To The Fathers

Fathers (mom's too), this is for YOU as the spiritual leader of your home. This may not be the most well written but it is the truth!

“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”  Proverbs 22:6

“To discipline a child produces wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child.”

Proverbs 29:15

Our kids do not know what's best for them. We are born with a sin nature. Most of us were never taught to lie, steal or be disobedient. We don't need to be taught that. But "what not to do" are not the only things we need to be teaching our kids. We also need to train them and direct them to the things that are good for them, whether they like it or not. It is our job to make sure they are in Church. It is our job to make sure they are in a place to be ministered to while there. It is our job to make sure our kids learn to pray and spend time with God throughout the week and read God's word. It is our job to make sure they not just have fun but learn how to work, clean, make beds, do dishes, exercise, eat right, be respectful, courteous, etc. Remember, it's our job to help them succeed in life. So let's set them up for success and give them the tools they need.

“Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”

‭‭James‬ ‭4:17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Our kids aren't there to be our best friends. If you need a friend look to your wife or to other adults if you're single. Your goal should not be for your kid to like you. You are to lead them and train them. Set the example, show them the path and help them walk it. You should know what's best for them and it's your job to train them to walk it. Which at times requires us to make them do it. But that's training! And remember the best way to lead is by example! I am reminded of that every time I get behind the wheel and my kids are watching how I drive.

If you do this then when they have kids you will have a friend. But right now is not the time. Do the work, it's tough, thankless at times but totally worth it!

Missing You

Chuch, I am fairly certain you can't read this. I understand your doing better than the rest of us right now. No more pain or suffering. Joy everlasting. All life's questions answered. And all that still pales in comparison to getting to be there with Jesus. "Make heaven" you kept telling everyone. I hope that legacy has had an impact in many lives and you get to see all those people someday there in heaven with you. I'd love to meet some of them.

But I miss you terribly. The last 3+ years without you haven't been the same, though I suppose they aren't going to be. Christmas is missing something. You and I would send pictures of our trees and decorations to each other. Now some of the decorations you used are at my house. You helped make Christmas special for the kids too. I'm not sure how much Trinity remembers but I know Gideon does. They still have some of those toys. The tricycle you got for Gideon became Trinty's favorite until she outgrew it. Sad to sell it but you know better than the rest of us it is all just stuff anyway.

Uncle Mick gave me your cell phone. I can't afford to have my own phone so it is nice to have. It doesn't have a plan on it but I keep it. There is a free service that allows me to use it on wifi. Also I took a sabbatical in January and purchased a prepaid for the month. It was good to have to use and remind me of you.

Church is going well. We are staying faithful to what we believe God has called us to do and we love doing it. Not saying it doesn't have it's tough times but that's life right? It has it's ups and downs. We have faith in God that the best is yet to come.

I have the candle you gave me in the living room. I am glad it is battery powered. I get to use it and not use it up.

So what I really want to say though isn't about the stuff because. What I want to say is my heart hurts so much since your gone. It is heavy with pain and grief. I'd like to know why Jesus said it was time or if it really was. I'd really wish we had more time together. I am sorry I didn't stay at your house when we visited Florida. Uncle has welcomed us the last couple times we've been down. But it's not the same place without you. I so want to give you a HUGE HUG right now...  I cannot even begin to express the hurt I feel. I know I'll see you again but for now I want to see you now. I want to eat a Haggen Daas Ice cream with you. I want you to see Trinity and Gideon growing up. You'd be so proud of them! I want to go to Red Robin with you and get you another tornado glass since yours broke on the way home. I miss the moments we shared. The phone calls and the being your tech guy to keep your computer running. Logging onto your computer remotely and playing message in a bottle on it for you to hear in the other room.

AHHHHH!!! I want scream. IT HURTS! I am not sure what to do from here. I am not sure how to get through to the other side but I am trusting God to get me there.

I love you Chuch and miss you. I know you don't get this but I don't type this for you, I do this for me.

Trust .

Jesus said "if you love me obey my commands."

There are so many of us that say we are Christians. We believe in Jesus and that we are on our way to heaven for our faith in Christ and I wouldn't doubt that. But if you truly are in a relationship with Christ then there ought to be fruit, meaning things in your life ought to be changing so that you look more like Jesus. By look like I mean through us people ought to experience the love and grace of God. Their experience with you and I should be one that brings them to an encounter with the creator and causes them to make a choice. How can this happen though when we struggle with the fundamental issue of "trust". We say we trust God but then when it comes to His commands we worry and struggle with them.

God calls us to relationship with Him. Personal time, prayer time. Time to listen and meditate. What do we do? Honestly most all of us, myself included struggle with "well I don't have time". REALLY?!?!?! How can I not have time for the God who created time? My existence is because of Him and I don't have time? But then we expect to run to God when we need something and get a hand out. We want God to speak to us but we don't take the time to listen and get know Him. Then when we need to hear from God and we don't we venture off on our own. Then when our plans fail we want to blame God. If you want God to take care of you then you need to get this. God tells us that "those who WAIT upon the Lord shall renew their strength". God isn't the McDonalds drive thru window and He wants a legit relationship.

