Super moon!!!!

SUPER MOON!!!!!

That baby is bright.  Wow...  I looked outside to see what all the hype was about and there it was.  A moon that would make any late night fishing trip more enjoyable.  I think the bigfoot tracking weirdo’s could even find him on a night like tonight.  Its beautiful.  

It also made me start thinking.  God is literally showing off right now, in my opinion.  He has given us amazing views, breathtaking sunrises, stunning lakes and mountains.  There is all this beautiful evidence of Him and all these things that were created to cause man to give God glory-but...

What happens?  Sadly, we happen. We decide that while God and His creation is amazing, we want our own stuff.  Romans 1 tells us what happens and its simple but sad. 1:22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

What I am saying is we pull an Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) and decide that instead of giving God what is due to Him and Him alone, we decide to give God our ghetto, busted sacrifices and expect Him to be impressed by our actions.  REALLY??? The God who spoke the world into existence is supposed to be impressed by something I can give Him?  I don’t think so.  We get so busy in trying to please God and others that we forget to appreciate all that God has given to us.  By seeing what He has freely given to us, it would/should cause us to desire to worship Him more, which would ultimately bring Him the glory that is due to Him and Him alone.  

I am convinced that people do the things they do to seek mans approval and not to glorify God.  God has given us all these amazing things and yet we're good.  We are happy pleasing our neighbor and showing them our newest stuff, yet we have our first love.  We have put God on the back burner and while we sing songs with lyrics like Chris Tomlin's "Enough", we don't mean it.  We simply mean that God is enough as long as He does not interfere with my day to day life.  

All of You is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough

You are my supply
My breath of life
And still more awesome than I know
You are my reward
worth living for
And still more awesome than I know

All of You is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough

You're my sacrifice
Of greatest price
And still more awesome than I know
Youre the coming King
You are everything
And still more awesome than I know

More than all I want
More than all I need
You are more than enough for me
More than all I know
More than all I can say
You are more than enough for me

After singing this, we go back to living our lives as if God has not made a difference at all.  If these lyrics held true when we sang them, the world would no longer exchange the Truth of God for a lie...

Thoughts????

I'll pray for you

I’ll pray for you...

Its a simple statement really, but Christians use it as a way of saying “get me out of this conversation immediately”.  Its not intentional, but its kinda the polite way of saying “look at the tree”, then pointing one direction while frantically running the other.  

Why does this happen when we know we will probably not pray for that person?  

What would it look like if we really took the time to stop and pray for each other?   

What would it look like if when we said that we would pray for someone we really did?  What would it look like if we really were praying without ceasing? (being in an attitude/spirit of prayer)  

We are told in God’s Word to pray without ceasing and in another place to pray for each other, but most of us don’t for some reason. What if we did these things?  It would serve as a reminder that we are to put God first, others second, then ourselves last.  I struggle with this a lot by the way-mostly because I am awesome or at least I think I am.  I believe the reason that we do not do this is because we are selfish.  We live in a me first consumer driven world.  With products that promise health, wealth, good looks, large muscles, and instant happiness, its no wonder we turn to these things before turning to God.  I can buy the latest, greatest product and I will instantly be transformed into Captain Awesome and have my own legion of minions to praise my awesomeness.  

So how do we fix the “I’ll pray for you” problem that has taken over the Christian community?  I want to offer one idea (there are plenty better ones out there).  

I have chosen to specifically pray for one person a day.  I pray for other things/people like I normally would, but chose to focus on praying for someone else who I may not pray for otherwise.  (I’m not intentionally not praying for this person by the way)  I feel that in our world that puts me on a pedestal and others beneath me, it is important to remember to pray for others intentionally and fervently.  I usually contact the person and tell them that I am praying for them specifically and ask them if there is anything in particular I can pray for.  I then do my best to pray for that person and their needs as much as possible throughout the day.  This has caused me to stop focusing on myself and try to focus on the needs for others.  I want to challenge you to do the same thing.  Maintain your normal prayer life, but chose one person a day to pray for.  The person could be someone who you do not normally see, or your best friend.  This has radically changed how I pray for others and I am afraid that I did a horrible job of explaining myself, but hope it at least makes you think about others.  

