The Loving Church

After looking over last semesters small group stats, and wondering what kind of impact we made eternally, it made me stop and think about the way we as Christians choose to share God's love with others.  As humans, since Jesus has told us in Matthew 22 that the greatest commandment is 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  And then goes on to say that the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.’ we must truly learn how to love people.  This relates directly to the nature and character of God.  If we cannot love then we cannot be a true reflection of Him.  We must become like Christ and share our love with the world.    

The problem lies within our own lives as we have the freedom to deny or repress our likeness to God.  Humans can choose whether or not to love God and others or oppose who God really is.  Love is the key towards winning the lost.  As a body, we must be careful not to discriminate against any and we must be the love that the world is constantly looking for every day.  Christ set the example for us in His actions, words, and deeds.  We must in turn, follow these things set before each of us as a body of Christ, and a reflection of who He is.  We must not allow anything to interfere with the purpose that the church or the Christian community is here for as their purpose. 

The "body of Christ" is no mere metaphor; it is the calling of the church to continue the incarnation and mission of Christ by manifesting God's redemptive purposes and coming kingdom. Just as Christ is sent by and discloses God, so the church as the new humanity, renewed in the Imago Dei, is sent by Christ and called upon to imitate his paradigm of self-giving, thus witnessing to God's rule in the concrete shape of their communal life.  The church must be careful in the tools and methods that are used to witness to the world around us.  We need to stay current with the ever changing world we live in.  We must make sure the body of Christ is towards all people and know that our methods must be directed to all. We must be a church seeking the lost, not just a select few.  Come one, come all, come as you are, but just come! 

 In the New Testament we are told that we are to become imitators of Christ.   In other words, we must imitate and pursue the life of Christ.  All that He did was a reflection of who He is.  Everyone that he reached out to was a foundation of who we should become.  We must not let the world around us affect the way we treat or speak of others, but must look towards everyone as equal and know that everyone all race, gender, and ethnicity are equal in God’s eyes and that He is not a respecter of persons.  Jesus shows us that love extends beyond feelings, that love is not merely emotions, but love is motivated by action. I read where a woman said it was not a custom among married people in her culture to always say, "I love you." To which it was asked, "How do you know someone loves you?" She laughed and said, "You know by how they treat you." We must be a church that treats others like we would treat the Father. 

            The body of Christ is made in the image of the Trinity, imitatio Trinitati, in our substance and we are in the process of being conformed to the likeness of Christ in the restoration of our sensual nature to our substance. This means that we pull from human experience, such as the human experience of being, knowing, and willing – three dimensions of the one person.  This is why it is important for our church to work on the direction of being, knowing and the will that God wants for our churches. If we don’t prayerfully look for God’s guidance, we’ll end up following trends, we’ll end up following that which will lead us away from God and stop us from obeying Christ, although we might be doing some “good” things. We have to put Jesus at the center of everything we do. For the church does not exist to please the membership only, Christ allows us to exist because we try to please Him.

           Love is motivated by action. Motivation is that which drives us, moves us, gets us going and keeps us going. Everybody doesn’t to come to church for the same reasons and its best you realize that so that when something is done or said to you, you won’t get your feelings hurt and/or leave. Everyone in the church is not saved. What motivates the child of God? What shows our commitment? Love. How deep our love for God, this should be a reflection of our attitudes towards people. We must always remember the words of the Lord, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” It is my prayer that we share the love of Christ with the world and our community before He comes. I challenge each of you to get involved in what God is doing at Rose Heights today. Connect. Serve. Love.

Pastor Jason 

It's Time!

Our devotions are not measured by the clock, but time is of their essence. The ability to wait and stay and press belongs essentially to our relationship with our God. It seems as if we live our lives in such a hurry. Calmness, grasp, strength, are never the companions of hurry. Therefore, when we rush through our so called personal devotions, we fall short to truly spending the time with God that He desires for each of us.

It is true that Bible prayers in word and print are short, but the praying men of the Bible were with God through many a sweet and holy wrestling hour. They won by few words but long waiting, this is where I have often found myself, but God has never failed me.

The prayers Moses records may be short, but Moses prayed to God with fastings and mighty cryings forty days and nights.

The statement of Elijah's praying may be condensed to a few brief paragraphs, but doubtless Elijah, who when "praying he prayed," spent many hours of fiery struggle and lofty battles with God before he could, with assured boldness, say to Ahab, "There shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." The verbal brief of Paul's prayers is short, but Paul "prayed night and day exceedingly." The "Lord's Prayer" is a divine epitome for infant lips, but Jesus prayed many an all-night until his work was done; and his all-night and long-sustained devotions gave to his work its finish and perfection, and to his character the fullness and glory of its divinity.

