive travel agents handing out brochures to places we have never visited. --Brennan Manning in the Ragamuffin Gospel (shared by Pete Briscoe)

Walk with Jesus, don’t work for Him. –Pete Briscoe

Be traffickers of God’s Grace. –Pete Briscoe

The Church is God’s chosen vehicle to take the gospel into the world. –Pete Briscoe

Don’t judge what God is doing by what we do or don’t like. –Larry Osborne

We like to be a Servant Leader until someone wants us to be a servant. –Larry Osborne

We exist [individually & as a church] to live out the Great Commandment and to carry out the Great Commission. –Dave Auda

God Loves You, He created you uniquely, He gifted you specifically, & He placed you strategically. Remember this and be used by God right where He has placed you.—Dave Auda

How are we going to get people into a relationship with Christ while we are squeezing them through the tiny hole of religion? --Tim Ross

God places boundaries in our lives for His purposes and there is true joy in submitting to those boundaries. –Todd Phillips

Seek wise council, especially when you are most certain. –Todd Phillips

God’s solution for a hungry & hurting world is a compassionate church. –Max Lucado

Compassion is our finest Apologetic. –Max Lucado

The book of Acts is in the Bible, not to show us what the church did, but to show us what the church can do. –Max Lucado

Don’t neglect compassion. 2000 verses in the bible tell us to care for the poor. –Max Lucado

My Tongue

Last week I received a text message from one of my coworkers asking what I would do with a billion dollars. My response was that I would use it to bring glory to God. I later explained that this is where my heart is and I hope it doesn't change no matter how much money I have.

It was at this point that I realized I was sending all of these second round of text messages to my brother-in-law and not to my coworker. I sent a message saying "oh sorry those were meant for someone else." I thought "At least these messages were about God & not about something embarrassing or inappropriate."

In this I was just reminded how I need to control my tongue (James 3:2-8) and use it to build people up (Ephesians 4:29).

What if before I text, email, or speak, I think twice and consider who I wouldn't want to see or hear it? Maybe if I wouldn't send or say it to someone in particular I shouldn't send or say it to anyone.

Take A Risk For The Gospel

Taking Care Of Our Bothers And Sisters

This is talking about financial needs but is not limited to them. May we always take care of our bothers and sisters financially, emotionally, and physically whenever there is a need.

Overcome

I loved these words from Jonathan Parnell on why we need to hear the Gospel over and over again. May we all be "overcome by the Gospel."

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of those who trust him is old news. It is really old, really good news. So what are we aiming for in hearing again and again that which we've heard before?

The hope in hearing the old, good news is that it would perpetually break new ground in our lives. Our hearts are like a jungle. There is untamed wilderness and darkness that has not yet been brought, as it were, under the rule of the One who has laid claim to it all.

We need to hear the gospel again and again so that the old, good news of Jesus Christ would reach into these unchartered territoties of our lives and fly the flag of its dominion. This is how we are "being saved." This is what it means to be overcome by the gospel. --Jonathan Parnell (post on www.desiringgod.org)

New

"Forgiven, Beloved, Hidden in Christ, Made in the image of the giver of life. Righteous & Holy, Reborn & Remain, Accepted & Worthy, This is our new name!" --Jason Gray from song I Am New

Find Joy and Praise God for the truth in the words of this song!

Thought

I read this yesterday and I was thinking about all of the people encouraging us not to work too hard and to not take on too much. I feel like people mean well, but I also feel like God has opened our eyes to work that he wants us to do and I feel like making excuses to not do it would be sinful.

One of the most frustrating things about moving into this new consciousness of Christ in a particular area is that the people around us, especially the people we love most, sometimes seem committed to keeping us in the old consciousness. That is what they are used to. So by unbelief they try to keep us nailed to that Cross when everything in us is screaming “RESURRECTION!” By faith we’ve got to continue loving them even though they seem against us; they are part of the cocoon from which we’re trying to break free. That’s what gives our wings the strength to fly once we’re out. If any man is in Christ, he is (not “will be”) a new creation.
--Ron Block Commenting in the Rabbit Room

Time For War

I have been thinking about spiritual warfare lately. As we read through the New Testament we read several passages that remind us of the battle that is going on. Verses like:

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. --1 Peter 5:8

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. --Ephesians 6:11-13

I don’t think like this on a daily basis, but I think I need to start. I need to recognize the battle I have to face as I face the temptation of sin that tries to separate me from God. I need to realize that Satan has waged war on believers to work against the good work of God that is going on in our lives and through our lives. There is a battle going on for the souls of the lost and I need to take a stand. It is time to take a fighting stance against the evil of this world and against the work of Satan.

Does that scare you? Do you feel inadequate to think of yourself as a warrior for God? I do sometimes. I question my abilities. I question if I will have the right words. I question if I am strong enough. But the truth is I don’t have to be. I just have to be willing and trust that God is big enough.

This summer I read a book titled Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin Jr. It is a fiction book that is a story of the battle between good and evil. I loved the book even though all of the characters are animals. One of the main characters of the story was Chauntecleer, a rooster. The night before a battle between good and evil was about to take place he made this speech to the rest of those who stood for good. He used these words to encourage them to stand and fight the evil of their world. I remember being encouraged when I read these words. I remember feeling moved to take a stand no matter how inadequate I feel, because God has prepared us for the fight.

I pray these words will encourage you to make a stand for God today!

“Now that time is come which one day had to come. God breathed faith into us so that today we might be faithful. For generations God won trust from us so that today we might trust him. Years and years of providence had this purpose: that for one day we might not faint, but believe in him--and fight--stouthearted, fight--and win--and live!”

