leaving the gray

You know what? Disappointment Sucks.

2011-11-19T00:43:00.001-06:00

Yes, you heard me. Disappointment sucks.

It happens when goals are blocked. It happens when things don't turn out how you thought they should. It happens when people let you down.

Iowa State's fans stormed the field after they defeated the number 2 team in the country tonight, savoring the joy, the pride, the pure pleasure of watching their team do tonight what OSU has done for the last 10 games: win. Throughout the game, it was clear. This was not OSU's night, and Iowa State was out to slay a giant.

As I watched the game, I became increasingly depressed. The team that had everyone's praise, the one who was on track to meet LSU in the national championship, was not going to win the game, and their was nothing they could do about it.

I've been there before, as a player. It sucks to loose. But I am no longer play football... so why did it suck for me, watching them loose? They lost the game, not me. Why do I care so much? Why does the performance of a football team boost my joy when they win, and sink me into the gutter of depression when they loose?

As much as I'd like to pretend that I haven't been caught up in all they hype, my heart ratted me out and told me the truth. My heart, which supposedly belonged wholeheartedly to God, had been caught in a worship affair with OSU's success. When OSU won big, I felt great! When they lost all hope of playing for a national title, I felt awful. Loosing sucks. But the thing that sucked more was coming to the realization that I had given my heart away after the performance of a football team.

Disappointment sucks. It steals our joy. It wounds us. It is painful. It is...

a blessing.

While experiencing disappointment in and of itself sucks, it was a blessing for me tonight. Why? Because it caused me to turn from seeking pleasure from a stupid football team's win/loss record, and return to the Lord, the One who never fails, who always accomplishes His purposes, the One who knows no disappointment, the One who won't disappoint those who trust their lives with Him. As strange as it sounds, seek out disappointment, because when you are in it, it will point you back to Christ, to experience him like never before, to know Him better like never before.

OSU's loosing tonight was the best thing that could have happened to me tonight, because it caused me to turn my heart back to God, instead of chasing after the success of OSU. Through it, God gave me the ability to see how I had been caught up in the sin of idolatry, consumed with the success of the football team. It was a reminder to my very soul that I was in desperate need of a savior. It reminded how rich and wonderful it is to really spend time with God, and not cram him inside a 10 minute devotional that will let me "check the box". It caused me to reflect on these thoughts and how much I need to spend time with God.

It's been nearly two months since I've typed a single post on here. And it probably would have been longer, had OSU not lost, had I not experienced disappointment, and redirected to the One who will not disappoint our hope in Him. Winning may build class, but loosing always builds character. Disappointment realigns our perspective with reality. It reminds us that our help, our joy, our satisfaction, our peace come not from a football team's success, but from the Lord.

I get to

2011-10-02T09:06:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed how much people complain? Hard not to go through a single day without listening to somebody gripe about something. I know its not just everyone else- at times I'm probably the biggest whiner of them all. Sometimes I wonder if I could make it through just one day with out complaining.

My complaining often begins with "I have to". I have to get up early and go to work. I have to stay home and watch the kids today. I have to clean the house. And on and on I go...
But what if I change "I HAVE to" to "I GET to"?

Perhaps then I wouldn't see getting up early to go to work as a chore, but a privilege, thanking God that I am employed and have something to do that brings home a pay check.

Perhaps then I would look at my children and count every minute with them a blessing, that they are healthy, that they are made in the image of God, that I get to be their daddy, and that I get to stay home with them one day a week while my wife works.

And perhaps then I would really appreciate all that my wife does, staying home with three wonderful kids all day, knowing that when I come home to a messy house, it is not because she was goofing off and being lazy all day, but because she was pouring into our kids, teaching them, loving them, helping them learn, and just spending quality time with them because that is truly more important than a clean house. Perhaps then I would see it as a privilege to love my family by cleaning the house on the weekend, knowing that it will allow my wife and kids more quality time together instead of cleaning all day everyday.

"I have to" is for whiners. "I get to" is for winners. it's all about perspective.
What do you GET to do?

Just one raised hand - part 2

2011-08-16T22:52:00.000-05:00

Last week, I posted about something that, to be honest, really bothered me. At the end of a very powerful and convicting message, which usually draws many non-believers to repentance and faith in Christ, only one person visibly responded to the call of salvation; just one raised hand. After considering many of the likely suspects, last week I concluded that the following is making a significant contribution to the problem I noticed:

While it is plausible that any number of reasons with various combinations may in fact be the root of the problem, I am convinced that the primary reason we see so few unbelievers respond to the gospel [at my church/campus] is not because of the experience, the message, or awareness, but rather due to the evangelical philosophy of the believers who attend our church each week.

Alright, so what is this "evangelical philosophy", or "evangelism philosophy?" I'm sure you won't find the term in any text book, but the idea is not a new one. It is simply a way to describe how people (Christians) think that they themselves and others contribute to non-believers becoming believers. Based on my observations of the attitudes of others and of myself, I have found that people generally have one of the following evangelism philosophies:

Evangelism is someone else's responsibility.
Evangelism is my responsibility.

Those who would say that evangelism is someone else's responsibility would most likely say that "someone else" is their church, and maybe other Christians who have the gift of evangelism. And since someone else like the church or someone with the gift of evangelism is probably more effective at sharing Christ with non-believers, then my evangelism philosophy would be to get non-believers to my church, or to those that are evangelists.

Others might look at Matthew 28:19,1 Peter 3:15-16, or 2 Corinthians 5:17-20, and many others similar passages and conclude that evangelism is every believer's responsibility, noting that the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all the nations applies to all believers.

As I look at these two evangelism philosophies, I don't see it as an either-or choice; either I only bring people to church to hear the Gospel, or it is dependent upon me to evangelize the lost in my life. Seems like there is a third possible philosophy, a both-and view, that not only should I be prepared to give a reason for the hope that I have with gentleness and respect, being and ambassador for Christ in the ministry of reconciliation to God, but ALSO actively pointing my unbelieving friends, co-workers, family, etc. to my church or other resources where they might hear the Gospel clearly and faithfully preached.

But if I'm honest about this, I don't truly think the reason for just one raised hand at the call for salvation was due to confusion between either-or or both-and evangelical philosophies. No, tragically, that there were so few non-believers present and that there was only one raised hand was more likely due to a neither-nor evangelical philosophy; a philosophy cares neither for their responsibility to personally share Christ with the lost, nor for contributing to their salvation by bringing them to church. This view of evangelism is rooted in apathy towards the lost, and is expressed as such when we rarely if at all, invite non-believers to church or tell them about our God. While most would be offended by such accusations and who would argue that they care deeply about the lost, their actions often communicate a philosophy that is very different that what they profess to believe.

And I am no different.

Though I would adamantly attempt to defend myself of such an accusation if made against me, my actions would fail to do anything but convict me. Sure, I post a lot about God, theology, and other things with intentions that it will give people reason to pause and consider their relationship with God, to leave the gray, and be the real deal and be a true follower of Christ. But its probably been over 2 years since I've invited a non-believing friend with me to church. And if given the opportunity to even give a hint at my faith and spiritual convictions with my non-believing friends, I often avoid speaking the name of Jesus and miss crucial opportunities to begin a conversation that might lead a non-believer one step closer to knowing Jesus as their Lord and Savior. No, given the evidence against me, it's pretty hard to for me to rebuke all the other followers of Christ who attend our church week after week without a guest with them, if I myself am unwilling to change.

Thankfully, there was one faithful follower of Christ who was willing to change, who had the conviction that the message of the cross really is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18), who was bold and courageous enough to ask his friend to come with him to church. And what a blessing he received, to know that his friend was the one hand raised, who at that moment received the gift of eternal life, who now knows our risen Savior.

By God's grace, I have been saved. And by God's grace, I am now aware of His call towards a real both-and evangelism philosophy, that is substantiated not by what I say, but by what I do. It is also by this same grace that I am willing to change my actions, and I pray that you do too.

Just one raised hand?

2011-08-07T16:24:00.001-05:00

Just letting you know, this will be a long post. In fact, I’ll probably have to break it into parts because there is a lot of ground work that I need to do before I can get to the heart of what I want to write about. I do hope you’ll read though. I don’t have the capacity, patience, or attention to write volumes upon volumes, so rest assure, I’ll make the point as quickly and as succinctly as I can, and then you can get back to reading your twitter and facebook updates J.

This weekend at church, we heard a great message about praying boldly. Too often, we pray safe prayers, because we don’t want to be disappointed if God doesn’t answer our request the way we think He should, and secondly, we know that He can, but we don’t really believe that He will. Getting to the heart of the message, we say that we believe in God, but we live (and pray) as if He doesn’t exist. Does God give us everything we ask for? Of course not. But we who believe do not have a pragmatic faith; a faith that only believes if God meets our expectations and grants our every request. No, the faith that we have, if we have been made new, is a faith not of ourselves, not of our own mustering. The faith of the believer is the gift of God that enables us to utter such profound confessions of belief, such belief that many times cannot be explained but cannot be denied by our hearts and minds. And so, if we have faith that God can do the supernatural- forgiving our sins and enabling us to believe in Him, wouldn’t it be reasonable to expect believers to have a similar faith expressed in the kind of prayers they pray? Not safe prayers; bold prayers. Not safe faith; bold faith. And most assuredly not faith in faith, but faith in God.

Needless to say, it was a sobering message to all. And like every other message taught at our church at any weekend experience, it was aptly bookended with a call for spiritually unregenerate individuals to make a bold demonstrated act of faith by raising their hand in response to the call of salvation, signifying to all present their confession of faith, acknowledging their sinful nature and need of a savior, and that they are placing their trust in Christ, to be the complete and final fulfillment of that need of such a savior; to be reconciled to God.

Experience tells me that when a strong message is given for believers to believe and live like true believers, and non-believers to leave their unbelief, there is a significant number of hands that would be raised (10 to 15 or more). This being such a message, I expected several hands to be raised. Want to take a guess at how many hands were raised?

One.

Not two. Not ten.

Just one.

In light of what is at stake- forgiveness or remaining condemned in our sin, peace or enmity with God, heaven or hell eternity- this is a big deal. Our auditorium seats somewhere around 800 people. Granted, there was probably somewhere north of 500 in attendance last night, but to have only 1 person raise their hand was anti-climatic to say the least, in response to such a strong and well-articulated presentation of the gospel and call to Christ. The tragedy of the situation is that this isn’t the first time that this has happened. In fact there have been a number of times that no one raised their hand in a given experience.

So what gives? Why did only one person respond to the gospel? Was the message not clear? Was it not compelling enough? I don’t know for sure, and neither does anyone else. I am sure that there were likely several non-believers in attendance. I also acknowledge that not every non-believer will respond to the gospel when given the chance. Still, for a service as full as it was, I am compelled to believe that there were far more confessing believers in attendance than non-believers.

And this is really the question that I want to wrestle with: Why are there so few non-believers coming to our church services?

Is it because our church staff and volunteers are unfriendly and unwelcoming? Definitely not. From the moment you get out of your car, you are greeted by a friendly face, and offered a ride to the front door by one of the many golf cart drivers. From there, you are greeted by warm smile and welcome as they hand you a copy of the sermon notes and campus bulletin. From the child care staff, host team, and all the other volunteers in place, you can’t help but feel welcomed all along the way as you finally make your way to your seat.

Is it because the message is irrelevant and unimportant? Hardly. Real life is relevant to everyone, and every message that is taught is tethered to reality, and the Gospel. Each summer we spend a month discovering biblical principles found in current movies- it is our most effective series each year in terms of attendance and response to the gospel. And when we are not talking about movies, we are talking about sex, pornography, finances, marriage, parenting, purpose, belonging, and many other relevant issues that affect every person on the planet.

Are non-believers not coming because they don’t know about our church? That there isn’t room for them to attend one of our experiences? No and Nope. We have 14 campuses, each offering around 5 services each weekend, not to mention our online services that are ministering to thousands through more than 40 services each week, getting them to our services through the use of Google ad words and facebook. And our means of getting the word out is not limited to the bumper stickers, social media, and other mass media that is being used. Each week we put invite materials in the hands of those who attend one of our services so that they can invite their friends, neighbors, co-workers, family, and the random guy they run into at the convenience store.

While it is plausible that any number of reasons with various combinations may in fact be the root of the problem, I am convinced that the primary reason we see so few unbelievers respond to the gospel is not because of the experience, the message, or awareness, but rather due to the evangelical philosophy of the believers who attend our church each week.

This is the issue that I want to deal with, but needed to set the stage first. I’ll explain what I mean by this evangelical philosophy, and attempt to provide some biblical arguments for my conclusions, as well as identify some realistic solutions that might successfully address the issues I’ve noted.

So what do you think? Would this assessment apply to your church as well?

The Everlasting God

2011-07-27T06:27:00.003-05:00

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
(Isaiah 40:28-31 ESV)

The Lord is the Everlasting God. He outlasts my struggles, my worries, my problems. Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord. His timing is perfect; His will never ceases to be accomplished. Choosing to remember this today- I pray that you would too.

Interesting critique of contemporary Christianity

2011-07-11T07:11:00.000-05:00

Currently reading through "The Mosaic of Christian Belief" by Roger E. Olson and thought this critique of contemporary Christianity was interesting. While it is easy to complain about what is wrong (and that is not this author's intent), it is necessary to identify what is wrong before any positive change can be promoted to address the issue. Anxious to finish the book to see what I can glean away, and contribute to the solution in some positive and meaningful way.

Renewing our minds

2011-07-09T23:02:00.001-05:00

Our perspective affects the way we live out every part of our life, and is most greatly affected by those things that shape our past (experience) and our mind (ideas).

1. What experiences and ideas do you need to remember?
2. What experiences and ideas do you need to replace?
3. What experiences and ideas do you need to create?

Often we will find that the distance between what we say we value and what our life says we value is determined by the strength of our mind to remember, to remember those things that caused us to establish our values the way we have in the first place. The stronger our mind is, the less distance we find between our mouth's profession and out life's confession. The weaker our mind's grip on the memories that shape and affirm our values, the more we grow in hypocrisy.

What do you need to remember?

Does God want me to be happy?

2011-06-13T20:41:00.001-05:00

This struck me as an interesting question: does God want me to be happy? I don't know. Is there a verse or Biblical passage that we can look to to find the answer? Perhaps, or at least one might attempt to identify those passages that might support the principle. But I'm not going to make a biblical argument either way, at least not in this post. Instead what I'd rather do is offer a couple alternative questions that might give us a broader context, or at least beyond the context of ourselves. So here they are:

Does God want us to be holy, or does He want us to be happy? Is it an either-or question or a both-and?

So what do you think? Let me know your thoughts...

The game that everybody plays, but nobody wins

2011-06-07T08:40:00.000-05:00

The trouble with money and wealth is that we always want to have more than others. We are in competition for a prize that no single person can obtain, in a game that no one can win.

The thing that we must come to grips with is that we are already rich. My thanks to Craig Groeschel for helping me to understand this through his book, Weird: because normal isn't working.

Until reading the part of his book about money, I did not realize that I had been harboring envy for a former co-worker who I found out is now making nearly twice what I am making. "if only I could make $x, then I would be happy." really? Why does my happiness dependent upon a dollar figure? Is it not enough that I have been richly blessed with a family that I love dearly, who also loves me? Is it not enough that, in spite of all the despicable things I have done, in spite of God's holiness, in spite of the judgement that I deserve- is it not enough that in spite of all these things and more that through the cross, through the blood of Jesus that I now have peace with God, that I am forgiven, that there is now no condemnation due to me because of Christ? Is it not enough that the Lord has placed me in a vocation that I am best equipped to serve Him, that I have an opportunity to be faithful in doing what God has uniquely equipped and called me to do, to offer my life as a song of worship through obedience to what he has given me stewardship over?

These are the things I forget when my eyes are on myself and others and not on Christ. I need to remember this so that I can have a proper and eternal perspective that enables me to live with complete satisfaction and joy, in spite of however much or little income I make. To say the least, I have been challenged by this. I pray that you too would be challenged and moved to change your mind about this as well.

#remember #money #wealth #weird

Why I need to remember

2011-06-05T23:59:00.000-05:00

Why do I need to remember? Because I will soon forget.

There are so many things, so many thoughts that, though recognized as profound and of great worth, have passed on to the sea of forgetfulness, never to be recalled by my mind again. But why should those precious things be treated so casually? Why should they be forgotten? If it truly matters, then why do we not do more to act as if it truly matters?

