Mark Hyde Blog

Holy Holy Holy

2009-06-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

Like some of you I have recently been attracted to this social networking called Twitter and more specifically Facebook. A lot of you have been on here a lot longer than me (about 8 months for me), but recently I have witnessed some things that have caused me concern and I want to pass those along to you.

I have Facebook like a lot of you to keep up on what my friends are doing and to post photos and sometimes to share what is on my heart. I do get a kick out of the silly meaningless postings about every movement someone makes, but I still try and see the reasons why someone is sharing.

The thing I like about Facebook is the accountability it gives believers. As Christians, we should welcome the access into all aspects of our lives since we ultimately know that the Lord knows our thoughts and sees all our actions. Whether this is scary to you or not that is for you to decide. But the Lord is not a "gotcha" God who is waiting to strike us down for our sins.

I do laugh at the terminology of Facebook when we add "friends" to our list. Most of us hardly know more than three important facts about the person, but ultimately we make the choice to add them into our "personal space." Now again I believe we should allow anyone to see into our lives (aside from security issues) the thoughts and pictures we are sharing about our lives because they are meant to be holy.

"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15-16. The Greek word for holy here is hagios and it means we should be pure from carnality, to be modest and clean.

What I have seen recently has been troubling which brings me to my challenge and it mostly has to do with photos. Are you prepared that when you have your photo taken that in all likelihood that the photo will be posted on the internet where the world can see? This is especially true if your picture is taken with someone else's camera.

Most photos or albums show up in the "highlights" section of my homepage so what I witnessed last weekend was a bit of a shock since it was more like a "lowlight." It was photos from a party and it included lots of photos of women in skimpy clothing, plenty of pics from bars and plenty of alcohol flowing.

The saddest part for my wife and I is the pictures included people who have platforms for Jesus at my church (my heart is to not be too descriptive if you didn't see the photos as well). Now in all likelihood the photos were meant to stay within the group of people in the photos, but on Facebook we all know people love to "tag" people in photos. This makes the photos go out to all the "tagged" persons friends so the audience can multiply quickly.

Needless to say, I felt I had to act and I made a call to someone I trusted and she was also on the friends list and I wanted to make sure I wasn't being a "prude" and she assured me I wasn't and she and her husband would check the photos as well and take the appropriate action. Thankfully, the photos were down later that afternoon before my 17 year-old son and 14 year-old daughter saw them.

One of my warnings besides knowing when we have our picture taken that the "world" might see it is we need to know who our "friends" are because we have now invited them to share their values with us and our friends. When we receive something on our homepage we don't like we have to call the sender to have it removed.

In my story above, I am sure the sender of the photos was being true to their character and I would not have wanted to make that call asking someone to remove their post because it might be considered offensive to my "Christian" friends. The sender was probably thinking that "you took part in all the activity and now you are ashamed?" Not a very good witness for Jesus when we engage in this level of hypocrisy.

Is the point of my post that we do a better job of hiding our bad behavior? On the contrary. God is calling us to live a life of holiness and it should be reflected in all aspects of our lives. This includes our time at pool parties, birthday parties, vacations and office parties. So we need to be careful when we get in front of a camera that we know what we are stepping into. Is the picture taken going to need much explanation? Is the location possibly embarassing? What are other people in the picture wearing or is there much alcohol featured?

My purpose is not to point fingers at anyone or say that no one should have an alcoholic drink. I know I have erred and I am thankful for the grace of God. I know I have probably invited the Enemy to attack based on my calling out behavior, but I feel it is necessary. Judy and I had to confront someone a few days after my story above based on info that started in Facebook. It is not always received with open arms.

May you also not look the other way if you see inappropriate conduct, either written or photos. We are who we hang out with and who we invite into our space and that includes Facebook. The Lord gave me a new twist to a line you may have heard. "If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" The Lord said to me, "If I was to send someone to look at your Facebook profile, would you be convicted of being my follower?"

Just a thought.

Fast Update

2009-02-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

I thought I would give you an update on my fast I started last Monday. Honestly, when I started I had no idea what to expect. I had read in the Bible about people going into a period of prayer and fasting and that Jesus went 40 days without food or water in the wilderness. The devil met his match with Jesus during this time.

I didn't know when I started if I would make it past lunch since I love food and it's easy to snack around my office. But I also knew the Lord called me to do this and if He asks you or me to do anything, we will not fail. I knew if I relied on Him for strength and kept my mind and heart focused on Him, this was possible.

The hardest part of the first few days was the constant headaches. I believe I was detoxing from cafeine and so my hands were shaking a bit whenever I sent texts, but nonetheless a couple of Advil took care of it and I was good to go. I also found myself praying through everyone in my contact list of my cell phone. I was proclaiming the name of Jesus and interceding for others became the high point of the day.

The highlight of Day 3 came when I sent a text to someone I had prayed for in the morning. She's someone I briefly know, but still pray for on a regular basis and then I got a text back from her later that afternoon thanking me for saving her life. She narrowly avoided an auto accident in her new car. It's small and the car that almost hit her was a big SUV. I immediately gave glory to God.

I have been surprised not to wake up each day not having big hunger pains. While food is all around my house I suddenly found myself in the habit of not eating. Now mind you, I travel everywhere with my big water bottle. My wife has been great through all this as she tries not to eat in front me, even though I tell her it's okay.

My goal was to make it a week, but I felt called to try and make it through Thursday which would be 11 days. I asked Judy out for Valentine's on Saturday and if I woo her enough and she says "yes", then I want to have an extra day to reintroduce food.

I have used these past 8 days to seek the Lord for direction and guidance in my life. I feel a strong calling from Him and that He is preparing Judy and I for something, we just don't what it is yet. It's been great to use the time praying for my family, my work, my church, my friends and co-workers.

My family has been very supportive of me and I couldn't have made it this far without their support. I thank my friends for praying for me and I want to reiterate this is all God and not me. There is no way could I fathom going 8-11 days without food unless the Lord was supporting me. I have relied on Isaiah 40:29-31 to carry me.

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Glory to God in the highest. He is amazing and so worthy to be praised. I look forward to coming back and revisiting the fruit of this fast with you. Bless you all.

Unchartered Territory

2009-02-03T09:25:00.000-08:00

On Monday February 1st I began a journey into new territory for myself. I hope it becomes a benefit to others. I began to fast sustaining on water and juice where needed. I felt the Lord calling me to this last week and I know His prompting came from some blogs I visit, but mostly I know this is something that has been missing for me.

When I felt the call last week to begin fasting, I sought my friend, Catherine, who encouraged me and gave me some good insight from an article written by the late Dr. Bill Bright at Campus Connection for Christ. I included the link at www.ccci.org/growth/growing-closer-to-god/7-steps-to-fasting-and-prayer/index.aspx.

I set my date for Monday and I have set a goal for seven days, but I'm leaving it open to the Holy Spirit if He desires me to go longer. I know it's nice to have goals, but when I started I wasn't sure if I would need a cheeseburger by the evening of the first day. Thankfully, that wasn't the case.

Why fast? Because Jesus commands us to do so. It is not just a matter of if we fast, but when we fast. " When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matthew 6:16-18

I am not doing this because it will make me more spiritual than you or anyone else. It's all about seeking Him and His plan for my life and my family's life. I'm excited (and nervous) about what God will reveal to me during this time. I know that I will spend more time in prayer than ever and be feeding continually on His Word.

Here's where I hope the benefit is for you. I will be lifting you all up to the throne of grace seeking His blessings on your lives. I can't think of a greater and more humbling joy, to pray for my family and friends.

I would also like to seek your prayers that I would be faithful to Him during this fast and that God can truly sustain me on His strength and might. I will try to keep you updated during the process.

A Word To Live By

2009-01-08T05:03:00.000-08:00

2008 has come and gone and as I wrote at the end of the year it's a great time to reflect on the past year. What I love even more is the start of a new year and what I can look forward to in the coming year.

I was encouraged to do this by a friend and I have found it helpful so I want to pass it on to you. It's finding a word and a verse to live by for the new year. I have found it helpful since it helps keep me focused on my daily walk, my work and my ministry. I find it helpful when it comes to dealing with people whether at work or at church or in the grocery store.

My word last year was love and my verse came from 1John 4:10 and it said we will know we are children of God if we are loving others and if we're not, well...... then we're a child of Satan.

I prayed about my word for the year and thankfully the Lord came through, like He always does and He brought me the word ENCOURAGEMENT. I was thinking, "Well Lord, I love encouragment. It's a spiritual gift of mine so why did you assign me this?" I believe He wants to build on the love He asked me to show others in 2008 and really build people up in 2009. This includes friends and even people I just meet.

The verse He gave me was from Hebrews 3:13 and it says, "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." I so love God's Word.

I found a few interesting elements in the verse. Notice how it says we are to encourage daily. It doesn't say yearly or monthly or whenever you feel like it. I need to be encouraging people everyday. I believe the Lord has equipped me for this since I know He will never ask me to do something I can't do.

Encouragement for me might take the shape of a kind word, a kind act, a hug, a text to someone who is hurting, an e-mail. It really requires that my eyes be focused on Jesus and for Him to give me the discernment to watch for those that are hurting. First and foremost, I have to keep my eyes open to what is happening in my own home. I must build up Judy, Taylor and Shelby on a daily basis or I will be no good to anyone else.

I also love in this verse that we are to encourage daily so we don't fall into the trap of sin. Sin is not always packaged with the word SIN written on it. No, sin is alluring, deceiving and hidden. The enemy is the master deceiver. He is constantly whispering in our ear, twisting God's words and trying to get us off God's path.

So I have laid it out there for you. I encourage you (here's my opportunity for the day) to ask God for a word for 2009. Something that you can keep out front that will help keep your ministry and your life in some kind of order for the year. Something that will help you find purpose in life's problems and struggles.

Thank you for your encouragement and your prayers and I hope to blog at least twice a month while still maintaining my own study in His Word. Bless you all.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T10:49:00.000-08:00

I know I have been away for a while. I haven't fallen from the faith or started going door to door as a Jehovah Witness. No, the Lord told me in the fall it was time to stop writing and start studying again. So that's where I've been the last few months, doing good old fashioned Bible study.

It was about this time last year I wrote my first devotional and it was on the gift of Jesus at Christmas and from there I was encouraged to start a blog and I was on my way. I got some great feedback from people and it spurred me to write as much as possible. My intent was not to come across as a know-it-all, but rather to share what God was doing in my life and encourage others to seek Him in a passionate way.

I love the week after Christmas and before New Years because it gives me a great opportunity to reflect on the wonders of what God did in my life in the past year while looking forward to what God will do in the upcoming year. I am happy to say with confidence that I am not the same person I was a year ago.

Through time in His word and through life experiences, 2008 is a year I won't soon forget. In July, I sat and watched as the Lord took home a 21 year-old after a three month battle with cancer. In December, I sat and prayed with a good friend until he lost his five-year battle with cancer and he went to be with Lord. A longtime employee of mine was diagnosed with colon cancer and he is in the battle of his life. What are you trying to teach me Lord?

He definitely taught me (with a little help from my wife) that I was no longer availabe to sweep issues and problems under the rug. As Judy says, it was time to get the shovel out and get in the trenches and do the dirty work. In what seemed like the longest August of our lives (it had nothing to do with the heat outside), Judy and I got busy and did the work that was needed in our marriage and I know the Lord has taken us to another level.

If we had any hopes of helping hurting couples in their marriages, we had to get things right in our own home. Judy and I have made a commitment not to settle for mediocrity in our home and in our marriage so we know to expect a constant barrage from the Enemy.

God gave me another lesson for me this year and it dealt with the subject of love. We talk about love in our world all the time, but the Lord told me this year that it was time to stop telling people how much I loved Him and start showing people how much I loved Him. A dear friend gave us a Christmas present with a framed picture of our Golden Retriever, Carly, and her golden, Miley.

At the bottom of the picture was a verse, 1 John 4:16, God is Love. The entire verse reads like this, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."

God showed me more about love this year than in any of my previous 47 years. I got off my self-righteous butt (at times) and began to love people where they are and encourage them in their daily life and their spiritual journey without judging them and their motives. Showing agape unconditional love is not necessarily an easy thing, but it is the God thing. I had to show that if God is truly in me that I had to be loving others.

I know He is faithful to complete the work He has begun in me. I am excited for 2009 (even with our new president) because I know that God holds my future. My Bible study has shown me in the last week that God is pleased when when we choose to walk with Him (see Enoch and Noah).

I hope to be regular in my posting in 2009 and I pledge to be transparent as always. Have a blessed 2009 my friends and may the Lord show His lovingkindness to you and your family.

Don't Panic, God Is Still In Control

2008-11-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. "

John 14:27 NASB

This verse today comes courtesy of my wife and it's the words of Jesus himself. Judy sent this verse to me in regards to my running the ship hear at work for a couple of days while the rest of my family is vacationing on cruises and hanging out on the beach in Australia.

This is the great thing about God's Word. It has many applications. Maybe when you first read the verse and saw the word fear you might have jumped to tomorrow's election and fear gripped you about what might happen if the wrong person wins. Let's face it, in this world there is a lot to be fearful of.

No matter what the fear, Jesus has the answer. Peace. And notice Jesus points out that there is a difference between the heavenlies and the worldly. Wordly peace will not be the same as peace from Jesus. Jesus' peace is eternal. The world's is temporal. I think back to my childhood when someone had wronged me and if that person happened to be an adult I knew I could go to my parents and tell them the problem and immediately I would feel a sense of peace because I knew they were in charge. They had my back. And if my dad had his dander up I would be sitting there saying, "Go get 'em Dad. Give it to 'em."

That's what Jesus can provide for us. He has our back and our front. He has our hearts and our souls. He has these things if we get out of the way and keep our eyes fixed on Him and allow Him to be God. How often we get fearful because we try to take back control from Him and do things our way and in our timing.

Now this doesn't mean we don't have a part to play. It's not just sit back and say, "Oh well. God will do all the work." God wants us to be obedient to help advance the Kingdom. Isn't it much more rewarding to be part of the process and not just let someone else do all the work?

While we're waiting, while we're studying, while we're praying, while we're being obedient, God hasn't left us alone. Jesus is referring in this verse that the peace He is leaving is gift of the Holy Spirit. What a great down payment until Jesus returns.

I have seen this peace played out in my life and the lives of others. Judy and I have tremendous peace about the elections tomorrow. Regardless of who's president or what marriage may look like, I know that God is still in control and that His church is the ultimate bride. His peace has carried a friend through her marriage struggle and the uncertainty of the future. Where I know she is really hurting, she constantly tells me, "I have great peace in this, I have great peace in this."

His peace has carried another family as they are dealing with cancer and have dealt with it for five long years. The end is near and in only through the love of Jesus could He flood this family with the peace of knowing He has them in the palm of His hand.

Shalom to you all.

Action Needed, Not Words

2008-10-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

Galatians 6:2 NIV

I'm back for now. I don't know for how long though since I try to share when God gives me something to share. I don't want to write just for the sake of writing. Today's verse the Lord brought to mind and it speaks to what has been going on for Judy and I the past three weeks.

The Lord has asked us to get in the trenches with people going through struggles and so it was time to walk the walk as they say. No more writing about Godly behavior, but instead getting in and helping friends when they need it most. It's easy to tell people that you love them and that you'll pray for them, but it's another thing to carve out time from your schedule to talk, listen and pray over someone that is hurting.

Later in Galatians 6 in verse 10 Paul tells us we are to especially love our fellow believers. "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." I believe the Lord wants us to help each other out so we can be better equipped to go out into the world and be a witness for Him. If we are so bogged down in our struggles we won't be of much use for the Kingdom.

The Lord has really worked me over recently about agape love. This is that unconditional I'll love you at any cost no matter what you're going through kind of love. He helped bring me to that point by working me through the judgmental side that I displayed a few years ago. I had a real struggle being compassionate for someone going through something that wasn't an issue for me.

God and His marvelous Word helped get me aligned and He used some prior ministry experiences to mold and equip me. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35. When Jesus talks, I listen.

I am a strong believer in Christian fellowship and having mentors that can help you individually or as a couple. God has blessed Judy and I with people that we can call upon in a moment's notice for help or prayer or just to listen. We in turn endeavor to pay it forward using the skills the Lord has equipped us with.

What has the Lord equipped you with that might be of use to fellow believers? Maybe it's a circumstance that you have gone through that you might now be able to help someone else with. Are you actively looking to build relationships with other Christians that will sharpen you? Are your eyes open to the people around you to notice if they maybe going through tough times and you might have something to offer?

I can tell you firsthand the feeling you get from helping others in a time of need is oh so gratifying and you never know when you might need the help of others. That doesn't mean we keep score when we help others, but instead we let God do that and He will bring the help we need when we need it.

Who Said Becoming Like Jesus Is Easy?

2008-10-06T05:13:00.000-07:00

"But go and learn what this means: 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Matthew 9:13 NASB

I finally made it. My one year Bible reading plan has brought me to the New Testament and I get to hear from the words of Jesus. Now, I'm the first one to admit that I have a hard time understanding the words of Jesus. I know, he spoke in parables to make so the people could grab onto his messages easier, but the more I read the words of Jesus the more I discover that people don't talk like Jesus. Not then and not today.

Now I've read through the Bible several times in different translations, but I probably have an easier time in the Old Testament than I do understanding what Jesus means when He says the things He does. Jesus says things that seem so upside down to our thinking. "Those who are last wil be first." Huh? "Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead." That doesn't sound too caring.

And then there is all the Kingdom of God is like .................. It can be anything from a mustard seed to leaven to a dragnet. I don't even know what mustard seed, leaven and a dragnet (a TV show right?) are. All this being said, I am studying Jesus' words very closely and I read through the Gospels this fall. The verse above is an example of something I have noticed this time around.

In a space of six chapters, Jesus mentions the word compassion. He not only talks about compassion, He felt it and lived it. His examples included having compassion for the sinners, the hungry and the lost. I don't know why God wanted me to catch this in Matthew this time around.

I do know there was a period in my life that I was lacking compassion for people. If I wasn't experiencing a certain problem or issue in my life, then I didn't feel too badly for those that did. If I was going to walk like Christ and become like Him, God did some quick work with me on that one. For one, God has allowed some trial in my life that have opened my eyes to those hurting.

He has taught me what it means to empathize with someone and not just feel sorry for them. Jesus felt compassion for those that were hurting, but He didn't just leave it with His feelings. He did things. Like not send the 5000 away hungry after hearing His message. He fed them. With just two fish and five loaves of bread.

Notice in the verse above Jesus says to go and learn compassion. It isn't something that comes naturally to us in our flesh. We need to experience people and be in relation with them. I have also found that we won't personally experience everything or every situation just so we can have compassion for people. I have never gone hungry or been homeless or had cancer, but I know people who have and it's my place to see where I can meet a need when God puts someone in my path that is experiencing life struggles.

Jesus never "turned the other cheek" when it came to helping people. He had compassion and mercy and He didn't just offer prayer when they could use a meal instead.

How's your compassion meter running? Do you live in such a bubble that you have a hard time reaching out to others or even thinking about others? Are you afraid of the commitment of reaching out to someone that is hurting and it might take a lot of your time? I challenge you to look for ways to be compassionate. Sometimes it may as easy a hug for someone or to stop and pray.

God will be glad you did and so will you.

Nothing Is Impossible

2008-09-30T10:37:00.001-07:00

Looking at them, Jesus said, "With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."

Mark 10:27 NASB

I find great comfort in this verse. I think you would all agree that we live in troubled times. Our nation is in financial crisis, we're in a global war on terror and the culture seems to reach a new low every year.

While my prayer would be that our nation would turn to God and we would see a national revival, we can start a revival at home. We can seek the Lord when we face the impossible situations in our lives. Whether it's financial, relational, unhappiness or you're just plain exhausted we have the hope it doesn't have to stay in the depressed realm.

Many of you have heard this verse for years or you may have memorized, but do you recall the context it is used? Jesus is speaking to his disciples about the difficulty of rich people making into the kingdom of God. He knows their dependence of Him will be tougher because they might not see the need because they are financially independent.

Assuming your salvation is secure can we all not use the miracles of God in our lives? Judy and I have been involved in marriage ministry for over 12 years and we have seen some pretty impossible situations. We have seen couples dealing with adultery, depression and abuse and these are all Christian couples. Did you really think you would be immune to these kind of issues when you came to Christ?

But many of these couples chose to believe in a big God that they worship on Sundays to turn their impossible situation around. They chose to believe in the promise that God can turn the bad things of life and make something good out of them. I'm still amazed when I think about where they were to where they are today. It's called testiomony. Testimony to God's goodness, His faithfulness and His grace.

Are you facing what seems like an impossible situation today? Are your ready to give up? Does it look like there is no way out? Find someone you know to be strong in the Lord and run your problem by them. You'll feel better telling someone, but you could get a new perspective on the issue. Undoubtedly, they will pray for you and over you and commit your problem to the Lord.

God still does miracles today and not just medical ones. Remember the operative word in the verse above, ALL. Let's take all our problems to Him and believe in His promises and watch what happens.

Are We Hypocrites In God's Eyes?

2008-09-26T09:15:00.001-07:00

As I endeavor to stay actively involved in the political culture through talk radio and cable news it seems I regularly hear the word hypocrite thrown around. It is usually used about someone who comes out against something and then fails in the practice himself.

Now I don't condone someone publicly stating one thing and then doing another, but I have news that shouldn't be a big revelation. WE ARE ALL HYPOCRITES. It's called being sinners. There is a segment of society that believes if they don't publicly give an opinion or state their values then they are free from being labeled a hypocrite.

To anyone who doesn't think they're not a hypocrite ask them if they strive each day to do good, to do the best job they can, lead honest lives. Now ask them if they have failed in their attempt. They answer will be yes so does that make them a hypocrite? They said they wanted to good, but instead they did wrong.

I decided to go to Websters Dictionary and to God's Word and see how hypocrite is defined and used. Websters has two definitions. 1. a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion and 2. a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings. I would say the world operates under the second definition the most. It loves to point to the Ted Haggard's and Rush Limbaugh's of the world for their failures in acting in a way that says we would be better off not offering an opinion on any moral matter lest we might fail in it.

