I'm proud to say I didn't watch a minute of yesterday's NFL playoff games or a second of today's presidential inauguration. Please don't misunderstand I'm not against either of those things (in fact I love football and pray for the president often) it's just been a wonderfully busy couple of days. To our society both are of paramount importance but just how important should they be to a Christian?
I've been seeing a lot of people ranting and raving about a great number of things on Facebook, TV, websites and the list goes on. They're all so passionate about worthwhile causes I think they lose sight of the MOST important thing, obeying the Lord!
Jesus didn't spend His time complaining about the Roman Government. Paul used sports as a metaphor but he wasn't obsessed with it. Some blast the church endlessly for the watered down preaching and the seeker friendly formats and although the Gospels did address this in part it was a very small part of the message.
In Mark the tenth chapter Jesus was met by a man who wanted top know what he could do to inherit eternal life. The Lord gave him the short list of stereotyped good behavior and when the man heard those things he said "I've obeyed all these commandments since I was a boy." the Word of God says "Jesus looked at him and loved him. He told him 'You're still missing one thing. Sell everything you have. Give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then follow me!'"
The one thing he lacked wasn't a heart for the poor. I believe he didn't have his heart centered on doing what the Father wanted him to. He was religious while being distracted with wealth in the same way I believe so many are distracted with their worthy causes today.
Sam Austin, one of my all time favorite evangelists made a valid point I will use for an example. A lot of Christians argue their view of the tribulation., Some say the church will be raptured out before so they are pre-tribulationists. Others say the rapture will happen after so they are post-tribulationists. Sam says is such an argument he is a pan-tribulationist because he believes it will all "pan out."
We are too distracted by our fears for this nations future. We make idols of sports and athletes. We complain about the church so much we lose the effectiveness we still possess. We need people who love and believe in God so much they trust Him and obey as He leads without making a sideshow of all the other things in our lives. I often say I don't know what tomorrow holds but I know who holds tomorrow. It's more than a cliche it's a pronouncement of FAITH!
I'm not worried about the president, gun control, or even the persecution of the church I believe God is in control and I will serve Him no matter what politicians say or what is considered popular. Sports are fun but they are just games the same as we play at home or with friends. Instead of bashing the church publicly and weakening it's witness even more why don't we obey the word and fix it from the inside?
I know some would say I'm burying my head in the sand about these issues and I would reply you must not have heard me preach recently. I do not back away from these issues but I also would rather praise the light than curse the darkness. How many people have all the griping and complaining, the doom and the gloom rants on the web brought to the cross of Jesus Christ? Very few I'd bet. I believe we need to show the way.
I could quote you a ton of scriptures here about why such behaviors are foolish and you probably already know them so I instead will close with a favorite of faith.
Philippians 1:3-6 "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;"
The Lord started us on this journey and if we will not get distracted we can lift up the name of Jesus so that all men can be drawn to Him. That's hard to do when our words are full of bile. Lift HIM up friends and watch how He will take care of the issues.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and remember YOU ARE LOVED!
Simply Beautiful
Every night has a New Day Coming
Monday, January 21, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Absolutely NO Point to this one
Tonight, for the first time in about 15 years I played real basketball. At our church (Rocky Branch Assembly of God in Farmerville, LA) we started a 40+ Basketball league. For this first get together it was more of a fellowship as we had just a handful of men show up. The target group is men who are over the age of 40 or have a waist of over 40 and needing exercise. WHAT was I thinking?!? We played just two games, split the outcome, and worked up a good sweat with multiple breaks. It was fun but since I'm already sore I fear what the next day or two might bring. "Groooooaaaan"
My son recently bought a pint size, individual ice cream maker. In less than 10 minutes you can have authentic home made ice cream - whatever flavor you desire. I think the devil created this machine.
I'm SO crazy about my wife, SO very proud of my kids, and love, love, love our home cooked meals around the dining table. Recently one of the wonderful couples in our awesome church gave us a lot of fresh deer meat and we are enjoying this flavorful, steroid-less and hormone free food. I've never been a hunter but I was also raised that hunting was a-ok. Thank you Lord for this blessing to our home!
