Worth-ship

I am a little discombobulated due to the opinions of some Christians, or should I say the biased hardcore “beliefs” of some believers about different worship styles. Yes I am talking about the ultimate debate between the beloved hymns and the more recent choruses. If you have been in any church for any amount of time whatsoever you have discovered that there are those who religiously, and I do mean “religiously” insist hymns are the only songs that must be sung, there are those who only enjoy the new choruses and then you have those who don’t mind singing both.

Now my dazed and confused state is not as much concentrated on the “men and women of God” as much as it is on their reactions or better said their lack of action to the style of worship they dislike. Sadly some have this honest belief that true worship only takes place when one sings out of the hymnals. So when a song is being led in a style they blatantly detest they choose to not sing as if they are making this bold proclamation of protest against some sort of raging machine they feel is leading the masses away from God.

But in my opinion when it comes to the worship debate my question to all who dare to call themselves Christian would be “WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE?” I mean seriously, who DO we think we are to act as if God agrees with us on OUR choice of worship styles? Isn’t worship all about Him and not at all about us? How dare we assume God can or will only move due to one style of worship over another.

To be honest when I think of these brothers and sisters in Christ my heart is troubled and I am sincerely filled with sorrow for them because they just don’t seem to get it. You see the sad, sad fact that these opinionated Christians need to understand is that their decision to NOT sing certain worship songs based solely on their personal disapproval of them is like personally making a decision that God is not worthy of all of their praise. So of course they will not FEEL or SEE God move in their lives because they’re not open to His moving or His “inhabiting their praises” because of their personal decision to just not worship because of their personal preference.

Worship whether we’re singing the old or the new is all about the expression of God’s worthiness to us as our Creator, King and Savior. So we should sing every song with every ounce of our beings and stop being so concerned about our personal preferences and become more concerned about our personal relationship with our personal Savior.

Gifts for The Gift

This week is our third message in the CHRISTmess series.

When everyone arrives at church hopefully they will notice there is an upside down ChristMESS tree standing tall in the sanctuary which displays how we have turned the original meaning of Christmas upside down.

Now above the tree are three gifts. A gold, blue and red gift.

(This bit of information may not be in the message Sunday so if you are reading this blog you will get an extra bit of information that those who don't read it may never see or hear.)

These three gifts represent the three gifts scripture records the wise men present to the baby Jesus, gold, frankincense and myrrh. The gold gift represents the gift of gold, the blue- frankincense and the red- myrrh. These three gifts, like the three given to Jesus over two thousand years ago represent who Jesus is to humanity.

The gold- His Deity.

The blue- frankincense which is burned in the synagogue as worship to God representing the fragrance of heaven.

The red- myrrh which is a toxin used in small amounts with wine as an anesthetic or pain-killer which is associated with suffering and death.

So these three gifts represent the fact that Jesus IS the KING OF KINGS, our One True High Priest and the Ultimate Sacrificial Lamb.

Notice the Red gift has a green covering flowing from it's opening. This is an illustration I added to represent the everlasting life that flowed from Jesus' sacrfice. [green being the color which represents everlasting life]

All these gifts like the title of this blog were presented to THE GIFT God has given us in His Only Son. A Gift I pray we never take for granted or forget the three gifts represent.

The Mess In CHRISTmess

We are in the middle of our December series “CHRISTmess” and so far we’ve recognized that even though Joseph and Mary (Jesus’ parents) were definitely in God’s will for not only their lives but the lives of all of humanity they still had heartaches and trials that turned their lives upside down and made the plans they may have had for their future lives together a complete mess. The end result of the message was that just because our lives seem to be a mess that doesn’t mean that we are out of God’s will for our lives, as some would have us to believe and maybe we are right smack in the middle of the mess we are in because we are right smack in the middle of God’s will.

Then on the 13th we inspected, examined and analyzed Matthew 1 which records Jesus’ genealogy through Joseph, His earthly father’s family tree…and talk about a mess! There are Gentiles, prostitutes, liars and thieves in His dad’s lineage. Which allows us to understand that no matter how messed up we or our roots are, being adopted into God’s family tree is what makes us Holy. Not anything in and of ourselves, or anything we can do will make us Holy except for the fact that God has adopted us into His family tree. And in turn it shows us that God can use us to birth His salvation into the lives of those around us no matter how big a mess we seem to be or be in.

And this week I’m not totally sure what the message will entail but I believe we are talking about how Christmas has become a CHRIST-mess because we have totally turned it upside down! And somewhere in the middle we may discover (I’m not for sure yet) but we may discover that every miracle needs a mess to manifest itself in. Jesus was born not only in the middle of the mess of a feedlot but He was also born right in the middle of the mess that mankind had made of themselves and their relationship with Himself.

All I can say is since every miracle needs a mess to manifest itself in, the way things are going right now for my wife and I and for our great nation...there must be a miracle coming real soon!

etc. etc. etc...

To be honest, it's the way we use the word "control."

As a follower and firm believer in God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit I believe God is definitely (and) ultimately in control of the future and the destiny's of those who believe and those who do not. But the "choice" to believe is still left to the individual. And every Christian should fully agree with this statement because it is the basis of our faith in Christ and what He has done for us. And to seriously disagree with this fact would mean that God "does" choose who accepts Him and who doesn't. (Now I hope I am explaining this thought clearly enough.)

We know the decision to make it to heaven or end up in hell is truly ours to make. Take the two thieves on their crosses on either side of Jesus at their crucifixion. One decided to believe, accept, and confess not only his own guilt, but that the man beside him was also Jesus the Christ, the Lamb and Son of God. The other chose not to believe, admit or confess that Jesus is Lord. These two men and their individual decisions are representative of all of humanity. Jesus died for both men, (or for all humanity to be exact) but only one accepted and made the independent choice to follow Him to Paradise.

My point is this, within God's will for all of humanity there is a [plan A] and a [plan B] (referred to by some as His "perfect will" or His "permissible will".) [Plan A] is what God likes and plans for our lives but then there's [plan B] which is what He allows to happen in our lives by the choices we make.

Just ask Adam and Eve! And don't only ask them about their "fall" as it's called, or better put, their decision to "jump" into the sin of disobedience but ask them what it's like to have one of their sons beat their other son to death and then lie about it. To rephrase it, ask them if they think God seriously wanted Cain to brutally murder Abel in a jealous fit of rage and then act as if Abel deserved it or had it coming. You see it may not always seem fair or right but sometimes good people get hurt by bad people who make selfishly bad decisions.

Now I know and believe that God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-present at all times (and in all of time) so He knows the decisions we are going to make before we even make them. Because listen, He knows every decision we've ever made, every choice we make now and He already knows the outcome of every one we will make in the future because He is already there! This is why the well known scripture points out that Jesus is "the Lamb that was slain before the creation of the world." He was, is and is to come. You see God exists outside of time. So God is still at the beginning of creation, He is here as you are reading this blog, and He is already present at the end of time as we understand it. Which does mean that He is in ultimate control, and yet (allows) us to choose our own destiny's.

Hope it makes sense...Shalom

Believe In The Word? Believe This One!

1 John 5.19 [niv] "We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one."

Just in case someone doesn't understand what my previous blog was all about let me put it in a simpler statement. If God is in control the way most think (like some mysterous puppeteer) then He would not have given mankind free-will. Our lives as followers of Christ depend on choice not chance, circumstance or compulsory. We choose to believe, choose to follow and choose to live for Him. If God chooses to control everything and everyone then He would not have made choice a factor.

Now I do believe God is in control of the lives of those who choose to follow Him and His Word, but by choice.

Control Freak

How many times have we heard this statement, “Everything is going to work out because “God is in control”?
I mean seriously, how many times have I even made this proclamation from the pulpit?

