Friday, April 19, 2013
Wrap Your Mind Around This.
Around 33 A.D. the Sanhedrin and Pharisees were the
authoritative power in the city of Jerusalem Ada garden
of Gethsemane
When he was arrested, every single one of those who were
with him ran for their lives. Nobody wants to die after all, and the threat on
their lives had been real and perpetuated over the previous year or so. The
proceeding torture, public humiliation, public beating, and public crucifixion
were witnessed by the entire city. (Jesus was kind of a big deal at the time.)
There was no doubt about how those in authority felt about Jesus, his doctrine,
and those who followed him. All of his followers hid for fear of their lives.
Then all of a sudden you have men, knowing full well what
awaited them if they even acknowledged that they were followers of Jesus,
publicly speaking and teaching in the very name of Jesus. These men were
preaching that Jesus is the Son of God, knowing that they would die for such a
declaration. Now think about this!! Why would ANY sane person do something so
blatant and open, knowing that it would cost them their reputation and
ultimately their very life!? Churches were springing up out of the wood work at
an exponential pace. Even if you don’t want to read the Bible, these facts are
recorded in history.
The ONLY thing that makes this phenomenon make any sense is
that something had to have happened after Jesus was crucified. Something
happened that turned these scared men into fearless speakers. The Bible records
this event clearly, and was written at a time when there were eyewitnesses
still alive to testify to the event. JESUS WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD!! He
appeared, in person, to many of his believers. In one instance it was recorded
that he appeared to over 500 people at one time!
Think about it. If these men saw Jesus face to face, (in
body, not a vision), then no wonder they began to be fearless of death. They
knew that what Jesus preached was true, and they saw first hand that God is
faithful even after death. They KNEW that God would raise them too! They didn’t
think it. They didn’t speculate about it. They SAW it! There is no other
explanation for the boldness and growth of the church under such hostile
conditions. If they hadn’t SEEN Jesus with their own eyes, then why die for a
dead man and his lost cause? People don’t stand for lost causes after the
battle is already lost. Why throw your life away? Their cause was simply made
real by the appearance of Jesus. In KNOWING that you win would you not fight to
the end, regardless of the risks? I know I would… I DO.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Tough Questions, Great Opportunities
My son and I were talking, and he was telling me how he felt
about homosexuality. He said "I know God doesn't like it, but I want to
respect other people and let them do what they want, so I support it."
This was a huge opportunity to pour into my son's life. I told him that it
doesn't matter what we think. That is what is wrong with the world today.
Nobody wants to offend anyone, so nobody holds to any convictions.
I did not have to specifically address homosexuality. I addressed it at the core issue. If God says it is bad, and to not do it, then it is bad and a person should not do it. Homosexuality is listed in the same list as coveting, which is simply wanting what we do not have. A sin is a sin, is a sin. To approve of one is to approve of them all. I told him that if he chooses to give his life to Christ, it no longer matters what he thinks about things, only what God thinks about them. He will have to make that choice on his own, but I will not let him think it is something other than what it is. There is NO FENCE. We have to make a choice, and be ALL IN. Period.
I told Hayden like this. Simple truth, simple application.
Jesus says if you are not for me, then you are against me. Period. His entire
ministry He drew lines. He said "You are here, and you need to be here. If
you stay where you are at, you will perish in your sin and you stand under the
wrath of God. If you come to me, you will have eternal life and peace
now."
The world does not apply rules of logic to their line of
thinking. You cannot say you are a Christian, yet approve of things that God
hates. It is impossible. I told Hayden that he is going to have to choose a
side. Either we are for God, or we are against Him. Period. Then I also shared
what Jesus said to His disciples. He said “They hated me, they will hate you
also.” I let my son know that to stand for God is to stand against the thing of
this world. I told him that if he chooses to obey God and follow Christ, the
world will hate him for it. It takes great courage and strength to follow the
Lord.
I did not have to specifically address homosexuality. I addressed it at the core issue. If God says it is bad, and to not do it, then it is bad and a person should not do it. Homosexuality is listed in the same list as coveting, which is simply wanting what we do not have. A sin is a sin, is a sin. To approve of one is to approve of them all. I told him that if he chooses to give his life to Christ, it no longer matters what he thinks about things, only what God thinks about them. He will have to make that choice on his own, but I will not let him think it is something other than what it is. There is NO FENCE. We have to make a choice, and be ALL IN. Period.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Today
It is never too late for us to return to God. His call is constant, His love unfailing, and His forgiveness complete. He simply desires us to turn to Him with our whole heart. The price is already paid for every sin we have ever committed, and all we have to do is trust Him to perform according to His Word.