As my first Louisiana winter is half over I have come to the conclusion that it's a cupcake. Wimp.
I'm very thankful I've never been tempted by alcohol. My (admittedly limited) experience with people who are intoxicated is it seems to magnify the worst parts of their personality. Considering this and how I'm rarely happy with myself I fear I'd be a real jerk.
Soon they're coming out with Iron man 3, Thor 2, and there's another Captain America movie in the works. I say "So what? Bring on the green guy, I want more of the Incredible Hulk!"
One last rambling. I am one of those rare men who has a wife for his best friend. There is no one I'd rather spend my time with than my wonderful bride of almost 18 years. I remember our first date, where we first held hands, where we first kissed and my greatest regret is that I didn't marry her sooner. I said there was no point to this blog entry but here's one for free: To lie down each night with the first person you want to see when you wake up is a blessing so wonderful it had to be from God. Whatever you have to do, work to make your relationship with your spouse like that. Because I love her and know she loves me I can trust her, I cherish her prayers above all others, and I would give my life to protect her. My point is I am aware of how the Lord must love me to send this wonderful girl into my life. I pray you have someone like that.
Now I'm going to go eat some ice cream to chill the burning sensation in my arms and legs from basketball. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and remember YOU ARE LOVED!
My son recently bought a pint size, individual ice cream maker. In less than 10 minutes you can have authentic home made ice cream - whatever flavor you desire. I think the devil created this machine.
I'm SO crazy about my wife, SO very proud of my kids, and love, love, love our home cooked meals around the dining table. Recently one of the wonderful couples in our awesome church gave us a lot of fresh deer meat and we are enjoying this flavorful, steroid-less and hormone free food. I've never been a hunter but I was also raised that hunting was a-ok. Thank you Lord for this blessing to our home!
As my first Louisiana winter is half over I have come to the conclusion that it's a cupcake. Wimp.
I'm very thankful I've never been tempted by alcohol. My (admittedly limited) experience with people who are intoxicated is it seems to magnify the worst parts of their personality. Considering this and how I'm rarely happy with myself I fear I'd be a real jerk.
Soon they're coming out with Iron man 3, Thor 2, and there's another Captain America movie in the works. I say "So what? Bring on the green guy, I want more of the Incredible Hulk!"
One last rambling. I am one of those rare men who has a wife for his best friend. There is no one I'd rather spend my time with than my wonderful bride of almost 18 years. I remember our first date, where we first held hands, where we first kissed and my greatest regret is that I didn't marry her sooner. I said there was no point to this blog entry but here's one for free: To lie down each night with the first person you want to see when you wake up is a blessing so wonderful it had to be from God. Whatever you have to do, work to make your relationship with your spouse like that. Because I love her and know she loves me I can trust her, I cherish her prayers above all others, and I would give my life to protect her. My point is I am aware of how the Lord must love me to send this wonderful girl into my life. I pray you have someone like that.
Now I'm going to go eat some ice cream to chill the burning sensation in my arms and legs from basketball. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and remember YOU ARE LOVED!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Use a Broom to Clean, Not to Sleep
I want to share with you something I borrowed from a friend on Facebook.
Interesting conversation with God.
Me: God, can I ask you a question?
God: Sure.
...
Me: Promise you won't get mad?
God: I promise.
Me: Why did you let so much stuff happen to me today?
God: What do you mean?
Me: Well, I woke up late.
God: Yes.
Me: My car took forever to start.
God: Okay.
Me: At lunch they made my sandwich wrong and I had to wait.
God: Hmmm.
Me: On the way home my phone went dead just as I picked up a call.
God: Okay.
Me: And on top of all that, when I got home I just wanted to soak my feet in my new foot massager and relax, but it wouldn't work!!! Nothing went right today! Why did you do that?
God: Well, let me see. The Death Angel was at your bed this morning and I had to send one of the other angels to battle him for your life. I let you sleep through that.
