Abandoned

A Boy and A Man

2019-11-08T12:42:00.002-08:00

I'm not much of a poet, don't really like poetry that much. But I've slowly added to this over the past few years and thought maybe I should put it somewhere that most no one will look but maybe will be saved. So here it is.

A Boy and A Man

A Boy works because he is made to,

A Man works to serve others.

A Boy is given responsibilities,

A Man takes responsibility.
A Boy looks out only for himself,

A Man looks out for others.

A Boy depends on others to help him,

A Man is depended on by others for help.

A Boy looks for how little he can do,

A Man looks for the job to be complete.

A Boy makes excuses,

A Man sees his faults.

A Boy complains,

A Man is grateful for what he has.

A Boy thinks he did everything right,

A Man is always looking for ways to do it better.

A Boy sees himself as the final authority,

A Man recognizes the need for submission.

There are old boys and there are young men.

Which are you?

Christian Response To The World

2014-08-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

Recently there have been many stories that pop up in the news that have lead to conflicting responses from many people. With the easy and constant access to media and social media many people form opinions and state their position. I don't think this is all together bad I it gives an opportunity for your opinion to be scrutinized and debated for different angles. The benefits of being published are now given to every person with a Facebook account and blog and within minutes of posting you can have hundreds if not thousands of comments and opinions. Some helpful and some a complete waste of cyberspace.

In light of situations like the abundance of children coming across the border, ISIS in Iraq, Hamas and Israel, and the conflict in Ferguson, MO I find myself asking what is the correct christian response. Not what is the conservative or liberal response, or even what is the best response to get our government back on track but as a follower of Christ what is the correct response in this situation and how can I encourage others in that way.

Jesus gave us a picture of what life should be like and what it will be like when he comes to reign on earth. Before he got into the details of exactly what that kind of life looks and acts like he gave a summary list and said if you do these things you will be happy. Not our american you-just-ate-ice-cream happiness but a deep contented, satisfying, joyful, blessedness. That list is commonly referred to as the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5.

Next time you are listening to the news and hear about things happening around the world and are trying to figure out what your response should be in the matter, try looking up Matthew 5 and reading the first few verses and see how you can live the beatitudes out in your response. Are you being meek in your response or are you overbearing and forceful? Are you longing for righteousness or are you longing for constitutional resurrection? Are you seeking peace or do you just want the other guy put in his rightful place?

In the end, when you help the law-breaking kids at the border that need help people will hate you for helping them, when you say that more war is not the best answer people will revile you, when you say that protesting in the streets and creating chaos is not the best way to find the truth, people will call you names and maybe lie about you. But we are ultimately called to love God and spread His truth not to get caught up in the latest and greatest news story and which side of the political line you fall on.

Chances are if you have the same opinion/reaction for the same reasons as the majority of the other political parties out there, it's probably the wrong one. God's way is not natural, is not selfish or self-serving. It also cannot be forced or legislated it has to come from a heart of faith in God. Forced charity is not helpful to the giver or receiver. The giver will despise the receiver for taking what was not his and the receiver will despise the giver for not willingly giving up what is entitled to him.

14 Responsibilities of a Faithful Father

2014-03-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

In Sunday school we have been going through the book of Titus. Our teacher was going through the section on the qualifications of an elder. While doing this he pointed out the the responsibilities of an elder are very similar to the responsibilities of a father. I thought I would post the list as it was a good reminder. Also I'm very grateful to have a father that fulfilled these responsibilities well.

Responsibilities of a Faithful Father:

• To love them unconditionally.

• To be concerned for their well-being.

• To develop the relationship with them.

• To pray for them.

• To serve as an example in doctrine and life.

• To provide biblical instruction.

• To guide them through conflicts and difficult decisions.

• To give spiritual comfort during trials.

• To warn and protect them from danger.

• To pursue them when they stray.

• To lovingly discipline them when they become rebellious.

• To labor to restore them when they fail.

• To call them to maturity.

• To prepare them for their future responsibilities.

How we should act as Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

2014-03-05T18:10:00.000-08:00

Dealing with emotional situations is difficult for anyone. In the fullness of the moment it is easy to forget how we are challenged to act as brothers and sisters in Christ and turn to our own selfish desires. Because of that tendency and because we all claim Christ as our savior and are striving toward perfection and glorification I believe it is fitting to include a reminder of our responsibility to Christ and others.

All to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31)

There are many reasons to care for people in their time of need but our foremost reason is because it is glorifying to God to help those in need. Our objective in everything we do should be to glorify God through it. The decisions we make, the advice we give, the care and support we give should be filtered through the lens of; “Is it glorifying to God?”

Submit ourselves to one another (Eph 5:21)

We would all have great benefit in reading Ephesians 4 and 5 as we go through conflict and difficulties. We are all Christians saved by grace and should act as such. A great leader or caretaker is humble, preferring others before themselves, being thoughtful in their service to others. There may be times of anger but taking care to not let the sun down on that anger. People tend to avoid problems in hope it will go away but we should seek to resolve and restore the relationship with those around us.

Confess and repent of your sin and seek out to resolve conflict (Matt 5:23-24)

This is a crucial step in the life of a Christian that is often avoided or even advised against. Do not expect to go to church, serve in ministry and live a Christ honoring life when you know someone has something against you. Don’t just say you are sorry or apologize to skirt around the issue. If you have sinned against some else then say it. “I did this, it was sinful for me to do it, I will take steps to not do it in the future”. True repentance doesn't just stop a thief from stealing; they will start giving things back.

Love God and others (1 John 3:16)

This is a great verse because it is only through Christ that we can know love. Look to Christ for how to love correctly. As your relationship with Christ grows stronger so will your love for others. It is through our love for each other that people see Christ displayed in our lives. People should look at our lives and see how well the church pulls together and helps each other out and know that it is not normal.

Discerning the Will of God

2014-02-13T11:08:00.000-08:00

This is a difficult topic to discuss not so much because the Bible does not give clear direction as much as there are so many different thoughts and expectations that it is difficult to not to give the wrong impression. For that same reason it is a vitally important topic to take about. How do I know what the will of God is for my life? Young people especially struggle with this question as they are making vital life changing decisions. The scripture I want to reference is Rom 12:1-2 but before I do I want to talk about God’s will in a general sense.