Thoughts???

Don't Be A Hangnail

Time for a new blog-hip hip hooray!!!!!  Control the anticipation.  Here it comes.  I recently started physical therapy for my knees.  My legs always hurt and seem to not get better no matter what I do.  After ignoring my wives pleas to go to the doctor for years I finally gave in because, well, I am afraid of her.  I thought my knees were the problem.  Nope.  Apparently my upper body is jacked up from a wreck I was in 11 years ago.  True story.  Parts of my body shut down and my legs started overcompensating to make up my upper body.  I was told that the pain was due to the rest of my body not carrying its weight properly.  The doctor then told me that my right side was functional but not functioning.  What was amazing though is that my doc also told me that my legs were incredibly strong, even though I thought they were incredibly weak.  

Whats the point?  We are told in the Bible that we are all the body of Christ and that we are all one body with many parts.  What happens in alot of churches is that a few people do almost all the work.  These people are willing to run themselves ragged while everyone else enjoys the benefits so to speak.  The people who are truly committed experience the pain of not seeing others grow in Christ and the pain of seeing others not fulfill what they are capable of.  Those willing to do the work of the rest grow stronger while they may feel weak at times due to overworking.  The parts that are working grow stronger and stronger in Christ (as long as their devotion is to Christ and not to the praise of others).

So what about the weak parts?  What happens to them?  They become functional but not functioning.  They go to church and wait to be fed like a toddler that is incapable of feeding itself.  They see other peoples growth and say they are fake.  They often try to throw others under the bus so they can look better.  Essentially, they do anything to keep from doing anything.  They are lazy!!!!  They need to go through the physical therapy for the sake of growing stronger.

We get this notion that be have to be the biggest, best parts due to our pride.  Simply put, whatever part we are we should make sure that we are not just functional, but functioning.  We need to make sure that no matter what our role is we are contributing.  Throughout the Bible, the people who are the biggest contributers are the people who are willing to put aside their agendas for the sake of the Gospel and for sharing the Gospel.  Bottom line- we need to glorify Christ so that He will be glorified through us.  

By the way- don’t be a hangnail waiting to be cut off

Thoughts???

I scratched a car today

Today at work I scratched one of my coworkers cars.  Immediately I wanted to pretend it didnt happen, but thats not something I would do.  I was taking out a ton of boxes from unloading drum kits and one of the boxes had a staple in it, the wind shifted the boxes and before I could catch it-oops.  I went inside and waited until my coworker was going to leave and told him that I wanted to walk out with him.  I told him what happened and he told me that “because I was doing the right thing, it was not a big deal”.  Him and I both were convinced that it would easily buff out, however I am still liable.  He reassured me several times that it was no problem and not to worry about anymore.  HOORAY!!!!???????? maybe?  No!!!!!

No, because there still has to be restitution made to make it right to the offended party.  Either I pay for the car to get repaired, he pays for the repair, or the car will forever remain in a state of scratched sadness.  There has to be restitution.  In this situation restitution is coming in the form of a cloth, some wax, and elbow grease, but ultimately someone had to pay in some form or another for the car to be made whole.  I could give my coworker $500 (I made this number up) to fix the car but unless he applies the money to make it right, the $500 means nothing for the car and making it whole.  