The hardest thing for us to do is to see our self for who we really are. So many of us are so calloused and disillusioned that we think we are just fine without Him, but we aren't. Our depravity is deep, and permeates every aspect of our lives. Before we can turn to God with our whole heart, we must realize we need Him. We must see our shortcomings and failures for what they really are. They are wretched, damaging, and hurtful to everyone around us, yet alone our selves, and there is nothing we can do of our own accord to change them. If there were, we would not need a Savior and Jesus would not had to have given His life to redeem us.
If God is calling you, tugging on your heart, do not let the guilt and shame of the realization of the thing you have done keep you from turning to Him for healing. He forgives you, He loves you, and He already knows all that you have done. Today can be the day of your salvation. Today can be the day that you are set free from all of the pain, guilt, shame, and failure. Today you can turn to the Lord, call on His great Name, and trust Him to do what we cannot do of our own accord.
Think about it. Does it hurt bad enough yet? How much more must you, and more importantly your loved ones, endure before it does hurt bad enough. There is no short cut. There is no other way. There are more "self-help" programs and ideas in the world today than ever before, and the violence and divorce rates continue to climb at exponential rates. If the world had the answer, this would not be. There is one answer, and one name which we can be saved from our great depravity. Jesus of Nazareth, God come in the flesh to His people to offer life, and life more abundantly.
The hardest thing for us to do is to see our self for who we really are. So many of us are so calloused and disillusioned that we think we are just fine without Him, but we aren't. Our depravity is deep, and permeates every aspect of our lives. Before we can turn to God with our whole heart, we must realize we need Him. We must see our shortcomings and failures for what they really are. They are wretched, damaging, and hurtful to everyone around us, yet alone our selves, and there is nothing we can do of our own accord to change them. If there were, we would not need a Savior and Jesus would not had to have given His life to redeem us.
If God is calling you, tugging on your heart, do not let the guilt and shame of the realization of the thing you have done keep you from turning to Him for healing. He forgives you, He loves you, and He already knows all that you have done. Today can be the day of your salvation. Today can be the day that you are set free from all of the pain, guilt, shame, and failure. Today you can turn to the Lord, call on His great Name, and trust Him to do what we cannot do of our own accord.
Think about it. Does it hurt bad enough yet? How much more must you, and more importantly your loved ones, endure before it does hurt bad enough. There is no short cut. There is no other way. There are more "self-help" programs and ideas in the world today than ever before, and the violence and divorce rates continue to climb at exponential rates. If the world had the answer, this would not be. There is one answer, and one name which we can be saved from our great depravity. Jesus of Nazareth, God come in the flesh to His people to offer life, and life more abundantly.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
So you love someone...
So you love someone... Do you love them enough to tell them they are a liar? So you love someone... Do you love them enough to tell them they are a manipulator? So you love someone... Do you love them enough to tell them they are fake? So you love someone... Do you love them enough to tell them they are living a lie? So you love someone... Do you love them enough to tell them they are a hypocrite? So you love someone... Do you love them enough to tell them they are not living up to their potential? So you love someone... Do you love them enough to tell them they are headed to Hell? So you love someone... Do you love them enough to tell them they are going to die in their sin? So you love someone... Do you love them enough to tell them about Jesus? So you love someone... Do you love them enough to tell them the truth?
We live in such a sick and twisted world. A world where it is considering judgmental to speak truth to someone, just because it might be offensive. Let us stick with simple facts as to avoid the toxicity of the world view on the topic.
First we will define judging.
Judging :
Now let us define truth.
Truth :
The revelation of truth does not imply judgment. However, because we are so rooted in our pride, and truth brings opposition to our world view, we take offense to truth. Because we take offense, we consider it judging and become defensive. Truth will always offend, because we are innately prideful and selfish people. There is no two ways about it. Truth just is. It is just fact. It is not up to perception or interpretation. If a person lies, they are a liar. Period. Though we can rationalize and justify whatever we want, it does not change the fact.
Passing judgment on someone for the truth is not our place. It is our place to speak the truth, ESPECIALLY if we love someone. Sadly enough though, because of fear of offense or what the person may think about us, we cowardly refuse to speak truth. We sugar coat things and water them down to make them more bearable to the hearer. This does not do them any favors, but does for us because we feel safe in our cowardice.