More time and early hours for prayer acts like magic to revive and invigorate many a decayed spiritual life. More time and early hours for prayer would help us to live holy, because He is holy. A holy life would not be so rare or so difficult a thing if our times spent with God were not so short and hurried.

We often times miss the will of God because we miss our times with Him. We value things that are meaningless and have nothing to do with our eternal souls. I have seen in my personal life, that my ability to stay with God in my closet measures my ability to stay with God out of the closet. What then does it gain for me to only rush to the closet when I am in need. I have found that in the true battles of my life it is the getting to the closet with God is what gets me through it. We are taught by it, and the greatest victories are often the results of great waiting -- waiting till words and our plans are exhausted, and silent and patient waiting gains the crown.

To pray is the greatest thing we can do: and to do it well there must be calmness, time, and deliberation; otherwise it is just another checkpoint on our to do list. If we would only learn the wondrous art, we must not give just a portion of our time here and there -- "Just a little talk with Jesus," -- but we must demand and give the best hours of the day for God and prayer, or our time with God will be meaningless.

God, You have taught me to wait upon You. I have failed you so many times, but it is in the times where I have no words to say, You are there. It is in my darkest hours and my greatest triumphs, You are there. I have learned to trust you always and just know that You will be there. Help me to develop the personal times with You that will change the way I can influence others towards You. Let them see You through me. Help me to be the light that You have called me to be, and never allow the enemy to get the upper hand. I trust You with my life, and with the lives of my family. Let my family, my extended family, and all the friends no that You love them just as much, and if they are ever desperate for something in their lives, teach them to pray. Amen.

Letting God be God

Have you ever been in a time in your life to where you just needed God to show up? I mean times when there was nothing going right. Times when the finances were not where they needed to be. Or just the times when you just wanted to truly hear the voice of God. They key is many times when we are in the most trying times of our lives, God is right beside us. In fact, He has never left our side! God desires to revive his people. He doesn't want us to live tired, unfulfilling lives, but would rather us have lives filled the joy only He can bring.

God simply wants to be God. He wants to show us how much He truly cares about us. Many times we can be so close to hearing from God, then because our fear of the unknown, or that things haven't moved as quickly as we think God should have, we move God off the throne and place ourselves there. The very thought of us calling our own shots seems to attractive to us, because we could then get answers quicker and not be required to listen for His voice. It is like the movie Bruce Almighty - everything is wrong until we have to spend a day in His shoes. The fact is that we could never do what God does for us daily. We will always make a mess of things. We have to have His help and be in His perfect will for our lives.

Well what do we do then to make this happen in our lives:

First, I would say we have to not put limits on our God. We cannot place times frames, or outcomes to God, but we must simply trust He knows what is best. God can do all things...so why not let Him be God.

Second, we can't live denying the problems that we may be facing. Denial will not cause things to go away, but will simply place them in a state where they can become more hurtful to us in the long run. Problems are never as big as they may seem when God is in control. There is no doubt that when we trust Him, God makes our problems become His problems, and we are never walking alone.

Finally, we must be willing to trust and worship God. We cannot simply think that we have done that in the past and that will get me by. We must be willing to daily pick up our crosses and follow Him. We must worship Him for who He is. We must seek after Him. We must be willing to spend time with Him, no matter how hard it may be in our busy lives, He must be our priority.

If we can do these things, then I believe, we can truly live in the power of God. I want to be where He is, and I must trust that He will always have my best interests at heart, and leave being God in my life, and my families, to the one who created all things.

Lord, help me to always trust You in whatever I do. Let me know that You are always with me, and no matter what may come my way, let me give you all that I have. I am looking for Your soon return. Watch over and keep us in Your arms until the time comes where we can be with You forever.

We need to wake up!

Someone once said, life is short stay awake for it. I think sometimes we find ourselves sleeping in the midst of what God is trying to do. We forget that life is going by fast! Soon we will pass away and leave behind memories for those who knew us. This thought makes us stop and consider how we are living. Are we living to create a legacy of goodness or are we simply creating a legacy of possessions? Are we living each day for God and for other people or are we deep down simply living for ourselves?

Im reminded of the sermon that Paul preached and the boy Eutychus fell out of the window, dead asleep. Have we truly missed what God is trying to say to us or are we willingly listening for His voice.

Moses wrote in Psalm 90 that life is indeed short and filled with many pains and troubles. He encourages people to respect God and to find satisfaction in him. Verse 12 says, “So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Moses ends the Psalm with a cry for God to show people his favor and to uphold and establish the work that they do on earth. In a sense, Moses is giving a similar coffee cup slogan. He is saying, “Life is short, stay awake for it… by looking to God for strength for work and for satisfaction for joy in life.”

