About Me

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I am a husband and a father and I pray that I will continue to look more like Christ to my wife and children each day. I pray that all that I do will be used to give glory to the Father and Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Stretching my faith

While typing out my notes for class on Saturday I was listening to music. Some songs from my senior year in high school came on and I was super excited. As I listened to the words I realized how God used the songs from that CD and it was one of the first times my faith was challenged. Now I know people who taught me in bible classes and sermons I listened to up to that point were challenges, but this was the first time I realized that I needed to get out of my comfortable space and grow some more.

The CD was Jesus Freak by DC Talk. The songs challenged me to have a more passionate pursuit of Jesus Christ and to seek the life we were called to live. Here are some of the phases that stuck out to me then and still do today

“The disease of self runs through my blood, its a cancer that’s fatal to my soul.”

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

Now I don’t want to just talk about DC Talk and how great they were. What I want to mention is my thankfulness to God for using something as simple as a popular CD of the time to give me a little wake up call. I want to thank Him for placing a friend in my life who would introduce me to those ideas through the music. And most importantly I want to pray that I will never be content with where my faith is. Happy? Yes, as I grow older I want to be happy with the growth that I have seen, because I plan on growing, but I don’t ever want to be content. No matter where I am in my faith I hope that God will place people, music, books, and whatever else God wants to use in my life to stretch me more into the man of God that he wants me to be.

I pray that you will do the same. Look for something--Pray for something, that God will use to stretch your faith and help you grow. Whether it is a song, a copy of Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship, or a passage of the Bible that you have seen your whole life; find something to encourage growth. And while you are at it, keep encouraging me to grow as well.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Redemption: It Does a Body Good!

Do you have baggage? We all do I guess just some of us have much more than others. Some of our baggage is stuff we have placed on ourselves through bad decisions and some of our baggage has been placed on us from the terrible things we have had to endure. Wherever it comes from there comes a time to put it down and move on. Now I am not implying that we can just up and forget the mistakes that we have made and I know you can’t just up and forget the hurts that people have caused you. However, we can do something about the baggage that freezes us. Some people deal with regrets and pain so much that they can’t move forward with their lives.

That is not what God wants for our lives. The point of Jesus Christ coming to this Earth was to redeem us from our sins and also redeem us from the pains of our past. He came to remake you so that you could move past all of the garbage. Speaking of Jesus and his coming to Earth lets look at a small portion of his genealogy that is mentioned in the book of Matthew. I am going to just mention a few names to get to the point.

Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, & Mary

Some of them you remember their stories well others you do not easily recognize. Here are some of the things we know about them from the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. One pretended to be a prostitute, one was a prostitute, two were childless widows for part of their lives, one was the center of David’s adultery tale which included her husband being killed, and then an unmarried teenage girl. This is what Jared Wilson calls the desperate housewives meets lifetime movie channel portion of Jesus’ genealogy. (For a deeper and much clearer look at these stories, you can take a look at Jared C. Wilson’s Your Jesus is too safe chapter on redemption. I credit him with much of the inspiration for this blog post)

Why would Matthew include these women with all this baggage? Maybe it was intended to show that even through our own mistakes and the terrible things that we have gone through, God is able to create something beautiful. God was able to take these women who had a lot of stuff in their lives, and turn their story into the beautiful story of the coming of Christ. He used their baggage to change the world. And if God can use these women and all their baggage he can certainly use us too. We just have to be willing to set it down. Don’t be held back by your past. Paul says in Philippians 3:13 “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”

I am including a video on redemption. It has a song by Jeremy Riddle. Watch the video and read the words the first time through, but it is also good to just go back and just listen to the song without reading the screen.
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Thursday, January 28, 2010

What do you do?