How can we love someone, yet withhold truth from them? We can't. If we love someone, truly for them, then it would be selfish of us to not share truth with them simply because of our own fears. Fear permeates and corrupts everything around us. I challenge you to be bold in your relationships. I challenge you to speak truth to the people you love. I challenge you to quit being a scared coward, and to step out in love and courage, and make a difference in the lives around you. I challenge you to put your self aside and to do something for someone else. Truth MUST come. How will a person know what they are not shown or taught? Love is not easy. At least not if it is a real love for another person, because then what we feel becomes irrelevant.
We live in such a sick and twisted world. A world where it is considering judgmental to speak truth to someone, just because it might be offensive. Let us stick with simple facts as to avoid the toxicity of the world view on the topic.
First we will define judging.
Judging :
Verb
|
Now let us define truth.
Truth :
2
a (1) : the state of being the case : fact (2) : the body of real things, events, and facts : actuality (3) often capitalized : a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality
b : a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true <truths of thermodynamics>
c : the body of true statements and propositions
3
a : the property (as of a statement) of being in accord with fact or reality
b chiefly British : true 2
c : fidelity to an original or to a standard
The revelation of truth does not imply judgment. However, because we are so rooted in our pride, and truth brings opposition to our world view, we take offense to truth. Because we take offense, we consider it judging and become defensive. Truth will always offend, because we are innately prideful and selfish people. There is no two ways about it. Truth just is. It is just fact. It is not up to perception or interpretation. If a person lies, they are a liar. Period. Though we can rationalize and justify whatever we want, it does not change the fact.
Passing judgment on someone for the truth is not our place. It is our place to speak the truth, ESPECIALLY if we love someone. Sadly enough though, because of fear of offense or what the person may think about us, we cowardly refuse to speak truth. We sugar coat things and water them down to make them more bearable to the hearer. This does not do them any favors, but does for us because we feel safe in our cowardice.
How can we love someone, yet withhold truth from them? We can't. If we love someone, truly for them, then it would be selfish of us to not share truth with them simply because of our own fears. Fear permeates and corrupts everything around us. I challenge you to be bold in your relationships. I challenge you to speak truth to the people you love. I challenge you to quit being a scared coward, and to step out in love and courage, and make a difference in the lives around you. I challenge you to put your self aside and to do something for someone else. Truth MUST come. How will a person know what they are not shown or taught? Love is not easy. At least not if it is a real love for another person, because then what we feel becomes irrelevant.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Marriage
I know so many people that are going through divorce, thinking about it, or have gone through it. I want to share what God shown me about divorce.
As I sat in the Idaho private prison I found out that the woman I had married was seeing another man. My immediate response was to completely discard her and everything about her. I was just going to find someone else. About two hours after I had gotten off the phone with her, I picked up my Bible. The very first verses I read were these...
God is absolutely sovereign. It was no accident that I picked my Bible up after that conversation and this was the first thing I read. In these verses God showed me, with great conviction, that it was not my place to walk away from the woman God had given me to love. In fact, God showed me that the only reason why I would do such a thing would be out of pure selfishness. If it hurt too bad, or if I just couldn't forgive her (Because of the hardness of your heart), then God did allow for divorce.
However, God had brought me to a place in my life where I was changed. He had showed me that it was the call of a Christian, a true follower of Christ, to "take up our cross and follow him". Jesus bore all of the shame and pain of the cross, all the way to death, for the love He had for His Church. The church is the "bride" of Christ, and us men are to love our wives as Jesus loves the Church. I would have to take up my cross, bare the shame and pain, and pour out my life in love to the wife God had given me.
Many people ask questions about whether we were walking with God when we were married, but that is a foolish question. How does that matter? Either God is God all of the time, or He isn't. God is God all of the time. If any one of us marries another, it is because God brought us together. If God joins something, it is not His intent for that union to be broke. It is only "Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept". People, men or women, walk away from a marriage ONLY out of selfishness. Period.
My love for my wife is truly for her, who she really is. I want to see her in heaven with me, which means she must come to know Jesus Christ. This has absolutely nothing to do with me. God has made me to love her. It is His love shining through me that she will see the love of God that has changed my life. I will not pretend to know how this will all play out, but I know my God. He has shown me what I must do, and I love Him enough to do it. It is not a love in my own strength in which I am to love her, for my own love is selfish and about me. It must by in God's love, which is truly about her.
I realize that many people cannot receive this, but this is what God has to say on the subject. Things have never seemed more bleak or hopeless in regards to reconciliation with my wife than they do now. Every day, in so many ways, the temptations come to just walk away. God holds me fast though. What kind of a man would I be if I walked away and gave up on my family anyways? If you are married, then know that God has joined you to your spouse. In spirit and in body. You are now one. You need to be all in!! If you truly love that person, then they deserve your all. If you are not willing to give it, then maybe you should re-evaluate your love for them. If you are a Christian, then you are without excuse. Pick up your cross, deny your self, and love your spouse for all you are worth. After all, that is a Christian by definition. May God bless your marriages!! Fight, and fight for all you are worth.