Moses is crying out to God he would help his people live with purpose in this short life. We must be a willing vessel to share our thoughts and our struggles with others. All of us have had experiences that we can use to encourage and strengthen others so that they can make a difference for God. It is not that difficult, because it is just one life passing on truths to another. It does, however take desire, faithfulness, and some guidance. Let’s pass on our lives for the glory of God that he might show us his power, favor, and love!

We must always be willing to do what God has called us to do, we must be willing to share with others what God has done, and we must be willing to listen when God calls our name.

Why Not?

Have you ever just stopped to think what kind of God we serve? I mean the God we serve can do anything for us, and yet we only approach Him when we are in desperate need. Prayer is often a language that we only turn if we have time, or if we think God can help us. The fact is God can always help us, and we should turn to Him in every situation, every circumstance. Last year I adopted a motto, if you can think it, your not dreaming big enough. But I really wonder to myself now if I actually believed it.

Today is one of the days I just actually get what God has been trying to get the church to believe forever. There are no limits, no boundaries, nothing that can separate us from the love and will of God. NOTHING! So why is it that we don't shoot for the stars. We serve a master that created them, so why couldn't he help us in whatever it is we are doing. You think he doesn't care about what we are doing. He is the one who created us. He wants the very best for us. He wants us to know Him like we never have.

I was reading through some material today about the abundance of God and the kind of prayers we should be praying and I ran across this prayer.

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.

I know I have been sailing too close to the shore lately and I am asking Jesus to disturb me to action.

In what areas have you become too comfortable and need to pray: "Lord, disturb me?" In what areas in your life have you been traveling too close to shore and need to pray: "Lord, disturb me?"

It is my prayer and passion that we live life to glorify God. We have been created for Him. By Him and for Him. We are then to give Him the honor and respect that He is due and not be satisfied with life as ordinary. We serve an extra ordinary God. Think about that the next time the enemy tries to place you in a box and tells you there is no way out. I serve a God who CAN! Not a God who can't!

New Year, New Love

The new year is here and I have had some interesting things happen to me already this first week of 2010. I have read over and over for the the past two months the Book "Crazy Love" by

Francis Chan. Which by the way is the best book I have read in a long time. I loved it so much that I have given out to many students, and even family as gifts. The book deals with God and how his love for us is so amazing that we just have to stop and just think about it. God for me has proven Himself time and time again, but then when I think I have a better understanding of God's love, I open up our devotional book, and the first three days this year it has been talking about love. But the story doesn't end there. I am currently taking a NT course and all day yesterday we talked about the love of God. So I began to think to myself, God is really trying to get my attention and let me know how much He loves me. The fact is, he is always trying to get our attention and show us His love, but the sad reality is that we are usually to busy to even begin to grasp how much he really loves us.

Peyton and I always play a game and it is is trying to see who can show the other that they love them more. It is funny to see what things that we do to show it. From stretching our hands out wide, to smiling, to giving those big tackle hugs. But all of this still cannot show Peyton how much I love him. So this made me realize one more thing about God, if God who created both of us has allowed me to love so great for my children, how much more then does He love me. Just the thought of being loved by God and knowing that he had also played the game with me, when he sent his Son to earth, who stretched out His arms as far as He could and let me know how much He truly loved me.

John makes it abundantly clear that great spiritual gifts without love is worthless and might as well be like noise pollution and ultimately worthless. The world places value on talents, skills, and what one can do or accomplish. But the Lord showed us humility, patience, and sacrifice – so that His love could be communicated to us. I’m reminded of what a terrible Dad I would be if I measure my worth as a Dad based solely on how well I provide for my son yet not spend any time with him or express my love for him through all the various ways of sacrifice, patience, and affection I can show him. Peyton doesn’t know the difference between $1 and a million dollars, or that I’m the most gifted man in something, nor does he care, but he knows that I love him and that I show that he matters so much to me. To him the times we share playing games, wrestling, and as he calls it hanging out mean more than anything I can ever buy him, just look in his closet and you can see that.

As a youth pastor in a very busy church, husband, father, and student, it is easy to allow busy schedules and many other things to replace the heart of love for God and people that needs to be my motivation. I can be doing all the things that the father asks yet slowly lose sight of why I am living the life I am. Looking back at my life, I know I missed many opportunities to grow because I had been placing worth on my life on all that I was doing in ministry or what I was able to offer back to God or feeling insecure that I was not this or that. That is why it is so essential that I reflect and pray constantly do truly realize this thing called love. One thing God has taught me in these past few weeks is that actions can equal love and therefore I must not merely say the words I Love you and then not prove it, but I must follow through with all that the word love means. In the same note, it is very easy to say I love God, but then never spend the time with Him, I must, and we must show God, our Heavenly father, how much we cannot live with out Him, because without Him, our lives are meaningless.