Now when people of influence offer an opinion and even offer one strongly there is no question credibility is lost. Are they being hypocritical? Yes, but it is the credibility of the person, not the message, that is damaged so we need to leave room for repentance and strive to do better the next time with the Lord's help.

What does the Lord say about being a hypocrite? Jesus makes several references when He makes an emphatic point." "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." Matthew 7:5. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers ; therefore you will receive greater condemnation." Matthew 23:14

These verses go on and on and you can see in the Word that Jesus is usually talking to the scribes and Pharisees. The Greek word for hypocrite in its context is hupokrites and one of its meaning is an actor or stage player. People acting in dramas would wear masks to cover themselves to not show their true self.

This is the definition we need to be more careful not to be falling into. Are we acting all Godly on Sundays raising hands to worship Him and then dishonoring Him Monday through Saturday by the way we live out our lives. Being a Godly hypocrite is showing yourself to be more public than private. Do we publicly pray for the culture to get better and then privately view internet porn? Do we need accolades when we do ministry or are we happy to know that God knows?

We all know we fall short of God's glorious standard, but when we mess up confess up and be quick to note if others know your sin that we're not trying to change the rules or the standards. Don't fall into the trap that says, "Everyone is doing it" or "Nobody's perfect." We have a standard to follow so let's keep striving for it and not look to lower the bar or our expectations. The Lord will honor our efforts.

Amen!!

Repent

2008-09-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

That is why the Lord says,“Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve, sending you a blessing instead of this curse.

Joel 2:12-14a NLT

If you've noticed my verses in recent weeks they all have come from the Old Testament. My Daily Walk Bible has me going through the minor prophets and I just love it. The Old Testament is so often ignored except for the Psalms and Proverbs and maybe some old Bible stories about Moses and Daniel.

I think the criticism of the Old Testament is that God is always angry and it's full of His judgment. People love the New Testament because it's full of God's grace and His love and His mercy. If you have been avoiding the Old Testament because you think there isn't any application today or it's just made up of old stories think again.

The verse above is from the minor prophet, Joel and he preaches a message that I love. It was necessary in his day and it sure is necessary today. Repent. The people of Israel and Judah had this wonderful habit of loving God when things were good, then ignore Him, a prophet would come and preach repentance, but often the people would ignore him and then punishment or consequence would follow.

As long as there is sin there will be a need for repentance and today is no different. The sin maybe different than 5000 years ago, but the need for forgiveness is not. The difference is we have a Saviour and the Israelites could only hope and wait for him. His name is Jesus and because of his obedience we can run to God and not hide from Him. He will forgive our trespasses, but we need to confess to Him before we can receive His forgiveness.

No matter which prophet is preaching repentance, you will almost always see a reminder of God's compassion and mercy. He is not sitting up in heaven waving His finger at us saying, "Mark blew it again. He's run out of chances with me. There is no chance of him getting into my Heaven." Thankfully the Lord forgives me and you over and over and over. I do know the Lord would like us to get it and not keep repeating our mistakes so we don't continue in the same consequences.

My favorite part of the passage is the end. Did you catch it? If we repent of our sin or sins, perhaps instead of a curse we might get a blessing instead. What a turn of events. Where we might deserve punishment instead we might get a reward instead. I think that goes against any parenting book we might read. "Child breaks rules, buy him a toy and then take him to McDonalds."

Is there anything in your life you need to repent or change course of? You know you can't hide it from God anyway. I can tell you first hand that if you're not sure if you're in any sin, then ask God and He will reveal it. He pointed that out recently to me in my marriage that I wasn't doing the things I was called to as a husband. God said, "You asked and so here it is." I confessed it and we dealt with it and moved forward.

You too can move forward and receive His blessings. Praise God!!

Is It Okay To Discrimate?

2008-09-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

dis·crim·i·nate
Pronunciation:
\dis-ˈkri-mə-ˌnāt\

1 a: to mark or perceive the distinguishing or peculiar features of b: distinguish , differentiate
2: to distinguish by discerning or exposing differences ; especially : to distinguish from another like object
1 a: to make a distinction b: to use good judgment
2: to make a difference in treatment or favor on a basis other than individual merit

I don't know why it is when I have a thought and I think it's profound and then it's affirmed somewhere else I get so excited. This happened this past week while reading the book, Vintage Jesus, by Mark Driscoll. Driscoll is a pastor of a church in the Seattle area and a friend recently turned me on to him. I link to his blog in my favorites.

I have often said that will all the talk about discrimination and how bad it is that we all discriminate in some form every day. Now granted, we mostly hear about discrimination when it comes to race and I'm not condoning that, but Driscoll in his book says that discrimination in and of itself is not such a bad thing, but often it becomes sinfully applied. His reference is to John 14:6 where Jesus says, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Part of the definition of discriminate is discernment or good judgment. We need to discriminate every day. A few questions to ponder. If a stranger was to come to your door and ask to come in would you let him? When you have a dinner party do you make sure your guest list is perfectly balanced by gender and race? If your 15-year-old daughter had a date pull up in a Porsche convertible would you let her go out with him?

The answer to these questions is probably no. Does that mean you're discriminating against people that drive nice cars and you hate strangers? Again, no because you are using good judgment and safety issues could be involved.

Here's where my view is probably a lot different than the world's. I believe God's clear distinction in the human race is that He has made us male and female. While there may be different cultural distinctions between races and sexual orientations, I see the gender difference as being clear.

Though men and women are both loved equally by Him, we are not the same. After 21 years of marriage and living with a teenage daughter, I know full well men and women don't speak the same, we don't think the same and we don't act the same. Neither is better than the other, just different.

My wife recently came back from a conference at the Honda Center called, "Women of Faith." There was probably 15,000 women in attendance because it was an event geared towards women. Were they discriminating, male-hating women because they didn't invite men? No, because it was geared for the target audience of women just as Promise Keepers is geared towards men. Now if these conferences didn't allow hispanic or African-Americans that would be a different story.

I sometimes play golf with a friend at local club that is for men only. This is a little tougher? Is this discrimination? I still say no, although a club that I couldn't bring my wife to play would not be one that I would want to join. Now a golf club is a business and I would fully support if someone wanted to open a golf club for women only.

My point here is we all need to show good judgment and discriminate in our choices and selections. We need to be careful in how we make them and that they are not based on any pre-conceived notion or stereotype. I believe safety is always a concern and we know we have to answer to the Lord for our judgements.

What about God and Christians? We always hear that we're narrow-minded and discriminating because we believe Jesus is the only way to God. When it comes to answering our critics a proper response would be that since God allows us to pick and choose who we hang out with and invite into our homes why can He not have the same luxury?

When our doorbell rings we don't usually let someone in who doesn't know the owner. It's our house and don't we make the rules? I think anything less for God in deciding who comes into heaven is a little selfish on our parts. But hear is the kicker that shows that God is anything, but discriminating.

He sends his invitation to come into His home to everyone. It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, black, white or Hispanic, marital status or if your gay or straight. If we acknowledge the Owner of the Kingdom and repent of our sins we can all come in and join the celebration. I don't think that would fly in our homes if someone came to the door and said they knew who you were and really liked you and would you let them in now?

May we all discriminate with the proper discernment and remember that God is more inclusive that any organization or club could ever be. He loves everyone and He wants us all to know His Son, the One that will bring us all into His glorious presence.

The Bottom Line

2008-09-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.Psalm 62:11-12 NIV

One of the many beauties of God's word is that when you hear a verse and it speaks to you it makes you want to pass it on. This is the case from the verse above. I heard this at the end of a Bible study taught by Beth Moore and the verses jumped out at me.

If you're like me at all you can be in a meeting or a long conversation with someone and you reach a point that you want it to end. And to clarify things you ask, "What's the bottom line in all this? What's my takeaway from our meeting?"

David, the writer of the psalm, had one of those moments. God's so powerful that He spoke one thing and David heard two. When it comes to the big God we serve it is so easy to get up in the questions. "God, why does this happen to this person when you should punish that person instead? God, I'm confused and you're word seems so complicated. God, why does my life seem to be such a struggle?"

David summarizes it by reminding us that our God is strong, He's loving and He rewards us for what we do. Jesus did the same thing for us when He brought the Bible down to the nitty gritty by telling us that we should "Love God and love others." Walking with Jesus and walking with others should not be that tough.

As we face tough situations and difficult people we can know that we have a powerful God on our side and that He loves us and those around us. If we make the right decision God will reward us or correct us if we don't. The rewards might come later, but often the corrections come sooner.

My bottom line for today. Do you get overwhelmed walking the Christian life? Do you get caught up too much in doctrine and miss what God wants to do in and through you? Do you fill yourself with a lot of head knowledge and forget the application?

Find a truth about God you need to hold tight to and may that be your takeaway today. That's all for now.

Roseville Couple Alters Marriage License

2008-09-13T12:27:00.001-07:00

Judy and I love to talk politics. We love to go back and forth about the issues, the people involved in the campaigns, the cable news commentators. Sometimes, we have to scale back from the tv coverage and just switch to to home improvement shows instead. We also have many friends that tell us they hate to talk politics so they barely know it's an election year.

This year is not one of those years that we can afford to "sit this one out." Besides the all-important presidential election we have another one of those California Propositions to vote on that's about as big as it get for us. It's Proposition 8 and it's called the Marriage Amendment. It's simple, about 14 words, stating that only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

Can you believe that it's come to this? A union that was ordained by God in the garden between Adam and Eve has come down to a vote that must pass or we'll see another chip away at the family that we have know for, well, forever. I have an example of some people who know this firsthand and have found out the hard way that our society is changing and not for the better.

Judy has a friend who lives in Sacramento and she has a son who got married at the end of August. When the marriage license was filled out it listed Party A and Party B where it's always been groom and bride. So the groom filled in his info in the party A section, but he hand wrote in groom crossing out the party A and he crossed out party B and wrote bride where his fiancee filled in her info.

They went ahead and got married. The bride's dad is a pastor and married them, but in the last week they were notified by the state that since they altered the application there license is invalid and they are not legally married in the eyes of the state. This means she can't change her name yet or join his benefits on a health plan as his wife. Now in God's eyes they are married, but nonetheless, they still have this hurdle.

Their story has made the news in Northern California and it's in the video above. I've posted my first you tube video. Woo hoo!!!

I'm not sure the route they're going to take, but the point is this is what its come down to. Everything that we have considered normal and have taken for granted as God-ordained or common sense is being thrown out the window and we now have to fight for.

For our friends who don't like to talk politcs, its becoming a lot less about politics and lot more about righteousness. We can't afford not to be kept abreast of what's going on in Washington and Sacramento. Talking politics in a way is more like defending our faith and what we hold to be truth. God's truth.

If you're at all like me, you have to be frustrated. We vote on these "big" proposition issues when they come our way and then a few months later a judge overturns the "will of the people" and claims it's "unconstitutional." It's discouraging, but we can't give up. God calls us to not run from our culture, but rather engage it and make a difference.

We can't sit out November 4 and do nothing. We need to vote again and again for marriage the way God has laid it out. Be ready to defend your position if asked by a neighbor or a work associate and pray that God will stir in the hearts of those sitting on the fence.

Time With The Lord, It's Worth The Effort

2008-09-09T04:47:00.000-07:00

"Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.”

Hosea 6:3 NLT

I am such a softy for verses like this one. When I think about the fact that the creator of the universe and all its galaxies, the One who has put the oceans and mountains and trees and plants and animals in place wants to know little ole me. It's almost more than I can bear. I am that much in awe.

But doesn't God already know me if He created me? Yea, and while nothing we do surprises Him it still gives Him great comfort and great joy when we make time to get to know Him. Just think of our own children. If we have spent anytime with them as they've grown up we feel pretty comfortable that we know how they operate, how they think and feel.

I don't know how many times I'll ask my son Taylor if I pick him up from school, "How was your day? Fine," he'll reply. Sure I would like more and later on I know he'll talk my ear off and ask me about what' going on at work or what his mom and I are doing and it brings me such pleasure to interract with him.

Now I write this as we're now in the second week of school and I don't know if it's an end of summer thing, but I'm finding it hard to get going in the morning and I'm a morning person to begin with. I've had to pray a little more earnestly that the Lord would strengthen me as it's my desire to spend time with Him before I start my day. I'm thankful for the answer today as my coffee is working well at this early hour.

So how is your transition from summer to fall going? Do you now have to make adjustments to your quiet time because this "school thing" has started up again? Have you made those changes yet or have you put God on the backburner? Ask the Lord to meet with you today or tomorrow and as we get the daily planners and blackberries filled for the fall season make an appointment to spend with Jesus.

As sure as the desert goes from extreme heat to manageable, the Lord will respond to us. And how do we know that? It's in His Word. Can I get an amen for that?

Compassion Needed Everywhere

2008-09-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to be home on Labor Day and I was astonished as I watched the coverage of Hurricane Gustav on the cable news channels. It was though the reporters were salivating at the prospect of this storm hitting the Gulf Coast, especially New Orleans. There was such anticipation coming from them like Christmas had come early.

Now, why would this be? The obvious answer was the chance to see what the federal government's response would be three years after Katrina. Side note thought that came to me the other day: Do you realize that we personalize a hurricane more than babies in the womb by nature of naming these storms? You mention Katrina and everyone what you're talking about like it's a person, but the unborn is so often relegated to fetus status. Just a thought.

As I was watching all these people evacuating New Orleans I couldn't help but think about the flooding that took place in Texas earlier this year or the fires we had this year and last in California. I don't recall the outpouring of concern from the media about the loss of these people's homes.

Let's face it. If a person loses his home to fire, flood or earthquake it becomes that person's Katrina. A home lost to someone in San Diego is as devasting to someone in New Orleans. I'm ashamed to say that this country has now gone political correctness in the arena of weather. The Bible is very clear that we are to have compassion for everyone. Not just those of certain races or political parties or financial postion.

The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthian church. "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.

I'm not against helping those in New Orleans, but God is calling us to be compassionate to all people. If we see someone in need and He calls us to help them, then help them. Our ability to comfort others comes from the Lord. The verse above says He is the source of all comfort. We are just fortunate to be a tool or instrument to be used in the process. Praise God for the opportunity!

I love this verse because it says we are not just to be consumers of compassion. God sends people our way when we need and He expects us to show compassion to others when the opportunity presents itself. Call it a "pay it forward" kind of thing. Now that doesn't mean that the person we show compassion to will necessarily be the one who comforts us later. That would trap us into thinking we're doing good deeds with a catch. May that not be our though.

We should always look to others that God puts in our path or our hearts to lend a hand. So the next time you see a family that's house is burned down or is carried away in a mudslide let's be empathetic and compassionate to their situation. Who knows, we never know when we'll need a hand ourselves.

Minimum Requirement

2008-09-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness! The entire top of the mountain where the Temple is built is holy. Yes, this is the basic law of the Temple.

Ezekiel 43:12 NLT

I love reading the Old Testament. I don't find it to be just a bunch of old stories with strange people and prophets that said and did weird things. It's not just a part of the Bible that shows God's wrath and the New Testament is His grace.

I love to find the application from every book of the major prophets to even the minor ones like Obadiah and Nahum. The passage from above is taken from Ezekiel, a major prophet, who was given many visions of things to come and the one above is a blueprint of the future temple.

When I see the word temple I don't think of the place Jewish people go for worship. I think of Paul telling the Corinithians that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and we are to treat it as such and honor God with how we live.

The Lord was telling Ezekiel that holiness was the minimum requirement to be a part of his temple. From the building itself to the priests who ministered there to the people who came to offer their worship and sacrifices, it was all to be set apart for God.

What about us? Can we strive to make our lives from the words we use to the shows and movies we watch to the food and drink we consume to the way we treat people be done in complete holiness? Can we treat our bodies or the bodies of the people in our sphere of influence as though we were doing it unto the Lord?

I pray that we would all set our sights and our standards at the highest possible level. May we all look to not take the easy road to skate by or do just enough. Instead of using the old slogan, "What Would Jesus Do?" how about asking "Would God Approve or Would He Be Pleased?" This can be applied to our relationships, our conversations, our tv viewing and our internet surfing.

We live in such a secular society that is learning that "Big Brother" is watching now and it comes in the form of cell phone videos and You Tube and it's really coming to bite people in the rear. I see this an opportunity from the Lord for our public life to start to line up with our private life.

May we all welcome the intrusion. Or cause us to look inward to change.

I Could Get Used To This Vacation Stuff

2008-08-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

Rest is good. I guess God does know something that I don't. Who would have thought? Judy and I and the kids just got back from 4 days in Carlsbad and I can't believe how the Lord could provide us such rest at a time we needed it most.

It's so nice that we can go from 110 degrees to a sunset like the one above in only two hours. We truly are blessed to live where we do. There is just something about a sunset over the ocean that brings me to a place of worship. He put all this in place, the waves, the sun, the sand and yet He still desires to spend time with me. How cool is that?

Judy and I keep busy all year long so it was nice to have a minimal agenda. We actually stayed in bed in the morning past eight o'clock. I know now why we don't have black-out curtains at home. Our kids would be late to school everyday and the Lord wouldn't know who I am since I would oversleep my quiet time.

This vacation came at just the right time for our family. Judy and I feel called by the Lord to be on the front-lines of marriage so he has been fine-tuning us the whole month of August. We went three straight weeks having pretty heated discussions in our marriage that left Judy asking, "Does everyone else have to have their closets cleaned out like us? God has us deal with everything!"

Judy and I have been committed to seeing growth through the struggles. Since I believe we are both tracking with the Lord, He is constantly changing and transforming us. And through these changes in ourselves we have had to learn to adapt to the changes in the other. It's been a bumpy road, but God brings tremendous peace on the other side.

The scripture that God keeps bringing to me comes from 1 Corinthians 13:5 where it says love does not demand its own way. Obviously, it says a lot more about love in this chapter, but for now, not being demanding speaks a lot to me right now. I have no place or no right to demand my wife change or do something for me that I want because it would make my life easier.

I have surrendered all claims to my life to the Lord and I know He will use Judy to meet my needs as He will use others, but I can't mold and shape her into what I want her to do. So she knows I will take my concerns to the Lord if I think she should change in any area. I know the Holy Spirit is working in her so I'll let Him do the work and trust Him for the results.

We come back now refreshed and ready for ministry. We love marriage and all that it can bring to a family as well as to society. If we're to help and bring encouragement to others, we know we have to deal with things in our backyard. As well as our closets.

Striving For The Sexy Marriage

2008-08-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

A magazine cover caught my eye recently at the check-out stand at the market. It was a women's magazine and on the cover was actress Kyra Sedgwick and it had a sub-heading about her and her hubby Kevin Bacon keep their marriage sexy after 20 years.

As I often do in the check-out lines when it comes to the magazines, I had to laugh. A sexy marriage. Now Judy and I have been married over 20 years and I was thinking, "Do we have a sexy marriage like Kevin and Kyra?" "What is a sexy marriage?" In this day and age have you noticed everything is sexy from hair to pillows to cars to shoes?

I didn't buy the magazine at that point even though I was curious to hear Kyra's story as to how someone in Hollywood could be married more than two years yet alone 20. I ended up finding the article online and even though I don't know them to be Christians, just being married 20 years and not quitting did give her some insight.

Some things she said were a bit weird like "I'm constantly amazed that we are still surprised and interested in each other." Let me touch that one. While I can be amazed at how God still surprises me with new things about Judy, the last thing I would say is I'm surprised I'm still interested in her. Let's face it, if we didn't change and hopefully for the better, wouldn't it be a bit boring knowing this is what I can expect till death do us part?

As believers, we should forever be changing into His image and thus life should never be boring. I don't want to be the same man and husband for Judy this time next year and I don't expect her to be the same wife as well. We have been riding an August roller-coaster in our marriage that I am committed to turning into growth. If we don't grow from disputes then all that is left is hurt feelings and resentment.

One of the wise things she said about keeping the relationship strong was, "We got help when we needed to be alone. We check in with each other all the time. I think that's ultimately the best for the kids, because they feel safe when they know Mum and Dad are good, enjoying each other's company and wanting to be alone together."

It's so easy to get caught up in the routine of being parents. Homework, lunches, bus-driving, the works. It all starts up again in 10 days. Let me say "Woo Hoo." Now in June it will be a different story. But Judy and I have been big advocates for going on dates and spending time alone. We know we will be of no use to Taylor and Shelby if we're not good, if we're at odds or being of one voice.

Our "date nights" have changed over the years from going out to dinner for a nice meal to a trip down to Starbucks or lately sitting out back or front with no interruptions enjoying a glass of wine and good conversation. Like Kyra said in the quote above, the kids feel "safer" when the parents are "good." Isn't that a place we all want to be?

I encourage you all to find your "date night" with your spouse. Find what can work for you and try not to talk about the kids while you are on your date. I love when our conversation can be about meaningful things or Godly things. I call it talking in the "Spirit." We have taken on the task of doing a book study together about Jesus. We read a chapter at a time and then discuss it. It's help bring a freshness and newness factor to our conversations.

Have a great weekend everyone. Enjoy the final days of your summer. God is good and He is sending us to Carlsbad for four days starting on Sunday. I will catch up with you all next Friday and if you are interested and have made it this far I have tried to make posting a comment easier by taking out some of the restrictions. You don't have to set up a google account. Sorry it took so long to make the change. I'm still learning this whole blog thing. See you next week.

A Great Illustration

2008-08-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

This doesn't happen often. I blog about agape love on Monday and then on Tuesday I saw a movie that perfectly illustrates it. Maybe you have noticed on my blog the movie recommendation list and it's quite short. It only has one movie and it wasn't mainstream at all.

It's not that Judy and I don't like to go to the movies, but have you noticed this summer every movie seems to be some sort of superhero story. Even movies that don't start with a comic book superhero background still seem to create superpowered characters out of regular people.

The movie I'm playing reviewer to here is "Henry Poole is Here." I first heard about this movie on Rush Limbaugh's website and he's the first to admit he is pretty much an action oriented movie kind of guy. From there I went to www.pluggedinonline.com to read there review and I immediately knew this was the kind of movie for Judy and I to see.

The movie is actually playing at the mall theatres and when Judy and I arrived five minutes before the movie we were the only ones there. I asked Judy if she appreciated that I booked the theatre for her for our date night. She set me straight not to try anything with her.