You Surpass Them All

I was going to tell my wife this personally but I remember recently hearing a discussion on the importance of publicly honoring and praising your spouse, and that I agree with wholeheartedly and I realize I should do this much more than I do.

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life...She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks...She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy...She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue...She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness...Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. --Selections from Proverbs 31

Sarah Grace, these verses describe you. No matter how much you will want to disagree with me, they do! I am proud of you. I am proud to call you my wife. I am proud that people in our community recognize you as a Godly woman who chooses to serve God through loving others and helping those in need. And yes, “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”

I Love You

Whatever Pleases You

“Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him." --2 Samuel 10:12

These words were spoken from Joab to his brother when they were about to go into battle with the Syrians and Ammonites. I heard this verse referenced in the sermon clip that I posted last week from John Piper titled “Where are the Faithful”. The reason it stuck out to me is that I have been thinking a lot about the prayers that I pray and also thinking about the prayers that others ask me to pray. I just feel like many of the prayers that are offered are wanting God to line his will up with what we pray instead of our prayers lining up with God’s will. Even when I pray, “God, let your will be done!” I really only mean, let your will be done if you are going to do what I want you to do.

I think these words from Joab reveal the attitude we should have. “May the LORD do what seems good to him.” He doesn’t say, “Brother lets pray that God will protect our lives and keep us safe during this battle.” “Let the LORD do what seems good to him!” Do you feel comfortable praying this when things are going completely wrong? “God, I am at one of my lowest points in life. Do what seems good to you!”

I don’t! I want to, but to be honest I don’t feel comfortable with that. But shouldn’t that be our hearts? No matter what happens, we should be so focused on the will of the Father and bringing glory to Him, that we can say, “Do whatever pleases you!”

Where Are The Faithful?

May we be counted among the faithful!

Small But Powerful

Last week Sarah Grace and I read the book of Titus. The book, although small, is quite powerful. I know that seems like a ridiculous statement considering that it is part of the very Word of God. Of course it is powerful! The reason I bring it up is that I think some of the smaller books of the Bible get overlooked sometimes. More words means more power, right? Don’t think like that when it comes to the Bible. I would recommend you read through Titus today. It has some powerful words, instructions for right living, and beautiful Gospel statements.

Here are a couple of the mini Gospel statements that I loved so much in Titus.

“He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing what is right.” Titus 2:14

“But then God our Savior showed us his kindness and love. He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did. He declared us not guilty because of his great kindness. And now we know that we will inherit eternal life.” Titus 3:4-8

All I can add to that is…Amen!

God Is A Wild Man!

After my encounter with God on Wednesday, I have been watching some videos of Rich Mullins speaking and sharing his heart at concerts. You may be thinking, “Seriously, again with Rich Mullins?” But I love the way he words things. I love his brutal honesty. I respect the way he lived his life. Here is one of the quotes that I really liked from one of the videos and the video will be below if you want to watch it.

God takes the junk of our lives and makes the greatest art in the world out of it. And if He was cultured, if He was as civilized as most Christian people wish He was, He would be useless to Christianity. But God is a wild man! --Rich Mullins

Spiritual Shipwreck

From my post yesterday you probably realized that I was going through something. I will try to put to words what was going on.

Yesterday morning I locked my door and sat down at the computer to check e-mail and read a few blogs. My few moments of peace and quiet before the students arrive. It was in this 30 minutes that God opened my eyes, broke my heart, and then ministered to my soul.

I stumbled across(and by stumbled across, I mean God put it right in front of me so I would trip over it and take notice) a blog post from 5 years ago about the death of Sarah Grace’s grandma that had been written by one of her cousins. As I read it something started to change inside. Something subtle about how I was feeling. I didn't know what exactly it was or how to explain it. I then went over to a blog that Sarah Grace and I read titled A Holy Experience, which is written by Ann Voskamp. She recently went on a Mission Trip to Guatemala with Compassion International. As I read her words and looked at her pictures from the trip I paused. The faces were somewhat familiar. Their smiles and their tears were familiar. The pictures from the mission trip I went on to Honduras are pictures filled with the same smiles and tears. Pictures filled with the same poverty.

I started thinking about Mario, who owned the little restaurant across the street from the school where we would go get cokes after working all day. I thought about his smile and the time I sat outside of his restaurant drinking a coke after a long day of work and trying to use my 25 words of broken Spanish to actually have a real conversation with this man. This is the same man who on another trip down there caught up with us after we attended a worship service at his church. He came to me, because he recognized me and hoped I could convey the message that he was trying to give. Unfortunately I was unable to translate what he was saying. Finally one of the youth picked up on one of his words. The word was “cantar” which means to sing. He wanted us to tell Jeff Phillips that he sings beautifully. He didn’t understand the words that Jeff was singing, but he understood that Jeff was singing with all of his heart to the God that they both loved, and it was a beautiful sound.

As I thought of those moments during those trips and I remembered their smiles, I cried. I didn't know exactly why. Maybe it was for Mario, maybe it was for us, and maybe it was because I just wanted to be with my family at that moment. I think it was all of these, paired with wanting something different. Something different for us, something different for Mario, something different for the world, and something better for God. In the silence and tears I sat pondering the brokenness and fallen state of our world. I thought about that this is not what God intended. He intended a paradise for all of his creation, but that is not possible because of our sin. So we are left with this world that is full of brokenness, hurt, illness, poverty, and sin, instead of what God planned for us. I wasn’t really hurting I just think God was breaking my heart and sharing His about the world that we live in.