Two wills of God

I believe the Bible refers to two types of God’s will. God is in control of everything and nothing happens outside of His control and knowledge. That would be God’s decreed will. There is also God’s will of obedience. Throughout the Bible God reveals to us his desire for us in everything we do from morality, to how we view and worship God, to how we view and treat others. I believe these verses are talking about God’s will of obedience for a number of reasons which for time I will not go into right now.

Transformation Takes Work

When we were saved we became new creatures in Christ. Our hearts were changed and we have a desire by faith to please and glorify God but God is still in the process of making us to be like Christ. Phil 2:12-13 tells us to work out what God has worked in. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. This is accomplished by God, through His word. As we read God’s word and come to understand Him better we change our minds to think like He does and to have the desires that He has. Filling our minds with God’s word will show us who he is in any giving situation.

Know God’s Will by Testing and Discerning

Knowing and understanding God’s will does not come by meditating on nothing and waiting for it to come. Do not sit around trying to attribute your own thoughts and feelings to a spiritual voice to discern God’s will. Never in the Bible do you see someone struggling with discerning whether or not God audibly has spoken to them. And never is that spoken word incorrect or inconsequential to their life or the life of others. If God speaks to you directly He will do it such a way that there was no doubt that God has spoken. God has shown us through His word how we are to discern His will for every area of life and never does it involve mysticism, clearing your mind or chanting the same phrase, song or verse over and over. Next I will cover 4 practical and Biblical ways of testing and discerning the will of God and what is good, acceptable, and perfect.

Testing through Scripture

I would argue this is the single most important tool for discerning God’s will. Anything and everything else should be viewed through the filter of scripture. That is why it is so important for us to be constantly in God’s word, being transformed and renewing our minds. This type of transformation comes from a deep understanding of God’s word in the context of the whole Bible. It takes time, work and prayer to understand God’s word and how to apply it to your life. Years of time, study and experience which leads me into item two.

Spiritual Advice/Counseling

Spiritual advice can be very helpful from someone who is outside of the situation. But be very careful who you go to for this advice. The Bible mentions in several places about the younger women going to the older women and younger men to the older men or elders for advice. Godly advice can provide a different perspective on your situation. Be careful as bad advice can be just as detrimental as good advice can be helpful.

Prompting and peace of the Holy Spirit

I almost hesitate to even mention this because of the heavy emphasis on mysticism in the church today. At the same time I believe it can be an important factor in discerning God’s will. I would not look at this as a reason as much as assurance of the right direction. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If you are grounded firmly in God’s will you should be demonstrating these characteristics. If you are lacking peace, faithfulness, joy etc. then you should look at your life and see why the fruit of the Spirit is lacking in your life. Maybe it is due to decisions you have made or maybe it is because you believe something about God that isn’t true. It may be a small decision of what you believe about a situation or a big decision of being engaged to a certain person without careful thought. The Spirit’s prompting will come through scripture not a feeling, a voice, or goose bumps.

Be weary of the people that tell you to just sit and listen for God's voice, to clear your mind, or even chant scripture over and over to where it becomes a thoughtless process. The Bible never tells us to look within ourselves, our heart, or our own mind for answers but to look to God, His word and to those who are wise in the faith.

Small Things are Big to God

2013-12-20T06:43:00.000-08:00

I was recently reading through the stories of Elisha in the book of 2 kings. You Version had a 13 day reading plan with a small devotional for each section and when through the life and miracles of Elisha. The devotional portion was interesting although I disagreed with the main premise behind the devotionals it was insightful and thought provoking. What struck me more than anything else while reading through the life of Elisha was how meaningless it seemed in the grand scheme of things. You have Elisha the shadow of Elijah who confronted King Ahab multiple times and demonstrated the greatness of God before the prophets of Baal. He stopped rain on the nation for 3 years as God’s judgment on Israel and at a word made it to rain again, and doesn't even die he gets taken up in a whirlwind. What could be more amazing than the life of Elijah?

Enter Elisha. He burns his plows, sacrifices his oxen and follows after Elijah with a fervent dedication. When asked what he wants he doesn't hold back and asks for a double portion of the power of Elijah. Who has the confidence to say I want everything you have plus double because I’ll know what to do with it? And yet, God gives it to him. You have Elisha, with amazing power, faith, and dedication. His high school would have voted him most likely to do something amazing.

As I read through the stories and miracles, of which there are many, I began to see a pattern. God uses this faithful man not to proclaim to kingdoms, to bring down kings, to win mighty battles for the nation of Israel, God uses him in the most unlikely and strange places. God, through Elisha is gracious to an unnamed man by making his borrowed ax head float. God ministers to a unnamed widow and her son by providing them bread and restoring her sons life. Elisha did heal one captain of an army from a different nation but to no know benefit to anyone but that captain. Finally God brings another unknown man back to life after touching Elisha’s bones.

Many would see this life and think, what a waste. Elisha, a man of great faith with the spirit of 2 Elijah’s and God uses him to show His love to individuals. Maybe the small things in life are much more important to God than we can ever dream. Maybe the most powerful, dynamic thing we can do sometimes is fed someone in need in the name of Jesus. God will raise up Elijah’s who will perform great and mighty things, but that does not mean they are any more important than the person who prays for a sick family member and provides comfort. The small things are just as, if not more important than the big things.

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People

2013-11-14T05:15:00.002-08:00

Here I am sitting on a plane at a time when I would generally be getting ready for bed plagued by a question from my sister in-law earlier in the day. Why do bad things happen to good people? Not an easy question to resolve in a short amount of time but in my best rambling fashion I did my best at a semi concise, cohesive answer that most likely left the listener in much of the same state if not worse than when I started. With a plethora of time on my hands and a desire to put thoughts on paper I hope to provide a slightly clearer response to this question.

