Jesus is Lord

"Money: God or Gift", by Jamie Munson

2014-11-22T20:10:00.000-05:00

I know that I have not posted to this blog in a long time but when it comes to my spiritual walk with God, blogging is a tool that I have found to be very helpful. I love journaling and some things are worth sharing because the conversations I have surrounding those simple thoughts I've posted help to solidify the impact in my life while also having the chance to bless others. This week, I finished reading a new book called "Money: God or Gift", by Jamie Munson. This book immediately made me want to share what I learned with as many people as I could. This is why I have decided to pull my blog out of retirement. I know many readers still frequent the past posts but I'm hoping even more have the chance to get motivated to read this new book. Money was originally released to accompany a church study on stewardship but Munson decided there was so much more to share on the topic and release it again with new information added. I'm so glad he did. I have read numerous books on the topic of financial stewardship from a biblical perspective. This one brings even more to the table and the approach Munson takes in Money provides a much better understanding of who God is and how He wants us to use money. My plan is to share some quotes or excerpts on my Twitter or in future blog posts. Please stay tuned, or even better go buy the book. This is one of those books that you will read and be blessed. Then you will pick it up many more times to read back through for continued motivation for years to come. Hit me up on Twitter if you want to discuss it more.

Redirect

2010-03-20T01:03:00.001-05:00

It would seem that this blog had not been used in a while. I appologize for the inconvenience. I have been doing lots of microblogging on http://Twitter.com/obed and http://Twitter.com/baldguypro. Another blog was also created at http://baldguypro.com so that seems to be where all of the efforts went. Please check them out and join the conversation.

New Year

2010-01-02T00:08:00.001-05:00

Well, it is a new year and I'm planning to do more blogging this year. If it's possible to post one a day, I've already managed to miss the first day of the year by about 10 minutes. Oh, well. Maybe I'll post twice and make up for it.

Tatum and the story of Noah's Ark

2009-11-17T22:34:00.002-05:00

Tonight I sat down before the girls went to bed and read the bible story of Noah's ark out loud. Tatum came over and showed great interest at first. The pages didn't have any pictures, but were just full of words that she does not yet understand since she's just 4. As I read, she started to fiddle around with some things and I felt bad for her trying to pay attention because there was quite a bit of repetition. She stayed with me nonetheless. After I read past the part where God filled the boat with animals, I asked her what she thought about the story so far. To my amazement, she was able to retell the whole story even down to the detail of Noah making a window in the side of the ark. Even though she was playing with her hands and flipping pages through a nearby book, the clear reading of scripture got through to her and she really learned something. Don't be fearful of reading scriptures out loud in your home, the best thing that could happen is someone's life might be changed for Jesus' sake. It's a lesson I'm still learning, but I'm thankful for the little bits of encouragement that God gives us along the way.

The crushing of the enemy - vs. - Joy

2009-11-15T23:41:00.002-05:00

Today was a strange day with conflicts and crushing from the enemy, but there was still much joy to be had. God has a strange way of granting us moments of joy. I came home today from church without my wife and oldest daughter because they had more going on at church, and I had the two younger ones with me. They needed to go to the bathroom, and were restless from being at church all morning. Turns out that I didn't have a key to the house, and couldn't figure out the way to get to the spare key, so we were in distress. I got frustrated with myself and with the girls, but asked them to just go play, and it just so happens, by God's plan, that the kids really just wanted to play outside, and that's exactly where we were. They played for a while around the back yard, and we ended up leaving to get some lunch and use the bathroom. When we returned home, I found the spare key and our afternoon was ready to start. I hadn't really lost my joy by this time, but I hadn't really experienced it either.
Zoe asked me about the leaves in the back yard. See, the leaves have been falling and huge piles of them are all around. Zoe remembered that jumping in leaf piles was a fun option and asked me to help her out. I was deep in school and trying to press on, but I thought that it would cost very little time to set up a good pile and I could watch them from the window while I worked. Well once we got out there, they just lit up with excitement. There was nothing that could get in the way of their fun with the leaves. I piled them up again, and they played even harder. I was really surprised with Zoe because she was so big compared to our pile, that the leaves were just a formality in her playing on the ground, but she still had that joy that only kids can have because the burdens of life have not yet attacked them. I can't explain the sheer abundance of happiness that came out of those two little girls. This blessed my heart. I needed the blessing, too, and God knew it. This fleeting moment of happiness didn't completely dissolve the troubles of the world that have been weighing me down, but it made me realize that God really cares about me and He wanted to show me that the worldview of a pair of Christ following baby girls is the prescription glasses that I need to put on every once in a while in order to even be able to see Him in all of his glory. The burdens are a barrier between me and my Lord, and unless I take a moment and allow Him to show me pure joy, I will be crushed.