Is God really “in control?”

If God is in control then why does this world seem to be so out of control? Why is there hatred, sickness, and disease? Why is alcohol and drugs ruining lives? Why do we have wars, crimes and murder? If God is in control why are people starving and going without the basic needs to sustain life? And if God is really in control then why does sin even exist?

Where was this statement birthed, and have we misinterpreted, misquoted and maybe just maybe misused it?

Maybe this declaration echo’s from Paul’s words where he writes this to the Romans in chapter 8 verse 9... “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”

I believe we need to come to a deeper understanding - a revelation if you will - that we totally take this “God is in control” thing out of context. We seem to treat this statement or quote as if everything that has happened, everything that is happening and everything that will ever happen is within God’s will for us as individuals and for this world. But for all appearances sake that really can-not be true.

The Word of God has specific truths about what God’s will is and what His will is not. For instance, 2 Peter tells us that God “doesn’t want anyone to perish, but He wants everyone to come to repentance.” But the fact of the matter is, not everyone repents and they do perish. So how can we say that He is in control?

I guess what I’m trying to point out is that essentially if God is in control the way we’ve morphed the truth into being, then that would make Him less of a loving Father and more like this obsessed control freak who manipulates us like His marionette puppets.

To properly rephrase the “God is in control” philosophy maybe we should follow it up with, “But only if we follow His leading or only if we are obedient to His Word and Spirit.” Or maybe we should replace the “God is in control” with “God will have the last word and what happens between now and then is not left up to chance but to choice.” I know it’s a little lengthier but in my world, I find it to be more accurate.

December 2nd

December 2nd, the day before December 3rd. This and May 3rd, 2 days I will dread as long as I walk this earth. I'm only human. Not super-human, not even super-spiritual. If anything I am superficial when it comes to my own emotions, as in most of the time I wear them on my sleeves for all to see. I never want to pretend that loss of love is minimized by believing and living for the Messiah. He came to experience sorrow, greif and yes, even loss. I have a joy unspeakable and full of glory because I know that the future holds a family reunion that will last for eternity but until then we must deal, live and strive to continue on. Help me LORD tonight and tomorrow to focus on your promises and not on losses. December 2nd, the day before December 3rd.

Witnessing

Today for the third time I’ve had 2 young students at the door in suits carrying briefcases and [their] bibles. One is about 16-17 the other about 9-10. The older does all the talking while the younger stands there stiff and frozen with this look on his face like a deer paralyzed by the headlights of a monster truck.

The older is polite, respectful and courteous as he lays out his introduction and does his best to befriend me. Now the first time we met on my porch I informed him I was the Pastor of the Pentecostal Church not twenty feet from us, (thinking that would send him running never to return) but it didn’t faze him.

Now this morning he asked if I would like to have some W.T. information to read and I politely accepted and listened as he read from his word, how- believe it or not, people can be deceived by the false teachers and teaching of today and be lead astray from Christ’s original teachings.

Now that you have the full picture of what and who we’re talking about, I need to admit to you that usually I will open my Bible and start witnessing to the Witnesses about false teachings and teachers myself. But again today with these two young boys I couldn’t help but constantly think about how they think they are doing what they need to do to make it into their J.W. "heaven" (wich is just soul-sleep for them- since their elite 144 thousand have already beat them to being included in the “New Heaven” of their scriptures version).

In one way I felt I was doing them a favor by letting them witness to me, but the reality of it is- I wasn’t. They thought they were [doing = works] what they needed to do to make it to their eternal resting place after this life and I continued to play along because to be honest they go away quicker if you don’t confront them with the Truth. BUT by my not telling them the Truth I failed as a Christian let alone a Pastor.

SO YES the Witnesses are dedicated to going from door to door talking about their beliefs but they are taught that in so doing they attain their reward in their heaven BY WHAT THEY DO- not by the grace of God through the shed blood of Christ.

The thing is we should be that dedicated in seeing others come to a relationship with Jesus that we would feel the need to go door to door, but in order that others might give their hearts to God, not so we may attain salvation.

So if God allows the Witnesses to confront me again I shall take the time out of my day to witness to them and plant some seeds of thought in their minds and hearts that we don't have to do anything to have our Father in heaven love us accept, accept His love, His grace and His mercy.

ENCOURAGE

ENCOURAGE, The Greek word is “parakaleo”, which literally means "to call alongside." It suggests that an object or person is under pressure (fearful, weak, overwhelmed), and it means to strengthen by giving appropriate aid. Ancient Greek authors sometimes used it to describe military reinforcement in difficult times during battles.

And parallel to that description biblical encouragement suggests that Christians live under intense pressure--not just the normal pressures of everyday life in a broken world, but also the pressures of serving Christ in a spiritually hostile environment--and therefore need to be spiritually strengthened on a regular basis.

The bible repeatedly communicates that we should always encourage one another in God's Word/Truth and hope in ways that personally strengthen us to continue to follow God's will for our lives.

Jesus calls us to become communities where encouragement is not only a natural action but a mutual, common and equal give-and-take environment. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us to “. . . encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”—so we can not only strengthen each other but so we can become beacons of hope to those who have none.

Now it always seems to surprise people when I explain the fact that I wasn’t born a pastor…but it’s the honest truth. But when I did accept Christ and become one of His followers I had the opportunity to sit in many a pew and witness the “use and abuse” of church leadership.

And one thing I downloaded mentally was that too often we look at our pastors, teachers and other church leaders as if it’s solely their responsibility to always encourage us, the church and the community. The reality is that the Word clearly states that our pastors, teachers and leaders real responsibility is to equip the body so they too will become encouragers.

Ephesians 4:11-12 says,
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

NOT just because I now happen to pastor but because it’s a truth found in Gods Word, we need to understand like verse 11 says church leaders are actually “gifts” from Jesus Christ (I didn’t say it, God says it in His Word) and they need to be treated with respect not contempt, and they need to be encouraged just as much, if not more than other followers. A word of appreciation, encouragement and constant prayer are all great ways to encourage not only leadership but everyone around us.

I could go on forever but I need to close with this fact, “parakaleo” is also the term Jesus chose to describe the Holy Spirit in His coming to live in and minister through every Christian. So even when we feel as though we don’t have the strength or ability to be an encourager, the Holy Spirit living within us “comes alongside of us” to council, comfort and complete Gods mission and ministry through our lives. And if you’re wondering, that’s exactly how church leaders can be encouragers to everyone else even when they need encouragement themselves. So the next time you need encouraging seek out the Christ-given gift of your church leadership then do your best to be and encouragement to others through the other Christ-given gift, the Holy Spirit.

Paranormal Activity

Today in service we talked about becoming fully aware of the presence, the purpose, and the power of the Paranormal Activity that's around us. Now we didn't talk about the paranormal in the sense that Hollywood has described as the undead or gobblins. But as the word paranormal is defined = the word Paranormal is a general term that describes unusual experiences that lack a scientific explanation. And the Word of God is filled with paranormal activity that science can in no way explain. We actually talked about how the normal (that which we can see and scientificly explain) and the paranormal (the unexplained) not only exist but they co-exist all around us all of the time. More or less today's message was a precursor to a new series titled "Ghost Hunters" (from SyFy's tv series) starting here at the church November 1st (the day after Halloween.) We will be studying about the HOLY SPIRIT and His gifts.

One of Paul's prison cells

Here is a picture of Pauls prison cell in Philippi. It was unearthed from 1956-1961.

My Own Prison

The band Creed released their debut album “My Own Prison” on June 18, 1997. It’s been certified as 6x platinum and is one of the top 200 selling albums of all time in the United States. Even though Creed is in no way a “Christian band” most of the members have Christian roots embedded into their younger personal lives and you can see these roots reveal themselves on the surface of their lyrics.

