I Want a New Plan

Which road will you take today?

2012-09-30T12:28:00.001-05:00

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13, 14
NKJV)

I had a vision some time ago. It was like a day dream, I was just in the moment with God and I thought about this verse.

Have you ever gone hiking on a mountain trail where you can see a highway? In Seattle there is a place called Mount Si and you can hike this switchback trail for four miles. As you are nearing the top you can look back and see Interstate 90. You are so far up that you can sometimes even see planes flying below you.

Anyway, my vision was similar. I saw a trail much like Mt. Si's and in the distance a highway. And it impressed upon me that relatively very few people get off the highway to go and endure the HARD climb up Mt Si. I did it several times and it was easier each time, nevertheless, it is much harder than staying in the comfort of your car and continue driving by...

Likewise, is the context of this verse. The broad way leads to destruction yet most people find it deceivingly comfortable to stay on it. What most people perceive to be a narrow and tough road mostly goes untraveled and the benefits at the top are not experienced by most.

The travesty of it all is that most of us really know this to be the truth yet we continue to choose the easy wide road. To add to our nonsense, as we travel on this wide road we continually ask for God's favor. Never mind that we are actually traveling in a direction away from him.

So think about it, which road will you take today?

How valuable are you?

2012-08-30T18:06:00.001-05:00

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32 NKJV)

Think about it... This is the essence of the Christian faith. If you actually believe that God indeed sacrificed his son to pay for our sins then this verse is a wonderful promise.

The verse speaks to how valuable we are to him. It goes right along with Matthew 7:11 which says "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"

How true! We love to give our children good gifts. Sometimes we provide for them even when we don't think they deserve it.

So how much more will he provide for us? How much do we negate His provision by our lack of faith and disbelief of our own worth to him? Many of us don't even think we are worth anything in our own minds let alone worth anything to God!

So the key question to ask yourself is, how valuable are you? The answer should be: valuable enough for God to sacrifice his most priced possession. Now frame that thought as you go about your day and you will get a new attitude and a new perspective as you walk in the light of his provision.

Promises and Servanthood.

2012-07-30T08:18:00.001-05:00

“And now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant. http://bible.us/2Sam7.28.NKJV

Two questions come to mind when I read this verse. Do you believe that God has promises for you? Do you consider yourself a "servant" of God?

If you allow me, let me reflect on my own experience as a father to provide commentary on this.

I remember that whenever I "promised" any of my kids anything they would NEVER forget! However, I hardly ever made any promises without conditions. Maybe not outright conditions but almost always implied. For example, if I made a promise and one of the kids was not being a good "servant" I was not motivated to fulfill that promise. Not that I wasn't going to, just not at that moment.

Not to equate myself to our father in heaven but I can't help but think that He does the same. After all, He created us in His own image right?

Food for thought... Does he wait for us to be good servants before delivering promises? Do we even take time to review His promises so we can find motivation to be a good servant?

Enduring the Race

2012-07-29T09:23:00.001-05:00

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith. http://bible.us/Gal6.9.NLT

Have you ever thought the exact opposite of this? You get tired of doing good and you are inpatient because you are not seeming to "reap the harvest"? Then you see someone doing bad and they seem to be reaping harvest left and right. That's about the time you think to yourself, "what the hell?????"

I've been there many times, I'm sure you have too. Unfortunately, endurance is not something we automatically have. Endurance is the result of hard training, constant work and faith.

I think that endurance is what this verse is all about. Enduring the race of life, doing the right things and helping others to do the same.

It makes me think of NASCAR racing. Sometimes it seems stupid for drivers to go around an oval 200 times turning the same direction over and over. You might think, "that's stupid, how hard can it be".

But think about it, it's not just going around in circles. To finish the race, let alone win it, you have to do the right thing time after time. Every turn has to be perfect, your concentration has to be right on every minute. One wrong decision, one little mistake and the race could be over! Likewise, in our race of life, if we want to finish good and strong, we have to do good.

We might get by with bumping a car here or there. We could get ahead by cutting a corner here or there. Playing a dirty trick on another, but ultimately it catches up to us. Like a NASCAR driver, their car finally gives up, or a mistake puts them in a place where they cant recover. As a result, the consequence plays out in front of millions of spectators. Been there done that!

So part of my motivation to do these messages again is to train and build up my endurance. To do the right thing and help others in my team so we can finish strong in the race of life.

Hope & Faith

2012-07-26T21:45:00.001-05:00

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. http://bible.us/Heb11.1.NKJV

Even if you are an atheist, this verse has to make some sense. Sometimes I think that not believing in a God takes more faith than believing in one. Whatever your "faith" is, hope is universal.

Hope is a human emotion, it's built in, it's included, it's part of the package. When a human being is stripped of hope that's when serious poverty sets in. If you have ever walked the streets of a big city and sat down to talk to homeless people you begin to realize that hope is the main currency they are dire need of. Money helps, but hope changes their lives.

Without hope, there is no faith, there is no drive, there is no life. Without hope, we are doomed, depressed and down trodden.

So how do we gain hope in the face of adversity? How do you gain it when you seem to have lost all hope?