Every day, I battle against my flesh. Though I have been made new by the risen Christ, there is a battle inside me that rages on; the desires of the Spirit versus the desires of my flesh. My flesh says thine will be done; the Spirit says Thy will be done. My flesh says, give in to temptation; the Spirit says flee from temptation. My flesh says, give full vent to your emotions, your rage, your anger; the Spirit says be not a fool, to be angry and sin not. My flesh says, do what is easy, what feels right; the Spirit says find the narrow road and follow Me.

And every day, by the decisions I make, I am reinforcing to myself what are the most important things to remember. When I neglect spending time in God's word and renewing my mind, I am reaffirming the law of my flesh, pursuing whatever my flesh wants to do, clinging to the darkness and running from the light. But when I renew my mind with the truth, the word of God, I am being made new, I am gaining a foothold on the truth, giving me eyes that truly see, and obtaining a perspective that sees things with more clarity, closer to how they actually are.

When I remember how greatly that I have been forgiven, I am able to forgive others. When I remember how desperately wicked my heart is, I remember how greatly that I am in need of a Savior. When I remember that God's kindness has lead me to repentance, I become kind and patient with my children. When I remember that God is causing all things to work together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to his purposes, I can have peace and contentment in any struggle, in any situation. When I remember that God is good, that He is sovereign, and that he loves me, I can trust in Him and be without fear, no matter what comes. When I remember that in this world I will have trouble, I can take heart as I remember that He has overcome the world.

I need to remember because these gems of truth, of life, of hope are more valuable than any treasure found on this earth. But I don't just want to gather these stones, these precious gems of remembrance. I want to stack stones. I want to build monuments for myself and others to see, so that when I see them, I remember what God has done. I want to build so many monuments and memorials of the faithfulness of God that it would be impossible for me to forget all that He has done, and all that He has revealed to me.

And the list goes on, and it will go on, because these are the kinds of things that draw me back to Christ, that draw me back to the greatest monument of all time; the cross. For on it, I can shed every accusation, every guilt, every regretful memory, every burden of condemnation, placing them all on the cross, for good, and remembering that there is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death, remembering that my sin, past, present, and future, was once and for all dealt with on the cross. And what joy that I now have, that I am the workmanship of Jesus Christ, having been made ready and equipped for such wonderful service to the One who gave it all, so that I could have life in my All in All, the Lord Jesus.

The struggles will come. How will I fare? Will my faith wilt? Will my will flee? That will all depend on how well I train when the battle far off, when peace is at my door. I pray that the Spirit would increase the strength of my memory, of my conviction, of my faith, of my will to follow Him. I pray that you would have the same clarity that I seek, so that at all times, in all places, in every way, I might have a proper perspective, so that I can respond to life in a way that is pleasing to the One I serve.

My hope is that in however many days I have left here in this world to do what God has created me to do, I might capture some of those things and store them here, so that my friends, my family, my children, and all who would listen. My desire is that my collection of thoughts might be of use to others, as I hope it will profit me, so that they could have the renewed mind and proper perspective on all of life that I aspire to possess. I haven't got it all figured out; my theology isn't perfect. But my hope is that at least i am advancing it, that I am moving it closer to reality, that I am understanding things closer to how they actually are.

I'll be posting those things that I want to remember here at http://stackingstones.tumblr.com.

Questions about pain, suffering, and loss

2011-05-26T00:23:00.000-05:00

I've seen a lot of loss recently. A lot of suffering too. Hundreds affected by tornadoes in Missouri and Oklahoma, just this week alone. A friend from work lost everything he had. Everything. Another family lost one child to injuries from the storm. The other was separated from his mother when the tornado hit their home and is still missing.

Things don't seem to be getting any better. In the last year, Haiti and Japan were devastated by earthquakes, Alabama was hit with the worst outbreak of tornadoes in US history, a leaking oil well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico was finally plugged after months and months of unchallenged damage that may never be repaired- and that is just a few of the things that have happened in the last year. Looks like pain and suffering and tragedy are here to stay.

So what are we supposed to do when it happens? How are we really supposed to cope, to deal with it, especially when it hits us square in the face? Counseling from the other side of the table is easy, especially when we have verses like Romans 8:28, which remind us that God causes all things to work together for the good of those that love Him, that are called according to His purposes. It's easy to quote that. It's easy to say that, but in the moment those words are empty, and meaningless at best, when you feel as if your heart has been ripped out of your chest after loss and tragedy strikes.

I don't know if this any kind of an answer, and I don't know if there's any answer that will be sufficient. But as I think out loud with you as you are reading this, I wonder: would we know what joy is if we did not know suffering? Would we know peace if we did not know turmoil? Would we know love if we have not been hated? Would we know victory if we did not know loss? Maybe you could answer and justify a response that would say "yes", but it seems to me that at least we would not know how sweet joy is if we had not known suffering, or how precious it is to be loved if we had not experienced being unloved.

Seems to me that we come to God with some unrealistic expectations. We expect that God would allow us, a creation who's inherent goal and joy is to satisfy oneself, to do whatever the heck we want (which He permits), AND never have to experience any pain, suffering, loss, tragedy, or any other negative emotion from the actions of others, who only truly at their core care about themselves, and will gladly walk all over you to preserve and protect themselves and pursue whatever they fancy. We have this built in expectation that we will always be happy, and that God owes us, that He is obligated to bless us. And when that doesn't happen, we unload and let Him know.

Maybe another question: Would we know mercy if we did not know justice? Or what about grace if we did not know fairness? And if we truly know mercy and grace, would we really still complain when justice and fairness are not satisfied in our lives? It's a curious thing, how we demand the "goodness" of people's hearts to give us mercy and grace when we trespass, and are ready to play executioner at the drop of a hat when someone offends or hurts us- but that's another post...

Seems to me that we lack a proper perspective sometimes. When our perspective is that this world is all that there is, then it would seem reasonable for us to live it up and make the most of it, pursuing whatever makes us happy and scorning whatever would take that away from us. But if we are truly following Christ, having been made new, we know that this world is not our home, that this life is not all that there is. If Christ has defeated the grave and secured victory over the grave for all who are found in Him, then why do we loose so much hope when we experience defeat on the battle field? If the war has been won, then why do we loose heart if a battle is lost? This isn't to say that there is no pain, no hurt in defeat on the battle lines, but if we aren't able to look up above the trees and see the forest, to see that Christ has conquered the grave, we will understandably drop our heads in defeat and remain defeated. But let's not loose heart, for Christ has overcome this world! We must remember that we do not live for this life, but for the One who gave His life, who gave His life so we can have eternal life with Him.

When tragedy strikes, morn over your loss. Grieve deeply, for the human heart knows that this is not the way things are supposed to be, that pain and suffering and loss are not supposed to be here. But don't grieve alone. Let the Body of Christ love you and encourage you. Let the Holy Spirit lift up your head again and wipe your tears and help you remember that He has overcome this world, that our hope is not in man, but in the God-man; Jesus the Christ. Ask the Lord to give us a heart that understands, and eyes that see. Pray to see the sorrow of life as the means of seeing the sweetness of joy and hope fulfilled in the life to come, and thank the Lord that He truly does cause all things to work together for the good of those that love Him, that are called according to His purposes.

A brutally honest answer to a brutally honest question

2011-05-26T00:20:00.000-05:00

The Bible is filled with many commands about how we are to conduct ourselves, how we are to act, and what we should do as Christians. There are many such passages, but arguably the most famous one is the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians chapter 5:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)

And since we want to be good Bible-believing and obeying Christians, we strive to carry out the instructions that God has left us in His word. We try really really hard to love others after they just threw us under the bus to save their own skin. We try really really hard to be patient and self controled when the repo man comes and takes away our possessions. We try really really hard to have peace and joy when we just found out that our family was killed in a car accident, or that the company is letting us go and we have no way to make it to the end of the week.

Fruit of the Spirit? How in the world could I possibly have peace and joy in the midst of circumstances like that? Sure, I might be able to "will" myself to think that way, but it would only be a matter of time for what I was truly thinking to come out. If those things had happened to me, my first response wouldn't be to bless those that curse you or to be self-controlled. I'd rather like to take that fruit and smash it in the face of whoever just turned my world upside down.

Alright...

Now that we have been brutally honest about life and about our struggle to follow God, let's take a step back and ask a basic question: Why? Why would love be a fruit of the Spirit? Why would joy, and peace, and the rest of the list be named among the things that are characteristic of a follower of Christ? Admittedly, these are very difficult questions to answer. But I have found that if you take time to consider these things, to consider why a Christian would have joy and peace and faithfulness, and all the others, If you take time to reflect on who God is and what He has done for us and is doing in us, I am convinced that you will find not just reasons for Christians to be this way, but solid ground for YOU to stand on and BE the kind of fully devoted follower of Christ that is described in this passage.

It's all about perspective, and we have to have an accurate view of reality, one that extends beyond the limits of our world as we know it. If we only focus on our own perspective, then we will only ever see the trees. But if we learn to see things from God's perspective, and to have an eternal perspective, we will then begin to see the forest for all its grander, all it's beauty, and discover how richly blessed we are to know the Lord, who is forever on His throne, working through all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes, who loves us beyond imagination and who is forever good and holy, holy, holy.

It is at this point that we stop trying to create fruit in our life apart from the Vine, and start pursuing the Vine and abiding in Him- Fruit is not the point; the Vine, Jesus Christ, is. When we abide in Him, all these things will become evident in our lives, because the fruit of the Spirit is no longer our goal. Jesus is. We won't have to "try" to be kind and patient and love others and have joy-- it will simply happen when we live surrendered to Him and continually remember who God is and what He has done. The waves will crash, and tragedy will come. But the follower of Christ, who has been made new by Him, will have a hope secure, a solid Rock to stand firm upon, that will enable him or her to endure the struggles and pain of this world and hear our blessed Lord say at the end of our life, "well done, my good and faithful servant."

Christ is Risen

2011-05-20T17:40:00.001-05:00

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3L5SJyPpZk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I double-dog dare you...

2011-05-10T06:47:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone:) Just wanted to share a passage from Galatians with you all - i've been reading there a lot recently- kinda like John 6; I can't seem to move on... :)

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,21 envy,t drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:16-25 (ESV)

"walking in the Spirit" is kind of a tough thing to do, let alone describe it. Recently though, I have been listening to The Vow series that Craig did a few years ago- definitely one of my favorite series that he has done. In the first message, he talked about the vow of priority- God is my one, and my spouse is my two. Craig interviewed Amy about this, and she went on to talk about this very passage - about walking in the Spirit. So... how do we do this? There may be many other answers that get us here, but the first and foremost is that we put God first- the vow of priority; God is my one. Before all things, God comes first.

When we seek God first with our best, we are practicing the vow of priority. When we make time for Bible study and prayer, we practice the vow of priority. When we clear our schedules for lifegroup or church, we - you get the idea...

So then, does the vow of priority, by doing all these things, automatically cause us to walk in the Spirit? Of course not. But I double-dog-dare you to do them and see if you don't notice a greater awareness of what God is doing in your life, experience a greater intimacy with the One who knit you in your mother's womb, and if you don't have a greater joy and sense of gratitude for all that Christ has done, and all that you have in Him. There's much more i want to say, but i think this is plenty long enough for today... agreed? Let me know your thoughts-

1. What things have you done that help you to walk in the Spirit?
2. Describe a time when you noticed the fruit of the Spirit in your life.

Leaving The Gray... Again

2011-04-18T11:58:00.001-05:00

Its been a couple months since I've posted here, and probably better than a year since I've posted on a regular basis. With the many changes at work, ministry growth, and expecting our third child, I can't say that the break from regular posting is due to a lack of content. So why the silence? Why the break? Answer: I care too much about what you think about my posts.

We are in a series at my church called: "Weird, because normal isn't working." The basic premise is centered around the Matthew 7:13-14 passage which deals with the wide road that leads to destruction (Normal), and the narrow road that leads to life (Weird). If you want what normal people have, do what normal people do. If you want what few people have, do what few people do. Don't be normal, like everyone else; be weird, in a God way.

So what does this have to do with my lack of posts? Well I'm so glad you asked :). Week 2 of the series dealt with the constant pressure to conform to the norm-
1. The inward pressure: the need to please.
2. The outward pressure: criticism.

It took me over a week to realize this, but I had stopped writting because I wanted to write something of great value, but didn't think what I had was good enough. Hence, both of the above were at work in me, but I was clueless. Couldn't see it. I had found myself drifting back to normal, drifting back to comfortable risk-free safe living, back to the insignificant life, back to the gray.

After going through a spiritual gifts assessment in our small group, I had my beautiful and wise wife remind me that one of the things that God has equipped and called me to do is write. Combining that with the countless sermons, books, and many other profound nuggets of wisdom and spiritual insight I have heard and contently acknowledge as a "good word" but then live as if it were irrelevant, I have determined that is time to get back to writing about the things that God is challenging me with, with the hopes that it will not only help me apply what I'm learning, but also encourage and challenge you along the way in your pursuit of seeking and following Christ.

Its time to get back on the narrow road that God has called me to, to get back to being weird (or maybe weirder), and leave the gray... Again.

A To-Remember List?

2011-02-03T07:38:00.000-06:00

I make to-do lists almost everyday at work. There are often many things that need to get done in any given day, and while i often will remember a few of them, there are many more that I forget about if i don't write them down. To-do lists are for things that have a beginning and a measured ending. When the task is complete, we cross it off; things on the list are either done or they're not.

But not everything goes on a to-do list. "stop forgetting things" doesn't seem to fit on a to-do list. Sure, you can be intentional about doing this for a while, but then you forget about it. Then sometime later, you will realize that you forgot something, and then you will remember that you still haven't stopped forgetting things. Kind of a silly example, but I think it is helpful to distinguish this type of thing that we want to remember from a finite to-do task.

It seems like there is a growing list for me of things that I wish I would remember, that I would do, but can't seem to turn the corner so that it becomes second-nature, a habit, something that i don't need to worry about remembering anymore. These things have to do with the kind of person that I want to be. They are things that affect my relationship with Christ and with others. They affect how I respond to my circumstances, and my response when things happen to me.

In Romans 12:2, Paul tells us not to be conformed to the patterns of this world, but to renew our mind. It's easy to think like the world and live in fear, to doubt, to hurt others, and to concern ourselves with what everyone else thinks about us - this is the pattern of the world, the very thing that our sinful flesh tells us to do. But God's will is that we grow in righteousness, that we be conformed to His image, that we abide in Him. When we think on these things, it becomes easier and more natural for us to be the ambassadors for Christ, the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and all the other things that He's called us to be. But it starts with renewing our mind.

So instead of spending all of our time and effort in this life on completing relatively meaningless of things to do, what if we spent this time working on a list of things to remember- a "to-remember list"? What if, instead of listening to a great sermon and giving a hearty "amen" at all the good points, what if we actually exherted a little effort in trying to remember those things and actually applying them to our life? I wonder how much different Western Christianity might look if we spent a little less time concerning ourselves with doing the things on our to-do list, and spent more time working on remembering things on our to-remember list?

Here's a few things that are on my list of things to remember and why i want to remember it:

God is sovereign, God is good, and God loves us - God allows bad things to happen everyday for reasons that I cannot begin to understand. But recognizing all of who God is, i can rest in assurance that he knows what He's doing as He is causing all things to work together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purposes.

What you fear the most reveals what you value the most, and where you trust God the least - I often spend time "thinking" about stuff that isn't going right. Some of you might use the word "concern". Others of you who are more honest might use the real word; worry. When i begin to worry about something, i need to remember that God is in control, and that this is something that i need to trust with God.

God's grace is sufficient for me - All of us are sinners, even those who have placed their trust in Jesus. We sin everyday, and it's easy to let our hearts condemn us when we do, and retreat into hiding from God. God wants us to walk in the light as He is in the light, to confess our sins before God and men so that we might receive forgiveness and healing and fellowship with one another. There's no sin we can commit in Christ that the blood of Jesus hasn't covered. He covered them all, and His grace is sufficient; more than enough for my sin.

What things do you need to remember, to add to your "to-remember list"?

How can you recognize false teaching?

2010-12-27T11:36:00.000-06:00

I read this note this morning while reading 1 Timothy, and thought it was helpful in recognizing some of the warning signs of false teachings; those ideas/doctrines/beliefs that are contrary to what the Bible teaches. Here is the note from the Life Application Study Bible:

"How can you recognize false teaching?
1. It promotes controversies instead of helping people come to Jesus (1 Timothy 1:4)
2. It is often initiated by those whose motivation is to make a name for themselves (1 Timothy 1:7)
3. It will be contrary to the true teaching of the Scriptures (1 Timothy 1:6-7; 4:1-3)
To protect yourself from the deception of false teachers, you should learn what the bible teaches and remains steadfast in your faith in Christ alone."