I felt a huge feeling of relief after talking to my coworker.  I felt that even though I had wronged him, he forgave me.  I will still ask him tomorrow if he would like for me to pay to get the car fixed and he has all the right in the world to ask me to have it made whole.  The point being made is that forgiveness was offered and even though I feel like trash for scratching his car, he said its forgiven.  (by the way, it is not some massive deep scratch, but it is still a scratch)

I believe that the Bible teaches that we are removed from God due to our sin and when it comes to forgiveness, we are unable to reconcile ourselves back to God.  The Bible also teaches that because of our sin we have offended God and due to our sin we are sentenced to hell.  Therefore, the only way for us to go to heaven is if someone pays the way for us.  The Bible teaches that Christ lived a perfect life, died for our sins, and rose again on the third day-heavy stuff right?  The Bible also teaches that when we die we will either go to heaven or hell.  According to the Bible there is no way to God except through His Son and His Sons death on the cross.  All we have to do is accept His forgiveness and restitution will be made.  True forgiveness is that while in our sin, Christ died for us.  Lets make it personal-While I was breaking into houses (thats a different blog waiting to be written), hurting those around me, living a life for myself-Christ died for me.  When I was cussing God and denying that He even exist-Christ died for me.  Do you see it?  In spite of all my dirty, nasty sin, Christ wiped me clean.  He is willing to do the same for you and all you have to do is ask.  

Thoughts???

Waiting...not settling

No not waiting tables, even though I have done a lot of that throughout my years.  We have been waiting on where God would place us for over two years now- TWO YEARS!!!  We have had opportunity to take jobs elsewhere, but feel that it was because that was what we wanted, and not necessarily where we were supposed to be.

I am tired of waiting, however, I also do not want to settle.  Settling is definitely worse than waiting.  People settle daily and usually do not realize it.  When I was little I wanted to be a superhero and save everyone.  I still do just differently now.  I want to help save people out of the mess their lives are and show them a brighter, more promising future- thats what superheroes do.  I can only imagine how the children of Israel felt walking through the wilderness for days...weeks...years...decades.  They knew that in spite of the current situation waiting was definitely better than settling for a strange land.

As you are going through life and hopefully taking guidance from God, it is important to remember that in seasons of waiting do not settle.  Don't settle for some guy/girl just because they give you attention.  Don't settle for a job when you that it is not what you are supposed to be doing.  Don't simply settle.  All throughout the Bible we are promised more and yet we settle.  We are told that we are more than conquerors yet we walk around defeated all day.  We are told that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, yet we allow others to define our worth and not God.  We are told that joy comes in the morning, yet we fret about tomorrow.  We are told that a loving God cares for the birds, yet we doubt that He knows what is best for us.

I could go on and on about this, but want to leave you with one thought.  Pursue God with all that is in you.  Do not allow your life to be one of mediocrity and regret.  I have thought about simply settling on many occasions, but I know that the promises God has are far greater.  Look at Joshua 1.  Moses had just died and there is no one to take up the position that Moses held.  God tells Joshua that "Moses my servant is dead, therefore, arise."  God was telling him do not sit and mourn and live a life of regret but get up and make a difference.  Pick up the slack that was lost Moses died and make a difference.  God then tells him in Joshua 1:5, "No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.  Just as I was with Moses, so i will be with you.  I will not leave you or forsake you."  Do you see it?   Joshua was told what to do and when God commanded him, He also gave Joshua a promise.  God doesn't simply tell us what to do and expect us to go blindly.  God commands and He prepares a way.  God has commanded me and my family, now we are waiting for Him to show up the prepared way.

Thoughts?

Watch Your Step

I recently washed some dried duck poop off of a stroller.  Welcome to fatherhood.  These are the type of things no one warns you about when you become a father.  I started by attacking the poop with a stick, just like dad used to do.  That didn’t work.  I then rubbed it on the ground because that fixes everything.  I even thought about putting a newspaper over it like on Big Daddy but decided against it.  Eventually, I used a miracle wipey thing that Erin bought and it was good as new.  It made me laugh that while I used to consider myself to be a cool guy that my life now consisted of wiping duck poop off of a stroller tire.  But why.  Why did I need to do this?  Simple, the poop was nasty and shouldn’t be there.  I don’t want my daughters fly ride to be ghetto and nasty.  She deserves the best.  Her stroller even has an ipod hook-up so she can jam to her kid music while good old dad huffs and puffs trying to catch his breath.  I started thinking about the poop and I realized it had to be removed.  