Faith. Wether it is faith in yourself, a god or whatever is the fuel that brings about hope. And at the core of faith is believe. If you have faith in someone, you believe they can help you and that gives you hope.

I am a very technical and scientifically minded person. I'm usually driven by facts and concrete concepts not abstracts. But in the case of faith, I choose to believe in the hope that comes from an unseen God.

I believe he does not plot against me and that even in the worst times, this God who created me has the best interest in me. And when I choose the wrong path, he somehow re-arranges the world around me to bring people and circumstances together to get me back on track.

I have no idea if you know what gives you hope. If the only thing that gives you hope is you or other people, I suggest you examine this closely because something greater than you, me or a friend is in charge. I put my faith not on man but my God. How about you?

Droughts...

2012-07-26T00:53:00.001-05:00

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts. http://bible.us/Jer14.1.NKJV

Yesterday morning I was going to work and I caught myself appreciating how green everything was. Suddenly, the the word "drought" came I to my mind, as if the Lord was speaking it to me.

For a couple of years here in Texas we have had a serious drought. We had a solid week of rain recently which sprung everything back to life as if no drought ever occurred. However, one quick trip out to Lake Travis in Austin will certainly let you know that a drought is still definitely in effect.

But back to my drive to work... As I appreciated the green trees, as I said, I felt a strong presence of the Lord and him speaking the word "drought". It prompted me to look in the Bible where I found the verse above.

In this verse Jeremiah is incessantly pleading to God for mercy because of the droughts. How often do we find ourselves in the same boat? No matter what Jeremiah said God's strict hand swiped at every plead.

I look back at the past few years in my own droughts and those of friends and family. I haven't written to this blog since March of 2011, that's certainly a drought. Everyone goes through droughts, yet we are often inpatient about it and find very little purpose for them.

But time after time we see the after-effects of the rains after the droughts and we have greater appreciation for what we have. Take for example some dear friends of mine that were trying to have a baby for years. They were so faithful, so believing in God to help them, yet they endured an incredible drought. But last week, they celebrated the birth of their little boy. The drought brought humbleness and faith to them, something they will surely need in their now time of harvest!

So that brings me to my point, droughts prepare us. We don't always know what for or why, but we know that out of the drought we experience a greater level of appreciation for things we normally take for granted.

So if you are in a drought, and you seem to see nothing but God's wrath around you, remember that he is preparing the way for you to have a much greater level of appreciation. And soon, the full bloom of Gods work will energize and revive you.

When a pothole appears on the road of our lives...

2011-03-09T06:39:00.004-06:00

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Romans 8:28

This verse is often quoted as well as misquoted. The wrong way to quote it is to just say "God works everything for good." I call that a missed quote because it is void the last half of the verse. In other words, God works everything for good for those who are his children. Its just like a father, he might provide everything to his kids but that doesn't mean he will provide for the other kids in the neighborhood.

But the essence of this verse for me is a message that God is trying to tell us how we should look at the problems and circumstances in our lives. They exist for our benefit even if we don't feel that. And sometimes, in the face of these problems and circumstances we desire change. We want to get away from these issues of life and potentially miss the blessing that is often cloaked in circumstance.

I remember a long time ago, my mother was on a business trip back in the Dominican Republic. She called my father and I to tell us that she had missed her plane but come to find out, that flight had trouble right after take off and plunged into the Caribbean Ocean where all passengers and crew perished.

So here is the deal. We live in a world that thrives on dramatic change. Our attitudes are "if it ain't broke, break it." Today we focus on what we don't have rather than what we have. We are primarily driven by unsatisfaction rather than contentment.

When a pothole appears on the road of our lives, we often swerve at all cost to avoid the pothole. We do this because at the end of the day, we really don't trust the integrity of the vehicle God gave us to enjoy life. We fail to understand the blessings we have in the potholes and often run into bigger problems.

So grab the steering wheel firmly and go straight through for God intends to make the best of it so you can enjoy life.

Mind your own business

2011-02-28T07:17:00.003-06:00

Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”

John 21:22

It is important to know the context of this verse. This is at the end of the Book of John when it tells the story of Jesus asking Peter three times "do you love me?" A frustrated Peter asserted his love three times and then when Jesus said, "follow me" Peter responded like "what about him?" referring to John. That's when Jesus practically said to him, "mind your own business and worry about yourself, follow me."

It's a quite familiar scene with kids. The teacher tells a student to do something and the child says, "but why doesn't Mary have to do that?"

We know what we need to do, we know what God wants us to do, yet we are always looking for a way out. When we see someone take the easy route we wonder why we have to take the challenging path.

Think of how much trouble humanity gets into with this issue. Whether its keeping up with the Joneses or postponing action on account that someone else hasn't taken action, its all a recipe for bad things to come.

While we are called to help one another, we still have to mind our own business and make sure our actions in our paths are focused on following God and nobody else. He never plans for our destruction, his path for us is the optimal path to victory. Consider Psalm 119:105 which says "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." He will always light OUR path, let's follow it.

Joy v.s. Self-pity

2011-02-23T06:28:00.003-06:00

Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance.

