Defend

Defend

The dictionary defines Defend as "to ward off attack from; guard against assault or injury".

In Luke 10:25-37 (go read), we have the story of the "Good Samaritan". A Jew was beaten, robbed, and left for dead in a ditch. A priest (preacher) came by and saw him and went on other side of the road. A Levite(religious servant) came by too and saw him and went on the other side of the road. Finally, a Samaritan (an emeny of the jews, jews looked down on them) came along, saw him, had compassion on him, helped him, and took care of Him.

Now the parable Jesus told was about "who is my neighbor?" and Jesus was saying everyone is our neighbor. We are to love everyone. God first, then others. However, I want to go a step farther. I think we as Christians have an obligation to stand up for those who are helpless, hurting, in need, and have been wronged. We should not only be "Defenders" of the faith", but "defenders" of those who are wronged.

Love this scripture in Proverbs:

Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV)

8 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. 9 Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Unfortunately, we live in a society today that "doesn't want to cause a scene", or "doesn't want to get involved". We love to look the other way, or think it will just go away eventually. People don't want to stand up for what is right or for people who have been wronged because it's "Uncomfortable" sometimes it involves someone they care about, so, It's easier to ignore the problem, or let it go, or pretend nothing happened, or how it all works out on it's own.

My wife and I both in our pasts have been hurt at the hands of other people. I am sure some of you reading this have to, we all probably have in different times and ways been hurt or wronged by people. It seems the people who should care the most to defend you or come to your aid don't. People will tell you to your face how awful it is what you endured or went through and how wrong it was, but when they are faced with the problem or the person that hurt you, 99.9% of the time, they do or say nothing. I'm not sure what hurts worse? You may also think, well if you've been hurt, you just need to get over it and move on, sometimes it's not that easy, especially when you don't have the proper support.

Now, I'm not suggesting we take matters into our own hands or seek revenge because justice and vengence is for the Lord(Romans 12:19). I'm not saying if someone hurts your kid to go hurt them back, or someone is mean to your sister to go beat them up. What I am suggesting is that we defend those who cannot defend themselves. What I'm saying is that we don't look the other way, pretend nothing is wrong, or allow the person who is wrong to go around pretending they did nothing wrong or contribute to their delusion.

Many times, people who do wrong, won't accept or admit their wrong, and they go around acting as if they did nothing wrong, and the problem is when we see them and we allow them to act that way, by being nice or acting like nothing is wrong. This just encourges them to keep living this lie or justifies their actions even more. Does that make sense?

There are too many people walking around free in this world living their lives of lies. They are evil, mean, wrong, or need help and either in deep denial or simply don't care how they treat others. They bully, abuse, betray, treat others wrong or bad, and if people don't stand up to them, or defend those they are hurting, how does the cycle ever break?

We can pray for God to convict them, and we can pray for God to deal with them and bring justice and avenge the wrongs, but I also think as Christians we have an obligation to defend our own. Not with physical violence or revenge, but with simple standing up, taking notice, not looking the other way, and not being "fake" nice. Jesus didn't mince words with the pharisee's when they were being hypocrites and Apostle Paul didn't sugar-coat His words when dealing with sinful people in the church.

People want to think being a Christian means being nice all the time. We are in spiritual warfare. Satan is on constant attack, we have to be on constant alert. Satan uses people to hurt people. We have the power of God within us at our disposal. God wants to use us to defend His church, His people, and ourselves with His power at work in us. Sometimes that means being uncomfortable, having uncomfortable conversations, confronting someone, or standing up to defend someone. Being a Christian isn't always nice ,cozy, & sunday morning smiles. Sometimes it's confronting sin, standing up for right, and defending wrongs.

If you have family members or friends or church members who have been wronged or hurt by others, then support them, care about them, and do so by defending and not allowing the hurt to continue or to be made worse. Nothing worse than salt in a wound. If you are confronted with the person who hurt your loved one or friend, you don't have to punch them, or kick them, or cause a scene, but you can avoid them, and if you can't avoid them, you can let them know with body language or words, that you know what they did, you don't appreciate it, and you aren't just going to act like everything is ok or let them get by with pretending they didn't hurt someone. I hope that makes sense? I'm not promoting conflict, or revenge, but I am promoting standing up for what is right, defending those wronged, and ending the cycle of silent approval.

Most of all if you have been wronged, you can forgive the person even if they don't admit doing anything wrong, and you can pray for them to repent, but also for God to bring justice. Prayer is the best thing we all can do.

SHOCKER

SHOCKER!?

That's what I always say, in a sarcastic voice when something happens when people are surpised by something that is so obvious is going to happen.

We live in a society that is "Master of the Obvious", it's not shocking that if you play with fire, you can get burned; if you don't look when you cross the street, you could get hit by a car; if you don't study, you won't pass the test; there are countless examples in life of "natural" consequences for not making the right choices or doing the right things, yet when they happen, people are shocked? Caught off guard? Didn't see it coming?

Why is that? Stupidity? Igrnorance? Apathy? low expectations? all the above? I don't know for sure, but we should know that life has natural consequences and that when we make certain choices or decisions, things in life are going to happen, regardless of what we want or wish.

You keep giving in to temptations, you are going to fall. You keep cheating, you will eventually get caught; you keep lying, it will eventually catch up with you; you keep drinking too much and too often, you are going to have multiple issues; you hang out with the wrong people and for the wrong reasons, you are going to get hurt.

Yet, we date the loser and are "shocked" when they cheat on us or hurt us? We hang out with the wrong crowd to fit in and are "shocked" when they throw us under the bus? We don't take God serious and we are "shocked" why we struggle in our faith? We don't read our bible or pray to God and we are "shocked" we don't know God's will?

People there are natural consequences. Then there are good consequences for good choices and bad consequences for bad choices. Then there are warnings signs, warning signals, and things that show us "not to go there, or not to do that, yet we ignore them, then we are shocked when things bad happen for us.

If I get in my car and drive to New York City, I'm not going to end up in Los Angeles. As Andy Stanley says, "direction not intention, determines destination". In other words, you are going to end up in what direction you are headed.

You lie, cheat, act lazy, have a bad attitude, cheat, be dishonest, don't care, etc..whatever your attitude is is where you will end up. You do drugs, abuse alcohol, use people for sex, gamble away your money, and you're going to end up addicted, alone, desperate, isolating those you love, and could end up in rehab, the hospital, or dead.

People the warning signs are there for a reason. Don't be shocked when your decisions and choices lead you exactly to where they are supposed to. Also, don't think because you are a Christian or become a Christian that your life is going to be easy, or you're going to coast. Though becoming a Christian is the BEST choice you will ever make, becoming a Christian puts target on your back. The closer you get to God the more the devil may tempt you, persuade you, and pursue you. When the devil doesn't bother you is when I'd be concerned. It means you aren't doing anything that is a threat to Him.

Heed the warnings friends. Don't go down roads you don't want to go, they lead to sin, pain, struggle, and destruction. Don't be shocked when you choose selfishly and end up hurt. Don't be shocked either that when you strive to live for God, that Satan is right there fightin you every step of the way.

I Peter 4:12-13(NIV)12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

Rely

Rely

2 Corinthians 1:9 (NIV)

"Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead."

Do you really rely on God? I mean lets be honest, most of us do only what is within our power to do and most churches really only do what is within their power to do. Many of us don't really live by faith, which is the call of the Christian.