Wouldn't it be cool...

2009-09-01T22:10:00.001-05:00

I was up late and thinking, wouldn't it be cool if I just posted something to my real blog instead of microblogging, ie. Twitter? I had forgotten what it was like. I can type more than 140 characters and people on my Twitter will eventually get a link from my Twitter because I set up some service long ago that tells Twitter that I posted something. I guess it would be nice to know how I did that so I could actually turn it off sometime, but that is not the point. Anyway, now that I'm way over 140 characters, my thumbs are tired from typing on my iPhone. I guess that's all of the rambling I should subject you to for now. Have a great day!
Obed.

Different Person

2009-05-11T23:08:00.002-05:00

I just went back and read the first 3 months worth of posts on this blog. I am now blessed, again. I'm not entirely sure why, but I think it's really because I was a different person at that point in life. I was different from the years before, and also somewhat different from the man I am now. That point in life was a point of beginning for me in ministry. I was learning to serve, lead, and worship. At that point, I was not yet a target for the enemy's heavy attack. I was entering into battle, and the record of the changing in my heart was captured in those few months worth of blog posts.

I want to return to that time in life. I was a sponge absorbing the Bible, and I included my family in all the cool things I experienced. I was also under much less attack. So many times I feel like giving up on ministry would be so much better because the attack would stop, but then I look at the man several years ago that was becoming a disciple, and the zeal he had for Jesus, and I realize that I am doing what God wants by remaining in His service, and God is in charge. I am a disciple of Christ, and that crazy time of getting to know God doesn't have to end. I should be embracing the battles that God has allowed for me to walk through in expectation that He will use them to perfect me. My hope is to digest those same encouraging words that I wrote 3 years ago, and repeat the process until desired results are achieved. Rinse and repeat.

Water cycle

2009-02-03T00:46:00.001-05:00

Ecclesiastes 1:5-7 - Reading this little passage of the bible didn't mean that much to me when I first read through it but I prayed about it's meaning and was given some pretty neat insight. What it looks like to me is a description of what we commonly know as the water cycle. The winds blow, the ocean is never full, it all completes a cycle. This was written many generations before science discovered the water cycle. This amazes me and really solidifies the authenticity of the bible to me. If the bible can clearly define something a few thousand years ago that scientists have only recently discovered, then it proves to me that there is a designer. If there is a designer, then that designer must be God. If I'm not God, than I better worship the true God and get to know Him.

What causes joy?

2009-01-24T23:10:00.001-05:00

1 Peter 4:13 - Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad in His exceeding joy.

Why does the bible frequently speak of finding joy in suffering? Doesn't the writer know that trials are difficult and manytimes cause unbearble heartache?

Well in the verse above, we start to see a glimpse of the plan of God. He wants us to give Him all the glory and praises. You see, when you partake in Christ's sufferings, and pull through the hard times of struggles, God will reveal that He was there all along and you will praise Him. That is His desire, you praising Him. You will be glad in His exceeding joy and will be filled with joy as well.

Long story short, when you suffer, remember Jesus suffering as He died for your sins and give Him praise, which He deserves, and He will bless you with gladness and joy.

Above Reproach

2009-01-22T01:15:00.003-05:00

1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

The gospel rapper, DA Truth, said it best, "If Heaven's where home is, I guess it's safe to say that God's people are homeless." The point is that we are just temporary residents here on Earth. In the view of eternity, our 78 or so years on this planet is tiny. Dedicate those short years to Jesus.

The passage above mentions that the unbeliever will know that we follow Jesus by the way that we respond to adversity. I think that our response will be righteous, only if we can succeed with the statements above, "keep away from worldly desires", "be careful to live properly". Fight off temptation to be worldly, and the world will see your love for Jesus. The inner battle against temptation will show through to the onlooking world if not controlled, so be above reproach, and reject temptation to sin, and instead of the world seeing a conflicted man, they will see the Glory of Christ.

God is gracious

2009-01-20T03:02:00.001-05:00

1 Peter 2:3 If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Over the last several months, I have been given lots of opportunity to lean on God for provisions. It seems like the time of trials is never ending. Through this, I see that the Lord truly is gracious.