In Deuteronomy there are alot of weird laws that make no sense- a lot of them.  But in the 23th chapter, the Bible says that if you have to poop while at camp you should bring a shovel with you and when you poop you should bury it because “the Lord, your God walks in the midst of your camp”.  This makes no sense to me, or it didn’t for many years.  (By the way,  I call this passage doodooronomy the twenty-turd chapter)  

The reason is because God is holy and perfect.  God wants to meet with us, however, we are told to be holy because He is holy.  God’s desire is not for His people (those who have placed their faith and trust in Him alone for salvation) to walk around in poop all day, but rather for His people to be set-apart from all the crap the world has to offer.  We are not called to waller around like a pig in our filth, but to put the poop aside and “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). 

 Often, we make the choice to settle and surround our life in filth and God is telling us to get rid of the filth and fill our lives with peace, love, long suffering, etc.  The biggest problem though is that we are often skirting around the poop as if we are walking across a mine field.  This clouds our judgment makes us unable to focus on the right things.  We see the trash all around us, but not the blessings that are right in front of us.  We are like the plower who looks back to admire his work, only to have the plow lines (I don’t know what these are called) get crooked.  Fortunately in Ecclesiastes we are told that God can take that which is crooked and make it straight.  In my life I lived a life that was far from straight and I was constantly turning off path because my path was being illuminated by my own desires and I wanted nothing to do with God.  Many of us are in the same boat.  We are so busy looking over our shoulder that we cant see the amazing life that God has put before us.  Check out Proverbs 28:1 for more on this.  

Thoughts?

You're Full Of It

Day 1.5 and I am already doing another post...crazy I know.  Here we go...

When my daughter was little we would give her a bottle with two ounces in it and as she got older we bumped her to an astonishing three ounces-three whole ounces.  She would drink and when she would get down to the extra ounce, she looked defeated.  She reminded me of “that guy” at the gym who would grunt extra loud on his last set only to fail miserably and look pathetic.  (if you are that guy, I’m just kidding, don’t hit me)  She would try to drink it all and have milk coming out of the corners of her mouth, it would be all over her clothes, and she would just look happy, but defeated.  Sometimes she would finish her three ounces and other times she wouldn’t.  When she was full that last ounce would sometimes be to much and she couldn’t take any more in.  

In my walk with God I have found that when I am full of Christ I do not want anything else.  Nothing else even looks appealing, not even something that looks really good.  (Sorry Bill Cosby but there isn’t always room for jello)  I feel that I am able to do anything He has called me to with reckless abandonment.  God + me = majority right?  Go get em!!!! However, when I am empty or running low so to speak, I find that I am doing my own thing and while I still do my “thank you for this food” prayer, it is borderline meaningless.  Its like the football player who prays after scoring, but cusses and pitches a fit like a baby when he is sacked or missed a pass.  I have on many occasions ruined my testimony because I was empty and not allowing myself to be full of God and His accomplished work on the cross.  

The Bible says in Proverbs 27:7 that when we are full we desire nothing, but when we are empty even something bitter taste sweet.  

What happens is that when we are full of Christ we no longer desire what the world offers- its worthless anyway right?  The reverse of that though is when we are lacking in our relationship with who God is, we will take something bitter and think it is sweet.  More times than not, when I am living in the flesh and not according to the Bible, I make poor choices.  I am more irritable and want to do my own thing because I’m selfish.  The BIble says in John 3 that God needs to be glorified and we should be made less, yet we often think we need more stuff.  My desire is that I would desire Him more and desire the worlds stuff less.  

Basically, be full of Christ and empty yourself of what the world has. 

Thoughts???