God did not create us to rely on ourselves and certainly God didn't send Jesus to die on the cross and go through hell on our behalf for us to rely on our own wisdom, strength, or power.

First, God is God, He created us, therefore He is to be sought out. Secondly, God sent Jesus, so that through Him we may not only have forgiveness of sins, but also so we can have a relationship with God on a personal level. Thirdly, God promises and gives us His Spirit when we are baptized into Him to help guide us. Father, Son, & Holy Spirit, these 3, are 3 in 1, and because of that, we don't need to rely on anyone, anything, especially ourselves without Him.

Look at how many decisions and choices we make everyday and do not consider or consult God. We take jobs, buy houses, enter dating relationships, make business deals, financial decisions, pick places to worship, we get married, we make friends, and make all sorts of choices without fully relying on God's guidance, wisdom, discernment, and approval. I am guilty, we all are and can be.

God cares about us. He loves us uncondtionally. He would not have created us, send us His Son, or give us the gift of His Spirit if we are not valuable to Him. However, God is a God of freedom and will not force us to Love Him, choose Him, obey Him, or listen to Him. All He can do is offer and be there for us.

We must choose God. Choose to seek, listen, decide, and choose. It is up to us whether we read His word, pray, grow, attend church, serve, or use our gifts God has given us. If we do not choose God or learn to rely on Him, then our life will be riddled with regret, pain, sorrow, and grief. If we don't rely on God, we may make choices or decisions that could have been prevented had we relied on God.

Relying on God isn't going to keep our lives free from mistakes, problems, or even temptations. But, learning to Rely on God will help us make better decisions and choices. It will help us have strength, endurance, and hope when we are faced with troubles, trials, problems, and things that grieve us that are out of our control.

Rely on God. Put your faith into practice. You will not grow or mature in your faith until you learn to rely on God and learn to fully surrender your will, your ways, and your life to Him. It's a process, it takes time, but slowly we all can learn to RELY on God in ALL areas of our lives and how different will our lives and churches look if we've got people relying on God to do things only God can do?

Learning Lessons

Learning Lessons

I find myself sometimes in church or listening to a sermon/message on the radio and thinking "I wish __________(fill in the name) could hear this." Are you with me? It's very easy for us to want "others" to be taught a lesson and wish they'd hear a good sermon and get convicted for their actions that have hurt us or others.

Truth is we are not God. God is God. It's up to Him who,when,where, what is being taught. Our job is to worry about our own self. There are lessons we need to learn. Believe me, God will keep teaching us the same lessons until we realize He's talking to us, and WE need to hear it.

I am very guilty of this, when I am wronged or see someone else wronged, I want the offender to be convicted, accept responsibility, and for God to teach them a lesson. The fact is, I got my own lessons to learn, and secondly, we have no idea how or what God might be doing to teach that person.

Also, if we do not learn the lessons God is trying to teach us, He will keep providing opportunities until we do "get it" or we will continue to suffer consequences. I think the real issus is that we need to focus more attention on our own behaviors, attitudes, and things God is trying to teach us, and allow God to do His job and not try to do it for Him.

Believe me in the big scheme of things, those of us who are committed Christians don't get what we deserve ,but by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, we are saved and secure. However, there are those out there who reject God and will never surrender to Him and then there are those who claim christianity, but still refuse to follow God's will.

But, the point is today, it's not our job to teach others lessons. It's our job to learn the lessons we need to learn. We all have areas of in our lives where we need to work, focus, and learn things God is teaching us. We also need to allow God to work in the lives of others. If someone has wronged you, trust God that He will bring you justice, and that He will take care of the wrongs in this world people do, one way or the other.

There are happy endings sometimes when people wrong us, know it, admit it, accept responsibility, and seek to make ammends. Nothing wrong with praying for these outcomes, sometimes we cannot have those outcomes and sometimes those outcomes, we are better off without that person in our lives. Either way, we need to let God do His job. He's the ultimate teacher. He will convict those who need convicted, teach people the lessons they need to learn, punish those who do wrong, forgive those who confess their wrongs, but even then we will have to accept the natural consequences.

Learn the lessons God wants to teach you. He taught me a valuable lesson this morning, worry about myself and the lessons I need to learn, and let Him handle others. He don't need my help. God will take care of everyone in His Time, His Way, and according to His will.

Psalm 103:6(NIV)

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed

Blame Shift

Blame Shift

In Exodus 32 in the Old Testament of the Bible, while Moses went to talk to God up on the Mountain, we have the story of the Golden Calf. Moses was gone awhile, and the people got restless and came to Aaron and wanted to make them a God. So Aaron told them to bring all their gold to him and He fashioned a Golden Calf out of all the gold they brought.

God knew what was happening so He sent Moses down off the mountain to deal with it. He was furious at what the people were doing, Dancing and partying around this Idol God. The Bible said he burned with Anger and he want to Aaron and this is what Aaron said:

22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” (Ex 32:22-24)

Do you see what Aaron did? He shifted blame on the people and did not accept responsibility for his actions. He could have told the people to wait on the Lord and corrected them, but instead He gave into their wishes and then when confronted blamed them.

Sounds familiar doesn't it. Not many people want to accept responsibility for their actions these days. It's so much easier to blame others for our mistakes, problems, and decisions. We blame our parents, our friends, our children, our spouse. We blame the government, our employer, our school. We blame God.

Truth is truth. When we make mistakes, poor choices, bad decisions, lie, treat people bad, steal, swear, use people, are selfish, and do wrong, it's OUR FAULT. We all have ultimate control over our feelings, choices, decisions, and life.

People may die, we may grow up poor, we might have been abused, we maybe have been wronged, or missed a break or two, but ultimately, our attitude, mindset, feelings, and emotions dicate what we do, how we act, and how we treat others. One WE can be accountable for our own actions, no other person, place, or event.

Bad things happening to us is no excuse to give up, throw in the towel, fall apart, become bitter, resentful, or horrible to be around. If that was the case, we'd all have an excuse to be and do evil.

As long as you constantly blame others for your behavior, faults, problems, and attitude you will never overcome anything. You especially will not allow God to work in your life if you always blame shift and never own up.

None of us is exempt from mistakes, bad choices, or problems, but being human some of those things are our own fault. We screw up, we err, we have a bad day, we sin, we fall short, or we let the situation get the best of us. Best thing to do is own up, accept responsibility, be honest, and learn from it and move on. Most of all allow God to work in your life in whatever situation it might be.

Do not be like Aaron and join in on the wrong and then blame shift.

Proverbs 19:1(NIV)

Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse

One Hit Wonder

One Hit Wonder

VH1 has tv show's dedicated to them, there are cd's dedicated to them, even in different decades. They are artists/bands that only had one good song, and were never heard of again?

"Oh Micky, your so fine, your so fine you blow my mind, Hey Mickey?" Remember who sung that song? Me either? Or anything else they ever sung. Did Vanilla Ice every have another Hit besides Ice Ice Baby? I don't know either?

I don't know the reasons, but for whatever reason, these musical artists didn't last or make it past their hit song? Well it reminds me of Easter. People come to church once for Easter(or insert Christmas here too) and you never see them again? Maybe they go because their mom or wife or in-laws guilted them to go, or they are in town visiting family and had to go out of respect for them.

My bigger issue is that there are people out there, that are totally content in going to church once or twice a year. Like christianity or God is an annual event that you go watch once a year like the superbowl or Grammy's?