It’s a question we are asked quite often and a question we ask others. It is usually one of the first things that we ask people that we meet. It’s our way of sizing each other up. If we know what kind of job someone has we feel like that will give us a good idea of the kind of person they are. The fact is for Christians, it really shouldn’t matter what our job title is. No matter what our job is we need to be working to build the Kingdom of God. I know this is somewhat of a running theme through my month of blogs. I guess the fact is that most of my blogs will continue to come back to this issue. What am I doing in this world to build God’s Kingdom? The stuff I keep reading keeps bringing up this idea. I guess I am a slow learner because God has to keep telling me over and over again. I liked the very simple way that Jared Wilson put it in Your Jesus is to Safe. I read this last night and even though it is a simple statement it kept sticking out to me. We know the answer to the question, “What do you do?” Here is the answer to “What should you do?”
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“What does Paul call the church? The body of Christ. And what did the real body of Christ do on Earth? He went around living out the kingdom and testifying to its presence. So that’s what the church, as the body of Christ, should do: live out the kingdom life and testify to the world about the kingdom’s presence.”
--Jared C. Wilson
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It doesn’t matter what kind of job you do. You can be a doctor, lawyer, garbage truck driver, machinist, professional blogger ( I hope to hold that title one day. I should get paid for all of these thoughts I am sharing with the world), home maker, or even a regular old history teacher. Whatever we do to provide for our families should never get in the way of doing work for the Kingdom of God. And I know the responses that some will give. “Well how can I do all of that while I am supposed to be working?” It goes back to what I said the other day. We don’t need to compartmentalize our lives. Everything you do should be a reflection of God and His glory. We can (and should) live the higher calling that we have, in everything that you do, which includes your job. Sharing Jesus with the world is not just the job of the preacher.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

You don't look like a David

Have you ever had anyone say this to you, or have you said that about someone else. It is kind of a weird thing really. How can a name have a certain look to it? Today’s post comes from thoughts on Barnabas who is mentioned in Acts 4:36-37. Now his name wasn’t originally Barnabas. His birth name was Joseph, but Joseph lived in such a way that the apostles said we are going to call you Barnabas, which means son of encouragement. “You don’t look or act like a Joseph so much, you are more like a Barnabas.”

You don’t hear of stories like this really any more but it made me think about my own name change. What if someone came around and gave me a name change? What would it be? Unfortunately quite often someone could come to me and say, “You don’t look or act so much like a David, you are more like an Acario.” That means ungrateful. Sometimes people might be able to say, “You are more like an Eifah.” That means darkness or gloom.

How about you? You ever think about it? Are you living in such a way that someone could give you a positive name change? It’s up to us. We get to choose how we live. Are you going to choose to live a life like Barnabas?

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” Ephesians 4:1

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Question for God

Have you ever heard someone say, "That's the first question I'll ask God when I get to heaven." Have you ever said that or thought about it. Well I have been trying to think about this a little should there be some nice Q & A session with God once we all get there. Of course for the indecisive, the long line will probably provide plenty of time for you to figure out what your question is going to be. Well I have a question, I just don't know if it is an appropriate first question to ask God.

Is bigfoot real?

It just seems like there should be much more important things to ask Him, but I really want to know the answer.

Any thoughts?

Monday, January 25, 2010

DO SOMETHING, For Christ's Sake!

“There will always be plenty of Jehovah’s Bystanders, people who believe in God, but just don’t want to get involved.” --Kinky Friedman

Now I hope you aren’t too offended by my title, but my post is actually about doing something for the sake of Christ and God’s Kingdom. Now when I read the above Kinky Friedman quote, the first thing I did was laugh, but after thinking about it, it is the tragic truth of many of our churches today and I fall into that category more than I want to admit.

This is not to say that we don’t have people in our churches serving God and making sacrifices for God. I just feel like many of us will at some time get so caught up in our lives on this Earth that we forget that there is a higher calling for us as Christians. This post is mainly a response to too many comments that I have heard lately that were just excuses from good Christians that helped them feel better about not doing what we are called to do. Here are some of the statements that have gotten under my skin.

1. Well what am I supposed to do, I have to take care of my own family.
2. The church leadership hasn’t given me enough support.
3. They aren’t even from America, why should we help them.
4. I am just waiting for the opportunity to arise.
5. I am too busy to do anything extra.

Please know that I am putting myself into this list of excuses and will admit fully that I have made some of these comments myself and made many other excuses throughout the years.

No matter what is going on in our lives we can choose to serve God in Everything. And this is what we should be doing. The problem for so many Christians is that we want to compartmentalize our lives. I have my God stuff over here, Family stuff over here, Friend stuff over here, and our Work over here. If I separate out my life like this, I will never have enough time for God. This is not how things are supposed to be. Every category of our lives needs to have God as the central figure. I can serve God through how I work and how I treat people at work. I can serve God through how I raise and treat my family. I can serve God in the type of friend that I am. So start serving God that way, but I pray that we will not only stay in those categories. Also go out of your way to find some other ways that you can serve God. Sacrifice a little time to feed the hungry, give a drink to the thirsty, clothe those in need, take care of the sick, and care for those in prison.

The other concern is feeling like the good works that you are doing is enough. Paul in Thessalonians commends the believers for their good works but encourages them to do more and more of those things.