Before getting started I would like to throw out a disclaimer of sorts. First, that I have not been through the dire and distressing times that so many go through in these days. I have not known the death of close relatives and friends, I have not known deep debilitating depression, and I am not close to anyone who has battled day and night, month to month with cancer or another devastating illness. If you have been through distressing times my heart and love goes out to you. At the very least I know that it is not easy, that some fight moment by moment to continue and that hope though not easily found is a fountain of joy when it arrives. I desire that nothing I write belittles your pain but brings hope in a God that truly is in control and desires the best for your life.

To answer the question of “Why do bad things happen to good people?” I believe you must first review your terms closely. I believe the Bible is the ultimate source of truth and that is the source from which I will define my terms. In this question I believe it is best to work backwards through the question addressing the subject first; good people.

Typically the thought process behind the question follows the logic that there are some people who make an effort to be good. They treat others fairly well, they give to charity, they go out of their way to help others, and they live a fairly good life. Most would consent that maybe they don’t do everything right, they mess up but in the end they are good people who live honest lives and care about others. First and foremost, regardless of experience and philosophy the Bible must be the source of truth so we must look at what does the Bible say on the matter of good people. It doesn’t take much study through the Bible before we realize that no one is good. Rom 3:23 for all have sinned, David talking of being sinful in the womb in the Psalms, countless times of men being left to their own devices only to reject God. I would argue that even the most upright action from an unbelieving person is at best only in an effort ultimately to do the right thing for them and not for God revealing the selfishness of their heart. Hebrews states that without faith nothing is pleasing to God.

That still leaves the question of why would bad things happen to people to do believe in God, who do trust and obey and try to live to the glory of God, people who are not righteous in themselves but are made righteous through Jesus Christ. Why would bad things happen to them? That leads us to the next section of the statement. What are the “bad things” that happen to these good people? This is where I find nowhere to turn but faith and trust in Jesus Christ because it does not always make sense to me. He ultimately knows what we need and has our best interest in mind. Romans 8 it says that God works all things out for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Verses 29 and 30 go on to explain what that purpose is; to make us into the likeness of Christ. To make us, like Christ. That is a hard verse to swallow at times. When you are going through depression, deep loss, or illness how do you trust that God will work it out for your good? My only answer is faith in future grace based on past grace. God saved me, He brought me this far, I know His work is true so I will have faith that He will bring me through this trail more like Christ than previously. Although the trial may be more than I can bare, His strength is shown through my weakness. It is not a feeling at this point, it is not something to be reasoned, it is pure unadulterated faith that His word is true. I pray that God would bring comfort to anyone going through a situation like this currently and pray that God would be able to use you mightily in the future because of it.

The last part of the question is, why. I don’t know that we will ever fully know the answer to why. Job tried asking that question and found out that it was too much for him to handle. The God of the universe, who does all things justly, who holds the earth in his hand is supposed to reduce the awesome complexity of why this one thing was allowed to happen to you? Can you imagine all the small details and reasons and unknown situations that lead up to, and resulted out of each and every decision and situation? First and foremost I think the answer is who are we to question God, and yet David and Job did just that. I don’t think it is wrong to ask, and many times God may provide at least a partial answer. It is when we believe we need, deserve or have earned an answer that our self-righteousness becomes prominent.

To wrap up my answer to the question: “Why do bad things happen to good people?” 1) No one is good except God. 2) God allows bad things for His purposes. Why do bad things happen in general is another blog post but for now it is enough to say that those bad things are allowed and that God will work it out for good in the lives of Christians. Sometimes the evil prospers, sometimes the righteous struggle but God holds all things in His hands. That should be comforting to those who trust in Him. 3) It is not always for us to understand why, but we can know that God will perfect those who are saved into His likeness.

Book Review Manly Dominion

2012-01-30T21:05:00.000-08:00

If I was going to rate this book which I did I would probably rate it at 2 ½ stars out of 5. I know this is a book that that comes highly recommended by some but I have to say I was somewhat disappointed. I would have rated the book much lower but for the fact that the author has some some great advice and really encourages men to step up and do something in a time when men tend to sit down wait. I was encouraged in my vocation, personal life, and family life as a husband and father. To not sit idley by and watch life pass by but to act upon life and lead my family, be assertive at work and lead those around me.

The book starts out with a comparison of someone who subdues life and takes Dominion over it as oppose to someone who is like a purple 4 ball. I believe the negative side to the 4 ball was mostly that it was purple and the author apparently sees purple as a Sissy Pansy color, which is kinda racist but probably true. The real point is that pool balls get pushed around. They are pushed around by other balls, by a cue stick, or by bumpers. they really never take control of where they are going, they just go where they’re told. The moral being, take control don’t be a billiard ball.

This by itself seems harmless and helpful prospective to have and to some extent I agree. The problem come when now that we have this perspective we are going to go and try to find some scripture to back it up with. The author turns to Gen 1:26-28 when God instructs Adam and Eve to subdue the earth and have dominion over the animals of the earth. The author then extrapolates this idea into every single nook and cranny of your life. You should subdue not only earth, and dominion over the animals, but subdue and have dominion over your job, your family, yourself, your daughter’s relationships, your church, ect. This is a command to every part of your life here on earth. It’s some of the wost proof texting I’ve seen. It’s like he was looking for a theme for his new book idea and stumbled across it.

This is my reason for giving the book 2 ½ stars. It does have some good idea and promising thoughts, but in the end they are based on a poor foundation. I completely disagree with his exegeses of Gen 1:28, and everything else in his book is based on that idea. There has to be a better book out there for calling men to be spiritual leaders of their families. I will continue to search for it.

