Inside a Gray Mind

Is God Great?

2011-02-01T13:37:00.000-05:00

The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until it is once more worthy of Him--and of her. In all her prayers and labors this should have first place.
~A.W. Tozer
The Knowledge of the Holy

The Church is imperfect. Everyone would agree on this. On its greatest imperfection, however, some might argue. I'm beginning to see that near the top of the list, if not THE top, is our view of God. We are made in the likeness of God, but we're often too quick to view God in our image, but it doesn't really work that way. There are some reasons that I believe are the cause of our lessening view of God, so here are a few. Feel free to add more:

Prayer. Most of us are guilty of half-hearted, faithless prayers at times. In Mark 11 Jesus gives us instructions on prayer: a) pray...believing you will receive (v. 24) b) don't pray while having anything against anyone, forgive others that you might be forgiven (v.25). Those are just two simple examples of things we should be mindful of before asking God's blessings (whether physical healings or spiritual comforts).
Sharing. Not only has it come to the point of not sharing our faith with unbelievers, but we rarely share what God is doing in or through our lives with fellow believers. Our 'take everything to God' mentality has led us to shut everyone around us out. We forget that God called us to "consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." Part of our spiritual growth is knowing that we're not in this thing called life alone. It's about a lot more than a 'God is all I need' outlook. We need others as well and God knew this...that's why he didn't just create one person.
Priority. God is taken so lightly these days that it's scary. Very few people fear God. If we had a healthy view of God's character and how it is we treat Him, it wouldn't take a powerful sermon or touching song to get people to the altar, we would quickly realize our shame in light of a Holy, Omniscient, Eternal God and fall on our faces in sheer awe. But, work creeps in and begins to get us feeling dismal. Family problems occur. Our car breaks down. Then our attention is diverted from things eternal to things that will pass. God goes from being THE priority to just another one on the list.

What are some reasons you might have for a misplaced view of God?

Is He still great to you?

I Will Follow You.

2011-01-24T06:41:00.000-05:00

Chris Tomlin's latest radio single entitled I Will Follow You has been out for a while now. The lyrics to the chorus are simply this:

Where You go, I'll go / Where You stay, I'll stay / When You move, I'll move / I will follow You // Who You love, I'll love / How You serve I'll serve / If this life I lose, I will follow You // I will follow You

I was privileged to have the opportunity to go see Chris Tomlin in concert this past year and this song stood out to me the most. It was already out on radio, but I'll be honest, I never really paid close attention to the lyrics. Until I was actually singing these words in a worship setting, they never meant that much to me. But it was at that moment that the seriousness of this declaration grabbed hold of my heart.

Just think about the last couple of lines of the chorus: If this life I lose, I will follow You. That's a bold statement to be making to a jealous God. So, my point is short and...well...to the point.

Are you aware of what you're singing while driving down the road in your car? Christian music is a great thing, but don't let it become another part of consumerism in your life.

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
~1 Peter 1

Is Christ in Christmas?

2010-12-21T09:50:00.001-05:00

Everyone is aware of the 'Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays' battle that has been brewing for the past several years. Here are some things to remember before you so heartily defend your stance on "This is America and I'm keeping Christ in Christmas!!!":

Each time you lie to your boss to cover your mistake, you're taking Christ out of the workplace.
When you have lustful thoughts about that friend of yours, you're taking Christ out of your marriage.
When you catch up on that episode you missed and fail to spend 15 minutes in prayer, you're moving Christ further down your priority list.
When you spend every bit of your Christmas bonus and December paychecks on gifts for those closest to you that are in turn getting you gifts, you're taking Christ out of Christmas.

My point is this: most kind-hearted people in East TN are the first to defend the phrase 'Merry Christmas,' and I won't try to stop anyone from doing so. My worry is we're being distracted from the real war that's taking place. Take Luke 14 for example:

"When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

We are in a war between what Christ has told us God desires and what our flesh is telling us is perfectly fine and ok to do. It's confusing even to me...we like to say and think we believe that this holiday celebration is all about Christ, but the way our money is spent says otherwise. We give a few dollars we have (which is really just change from buying gifts for those that need it the least) to a smiling gentleman ringing a bell outside of our local shopping store and the weight of serving is lifted off our shoulders for a while. It almost seems as if our culture has become our god. We follow trends. We do things for our children because our parents did or didn't do it for us. Christmas consumerism has placed us in debt just like everyone else. And we're perfectly fine with it.