Psalm 89:15

Our nature is not to be joyful. We humans love to complain and wallow in the pit of self-pity.

It's much like a blue bug light. Don't the bugs see that their friends got fried by the blue light? Even as they are flying towards the light and their friend just in front of them gets friend, they march on towards the light despite the fatal danger. Likewise, we march on towards the pit of self-pity despite the fact that we have NEVER seen self-pity work for anyone.

In contrast, how much better is life when you can tune your ear to hear God's synphony of grace? When you can walk in awareness of the pit of self-pity and keep your distance from it, you can experience joy!

So how do we tune our ears to Him rather than the sound of the blue light zapping our friends? We do this by fixing our eyes on Him, by praising God for what he has done for us despite ourselves.

Praising him yields joy whereas self-pity yields destruction.

A simple twist, startling consequence.

2011-02-11T11:45:00.002-06:00

If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
James 1:5

I believe that this verse along with many in the Book of James can be misunderstood. For example, as you read the verse one could easily focus on the words "without finding fault".

You see, I think the devil could easily re-write this verse to sound the same but completely hinder you from it's blessing. Read what I think the devil's version would be: "If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God, who gives generously to all that are without fault, and it will be given to him."

See how a simple alteration changes the complete meaning of a graceful statement into a condemning statement? The devil would want you to think that this blessing is only available to you if you have no faults! Think of all the time we waste seeking perfection. So these types of lies become the beliefs that shape our lives and our actions.

So back to the verse... As I read it, my interpretation of it is that if I lack wisdom and I ask God, he will give it to me freely without holding my actions for ransom. In my opinion, this one of the keys to true Christian living. A life free of condemnation, free of religious requirements, a life of relationship with the God who treats you as if you had no fault because of your trust in what he does for you every day.

So as you can see, a simple twist of the word and you find yourself in startling consequences. Think about it, if salvation and grace was up to us, we would be finished!

We get through our troubles...

2011-01-05T05:53:00.002-06:00

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7

At the beginning of a new year, I think that just about everyone is rejoicing. Either you are rejoicing that a bad year is final over and you get a new start, or you are rejoicing because you just had a great year and looking forward to the coming one.

But in this passage, the Apostle Paul is talking about rejoicing no matter the circumstance, no matter the time of year. So the big question is, can we rejoice every month of this coming year? Will we rejoice when we encounter the first setback this year? Will we rejoice when one of our resolutions fall through?

My mother recently passed away and given this verse, how am I supposed to rejoice? If you have lost a loved one, you know what I'm talking about, and if you haven't, you can only imagine. However, I do rejoice because I can think of a million positive things having to do with her. So it is a choice to rejoice. No matter the circumstance, divorce, death, attacks, adversity, will you take a look at the positive aspects of your circumstance and decide to rejoice.

Sure, it is easier said than done but you can always imagine a worse alternative. I think of Psalm 88 when the sons of Korah were obviously faced with extreme adversity, "I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death." That's a dark place to be but I'm sure that most of us have thought this one time or another. But my final point is that you got through it, didn't you?

So rejoice, we get through our troubles, just remember that.

Do we really know what love is?

2010-12-29T08:45:00.000-06:00

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5

WOW! What a contrast of today's world! Think about it. What is normal in this world? Aren't we always inpatient? We want everything fast, we want the convenience of not having to wait. I was thinking today about Google and the Internet... before those two things existed and we needed information, we had to go to the library! That required a great amount of patience for sure! Now, if we can't find the info in seconds, we surely get inpatient!

The greekbible.com has some interesting words relating to the original term used here for "patience": μακροθυμέω,verb \{mak-roth-oo-meh'-o}
1) to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart 1a) to persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles 1b) to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others 1b1) to be mild and slow in avenging 1b2) to be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish.

Kindness? There is example after example of how we can be so unkind to each other every day. Even people who are "religious" can be some of the most unkind people in this world. Intolerant of what some people choose to do, rather than approach those people with kindness and love, they spout vitriol from their mouths.

Envy? Our whole society is constantly bombarded with marketing messages that are designed to evoke envy in our hearts that leads us to buy something just because the Joneses have it. While we all acknowledge that outright envy is bad, we indulge in it every day.

Again, here are some sobering words on the original word meaning for "envy": ζηλόω,verb \{dzay-lo'-o}
1) to burn with zeal 1a) to be heated or to boil with envy, hatred, anger 1a1) in a good sense, to be zealous in the pursuit of good 1b) to desire earnestly, pursue 1b1) to desire one earnestly, to strive after, busy one's self about him 1b2) to exert one's self for one (that he may not be torn from me) 1b3) to be the object of the zeal of others, to be zealously sought after 1c) to envy (greekbible.com)

Boast? Love does not boast... yet it is one of our favorite things to do. We look at what we have done, what we have, what others don't have and we boast about it, it's the American way. Yet, the word says that love does not boast. Meaning that if we act in love, we would never boast, we would never gain joy at the expense of another.

Love is not proud? Yet we thrive on pride every day. Pride is the other side of the coin from envy. We are proud when people envy us, it's part of the American dream, to work hard so you can own stuff and be proud.