Show people the love of Christ in all situations and quit making excuses. It is my prayer that we will all find more ways to do this.

“And the King will tell them, ‘Whenever you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me” Matthew 25:40

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Encouraging Words

“Therefore , since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.” Hebrews 12:1

This verse was referenced at the memorial service for one of our dear brothers in Christ. I started thinking about the “crowd of witnesses” and the encouragement they give those that are trying to live out their faith in Christ Jesus. I started wondering what they would say if they could sit us down and give us encouraging words and words of wisdom to help us improve our walk. So I started thinking about some people’s lives and wondering how that might impact what words of wisdom they would give us for encouragement.

Moses: Don’t try to make excuses when God is telling you to do something.

Jonah: Don’t run from your responsibilities.

Abraham: Remain faithful even through the toughest challenges you face.

Sarah: Don’t doubt the promises of God.

Richard (my father): Don’t get so angry son and watch the words that you say to the people you love.

I just wanted to start a list, just something to think about. Feel free to add to the list in the comments portion. It can be advice you think someone from the bible would share with us, or it can be advice from someone close to you. Whatever it is, I think it is important for us to think of the faith of people who have gone before us and what they would say so we could have a stronger faith and a better walk with God.

The author of Hebrews offers his/her own advice on how to finish the race that is before us. It comes from Ch. 12 vs. 2. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith...”

Thursday, January 21, 2010

I love the smell of Play-Doh in the morning!

Today I took off work because Sarah Grace had to go to the doctor. After breakfast we watched sesame street and then went outside to swing and play Play-doh(or Guido as Gideon calls it.) Now we play together on the weekends and have a blast as a family, but there was something special about today. The play-doh smelled especially great in the weird odor that play-doh has. McDonald’s for lunch, nap time, watching Praise baby in bed with both the boys and Sarah Grace, pizza for supper, bath time, and finally bed time. Not that eventful, most people might even say not worth mentioning, however to me this was an amazing day. I guess it is that I would have normally been at work, but instead, I got to be with my family from the time we woke until bed time. I would have spent my day with 100 kids and a few dozen adults that I have contact each day, but I got to spend it with the two most important kids in the world and the most important woman in the world. And in that, it is easy for anyone to see the Grace and Glory of God!

A happy family is but an earlier heaven. -- John Bowring

They will know we are Christians by our...T-Shirts

I stole the title for this post from a T-shirt that I came across on Justin McRobert’s Website. Over the last few months especially, but off and on for the last year, I have been thinking about sharing my faith, or how little I do it actually. I kept coming back to this very familiar quote concerning sharing the gospel.

“Preach the Gospel always, when necessary use words” -- St. Francis of Assisi

I love this quote. I think there is so much truth in the statement in how we should be living out our faith. If our actions aren’t preaching the Gospel of Jesus then our words won’t matter.

However in examining my life, I have realized that there is a problem. I love this quote, but I have now come to realize that there is something wrong with it. I guess the problem is more with the distortion of the truth behind the quote. The problem that I have is that this quote has given me an excuse to not tell, and I mean tell, people about Jesus.

I recently answered a question on a blog of one of my good friends. The question was Where does telling people about Jesus rank in your life? Answer Choices: Number 1, If an opportunity rises, don’t really think about it, or not my job. My answer was if an opportunity rises(so was every other person who answered the question.) Now what that really means for me most of the time is when someone asks me. Do you know how many people have come up to me and asked me about my faith in Jesus this last year? Would you care to take a guess? Zero. But you know what, I have my bases covered, because I am preaching the gospel with my actions. I wear T-Shirts with bible verses on them(sometimes), I smile at a lot of people(except the people that creep me out, of course), I have given food to the homeless(don't you think I am a really good person?), and I even carry my bible around in public(if I remember to pick it up off the shelf). So I am preaching the gospel by my actions.

Is this good enough? Now I am not going to tell you that you shouldn’t do these things, however isn’t there a time where we need to use our words. We have got to quit hiding behind cute and safe statements like, “I let my actions speak for me!” That is an excuse so we don’t have to do the uncomfortable. It is time to start letting our actions and our words preach the gospel together.

It is something that I have challenged myself to do and I want to encourage you to do this also.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

I love this show!

I recently saw a portion of an episode of "The Office" that cracks me up. I thought I would share this portion with you concerning good advice.

Michael: (speaking to Dwight) What's the most inspiring thing ever said to you?
Dwight: "Don't be an idiot!" Whenever I am about to do something, I ask myself "Would an idiot do that?" If the answer is yes, I do not do that thing.