After God opened my eyes it was then that He ministered to me. Later in the morning, Jared Wilson posted a blog titled A Thick, Thick Heaven. The post was a reminder about how much better Heaven is than Earth. It was beautiful. It was just what I needed to see after spending so much of my morning thinking about our broken world. God wanted to remind me that there is something better, far better, than I can even imagine. This post soothed my soul. It provided medicine and bandages to my wounds.

That afternoon as my conference period was starting I came across a post that was a tribute to Rich Mullins. The author ended the post with all of the lyrics from the song, If I Stand. When I pulled up the video on youtube, I wept as I saw Rich singing the lyrics to that song. It was as if God had been sitting beside me all day. I know God is with us all day, but I felt like he pulled up a chair beside me and said

1. Look at the brokenness of this world. Hate it. Want something better!
2. Remember that Heaven is better than anything this world has.
3. Fight the brokenness of the world for as long as you can but know
that there is more.
4. Always long for Heaven.

It was the first time in a long time that I was a spiritual wreck, but when the day was over I felt closer to the heart of God. My request for prayers is still open. I now know what I want you to pray for. Pray that these things are not quickly forgotten. Pray that I will keep my eyes open for God’s will on this Earth while longing for Heaven.

If I Stand

There is a reason for me posting this video right now but I can't even put it fully into words. Not yet anyway. Maybe soon all the right words will come. I love this Rich Mullins song. Here is the chorus.

And if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can't let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home

Watch the video for the rest.


Pray for me today! Please Pray!

Something is wrong...

I am currently reading a book titled Crazy Love by Francis Chan and another book Compelled by Love by Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation. While reading them this week I came across statements in both of them that started out by saying, "Something is wrong..." Both of these statements really stuck out and I think we should ask ourselves if these statements are descriptors of our lives.

"Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers." --Francis Chan in Crazy Love

"Something is wrong when a person claims to belong to Christ and yet fails to love others." --Ed Stetzer/Philip Nation

Does your life make sense to unbelievers? Does the way you spend & save your money make sense to the lost world? Do the things you watch, say, and do make sense to the world? If we are truly living out our faith, the answer should be and emphatic "NO!" Unfortunately I would have to say that much of my life has made perfect sense to the lost world.

What about your love? Do you love others as Christ does? Not just some people, but all people. Remember what Jesus says in Luke 6? "If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same…Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:32-33, 36. If I am claiming to be a Christian, I need to see people differently and love people differently. If not, then can I actually say that Christ is living through me?

Let us look at scripture to see what we should look like, compare that to our lives, and ask ourselves “What’s Wrong?”

God help us line up with your will and your ways and not the world’s will and the world’s ways.

Upside of Messy

When you look at the Pharisees in the New Testament they were disturbed by the fact that Jesus would eat with the tax collectors and sinners. More literally translated “scum.” Their thoughts were, “How can he be from God if he is willing to stoop so low?” Jesus’ response in Matthew Ch. 9 is “The healthy don’t need a doctor but the sick do. I am calling these people to repentance.” Yesterday I was reading a sample chapter from a new book coming out called Church Planter by Darrin Patrick. I liked this quote that he included in the book.

We are able to see the “upside of messy” only because Jesus went into the mess first in order to heal it. He left heaven for a womb, a stable, a wilderness, and a cross, so that the world would be saved through Him. We are able to love and pursue the healing of messy people because Jesus did it first—befriending tax collectors, sinners, pimps, and prostitutes, and then making many of them His apostles! --Scott Sauls

That quote just really hit home what I have been feeling lately. I don’t want to ignore someone because of their mess. It is easy to overlook someone because of their differences, problems, or strange behavior, but that shouldn’t be the case.

Christ stepped into the mess of my life and yours to save us. Shouldn’t we in turn step into the mess of others’ lives with that Good News?

Yours

Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours.Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now. --St. Teresa of Avila

If you believe this, what are you doing about it?

Teller of Tall Tales

My wife says I am a liar. We disagree with each other on this subject quite regularly. I don’t think I am a liar at all. I am a teller of tall tales. They aren’t lies but stories created for someone’s enjoyment, especially mine, but others are invited to enjoy these stories also. I inherited this gift. I don’t know if I genetically inherited it, or if it was willed to me from my grandfather, but either way it is part of who I am and who I will always be. My grandfather’s stories were wonderful to listen to. Even when I knew that he was telling a tall tale, I would listen and ask questions. My grandmother would make sure that we knew that none of it happened, but that didn’t matter to me. The story, real or not, is what I wanted.

As the years go by I am certain that my stories will grow and hopefully will get better. I hope my children and maybe one day grandchildren will listen to my stories and hang on every word just like I did with my grandfather’s stories. I hope that no matter how fantastical or exaggerated the stories are, they will ask questions knowing that their questions will just cause the stories to grow even more. That will make me smile, just like it made my grandfather smile and I am guessing just like it made the man who passed this gift on to my grandfather smile as well.

I have a reason for bringing this up. It is not just so you will start questioning the truth of what I tell you. I started reading Crazy Love this week by Francis Chan. I loved this quote. It made me smile!

Isn’t it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate? --Francis Chan

It made me smile because I am a teller of tall tales and an exaggerator by nature. It made me smile because no matter how tall a tale I can tell about God, it will never be an exaggeration. My stories would never be able to exaggerate the Love of God, or the Wrath of God, or the Wonder of God. The tallest tale I could tell about any aspect of God could at best only scratch the surface of the reality of who God is. And that is great news for all of us!