This past week in my personal study and devotion time I’ve been contemplating and comparing a few facts about Saul/Paul’s life and his terms in prison. Even though it’s hard to be specific about the totality of years in which Paul spent being imprisoned, biblically speaking it adds up to approximately seven years or so.

Now during one of his stints in prison we read of a scene in Acts 26.9-11 where Paul is standing before King Agrippa and giving a summary of his own life, before his own personal conversion and experience with Christ. And we should take note of the commonality in which Paul uses to connect with not only the king, but his captor and judge who has the power to set him free from his physical prison.

This is what Acts 26.9-11 records of Paul’s confession. He says,
9 “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.”

Now before I get into just one of the trains of thought I’ve been riding this past week I would like for you to notice when you read Acts chapter 25 and 26 that first and foremost Paul does not plead for his own life but he pleads for the life of his captors. He doesn’t try to get himself set free with educated words but instead he tries to allow God’s Word to set King Agrippa and all who are listening free.
Verses 28 and 29 of Acts 26 says;
28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?"
29 Paul replied, "Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."

Now there's not enough room on this blog to post everything I’ve studied but here is just a slight hint of the fuel which ignited the vehicle of my week’s personal study. I found it amazing that Saul/Paul life’s role was utterly and totally reversed. Please notice he went from persecuting, imprisoning and killing Christ’s followers to being persecuted, imprisoned and eventually killed as a Christ follower.

And listen, Paul’s prison cells didn’t have a sink, a toilet, a bed, a weight set in the yard or cable TV. His cells were places of darkness, death and despair and yet he uses these dismal depressing places to write the Words of God and see those alongside of him find Christ. His life’s plea was never “Lord set me free from my chains or prison” but rather he used his chains and cells to see others set free from their peronal prisons.

So what can we take from this? Should we ask ourselves “Have we personally fashioned our own prisons from our jobs, our towns, living conditions, financial situations or our surroundings?” Or are our prisons actually just our selfish viewpoints of our own personal lives? Have we made ourselves comfortable in our own prisons by being content to be discontent? Do we set around holding ourselves captive by our life's conditions to the point of where we just can’t see the need around us for others to experience the freedom that can only be found through a relationship with Christ?

Now this isn't really even the tip of the iceberg as to what’s been going on in my mind and heart, it’s just a drop in the ocean. But I will leave you with this question for you to ask yourself, “Am I just surviving in My Own Prison or am I focusing my life on setting others free?”

True Love Forever and Always

Tears are not only designed for the cleansing of the eyes but the washing of the spirit and soul due to loss and separation. That's why there are no tears or sorrow in Heaven. Because once we're there, we will not only be forever with those who went on before us but we will also be with the One who made it all possible.

In light of eternity, life is short but True Love HAS, IS and WILL always last forever. So all of the worship, praise and thankfulness that flows outward from within the confines of our earthen containers during this earthly life is merely practice for the everlasting to everlasting to come.

So today and everyday our worship and our praise should move outward and upward to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for being that True Love.

Psalm 30.4-6 [NIV]
4 Sing to the LORD, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
6 When I felt secure, I said,
"I will never be shaken."

John 11.35 [NIV]
35 Jesus wept.

Hebrews 13.8 [NIV]
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

1 John 4.15-17 [NIV]
15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And 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. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.

1 John 4.19 [NIV]
19 We love because he first loved us.

Revelation 1.8 [NIV]
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

Revelation 2.4 [NIV]
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.

Revelation 21.3-5 [NIV]
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

Sunday's Passionate Plea

This is a cry from within the passion of my heart.

We have allowed our Doctrines and our Denominations
- to Dictate and Define who we are
rather than the Divine Deity of our Deliverer and Savior...

…I mean if you think about it…
We have re-defined ourselves
from WHO our Creator and our Re-Creator - HIS SON…
created us to be.

YES, we ARE Christians
- and that’s all find and dandy, that's who we should be…

…but now we’ve tagged ourselves as something all together separate…

..because now we’re not only Christians
but we’re also…

- Presbyterians

- Baptists

- Catholics

- Episcopal

- Methodists

- Calvinists

- Pentecostals

…and you name it
we’ve sub-categorized,
-or sub-cultured ourselves as it.

We’ve made ourselves
into all of these different organizations
- instead of the ONE moving,
breathing, and living organism
that God intended for us to be.

So if you seriously think about it…
- how much different are we
than the Pharisees, the Sadducees,
the Herodians, or the Sanhedrin?

And ths sad thing is,
all the while as we sit around
separating ourselves into our individual containers,

- debating and arguing
over whether you have to be
sprinkled, sprayed, or dunked…

…whether you should play a piano, guitars, drums
or play any instruments at all...

...have traditional services or contemporary services…

…and whether you should speak in tongues or not speak in tongues…

…there are people outside of our exclusive pew boxes
dying and headed for hell
because they can’t see the UNITY of God’s LOVE between us…

…let alone, feel it coming from us.

And I really believe we would see more people come to Christ
if we would stop trying to build our own little kingdoms on earth
and start living and acting as God’s Kingdom on earth…

…and the only way to achieve that
is to stop being self-centered
and get back to being Christ-centered!

THE CONTENDER

I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. - Jude 3 [niv]

What does Jude mean when he says to "contend" for the faith?

Well he means that as Christ followers we need to "fight" to keep the faith. Now the Word says that we're not fighting against flesh and blood and so in Jude's letter he's really not talking about fighting in the arena of politics, schools, workplaces or even fighting to keep the faith in our government or country. He's actually writing this letter to the church about the church keeping the faith within themselves. And as any good fighter knows it takes discipline to fight the good fight. You see it takes disciplining ones body, mind and spirit and giving it your all in order to win any fight.

And so this Sunday we will be bringing out a few ways we can discipline ourselves to be winners by looking to "THE CONTENDER". So join us this Sunday at 8:30 or 10:30 for "THE CONTENDER".

CONFUSED

I'm sort of confused about something.

We have a great building full of loving Christ followers who always encourage me as their pastor. They compliment me, seem to listen (most of the time) when I'm preaching, they follow my leadership as I follow the Lord, and I know they really love the Lord and His Word with all of their hearts, minds, souls and strengths. But when I announce we're having a different speaker other than myself on a future date, most will not attend church that day or if they do they seem disturbed or unhappy. Now I know it can't be that I'm the greatest preacher in the world or even in Pomona for that matter, (because I know I'm not even close) so why is it they choose to not attend service if I'm not speaking? So at this point I am going to openly display the thoughts inside my head and spirit when I think of these times.

ONE- Where does a followers loyalty lie, is it in their pastor, or in the God they serve?

TWO- If a speaker a pastor has asked to fill his pulpit is disapproved of, or is disliked by his congregants, then isn't that a reflection of their dissatisfaction or disapproval of their pastor's leadership?

THREE- Isn't God's Word what they should be gathered to hear, study and consume...not mans delivery?

FOUR- Is it not understood that different preachers can hear God speak to them and in turn allow God to speak through them.

I have been contemplating this kind of stuff for some time now so I am thinking of starting a new separate blog that will most likely be called "View From The Fishbowl." Be looking for it in the future.

Hey Jude

I am really excited as usual about Sundays service but tomorrow starts our new "Hey Jude" series. And I'm pretty stoked about the fact that our worship team is singing Beatles songs as specials and that our ministry team gets the opportunity to talk about Jude, his letter and the depth of his warnings about false teachers in the church and the depth of his love for Christ and His church.

Jude deserves more than just a quick read because we're trying to 'read through the bible in a year', but it really deserves (like all of the Word) a deep investigation of the many truths that need to be revealed, remembered, rehearsed, respected and regarded as important for a Christ-like lifestyle. We will not only look into the letter (or book) of Jude but we will be looking into who Jude was, his passion and his character.