Dear God, I know that my attempts to fully understand your love and the limitless boundaries that it brings to my life, it is my prayer that I can grow closer to you and show you how much I truly love you. I also pray that my love for my family grows greater than ever before. May I show them the power of love as it comes only from the Father above. To all my extended family and friend, may I be a light that can show each of them the love that You have for each of us and may I continue to serve You until You come.

Send to God

When we look at sending praise to God, it most focus around our worship.  We are created for this very purpose.  When we worship we have the opportunity to encounter a God that is worthy of our praise.  When we worship, we send our emotions and our love towards heaven.  If we ever expect to receive all that God has for us we must send our up our praise and have an open line of communication with him.

 So in order for us to worship the creator we must understand what true worship is.  It is not an act that we may do on a Sunday morning after the fast songs, it is not saying I love you Lord on Sunday mornings and then living every day in the opposite, it is however a lifestyle.  True worship is an outward expression of the heart.  Not only does every person have a desire to worship, but every person does worship something.  God created us to be people of worship, and until he becomes the true focus of our worship, our lives will remain meaningless.  As we “delight ourselves in the Lord” we will discover the desires of our heart (Psalms 34: 4). 

In Luke 7:36-50, we look closely at a woman who had the send part of her life down pat.  She had a burning desire to send all that she had to him in hopes that he would then give her something far greater than she had ever received and in the end connecting with Him deeper than she ever had before.  Our story begins as the woman finds out that Jesus is at a house and she drops everything and goes to this house.  In verse 38 we see her begin the sending part towards him, it says that she stood at His feet and then we find her kneeling at His feet.  She took steps to get to were she ended up: 

She heard about him being there. 

She dropped what she was doing and went to the house.

She stood besides Him.

She knelt at His feet.

We see her progression beginning at her burning desire to worship.  She had a true love for Jesus.  True love for something or someone will cause hindrances or pride to fade away.  She didn’t care what others thought of her. 

As the story moves on we see her continue in this act of worship as brings something of great importance with her to purposely use as a sacrifice of love towards Jesus. She knew that true worship would always require great sacrifice.  She knew that with her true worship that true rewards would come, and she received all that they were.  She received forgiveness, salvation, and peace (Luke 7:49-50). 

Today we have to prepare our hearts to give worship to God:  From this story we have the outline to how we should prepare our hearts to send up towards God. 

1. We must separate ourselves from others so that we can find out were Jesus will be. 
2. When we find out where he is we must put all things aside and get to that point. 
3. We must humble ourselves before the lord in all that we do. 
4. In our prayers and worship we must be willing to sacrifice some things in our life that are very important to us. 
5. After the sacrifice we must thank Him for the forgiveness, the peace, and the salvation.

God help me to always give you all that is within me.  Let me get to the point that nothing else matters, and lay everything else aside to get into your presence.  Lord help me to listen for your voice, and to know Your will.  

 

 

Fire

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot: I wish you were one or the other. So then because you are lukewarm, that you are neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:15-16) 

Does this verse challenge you? Bother you? Identify you? Scare you? Do you remember a time where you had finally rid yourself of whatever killed your fellowship with God? Where you had strength over temptation, joy to spread around, and love for prayer? You felt like you had finally discovered what being a Child of God was all about, and your peace was unmatched. Somehow, sin, disbelief or complacency nursed their way back in and interrupted your fellowship with the Lord. Now all your joy is forgotten, and when you look at scriptures that mention God’s peace and happiness, you wonder if you can ever get back to that place, or even remember what it was like. Then in today’s verse, you see what Jesus had to say about lukewarm life, and you feel even worse! 

So what is the solution? Jesus said he would have us either hot or cold, and we certainly don’t want to become cold, so there is only one choice. We must get to a point where we are spiritually hotter than ever. But how? When Jesus mentioned spewing us out of his mouth because we are lukewarm, we get the image of a beverage that is either served hot or cold. What beverage do you know of heats itself? No drink - coffee, tea, hot chocolate, anything - becomes hot without flame or heat from an external source acting on it to make its temperature rise. 

It’s the same with spiritually. While many people seek to fit the term on fire, the truth is we cannot heat ourselves. Even if we devote hours to reading scripture, promise not to sin, and fight with all our heart to avoid tempting situations. We may get discipline from it, but we still won’t have that spiritual hotness that we and God both desire. We cannot heat ourselves! But we CAN make the decision to change, restore our fellowship by confessing and repenting of sins, and ASK God to put the flame to us. As soon as we acknowledge that it’s not about what we do, but about what God does for us, then we will experience grace. True zeal for God is caused when he affects our lives, when he stokes the fire, and when he gives us the grace to be all he desires. 