Watch This

I found this video and liked what it had to say. A lot of it is geared towards men, some towards pastors, but if you don't fit either of those categories, it still applies to the church as a whole. Good thoughts about vision for your church and community and passing on the faith that we have to younger generations.

Check It Out

A Good Place to Start

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4: 17-19

I think this passage is a great reminder of the needs that Jesus met. He just spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan and the next thing we see him do is show up the Temple to bring the word. And the word was not “Well done good and faithful Pharisee!” The word was “I am here to help those in need!” Now spiritually speaking we know that is all of us, but Jesus is also talking about meeting physical needs.

Do you want to be used by God, but don’t know what to do? Maybe we should follow Jesus’ example and reach out to those in need. Reach out to the poor, those in prison, the sick, the oppressed, and proclaim the favor of God to all those you can.

The Gospel Can Shake Some Sense Into You

This year has been a significant year for Sarah Grace and me, spiritually speaking. We have been reading challenging books, listening to challenging sermons, and discussing these topics with ourselves and with others. We have been reading the Bible more and praying more. In all of this we have been seeing the spirit of God work in our lives. The Word of God has been revealing changes that we need to make in the way we live. The Spirit of God is showing things He wants us to do with our lives. If I pause to think about it I ask myself “What is going on?” The only answer that I can give is that the Gospel is starting to shake some sense into us. And it is exciting!

Jared Wilson has a post titled Hijacked by the Gospel. I love that title! It really expresses what has started to happen in our lives. Here is a statement from the blog that I liked.

I have been laid hold of. I've been apprehended. I was writing my own life story, and it was a tragedy despite my own best efforts. But my life story got hijacked by the good news. –Jared Wilson

He also includes this quote from Michael Horton’s book The Gospel Driven Life.

"The Gospel is not just a series of facts to which we yield our assent but a dramatic narrative that re-plots our identity." - Michael Horton

Click here to read the full post. Wilson challenges me when I read what he has to say about the Gospel and what it should be doing in our lives.

Amazed

We just finished reading the book of John in our reading of the New Testament and are now on to Acts. It was awesome to read through the 4 gospels over the last month. It is exciting to see the different styles of the 4 authors and how they recorded the events of Jesus’ life. It is also amazing to see all that Jesus did and makes me wonder how people chose not to believe. When we see all that Christ did, it should fill us with a since of awe and wonder. We should be amazed by Him. We should be like Job when God shows up in a whirlwind to confront the questions. Job chapter 38-39 is a barrage of questions hurled at Job which Job could not answer.

“Then the Lord said to Job, “Do you still want to argue with the almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?” Then Job replied to the Lord, “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will put my hand over my mouth in silence. I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say.” Job 40:1-5

I was reminded of that passage from a book I am currently reading. The book is titled The Divine Commodity by Skye Jethani. In the chapter that he mentions this passage, he is discussing the fact that we have worked so hard at trying to perfect our knowledge of God that we have lost the awe and wonder we should experience when we think of God. He had this to say about it.

With our endless and unqualified words about God, the awe-inspiring Lord that Job encountered in the whirlwind looks today like a tempest in a teacup—a containable, practical, and manageable deity. –Skye Jethani from The Divine Commodity

Now this is not to say that we shouldn’t study the word and try to dig deeper into what God has to say. It means that we need to make sure that we don’t get so wrapped up in our knowledge of God that we forget the mystery of God. So the next time you open up the word, be amazed by it. The next time you look up at the stars or stare out at the ocean be amazed by the one who created it all. Consider your life and where it would be without Him, and Be Amazed!

Sweet as Honey

The voice said to me, “Son of man, eat what I am giving you—eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. “Eat it all,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey. Ezekiel 3: 1-3

I have mentioned before the fact that Sarah Grace and I are reading through the New Testament right now. We decided we would start with the New Testament and once we finish that we will move on to the fun stuff like Leviticus. We have been reading together at night before we go to bed. Two weeks ago I read this blog post about a family tradition of reading the bible together after a meal. The post is awesome. Click here to read the post. It is beautifully written as are all of her other posts. Here is a small segment of the post but I really recommend you read the whole post.

It's the way he was raised, the way his parents had been raised back in the homeland. You never leave the table without chewing the Real Bread. Even if there were cows to milk and you had to run, or you were late for prayer meeting at the church, or you had company for dinner. If you sat down to eat, you never left the table without eating Words. –Ann Voskamp

Then last night when I pulled up Jared Wilson’s blog he had posted a video that is titled What is the bible basically about, that comes from a message from Tim Keller. I thought it is another good way to approach the bible as we read it.



I wanted to share these two things and encourage you to spend some time in the Word today. It truly is “as sweet as honey!”

Point of Convergence

This guy rocked my world at Men at the Cross this last weekend. He is awesome! I found this video and wanted to share it.

My Only Hope

The Psalmist in Psalm 119 discusses the hope that he has in God's word and some of the truths about the word. It is filled with beautiful statements. Please take 5-10 minutes to sit down and read through this Psalm.

One of the things that is important about this passage is that the writer is not only praising the promises of God. He does praise God for His promises, but he also praises God about His laws and commands. This is something that I think many Christians have gotten away from. We like the promises of God. We like the hope that we have because of those promises. But we don't treasure the law of God like the author does. At least I don't. Check out this quote from Matt Chandler about this issue.

The law is a shadow of the Kingdom to come. God says in the law, "This is how I have designed things to work. Live in accordance with how I have designed things to work." The Law, although our generation talks about it as it is a dirty word, they don't talk about the law as if its a dirty word in the Old Testament. David Praises it "Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" Because the law lines us up with how the universe is supposed to work. --Matt Chandler from the Right Now Conference 2009

Here are some of the truths about the word of God that come from Psalm 119.