Grace is defined by NOT getting what you DO deserve. As a sinner, I really do deserve death and punishment because I have sinned, or done wrong, against the Creator of the universe. That punishment would be just and righteous from God, but He extends grace to us. He doesn't want to see any of us perish (John 3:16).

What I have experienced is a very gracious God who favors me. He has allowed me to be in need, enough need that I come to Him in prayer, but not so much need that I forsake Him and steal for my needs. For about a year now, I have been in a season of dryness but yet the Lord is faithful and gracious and has provided for every financial need that I have had and every spiritual and physical need as well. God is good and the passage at the top from 1 Peter 2:3 is one that I experience daily and give thanks for regularly.

Take a moment and pray that God will show you how He has been gracious to you. I think you'll find that He is working in your life in ways that you cannot even imagine.

Trials into faith

2009-01-18T23:52:00.001-05:00

James 1:2-4 Consider it joy my dear bretheren, when you encounter various trials, because the testing of your faith produces endurance and that endurance produces a perfect result.

I memorized this passage at a very young age. As a younger person, trials were little, like figuring out what excuse I wanted to make for not having my homework done on time or not getting my chores done. As I've become older the trials have matured. I've encountered physical, emotional, and spiritual trials now and the Lord is using all of that to perfect me. What is the perfect result? Well it is anything that will bring God the greatest glory.

You see, trials come either from God's hands or through God's hands. What this means is that God is sovereign and in control of all things, including the trials. Our character is shaped through trials because we learn more about ourselves and the world around us and most of the time we look to God more in tough times. He wants us to be leaning on Him, so don't wait for trials, to get good at talking to your Lord.

Another thing that I have learned from trials is that they keep coming. I thank God for leading me through my current trial and I ask for Him to prepare me for the next one. Instead of kicking my feet up in victory, I have to put the armor back on and look out for more attack. The enemy can see your victory and he attacks even more in your success but just in different ways, and quickly.

Let the trials build your faith in God. Let that strengthened faith produce greater endurance through trials. And build your trust in God as you see Him working on your life through trials. Don't give your joy away to trials but instead rejoice in them because of the supernatural spiritual growth that it produces in you.

Spiritual Leadership - pg14

2008-09-28T22:29:00.001-05:00

"I have one passion: it is He, He alone."
Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf - J.Oswald Sanders - Spiritual Leadership

Jesus is the key. There cannot be any other in the place of honor.
Keep this in your prayers... it is so valuable for life.

Spiritual Leadership - pg 14

2008-09-28T22:23:00.001-05:00

"The final estimate of men shows that history cares not an iota for
the rank or title a man has borne, or the office he has held, but only
the quality of his deeds and the character of his mind and heart."
Samuel Brengle - J.Oswald Sanders - Spiritual Leadership

Some things don't matter after you die. Make your service count and
leave a legacy.

Spiritual Leadership - pg14

2008-09-28T22:15:00.001-05:00

"We must aim to put more into life than we take out."
J. Oswald Sanders - Spiritual Leadership

Make a difference, and don't just be a spectator.

Spiritual Leadership - pg13

2008-09-28T22:02:00.001-05:00

"True greatness, true leadership, is found in giving yourself in
service to others, not in coaxing or inducing others to serve you.
True service is never without cause."
J. Oswald Sanders - Spiritual Leadership

Two things I get from this: 1) serving others is greatness, and 2) it
is costly. It costs your selfishness which so often gets in the way
of your spiritual progress. To take up leadership is to put down your
selfish desires and direct yourself and others towards Jesus.

Spiritual Leadership - pg13

2008-09-28T21:48:00.001-05:00

"The true spiritual leader will never 'campaign for promotion.'"
J. Oswald Sanders - Spiritual Leadership

I never asked for promotion, but also never denied it. I like to
think that I would do the same great work for God no matter my rank or
status. Though it is tough being a leader, God equips some of us for
that task, and if it's me then I'm happy to serve Him.

Spiritual Leadership - pg13

2008-09-23T22:38:00.001-05:00

"Ambition which centers on the glory of God and welfare of the church
is a mighty force for good."
-J. Oswald Sanders "Spiritual Leadership"

Everything with that focus is a mighty force. I pray that my thoughts
and ambitions are more focused on the glory of God.

Spiritual Leadership - pg13

2008-09-21T21:58:00.000-05:00

"Jeremiah was not condemning all ambition as sinful, but he was
pointing to selfish motivation that makes ambition wrong -- "great
things for yourself"

When I read this, I was reminded to take a good look at my motivation
to accept responsibility as a leader. I wanted my heart to be in the
right place. I regularly pray for God to examine my heart and surface
wrongful intentions so He can uproot them and restore my heart for
Him.

