Intentional

Intentional
Proverbs 19:21(NIV)

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it it the  Lord’s purpose that prevails.

What does it mean to be intentional? How many times when you were a kid and you got in a fight with a sibling or friend and you said, "you did that on purpose" saying they cheated or hit you or tried to do something on purpose.  Well purpose is intent. and Being intentional is doing something on purpose.

Of course, I'm not talking about cheating, or hitting, or hurting others, I'm talking about doing good and serving God by doing things with purpose and on purpose. I am talking about being intentional in the way you life your life, treat people, act, your attitude, your behavior, lifestyle, etc...are your purposely striving to live a life that reflects God? Do you represent God by the way you treat others? Do you intentionally make an effort to try and serve God by serving others?

As Christians and as church members, we need to "Be Intentional" with how we live our lives on a day to day basis.  We need to "Be Intentional" with how we treat others because we represent God on this earth.  People need to see Jesus and His love through us and how we serve them and treat them.  Do you understand what I mean?  

Too many of us just go through life caught up on our own lives, schedules, problems, and agendas and do not make any effort to make a difference for God. Do we not realize that when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, that you make a commitment not only to accept Him, but to live for Him, and living for Him means we grow in our faith, and we take on the responsibility to represent Him in this world. We will grow in our abilities and talents so that we can serve Him. Being a Christian means we are part of His Church, which is His spiritual body, and we are a body part, which means we serve a purpose in a specific way in the body of Christ(the church).  That means, we live and serve intentionally trying to please God, worship God, honor God, bring Him glory, and most of all maybe share that Love and Hope that Christ offers to others.

I want to encourage you today to start living "Intentionally". Meaning you and me are going to make an effort to do things for God "on purpose"!  We are going to make an effort to serve God in the local church and find ways at our job, schools, and other places where we can purposely make a difference for God or "be intentional" about our faith so that others may be intrigued, curious, or impressed with our devotion to God, and  just maybe may want what God has to offer. 

Be Intentional everyday for God in your life.  You are His representative. 

Could it be me?

Could it be me?

Max Lucado shares this story in his book "Facing Your Giants":

In a concentration camp, a guard announced a shovel was missing. Screaming at the men, he kept insisting someone had stolen it.  He shouldered his rifle, ready to kill one prisoner at a time until a confession was made. As the story continues, a Scottish soldier broke ranks, stood stiffly at attention, and said, “I did it.”  The guard killed the man. As they returned to camp, the shovels were counted. The guard had made a mistake.  No shovel was missing after all.

Now Max was using this story to illustrate Jesus taking the blame for our sins, but I want to approach it from another angle.  The angle of the guard. The guard thought someone stole the shovel and all along it wasn't missing. We are guilty many times of blaming others for our shortcomings or mistakes.  Sort of like us blaming your spouse for moving your keys when we lose them only to find them in our coat pocket or blaming your kids for forgetting to turn off a light, when it was you  who forgot.

There are dying and divided churches all over this country full over well-meaning people who won't let go of control or reigns of the leadership in the church, or not so well-meaning christians who hinder, hurts, or hold the church back with their legalism, traditions, set in the ways mentality, and they fight and resist any changes because they think those things hurt the church, when in reality, they are the ones who are hurting the church by their refusal to move aside, let go, or cooperate.

Whether it's well meaning or not, is not the issue, good intentions and bad intentions still end up with the same result when the are wrong or based on selfishness, stubbornness, ignorance, or controlling ways.  I can do the wrong thing with the best of intentions and it's still wrong. I can do something the same way for 40 years and have been doing it wrong 40 years, or I can do something that works for awhile, but eventually it stops working and it needs fixed or change, but I refuse and cause more damage, sort of like driving on a car with bald tires for months after they should have been replaced until you finally end up wrecking your car or having a blow-out that cause damage to your vehicle.

We have to take a good hard, honest , & sincere look at ourselves and ask ourselves some difficult questions:  Am I holding the church hostage when I don't get my way? Am I keeping the church from growing by not allowing new people to serve? Am I hurting the church by continuing to lead when I'm not long willing, able, or equipped to lead?  Am I hindering the the church from growing by being rude, selfish, or judgmental of others and running them off from the church?  Could it be me when I keep blaming others or making excuses to why the church isn't growing or healthy?

So many times we are so self-unaware, even with good intentions we still be doing the wrong things.  We want to live in the past, hold onto the past, or worship our preferences and traditions over God working and moving in our church and lives.  If we are part of the problem, we need to realize that we are and either change our attitude, our hearts, our vision, our motives, or our ways or we need to be mature enough to be willing to follow others or simply move out of the way so others can do what God has  called them to do. There also may be cases where we need to repent and ask for forgiveness for hindering, hurting, or holding God's church back.

When you have to fight to maintain control, or get your way, or go behind the scenes to make things happen in order to get your way or keep control whether in a job, on a team, in a relationship, and especially in a church, it's just plan wrong, and even more I think it's sin.  

I've always heard if you think everyone else around you is crazy and your the only sane person, chances are you are the crazy one.  Same goes for church, when you think other people are always the problem or blame in the church for it not growing or reaching it's potential, chances are you may be part of the problem.   So you need to change or get out of the way so that God can move and work in His people  to build His kingdom of reaching the lost and helping members grow and mature in their faith(making disciples).   Changes isn't wrong, keeping up with times isn't a sin, and trying new things of doing things a different way isn't evil as long as it's biblical and about obeying God.

How great could our local churches be, if good leaders would lead, bad leaders would resign and let good leaders lead, if certain people didn't try to run the church and instead let God do the running, it's His job anyway, and just were a willing servant ready to serve.  How much could a church accomplish in the local community if the members all worked together to help the church and not hurt it, to hold up one another instead of holding the church hostage so they can continue to have control, or if they moved out of the way or moved to an attitude of serving others and God instead of hindering the work that God was trying to do their in their local body?   