The Word of God revives us(vs 25)
The Word of God encourages us(vs 28)
The Word of God gives life(vs 37)
The Word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path(vs 105)
The Word of God is our only source of hope(vs 114

Hebrews 4:12 tells us the "Word of God is living and active." But for that to be true in our lives we have to know it. We have to cling to it as the Psalmist does. And we have to cling to all of it, not just the parts that make us feel good.

This last week while I was reading through a passage that I have read before, the Spirit of God showed me what was meant by this familiar passage. It was like a light was turned on. I thought "How in the world did I not realize this is what that passage was about?" It is amazing when God reveals to you something from His word. No matter how big or how small the message is, the fact that our God, opens our eyes to the truths in His word, is awesome.

Does your life need to be revived? Do you need encouragement? Do you need to know what direction God wants you to go? Do you need the hope that can come only from God? Then there is only one thing to do.

Open up His word!

(note: The painting used at the top of this post is titled Still Life of Bible. It was painted by Vincent Van Gogh)

Prayer by Saint Patrick

I came across this prayer on the website/blog of Eric Sandras. Sandras is the author of Plastic Jesus and two other books. This is a prayer from Saint Patrick from during the 4th or 5th century. As you read it, meditate on what each statement is asking and recognize your need for each of these items in your life.

May the strength of God pilot us.
May the power of God, preserve us.
May the wisdom of God, instruct us.
May the hand of God protect us.
May the way of God direct us.
May the shield of God defend us
May the host of God guard us against the snares of evil and the temptations of the world.
May Christ be with us.
Christ before us.
Christ in us.
Christ over us.
May Thy salvation, O Lord, be always ours this day and forevermore.
--Saint Patrick

Thorny Ground

Last night while reading in Luke I read the parable of the four soils. Here is Jesus' words explaining the parable:

"This is the meaning of the story: The seed is God's Message." The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the message, but then the Devil comes and steals it away and prevents them from believing and being saved. The rocky soil represents those who hear the message with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don't go very deep. They believe for a while, but they wilt when the hot winds of testing blow. The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. But the good soil represents honest, good-hearted people who hear God's message, cling to it and steadily produce a huge harvest." Luke 8: 11-15

When I read the passage the Thorny ground really stuck out to me. It just seems like so many believers fall into this category. Especially American believers. And don't take this as a finger pointing post about how everyone else has it wrong and I have it right. I fully admit that I have been in this category for extended periods of time.

Let's take a look at verse 14. Those in thorny ground hear and accept. They believe what they have heard to be true. Then something happens. They start worrying about things in this life. They start focusing on money and on enjoyable things. When I read the that I get the image of most Americans whether they are believers or not. The truth is crowded out by worry, desire of money, and the desire to have a good time. I think this is a problem even in many people's lives even in the believers who are in church each Sunday. Do you see this in churches? More importantly do you see it in your life? Is your life filled more with worry or consumed with the American Dream? Are you constantly seeking bigger and better pleasures in life? Are you stuck because of those things and unable to spiritually mature? If so maybe we need to ask ourselves if Jesus was talking about us when he told about the thorny ground.

Now let's take a look at verse 15. This is where we need to be. Good soil represents honest and good-hearted people who hear God's word and cling to its truths. All of the truths, not half of the truths. They cling to both the good news and to the commands. His way becomes their way of life and good works are constantly producing a spiritual harvest.

God, I pray my life will always represent the good soil in this passage, and always for your glory.

Do Something If You Can

I wonder how much of God's work has been interrupted by doubt. Now of course I know that God is supreme and can do whatever He chooses to bring glory to himself even if people doubt. We see stories in the New Testament where people doubt but Jesus still performs the miracle to bring glory to the father. But Jesus does say how if we have faith, we could move the mountains. So if we believe the word of God, why don't we move the mountains that our in our lives and in others lives? We don't move mountains for one reason: Doubt.

Jesus says to the disciples on several occasions that they need to stop doubting. Doubt has been an epidemic since Christ started his ministry. Some of his family doubted who he was, some of his disciples doubted His abilities. What is really crazy is when his disciples doubt the abilities of Christ after they have already seen him take care of a problem before. Example: Jesus feeds five thousand with 5 loaves and 2 fish and it is amazing. Just a little while later there is a crowd of four thousand and the disciples say "How are we supposed to find enough food for them here in the wilderness?" I don't know why Jesus didn't say "Ok guys, pack it up. You can go home."

My wife and I just started reading through the New Testament recently. We came to this passage and I thought, "This is our problem!" By "our problem", I mean the churches problem.

"How long has this been happening?" Jesus asked the boy's father. He replied, "Since he was very small. The evil spirit often makes him fall into he fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us. Do something if you can." "What do you mean 'If I can!?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible if a person believes." The father instantly replied, "I do believe, but help me not to doubt!" --Mark 9: 21-24

Did this guy seriously just have this conversation with Jesus? "Do something if you can" and "I believe but help me not doubt." He just told Jesus, The Son of God, God himself, "Do something if you can." Why didn't Jesus say "Dude! I was there in the beginning. I was involved with making all of creation. Just ask my disciples what they have seen me do in the last year. And in a couple of days when they finish telling you about half the stories, come back and see me."

Of course this guy isn't the only person with this problem. I feel like this mind set is running rampant in the church today. We believe in the Power of God. We have heard the stories of His awesome power, probably even seen His power in our own lives, but we still doubt. We take our prayers to God with a heart of "Do something if you can." We believe but we still have doubts. What kind of faith is that?