God is not a God who wants our church attendance. We are not doing God a favor by coming to church once a year, or even once a week. Yet many have this attitude about God. We go to church to GIVE God worship, not get props for being there. Going to church is about something bigger, being a part of God's body as a whole. We go there to worship God, serve Him, and join with others in worship.

Sure, we can go and worship God in song, we can take communion to remember His death on the cross for our sins, hopefully we can hear a sermon that teaches us, challenges us, equips us, and convicts us depending on what we need that day, but the bigger picture is that we are part of something bigger. We go to church to worship God in various ways and to be a part of His Body. His church.

I think it's great that churches invest so much energy in Easter Sunday. it's a great opportunity to share Jesus with people who normally don't hear the message. Maybe that one Sunday there, may open up a door for them to hear or see something that makes them think, challenges their heart, or makes them wonder maybe life was meant for something more? I think churches need to make a big deal every week myself! Every Sunday is important, let alone every day of our lives!

I don't want to be a one hit wonder. There is more to this life than just attending church on Easter or Christmas. There is more to God than just putting on nice clothes and enjoying a choir special. God created you with purpose. He created you for a relationship with Him.

God did not create us to just attend a church service once a year or once a week. He created us to have a relationship with us. In having a relationship we become a part of His body or family that is the church. God did not create us to be there once and disappear and never be heard from again. God created us to thrive, to grow, to serve, with purpose, with value, and most of all for eternity.

We spend so much time trying to find purpose and value in earthly relationships, partying, hobbies, happiness, success, and you name it, but the bottom line is, you will never have peace, never be fulfilled, and never know true relationship and purpose until you get serious about seeking God.

Do not be a one Hit wonder, God has so much more to offer you and your family, than just one church service a year. Give Him a chance,you won't regret it. Let your life matter.

Do not be a person who just goes to church once a week out of duty or obligation. Enjoy being a Christian and worshipping God. If you're not happy at church, maybe you're the problem? Or maybe you need to start letting God use you to help the church? Or maybe you need to find a new church? I don't know, but I know God created us to worship Him and be a part of His church. Make a difference for God.

No one remembers one Hit wonders, but they do remember those that last. Like Elvis, The Beatles, George Straight, Stevie Wonder, or Johnny Cash. Artists that have had hits for decades, and some that have died, and their music has outlived them.

That's the type of christians and people we should want to be: our lives, our service, and our love for God outlives us, though we will go and live for eternity in Heaven.

Go to church, Be the church, Worship God, Serve God, and let God of Wonders be the One.

3 John 1:3 (NIV)

It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.

Stereotypes

Stereotypes

It's very easy for people to come up with stereotypes for church or christianity isn't it? Think about it. You get treated bad by a christian, and you say all christians are bad. You went to church with your grandma when you were little and it was all old people, boring, and was the white church with the big steeple, and you say all churches are for old people. boring, and the same. It's very easy for us to stereotype things and in doing that we dismiss them.

While some stereotypes may be true in life, most are not. It's not fair to do that to people, places, and especially a faith. I mean, I could go out and be rude to someone and treat them bad and would be it be fair for a person to say all men are rude, all white guys are rude, all guys name Jason are rude, all guys from WV are rude, and all guys that are good looking are rude? Ok, maybe not the good looking, but you can see how stereotyping something or someone based on one experience is not only not fair it's not accurate.

True, there are some people out there that call themselves christians, but do not act like it, just surf the web and check out those whacko's from Westboro Baptist in Kansas(http://www.godhatesfags.com/) who hate gays and protest soldiers funerals. Do you think they give the church and christianity a bad name? YES! But, they do not represent Christianity or the God I know, love, and serve? NO! It's not fair to God and the church to judge them based on people and places like this group of delusional people, doing wrong in God's name and abusing the church.

True, there are churches out there that are dying, out of touch, legalistic, self-centered, and doing the same things the same way for 100 years and they are dying because they refuse to change. They are not relevent, they are not reaching lost people, or discipling members. However, there are thousands of churches out there that are reaching lost people, growing, and discipling it's members. There is a church out there somewhere than can and will meet your needs and help you grow in your faith!

I want to challenge you this morning. If you do not go to church because you had a bad experience with a church or a christian in the past, stop using that as an excuse not to go to church or become a christian. We all have bad experiences in life, but we can't let those stop us. If I have a bad experience at a restaurant, I may stop eating at that particular restaurant, but I'm not going to boycott all restaurants based on that one bad experience at that particular store. That would be stupid. Do not do that with God or His church.

I promise you, if you look with sincerity, you will meet great christian people and you can find a church that isn't boring, fake, dull, or full of hypocrites. Yes, they are some bad churches and bad christians, but not all of them. It's like anything, there is always a few bad, but there are way more good, if you will only look for them and not let your bad experience judge your search.

I know that you or I would not want to be lumped into a negative, false, or bad stereotype that wasn't true about us, and I don't believe God nor His true church wants that stereoytpe either. Unfortunately, because we are human, we live in a world where some people who proclaim Christianity, don't live up to the name, and we live in world, where some churches, stopped being the true church a long time ago for various reasons? I can't always live up to my christian faith, and if we were honest with ourselves, we know no matter how hard we try, we sometimes make mistakes and fall short.

The important thing is that each of us know God in a personal way and make a commitment to Him and that we serve Him through His church. We need God and we need His church. People think you can have a relationship wtih God without His church and you cannot. But, we also need to understand not every church out there that claims to be a church is being the church. Therefore, we must search for where God want us and use wisdom and discernment.

Do not label all christians bad and do not label all churches bad. Stereotypes are bad. Seek the truth, don't let bad experiences keep you from knowing God and serving Him through His church!

John 7:24(NIV)

Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

Mold

MOLD

I know your first thought is gross, lol. I'm not talking about mold on leftovers forgotten about in the fridge or mold on the loaf of bread in your cabinet. I'm talking about molding and shaping.

What is your life molded from? How are you shaped? You've heard it said, when they made "fill in the blank" they broke the mold. Or that person is from the same mold as His father or mother.

Things in life mold us and shape up. Our families, our surroundings, our experiences, and our choices, all mold and shape us.

However, what we really need to be molded after is Jesus. Our goal should be to be like Jesus. I'm not saying, we can't pick up positive traits from our parents or others, but ultimately, our life should reflect Christ, if we are serious about our faith. Unfortanutely, we also can pick up negative and bad traits from others and life choices and experiences.

Some christian people they mold and shape their faith after their church, after their religious practices, or their traditions. Those things are not Jesus. Some people are so proud to be baptist, or legalistic, or traditional, or set in their ways. They boast and brag. These things aren't molds God wants for us. Jesus came to give us freedom, to liberate us, and to give us a model. He wanted to destroy religion and traditions that people make of God. Our mold should be after God and God alone.

Also, in the world, we mold ourself in so many negative ways. We are over-opinionated, pushy, moody, domineering, selfish, like our way, etc...we are all guilty of this, including me. These practices are not good ways to mold and shape our lives. All they do is cause us conflict, drama, and push people away from us and make it hard to have healthy relationships with anyone, including God.

We need to ALLOW God personal access to our lives from the inside out. Then slowly over time, God molds and shapes our lives. We are like Clay in His hands and He begins to change us. He can change our attitudes, our habits, our personalities, our motives, and most of all our lives. God can do anything He wants to do, but He can only work in our lives if we allow Him. God will never force himself, but if we allow Him, he can mold and shape us into the person He created us to be.