God commands us to not forget to get with the Church. NO not the building, the people. The people who have a relationship with Jesus are the Church, the body of Christ. How can you expect to survive as part of the body of Christ and not remain connected to it? If you think you can be Christian yet not be a par of a Church family you are mistaken. The body needs to be together and in unity. You don't believe that? Cut off your hand and see how long it lives? (please don't actually do that) You, like your hand need to be connected to be useful and survive. Sometimes the hand helps care for another part and sometimes the other parts care for the hand but they all work in unity. Maybe you'd say, but I don't like "Church" people. Well first off if you call yourself a Christian you are one of them. Second God addressed that too.

1 John 4:20 "If someone says, "I love God," but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?"

1 John 3:15 "Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don't have eternal life within them."

Also once again time plays into this and work also. Well I don't have time, my kids have a game OR I have to work on when the Church is meeting. As if life isn't distracting enough why do we allow more obstacles to keep us from remaining connected. God can and will provide a job for you that will allow you to not miss remaining connected, you just need to stand your ground and trust Him. Your kids can get involved, but we excuse them from Church and wonder why when they grow up feel God is irrelevant and not necessary. Why? Because that is what you modeled for them.

God commands us to give financially in His word, but we say we can't because we cannot afford to. Don't we trust that God will supply all our needs or not? Then when we don't we want God's blessing. Sorry but if you want God's blessing you need to do it God's way. I am not saying give your money and you'll be on the next MTV cribs, that's not God's promise. We see what happens to people who are millionaires overnight. Most of them are crushed by their lottery winnings and that is not what God wants for us. I am saying He will make sure you are provided for, no need to worry about tomorrow. Jesus commands us not to worry, but we do when we cannot simply trust Him with what He gave us.

So who is really the one who is not being trust worthy, us or God? Let's ask God to help us learn to be people He can trust.

Don't Give Up

I know some new believers, people who are just beginning their faith journey or have not been on it very long and they see and feel the value in Church attendance, they experience the work Christ is doing in their life and have been able to validly connect it to a relationship with Christ and connection to His Church family. I also currently know people who have just recently become faithful to God with their tithe and offerings, and can also validly connect their personal financial blessing to the fact that they have become people who are obedient to God with their finances that He has given them.

Unfortunately on the flip side I see people who should be "mature" believers. People who have known Christ a long time. They know God's word yet they seem to have lost the sense of value in attending Church and making sure their kids are there and involved. They also have lost the realization that the reason their home was provided for was because they were faithful in their tithe. For whatever reason they slowly back off Church involvement and attendance. They also begin to waiver or even stop their giving to God and forget all they have is from Him. They some how grow cold or maybe what God would describe as "luke warm" in Revelation 3:16. Then one day they open their eyes and don't understand why life becomes so difficult and why their kids grow up wanting nothing to do with God or Church.

First for the new believers. Please learn from those of us who have gone ahead of you and our mistakes and even those who have made the mistakes before we did. We didn't take the time to learn from them and we should have. We could be avoiding a lot of turmoil in our life right now. Learn the lessons from the old Testament with Israel and how their love for God and trust in God grew cold. Read and see what God was willing to allow to have happen to them so they would come back to Him in full devotion and obedience. Learn it and don't repeat all the same mistakes God wishes we would avoid. Keep your fire for God and realization of who He is and that He is your source in every area of your life.

Second for us "seasoned" believers. Why did we season our self with lemon? We tell young believers "you'll understand someday" and "it's because your new". There maybe somethings they don't get yet but they will. But the lessons we want to teach them shouldn't be how to stagnate and walk away from God. We shouldn't model how to grow cold and let the fire burn out. Instead let's show them how to be inspired by the young believers. Show them that we are still teachable and can even learn from someone who is new in their faith and encourage them in their excitement for their new faith. Let's model what Paul talks about in Romans 12:11 "Never lose your zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." Let's model that a mature believer doesn't just warm a seat and attends less but instead gets involved more and benefits from serving others. Let's show them that we have a deeper understanding of giving than is mentioned in Malachi 3. That a tithe was to test God and learn to give and we've grown beyond that. We now get the passage where Jesus shows the widow who gave her last two coins and in doing so went beyond filling a duty but understands God is our source and we can give it all and know he'll take care of us. It's our job to make sure that we light the way for those who come after us and not be a stumbling block instead.

I'll end with this... 1 Thessalonians 5:11"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up"

Let's challenge each other in our to do more and better than we've ever done. Because if we don't grow weary in doing good and right we will reap a harvest if we don't faint. PLOD ON!

Keep the Cat In

I read what I thought was a pretty funny statement week. It said, it's easy to let the cat out of the bag. It's getting it back in that is the challenge.