Remember in the OT when King David had an affair with Bathsheba and then she got pregnant and David had her husband Uriah killed so that he could cover it up? And God sent Nathan to confront David and this is what Nathan said to David:

2 Samuel 12:4-6(NIV)4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!

David was angered at the story and the treatment of the people in the story, until He realized Nathan was talking about Him and He did the same thing as the rich man in the story.  We like David need to repent of our sins, accept responsibility for our actions and attitudes and change our hearts so that we can serve God not ourselves. Don't be the reason the church is dying, dwindling, dividing, or damaged.  Help it! Love it! Support it! Care for it.  

Real Faith

Real Faith

Do you have real faith or just real religion?  Do you have real faith or just really go through the motions of christianity? Do you have real faith or is church and christianity just an option you choose when you don't have something better to do?  Only you can answer these questions, but Real Faith is life changing, it grows, develops, matures, and deepens.

Hebrews 11:1 gives us a biblical definition of faith  "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."  Real Faith means that I am confident that the Hope I have in Jesus Christ is worth living and dying for and I am assured of my salvation and am going to live for Jesus even though I may not physically see Him.  Faith is bigger than just believing, scripture also teaches us that believing is not enough and even demons believe(James 2:19), of course we have to "believe" in order to have faith, but many just stop at believing.  I can believe lots of things and not let them change my life, character, lifestyle, choices, decisions, or bad habits.  

Belief is not enough, we must act upon what we believe about God and His Word and Salvation. Acting upon belief is Faith!  Real Faith is living every day trusting in God and His promises, His Spirit, His Salvation, and His Word.  It is allowing God to work in your life and make a real difference in your life.

When we have Real Faith we are going to have a positive attitude, we are going to trust God through the rough patches and tough times, and we are also going to be more selfless and care about others. We are going to have a desire to serve and give to God through His local church body and be an active part of the church. We are going to be faithful in attendance, service, worship, giving, and living!\

I am reminded of the picture of Jesus walking on the water and one of his followers Peter wanted to come out on the water with Him, so Jesus invited Him out and sure enough Peter got out of the boat and started walking toward Jesus on the water, but then something happened, Peter got distracted by his surroundings the wind, the water, etc..and he began to sink and Jesus had to reach out and catch him.  The point?  If we want to have real faith, we have to keep our eyes on Jesus, not be distracted by problems, greed, selfish desires, sins, etc...and we have to keep our focus on God and trust Him with our whole entire being, our hearts and our lives.  Do you truly trust God? Do you truly live for him? Do you have a real faith? Like the picture with this blog, I think we do a lot of talking, but we don't truly trust God, or live out and practice real faith.

Matthew 14:29b-31
"Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

What Would You Do?

What Would You Do?

"What would you do for a Klondike bar?" Many of us may remember that slogan about the ice cream treat, and the things people would do to eat one.  But, I also wonder what you and I are willing to do when it comes to our Faith, the Church, or for God?

What Would You do? Would you be willing to sacrifice your favorite seat in the church for a visitor or new family? Would you give up your "control" or "power" in the local church so that others could lead? Would you encourage new people to serve along side you in the ministries you've been serving in for years?

One of the biggest complaints I've seen from new or potential members over the years when visiting or attending a new church, is the feeling they are not welcome or not encouraged to help?   That is sad beyond belief.  Any Christians worth their salt should love and encourage others to serve along side them or should be mature enough to mentor, train, or get out of the way when new leaders or servers come up.  No one should have to tell you that, if your heart and motives are in the right place, you should love to help or serve others, especially those who are new to the church or new to the faith.

Yet, we live in a world where most churches are full of people who are "set in their ways", "comfortable", and who do not want to "give up" anything, not their seats, not their status, not control, and not their traditions, nothing.  Yet, they don't realize they are being selfish, hurting the church, and yes even holding back the church.   This should never happen in the Lord's body.  Anyone who is a member of a church should feel welcome to sit anywhere they want, dress how they want, and volunteer to serve where they feel led and gifted.

If our identity in the church is not in Christ, but in some ministry or service we do, we've lost the true meaning of serving in the first place, or we've forgot whey we serve and lead? It's for God! His glory! His Worship! His Purpose!  We also have to realize that God wants to use us to serve others, help others, welcome others, encourage others, mentor others, and yes sometimes it means we have to be hospitable, welcoming, and helpful to new members, visitors, and potential future servants and leaders.

I  don't think their is an age limit on serving or leading, but I do think their is an "effective" level. There comes a time when we've outlived our effectiveness in a ministry or position and it's time to turn it over to someone else and we need to be willing and able to do that, selflessly and without running others off because we don't want to give up our spot, or our place, or our purpose.

So, I ask the question to you again, What Would You Do? What would you be willing to do in order to see someone saved? To see someone place membership in your local church body?  To see someone get plugged in to serving God at your church? To helping someone or mentoring them in their faith or giftedness?

We all need to be welcoming, hospitable, helpful, encouraging, supportive, self-less, and Christ-like no matter our age, our personality, or background. We also have to realize the church isn't ours, but God's and we are simply a part of it, like everyone else and we are not more valuable than the next person, we all are valuable to God and we need to be willing to do whatever it takes to make others feel welcome, accepted, and wanted by God and by us.

I'd give up my seat to see a visitor have a place to sit, I'd give  up  my time in order to mentor someone new in the faith or show them the ropes, I'd give up my position to someone else if they could do a better job, and I'd give up anything it will help the kingdom of God.

Matthew 10:40(NIV)

“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.