Maybe more people should start following Dwight's approach to decision making.

Monday, January 18, 2010

You can't sit here! This seat is taken!

My title for today’s post of course comes from Forrest Gump. You probably remember the scene. Nobody wants Forrest to sit next to them on the school bus because he is different. My thoughts are on unity in Christ. What unifies Christians together? Or I guess I should say, what should unify us as believers? Because for many people those two things are completely different. This post stems from a discussion that is not all that uncommon, or at least I fear that it is not uncommon. I have recently heard of a discussion that some devout Christians were having that discussed differing view points on a certain topic that the church (and when I say church I am almost always meaning all churches) is facing today. The result of this conversation was somewhere along the lines of if people don’t agree with us, they need to go somewhere else, they aren’t welcome here.

If we find out that we have different opinions on a certain part of our faith does that mean that we can’t still worship and serve Christ together? Is this what we are called to? A life of bickering about superficial issues. I suggest you look up and listen to Justin McRoberts’ song, At the cross. It addresses this issue. To quote part of the song,

“So am I praying in the wrong way? Do I worship on the wrong day? What are we fighting for? So I, I’ll meet you at the cross. If that’s the only place we meet its fine by me.”

And isn’t that the most important thing? Jesus Christ and the cross he bore for all of us (even the people who believe a little differently than I do).

“Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace. We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future. There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us all and living through us all.” Ephesians 4: 3-6

Friday, January 15, 2010

God's Judgement?

I figured since many others are weighing in on the subject I would also. Pat Robertson made a comment about Haiti making a deal with the Devil and implying that is why they are so impoverished and have suffered so many horrors, including the most recent earthquake. The story behind the Haitians “deal with the devil” is a legend that says the leaders of a 1791 slave revolt made a pledge to a voodoo doll that was supposed to represent the devil. The pledge stated that in exchange for a victorious revolt they would serve Satan. Key word here is legend. It is a story that has been passed down over the generations and there is no proof that this actually happened. Many people have been arguing that because of this alleged deal, and their continued way of life they are being punished by God.

Now I am not going to say this quake was or wasn’t God’s Judgment on the Haitians, but I think it is a little dangerous to point fingers after a disaster and say look this is God’s judgment on those people, when we are just as guilty of idol worship. I may not be swearing allegiance to the devil; however there are lots of things that many of us put before God. Maybe it is money, fame, drugs, sex, ourselves. Whatever it is we are just as guilty.

I don’t think it is time to worry about whether or not this is God’s judgment. It is however a perfect time to show them the mercy and grace of God and the perfect truth of Jesus Christ. Let us all pray that this happens!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

If only...

I have been thinking on how much of a complaining society we have become. We complain about what we don’t have and we complain about the things that we do have. Is anyone content anymore? Or has the American Dream so distorted my “needs” that I can’t even come close to being happy with what I have? I had a discussion about this with a co-worker last year. She said her pastor had given a sermon on complaining in which he asked the church “What if everything that you complained about was suddenly taken away from you?” Sounds great right? Not dealing with any of those problems anymore. But let’s think about that. Here is a list of things I have complained about (either verbally or in my thoughts) over the last 6 months. House, Truck, Wife, Kids, Church, Friends, Job, Family members. I will stick with a short list to make my point. Where would I be if I lost all of those things that I have complained about? Miserable!! My life would be an absolute disaster. And yet I still sit around complaining about all of the things I have. If I would just slow down and think about it, the things I complain about the most are some of the greatest blessing I have in life. Now I am not saying you need to be like the Crucifixion scene in Monty Python’s The Life of Brian, Where those being crucified are singing Look on the bright side of life. But I am encouraging us all to think twice next time we start to complain about something. “Do everything without complaining or arguing.” Philippians 2:14. Or as Gideon’s (my oldest son) new Veggie tell book puts it. “Whenever we get to complainin fer long, we try to remember that complainin is wrong. 'Cuz God loves us all, he done gived us a lot! We're right thankful fer all the things that we've got” --The Hillbilly Peas.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

All doubts have been removed

A piece of advice that I think more people should follow comes from Mark Twain. "It is better to keep you mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." Unfortunately I am not always able to follow good advice. So...I created a blog! A place for me to impart my wisdom (or lack thereof) unto the world. And it is a place for you to share yours as well. Feel free to comment on my posts. Let us challenge each other, and just as importantly, let us make each other laugh.