Without detailing the story line I will tell you that it is a great God story. The central character in the movie, Henry Poole, buys a home and just wants to be left alone. God had a different plan as each person He sends to Henry offers kindness and love and looks for nothing in return from him.

The movie is subtle and not preachy about God though God is mentioned a lot in the movie. It's all about people loving an unlovable person and it doesn't necessarily wrap up in an hour and a half to a beautiful happy ending. It doesn't mean the ending isn't good, but it leaves things to the imagination.

It's a great feeler movie with elements that will make some cry, but it also forces you to think. It became great dialogue for Judy and I this morning as we discussed our favorite scenes and how we saw God work in the various characters. It's the type of movie that doesn't come out Hollywood often so I'm curious to the background of the script and the fact that Hollywood has to know that conservatives will like the movie.

The other plus for Judy and I was the movie was clean with just a few curse words that didn't seem out of place for the character. They didn't spoil the movie by adding sex to a scene that 99% of today's movies would have.

There's my movie plug for the day. A movie with a good story with characters that can't fly or beat up 10 guys at a time. Just a man struggling with life, faith and purpose and what can happen when God puts loving people in his path. I pray that we can all pour into people each day with the kind of love that God has shown us.

Loving The Unlovable

2008-08-18T06:08:00.000-07:00

You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.

Matthew 5:43:47 NLT

Have you ever read through God's word and especially the teachings of Jesus and find yourself glancing over or moving on when you read something that doesn't make sense or is really hard to do. This verse from the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is one of those verses for me.

Can you fathom what Jesus is asking us to do in this verse? I'm not only supposed to love the likable and kind and great people in my life, but also the difficult ones as well. I know I am not alone here. We all have difficult people in our lives and Jesus rightly points out (doesn't He always?) we're not doing any favors for the Kingdom if we ignore those that say rude things to us or give us cutting or sarcastic remarks or are just downright mean.

The type of love that Jesus is talking about here is from the Greek word, agape. You've probably heard this word in your days in church and the key component to the meaning is selflessness, not doing something for someone because we are looking for something in return. Imagine that. This was the type of love Jesus poured out for us on the cross. He loved us so much that He was willing to die so we might have eternal life.

This verse from Matthew came to me after reading in 1 John 4:7 where it says, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. How do I know if I love God? This verse says if I am loving others and Jesus says that includes those we don't know or don't like.

Identify the difficult people in your lives. Maybe it's your boss, your neighbor, your co-worker or maybe it's someone closer like a relative. Now I won't say that all difficult people are non-believers, but even if they know Christ, they musn't know His love very well. Think of ways to just love on them. Meet a need, say hello, send them a text, but try something.

If we're doing the tough things that God call us to do, like love everyone imajine the impact we can have. Our minds can get so cluttered with God stuff at times lately I have been going out the door in the morning telling myself to just love people and love them expecting nothing in return.

Because it won't be nothing you get since God will have noticed and He will receive the glory. Isn't that why we are all here?

Let Me Stop What I'm Doing And Listen

2008-08-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!

Psalm 116:1-2 NLT

I'm weird. I admit it. Things pop in my head at times and I wonder how those thoughts got there. One is this image that God is in human body form with arms and legs and He walks around heaven ruling His kingdom all the while keeping an eye on things down here.

Part of my thinking I'm sure comes from the scripture that says that we are made in His image and that God did come in human form through Jesus' time on Earth, but nonetheless, I find myself drifting away and putting God in a box. I don't know why I need to remind myself that God is with me all the while He is with my wife and at the same time He is with my kids.

That being said, in regards to the above Psalm, a little mental picture is okay. Just the thought that each day when I lift my prayers to the Lord they do not get crowded out because someone else is also bringing requests to Him. God is not up in heaven saying, "Enough!! Can't I have a little quiet? I can't hear Mark because all his friends are talking to me at the same time. One at a time please."

Instead, He hears all of us and my favorite image is that of God bending down to listen. It's not us shouting up to Him and waking Him up, but the Lord is actively waiting to hear from us and like I used to do when Taylor and Shelby were younger, I would bend down to their level to hear them. I know they liked it when I bent down because now we were looking eye to eye and it wasn't so intimidating for them.

Since we know He bends down to hear us and He listens, isn't it more comforting to keep active in prayer? While we can't forget the omnipresence of God I think it's healthy enough to imagine God bending down and setting all heavenly matters aside and hearing what is on our hearts and minds. Let us not forget that we always have an audience on one.

Guilty!!

2008-08-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

I want to expand on a subject that came up in church last week and God showed me again in a book I'm currently reading so I guess it's important enough to go a little deeper. It's a subject that we may not like to talk about a lot and especially about ourselves. It's the subject of sin.

Now I will be the first to admit that I can be quick to notice the sin in other people's lives and a little slow to notice mine. When I come to my confession time during prayer, I admit that I ask the Lord did I sin yesterday? How ridiculous, huh? As if I went through the day not missing the mark, but the point is we easily give ourselves grace.

Where Pastor Bob was great to point out this past weekend is we have two types of sin: sins of commission and sins of omission. The first ones are a little more obvious I think. These are the things that we do wrong, the breaking of His law, the world's law and the like. The sins of omission are not quite that obvious. These are sins where we fail to act or we're lazy or disobedient. In short, we don't do the things we ought to do.

"Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it." James 4:17. Just a reminder that it's God telling us about our omission and not man. If we're walking and tracking with the Lord, sins of omission are the ones I think most believers will be committing. We're wise enough to know what we shouldn't do, but often it's a little easier to hide the things we should be doing. I will use myself as an example.

I am blessed to be married to a wise Godly woman who sees things that I don't often see. She sees the big picture very well when I can get caught up in the excitement of a moment or an event. Recently and not intentionally I will point out, I sinned. I missed the mark on how I should have been treating her and she called me on the carpet for it.

Normally, my first reaction is to get defensive, but the Holy Spirit had me stay silent and listen to why she was upset with me. I eventually tried to muster a defense, but ultimately I was convicted. I was guilty. I had not acted in a very loving way to my wife. "For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church." Ephesians 5:25

If Christ had loved the church this way we would be in big trouble. Thankfully, I have a loving wife who has the freedom to point out my sin and where it can be hard to take at the time, the benefit is tremendous. From there, we were able to come together in prayer and I could take it to the Lord and know in my heart I was forgiven. It was a true 1John 1:9 moment. I was completely cleansed from all unrighteousness.

A verse I take very seriously as a husband is from 1Peter 3:7. The last part of the long verse says that I am to treat her as I should so my prayers will not be hindered. This means if I am not treating Judy the way I should according to His word, the prayers that I offer on your behalf will fall on deaf ears. I don't want that to happen since I pray for you all regularly.

I try to find the spiritual in all things and since Judy and I have reconciled and restored, the peace over us has been overwhelming. There is a new sense of freedom and a deeper sense of love. I believe we experience this peace with our Heavenly father when we come to Him and admit we blew it when we fail to act according to His standards and that we'll strive to make it right or make it right the next time if given the opportunity again.

Isn't grace awesome? It's beautiful to see in our earthly relationships, but I'm so glad that we are saved by grace with the Lord. Have a great weekend. I love you all and today I know my prayers are going unhindered for you all.

Amen!

Take The Tried And True Way

2008-08-04T06:06:00.000-07:00

This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’

Jeremiah 6:16 NLT

Have you noticed the number of new "religions" that have sprung up recently? Usually, it has someone famous tooting its horn such as Tom Cruise with Scientology or Madonna with Kabala or Oprah singing the praises of "the Secret."

Because God gives us free will and choice and He doesn't force His way upon anyone, people are seemingly searching for purpose and direction and the proverbial "answer to the meaning of life" just about everywhere. On the home page of Kabala it says that it gives the answers to the "why" of life and it's about tapping into the energy of the universe.

You're probably like me and chuckle when you hear things like this because we know we don't need the energy of the universe when we've been empowered by the Creator of the Universe. I was on call yesterday morning and driving down Portola and I was astonished at the amount of cars in the parking lot of the Spiritual Center. It's located near the Post Office and they teach the "Secret" or so the sign says. And not only that, but they have two services on Sunday. I couldn't believe it.

At that point I stopped and prayed for those people inside because I know they are lost and are deceived each and every Sunday. Unlike our verse above, chances are these folks don't know about the old, godly ways. I don't know if they look around and see the Christian church up the street and they form an opinion about what goes on inside and they just choose the new "flavor of the month" to get to God.

My prayer for us all is that we would keep our eyes open for those "lost souls." People out there are hurting. I saw it yesterday in church as person after person left the prayer partners at the end of service with tears in their eyes and genuinely sobbing. If they're in our church chances are there is plenty who are not and trying to deal with the struggles in their own strength.

We need to invite them to experience the tried and true ways of our Heavenly Father. We know they will find a God who cares and who loves them and He will give them rest. May we be an example for Christ that represents His love instead of one that would send someone seeking the wrong road.

Can You Hear Me Now? That's Not All

2008-08-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

We've all seen the commercials by now. I think they have gone on for years now. The nerdy Verizon guy who goes around the country and makes sure everyone has a cell phone signal saying, "Do you hear me now? Good." It was funny at first, but like everything it starts to get a little old.

Being able to have a good cell phone signal to hear is one thing, but it's another to listen to the person on the other end. I mean really listen. The one thing that gets me into more trouble at home is my inability to be a good listener. I hear Judy and Shelby when they talk to me, but because my mind has a tendency to be thinking about other things, I haven't really listened.

I don't do it to be rude, but I don't know how many times I have heard later, "I told you we were going to do this or I told you I had a doctor's appointment. You musn't have been listening again." I cringe every time I hear those words. What's the answer for me (and I hope there are other guys out there with this problem)? I know it's to slow down and pay attention to the person who is talking to me and focus.

This listening problem can also happen to us in the spiritual realm as well (doesn't everything?). 584 times the Bible mentions the word listen and in most cases it's in relation to us listening to God. The other times we would like God to listen to us. Like life, listening to God and his voice can keep us out of trouble.

Jesus also implored us to listen to his voice or there would be consequences. Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.” Mark 4:24-25

Imagine that. There is a benefit to listening and a consequence for being absent-minded or ignorant. If we slow down enough in our busy schedules enough, set time aside for Jesus, turn off the television and radio in the car once in a while, we might be able to listen for His voice.

I know at times I hear God and I think I know what He wants me to do, but if I don't listen close enough or if think I can hear Him over the television there is a good chance I'll get His instructions wrong. The verse above is telling me if I don't listen intently or I get lazy and ignore Him, I not only will lose out on gaining wisdom, but in a way I'll get dumber. Spiritually dumb!!

I have the privilege of teaching in a spiritual growth class at church and one of my topics is the importance of quiet time. We are now officially in the hot lazy days of August and lounging by the pool or sleeping in on the weekends sounds especially appealing. But for Judy and I, we know we need the Lord more than ever in this season. I'll admit, I'm tired by the end of the day and getting up early can be a struggle.

But the benefits are immeasurable. I get to spend time each day with the creator of the universe and He wants to speak to me and He wants me to listen. My prayer is that we would all take a Psalm 46:10 moment each day. Be still and know that God is God. Be ready. Be prepared. Hear God's voice and more importantly listen.

I gotta go. I hear Judy calling and I don't want to miss out and what she has to say. Bless you all.

His Faith Comes To The Top

2008-07-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

Lindsey Sowles death last Thursday night was not the only tragedy of the day. Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, a well-known evangelist who holds a popular crusade at Angels Stadium every August, lost his 33 year-old son Christopher in an automobile accident earlier in the day.

While the Sowles family agonized for months over Lindsey's illness, Christopher went to work one day and wound up in the presence of the Lord. Do we not know that life is short or has it become a cliche or a catchy ad slogan? I've added a link at the end of this post to Pastor Greg's first appearance in church since his son's death. It's about 18 minutes in length and it is moving.

As a pastor, he has had to say all the right things for years to family's that were hurting, but he will tell you this is the toughest thing he has ever had to deal with. But the place he knew he had to be on Sunday was in church and to praise the One who is now hosting his son Christopher. I mainly wanted to post today to encourage you to take time to watch the video and see real faith put on display for us all.

The verse that gave Greg great comfort was from Job 1:21. He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." What a great place to go for comfort, the Word of God.

Pastor Greg had a chance to curse God, but he didn't. Instead, he offered people a chance to receive Christ (he especially challenged the young people) since he knew he was being watched. And miraculously many did. A steep price for a family to pay, but God is being glorified already and the Kingdom of Heaven is expanding through Christopher's death and I suspect that many more will in the time ahead as Pastor Greg's altar calls will have a bit more passion and a bit more urgency. Praise the Lord for his family and his ministry.

http://blog.greglaurie.com/?p=272

You Look Especially Radiant Today

2008-07-28T08:32:00.000-07:00

Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”

Isaiah 43:7 NKJV

This was a verse that came to me last week and I was drawn to the word glory. If you're like me you hear it in Christian circles all the time. "We need to bring God glory" or "we need to glorify God in this or that." But what does that mean?

The original Hebrew word for glory is kabod and it means the splendor of God's presence. When I meditated on this fact it became overwhelming to me. I am here and you who acknowledge Christ as your Saviour are here to reflect the existence of God in our lives. In case creation wasn't enough (and it is for me) we need to show others that God exists by the way we live our lives.

That means whether you work in an office, run a business, you're retired, you're a stay-home mom we need to show the world that God exists. As the verse above says, it is why He created us. I know this doesn't directly fall under the five purposes as written by Rick Warren, but God's Word is clear here.

The thing about God's glory or his splendor or his majesty He is going to receive it in everything. God will receive the glory in the church or He will put things into motion so He does. He will receive it in the good times of our lives as well as the bad times. It's what makes testimony so powerful. If you have gone through a struggle recently and you have made it through the other side the way to give God the glory for it is to tell others about it.

Lindsey Sowles was glorifying God to her last day on Earth. She touched people's lives right there at Desert Regional from her hospital room and in the hallways. While she was here she knew her purpose was to show that God existed, even in illness. I have other friends that are cancer survivors and they do the same. They know that God has healed them for a reason and it is to give him glory and help others.

So when people observe you or meet you for the first time what do you think you reflect? Even if you don't get the opportunity to share the gospel, do you endeavor to show the love of Jesus in all you do? But more importantly, if you have received blessings or success in your life have you acknowledged the One who gave it to you?

I'm heading outside now. I think I'll need extra sunblock today for all the glow out there. Amen

Lord, Hear Our Prayers For The Sowles Family

2008-07-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

A family I know lost a loved one last night. Her name was Lindsey Sowles and she was just 21 years-old and her body gave in to that terrible disease called cancer. I wrote of her last week and continued praying for a miracle right up until the end. I fully expected God to heal her and I am glad I prayed in that regard all the way to the end.

For whatever reason that I can't explain right now, the Lord had me there last night. I got the call to go and help lead in prayer for a last minute miracle from the Lord, but when I arrived I found myself mostly silent. I was blessed to be there as I witnessed an incredible family led by Lindsey's dad, Steve, who really put meaning to "faith in action."

But I know my prayers for the Sowles family does not end with the death of Lindsey. Instead I have to step them up even more. I have a daughter and a son and I can't even imagine the anguish of what it must be like to go through an ordeal like this. As I sat in Lindsey's room, I found myself just in awe of Steve has he epitomized what a spiritual leader in the home looks like. He was a tremendous source of comfort for his family and I know it was something I would never forget.

Lindsey's mom, Debbie has the joy of the Lord shining on her face every time I see her. Even in this trial, she greeted me with a warm hug and a big smile and was quick to share the wonderful God stories that had gone on the past three months.

Moments like this undoubtedly bring out the questions to God of why does this happen and especially to someone so young, but I found myself in the car on the way home reflecting and thinking about my own family and praising God for them. I thanked Him for the love they show me everyday and how they make me want to be a better husband, father and person.

As I got in my truck for the ride home, I immediately set my Ipod in the car to the worship song, "Amazed" and set the controls to repeat as I just worshipped over and over to the God of the Universe who is so amazing that He desires a personal relationship with all of us. His love is so wide, so deep and so great that we can't even comprehend it. As hard as it is to believe, but God loved Lindsey more than her family did and we rejoice today that she is fully healed and cancer free and beginning life in eternity with Him today.

The Lord knew it was time for me to move on and suddenly the "repeat" setting was gone and the next song came on and it was "Amazing Grace (His Chains Are Broken)" by Chris Tomlin. I wept through the entire song as each lyric in the song ministered to my heart. God has a way of doing that.

For those of you who know the Sowles family and even if you don't, pray for their strength and their healing. It will be especially tough in the days and weeks ahead for Steve and Debbie and their kids Aaron and Heather as well as Lindsey's fiance, John. Also, remember to cherish your loved one's just a little bit more, hug them a little tighter and appreciate everyday the Lord gives us because we truly do not know how long we have here.

I praise you today Lord for the Sowles family and may you hold them tight in your arms as they grieve over their beloved Lindsey. Amen.

Am I Invited?

2008-07-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

Luke 10:41-42 NASB

Mary and Martha were sisters and along with their brother Lazarus were best friends of Jesus. They believed he was the Son of God and were very welcoming when Jesus came for a visit.

However, when Jesus arrived the two sisters acted very differently. Martha was frantically doing everything to prepare the home. After all, they were hosting the Son of God so who wouldn't be working their socks off like Martha. No doubt, she was cooking, cleaning and putting everything in its right place. Verse 40 says that Martha was distracted by all her preparations.

What was Mary doing while her sister was doing all the work? Waiting at the feet of Jesus listening to everything He had to say. It's not like Jesus was her next door neighbor and she could tap into His wisdom whenever she wanted. Mary knew she had to soak in all of Jesus while she could.

My favorite part of the passage is where Jesus tells Martha only "one thing" is needed when it comes to a gathering. The "one thing" is Him. What's great to me about this passage is that it has such great application for today. How many things do we do from dinner parties to small group functions to church services where we plan and we meet and we brainstorm trying to come up with the perfect event?

Jesus is really saying, "Hello. Anyone home? Just invite me and you'll be fine." I think we worry so much about the externals like the food that's served, the sound, the lighting or if so and so will be there and not enough of whether Jesus is on the guest list. No matter how committed a Christian you are, if Satan can't get to you he can always keep you busy or distracted.

I'm well aware of how hot outside it is in July. I know it's easy to get lazy or slow down or just stay extra busy with all sorts of summer activities and vacations. But are you finding time to spend with the Lord? Are you making adjustment to your quiet time to meet with Him? Do you make Him welcome at your gatherings?

Remember, He is the most important ingredient and He doesn't want to share His glory with anyone. Have a great week and who's going to be your first invite to your next function?

Do You Believe In Miracles? Yes!!

2008-07-18T04:47:00.000-07:00

The above question and answer came from announcer Al Michaels at the end of the infamous Olympic hockey game between the USA and the Russians back in 1980 where we pulled off an improbable victory that propelled us to winning the gold medal. It was a sports version of David versus Goliath.

The word miracle is thrown about rather casually these days from sports (it'll be a miracle if they can come back and win) to the dating scene (it'll be a miracle if the two of them wind up together). I looked up in the dictionary and one of the definitions of miracle is an event manifesting or considered as a work of God.

I think we would all associate a miracle as something outside the realm of human hands or possibility. We would recognize it as a "God thing." I usually put medical needs in the realm of miracles which brings me to the story of my blog.

Monday night I had the privilege of attending a fundraiser for Lindsey Sowles, a 21-year-old girl who is currently dying from cancer after being in perfect health about four months ago. I know her parents well since her mother Debbie worked at my church for years, but only briefly met Lindsey on a service call at their house a few months back.

As her condition worsened with each passing week my friend Carlos, who had been regularly giving me her medical updates, advised me that she was near death. We needed to be praying for a miracle and that God would use Lindsey to bring glory to Himself. The doctors had essentially given Lindsey a death sentence back in June, but Carlos was unwavering in his support to Lindsey's dad, Steve, to keep praying solely for Lindsey's healing.

It caused me to think heavily about my prayer life when it came to healing for people with serious medical conditions. I am the first to admit I have found myself praying with lack of belief in what I was praying for. My prayers to the Lord probably confused Him so much that He stopped listening. It was the type of prayers with the "out clause" that if it didn't turn out like I wanted it must have been "God's will."

Carlos encourage me to pray for nothing but Lindsey's complete healing. Nothing more and nothing less. My friend Ginger, who was instrumental in getting Lindsey's story on KESQ recently, has always said part two of the story will be her healing. This time around, I have prayed for nothing but a full recovery.

As only God can do, He orchestrated a lunch on the beach in Newport last week for Judy and I with a friend and we got to talking about healing and she reminded us of the times that Jesus healed. Jesus would often ask the person He was about to heal "if they believed they would be healed" and when they said "yes", then He healed them.

One specific example was Jairus' daughter who was in need of healing and Jesus was purposely slow in getting to her and by the time he arrived she was dead. "The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. 41 Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” 42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. Mark 5:40-42

Two things stand out to me in this passage. One that people were laughing at the Son of God. Can you imagine laughing at the Lord and discounting His abilities and His power. The second is that Jesus cleared the room of everyone except the parents and His disciples. They were the only ones who believed that Jesus could still heal the girl, even after she had died. This happened a lot in scripture. The unbelievers were cleared from the room.

Does this mean that every time we pray for miracles they happen the way we want them? No. I do know for certain however, that Lindsey will be healed, it's just a matter of what side of heaven will it occur. I also thought the other day that to God there is no such thing as a miracle. If he can put the starry host and heavens in place with a spoken word, do you think it takes much effort for Him to heal Lindsay? No. It can happen in a moment's notice and God will certainly not break a sweat to do it.

I have been emphatic of my prayers for Lindsey's healing recently. Was she able to attend her own fundraiser Monday night? No. Has she gotten out of her bed and walked recently? No. But she's also still here six weeks after her doctor had predicted her death. She's had some progress and some regress. God has brought enough healing for her boyfriend to propose in the hospital (she accepted, how cool is that?) and it has caused her doctor to open his eyes to God's hand in all this.