Faithful

Faithful

Are you? Am I? I wish I could say since I gave my life to Christ at age 12 I have always been faithful, but sadly there have been times where I have not.  Faithful is a word that carries great responsibility, commitment, and loyalty along with it.  I have failed my Lord many times and if not for His patience, grace, mercy, and given me another chance I wouldn't probably be in ministry let alone a christian at this point in my life.

We can say many things about God, but one this is His is "Faithful"!  He never leaves us, lets us down, breaks promises, or walks out on us.  Many people have experience the pain, heartache, and hurt of earthly relationships where someone like a parent, or spouse should have been faithful to us, but instead we were left with broken trust, promises, and hearts.

I have also found in my years in ministry and personal faith that I see a trend in our churches today that makes me sad and that is a lack of  true "Faithful" followers of Christ. We have a lot of people who claim Christ, or membership in His church, but we have fewer and fewer who are truly committed, loyal, and faithful to God and His church.  This trend needs to change and it will only change when me and you get dead serious about our Faith.

The sad part is we carry on our lack of faithfulness to our children, family, and friends. We make Christianity look like it's optional, or an elective, if we don't have other or better things to do.  We teach our children  commitment to sports, competition, and team and yet we teach them faith is optional and secondary. We teach others we don't care to skip church or involvement or serve consistently because it interferes with our hobbies or social lives.    Do you see how easy it is for this type of lack of faithfulness to the Lord to domino affect?

Instead we need to set the example and standard of faithfulness in our lives to God. Our spouses, families, children, friends, neighbors, co-workers, employeers, and coaches should all know that God is number one in my life and all else is secondary..  I am not just talking about church service attendance, I am talking about overall christianity. How faithful are we in sharing our faith? Reading or studying God's Word?  Daily prayer?  Serving? Helping Others?  Personal Worship?  There are many things we can be doing to grow our personal faith besides just attending church services, however, the local church is an extension of our faith, and if we are a Christian, we should be connected to a local church body, and be a "FAITHFUL" body part serving, giving, worshipping, on that local church body.

We ALL need to do some soul searching and honest evaluations of our lives and see how serious and "FAITHFUL" we are being to our Lord, God, and Savior. We surely want his Faithfulness to us. We want the benefits of His Salvation, Grace, Mercy, Peace, Comfort, Hope, Assurance, and Love, yet how many of us would be faithful to someone who used us, neglected us, or only wanted us when it benefited them or was convenient? I don't know anyone who would want in a relationship like that.

It is easy to give our lives to the Lord and be saved and baptized. It is a free Gift from God, however being faithful to God and making an effort to grow and mature into a fully devoted Christ follower is a lot of work, commitment, and we have to work at it. We will make mistakes, fall short, sin, and have a bad day here and there, but we all know there is a big difference in being Faithful to something and being fair-weather.

I want to encourage you to be faithful to God and His church daily.  Recently we buried a lady from our church who was a true faithful follower. She came to church when most people would have used it an an excuse to stay home and many miss church for much less. She was faithful in her prayers and reading of God's word and it reflected in her life, attitude, and actions. She inspired me.  She also convicted me, because even as a Preacher, I don''t feel I was as faithful as this dear Saint.

I pray we all can find a desire, a will, and motivation to be faithful til the end in our relationship with God. Be faithful to Him, His Word, and His church.

Hebrews 10:23(NIV)

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful

The Motions

The Motions

There is a song I've heard many times, but last week at camp we sung it and the lyrics were up on the screen for us to sing and it really spoke to me, convicted me, and challenged me.   So many times especially when it comes to our Faith and Christian Walk, too many of us young and old, just "go through the motions", and we do not take our faith seriously, share it like we should, and we definitely don't spend the time committed to developing or deepening our relationship with Christ.

It's very very easy to become complacent, bored, or status quo in our faith journey and we have to realize that our Christianity is up to us, we are the only one who is going to answer to God and who can grow or destroy our faith.  We must be proactive, committed, and determined on a daily basis in our christian faith if not, then we are going to be just another half-hearted, well-meaning person going through the motions in our faith.

When we go through the motions, we do not hear God, see Him, or experience Him.  We are not good witnesses, examples, or influences for the kingdom of God.  We are hurting ourselves, the church body, and others when we do not take our faith seriously and just play christian or church.

I want to challenge you as I am challenging myself, to stop going through the motions and take your faith seriously.  Make an effort, be committed, put your relationship with Christ first, and make it a priority in everything you do.  Fair-weather christians are a dime a dozen,  God needs committed followers and members of His body that don't just go through the religious motions, but who have desire to grow, worship, serve, and give.  

Take a moment to read the song lyrics below and I have also placed a link so you can go listen/view the song on youtube.


"The Motions" lyrics by Matthew West

This might hurt, it's not safe
But I know that I've gotta make a change
I don't care if I break
At least I'll be feeling something

‘Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything
Instead of going through the motions?

No regrets, not this time
I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me whole
I think I'm finally feeling something

‘Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

‘Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
Without your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything
Instead of going through the motions?

Take me all the way
(Take me all the way)
Take me all the way
(‘Cause I don't wanna go through the motions)

Take me all the way
(Lord, I'm finally feeling something real)
Take me all the way

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything
Instead of going through the motions?

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything
Instead of going through the motions?
Take me all the way
(Take me all the way)
Take me all the way
(I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go)

Take me all the way
(Through the motions)
Take me all the way

I don't wanna go through the motions

Link to song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHUppFNjy5E

Faith, Family, and Sports

Faith, Family, and Sports

I know, I know, more parenting advice you don't want to hear, but this is not just about being a parent, but about being an example to our children and to other families that we or our kids might be friends with.  What am I talking about? I am talking about teaching our kids to put God first in their lives and we cannot do that until we are willing to do it ourselves.

We will devote countless hours to work on our golf game, spend hours in the woods or on the lake, plan big shopping trips, and we will spend hours upon hours taking our kids to ball games, practices, competitions, and tournaments, and will spend even more hours volunteering to coach, work concessions, or be in the boosters, and then we give God what's left if any? Is there something wrong with this picture? Yes.