As I sat in the Idaho private prison I found out that the woman I had married was seeing another man. My immediate response was to completely discard her and everything about her. I was just going to find someone else. About two hours after I had gotten off the phone with her, I picked up my Bible. The very first verses I read were these...
Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.
2 The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him.
3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.”
5 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’[a] 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; [b] so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
10 In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. 11 So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
-Mark 10:1-12
-Mark 10:1-12
God is absolutely sovereign. It was no accident that I picked my Bible up after that conversation and this was the first thing I read. In these verses God showed me, with great conviction, that it was not my place to walk away from the woman God had given me to love. In fact, God showed me that the only reason why I would do such a thing would be out of pure selfishness. If it hurt too bad, or if I just couldn't forgive her (Because of the hardness of your heart), then God did allow for divorce.
However, God had brought me to a place in my life where I was changed. He had showed me that it was the call of a Christian, a true follower of Christ, to "take up our cross and follow him". Jesus bore all of the shame and pain of the cross, all the way to death, for the love He had for His Church. The church is the "bride" of Christ, and us men are to love our wives as Jesus loves the Church. I would have to take up my cross, bare the shame and pain, and pour out my life in love to the wife God had given me.
Many people ask questions about whether we were walking with God when we were married, but that is a foolish question. How does that matter? Either God is God all of the time, or He isn't. God is God all of the time. If any one of us marries another, it is because God brought us together. If God joins something, it is not His intent for that union to be broke. It is only "Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept". People, men or women, walk away from a marriage ONLY out of selfishness. Period.
My love for my wife is truly for her, who she really is. I want to see her in heaven with me, which means she must come to know Jesus Christ. This has absolutely nothing to do with me. God has made me to love her. It is His love shining through me that she will see the love of God that has changed my life. I will not pretend to know how this will all play out, but I know my God. He has shown me what I must do, and I love Him enough to do it. It is not a love in my own strength in which I am to love her, for my own love is selfish and about me. It must by in God's love, which is truly about her.
I realize that many people cannot receive this, but this is what God has to say on the subject. Things have never seemed more bleak or hopeless in regards to reconciliation with my wife than they do now. Every day, in so many ways, the temptations come to just walk away. God holds me fast though. What kind of a man would I be if I walked away and gave up on my family anyways? If you are married, then know that God has joined you to your spouse. In spirit and in body. You are now one. You need to be all in!! If you truly love that person, then they deserve your all. If you are not willing to give it, then maybe you should re-evaluate your love for them. If you are a Christian, then you are without excuse. Pick up your cross, deny your self, and love your spouse for all you are worth. After all, that is a Christian by definition. May God bless your marriages!! Fight, and fight for all you are worth.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Focus
It is so easy for us to lose focus of what is truly important, and to begin to allow the smaller things in life to steal our joy. The concerns of life weigh heavily against us, and the thoughts and worries of them consume our energy, if we do not diligently take a stand against them. Is there really anything we can accomplish by dwelling on any particular problem? Are not most of them entirely out of our control? None-the-less the thoughts of worry, fear, and doubt come crashing against us.
We can only do our best, but the outcome is not ours to decide. We must strive towards our goals and dreams, knowing that we will get out of them whatever we put in, but we are fools if we concern our self with what lies ahead. We must live in the moment. Right there, in front of us while our minds are entirely preoccupied with the "what ifs", is the moment in which our future is being directed.
We find our selves deep in thought about how to make more money, or how to fix a relationship, or how to find a better job, all the while precious opportunities slip past us that we could be making a difference in any one of these concerns by apply our self in the current moment rather than being detached and withdrawn in our thoughts. If we could only let go of the things that we cannot change, and focus on the moment right before our eyes, we would find a peace that many only dream about.
We can only do our best, but the outcome is not ours to decide. We must strive towards our goals and dreams, knowing that we will get out of them whatever we put in, but we are fools if we concern our self with what lies ahead. We must live in the moment. Right there, in front of us while our minds are entirely preoccupied with the "what ifs", is the moment in which our future is being directed.
We find our selves deep in thought about how to make more money, or how to fix a relationship, or how to find a better job, all the while precious opportunities slip past us that we could be making a difference in any one of these concerns by apply our self in the current moment rather than being detached and withdrawn in our thoughts. If we could only let go of the things that we cannot change, and focus on the moment right before our eyes, we would find a peace that many only dream about.
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