If you are an artist and create something, you understand it takes time. It takes time to paint a portait, create a sculpture, write a song, or make something by hand. God is our artist. He is our creator. He wants to take us in His hands and mold us. shape us.

My prayer for you and me, is that whatever areas of our lives, we are not giving to God, maybe all? We will hand over to God and allow Him to mold us. We need His handy work in our lives if we are going to grow in our faith and do great things for Him. Give yourself to God, allow Him to work in ALL areas of your life and grow you, change you, shape you, and mold you.

Isaiah 64:8(NIV)

Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Do Not Assume

Do Not Assume

I don't have to tell you what assuming does to you and me. It is very easy to make assumptions about circumstances and people without really knowing the truth, facts, or what's really going on. I have been guilty of it we all have did it I am sure.

So many times we look at someone's situation or lives and we think we know what the are going through or their situation and we judge them unfairly. We look at how a kid acts and we assume their parents aren't good parents, when you don't live with or raise the kid on a daily basis. You might not know they have some issues and the parents have tried everything to control them. Or you look at a woman married to a man and you don't understand why she stays with him, he's a cheat, a perv, and mean. Yet, maybe the woman is afraid,or feels trapped, or is threatened if she leaves?

We don't know people's circumstances. When gossip and rumors get out in town or at church about someone, it's very easy to think we know it all, because of what we heard, but many times, what actual reality and truth is, is very different than what we hear or think we know.

You don't know whta it's like to live in someone else's house, walk in their shoes, or be in their circumstance, so it's not fair or right of us to assume, judge, or condemn them. We have no idea how we would handle, react, or respond if we were in that given situation or dealing with those issues. It's very easy to talk about how we'd handle something, as long as we are not in it. It's totally different when you are living it.

My encouragement this morning is this. Stop assuming you know every situation. Don't judge someone because you think you know their situation or problem. If you haven't lived it or experienced it, you don't know it. And in most cases we never truly have all the facts.

I have been very guilty of making assumptions and judgements of people and their problems or circumstances based on my thinking I know, but not really knowing, and I want to change that.

If you don't know about a person or their situation, then don't say anything or act like you know. If a friend or family member comes to you with issues, then listen, give advice or counsel when asked, and don't assume or judge if you don't know. If required be supportive, if required be honest and truthful if they need to hear it, but only about facts and reality, not assumptions.

We all have opinions, some of us more than others. We think we know it all, but let's be real honest, if we haven't lived it, experienced it, or been through it, kind of hard to know it. And if we got stuff in our lives we aren't dealing with, kind or hard to tell someone what they need to do in their lives.

It reminds me of the simple lesson Jesus tried to teach in Matthew 7. We need to worry about ourselves and get ourselves together, then we can worry about someone else.

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:3-5(NIV)

Let's get the plank ourt of our eyes, then we can help others with their speck, but if you don't know the speck, don't assume you do.

Childish

Childish

There are two types of childish behavior at work here in our lives. One is positive and the other negative.

When we are children, we learn and grow, physically and mentally. However, some children learn good behavior and habits, while others learn bad behavior and habits. Some grow and mature, while some grow more immature.

When it comes to our personal faith. God wants us to have the attitude and purity of a child, while at the same time not being childish? Does that make sense?

Read these two verses below and see if that helps?

1 Corinthians 14:20 "Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults."

Matthew 18:3"And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Some people grow into adults but never fully mature. They are immature, act childish, behave childish, and because of their behaviors and atttitudes they seem to stay in trouble, cause conflict, and hurt others. You know anyone like that? Got them in your family?

However, on the flip side of that, though God wants us to mature in our faith, he wants us to maintain a child-like faith, which is of innocence, purity, and unconditional love.

There are people out there that will never grow in their faith because they refuse to mature and grow and act like an adult. Then there are those who grow and mature deeply because they work on staying pure at heart and keeping themselves innocent of sinful behaviors and surroundings.

Being mature means treating people with respect, not retaliating when someone hurts you, treating others how you want to be treated, and not accusing people falsely, and accepting responsibility for yourself and your actions. Being immature means being disrespectful, causing drama, trying to hurt others even if you don't have all the fact, and treating others badly out of your own selfishness.

Being Child-like faith is striving to have a pure heart. Doing things like praying daily and reading your bible regularly and being involved in bible studies and serving God and reading christian books and listening to christian music and things like this that will help you meditate and stay pure. It's protecting your innocence by avoiding things that cause you to be tempted, to lust, to cheat, and to hurt others.

We must grow and mature in our faith as we physically age and grow older. And the older we become the more we should grow in our faith. Which means we become more knowledgeable of God's word and will, we improve in areas of our lives where we are weak, we hone our spiritual talents and gifts and use them for God's kingdom. Our life becomes less about us and our wants and more about God and His needs. The more we grow in our faith the less judgemental we should be, the more wisdom and discernment we should have, and the more we make a positive difference in the world for God.

At the same time we are aging and hopefully maturing and growing in our faith we become more child-like in our faith. That simply means that God wants us to keep an attitude of purity and innocence like a child. Seeing the good in others, learning to share, avoiding things that corrupt our hearts and minds.

God is our spiritual father, we are His children. I hope we all can learn to have child-like faith, while the same time learning to grow and mature in our faith.

Realistic VS Legalistic

Realistic VS Legalistic

Are you being realistic in your faith or legalistic? Legalistic is defined as: the principle of strict adherence, to law or prescription, especially to the letter rather than the spirit.

Realistic is defined as: interested in, concerned with, or based on what is real or practical. So again, I ask how you in your personal faith in God?

I want you to Look at 3 scenario's and be objective:

1. Which christian does more harm, one who drinks alcohol(wine/beer) socially, in moderdation, or rare occasions (not getting drunk) or a christian who gossips regularly and often?

2. Which christian does more harm, one who was led to Christ by reading the (NLT) New Living translation of the Bible or one who condenms every translation except one or condemns anyone who reads any other translation other than the one they think is the only one?(typically the King James Version).

3. Which christian does more harm, one who fellowships and accepts other christians of other denominations or those who believe different than them on certains biblical issues or the one who thinks their church is the only church going to heaven and you are only a christian if you got to "their" church?

These are only 3 scenario's, I could write several others but for space/time reasons I won't. My point today is, there are many judgemental, narrow-minded, ignorant, set in their ways, and uneducated, maybe even some well-meaning christians out there, who are doing more harm than good. They condemn certain behaviors or people or groups, while their own behavior or attitude is really more harmful to themselves, others, and God. PLEASE UNDERSTAND I am not endorsing or promoting drinking, every bible translation, or even every group that calls themselves a church, but we need to be realistic and objective, that sometimes we fight the wrong battles, focus on the wrong things, and many people do more harm than good. Also, we need to keep in mind that we all have indiviual freedom, convictions, and preferences in certain areas of our faith.