Any Questions?

2010-11-18T07:09:00.000-06:00

I don't know about you, but I have a lot of questions when it comes to Christianity. Often these questions seem unanswerable, and as Christians, we are just supposed to use faith to bridge the gap between how we perceive the world to be, and our Christian convictions. But that troubles me, to be honest. Did God really intend for us to have minds capable of reason and founded upon logic, only to dump them out when we become Christians, and just hope that all the things that God has revealed about himself and His message to us in the Bible are true?

"The heart cannot believe for very long that which the mind rejects." - Greg Koukl

This quote seems to sum it up for me. How are we supposed to believe those things that we perceive to be contradictions, impossibilities, or those things that seem irrational? What about these questions below?

» How do we know what books belong in the Bible?
» Do all religions lead to God?
» So many churches—what is the big difference?
» Why does everyone seem to interpret the Bible differently?
» The doctrine of the Trinity—can someone please explain this?
» Why should I study theology?
» So many versions of the Bible… Which one do I use?
» What about those who have never heard about Christ, can they still make it to
heaven?
» Why does God allow bad things to happen?
» What is the difference between Protestants and Roman Catholics?
» Can we be sure that Christ rose from the grave?

These are big questions that many struggle with, some for which people have placed their faith in God on the shelf, if not abandoned all together. And the culture we live in isn't much help. The rhetoric is thick, full of presumption that there are no answers that could possibly harmonize with a biblical world view, let alone that all this Christianity stuff just might be true.

But what if the culture is wrong? What if there are answers to these questions? What if Christianity is true? The implications are life changing-- and if acted upon, are life-giving and life-saving. But we won't convince a doubting world with "what if's", let alone our doubting mind. If we have any hope of not only plugging the holes of doubt in our own belief in God, but also those of others, we must take a note from the Bereans and do some homework and search for answers (Acts 17:11).

I am preparing to take a step in the footprints of the Bereans, to seek out answers, to see if these things which I believe are true, to see how the scriptures respond to these questions of doubt, and to see if the scriptures are actually reliable and divinely inspired by the One who created me and you, and all of creation.

There are many great resources out there. In my search for truth for over the last several years, I have found a few that are exceptional, biblical, and reliable resources for helping people connect their questions and doubts with truth: Stand to Reason (http://www.str.org/site/PageServer), The Christian Research Institute (http://equip.org/), and last but not least- Credo House Ministries (http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/).

I plan to begin The Theology Program at the Credo House in Oklahoma City (http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/what-we-do/the-theology-program/) after the first of the year, and would encourage any and all to take this step if you have questions or want to shore up your convictions with truth. If you are interested, please follow the link and check it out. They have resources that would allow for independent study, or live classes via the internet. Hope to see you there!

The BEST idea

2010-11-11T07:19:00.000-06:00

No one likes to be told they're are doing something wrong - especially me. When we act upon a choice, we do so because either we think it is the right thing to do, or we have justified it to ourselves in our own mind that there is nothing wrong with what we are doing. But sometimes, even with the best intentions, we arrive at wrong conclusions when we take into consideration the "facts" of the issue.

It seems to me that based on our predisposed opinions, agenda, and point of view, we perceive reality the way we want to see it. Now there's nothing wrong with having an opinion or belief about something - that's what makes us unique; it's a part of our individuality. But the goal is to see through a clear, objective lens, not a distorted subjective one.

Often I'll be faced with a problem and have to come up with a solution. If I'm able to come up with an idea that solves the problem, it automatically becomes the BEST idea amongst all others, because it was my idea. It doesn't matter that someone else's idea is objectively better, one that clearly addresses the problem and meets all the required criteria. If it didn't come from between my two ears, or pass my subjective approval, it is not the best idea.

My pastor preached a message this last weekend on "self deception" as a part of a series called "Masquerade" (if you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely do so; follow the link http://www.lifechurch.tv/watch). One of the most challenging points to me was when he said that, "Often the more convinced you are you're right, the more likely you are wrong." At first i didn't like this statement. It's clearly not a black-and-white statement that is correct 100% of the time, but it does provide just reason to pause and consider: am I right because of the intensity of my conviction, or am I right because the collaborative evidence objectively supports my belief? What I found in introspection of myself is that I often conclude that I am right because of my own predisposed bias towards my own ideas that are always right - this is bias of mine was distorting my lens.

"You cannot hate the sin you don't detect; you cannot overcome sin that you cannot identify." Craig Groeschel

Now that I have identified this source of self deception, I can now do something about it. Awareness is half the battle. What about you? Here's a few points that Craig made in his message, to help us uncover our distorted view of ourselves:

1. Pray. "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24

2. Listen. "He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise. He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding." Proverbs 15:31-32

3. Change. "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:3

Don't brush this off. Pray. Listen. Change.

Thanking God for rejection

2010-11-05T07:34:00.000-05:00

Never thought I would be thanking God for rejection from others. Timely reminder that there is One who is closer than a brother, that my joy and well being is not found in the approval or acceptance of others, but in knowing the risen Christ, who has chosen me, accepted me, and has uniquely made me just as I am, for His divine purposes, for His glory. Thankful that I'm not who I was, but even more so that God isn't finished with me yet.
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Psalm 51

2010-10-13T07:27:00.000-05:00

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem;19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

The heart of worship

2010-09-20T21:10:00.000-05:00

"I'll give you more than a song, for a song in itself is not what you have required. You search much deeper within through the way things appear, You're looking into my heart."

These are some pretty profound lyrics by Matt Redman, from his song, "the heart of worship." They challenge the idea that worship is merely singing songs about God, which, right or wrong, is what worship is often thought of in our day.

But any good worship song will have more than just a catchy tune; it will be based upon good solid biblical theology. And that is the case with this song. Romans 12:1 states:

"Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship." (HCSB)

Prior to this passage, Paul spent a great deal of time reminding us how great God's kindness is toward us, that through faith in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven of our sins. So in light of this, he tells those who have been made new in Christ that our only reasonable response to God is to worship Him for what He has done for us! But how should we worship Him; how should we demonstrate our gratitude for such an extravagant gift that we are completely unable to repay? By living our lives fully surrendered to God, for His purposes, for His glory.

Is singing songs about and to God for 20 minutes on Sunday mornings with God's people important? Isn't that a way that we can worship God? An emphatic Yes, and Yes! But is it our spiritual act of worship? Well, not according to this passage in Romans. In this passage, Paul is reminding us that in light of what God has done for us in saving us by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, our only reasonable response is to worship Him through the lives that we live, fully surrendered to Him!

So how do we do this; how we learn to do what is holy and pleasing to God? Paul tells us in verse 2:

"Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God." Romans 12:2 (HCSB)

Renewing our mind is the key. Without consistent quality time with God in His Word, our mind begins to fail us, forgetting what God has revealed to us in the Bible, how significant those discoveries are to us, and provide clear reasons to remind us of the hope that we have, and how great a joy it is to live fully surrendered to the King of Glory, Jesus Christ! It is through the proper perspective of seeing the life we live as God sees it, which we discover by the regular and frequent renewing of our mind and enabling of the Holy Spirit to perceive how His Word applies to our lives that we are able to discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

From this proper perspective, we are able to realize that our obedience to Christ, our pursuit of His righteousness in our life is our spiritual act of worship. From this perspective we also discover that this obedience to Christ also includes being faithful stewards of all that God has given us, including our time, our talents, our abilities, our giftings, and our resources as He has given us.

So, if you are gifted in writing, your spiritual act of worship would include writing as God leads you. If your gift is in listening and encouraging people, then you are worshiping God by simply doing what you were created to do. If you are a parent, then you are worshiping God by raising and training up your children in the Lord. And be sure of this, parenting children is tough, and sometimes we don't really want to be parents. But when we choose to embrace this role and refuse to give in to frustration and impatience and choose to love and lead our children, we are offering our bodies as living sacrifices and worshiping our loving Creator.

If we offer our "living sacrifice" begrudgingly, out of a heart of obligation, we forfeit the opportunity to offer a true spiritual act of worship. God is no fool. He knows when we are faking it, and when we choose to surrender our will to His. What a blessing it is that the Holy Spirit resides in us, enabling us to do what our flesh refuses! For it is only by His Spirit in us that we are able to live from a pure and holy heart that's greatest desire is to honor and glorify the One who made it, who gave His life to save us!

Your Family vs. Electronic Media

2010-08-28T09:10:00.000-05:00

Here's a link to a good article i found at http://www.familylife.com about electronic media and family- something to think about the next time you turn on the tv or surf the internet.

http://www.familylife.com/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=dnJHKLNnFoG&b=3842489&ct=8573305

A prayer for the Church

2010-08-04T06:38:00.001-05:00

9 And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, 10 so that you can determine what really matters and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Phil. 1:9-11
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Simple? Yes. Easy? No.

2010-07-22T06:49:00.001-05:00

Seems like the greatest works of God happen through people when they surrender to what God is doing in their life. Difficult circumstances, hurt, pain- Too often we want to fight the consequences of these things, but often these are the very things that God uses in our lives to bring about the greatest good in our growth as followers of Christ.

It is also in our obedience to His teachings revealed in the bible that God moves the greatest in our lives and in those around us.

Among others, we are called to love God, to love others, to forgive, to tithe, to look after widows and orphans, to show compassion for those in need, to submit to our authorities, to look past an offense, to be prepared to give the reason for the hope we have, and to do so with gentleness and respect.

Its amazing to me how resistant we can be to obeying such simple commands- simple, yes. Easy, no. It is only then when we do these things and truly trust God with the results, that we can begin to see God's faithfulness as He works out His sanctification in our lives through our obedience to His word.
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Wise Man or Scoffer?

2010-06-27T09:44:00.000-05:00

Proverbs 9:8: “Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you."

Ecclesiastes 7:5 "It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools."

No one likes to be called out on something that they are doing wrong. We don't intentionally seek out to do wrong, but our need to justify our actions, to protect our image and ego, to show that we are the victim will ultimately numb our conscience to the point where we cannot receive correction from another (even someone we love). Yet we all know that we need correction, because we don't want to do something wrong if it can be shown that through sound counsel and the Word of God that it is in fact wrong.

The question we need to ask ourselves: when it comes to receiving correction from others, am I a scoffer or a wise man?

Apart from the work of Christ in our lives, we all act as fools and hate the rebuker. But through the work of Christ in our lives, God matures us and enables us to be wise in our choices over difficult decisions and in our responses to the endless challenges we face. Romans 8:28 teaches us that God causes all things to work together for the good of those that love Him, that are called according to His purposes. That includes His use of discipline and rebuke in our lives. In Revelation 3:19 Jesus says that "as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent." Only when we realize that God loves us, that He is faithful to complete the good work that He began in us (Phil. 1:6), and that discipline in our life brings about His work in our lives, only after we realize all of this will we be able to rejoice when we are disciplined and truly love the person who has shown us the error of our way.

Praise God for those who have the courage to confront us in humility before God to bring about the correction and discipline we need in our lives to mature us and draw us ever closer to Christ Jesus.

God: our confidence, our assurance, our hope

2010-06-05T22:20:00.001-05:00

Our confidence:
23 A man's steps are established by the Lord, and He takes pleasure in his way. 24 Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, because the Lord holds his hand. Psalm 37:23-24

Our assurance:
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Our hope:
I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

God is faithful, God is trustworthy, God is good, and He cares for us! When our ways leave us with no hope, we need not panic, for He has been holding us up all along, and though we may fall (not if, but when), we can rest in His peace because the temporary struggles we face are for our good, as God is sovereignly working out His perfect plan. When we remember that God loves us and that He is in control, we can have true peace, and will not be able to be overwhelmed, because we know that "to live is Christ, and to die is gain!" If God is for us, who can be against us? Whom shall we fear?

Run with confidence, with assurance, with hope, for God is on His throne. Run without fear, without doubt, without worry. Run with all your heart as unto the Lord- delight yourself in Him, in all you do! Get off the fence; leave passivity and apathy behind- leave the gray! For when we do these things, we are running in such a way as to win the prize, and will not be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
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Our sovereign, omnipresent, omniscient, and loving God: read Psalm 139

2010-06-01T06:16:00.001-05:00

1 For the choir director. A Davidic psalm. Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up; You understand my thoughts from far away. 3 You observe my travels and my rest; You are aware of all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, Lord. 5 You have encircled me; You have placed Your hand on me. 6 This extraordinary knowledge is beyond me. It is lofty; I am unable to reach it. 7 Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I go up to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. 9 If I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits, 10 even there Your hand will lead me; Your right hand will hold on to me. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light around me will become night"- 12 even the darkness is not dark to You. The night shines like the day; darkness and light are alike to You. 13 For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I will praise You, because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well. 15 My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began. 17 God, how difficult Your thoughts are for me to comprehend; how vast their sum is! 18 If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I wake up, I am still with You. 19 God, if only You would kill the wicked- you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me- 20 who invoke You deceitfully. Your enemies swear by You falsely. 21 Lord, don't I hate those who hate You, and detest those who rebel against You? 22 I hate them with extreme hatred; I consider them my enemies. 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139
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Offerings that cost me nothing...

2010-05-29T11:34:00.000-05:00

...Are they really offerings at all?

20 Araunah looked down and saw the king and his servants coming toward him, so he went out and bowed to the king with his face to the ground. 21 Araunah said, "Why has my lord the king come to his servant?"
David replied, "To buy the threshing floor from you in order to build an altar to the Lord, so the plague on the people may be halted." 22 Araunah said to David, "My lord the king may take whatever he wants and offer it. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. 23 My king, Araunah gives everything here to the king." Then he said to the king, "May the Lord your God accept you." 24 The king answered Araunah, "No, I insist on buying it from you for a price, for I will not offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 ounces of silver. 25 He built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered prayer on behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel ended. 2 Samuel 24:20-25
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From the lips of babes: "I love you bigger than..."

2010-05-24T22:20:00.001-05:00

One of my daughter's favorite things in life is watching movies. She could watch the same movie two to three times in a row without thinking anything of it. And if I'd let her, she could probably be content watching movies all day long.
As I was getting ready to leave for work today, we went through our "standard procedure" for saying goodbye:
"Bye baby- see you tonight."
"Bye Daddy- hey Daddy, do you know how much I love you?"
"How much?"
Now I have to stop here for a moment and give some background information. Her usual response to this question is "bigger than the house," or "bigger than the whole. Wide. World!" About 6 months ago she threw me a curve ball and said, "I love you bigger than your work." This response alone is worthy of exploring, but I digress... :)
So back to my story-
"Daddy do you know how much I love you?" And she looks over at the tv, which is playing one of her favorite movies, and says with a big ole cute grin, "I love you bigger than the tv."
Talk about knocking your socks off! She just told me that she loved me more than her most favorite thing in the whole-wide-world! If that doesn't warm your heart, then I don't know what will!
So what's the significance? Why tell this story? I think that it is profound when a 4yr old little girl is able to communicate a correct understanding of true love, a love that esteems someone more than any other cherished thing they posses. And given to a little introspective thinking, I realize that, while I might say that I love God "bigger" than anything in my life, I often live the exact opposite, by demonstrating through the use of my time and money that things (or even my family) are "bigger" in my life than my relationship with Christ, and His transformation of my heart to reflect more of His.
As Christ followers, we all will say that we love Jesus. Let's be certain that our love is not mere lip service, but one that demonstrates that we truly love God "bigger" than anything else.
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Psalm 62:5-7

2010-05-22T22:37:00.001-05:00

5 Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from Him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and glory depend on God; my strong rock, my refuge, is in God.
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Psalm 32: Best Psalm of all, IMHO!!!

2010-05-19T22:45:00.001-05:00

1 Davidic. A How happy is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2 How happy is the man the Lord does not charge with sin, and in whose spirit is no deceit! 3 When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer's heat. 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and You took away the guilt of my sin. 6 Therefore let everyone who is faithful pray to You at a time that You may be found. When great floodwaters come, they will not reach him. 7 You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance. 8 I will instruct you and show you the way to go; with My eye on you, I will give counsel. 9 Do not be like a horse or mule, without understanding, that must be controlled with bit and bridle, or else it will not come near you. 10 Many pains come to the wicked, but the one who trusts in the Lord will have faithful love surrounding him. 11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
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Perspective

2010-05-16T13:32:00.001-05:00

4 "Lord, reveal to me the end of my life and the number of my days. Let me know how transitory I am. 5 You, indeed, have made my days short in length, and my life span as nothing in Your sight. Yes, every mortal man is only a vapor. 6 Certainly, man walks about like a mere shadow. Indeed, they frantically rush around in vain, gathering possessions without knowing who will get them. Psalm 39:4-6
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Psalm 36:5-7

2010-05-13T21:05:00.001-05:00

Ever wonder where Third Day got their lyrics for "You Love Oh Lord"?

