I once wrote a blog titled "The Living Word", in which I talked about the Bible and how the words never change, but what I get out of those words changes almost every time I read them. The Bible is God's written word and has all authority. What the Bible tells me is what I need to live by. because this is God telling me what to do. Now God being the creator of all that we know, and above everything tells me what to do I need to listen. Also when it says what not to do I should listen. I would think that this is a basic belief for all Christians. Especially when this same book tells me what the result of not listening is.
I was having a conversation with someone not too long ago and I'm not sure how but the conversation(like it usually does with me) ended up being a spiritual discussion. One of the things that the other party said really got to me. "I don't really agree with some of the things that the bible says". What? I can understand not accepting everything that I, or any one person says, but the Bible? I don't always agree with what my pastor says or does, what my father says or does, but I will always go back to check out what the Bible says about it so I know where to put my beliefs. So, one person no, but the Bible yes. I don't care who you are or how long you have been alive, if the bible says something different then I have no choice but to go with that. I know that the Bible is God's word, I know that everything that He wants me to know He will tell me through it. So when someone tells me that they don't agree with some of what the Bible says I say then how do you believe any of what it says?
We have been given this incredible "gift" if you will of free will. God gave us the power to choose. He also gave us the Bible so that we know what to choose. We know what is right and what is wrong, we know what the results of our choices are and we know eventually we will have to accept the reward or consequence of our actions. We choose to believe or not to believe or I guess what we believe. But I tell you that I believe in Christ resurrected. I believe in God incarnate coming to die so we don't have to . I believe that "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and He was with God in the beginning." I also believe that the words that were given to us so graciously by God so that we could be eternally with Him in Paradise namely the Bible has all authority over my life, and that I shouldn't make a choice no matter how big or how small without consulting God through prayer and the Bible. I encourage you to do the same.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Private Practice
When a doctor comes out of Med. school, or a lawyer out of law school they often get a job with another physician or a hospital, or an already existing law firm. When they get a little more experience a lot of them go out on their own. If you were to ask a doctor or lawyer what they do for a living they will tell you that they practice law, or medicine. Practice huh? You would think or hope that when you go to a doctor or lawyer they wouldn't have to practice anymore they will know what they are doing. Well no matter how good they are or we think they are they will always learn something new. They will always get a little better at their jobs.
My dad often tells me that no matter how old he gets he learns something new everyday. I will have to agree with this because I often learn something new everyday. No one ever really knows everything there is to know about everything. So when these doctors and lawyers get there own office these are known as "Private Practices" because they are practicing, growing and getting better everyday. The same thin applies to me and you. Everyday we will learn something new, and everyday we should. I have a private practice, and that is Christianity. I have been learning so much everyday, when I talk to the people that I go to with my bible questions, or as I dig into the Word and God tells me something. You can go years thinking that you understand something about the Bible and then all of the sudden one day you get something different about that particular subject.
In everyday life you go through your day and if you work its more often than not, pretty ordinary. Every day same little routine, you go through your day like you always do. You don't even have to think about it, heck you probably don't even need to wake up all the way, you can get by some days just going through the motions. That's dangerous to do. God puts things in front of you everyday, opportunities to serve and do His work. To witness to someone or to set a God example to the people around you. When you become a Christian you start to notice things changing in your everyday life. The things you used to do you don't do anymore, your attitude towards people changes, from being a jerk who really doesn't care about others, to some one who loves everyone he comes in contact with. And truly cares when he sees someone he doesn't even know going through some hard times. You are constantly growing and maturing in Christ. You change for the better and the older you get, the more consistent these things that you never knew, or thought you would do you are dong and can't see any other way. Not because you are trying so hard to do it, it just comes natural. It is natural, you allow the Spirit to lead you in your ever day walk and you change with out knowing. You become a better Christian. Your everyday life is a Private Practice.
See that's exactly what Christianity is, it's not a religion, it's a private practice. You devote your life to growing and maturing in Christ Jesus, using the Spirit everyday and feeling weird if you don't do something putting others first. The more you study and pray and allow the Spirit to take over you become more and more like Christ. Looking and acting like you know He does and not even knowing that your changing. How do you become a better doctor, lawyer, athlete? I believe the phrase is "practice makes perfect" well, that applies to Christianity. You will never feel a greater satisfaction than that of growing and maturing in Christ. So if you haven't pushed all your chips into the center of the table, taken the leap and started your own private practice, or perhaps need help getting started, go find someone who can tell you how to get your own "Private Practice". Don't worry there isn't a bar exam or anything like that all you have to do is believe and devote your life to Christ and His work.