Let's face it, once you let the cat out of the bag there is no getting it back in. Your stuck waiting it out until the storm passes. I do think the word storm is the most appropriate for describing this. I like how Proverbs 13:3 says it, "Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything." There is destruction that can come when we don't keep our tongue under control. Just think about the times you've opened your mouth to say something and you just wish you hadn't. People get hurt, lives can be ruined, trust is lost and relationships are destroyed. The sad thing is in our country there is an entire industry made to thrive on this. There are shows that just talk about the latest gossip, there are newspapers at the checkout line at the store that revolve around gossip. What is more sad is that it is a thriving industry. I wonder how many celebrity's lives have been ruined by gossip. I get it, your living in the public eye. But that doesn't give us the right to gossip. In fact in a brief search I was able to come up with 47 verses that point towards gossip as hurtful and bad. Here is one in Proverbs 11:13 "Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered." There are others that attack it more directly but I like this one because it goes after the other side. I want to be the one who is trustworthy in spirit because I keep things covered. I want to be a friend that people can trust to actually be helpful because I don't use their words against them or leak them out to anyone else. How often have you offered to be an ear to someone and I believe with the best intentions. You want to help and be there for that person. But from experience I can tell you that I would not go to a person with personal info to "talk" when they are someone who is constantly filling me in on others lives. Yes, there are people out there that just cannot seem to hold in others personal information.

Consider James 3:5-8 "Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." Ok, so it would seem there is a reason that there are people who cannot seem to keep things to themselves. Because God describes the tongue as something that cannot be tamed. In fact this whole passages is a warning against the destructive power of our speech. I hope this is coming across clear because there is so much destruction that has been caused by what is said in social media. All we can do is allow the storm to pass at this point. The problem is we don't stop and just keep feeding the storm and it just keeps becoming more destructive.

Let's highlight one more thing there. James 3:6 quoted above tells us just how destructive our words are not so much just to others but really to ourselves. "It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." In my opinion this is the most powerful passage on our words in the whole Bible. It shows us that our words are most destructive to ourselves. That it corrupts our whole body. Nothing in our body is left untouched and in fact it goes beyond our body to effect the entire course of our lives. Have you found that you don't like the direction your life has taken? It seems to me that your tongue should be your number one suspect. The direction your life has taken is strongly influenced by the words you have spoken.

So my hope is this, (even at least for myself) that we all will learn to guard the words of my mouth. That we will think before we speak and consider our future and others. Forget about the immediate gratification from being able to "share" or "speaking our mind" and think about the consequences of opening our mouths.

A Life Worth Living

Living for Christ is a forward movement kind of life. Too often we come to Christ and after making that decision do nothing with it. Yeah, maybe we attend Church and might even get involved but isn't it more than that? Isn't a relationship with Christ just that, a RELATIONSHIP. Jesus invites us to do more than just receive Him as Savior but also as Lord. Lord to me goes back to the medieval times where there was a Lord and everyone served him. But God isn't a Lord like you may have experienced back then. God is a loving God and a VERY patient loving God at that. We often project on to God our definition of love and then think how could God ever love me or forgive me. There lies the problem, our definition of love and patience is far different from His. God is WAY better at love and patience than we are. Because He is better at it than we are His Lordship in our lives is amazingly beneficial to us. Everything He commands us to do or not do is for out benefit and not just because He said so. The fact is God wants us to live an amazingly fulfilling life and He knows how that is best done. Not only that but the God who created the universe with just the power of His words wants to spend time with us. He wants to know us and wants us to know Him.

So in living a life that moves forward. That accomplishes what we just mentioned lets look at
2 Corinthians 5:14-17  

14Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

16So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Christ died for all and we then die to our old life. When we come to Christ we are admitting that we are sinners in need of a savior to avoid being punished for our sins. Jesus took the punishment so we don't have to, we just have to receive and believe in Jesus Christ. That recognition is what is being noted here. Christ died for us and we then die to our old life. Our way of doing life changes. Jesus died so when we receive Him we no longer live for ourselves. Think about it, how different would your life look if you stopped living for yourself and began living for others? I think you could spend a lot of time on just that idea and how it would change the world around you. I don't mean living for others for "recognition", but simply no longer for your benefit. It is this idea that we miss just about everyday of our lives. It is a poisonous idea floating around in the Church world today that we want to do what is convenient and works for me. We don't want to take the time to do what serves others. 

What we need to understand then is that Jesus wants what is best for us. Problem sometimes being that we don't give up our old life and when life with Jesus isn't working out we cannot figure out why. The why is here, Jesus died so we give up and are free from our old way of life. We need to find ourselves living for Jesus and not us. When we do this we have put ourselves under the command of the person who loves us more than anyone possibly could. Someone who will care for us and keep us on track if we will just obey.

There are those that see Jesus from an outsiders perspective. That perspective of the world that religion is a crutch for only the weak goes away and you realize that it a relationship with Jesus is so much more than mans religion.

So get it... When put your faith in Jesus you become a new person. You can walk in it and know it to be true. It's not a about a feeling, it's a reality. When Jesus says you are a new person then you can believe it! Begin walking in that new life that Jesus has for you. Put away the old way of life and begin experiencing a new and better way of life. Trade in the old broken solutions to life's problems for the answer Jesus has been waiting to give you.

Lessons at the Last Supper

Easter is just a few short days away. But right around now is the time when Jesus was preparing himself for the crucifixion. One of those days leading up to the crucifixion was a day Jesus himself had said he was looking forward to. Luke 22:15 Jesus said to His disciples that “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins." This could actually be one of the lessons we can take away from the last supper. Even Jesus needed to be surrounded by his closest friends/family before the most difficult time in His life. It amazes me how many times I watch people retreat to a place of solitude when life is it's most difficult. We use our difficult circumstances as an excuse to leave friends, family and Church family behind. It seems to me we see Jesus model something different for us here. That as we face life's difficulties that we ought to be seeking the company and fellowship of our friends and family. There is strength to be found with those who we are closest to. Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 covers this really well, Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? We need to be willing to put aside whatever pride we have and face our issues. We are not alone except that we decide to be. But nothing you have faced, are facing or will ever encounter in this life hasn't been done before. So don't do it alone.