5 Lord, Your faithful love reaches to heaven, Your faithfulness to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountain; Your judgments, like the deepest sea. Lord, You preserve man and beast. 7 God, Your faithful love is so valuable
that people take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
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what is deep, high, long & wide?

2010-05-11T13:19:00.000-05:00

God's Love.
This song by Jami Smith will mess you up. Well worth the buck or two you have to pay to download from itunes or amazon.

Your love is deep
Your love is high
Your love is long
Your love is wide

Deeper than my view of grace
Higher than this worldly place
Longer than this road I travel
Wider than the gap You filled

Who shall separate us
Who shall separate us from Your love
Nothing can separate us
Nothing can separate us from Your love

In case you were wondering...

2010-05-09T15:43:00.000-05:00

8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and full of faithful love. 9 He will not always accuse us or be angry forever. 10 He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our offenses. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His faithful love toward those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:8-12

Couldn't have said it better myself

2010-05-02T17:14:00.000-05:00

Even if I tried :). Psalm 19- hard not to read something like this and not wish that I had the wisdom and insight to write something so wise, so humble, so profound that it even moves the hearts of men and women towards God's heart thousands of years later. Thank You Lord- Your words are better than life! Give us discernment and conviction to put these teachings of yours into practice, and as we do so, may they consume us and transform our hearts. May eyes of our hearts be opened to see as You do, and may we be moved to use our remaining days wisely, for Your Namesake, for Your purposes, to find joy and contentment in doing the good works that you have prepared in advance for us to do, before there was time.

Psalm 19
1 For the choir director. A Davidic psalm. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. 2 Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. 3 There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. 4 Their message has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the inhabited world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a groom coming from the bridal chamber; it rejoices like an athlete running a course. 6 It rises from one end of the heavens and circles to their other end; nothing is hidden from its heat. 7 The instruction of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the commandment of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous. 10 They are more desirable than gold- than an abundance of pure gold; and sweeter than honey- than honey dripping from the comb. 11 In addition, Your servant is warned by them; there is great reward in keeping them. 12 Who perceives his unintentional sins? Cleanse me from my hidden faults. 13 Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins; do not let them rule over me. Then I will be innocent,
and cleansed from blatant rebellion. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

For the Good

2010-04-22T07:02:00.000-05:00

Finally got some new cd's back at Christmas, and got a copy of Shane & Shane's latest: Everything's Different. In a word, this CD is awesome! One of the songs that has moved me the most in my walk with Christ is the song "For the Good", which is based off the Romans 8:28 passage, which reads:

"We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose."

When we read this, we may be led to think that God will only allow good things to happen to us, because we think that God wants us to be happy... not the case at all. He wants us to be blessed. Here's a great post that explains the difference: http://joedingwall.tumblr.com/post/528206606/does-god-promise-happiness#disqus_thread

Any ways, here are the lyrics to the song - absolutely awesome with the music. take some time to read and consider these words. Does this challenge the way you see difficulties in your life?

When darkness is surrounding me
by Your Spirit, Lord help me sing
that You are working all things out
Lord, I really need to hear you speak
Remind me in the waiting
that You are working all things out

For the good of those
who are called by You
for the good of those
who are in Love with You
That's why we sing

Holy God of light
I lay down my life
Holy is the Lord
Even in the storm be glorified

We like to take the blessing from You
Shall we not take the trouble too
You are working all things out
We like to take prosperity
Shall we not take the suffering
You are working all things out

Holy are you Lord
even in the storm
be glorified
Worthy of affection

TWITTER!

2010-04-13T22:23:00.000-05:00

The gap between my blog posts is getting larger and larger... mostly due to the fact that i really don't have time in my day to sit down and type out the kind of thoughtful post that i usually try to do. The other reason is that most people have the same time constraints that i do and are not spending as much time reading blogs as they are keeping up with their facebook and twitter accounts.
So, if you still want to follow my updates, i encourage you to follow me on twitter - it's where i do the most damage on a regular basis :). If you don't have an account, go ahead and take a step off the deep end and dive into the 21st century - like it or not, twitter and facebook is simply the way people communicate anymore. Look forward to chatting with you - follow me here http://twitter.com/LeavingTheGray

"let it be said of us"

2010-03-06T21:15:00.000-06:00

What a joy it would be if this could be said about the church today... God change us! Exodus 36:3-7 (HCSB)

3 They took from Moses' presence all the contributions that the Israelites had brought for the task of making the sanctuary. Meanwhile, the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. 4 Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work for the sanctuary came one by one from the work they were doing 5 and said to Moses, "The people are bringing more than is needed for the construction of the work the Lord commanded to be done." 6 After Moses gave an order, they sent a proclamation throughout the camp: "Let no man or woman make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary." So the people stopped. 7 The materials were sufficient for them to do all the work. There was more than enough.

Move our hearts once again, Lord. May we bless you Name by returning all that we have, all that we are, for the glory of your Name, for the extension of Your kingdom. May Your church give so generously, that the people must be turned back and told to stop giving because there is so much, that there was more than enough.
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breaking the mold

2010-03-05T21:55:00.000-06:00

There is only one you.
Let me say it again - never again in all of history will there be another you. You are uniquely gifted by our Creator with God-given talents, passions, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses, to be used in this exact moment in all of history. You are not an accident. In Christ, you have purpose; you have significance; you are loved.
You were meant to be you- and you are the only person who can BE you! There will always be expectations put on you by others, about what you should do, who you should be like, and on and on... Just as you can't be in two places at one time, you can't be two different persons at the same time. If you are not you, then who will? Who can?
If you are tired of trying to live up to the expectations of others, then break the mold! There's a reason that shoe doesn't fit - it's because you weren't meant to wear it!
If you find yourself imitating someone else's life, then there's no time to make your own life. Break the mold of being like someone else - there's only one you.

"All over the world"

2010-02-13T07:38:00.001-06:00

Haven't read any out of the New Testament in quite a while, and thought i'd start reading in Romans today. The thing i love about reading the New Testament is that you can't read very far without coming across those things that move us, challenge us, or encourage us in our walk to be come fully devoted disciples after our Lord Jesus. My reading today was no different; couldn't even make it past verse 8 of Romans chapter 1:

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.

As I read this, Matt Redman's song "all over the world" came to mind (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGoj0oJGLm4), and made me think: Would Paul say this of us if he were writing to us today? Sure, there are many churches that might have this reputation: HillSong, Lifechurch.tv, etc. But what does YOUR world say about your faith in Jesus Christ? Your neighbors? Your co-workers? Your family and friends?
Hear me clearly: the point is not to make our faith famous, but to make Jesus famous. And the question the world is begging us to answer is this: what difference does Jesus make if he makes no difference in the lives of those that profess to follow him?
Our answer to this question can be nothing short of this: a life fully submitted to the lordship of Jesus through faith (active-trust). People may not beleive what you say, but they will always beleive what you do.
My prayer is that each of you who read this would be stirred by the Holy Spirit to consider the opportunity, our resonable response to the Gosple, to be the salt and light He has called us to be, for His namesake, all over the world.

One Year Bible, Week 2

2010-01-19T06:43:00.000-06:00

This week, the blueletterbible.org chronological reading plan had me reading in Job. So far, I've read thru chapter 31, and looking back, I've found one thing for sure: Job's friends are jerks.

In Christian apologetics, we are taught to always give a reason for the hope that we have, and to do so with gentleness and respect, and that the ultimate goal is to win the person. Unfortunately, well-meaning Christians often will strive to win the argument at all cost, including at the expense of the person who they are trying to win. And this is the script that Job's friends followed.

Often people will jump straight to the end conclusion that Job's friends are jerks and have no sympathy for Job. But I don't think they intended to end up in the conversation they had. After Job lost everything- his wealth, his children, his health- his friends showed an amazing level of compassion towards Job by sitting on the ground with him for SEVEN days and nights in silence! I can't even imagine sitting still with some one for a single day, let alone 7 days!

The text doesn't tell us, but its possible that they were fasting during this time for their tragedy-strucken friend, who they apparently cared for deeply. But somewhere along the way, they forgot their love for Job, and felt like it was their duty to play God in Job's life and tell Job to repent of his many sins. After all, (in their mind) only the rebellious sinner suffers in this life, not the righteous....

There's a lot for us to be learned here. Probably the biggest thing I came away with is that when people are hurting or grieving, they don't need to hear your words as much as they need to feel that you care. Often a friends mere presence in our time of grief speaks volumes about how much they love us.

There is a time to talk through the questions and emotions, and when that time comes, don't follow the lead of Job's friends. If it is more important for you to be right than to grieve with your friend, then you will inevitably accomplish your goal to win the argument, and not the person.

Authentic Christian community requires faith

2010-01-13T10:11:00.001-06:00

Acts 4:32-35
"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need."

I read this passage this morning and couldn't help thinking how awesome it would be to live amongst believers who lived like this. A spoken faith backed up by action. I guess that's the true measure of faith any way. Praying that God would open the eyes of my heart so that I can see where he's calling me, moving me, burdening me for His Church, His Name, and His purposes. Praying also that God would do the same for you.

O.Y.B. - Week 1: Ham, Creation, and Snipes

2010-01-10T23:21:00.000-06:00

I've finished the first 4 days of my chronological reading plan, which covered Genesis chapters 1-11, and has me reading Job chapters 1-5 today (haven't finished yet...). A lot of ground is covered in these first 11 chapters: the creation account, the fall of man (enter: sin), growth of the human population, Noah and the ark, and the Tower of Babylon. There is also a mess of genealogies in these chapters, filled with names, most of which i cannot pronounce, and have a little difficulty keeping track of who beget who, which lineage is blessed, and which one is cursed-- i'm sure Ham really appreciated his Dad Noah for that, even though it was Noah's fault that he got drunk and decided to strip down and pass out in his tent...

One thing that I need to wrestle with is the 7 day creation account. In college, I had read most of John MacArthur's "Battle for the Beginning", which makes a strong case for a literal 7 day creation. This was my view, though recently, I am considering other options that I was unaware of before, as offered by Hank Hannegraff with the Christian Research Institute (Bible Answer Man, equip.org). From my listening to his radio program, I gather that there is evidence to believe that the writer did not intend for the 7 day account to be literal, but figurative. Not sure where i stand on this, but hope to dig into this at some point and see where the evidence leads.

Random thought: Noah was on the ark for 150 days with his family and all the animals. I'm curious what everyone had to eat during that time... Don't remember seeing the answer to that question, but have to wonder if there were a few species that didn't make it off the boat because a gator or a lion got the munchies... maybe that's what happened to snipes? anyways, i guess that's just some food for thought... man that's bad :)

FINALLY! One Year Bible Plan has begun!

2010-01-10T22:54:00.000-06:00

I've been meaning to post about my goal of reading through the Bible in a year, and haven't been able to carve out some time until now. So, here we go! I've read through the new testament letters many times, and most of the Gospels. I've also read from Genesis through 1 Chronicles, Proverbs, and all the Minor Prophets. But, I've never read ALL of the Bible, let alone in one year. So I've decided to do so for 2010.

I have found a great resource for mapping out a plan to read through the Bible in a year - http://www.youversion.com/. It has numerous different reading plan options, tracks your progress, and can also be set up to email you or someone else to provide you accountability - pretty slick! What's even better is that now they have synchronized the online version with the mobile version, so you can update your progress from your phone!

So anyways, I plan to use this blog during my reading to update my progress, to keep me accountable to my goal, and more importantly note anything i found to be significant to me at the time, questions i had, or whatever else that may relate to my reading for the day. I've set my start date to January 7th, and will finish on December 31, 2010 and am reading through based on a chronological reading plan by blueletterbible.org (http://www.blueletterbible.org/reader/daily/#plan4).

Hope you'll join me and read along, or read another plan at another pace that suits your needs. At the end of the day, the point is not to merely to just read the Bible, but to be transformed by it, so that we put into practice what it says.

"All of life comes down to just one thing..."

2010-01-09T14:54:00.000-06:00

"...and that's to know You, oh Jesus, and to make you known." - Charlie Hall, "One Thing"

It's not about your job, your title, your success, or how much you make.

It's not about your wife, your kids, your family, or the memories you've made.

It's not about the size of your home, your car, your toys, or where you live.

It's not about the places you've been, or the things you've done, the things you can do, the things you've seen, or what you've accomplished.

IT... is about knowing Jesus and to make Him known

It's not about the size of your church, how "good" your pastor is, the books you read, or the sermons you've heard.

It's not about how much you know about God, the Bible, Christianity, or other faiths.

It's not about the faith of your mom, your dad, your pastor, your friend.

It's not about your faith either.

IT... is about knowing Jesus and to make Him known

These many things are not bad things, but chasing after many things will keep you from the one thing we all need: Jesus.

3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.4 The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.5 But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (1 John 1:3-6, NIV)

We will never know true contentment, true peace, and true joy until our life's end purpose is to know Him and to make Him known.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18-20)

To have the One Thing, you must abandon pursuit of the many things. The many things will keep you from the One Thing.

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. (Matt. 13:44-46, NIV)

"All of life comes down to just one thing, and that's to know You oh Jesus, and to make you known."

Re-post: Enough

2009-12-10T05:57:00.002-06:00

Re-posting a note about "enough," a post I did a while back. I think it has some relevance to the current series that we are doing at lifechurch.tv called The Blessed Life.

The Blessed Life: A Heart of Generosity

2009-12-08T06:48:00.000-06:00

The "bag" is not enough.
The "basket" is more than enough.
The ''barn" is infinitely more than enough.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you need to watch this week's message from lifechurch.tv before reading on- click on this link to watch. http://www.lifechurch.tv/message-archive.

From time to time, Craig will take us through these kinds of messages, those that demonstrate a progressive level of commitment to Christ. In this message, the bag mindset is what we were pre-programed with, and the barn mindset is that which we hope to posses.

Most of us have a hard time graduating past the bag mindset because the bag equals security. it equals comfort. it equals our control of our lives. moreover, it seats money on the throne of our lives. If we don't have enough in the bag, we strive to spend less or make more so we can live the lifestyle that we want, have the security we desire, and to ultimately live comfortably. The foremost problem with the bag mindset is that the bag and what it contains is the lord of our lives, and not God.
The funny thing to me is that as tightly as we cling to the bag in our hand, God has already given us a basket and a barn. In order to experience barn blessings, we have to let go of the bag, because the barn requires stewardship (for it all belongs to Him anyway), and you can't steward the barn with a bag mindset. But a change of mind requires a change of lordship over our lives.

When God is on the throne of our lives, we turn to Him for all of our needs - He is our provider. Yes, this is difficult because it requires FAITH- and not just faith in faith, but faith IN God. And it is not blind faith or faith with out reason. He is faithful, and we can trust Him. Because His ways are higher than our ways, because He loves us, because He is a good God, we can trust Him- even when our prayers are not answered the way we wanted Him to, even when tragedy comes, because He is sovereignly in control, working all things together for those that love Him, that are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). As long as Christ is not King of our lives, we will continue to endure disappointment, dissatisfaction, frustration, and discontentment.

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Matthew 6:24.

Closing thought: Our money has the words "in God we trust" written on it. Shouldn't this be a reminder to us that it is God whom we trust, and not money?
Which one will we serve? can't have it both ways. How have you experienced the change from the bag mindset to the basket or the barn mindset? Share your thoughts- many of you reading this may be like me, just now becoming aware of our condition, and desiring to take steps towards trusting God and not money.

the importance of authenticity

2009-11-30T21:39:00.004-06:00

Here's an exerpt from the current Christian Research Journal about the importance of authenticity of our faith in Jesus - great article!

...be authentic. The importance of this became clear to me when a young
nurse named Maggie, who had experienced abuse at the hands of people who claimed
to be Christians, began attending our church. Soon she was part of a small group
of spiritual seekers who were meeting with a Christian couple to investigage
faith issues. Maggie ended up writing this poem about those two leaders:

Do you know, do you understand
that you represent Jesus to me?

Do you know, do you understand
that when you treat me with gentleness,
it raises the question in my mind that maybe He's gentle too.
Maybe He isn't someone who laughs when I am hurt.