My dad often tells me that no matter how old he gets he learns something new everyday. I will have to agree with this because I often learn something new everyday. No one ever really knows everything there is to know about everything. So when these doctors and lawyers get there own office these are known as "Private Practices" because they are practicing, growing and getting better everyday. The same thin applies to me and you. Everyday we will learn something new, and everyday we should. I have a private practice, and that is Christianity. I have been learning so much everyday, when I talk to the people that I go to with my bible questions, or as I dig into the Word and God tells me something. You can go years thinking that you understand something about the Bible and then all of the sudden one day you get something different about that particular subject.
In everyday life you go through your day and if you work its more often than not, pretty ordinary. Every day same little routine, you go through your day like you always do. You don't even have to think about it, heck you probably don't even need to wake up all the way, you can get by some days just going through the motions. That's dangerous to do. God puts things in front of you everyday, opportunities to serve and do His work. To witness to someone or to set a God example to the people around you. When you become a Christian you start to notice things changing in your everyday life. The things you used to do you don't do anymore, your attitude towards people changes, from being a jerk who really doesn't care about others, to some one who loves everyone he comes in contact with. And truly cares when he sees someone he doesn't even know going through some hard times. You are constantly growing and maturing in Christ. You change for the better and the older you get, the more consistent these things that you never knew, or thought you would do you are dong and can't see any other way. Not because you are trying so hard to do it, it just comes natural. It is natural, you allow the Spirit to lead you in your ever day walk and you change with out knowing. You become a better Christian. Your everyday life is a Private Practice.
See that's exactly what Christianity is, it's not a religion, it's a private practice. You devote your life to growing and maturing in Christ Jesus, using the Spirit everyday and feeling weird if you don't do something putting others first. The more you study and pray and allow the Spirit to take over you become more and more like Christ. Looking and acting like you know He does and not even knowing that your changing. How do you become a better doctor, lawyer, athlete? I believe the phrase is "practice makes perfect" well, that applies to Christianity. You will never feel a greater satisfaction than that of growing and maturing in Christ. So if you haven't pushed all your chips into the center of the table, taken the leap and started your own private practice, or perhaps need help getting started, go find someone who can tell you how to get your own "Private Practice". Don't worry there isn't a bar exam or anything like that all you have to do is believe and devote your life to Christ and His work.
Monday, December 3, 2007
I'm All In
Las Vegas-
The room is dark, and smokey. There are hundreds of people watching, the drinks are flowing but still the room is quiet. The only light in the room is above your head and that's dim because of your sunglasses. Your elbows on the green felt, sweat beading on your for head, the inside brim or your visor is soaked with the sweat of nervousness. Three people left out of at least 300. It's been a long, stressful day, but you made it to the last table, with three of you left. Your friends and family said you wouldn't ever make it this far in the Texas Hold- Em world series. You throw in the big blind and the dealer starts to deal. You look at your cards and see pocket aces. You hold in your excitement not to show the chip leader across the table who has been after the rookie all night. Stone faced you start the first round of betting, the guy to your left folds right out of the gate. The chip leader looks at you and calls, "shoot!" you can't help but think he also has something good. Here comes the flop, three spades, but wait the last one is an ace. Now you have three aces, but who knows what he has, lets see how he bets. He raises big, now this is either your chance to make a name for yourself or he knows he has the flush. What do you do, this could be your chance to double up and become the chip leader, and the way you've been playing all day that would almost seal the deal, you could control the rest of the game from here on out. What do you do? See if the next two cards come out and he gets the flush, but your stuck with three aces you lose and your out all that time and money. This is where the choice gets tough.
What if you knew that one of those cards was going to be an ace? What if the dealer promised and showed you the next two cards? In fact he showed everyone but you were the only one to see. Would you fold, or go all in? 4th down and 3, 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter down by six, your on the 18 yard line what do you do? Well what if you knew without a doubt that the linebackers were going to go into pass coverage and the left end was without a doubt going to trip at the snap and leave a huge gap to run through? Would you go for it? I would.
In fact I did, not the poker thing or the football thing, but the God thing. You know God calls us all to do His work, to minister to other people, serving the Lord. He tells us what He wants us to do, and gives us all the tools to do it. Our skills, our gifts, our passions. He allows us to go through junk so that we can come through stronger and wiser on the other side, to give us a testimony for the things that He has done for us. A way to communicate His greatness to others through personal experience. James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." God allows us to go through these things that we may be better equipped to do His work. Have you ever noticed that every time you go through something and come out the other side there is usually someone waiting that is about to go through the same thing, or something very similar? Think about it, do you think that is just by chance? No, it's God giving you the opportunity to do His work by using the tool He just gave you! Isn't that cool! He puts people in front of us all the time who need some help getting through something that we have already gone through, but we have to say yes. How many times are you with a group of believers maybe at church service, or midweek bible study, or perhaps an e mail sent to all the members of your church, from the pastor, or someone asking for help? Now, how many times have you not responded or held your mouth shut, because you were scared that you would have to devote time or money to this person. Or afraid to leave your comfort zone, and be in a strange place away from family or friends with a big job in front of you that your afraid you can't do. Well, your probably right, but if God is the one who puts this stuff in front of you and you accept His work than you shouldn't worry, because you aren't the one who will be doing the work really it's the Spirit in you. So, don't say no, especially because of fear, because I promise you that God wouldn't put anything in front of you that you can't handle, and He will give you the strength as long as you ask for it. He will provide everything for you to do the things according to His will and that's all that matters anyway, His will.
