Thursday, November 17, 2011

Just a Little Truth

Do you find yourself thinking in absolutes?  I tend to think in absolutes.  Hot is hot and cold is cold (truthfully it is the absence of hot).  My truck is silver…I wish it was blue but it is silver.  I either like food or I don’t, I do a good job or a bad job, I win or I loose.  I think this is a perfectly natural reaction to the world around us but we need to have more discernment when dealing with others.
In 1 John 2 we are warned about watching out for the antichrist.  The Scripture says,
“18Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us…. 22Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.”
In my absolute mind I think if God as all good and no evil then Satan as all evil and not good…Not true.  Satan is so smart and so good at his work, he can take a big fat lie and sprinkle it with truth to make it go down easier.  It’s like buying oatmeal cookies over chocolate chip.  We think the healthiness of the oats will somehow over compensate for the sugar, fat, and the fact that I ate the whole bag.  Another way of looking at it is, sea water is water but I cannot drink it and hope to live long.  There is some truth to this statement therefore; the statement must be true, is false.
We as the followers of Christ need to be careful and discern what others are saying about Christ.  We need to be mindful about what is good and what is  not good.  If something is all good then it is of God but what is partially good may be from Satan.  The best test we have is to look at the nature of God.  We need to ask ourselves, does what or who we are dealing with follow the nature of God.  If it does not at some point you may want to be weary and ask more questions.  Always praying that God will lead you and his ways be yours, not yours be his.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

It’s All About the Candy

Yesterday my household was preparing for the Halloween Hunt we realized we were short a few items.  So off I ran to the store with Remington, my oldest, and we began the frantic search for batteries, tape and some last minute items we didn't even know we needed.  While searching the store Remington asked me what is Halloween all about?  It took me back for a second and I began to try to explain to him what it is all about. 
I told him how in some countries it is referred to as The Day of the Dead and it is to mourn the loss of loved ones.  While others use it as a day to worship the dead and practice evil, and yet others look at it as a day of tricks and practical jokes.  I told him some cultures used it as kind of a celebration of the coming winter and the passing of summer, a harvest festival if you will.  Then he asked why do we celebrate it?....The candy son, the candy….
It is all about the candy.  We look at life trying to find the candy.  We want only the sweets in life and it shows.  We have diet soda, diet candy, and zero calories cool aid drinks.  We are sold on the idea that something will make us feel good, enjoy life, taste good, have more fun for longer, and satisfy our desire to be pleased.  It’s all about the candy for us.
That is one of the lies that Satan is selling us.  It is all about the candy.  It is not.  While that taste good Jesus tells us the candy is temporary.  It is not about the candy but about the savior.  Does that mean I can’t have the candy?  No the candy is not the problem it is when we put it above Jesus that it becomes the problem.  It is ok to have some of the good stuff in life as long as it is not taking away from the important part of life…our relationship with God.  When it is ALL about the Candy we have failed. 
What is the Candy in your life that is getting in the way of your relationship?

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

God Can Use Us

God can use us at any age, if we are willing to serve.

My Grandmother (GG as we call her) is 95 years young.  She struggles to get around but does with the aid of a walker.  The Doctors have told her "I have people in better shape then you and they are confined to a wheel chair."  She continues on preserving, ever an example of Gods Love to the rest of us.  While she may not be the most energetic of evangelist she is a deep encouragement to me and those around her.

My Son Remington is 8 years old.  He is all too willing to share the Love of God with anyone, in particular with strangers, that he meets.  He will drop everything to share Jesus with someone and to tell them what he has done with Jesus today.  The other day I was drawing a sign that said Jesus.  Remington asked if I would draw a sign for him.  I asked "do you want it to say Jesus or Remington?"  He replied "no I want it to say 'Faith'."  Remington is the evangelist GG encourages to grow.

There is no age limit for Gods workers.  No floor or ceiling on age just a heart willing to serve.  If God is our happiness why do we spend 80% of our lives focused on other things and only when we are very young and very old do we focus on Him?  I think it is because 80% of the time we think we have life figured out and 20% we know we don't.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Struggling with the Man in the Mirror

Reflections on John 15

I am struggling with the man in the mirror.

I read in John all about His Love and be fruitful and share that Love...I am afraid.  Why do I struggle with this, why am I afraid.  Jesus says that I am the branch, He is the vine.  The branch can not abide with out the vine.  The vine is the conduit to the nutrient rich roots.  The roots that hold the nutrients needed for the branch to produce good fruit...LOVE...

God is Love.  Yet when I look at God and see the Love he has for me I am ashamed...no I am threatened.  I can not measure up...I see God giving me His Love so freely, sacrificing everything so I may have life with Him.  When I look at myself I see the hollow shell of a man that has experienced PURE LOVE but fails to reflect it.  Why do I struggle?

Is it because the world hates me.  I have been chosen out by Jesus and therefor not of the world so now the world hates me.  Is it because of this hate that I struggle?  No, I struggle because when I look in the mirror I fail to see God looking back at me...I only see the hollow shell of a man that I tried to create...

I am not my own creation though.  I am His creation...I was made in His image not my own...He has given me a Spirit of Love.  I did not make it my self I only try to cover it up because I feel I can not measure up to the Love God has shown me.  He never asked me to...He just asked me to Trust Him to work His Love through me...

I struggle with the man in the mirror not looking like God.  That is why He Loves me...because I know I can not do it with out him and I do trust him.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Love One Another

I was reading Mark 2 the other day and I found it interesting that when Jesus preached everyone listened.  Not only did they listen but there was standing room only.  It was so bad that a group of friends cut a hole in the roof so that they could lower their friend down.  Jesus was in demand; he was the cat’s meow, the hot topic.  What has happened since then?

Jesus is still Jesus, he is still alive, and he is still reaching out to people but why are people not interested in his message anymore?  Do people not need his help anymore?  Are preachers all just so very lousy that no one can stand to listen to them?  Did we, the Church, stop sharing the message of hope?

This leaves one to ponder what is wrong with the Church today?  What traditions do we have today that if Jesus walked in and saw he would look at it and just openly rebel and we would question him about it?  What is it that we have missed about sharing the gospel that he was all over and that it drew people to him?  I live in a nation that is very generous to those who are less fortunate.  I go to a church and work with other churches who will bend over backwards to help the lost, the down trodden, and those in need.  The churches I have belonged to have shown unconditional love to those of the world trying to accept them where they are at so that they will become Christians as well but they don’t, Why?

What I have not seen very much of is the unconditional love of your brother.  For an outsider the mainstream Christian religion looks like a group of people who love God, Love them but love their brother when it is convent.  We say to our brothers, “You better get your life right then come back and talk to me”, “I would be more willing to help you if you did more at church”, “If you really believed in Jesus bad things would not happen to you”, “I can’t help you right now but I will keep you in my prayers”.  What happened to just loving someone when they needed it?  Not because they deserved it but because that’s what Jesus wants us to do.
 
We struggle with loving one another when we are at our worst but that is when we need it the most.  The world looks at us and says why would I want to be a part of this “hating group”?  Jesus says they will know we are Christians by our Love…maybe the world is not seeing that Love.  I am going to take every opportunity I can to extend the unconditional love I was freely given to those around me and maybe it will spread.