Notice how all these things that love is not are connected. Imagine someone walking into a room and immediately you see that person impatiently working through the crowd, boasting and pridefully speaking, what would be your first impression? Probably that they are rude and self seeking. And in this verse it says love is never those thins so your first impression might also be that this person has no love.

Ever know someone who has no love? They are usually easily angered and you hate to speak to them about any issue because you are afraid of the "blow up". They will spare no time to point out the flaws of others and flash into explosive diatribes but never stop to account for their own flaws or wrong doings. Sadly, that's more common that needs to be.

In the end, if we were to really understand LOVE, our lives would be way different. But in a society that "loves" everything, I love coke, I love Chevy, I love this and I love that, we have become desensitized to the word "love" and have lost the true meaning of it.

In Spanish there are different words for love. For example, you would never say "Yo amo Coca Cola" - You would say "Me gusta la Coca Cola" or "I like Coke". You use the word "amor" only when it relates to God and family. "Yo amo a Dios", I love God, "Yo te amo", I love you. I don't "amo" my friends, I "quiero" my friends. It's the same thing with the Greek words for love where you have "agape" God's absolute unconditional love, "phileo", brotherly love and "eros", a sensual impulsive love.

As pointed out above, the verse uses "agape" for love. So when we seek for the meaning of true love, when we ask ourselves, "do we really know what love is?" we should refer to God's unconditional love. Because if we believe that God is in us, then his agape love resides in us and we can simply pray to God that he loves others through us, even when we fail to love ourselves.

Your punishment has already been executed

2010-12-12T09:59:00.004-06:00

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. 1 Timothy 1:8-11 NIV

This morning I woke up and it was like God whispering into my ear saying "the law is for the lawless"... I knew exactly what verse He was talking about and I immediately started to think... "NO I don't want to write about this verse...!"

You see, I believe these is one of those verses in the Bible that can be used for good as well as for evil. While I'm no Bible scholar, perhaps you will allow me to share some thoughts about this very difficult verse.

Why do I say it is difficult? To start with, the word "homosexuality" appears in today's verse. Immediately, the readership is potentially divided into two and now this very blog post is at the risk of alienating one person or another. No matter what your thoughts might be about homosexuality, can you hang in here with me for a while?

I chose to focus on the word "homosexuality" in this verse because it can be such a divisive word when it comes to "religion". The sadness of it all is that this passage really has nothing to do with that. Yet, taken out of context (as the devil is good at doing) the verse can be used to condemn people who might not be thought of as fit for "the church."

When read in context of the previous verses, what the Apostle Paul is trying to do with this letter is settle the record straight with "false teachers." Those are teachers who teach a gospel of works. You do this, you do that and you are saved. In other words, follow the law and you are saved. This kind of thinking leads people astray and away from the true Gospel which points to a Savior. Someone who saves you despite who you are instead of the effort to save yourself by keeping rules.

It's ironic that Paul's writing which is meant to free us from the law, is used to bind us to it even further. Please don't misunderstand my choice of words when I say "free us from the law." I didn't say we now have license to do whatever the hell we want! What I meant is that Paul's words are meant to free us from condemnation.

Back to false teachers: I remember the book series "Left Behind" as it featured a pastor who was left behind after the "rapture". Throughout the story, the pastor realized what he had done wrong. He was left behind because he did not REALLY believe in the Gospel of a Savior but taught the Gospel of works which is totally dependent on the law. This is really Paul's central theme of his message.

When you look at the list of sins it's not just about "homosexuality". This is an all inclusive list. He covers ALL of humanity with his list and to make sure, at the end he says "whatever else". In other words, if you think you are good enough to escape this list, consider anything else you do that you KNOW is against God. If you say you don't sin, you are deceived.

Paul's specific point in doing this is to point the reader to God's plan to save us (the lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious) and without a Savior, we are reduced to just that. With a savior, even though we deserve death, we are free in that our debt is paid for and because of that, God does not see our sinful nature, he sees HIS purity in all of us.

Let me close with this simple analogy to explain how I see the true Gospel Paul is talking about. Maybe it can help you too:

When you come to your "judgment day" you find yourself in a court room. In this court room you find a VERY SMALL guy with lots of notes. He is yelling in the court, going through a litany of "violations." You realize that he is talking about YOU. You are all the sudden reliving all of the wrong choices you made in your life, all of your transgressions, your lies, EVERYTHING. You suddenly realize this is the DEVIL and you are amazed at how little and un-intimidating he really is. Yet, his words continue to pierce your heart and you realize you are in a hell of a desperate situation as the judge is intently listening to his words.

That's about when you notice Jesus next to you. He is calmly waiting for the devil to finish. Finally, after a hellish account of your actions the devil says "I rest my case". Then Jesus gets up, calmly, and says "Your honor, may I submit the 'Book of Life' as Exhibit A? There you will find the defendant's name. As you see, his transgressions as so eloquently put forth by the devil have been already prosecuted and paid for. Therefore, the defendant's record is clean without any blemish. I ask that you dismiss the accused immediately."