So, push all your chips to the center of the table, sit back take off your shades and let the dealer deal out the winning ace, because you know it's a sure thing. Make the call to the quarter back to hand it to the running back, tell him to run left and jump over the left end, take off your head phones and prepare for the bucket of Gatorade and ice, because it's a sure thing. Say yes to God and all His works, because He is always a sure thing and He'll make sure you get the ace or the three yards you need to finish His perfect will.
The room is dark, and smokey. There are hundreds of people watching, the drinks are flowing but still the room is quiet. The only light in the room is above your head and that's dim because of your sunglasses. Your elbows on the green felt, sweat beading on your for head, the inside brim or your visor is soaked with the sweat of nervousness. Three people left out of at least 300. It's been a long, stressful day, but you made it to the last table, with three of you left. Your friends and family said you wouldn't ever make it this far in the Texas Hold- Em world series. You throw in the big blind and the dealer starts to deal. You look at your cards and see pocket aces. You hold in your excitement not to show the chip leader across the table who has been after the rookie all night. Stone faced you start the first round of betting, the guy to your left folds right out of the gate. The chip leader looks at you and calls, "shoot!" you can't help but think he also has something good. Here comes the flop, three spades, but wait the last one is an ace. Now you have three aces, but who knows what he has, lets see how he bets. He raises big, now this is either your chance to make a name for yourself or he knows he has the flush. What do you do, this could be your chance to double up and become the chip leader, and the way you've been playing all day that would almost seal the deal, you could control the rest of the game from here on out. What do you do? See if the next two cards come out and he gets the flush, but your stuck with three aces you lose and your out all that time and money. This is where the choice gets tough.
What if you knew that one of those cards was going to be an ace? What if the dealer promised and showed you the next two cards? In fact he showed everyone but you were the only one to see. Would you fold, or go all in? 4th down and 3, 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter down by six, your on the 18 yard line what do you do? Well what if you knew without a doubt that the linebackers were going to go into pass coverage and the left end was without a doubt going to trip at the snap and leave a huge gap to run through? Would you go for it? I would.
In fact I did, not the poker thing or the football thing, but the God thing. You know God calls us all to do His work, to minister to other people, serving the Lord. He tells us what He wants us to do, and gives us all the tools to do it. Our skills, our gifts, our passions. He allows us to go through junk so that we can come through stronger and wiser on the other side, to give us a testimony for the things that He has done for us. A way to communicate His greatness to others through personal experience. James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." God allows us to go through these things that we may be better equipped to do His work. Have you ever noticed that every time you go through something and come out the other side there is usually someone waiting that is about to go through the same thing, or something very similar? Think about it, do you think that is just by chance? No, it's God giving you the opportunity to do His work by using the tool He just gave you! Isn't that cool! He puts people in front of us all the time who need some help getting through something that we have already gone through, but we have to say yes. How many times are you with a group of believers maybe at church service, or midweek bible study, or perhaps an e mail sent to all the members of your church, from the pastor, or someone asking for help? Now, how many times have you not responded or held your mouth shut, because you were scared that you would have to devote time or money to this person. Or afraid to leave your comfort zone, and be in a strange place away from family or friends with a big job in front of you that your afraid you can't do. Well, your probably right, but if God is the one who puts this stuff in front of you and you accept His work than you shouldn't worry, because you aren't the one who will be doing the work really it's the Spirit in you. So, don't say no, especially because of fear, because I promise you that God wouldn't put anything in front of you that you can't handle, and He will give you the strength as long as you ask for it. He will provide everything for you to do the things according to His will and that's all that matters anyway, His will.