Then with grateful and joyous hearts, we have no choice but to be zealous for Him. And it is done this way so He gets all the glory. So, cold or hot? How about on fire!? It can be yours if you simply repent, believe, and ask. And keep asking.  He rewards faith, and faith doesn’t give up. Your Fathers good pleasure is to give you the Kingdom. He wants to be pleased by you just as much as you want to be pleasing to him. So pray, and wait for His answer. The word promises that if we ask, and believe, we have what we asked for. And when God answers, when he stokes your faith up again - you will be able to identify yourself without hesitation as one of the few and happy who are on fire for God.  

God, in the many decisions that we face daily in our lives, let us always trust you in all that we do.  Let me always look forward to the future and who holds it!  I thank you lord for giving us hope and I cannot wait to see what You have in store for us!  Help me to always be on fire for You!  

Prayer

Why pray? 

      That’s a key question on know many people have asked me throughout the years.  In fact, its a question I have even asked myself. How we answer it will inform our entire prayer life.  Most people would say that we pray to make things happen. One theologian says, “Prayer is God granting man the dignity of causality.” I think that means prayer gets things done. People pray; God moves; things happen. It makes sense.

     

        But other people say that prayer isn’t so much about making things happen as getting in touch with God. It’s not to change God or change the world, but to change us. The ultimate purpose of prayer is to bring our hearts into line with God’s, so that we think his thoughts and feel his feelings.

      

       Is prayer for the personal man or the community of faith? Is prayer a way of doing or a way of being? Or is it both? The Bible doesn’t seem to see this as an “either/or” dilemma but a “both/and” reality. Sure, prayer gets things done, but it works because the hearts of the pray-ers are synchronized with the heart of God. Prayer gets things done when it’s practiced “in the name of Jesus.” To pray in Jesus’ name is not to use a magical potion, but to pray with the vision and values of the Son of God. It’s to pray what Jesus would pray if he were in your shoes and on your knees.

      

      A great example of praying with God’s heart took place 2,000 years before Christ. In Genesis 18:17-21, God told Abraham what he intended to do to Sodom and Gomorrah, which was burn them to the ground. This revelation moved Abraham to intercede on their behalf. In one of the most famous bargaining session of all time, Abraham haggles for the lives of the entire population. He finally gets God down to ten righteous people—if just ten good people can be found in Sodom and Gomorrah, God will spare both cities. 

       Of course, the ten righteous people don’t exist. So God executes his judgment, although he does spare four righteous people, Lot and his family. So prayer got something done as Abraham aligned his heart with God’s. Moved by God to prayer in the first place, Abraham appealed to God’s justice, entreating him not to punish the righteous along with the wicked. God responded by sparing the lives of those who were still faithful to him. That’s godly, effective prayer in a nutshell.

       Lord help me to be a man of prayer.  Don't ever let my life get so busy that I forget that time with you is the most important thing.  I pray for our lives now, and ask for your guidance, direction, and will to be done.  Bless my family, our church, and help us bless those around us.  Thank you for hearing us when we pray! 

 

Reaching out

It seems pretty obvious that God’s main plan for the church is to connect them with one another. The is the model of the church that we read about in Acts 2.  One sign of a healthy church or in my case student ministry is when many different groups (groups of students who normally wouldn’t hang out together at school) connect.  The church is designed to bring people together and to get the word of God out to the lost.   We see Jesus reaching out to people that others would not even associate with. 

As Easter approaches, I have a feeling of overwhelming responsibility to get the gospel to all generations and regardless of race, background, financial status, or any other thing the world may choose to label people with.  We know that we have to become more like Him, in order to make this plan work, but how can we do just that?  

It is by no surprise that none of us are perfect.  No one has it all together.  Everyone has disappointments, bad attitudes, and imperfections.  The good news is that we can have a new beginning when we accept God, and our relationships can become more important to us than they were before.  Jesus knew about the power of love, and showed it throughout His ministry.  He went about His Father's business often times against the grain of the norm. He didn't care what others thought, just as long as he could show love to those that needed it.  

We see in 1 John 4:7-12 that John has acquired this attitude of becoming more like Christ with his intentions and wants to share the love of God with everyone he meets.  Take a look:

 7-10My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.

 11-12My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love! 

I do know that I still have a lot of imperfections, and I can hear Christina saying Amen, but I know I am trying to live the life that God has created me for.   

It is my prayer that we don't run through this important season, and forget the reason that Christ died for us, we must remember that the reason He died was because he LOVED us.  We must in turn share this love with everyone we meet.  