Let's look closely at these 3 scenarios:
First, scripture is clear on getting drunk and drunkeness being a sin (Luke 21:34, Romans 13:13, I Cor. 6:10, Prov. 20:1 & 23:20-their are several other scriptures as well), however, scripture also teaches us (whether we like it or not), that Jesus did indeed drink wine (Luke 7:33-35 and John 2-water into wine-he accepted others drinking wine) and Jesus clearly didn't condemn alcohol use, but scipture does condemn mis-use, abuse, and lack of self-control of alcohol. Alcohol isn't the bad guy, it's the people who use it excess or abuse it. Sort of like people who abuse authority, food, or other things out of their intended boundaries. However, gossip is always wrong. There is not place in the bible where gossip is ok in moderation, on occasion, or in social settings. Gossip is ALWAYS wrong. (prov 11:13, 16:28, 18:8, Romans 1:29, 2 Cor. 12:20) However, many churches are full of "christians" who gossip on a daily basis and nothing is said, but you hear or see a "christian" drinking a beer at a restaurant or see a picture on facebook of someone having a glass of wine at a social gathering and we automatically condemn them as being a hypocrite, sinner, or evil? But we look the other way at our church full of gossips, dividers, and slanderers?

I think it's honorable if people choose to abstain from alcohol, certain foods, or certain hobbies, or practices, but we must be very very careful to not bind our own personal convictions on everyone else(Go Read Romans 14, esp 14:22) especially when scripture doesn't back it up, and again I'm just using alcohol and gossip as examples. Don't miss the forest for the trees.

Secondly, the word version or translations is pretty self-explanitory to me. It means it's a version of the original or a translation of the original text. Not every tranlation or version is a good one, but not everyone is a bad one. Many people have come to Christ and have grown in their faith and even preached and taught others with the King James, New King James, New International Version, New Living Translation, American Standard, Revised Standard, and the Message to name a few. Who is more Christ-like? One who shares the word of God and reads it and does what it says or one who is dogmatic, negative, judgemental in saying there is only ONE translation and the rest are uninspired, evil, perverted, or wrong? Heaven will be a small place if only people who read one version go there. (Eph 5:6-empty words, 2 Tim 2:24 false teachers, Hebrews 4:12-God's word). Sometimes translations improve the original texts, and changing words, doesn't always mean changed meanings. Wy is translating the orignial texts into today's language so evil? If we found another ancient writing today, would we not translate it in today's language or would be go back to 1600 Shakespeare old english? Jesus did not speak old english folks. Which is realistic and which is legalistic?

Thirdly, there are many denominations, non-denominational, established, and independent churches out there, there are many branches of different movements. I agree there is only ONE church, but that church is GOD's church, not a certain denomination or non-denominational group. The church is the BODY of Christ. HE is the head and we are all a part in that body.

We may attend the Baptist, methodist, church of Christ, Presbyterian, or community churches, but we all can be a part of HIS church. Are there churches or certain religous groups out there that aren't teaching the bible correctly? Yes. Are there churches out there that started for the wrong reasons? Yes. Is there a church (group) out there that's doing everything correctly? No. No church whether denomination or not, is doing everything correctly, or has all the answers. If there was, then Jesus died in vain. Do we all have to agree with every topic, issue, or doctrine out there? No. Do I have to have the same belief about speaking in tongues, the end of times, baptism, or grace to consider you my brother or sister? I shouldn't, but many people do. They judge someone a christian or not based on whether they agree with them and where they go to church.

I don't agree with a lot of peoples views and I certainly don't agree with every denomination or doctrine out there, and many wont' agree with me today, but that doesn't give me a right or authority to condemn every christian who doesn't agree with me or doesn't go to the same church I do. When we do that, we limit God, put Him in a Box, and make salvation about being in the right group or right set or rules and not about what Jesus did. Jesus condemned this type of behavior (read the Matt, Mark, Luke, & John and Jesus words to the Religous leaders and Pharisees. Paul fought legalism too, read Acts). Jesus came to FREE us from religion, rules, and legalism, by enabling us to have a relationship with him. Why do we want to make being a christian, going to church, and being saved so hard for people?

Are there some churches and christians out there mis-informed? Yes. Are there some things I believe that are probably wrong? Yes. That is why it's important for us to talk to God daily, read and study our bibles, and contine to grow in our faith. Many churches are known for what they are against instead of what they are for. Many christians push people away and turn people off from God and the church because they are arrogant, argumentative, pushy, and judgemental. You are not going to lead too many people to Christ with those types of attitudes. Does that mean you have to agree with everyone or be comfortable in every type of church? No. Go to church and serve where you feel led, but don't condemn another church, worship style, preference, or christian just because it doesn't match up with the way you were raised, taught, or even feel. (Romans 14:1, John 3:17, Romans 15:7, Gal 2:21, Eph 2:8-there are many other scriptures)

We need to be REAListic not LEGAListic. Our salvation comes from God, not our own smarts.

Our relationship of faith in God is up to us, not others. We will answer to God, not someone else and not our church group or personal opinions. I believe in absolutes, I believe in boundaries, right and wrong, and sin. But, I also believe in personal freedom/choice, grace, preferences, and common sense. What is wrong for you, might not be wrong for me, but I am also to exercise wisdom and discernment. Sometimes things are better for us not to do or say, not because they are a sin or wrong, but because it may offend or hurt someone else or even hurt the church.

Sometimes we might not agree with someone over bible translations, worship music, or even doctrinal issues, or personal choicies, but we can agree that Jesus died for us, he loves us, and His grace covers our sins if we repent. We make things issues that I believe God never intended for them to be issues, but when you mix human beings that are sinful by nature an not perfect, things get complicated.

God wants us to have freedom in Him, that's realistic. God doesnt want us being legalistic and limiting His love, power, and grace. No matter your views, opinions, preferences, or even beliefs, be careful to get the plank(Matt 7:3-5) out of our eyes first.

We may never drink alcohol, but we gossip constantly. We may only use the King James, but we never use it like the person who uses their NIV everyday and shares their faith. Or what about ther person who prays and fellowships with people of other denominations, while one person has nothing to do with anyone other than "their own" churches. Who is making a bigger difference?

I don't have all the answers, you may not agree with some of the things I said today, well good news, you don't have to. I'm at a place in my walk with God where I'm not going to let people, churches, or anything dictate how I live, believe, feel, or serve.

I want my life to reflect my relationship with God and that's as REAL as it gets. I want God to use me to give others FREEDOM in Him. WE need to stop being so legalistic in our religion and start being more realistic in our faith. I encourage you to search the scriptures, pray, and study on your own, don't take my word for it, take God's.

John 8:36

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

Give Up

GIVE UP

It's easy to give up isn't it? It's alot easier to throw in the towel, stop trying, and not make any effort. Why do you think so many people don't change their lifestyle, habits, or situations? Because they give up. People don't stop smoking, lose weight, fix their marriage, or better parent their children because it's easier to ignore, look the other way, live in denial, or just simply give up.

However when you give up that way, your problems never give up, they continue and continue and they get worse, deteriorate, and pile up.

I've been there, I am there. It's easy to give up on ourselves and our problems. Well I am telling you today to GIVE UP, but I am not talking about this kind of giving up, I am telling you to GIVE UP your problems to God.

That's a totally different type of giving up. When you GIVE UP your problems to God, you are saying my problems or issue or struggle is too big for me to handle on my own, I need help, I can't do it alone. Until you get to this point, then things aren't going to change. Well they will change, but only for the worse.

God wants us to give up control of our lives and situations to Him. God alone is the answer. Now, I am not saying God wants us to just dump our stuff in His lap and we are done. We have t0 accept responsibility for our actions if we've caused the problem(s) in our lives. And God also expects us to take ownership of our lives. Also, when we give up things to God, we are giving Him permission to come and work in our lives and our situation, whatever it is. We give up control of trying to fix it, however, God really wants us to partner with Him. He desires us to make an effort to learn, grow, mature, and deepen our faith in Him as He works in our lives and situation.