I want us all to be encouraged to believe God without doubt. Mark 6: 1-6 shares a tragic story that I don't want to happen to any of us. Jesus goes to his hometown and the people don't believe. Verses 5 & 6 say "And because of their unbelief, he couldn't do any mighty miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief." Don't let Christ look at your life and say, "I can't do anything here because they won't believe!"

Just Believe!

Open up

A while back I posted on my blog: They Will Know We Are Christians by our...T-Shirts One of the points of it being that we needed to use our words. We need to tell people about Jesus. We can't just be good and expect people to understand the gospel and accept Christ. We have to open up our mouths and share the Good News.

Jared Wilson posted this video of John Piper titled Telling People the Gospel from a Heart of Love and a Life of Service. Piper is awesome! Watch what he has to say about the importance of words and actions.



One of the reasons this really caught my attention was our joining with Compassion United to feed the homeless in our area. It is easy to cook some food and show up serve it with a smile. But if that is all that we do all we have given them a full stomach, which is temporary, with out meeting any spiritual needs, which is eternal.

Forget the "Yeah, But..."

I finished reading Radical by David Platt a couple of weeks ago, and now I have listened to over half of the Radical sermon series that Platt did at his church(Thank You Jeff & Jessica!) Let me start with WOW!!! I highly recommend both the book and the sermons. As far as listening to the sermons you can listen to them or watch them online, or you can download them from ITunes for free and put them on your ipod.

Radical challenges us to consider the true implications of claiming to be a Christian while looking at some of the tough passages in the New Testament. The one thing that I would recommend while reading and listening to the sermons is that you fight the urge to say "Yeah, but..." Many believers have gotten to a comfortable spot, myself included, and we don't want to consider how some of these passages apply to us. We try to say, "Yeah, but Jesus didn't really mean it that way." Or we say "Yeah, but Jesus didn't say that to all followers just to some." And we assume that these verses don't really apply to us for one reason or another.

If you can avoid the urge to dismiss the verses, you are likely to be challenged to examine your life in a way that you never have before. It will also challenge you to examine the gospel in ways that you never have before.

If you have read the book or listened to the sermons, please share your thoughts and experiences connected with it. I can't express enough how God is using these sermons and this book to open my eyes to what He is calling me to.

God, I pray that you give us strength to fight the urge to downplay your words and instructions for our lives. Change our hearts so we can see the ways we are disobeying your instructions. Forgive our disobedience and guide us into a life dedicated to bringing you Glory. I ask this in the name of Jesus.

Moment-by-Moment Obedience

“This is my son whom I love, with him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” Matthew 17:5

For the past 10-15 years(off and on), I have pondered, prayed about, even distressed over this one question. What is God’s plan for my life? Throughout all of this time I have come up to several solutions that I felt He might possibly be leading me to. Many of them have been dismissed entirely, while some of them I have merely shelved to wait for God’s go-ahead nod. Surely any day now a bright light is going to come from heaven on my road to Magnolia journey and God will reveal himself and his answers to me. The problem with this is that I am spending so much time thinking about the future that I am dismissing the most important part of the plan. That part of the plan that I am missing is the “Now” part.

The verse above comes from the passage when Jesus went through the transfiguration on the mountain. I have heard and read this passage numerous times. The other night as I was reading through Matthew the part that stuck out the most of this passage was “Listen to Him!”

This is the plan God has for my life. He is showing me Jesus and His plan is that I will listen to what Jesus has to say and I will follow those words. I may try to respond to God with, “But what about next year? What about grad school? What about law school? What about Seminary?” His response back might quite possibly be “Quit over complicating things and quit focusing on the future! Listen to Jesus and share Jesus. That’s what I want you to do!”

Oswald Chambers put it this way in My Utmost for His Highest.

“God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for the very minute, not for sometime in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience and are wrong to concern ourselves with it...However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.”

Dancing in the Minefields

Beautiful song about Marriage. You can see Andrew Peterson's post about this song and the video here.

Feeling Inadequate

Do you ever feel inadequate to do a task that is before you? I did this week. I had to install a new faucet in our kitchen sink. Our old one had sprung a leak. I am not good at most things that call for the use of tools so we bought a faucet that clearly stated "Easy to Install!" There should have been a disclaimer that stated "Easy to Install (if you are a skilled plumber who has 15 years experience.)

The old faucet came off super easy so I was feeling like this was going to be much easier than I originally thought. Then I got to the directions for the new one. I read step one about 10 times and thought to myself, this makes no sense to me at all. It pretty much went down hill from there. 2 hours later, we finally got our new faucet installed. 2 hours, Easy installation right?

When ever I start a task like this, I get so frustrated before I even get started. I know that I am not going to understand it and I fear that I am going to mess something up so I get worked up. Which probably just makes things even worse. I would seriously rather get someone else to do the job. I know I won't be good at it, so why even try.

Unfortunately I also do this in my faith and I fear many other believers do also. We feel inadequate at certain tasks so it is easy for us to make excuses and look for other people to do our work for us. Each day God can put us to work doing something for the kingdom. Each day Satan is going to try to convince us that we are inadequate for the task. What we have to remember is that God doesn't need people who are able, just people who are willing. When we try to give excuses He says I don't care what you are or are not, because "I AM!"

Have You Settled?

The greatest enemy to the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. -- Oswald Chambers

While reading My Utmost for his Highest the other day I came across this statement and loved it.