That's the true Gospel. You believe in a Savior. Someone who can do what YOU CANNOT do. He kept EVERY aspect of the law and was sacrificed for you. He took your place in death so when you hear the painful account of all your wrong doings, you can be confident that He will step in to declare that your punishment has already been executed. Now imagine the alternative, arguing with the devil, trying to justify your existence. Trying to make a case that your "good deeds" outweigh the bad ones.

Now it is up to you, it's your choice. Do you trust yourself to keep up with a litany of rules, traditions and religious activities in order to save yourself? Or do you want to rely on faith that the little child "Emmanuel" which we celebrate during Christmas came to us to serve as our stand-in for the punishment we deserve?

If your choice is the latter, its really easy. Romans 10:9 says: "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

Whatever your choice, I would love to know.

God's love reigns.

2010-12-08T06:51:00.003-06:00

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” - John 14:6

Here in the United States many celebrate Christmas. The stores are adorned and the feeding frenzy of Christmas shoppers is at is height. We celebrate but often without any understanding or reverence for the reason for the season. After all, we are talking about CHRISTmas, so who is this Christ?

Today's verse happens after Jesus washes the disciples' feet as a sign of his servant heart. He then predicts his demise and Peter boldly proclaims his loyalty but Jesus breaks his bubble when he predicts that Peter will deny him three times. Then he tells his disciples to not let their hearts be troubled because he is going ahead to prepare a place for them in his father's house. Finally he tells them "You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Doubting Thomas takes his place in saying “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” That's when Jesus finally delivers today's verse: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Now many will take offense to this verse. Certainly people of other religions can't submit to this and they will not consider it truth. Someone who is agnostic or atheist doesn't comprehend this verse and will dismiss it as religious dogma. I can certainly understand the sentiment, Jesus' statement is divisive. It divides believers from unbelievers. In this statement lies a line, the line that you either cross into faith or stand in disbelieve of the REAL central message behind CHRISTmas which is so eloquently stated by the Apostle John in the famous verse John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Now I am obviously a believer but I'm trying to put myself in the shoes of an unbeliever. There was a time in my life that I didn't want to even talk about this. I didn't care to know truth, dogma or anything that challenged the mere physical nature of my existence. I operated under the laws of physics, living day to day and relying on my self to get me through each day. Looking back I remember that I used to call myself a "born again agnostic." Although I was an unbeliever, I could not get past the acknowledgement that something bigger than me operated in this world. I think that's the case for most people. Maybe they haven't submitted to a particular religion or believe but deep in their hearts, they know something is out there watching over them.

My point in today's message is not going to be to convince you one way or the other. I can't do that. Nobody can do that. Its about God speaking into YOUR heart and reveling truths that only you can decide on. What I hope to do here is just let you peek into my heart and listen to MY experience in hope that you open your heart and we can connect. After all, I believe this to be God's will, for us to love each other despite all our flaws, believes and shortcomings.

I believe that when we connect through our hearts, we can see God. After all, God is in us. When we let our walls down, when we become vulnerable and connect, we put aside our pride, our envy, anger and everything that entangles us and we finally can have moments of clarity that show us God's will for us. To love and help each other. To love and help each other when we most need help and we are praying to a higher power for help. That's when God operates THROUGH us to send us love and help. Psalm 138:8 says "The LORD will perfect that which concerns me" - I believe he does this through people that open their hearts to you.

So, whether you believe or not that Jesus is THE ONE that God sent to us as a sacrifice, to be our Savior, the reason for the season should still make some sense to you. That at least it should be a celebration of God's love and how he wants to operate in our lives if only we allow him to cultivate his will in our hearts and we would open our hearts to others. Even in a world full of strife, God's love reigns and his people will connect.

He seems to always be our last resort.

2010-11-30T12:17:00.004-06:00

Psalm 46:1

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

When you boil down our humanity, what is it that man is looking for ALL the time? Think about it, we look for shelter and we look for a way to feel stronger than we really are, that's about it. I like the way Tony Robbins (the famous motivation speaker) puts it: "we are always looking for ways to get out of pain and into pleasure." In my opinion, that's right on target!

What is our pain? How do we get out of it? There are always resting places we can manufacture. There is a the resting place in a good bottle of vodka. Maybe our resting place is cocaine, work or sex, etc. Our refuge, is whatever takes our minds away from the pain we are experiencing. But there is something in common with all these drugs of choice; it's always a temporary fix, a temporary high and in the end, we always crash back to reality.

So this verse says "God is our refuge and strength"... I think EVERYBODY actually knows this. Why do I say this? Well, when we get in trouble and we have exhausted every refuge we can think of and we are at the end of our wits, what do we usually say? "Oh God!!!" Isn't it funny how we call him when we have exhausted all our self made options and when we have no where else to turn, we cry out for him?

What if we just went to him in the first place? What if when trouble came, we said, "God, this is too much for me, this is beyond my capacity to fix! Help me!" It sounds too easy, it may even sound stupid and ineffective, perhaps "religious"... yet, HE seems to always be our last resort. However, God allows these afflictions on us so that we learn to turn to him.