Me: (humbled): OH...
GOD: I didn't let your car start because there was a drunk driver on your route that would have hit you if you were on the road.
Me: (ashamed)
God: The person who made your first sandwich today was sick and I didn't want you to catch what he has.
I knew you couldn't afford to miss work.
Me: (embarrassed): Ok...
** Remember this next line **God: Your phone went dead because the person who was calling was going to give false witness about what you said during that call. I didn't even let you talk to them so that you would be covered.
Me: (softly) I see, God.
God: Oh, and that foot massager had a short that was going to throw out all of the power in your house tonight. I didn't think you wanted to be in the dark.
Me: I'm sorry God.
God: Don't be sorry, just learn to trust me in all things, the good and the bad.
Me: I will trust you.
God: And don't doubt that MY plan for your day is always better than your plan.
Me: I won't, God. And let me just tell you God, thank you for everything today.
God: You're welcome, child. It was just another day being your God, and I love looking after my children.
The line from God that said "Your phone went dead because the person who was calling was going to give false witness about what you said during that call. I didn't even let you talk to them so that you would be covered." When I read that today for the first time something weird happened. My tears just burst forth on my face.
If you've ever been the victim of a false witness you know how painful that can be. I have been and my reaction to those words told me something I didn't like, I'm not over it yet. I THOUGHT I was, but obviously I'm not.
I went through a place in my life where terrible things were said about me. Things that when I heard them I thought "That's crazy! Who would believe that?!?" annnnnd it turned out many did. Dang. The hurt was SO devastating I resigned my church, pulled myself and my family out of everything we were doing and like Elijah went running to the desert. By the way, the desert is hot and inhospitable. It's a place where you may want to lie down and die - don't go there!
In the desert I discovered far more was said and far more was believed. Things that were misquotes, taken out of context, and flat out lies were easily taken as the truth and I was looking for that broom tree. That's a bad place to dwell and just when I thought I was getting out of the desert I went back and looked at my blog history and couldn't believe the recent track in my writings and it was easy to see I need a healing to move forward.
So let me take this in a COMPLETELY different direction, what do YOU battle that is hard to get over? What event or relationship has left you scarred in a manner that just when you think you're over it there it comes again? I think most of us have something. Here in just a few minutes I'm going to get off my computer and I'm going to go write down the most devastating hurts I've had in my life. I'm going to include the names of people who've hurt me and when I'm done, down at the bottom of the page I'm going to write Habakkuk 2:1 which says "I will take my position and be on watch, placing myself on my tower, looking out to see what he will say to me, and what answer he will give to my protest."
Habakkuk was a minor prophet who like his contemporary Jeremiah had to prophesy things people didn't want to hear. However, Habakkuk asked God questions on "Why would bad people succeed and the righteous suffer?" That's me sometimes. I wonder why folks I know aren't living as they should appear blessed and those I know love the Lord struggle.
That's why that scripture will be at the bottom of my list. Habakkuk didn't know but in 2:1 he proclaims it doesn't matter, I will do my job and one day I will hear His answers to my complaints. I want to serve the Lord like that.
I may never get over my hurt. Somethings don't go away just ask Paul (2 Corinthians 12:7). We must love the Lord enough to go on even when we are hurting, even when we don't understand. I will burn my list as a symbol to my physical mind and remind the enemy those things are consumed by my dedication to the Lord.
False witnesses, liars, adulterers, heartache, abuse, abandonment and on and on the list can go. We all have hurts and problems but we can all have Jesus as well. Turn to him whenever those feelings come and like Habakkuk you (and I) can do what He needs us to do.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and remember, YOU ARE LOVED!
Interesting conversation with God.
Me: God, can I ask you a question?
God: Sure.
...
Me: Promise you won't get mad?
God: I promise.
Me: Why did you let so much stuff happen to me today?
God: What do you mean?
Me: Well, I woke up late.
God: Yes.
Me: My car took forever to start.
God: Okay.
Me: At lunch they made my sandwich wrong and I had to wait.