The more we GIVE UP to God the more He is in control. The more control He has in our lives, the more He can and will do. Giving Up to God is totall surrender of our will, but it also requires us to do our part. To pray, to study, to be obedient, and depending on the situation it will require us to do part of the work. It may mean God requiring us to confront someone, it may mean us changing habits, or friends, or jobs? It may mean we develop new attitudes, or attributes? I don't know what it means for you or me,it depends on our situation, problem, or issue. Whatever it means, we must totally surrender ourselves to God and then ALLOW Him to work in our lives.

Surrending to God is giving Him control, but it's not giving up on ourselves or our responsibility to respond to God's leading. If we GIVE UP things to God it still will require us to work, obey, make effort, and change. The more we GIVE UP to God the more He is able to work in our lives and our situations, but GIVING UP to God is not GIVING UP as stop trying or being defeated.

Giving UP to God is actively realizing we can't do it alone and we NEED God in ALL things, not just the good times and not just for our wishes and wants. God is a God of TOTAL relationship.

He wants to be in our ENTIRE lives, but will only be in our lives when INVITED.

GIVE UP yourself and your problems, struggles, issues, and situations to God today and let Him lead and guide you through them and see how they change or maybe how you change. When you can't do it, and when things seem hopeless, God ALWAYS can according to His Will and His time and through it, as we give up to God, He will grow us, heal us, mature us, and help us. He always knows what we need and what is best for us, and though it may not always be popular, comfortable, or what we want or how we want it, we can have peace, when we GIVE UP to God we are doing what is best.

Psalm 79:9Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.

Know it All

Know It All


We know there is no shortage of people with opinions about our lives, how we should live, what we should do, how we should handle situations. The problem is however, that it's very easy to give advice or know how to respond to a situation when you are not the one living it.

It also very easy to have an opinion when you don't know all the facts or haven't experienced what the person is going through. For instance, It's easy for me to tell someone to stay married to an abusive spouse, when I don't know what that is like. It's easy for someone to tell you to get a divorce when they've been divorced 5 times. I can't tell you I know how you feel when your dad dies, when my dad is still living. You can't give me good advice on my job when you've not worked there or had to deal with the things I've dealt with there.

However, we live in a society where people are heavy on advice and short on wisdom. I've been just as guilty. Someone will start sharing a problem with us, and before you know it we are pouring our advice on them, without taking the time to listen, maybe pray with them, or just pu ourselves in their shoes.


I've had people come to me with a relationship situation and I've been quick to say dump them, or get over it, well it's easy to say when you're not in it, but when you're in it, it's not so easy to just end a relatioship or even "get over it" so easy.


I think especially as those of us who call ourselves "Christians", we need to be quick to listen, and slow to speak (James 1:19). If we don't have an experience or know what someone is going through, we should be more careful about spewing out advice. We also need to gather facts before we form an opinion about someone or something.


Many times we are biased about our opinions because of our relationship with a person or our own past experiences as well. We must be careful not to taint our words because of our own mistakes or past hurts.


The truth is I don't know it all, you don't know it all, and only God knows it all. When we have issues or problems, we need to take them to God, but it's also a good idea for us to take our problems to trusted friends for Godly counsel, prayer, and advice, so we must choose wisely whom we share our problems with.


Or, if someone comes to you with a problem, then listen, pay attention, and only give advice when asked. Don't force your opinion on someone, especially if you don't know. We must be careful not to give bad advice, or better yet become judgemental or someone's situation that we do not know all the facts or the entire experience.

I do not know it all, you do not know it all. Let's be slower and wiser to start dishing out opinions and advice, and help others by listening and praying, and let's choose wisely who we go to for advice.


1 Peter 2:15(NIV)

For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.

Ask

ASK

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)

It's hard to get help if you don't ask for it. Many people go through life battling addictions, struggles, problems, issues, and don't get help, because they don't ask.

Why? Well sometimes we are afraid. We don't want people to look down on us or judge us. Sometimes we are ashamed, because we feel like know one would understand. Sometimes we are embarrassed, other times it could be pride. We don't want to admit we need help or don't have the answers? There are many reasons people don't ask, but none of them are good.

We cannot get help with anything, if we aren't willing to ask. We have to remove the anxiety, fear, pride, or denial out of the way if we are ever going to overcome any challenge in our lives. Whether we have a personal struggle, addiction, problem, or issues because of someone else, we have to be willing to ask for help.

It may be asking a friend to pray for us, it may be asking a trusted friend for advice or counsel. It may be going and talking to a pastor, therapist, or counselor. It depends on your need and issue, but regardless, you can't get help until you ask. Most of all we need to ask God for direction and help. God is our ultimate source of help.

If we do not get help, many of us will become bitter, resentful, paranoid, judgemental, angry, depressed, jump to conclusions, defensive, isolate ourselves, push people away, and many other types of emotion, feelings, and actions if we do not seek the appropriate help at the right time.

ASK, SEEK, KNOCK. Go to God. Let God help you. Let Him lead you to other resources that you might need. Whether it's relationships, jobs, family, divorce, or death issues, or addictions such as, drugs, sex, or alcoholism, or anything in between that you cannot handle alone.

Get Help. Ask for Help. Half the battle is admitting you need help, the other half is asking for it.

Troubles

TROUBLES

2 Corinthians 4:17(NIV)

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

It seems like life has no shortage of troubles, in my case, it seems like we have had more than our share of troubles the past year. The thing is we live in a world that's in trouble. We live in a world with troubled people, and therefore troubled people cause trouble.

Unfortunately, for us, we have to live with the troubles of others. At times, people may have to live with our troubles.

We can control some of the troubles in our lives, stop getting into trouble, stop being trouble, and stop causing trouble, and if we do our part, there will be less trouble. But, regardless of our part, we are still at times going to suffer at the hands of other people.

You are there with me aren't you? You have suffered because of a parent, a child, an ex-spouse, a co-worker, a sibling, a trusted friend? We've all been there in some form or fashion.

The key is not whether we are going to have trouble, but more when? We need to expect it, and prepare for it, but most of all we have to endure and overcome it. We can't control how other people act.

We can however, take our troubles to the Lord. God is bigger than any troubles we ever face, whether they are our own mess or something someone else has created. I understand it's very easy to get stressed, feel overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, wronged, and all those different feelings and emotions.

The key for me and you is to give those things to the Lord. To trust in His justice and care. God will protect, provide, and defend us in His time, His way, and according to His will. If our troubles are self-inflicted then our first step should be to accept ownership and repent. If it's at the hands of others, we mus t turn to God and allow Him to work in our lives.

No matter your troubles, give it to God. Trust Him. Wait for Him. And allow Him to work in the situation and during that time, we pray, we trust, we have faith, and we wait on the Lord.

Distractions

Distractions

Psalm 41:6(NIV)

When one of them comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander; then he goes out and spreads it around.

It's very easy in this world to be distracted by all the negative people in our lives. There are no shortage of people who are so hurt, angry, bitter, resentful, or selfish and they seem to want to take out their poison on others even those they are supposed to love and care about.

First, we need to avoid these types of people whether they are co-workers, related, or whatever. It's one thing for someone to have a bad day or weak moment, but it's another when people have a lifestyle of this negative behavior. If we are not careful it will be toxic in our lives and causes us damage.