Do you know, do you understand that when you listen to my questions and you
don't laugh,
I think, "What if Jesus is interested in me, too?"

Do you know, do you understand
that when I hear you talk honestly about arguments and conflict and scars
from your past
that I think, "Maybe I am just a regular person instead of a bad,
no good little girl who deserves abuse."

If you care, then I think maybe He cares-and then there's
this flame of hope that burns inside of me and for a while I am afraid to
breathe because it might go out.

Do you know, do you understand that your words are His
words?
That your face is His face to someone like me?

Please, be who you say you are.
Please, God, don't let this be another trick.
Please let this be real.
Please!

Do you know, do you understand
that you represent Jesus to me?

Blogging: where i've been and where i'm going

2009-11-28T08:39:00.004-06:00

As my rookie-year of blogging is coming to a close, I thought I'd take few lines to share some conclusions about the whole experience. When I started, I really had no idea what I was getting into. I had an unrealistic expectation that I would have hundreds of followers, just dying to read the next awe-inspiring post by Yours Truly (slight exaggeration... good thing I can laugh at myself!).

Seriously though, I had an expectation that each of my posts would have at least ONE comment, but the past year shows that that experience was the exception, and not the rule. I often thought, was my post not interesting enough? Did people not like the topic? My conclusion or opinion?

To help justify the existence of this blog, I tried many things. I used twitter to notify the world when I had a new post. I then linked my blog to facebook, so it would update my status when I added a new post, and then would tag my facebook friends, hoping that they would read and leave a comment (annoying, I know... sorry :\ ). I even signed up with a website that monitors activity on a particular website, giving information about how many visitors the site was receiving. There was traffic on the site, which was a good sign, but I was frustrated that no one was leaving comments. Combining my comment-frustration with a lack of post ideas that I wanted to write about and time to produce them lead to the practical flat-lining of my blogging life.

This is where I've been the last few months, and why I haven't posted very often. At the same time, I think this time off has been good for me. I have learned some things about blogging that I didn't realize before, and am ready for a new blogging season. I've learned that most people, including me, don't like to read long blog posts, nor do they have the time. I've also learned that blogging doesn't necessarily have to be for my readers--- it can be for me.

I'm looking forward to re-entering the blogging world, recharged and focused. It's time to do the things I once did, to remember why I started this blog in the first place:

a collection of my thoughts, notes from time with God, embracing the life that i have been given and yearning to ignite a generation for Christ, to awaken the apathetic, and to be a catalyst that takes Christians from luke warm to absolutely on fire, to bridge people to the love of God through relationships, to lead people to the indescribable joy of calling Jesus their Lord and Savior, to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. leaving the gray

I'm hoping you'll read along with me, and maybe even add your thoughts. Comments or not, my greater hope is that you run after Jesus along with me, that we would seize the opportunity to seek Him, to know Him, to read His Word and be transformed by it, that we would be the salt and the light of the world that He has made us to be, that we would leave the gray.

The Gospel in a nut shell

2009-10-21T08:32:00.002-05:00

3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved
by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated
and hating one another.4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior
appeared,5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but
because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by
the Holy Spirit,6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ
our Savior,7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become
heirs having the hope of eternal life.
8 This is a trustworthy saying.
And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may
be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are
excellent and profitable for everyone. Titus 3:3-8

Oh, how He loves us...

2009-09-20T21:08:00.002-05:00

"Oh, how He loves us, oh - how He loves us..."

... the chorus of a beautiful song that sings the heart of those that know the risen Christ, who have have been forgiven a debt that could never be repaid, who know peace from accepting a pure and holy grace matched by none, offered freely by the One and only one capable of offering such a gift.

So often, we fall into patterns of thinking that our salvation in Christ is associated by our performance of doing the "do's" and avoiding the "don'ts". And though we may have seasons of seemingly "good performances", our flesh will inevitably remind us that we are sinners to the utter core, incapable of living a sinless life.

In these moments, when we are reminded of our humanity, we tend to drown ourselves in remorse, so ashamed of our inability to do that which we are incapable of doing apart from Christ. At times, we may even wrestle with God - though we know that there is no quantity or qualitative sin that He can't and won't forgive, our flesh tries to convince us that we have some how disqualified ourselves from His grace.

I believe this song captures the moment when we finally realize that His grace is sufficient, that it is more than enough for us. When we stop trying to get our life cleaned up, carrying the baggage of guilt, trying to earn God's grace and forgiveness, we experience a freedom that the world cannot understand. We have been forgiven, just as we are, and then we remember that the Lord of heaven and earth, the lover of our souls loves US - EACH of us, uniquely, individually - again, Just..................As....................We.....................Are.

Have you let go of your guilt, your shame, your bondage? The Lord Jesus is able and wants to free you, to forgive you, to save you, to sanctify you, just as you are. Will you let Him? Click on the link below as you consider His amazing love for us...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUbImPNsmng&feature=related

1 Corinthians, Chapters 2, 3 (NTDRC-3)

2009-09-14T22:13:00.006-05:00

NTDRC-3: New Testament Daily Reading Club, Day 3!

Catching up here on 2 days' worth of reading through the New Testament, continuing in 1 Corinthians. Deep and heavy stuff here, but don't let that keep you from discovering what a gem these two chapters are!

Chapter 2 continues the theme from chapter 1 of contrasting worldly wisdom vs wisdom from the Holy Spirit. This is one of those passages that you have to read over and over again to see the beauty of what God is saying through the apostle Paul... Wisdom is simply applied knowledge. Worldly wisdom speaks from worldly knowledge. Though there is much knowledge in the world, it is OF a fallen world, and is incomplete and corrupted by sin. Apart from Christ, we will all revert to humanly wisdom. It is important to note that this passage is NOT a passage that is pinning "hyper-spirituality" against the rational application of knowledge. Rather, it is showing how inept that worldly wisdom is! Paul says it best in verses 10-16.

Chapter 3 deals with the worship of our spiritual leaders. This includes those spiritual giants in our day like; those that we aspire to become, those that lead us to be fully devoted followers of Christ. But these are no different than any believer - they have simply been found faithful with what they were called to do. These are our brothers and sisters in Christ, but are nothing apart from Christ. "What, after all, is Apollos: And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe - as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God mad it grow." 1 Cor. 3:5-6.

Much more could be said... what about verses 10-23? Did you see a connection between these verses and the previous verses in chapter 3? What stood out to you in chapter 2? Click the comment button below and share your thoughts!

"I'm just not being fed..."

2009-09-13T13:28:00.007-05:00

"I'm just not being fed..."

Unfortunately, this is a complaint being expressed by far too many Christians in churches today - the message isn't deep enough for me; I'm not being taught the Word of God; my pastor isn't teaching me the Bible verse by verse...

I believe that these complaints are serious, and should not be taken likely. The church plays a critical role in developing the Body of Christ - no doubt about it. The topic of discipleship is worthy of numerous separate posts dealing with this issue. For the purpose of this post, however, I would like to submit a question to those that share these dissatisfying feelings about their pastor:

Why is it someone else's fault that you are not being spiritually fed?

I would lovingly yet firmly state that if you have a Bible and you can read, you are responsible for feeding yourself.

Never before have we had access to more Bibles, more personal devotion materials, and more means to get the Word of God into our hearts. We now have the ability to receive daily bible verses emailed or twittered to us, daily reading plans - we even have access to view the Bible for free on our cell phones (http://www.youversion.com/). With all these things available - not to mention that some in other countries can't get enough Bibles - why is it that we are not taking more responsibility for our own spiritual growth in Christ?

I used to share this critical sentiment against my pastor. For a season, instead of "feeding" myself, i would spend much of my time and energy criticizing my pastor and church because they didn't teach me the Bible, verse by verse. Looking back, I failed to realize that it wasn't my pastor's responsibility to feed me. His job is to equip the saints to do the work of proclaiming the gospel to the world through the spoken and lived lives of the Body of Christ, who live in submission of Holy Spirit's leading.

And there was no doubt that he was doing exactly that - comforting and confronting, bringing the application of God's Word deep into our hearts so that we would be moved, challenged and convicted by the Holy Spirit, and mobilized in to the faithful ministries that God has called each of us to. He simply was operating on the understanding that every believer was feeding themselves, and that he was simply helping the body connect the dots, drawing biblical application, and confronting us with a call to action.

What's more, I had DAILY access to pastors that were gifted to teach the Bible verse by verse, via my radio (http://www.bottradionetwork.com/), bible study groups, life groups, and about a dozen Bibles and commentaries laying around my house to help me get God's Word into my heart!

To be clear, I believe that the church has a role in the spiritual development of every believer, and there is a season in the beginning of every believer's life where they need spiritual milk, where they need to be spoon-fed. But at the end of the day, when we should already be well beyond milk, when God calls us to give an account for our stewardship of the resources that were plainly available for our spiritual development, every believer is responsible for "feeding" themselves.

There are numerous resources available to help every Christian get the Word of God into their hearts, to help them in their growth and understanding. I would love the opportunity to help anyone needing some help to get started - please leave your questions or comments and I will gladly offer any assistance that I can to help move any honest seeker move towards being a "self feeder."

1 Corinthians, chapter 1 impressions

2009-09-12T21:23:00.003-05:00

"Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." 1 Cor. 1:22-25

This is a snap-shot of the apologetic that Paul is making to the Corinthians regarding the wisdom of God. I don't fully know the situational context which prompted Paul to write on this issue, but regardless, there is much for the church today to learn from.

I believe that he is writing in part to challenge the perception that God only does what he does if it passes thru the filter of our humanly wisdom. Point taken: the depth and bredth of the wisdom of God is complete and perfect; we make human judgements from finite view points, seeing only in part.

Much more here... what did you find significant to you in this passage? This chapter? What is God challenging you with here? Does this give you peace or discomfort with God's wisdom vs. your own?

Share your thoughts, questions, comments!

fruit happens

2009-09-03T06:02:00.002-05:00

Upon doing a word search on www.youversion.com of the word "fruit", I found that there were tons of references of fruit in the Bible. Though the context in which the word is used varies, one of the common reoccuring themes is the idea that our lives bear fruit. Reading in Matthew, I found several references made by Jesus about fruit (Matt. 7:17-18, for example).

As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we desire for our lives to bear "good" fruit. If we have good fruit, that means we are a good tree, and that we will be pleasing in the sight of God. Jesus said that every tree that bears bad fruit (or no fruit at all) will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So how do we bear good fruit? What do we have to do?

Let me try to answer that question in this way: fruit happens - fruit is not the point, Jesus is. Fruit is merely the result of living out of the overflow of what God is doing in our hearts.

Don't focus on the works of a Christian, but the heart. Abide in Christ our vine, for apart from Him, we can do nothing . When we abide in Him, our heart aligns with His, and we are enabled to do good works which he prepared for us in advance (John 15:4-5, Eph. 2:10).

How do we abide in Christ - and what does that even mean? My defiinition is a continual condition of remaining in Christ, to know the heart and mind of the Lord Jesus through the revelation of His word and to follow His teaching.

The normative process is found through hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on the Word, and comes to fruition by the personal application in our lives. But we need help along the way. We need those Paul's of the faith to come along side us Timothy's who are yearing to grow in Christ, but just need some help - this is the process of discipleship.

As we walk with Him, we grow, and are all the more focused on Jesus, so much that we don't even realize that we are bearing fruit. Fruit happens along the way when we are seeking God and being transformed into His image. Fruit is not the point, Jesus is.

Profiting from the Prophets

2009-07-22T06:11:00.003-05:00

About a month ago, I started reading the book of Daniel in the Bible for the first time. Up until now, I have read the new testament many times, and most of the old testament - but none of the major/minor prophets. So far, I have read Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micha.

It's been kinda fun reading through these books - first of all because I've been reading the snot out of them on the youversion.com app for my phone, secondly, because I am discovering the roots of my Christian beliefs. Today, for example, I read this passage in Micha 7:18-20:

18 Who is a God like You, removing iniquity and passing over rebellion for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not hold on to His anger forever, because He delights in faithful love.
19 He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
20 You will show loyalty to Jacob and faithful love to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from days long ago.

These verses are the last of a book where Micah is telling of God's coming judgement on His people and their sin. Words of hope. Our sins will be forgotten, cast into the depths of the sea. Who is like our God? So many times, I have heard phrases or thoughts like this in songs and sermons and have thought, wow, what a great word! Like the Bereans and Paul's teaching in Acts 17:11, I am spiritually profiting from going to God's word to discover the roots of the Christian faith!

Admittedly, most of the verses that I've read for the first time have not yet registered any significant meaning to me. I recognize that they are contextualized within the history books of the old testament, and will have to set aside some time to really study if I am to grasp all of the richness of each author's inspired words in these pages.

Word of encouragement for the day: read your bibles! You don't have to master every verse and chapter the first time you read it. Let it be process, and enjoy discovering the treasures of this masterfully written and divinely inspired book where God speaks, where we can find hope, and where we find meaning and purpose for our short-lived lives on this earth!

contentment

2009-07-12T17:02:00.004-05:00

This morning I was getting my daughter some cereal for breakfast. She is a huge cereal fan, like her daddy, and says to me: "Daddy, I want a lot." She says this, of course, because she is really hungry and thinks that she could literally devour all food in sight. Not sure where she gets this from... But me, being a "professional" parent now of two, understand that she has a small stomach and can only eat a certain amount before she becomes full. And she proves me right every time I give her too much, as we would often have to throw away the cereal that she couldn't finish.

This is not an easy thing to explain to a three-year-old, but once grasped, it will radically affect her view of life. So our dialogue goes something like this...

"Do you have a lot of Buba's or enough?" - "enough"
"Do you have a lot of Daddy's or enough? - "enough"
"Do you have a lot of Mommy's or enough?" - "enough"

So instead of giving her everything she asks for, I give her enough of what she needs - not to much, but enough. And guess what? To her surprise, she was content with enough.

Unfortunately, even as adults we have a horrible time realizing this reality. I imagine that our Heavenly Father shakes his head in amazement at our needless requests for things that we don't need, and the quantities that we ask for. God, please give me more income... God, please give me a bigger house... God, please give me the car with all the bells and whistles... The bible tells us that we have not because we ask with the wrong motives, asking for things to dispose of upon our selfish desires, and not for His purposes (James 4:3). But God not only wants to provide us with our needs, but desires to provide us with good things, for our well-being and benefit (Matt. 7:7-11, Romans 8:28).

And how insulting is it to God when we forget that His grace is sufficient for us, and continually try to earn his favor by works and good deeds, trying to appease God by doing many "righteous" things to outweigh the sin-debt that we are absolutely unable to pay (2 Cor. 12:9)? How quickly we forget that the work of Christ on the cross was MORE than enough for us.

I think Paul describe the concept of contentment in his letter to the Philippians:

"...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:11-13

Find contentment in enough...

Leadership 101: People do what they're lead to do

2009-06-07T13:54:00.003-05:00

I've heard my pastor speak several times about leadership within the church world. One of the topics he often deals with is in the form of a complaint from pastors and leaders about their followers. "My people won't _____." The blank can represent a lot of things for church leaders; tithe, serve, go on missions, love one another, practice evangelism, etc. Many times, a leader will experience this frustration, not for lack of communicating the need, but because they haven't lead their people in this area by actually modeling the desired action themselves. A leader can't lead someone to do something that they themselves are not doing. Tough talk, but nevertheless, reality.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch where you and me and everyone else lives, the question arises: "so what?" Well, here's where it applies to me.

Over the last few days, i have experienced a lot of frustration with my 3yr-old daughter. She back-talks frequently, talks very rudely, all with a less-than-desired-tone... Up until now, this has not been a regular occurance, and when it did happen, our usual discipline approaches correct these behaviors. So what do you do when your normal parenting approaches don't work? That's right! You raise your voice, give them the mean parent face, and use every threat you can think of, but never follow through... very inneffective, unproductive, and harmful at best.

So my sweet, loving, meek wife brings this idea to my attention after we had another behavior problem this morning. Not her exact words, but the idea is this: "she is only acting out the way she sees us act out." No way to counter the wisdom of a Proverbs 31 woman... My daugher is doing what I've lead her to do. If I want a certain behavior in her, if I want her to respond a certain way when things don't go well, if I want her to share and be loving to her friends and neighbors - you guessed it. I have to do it myself if I hope to lead her to do the same.

People do what people see. This applies to anyone who has a position of authority or influence on another person - that includes moms, dads, brothers, sisters, co-workers, employees, teammates, and even church leaders :). What is it that your "people" won't do, that you haven't lead them to do?

testing for pride...