We need to model consistency in our lives, especially when it comes to our children and family.  If we tell our kids that Jesus should be first in our lives then shouldn't there be a clear pattern and lifestyle of that in our daily lives? Choices? And even where we invest and spend our times.  In my years of being a youth pastor and now a senior pastor, I see the pattern far too often, we will drive hours and spend thousands of dollars traveling and going to our kids ballgames and competitions and we put our faith, our service to God, and our commitments to Jesus on the back burner or give, attend, or serve if it doesn't interfere with anything and as a christian, it should be the other way around.  God first, and then everything else second.

We teach our kids they can't quit if they start playing a sport, they can't let their team down, or they need to be a good team player in their teams, and yet what do we teach them with our actions?  Church is optional, I will give if I have anything left, and we will go to church as long as it doesn't interfere with our social lives, schedules, or calendar of events.  We really teach our kids sports is more important than God.

I am not trying to discourage you from letting your kids play organized sports or volunteering your time with other organizations, but you cannot tell me Jesus is first in your life and you are totally committed to your faith when your commitments, time, and heart are somewhere else a majority of the time.  The truth is we teach our kids we can skip church services, leave early, go late, or miss church events if we got ball games or sporting events. We model inconsistency, when we tell our kids to put God first, but then we put everything else in front of God.    I am not preaching perfect attendance at church services, attendance don't save you, but you show your commitment and loyalty to God and His church by your faithful attendance, giving, involvement, service.

When is the last time you made your kids go to a game late because of faith commitments or leave practice early to make it to church, when is the last time you made your kid miss a game or tournament or competition because of something going on at the church or because it interfered with your faith?  I think could count on one hand over the years, the times I've seen parents or kids choose their faith over their sports/hobbies and I'd need a CPA firm to tall the times I've been given excuses as to why someone didn't come to church, missed an event, or couldn't go to camp, or a youth rally, or something.  Look at how much time you spend on sports versus how much time you spend attending church or being the church?

The greatest thing you could ever do for your children, marriage, and family is model consistency of being a Christ follower.  From the moment you give your life to the Lord or make a commitment to follow Jesus you have to choose daily who you will serve, how you will spend your time, and what you will do with your daily life.  I am not suggesting you give up all sports, hobbies, or social activities or shelter your children, but what I am saying is it would be nice, if our own personal faith and the faith of our children and families was clear who and what was a priority in our lives and what truly mattered.

Some day it's not going to matter how many points your child scored, how many touchdowns, goals, home runs, or how many competitions, trophies, or ribbons were accumulated, but I can tell you those who commit to their faith, relationship  with God, His church, and kingdom will have eternal rewards.

I think it's time we take our families back and stop acting like we have no choice or say in the matter. You are the parent and you make the rules and no little league, cheer squad, soccer club, or biddy league should tell us when and where and how we should devote our times and lives. If more parents would stand up maybe coaches and leagues wouldn't schedule things during church times? Just a thought.  What if parents wouldn't let their kids go and they had to cancel or forfeit?  Just think if we treated church that way, if we had to cancel church services or events because not enough of our "team" showed up, after all the church is a body, how can a body be complete with so many members missing so often?

I love sports, I love games, and I love watching kids play sports, but I can tell you as a parent, a pastor, a  man, I will never put a game, or a sport, or a hobby above my faith, my relationship with God, or my commitments to serving the Lord and I challenge all people to do the same in their faith and family and see the difference it makes in your lives and the lives of your children.  Eternity is at stake, it's time we start counting the cost.

Joshua 24:15NIV

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Be The Parent

Be The Parent

Proverbs 13:24(niv)

Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.

This article may not make me popular with some parents, but sometimes we need to hear things we know we need but don't want to hear  and that is many of us are failing as parents because we aren't parenting.  We are too busy trying to be our kids friends, give them everything we didn't have, or trying to be the cool parent, or whatever else your reasons may be.

I am certainly no parenting expert, but I have worked with kids and parents for nearly 20 years in a variety of ways, mostly through the church or the school system and I can pick out the kids very easily who have no home structure, rules, boundaries, or aren't disciplined properly.  I have 2 difficult children of my own, I know parenting is tough, especially with many other factors such as divorce, blended families, outside interference, special needs, and sometimes just stubborn rebellious children.  But, God has given us the task of parenting our kids, not being their friends, coach, or enabler.  Even grandparents and aunt's and uncle's who are in roles of authority need to exercise it.

However, we do not see the long-term effects of going years without making out kids mind, giving them everything they want, and not holding them accountable for their actions, what is the end result?  Children who are rude, obnoxious, dishonest, lazy, selfish, anger issues, no respect for authority, property, or others feelings.  I could go one, but being a parent and raising kids right is tough enough, but when you don't make an effort, stand your ground, be consistent, set clear boundaries, and follow-through with natural consequences, you really are hurting your kid and setting them up for failure

Worst of all, it won't end there, you'll continue to bail them out, enable them, and raise them in adulthood.  They will be a burden because you created the monster and allowed the pattern to go on for years. They will continue to use you, manipulate you, lie, steal, and make your life a living hell. You will constantly gripe and complain about them, but never realize or admit you are part of the root problem.  If you don't believe me, ask someone who has adult children who are still like this? Most if honest will say it's because they didn't make them mind, or let them get by with murder when they were kids and eventually just lost control, gave up, and give in.

I am not sure what your idea of parenting is, but from the beginning of time, God's plan has been for us to raise kids to become independent, responsible, and able to take care of themselves and provide for themselves, and to be positive productive citizens of the human race.    In today's society people don't spank or discipline their kids like when I was raised as much, we tend to give our kids what they want and let tv, computers, smart phones, and ipads raise and teach our kids.  We'd rather keep them busy and give them what they want than deal with them.  That is not parenting.