Ultimately it is our choice to choose when to turn to Him. We can prolong the pain as long as we can stand it or we can call on Him who is always ready to help in the time of need.

When you dislike yourself, how will you treat others?

2010-11-26T11:44:00.002-06:00

Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Imagine your body in war with itself. You wake up one day and your hand hates your face. What a mess would that be!

Now think of what happens every single day. The "body of Christ" is at war with itself. The "hands and feet" of God not working together towards a common goal but rather working against each other. This is the reality we live in today.

The ridiculous notion of waking up with the scenario of your hand hating your face but this is reality for the "Body of Christ" and "religion" for that matter. We've lost touch with the simplicity of faith. We have mixed in so much human drama into the church that being a part of it is often unattractive and down right offensive to A LOT of people.

I recall Jesus' words that should resonate to most of the people that are turned off by the "church" - when asked what is the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus replied:

“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

That's it! The ENTIRE law are based on these two commandments! I think that even most "none religious" people will agree with the first commandment. Even if your sense of "God" is not based on the God of the Bible, you would still agree with the command and its importance.

The second command (which is EQUALLY important) would get the nod from all kinds of people. People of all faiths and even unbelievers. It is just common sense that you treat others as you would like to be treated.

So what's my point of this message? I've been pondering that for a couple of days. Wrestling with "Love your neighbor as yourself." - why is that so hard some times? If I analyze the command I realize that if you truly comply with it then you would never steal, covet, slander, kill, etc.

So why do I continue to do these things when the command seems so simple and clear? I believe I found the answer.

We don't love ourselves! I don't mean in a selfish, arrogant and prideful sense. We don't love who we are. In a sense, we are not "meek" as Jesus said in Matthew 5:5 (Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth).

Meekness is grossly misunderstood, as it sounds like weakness. But the word is really closer to humility. It is the virtue that makes you feel satisfied and comfortable with who you are, no less, no more.

But we live in a world that is bombarding us with messages that encourage the exact opposite. Every advertisement sends your spirit and soul encouragement for you to unsatisfied with yourself. We constantly hear that there is a particular reason why you should not love yourself. You must buy this or that to feel complete. How could you love yourself if you are not driving that new convertible? How could you love yourself if you don't have this makeup? You are too fat and you should loose weight! You are too flabby, you need better abs! On and on and on... YOU SHOULD NOT LOVE YOURSELF AS YOU ARE, YOU CAN BE BETTER!

So as you realize the constant onslaught of these messages, it may be clear how the second commandment is nearly impossible to comply with. When you dislike yourself, how will you treat others?

That might sound like a really harsh or unfair question. You might not want to admit that you dislike or even hate yourself. But go to a quiet space and meditate on your actions, your motives and what drives you on a daily basis. Think of specific times you have been driven by the negative force of self deprecation, self chastisement or even self criticism. Considering this, there is a high chance that you have loved your neighbor as you love yourself, which is unfortunately, very little.

Trust in him today and move from fear to a world of possibilities.

2010-10-24T17:35:00.005-05:00

Proverbs 9:10

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom.
Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.

What's your fear? Does a day ever go by without you thinking about your fears? Think about it, we fear every time the clock turns the hour. If it's not your bills, its your inadequacies, maybe a sickness or the economy. There seems to be no shortage of fear in our lives today.

Then I read this passage which starts with "Fear of the Lord" and if it wasn't bad enough that we have all these fears, this verse is telling us to fear the Lord? Of course we fear him don't we? Isn't that why we try to turn him off when we are doing something wrong? Can you see yourself driving down the highway 30 miles over the speed limit while singing "How great is our God"? Of course not, because at that point, you probably have AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" blaring out the speakers! Been there, done that!

We do this because we think that the Lord is not always watching us, so when we tune him out like that, we seem to loose fear of him. Think about Adam in the garden after his run in with Satan. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” (Genesis 2:9) Where did Adam go? He knew he had done wrong and he was hiding from God! It's not like God couldn't find him you know.

So now back to "Fear the Lord" - I ask something, how does this make any sense when we know of the grace of God in the new testament? Why should we fear the Lord given that he has given us the ultimate gift of Grace? And could we possibly misunderstand this statement given that when we do wrong things, we fear and hide from God just as Adam did?

After careful thought, I thought of it this way, you tell me what you think. Why should I fear the Lord? Many of us have come to know that God gives us "free will" - but I looked everywhere in the bible and struggled to find where it specifically says that.

So at this point of this message, I took a two month break. I saved the draft and didn't know where to go with this message. Lots has transpired since then and I'm still struggling with the topic. Despite not finding specific information in the Bible about "free will" I reflect on countless stories and accounts throughout the Bible in which "free will" plays such a huge part of the daily human drama.

So I come to the thought, what if we didn't have free will? We would just be drones, taking every command and executing them perfectly in the will of God? How would we even enjoy the fruits of the Spirit? (Galatians 5:22-23 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!)