God, help me to be love to those that need it most.  Open the doors of opportunity that I may share your love with all.  Never let me back down from the challenge of sharing your perfect love with others.  Thank you for saving me and giving me hope for tomorrow.  Amen.  

The Image of God

 The Image of God.  What does it mean to be in made in His image?  Does it require a commitment on our part or was it just a one time thing?  Do we live in His image?  Are we living the life that God has for us?  Are we at the level where God wants us to be?  These are questions that we must ask our self when we think about the image of God. 

Are we taking His image and using it to take our spiritual man to the next level.  The level where God wants us to be.  The level where we show God through our actions, our thoughts, and our prayers.

The Image of God.  What does it mean to be in His image?  Are we the only person that can stop our self in becoming the man or woman He wants us to become?  The answer is yes.  It should make us feel good that our past can’t stop is, our problems can’t stop us, our circumstances can’t stop us, other people cant stop us.  Only me myself and I can stop me from becoming who God intends for me to be, and that is in His image. 

How many times do we look at this as an opportunity to bathe in self-pity?  Or make excuses that start with the word if,  if I had more money, if I went to a better school, if I wasn’t so tired or busy I could do more for God. 

When I think about this in relation to my marriage, no matter how wonderful it is, it could still be better.  You can move to the next level even in your marriage.  What about our jobs, our relationships, our finances, our relationship with God?

 Are we really satisfied with where we are or do we really want to walk in His Image? 

 If we are truly hungry for God it requires us to do several things:

 1.    Have a greater responsibility: everyone must be responsible for themselves.  We must take the blame ourselves and be responsible for our actions. I must make a conscience decision to follow Him and not merely rely on others to get me through it.  

2.    We must have a greater commitment:  There will be plenty of opportunities to quit! But when you make a commitment, quitting is not an option.  It may seem hard to keep commitments but God always honors His!  

3.    We must have greater discipline: Discipline is a must.  Discipline helps us say yes to the important things and keeps us from becoming lazy. Discipline in life allows us to stay focused on the task at hand. 

4.    We must have a greater sacrifice.  No great thing is ever accomplished without sacrifice.  Jesus said to find your life you must be willing to lose it.  Jesus did just that!  

5.    We must be accountable to one another.  Everyone must be accountable to someone.  Tom move to the next level in anything, the accountability becomes greater.  Jesus said to whom much is given much is required. 

6.    We must take risks: Life Is full of risks.  The greatest hazard is to risk nothing.  Because the person who risks nothing, has nothing and is nothing. No matter what image we may resemble today, we will always be striving to walk in the Image of Christ.  

Lord help me to be molded into your Image.  Help me not to get too busy to stop what I am doing and listen to what you are saying.  Help me not to hear just hear your voice, but help me to respond to it!  Thank you for keeping us, and help us to move closer to you! 

The Dreaded flu

I know that this may seem like a horrible topic write on, but I have to give thanks to God in advance for getting us through it.  It is times like these that we all fall on our knees to God and beg for His mercy.  But the thing that really stirs me up inside is why is it that we always feel like we have to wait to get His attention.  Only in the desperate times do we feel we can call on Him.  As I have laid in bed the past few days, I know that God has had to had his laughs at my expense, as I can remember sleeping for longer than I have ever slept.   Even since my teenage years. But then I wonder does God know when we have just had enough and forces us to stop and be thankful for what we have been given.  In my case, I know the answer is yes.   He did.  And it made me realize how great our God is.  

I have found out that I never want to be in the middle of a storm or trial or in this case sickness, where I haven't called upon the name of God in a long time.  It is in these times that we need God to answer right now.  Today one of the hardest things hit me, I was the one that made my son sick.  Peyton is right now sick with the same flu I have had for the past few days.   It bothered me, it worries me, but the God thing that I stand on is doesn't surprise my God.  It doesn't even worry Him in the least little bit.  This past week has been a very busy one, so much to the point I feel like I have barely seen my sons, but I know that I have a Father who has been with them every second of every day.  

After reading this morning in the word, I see Moses getting specific instructions from God to give to the people.  They are supposed to set aside time to honor God and to give Him the due respects.  But then I find it even more interesting when one person asks him, what do we do if we are unclean?  God then responds with they can still celebrate the passover, but they must do so at the appointed time.  

Isn't there a need for an appointed time for us to meet with the Master.   I feel like we are all so unworthy of celebrating and worshipping Him for who He is but I know that He cares about even the small things in our lives.  He cares about each one of us so very very much.  We all nee dour appointed times so that we can stop and just listen and give back to Him a little of what He has given to us.  So even if sickness does come, and it might, just no that you have God's full attention and maybe now He has yours too!  