So many people are settling for the good and accepting the good. I am not talking about gifts and blessings from God. I am talking about settling for living a good life when really we should be living a great life. This of course should look much different than the definition the world gives for "a great life." Our great life should be about sacrifice. The kind of selfless sacrifice which always leads people to Jesus.

Have you settled? I know I have. Let us strive for greatness in order to show the glory of God.

Rendering to Caesar What Belongs to God

I have been thinking about this subject for over a month now and finally decided to post it. I guess my thoughts center around this question. Does there get to be a point where our patriotism to our country gets in the way of our service to Christ. Our country is constantly wrapped in heated political debates and Christians are quite often found right in the middle of them. There is this sense that patriotism and our faith go hand in hand and any God fearing American Christian should fight to restore something from days old when in reality I think this allows us to be distracted from what we really should be doing.

Jared Wilson had a post a while back that was about prayer and the right to pray publicly. You can read the entire post HERE. I really liked these words.

"I just wish Christians wouldn't put so much passion into prayer being recognized by the government. I think we can actually harm our witness by constantly crying about our rights and trying to throw our rapidly diminishing weight around. The Church isn't growing in China b/c the government recognizes it and gives it freedom to do whatever it wants."

Dustin told me that on Wilson's twitter account he made a statement along the lines of: "The gospel doesn't need the government." Those two statements really made me think. It seems like Christians fight desperately for their rights to pray, profess Christ, or live out their faith but they spend much less time actually doing any of these things. What good is it for us to have the right to share the gospel if we aren't going to actually share it?

A while back I was at a school function where they started out with having the crowd say the pledges. Everyone was reciting the pledge to the American flag and we were all sounding like a bunch of robots as we recited this memorized pledge of devotion to our flag and country and then we get to "one nation..." and over the entire crowd one man's voice bellows above all others, "UNDER GOD!!!!!!" It was a guttural yell that sounded like it came from someone who was about to go into hand to hand combat with the devil himself. I am sure that man walked out of that assembly with his chest swollen with pride that day. He had made a stand for God in front of all people. The irony of course is that we are not one nation under God and we haven't ever been. Even in times when Americans may have been more spiritual than they are now this has never been a country of only Christians. The second irony comes the fact that we were pledging our devotion to a flag and country who supports and will continue to support things that are disgusting to our God.

Yes there are plenty of individuals in this country who do honor God, but I don't believe our government or our nation as a whole does (even when a Republican is in office.) My pledge of devotion should solely be given to God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe I can do that while still being proud of my country and thankful for the people who have made this country what it is.

"A man may have to die for our country:
but no man must, in any exclusive sense, live for his country.
He who surrenders himself without reservation
to the temporal claims of a nation, or a party, or a class
is rendering to Caesar that which, of all things,
most emphatically belongs to God: himself." -- C.S. Lewis

Past Is Not Present

Do you have anything that happened in the past that you still struggle with shame and guilt for what you did or didn't do? I do. There are days where I find myself really struggling with actions from the past. I can't believe that I actually did or said some of these things. I feel ashamed, disgusted, and not worthy of love and grace.

One of the big things that I struggle with are things that I said and did to people in college. Not only are these things that can't be taken back, but they are also things that I don't even remember the names of the people that I said them to. The people I might possibly remember names of, I have no idea where they are because that life is so far away from me now. So I have to deal with the fact that I can never say I am sorry for what I have said or done to so many people.

I am thankful that I am no longer the person I used to be. I am thankful for God changing who I am. I have asked God's forgiveness for my former life and I know He has fully granted it. So why do I still struggle with these things?

Maybe I struggle with the past for two reasons.

1. I have not fully forgiven myself for what I have done.
2. Satan uses that to distract me from where I need to be.

I don't know if anyone deals with this like I do. If so I want to share a few words with you. The other day I started reading a book titled, The Book of the Dun Cow, by Walter Wangerin Jr. It is a beautiful story of good vs. evil. In one of the early chapters was this statement that made me think of this post.

If you haven't forgiven yourself for something, or the next time Satan tries to distract you from the present by using the mistakes of the past, I want you to remind yourself and Satan of this truth.

"Past is past. Past is not present. Did is not do. Was is not is" --Walter Wangerin Jr.

Thought this was cool!

I saw this video the other day at a workshop and I thought it was cool. They have several others. You can go to the fun theory website or you can go to youtube and search fun theory.

Maybe there should be a joy theory that addresses serving God.

Free Music Download

Today on the Rabbit Room, Andrew Osenga posted a link to some free music downloads on his site. I went to it and downloaded them. I have only listened to two of the 5 songs but they were pretty good. Thought I would pass on the link in case you wanted to get some new tunes, that are free! Click on the link below and it will take you to his site where he explains the songs and gives the link to download them.

http://andrewosenga.squarespace.com/free/

A Real Life Good Samaritan

"Its a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood, would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won't you be...my neighbor?"

I have told this to a few people so far and I think they were a little shocked, possibly wanted to laugh a little. Which is fine. I wouldn't have expected any other response. It makes me laugh a little. The other day on The Rabbit Room Blog, Jason Gray wrote a post about Mr. Rogers. When I saw how long the post was and that it was about Mr. Rogers, I almost didn't finish it. But I decided to stick with it and I am so glad that I did. The post talks about Mr. Rogers' faith which guided him and his show, and it talks about the impact he had on those around him and those around the world.

I didn't know that Mr. Rogers was a devout Christian. At the end of Gray's post he has included two videos and in one Fred Rogers says "Why in the world couldn't we use this thing called television for the broadcasting of grace through the land?" That is why he wanted to start the show. To broadcast grace. He wanted to give the message that he cared about people no matter who they were or what they were like.