God's desire for us is to model good lifestyles, behaviors, principles, character, and work ethic with our children.  To raise them with discipline.  As a matter of fact, God says if you love your children, you will discipline them.  Yes, that means holding them accountable, making them do things they don't want to do, and having real consequences for disrespect, lying, backtalk, sassing, running their mouths, arguing, etc...We forget sometimes we are the parents and we set the rules, make the boundaries, and it does no good to have rules, boundaries and structure if you do not enforce it, live by it, or keep it.

There is no perfect parenting formula, and i am not perfect parent,  but the I know we need to go by God's Word as a guidance for how we should parent and raise our kids,  the bible is full of nuggets on discipline, parenting, and raising kids.  Take time to study, ready, and look. There are also good christian books out there on the subject, but the  main thing is to remember you are the parent and you have an awesome responsibility to raise a kid from infancy to adulthood and you only get one chance, and even though you may not like it, it may be tough work, and frustrating, you have to be tough, show tough love, and set clear boundaries, structure, and guidelines with your kids so they learn to behave, act appropriate, and learn the world doesn't revolve around them, they aren't always going to get their way, and they will always have to do things they don't always feel like doing.

It's never too late to start being the parent and parenting the way God intended.   Remember if you have kids or want to have kids, you are the adult, and the parent, and you set the tone.  Also remember, things like toys, cell phones, computers, and yes even sports are luxuries not requirements. I don't care how much society and morals in the world may change, we have to be good parents and should be Godly parents.

 It's sad that many care more about our kids jump shot, curve ball, social life, or status at school than we do their well-being their behavior, attitude, and most of all their soul.  We all can do a better job of parenting and being the parent in our homes and families.  Together, we can take our homes and families back and raise our kids to love God, respect our role as parents, and in the long run teach them to become mature christian adults, who will someday maybe be parents of their own.

Proverbs 19:18(niv)

Discipline your children, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to their death.

Does It Matter?

*This is my article for the June Newsletter at my church

That is the question we have to ask ourselves when it comes to life  in our church, “What Matters Most?” There are many opinions,  traditions, preferences, and ideas out there as to what we should and shouldn’t do as a church as far as programming, services, facilities, etc..but we have to ask ourselves a bigger question when it comes to things, Does it matter to God?   There are things that are essential to salvation and there are things that are non-essential to salvation, however, many times we like to make the non-essentials essential and this is what causes problems in our churches.  Churches split and christians divide because most people tend to fight, argue, and split hairs over topics and issues that don’t matter to God, to His commission or commands, but they matter to us for a variety of reasons, but if we were honest are they really worth splits, divisions, factions, and hurt feelings?  What color the foyer is painted doesn’t matter, but reaching lost and unsaved people does.  How the auditorium is decorated doesn’t matter, but how we are discipling our members sitting in there does.  What programs we have doesn’t matter, but what programs or services we have being efficient and productive to the mission of the church does.  Do you see how easy it is to get caught up on “our opinions” and lose sight of what really matters?  It’s ok to have preferences, but we must be careful those things don’t become gospel in our minds.  What matters to God may not be what matters to you or me, but our existence as a church body is to please God and do what matters to Him, not us.  So, what do we do?  We strive to be a mature and positive part of the body, following and supporting our church leadership, doing our part to grow spiritually, serving, giving, sharing our faith, and doing whatever it takes to “Build Faith,  Hope, and Love in Greenbrier County and Beyond”!  Yes, there are things that matter, so let’s focus our time, energy,  and efforts on those things that matter to God, His Kingdom, and Church and be ready to be amazed at what God can do through us when we work together on things that matter to Him.   1 Thessalonians 4:1 (NIV)[ Living to Please God ] As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.”

Modern Day Pharisee

Modern Day Pharisee

A Pharisee was someone mentioned in the New Testament as a religious leader of the Jews Law of Moses or definition as A member of an ancient Jewish sect that emphasized strict interpretation and observance of the Mosaic law in both its oral and written form.  They were also recognized by Jesus as being hypocritical and self-righteous people.

What does that mean? It means they cared more about the letter of the law than than freedom of the law.  It means they worried more about the law than people and it also meant they used this type of attitude for their advantage to gain wealth, power, and become corrupt. 

We have people like that today in our churches and who claim to be christians.  They care more about their opinions, their doctrines, and their denominations than they do people or God. Sure, they use God and the bible, but for their own personal agendas and benefits.  It makes no sense to me?   People would rather be right than righteous, they find more satisfaction in arguing or belittling someone who disagrees with them, than loving them or finding common grounds, and they also would rather divide and conquer than unite and work together.

I call them modern day pharisees.  They worship denominations, pastors, traditions, and are legalistic in thinking and practice.  They focus on things that don't matter to God, but matter to them.  Things like bible versions, church names, church music, clothes you war, church buildings, names on the door, and other beliefs and interpretations of spiritual or religious topics and I dare you to disagree with them, because if you do they will judge you to hell and label you names such as reprobate, a pagan, a liberal, a whore monger,  soft, watered-down, weak, ignorant, foolish, stupid, dumb, false prophet, idiot, and sinner to name a few.  

Yet, they speak with no authority or approval from God.  They preach, teach, yell, and scream their own agenda that was handed down from generations of legalism, religious traditions, and just plain ignorance.  Just because we claim to speak for God doesn't mean we do and just because we spout scriptures or argue and debate loudly doesn't make us any more right, more spiritual, or closer to God.