Love them like He does

2011-09-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

Finding myself in the leadership role as a husband and father has been wonderful humbling experience. So many times I find that I don't have the right answers. It makes you wonder how other fathers do it. How do they know just the right thing to say at the right time. How to you make a difficult decision that doesn't really have a a right answer. Many times I find myself at a loss for words. How do I lead my wife spiritually when sometimes I feel leaps and bound behind her. I raise my hand and say "follow me!" as I'm running to catch up. How do you know when your 8 month old daughter just doesn't know better and when she is being defiant? One thing I keep reminding myself of that is it is my role as the husband to display the love of Christ to my wife. This is a rather large responsibility and I find it distasteful of God to lay such a burden on an already struggling individual. But what are you going to do, fight Him about it? As much of a monstrous position God's directive has put me in I find it most often my fall back in times of need. When my wife is struggling and I really don't know what to say or how to help I find myself asking God, how would you treat me in this situation. Although God has given me a seemingly impossible task to preform He has also given me a model to emulate. Not just a model understood through study, but also understood through personal experience. I find that most of my difficult answers come through how God has treated me, what God has promised me in His word and how His word says that He relates to me. I can always ask myself how does God love my girls right now, and then try and do the same.

Hermeneutics, Interpretations, and something about Blue and Red

2011-06-30T17:43:00.001-07:00

I have thought several times about writing down some of my thoughts on theology, the Bible and whatever else seems to come to mind. This is not a situation where I give you the 3 points to prove I’m right but more of a “this is what I have learned so far and God is still working on me”. As I was thinking about different subjects to write on it hit me that I should probably cover my understanding of good biblical hermeneutics and what I would consider to be a true interpretation. It doesn’t do anyone much good to present a opinion if you both look at the same color and one person calls it blue and the other says it’s red. There wont ever be an agreement until you establish a baseline for what is true.

That being said, let me cover a few of my basic beliefs on good biblical hermeneutics.
1.) I believe that when each book of the Bible was written it was inspired by God through direct revelation. There is no possibility for error, it never contradicts itself and it can be completely trusted to be true and accurate. I may go into why I believe this at another time, for now it’s good enough to say that I believe it with all my heart.

2.) I believe that when the bible was written it had a definite literal meaning that made sense to the person writing it and to the people it was written to at the time. That’s not to say that all the prophecy was completely understood as to how it would take place, but that the prophecy did have a specific meaning and what was prophesied was understood as something. It had meaning, it wasn’t just gibberish. That is also not to say there aren’t figures of speech throughout the Bible, but the figure of speech did have a literal meaning that meant something at the time of being written. It didn’t have one meaning then and change meanings over time.

3.) There are confusing parts of the Bible that I don’t completely understand. In those cases I typically believe the Bible is meant to be clear and not confusing. I typically try to take as literal an interpretation as possible and believe that it is true. I do not try to twist it around and figure out a way to make sense of it based on my understanding of scripture. I do however let scripture help interpret scripture as long as the context of each passage is kept in mind.

These are some of the basic principals that I try to stand by as I read scripture. To break it down into a nutshell I believe in a literal, historical, grammatical, interpretation of the Bible. Although many people would say the same thing, I find myself disagreeing with them at times because they have twisted things around to fit into their little world of theology that makes sense in their head. They assume that the passage can’t really mean what it said because it doesn’t make sense to them. Dare I say that maybe it’s not the Bible that had a hard saying what it meant, maybe our theology (knowledge of God) it just a little lacking and we just need to trust that God said what He meant to say and it was as clear as He could make it for us. Just maybe God is a little more complicated than the little box we put Him in and His grand plan for this world is more complicated than we realize.

(yes, I’m aware there are 3 points............it’s a joke)

Get Motivated!!

2010-11-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

Recently I had the grand opportunity of attending the Get Motivated! seminar. A seminar that requires you to wake up at an ungodly time of day and mope through traffic at rush hour in Atlanta in order to qualify for entering the building. Assuming you arrive in one piece, you are in the perfect condition for being motivated. Just agitated enough to stay awake and yet just tired enough to think you require professional counseling instead of a good nights rest.
The seminar is actually put together quite well, so well in fact that you would think people who are really good at making money put it together. Everything is done in the name of helping you achieve your lofty American dream of making more money. If you have the right perspective, say something about Jesus, work hard, have good character, and buy my program you can be like me! Be nice to other people because you have a lot to gain by it. Be honest because it helps you in the long run. Work hard because you’ll go farther that way.
Don’t get me wrong, there were some very good speakers that had a lot of helpful advice. Where I disagree is not in the action but the motive. Doing the right thing for the wrong reason is still wrong. Some might disagree on that point but it’s your right to be wrong. HA!

Example: Unsaved people do a lot of good things and yet their righteousness is as filthy rags. Why? Because their motives are messed up. It's true that good things are pleasing to God but without faith nothing is pleasing to God. You can be the goodest, hardest workingest, in the name of Jesus speaker alive and make millions by setting up an easy web that you only check once a month and teach everyone else how to do it in a 2 day class (usually for $10,000) but for only you today for $29.99 and yet without faith it’s garbage. (Tip of the day: Don’t say it “gar-bash” its like the only joke mom’s have).
So if you are really going to strive hard and be motivated about something, forget the money and focus on faith. If God wants you to have the money he’ll provide it. You’ll have all you need and maybe a little extra for the kids.

What is it with Worship!

2010-04-10T01:31:00.000-07:00

These days in America finding a good church is hard, but maybe it's because we Americans are so hard to please. It doesn't matter what it is we always have more choices than we could possibly consider and so we spend a great amount of time researching what is the best. We pull out our consumer reports for churches and see what the overall public rating is, what does their Pastor looks like, what kind of music do they play, what kind of missions do they have, what is there overall belief system, what is their youth group like, etc...... Then we start putting them into groups, like conservative, legalistic, contemporary, reformed, seeker friendly, rock concert. Then we decided what type of group we fit in best and think is most holy and try to find a church in that area. It just so happens that no church in the world happens to live up to our standards for a church and so all churches look stupid, or they're jerks, or weird, or just out there. So then we are forced to reconsider our utmost desire for a good church and see what we are willing to live with. In the end, we start going to a place consistently, get "plugged in" to the fellowship of believers and find it's the people that make up the church that you really enjoy and that help you grow in Christ. Then after you've been going there awhile and become friendly with all the people you start to find that some really aren't as holy as they pretended to be and so the search starts up again.