-J. Oswald Sanders "Spiritual Leadership"

Spiritual Leadership - pg12

2008-09-20T21:30:00.004-05:00

"Rewards for the work of leading the church were heardship, contempt, rejection, and even death. The leader was first to draw fire in persecution, first in line to suffer."

This pretty much tells you what you might be getting into if you have been called to spiritual leadership, so be ready for the ride.

-J. Oswald Sanders "Spiritual Leadership"

Attempt to start blogging again.

2008-09-20T21:25:00.003-05:00

Hey brothers and sisters,
It's time for me to start reaching out again with this blog, so my next round of blogs will be about some quotes I have kept from a recent Book that I have read. Let me know if it is helpful or rather a waste of time. God bless you all.
Obed

Swimming with ONEeighty

2008-07-13T15:19:00.001-05:00

Division

2008-05-14T00:02:00.002-05:00

Praise the Lord, I was just convicted to NOT send an email. I had spent the entire evening drafting out emails to several people with whom I have had conflicts in the last 2 weeks. I have a habit of reading and re-reading emails excessively, and then I finally pray over them before I hit send. This pretty much goes for all emails.

Well, I've been struggling with some stuff and the emails were sharing my point of view. My point of view is important to me, but really gets in the way of ministry, at least that was the conviction that I felt when reading over my drafted emails. The last thing I want to do is cause division amongst the people of God, and I fear that those emails would have done just that.

I start by saying praise the Lord because that's really what I have grown accustomed to doing when I feel conviction and also in times of trials. Just saying it helps me to transfer ownership of the problem to God. God kept those emails from hitting target, and helped me realize the err of my ways. It's selfish to have a point of view contrary to that of my leaders because I'm putting the wrong thing first.

Lord, thank you for the conviction that you place in our hearts, and thank you for guiding us through that conviction. Please forgive me for harboring selfish thoughts, and also for typing out thoughts that might have caused division. Thank you for the wisdom of my wife who has frequently reminded me that the send button is a one way ticket that can't be reversed. God, you have all things in Your control, and I want to transfer ownership of these trials to You because I cannot handle them on my own. For your glory, in all humility, -obed.

Beautiful Service

2008-04-30T22:29:00.003-05:00

A couple of years ago, I was an audience member. I was completely immersed in the teachings of my pastor. I was falling in love with church again, and actually seeing something new in the whole church scene that I had never experienced before. My pastor has a heart for service, and it was made clear in his commentary of the Scriptures.

I had heard him talk about maturity in Christ, and being a disciple of God's Word. He talked about being a doer of the Word, and not just a spectator. The fruit of his teaching was evidenced by the joy everyone around me had as they were serving. I'd see people painting walls with happiness. They would sweep the floors with singing. It was really an unreal experience, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

One Sunday morning, Pastor did something a little different. He asked for a couple of people to join him up front and he presented them to everyone as new staff members. He asked for us to pray for them, and talked a little about their stories. I could make a guess at who was presented, but the only one I remember for sure was Kat. Her story was motivating to me, and sparked a desire in my heart that I have wished ever since then to come true.

Kat came to know Jesus in our church around Christmas time in 2005, I believe. She started working at the church almost immediately, and the Lord has been working through her life amazingly. Still sitting in the audience, I turned to my wife after hearing Kat's story, and I told her that I thought it would be my earnest heart's desire to work at the church, like Kat. I had no idea what it would take to work at a church that I loved, but God gave me some direction.

We went to a little thing called "Meet the Pastor".... we now call it "the Connection". Anyway, a ministry leader there asked for people of interest in audio to start serving with him on the media team. That was my casting off point. I actually never saw the light of audio, but got plugged into the video ministry.

It was my first time ever serving the Lord. You see, I served at church before doing things like childcare or clean-up duty, but it was just that... a duty. I always had done things out of obligation to man, and not devotion to God. It's amazing to look back and know how serving God can change a man. Only a couple of months later, my giftings as a leader started to surface, and I found myself in a position of responsibility. This fueled my desire to be in full-time ministry, working at the church, even more.

My day to day tasks at work started to seem like preparation for ministry, even though I saw no relation between my job and ministry work. They just seemed that way because it consumed my thoughts and prayer life. I started talking about this desire to work at the church with my brother in Christ who was discipling me. It would come up in conversation with my wife frequently, and she started to also have the same desires as I had. My Dad, whom I worked with at the time, started to be in agreement that I was less qualified for my current job and more qualified for a media position at the church. The problem was, that a media position wasn't available at the church, even though the need existed.