So, push all your chips to the center of the table, sit back take off your shades and let the dealer deal out the winning ace, because you know it's a sure thing. Make the call to the quarter back to hand it to the running back, tell him to run left and jump over the left end, take off your head phones and prepare for the bucket of Gatorade and ice, because it's a sure thing. Say yes to God and all His works, because He is always a sure thing and He'll make sure you get the ace or the three yards you need to finish His perfect will.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Christmas
Ahh, Christmas, my favorite time of the year. I know that there are a lot of people out there that feel the same way about it. The lights, the music, the cookies, the decorations, the feeling of joy in the air. This is a time of year when people think twice about how they act towards somebody else. They let them pull out in front of them in traffic, skip in line at the grocery store if they only have a few items compared to their basket full. Giving to the salvation army, or presents. People think about others, charities, and people who could use a little help. I wonder why that is. Is there a reason why people become, well lets just say it. More Godly. This hit me this morning at church. Billy in the sermon referenced this idea of the Christmas Spirit. I'm sure you have all heard someone say that at least once in your life " I'm filled with the Christmas Spirit." I wonder if that is accurate. Is it just by chance that at this time of the year this all takes place? I'm not sure that I think so. I wonder if anyone has ever entertained the idea that the fact that this time of year just so happens to be the same time when Jesus was born, and that having a lot to do with it.
Giving, humbling, loving, filled with joy, singing a happy song, putting others first. Why does this sound familiar to me? Oh, that's right it's because these are all characteristics of Jesus Christ. How funny is it that people do these things for others around that time. Jesus Christ our savior, the one who has been given the name above all names, the one who has all authority, the one whom in all things were created, and all things created for, was born into a human body, lived a perfect life and then became obedient to death so that all of our sins would be forgiven, was born in this time. I think that has a lot to do with these feelings. We are influenced by just the presence, and I think that this time of year is the perfect way to show examples of how awesome God is. People who normally wouldn't do these things for others, do in fact do them.
Lets go back a couple of steps and look at Halloween. What does that do? What does that "holiday" bring out of people. Fear, mischief, evil. This is a celebration of evil is it not. Horror movies on TV, stories about murder, and monsters, and ghosts, demons. People walking around dressed up as these things. Dressed up as the devil himself. The devil claimed himself a holiday, where people go out and prepare, and decorate and enjoy this. Yet another testimony on how powerful God is. Our church is one of a few that I know of that do this thing called trunk or treat. We take the evil out and put God in. Take the scary out and put happy in. Take out vampires and demons and put in princesses and super heroes. Play christian music instead of scary sounds. This is God at work. God defeating the devil, good triumphant over evil.
How do we beat it for good? We take these people who are filled with this so called "Christmas Spirit" and show them that it's the Holy Spirit of God at work. Introduce them to the Christ that they celebrate at this time of year. Show them that this feeling of joy isn't limited to the month of December. That the spiritual gift that God gives is better than any gift Santa Clause's elf's can build. That the giving and love for others and family never has to stop. That God is around for the other 11 months too, including October. That this feeling of joy comes from serving not being served. And the material things that we lust for are unimportant in life, that the Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior's birthday should be celebrated for the remainder 364 days in every year as well. Glory be to God all mighty for ever and ever. Amen
Lets set this example after Christmas too.
Giving, humbling, loving, filled with joy, singing a happy song, putting others first. Why does this sound familiar to me? Oh, that's right it's because these are all characteristics of Jesus Christ. How funny is it that people do these things for others around that time. Jesus Christ our savior, the one who has been given the name above all names, the one who has all authority, the one whom in all things were created, and all things created for, was born into a human body, lived a perfect life and then became obedient to death so that all of our sins would be forgiven, was born in this time. I think that has a lot to do with these feelings. We are influenced by just the presence, and I think that this time of year is the perfect way to show examples of how awesome God is. People who normally wouldn't do these things for others, do in fact do them.
Lets go back a couple of steps and look at Halloween. What does that do? What does that "holiday" bring out of people. Fear, mischief, evil. This is a celebration of evil is it not. Horror movies on TV, stories about murder, and monsters, and ghosts, demons. People walking around dressed up as these things. Dressed up as the devil himself. The devil claimed himself a holiday, where people go out and prepare, and decorate and enjoy this. Yet another testimony on how powerful God is. Our church is one of a few that I know of that do this thing called trunk or treat. We take the evil out and put God in. Take the scary out and put happy in. Take out vampires and demons and put in princesses and super heroes. Play christian music instead of scary sounds. This is God at work. God defeating the devil, good triumphant over evil.
How do we beat it for good? We take these people who are filled with this so called "Christmas Spirit" and show them that it's the Holy Spirit of God at work. Introduce them to the Christ that they celebrate at this time of year. Show them that this feeling of joy isn't limited to the month of December. That the spiritual gift that God gives is better than any gift Santa Clause's elf's can build. That the giving and love for others and family never has to stop. That God is around for the other 11 months too, including October. That this feeling of joy comes from serving not being served. And the material things that we lust for are unimportant in life, that the Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior's birthday should be celebrated for the remainder 364 days in every year as well. Glory be to God all mighty for ever and ever. Amen
Lets set this example after Christmas too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)