The past week has caused me to realize that without Him, I am definitely nothing.  When I am weak, He is strong.  He has been there to hold my family together when I haven't been around, and has protected my baby and my wife from this!  I plead the blood of Jesus of them so that they do not get this sickness, and that Peyton will be restored to health asap.  

God I thank you for allowing me to have access to You at all times.  We no longer need the sacrifices as of old, but we must never forget that all of us are unclean. The good news is that you can wash us white as snow, and nothing can ever separate us from your love.  I pray for the health of my family, and my extended family, as they have been a great help in the time of need. I thank you for the love and support of a church family that knows how to pray, and ask that You be with each of them.  Be with us and wash this house free of germs.   AMEN. 

Brayden Josiah

I have to say that today has been one of the greatest days of my life.  My wedding day being the first and the birth of my first son Peyton is right there with this one.  I can't explain to you How great our God is.  When you see the birth process and see the end result, I don't see how anyone can ever say there isn't a God.  I thank God for allowing us to be a part of His creation.  

Brayden Josiah was born at 1:11PM  and weighed 7.5lbs and 20 3/4 inches long.  I have always said there was no way to ever love another like I love Peyton, well I definitely know now that isn't true.  There is nothing like the feeling of your own flesh in blood in your arms.  These babies are totally dependant on us to provide for them.  It just reminds me of how much we have to depend on God for everything.  Without Him, we are nothing.  

Just remember today, as God brought a new baby into the world, yet again, the greatness of our God.  It is never too late to come home to a Father who has His arms open wide.  I thank each of you for the many prayers, and ask that God watch over each of you.  I couldn't be more proud of my wife Christina, my son Peyton, and now my son Brayden Josiah!  

The Big Day

Well as I sit here in the hospital room, waiting for our son to make his grand entrance into the world, my heart is overwhelmed with responsibility, with joy, with emotion.  I can't even begin to express what Peyton has meant to us.  He is the joy of our life.   There isn't a day goes by that he doesn't make me smile and just to think in just a few hours, I will have a new bundle of joy.  I have often times stopped to think why would God choose me.  Why would He choose us to be parents of such an awesome creations.  The more I begin to think that God loves us so much that He trust us with His creations just proves the kind of creator we serve.  

God chooses us to be a part of His creation.  Then we have to choose to serve Him or do our own thing.  There is nothing that is more rewarding than serving Him.  I know that I have failed many times, but God has always been faithful to be there when I have not.  Today, I can't imagine the love that it had to take for God to send His son into this world.  A world full of sin.  There are many parts of me that wishes we could totally surround our children from the filth of this world, but then that is why we serve such an awesome God.  

In just a few hours, Brayden Josiah will join our family.  I know that it will impossible to love Him like our creator loves us, but I will do my very best to be the best Dad I can to him and to by little buddy, the big brother, Peyton.  I can only sit here and Thank God for the gift of life, and can only imagine what this new bundle of joy will mean to our lives.  

We have definitely had a whirlwind of days the last few weeks, and I am sure this will be no exception, but I am ready to see all of the new challenges that another gift from God will bring. I can't close this post without saying to all of my family and friends thank you for all your love and prayers.  I pray that each of you renews your relationship with our creator and know that no matter what it is you are going through, God will be here.  I know He is with us now in this room, and He will be with us always.  Nothing we do can ever separate us from the love of God. 

Lord, I thank you on this awesome day in You.  I thank you for the gift of life.  I thank you for guiding us this far, and know that in the next few hours, days, weeks, and months that You will be our strength.  I pray for the delivery, for Christina, for Brayden, for the doctors and nurses.  I know Your hand will be with them.  I thank you for a peace and strength for Christina and that you will help her to endure to the end.  I thank you for this new addition to our family, and pray that You watch over his grand entrance into the world. I pray for the new big brother Peyton, so that he will be able to understand that Brayden will never take his place, but rather have a place just like his.  I pray for family and friends that are traveling here, and pray that you guide them all the way.  Lord, most of all I thank you for saving me so that on a day like today, I know where our strength comes from, our Help comes from You!  Be with us.  I love you Lord.  Amen 

The Source of the Problem

Today as I was reading in Mark chapter 7, I found a very interesting passage of scripture that made me begin to look at my own life. For many years I have heard of talk about the Pharisees of the Bible, and how they were religious, but yet did not follow the full commands of God. Often times they can be seen directly questioning Christ himself. But it wasn't until this morning that I realized have we not at times been Pharisees of sorts? I mean the biggest thing that is known of the Pharisees was there taking their scriptures and applying it to their lives as they saw fit. This passage in Mark really stirred me up though when Jesus in fact responded this to the Pharisees:

Isaiah was right about frauds like you, hit the bulls eye in fact:

These people make a big show of saying the right thing,

but their heart isn't in it.