So in my continued search, I found what I think the closest thing that points to free will. How do we find salvation? Some religions have a litany of tasks for you to accomplish in a daily, weekly, yearly and or lifetime basis. Some people rely on self salvation. But in Christianity, you find the ultimate exercise of free will in Romans 10:9-10 to find salvation:

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

So while it is God who prompts you to do this in your heart, it is ultimately your faith and free will that activates your salvation which is already bought and paid for. And the gift is simple, with trust and faith in God, you are free from the litany of religious requirements men has created in order to find self-worth.

So when you evaluate "what's your fear?" think of the ultimate choice God has given you to deal with every fear you've ever had in your life. He will never forsake you when you trust in him and he will never let you be without help to conquer these fears.

Trust in him today and move from fear to a world of possibilities.

Are you going to press the easy button?

2010-03-23T22:52:00.003-05:00

James 1:12.
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

I like the way the Message version puts this verse: Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

Are you meeting a testing challenge right now? I would say most of the country is. We can meet one of these challenges one of two ways... head-on or side ways.

So lets think about this. If you try to side step through a testing challenge, you are always going to be on your own. You have to make your own side steps, you have to dodge, jump and do all kinds of acrobatics as you maneuver through hurdles. Your left with yourself to blame for every misstep, every failure. It's a tough place and many of us are there every day.

Then the alternative... If its a testing challenge, how do you take it head-on? If you even contemplate doing this you start to come up with a list of side steps immediately! challenges like this require faith. Faith in the God we love because only he can take the challenge head-on.

This is so easy to write, yet so difficult to even think. Challenges come with a plethora of issues, consequences, punches, etc. It is so hard not to sit down and calculate. Yet Gos is telling us, "it's not that hard if you grab my hand."

But what do we do? "No God, you grab my hand, I'll get through this and you stay next to me in case I get in trouble." Isn't that how it works? "Such persons loyally in love with God", in other words, those who totally trust him... are rewarded!

It makes me think of the Staples® Easy Button. Are you going to go through every day, side stepping your way, jumping through hurdles, ducking obstacles, all on your own strength?

Or are you going to press the easy button of God's grace?

We could learn from dogs!

2010-02-27T06:48:00.001-06:00

1 John 3:18.
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

In this verse I find the use of the word "children" very interesting. How true since we often act like children in our lives. We seek to love amomgst a sea of words, yet our actions often contradict the very words that escape our tongues.

Imagine a world where people really applied this verse! A world where people actually did love and not only talked about it. How different would life be? How would politicians behave if they took this verse to heart.

When I read this verse again, I think it must have been written for dogs! Think about it, they live by this verse! They can't talk to you, but by their actions they express love even when their owner doesn't.

We could learn from dogs!

Troubled times...

2010-02-07T09:04:00.002-06:00

Psalm 59:16
I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

Are we living in times of trouble? Every time I turn on the 10 o'clock news it sure seems so. Last week a dazed and confused woman was arrested after hacking her 1 and 3 year old to death. But I'm sure when this was written it was no different.

Millennium after millennium humanity has succumbed to the numbness of every day struggle which can often bring us trouble, daze and confusion. In today's verse, the psalmist allows God to cut through the fog of our daily war and boldly declares victory in God's name.

Most people (including myself) will want to say "yeah but you don't understand what I'm going through" - this is why it is important to read through the Psalms. David who wrote most of the Psalms went through more trouble than any of us. Through it all, he never lost faith in God.

Today, no matter how much trouble we find ourselves in, we need to understand the utter simplicity of God's grace. His grace is not dependent on complex rules and rituals. It is not dependent on traditions or religion. It is a source of power freely available to those who simply plug in.

So today as you contemplate your troubles, slide in a CD of worship music and sing a song to the Lord. Let him minister you with his Word and soon you will feel His strength overcome your troubled times.

A new year, a new decade...

2010-01-02T11:44:00.002-06:00

A new year and a new decade begins and I'm breaking from the tradition of writing a message based on a particular verse.

It's a new year and I wonder where did 2009 go. I had so many aspirations, yet the year flew by. I look at the last message I wrote and I wonder, has it really been almost two months since I last wrote?

I remember when I started this blog. I was so determined, never missed a day of writing. It became my "religious duty" to send out my message. The after a year or so, the Holy Spirit woke me up and impressed upon me that this blog shouldn't be part of my checklist of religious activity to do every day!

Fast forward to 2010 and it's been almost two months since I've written. The Holy Spirit reminds me of Romans 8:1 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"

The "therefore" points back to the famous chapter Romans 7 where Paul wrote about his constant struggle between the flesh and the mind. For a long time, I thought this was Paul talking about who he was (as in the past). Now I realize that this was his struggle always, as it is for all of us whether we admit it or not.

So what is my point? No condemnation. We struggle so much of our lives because we always feel the weight of condemnation. Tony Robbins, the self-motivation speaker always says," we are always trying to move out of pain and into pleasure."

Think about it, that is so true. So many of our decisions in life are based on trying to get out of pain and into pleasure. Condemnation causes a lot of pain in our lives and therefore drives a lot of our decisions. That is a sad state of affairs but quite true for many.

Think about your past. What decisions have you made based on fear of condemnation? Probably too many to want to recollect!

And what did Paul mean by Romans 8:1? Great, "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" but why do we still feel the condemnation, or fear from it?