A second interesting thought from the last supper is how Jesus handled the preparation of it. Jesus told His disciples to "go and prepare the passover meal so we can eat it together". Here we get to see that Jesus is interested in the details and even makes sure that what He orders is taken care of. In Luke 22:10-12 Jesus spells out very specifically how this meal is to be prepared for. Understand that the details of the food prep were spelled out in the old testament. But Jesus goes even further to make sure they had the details for their specific circumstances. Jesus is very interested in the details of our lives and providing for us when we follow what He asks us to do. When we are obedient God, not only will He provide for us But He wants to. We really do make it more difficult then God intends it to be.

A third interesting tidbit here is the Luke's perspective of the last supper. In Luke 22 they are addressing the fact that Jesus said one of them would betray Him. Then the very next verse we see that worrying about betraying Jesus turns into who will be the greatest among them. WOW, our sin nature at it's finest. Only as people could we be seen going from defending ourselves against accusation to worrying about being the leader. Now from other perspectives we know that a little more happens here. But this is a perspective of the meal that cannot be ignored. And Jesus doesn't rebuke it, instead He takes advantage of the teachable moment and does one of the first leadership trainings to prepare them to lead the first Church. We learn from this argument that the leader among us must be willing to be the least. They must be willing to show up first and leave last. Willing to make sure the needs of everyone else is taken care of before their own. "The greatest among you should take the lowest rank and the leader should be like a servant." Not the easiest words to swallow but it is truth! And we even know we are more likely to follow the one who serves us that the one who serves self.

I am sure there is more but here is my final lesson from the Last Supper. In verse 19 Jesus tells the disciples to "do this to remember me". Jesus gaves us instructions on how to remember Him but then I also really appreciate what He does shortly after this in the telling of the last supper. He addresses Peter and says, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” Jesus pleads in prayer for Him. If Peter is predestined then why plead in prayer for him except that prayer works and changes things. And in fact the Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 2:4 that God wants all to be saved. So when Jesus died on the cross He wasn't dying for some but for all. Jesus recognizes that Peter will need to repent and return to Him, but when He does Jesus is communicating to Peter that he is restored to continue doing what God has called him to do.

Lastly, there is no record that Michael Angelo was there to be able to paint a portrait of the last supper. Just saying.

It's Too Difficult!

I was walking out of the house to run a necessary errand this afternoon (that to be honest I didn't want to do since I am still on the tail end of some sort of cold) my mother in-law's pharmacy delivery had just arrived and in passing the driver mentioned that most of my Christmas lights were finally taken down. I shared that I wait for decent weather and that I am currently sick. His reply is the point of this story... "It's always something, isn't it."

As I left to run my errand I thought on those words and and how many times I have heard them recently. I have even heard some people repeating them over and over. And let's be honest, it's not an inaccurate statement. God did not promise anywhere in His word that life would be a cake walk and nothing bad would ever happen. In fact it is quite the opposite. Check out what Jesus said in John 16:33 "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." So not only did Jesus NOT promise us a life of ease, but He went as far as to make sure that we were aware that the complete opposite is true. The problem is too many of us get stuck here. We just cannot seem to get past the idea that we will have trouble in this life. We all need to stop wrestling with this one and just accept it. Until you do, you will never be able to move on to the good things in life.

Now once we accept that there is trouble, the obvious question needs to not be why, but instead how do I deal with it. Why is that the question? Because God answers that question clearly in scripture over and over again. Whenever we search for the why we sometimes get answered and sometimes we don't. Sometimes it is because of sin or just a poor choice and God can or has already made that clear. But the question of, how do I deal with it, is clear. One place Jesus illustrates this is with Peter walking on water, a story I am sure most of you are familiar with. Matthew 14:28-31 Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”“Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”

There really is something here we need to get a hold of. Yes, Jesus told Peter why he began to sink. But notice it is was something Peter was doing wrong. And it is what Peter was doing wrong that gives us all a huge truth. Peter "saw the strong wind and the waves". Well, I suppose it would have been difficult to not see them. In fact you might say "DUH! of course he saw them." But here is the issue. Doing a wee bit of word study reveals that Peter didn't just see the wind and waves. The greek word originally used here more says that he gazed at them. Gaze meaning, "to fix the eyes in a steady intent, look often with eagerness or studious attention". Peter was fixated on the wind and waves.

Another example is when the Israelites spent 40yrs wandering in the desert. It was for doing the same basic thing. Numbers 13:33 We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!” The Israelites didn't know what they were thinking. No person is a mind reader. But it's this choice to look and see trouble and not walk in faith that caused them to disobey God and spend 40yrs wandering in the desert.

So what do we do? I hope you've come up with the answer already. We need to change what we gaze at. It's about choosing to not look at the wind and waves and instead keeping our eyes on Jesus. And even more Paul had wrote in Philippians 4:8 "And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

The world will probably tell you that to not look at the wind and waves is foolish, but that's not how God sees it. We need to get this because every day we don't we are missing out on enjoying the blessing of God because we are too focused on everything going wrong. The wind and waves are there, there is no doubt about it. But is what you are fixated on? Jesus doesn't want us fixated on the wind and waves. What Jesus wants is for us to walk on water despite the wind and the waves.