So you see my excitement about this series is not really about our worship team playing secular songs from those who helped change the direction of popular music, it's about using the secular to bring others to a deeper understanding of the spiritual. To be honest even though your average church-goers would find the Beatles songs offensive being played in church, those exact same church-goers could recite from memory every word of Hey Jude, Let It Be, or any number of Hank Williams or Johnny Cash songs but yet they cannot tell you hardly one word of what Jude or any number of other authors in the bible have written.

This is why I'm excited about this Hey Jude series. Hopefully it will bring excitement and a passion in others to dig deeper into the Word and allow the Word to dig itself deeper into them.

Elusion or Illusion?

I will be the first to admit I have a question in which the answer has eluded me.

Knowing that the word “glory” can be defined in the Hebrew noun of “kabod” which means a “weight” or “weightiness” in the physical context of God’s presence, then how does one distinguish between the weightiness from God and the weightiness or heaviness from ones own emotional struggles?

Having experienced more than one event of heaviness I understood to be from God (after the fact), feels exactly the same to me as the heaviness I’ve experienced throughout emotional turmoil. I know both heed the need for desperate prayer, but the question in preponderance is why do they have to "feel" the same?

One is lead of God to seek Him for prayer on the account of ones obedience to pray, to be prepared for an upcoming event He knows is coming ones way, or His leading to obey a command or conviction He’s place on the heart and mind. But the other is that of a broken heart due to a saddened state of emotional toil. So the question I’m inquiring of God is, why must they feel so much alike?

16 TONS

In today's service we talked about how most of America sees their jobs as Tennesse Ernie Ford's song describes..."You load sixteen tons and what do you get, another day older and deeper in debt!" You see working at a secular job does not have to seem like an endless merry-go-round of unpurposed toil if we choose to look at our labor as service unto God instead of service for self-preservation. God calls all of us as His followers "priests" for His Kingdom. So if we take the perspective (or the challenge) that our daily labor is to actually display God's love, grace and mercy to everyone on our jobs then that holds more importance than just our making a living, and with that type of outlook our days will become more about God and less about us, which will transform our everyday labor from persistent problems and personality conflicts to purpose-filled pleasurable service to our King.

Separation of Church and Life

Have you ever noticed how as followers of Christ we’ve separated the secular from the sacred? We’ve said this over here, our churches, pastors, priests, and Sundays are sacred and that over there, our jobs, hobbies, work and Mondays through Saturdays are secular. Now if we were living in the Old Testament that would be true but we don’t live in the Old we live in and under the New Testament. The New Testament tells us that as followers of Christ we need to understand that for us there is no separation between the secular and the sacred as a matter of fact if you read Hebrews chapter 9 you’ll see that explained in great detail. Here’s what Revelation 1.5-6 says in the NIV it says,
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father…
Since we are followers of Christ then He, through His shed blood not only provided a way for us to be freed from our sins but He also made us ALL His priests and the Holy Spirit lives inside of us so everyday not just a few hours on Sunday but everyday is Holy to us because wherever we are whatever we do, the Spirit of God is with us. We’re briefly talking about this in this Sundays message called “16 Tons” which is named after Tennessee Ernie Fords song with the same title. The thing is once we get the concept of wherever we go and whatever we do God is with us we will have a greater understanding of what the Word means when it calls us the Body of Christ, the Ecclesia, the Assembly or more commonly known as “the Church.” So wherever we go and whatever we’re doing we need to do it as if we’re doing it unto the Lord. You see as followers of Christ there really is no separation of Church and Life!

the weekend

We had a great time at the bike show Saturday and then church Sunday. We made some new friends, met up with some old ones and made new connections for next year. We had 12 bikes enter the show and a lot of bikers come through then head out on the road again. When I get time I will post some pics on the website and maybe one on this blog. David and Brenda Pantleo, Honor Bound Motorcycle Chaplains are always a great help and fun to be around. They are an encouragement to us and our church every time they visit.

Bike Show

Well in about 6 1/2 hours we will be over at the other church property opening the gates for our 3rd annual motorcycle show. I'm pretty stoked about it myself. I've always had a deep rooted passion for motorcycles and riding. But now that I have an even deeper passion for God it's great to be able to combine them both. I'll most likely be blogging about the day probably on Monday or so. So come on out to the show and have some fun.
-later!

Good Impressions

What is the meaning of life?

Pretty tough question really. On a more personal level, what is the meaning of your life?

Would your answer be "I don't really know.", "I haven't really thought about it." or would you rather answer the question by reflecting back "What do you think the meaning of your life is?"
If you were to reflectively ask me my question, I would have to say I feel the meaning of one's life depends on what that life means to those around oneself. In other words what have you done to influence the other lives around you? Is who you are making a difference in who someone else is? Have you invested in others instead of just yourself? What will you be remembered for when you are no longer present? Will who you are or who you have been still linger in the hearts and lives of those you come into contact with now in a positive way, a negative way or just no way at all?

I guess I believe that a life well lived is a life that's been given and shared unselfishly with others, and has left good impressions that will last forever. Hope the life I've lead and am leading will leave good impressions.

today

Today has been an incredibly difficult day. I didn't think it would affect me this way but it has. I'm gald I have the cross to cling to.

Huh?

Is anybody listening?

Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you are pouring you heart out to somebody and the person you're talking to seems to have that glazed over look in their eyes like they're not even in the same room with you?

Aggravating isn't it?

Try being a Pastor!

Now I've been on both ends of this situation. I remember doing the exact same thing in school. I didn't want to be there but I knew I had to because it's what I was supposed to do. Plus I was a student and that's what students do, they go to school.

I can remember many a time the teacher would be teaching and I would be looking him or her right in the eye but I wasn't really even in that room. Now I'm not talking about an 'out of body experience' but In my mind I was totally somewhere else doing something else I would have really rather have been doing, until...I heard a frightening sound that would shake my core back into the reality of where I was and what I should have been doing. That sound was always the teachers voice saying "Mr. James!" And at that point I had no idea if he or she was calling me to answer a question they'd asked that I was totally unaware of or they just liked the sound of my name. It was always the question thing! And as usual I would answer with the typical intelligent high school answer of "Huh?" while everyone else seemed to be amazingly amused.

But on the other hand in my defense, it wasn't that way in every class...OK, well all but two! I loved art and drafting anything to do with drawing. You see ever since I was very young I felt as though I was an artist. It was who I was and what I loved and had a passion for. And in art and drafting class I not only listened but I always received straight "A's" all four years of high school.

You see I guess it's just human nature that we are truly attentive and truly inspired by that which we love and that which we truly feel we are.

Now by now, some of you are saying "Huh?" because you don't understand the point of this particular post. So I will end it with the question I often ask myself after every service...

...Is anybody listening?

Beauty In The Storm

Evonna and I were driving home the other day and as we were driving we noticed this storm that had moved between where we were at and where we wanted to be. As we continued to drive towards our final destination we couldn't help but admire the beauty of the storm. The cloud formations and contrasting color variations were magnificent. We admired the storm so much that Evonna couldn't stop taking pictures of it with her iPhone.

Now when I first saw this amazing storm I tried to calculate the best route home to go around and totally avoid having to drive through the thing. Because the radio described it as violent and suggested that everyone take cover. At first I thought I had perfectly planned our journey of avoidance but as fate would have it we ended up right in the middle of eighty mile and hour winds and rain that was literally flying horizontal right at us to the point of where we could no longer see two feet in front of us. Now you have to understand that the path we chose was sixty-eight highway which is narrow and has absolutely no shoulders what so ever. We finally found a drive into some farmers field and pulled in behind a grove of trees for protection from the harsh winds. Even though we were shielded by those trees the wind and rains power still shook our car as we sat there helpless and vulnerable. So we did the only thing we knew, we seriously prayed for protection and for the storm to subside so we could make it to our destination.