I think in the end it is all about acknowledging the freedom Christ gave us at the cross. It is about coming to the realization that he paid the price for our sins. The bottom line is that most of us don't really comprehend that and we are always trying to do the work of redemption ourselves.

When are we going to learn? When will you stop listening to condemning voices who rob you of the freedom that was given to you, paid for by the blood of Jesus?

God does the rest of the work of salvation!

2009-11-09T10:38:00.001-06:00

Isaiah 1:18.
'Come now, let us reason together,' says the Lord. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.'

Its amazing to me that this was written MANY years before this truth was revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Written in a time that salvation to many was a repertoire of legalistic requirements and ceremonies. And here in this verse, the Lord says, "let us reason" yet it is reason and logic that often brings about legalism.

I love this verse because it's quite simple. The Lord tells us that even though in our own right we are dirty, nasty and unclean, HE will make us clean; no conditions. This is a clear picture of God's grace and when that is put into context, we can surely reason with one another. We can reason past non essential doctrine that so entangles us in endless unfruitful debates.

If we see the greatness of this verse, we can reason past all the senseless legalism that continues to condemn saved Christians into thinking they can mess up and loose their salvation. People do all kinds of things "in the name of Jesus" thinking they secure their salvation or gain God's favor.

So let's reason with one another and come to the conclusion that we are saved because of his grace through a very simple act of faith which is believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and he died to pay for your penalty for your sins.

God does the rest of the work of salvation!

Pray for Obama?

2009-11-07T16:18:00.001-06:00

1 Timothy 2:1-2.
I urge, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

This is a message to all of you that are not quite happy with our President. Brought to you by God!

Its interesting that this message was written by St Paul during a time that was ruled by a very oppressive ruler in Rome. Nero made Hitler look like a pansy!

Yet Paul urged the people to pray for him? How many of us pray for President Obama? Is that such a tough pill to swallow? What's the alternative? To harbor anger because you don't agree with his policies?

What about a boss you don't care for? You have three choices, retaliate, leave or pray.

To pray, as this verse does yields a promise at the end of this verse. Note that is says "so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives..."

I like that, I want to have peace and quiet. Every time I try to fight authority I'm on the wrong end of the stick. I don't believe this is telling us to give up submit to be abused by authority. It is a call to prayer, that in earnest we ask God to guide those people over us.

But those who founded our country, in faith and in prayer were called by God to resist those in authority and create this great nation. The created this nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.

So let's pray for Obama to be willing and open to God's word as he faces challenges. In the same token, let's pray for God to give of the wisdom needed to sift through politics and identify the works of the enemy which are hell bent on destroying liberty in this great nation.

God is in control, if you want him to be.

2009-11-06T05:39:00.000-06:00

Ephesians 1:9-10.
He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

The Father knows the begining through the end. He created his plan outside the bounds of what we know as time and this verse says he did all this according to his "good pleasure."

In addition, this verse tells us that there will be a time when His plan will be fulfilled. When heaven and earth are reconciled under "one head."

It goes right along with how Jesus taught us to pray "your Kingdom come, your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven."

To me that means that he is working every day, every moment to bring this world under his authority, "one head." But then I think to myself, that means there are aspects of this world that are under someone else's authority, the enemy.

So while it is nice to think "God is in control" perhaps he is not always in control? It's obvious that in his plan he allows us to go astray and perhaps be under the enemy's control only to ultimately bring us closer to him.

I think that is a sobering thought that sparks all kinds of other thoughts. I think of words like "your name is a strong tower" and the imagery that in order to have safety in the strong tower you must consiously run inside. So currently in this world, God is in control of the people who willingly seek him. But those who consiously walk away from him can find themselves in the belly of a whale.

So God is in control, if you want him to be.

The word of God is more powerful than you!

2009-10-27T06:35:00.001-05:00

Hebrews 4:12.
The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Just recently, I was on a Dallas Area Rapid Transit train and in the midst of a very crowded train, about three rows from me I heard a very irate woman yelling at a man. I'll spare you the details of her graphic language but she continued berating this man that was standing next to me for at least 15 minutes. At some point I had to finally say something, in which all the sudden I felt her anger focused toward me. Then I looked deep in her eyes as she readied her self for me to say something that would fuel more of her anger.

Then I said: "Jesus loves you!"

At first she rolled her eyes and said "I know that, you don't have to tell me, mind your own business!" Then immediately, the man next to me, the subject of her tirade, quickly moved down the aisle and out of her sight.

I was amazed! The name of Jesus is so powerful! Just three words, "Jesus loves you" diffused a situation that could have gotten very ugly. As his name escaped my mouth, it instantly breathed peace into the situation, it penetrated joints and marrow, it was sharper than a double edged sword.

This was one of those God moments which let you know, he is real, he is relevant, he is our powerful ally that will fight our battles when called upon, he is our Jehovah Makkeh, the Lord who strikes our enemies (Ezekiel 7:9).

So next time you find yourself in a potentially bad situation, remember this, the word of God is more powerful than you! It is a weapon that activates His will in our lives and can make things happen, sometimes instantly!