Cancer is all around us and it probably has effected at least someone you know. I can't believe how many people I know that are my age or younger that have had to deal with it. And praise God they are still here and giving God the glory. So for you Lindsey and my friend, Skip Osgood, I'm praying for complete healing. Nothing more. Nothing Less.

In God's healing team there is no room for unbelief. Amen.

What Are You Reflecting?

2008-07-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18 NASB

Have you ever run into someone you haven't seen in a while at a high school reunion or a family function or even a wedding and you come away from the meeting saying "that person has changed"? Or maybe you thought that hadn't grown at all and they were just like they were the last time you saw them. Is that a good sign?

It's one thing to say someone's appearance hasn't changed, but should we really be the same week in and week out and year in and year out? I believe if we're tracking with the Lord and growing in Him and seeking Him daily then we will be forever changing. Call it Christian evolution. Evolution where we are becoming like Christ.

We know that the Apostle Paul tells us later in chapter 5 that we are new person when we come to Christ, but just because we are saved from eternal separation from God doesn't mean that we just stay stagnant and apathetic in our growth. If we find ourselves in a rut at a church, maybe not being challenged, then we need to take the needed course of action.

Possibly we need to mix up our quiet time a bit, seek out different pastors on the internet for some fresh preaching, start a new Bible study and seek the Lord for direction and wisdom. But whatever you do, don't just sit back and think God is going to supernaturally change you.

Isn't it an awesome feeling to know as a believer that our purpose is to become like Christ. Philippians 2 tells us we are to have the mind of Christ and the verse above reminds us that as we grow in Him, we reflect the Glory of Christ to others. I love this translation because it reminds us that as we grow God will move us from this glory to the next and so forth.

I don't know about you, but I have met several people in my walk with the Lord that shine the glory of God in a way that it is so obvious that you just know that they have a deep relationship with Christ. There is something that is just a bit different about them. They talk different, they have a joy across their face that just exudes the love of Jesus.

I'll tell you when I meet people like that I sure try to hang around them and learn from them as much as I can. It's like they experience the glow that Moses did when he came off the mountain after his encounter with the Lord. It caused Moses to wear a veil so the people could look at him. He was shining that bright.

So ask yourself if you ran into someone that hadn't seen you in a while would they notice anything different? Are you growing in the Spirit and being led by the Spirit to take up new challenges that the Lord may be leading you in? Do you know Jesus more today than you did last week or last month?

I pray that you all reflect God's glory this week and beyond as we go out into the world that so badly needs the love of Jesus. God is calling us all to make a difference and reflect His love on this hell-bent world we live in. Grow and rest in Him this week and may the Lord bless you and keep you this week. Amen

The Kingdom of God is Calling

2008-07-11T06:06:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard the saying "I don't want to learn something new because now I might be asked to do it?" You know, the whole ignorance is bliss deal. As believers in Jesus Christ and the Good News, we are not privy to ignorance or turning the other cheek.

I trust most of us have know Jesus for some time, we have been transformed by Him and we're grateful for the eternity we have because of Him. And because we have invited Him into our lives there is no room for us to deny Him or ignore Him. He wants all of us or nothing. We can't pretend we haven't heard the Good News or been changed because of it.

I have been so draw recently to the Biblical phrase recently, "the Kingdom of God." The New Living Translation has 66 references to it and so it has caused me to meditate and pray about the "Kingdom of God" and all that it entails.

I am a very passionate person about the things that I love and because I feel called to a deep relationship with Jesus I try to keep moving forward in my relationship with Him. I have heard the Good News, I have received Jesus in my heart and I know that He has changed me. For me, there is no turning back and my desire is to see everyone burn with a heart for Jesus. It doesn't require that we all work at a church to love the Lord and chase Him.

While I know that not everyone expresses their love for Jesus like I do, I have noticed that a lot of people can get complacent in their walk with the Lord and that includes me at times. That's where the "Kingdom of God" comes in. My study has taken me to understand the Kingdom of God to be the place where we will reign with Christ someday and we must pursue it all costs or we run the risk of backsliding.

Jesus explains in his parables that the Kingdom of God is like anything from a mustard seed to little children. He tells us that the door to the kingdom is narrow, it will be tough for the rich to enter and if one of your body parts is causing you to sin you would be better off to get rid of it.

However, three passages about the Kingdom of God cause me to stand up and notice. They are all passages from the Apostle Paul and they address our inheritance of the Kingdom.

" When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God." Galatians 5:19-21

"Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world." Ephesians 5:3-5

"Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

I think it's worthwhile to reviews these lists periodically and make sure we haven't backslid any. It's easy to become righteous when it comes to homosexuality, but what about greed, idolatry, envy and division. While I feel my salvation is secure, it causes me to never take it for granted. Jesus calls us to "take up our cross daily" so why not be saved daily.

These lists also point out that if we are truly followers of Christ we should be motivated to continually grow in Him, being led by the Spirit, or we run the risk of apathy. Since it's easy for us to rank sin as some being worse than others we need to remember that it's all detestable to God. I know I need periodic reminders and thank goodness for His Word.

I pray that we would all carry the enthusiasm for Jesus in our lives, but also to the unsaved as well. If you haven't noticed lately and you'd have to be living in the North Pole for the last 10 years, but our world and our culture is in steady decline. We've had fires, earthquakes and floods, but through it all there is still hope. And his name is Jesus and we need to tell others while there is still time. Listen to the words of Jesus.

" The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” Mark 1:15

Our Words Do Matter

2008-07-07T05:38:00.000-07:00

Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.
Proverbs 12:18 NLT

I’ve chosen a verse for my devotion this week that cuts right to my heart. I used to be guilty of cutting words or sarcastic ones to the point that I thought it was a spiritual gift. I somehow had gotten so lazy in my speech that I used to speak so sarcastically to people that I didn’t even notice.

But that was when God got a hold of me and gently nudged me and reminded me that I need to build people up with my words, not talk in code using sarcastic phrases like, “must be nice” when referring to someone’s good fortunes or “high ya stranger” which is code for “why haven’t you called recently?”

Besides the Book of James in the New Testament which we’re studying in church, there is a great book in the Old Testament called Proverbs which speaks volumes about the words we use. The Proverbs warn us about the destruction our words can cause if we talk too much or we lye or we gossip.

I can’t think of anything that has gotten me in more trouble over the years with my wife or my kids than by the misuse of my words. “Actions may speak louder than words” is a saying that may be true to our faith, but when it comes to how we treat people, I think our words can speak pretty loudly as well. I could spend a whole day of doing good deeds for my wife, but saying something stupid or insensitive to her will wipe those achievements away real fast.

However, there is good news. The flip side to this verse is our words can produce great results. They can bring about healing. The Proverbs equate our good words to wisdom and sweet sounds to the ears. “Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” Proverbs 16:24

What kind of words are you using? What comes out in the heat of the moment? Are they cutting or sarcastic that are meant to tear down or do you use words that encourage and pick people up at a moment when they need it most? I have been so blessed that God always sends people to pick me up (especially Judy) when I need it most and He has asked me to try and do the same.

I encourage you to look for ways to build people up with your words this week and watch for the results. Start at home with your spouse and then work your way through your kids and then see if it can spread to your neighborhood and workplace. I don’t mean that you need to give false praise that sounds phony, but if something that the person you’re speaking to deserves kudos, then give to him or her. And look and note the reaction and look for the resulting change in your relationship with that person.

I look forward to hearing your stories.

The Thrill of Victory

2008-07-04T05:37:00.000-07:00

My childhood and teenage years were in the 60s and 70s and by far one of my favorite programs to watch on the weekend was Wide World of Sports. Since ESPN wasn't around back then, WWoS gave us the opportunity to see sports we wouldn't normally see, anything from downhill skiing to cliff diving in Acapulco.

The opening to the show featured Jim McKay narrating thru the different sports with the famous line of "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat (which of course was always some ski jumper who takes a big header off the ramp).

Last Friday I blogged about having an outlook that allows us to be up in these seemingly bleak times we live in. At least everywhere we turn we hear nothing but bad news. But because of God's great love for us, the prophet Habakkuk showed us we can have a different outlook that allows us to focus on God in our circumstances and still through it all, praise Him.

Psalm 118 spoke loudly to me recently as it showed me that we don't just have to put on a happy face for God, but that we have our own "thrill of victory" that we can point to. "The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly. The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things! Psalm 118:15-16 NLT

We know how it all turns out. We know the final score. We win. As long as we don't jump ship along the way when the going gets tough, as long as we hold to our faith, as long as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and trust Him through these tough times, we will prevail.

I don't know about you, but I love to win, especially when I was a kid. My parents can attest I was the kid that would cry when our team would lose a baseball game. My folks were so embarassed that I would take it so serious to the point of crying, but being the youngest of three boys in a neighborhood of all boys gave me a competitive spirit at an early age.

But for all the sports I played growing up I never went into any game knowing the final outcome before we played. We still had to play the game. The psalm continues with more promises of our success, all thanks to the Lord of course.

" The strong right arm of the Lord is raised in triumph. The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things! I will not die; instead, I will live to tell what the Lord has done." 16-17.

"Open for me the gates where the righteous enter, and I will go in and thank the Lord. These gates lead to the presence of the Lord, and the godly enter there. I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory! 19-21

Today is the 4th of July and we celebrate our independence and the victory our nation achieved over 200 years ago. Many lives were laid down for us to enjoy the freedoms we have in this nation today. We live in times where others would like to destroy us because of the freedoms we enjoy.

But no matter what happens to us in this world, victory is ours in the next. Which for me makes it all the easier to be thankful in good times and in bad. So while you're out at the pool this weekend, around the bbq, watching fireworks, let us remember the Lord before the weekend is gone. "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever." Psalm 118:29

I pray you enjoy those fireworks and that burger just a little more this year. Amen

What's Inside You?

2008-06-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

Then Jesus said:
What comes from your heart is what makes you unclean. Out of your heart come evil thoughts, vulgar deeds, stealing, murder, unfaithfulness in marriage, greed, meanness, deceit, indecency, envy, insults, pride, and foolishness. All of these come from your heart, and they are what make you unfit to worship God.
Mark 7:20-23 CEV

How many times have you seen recently where someone famous says something stupid, then denies it, then an audio or a video of their comment surfaces and the spin machine starts? Excuses range from “I didn’t mean it”,” I was frustrated”,” I was having a bad day” to even “it was my ex-wife’s fault.”

Isn’t it great that something spoken 2000 years ago can give us the answer to a common dilemma today? Jesus knew where the rage and anger and other vile things lie in us. In our hearts. If someone is caught on tape yelling racist remarks we know it’s coming from the inside and pouring out at a weak moment.

What would happen if “Big Brother” had cameras in our homes and we watched them with a stranger at a later date? Would it be “G” rated or “PG-13” or even “R” rated. When you get mad at your spouse or your kids what kind of words are flying?

The beauty of this verse is it doesn’t just deal with anger issues. It addresses other “unclean” items that may be in our heart and we may not even know it. I haven’t thought of murdering anyone lately, but what about pride? We live in a culture that feeds pride. We’re to be proud of everything from our skin color to our sexual orientation. Jesus calls it sin and the reason I love this translation is He says we’re not even fit to worship God if this is on the inside.

How about meanness and foolishness? Not two things we probably think about too often when it comes to our sins. In fact, being a guy, I thought foolishness goes with the territory or was a spiritual gift. It seems I do dumb things all the time, just ask my wife. But kidding aside, foolishness is address heavily in the Proverbs and it kinds of runs counter to the wisdom that God wants to give us.

The point of this list is they are all things we can’t see when we walk up and greet someone whether it’s your best friend or a stranger. These things are either cultivated or exterminated based on what we put into our minds. The process looks like this: what goes in is what comes out. It’s a lot like our diet and exercise.

This is all to say we need to be fed daily with things of God and less of things of this world. We need to be versed more and more in the word of God so we can draw upon His ways when we get into a crunch or a weak moment. We need to surround ourselves with people that will build us up and hold us accountable to whether we need a “roto-rooter” on the inside.

Meditate on this list above and ask God if any item in this list is creeping into your heart. Tell a friend about it, pray and ask God to help you remove it and deal with it. Those around you will notice the results.

Being Up In Down Times

2008-06-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

Have you watched the news lately? It doesn't matter if it's local or cable news. It all seems the same. One negative story after another. Whether it's the culture going to pot or another weather disaster or gas prices going through the roof it's enough to make you scream and say, "Jesus, come get me now."

If I wasn't staying tuned to get to my favorite weather forecaster I would be tempted to change the channel, but it's not as though there's a great choice there. I don't believe God expects us to bury our head in the sand when it comes to the culture just to avoid the bad stuff. This has led me to blog for the next two Friday's about having a positive attitude when so much seems wrong today.

My scripture reference today comes from that funny sounding name of a prophet, Habakkuk. He sounds like he should be a character from a Star Wars movie. It's only a three chapter book in the Old Testament, but he has an awesome prayer in the last chapter. His prayer addresses the people of Judah as they're about to fall into the hands of the Babylonians.

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights." Habakkuk 3:17-19 NLT

Did you catch the operative phrase in these verses? The words even though and yet. Habakkuk pointed out six scenarios that were going on in his time, but he could still rejoice in the Lord. I thought I would give you my translation of the above verse with an application from today.

"Even though gas prices are heading toward five dollars a gallon, and my property values are dropping; even though marriage seems to be taking a beating and is now being redefined; even though food prices seem to be rising as fast as gas prices and politcal correctness seems to have overtaken our society, yet I will praise the Lord! Mark 6:27/08

Even though we seemingly have all these problems and worries today about who's going to be our next president, we can still find peace in the fact we serve a big God who is bigger than our culture and our elections and this is of no surprise to Him. We don't have to go around with our heads hanging and thinking the worst.

If you haven't noticed, it is so easy to go negative. You listen to the news and it's predominantly negative, you read the newspapers and you want to scream and then if you happen to be around people that complain about everything you will without realizing it, suddenly start grumbling yourself. The apostle Paul tells us not to go there. "Do everything without complaining and arguing." Philippians 2:14

I have always found it best to avoid people I know to be complainers and instead hang around people that are going to build me up. It doesn't mean that we ignore today's problems, but instead we can have a different outlook because we know that we are under the sovereignty of our heavenly Father. As the verse says, "He will be the strength that you and I need."

So as we go through our hot season and experience record heat ask the Lord to help you not to go negative. One way that has worked for me is to turn the negative into a thankfulness. While we may have 115 degree days, my house is also not up to its roof in water either. While gas if setting records, I also don't have to drive to work as people in other areas.

I'm off to fill up my wife's car with gas (no doubt it will be more than it was last time), but thank you Jesus that I have a car to drive. Have a blessed weekend and praise the Lord extra this Sunday. Amen.

Don't Forget To Share

2008-06-23T06:03:00.000-07:00

So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:7 NLT

I have to admit. I love testimony. I love the story of God’s transforming power in people’s lives. For most of us though, we often think of testimony as the story of our salvation, how we came to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

For some, it’s dramatic. God rescues people from the lowest of lows or He calls people to himself to fill a void that is missing in their lives. God wants to see everyone redeemed, but He always does it differently. Some call to receive Him at a big crusade like Billy Graham or Greg Laurie or others call to receive Him in the quietness of their misery in a jail cell. You call. He always answers.

Sadly, for many, the story ends there. They receive the free gift of salvation, but then like Jesus teaches in Matthew 13, the seed doesn’t grow. Jesus teaches of three seeds that don’t hold, but the seed planted in fertile soil produces greatly.

And that’s the kind of testimony I love to hear. I love to see the changed lives as a result of having Jesus as Lord of their lives. If we’re growing in our walk with Jesus and fruit is being produced we need to tell others what God is doing. That’s the beauty of this verse above and it’s one of my favorites from Ephesians.

God wants to point to me and you and tell others, “if I can save Mark Hyde and use him for the kingdom and if only you knew what I know about him, then I can really use you.” I believe that God can’t point to us as examples of His goodness and His grace if people don’t know what God has done in our lives. It’s not about us necessarily becoming famous, but instead making Him famous and giving Him the credit and the glory.

It’s time for people to take a stand for God. Either we believe what we believe or we don’t. Either God has made a difference in our lives or He hasn’t. Either His word is truth or it’s a lie. We can‘t ride on the fence in a bi-partisan way any longer. It doesn’t mean we all have to find a pulpit somewhere to preach, but as the apostle Peter says we need to be ready to defend our faith. “Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.” 1 Peter 3:15

May you feel and experience the presence of the living God with you as you go through your week and may you be thinking about the story God is writing about your life for you to be the narrator of. Bless you all.

I Need You, Yes You

2008-06-16T05:53:00.000-07:00

This is how the Lord responds:
"If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me. If you speak good words rather than worthless ones, you will be my spokesman. You must influence them; do not let them influence you!
Jeremiah 15:19 NLT

There are so many things I love about being a follower of Jesus Christ. One of the biggies is the forgiveness thing. No matter how much I mess up, as long as I repent and confess, the blood of Jesus forgives my sin every time.

The beauty of this verse to me is it shows a process of how we can go from sin to being used by God again. The first thing we have to do is confess and return to the Lord to be restored. The process of restoration is not the same as rebuilding. Rebuilding is being made to work again from a state of brokenness, but restoration is to be made as good as or better than new. We can not only blow it, but come out better on the other side after God is through with us.

After the Lord has restored us, He will put us back to work for Him. He doesn’t just send us to the back of the line, but if we’re willing to speak good words (that would be words from Him or from His Word), then we can be a spokesman for Him. Have you ever noticed some of the most powerful testimony for God has come from people whose lives have been to the gutter and back?
Every speaker for God has a different story. Some come from homes that loved God and have passed that love from generation to generation and others started their walk with the Lord from a prison cell. Some have had God at the center of their entire marriage while others are turning to God to show the way in their third. The point being it is never too late to turn back to God, even if you feel that He is so disappointed in you because you have made the same mistakes over and over.

My favorite part of the verse is the end. God wants us to influence the people, the culture and those around us. He wants us to transform those around us, not us to conform to them. God wants to take little ole you and me and go out into the big bad world and show them what they’re missing. The way we can do that is by our testimony.

That same life that Christ has turned around is now a testimony for Him that can be shared with others to influence them in a positive way. We’re not out to brainwash people, just point the way to the One who can restore us to a position higher than we have ever achieved before. That stirring in your heart to get back to work for God is the Holy Spirit. He’s not done with you yet. You’re still here aren’t you?

.

Healthy Fear

2008-06-13T05:09:00.000-07:00

Last week I touched upon the subject of fear and how the Bible tells us there is no fear in God and that perfect love cast out all fear. I thought the perfect follow-up to that blog would be on the one thing we are supposed to fear. God.

Unfortunately, it's the one thing or person we don't often thing about when it comes to be afraid or fearful. At times we've been afraid of just about everything on the planet from the dark to the IRS, but the Bible is very clear to whom we should fear. Let me share some passages and then share my thoughts.

"The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them."
"Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him."
"Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD."
Psalm 34:7,9,11

The Hebrew word in these texts is yare and it means to revere, to be afraid and the adjective for the word means to be timid or anxious. We have two types of fear being described hear. The first is the anticipation of getting in trouble if we do something wrong and number two is positive feeling of reverance for God.

Don't we all remember the first kind of fear, especially when we were kids. We do something we know we're not supposed to do and of course it leads to something breaking. (Mom always said, "Don't play ball in the house.") Sorry, a little Brady Bunch humor. We wait with great trepidation for our parents to find out and how bad a whooping we're going to get. The fear in us can be overwhelming.

The second fear is where I like to be all the time, but much of the time it comes over me when I go to church on the weekends and the flood of reverance for God comes over me that it puts me in a position where all I can do is worship Him. It's where God wants me all the time. "Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him." Psalm 33:8.

Can you imagine how much better this earth would be if we all took time to stand in awe of the Creator of the universe? I know when I pray I try to acknowledge God for His goodness, His faithfulness, His creation, but often I forget and get right to my needs and my desires. I need to remember that while God is okay with me "cutting to the chase" I can't forget my reverance for Him.

I love the fact God desires a personal relationship with me, but I also know that it's good for me to live my life with the desire to please my heavenly Father out of fear, a healthy fear. A fear that says I know I can't earn my way to heaven, but one that gives me the desire to be obedient because I know the consequences for disobediance are unhealthy.

So many in our world live with no fear of God and consequently they live like their choices and actions are not accountable to anyone. Integrity is a lost virtue because people only own up to something when they're caught and even then they are full of excuses.

Over twenty times, the Psalms refer to the phrase "to those who fear him." Here is a short list of the promises of God for "those who fear him." He promises honor, goodness, his confidence, his angels, his eyes over us, salvation, his love and compassion and that's just in the Psalms. And this is all because we have a healthy fear of Him.

I can't wait to stand in awe of Him today. Amen.

Lord, Let's Cut To The Chase

2008-06-09T06:01:00.000-07:00

How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing? Rescue me from their fierce attacks. Protect my life from these lions!
Psalm 35:17

How’s your prayer life? Do you talk to God often? When you pray do you find yourself trying to impress him with how long you can pray? The answer at times for all three of these questions has been yes for me.

I don’t claim to be an expert on the subject of prayer, but I do know it’s about honest conversation with the Lord so I have tried to make a regular habit of it. I know the Lord wants to hear from me, but what do I say? Isn’t it a little awkward talking to someone whose physical presence is not right in front of me? Maybe, but try what David did in the Psalms.

I’m always amazed as I read through the Psalms and some of the Old Testament prophets at the way they prayed. They don’t pray like I do. David talked with the Lord like they were best friends and I know we should, but I think we get caught up in trying to use all the holy words and using things like “your will be done Lord” that we forget the honesty part I think He craves.

Do you think you could say what David did above in Psalm 35? “How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing?” I think if I talked with God like that he would zap me dead from heaven. David always seemed to be in peril with someone trying to kill him and in this psalm he was just being honest. “Lord, I could use a little help here. There’s a bunch of people on my tail here with big spears and swords.”

As I was talking with a friend the other day, this kind of prayer with the Lord can only work if this is the kind of relationship you have with Him. I’m not saying I would recommend this for everyone, but what I am saying is to be honest with Him when you get to your prayer requests. Don’t hem and haw and go on forever and just cut to the chase.