For some reason I have to wonder if Jesus looks down from heaven and notices that his body parts have been streun from one end of the map to the other and longs for the day when they all come back together as one body. It's got to be frustrating for Him when a missionary gets up in front of a church and says, "I'm going to this city that doesn't have a single (Indenpendent baptist) church in, when in reality God has 3 churches already there. they just don't communicate to each other because they come from different mission boards and might not have all the same values. But then how often do we do the same thing here in America? We have more churches then you could possibly believe and yet a nation that literally going down the tubes morally. A very few of the churches every work together and when they do they are so concerned that they might offend the other that nothing is really accomplished other than planting a few flowers and sweep a park.

Okay, now this brings up a serious question and really the reason for writing in the first place. Does corporate worship really matter? Not if we should, but how we go about it. I have been to churches where the music is loud and upbeat and I have to say generally the people are as well. They are excited about God and telling other people about God and it's just a really "awesome" experince. Everything is "awesome", and great, and wow just so awesome. They like to meet people where they're at in life and let them know that God loves them regardless of the way they live. Grace is poured out, but we're sure to filter out the repentance just in case somepne is convicted and gets upset. The emotions are high and you have to wonder is there something to it. But there is also the other side where hymns reign supreme. If it wasn't written before Grandpa was born then it isn't allowed in church. Standards are the cloest way to God and if you haven't confessed your sins before God and the church, and your neighbor, and school, and before the town then you my friend my need to reconsider your salvation. I'm not saying your saved by your works; but by golly your works don't live up to my standards so I've decided you aren't saved. (oh and FYI: don't say by golly, because that originated from by God which is vain. I don't care if God's name wasn't really taken in vain and in today's culture it is a phrase that has nothing to do with God's name. You my friend are in danger of hell's fire, or at least the church gossip letter, aka prayer sheet.)

I understand that those were two extremes and if you were offended then you may be a little extreme yourself......oh dear, hear it comes. But seriously, there are 2 things that we tend to find really addicting. An emotional experience, and a check list of doing it right. Is it so bad to really enjoy your corporate worship? To come away feeling inspired and excited and ready to meet the week head on? Are standards really a bad thing and maybe should you have a few? Maybe even a few that you know are right, even to a point where you might possibly judge righteously as Jesus commanded. (do what!!?) Yeah, that's right you legalistically against legalism people, same chapter that Kesus said if you judge someone be ready to live up to your own standard, he said for us to judge things righteously. Crazy, right?

So this is some of what was keeping me up tonight. I'd like to write more later, but I have to wonder if other people have had any thoughts along the same lines. I've been a bit random, but it feels good to write again.

5. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. (Mt 5:27-30)

2010-02-19T09:50:00.001-08:00

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. (Mt 5:27-30)

Here Christ demands radical amputation. Whereas many apply these verses to a number of sins and situations I think it is important to remember that Christ starts out in the context of lust and adultery. Not that it doesn't apply to other situations but the severity of the problem of lust. It is not something to be flirted and trifled with but something to take as seriously as Christ did. Christ being completely human knew and understood the struggles of men and yet did not sin. Christ makes it clear that nothing is worth holding on to if it keeps you from a relationship with Him. Take radical actions if necessary to remove those things which are causing you to stumble.

The Law said one thing....

2010-02-13T05:57:00.000-08:00

These next few Commands are after Jesus has explained that he has not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. So the passages start out " you have heard it said, but I say to you. Jesus says that nothing will be changed in the law until it is fulfilled. If you relax in the law you will be least in the Kingdom of heaven but if you keep them you will be great. I find two things interesting. One, that even now it's not the keeping of the law that saves you, you still go to heaven even if you didn't keep the law if you believe on Christ as the redeemer promised. Two, that there will be great and least in Heaven. What you do on earth does matter in heaven.

Question for thought: What does it mean when Jesus said "until the law is fulfilled"?

4. ..if you are offering your gift at the altar..leave your gift..First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Mt 5:21-26)

This seems to be pretty straight forward in how we should as Christians deal with problems we have with each other. We shouldn't go behind each others back or just go on like it didn't happen. It's also saying that if someone has something against me, not if you have something against someone else. I should take the responsibility of finding that person and getting it resolved. If I have something against someone else, I don't need to go to them right then because God makes it clear what we should do, we should forgive them as Christ has forgiven us.

3. ....let your light shine before others...(Matt 5:14-16)

2010-01-15T08:21:00.000-08:00

In this command Jesus says that we (the disciples of Jesus) are the light of the earth. He tells us to light up the world with good works. Be at work for Christ and serving Him. Not so that people will see how good Christianity is, or that this is the right religion, or to even "win" people over to Christ, but so that people will glorify the Father in Heaven. Let you light shine through good works.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great. (Matt 5:11-12)

2010-01-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

This command is in reference to being persecuted. Jesus said Blessed are you when people persecute you, and then said for us to rejoice and be glad. Not if you feel like it, not if it enables you to stick it to them, be glad regardless of the circumstances. You always have reason to rejoice and be glad.

Repent Ye Sinners

2009-12-15T05:34:00.001-08:00

I'm trying to get back into God's word and seek him daily. I have started a study on commands Christ gave us. Jesus said many times, if you love me keep me commandments, so I thought it might be a good idea to know what those were. First one I saw in Matthew today was "Repent ye sinners, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." I find it interesting that people today always talk about doing things the way Jesus did, love people like Jesus did, help people like Jesus did, but if you told them what Jesus told people they would find it too harsh. Jesus dished it out, and didn't joke around. He found a perfect balance in truth and grace. He love them all unconstitutionally but didn't back down from the truth. But also it applies to me. I need to have a repentant heart, because the Kingdom of Heaven isn't far away. I need to have a kingdom of heaven focus, and be aware of my decisions.

Right vs Wrong?

2009-09-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

I haven't written anything on here in a while but it's not because of a lack of thoughts, not really even because of a lack of time, but mostly because of a lack of knowing what to say and how. Over the past year I have been studying something that has been a controversy in Christian circles for hundreds of years. Christians have discussed, debated, cast out of the church, hated each other, persecuted, and in some extreme cases killed each other over these issues. So how do I write about something like that? How do I write about something knowing that other God fearing Christians could possibly hate and debate about it which would not lead the church into a closer relationship with each other and Christ but away from each other as it has done for so many years.