When does it end? Does it need to?

What Are You Going to Do About It?

2010-12-15T15:01:00.000-05:00

Pray for those that don't have as much as you may have. For some reason, God has placed them on my heart and I just have a real burden for those less fortunate during this time of year.

I know you've heard it. And probably a little more than usual now that Christmas is fast approaching and the time to spoil those in our families are upon us. Prayer request times at churches across the nation are infamous for these types of statements and 'prayer concerns.' Not just that prayer request, but many more like it: "Pray for the homeless, no one should have to be stuck outside in this kind of weather," and "Remember those that have lost family members, this is a lonely time of year for them."

The implications of sincerity ring through the sanctuary as we nod our heads in agreement and lower our eyes with acting skills comparable to the latest Oscar winners. Why are those prayer requests offered most of the time? Because it eases our conscience and boosts our confidence. We like to let others know about something that crossed our mind earlier in the week (i.e.-praying for the less fortunate) and place the word burden in our musings to present the idea of our oneness with God, of how close we are to His heart.

Yea, I said it. Now what are you going to do about it?

My guess is the same thing I see so many people that offer up these requests doing...

Nothing.

It's easy to request prayer for the homeless. But are you housing them?

We can express concern for those less fortunate. But are we helping to better them?

You can talk about how lost the world is. But will you find them?

I can pray for the lonely. But will I comfort them?

Prayer without action is a mockery and waste of time; half-heartedness at its best. James put it this way, "do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" Speaking of works has almost become taboo in the American church - how dare we - God's grace is the only reason we are who we are, it's not by our works. Thus, we have lukewarm churches. There has been enough preaching in this nation to save the world ten times over.

Now, what are you going to do about it?

Contemplating Suicide.

2010-11-23T09:14:00.000-05:00

We all have an end.

Death.

Much of our time is spent trying to live. A nicer home. A little more reliable car. Decent clothes for our family. Recreational toys.

Everything in this world is not evil - if kept in perspective. It's okay to have a nice home, a decent car, and presentable clothing...as long as that's not the point.

When we talk about 'surrendering all', I'm convinced that most don't even know what that means: myself at the top of the list. Think about it. When was the last time you remember 'surrendering' what you eat to God? I would venture to say that not very many people reading this have ever thought about it, or even know what that means. Here's an example:

I didn't eat breakfast and in order to do what I needed to get done, I just worked straight through lunch. Before I even realize it, six 'o clock comes. I'm starving. I have reason to be starving - I haven't eaten since this time last night. So, naturally, the first priority on my list when I get in the house (except maybe taking a shower) is to find something to eat. It would be hard to set a plate of food down in front of myself and just look at it, but you should try this sometime: the next time your stomach is eating itself, just stop before you cram that cheeseburger into your mouth, and think to yourself, "I'm dying. This food will not keep me alive forever. I'm completely dependent on something so much more."

I used to tell people, "You don't have to be a crazy person and only think about spiritual things all the time...just live a normal life while loving God and others." I couldn't have been more wrong. I'm starting to understand what Jesus meant in Matthew 26 when he said, "...the flesh is weak."

Everything is a distraction. Though something may seem good to us, it's a distraction - part of our separation from God. Even the things that are meant to be spiritual a lot of times...take church, for example. We can get so focused on going to church, what we have to do at church, what we're going to wear to church, that we are distracted from WHY we're going to church by the things we do in getting there. Is church a bad thing? Most definitely not!

My hunger is weakness in my flesh. A weakness that distracts me from "seeking those things that are above." When I'm hungry, I focus my attention on feeding my body. I lose focus of Christ...though it may be just a moment. Yes, food sustains my body so that I can work for God, but it's a weakness, and until we realize how weak we are, we'll never be able to surrender all.

So, I've been contemplating suicide. I'm ready to kill everything in me. What would it look like if I did only think about spiritual things (read Colossians 3)? What if everything set my mind into motion about things above - from my hunger to the greatest joy to the deepest sorrow? Not just theoretically or hypothetically, but really living as though I'm already dead.

Because we all have an end...

A Place of Refuge.