If you have to put someone down to make yourself better, if you have argue, debate, yell, scream, and belittle in order to make a point, my friend you are wrong no matter how right your point.  You see the Pharisees did a lot of things right in the New Testament, they dressed the part, they looked the part, and they dotted their "I's" and crossed every "t", and memorized and kept all the laws to the letter, yet they lacked grace, mercy, compassion, and common sense.  In order to keep their "way of living" they had to put others down, try and force others to be like them, think like them, and if you have to force, bully, or make people live the way you say, then that is slavery not freedom and that is not faith.

God is the one who saves, not me or you.  God is the one who wrote the Bible not me or you.  God has a Holy Spirit who's job it is to convict and guide others to truth not me or you.  We need to let God speak, let His Word Speak, and Let His Holy Spirit speak, and stop trying to put words in God's mouth, spot taking His Word out of context, and stop playing religious police trying to police christians and let the Holy Spirit do it's job.

I know it may never happen, but I would love to see an end to modern day pharisees. If only they would put that zeal, passion, and zest to work and practice in the right ways with the right attitudes imagine how different our churches and world would be?   Most modern day pharisees are in denial of being one, they think they are doing God a favor, and they are not "legalistic" or "phariseeical" but are God's watch dog, bull dog, and guard dogs.  I don't remember reading anywhere where God needed or wanted dogs to do his work?  He does want followers, disciples, and servants, who practice love, unity, grace, mercy, peace, commitment, and who encourage, pray, build up, and edify the body of Christ? There is a stark difference between a committed follower of Jesus Christ and a modern-day pharisee.

Which are you? Will you stop following traditions? Will you stop being so "dogmatic" and "Hounding" people and start allowing God to use you for His glory and not your own or your church group?  Will you read God's Word with an open mind, use it in context, and allow the Holy Spirit to influence and use you?

Jesus wasn't very kind to Pharisees he called them vipers, hypocrites, and white washed tombs to name few.  Those who thought they were doing God a favor, actually had His son murdered because He didn't bow down to them or pat them on the back for their "keeping of the law".   Jesus came to fulfill the law not to worship it.  We should follow suit.  Love God, Love people, and stop being a pharisee and stop making everything wrong, a sin, or a test of fellowship if it doesn't line up with the way you were raised or taught.  Let the Word of God and the spirit of God change your attitude and repent of being so hard-hearted, hard-headed, and doing evil in the name of good.  Are you a pharisee or a follower?


Matthew 23:13(NIV)
¹³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 

Spoiled Christians

Spoiled Christians
James 3:16(NIV)
"For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice"

There is nothing more annoying than a selfish, entitled, spoiled brat!  Parents ought to be arrested for creating such monsters, but just as annoying is Christians who act that way in our churches today.  It's one thing to be a spoiled brat as a kid, but to see full grown adults act that way in order to get their way or throw fits because they don't get their way is a sad state of their true spiritual immaturity.

God did not send Jesus to earth and Jesus did not die and raise from the dead for us to be a bunch of spoiled, entitled, selfish people, in fact the extreme opposite.  We who accept Jesus Christ as our Lord, Savior, and King and enter a relationship with him should develop and mature into Selfless and hunble servants.

The more we know and grow in our faith the less SELFish we should be, the less entitled we should feel, and the more we should realize it's not about us!  So many churches has divisions, splits, factions, and troubles because of immature christians, selfish chrisitans, entitled christians, and spoiled christians.

It's time we simply Grow up!  If you've been a christian 10, 20, 50 years you should not still need "attention" or get mad if you don't get your way, you should be too mature for that.  If you've been a christian for a long period of time you should take the advice of James  in James 1:4(NIV) " Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Yet what happens?  We don't get our way, we make threats.  We don't get what we want, we cause trouble.  We don't get to be in charge or in control, and we cause a scene.  It's no different that a kid on a playground taking his ball and going home because he doesn't get to make all the rules, get to take all the turns, and never lose.

The truth of the matter is we have a lot of people who have been going to church for years and have done littler maturing over the years.  We have a lot of people who attend church services, claim being a christian, and yet there is little if any evidence of real life-changing, maturity, and fruit from their so-called faith? Why is that because we are selfish, entitled, and immature people. If you do not let God work in you and through you, if you do not spend time in prayer and in God's Word, how do you ever expect to mature and grow in your faith? If you do not serve and use you gifts for God how do you ever expect to become selfless and please God? If you always want you way, things to be your way, and you to have control how is God ever to be in control and His will be done in your life?

We are all guilty at times of being selfish or feeling entitled or wanting our way, it's in our human and sinful nature, however, the more of GOD we have in our lives and the more we do for live and the longer we live for Him, HIS nature should take over ours and we should strive to live lives that are about serving God and others and thinking about others and doing what is best for God and His church and kingdom and not us personally.

I want to challenge each of you reading this including myself to become fully-devoted to God, maturing and growing in our faith, and not feeling entitled, but humbled by God's grace, and realize it's always about God and His will and that should be our attitude. The only thing we should be spoiled about it spoiled in the riches of God's mercy, love, and grace!

Commitment

*my may church newsletter article, thought it was worth re-posting

Commitment

  Duty, promise, responsibility, and pledge. These are words that describe commitment.What does that word mean to you?  We try to teach our kids to be committed to their teams or educatoin, our employers encourage us to be committed to their company, and many strive to be committed in their relationships to spouses, children, and friends.  What about your relationship to God?  Are you truly a committed follower of Jesus Christ or are you a casual christian?  What about your commitment to God’s church?  

 Many people make “decisions” for Jesus Christ, but fewer make a true commitment and it shows in our lives and in the church.  God desires commitment from those who claim to be His.  He wants us to be committed to our relationship with Him. Growing and maturing in that relationship.  Committed to prayer, to reading and studying His Word, and committed to being a disciple and sharing the good news of His Message.   Many of us are more committed  to our jobs, hobbies, earthly relationships, and our kids activities than we are our relationship with our God.  God not only desires our commitment, but He also deserves our commitment to Him and His church.  