We do not need these types of disctractions in our lives. They bring us down, keep us upset, cause constant turmoil and chaos, and is really unhealthy long term on our lives.

We can't always avoid distractions, but it's important that we are pro-active in allowing things in our lives to distract us from our spouses, our children, our careers, and especially our walk with God.

Satan is working 24/7 to create distractions in our lives so that we will take our eyes of God, disobey God, and become so busy or focused on anything other than god. Truth is however, that if we keep our focus on God, we will never be distractetd by negative people or things.

Life is too short, to waste our lives on distractions, especially those that are unhealthy. You cannot change anyone, they must change themselves. You cannot help those that aren't willing to help themselves. We must use wisdom in discerning when it's time to help and when it's time to avoid. When it's time to show patience and when it's time to walk away.

No matter what the distraction, we must strive to keep our eyes on God and allow God to work through us and to get us through whatever it is we face.

Don't be misled by Satan. He uses things, places, events, and especially people to distract us from the truth and what's right, and most of all God. Don't be fooled and don't be led astray. Most of all we've got to rid ourselves of distractions, so that we can focus on the life God wants us to live and the life He wants to give us.

Playing Games

Playing Games

I recently preached on this theme at a youth service. The idea that we live in a world of entertainment and we play, participate, and watch a lot of games. Whether it's video games, board games, computer games, or athletics we play, watch, or watch on TV.

We love to be entertained. However, the problem is life isn't a game. There is no secret code to get extra lives, there is no do-overs, no reset button. This life is all we got. 1 life, 1 opportunity, 1 chance, and 1 lifetime to live.

Many people live their lives treating it as if it's a game. Living for nothing but self. Self-seeking, self-pleasure, self-medicating, and self-centered. Others live their lives not taking anything serious and treating life like it's a joke. While others who have entered a relationship with God realize that this life is only temporary and that we are preparing for an eternity. With that in mind it should motivate us to treat this life different.

It's very easy to go through life non-stop a 1oo miles an hour, work way too many hours, stay way too busy, and miss so much of life. People ruin marriages, ignore kids, and never relax chasing the almighty dollar. Others refuse to work, are lazy, expect handouts, and never do anything with their lives. Others, take, take, take, and never give. Some, go through life trying to find meaning in sex, drugs, alcohol, thrills, etc..and missing the purpose and meaning of why we were created. Some only live for now, never preparing for tomorrow.

I'm not sure what category you fit in, I'm sure there are more. No one enjoys laughter more than me. God wants us to enjoy our lives, but God never created us or this world for this to be our only joy. God wants us to enjoy a relationship with Him and He wants us to prepare and look forward to an enternity of Joy with Him in Heaven. We need to take our soul serious!

I pray that you won't play games with your soul. Don't risk eternity for temporary pleasures and gains. There is nothing in this world, that is worth that. No high, No amount of money, no pleasure, and no success in this world, is worth throwing away your soul and eternity.

Don't play games with your life. Use it wisely. Make the most of your time on this earth. Love others. Serve God. Learn, grow, and seek God. You can still enjoy this life and have fun, but include God. Center your life around Him, dont' try to fit him into your life or schedule. Fit your life and schedule around Him. Don't play games with your life. Find life in God.

Psalm 16:11

(NIV)You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Crippled

Crippled

How many of us parents or grandparents would think of going to our kids or grandkids and breaking their legs causing them to become crippled? That's absurd, no one in their right mind who loves their children or grandchildren would ever think of doing such a horrible act.

Well, stick with me...We may not physically cripple our children, but if we are not careful we cripple them in many other ways. Here are some ways, that parents and grand-parents cripple their kids:
-Never Saying "NO"
-never allowing them to accept Responsibility for their actions/behavior
-letting them get by with disrespect, backtalk, etc....
-bailing them out when they get in trouble
-blaming others for things your kids do
-not teaching responsibility
-letting kids get by with lying, cheating, and dishonest behaviors
-Not being consistent in discipline
-punishments not fitting the crime(i.e.-small punishment for major wrong)
-never letting them fail
-giving them whatever they want
-enabling negative and bad behaviors

This is not an extensive list, I am sure we could add several more areas to this list. The point is, if we love our kids we will not purposely cripple them in life. No, we're not breaking their legs, but we are preparing them for a life of dissapointment. Because reality is when they get in the real world, they won't be able to function, because they won't be able to make it on their own. They won't have healthy relationships, because their expectations of others will be unrealistic.

When a child is raised spoiled, they enter into life expecting others to be at their beckon call. When children are raised with no discipline or boundaries they struggle in society because they lack structure. Why do you think there are so many dysfunctional people and so many ruined relationships out there?

If we love our kids, we will discipline them. If we love our kids we will tell them No. We will give them consequences, and we will do our best to be consistent, whether it's our children or grand-children. Children are a gift from God, and it's a big responsibility that God has given us. I also believe being a parent and a grandparent is a privilege not a right.

God disciplines those He loves(Hebrews 12:6) and He expects us to do the same with the children we are responsible for. We can make all the excuses in the world; we hate to see them upset, we hate to hurt their feelings, I want to be their best friend, or it's easier to just let things go. But, this is a life we are talking about. You only get one chance to raise a kid or grandkid.

God has high expectations for us. We should follow His model for how we parent. Do not cripple your children. Love them. Love them by telling them no, making them accept responsibility, by giving them consequences, by not tolerating negative or bad behavor, by not enabling them, and even when it's tough or inconvenient sticking with your guns. They will get over being mad, angry, and thinking your evil. Believe me at the time, I didn't like when my parents got onto me, but I am thankful they gave me guidance, rules, structure, consequences, and loved me enough to not cripple me for life.

Proverbs 19:18 (NIV)
"Discipline your children, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to their death."

GREEDY

GREEDY

When I hear this word, maybe you think of Ebeneezer Scrooge? I tend to think of a spoiled child, because children are greedy by nature. They don't like to share. Children aren't born with the nature to share, they have to be taught to share. You ever wonder why your kid just won't willingly share as a toddler? But you have to start young teaching them to share.

Our sinful nature is GREEDY. We want it all. We want what is ours and we really want what is yours too. The sinful human nature is in direct conflict with the nature that God desires for us.

God wants His children to share. Share their gifts, their time, they resources, including finances for His glory, not ours. That's a tough concept for many of us to grasp, even those of us who maybe have been raised in church or even been a christian for awhile.

It is not that God wants us to be poor or not have anything, or God is selfish and wants to have everything. It's that God is trying to teach us and establish in us the gift of giving. That we are more blessed when we give, and that giving really has to do with attitude more than it does anything. And most of all God DESIRES to use us for His Glory!

God wants to create in us a spirit of unselishness and a heart for giving to others. God wants us to enjoy our gifts and things in this life, but He doesn't want our life to consist of what we have and what we can obtain as much as He wants our life to consist or enjoying the things we have and sharing them.

If you look at it, ALL we have is from God. Whatever materials blessings we have in this world, are directly from God, He is simply letting us use them. Just like any good parent who gets their child a gift, God wants us to not be selfish, but to share that gift with others.

You may be wealthy and have lots of money, God wants you to enjoy that blessing, but share it with others. You may have the gift of music or singing, God wants you to enjoy that gift, but use it for His glory as well. You may have the gift of compassion, or serving, or teaching, or whatever, no matter the gifts or blessings you have, do not keep them to yourself. Use them, enjoy them, but more importantly share them.