Criticize Me Please

Let's start out by saying we live in a culture of over sensitivity to criticism and what others say, think, feel or act. I like the 7 cardinal rules in life. No it's not out of the Bible but they are still helpful thoughts in going through life. #2 is one that is I am sure most of us would find especially challenging. And if not, well I do.

 That being said we then ought to be more thoughtful of criticism before it is spoken. Just because you have a critique for someone doesn't make you right. We also need to be willing to accept SOME criticism even if we don't like how it is given or from who it is given. There is a lot we can learn that can help us if we are willing to take what is given and not just take it personally. Some of it may help, throw the rest out.

Jesus handled a lot of harsh criticism from people He loved. In fact He has endured it through all time. But I am going to refer more specifically how Jesus handled criticism while here on earth.

What is most interesting is the source of the criticism that Jesus received. It wasn't from other nations, or people who didn't believe in God. In fact His critics were people who claimed a relationship with God or followed God's law. The people who were the "believers" of their day and in fact the biggest critics among them were religious leaders. What you might also refer to as His peers. it seems to me that generally your peers will always be your biggest critics and those closest to you. Jesus even said Mark 6:4 “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.”

How Jesus handled this criticism was amazing and it is how we all ought to handle it. Matthew 15:1-20 gives us a look at how He did this.

1Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, 2“Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.” 3Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? 4For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ 5But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ 6In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, 8‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’” 10Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 11It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.” 12Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?” 13Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, 14so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.” 15Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.” 16“Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked. 17“Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. 18But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. 19For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. 20These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.” 

Jesus came back against their traditions and personal ideas of how it should be done with plain simple truth. Their criticism totally missed the heart of God and their religion and personal preferences had superseded God's word. They missed it all together.

 

Also where I want to go with this is recognize the source of the criticism. Those who were truly following Jesus you never see criticizing anyone. They don't blast the religious leaders or the other Jews. In fact those I've seen that those who are after the heart of God do the opposite and they take the criticism to God and learn from it. The criticism came from those who thought they were "right" who were doing the criticizing. They weren't open to hearing that they may be wrong. I recently heard Rick Warren speak about his critics and he said that he walks away from them smarter then them. Why? Because he is willing to learn from them and they are closed off to everything Rick has to say.

vs.10 Jesus said "Listen and try to understand"

Jesus wants everyone to get the truth. The truth here being that it's not what goes in your that defiles you but what comes out of it.

vs.19 Jesus further describes this and it is interesting here what Jesus lumps together. "From the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, slander." It is amazing that slander goes with the rest of those. But Jesus took it seriously and so then we should also.

What is slander? Well it is what "criticism" looks like when we don't do it Jesus' way and talk to others. (Jesus said if we have a problem with someone to go to them one on one first.) The definition of slander is this. "the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation." Yet slander is what we spend too much time in Church doing. Not just in one Church but the Church as a whole. We slander other Church's, we slander other leaders and we slander each other. It's when criticism goes from helping someone to talking about them behind their back to make them look bad that it becomes slander. In fact slander is what the Jews used to get Jesus crucified. It's what they used to end His earthly ministry.

So yes, Criticize Me Please. I am open and available to listen to what you "think" or "believe" I may be doing wrong. Who knows I might just learn something. But slander has no place among those who claim to be followers of Jesus and isn't a good idea for anyone else either. To be honest it just makes you look bad when you slander.

Make Them Stop Sinning!

I enjoy British humor and it reminds me of a show that my mother in law watches in the afternoon called "Keeping Up Appearances", maybe you've seen it. If not, it is a show about a lady that does exactly what the title says. She spends her life struggling to make herself look like life is absolutely perfect. Unbeknownst to her, everyone else sees her life as it really is and they find her quite annoying. This to me is what we as the Church seems to do too much of. We are a group of people that work hard at looking the part. Put on the right smile, wear the right clothes, use the right words, etc. Then we look down on those who aren't also working to keep up appearances.

We need to take a closer look into what Jesus did, how He lived and how He treated those  who sin. Where? Well how about the woman brought to Jesus who was caught in adultery. Interestingly enough when the pharisees brought her to Jesus they were looking him to support the law in saying she ought to be stoned. Get her Jesus, get her! Likewise when we see someone in sin our first response tends to be "get her". Or even if another Christian does sin, we are ready to pounce like a lion on it's prey. This was NOT Jesus' response to this woman. I think we can assume she was Jewish, making her an insider that should have known better. But Jesus still did not endorse what the religious leaders were ready to do. Jesus response, "He without sin cast the first stone". When is the last time we took that approach? I assure you even if it was today, we still don't do it often enough. We are generally ready at a moments notice with a bag of stones at our side.