They act like they are worshipping me,

but they don't mean it.

They just use me as cover

for teaching whatever suits their fancy,

Ditching God's commands,

and taking up the latest fads."

That looks to me like a picture of churches today. How many times have we been guilty of coming to church and did just that, put on a show. Deep down inside knowing it was just that. There was no act of obedience to God, no desire to truly enter into His presence, no heart of worship, just a mere act that was put on to satisfy the people around us. Wow, I can say that I have been guilty as charged. I have had those days where nothing was true and pure and made worship something that God never intended it to be. I have been in churches and heard messages that simply touch the simple things of life that only are pleasing to the ear and never truly deal with the commands of God. I have seen it time and time again how the so called Christians of the world are so far from the ways of God, that others choose never to come to our churches because they see how so called Christians act.

So how then can we say that the Pharisees were wrong and just act like we are OK. I think this scripture should make us look at our own life and make sure that are worship always revolves around Him. If we cannot obey the ways of God, it will be impossible for us to ever truly hear His voice, or for us to even be in His will. I am reminded of the children of Israel when God made a covenant with them, but they refused to follow His commands. It was because of the their disobedience to the covenant that God made with them that they had to go through battles and trials without God's cover. If they would have just listened the first time, God would have been with them always. The same thing is true for us. God has made promises to us and to our families, and we must be willing to follow his commands, and worship Him for who He is, not just act like we are doing so. God desires the praises of His children, and he deserves every second of it. As the children of God, we must be careful not to fall into routines, or try to do things our way, and we must be careful to listen for the voice of God.

God it is my prayer that I never get in a hurry or worship or prayer with You. I pray that I will always remember that worship is not about me at all, it is all about you. May everything that comes out of my mouth glorify you and let bit of pride fall before you. May I do everything in your Name, and never let me fall into the trap of the world in my teachings, my lifestyle, or my worship. Search me, clean me, use me. I thank you for loving us in such a way that you have never given up on us, even when we have tried our own thing. May you be with us this week, as the new life that you have given to us comes into this world. May I be the husband, father, son, brother, and friend you have called me to be. Thank you for the blessings you have shown to me and my family, and may we always remember who the Blesser is and where the blessings come from.

Back to business

Over the past few weeks I have seen God show up in more ways than one.  Without going into extreme detail I can say that the past few weeks have been well crazy.  The key to it all for me is knowing that God still sees and cares about everything going on in our lives.  I think about how many hours that I spend doing this and that and then realize that when the end of the day comes, I am just worn out and feel like doing nothing.  But then I think about the God that we serve.  What if God was like that?   I mean compared to God, our lives our simple.  We deal with work, family, friends, and then whatever extra we can squeeze into to our already busy lives, but God never stops to even take a break.  I mean right now as I write this and spend some quiet time with God, I have His undivided attention.  But what is amazing is that if someone all across the world is doing the very same thing, they also have His undivided attention.  Thankfully, we serve a God that is everything to everyone.  He is whatever we are searching for, He is whatever we are in need of, and He is always there.  In comparison to some of us, what an breath of fresh air.  

As the past few weeks have unfolded, my life and my families have been a whirlwind.  We have somehow managed to move the from a school building to a church (finally after about 3 years), I have managed to enroll myself in more classes ( not sure how that will go), we found out that our son (Brayden Josiah) will be born next Friday (unless God has different plans), and with the help of others, got through our first youth service with only minor scratches.  Even though it seemed as if there was no stopping to what has been a whirlwind of weeks, I find comfort in the fact that I have a God that has been with me every step of the way.  Nothing about this crazy time in my life surprised God.  He knew it all.  He wasn't searching for the how to book or scratching His head on what which way was up, He already knew everything about me.  The awesome thing is my God is past, present, and future all in one.  He knew me and my life before I was even born.  He has plans for me.  

Nothing surprises God.  I have found that whatever I have asked God for over the past few weeks, He has answered.  It hasn't always been like I would have like, but it has been with the loving arms of a parent.  I just wonder, what would happen if all that I did, was in sync with all that He wanted me to do.  What would happen if I truly lived every day like it was my last, and gave God all that He wanted of me?  

Lord, I pray that these thoughts would not be just that.  I pray that I would begin to live everyday in your will.  Let me hear your voice through all the chaos that life will bring.  Always help me to keep you at the center of whatever I am doing, and never let me forget who gave me life in the first place.  Lord I love you and thank you for the past few days and cannot wait to see what You have in store for my future, and the future with my new family!  Amen.