It’s been told to me before that sometimes the best prayer is as simple as one word, “HELP.” If you’re praying for someone that is sick God is okay with us asking for healing and for Him to be glorified. We don’t have to pray with a backdoor plan as well so it looks like our prayer was answered. Our prayers will always be answered. Sometimes the answer is just no.

So I challenge you and me today to check your prayer life. Are you honest in your prayers and specific of your requests? Try something different if you find yourself rambling on and on to get to the point quicker. Do you try and give God a back-up plan in your prayers? Don’t quit trying and take it to the Lord. He hears you.

No Fear

2008-06-06T04:45:00.000-07:00

I was doing a call recently at a friend's house and as were talking she mentioned that she often has trouble sleeping at night because she's worried about what life will be like for her kids when they're older. It's not as though I couldn't empathize with her as I am just one of many who is frustrated by the turn of our culture in recent times and it's only getting worse.

I'm pretty sure I didn't have the answer to alleviate her fears, but I was able to pray with her that God would give her the peace to remember that He is in control. It did get me thinking about fear and the future and what does God really have to say about the matter.

I'm sure we're all a bit concerned about the upcoming elections since it doesn't seem like we have a clear-cut follower of Jesus or even one who seems a bit bothered by the decline of the culture. I have to admit I have been afraid and concerned about the safety of this country depending on who wins in November.

The Lord led me to study the book of 1 John to try and find some answers. Now I have always remembered this book as one on love, but I found it to be so much more this time. 17 times it mentions "the world" and I think our selfish tendency is to believe "the world" has never beens in as bad a shape as it is right now. And that may be.

I found the fourth chapter of 1 John to have a lot to say on fear and two verses especially grabbed me. Not necessarily new, but God's word always comes to me at a time I need it most. " You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." 1 John 4:4 NKJV

The "them" refers to the previous verse meaning "the world" or the "antichrist." I like this translation because notice the first He is capitalized because it refers to our big God and the other "he" is not, referring to the devil. The comfort I get from this verse is the God we're serving now will still be the same big God my children and my friend's children will be serving long after I'm gone. If God is great in me now He'll still be great in the future.

" There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18. Because God's essence is love it is impossible for Him to fear, but it's not for us because we haven't perfected love. I was thinking that for all the things we strive to be "perfect" at like being "the perfect husband or wife" or "the perfect child" or "the perfect employee", we probably never wake up and say, "I think I'll try and perfect love today."

Imagine that, the better we get at love the better it will help us drive out the fear. Paul assures Timothy of that in 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." Now I'm not sure how sound my mind is at times, but nonetheless God never intended for us not to live in a state of fear.

Of all the verses I researched on fear or being afraid, all but one started out with "do not" in front and it didn't matter if it was the Old Testament or New. "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10 NKJV.

And finally Jesus said in John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Go in peace today my friends and know that the God who loved and cared for our parents and generations earlier is still the same mighty God who will care for our children and grandchildren no matter who is president or how marriage is defined or whatever the next cultural breakdown is.

Bless you all.

Okay Lord, You Can Drive

2008-06-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

It’s all around me today. Everywhere I look. People I know are facing some serious trials, tests and dilemmas in their lives. All of them love God, obey His word, but nonetheless, life can really beat us down. What do we do?

For me I can do nothing but praise God for being God. I thank the Lord I have a savior and don’t know how people get through life without Jesus. Life’s struggles are for everyone, not just Christians. Because of what’s going around me today, it’s no accident that the Lord has had me in the book of Job. This book has always been a hard one for me to comprehend. I remember the last time I read it I had to use the Message paraphrase just to understand it.

That wasn’t the case this time. God made it very clear to me what He had to say as Job was crying out Him in the midst of his life seemingly going down the toilet. Job was allowed to be tested by Satan as his children were killed, he developed a terrible skin disease and God seemed to be hiding. It got so bad that his wife even encouraged him to curse God and die.

Job heard the so-called council of his three friends as they kept telling him his problems had to be because of sin in his life. Meaning Job had brought this upon himself. Job kept asking for the Lord to show Himself and answer his charges, but Job could not find Him. Then the verses that jumped off the page for me came from the words of Job as he realized the Lord is sovereign. He’s in control.

“But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food.” Job 23:10-12.

Could this not be life-verses for all of us? Let’s look at the different elements to this passage.

First, if we’re tracking with the Lord like Job was, then we are not lost. If you let go of the wheel God will do just fine as the driver thank you very much. He knows where you need to go and He knows the best way for you to get there.

Second, we’re going to face tests. Notice the verse says when and not if we face tests. I don’t think I could pray for anything better than coming out as pure as gold. Do you know valuable gold is today? As we learned in church today from the book of James, we pass the test when we persevere and don’t quit.

Third, if we don’t give up on God and try and take control back we will get through to the other side. It’s not obeying His word one day and then following man’s ways another. This is called being lukewarm. One foot in, one foot out. Jesus spoke to the church in Laodicea about this. "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:15-16. I don’t want to hear those from Jesus and I don’t think you would either.

And finally the kicker part of Job 23 for me was the challenge, “Have I treasured his words more than my daily food?” If given the choice would I rather feast on the word of God or a prime steak? Am I being nourished by the things of this world rather than the pages of my Bible? A friend of mine shares this often, “A Bible in the hand is worth more than three on the shelf.”

May we all have a super-size portion of His Word today and don’t worry, the Lord’s got the wheel, right?

The Job 31 Exam

2008-05-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

If I was to mention to you a famous Chapter 31 in the Bible the first one to come to your mind would probably be Proverbs. We have all likely heard of the Proverbs 31 woman (I'm partial, I think my wife is pretty close). But my daily reading brought me to another amazing chapter 31 and it's also in the Old Testament. It's from the book of Job.

This chapter is all about Job reexaming his life in case there is anything that is causing all the grief and hardships that have fallen upon him. A better term would be an inventory of his life. In my business we have to take a personal count of our inventory to see what we really have. Maybe I'm overstocked in motors, but short in capacitors and contactors. Job was doing the same thing. He was checking to see if he had the right balance in his life.

The first thing he checked was his personal life. The first 12 verses Job is checking himself to see how he is doing in the arena of lust, lying and adultery. “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman." Job 31:1. “Have I lied to anyone or deceived anyone? Let God weigh me on the scales of justice, for he knows my integrity." Job 31:5-6.

Now the whole area of lusting is usually associated with men, but there are other areas we can examine ourselves to see if God is holding back a blessing in my life because I'm behaving in a way that is outside of His will for my life. We could add to the list how we handle money to coveting to sexual sin to the words we use.

The second item in Job's personal inventory was his public life. This is an area of our life that we want to line up with our personal side. “If I have been unfair to my male or female servants when they brought their complaints to me, how could I face God? What could I say when he questioned me? For God created both me and my servants. He created us both in the womb." Job 31:13-15.

I can substitute servant for employee and I can know that God is going to judge me on how well I treat my employees. I know in God's eyes we're all the same, I'm not any better. Job said check, but maybe we're a little off the mark.

The third inventory item for Job was looking at his spiritual life. He spent 16 verses looking at how he handled money, his worship, was he taking revenge on any enemies and the purity of his motives. “Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do, concealing my guilt in my heart? Have I feared the crowd or the contempt of the masses, so that I kept quiet and stayed indoors?" Job 31:33-34.

Am I trying to look good on the outside going to church raising my hands in worship and serving, but secretly harboring unforgiveness in my heart? Am I preaching Jesus on Sunday's, but cursing slow drivers on Monday's. This is the proverbial "I can talk the talk, but am I walking the walk?"

Job came through his personal inventory looking pretty good. He felt God wasn't punishing him for any weakness in these areas. Because we live unders God's grace through faith I don't believe that the bad things that happen to us are a punishment from God. But they can be a consequence for any bad choices or sin that might be lingering in our lives.

I know some stuff that went down last year at work was due to consequences from actions years ago, but it was God's timing for us to pay the piper now. My spiritual mentor has always encouraged a personal retreat. A time where we get away and get refreshed, a self-examination of our lives to see that we are absolutely right with God. She has always encouraged getting away from the home for a time of prayer and time in the Word, but I have to admit my schedule hasn't allowed me to do that yet.

Maybe a weekend isn't the cards, but how about some quiet time away at the park or wherever your favorite spot might be. I have a pastor friend who used to hang out in the lobby of the Marriott Desert Springs to get away. Grab you're Bible and look for an encounter with the Lord and ask Him to reveal anything that's in your life that might be holding you back. Maybe you're trying to carry too much load and the Lord is asking you to surrender it to Him.

Now we all know that women have to perform self-exams to maintain their physical health, but this could be the kind of spiritual self-exam that could save the life of men and women.

Blessings to you all and thank you for your encouragement. You are so loved and appreciated by me.

Divine Desgin

2008-05-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

I have to admit. I watch HGTV with my wife and sometimes I watch it when she’s not home. Being a guy doesn’t mean I just watch ESPN and “Dirty Jobs or the “Deadliest Catch” on the Discovery Channel. Now of course I got started with HGTV because of Judy since she watches for all the ideas that she can incorporate into our home.

One of my favorite shows on HGTV is “Divine Design”. It’s a show with this very tall designer named Candace Olson and she comes in with her team and they completely transform the room into something fabulous. I generally love her taste and they never seem to have a budget so whatever room she does is always state-of-the-art. It’s kind of like “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” on a smaller scale.

If you know where I’m going with this our heavenly Father gives you and me divine appointments on a regular basis. He gave me one last week when I did a service call for a friend I hadn’t seen a while and she wasn’t supposed to be home when I did the call. She was going to leave a key under the mat for me. It turns out her daughter got sick that day and she had to be picked up from school and so we all arrived at the home at the same time.

It turns out I got her a/c fixed and then we proceeded to have a talk that I know was a gift from God. I know it was exactly what I needed to hear and hopefully it was for her. As I mentioned in my last post, when you’re going through struggles in your life God always seems to put people in your life that you need for that moment. It’s his divine plan.

My favorite scripture reference to this comes from the Old Testament in the book of Esther. Esther was a Jewish queen who had just come into that position and she had an opportunity to save the Jews from persecution. Her cousin Mordecai told her so. “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14 NKJV

My favorite part of the verse is “such a time as this.” If we are doing what God wants us to do at the time He wants us to do it then we need to be ready for divine appointments. God will put people in our lives for us to minister to and for us to be ministered by. When I’m praying with someone I often find myself saying over and over, “for such a time as this, for such a time as this.”

I have tried to take out of my vocabulary two words, lucky and coincidence. Like I mentioned earlier, if you’re tracking with the Lord then He wants to work on your behalf. I have exchange these words for something else. I call it a “God thing.” Since God uses people to carry out His will why would I think a blessing that comes into my life is just “a lucky break” or the fact I run into a friend at Starbucks just “a coincidence.” It’s because it’s not. But when you’re blessed by a divine intervention then consider it an opportunity to give praise to the Lord. Don’t forget to send up a quick “thank you Jesus”.

I have to go now. The front door is knocking and maybe it’s Candace. I could use a new kitchen.

Wouldn’t that be divine?

You Mean I Can't Go Around?

2008-05-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

It seems everywhere I turn these days someone I know is going through a trial. These trials range from incoveniences to frustrations to major health issues. Judy and I are not immune from trials as we dealt heavily with work-related matters last summer that are still being resolved to this day. Most of it is out of our hands now and is in the place where we desire it most. With the Lord.

It seems in our fleshly state our first inclination is to say, "Lord, get me out of this mess and get me out yesterday. I don't have time to deal with this. Can't you see I've got my job, my family and my church life to deal with." And not only that the Bible says we are to go through our trials and to count it as all joy. Yea right.

The one thing that we can count on in our trials is that we don't have to go through them alone. God gave me this verse the other day listening to a radio station that often doesn't tune in well in my car. I wasn't surprised it came from the book of Isaiah, my favorite.

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:2-3a NLT

The two words that catch my eye the most are "when" and "through". This verse is not saying if you go through deep waters and I will show you way around your problem. No, it's saying we are going to have issues and the way to face them is to go straight-ahead. Coming from someone like myself who is not always quick to address problems and issues (ask Judy) this is easier said than done. I have built up some lumpy rugs in our house over the years from the issues I've tried not to deal with.

But I can say in hindsight that when things are pushed through instead of trying to go around the back door the satisfaction of passing a trial is so much greater. I do know that if I don't pass my trial or test, God being the great God He is, will give me a do-over and it's the kind of make-up test I don't want. I only want to go through the school of hard-knocks once.

Once the test is passed our character is being refined and we continue to grow in the image of Christ. Look at any trials and tests that have come your way recently. How did you respond? Did you trust in the Lord and lean on Him to see you through it or did you curse Him and ask how he could do this to you.

Perhaps you're in a place where things are going okay for you and no big devlopments need addressed. Maybe it's time to look around you and see if there is someone you can minister to. Possbibly the Lord has taken you through a storm and He wants you to help someone else. A "pay it forward" kind of experience.

I can't speak strong enough to the pleasure it is to walk with someone through a trial they are going through. The Lord has given Judy a ministry of listening, praying, compassion and offering insight into the struggles and issues that many women are dealing with. Sometimes, we tackle things together if it's a couple that need counseling and I think we get greater pleasure walking along with someone than dealing with our own stuff. And I don't mean better their problems than ours.

It's just a humbling matter to be asked by God to be there for someone and help with there struggles. It definitely takes the focus off of me and puts it right on God and doing His will. So if you're going through stuff right now, you're not alone. God hasn't left you and He won't forsake you. We might not understand why, but we have to trust that He does and if we walk with Him through it, He will be glorified.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!!

Be Sure To Celebrate

2008-05-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

Today won't be my typical post. It's a special day for me so I'm going to indulge a little, but only because it's a day that only comes once a year. 21 years ago today, my beautiful bride showed up to the church on time and not only said "I do," but has stuck with me through the years despite all my needs and hang-ups.

The Lord has so blessed me with a wife that truly is my best friend. We have walked such a tight path together that it's almost scary. Although our personalities are very different (we tend to fill each other's gaps that way), we have done life together in very similar ways. We enjoy the same music, politics, a sarcastic sense of humor (it gets us in trouble at times), but most importantly we began our journey with the Lord at about the same time.

We both committed our lives to Christ about 10 years into our marriage and life has not been the same since. We went from a me-focused marriage into living a purpose-filled marriage with our focus being on God and what He wants us to do with the resources and talents He has given us. Now the talents He gave my wife are very obvious and she has definitely used them for the kingdom. Judy makes personalized cards that put Hallmark to shame and they have such an impact on those that receive them since it's obvious how much love she put into it.

Judy has dedicated her life to raising Taylor and Shelby in a godly way and she endeavors to shower Christ's love on each of them everyday. I'm so blessed that she answered the call of full-time motherhood when I know she could have been very successful in the business world. In recent years she has invested time in mentoring women who benefit from her wisdom and experience and other God given gifts.

We had the pleasure of doing a couples ministry for 11 years. The Lord let us witness a lot of life's experiences from the couples we met and we have tried to learn and grow from everyone we have met. I have especially tried to get off my high horse (the Lord usually helped), if ever I was feeling superior and pride-filled. As we moved into leadership we both became very aware of the spiritual warfare that was going on in our marriage. We knew Satan wanted to take us down and consequently, 2007 was probably (okay it was) our toughest year in our marriage.

Strangely, it began about the time of our 20 year anniversary and the cruise of a lifetime to Alaska. Judy has always been a little more in step with Satan's attacks so I was a little slow bringing up the rear. Once we got on the same page and the Lord convicted me about our prayer life together, I started to walk side-by-side with her again. I'm happy to say that 2007 ended strong and we have carried things into 2008 as the Lord has given Judy and I new minstries to replace Wed 4 Life.

I know that we're not better than anyone else or that our marriage isn't perfect, but we are overjoyed that the Lord has recently given us the gift of compassion as we try to minister to couples on a more personal level. I can also say that we are so grateful for God's goodness, His grace, His mercy and His faithfulness that we are fully committed to making our marriage one that lasts until "death do us part."

Which brings me finally to the title of this post. Judy and I love anniversaries. We love other people's, but we especially love our's because we know the Enemy is not pleased. We have plunged another dagger into him as he failed to destroy our marriage last year. Consequently, Judy and I love to celebrate. Our celebration is usually a fine steak dinner or we step it up on the biggies like our 10 and 20 year with a cruise.

I find it's not by accident that my Old Testament reading in recent days has shown me that God loved it when His people celebrated big events. And the Israelites new how to party. After Esther had saved the Jews from anihilation, her cousin Mordecai instituted a two-day celebration called Purim that was to be observed every year. "He told them to celebrate these days with feasting and gladness and by giving gifts of food to each other and presents to the poor. This would commemorate a time when the Jews gained relief from their enemies, when their sorrow was turned into gladness and their mourning into joy. Esther 9:22

My intent of this post is not to boast, but to offer my encouragement that with Jesus and the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, a marriage can do more than endure. It can thrive and the best days can be ahead. To those that would read this, we want to encourage you to find couples that will challenge you, hold you accountable and that will pray for you on a regular basis. Possibly you've reached that stage where you can be the one's giving back and I would encourage you to do so.

It's the most rewarding thing that Judy and I have done and what could be better than doing ministry with your best friend. "Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth." Proverbs 5:18. Amen and men I'll let you look up verse 19 and then I'm sure I'll hear a double amen.

Pray for us as we're off as a family to San Jose to visit a former pastor and his wife. It's not our typical anniversary celebration, but nonetheless we'll be with good friends and no doubt sharing a good meal and most of all. Celebrating.

So long.

The Glory of God

2008-05-12T11:27:00.000-07:00

The summer heat is approaching so for me that means crunch time. Its long days, little sleep, lots of stress and short-tempered customers. But who am I to complain. It’s my business and it’s what God has me planted in the desert for.

For the last few years I have tried to put to memory a verse that will carry me through the season. I ask the Lord to give me something that gives me purpose to why I’m doing what I’m doing when it’s 110 degrees outside or I’m climbing through an attic at 10 o’clock on a Sunday night. It has really helped take the focus off of me and the woe is me attitude just because I’m working a little hard.

Perhaps you all have stressful times that are more seasonal than others. Maybe everyday is a stressful time. Maybe the summer is your slow time and you get to relax a little because school is out and the winter is your stressful time with all the snowbirds in town. For my office staff that reads this, they share in my struggles since they are the first line to those customers that are grumpy, hot, and sweaty and dying (at least that’s what they tell them).

My verses last year came from Colossians 4:5-6 and it was about dealing with my customers. Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. Whenever I felt the urge to get defensive with a customer, the Holy Spirit brought to mind this verse that says maybe this customer has never met Jesus as an a/c repairman before and the right response is for me not to be a jerk. It stopped me right there in my tracks.

This year He has given me something much easier to memorize, but just as powerful and important to me. It comes from the Apostle Paul as he tells the church in Corinth that if done for the right reason everything they eat can be done guilt free. As long as it’s done with a spirit of thankfulness, it’s all good.

The verse goes like this. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” 1 Corinthians 10:31. As you can see this verse doesn’t just pertain to where I choose to have my lunch during the day. The key component to me is “the whatever” part. If I’m fixing an a/c, talking with a customer, if I’m getting a call late in the day from my office girls when I would rather call it a day, Paul says I am to do all this to the glory of God.

What does giving God glory mean? The Greek word from the New Testament is doxa and it means an opinion resulting in praise, splendor, majesty and a most exalted state. God deserves our best at all times and if we can do our jobs well whether it’s in the workplace or at home, we need to give Him the glory and the honor.

When you do anything that you don’t want to do or something that doesn’t seem exciting, the task takes on a different meaning or purpose when you do it with the outlook that you’re doing it to give the praise to God. This goes from cooking dinner to housework or going to the grocery store. Did you know that you could give God glory doing these everyday things?

I encourage you to find a verse that will be there when you need it to carry you through the tough times and then tell someone about it. I have all told you mine so I expect I’ll hear from you if I get out of line or cranky this summer. It doesn’t mean we won’t fall off track, but the stay will be a lot shorter.

Now let’s go out and glorify the King.

Amen

Is Success Really That Simple?

2008-05-09T04:29:00.000-07:00

When we set out and go about our day, do we not want to be successful in what we do? I don't think we wake up in the morning and say," Lord, I want to fail at every thing I do. I want to do my work lousy, I want to blow it in my relationships, I want to spend all my money like there's no tomorrow." No, we would rather achieve victory. It's our will and the Lord's as well.

My Old Testament readings has me passing thru the book of Ezra into Nehemiah. They were both great men of God who were given great responsibilities by God. The thing that has stood out to me about both of them is they loved God's word and they were great men of prayer. Nehemiah took charge of the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem and whenever an issue came his way he always went to the Lord first. I have a terrible habit of acting first and then praying for God to bless it. It doesn't work like that.

I love Nehemiah's prayer in the first chapter. Nehemiah was the cup bearer for the King of Persia and he wanted to be sent to Jerusalem to supervise the reconstruction. His prayer ended this way. "O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.” Nehemiah 1:11

Nehemiah didn't just pray "Well God I hope I do a good job with the men and we try our best to finish. If it's your will it'll get done." No, instead he prayed for success. He wanted to achieve victory. Nehemiah wanted God's blessings for the project so he went in prayer to Him first. Nehemiah also told other where his success would come from. "Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king. They replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” So they began the good work." Nehemiah 2:16

The Lord had been with Nehemiah before so he had no doubt that God would be with him again. He proceeded to supervise the wall being built in 52 days. It was all God. It was such a miracle that the people knew it came from the Lord.

Ezra was also a man of success. He was a man of God and he also supervised a project. His assignment was the rebuilding of the temple that was destroyed by the Babylonians. Now the book of Ezra has never been one that has verses that are on the tip of my tongue, but one morning there was one that jumped off the page at me. It spelled the reason for Ezra's success.

"For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel." Ezra 7:10 It's seems too simple. In this one short verse you can see what Ezra did. He studied God's law, that would be the Bible for you and me. Number two and very importantly he obeyed what was in it and number three he taught others about God and His ways. To make things work, we must do it in this exact order; read, obey and teach.