So we have gotten it in our head that we are God's instruments of justice instead of mercy. How did this happen? Too much time in just the old testament? Nope, because if you read it you see an incredibly patient God who waited generations before punishing a nation in disobedience. I believe it is the human condition, that is we are sinful people with sinful tendencies. Who this applies to is anyone who would say they are a human being. Your creed, race, religion, sex, age... none of these changes it. Think about it. Someone cuts you off and you wish a police officer was there to "get em". What, you've never ever cut someone off even accidentally? Get real. We've all done stuff we regret OR better yet don't even realize we've done. Not to mention the intentional things either done maliciously or with "good intention". Actually, the list is REALLY long. Hence the reason we all need a savior! Because at the end of the day we all suck without Jesus. But in Jesus we are a new creation and He is at work in our hearts and lives changing us.

So you can come at people all day long trying to push people to change their ways but it is generally unproductive. Yes, there are times where someone who is a follower of Christ needs to be gently confronted on sin in their life. But it's not our job to go looking for those instances. And even when one is in front of us we need to be sure we are to do something about it.

Still think you need to be hard nosed to people that are in the wrong? Then read 2 Timothy 2:23-25, and then check this out 2 Timothy 4:2 "...Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage...", or one more Ephesians 4:2,  "Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love." We need to get this! Not one of us deserve it, so not one of us is fit to dish it out. So when you need to help someone get back on the somewhat "straight and narrow" make sure you've removed the plank from you own eye first.

Here is the the wrap up. You can teach about sin all day long and even get people to change their ways and be a good person. Go ahead and pat yourself on the back because that's all it's worth. There will be a lot of "good" people in hell. A relationship with Christ is so much more. Let's preach, teach and love people and allow God to bring the change to the heart that only He can and you'll see the person changing because of the love of God, not because you told them to. A heart change! It's what we all need and should desire for each other.

Remember when the whole world knew John 3:16?

(if you see typos in any of my posts let me know)

How to view your pastor

So it has occurred to me that there are a few different ways that we view pastors and Church leadership as a whole. While this is not an exhaustive list, in my opinion seem to the the obvious ones. I would like to outline a few of these and point out that if we could get ourselves viewing pastors as we view each other than the Church as a whole could be on a much healthier course. What also walks hand in hand with this is getting a healthy view of ourselves and not projecting our short comings onto others which seems to be human nature. We think everyone else is doing wrong what we ourselves do. So here we go...

First, we see the pastor as having attained something we ourselves cannot. The pastor is NOT the perfect husband, father, friend, communicator, etc. He's not perfect at ANYTHING, only God is perfect. Many of you need to get this! Even if your thinking right now, DUH I know this. Do you? What if your pastor's mistake affected you? Would your knee jerk response be "I cannot believe the pastor would do that!". If so your view is not healthy. He needs forgiveness like everyone else. Try not running to another Church next time and give him some grace and talk with him. Rest assured he will make mistakes. He will put his foot in his mouth sometimes and say things he wished he hadn't. He may struggle with depressing thoughts at times and CAN be hurt with words, even yours. Hold onto your seat because some of you aren't prepared to hear that your pastor even sins. Yes, he has to repent on a regular basis of things in his life that aren't aligned perfectly with God's word and God is still working on his heart as God is everyone elses.

Second, your calling is not to be his judge. When it comes to those in leadership, especially the lead pastor some people tend to skip over Romans 3:23 "For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". Once again we ALL sin even your pastor. He is not in need of your expertise in how he is supposed to live and lead. Remember Jesus said to "take the plank out of your own eye before you try to help your brother try to remove the speck in his". Care about him yes, speak into his life yes, beat him up because of his short comings NO! Of course this is not speaking to a pastor who has obvious destructive behavior/sin in his life. But then care about him as a person enough to address is as Jesus commands. Talk to him one on one first. Unfortunately those of us this applies to skip Romans and go right to James 3:1 that says "Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly." and feel it is our job to be the judge mentioned in the verse. We then stop reading right there and don't read James 3:2 that says, "Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way." Trust me, your pastor is well aware of James 3:1 and lives his calling with fear and trembling.

Third, your pastor is your best friend and should be available to you as any of your friends are. I am sorry to say but if this was the case for everyone in Church then the pastor would be stretched too thin. Speaking for myself I wish this could be true. But remember, your pastor has family or even his own family. So while his Church family is incredibly important to him, he also has a wife and kids that need him as your family needs you. Most pastors try to keep a balance and order of priorities that look the way yours should. 1. God, 2. Family, 3. Ministry, your number 3 would be your job. He made a promise to his wife for forever and his children need him, they didn't choose him. And for a pastor if number 1 and 2 fall apart then he has no business doing number 3 nor will he be able to. When you need your pastor he is definitely there for you. But don't put the expectation on him to be at every event that is important to you. If you do you will be either let down that he is not, or he will be neglecting his family to do so.

Last, your pastor does care deeply about you otherwise he wouldn't be doing what he does. This is the truth! Ministry is not easy. People want their pastor to please them but they don't want him to be a people pleaser. There are many things pastors do right and wrong in the eyes of everyone. Remember this: like you he needs to please one person at the end of the day, God. God alone is his judge as is yours. Support him in going after this and chances are he will support you in doing the same.

Finally, God put this in his word knowing those called to pastor aren't perfect.

Hebrews 13:17
"Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit."

Offense

If I had to be entirely honest, I am sick of people being offended all the time over stupid insignificant stuff. But to remain entirely honest, I at times am offended over stupid insignificant stuff.