So the questions stands, how can I proclaim what I have learned and what could possibly be helpful to others without causing the debates and problems that have ruined Christ's name for hundreds of years? My goal is not to bring strife among other Christians but to cause them to consider what they believe and why they believe it so that when questions come they can stand strong. Not in arrogance of knowing the truth but in love of those seeking to know.

As you might have already guessed or known, my study has been of what some would call Calvinism and Arminianism, although I don't like this terminology it is the most well known. I don't like it because many that claim Calvinism do not hold to the beliefs of Calvin at all and the same could be said of Arminians. Some people like to call it God's sovereignty vs. man's free will. I also find this distasteful because it starts with the presuposition that the 2 are contrary to each other, thus making it a deductive study rather than inductive. Some would even go as far to say it is a study of Grace vs. Works salvation. I would say this person has not really put any time or effort into studying the different opinions and therefore has little to say on the subject worth listening to. If all you are ever told is that cows can fly and all you ever read are books that say that cows can fly and only hang around people and listen to speakers that say cows can fly then you will most likely believe it. But if someone else tells you they can't fly, and you never give them the time of day to explain why they think so, and consider their opinion valid then you have no place saying they are wrong. How can you say they are wrong when you don't even know what they are wrong about? If I lost you on that rampage of an analogy just skip it and forget it. I was only making a small point.

Profound thoughts come hard.

2009-04-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

"You can’t see anything properly while your eyes are blurred with tears. You can’t, in most things get what you want if you want it too desperately. Anyway you can’t get the best out of it." C.S. Lewis – A Grief Observed

To want something doesn't mean that you are to have it. To have something doesn't mean that you are to want it. Contentment doesn't mean that you have all that you want, nor does it mean you want all that you have. True contentment can only come when you have found satifation in something beyond your desires. And only then can you really enjoy that which you have to the fullest

Thoughts on man's spiritual condition.

2009-01-31T06:25:00.000-08:00

To fully understand man's current condition I think it is important to understand God's purpose in the very beginning. God had a reason for creating man and a purpose to his existence. This must be considered before moving forward because God still has that same reason and purpose for man now.

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God.... It is very clear in scripture that God always has been, always is and always will be. Before time and space God existed and needed nothing. He wasn't lonely because within Himself existing the relational trinity. He didn't need to create the world and universe but He did. He didn't have to create man, but He did. There are many debates concerning why He wold create man and I don't think we can ever fully understand why. Some say for His glory He created man, others say for His pleasure within a relationship. I don't think this neglects God's glory in the least but rather increases it all the more. God desired to create a being that would love and worship Him. That desires to be with Him and to continually strive for a deeper relationship with Him. Just as it gives you pleasure to be loved by your children, it gives God pleasure to be loved by man. This being said, God of course deeply loves His creation and has always desired the best for it. If you don't believe that look at the stars or any part of creation. God put so much detail into it for our enjoyment. Even what we see today is only a shadowed glimpse of what the world was like before the curse of sin.

God created a perfect world, a perfect garden with a perfect man that knew no evil. God, although totally separate from evil, knew what evil was. God didn't have to, but He chose to love the man and woman He created. God also wanted man to choose Him in return. God could have created a world with no opportunity to choose something separate from God, but without the ability to choose something other than God, man would never have the option to choose God. The very idea of a choice implies more than one option. What could bring God more pleasure in his creation than that it would choose to return His love in kind. The idea of love is meaningless without the ability to choose it.

So God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden and instructed Adam not to eat of it or He would surely die. God gave man the ability to choose God. One of the most precious gifts ever given to man, because with it comes the ability to truly love. But man failed and chose something other than God by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. At this time man died as God had said he would. It may be tempting to stop there and move to Romans for Paul's explanation of death but to understand Paul we must first read further in Genesis. As soon as Adam ate the fruit God's glory left them and they knew they were naked and went and hid themselves when God came looking for them. Although man had died, he still had an understanding of both good and evil. This is the reason God removed them from the garden. Lest they eat of the tree of life and live forever. Man knew good and evil (Gen 3:22). Man was spiritually dead and would one day physically die. The natural tendency to sin was to be passed down through the man. Although man has a natural bend toward sin, he still has an understanding of good and evil. This is evident in Cain and Able and throughout the old testament. Anytime God' s glory is ripped out of something it can be nothing more than dead. Yet with God's goodness all around, it is obvious that something is missing. In Ecclesiastes it says that God placed eternity in our hearts. We know that something is missing, something isn't right. Look at the world around you and see people continually trying to find satisfaction and pleasure in something. Trying to find something to fill the longing for something more.

The Truthful Lier

2008-11-07T18:41:00.000-08:00

Have you ever notice that most of what the serpent in the garden said to Eve was true. Everything he said was true except one sentence and even that was partly true. He still deceived Eve, but the best lie is one that is mostly true. What was it that he told Eve? Gen 3:1-6 the serpent starts out by asking a question causing Eve to consider what she believes. “"Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" A seemingly innocent question and one that Eve should have been able to answer. But what was her answer? She said "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die." Then the serpent responds with his beautifully crafted lie. "You will not surely die.

For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."All of that was true. Her eyes were opened and she did become like God the fact that she knew good and evil. (Gen 3:22) Now before we go any further in the story there are some things I want you to notice. First, Eve has not sinned at this point in her life. She has not disobeyed God and has not done anything wrong. Second, she has added to what God actually said. God only said not to eat of the fruit of the tree. He never said that they could not touch it. Why would Eve say something like this? We really don't know. Maybe she and Adam had decided to not touch the fruit, maybe they had set some boundaries as to how close you could get to the tree, maybe Adam had told Eve not to touch the fruit of the tree. We really don't know, but we do know that the direction to not touch the fruit was not commanded by God, and that it was not sinful to set that standard.