My encouragement to you today is don't look at people in the Bible and think that God only blesses those that come from super-spiritual backgrounds and that he only cares about people who have their life together. He wants to bless all of us, but we have to make the first move. Pray and ask Him to meet with you everyday. Read and study His word and obey what it says. And finally, tell others about God. Don't keep the Good News to yourself.

Now that was simple, wasn't it?

The Power of the Cross

2008-05-05T05:21:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe it, but it’s week four in our study of the Power of God. I want to finish today with where I see the energy behind our faith. Without this source we would be left to just sit back and wait on God to do everything and be everything in our lives. This source I’m talking about. The Cross.

If Jesus Christ had not gone to the cross for you and me we would all be here powerless to accomplish anything. It would all have to come from our will, our mind and our strength and we know how far that would take us. Thankfully, Jesus not only died on the cross, but was also raised three days later. His resurrection power accomplished many things. I’ll give you a few of them. I will supplement them all with references to God’s word.

The first thing the power of the cross did was to forgive us of our sins. It now made it possible for us to approach God. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14.

We need to remember our sins of yesterday, today and tomorrow were nailed with Jesus to that cross on Calvary. Praise Jesus for that. His obedient act also gives us the power to come out of the darkness into the light. Without Jesus, we’re left to stumble around and find our way in life. The Apostle Paul recounted these words of Jesus to him on the road to Damascus.

I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Acts 26:17-18

Jesus’ words in this verse also spell another power of the cross. It’s victory over death. Satan no longer has control over us because he has been defeated. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Hebrews 2:14-15

While we have to deal with Satan in our lives we can be confident that we know the end of the story. Jesus wins and so do we. Satan’s power in our lives in limited to how much we surrender to his lies and crafty ways.

The power of the resurrection is what allows us to tap into God’s power. It gives us the ability to do things we never could have imagined. It’s almost like God saying “You know, I have so much power that I’m going to let you have a little of it to start out.” Paul wrote about it in his prayer in Ephesisans. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 1:19-20

As we grow in Christ, God gives us more and more power. I guess that makes us like the Energizer bunny. We can keep going and going. But, if we don’t do anything with what God gives us He will give it to the person who is working to advance the Kingdom. I could go on forever about God’s power and strength in our lives, but instead I will leave you with a verse from the Message about Paul’s goals for God. It should be yours and mine as well.

I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it. Philippians 3:10-11

May you feel and act strengthened by the Lord today. God bless you all.

The Youth of Today

2008-05-02T04:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was May 1st and it was more than just the first day of a new month. In recent years it has become the day we watch on the news all the immigration protests throughout the country. What doesn't make the news, however, was the fact it was the National Day of Prayer.

Every year since 1952 the first Thursday in May has been set aside where we as a nation come together and pray that every person would come to a point of repentance and that we would offer intercessory prayers for those in leadership. It seems crazy that we're only praying for this once a year, but I'm grateful that we have a recognized day every year where the focus leaves us and our woes and it is turned to those that are influencing the culture.

I had the privilege of praying at church last night with a group of prayer warriors. Our topics included praying for the churches in America, our government, our education system, the military, businesses, the youth of today, the media and the family. Each person at our table seemed to be led by the Holy Spriti in such a passionate way about one of the eight topics above.

As a parent, the topics of the media and our youth speak right to my heart. The Lord has given me a new passion for young people. Maybe since I moved out of the category of young into middle-aged (lol) I lost sight of what was behind me. But behind me are the young people that are my children, my nieces and nephews, my co-workers and neighbors. Many of them love Jesus just as much as I do.

I know I need to be praying for our youth a lot more than once a year. As someone prayed at our table, it is often the youth of today that lead the parents to Christ. Kids today only seem to have the reputation as ones that wear baggy clothes, listen to the worst music ever and tatoo everything that has skin. But they do so much more. I know so many examples of parents who want more for theirs kids so they take them to church to learn about Jesus and end up witnessing to Mom and Dad. It wasn't how God intended, but whatever works I'm for it.

My generation has put kids in situations that God never intended. They have seen way too much, seen it way too early and have been told how they're just kids and they will adjust. They are fed lies from so many sides. They get it from the media, from friends, and sadly even from schools as it's all cloaked as truth. What does God think of young people? Does the Bible point to examples of anyone that doesn't have a gray beard? This is the call that the prophet Jeremiah got from God.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child. But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD. Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth." Jeremiah 1:5-9

God cares about young people. My readers fall into the category of young and those that care for the young. We need to praying for boldness for our youth. That the closet they are coming out of is one that says "I love Jesus and He is the Way, the Truth and The Life. I'm not going to believe the lies of this world, but instead I'm going to take a stand for what is right." Pray that our youth can influence the culture and not the other way around.

And finally pray that if the parents can't or won't do the job for our youth, then God would put mentors in their lives to guide them and partner with them to teach them God's truth. If you feel that you have Godly wisdom to impart on someone, then pass it on. You might not get thanked today, but you'll reap the benefits later.

The Devil Made Me Do It

2008-04-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

I’m not sure where I first heard the above title, but I know it had to be when I was a kid. It always seemed to be said in situations where the person in a movie or television show knew better, but went ahead and made the wrong choice anyway.

While God has given us the power of choice, to choose between right and wrong, good and bad, smart and dumb, we do have to be leery of the fact that someone besides us has God’s power. And that’s Satan.

You can call him the devil, Satan, the Enemy, the evil one, the serpent, the Deceiver, the Accuser, but whatever you call him we all need to be aware that he is powerful and that we are his targets. As Christians, Satan wants to take us out. He wants us take on all his qualities like lying, cheating, lusting, and so forth.

If you’re married, he wants you divorced and if he can’t take out your marriage then he wants you miserable in it. If you’re single he wants you sleeping around, if you’re a parent he doesn’t want you to teach your kids about God. If you’re a pastor, elder, worship leader or a teacher then he really goes after you because now you’re influencing others and he really hates that. I learned that the hard way this past week as I have found myself under tremendous spiritual warfare recently as the enemy has tried to discourage me from writing these devotions.

Public figures or people in the spotlight who have claimed Jesus as their own have a big target on them. I said to my wife recently when teen star Miley Cyrus went public with her faith and her quest for purity in her life that I hope Miley understands that she has made herself to the top of Satan’s list. And for the past two weeks what has happened to her? A couple of dumb, but inappropriate photos of her hit the internet and just today she is admitting that some Vanity Fair photos she posed for are “embarrassing” to her.

She is just one example. We have all heard of public figures of faith who have fallen under Satan’s temptations and out comes the phrase, “and that person call himself a Christian, what a hypocrite.” In some cases, we are caused to cringe and say “how could that person do something so stupid?” but I find myself recently having more compassion because I know I have never faced that kind of warfare from the devil.

What’s the bottom line in all of this? It’s not to bring you down, but instead to make you and me aware that we are Satan’s targets. The bigger impact we are making for the Kingdom, the greater spiritual warfare we will find ourselves under. If you don’t feel like you’re under attack then possibly you have to look at how much impact you’re making for God.

God did not leave us powerless against Satan in this world. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” James 4:7. I encourage you also to read Ephesians 6:10-19 so we can be armored up to fight his daily attacks.

If Satan beats you one day, don’t get discouraged. Rebuke him and make amends if you have to and God will supply the grace and mercy you need to continue on another day. We know the outcome. Satan has been defeated and he won’t be spending eternity with us.

Today. The devil won’t make me do it.

Supersize Me

2008-04-25T04:15:00.000-07:00

We live in a society where we love to go large. We love everything big. We go to fast food restaurants and say, "yeah, you can supersize those fries and my drink." We love to buy big screen televisions and if a 17 inch computer monitor is good then a 22 inch one must be better. I have to admit I have fallen into the trap of as long as we are here mentality that I might I as well get the biggest product ( because the biggest is the best, right?).

While we have all seen the pitfalls of going large in the arena of eating my passage today takes us to a place it's okay to have a supersize portion. It's called our faith. In the Old Testament God sent to the kings of Israel two great prophets, men of god who tried like heck to keep the kings following God's ways. There names were Elijah and Elisha. No confusion there, right?

Elijah did some amazing things in his ministry through his faith in the Lord and obedience to God. Last week I touched upon on his stories when he had the smackdown with the prophets of Baal, but he was also allowed to perform other miracles as well like raising a child from the dead. At the end of his ministry God raised up a successor, Elisha, and Elisha like any good protege, stuck to Elijah like glue. He went with him everywhere.

One day when they were out they came to the Jordan River and needed to get to the other side. No bridge, no problem. "Then Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it. The river divided, and the two of them went across on dry ground!" 2 Kings 2:8 From there Elijah asks Elisha what he would like since Elijah's ministry and life were about over and Elisha's response is classic. "Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor." 2 Kings 2:9

Elisha was saying in a sense, "God give me twice what that guy over there has. I want what he has and then some." Elisha's request was eventually honored and it can be traced that Elisha actaully performed twice as many miracles as Elijah did. Isn't God awesome? Have you ever seen qualities in other's that you like? Maybe a great speaker or a great person of faith? While God has made us all unique it's still okay to say, "Lord, can I have double the prayer life that my friend Peggy Sue has? She seems to pray such powerful prayers." "Lord, can you give me strength of my friend Janie who seems to handle every crisis in her life with such ease?

The beauty of faith is that God didn't give Elisha twice as much faith as Elijah and that allowed him to be twice as useful to God. No, we are all given the same amount of faith when we come to Christ. It's all a matter of how we tap into our faith that sets us apart. God may give different spiritual gifts to everyone, but He doesn't give out more faith to any one person. If we are determined to live for God, with his power and our faith we can move mountains.

The Bible says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6 The number one thing that frustrated Jesus about his disciples was their lack of faith. If we have to see the results in the physical world first to believe something then that doesn't take much faith. Paul reminds us, "We live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

So if you would like special abilities, to increase the power of your faith, to be used by God in a mighty way then ask Him. And step out in faith and act upon the requests. And then watch the results. They maybe twice what you asked for.

Fill Me Up

2008-04-21T05:56:00.000-07:00

Last week I started a series looking at the power of God. It’s something that sets us apart from others in the world, not in a snobbish way, but rather a holy way. A way that says we’re special and I have something great planned for you so I’m going to give you a special gift. As a I wrote last week this gift is God’s power. We studied some of his attributes, but today I want to study where it comes from and what God’s power in and through us can accomplish.

The power of God comes to us at salvation. Jesus told his followers, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere-In Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria and in the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

When we accept Jesus as our savior we immediately receive His power through the Holy Spirit. The first example of God’s power was shown in Jesus’ disciples. Before the resurrection they all fled because they were scared, Peter denied Jesus three times and their faith often came into question. But afterwards, they were essentially new persons. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

What are some of these new things that God’s power will enable you to do? Let’s look at a few of them and remember it’s only a few. God’s power in you has no limit so with Him, all things are possible. One gift of His power will allow you to share your faith. “And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. “Act 4:33

Like the disciples, you will have the ability to tell your friends and acquaintances about what Jesus has done in your life. You will be done talking with someone and you’ll probably ask yourself, “Was that me sharing about my faith?” and the answer is no. That was the power of God in you.

His power will enable us to be a part of His miracles, even those beyond our imagination. I encourage you to memorize this verse from Ephesians. “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.” Ephesians 3:20. God’s in the miracle business, but it’s by His power working in you and me that great things are accomplished. God doesn’t just sit on his cosmic throne and wave his hand and we watch. He can do that, but he wants to use us regular folks to show the world of His great might.

A third gift of His power and the final one for today (I promised to keep it shorter) is that God’s power gives us all the tools necessary to live our lives on this side of heaven. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” 2 Peter 1:3.

His power means we have no excuses not to make a difference here because we are all equipped with the gifts necessary to carry out His will for our lives. It’s not just given to your pastors and elders. Now I pray that you would all be encouraged this week and know, without a doubt, that you can be a difference maker right where God has you today. In your workplace, your neighborhoods and schools God is waiting to use you and me to impact His Kingdom for His glory.

Don’t you feel stronger already?

Help!!

2008-04-18T04:59:00.000-07:00

My daily walk through the Israelite Kings is always interesting to me. It always starts out telling you how old they were when their reign started and how long they were in power and then most importantly whether they did good or evil in the sight of the Lord. I find myself rooting for this king or that to be a good one if I've just had a run of duds.

One such "good" king was Hezekiah. He was a king for the Israelite southern kingdom of Judah. In fact, the Bible says, "There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after him time" 2 Kings 18:5. What I find interesting about him is the subject of my post today and that is his focus. He always kept his eye on the Lord and turned to him as a first reaction and not a last resort.

As what always seems to be the case in the Old Testament there is a great story to illustrate a man or woman's character. For Hezekiah it comes in 2 Kings 19. In Old Testament days, the kings always had to watch their backs since someone was always looking to put a knife in it and for Hezekiah it was no different. He received a letter from an enemy (the Assyrians) that they were going to attack Judah and wipe them off the face of the planet.

Here's where the story gets good. Does Hezekiah panic? Does he run for the hills since the Assyrians had never been defeated? Does he immediately put his army together to get ready for battle? The answer to all these is no. Instead, he heads to the temple by himself and takes the matter before the Lord.

"After Hezekiah receive the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord's Temple and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord; 'O Lord, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the might cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib's words of defiance against the living God.' 2 King 19: 14-16

Can't you just see the image and hear the passison in Hezekiah's voice? His relationship with the Lord was so strong that he could pray powerful prayers like this. He was asking him,"Look Lord, can't you see what this bad guy wants to do to your man of God"?

Now as I mention frequently from these OT stories we need to find our application or takeway from these stories since we don't likely have enemies out to kill us (Gosh, I hope not). We need to be men and women of prayer. We need to pray first and then wait for God to act. What eventually happens in our story here is Hezekiah doesn't have to do a thing. God wipes his enemies out while they slept.

Now God might not always solve our problems and issues for us, but we do need to trust Him to give us the answer. It might be for us to act or for step aside while He handles things. I have often had a tendency to do things a little backwards. I would run into a problem, jump in and do something, then ask God to bless it. It didn't usually work out.

I encourage you all to take a look at your prayer life. Is it a first response or a when I get around to it? Is your faith strong that you expect positive answers or are your prayers more like wishes? The Bible says we are to "never stop praying" 1 Thessalonians 5:17. You just memorized a verse by the way. So don't think you have to pray for 30 minutes to an hour at a time. A prayer can be as short as one word, "Help."

When you pray, expect answers. It might not always be yes, it could be no or it might be wait you're not ready for the answer to be yes. This is by far the hardest answer since it requires us to keep praying about the matter.

Have a great weekend and I'll be praying for you.

The Power of God

2008-04-14T05:06:00.000-07:00

The Lord has given me a topic to write about I often take for granted. Maybe you do to. It is one of the areas that set us apart from the world. In fact, it’s extensive enough that I’m going to spend several weeks discussing. I will also try to be a little briefer since I know your time is important to you.

I’m talking about the power of God and it’s available to all of us. In week number one let’s look at what is the power of God and its attributes and in following weeks we will study where we get it, how do we use it and who else has this power (Satan).

Power is an English world relating to various ideas of authority, ability, capacity, might and strength. To God, power is intrinsic to who He is. It is His character. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

In other words, if we want to see God’s power, we just need to look up and around. It’s in His creation. You would have to admit God has to be pretty powerful to create the heavens and the earth as described in Genesis. His power was shown in His creation, but how else does He show His power or character. Here are a few of the ways.

The first way is He shows there is no match against Him. “O Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?” Deuteronomy 3:24. The answer is no one.

The second attribute to God’s power is that it lasts forever. It has no start and no end. “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.” Isaiah 26:4. I think from this verse we’re talking about the Lord. I am so glad that God can’t be put in a box.

And lastly for today, God’s power means He doesn’t have to train, study or lift weights. Because there is nothing He can’t do or accomplish if He desires. “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27. I love when the Lord shows His sarcastic side since it’s a spiritual gift of mine (just kidding, it’s not a gift). It gets me in trouble a lot.

Do you need God to reveal His power to you today? Are you in need of a miracle? Are you at a tough point in your life that only God can handle? Then seek Him and ask Him and trust Him for the results to come.

Go out in His power today.

One Foot In One Foot Out

2008-04-11T04:34:00.000-07:00

I have to admit. I've watched wrestling on TV. I used to love the big hype before matches and the challenges, the stare-downs, the threats of what one opponent was going to do to the other. Some of the big boxing matches were the same, but most of the time the match turned into more talk than fight.

Today's Bible story is a classic and when you look at the competitors it looked like it would be no competition. In one corner was the prophet Elijah, the challenger and great man of God who was used by the Lord to speak some sense into the Israelites. His opponent was well, it was more than one, try 850 prophets. The big difference in this match was that Elijah had God in his corner and his 850 prophets worshipped Baal and Asherah, both pagan gods of the time.

The reason Elijah challenged them was he was tired of the people bouncing between God and pagan idols. So instead of taking the match to the ring, Elijah took it to Mt. Carmel and offered this. "Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, 'How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two options? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!' But the people were completely silent." 1Kings 18:21

Perhaps the silence was the guilt they felt for trusting in God then turning their backs on Him. I encourage you to read the rest of the story where of course God wins with a knockout (literally), but the takeaway for us is what Elijah was calling out the people for. One foot in, one foot out.

The people wanted to follow God sometimes and worship Baal and Asherah poles when they thought He was slow. We may not know about Baal and Asherah today, but substitute worldly things that take our focus off God. He wants all of us. He wants fully committed, fully surrendered and fully dependent followers who will supply all our glorious riches.

God is not impressed that we go to church on Sunday's. He's not impressed we show up at Easter and Christmas Eve services. There is a word for this kind of Christian lifestyle and it's called lukewarm. We often associate lukewarm with water. It's the kind that's not too hot and not too cold. Lukewarm can fool you into thinking you won't get burned or you won't freeze, but instead nothing happens.

Revelation 3:15-16 gives us Jesus' insight into lukewarmness as he tells the church in Laodicea. "I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! Yuk

I encourage us today to assess our walk with Jesus. Are we fully committed to Him? Do we walk with Him and talk with Him? Do we spend time with Him in His word? I heard a great quote from a conference last week and here's my chance to use it. If you were on trial for being a believer in Jesus Christ would there be enough evidence to convict you?

If your answer to any of the above is no, don't fret. God is not mad at you and His grace is sufficient, but make today the day you come back to Him and guess what will happen? It will be victory over the devil with a knockout.

One Way

2008-04-07T05:20:00.000-07:00

I travel around the desert a lot for my job and I go into a lot of gated communities. Some of them are guard gated where I’m allowed in only if the homeowner has notified the guardhouse and then he gives me a wonderful pass that says I can enter. The remaining gates are telephone operated and the homeowner answers their phone when I call and press the number 6 and then I hear the treasured command “Access Granted.”

Whenever I’m in the car with Judy and my kids we get such a kick out of it. It sounds so formal, but it comes across in such a way that you’re happy you’ve been accepted. As Steve Martin said in the movie “The Jerk” when the new phone book arrived and his name was in it for the first time, “I am somebody.”

If you know where I’m going with this, heaven is going to be like this someday. Except, the gatekeeper is not a machine or someone wearing a bad uniform, but instead it’s the Lord Jesus Christ himself. This devotion was spurred by a couple of things I saw this past weekend. First was a clip in an e-mail being sent around of Oprah denying Jesus is the only way to God and the other was a conference I attended over the weekend by author Lee Stroebel who addressed this subject as well.

It all stems from Jesus’ claim in John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Pretty powerful statement and one that is viewed as controversial by many. In the clip posted on You Tube from an old Oprah show, she was trying to explain that there are many paths to God and that Christianity is just one of many. In other words, we’re being narrow-minded to say we have the only way.

My take on this is we have to look at the source of the person who said it and why he said it. These are the words of Jesus himself. He claimed to be the Son of God, he went to a cross and died a bloody death on the cross for you and me for all our sins, but most importantly he rose from the dead. His death was witnessed by many and he was seen by many after the resurrection. If Jesus says He is the only way who are we to say He isn’t. If He isn’t the only way then He would be a liar and that would be out of His character.

Why did Jesus tell us He’s the only way. I believe He wants our obedience. He wants us to keep our eyes fixed on Him. Oprah was right in her claim that there are many roads that people travel to reach God. Some follow the straight and narrow path of following Him their whole life and others take a much bumpier road, but where Oprah misses the point is that unless Jesus is at the final destination then we have just run into a dead end.

In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount He tells us, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. Matthew 7:13-14. Apart from God all our lives lead to separation from Him and the road leads nowhere, but with Jesus at the guard house, thought the entrance is small it is still attainable. We can all make if we don’t give up and lose sight of our final destination.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2

Access Granted.

What Was He Thinking?

2008-04-03T21:15:00.001-07:00

I'm sure we've all watched in amazement the parade of sports stars and celebrities who seem to have it all going for them and then they blow it. They have achieved success at the top of their fields whether it's Barry Bonds and OJ Simpson in sports to Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson in the music industry to even Richard Nixon in politics.

They had money, power, fame, entourages and adoring fans (maybe not Nixon). They could all snap their fingers and people would jump. These are all things that might seem appealing to us and we've possible even wished we were famous and had everyone wanting our autographs. But what happened?

They all made a bad choice that sent their lives into a spiral. Now some compounded one bad choice with another and still another as they started to cover the last screw-up. I know we've all sat on our couches and said "How could that Britney Spears be so stupid?" and "Didn't Bonds have enough talent before going to the juice?" But I find myself lately with empathy for these people because I know if I made the wrong choice how my life could take a downward spiral.

The beauty of the Bible is it has wonderful stories and people that seemingly illustrate all of today's issues. The classic person I can point to from the Old Testament is David. I think David and Moses have to be the most exciting stories in all the Bible. What makes their stories so intriguing is they are both great men of God, but they are not perfect. They both had flaws. Moses killed a man and David's mess-up amounted to the same.

David was the quintessential star who had it all. He was a man after "God's own heart", he was good looking, he was God's anointed king, he had the beautiful home with the beautiful wives and then he made one bad choice that changed the course of his life forever. Due to his own doing, David was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was supposed to be off at war with his men, but instead he probably thought, "my guys will take care of things, I don't need to go." So he found himself on the roof of his palace checking out the neighborhood and what did he see?