There is no room in Heaven for selfish people. Like most children who are stingy, greedy, and selfish, what happens? A good parent takes away the toy, disciplines the child, until they can learn to share. I think God works the same way, if we don't use our gifts for God and are selfish with them, I think God will take them.

Don't be a greedy, selfish, spoiled child with the gifts, talents, and resources God has blessed you with. Enjoy them, be thankful for them, but most of all share them!

"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

2 Corinthians 9:7(NIV)

Ignoramus

Ignoramus

"An Ignorant person." Pretty self-explanatory. All these years, I thought that was a West Virginia word, turns out, it's real, or at least slang, to explain someone who is Igrorant.

Ignorant isn't always a negative word. I'm ignorant when it comes to rebuilding engines or doing plastic surgery, or any surgery for that matter, but sometimes Ignorance isn't so bliss.

Many times people should have no excuse for being an ignormaus, but for whatever reasons they refuse to change, learn, grow, or get educated.

Ignorance by defition is someone who is uninformed or has a lack of knowledge. But it's also someone who is uneducated. And sometimes our being uneducated or uniformed or not having knowledge is our own fault. Churches are dying, people are turned off to church, and God gets a bad rap because of people being christian and an ignoramus.

People preach, teach, and lead not out of wisdom, or maturity, or discernment, but ignorance. Instead of studying, investigating, researching, reading, and being open to the Holy Spirit, they base their faith and decisions on the way they were raised, the denomination they grew up in, the influences of other ignorant people, etc...I know that may sound harsh, but it's reality.

In my past I have been an ignoramus about certain issues and doctrines and beliefs because instead of learning, I believed what other people told me. Sometimes people are really good people, they are just misinformed themselves, and you can see how ignorance breeds ignorance.

However, if we seek the truth, God's will, and guidance from His holy spirit with effort on our parts, wisdom can breed wisdom, truth can breed truth, and common sense can breed common sense.

Being an ignoramus cannot be an excuse. We are responsible for our own faith and our own salvation. It's time we accept responsibility. In a world, where everyone blames others, or believes what they want to believe, or continues to breed ignorance. It's time for us to take responsibility for ourselves and learn, grow, read, study, pray, and seek, disover, and find real truth. Not legalism, not tradition, not the way i was raised, or what I like, or my preferences.

It's time we become educated, informed, knowledgeable, mature, wise, discerning, and truthful when it comes to God's word, His church, His will, and His plan and purpose for our lives. God can't use us, and we can't serve Him wholly when we are doing so out of ignorance. God deserves our best.

"Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame. "

I Corinthians 15:34(NIV)

SIMPLE

SIMPLE

"You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it."

Proverbs 8:5(NIV)

We try to complicate things in life sometimes. Make them harder than they have to be. Christian faith is no different. People try to complicate things. Maybe it's pride? ignorance? I don't know the reason, but many christians, churches, and pastors try to make becoming a Christian and being a Christian a lot more difficult than it has to be.

Living and growing a Christian life is not easy. It takes effort, time, discipline, study,etc...to grow your faith. I'm not trying to suggest being faithful is easy, but what I am suggesting is that we make coming to Christ, and being a Christian alot harder than it has to be, do to our human ego, error, or agendas.

Jesus is the son of God. God sent Jesus to be sin for us. To be the sacrifice for our sins. Only through Jesus can we be saved. The salvation process and knowing what God did for us is not that complicated. God gives us His word to explain to us how much He loves us, why He created us, and what He has to offer us. It is up to us to accept or reject. That is simple.

However, satan has used many a person and church to make being a christian too complicated. When churches and christians are constantly bickering, fighting, gossiping, and pushing issues they make salvation and christianity complicated. Christianity becomes about a cause, an issue, an agenda and not about a relationship with Jesus.

Human beings with the devil's help complicates faith. We begin making christianity about other things. You musts listen to this type of music in this way, you must read this bible version only, you must have this spiritual gift, you must believe in this end of times way, you must not believe in this, you gotta do this, can't do that....yadayadayada.....Do you see why we have so many denominations and churches and beliefs? Do you see why so many are turned off by the church and christianity? it's not God, it's us.

We need to ask ourselves before any issue. Is this a salvation issue? What that means is if I do this or don't do that or if I believe this or practice that is it going to change my salvation? Or the better question to ask ourselves is, Is this kingdom bearing? Which means, does this issue really matter in the big scheme of things? The most important thing we can know is God and Jesus and be saved by His blood. We must believe the Bible is inspired Word of God. We make A LOT of issues salvation issues and they are not, or we make them Kingdom bearing and they are not!

Whether you sing new songs or old songs, use a KJV or NKJV, whether you believe in the rapture or none, whether you beleive in singing with music or without, whether you think we are predestined or not, whether you believe in the gift of tongues or not, there are lots and lots of issues we can debate and debate til Jesus comes back, but then again some faith's don't believe He's coming back, because he's just a profit.

My point is, we've got to stop complicating what God intended to be simple. When we complicate things with all our beliefs, practices, opinions, and preferences, and make them law or doctrine, we make God and salvation out to be complicated. I believe this is what the Pharisees did in the bible, which is what Jesus and Paul and others fought against them for. They tried making serving God complicated with legalistic rules, rituals, and laws. Sound familiar? We do it today with all our little agendas.

We spend our whole faith trying to prove others wrong, or pushing our beliefs on people, or carrying on and arguing about stuff that is only hurting the church. Stop it. We need to get back to basics, to simple truth. God loves us. God sent Jesus for us. He wants a relationship with us. He wants to give us freedom. Stop complicating christianity. Stop worrying what everyone else is doing that's not what you like or prefer or think is wrong. Start focusing on what is right, what God is doing, and what God has to offer.

How different would our churches be, our ministries be, our witness be, if we'd stop complicating things and just stop and enjoy God and keep it simple.

Changes?

Changes?

Or more of the same? Do we really want change or do we just like the idea of change? Churches claim they want to change and grow, yet when they hire a new Pastor, they seem to fight all the changes He wants to make, yet they hired Him to come in and help them grow and change.

We want changes in our physically, spirital, and mental lives, yet we are hardly willing to do what it takes to change. You can't just want to lose weight, you have to DO what it takes, exercise, lifestyle changes, better eating habits, etc...You can't just become a maturing growing christian, you have to DO what it takes, studying and reading God's word regularly, praying daily, attending church faithfully, and being involved in a sunday school, bible study, or small group where you can grow, and you have to serve.

Change is an action word, but it's just a word period if we don't allow it to do what it was born to do or we do not back up the word with OUR action. We must act if we truly want change. If you want change in your life, then do whatever it takes to bring it about. If you want to be a better parent, husband, child, father, mother, wife, student, christian, employee, man, woman, pastor, or boss then start coming up with areas you need to work on and then work on them so that you can CHANGE.

You've heard it said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. It's also been said that "nothing changes when nothing changes". If you want your church to change, you gotta let leaders lead and if you're a leader you got to be willing to lead, even when change is difficult. If you want change in your marriage, you can't wait for other partner to do all the work, you want your kids to change, then you gotta change as a parent. You want your work to change, then you change, or change jobs. Maybe you need to change jobs, change friends, or change your attitude in 2011?

I don't know what your life needs, but don't talk about change, unless you are willing to do what it takes to change, no matter what area of your life you are talking about. Change begins with you.

2 Corinthians 5:17(NIV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!