I'm trying to be short so I'll get to my point. First, we need to know where the line is and what God really said. The line was drawn in the sand “Do not eat the fruit”. Technically it was ok to sit under the tree, play with the fruit, put it in your Christmas basket on the table, draw paintings of the fruit, collect the fruit and whatever else. The actual command only said do not eat it. It important that we know where that line is in our walk with God. We need to do the research and find out what is sin. At what point are you being disobedient? Second, we need to see that setting boundaries isn't a bad thing. If seems as though that is what Eve had done. God said don't eat it, but they had set a boundary far away from the edge of the cliff. “don't touch it”. But we need to keep in mind the difference between our set boundary (maybe even at God's direction for us personally) and what God has actually said is sin.

Lastly I want to point out what happens next in the story. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” Eve made her decision based on emotions. The fruit looked good, her surroundings told her it was good, it felt good, it would have a good impact on her life. (or at least so she thought) This fruit by all appearances was a very good fruit. Many times things in our life will be the same way. It feels good, it looks good, everybody is saying it is good, it will help my life, make me smarter, but God said NO!. This is where faith has to take precedence over experience and emotion. It's not always going to make sense in your head. Satan is good a what he does, he always has been and after 6000+ years he is only better at it. If you base your understanding of right and wrong on your personal experience or even on what your emotions are telling you, you will be standing on a continually moving moral foundation.

Find out what God said is true, right and good. Setting boundaries to avoid the sin is good, but know the difference. Don't determine good and evil, right and wrong, good and bad bad experience and emotion but by the Word of God. It is the only firm foundation to stand on.

Desires (part 2)

2008-10-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

Just because I post a first part doesn't necessarily mean I know what the second part will include. Many times I write on inspiration but only have the first part thought out. Which usually means all I really know is the question but am still working on the answer. This was and is the case with this subject. I haven't figured this one completely out and I don't think I ever will. Sometimes God works in ways that are far beyond my understanding and ability to understand. My hope in considering such subjects is to get at least a small shallow view of the God I love, so that as I follow Him I have a better understanding of where He leads.
Many times thoughts like these come from either my experiences or the experiences of those around me. I usually already have a perspective on the subject and a worldview through which I perceive my experiences. But then God allows something to happen that challenges my understanding of who He is. At this point I have to make a decision. Either my intellectual knowledge is wrong or my understanding of the experience is wrong. I know, I'm probably being confusing so let me see if I can explain through an example. In fact the very example which drove me to question and search for something deeper in the first place.
Most reading this have probably heard the verse Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. There are 2 ways of looking at this verse. One way is if you delight in the Lord he will give you whatever desires are in your heart. The other way is if you delight in the Lord the desires your heart has will be from the Lord. I guess I always had a combination of the thoughts for my interpretation of the verse. I believed that if you are truly delighting in the Lord He will fill your heart with His desires. As you come to know Him more, you will become more like Him. But also in the back of my mind I told myself that if the desires I have are from God that He would fulfill those desires.
Now that you have a little back ground into my pattern of thinking, this is the situation I found my self in. Without a doubt, I know that God had lead me in a direction. I knew that the desires I had were from Him without question. He had confirmed that many times. But then I also came to a point where I also knew that desires would not be fulfilled. This was confusing to say the least, because why would God give me desires that He never had the intention of filling. So still in my Ps 34:7 mindset I told myself that if I give focused on God and continue to delight in Him that these desires would change. The opposite happened. I focused on God, continued to follow Him, and serve Him in any way I could and the desires grew. I didn't know what to do or where to turn. I actually pulled away from God some, hoping that the desires would diminish, and it did, but then I would be telling myself the whole time that it wasn't right. No desire would ever come between my relationship with God.
So what now? What could I do? I was at a proverbial stalemate. The desire finally left, but I really wasn't sure why or how. So it was at this point I wrote the first part of the note. I really didn't have a direction I was leading, and I didn't know the answer. Your comments helped because it showed me that I'm not the only one with seemingly superficial desires at times. It also helped me to see that sometimes we decided what the fulfillment of a desire is without ever contemplating what the true desire is in the first place. I might desire money, but usually that is the fulfillment of a desire for the feeling of security. A sense of knowing that everything will be alright and will workout.
And then it hit me. Maybe there is another deeper way of looking at Ps 37:4 that I had never truly considered before. Maybe it's that as we delight ourselves in the Lord He becomes the fulfillment of the desires of our hearts. Maybe Jesus fulfills every single one of our deepest desires. Maybe if we trace each of our desires back to the root, and what it really is we want, we will find the feeling, that emotion, or knowledge, fulfilled though God.
Even though I was delighting in God I was still looking for a material fulfillment of that desire. I wasn't looking at God as the fulfillment. As you find desires that you have, whether they be serving Him in Africa, having enough money for the next mortgage payment, the ability to withstand temptation in the mist of fire, a thirst for knowledge or wanting to see you children grow up Godly. Think about that desire and what it really is you desire. Accomplishing your purpose on earth, a feeling of security, strength in weakness, more wisdom, or knowledge that God is in control and see if through Him the root of that desire is not fulfilled. And then through the peace of Christ live a life of victory fulfilled in Him. My material desire wasn't fulfilled but the deeper desire was filled long ago, I just didn't know it.
So the question still remains. Why would God allow us, or even lead us toward a material desire if He has no intention of giving it to us? I don't really know. I probably wouldn't be writing this note now if things had been different. But I do know that my god wasn't big enough. I had put Him in a box that said if He leads through desires, He must fulfill that material desire. When in reality He will do what ever needs to be done to gain a deeper relationship with His children. Boundaries can be found at which we can know God, and know His character but we need to be sure those are the boundaries He has set and not us. I would write more, but this note is long enough as it is.

(There were some good comments on facebook. Check it out if you have a page.)

Desires (part 1)

2008-09-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to you.........now make a wish and blow out your candles. How many times have you heard this, how many times have you said this? How many times have you really thought about it. What if it were true? What if when you blew out your candles you could have whatever you wished for? What would it be, what would you most desire? If you ask some blond haired beauty queen she would probably stumble around trying to say something about such as world peace, but lets be real here. Nobody would seriously wish for world peace even if it was possible, because that would mean we can't be jerks to anybody anymore. When they get your coffee wrong at Starbucks you would have to nice and respectful. So what would it be? What is your utmost desire?