Eventually the storm finally subsided, at least enough for us to head towards home. And the closer we moved towards where we belonged and where we wanted to be the more we noticed the storm seemed to be behind us and in an instant we could finally see the sun and clear skies again. And as soon as we were out of the storm and heading away from it I couldn't help but look in the rear view mirror and admire the beauty of the storm once again. But this time I had a different perspective, a different admiration and a different respect for the storm.

And just like the storms of life, they're really great to admire from a distance. We can always try to outrun, go around or avoid them but at some point we're all destined to be caught right smack in the middle of one. But what I learned from this storm once again was that we go though storms for a reason. Whether it's to provoke us into drawing closer to the SON, to find that place of rest and protection, to wait it out or to realize after we're delivered from the storm that the SON was always there above it and was there while we were going through it.

You see you can always admire the beauty OF a storm from a distance but you gain a better admiration, respect and understanding of it's purpose and awesomeness when you've been able to admire the beauty IN the storm.

Omitttere

Omission (-mish’en) n. – 1. To leave out; fail to include.
2. To fail to do; neglect. [Lat. omittere.]

Omittere the Latin word from which our word omit, omitted, omitting, omissible, or omission derives from.

We as followers of Christ may understand the concept of the existence of the sins of commission – sins we commit, (things we do but shouldn’t) and the sins of omission – sins we omit, (things we should do but don’t). But we seem to have this tendency to place more emphasis on the things we shouldn’t do but do, then the things we should but don’t. Christianity has become more about what we don’t do or what we don’t believe in rather than what we should do or what we do believe. So we have become this society within society of “don’t-ers” instead of “do-ers”. The Word teaches us that sin is sin and unrepentant sin causes us to condemn ourselves. So why is it we are more worried about the “don’ts” in our lives then we are the “do’s” when both are considered sinful?

I don’t know but maybe it’s that down through the years Pastor’s and leaders of our churches have somehow failed to stress the importance of what we’re supposed to be all about and placed too much importance on what we’re not all about, when there really needs to be an equal value placed on both.

In saying all of that, I need to share a recent “GOD” experience that literally shook my soul. A day this past week God spoke to my heart and opened my eyes and spirit to something I have not been doing that I should have been doing and it rocked my world. I hadn’t seen this aspect about myself so it really caused a life-change for me. I broke into tears and prayers of true repentance.

Now for those of you reading this I will not acknowledge what God revealed, because it’s personal. (But if you ask me on a personal level I will be glad to tell you:) Now please know it’s not that I have been doing anything wrong, it’s that I hadn’t realized I’d not been doing something I should have been doing, and that’s the reason for God’s correction. It hurt, but yet once He ever so softly pointed it out to me I repented and a weight I'd not noticed was there, lifted off of my soul.

Now I’ve said all this to stress that maybe when we pray we should ask God to not only help us to not commit sins, but we should also ask Him to help us see what part of His Will we have omitted from our lives.

Jon and Kate...really?

I don't really watch the "Jon and Kate plus eight" show but have seen the news about the situation and I really think the show should be renamed either "Jon and Kate aren't that great", or "Kate and Jon are just wrong!"

It seems to me that the focus of the show originally was based on "the eight" not on "Jon and Kate." And the producers, the tabloids, the public, and sad to say Jon and Kate, has seemed to have lost the concept that these are ultimately the lives everyone should be MORE interested in. As a matter of fact that's what's happened in our society today. Most parents have become more concerned with their own wants or desires than the needs of the innocent, (the innocent being the children involved and caught in the middle of the mess of mass stupidity and selfishness of supposed mature adults.)

Isn't it hard enough for these little ones lives having their temper tantrums displayed on national TV and now all the world stares as their world as they know it is torn apart and their family unit becomes just another statistic?

I really don't feel for Jon and Kate, my heart goes out to the 8.

Back-handed!

Have you ever heard the phrase “I know it like the back of my hand”? My next question to you is how long has it been since you’ve really taken a good look at the back of your hand?

I’ve heard of "palm" readers before, (which I totally believe are people the Bible plainly states we should avoid) but when I looked at the back side of my hand this morning I could read a lot about myself I didn’t like. When my right hand is clenched into a fist the back of its smooth and scarred but it also has these freckles that weren’t there before and now I’ve found out these aren’t just freckles… they’re ‘AGE SPOTS’! And then when I extend all of my fingers and straighten my hand out the back of thing becomes this old dude’s hand, all wrinkled, rippled and well…old! What happened? Did hand snatchers come last night while I was fast asleep and switch out my hands for some old dudes hands? What’s going on here? What is happening to me?

Oh yea, time is happening to me. Everything that used to be Fabio-like is now Flabby-O-like. My eyes aren’t doing their job as well as they used to, my hair seems to be growing out my ears and nose instead of out the top of my head and when I look in the mirror there’s this older heavy-set, grey haired guy looking back at me who looks nothing like me. Now I know this wasn’t God’s plan in the beginning and it’s all due to Adam’s fall in the Garden but is it all really fair? No, and I know God never said it would be fair but cut us some slack. After all it wasn’t any of us that tripped up in that Garden.











In all honesty though we all know He did cut us some slack. He made a way for us all to actually live forever and receive new glorified bodies when we get to hang with Him in Heaven. So in the end I guess it all evens out. So when’s the last time you took a long look at the back of your hand?

Bejeweled

Hi. My name's Ron James and I'm addicted to Bejeweled.

Ok, maybe not addicted but I really like it. I was thinking how Bejeweled is sort of like life. We have situations in our lives where we would really like for every thing to line up and be right but some times it's not that easy. We have to constantly make decisions and choices on which moves to make in our lives so it all lines up but in some cases we don't always make the right choices or we just can't see what needs to move where to get where we're supposed to be. But just like playing Bejeweled if we sit back, take some time and relax that little arrow points to the move that needs to be made.

In life when every thing seems chaotic and all this stuff drops on you out of nowhere that's when we need to sit back, take some time, relax and seek God's Word and listen for His small still voice to point us and guide us through our next moves. Because essentially He invented, programmed and placed us in this game of life in the first place. So who better to show us the direction we need to move than the Creator Himself?

EVERYTHING

My wife and I went to my mom and dads house today to move the few piece of furniture we decided to bring home. I was thinking about it tonight, I was really either loved or spoiled - or both.

Thinking back now, my brother and I got just about everything we asked for growing up from our parents. But as we loaded and unloaded the furniture today it hit me pretty hard, I would trade everything they ever gave me just to have them back. I believe some times we can lose site of how valuable our loved ones are to us. Of course from a Christian point of view I know I will see them again and knowing that is very comforting.

P.S.

I guess what I was trying to say in the last blog [simply put] would be let's keep our focus on Christ instead of each other.

Spiritual Training Wheels

I always find it amazing how people give credit to others for their spiritual depth. I’ve had people in the past say they’ve accepted Christ under our ministry and because of our obedience they’re connected to Christ. Now even though this may be partially true, I disagree with the entirety of the statement.

Listen if your spiritual depth depends on someone other than Christ then you are basing your belief on the wrong person. You and your spiritual life and decisions should be based solely on your personal relationship and love for God and His Word. I’ll be the first to tell you that people will let you down. I will at some point let you down, not intentionally, but I probably will…I’m human - I’m not Christ.

Your salvation and your walk with Christ should be based on a personal growing desire to get to know your Creator better. Now yes, sometimes others can get us started on the right path but essentially our walk down that path needs to be a stronger focus on Christ not on anyone else.