The post shares a few excerpts from a book titled I'm Proud of You which was written by Tim Madigan. The book chronicles the friendship that he developed with Fred Rogers and shares details the faith that Rogers displayed in his life. It gives several examples of how selfless Mr. Rogers was and how he put others and their needs first. But one of these really stuck with me.

Tim writes of how Rogers demonstrated this the first time they spoke:
“Do you know what the most important thing in the world is to me right now?”
“No,” I said.
“Talking to Mr. Tim Madigan on the telephone.”

He could have been thinking about a million other things from his own family, to his show, to any of the problems that might have been going on in his life, but Rogers didn't do that. He took the back seat and put a stranger on the phone before all else. And from the people who ever met him, they will tell you that is the way that he was everyday, with every person that he encountered.

I will admit it to all of the readers here like I admitted to a few of the people that I told about this post in the Rabbit Room. When I finished reading this post, I cried. I wondered if the post had just caught me at an emotional or vulnerable moment and that is all it was, so I read it again before I started typing up this post. I cried again. I think I cried for two reasons. It is emotionally moving to see someone love people wherever they are, exactly as they are, with no exceptions. Rogers had been so shaped by the love of Christ that he did all that he could do to love everyone with that same love. But the second reason I cried is because I know that I don't even come close to that kind of love. Family? Yes! Friends? Yes! But there are people that I encounter everyday that I dismiss for countless reasons. I am too tired or too busy or find them just a little bit too different for me to invest in. And that is a tragedy.

I pray for new eyes and the ability to put all others first, so that God can have the glory.

I hope you will go over to the Rabbit Room and read the full post and watch the two short videos. It may take 10 minutes of your time, but it is a beautiful reminder of the life calling we have all been given and an example of someone who fulfilled that calling.

Click Here to go read the full post by Jason Gray titled: "I'm Proud of You" - My New Hero.

Let me!

It is amazing how independent a two year old can be. "I can do it! Let me do it!" Gideon is more and more convinced that he can do almost anything. And I know that as he gets older, that he will continue to become more independent, which is what every parent wants for their children.

Once in a while though Gideon still needs us as much as always. The other night, he came out from his room and climbed up in my lap. He just wanted to be held. After a few minutes he went over and climbed up in Gracie's lap and laid his head on her shoulder. She sang him a song and then whispered to me, I think he is asleep. Sure enough he was. In his busy little world where he wants to do everything and he is so independent he is still comforted and reassured by us. So much so that when he allows himself to accept it, he will be so at peace that he will drift off to his dreams in almost no time. We both smiled as Gracie walked down the hall carrying his exhausted body to bed.

I wonder how much of that is a reflection of how we are with God. As we grow and mature, we become more independent. And God loves to watch us as we grow and it makes him proud. But I wonder how much God smiles the times that no matter how independent we feel, we still just climb up in his arms and listen to his beautiful and sweet song of love that he sings to us. Maybe we should do this more often. And breath that sigh of relief that comes when you are overwhelmed with love and peace.

You Want Me To Do What?

The answer is surrender. Surrender my will to God's will. Not just part of my life, but all of my life. Last night when we were reading My Utmost for his Highest, I found this thought very challenging.

If we have received the Spirit of God, He will squeeze right through our lives, as if to ask, "Now where do I come into this relationship, this vacation you have planned, or these new books you want to read?"  And he always presses the point until we learn to make Him our first consideration.  Whenever we put other things first, there is confusion. --Owsald Chambers

When I thought about the above statement I had to ask myself 'How much of my life have I surrendered to God?' When I think about God I put him in the big picture of things, but there are lots of day to day things that I don't purposefully place God in the center of. And really that is where God wants to be.

So the next time we start something, whether it be a round of golf, feeding our children, cleaning our houses, or talking with our neighbors, let us think about how God fits into that situation. Let the Spirit remind us that we are called to surrender everything to Him. I will leave you with one more statement from Oswald Chambers' on this topic.

"The greatest word of Jesus to His disciples is abandon." --from My Utmost for His Highest

Radical Enough?

There is a lot of talk these days about Christians becoming more radical. And it is good discussion. It is this discussion that is calling us to a more devoted walk with Christ. David Platt had his Radical Sermon series and now has his Radical book. Not just Platt that is addressing this issue. Many Evangelicals have been on this topic over the last few years. I love the discussion, because I want to live up to the life that I have been called to.

The thing that makes the radical faith hard are the statements that are used to start this discussion. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters..."Luke 14:26 or "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Luke 18:22

What do we do with these statements? Some will dismiss them and say they are not relevant. Some will take them to heart literally and choose to walk that path. Is there somewhere between those two responses that allows us to really follow God's will? Can I be radical enough if I don't literally sell everything I have and give to the poor? Is there a way to radically love my wife that points people to God? Or by asking that am I the guy that Chan talks about in the video above that is looking for a "new middle road" to follow? A while back I was on Bill Streger's blog and took his advice to go to a blog with a post titled, The God of the Mundane. This post addresses the radical calling from another angle. Here is one of the thoughts from the post. I would encourage you to go read the whole thing.

It is almost like a new legalism is emerging. "Quit your job. Do something crazy. Pick up and move. If you do not then you are suspiciously lacking in the necessary requirements of what we deem 'spiritual.'--Matt Redmond

When I read that, I thought maybe I am being a little bit like the Pharisees. If people don't follow these statements from Jesus exactly like I do, then they aren't real believers. That is what the Pharisees did. But then I think these are words from Jesus' mouth. I can't ignore them. So what are we to do?