I got thinking about this around my birthday (for obvious reasons) and the thought has never really left me. What I'm talking about is your desires. When all the distractions are stripped away and really have time to think, what is it that you desire most? And don't just scream out JESUS like some kind of Sunday school poster child, because I'm mostly talking to people who already have Jesus.

Some people might say heaven. I just want to be in heaven, I'ma just passin thru and all that jazz. But if you really think about it, we were never meant to be in heaven. The fact that we spend any time in heaven at all is because of Adam and Eve jacked everything up in Eden. And when everything is said and done and all prophecies are fulfilled we are going to be on a new earth not in heaven. So lets try to stop over spiritualizing this and really think about what it is that we desire. What do we long for from day to day?

How far is the West from the East

2008-09-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

(written earlier today)

I'm sitting in the Salt Lake City Airport waiting on my next flight out to Atlanta. FYI: The Delta crown room at this airport is pretty amazing. They even have a small putting green in case you are in to that sort of thing. But you still have to pay for Wi Fi which I really don't understand these days. It's an easier and cheaper service to provide than coffee, but they make you pay extra for it.

The past few days have been pretty awesome. Getting to see the contrast between the west side of Washington and the east side of Washington was incredible. The west side had a lot of mountains, was very green and covered with clouds all the time. You might see children jumping up and down playing in a ray of sun light that happen to make it to the earth for a few precious minutes. On the east side you would see very few trees, a few mountains but not near as many, almost no grass, maybe a few clouds in the sky, but the sun shining brightly.

Saturday morning I got up and went for a morning hike up Wallace Falls. It were three waterfalls over a 3 mile hike to the top. It was a moderate hike with some great views. Waterfalls are kinda of like sunsets for me, I just have to stop and watch a little while and take in the wonder of it. Water is so diverse in it's nature it is mind boggling. The very essence that gives life to the creatures of this earth can destroy anything and everything in it's way when given the opportunity. It's not something I try to fully understand because to believe that I could fully comprehend it would be to take the wonder and excitement from it. I would hope that I never lose the wonder of watching the stars in the sky, the sun setting in the west, or water cascading over a seemingly random and yet beautiful path.

Saturday afternoon I started my drive over to the east side of the state. I had many people tell me I would love the drive, but I had no idea what to expect. What I saw during that 3 ½ hour drive was the most beautiful portrayal of God's diverse landscape that I had ever seen. It was one of the best parts of my time here. The weather was perfect as I drove down the scenic highway with my sunroof open, the windows down and the music turned up. Starting out in the rolling green hills of the west and watching the slow transition to the rocky clay of the of the east. I wish I could have taken pictures to reflect the inspiring wonder laid out before me, but there was no way that it could be accurately captured in a 5”x7” frame. (Plus I was driving and enjoying it too much to stop.)

Sunday was somewhat of a rest and relax day. I went to Faith Baptist church in Spokane in the morning and randomly ran into a guy from ALERT. He went through unit 32 so I had never met him before, but what are the chances, right? I mean, how many ALERT guys could be in Spokane and I happen to go his church. That gave me an “in” to the church and was able to meet a few of the other young adults there. Nice people, good church. I would go back if I was ever in Spokane again.

Overall I had a great time and wouldn't trade the memories for anything. I think God knew I needed a break and it worked out perfectly. The west side was fun and exciting, the east side was nice and relaxing. Now back to Atlanta where reality and life start happening again.

Washington (Thursday and Friday)

2008-08-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

From the very beginning I could tell that this was a trip that God had his blessing on. On my 5 hour flight out to Seattle I sat next to a Christian lady who was a stay on home. (with the exception that she was flying to Seattle) She had son in GA tech and one in Southern Poly for CS. Frank may have had some classes with him. It's a small world.

After arriving in Seattle I got my rental car and started driving North to Bellingham for the 2 hours of work I came here for in the first place. Everybody at the University was surprisingly friendly and was probably one of the best punch list visits I had made. Everyone had great advice on where to go for hiking and having some fun in Washington. Everybody also had different opinions one where to go. I talked with the general contractor for awhile while waiting for the man in charge of the project. The university had a coffee shop next to the Chick-fil-a that had been giving the workers free coffee so so the GC and I grabbed a cup while waiting. Little did I know that the GC (who was college age) kinda had a thing for one of the girls working at the shop. So he was standing there flirting a little while getting the coffee and the subject of camping and hiking came up, so I jump in the conversation and pretty much took over the conversation with girl. Later had commented on the fact that I had undercut him on that one. I was like “oh, my bad” I was just trying to figure out where to go hiking.

After work I drove down to meet an ALERT guy that I kinda knew that lived in the area. He is a state trooper and was working the state fair that night. I really didn't want to pay the 9 bucks it would take to get into the fair just so I could meet up with him and eat supper. After all I had already paid 7 bucks just to park. So I tried talking with the nice old ladies at will call hoping they would just let me slide in on something. They were nice but basically said no you're an idiot. So I start walking to the booth to buy a ticket in and a cop from the sheriffs office comes out. I think to myself “What the heck, it's worth a try” so I ask him if he know my friend who is a trooper and explained the situation. He said he didn't know him but I could have the ticket he was holding in his had. Turns out he had a free ticket he was looking to give away to somebody. If that is not amazing I don't know what is.

Friday my friend and I went hiking. There are so many trails, waterfalls and mountain here to hike it made it hard to pick just one. After getting advice from many random and known people we headed out up a mountain. It was beautiful. There were a few waterfalls on the way up and at the end of the hike was a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains and small waterfalls cascading down the side of the mountain. There was still snow frozen on the ground around the lake. God's creation can be breath taking.

My friend from ALERT (which to be honest neither of us could remember what the other looked like, just knew the name) has given me a place to stay, given me breakfast and dinner, (i bought lunch) and took off work so we could go hiking to together yesterday. As we were sitting on couch last night watching a movie eating ice cream it seemed like we had known each other for years and were close friends once again reunited. God has blessed.