God: Hmmm.
Me: On the way home my phone went dead just as I picked up a call.
God: Okay.
Me: And on top of all that, when I got home I just wanted to soak my feet in my new foot massager and relax, but it wouldn't work!!! Nothing went right today! Why did you do that?
God: Well, let me see. The Death Angel was at your bed this morning and I had to send one of the other angels to battle him for your life. I let you sleep through that.
Me: (humbled): OH...
GOD: I didn't let your car start because there was a drunk driver on your route that would have hit you if you were on the road.
Me: (ashamed)
God: The person who made your first sandwich today was sick and I didn't want you to catch what he has.
I knew you couldn't afford to miss work.
Me: (embarrassed): Ok...
** Remember this next line **God: Your phone went dead because the person who was calling was going to give false witness about what you said during that call. I didn't even let you talk to them so that you would be covered.
Me: (softly) I see, God.
God: Oh, and that foot massager had a short that was going to throw out all of the power in your house tonight. I didn't think you wanted to be in the dark.
Me: I'm sorry God.
God: Don't be sorry, just learn to trust me in all things, the good and the bad.
Me: I will trust you.
God: And don't doubt that MY plan for your day is always better than your plan.
Me: I won't, God. And let me just tell you God, thank you for everything today.
God: You're welcome, child. It was just another day being your God, and I love looking after my children.
The line from God that said "Your phone went dead because the person who was calling was going to give false witness about what you said during that call. I didn't even let you talk to them so that you would be covered." When I read that today for the first time something weird happened. My tears just burst forth on my face.
If you've ever been the victim of a false witness you know how painful that can be. I have been and my reaction to those words told me something I didn't like, I'm not over it yet. I THOUGHT I was, but obviously I'm not.
I went through a place in my life where terrible things were said about me. Things that when I heard them I thought "That's crazy! Who would believe that?!?" annnnnd it turned out many did. Dang. The hurt was SO devastating I resigned my church, pulled myself and my family out of everything we were doing and like Elijah went running to the desert. By the way, the desert is hot and inhospitable. It's a place where you may want to lie down and die - don't go there!
In the desert I discovered far more was said and far more was believed. Things that were misquotes, taken out of context, and flat out lies were easily taken as the truth and I was looking for that broom tree. That's a bad place to dwell and just when I thought I was getting out of the desert I went back and looked at my blog history and couldn't believe the recent track in my writings and it was easy to see I need a healing to move forward.
So let me take this in a COMPLETELY different direction, what do YOU battle that is hard to get over? What event or relationship has left you scarred in a manner that just when you think you're over it there it comes again? I think most of us have something. Here in just a few minutes I'm going to get off my computer and I'm going to go write down the most devastating hurts I've had in my life. I'm going to include the names of people who've hurt me and when I'm done, down at the bottom of the page I'm going to write Habakkuk 2:1 which says "I will take my position and be on watch, placing myself on my tower, looking out to see what he will say to me, and what answer he will give to my protest."
Habakkuk was a minor prophet who like his contemporary Jeremiah had to prophesy things people didn't want to hear. However, Habakkuk asked God questions on "Why would bad people succeed and the righteous suffer?" That's me sometimes. I wonder why folks I know aren't living as they should appear blessed and those I know love the Lord struggle.
That's why that scripture will be at the bottom of my list. Habakkuk didn't know but in 2:1 he proclaims it doesn't matter, I will do my job and one day I will hear His answers to my complaints. I want to serve the Lord like that.
I may never get over my hurt. Somethings don't go away just ask Paul (2 Corinthians 12:7). We must love the Lord enough to go on even when we are hurting, even when we don't understand. I will burn my list as a symbol to my physical mind and remind the enemy those things are consumed by my dedication to the Lord.
False witnesses, liars, adulterers, heartache, abuse, abandonment and on and on the list can go. We all have hurts and problems but we can all have Jesus as well. Turn to him whenever those feelings come and like Habakkuk you (and I) can do what He needs us to do.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and remember, YOU ARE LOVED!
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