Here's the thing. The stuff I am bothered by is the stuff I have a problem with. THAT'S RIGHT! The problem you have with others is generally your own problem. When I don't struggle with an issue that someone has with me it really doesn't bother me, life goes on. I want to help that person, but not everyone can receive from me. I CANNOT help everyone. There are personality clashes and disagreements. Sometimes we are just so set in our ways that we are in the way. Having the ability to recognize this is a gift from God given to those who want to see it and change it. It's like anything in our life. If we don't see it as a problem we won't change it.

Jesus handled offense REALLY well! (I like uses caps to express myself sometimes) There are three ways I see offense being handled in the Bible that really stick out to me.

1. First: He realized that there are times people will get offended and there is nothing you can do about it. An example to this would be when Jesus taught God's word and it contradicted the Pharisees traditions. The Pharisees at one point were so offended they walked away trying to figure out how to kill Jesus. This first way just about always walking in obedience to God's word.
2. Second: Jesus at times avoided offense. We don't have the complete story of every word Jesus said or every interaction He had with every person or even every miracle He did. But God made sure that at least one time it was recorded when Jesus was careful not to cause offense. Matthew 17:27 "However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a large silver coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.”

There are times that we ought to just let things go that aren't causing harm or hurt to avoid causing harm or hurt. I think Romans 12 is a great chapter in the Bible to teach us how to treat each other, REALLY! READ IT! Examples:

1.  don't think of yourself more highly than you ought
2. don't just pretend to love others
3. take delight in honoring each other
4. always be eager to practice hospitality
5. don't think you know it all
6. do all that you can to live in peace with everyone (within the confines of God's word)
7. never take revenge, leave that to god
8.  conquer evil by doing good

Third: When it's not an issue of God's word and you cannot agree then just love each other anyway and part ways. It seems to me that there are times we may just have to agree to disagree and part in love. Meaning, not gossip or slander or put down the person we parted ways with but build up and maybe even endorse. I'll be honest and say I didn't do this very well when I was younger. If I was hurt or disagreed then I needed to talk about it which is wrong and I repent. If you are one of those people reading this that feel I may have done that to you than I am sorry and I am willing to apologize face to face. But in the future I have a plan to do it God's way and trust Him for the strength to carry it out. I can either burn bridges or build them and I would rather be a bridge builder. But like I said, sometimes it is just time to move on as Paul and Barnabas did. They disagreed as to whether the John Mark, Barnabas' nephew out to travel with them on their second journey. In fact the disagreement was so sharp that they parted ways. Was either of them right or wrong... doesn't say. You can read into it both ways and I would discourage that. If God thought there was a wrong way there I think He would have spelled it out for us. I believe the point to be that they parted ways and still loved each other which seems to me to be expressed later in the Bible.
So yes, there are times I can't help that someone will be offended, then there are times where the fault lies with me and I cannot blame anyone else because I didn't take the time to consider anyone but myself. But there is also that time when you just need to move on in love. Just always be careful to guard your heart and allow Christ to show His love through you. Even when the person has hurt or offended you.

A True Prophet

A few signs of a true prophet
 - what they say comes to pass
 - they have no need to defend themself

A true prophet of God is called to simply to deliver God's word, nothing more and nothing less. How it is received and what is done with the word is not up to them but to the audience. If the prophet is upset they are ignored or otherwise start pushing for results then it is not a prophet but a manipulator attempting to use "God said" to get his or her own way. The best thing to do is to compare it against scripture and to weigh the word  in your heart between you and God and allow God to reveal to you whether or not it His from Him. Also if the person persists... Silence worked for Jesus very well against the accusations of the Pharisees.

Today

I've learned a lot today.

What I have learned? Well, I can't seem to put my finger on it because I feel like I am in the midst of learning it. So while I feel like I learned a lot today maybe you might say that if I cannot tell you what I learned that I did not really learn anything, at least not yet. I would strongly disagree.

Some points...

God's grace is sufficient.
God IS good when there is nothing good in me.
It hurts sometimes, but the hurt isn't mine.

Ok, so that is a random collection of some stuff spewing out of my head right now. But what I feel like God is really trying to show me is this...

Matthew 11:29,30
 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

When life is difficult and the burden I am bearing is unbearable. When I am spinning my wheels trying to keep going then I am not bearing the burden God intends me to. I am carrying the wrong burden when it feels too heavy. Why? Because Jesus said my yoke is easy to bear and the burden is light. Does this mean life is easy? By no means, because Jesus also said deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.

So the key is learning the difference between taking up our cross and carrying a burden and yoke God does not intend for us.

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another

God wants to sharpen us so He allows things to happen in our lives, particularly through other people, especially those closest to us to sharpen us. So those things (ie circumstances, words spoken, deeds done) that our enemy would intend to harm us with God allows for this reason....

Romans 8:28 God works all things together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.

God wants those things to happen not to harm us but to work in us for us to be all He has called us to be.

So when what seem like unfavorable encounters occur we need to be quick to realize that God is at work in our lives. It's not so much about the circumstances as much as what God is trying to accomplish in us so He can work through us.