2009-05-20T22:33:00.002-05:00

Just the other day I had a friend tell me about recent experience in being humbled. Someone had the courage to show him one of his "blind spots". Instead of digging in his heals and defending himself, he chose to be teachable and allowed humility to produce growth in him.

Where personal defensiveness arises, you can be sure that pride is not far.

Humility is a litmus test for pride. Apart from it, we are not able to discern pride in ourselves. The measure of pride is directly related to the amount of personal pain we experience when we are exposed to humility. The more prideful we are, the more it hurts.

When our confidence, peace and joy are found in Jesus Christ and HIS work in us and others, humbling circumstances will not only be painless, but will further solidify our confidence and joy in Christ our King.

finding rythm, staying in tune

2009-05-12T22:43:00.004-05:00

Over the last month or two, I have been a little out of sync with life. Not quite sure why, but just seemed to be just a count off beat, a little out of rhythm with this current season of my life. For no apparent reason, I often felt despair, struggling to find purpose, experiencing friction in many areas of life, although unnoticeable to many looking on. But every time those feelings came on, I ran hard to God. Each time, He reminded me that in Him I find my peace, my strength, my hope, my purpose, my joy. His provision was enough, yet kept me coming back for more. In short, He sustained me, giving me the kick in the butt I needed to shake the funk that I regularly would fall into.

For whatever reason tonight, I was able to associate all this with being a little out of rhythm in life, often trying to play an instrument that didn't fit the song. Musically speaking, I am not tone-deaf; I know when something sounds out of tune. But in regards to the current season I am in, the current song that my life is playing, I have been most definitely tone-deaf. Wrong instrument, wrong beat, wrong tune.

I'm not quite sure what the song of this season of my life is yet, but I'm catching on to the tune. There is a heavy dependence upon God in prayer; more than I can remember. Also an unveiling of my eyes to see things that I never understood before in scripture, causing me to pour over a few verses for days and days. There is a deepening burden to truly love people. Also an awareness that I don't really know as much as I think I do, realizing that I have much to learn from others, and less emphasis on what I can offer them.

All these things are apart of the song He is playing in my life, the melody. I haven't yet picked up on the lyrics, the message, the purpose of this song, this season, but know that songs are about timing. When the time comes, I am sure that I'll know the lyrics, I'll know the heart of this season. Then, with everything that is in me, I will make a joyful noise, in key, on queue, in rhythm, signing His song for this season of my life.

Teach me Your song Lord Jesus. Show me the purpose of this season. Fill my lungs. I will sing your song with all that I am. I will not be silent.

The Bread of Life

2009-04-30T22:25:00.003-05:00

Our lifegroup has been going through a Bible study on John chapter 6, and spent our time in group this week on verses 22-40. This passage is about how Jesus addresses the crowd on the Bread of Life. http://www.youversion.com/bible/niv/john/6/22

I found myself spending a lot more time on this passage then I thought possible... So much going on here with the questions and answers being ask by Jesus and of Jesus. Many observations here, but too many for one single blog. Take some time to read this passage, and as you do, consider your answers to these questions:

Read John 6:26... Why do you seek Him?
Read John 6:27... What "food which perishes" do you need to stop working for, so that you have time to work for food that does not perish, "the Bread of Life"?
Read John 6:28-29... How do you (or have you) complicated "working" for the Bread of Life?
Read John 6:29-31... What "signs" have you asked God to do so that you would believe?
Read John 6:35-40... What does this passage say? What is the significance of this reality in your life?

River of life

2009-04-08T06:09:00.005-05:00

"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked,
Norstand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers." Psalms 1:1-3

The law of the LORD is the river of life. As we stretch out our roots towards Him and His Word, we find life. We find everything we need to grow in Christ from the firtle banks of His Word. Our delight is in doing the very thing that He created us to do; abiding in Christ; to remain planted by the River of Life.

By feasting on His Word, savoring on every morsel, we become nourished. As we are nourished, we become strengthened. Stregthening allows growth. Growth produces fruit in its season. Fruit is returned to the Lord of the Harvest, for His good pleasure and purposes.

The water of everlasting life flows through our veins, producing leaves that do not wither with the changing seasons. His Word continually flows through us as we continually abide in Him.

Abide in Christ. devour His Word. Make the Psalmist' delight yours; find the joy of your life in the hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, meditating, and applying of the Word of God to your life. Submit to His Lordship and find life.

I love the 3rd of the month!

2009-04-03T07:04:00.003-05:00

For the past few weeks, i have been reading a proverb a day; the chapter number for the calendar day. Today's reading is Proverbs 3.

Up until today, i would sit in my car before going into work and read a chapter, looking for that one or two verses that I wanted to take with me that day. Today, I am at my desk early, reading proverbs from http://www.youversion.com/, an online bible and community. On it, you can read the contributions of other readers, and "star" verses that you would normally underline in your bible.

Most days, i'll read proverbs and find a couple of verses that are noteworthy in my book, and share them with others. Today, that will be hard, because the whole blessed chapter is awesome!

Ever heard the verse, "Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding; in all your ways aknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." it's in Proverbs 3, verses 5-6.

What about this one: "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." Proberbs 3, vs 11-12

Want to see more? go to http://www.youversion.com/, type in Proverbs 3.

As you read, ask God to challeng you, to show you where these proverbs apply to your life. Don't just read them; study them. memorize them. meditate on them. APPLY them.

Hope you have an awesome God filled blessed day - Let God pour into you, so that He can pour you out on others.

fruit or the vine?

2009-03-22T23:22:00.004-05:00

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." - Proverbs 14:12

As Christians, we desire to be fully devoted followers of Christ, to be found pleasing and acceptable in the sight of the Lord. And as a response of sincerely wanting to live the abundant life in Christ that the bible calls us to, we fill our spiritual lives with certain disciplines and activities that are reflective of that which we want to be: fully devoted followers of Christ.

Things like reading our bibles daily, spending time in prayer, going to church, to lifegroup/biblestudy/sunday school are among those things which we associate with an "Evangelical-Bible-Believing-born-again Christian" We may even further be involved as ushers, and childcare workers, volunteering in a variety of service and mission opportunities, even leading people to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior; these are the "do's". Conversely, we also dissociate Christians with certain activites, such as drinking, speeding, cursing, unkindness, hate, and on and on the list of "don'ts" goes.

And so goes the Christian religion: do the activities that are reflective of a believer; bear fruit. Consequently, the underlying point of all the activities (or non activities) is this: if I do the "do's" and refrain from the "don'ts", then I am a fully devoted follower of Christ; a Christian. But is that the point? Is this the message that the bible teaches? Is the fruit the point, or is there more to it?

To be clear, I am not condemning these Christian activities. There is nothing wrong with having bible studies, reading the bible in a year, serving at church, etc. These are wonderful Christian disciplines and activites. However, they are not the point.

One of the essential beliefs of Christianity is that we are saved by grace alone. period. It is impossible to earn our salvation through the doing of works, of "Christian activities." As Christians, we know this; it is hard-wired into our very being. We know that these activities don't save us, but we want to do them, out of a response of what Christ has done for us.

Paul says, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. - Ephesians 2:10"

And so we go, ever so passionately striving to be that fully devoted follower of Christ, dying to one's self, taking up our cross, and engaging in fruit activities. But the subtlty of all our activity is that we do fruit-like activities to show that we are fully devoted followers of Christ, instead of seeking and knowing the One that produces fruit in us. Remember what Paul says in Galations 5:22: "but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfullness, gentelness, and self-control. Notice that this fruit is born of the Holy Spirit in us, not of ourselves.

So what's the point? Let's look at what the One we follow said:

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." - John 15:4-5

What does this mean? It means seek the Lord. Seek to remain in Him. Don't just read the Bible; devour it; meditate on it. Seek His face. Ask him to help you understand what you read. Tell him what you feel when you read His word. Be still; listen. learn what it means to pray without ceasing. Seek to know the Lord Jesus, and to be known by him, for apart from him, we can bear no true fruit.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'
Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me you evil doers!'" Matthew 7:21-23

Serving Him does not replace us knowing Him. Activity does not equal life.

Does this resonate with you? Have you found yourself in seasons where the fruit , not the vine, was the goal?

the little things

2009-03-19T21:38:00.004-05:00

I've recently become very aware that God is calling me to be faithful in the little things; driving the speed limit, picking up a small piece of trash that I dropped, choosing to be truthful when it is easier and more convenient to be decietful. Yes, these are small things that the world around us justifies everyday, but does that make it right? Does the majority rule, or does God rule?

1 John 1:5-7 says "This is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you. God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in darkness, we lie, and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin."

You're either walking in the light or your not - it's that simple. There is no gray area with God. Hot or Cold; light or darkness. you choose. Choose to leave the gray. Choose to be in the light.

Idol Talk

2009-03-13T22:20:00.003-05:00

I had the opportunity to go to the men's big12 basketball tournament yesterday, and so I had to act on it. I am a huge fan of college basketball, especially OSU. Kinda is akward at first, remembering how to cheer your guts out for your team after you are out of school. I used to go nuts at home games while in Stillwater, yelling 'til my voice was gone.

As I was sitting there, God decided that He would speak to me about what was going on around me, whether I wanted Him to or not. So, in the middle of a very heated and intense bedlam game, I made some observations: when my team did good, myself and our fans errupted with cheers and excitement; when things went wrong, we release resounding sighs and express our openly display our dissappointment. When we thought that our team was being treated unfairly, we let loose our boo's, disgust, and choicest words; when the other team made a mistake or was penalized, we cheered in the face of our opponents' fans. Pretty typical of every sporting event that I have ever been to, unfortuneatly.

Why do we do this?People love their schools, their teams, their players. Why? Because they are a source of pride to their fans when their team does well, and a source of shame when they dissapoint us. They represent our honor, our prestige, our pride, us. If they do well, we do well. If they do poorly, our pride suffers.

Still trying to enjoy a very exciting game, I suddenly was evauluating myself, trying to determine why i was so ticked off that the ref made a horrible call against my team, and why I was soo stinkin happy when they responded with a huge answer bucket. I'll let you ponder these questions for yourself, to try to determine why you do what you do, and ask God if He approves - that is between you and him. But for me, I discovered that I was responding to the game in this way because the team on the floor and the name on their jersey represented my pride, and was nothing short of an idol.

My conviction during a Thursday night baskeball game was not about being a fan of a team or a sport. It was an awareness that there are idols in my life, things that are taking God's place as the number 1 ranking in my life. It is a warning sign to me when my mood and emotions are affected by the outcome of a game - win or loose - or any other event or happening in my life. It is an indicator of what is apparently more important to me. Am I more excited about Jesus changing someone's life or my team winning? Do I get more dissapointed and bothered when a loved one is far from God, or that my team looses?

"Awe come on! lighten up man! It's sports! It's just a game! Besides, everybody knows that idols are made of gold and wood, from the bible stories, not basketball teams or schools - don't be so legalistic!" Sound like what you are thinking? Maybe your right. But if God convicted you of this, would you listen? Or would you justify why it is no big deal, that you're not as big of a fanatic as the other guy?

After dealing with the awareness of this sobering insight, I thought that was the end of God's pruning, at least for one night. Then he smacked me in the face with the next blow. My idols are not confined to athletic events. I have some at work, too. You see, I get really pumped up when I seal a deal on a contract that I was trying to land, or when I'm able to solve some glaring problem on a project. Why? Because it makes me look good to my boss, my peers, and upper management. I want to win, I want to do well, I want to succeed because I worship myself.

It's no wonder that God forbids idolatry, for to worship anything else other than the one true God, is truely a counterfit that leaves us with absolutely nothing in the end. It's the counterfiets that deceive us. They are true-ish beliefs that the world has sold us on. And we bite on that bait, almost every time, often without even knowing it. Proverbs 14:12 says: "there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."

What counterfits, what idols, what lies have you bought into (in the past or currently)? What are the warning signs that you use to identify if something is an idol in your life?
Too important of an issue for us to not answer these kinds of questions. What say you?

Bible Study Tool - Blue Letter Bible

2009-03-08T21:35:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine referred me to an online Bible study tool - thought I'd share it with you. The site is http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.cfm. It is a pretty sophisitated little site, with cross references, maps, timelines, and many other references. It also has a bible reading plan, daily devotionals, and commentaries. I also found a link that specifically deals with sayings that are supposedly in the Bible, but are not actually in the scripture - very interesting!

I have't spent a whole lot of time on it, but I can say that I am very impressed with what I've seen so far. Any time I come across something I thing that is beneficial, I want to put it out there for everyone to know about.

As with anything that I recommend, I want you to let me know if you find something objectionable - i can't catch it all, but want to know if I have inadvertently supported something that is contrary to what the Bible teaches. Check it out and let me know what you think - good, bad, or indifferent.

remember

2009-03-05T00:20:00.003-06:00

Throughout the Old Testament, there are stories of individuals who would construct a monument of some kind to memorialize an event or covenant that they wanted to remember. Other times, God would cause his people to write down what he said, or have certain feasts throughout the years so that they would not forget what he had told them or what God had done for them. And what about taking communion - "do this in rememberance of Me."

God knows that we have a tendancy to forget. Forgetting small things is a small thing. Forgetting what God has done for us, and what He has revealed to us is a big thing. Sweat the big stuff.

The other day, I had a moment where I was doubting God - doubting that He was there, that this Christian life I'm living was real. I had suddenly found myself disoriented in my faith, unsure of where I was. I needed to find something constant, something familiar, to help me remember where I was and where I was going. Like a neon sign, there it was, flashing at me, "remember."

It was just a simple reminder, where God had revealed Himself to me in such a way that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that He was real - so real that I thought God himself was literally sitting next to me. (I'll post about this event another time). God had burned that event forever in my memory, creating a spiritual monument, a faith milestone, so that I wouldn't forget what He had shown me.

The panic subsided; the feeling of confusion and doubt had vanished. I remembered who my God is. He was there all along, waiting for me to remember.

What events can you fall back to where God showed up, where He was faithful, where you really understood something about Him, where He proved to you that He was real?

What are the monuments that God has provided in your life? What monument is He constructing right now?

Remember.

method vs message?

2009-02-25T06:08:00.004-06:00

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. - 1 John 1:3

I was watching some video clips of some Christian teachers that I follow on YouTube last night, and decided to read some of the comments left by the viewers. Starting off, i expected to read some really great comments, full of insight and encouragement left by other viewers... Instead, i found myself walking through a war zone between mockers and professing Christians.

There was an occasional person seeking truth for some honest questions, but by and large, many of the commenters weren't looking for answers - they were on they attack. As I continued through several pages of comments, I observed several conversations between those slinging accusations and individuals who seemed to be Christ followers. The troubling thing, though, was that often I couldn't tell who was the non-believer and who was the Christian. Respondents lacing their comments with profanity, filled with hatred for the person opposing their view point, condescending remarks - absolutely disgusted by what I was observing.

I had read the verse above today, and couldn't help noticing that it applies to what I observed last night. John writes that the purpose of sharing our faith, what we have seen and heard, is so that others would have fellowship with us and with Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith.

It is extremely important that Christians be not only equipped to give an answer for the hope that we have in the Lord Jesus, but we MUST FINISH WHAT THE TEXT SAYS!

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. - 1 Peter 3:15

...with gentleness and respect. Our method will defeat our message on the battle ground for truth if they are not Christ-centered and Christ-driven. Only a method of sharing and defending our faith consistent with the Gospel we proclaim has any hope of being received and honestly considered by those we intend to reach for Christ. We must not forget that the reason we share and defend our faith is so that others may have fellowship with us, in fellowship with the Lord Jesus - this is our joy as followers of Jesus Christ.

Pride Stinks

2009-02-24T09:31:00.000-06:00

Saw a skunk running across the road this morning, thinking how disgusting their stench is. I think God thinks the same thing about our sin, namely pride. I'm sure there's a lesson here, especially about removing the stench when you're sprayed. A bath of humility is the recipe for removing the stench of pride...

check the box

2009-02-20T06:28:00.013-06:00

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:5-8

I've been spending the last week in 2 Peter. It is a short read, but packed with a message for already-converted believer. There is so much to say, but I'll stay focused, or at least attempt to do so for this post.

Checking the box
For whatever reason, we seem to have a bent towards checking the box as we go through life. Graduate high school - check. Go to college - check. try half a dozen majors - check. get married, have 2.5 kids, buy a nice car, live in a nice house, get our kids in the right schools - check, check, check, etc. Once we conquer the list, we think that we will have contentment in our lives. Unfortunately, our memories fail us in regard to this lie, just as this lie fails to fulfill us.