He spotted a gorgeous woman named Bathsheba taking a bath (appropriate name) and at that instance he had a choice to make. He could stand there and stare at her or he could flee. He chose the former and from there things got worse. Being the king he could have his people send for her and he slept with her and she got pregnant. Then he finds out she was a married woman and her husband was out at battle like he should have been.

Finally, after some more attempted cover-up David just for her husband to be killed in battle and he goes ahead and marries Bathseba. Was this the same David who had dropped Goliath with a stone or the man who had the integrity not to kill King Saul when he had the opportunity? Now he's out sleeping around and arranging murders. What did God have to think about all this?

"But the Lord was displeased with what David had done." 2 Samuel 11:27. Can we all say "duh." But to me here is where the story gets better and the application to our lives is so real.

God had a consequence for David's sin. He forgave him of the sin, but the ramifications lasted the rest of his life. "Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel." 2 Samuel 12:11-12. Ouch. Did you know this kind of stuff is in the Bible?

After being caught David didn't go into spin control mode and try and blame Bathsheba for teasing him or saying her husband was at fault. He confessed his sin to the Lord. "Then David confessed to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord." Verse 13

David was forgiven by the Lord, but because of what seemed like an innocent glance his life changed forever. The baby eventually died and David's personal life was a mess forever. But, did God discard him and tell him he couldn't use him anymore because he blew it? No, God still loved him and was still a force for God. He was still the bloodline that led to our saviour Jesus and he wrote many awesome Psalms about his troubles.

Our takeaway today is this. Don't get too high and mighty when we see people who seem to have it all fall from grace. If we don't take the proper precautions and have the right boundaries in our lives we could all wind up in a heep of mess. Also, what we do in secret God will eventually bring into the light so confess our sins to him earlier than later and we will receive His forgiveness. Remember 1 John 1:9.

I encourage you all to read the story of David. It has more drama than anything you could watch on tv and it's real life. Blessings to you all.

Not Your Average Parting Gift

2008-03-31T06:11:00.000-07:00

I used to love watch game shows as a kid and in every one of them the contestant who was the loser always got sent off the show with the lovely parting gift. It was the show’s way of saying thanks for playing, but you’re a loser so go home and enjoy and the home version of the game you just lost at and maybe you can better at it. The people never looked too thrilled.

Last weekend was Easter and we went through a range of emotions from sadness on Good Friday to joy on Resurrection Sunday. Before Jesus arose from the dead, we appeared to be the big losers. Our king was dead, buried and gone. However, Jesus was not only raised, but he reappeared to his disciples over the next 40 days.

Oh, and by the way, Jesus left a great parting gift for us. It wasn’t some cheap Simonize car wax or a year’s supply of granola bars, but He left us the Spirit of the Living God. After 10 solid days of prayer the disciples and about 120 believers prayed fervently and as always the Lord delivered. This time it was the day of Pentecost.

“On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.” Acts 2: 1-4.

When we receive Jesus Christ into our lives we are not left with just our good intentions and will power to live out our lives. Not at all, Jesus left His Spirit to reside in us so that we could go from living ordinary lives to extraordinary ones.
When the disciples walked and talked with Jesus they were ordinary men. Some were fisherman and tax collectors and they were students of Jesus’ words. We all know what happened when Jesus was arrested. They all took off and Peter denied his Lord three times even after telling him to his face he wouldn’t. But what happened after the Spirit came at Pentecost? Life Change.

Peter went from scaredy cat to one of the most awesome preachers of our time. His first message saved 3000 people. By the time the disciples had finished witnessing for Christ they had saved half the then-known population of the earth. Now how does this work for you and me? Does that mean we’re all supposed to go out and become preachers. No, it doesn’t mean we have to do everything, but it does mean God has gifted us to do something.

If you think about it, Peter and John were regular guys when they were walking with Jesus, but after His resurrection and in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit they both became warriors for God. Now the same spirit that was in Peter, James and John is in us. If we’re connected to God daily thru His Word and thru prayer, if we make ourselves available to get out of our boxes and comfort zone then we too can become useful to Him.

Be expecting big things because God is likely going to move you in a direction that you wouldn’t normally choose. If you just do things for Him that are in your strengths and never in your weaknesses how will He get the credit and the Glory. Using myself as an example, I would never in a million years figure God would call me to do any public speaking. When He first called me to get up with a microphone, I thought God had the wrong person. “I think you were looking for my wife Judy, Lord. She’s the public speaker in the family.”

He said no, “I need you” so I stepped out and tried and was shaking the first half dozen times I spoke, but you know what? It eventually got easier and He gave me the words and I did what I could to point the way to Him. I never want it to be about me, but rather what He is doing in me and what I can share with people who are maybe struggling to see how they can be used. Paul reminds us “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Keep asking Him and be willing to do whatever He asks. Don’t think God has the wrong person. He will equip you and make you successful. If God has asked you to do something, you can’t fail. You might hit some bumps on the way, but success will follow if you keep your eyes focused on Him.

Thanks for your Spirit, God. It’s a gift that definitely won’t go out in the next garage sale.

If you would like to learn more about the Holy Spirit and how He works in your life I would like to refer you to my friend Catherine Martin’s website where she has a terrific 30 day quiet time book called “Set My Heart On Fire”. If you spend 15-20 minutes a day in this 30 day journey you will learn more about the Holy Spirit and His role in our lives than you ever knew. Her website is www.quiettime.org

Stinging Words

2008-03-28T05:34:00.000-07:00

My walk through the Bible has me reading straight thru from beginning to end. No Psalms or Proverbs and that's okay. I think I'll try to use my Friday post to journal what I find the most significant insight the Lord gives me from the week's reading. Right now I'm travelling through the books of Samuel and they are great reading.

The prophet Samuel has anointed Saul as the Jews first king and while he starts out fine like a lot of us we can easily get off track. Saul was under specific instructions from the Lord in a variety of areas and being a king and all it carries some heavy responsibility. The final straw of his disobedience came when he failed to wipe out all the Amalekites like the Lord had instructed. Instead, he saved the king and kept some of his goodies for himself.

The Lord was not pleased with his disobedience again and had this to say about Saul. "Samuel never went to meet with Saul again, but he mourned constantly for him. And the Lord was sorry he had ever made Saul king of Israel." 1 Samuel 15:35

Now with any great scripture there comes application for us. I don't know how I could handle hearing the words "I'm sorry I gave Mark this assignment" or "I'm sorry I ever gave Judy to be his wife" or "I'm sorry I ever gave him the role of an employer." Now, there is plenty of things in my life I'm sorry for and would love to have do-overs for, but I know many came before coming to the Lord. Thank goodness for His grace. The difference today is I can't hide behind the fact that I don't know better. God tells us in the book of James, "Remember, it is a sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it" James 4:17.

Tracking with God doesn't mean we're not going to mess up, but we all should know that if God is first in our lives (remember the first commandment) then he wants our undivided attention and our obedience. When we get off course He will gently restore us and help us to get back on track. If we're way off track He might have to be a bit more severe.

I'm pretty sure we won't wind up as kings someday, but the Lord wants us on His team. He has a role for each and everyone of us to carry out His purpose if we allow Him to. If we're not careful selfishness can creep up on us very easily as we start doing things for our glory, our purposes, our riches. In Old Testament times sacrifices were huge. Animals were brought for slaughter because it took blood to cleanse the people of their sins.

But Samuel told Saul there was something more important than sacrifices. "What is more pleasing to the Lord; your burnt offering and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams" 1 Samuel 15:22. The answer is .............

Take Away

1. Is there anything you are doing in your life that you know is being disobedient to the Lord?
2. Are you taking measures to help keep you on His path?
3. Are you looking to Him to even show you your path in life?

Okay, Now What?

2008-03-24T06:42:00.000-07:00

The Lord has risen. He has risen indeed. We talk about the crucifixion and burial on Friday and then the resurrection on Sunday, but it’s now Monday. The day after. What are we going to do with Jesus’ sacrifice and are we going to lead a transformed life because of it?

While my intent is not to guilt anyone into a lifestyle change, knowing what the Lord did for me and the pain and suffering he went thru on my behalf sure is motivation to press on for the prize and crown of life waiting me in heaven. Every year I’m amazed at so many people turn out for Easter services. I’m sure you see a huge growth in your church as I do in mine. Then next Sunday comes and its back to sleeping in, yard work and NASCAR.

It’s as if people think God is impressed that we went to church. Maybe He takes attendance. I hope He counts that Good Friday service I went to as a bonus. What the Lord does care about is a life that is changed because of His death on the cross. Well, how do we go about doing that? I’ve come up with 4 areas of our lives that we need to put our trust and faith in Him so we can grow our roots deep into Him.

The first area we need to trust Him in is our relationships. God cares about the people we are married to, who we date, who we choose as our friends and our co-workers. “May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:5-6. If you follow Christ, let’s strive to show the world that we can treat our spouses, boyfriends and girlfriends, employees and yes, employers in a way that is set apart from the world.

The second area we can put our trust in Him is our finances. Our lives are not all about money, but the Lord knows we need it to meet our needs. But it doesn’t have to fully take over our lives. “Teach those who are rich in this world not to proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all need for our enjoyment.” 1 Timothy 6:17. I would rather be poor financially, but rich in Spirit any day.

The third area we can know and trust God in is the details of our lives. “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:7. The beauty of the word all is that it means all. It means the Lord cares about your babysitter problems, the car you drive, where you live, where you work and where you go on vacation. You can pray to the Lord about all these things because He cares. Just because they are not life and death issues doesn’t mean He doesn’t want to help and give guidance.

And finally we need to trust the Lord with the troubles in our life. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. These are the words of Jesus to the disciples at the Last Supper. Christ’s death on the cross was for our troubles. He knows we will have trials and tribulations. I sometimes think that Christians wind up with more than their fair share of them. I have a lot of hurting people around me in my life right now. But I know that Jesus wants to walk us thru these troubles and we will find rest for our souls.

I pray that you all live a life on fire for our risen Lord who gave His life for us. After all, It’s the least we can do.

He Stood in the Gap

2008-03-21T05:17:00.000-07:00

Today is Good Friday. I don't know the origin of the term, but it seems like we could have come up with something better. The day maybe "good" for us, but it was horrible for Jesus. Regardless of the name, without today, I know I wouldn't be typing this blog. Today was the day that Jesus stood in the gap for you and me.

When Jesus uttered the words, "It is finished" in John 19:30 it was the culmination of Jesus' mission here to earth and it paved the way, cleared a path and opened the door for us to spend eternity with the Father. If Jesus had said "no way" or "opted to stay in heaven" we would have been forever separated from the Lord.

"For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." 2 Corinthians 5:21. The Lord sending Jesus to die for us had to come about when Adam and Eve brought sin into the world. Before Jesus, people tried to be right with God by keeping all his laws and it was impossible. Everyone messed up. "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard." Romans 3:23.

God ultimately requires perfection and it took the perfect Son to forgive all past and future sin so we could have eternal life. "For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sins. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time." Romans 3:25-26.

The amazing gift of the cross to me is that it covers all sins. It covers the ones our parents made, their parents made and their parents made and so forth. But it also covers my sins, the one's I'll make today, tomorrow and to the day He calls me home. If this wasn't the case then Good Friday might as well have been called What a Waste of Time I Came Friday.

The more stuff we keep dragging out the closet and keep bringing to the Lord asking for forgiveness the more we keep putting Jesus back up on the cross. We need to let go of our past and our sins and receive the forgiveness that is available to us because of the cross. God did not send His Son to die for us for nothing. It cost us nothing, but Jesus paid a heavy price.

God wants us to lived changed lives, lives free of the burden of things like guilt, anger and despair. Their is no condemnation for us because we belong to Jesus. I pray today that you and I can take time and reflect on what the cross means for our lives. We need to remember why Jesus came here and ultimately died for us. We need to remember that the cross was for you, for me and all those around you. Even those people you don't like.

I'm so glad that God has short-term memory and after I confess my sin to Him he forgets and says "what sin"? Let's stay in the present and worry about today's stuff since today has enough of its own problems. Rejoice today in the "great" Friday that it is. Pause and reflect and give thanks to the Lord and may you lead transformed lives because of the power of the cross.

Praise God and remember, Sunday's coming.

Did You Call Me?

2008-03-17T06:06:00.000-07:00

I love this recent upgrade with my cable and digital phone service. Instead of the conventional caller id on my phone, the display comes on my television screen when the phone rings. I thought, “how cool is that, I don’t even have to get up and look at the phone to see if I want to answer it. So when a political call displays I can decide if I want to talk to John McCain or Mary Bono or choose not to.

There is a call we don’t miss though, and that’s the call from the Lord. He’s made many calls to people in the Bible and he still makes them today. Here’s a couple from the Old Testament starting with Samuel’s call when he was just a boy. “Suddenly, the Lord called out, ‘Samuel!’ ‘Yes?’ Samuel replied. ‘What is it?’ He got up and ran to Eli. ‘Here I am. Did you call me?’ Then the Lord called out again, ‘Samuel!’ Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. ‘Here I am. Did you call me?’ Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy.” 1 Samuel 3:4-8

“The Lord gave me this message: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:4-5. And Isaiah received a call and anxiously answered. “Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” Isaiah 6:8.

I pray that all of us would respond to the Lord with a resounding “yes”. “Pick me Lord or give me that assignment Lord. I’m ready if you think I am.” Your word says “I can do all things thru the power of Christ. He gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13.

But if you’re like me you can sometimes treat a call from the Lord like those pesky tele-marketing calls. “You want me to do what Lord? Invite that annoying person to church. You want me to serve at church and not just attend. You want me to ask that person if I can pray with them right now.” If we have accepted Christ as our saviour then we have the Holy Spirit living in us and he will prompt us when God is calling us to act. We don’t have the luxury of Him shouting from heaven with our instructions.

We need to stay joined to Him like we do to our spouse, kids or friends. We need to stay in His word, converse with Him and look for how He can be speaking to us thru others. I have felt the Lord call me recently into teaching and I know it’s totally Him. My background is one that would keep me glued to my seat when it came to public speaking, but I now found myself teaching in a spiritual growth class at church to audiences of 60-100 people. I know the Lord gets the glory since I would never have done it before in my own strength. He prompted me to start blogging and while I can say writing was my background in college I have to rely on Him on what to write about.

I know my job and yours is to keep our schedules open and available for Him and His glory. The Lord is not going to hear a busy signal for long when he calls us. He will get our attention. He doesn’t want to be call-waited off the line. He will get our attention. Remember, the Lord will use you and call you wherever you are. You don’t need to wait to get all your ducks in a row. You just need to be ready to answer.

Take Away
1. Is your schedule so busy that the Lord has given your assignment to someone else?
2. Do you know how the Lord calls you?
3. Do you try and ignore His call or do you answer on the first ring?
4. Can you think of a call you have answered recently that you know is from the Lord?

What Was Your Name Again?

2008-03-14T05:34:00.000-07:00

As Easter approaches and we remember the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ I came across a verse that motivates me and drives me in my relationship with the Lord. You're probably aware that Easter draws the most people to church on any one given Sunday during the year. Then it becomes business as usual the following week.

Jesus' words in Luke 13:24-27 compel me to know the Lord more today than yesterday. "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' But he will reply, I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers."

Talk about piercing words. Would you want the Lord to say, "away from me" or "I don't know you." A portion of the Message translation puts it like this. "A lot of you are going to assume that you'll sit down to God's salvation banquet just because you've been haning around the neighborhood all your lives. Well, one day you're going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you'll find the door locked and the Master saying, 'Sorry, you're not on my guest list.'

Men and women, I want to be on the Lord's guest list. I want Him to know me and better yet, I want to know Him. And I want to know Him more and more. I sense that people think just because they believe in God or hang in the "neighborhood" of people that know God then that will be enough to get them into heaven. It takes much more than that.

It's not enough just to believe, but you have to receive Jesus into your life. That's only step 1. After that the adventure and the ups and downs of the life of being a Christian begins. As I wrote recently, it's not always easy, but it's always rewarding.

To know God is to spend time with him which means you have to schedule time in your day for him or you will find there is not enough day left. I encourage you to schedule quiet time with the Lord daily where you are free from the distractions of tv, kids, chores, etc. That time might be first thing in the morning or on your lunch hour. Whatever time you choose make sure it is the time that you are at your best. Don't you think the Lord deserves that much?

As you spend more and more time with Lord in His Word and in prayer and thru fellowship of other believers you will start to think more and more like him. You will find yourself coming into situations asking, "What would Jesus Do?" (Sounds like a good slogan to me) Life is too hard to try and make all the decisions yourself. Why not let God make them for you. It's amazing what you will find in it. It has answers to all of life's problems and issues.

As you make the comittment to be in His Word, I encourage you to find a good Bible reading plan and not go with the open the pages and wherever my finger lands I start with idea. Did you know you can read thru the Bible in one year by reading it for 15 minutes a day. I think we can come up with 15 minutes. And if you miss a day, unlike diet and exercise don't get discouraged and quit. Start back up again.

I'll check with you at the end of the year and you know what? You'll be confident that the Lord will say, 'Oh hi (fill in your name) I've been expecting you. How ya doing? I'm glad I got to know you.'

Whoever Said It Would Be Easy?

2008-03-10T05:57:00.000-07:00

I’m sure when a lot of people receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour they probably think that life should be great all the time and that bad things should avoid them. After all they have put their faith and Jesus and are committed to doing the will of God. They might tell everyone they know about Jesus and their life is totally transformed, but then what happens? Life.

Life comes with lots of trials and tribulations and setbacks and tears and illnesses and is this the person I really married kind of stuff. And not only that we come across verses that say we’re supposed to rejoice in our problems. “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:2-5

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth that gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6-7

I take from these verses and there are others in the Bible that God doesn’t want to waste a hurt in our trials. He expects us to grow in them and to glorify Him thru them. The verse in Romans shows that it’s a process that we going thru. And where does it lead? It leads to hope and Godly hope is not the same as earthly hope. The Greek word for hope in this verse in elpis and it means an expectation of something good. I think we often confuse hope with wishes and dreams. I read recently a great acrostic for hope- Holding On with Patient Expectation.

And what we can expect from God is that he will be there with us thru the problems and trials. He won’t leave us or forsake us. He will give us the strength and the courage and He will put people in our path to walk along side us. He wants to hear from us thru our prayers.

My wife and I have had a year of some great stress in our life. We have struggled, bickered, wept, prayed, but through it all we have tried to grow thru the experience. We both know that if we fail the test God will likely give us a do-over and we both don’t want that. We have also witnessed many of our friends go thru some tough medical problems recently and have been amazed at the way they have faced the situation.

The thing I have found to be the common thread is they all have desired to give glory to God during the process and to the end that only God knows. I often find myself wondering if I could be as strong as these persons that have battled breast cancer, numerous brain operations and painful and uncomfortable treatments. I do know that God has a special reward when we face our trial with our head looking up.

“Blessed is the man (or woman) who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those love him.” James 1:12
My prayer is that you are all accumulating many crowns with the victories you have achieved thru your faith in our Lord. May the Lord bless you all and that you feel and know the Lord’s presence in whatever trial you may be facing.

Take Away
1. Are you facing a trial in your life and do you see it as an opportunity for growth?
2. Is it a trial you have faced before and maybe failed and now you’re getting a do-over?
3. Are you going thru it alone or are you seeking God and others to help you thru?

Who You Gonna Serve?

2008-03-07T05:45:00.000-08:00

If you're an older fellow like me you might remember a song in the 60s by Bob Dylan called "Everyone Has To Serve Somebody." I didn't think much about the song at the time other than wondering if Dylan would ever get over his cold. He didn't. That's the way he always sounds.

I had no idea the song would have a biblical meaning as my passage today comes from the book of Joshua. "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

I talked on Monday about choice and that we have decisions all day long that require us to choose. This verse tell us we another. We have to decide are we going to follow after God and serve Him or are we not? The context of this verse if Joshua encouraging the Israelites before his death to renew their commttment to the Lord after the long struggle to reach the Promised Land and defeat all the inhabitants of the land, he did not want them to fall away from God and start worshipping idols.

Our application today is not a lot different. The Bible says we can't serve two masters. He wants our undivided attention. He doesn't want us worshipping the things of this world, but rather worshipping the creator of the world. It's important enough to Him that it's in His top two commandments about no other gods except him and not worshipping idols.

If we are not picking up our cross daily, then it's easy for us to be serving everyone else except Him. I looked up the original Hebrew word for serve and interestingly enough the word is "abad" and it's pronounced aw-bad. It literally means "to labor." It doesn't come easily to serve someone else yet alone to serve God. It takes a conscious choice.

So how to we serve God? By serving others. Look for ways to meet the needs of someone besides yourself. Jesus said it best in Matthew 10:42 "And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will be surely rewarded." Jesus is saying it doesn't need to be a big donation or a grand gesture, just meet a need for someone. It won't go unnoticed.

I have to go. I have to get my wife's coffee.

God Is Pro Choice

2008-03-03T06:47:00.000-08:00

I know what you’re thinking. Wouldn’t God be against abortion and be pro-life? I wasn’t necessarily talking about abortion, but instead life in general. My passages today comes from the end of Deuteronomy where Moses is giving his final sermon complete with the blessing of God for doing what is right and his curses for doing the wrong thing.

“Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.” Deuteronomy 30:15-16

A couple of verses later Moses restates the choice again. “Today I have given the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 19-20

Would you not agree a lot is packed in these verses? And they are found in the Old Testament. The point I see here is that God does not force himself on us. He does not push all evil away from us because we are his followers. He gives us the wonderful gift of choice. All day long we have to choose something. We have to choose how we will react when the obnoxious drive behind us tailgates us (I really hate that) or when he cuts us off. What about the co-worker who gossips about me in the office? Do I retaliate and gossip about him or her? We have to make choices from our temper to alcohol to what we do with our money and free time.

As you can see the list could go on for some time. What can make our choice easier is knowing what the Lord wants us to do. In the verses above it’s packed full of the word choice and the word obey. God wants us to make choices that are obedient to his Word. It definitely isn’t easy, but in the long and short run it will be for our benefit.