If we truly want to be committed to Christ,  then we have to strive to put Him first in every aspect of our lives and truly be and make a commitment, but it takes time and it is a process.  We have to commit to learning, growing, maturing, developing, and deepening our faith. We have to be faithful in attendance to our church body, faithful in service and giving of our time, abilities, and yes even finances.   I want to challenge you to be committed.  As the great philosopher Yoda said,  “Do or do not. There is no try.”  We have no problem committing to many things and then treat God and His church like it’s optional.  God gave us His best and He deserves our best.  

Commit your life to Christ.  Recommit your life to Christ.  Commit your family to Christ.  There is no greater commitment in this world to make than an eternal commitment.  I want to encourage you to evaluate your “christianity” and see if you are truly committed to God, His church, His service, and His will? The church here at Ronceverte could be so much more and do so much more if all it’s members were totally committed to being in church, serving God through the church, worship, giving,  reaching out,  helping others, loving God and loving others and going out and making disciples.   Let’s be Committed!

Proverbs 16:3 (NIV) “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.”

Can you see?

Can you See?

Proverbs 29:18(kjv)

¹⁸ Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Most of us who have 2 eyes and can see 20/20 or 20/20 with the help of glasses or contacts know the joy of being able to see. We take the gift of      

sight for granted many times.  It is a gift to be able to see.

Spiritually speaking many people have been gifted to have sight to see what God can and will do in their lives, but they choose blindness instead.  I think if you talk to most people who are physically blind, they would love to have their gift of sight, but cannot. However, can you imagine having the gift of sight and purposely blinding yourself so you cannot see? Yet so many do that spiritually speaking.

God gives us a vision or a revelation for what He has in store for our lives, not only salvation, but also His desire to use us to give, serve, and grow.  He wants us to have vision for His church, His body, so that we may participate in the church growing and being used by God to share the message of Jesus.

Yet, many churches refuse to have no vision and like the proverb, they eventually dwindle, die, and yes perish.  Many individuals have little or no faith or they allow their faith to perish as well because they aren't willing to have vision to see what God wants to give them or do through them.

My point today is that we need to have Vision.  God's Vision. We need to see things through His eyes.  What are His eyes? His Word and His Holy Spirit. When we began to see the world through His eyes we cannot help but be changed and have vision.

God has a great vision for the church and the church body(you and me). He desires to reach the world with his mission or reaching the lost and making disciples.  God wants to use us, His creation, His church body parts, to do His will and we cannot fully serve God if we do not have any vision, or if the church and it's leadership has no vision.

We have to be able to look past our noses and past today to see the bigger picture of what God has in store for us and His church. Oh how we waste so much time, energy , and talent by not having the vision that God has. We don't tap into all the blessings and growth God is willing to give us if we will only open our spiritual eyes.  Just think of how different so many local churches would look if they had God's vision? Instead the stay the same, stick to tradition, become old-fashioned, legalistic, and only inward focused and they are dying both numerically and spiritually because they have no vision, they do not have God's vision.

I want to encourage you today to open your spiritual eyes! See all the things God has in store for you. He's got big plans to use you, your talents, your time, your gifts, and your abilities to serve Him through serving others and serving in His church.  But, you got to be able to see.  I also want to encourage you to open your eyes if you are a minister or leader in your local church, do not let your church die or hold the church back because you lack vision.  As the saying goes, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way."  We need  preachers and leaders who have a vision for God.

Is it Worth it?

http://www.matthafer.com/2013/03/11/guest-blog-jason-thomas-on-frustrations-in-church-leadership/

here is a blog I wrote for a friend of mine for his blog page.

Preaching Revival at Athens Church of Christ, Athens, WV

Circle of Trust

Circle of Trust

If you've seen the movie "Meet The Parents" you know  the "circle of trust" that Robert DeNiro''s character Jack uses as he is suspicious of his potential future son-in-law Ben Stiller's character Greg Focker.

But, as I think about that it is true that we need to surround ourselves with the right people and protect ourselves from those who don't have our best interests in mind.  I am not saying we have to isolate ourselves, but I think we need to use "wisdom" and "discernment" in our lives as far as who be befriend, trust, and let into our lives in a close and personal way.

So many people get hurt or allow others to ruin their lives by being too-trusting, naive, being insecure, attention seeking, etc...and it's not healthy to have or want those type of relationships based on those factors.  Whether you are young or old, you shouldn't base your relationships dating, friend, and even family based on the wrong motives or feelings.

We need to have real, sincere, authentic, and healthy relationships in our lives and we should return the favor.  So many times we may let someone into our lives because we are lonely, they are popular, we think being friends with them or dating them will make us more important or noticeable, or even fill a void.  We make friends with certain people for selfish reasons.   It's a two-way street. Sometimes we use people and sometimes people use us.  This is wrong and we need to correct this type of behavior or we will continue having unhealthy relationships. How can we have healthy relationships?

First, understand you are worth healthy and good relationships. God's desire for each of us is to have loving, healthy, trustworthy relationships in our lives.  Secondly, base your relationships on right and righteous motives. Thirdly, be selective of who you trust and allow into your lives.  Fourthly, be the type of friend or partner or relative that you want in your life.

We need to surround ourselves with people that care about us and who are not in our lives for selfish, unhealthy, or wrong reasons and vice versa.  We need to realize we are never going to have healthy or trusting relationships if we ourselves are not in the right mindset and doing things the way God desires for us. God created us for relationship.  God wants a relationship with us and He wants us to have relationships with others, but they need to be healthy, pure, sincere, unconditional, and selfless.

Whether you are young or old, you need to allow and make good relationships. Find people that truly care about you and not who you are or what you can do for them and be that type of person yourself to others.  How many horrible friendships, dating relationships, marriages, or working relationships could have been avoided if we used a little discernment, wisdom, had some self-respect, and use God as your model and example of what healthy relationships should and can be.