Checkboxianity?
Probably the biggest lie we as Christians swallow is that our faith in Christ is limited to a single point in time where we said a magic prayer and gave our life to God, and then we can go on about our life, living any way we please. Ask Jesus to forgive me of my sins and give me eternal life - check. go to church (sometimes or even all the time) - check. Get baptized - check. Say a quick prayer every now and then, especially before dinner - check. Unfortunately, the Bible doesn't offer a check-the-box gospel. it offers a gospel that is a journey, a process, a means that couldn't be farther from checkboxianity.

Event vs. Process
In the verse above, it can be seen that God has a much different idea about what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. You see, asking Christ to be Lord of our lives doesn't end with a prayer asking God to save us; it begins there. Once we confess our sins to God and put our faith in Him to forgive us, we thereby take the first step of the most wonderful journey in all of life. But we will never experience the abundant life that the Lord Jesus promised if we allow ourselves to become ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Building upon foundations
Peter is showing us that there is a progression from one virtue to the next. But these things are not like a badge that we earn like a boy scout; no, they build upon each other. He doesn't say have goodness, knowledge, self-control, etc.; Peter says ADD goodness to faith, ADD knowledge to goodness, ADD self-control to knowledge, etc. Each of these things are correctly exemplified when they are built upon the right preceding foundations. Sure, each of us as followers of Christ can exhibit all of these qualities in our lives, but when built upon each of the preceding foundations, we begin to understand what these virtues truly are.

The greatest of these...
The beauty of it all is that these virtues all build towards the greatest gift, the greatest quality, the greatest virtue of them all: love. Paul echoes these teachings in his own writings, reminding us that of faith, hope, and love, the greatest of these is love. Elsewhere he teaches that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up - point being that love is the greater virtue. Above all this, Paul brings it home, reminding us that our maturity in Christ has absolutely nothing to do with checking the box. In Romans, he writes:

"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law." - Romans 13:8

Kinda hard to check the box on love. If you must check the box, though, make sure that your pen is always out of ink. That way you can check it again, and again, and again, and....

more than a picture

2009-02-15T06:18:00.007-06:00

Many of us have pictures of the most beautiful places on earth burned into our memory. These are the places that we would love to visit, given the chance. Pristine white sand beaches, clear blue water, majestic snow capped mountains, huge pine trees covering the landscape - the descriptions go on and on. These are the pictures and images that we could stare at for hours, admiring God's craftsmanship; the sheer amazement and beauty of something so wonderful.

Some have the opportunity to visit these places and see them through more than a picture - and all of these will tell you that these places are more brilliant, more captivating, more moving than any picture could hope to capture.

As I have been reading through the new testament, I have caught myself staring (if you will) at the imagery these writers use to describe what a life submitted to Christ looks like. The last few times I have set out to read chapter 2 of 1 Peter, I inevitably find myself retracing my steps through chapter 1, each time slower and slower, catching the beauty contained in every verse. Passages like those in 1 Peter 1:13-21 show what a beautiful thing Jesus did for us by dieing on the cross, and what true life looks like when we follow Him.

But the abundant life that Jesus talked about is not found in staring at a picture of following Jesus; it is found in actually going to these places, living out the things written on these precious pages. Reading and re-reading passages that captivate our minds and warm our spirits, but not taking the steps to apply these teachings is like a person who tries to tell someone that they've been to Mt. Everest just because they saw a picture of it.

Of course, we would never say this to anyone. But often this is how I live my life to Christ. I think in my mind that I am a good Christian, if only because I read my Bible, regardless if I ever apply what I read to my life - absolutely ridiculous.

The beauty described in these pages is limited by words. Not even a picture can tell all that there is to see. We will only truly know how beautiful it is to follow Jesus when we heed his instructions found in scripture, and submit ourselves to God's working in our lives, perfecting and completing the good work He began in us. Only then will we be able to see how beautiful these things, these places truly are.

Don't just stare; journey to visit.

self serving?

2009-02-15T05:32:00.002-06:00

"Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angles long to look into these things." 1 Peter 1:10-12

I am in a season of discovering what leadership actually is, and so it is no surprise to myself that I kept reading this passage over and over, not being able to move past it with out considering God's use of it to move me spiritually from where I am.

Leadership is a term that each of us must define. For a long time, I thought of it as a tool people used to manipulate people to do what you wanted them to do; to get them help you complete your goals, your agenda. But the more I learn, the more sure I become that leadership is helping people accomplish those goals that most greatly benefit those being lead (as those that will follow them), not the leader. A true leader will place the needs of those he serves as his first leadership priority, serving them in ways that enable them to accomplish those lofty goals that they aren't able to reach by themselves.

Leadership is truly a powerful tool that enables us to do things that we couldn't do by ourselves. Ironically, most of our world misunderstands what is at the heart of true leadership: servant-hood. Don't believe me? Try taking some notes from the greatest leader that has and will ever live: Jesus Christ.

Is your leadership for the benefit of yourself or others?

specks and planks

2009-02-10T05:43:00.005-06:00

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Luke 6:41-42

Life-long church goers like myself are very familiar with this passage. And like so many other familiar verses, they seem to just pass right on through my ears, not registering with my dense head. No, this wasn't directly what Sunday's message was about, but a simple demonstration at the beginning of the message revealed something about my subconscious opinion of myself. Here's how it goes:

Pastor asks something like this, "everyone look at the person to your left. Now look at the person to your right. In front of you. Now behind you. Which of those is the worst sinner of all?"

Me being ornery and sitting next to my wife decide to point to my wife. Didn't feel too bad about it though, as i found that she was pointing right back at me. Of course everyone laughs; kinda fun to poke some fun at your friends/neighbors/spouse sitting around you. Some bypass the humor and get right to the spiritual answer and point to themselves (you guys are no fun... but you are right).

What was revealing to me was that I didn't even consider myself as a candidate as the worst sinner. Yes, i know he didn't ask us to, but the very essence of being a follower of Christ is acknowledging ones own sin and being absolutely disgusted by it - everyone of us should have pointed to ourselves. But by pointing to someone else, it show that I think of myself as a good person, not a bad sinner...

For whatever reason we are often so consumed with our own self-righteousness that we don't notice the tree sticking out of our own eye, growing all the time because we simply are blind to it. We go through life, thinking we have a few specks in our eyes, but hey, so does everybody, right? So we justify it, saying, I'm not a bad person, or at least not as bad as the guy next to me.

But God uses His word as a mirror and shows us how ridiculous we are to think that we are without sin. If you will let Him, He will bring you to absolute humility and disgust for your trees, your planks, your sin (confessed or otherwise) - and from there... complete restoration. friendship with God. It is absolutely overwhelming to grapple with the idea that our Lord, the creator of life itself, shows us such kindness and love, willing to forsake His Son on the cross so that through His death and His resurrection, we can be forgiven, and have the privilege of calling Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives, and living a life that reflects that belief.

Ask God to help you recognize your planks. But don't stop there. deal with them. Let Jesus change you. Just because you call Jesus your savior doesn't mean you are immune to sin. Let Him search the depths of your heart. And when he shows you what He finds, confess it, turn from it, and find life.

Priorities?

2009-02-08T16:06:00.002-06:00

Most of us are able to rattle off the top 5 priorities of our lives with little effort. But rare is a person who actually lives according to their own spoken priorities. In my own struggle to live out what I profess to believe, I have asked myself to answer two simple questions:

What MUST I do each day (priority)? - These are the things that are outside my normal activities, like work, meals, getting dressed, etc. These are things that reflect my beliefs and priorities. They require a conscious effort to accomplish.
What things would I LIKE to do today (discretionary)? - These are the things I would like to do after I tend to my priorities, time and resources willing.

Too often, I find myself spending most of my time doing the things that I like to do, but little on the things that I absolutely must do, if my beliefs are to match what I profess. Below, I have provided my answers to these questions, in effort to help me identify those things that steal my time from the things I truly value. Hopefully, these thoughts will encourage you to identify those things which you must do, and differentiate them from the things you would like to do.

What are your priorities? How do you live them out?

Priorities:

God
- Read the Bible. Process it. Pray over what I read. Apply it.
- Listen for God's calling, prompting throughout my day, asking:
  - What is God trying to teach me?
  - What does God want me to do with/about ___?
  - What does God want me to share with others (time, thought, idea, possession, encouragement)?
Wife
- Show my wife that I love her, in a way that she understands.
- Show my wife respect and love by the way that I communicate with her (speaking and listening)
- Intentionally lead my wife to be a fully devoted follower of Christ
Children
- Spend time with my children, giving them attention, listening to them when they talk, loving them in a way that they feel loved by me.
- Teach my children how to make good and Godly decisions; discipline as needed, full of love
- Intentionally lead my children to become fully devoted followers of Christ
Self
- Read books, meet with mentors, listen to teachers to develop myself as a:
  - Disciple of Jesus Christ
  - Husband of my wife
  - Father of my children
  - Leader of others
    - Co-workers
    - Life group
    - Life group leaders
  - Friend to my friends
- Make time for exercise
- Eat a healthy diet
- Get enough rest

Discretionary Things:

Internet - Checking email, facebook, twitter, blogs, IM, texting, etc.
Media - watching TV, movies, music, etc.
Tasks - Managing finances, organizing/cleaning up things, home/yard/car maintenance, etc.
Hobbies -Disc golf, video games, guitar, ping pong, projects, etc.
Work - Go to work early, stay late, homework
People - hang out with friends/extended family

So much to say...

2009-02-08T06:37:00.003-06:00

I have heard it said that James is considered as the Proverbs of the New Testament in the Bible. As I read it, that statement is justifiably made in my observation. Wasting no time with introductions, James jumps straight into writing a first chapter filled with some of the most profound spiritual insights in all the Bible.

Reading this book, you can imagine that James must have been frantically writing as fast as he could; so much to say, but not able to write fast enough the divinely inspired words that God would use to instruct His people, even those readers of our generation and beyond. Nearly every verse causes the reader's mind to pause for a moment and consider the breavity of a thought that could fill an entire book, and yet compacted into a bite-size verse that the mind will chew on for days on end, savoring every word.

- I'd better stop here, or i will catch myself writting a commentary on the entire book of James. Closing thought: Take time to read and savor the book of James. But don't just read it; apply it (James 1:22-25).

Encouragement from Hebrews

2009-02-05T05:52:00.002-06:00

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:23-25

I absolutely love passages like these! they are filled with such profound depth and are life-giving. God uses verses like these in our lives to encourage us, to spur us on in living out the faith that we profess. Text like these do not allow us to make the Bible and our faith dull and plain, but bring us back to the place where we remember what it was like when we first gave our life to Jesus. And so much greater than that, God uses these passages and the trials that we face in life to bring us to exceedingly greater milestones in our faith, filling us with greater peace and understanding and confidence in the One who saves us from our sins, that we cannot help but press on and embrace this life and His calling on our lives with greater passion and zeal than ever before. These are the verses that ought to be burned into our brains, the things that we mumble while we are talking in our sleep, the things that we repeat over and over, so that we use them as a path back to the God who inspired them, who uses them for completing the work that he began in us. Encouraged? If so, encourage others.

Hebrews

2009-02-01T07:00:00.006-06:00

As i started this entry, i found myself jumping around to a lot of significant biblical points, but had a tough time tying them all together. So, i have simply provided those passages that are speaking to me, and filling me with such great hope. It is my prayer that you will take time to allow God to move you as you read these passages and others within the Bible.

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we posses. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:19-25

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and loose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

I am AWESOME at handling criticism

2009-01-17T23:45:00.003-06:00

Not really. Actually, i suck at handling criticism. i got a good dose of it at work this week from my boss. but it wasn't one of those 'close the door and sit down' settings where he just rips me a new one - it was passive, sarcastic comments - something that i can't stand; almost as much as being criticized! I would rather have you just tell me to my face what the problem is. it drives me crazy when people obviously have an issue with something, but don't confront the issue. they just let their tone, their attitudes, their non verbal language do the talking, but never bring it up until it finally leads to a huge explosion. (sorry for my rant...).

My reality has been to always answer my critics and be defensive, probably because i think that i am never wrong (another issue that God keeps knocking me over the head with). because of the incident this last week, i spent some time stewing, trying to come up with my last chance say-all farewell speach that told my boss what i thought of him and how he doesn't know what he's talking about. then i started thinking about how i was going to explain to my family that Daddy just lost his job because he can't handle criticism and choked out his boss.

Your boss, your spose, your neighbor and many others offer criticism - some rightfully so, some not. But they are not the only ones that offer criticism. God has a way of criticizing, too. And when He brings something to your attention, there's not much room for honest discussion; He's right, and you're wrong.

The week before, i had finished a chapter in Craig Groeschel's book "Confessions of a Pastor", which just so happened to deal with handling criticism. In the book, Craig provides insight on when you should listen, answer, dismiss, or endure the criticism. I can't thank God enough for leading me to read this information when He did. I am still struggling with criticism, but know i am able to recognize my failures here, and am better equipped to respond in a better way.

do you struggle with criticism? are you defensive? What does God say about how you handle your criticism?

turning into my parents...

2009-01-14T22:46:00.004-06:00

that's pretty embarassing (sorry mom and dad). just realizing that i am a couple of years behind the curve with communication technology. i now have accounts on twitter and facebook, but have no idea how to use the stupid things. not the least bit frustrated by it... oh well. i guess i understand how my parents feel when i try to explain blogging or text messaging. hopefully, one of you web ninjas can take me into you dojo and edumacate me on how to use this stuff. is anybody like me out there, or am i the last one between 20 and 30 years old who isn't connected?? Speak up!

spiritual indigestion

2009-01-12T20:11:00.004-06:00

Over the last several weeks, i have been flying through the new testament epistles, soaking up every word, and just enjoying the opportunity to be ministered to by Paul. In nearly every book, he writes in such a way that tells his audience that he truly loves them. Almost effortless, he lines up one encouraging and edifying passage after another. And with such passion! As i read his writings, i notice that so many times, he writes each book as if it were written in one sitting, without letting his pen ever leave the page - from one idea to the next, no time for periods - just get as much God-breathed inspiration on the page as possible! And too often, i catch myself reading the same pace at which Paul writes - which is not a good thing, if you want to chew your food before you swallow, tasting and savoring every morsel, allowing yourself to enjoy it the way it was intended. it's one thing to read in such a way to finish a book; quite another to read until God challenges you with something.

And today, i am suffering from a little bible indigestion. Finishing up 1 Thessalonians, i came to the point where i was simply overwhelmed. Finished 1 & 2 Corinthians. Galatians. Ephesians. Philippians. Colossians. One big bite after another. shoveling one choice bite after another, realizing, "wow! that was great! i need some more of that - wait a minute... what was that that i just ate? I know it was good, but i don't even remember what it tastes like!" As I try to slow down and comprehend what Paul is saying, I only come to realize that in a single bite, i have been swallowing huge banqueting feasts, meant to be eaten slowly - one bite at a time, chewed 30 to 40 times each.

My soul has been acting as my spritual stomach, now suffering from engourgement, and unable to gain any spiritual nourishment because i haven't taken the time to taste my food. "Take your time", i hear God saying. "Have an appetizer. Chew S L O W L Y. Did you taste the spiritual blessing, mixed with a dash of hope, drizzled with peace? it was baked for about an eternity, cooking at about a million-love degrees. Yup - you guessed it. the secret ingredients are mercy and grace. Don't forget to have a drink of the house's choicest wine, grown in the valley of patience and tended to by wisdom and understanding, served in cups of forgiveness. Relax. there's more than enough here for you and all of creation. i'm not running out of spiritual food anytime soon."

When you slow down enough to consider what you're reading, you realize that reading even a whole chapter of certain Paul writtings in one sitting is like processing something with a concentration potent enough to fill VOLUMES of books. And that's where indigestion sets in. Holy cow! i ate way too much! God, i can't deal with so many thoughts, each calling me back to ponder and meditate on every God inspired line. I want to finish everything on my plate, but i know that i can't take another bite until i deal with the single line i just read!

And look at all the food on the table! i can't even see the end of it! How will i ever finish all of this food? One bite at a time Lord, reveal to me what ever it is that you want me to focus on. I know that each bite is filled with so many wonderful ingredients, but which one do you want me to taste right now? Teach me to savor each bite, each chewing motion. Help me not to swallow too soon, so i don't miss the moment where you reveal that flavor that you want me to taste.

Colossians 1:3-14

2009-01-08T21:59:00.004-06:00

passage of the day... If this doesn't fire you up, i don't know what will...