For lack of a better analogy it’s sort of like learning to ride a bike. First you have training wheels and someone to hold you and show you how to pedal and steer. But sooner or later the person holding you has to let you go and the training wheels have to come off so you can experience riding your own bike down your own path for yourself. In other words you can’t say you are following Christ if you constantly have to have somebody else as your spiritual training wheels. Pastors, teachers, mentors and good fiends are great to look to for accountability but Jesus should be your internal and eternal guide.

In closing this blog I guess I need to put it this way…we should never lift people up on pedestals because that just makes them idols in our lives. Jesus said “If (He) be lifted up He will draw all men unto Him.” To put it plainly we should look up to Jesus, not to man.

Together Once Again

We picked up Dustin and Lauren at the airport last night and had a fun and wonderful time hearing all their stories about their trip to Jamaca. And as we were waiting in the airport I couldn't help but notice all the other people waiting beside us for their loved ones to arrive. When the loud speaker announced their flight had arrived everyone of us arose from our seats and stood by the glass wall in anticipation of just a glimpse of those we would soon be reunited with. I watched the heart-felt reactions of all those waiting and arriving when they were once again in the presence ot their loved ones. Not a one of the reunions were sad, they were all hugging and kissing and joyful moments of reconnection.

But this one couple in particular caught my attention and I just can't get that moment out of my spirit. As this one gentleman cleared the glass wall that separated he and his wife, he immediately dropped his bag and ran to her arms, and as they embraced tears of joy filled their eyes. It was as if no one else was in the airport. They didn't care who was around them or what anyone else thought. They were together once again.

And I couldn't help but imagine that this was a perfect picture of how Heaven will be at the rapture. We will cast off the things and cares of this world as the Bride is finally reunited with the Bridegroom who's been anxiously awaiting this moment. The reunion will be a glorious time of joy, jubilation and celebration as the Creator embraces His creation and we are together once again, forever!

finally writing again

Well I finally have a little time to write a little something.

Our sons wedding was yesterday and as of about 20 minutes ago I’ve been able to slow down mentally and physically. WE are beat and exhausted, but it is well worth it.

Where does the time go? Seems it was just yesterday I was chasing Dustin and 2 of his 3rd grade friends around the Topeka Zoo at the school field trip. (I still have the ticket stub) What happened to our little boy who was more interested in playing with dirt clods in the infield then the baseball game he was supposed to be playing? Where’s my little Power Ranger underwear clad - cowboy boot wearing son gone to? When did my little Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle morph into this young man?

Whenever it happened I’m sad yet glad it did. Because now I understand what it’s like to let people you really love go under sad circumstances and also happy celebrations.

Dustin and Lauren I wish and pray for God’s blessings to forever be in your present and forever await you in your future.

Love you,
Dad

changeling

Have you noticed that when you accept God into your life you become different? You act differently, you talk differently, you think differently and you treat people differently than you did before you asked Jesus to come into your life. Did you notice that the things you used to like you now dislike and the things you disliked you now like? You know you’re you but it’s like you’re a new you, you know what I mean?
Well if you don’t, then maybe you should ask God to change you. The Word of God tells us that when we truly accept Christ into our lives we become new creations; it says that we’ve put away the old man and become a new creation in Him. So if you haven't changed your way of life, your way of thinking, the way you treat others, or how you feel about sin...then if I was you, I’d be checking my own spirituality out, not everyone else’s.

Dads Day

Well this Sunday is Father's Day. I've really struggled with writing a Father's Day sermon since I'm still dealing with the loss of my own Dad in December. I even contemplated getting someone else to fill in for me so I wouldn't have to deal with it, but I came to the conclusion that I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago and I shouldn't take off again this soon. Besides how can I preach on healing and the power of God or even the joy of the Lord in a follower's life if I act as if He's not strong in me when I am most weak? God never once said we wouldn't have grief, sorrow or pain in our lives but rather as any great Dad He warns or prepares us for persecution and loss in this life. Yet He also comforts us by painting a great picture of the life to come with Him forever, where I know my Mom and Dad already are.

So this week I will silently dedicate this message to my Dad and try to be a blessing by honoring and lifting up our Dads. I've been reflecting back on my life and I believe that this may be true for most. I noticed that when we are little our Dads are "bigger than life to us", then in our teens they "know absolutely nothing about life to us", but when we are older they become "indispensable to life to us".

I really miss him.

Cloud Shadows

We were headed somewhere the other day, where doesn’t really matter, but as we were in transit my attention was focused on these huge shadows moving across the farm fields. Immediately I knew these apparitions were cloud shadows. Now in my younger years I would watch them, quite often in amazement and wonder at how these cloud shadows would sail across the land covering everything in their path and then revealing light once again after their departure.

But this time as I was taken aback by their course and conformity to the landscape they blanketed, I recognized the fact that they left absolutely no trace whatsoever of their path, their form or their existence for that matter.

And that’s when I wondered to myself and now to you, if it were possible that sometimes we too are just like cloud shadows. Do we sometimes at points on our paths in life leave absolutely no trace that we were here or there? No trace of our forms, purpose or existence for that matter? How sad it would be if we ended up living out our entire lives as cloud shadows silently skimming across time, space and matter all the while only conforming to the shapes of those around us, never changing or making a lasting difference in this world. Some I suppose are happy and content with being merely cloud shadows leaving only momentary times of darkness to all around or beneath them. I on the other hand would rather be remembered for more than just fleeting moments of some thing or someone else’s shadow.

Our purpose should not be to conform but to transform everything around us in a positive sense and leave this life better than the way we found it, never the same. So as we move over the terrain called life that’s been set before us let us do our best to make a difference for the better and not become mere cloud shadows.

No Excuse

I have to say that spending time with friends and family is always great, but time spent with God is priceless. Gaining a greater insight into His being and presence that’s constantly all around us is undeniably unforgettable. The time spent with family this last weekend at the theme park, at meals, and at the shopping centers was awesome but they cannot compare to the twenty minutes of time spent basking in the glory of God’s presence found in His creation.

I mean, you can see when looking at the sky, the earth, the trees, grass, the birds and the animals that they are of no happenstance, fluke, or accident and they’re all composed of a greater design and if there is a greater design then there must be a Great Designer. Paul writes about this very thing in Romans 1.20 [NLT] he writes, For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

I’m with Paul on this, the earth, all that’s in it, on it and above it declares God’s presence, power, plan, purpose and provision…NO EXCUSE!

Admiring God

Early Saturday morning after my devotional, I was sitting on the third story balcony overlooking Table Rock Lake and reading a book when all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I saw something coming at me. As I looked up I noticed it was a crow flying directly at me, so what I did was what I would do as a child sitting on mom and dads porch. I just sat there perfectly still to see how close this bird would get before it noticed I was there. To my surprise and to the crows, it came within five to six feet of me before it realized I was sitting there. But as soon as it noticed me it did a hard one-eighty and headed back in the direction from which it came and in just a matter of a few seconds the crow was more than three hundred yards away and landing in a treetop towering out of a valley pointing in the direction of the lake, and that’s when I had this astounding epiphany.

As I watched the crow fly off it drew my attention away from what I was doing and where I was at. I placed my book on the patio table because I was no longer interested in reading about someone else’s experience with God when I was having my own. At that point I no longer heard the muffled sounds of the other eight people in our condo behind me scurrying to get ready to leave for the theme park. I no longer felt the responsibilities of pastoring, fathering, being a brother or a husband. All I could do was set there admiring God in His awesomeness. The trees, the valley, the lake and the sky, the breeze, the bugs, the animals and even the back of my hand silently screamed of God’s creative glory and everyone inside the condo behind me was missing it. God’s glory had been laid bare before me and I was now witnessing that which had previously been invisible by the business of my own personal life. And like David I was once again reminded of God’s powerful presence in all of creation. David writes in Psalms nineteen, one that the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

It’s as if I had a better understanding of what the six winged seraphim continuously declare about Gods glory in Isaiah six, three where they call to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory." Here I sat having one of the best God moments I’ve had in a long time on a personal basis and I wasn’t in a pew, a pulpit or a manmade place of worship but I was just basking in the sights, the sounds and the presence of the Almighty in the middle of His creation, as one of His creations.