You are WHAT AND WHO you surround yourself with.  Be selective and smart about  who you let in your circle of trust.

 Proverbs 12:22niv

The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.

Common Sense

Common Sense?

I love the quote by Voltaire  "common sense is not so common".  That about sums up most of the things going on in our world today.  People have stopped using common sense that God has given each of us.

We are so blinded by our agendas, "rights", religions, ways,views,  greed, and opinions that we lose sight of what's really important and basically our voice, our respect, and self-respect is lost in translation.

We have people doing and saying things in "The Name of God", but honestly The God I know and read about in the Bible doesn't really act that way, treat people that way ,or doesn't give us His authority.  We have others doing things so they can live a certain way or get something they want and they have no consideration or respect for others.  Neither way or side is right.

We have lost common sense when it comes to all these social issues, spiritual issues, religious issues, and economical issues going on in our world today.

I am not an expert and what I share I can only share based on my personal convictions from God, my study and knowledge of His Bible, and through my experiences, and I do not have all the answers to every problem and issue going on in the world right now, but  there are some things I do know and I want to share with everyone.  We cannot know everything, but we can know what we know and use common sense in our daily lives and remove the personal agendas, feelings, and emotions from things.

Here is what I do know:

1. God loves everyone.  He created everyone and everyone of us in His Image. I also know He sent Jesus(his son) to die for OUR  sins and that is ultimate Love to sacrifice like that.  So make no mistakes, God loves everyone yes the gay and the straight; the sinner and the christian; baptist and catholic; democrat and republican; blacks and whites; etc...  Pick your scenario, God loves everyone period and so should we.

2. God loving everyone and accepting everyone DOES NOT mean that God loves everyone's choices, lifestyles, behaviors, attitudes, actions, and decisions.  Please know God's desire for us to accept others who are different than us or we disagree with does not mean we support or accept those things, but we still accept them and love them.  I have people in my life that I love who are gay, straight but living in sin not married, who smoke pot, and who drink way to much, who don't go to church, or who go to church but are legalistic,  but I still love them, not their choices and I'm pretty sure they love me and don't agree with me on everything.  God still accepts them and so should we.  Our acceptance of one another as human beings doesn't condone choices.

3.  We need to become less "issue" driven and more "common sense" driven. We get so passionate about an issue that we lose all common sense.  For some of you the issue this week is gay rights, to others politics, to others its religion, to others is sports, or abortion, or pick your poison. The point is people stop listening to you, respecting you, and hearing you if you are so arrogant, pushy, dogmatic, legalistic, liberal, or over the top in sharing your "issue".  The bottom line is there is no ONE issue in this world that is worth losing your soul, your family, your friendships, your jobs, and forsaking all the other issues going on in your life.   Get a grip.  Stop making life about "one" thing.

4.  I don't have to agree with you and you don't have to agree with me and that's ok.  For example, I am for people having equal rights, all people.  However, equal rights doesn't mean I agree with gay marriage. My view of marriage is based on my belief in the Bible and God is the one who "made" marriage not people or the government, but that is my view. I do think they should be able to share healthcare/retirement/benefits,etc...that is a basic human right. You can agree or disagree, I won't lose sleep and neither should you nor will I stop being your friend and hope I I won't lose  you. 

 I do not think anyone should be denied basic rights, but to me that issue is separate from marriage.  But that is also true of Faith.  How many divisions are there in churches among christians because we can't agree on doctrines, scripture, and practices???? We are so determined at times to be "right" or "get our way" that we fail to realize that if someones doesn't agree with me on something that the world is not going to end.  Even if you or I are right about politics, social issues, or the  Bible, we aren't going to change everyone or get everyone to agree with us, it's impossible and disagreeing shouldn't mean we can't fellowship, get along, or accept one another or be respectful of the differences we have.  Most times we have way more common ground that we do difference.

5. Finally, People misuse, misquote, and mistreat Scripture in the Bible so that we can live a certain way, justify behaviors, lifestyles, and actions, or to make a point or prove others wrong and that is just plain sin.  The bible says what it says, some things are commands and other things are suggestions.  Some things are doctrinal and other things there is liberty to use wisdom, discernment, and yes, COMMON SENSE.  We have to take the bible and look at what is written in context and with an open honest heart and be mature enough to accept what it says.  God's Word will convict you of sin, or guide you to truth, or encourage you to stand firm. You do not have to misuse, twist, manipulate, or change the words.  

The bottom line is me and you have free will and choice.  It doesn't matter what laws the government make or what the Bible tells us to do or not do, we all have ultimate individual responsibility in how we choose to live.  We can either break laws or obey them.  We can listen to wisdom or shun it, we can honor God's commands or disobey them and do what we want.    My encouragement for me and you is not to take advantage of the freedom God gives us to sin and do not use His word to justify your lifestyle, choices, decisions, or actions and stop using His word to condone, endorse, or condemn when it doesn't say that.

People God gave us all "Common Sense" and we need to get back to using it. I don't care what the issue of the day or week is. God never changes.  His Word never changes.  Society and Culture is constantly changing and there will always be times of darkness and times of light in this world and we must remain faithful to God and His word.  What does that mean?  It means no matter the the circumstance, issue, problem or situation choose to love and accept people like God does.   It means grow up and mature and learn everyone is not going to agree with you and you are not going to agree with everyone, so move on.  It means stop focusing on one "issue" because our obsession with it is doing the opposite or what we really want, we are not influencing anyone and mostly driving others away when we become so militant or combative over any one issues.  Finally, it means let God and His Word speak the truth and never use it or misuse it, use common sense with yourself, with others, and with God.

Proverbs 10:21(esv)

The lips of the righteous feed many,  but fools die for lack of sense.