I’ve determined there are two ways that people learn and grow in life. They either choose to do the right thing because they know it’s pleasing to the Lord or they learn thru the school of hard knocks. They just don’t believe the choice before them will lead to the same consequence that it did for others and so they go for it and then act surprised when it gives the same negative result it always does. Now the hard knocks can be someone else’s and that is how I chose to go thru my youth. I witnessed the mistakes of my older brother and saw that I didn’t want to go down that path.

I pray for you all today that you would choose life. God wants to bless you and your obedience to Him. But if you mess up, don’t get discouraged, confess and make the right choice next time. If you keep repeating the same poor choice, perhaps you need some accountability in that area.
God Bless you all and have a great week. Thanks for the opportunity you give me to share with you all.

Take Away
1. Do you have to experience everything yourself to learn life’s lessons?
2. Do you keep repeating the same mistakes?
3. Will you commit today to choosing God’s ways? (See Isaiah 55:8-10)

What I Don't Know Could Be For A Reason

2008-02-28T22:26:00.003-08:00

One thing I've learned in my Christian walk is I don't have all the answers to life's complex questions. I don't know why there is disease in the world, hunger, crime, bad things that happen to good people. I don't know everything about heaven. Heck, after 20 years of marriage, I don't know everything about the complexity of my wife. She still amazes me.

I do know that God didn't intend to have all these bad things in his original plan. He created the perfect garden in the perfect world and put man and woman in it. Then when sin entered into the world it all changed. In his final sermon before his death Moses reviewed the covenant with God's chosen people and it included their blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.

But in Deuterononmy 29:29 Moses tells us why things might be a little foggy. "The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions."

This verse is saying that God is the one who is in charge and in control and he reveals things to us when he wants to, but he also is saying that we don't have to answer for what we don't know. This however, is not an excuse for ignorance. If God has revealed something to us in his word and we don't find it because we don't read it doesn't mean it's a secret. It just means we weren't looking.

The word I like in this verse is accountable. It's a word we don't like much today. We're always looking to pass blame when we mess up. If people were accountable for their choices then we probably wouldn't have so many trial lawyers. God will hold us accountable for how we treated the spouse he gave us, how we parented our kids, what we did with the resources he gave us.

But the number one thing we will be held into account for is what we did with God's Son, Jesus. God sent him to earth to die a horrific death on the cross for the sins of you and I. Did we receive the gift or choose to deny it. Did we begin eternal life by getting to know His Son? Do we know Him more this year than last year?

Okay everyone, let's not allow Jesus to be a secret to us.

Is Love All I Really Need?

2008-02-24T22:44:00.000-08:00

For those of you old enough to remember, there was a song in the 60’s by the Beatles called “All You Need is Love.” The chorus went “All you need is love, love is all you need.” I know, it doesn’t sound too deep, but I never thought the song was actually very profound. I’m sure it was by accident, but nonetheless, it spoke great biblical truth.

One of my favorite chapters in the Bible has to be 1 Corinthians 13. It is often called “The Love Chapter.” While the above mentioned song said we just need love to exist it failed to mention what love is. It’s a word that is used everywhere and in every circumstance and situation. You often hear “I love this steak,” I love you forever,” “I love this house,” “I love my job.” The list goes on and on.

If we like something just a little, we seem to love it. But what is love. If I did a man on the street interview I’m sure I would come up with answers that all point to feelings. If I like a certain something or someone enough it will produce a feeling of love. In the relational scene you often hear “I met someone special and we fell in love.” Have you ever thought if you can fall in love then you could somehow fall “out of love?”

Somehow, love has to be more than a feeling or we will be swayed all day long by how we feel. What does the apostle Paul say about love in 1 Corinthians 13 4:7. “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

It sure sounds like a lot more than a feeling. It seems more like an action to me. I could spend weeks going thru each aspect of the love chapter, but suffice is to say it takes a conscious action on my part to be loving. And don’t confuse liking someone with loving them. I know my wife loves me unconditionally, but I know there are days when she probably doesn’t like me a whole lot. Don’t get me wrong, God gives us the feeling that love produces, but it is so much more.

God is calling us to set aside our feelings, not just with our spouses, but with everyone when it comes to loving them. If I’m whining and complaining over slow service in a restaurant then I’m not showing God’s love. If I forgive someone one day, but then throw it back in their face at a later date in the heat of a moment I’m not being very loving. “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion-how can God’s love be in that person?” 1 John 3:16-17

It’s clear that talk is cheap when it comes to love. Anyone can say “I love you,” but when you’re in a pinch can you count on them? “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love other; let us show the truth by our actions.” 1 John 3:18

Paul is saying that we can do and accomplish many great things, but if we don’t love others it’s all for nothing. So the next time you don’t feel like loving that difficult person on the phone, in your workplace or even in your home try doing something that is loving and watch how God works and He brings you the feeling alongside the action.

How important is this love thing to God? “Three things will last forever-faith, hope and love- and the greatest of these is love” 1 Cor 13:13. I encourage you this week to spend some time in this chapter and gain the whole context. I think God would really love it if you did.

My God is Closer Than Your god

2008-02-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

"For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?" Deuteronomy 4:7-8

Do you know how awesome and meaninful this verse is that Moses gave the Israelites as a reminder before heading into the Promised Land? We have full access to God anytime, anyplace and anywhere. We don't have to jump thru any hoops to come to Him. We don't have to earn his approval by going door to door, we don't to bow down x amount of times a day facing a certain direction in hopes he will notice us.

Because of Jesus, we can know that He is with us always. You're struggling at work today, send a prayer God's way. You're stuck in traffic on the way to or from work, talk to God instead of listening to the radio or talking on your cell phone. You know if you wear a blue tooth, the car next to you will think you're talking on your phone anyway. You're boss is giving you a hard time today, ask God for patience and maybe a mild case of the flu for your boss to keep him home a few days.

The point is we are a blessed and chosen people and nation. Wherever you read the nation of Israel in the Bible, you can know that the USA has also had His favor because we were a nation founded on Him and grounded in Him. I worry about our nation that the Lord will turn away from us because we are turning away from Him. That is why we need to be praying for a revival in this country. We had it for a short time in the aftermath of September 11th, but unfortunately once we lost sight of the images of the towers falling down, we fell back into our regular routine.

We're in the midst of a presidential election and I would love a candidate to be bold enough and quote this verse about the times we live in right now. "Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seem my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.

If our nation was to do this, how fortunate that our God is so close at hand.

Say What?

2008-02-18T06:29:00.000-08:00

I love the bumper sticker for a construction company that says “Character Matters.” I’m ready for a new one that says, “Words Matter.” Our language today is going from bad to worse to the point we have a new air pollution epidemic.

Profanity is running rampant out there today and it’s showing no signs of letting up Today, it’s often referred to as adult language as if it’s something that we grow into. You know, you reach a certain age and its okay to drop the f-bomb because you’re now a mature adult. This topic comes to mind to me as I heard the second example in a week of female celebrities cursing on morning television as if it was no big deal. It wasn’t part of a comedy act or telling a dirty joke, but just two women speaking face to face with an interviewer and one drops the f-word and another the c-word.

As Christians, we’re called to be holy because God is holy and that includes our language. What does His word say about our words? Can we praise God on Sunday’s and give hand gestures at the driver who cuts us off on Monday’s? In the Ten Commandments it made the top three. Exodus 20:7 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God.” This doesn’t just include cursing, but what about expressions like “Oh my God” or “for the love of God”. If you’re not honoring him with your speech then God can’t be pleased.

Ephesians 4:29 says “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” And Colossians 3:7-8 says “You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.”

As believers our words are to evolve, but not in the wrong direction. We’re to use our words to build people up and not tear down or make people cringe or use for shock value or to get laughs. I was at a high school football game this past season and I was shocked to hear the language I did from the stands from both the students and the parents. Do you know where the kids started speaking like this? Chances are it came from their parents or other grown-ups in their life.

For those of you reading this that are parents or maybe you have young cousins, nieces or nephews the kids are listening to our words, not just the words we tell them not to use. It’s the old caught not taught syndrome. It’s time we take back the language in this country and not just turn a blind ear to the profanity around us. If someone swears in your presence then let them know it bothers you and ask them to find better words to use.

I’m telling you this from someone who used to swear as if it was nothing. It wasn’t just when I bumped my head or I was angry. I swore using the words as verbs and adjectives, but I can also testify that I was cured instantly thru the power of the Holy Spirit after hearing a powerful message on the 3rd Commandment. My language was healed and Taylor and Shelby became great accountability for me.

I’ll leave you this final challenge that I have taken with my kids. I have always found the term “adult language” a strange term so I have told my kids that if I use a word then they can use it. The results so far have been awesome. They keep me on track and now that they’re older (15 and 13) I can do the same. Now I have slipped a little over the years, but only in small ways, but it’s especially convicting when your son or daughter correct you. It definitely leads you right into confession and repentance.

Now go and bless someone today.

Mark

You Meant Now?

2008-02-14T05:42:00.000-08:00

The great thing about God's Word is you find yourself describing it this way, "I love this story," or "this is one of my favorite passages". But the more you read and study His Word the more you find how just about everything in it becomes your favorite.

One of those stories for me comes from the book of Numbers. It's found in the Old Testament and it's a book that my wife would suggest to people not to start in if they were reading the Bible for the first time. Yea, it starts out with a lot of numbers, the 12 tribes of Israel had to take a census of the men at least 20 years of age so they knew what size their military would be made up of in case of battle. But it leads to a story of faith, obedience and timing.

It comes in Numbers 13 where Moses sends out the 12 leaders of each tribe to scout the Promised Land of Caanan. They were to give a report of what they found. "See what kind of land they live in. Is it good or bad? Do their towns have walls, or are they unprotected like open camps? Is the soil fertile or poor? Do your best to bring back samples of the crops you see."19-20.

I love the part there about whether the "land is good" as if God would move them from Egypt thru the desert and across the Red Sea into a Promised Land that was crummy. So as the story goes and 12 men check out the Land for 40 days and find great food, soil and probable great weather, but there was one small problem. There was some inhabitants of the land that looked a little intimidating. So 10 of the 12 scouts told the people "it's to hard, the people are too big, we'll never make it." I can just hear the whining. Because I've done the same thing.

But Joshua and Caleb, without hesitation, said we can take the land. Verse 30- But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses, "Lets go at once to take the land," he said. We can certainly conquer it. Notice how Caleb didn't say, "Let's pray about it. Let's break into groups and have a pow-wow and discuss it. No, he said let's go now. Caleb and Joshua knew the Lord had already given the go-ahead way in Egypt. That's why it was called the Promised Land. No obstacle was going to be too big for them.

Well, obviously, this disobediance did not please the Lord. He was ready to wipe them out again, but Moses interceded on their behalf, again. He spared their lives of an immediate death (except the 10 scouts who doubted, they were dropped dead on the spot), but was originally meant to be an 11 day journey from Mt. Sinai would now take 40 years to reach their destination, one year for each day the scout team was in the Promised Land.

But the funny part (funny in a sad way) comes the next day when the people got up and acted like it was no big deal and it was time to go into the Promised Land. Now they were ready to go. You mean, "we don't get a do-over." 14:40 "Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. "let's go," they said. We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the Lord has promised us."

The problem was he promised them the land yesterday. Their disobediance, lack of faith that He would go before them and poor timing (today was a little late) left them with a mighty long excercise period, 40 years worth of extra laps.

God doesn't always give us another opportunity. Is there something in your life the Lord has promised you if only you do your part. If you miss out He might give the opportunity to someone else. There is times for prayer and there is times for action. If you're abiding in Him, He'll be clear to you.

Now don't forget your walking shoes.

Peace Man

2008-02-10T22:48:00.000-08:00

Growing up as a child in the 60s the word peace came up a lot. It was used as a slogan “Peace Baby” and “Peace Man”, it was used as a protest movement and even a sign, the whole spreading of your forefinger and middle finger. Even today, in the midst of our time of war people are looking for peace by a means of an end to the war. For some, peace is just as absence of war.

But for me, it’s so much more and so much different. The kind of peace I’m talking about is only available thru the love of Jesus Christ. Biblical peace in the Old Testament comes from the word “shalom” which speaks of a relationship of harmony and wholeness. The new testament Greek word is “eirene” which describes the harmonious relationship between men.

We live in such a fallen, troubled world and last Friday while surfing the cable news web sites several stories made it abundantly clear that we live in a world that desperately needs Jesus. I read of a husband who stabbed his wife and then shot her in her 5th grade classroom, another where a man kills six people at a city council meeting after losing a lawsuit. Another had a teen beat another kid to death at school while another taped it on his cell phone and did nothing. Another had a mom giving her 11-year-old beer and marijuana as a birthday gift (what happened to a sleepover). And finally, a dad was charged with child abuse for circumcising his two children when they were 8 days old, with a utility knife.

This past summer after much reading and prayer I came up with my life verse. I was encouraged by my mentor and friend, Catherine Martin to have God reveal a verse that I can draw upon, to find my purpose in and direct my life. For me it came from Isaiah 26:3. It’s not long, but it packs a punch. “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you."
Besides the gift of salvation, I have often thought about what I love about having Jesus in my life and then this verse hit me. It’s the perfect peace he offers. No matter what evil goes on in this world, who’s elected into office, or the seemingly lack of morality in the culture I can be rest assured that God is in control. I can have the harmony and wholeness of my relationship with Jesus Christ. With His peace, I know I don’t have to have the answer to all of life’s issues. I just need to keep on doing what He asks me to do which is to know Him better each day and do what He asks me to do.

My partner verse to Isaiah 26:3 is from Jesus himself where He is speaking to his disciples at the Last Supper. He knew they were going to go out into a world that was messed up and He told not to get discouraged. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

So I hope this will offer some encouragement to you as you work, live and try to raise a family in these troubled times. Our troubles are small compared to what Jesus went thru on our behalf, but they’re still troubles nonetheless. But take heart everyone, victory is ours. Jesus has overcome your troubles and mine.

Have a peace-filled day.

Mark

A New View

2008-02-07T05:58:00.000-08:00

I had a brief moment in the backyard last night as I went to turn the pool light out and normally since its been so cold I just rush out and get back in the house where its warm. But this time I took the opportunity to look up for a change and what a beautiful sky I saw. It was so clear and the stars were bright and out in full amazement. It's one of the things I like most about the desert is the evenings where we regularly get a great show like this.

I've had opportunities to feel down in recent times and often we try to fill these periods with activities, over-indulging in food or drink, or just plain pouting. When we hit moments like this we need a new view or a new perspective. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible has to be Isaiah 40. It offers so much comfort to me and since it was written to the Israelites about life after their captivity there is great application for me.

"Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing." Isaiah 40:26.

When you look up for a change of perspective you see the Lord and remember he put each star up in the heavens and knows them by name don't you know how much more important we are to God? One of the other things I like about Isaiah 40 is it is full of rhetorical questions. And I loved the way they are asked, almost in a smart alec way and since I've often wondered if sarcasm is a spiritual gift (it's not) they often cause me to laugh.

The questions all have to do with His power. (V12) "Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measure off the heavens with his finger?"........(V 18)"To whom can you compare God?"..........(V21-4 straight questions) "Haven't you heard? Don't you understand? Are you deaf to the words of God- the words he gave before the world began? Are you so ignorant?"

Pretty emphatic huh? Since he's the creator of everything including us He is bigger than all our problems. And whether you're out tonight and you look up and want to thank Him or plead for His grace and mercy try and recall to mind or post somewhere to remember the words of Verses 28-31. They are so powerful.

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

While you're sleeping tonight, remember the Lord isn't. He will give you the strength to face your day when you wake up. It's a promise you can bank on. Enjoy the view.

Mark

I Hope I Fail Better?

2008-02-03T07:29:00.000-08:00

I started a touch of the cold over the weekend so I hope I feel better. I went to an excellent conference on Saturday called “Boundaries” and the speakers were Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend, authors of the Boundaries series. The most poignant thing from the conference came at the end when they said we’re going to fail in life. We will need to fail, we need to practice failing. Why? Because it becomes an opportunity for growth. Hebrews 5:14 says “Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.” When we become believers the Bible says we are “born again”. So if that’s the case then we are reborn as “babies”. We need to grow up.

Part of that is failing and because of Jesus he allows us to “fail well”. “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1. We are the last people that need to be embarrassed that we fail. Jesus, because of his death on the cross, allows us to mess up and come to him and tell him we messed up and ask him for forgiveness and we will be cleansed of all unrighteousness. The world’s impression of Christians is that we walk around and that we’re “perfect” and we’re very judgmental.

I was at lunch with my wife and a friend the other day and she said her husband thinks that every one at church seems so perfect. She obviously didn’t see me a few hours earlier. Just because we’re Christians doesn’t mean we don’t mess up, but when we do we need to fess up. Earlier that day, I had lost my temper at someone and it was in front of people and it was embarrassing for the person I got mad at. I think it kind of surprised some people because they haven’t seen me Iose my cool before. While my point of the argument may have been valid, my delivery stunk so I apologized later which I know the Lord wanted me to do and the enemy was not pleased.

The point here is that I need to use opportunities like this as a chance for growth. God doesn’t want me and you to keep repeating the same mistakes (we still will), but he wants us to grab a hold of the “solid food” and not continue to nurse on the “Gerbers”. The verses prior to Romans 8:1 in chapter 7 are a great read. They are all about how we want to do the right thing and we try, but we constantly mess up. That’s because we were born in sin and live in these fleshly bodies. But because of Jesus he gives us the freedom to overcome our sins and grow.

As I look back over the past year I realize it’s been a year of a lot of failure for me, but I know at the same time it’s been a tremendous amount of spiritual growth as well. I’ve failed in my marriage many times recently repeating the same mistakes, not listening, digging my heals in, not speaking the truth in love. But thanks to the grace of God and my wife, we’re at the best possible place in our marriage we have ever been.

So the next time you’re in church or you see some celebrity glorifying himself and not God just remember that person blows it just like you. The President blows it, Billy Graham messes up, your senior pastor will lose his temper, your boss will come across unloving. But thanks to Jesus it doesn’t waste a hurt. He will use it for His Glory if we allow him to.

I think I’m failing better now.

Mark

I'm Special

2008-01-30T06:07:00.000-08:00

I just finished my daily reading and I got to read thru one of my favorite sections in all the Bible. It has so much meat in it that it's hard to express just one meaningful thought, but I'll try. It comes from chapter 33 and if you want to know what a quiet time with the Lord looks like you'll see the one Moses encountered.

The first thing I like about this passage is the Tent of Meeting Moses had. It was a portable hut that would be set up where Moses would go and meet with the Lord. It was his place of quiet time. Verse 11 "Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend." Wherever and whenever you spend time with the Lord don't you want that? I sure do. I want to experience the Lord face to face like I was talking to a friend. The other significant aspect of this passage is you don't have to have a special desiginated place to meet with the Lord. It doesn't have to just be at church. He will meet you where you are at right now. It may be in your livingroom, your job, your car. He even goes on vacation with you. But try and discover your own special place and meet there regularly.

But the best verse was still to come for me. Verse 16 Moses is asking the Lord not to send the Israelites out on there juourney unless he knows the Lord will go with them. "How will anyone know that you look favorably on me-on me and your people-if you don't go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth."

The emphasis is mine, but the point is what makes us different from all the other religions in the world. Our God, Yahweh, is with us always. We can call upon Him anytime, anyplace, anywhere and He is there. May this be a comfort to you as it is to me that His presence is always with us. We can't hide from Him like Adam and Eve tried. Don't think of this as a bad thing, but instead confess any sin and draw near to Him.

Now you know why I'm special. But so are you.

What's in a Name

2008-01-27T21:17:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a good weekend and stayed dry and enjoyed the change of weather. My main passage of text today comes from Colossians 2:6-8. The apostle Paul writes, “And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. (Verse 8) Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.

There is much more to the Christian life than just salvation. Jesus Christ did not come to this earth and die a painful death on the cross just for us to have salvation. Jesus Christ is not just a fire insurance policy. He desires to see change in our lives and when we don’t stay connected to Him thru time in his word, thru fellowship and Bible Study then we are leaving ourselves open to be thrown off track by the enemy.

Perhaps you have been to the mall recently and seen a store upstairs near Macy’s called C28. It’s a clothing store like Tilly’s and its audience is the young adult crowd. If you didn’t know the C stands for Colossians and the 28 stands for Chapter 2 and Verse 8. Its name is from the verse above. So consequently, its clothing line is Christian with great verses on trendy clothes and they also sell a lot of NTW decals (Not of This World). I was thinking to myself why they chose this verse as their title. Perhaps a study of the verse is in order.

If we are not staying grounded in Christ we are vulnerable to being deceived by Satan. I wouldn’t be surprised if many Christians have bought into the Secret as featured on Oprah or bought into the gospel of Oprah because anything she says so many people believe (especially her target audience of women). It’s not just Oprah as people can be captured by Hollywood worship, busyness, laziness and apathy. I know for myself if I miss a day or two in God’s word things creep into my life like an attitude change. “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8.

The more time we spend in Jesus, the stronger our roots get. Jesus Christ provides us a foundation that we can tap into when we go thru life’s trials or someone or something tries to pull us away from our faith. The writer of Hebrews encourages us to have a heart check everyday. “Be careful then dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.” Hebrews 3:12-13. Without the anchor of Christ, we run the risk of falling into sin and a hardened heart. I’ve seen it happen around me many times.

No matter where you’re at in your walk with Jesus, He will meet you today. If you grab a hold of Him, He promises not to let go. He won’t leave you or forsake you. Now Jesus, that’s a name we can count on.

Have a blessed day.

Mark

2008-01-25T11:33:00.000-08:00

Here is my wonderful family the Lord has blessed me with. We took this just before Christmas at the Civic Center Park

Welcome to My Blog

2008-01-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

Welcome Friends,
I am now on the world wide web. I was given this suggestion by a friend to do this since I have felt the Lord directing me to share what He is teaching me in hopes that it might encourage others in their walk with the Lord. It is not about showing how smart I am or how many Bible verses I know, but rather look what the Lord is doing in my life. In these uncertain times, Jesus Christ is the best going for me and I want to tell others of His awesome grace and mercy.

I look forward to your feedback and opinions. Have a great weekend. May you have a blessed time at church and find rest for your souls.

Mark