But as life would have it my God moment was interrupted when I could hear the voices behind me inside the condo asking “Where’s Ron? We’re about ready to go.” So I picked up my book from the patio table and was once again transported from God’s glory to what we’ve made of it. But I will never forget and I will always cherish the morning I was invited to admire God in all His glory by a startled crow.

Noah and the ark

It's Thursday night and the wife and I are in Branson. We've just arrived back at our motel from a show and supper. We went to watch Noah and the Ark (the musical). Let me tell you something, you haven't seen anything until you've witnessed Noah dance and sing with his wife, sons, their wives and a pair of orangotangs, wahoo! I will not bad-mouth the show but I will say they took an awful lot of artistic liberty while writting this one, and for me it was like being stung by a bee for the first time, something new, different and something I'd rather not experience again. But I will give them credit for one thing, at the very end they made the connection that Jesus Christ is our only Ark of salvation today and then they made an altar call.

I guess what I see in this entire singing and dancing Noah thing is the fact that no matter how off, or how painful some things may be in this life, we should always make time to tell people about Jesus and invite them to meet Him!

Undetected

Well it’s Wednesday the 27th and I’ve been down with this severe bronchitis and some sort of head infection since last Wednesday night. And what I find unbelievable yet interesting is that these tiny living microscopic organisms which are so small they’re undetectable by the naked eye can literally take out a 270 pound moving and breathing being like myself for an entire week. But no matter how unbelievable it may seem, it happens everyday to members of the human race. These microscopic organisms if left untreated can cause severe damage or in some cases, the demise of a body. And listen, it all happens from within the body itself.

Now this fact or reality is actually a reflection of what happens in our church bodies. The Word fascinatingly enough uses the human body as a metaphor for our congregants, or for our church body. And listen something as tiny and microscopic as a word that might go unnoticed by most can cause damage or in some cases the demise of a ministry within a church body. Words are very powerful things and we should use them wisely and justly. An ill-placed word placed in the minds of individual parts of the church body can spread like a virus and damage, devastate and destroy parts of the body that the rest will pay for. Gossip, backbiting, and malicious talk are that tiny living microscopic organism that can hinder and eventually stop the moving of the body of Christ in a community.

All I can say is thank God for being the Great Physician and thank God for antibiotics.

If the shoe fits...

I did something totally radical and out of my character today. It was hard for me to do but I worked my way through it and I really believe it was a step in the “right” direction. What I did may shock some of you reading and I hope it doesn’t make you think any less of me as a leader and Pastor. But here goes, I’m confessing to all my blog readers that first thing this morning I put my right shoe on first instead of my left. I know it’s a mystery why I would dare to do something so drastic, something so out of the ordinary but the fact of the matter is I did it and I am not ashamed and I have no regrets!

We probably don’t notice it because it comes to us so naturally but we truly are creatures of habit. All the way from which shoe goes on first to which leg we slip into our jeans first or which arm goes into our shirts first. And I’m using the description of the actions of clothing ourselves because it’s a required ritual that we all participate in everyday, usually without too much thought. Yes some may spend consumable amounts of time and deep meditation on which clothes to cover and adorn their bodies with, but the action of putting them on is still routine and repetitive. And most of the time we don’t even notice because it has become not only habitual but mundane and a common-action that we have to do.

With this said, maybe we should reflect on our spiritual bodies. Perhaps we need to set back for a few minutes, meditate and take note of our spiritual ‘habits’. Is it possible that as followers of Christ we have unknowingly formatted some of our spiritual experiences into mundane and common-action habits? Is it conceivable that we, like getting dressed in the morning, have somehow allowed our personal spiritual “have-to’s” to become just mindless repetitive actions instead of elements of wonderful devotion?

Yes being able to dress ourselves in the morning may seem mindless and menial. But I know this, if for whatever reason you weren’t able to perform the task of dressing yourself you would no longer take the simplicity of the action for granted. It would be something special and you would long to be able do it and I believe you would never take it for granted again. So let’s ask ourselves if our spiritual acts of worship or service have somehow become mindless and mundane? If so let’s try not taking it for granted any longer.

vantage point

Have you ever noticed how that sometimes our point of views can be biased because it’s usually our points and our views? I mean what makes us think as individuals that our perspectives or positions are proper and perfect and everybody else’s are just positively phony or felonious? Now hear me out on this because I’m not referring to the actual TRUTH when it comes to the Word of God, I’m referring to the actual truth when it comes to ourselves. All of us love to see the good and great things about ourselves when it comes to our strengths, habits, talents and victories but what about the times our weakness, shortcomings or sins of omission and commission are revealed to us? What then? What do we do? Human nature dictates we ignore them usually by viewing, judging and preaching to others about theirs, of which I will admit- I too often do. But what would happen if our point of view was based on Jesus’ point of view of us? You see I really believe that our everyday lives would be lived out differently if we would passionately position our lives around the ever-present perspective of our Savior and His point of view of us.

Blessed

This Sunday’s Mother’s Day and I’ve prepared a message that has a rather unusual text and displays the morals of motherhood through a very unlikely source. I’ve been praying that the story used and the message preached will be understood to the depths of its true meaning. The title is “A Split Decision”.

Now I’ve never been a mother, I’m not a mother now and I will never be a mother but from watching my mom, the mother of my children and other mothers around me I’ve recognized one major fact and that is that having children is the easiest part of motherhood, “showing up” everyday after that is really the hardest part. To all the moms out there who “show up” everyday I say, “Thank you” and if you are reading this and you’ve come to realize that you may have taken this fact for granted until now, I recommend from now on you give honor where honor is due.

J.J.'s Birthday

Today’s our daughter’s birthday. And on days like today I think back to all the different emotions her life’s brought into my life. For instance I didn’t think I could expand my love anymore than what I had for my wife but the moment I saw our tiny baby girl a different and stronger love was birthed in my life. And on days like today I think back to events in our lives as father and daughter that bring both smiles and sorrow.

We have a wide range of pictures of Jessica as she’s growing up, all the way from pictures of her in her diaper and my cowboy boots on which not only cover her little feet but consume her entire tiny legs - to her posing for the camera wearing my underwear on her head. Those are memories captured on film but the most memorable ones are those which have been captured on my heart. Her first steps, first words, first wounds and first crushes were not only huge events for her but for me too, (even though I acted as if they weren't).

Some of my first sorrowful memories are of the first time she heard me utter the word “NO”, even though it was for her own good, the look of dismay displayed on her little precious moments face was heart-wrenching. Another sorrow-filled moment that’s unforgettable was when I’d leave her at daycare before going to work, the tears and looks of abandonment was so disheartening it would literally bring tears to my eyes after my departure. And then on the other end of the spectrum her looks of disappointment and disgust when I would come to pick her up from daycare and seemingly rip her from the fun and fellowship of her little friends. Or when she would have to get a shot at the doctors office and it would take two nurses and myself to hold her down as she would scream "Help, they're killing me they're killing me!" But the most sorrowful times that's been embedded within my heart is when her heart's been broken because of a boy and all I can do is hold her as the tears flow, feeling powerless because no matter how hard I try I really can’t fix it.

With all this said, I've thought it all over and I wouldn’t trade one moment of time with her or any of the memories good or bad for all the money in the world because they are all, like her, worth the world to me.

Happy Birth Day Jess, Love Dad.