To fill the need, I just started serving more. My service started when I left the house for my commute, and again when I came home, where I prayed about the media needs. It continued daily as I organized emails and communication tools for the media team and leadership. I started to develop a website that was used as a hub for information related to the ministry I served in. I'd spend every available hour at the church to improve lighting, or camera angles, or just about anything that I could improve. My regular job took 55 hours of my week, and service for the Lord consumed more than 35 hours each week, and this continued for many months.

I started to realize that I was actually in full-time ministry simply based on the hours of service, but I didn't want to keep a timesheet for God. A wise brother instructed me to stop counting the hours and just be blessed by serving. He was right, logging my hours was a labor, not a blessing, and even though I loved the work I was doing for the Lord, I started to get weary.

About that time, I lost my job. Land development came to a halt in the Triad, and my engineering time was first cut and then ended. I thought that this would be my chance. "I'm in the market for work, and I'm already putting in the hours at church, it must be God's time to put me on staff," I foolishly said to myself. This was not in His plan. What I realized, is that by doing all of the volunteer work, the media needs were being met, and the church was able to function without a staff position in media. Praise be to God, that the need was met.

In pursuit for employment, I really wanted to build some skills that would be valuable to my church and to God for the ministry that He called me to. I scooped up the first thing that came to me which was a videography job working alongside of a fellow Christian in our church. This was great! I'd be able to do ministry and work at building skills for ministry at the same time, making me more valuable. Again, this was the wisdom of man, and not necessarily the direction of God's desire in my life.

This all was sort of like shooting myself in the foot. Strangely enough, working with a Christian brother, on "God projects", actually took my hours of service from the 35+ hours down to maybe 8 or 7 hours per week. I became more stressed out because I saw that my ministry was starting to have needs that I couldn't meet due to my time restrictions with the job. As this continued for a month or two, I started to be asked about why things weren't getting done, or more needs started to surface and I was asked to address them. I thought this looked good for my prospect to be on staff, because a need was starting to be noticed, and I had what it took to fill the need... of course I did, because I was the one meeting the need before, but my job as a videographer somehow prevented me from giving the necessary time.

It's quite an anomaly, really. My job was advertised as being one that would free me to do much more ministry work for our church, but instead ended up removing me from my responsibilities as they were. It certainly was cool to be able to take on new stuff that I wanted, such as editing the church TV Program for 3 months, and doing special commercials and promo projects, but those were in exchange for the more needed daily items of the ministry, instead of being in addition to those needs.

Now, my job is coming to a close, and the needs that I could no longer meet as a result of the job will now be met by a staff member. I'm back in the place of seeking for God's desire in my life regarding my career, and my service. I have found myself very confused about my desire to devote my full-time career to service at the church, and maybe that chapter is just planned for a later time in God's story. At the very least, God has used this to bring me back to prayer more frequently than before. I'll be certainly praying more for the media team as it will be under new leadership of sorts and bumpy roads will be ahead.

As for the beauty of service, the beauty found in Kat's story above, well there is always somewhere and some time that we can serve our Lord. I'm serving Him right now on my knees, and plan to serve him tomorrow behind a camera and tripod. No matter what my desire for work might be, the desire to serve my King is greater than any selfish ambition. My favorite passage in all of the bible tells this message much clearer:

Phl 2:3	Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
Phl 2:4	Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Phl 2:5	Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
Phl 2:6	who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
Phl 2:7	but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
Phl 2:8	And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Phl 2:9	Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
Phl 2:10	that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
Phl 2:11	and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

-Obed

Meditate on the Word

2007-12-04T11:50:00.000-05:00

Phl 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Phl 4:9 Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.

I came across this little scripture while I was in my office today, and it really caught my attention. I wasn't even really reading that page, but it stood out among the pages. It's a reminder to put into practice the things that we learn, and spend time thinking about the things that we learn so that we can be better equipped to put God's word into practice.

This statement comes near the closing of one of my favorite books, Philippians. My favorite part of this book is in chapter 2 where he talks about the humble servant, Jesus. That chapter just blows my mind, and I love taking time to recall and re-read that chapter. I would summarize this letter with one word: humility. If Paul is asking us to meditate on the things of this letter that are excellent, and put them into practice, then he's speaking of humility. What scriptures and thoughts come to your mind when you think of humility?