"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints - the faith and love that spring up from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit." Colossians 1:3-8

(Here's where Paul BRINGS IT!)

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1:9-14

Talk about building up the body of Christ! Hard not to get fired up when we see the work that God is doing in us like this.

Contending as one man...

2009-01-06T22:44:00.003-06:00

"Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved - and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have." Philippians 1:27-30

Christ is not divided; neither can his bride, the church be divided either. "Contend as one man for the faith of the gospel". As a man fights, he is not divided against himself as how he will fight. He will not try to strike a blow while at the same time flee from battle. He makes a decision and every member of his body acts to complete that decision. But if we scatter when we are attacked, this is evidence to our enemy that we are divided, and that we are not one in spirit.

What a awesome display of faith it is to see the body of Christ stand together, advancing the lines of the gospel to the world, and moving forward with one purpose, one spirit, contending as one man. When any member of the body is dealt a blow, the entire body reacts to protect it and restore it; it doesn't say, "too bad for you ear… you should have seen that coming… what? Yeah the eyes can see, but we didn't think it was necessary to tell you to move since we weren't going to be hit… sorry you couldn't see it coming… never mind that we have the gift of sight and have the duty to alert the body when we see an attack coming…" How our enemies will tremble when they see us stand firm when even the smallest, seemingly most insignificant member is attacked. No fear. No running away. Standing firm; wearing the armor of Christ, letting the Lord fight for us, for the battle belongs to Him.

Our faith is not in a pastor, preacher, prophet, apostle, or any other man - it is in Christ alone. Yes, we are truly blessed to be shepherded by those leaders whom God gives us, but even if God allows that shepherded to be taken from his flock, the flock will stand firm, for our Good Shepherd is with us, and fights for us, uniting us in one spirit, realizing that to die is gain, and to live is Christ!

And just as we know that we have been saved by His grace through faith which he freely gives us, we know that he has also chosen us to suffer for the sake of the cross. What a blessing it is to know that the world hates us because of Christ, for by their disapproval of us for the stand we take in Christ, we know that we are receiving what is due to those who conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel.

Chains for Christ

2009-01-05T22:00:00.003-06:00

"Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly." Philippians 1:12-14

Apparently, Paul was in prison when he wrote this. It appears that Paul thought that his audience knew he was in chains, and that may have been a source of discouragement or despair for this church. But Paul, seeing the good that God was working through this seemingly massive blow to the ministry that God was working through Paul, goes on to note that the gospel is still being forwarded on, even though Paul was in prison.

What wonderful perspective that Jesus gave Paul in his poor circumstance. What man intended for evil, God intended for good. Faith and hope are mere lip service if they are not tested. You can almost picture the ear to ear grin that must have been on God's face when he saw Paul respond the way he did. He must have thought something like, "that's my boy", or "Paul, you freakin stud! You get it, man!"

And to spur on Paul's hope, God let's Paul see the affect of his attitude and perseverance: the whole palace guard knew that a mere man that was imprisoned for sharing his faith, was filled with even more hope and drive to continue sharing the life giving, life changing, life saving message of Jesus Christ. It must have been something to see the look on the guards' faces, saying "what the heck is wrong with that guy? We just chained him up, and he is all the more driven and filled with unwavering hope for the cause that imprisoned him." It is likely that the guards beat him and spat upon him regularly, mocking him and the message he proclaimed. And Paul could have burned with hate, wanting God to strike them all dead or infect them with some forsaken disease or illness. But Paul, being filled with the Holy Spirit, most probably had great compassion for them, often praying something similar to what Jesus prayed on the cross: "father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And because of Paul's attitude and kindness towards those that mocked him and abused him, the whole palace guard knew that the faith that this man was imprisoned for was the real deal.

When you are faced with adversity, in chains, does the world look on and say, "Wow. Something is definitely different about this guy. His faith; His Jesus is the real deal. How can someone forgive and love like that? Who can possess such love, joy, peace, and hope when something like this happens? I wonder if the Jesus that this guy believes in can change me too."

Too often, my life answers that question with the same pathetic answer: " just another guy; flips out like everyone else when something bad happens. Just tune me out when I start asking you to come to church with me; You can be just as good as me by staying home and watching the Cowboys play on Sundays. See? If Christians can cuss and talk bad about others and complain about every bad thing that happens to them, then what makes them so different from everyone else? You don't need to get right with God… You are just as good as this guy; you are good enough, surely God will let you in to Heaven, won't He?"

Because of Paul simply living out the faith he professed and persevering with the hope of Jesus Christ, others took note. His fellow brothers, who were probably greatly troubled by Paul's imprisonment, now were galvanized to carrying out the gospel with immense passion and conviction. They were no longer imprisoned with the fear of prison or chains or even death. They were empowered with a Spirit-filled boldness and courage that stems from knowing the One that saves, and knowing that Jesus, the Christos, came and died for all, so that if anyone would believe in him, he would not perish, but have life everlasting.

Are you in chains for Christ? Is the whole palace guard taking note?

Thanksgiving & Prayer

2009-01-04T13:55:00.003-06:00

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:3-6

It is interesting to me how God used Paul in such an amazing way during his time on earth. He became all things to all people in order that he might win some to Christ. He was a man who fearlessly preached the gospel, who continually asked God to increase his boldness in proclaiming the gospel, for which he was an ambassador in chains. He proclaimed the freedom in Christ to the Jews, and reflected the light of Jesus to the lost. He loved so greatly - not as the world today defines love; a mere warm feeling of affection, but in sacrificing the opinions of others on the alter of truth, so that all might repent of their sins and call Jesus the Lord of their life. These things and many other Godly characteristics are clearly communicated in his writings, but the thing that stands out the most to me as i read is that he was devoted to praying for the body of Christ.

Kinda hard to miss - nearly every piece of writing by Paul in the new testament has a portion devoted to thanksgiving and prayer within the first chapter. In Ephesians Paul writes:

"For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." Ephesians 1:15-19a

Similar life-giving edification is found in Colosians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Philippians, & Philemon. Paul was clearly a man who prayed.

Paul prayed for the edification of the body of Christ - his fellow brothers in Christ, his life group, his Sunday School class, his friends and family back home where he grew up, his co-workers - presumably, Paul prayed for every person in whom he had relationship with - continually.

Do you pray like this?

I don't.

Should we? (rhetorical question...)

Lord Jesus, thank you for revealing yourself to us in Your word. Thank you for Paul and the way you greatly used him to boldly proclaim the gospel that has brought us life in You. Burden our hearts for one another, so that we would continually pray for one another, searching for ways to build one another up and strengthen each other as Your Church.

- as a side note, i write based on my observations from reading and from time with God. These entries are most assuredly NOT exhaustive on the topics for which I write, but are highlights on the things that God is making plain to me. If you have other insights that can be plainly drawn from the Word, please share them with me, so that i too can learn through what God has revealed in scripture. With each tour of the new testament, i have discovered that this Holy Book given to us will never be mastered by any. This is a great source of joy and hope for me, for God continues to us His Word to draw me to Him, so that I might explore and treasure the marvels of this Book, and equip myself for God's calling on my life... I digress... :)

Discipleship - a church with "it" - part 2

2008-12-23T10:45:00.007-06:00

"I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong - that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." Romans 1:11-12

If you have spent some time reading the Apostle Paul's writings in the New Testament, you are familiar with these kinds of encouraging statements in Paul's introductions, typical of Paul as he writes to churches. And so typical of me, I often blaze through the first few paragraphs of his writings, wanting to get to the real meat of his letters and miss these nuggets of gold. I haven't read Romans but maybe a half a dozen times, and am sure that I never paid much attention to this verse before, but for some reason, God illuminated this verse for me like never before.

In this passage, Paul is sharing his longing, his burden, his Chazon with the reader - discipleship. His desire is that the Church would be built up, that it would pursue Christ with barbarian wreckless abandonment and confidence, that it would be a light shining with such brilliance and intensity demonstrating to the world that this people (The Church) knows the risen Christ.

And what a pure light it is that God has put in us - one that demonstrates that by faith we have been forgiven by the almighty creator of the universe, that we are loved and accepted by God through Christ, and that there is undeniable hope and peace and joy found in living a life fully submitted to the leading of the Holy Spirit. How tragic it is that this light - which is meant to shine as the sun - shines so dimly from the Church, often found running on the equivalent of 2 double A batteries.

I think that Paul was writing this verse for the Church because he knew how absolutely essential that discipleship is enabling the Church to complete its task - the Great Commission; leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. In order for the Church to achieve its mission, it must focus on building up and making strong those already within the church. By discipling those who are already in the flock, a church will have exponentially increased its influence, its light, its effectiveness in making disciples of all the nations; the great commission.

It is interesting to note that Paul, being one of God's elite apostles, could simply communicate what God wanted the readers to know, without sugar-coating the message by including himself in the audience of the instruction. But to make the point complete, he helps the reader understand that we are one in Christ, and that discipleship benefits all. At the end of the verse, Paul adds this clarification "that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." This statement communicates that Paul, one of the most enlightened followers of Jesus, saw his own need for encouragement and longed to participate in the edification of not only others, but himself as well.

But why the notable difference of those within the church? Why does the light of Christ shine so brightly in some and so dimly in others? Spiritual maturity - whatever that is - might have something to do with it. But I would argue that one reason for the gap is the lack of discipleship in the Church. Those that have "it" (those that are passionately pursuing Jesus and that are submitting to His Lordship in their life) are not giving it away, and those who don't have "it" are content in their apathetic/practical atheistic state and not interested in gaining it. Still others are earnestly looking for someone to show them the way, and the spiritual giants of the church are not stepping up to build up the body of Christ. Don't misunderstand me - discipleship is happening in the church, but not like it could...

I believe that a church with "it" is passionate about discipleship, and lives like they believe it. From the pastor(s) to the staff to the volunteers to the members/partners - longing to see each other so to impart some spiritual gift to each other to make the body of Christ strong, so that its members may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, so that the light of Christ shines so brilliantly that unbelievers will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!" (Borrowing from I Cor. 14:25)

For those of you with short attention spans who don't like to read long blogs - thank you for making it this far. I know I bounce around a lot, but hope that I didn't lose you along the way. Send me your thoughts; I hope that this has been an encouragement to you, fore I too am longing for mutual encouragement from the body of Christ

Comment setting fixed...

2008-12-19T14:40:00.000-06:00

I heard that people have been trying to post comments to my blog, but were unable if they were not members of blogspot. I could care less if the readers of this blog are members or not of blogspot, so i have changed the setting for anyone to leave me comments.

Please take some time to leave me comments on my posts if you like them/encouraged by them/confused by them/disagree with them (you have the right to be wrong :) ). I look foward to reading your comments!

A church with "it" (part 1)

2008-12-18T06:23:00.000-06:00

About a month ago, i finished reading a fantastic book on ministry leadership - "it" by Craig Groeschel. The idea behind the title is to capture the heart of a word that is used in the context of describing and individual, small group, or church that has it; the movement of God. For example, when we hear of a church that is ministering to a large number of people, and God is "adding to their number daily", where people's lives are being changed for the cause of Christ, where the hurting and those in need are being ministered to and cared for, where everyone from the pastor to every member is totally lit for God and are changing the world around them - that is a small example of a church with "it".

If you lead a small group, bible study, Sunday school class - you need to read this book. If you are the spiritual leader of your home, your wife, your kids - you need to read this book. If you ever encounter another person in your life, and you have the slightest bent towards kingdom mindedness - you need to read this book.

Getting off track... a church with it.

i was reading Romans a couple months ago, and read two profound things that never caught my attention before. I shared this with a few of you by email previously, and wanted to spend some more time on this. This blog will focus on the first of those two things; part two to follow... Here is part 1.

"First, i thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world." Romans 1:8

Would Paul say this of your church? Could he?

The church that I attend has been the buzz for the last several years. In the church-world, people say that Life Church is innovationally leading the charge to find new ways to connect with a generation that rejects the church and the christian, and absolutely yearns for people to be impacted by God so that they would be fully devoted followers of the Lord Jesus.

Sounds like a great heart (and i believe that it is), but what does the non-Christian world say about us - you know, the one that doesn't believe in God, practically or actually? It seems that there is often a great disconnect between the belief's of a given church and the actions and hearts of its members. Is our faith being reported all over the world? Or are we just nice people who don't truely care enough to share the life-changing message of the gospel with a world that is hurting and looking for real purpose and meaning?

What if we just started with our own local church as the "world"? Jesus said that we are the light of the world, a city that cannont be hidden. Why would we ever even consider hiding it? My prayer is that God's people would absolutely shine for Him and that God absolutely wrecks the people of churches all over the world, so that they would possess an unwaivering faith in Jesus, one that demonstrates that we trust in God, and not our jobs or 401k, or anything else. I pray that God would use the local church to radically change people's live, so that the "world" reports our faith all over the world.

The Little Drummer Boy

2008-12-15T20:55:00.000-06:00

i am sure that you all are looking forward to all your awesome plans to be with family and friends for Christmas. The count down to Christmas Vacation is on at my house - 4 more days!! We'll be heading to Tulsa over the break to spend some time with my family and then return to visit with the Ashby-Avery clan (erryn's side).

As you may already know, the trash cans are coming out this weekend at the Ed for the Life Church version of the Little Drummer Boy. This is when the worship band and church staff man a trash can with drum sticks and absolutely beat the tar out of those poor metal trash cans, and release the most beautiful worship that i have ever heard. I think that this will be the third year that LC has done this song.

I can't even begin to describe what an awesome event this is. I've attached the lyrics for you to read below - take a minute to read them and think about them.

Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.

This is the story of giving our very best to our Lord Jesus, our very best gift. We can give lots of gifts - just consider what we give our friends and family... dvd's, gift cards, clothes, electronics... often they are things that we spend little time thinking about and usually cost us very little, other than monetarily.

But consider the gift of the drummer boy. He had none of the fancy gifts that we see other people give, the kind of gifts that we would love to give, like a huge check, or a big honkin flat screen tv, or a car... And out of his poverty, he was able to give the most beautiful gift he could ever offer - he offered to use the unique talent that God gave him, and used it to the best of his ability to honor God! Sometimes, our extremely blessed lives blind us from seeing our true gifts bestowed by God. We have so much to offer from the heart, that which God has uniquely given us, but too often let our watch and our wallet get in the way.

And then Life Church just had to take it to a whole other level. They don't just play it from sheet music, they actually LIVE it on the stage! From Trent and the duelling drummers, to the church staff, everyone takes part in giving their very absolute best to God. In an explosion of percussion energy, the heart of the Little Drummer Boy is released. An experience that rivals any i have ever known in being in the presence of God. Everyone, playing their drum, their very best for our King.

And we know that the angles are rejoicing, for our hearts are singing their song - the song we will sing in eternity worshiping our Lord Jesus. I absolutely melt - totally releasing myself from the opinions and observations of those around me and embrace the moment and worship my Savior, tears running, smile beaming, and hands held high.

Here's a sample from 2006 - awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryqA90QxU3k

If you haven't experienced it yet, make sure you find a way to be there this year. And don't keep it to yourself - invite your neighbor, your workout buddy, your co-worker, your mom - whoever God has put on your heart. And don't be surprised if he gives you an opportunity to invite one of "the least of these" - whoever that may be in your life.

my first blog

2008-12-14T14:44:00.000-06:00

kinda sounds like a caption for that would normally be seen in a kid's photo album, like "my first day of school", or "my first poo poo". Oh well, i guess we all have to start somewhere...

Welcome to my blog. I have not been a blogger, and never thought the day would come when this adjative would be used to describe me. I've only begun, so i won't get too far ahead of myself and use THAT word to describe me :). Not sure how often i will jump online to update this, though i intend to try it out and see if it sticks. I'd like for this to be a place where i download my thoughts, and share what's going on in my life. Reality though, i am not going to be one of those people who are constantly updating their blogs and telling the whole world about everything that ever happens in my day. Maybe someday, but for now, this will not be a Twitter-like blog.

I do intend, however, to use this blog to journal what God is teaching me and how i am responding to it. SO, check in with me every now and then - it is my prayer that in some way, God will use this blog site to be a source of blessing to you.

Take some time to check out the lists I've posted on the side - there you can see what books i'm reading, music i'm listening to, and teachers that i'm following. If you have any other books or music to recommend, please share it with me. I've also included website links of the teachers that I am following - check them out when you have some time. Over the years, these Godly leaders have had a part in developing my walk with God.

Please feel free to post your comments with me - ideas for my blog layout, content, books, music, etc. Thanks for stopping by and reading.