A fowl attitude

Last Thursday morning I was setting on the porch with my laptop just enjoying the weather and seeking inspiration for Sunday’s message. And then in the midst of my meditation I heard what appeared to be a gaggle of geese coming my way. As I looked up I was surprised to see about fifty or so geese flying in formation only thirty five feet above me. They were gloriously beautiful and graceful as they flawlessly swam through the atmosphere on what seemed to be invisible sheets of glass. When all of a sudden the magnificent sounds of their voices and flapping wings was intruded upon by the shrill voice of our miniature dachshund as she awoke from her sound sleep from beneath my chair and dove off the porch, yelping all the way in her feeble attempt to seemingly ward off the noisy perpetrators who were invading the airspace above her turf. She continued to bark until they were completely out of site and then proudly trotted back with both her head and tale held high as she reclaimed her domain for the morning under my chair, and went back to sleep on the cool concrete floor of the front porch.

Now as my mind was downloading what I’d just encountered I realized something I seriously needed to record and share with others. You see as these majestic creatures were flying just above us, I’m sure they could hear the yelps of the dog as she beckoned her warnings and complaints in their direction, but the thing is it didn’t stop them. It didn’t faze them at all because they just continued to fly above it. They didn’t allow her complaints to slow them down, change their direction or goal for their lives.

And that’s when it hit me, as followers of Christ we have a direction and goal in this life to “rise above” all the stuff, or those who would try to detour us, or cause us take our sights off our destination before we arrive there. We can be flying high and doing fine, but then there always seems to be somebody who’s unhappy with the fact that you’re flying and they’re still grounded. And for some reason they have this insatiable desire to do their best to bring you down. But in order to keep from being grounded, as Christ followers we should always keep our focus on the goal or as the Apostle Paul puts it, we should always “keep our eyes on the prize”. And honestly our true goal should not only be to make it to heaven, but it should be to “rise” to the occasion of drawing close to God every opportunity we get in this life now. So keep your goal and destination ahead of you and don’t be diverted, disrupted or detained by others complaints or disapprovals of your altitude, but rather do all you can to “lift them up” in your prayers.

THE BOX

I can remember this one time growing up I was probably around 5 or 6 years old and mom and dad purchased a new washing machine and in order to get it out of the box dad cut one of the side panels on the box so it opened like a door in order to make it easier to slide the washer out. And after they were finished hooking up moms washer she gave me the box, which for my age at the time, was ginormous (giant + enormous = ginormous). Mom helped me take the box outside and then as she placed it in the front lawn she said, “Look you have a new playhouse.” From that point on that box became something new day, after day, after day through the power of my imagination. It started out as a house, then it transformed into a fort, from a fort to a castle, from a castle to a boat, from a boat to a submarine then from a sub to a spaceship…well you get the picture. Then one morning I awoke and ran outside to live out my next adventure in the box only to discover it had rained most of the night and my box had dissolved into a representation of a Salvador Dali painting. Well as you might guess I was devastated, distraught and disgusted. My box was no longer usable for my adventures and it was laid to rest in a black body bag and placed by the curb for the garbage hearse to take it to the box graveyard just north of town.

But now every time I see a large box sitting on the curb somewhere I reflect back to a time of vivid imaginations and a mother who not only encouraged, but spurred on my adventurous creativity. Now that I’m grown and 48 years old those memories may still be there, but usually all I see when I see a box is something that’s in desperate need of recycling. What happens to us as we get older? Do we gain so much knowledge that we misplace our God-given imagination? As we get older do we get told enough times that a box, is a box, is a box that we can’t imagine it being anything other than a box? The next time you see a box, take a long look at it and remember that like a box your mind and your life can become whatever you make of it, if you will just set your mind to it, and be open to your God-given creative imagination.

KNOWING

This Sunday is the last of our KNOWING series. And this message literally brings the others to “an end.” Now the movie Knowing we’ve been using as a reference to this series has a little sci-fi in it mixed with plenty of Biblical connotations and references. And like this series the movie reflects the fact that “knowing is everything” and to be honest for us as Christ’s followers that fact stands equally true. You see we call ourselves “believers” because of our ‘knowing’ God raised His Son from the dead, which in turn, affords us the fact of knowing we are saved and so knowing is everything.

Dads plan

I heard this story once about this couple and their six year old daughter who went on a two week vacation to California. When they arrived at their hotel the daughter was so excited because she saw the hotel had an indoor swimming pool. So the Dad loved his little girl so much he decided to allow her to go to the hotels pool and he would watch over her as she swam while the Mom unpacked their things. The daughter swam in the pool for about two hours and when the Dad finally said it was time to get out of the pool, she didn’t want to go. So the Dad allowed her to swim another ten minutes, then another and another until finally he had to actually get in the pool himself and carry her little six year old body kicking and screaming all the way back to the room, all because she didn’t want to stop swimming in that nice hotel pool. But to her surprise a few minutes later her Dad and Mom drove her to the beach where she was introduced to the pleasure of swimming in the ocean. And after swimming in the ocean the six year old never swam in the hotel pool again.

Now this story reminds me of us and our Heavenly Father. Sometimes we settle for a hotel swimming pool when our Heavenly Father or our Heavenly Dad has an ocean he wants us to experience. You see there are times in our lives I really believe we settle for less than what God has or wants for us. But we miss out on His plan because we're not always willing to give up our will for His in order to experience it.

So maybe we should ask ourselves everyday, what am I settling for?

Because whatever it is, I guarantee you Dads plan is way better!

Gettin' some Z's

Last Monday night I had to go in for a sleep study at Olathe Med. For once in my life it was a good thing I didn't meet protocol. The sleep dude told me he didn't have to wake me up and put me on the breathing machine because even though I did stop breathing in my sleep a few times it wasn't enough to warrant using one of those machines the rest of my life. It took him forty five minutes to hook me up to forty-some wires from my legs to my almost bald head. Then he monitored my every move and every breath by camera and all those wires all night long. Talk about the definition of "Big Brother is Watching" that night took the cake.

Well even though it was a different experience, now that I think about it-it isn't really that different. The Word tells us that God knows every hair on our head and it also says He watches over us all the time, twentyfour seven. All I can say is I'm glad He's watching over me all the time instead of that dude in the baby-blue blue pajamas.

upside down

Well we finished our “Culture Shock” series last Sunday night with a message titled “Flip Culture.” We talked about how we are called to create a Christ centered culture out in the world, not just in our churches. Jesus did, his disciples did, Paul and Barnabas you name them their goal was to create “new creatures” in Christ wherever they went. As a matter of fact they were referred to in Acts seventeen as “those who’ve turned the world upside down,” or those who’ve flipped culture.

But I was thinking Monday how God even shows us a powerful example of reaching the culture with the Word right where they’re at, just read Acts chapter two sometime! Talk about not only reaching them where they’re at but talking to them in their own language, that was a powerful culture shock for everyone involved that day, both the hundred and twenty in the upper room and those who heard them out in the streets. You see God’s empowered us with the exact same power through the Holy Spirit so we can have the boldness to do the same thing…flip the culture right where we live, work or play. So let’s turn the world upside down for Christ.

Culture Shock

This Sunday will be our 5th Sunday into our “Culture Shock” series and it’s our intent that this series displays the fact that as Christians we’re to be like Christ and the first disciples. We’re called to ‘live-in’ but not ‘give-in’ to the worlds ways. Think of it this way, before Jesus and the disciples turned this world upside down there were no such people as Christians.

You see they not only lived in, learned about, and leveraged the culture they were in but they created a completely new culture. And that’s exactly what we’re called to do. Matthew 28.18-20 says in the NIV 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

We’re not called to hide from the culture outside our church doors we’re called to transform it through the power of God that lives within us!