The Cost is Painful

Sometimes I find that I have family and friends who don't want anything to do with me because of my faith and my stand. Is it painful, absolutely! I find it very difficult that because of my personal choice to follow Jesus and try to be obedient to His word that others don't want to be around me or even consider me a friend. That family (meaning blood relatives) will "unfriend" me on Facebook and not talk to me. That relatives, friends and neighbors will avoid conversation with me. In fact there are those who won't even take time to know me because of what I believe. It breaks my heart and makes me cry inside that those I was close to once upon a time would avoid me and not respond to friendly gesture. I cannot begin to describe to you how that makes me feel. I think that is part of the reason Jesus said to count the cost. It can feel hefty at times, and in times like this even painful. It's not always easy to shrug off those feelings.

In times when I am feeling this more than others I have to remind myself that there is a cost to following Jesus. But the cost pales in comparison to the reward.  In Matthew 10:29-31 Jesus said...
“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.

If your feeling like this is more than you can handle, hold on and don't grow weary. God has great rewards from you and I think that while those people want nothing to do with me I hope they at least respect me for being willing to stand for what I believe in, in a world that folds on their beliefs to be accommodating and accepted.

LOVE RECKLESSLY!

When you love people you open yourself to feeling hurt. But you cannot stop loving people and caring and you cannot take the hurt personal. (that last part is the challenge). Love recklessly and and expect nothing in return from others! People will fail you and let you down, don't let it stop you. Only God won't disappoint you.

WOW EXODUS!

I was reading my scheduled Bible reading in Exodus this morning and was overwhelmed at a few scriptures that I had previously just read over without much thought. MUST BE GOD!

First was Exodus 34:6,7
The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out,
“Yahweh!t The LORD!
The God of compassion and mercy!
I am slow to anger
and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.7 I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.t
I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
But I do not excuse the guilty.
I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren;
the entire family is affected—
even children in the third and fourth generations.

God is forever the same, unchanging tells us about Himself. He speaks right to us (more specifically Moses) and tells us that He is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness! HOW AWESOME! I tell you what, I need that A LOT! I need to know that God forgives my iniquity, rebellion and sin. In fact God is telling us this thousands of years before Jesus ever died for us. He wants to forgive us. BUT we also need to get the second part of this... but the guilty are not excused. I think what God is saying is there are still consequences. But the consequences are still not as great as His love! Sin effects for 3rd and 4th generations, His love is for thousands of generations! GOD LOVES US... despite us.

Then in verse 29
When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant,t he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the LORD.

Man... I want that. I need that! Time with God and in His presence at a level that causes others to see it and be affected by it. Not so I look good but so God is glorified and peoples lives are changed because they see God. We all need to shine with God's presence.

Last in chapter 35 verse 34
And the LORD has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach their skills to others.

This is a powerful AHA! moment for me. To get the idea that God has given people skills to teach others so that we might know how to serve God. I know this is nothing new and I am probably the only one that didn't get this. But for me to realize this is how God designed it helpful. I just always thought anything God wants me to know He will teach me. Not always true.

I would also encourage anyone reading this to note God's emphasis in these chapters on the Sabbath day.

Jealous much?

Ok so I have began going to the gym everyday early in the morning. It's not busy and I get my pick of the equipment. It's very nice and I really hope to do well with it. I tried the every other weekday thing. Just wasn't habit forming enough to convince me to get up early every day. Now my body is beginning to form a habit of waking up on it's own. Got the idea from my neighbor who goes everyday and he is losing weight! Anyway that has nothing to do with jealousy. But since I am on the tread mill I listen to podcasts and listened to once from Andy Stanley about being jealous. Well while he started talking about it my mind went exactly where all our minds go. "I'm not jealous but I know who is." Of course that was quickly addressed and I knew that was not why I was listening. So I quickly force myself to look inward (which wasn't easy). But I quickly found myself seeing things I didn't like as Andy began describing some ways to measure jealousy. Now hold on because this is where it becomes difficult. What do I celebrate? Do I celebrate the failures of others that help me look better when they "appear" much better than I? I say "appear" because that is what jealousy comes out of. We are worried about appearances and superficial things. Also our jealousy comes from our own perspective of what we have or may not have. Chances are that person may find you to be much more blessed from their perspective. So do I wish and hope for days I get to look better than someone else? Do I quietly celebrate the fall of another because it makes me feel better and makes me "think" others perceive me as better because of someone else's failure? Do I ever wish I had what someone else has? I don't know about you but this is an eye opener for me. How I need to keep watch over myself and guard my heart and mind against jealousy. Lord please forgive my jealous heart and thoughts. What to do? Andy recommends celebrating everything you can about others. Do it out loud even if it doesn't feel right. You exercise despite the fact you don't feel like it. Well, exercise you way out of jealousy. I know I really don't want to see others fail I want to see everyone succeed, I just need to don't ever take it personal and worry how it makes me look. Just let others look good!

Don't criticize, condemn or complain

WOW... I have never realized how difficult this can be. I am so happy to see how bad I am at this because I now can work at improving it. I have been such a critical person my whole life. I don't know why but I don't like that about me. I don't like knowing it except for now I can do something about it. It is unbelievably challenging to change also. Choosing to look past a negatives and focus on the positives. I feel like I could spend my life time just figuring that one out, I hope it doesn't take that long! I need to keep in mind how flawed I am for starters. Also how good it feels to make someone see the good in them self!