2010-11-15T07:20:00.003-05:00

How many times have you asked someone why they missed a church service and the reply be, "I've had a rough week," or "It was a crazy day," etc? There are lots of reasons to not be in church, some of them justified, but most of them excuses. Again, I say most, because not everyone skips church for reasons of stolidity. The thing I find interesting, and most times discouraging, is that when people have hard days or rough weeks, usually the first thing that gives is church attendance. I know most see where I'm headed with this, so I won't take up your time reading my diatribes.

My question (this is where you participate) is why is this so?

-Does a 'crazy week' justify church absence or should that be more of an incentive for us to attend church?

-What DOES justify missing church: ballgame, headache, lack of sleep the night before, etc...?

-Has our culture or your own drive / ambition / personality determined what's more important than church attendance?

-Is church attendance really as important as most people seem to think it is? If so, why? If not, why not?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Temple of Ruins.

2010-10-04T09:19:00.001-04:00

"You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?" says the LORD of hosts. "Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house..."

-Haggai 1:9

I remember the first time I got a significant raise. I was making ten dollars an hour and my boss decided to start giving me one more dollar on the hour. It wasn't long after that and I got bumped up to twelve dollars an hour and soon after thirteen per hour. To some people that may not seem like much, but to me, that was a pretty big jump from ten to thirteen dollars an hour. But here's the funny part...and most people that have ever worked a job can relate to this - when I was making ten dollars an hour, I kept thinking to myself, "If I could just get one more dollar an hour, I'd be set." Shortly after I got my one dollar an hour raise, I began telling myself that twelve was the magic number and if I could just make twelve dollars an hour, my family would be sailing on calm waters. I'm sure you've figured out where this is going, because most people I know have had this same conversation with themselves at one point in time or another.

We all just want a little more. One more of this or three more of those is all we would need to get by a little more comfortably. It's not being greedy, it's just that we want the best for our families...and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Our problem lies in much the same place as the Israelites when Haggai declared to them what God wanted them to know.

I was looking for ways to provide for my family, I was just looking in the wrong places. I didn't want my wife to have to worry about our financial situation. I wanted to be able to put food on the table and pay our bills without having to roll quarters. But the hard reality of it is this: I wasn't as consumed with providing the spiritual leadership that my family and I needed.

When we hear people talk about looking out for their families, it's always in the physical sense. Our culture has raised us like its little children to look at the man that has a great marriage, good-paying job, and well behaved kids as praiseworthy, but here's the irony: it's possible to have a great marriage, a good job, with nice kids and your entire family's spiritual life be in ruins. I'm definitely not saying that those things mean your spiritual life isn't as it should be, that's not the point...

It's easy to get caught up in wanting the best for our family physically, that we forget God created us as spiritual beings as well. I heard someone say that if you, as a Christian, find yourself going in the same direction as everyone else in any aspect of your life, take time to truly examine your faith. That's a hard pill to swallow, but it's good medicine for everyone.

God is calling us to rebuild the temple in our hearts. To stop worrying ourselves nauseous about bills and jobs and things that will pass away, and start replacing the broken walls and leaky roofs of our hearts.

Stop running to your own house for shelter and assurance and run to God's.

Commit.

2010-09-16T10:03:00.000-04:00

"And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

It's always convenient to isolate Bible verses and get excited about what we read. We hang inspirational plaques and posters with encouraging Scripture like the one given above and we serve our god for the day.

I've noticed frightening dialog take place in church almost every week. It may seem trivial, but the phrase that haunts me is, "Good sermon this morning, Pastor, I really enjoyed it." The reason it haunts me is because I hear it so often, but I see very little response. It seems like for a lot of people that has become the goal of the preacher - to make me enjoy his sermon. My intentions in saying this are not to be judgmental by any means, I'm just offering my perspective on something that's been bothering me for quite some time. I have no idea what most people are doing on a daily basis or the depth of their relationship with God, I simply notice things at church. And at church, very rarely do you have someone ready to work at a moments notice at any given time for the church. When most people are asked to help out or volunteer with something in the church, the first thing that takes place isn't a resounding "YES!", it isn't even always, "I'll pray about it." Most of the time the response is, "I'll see..." or "I'll check my schedule and get back to you." In other words, "Give me a little time to weigh these options out and see which is really my top priority."

Whether anyone will admit it or not, we all know that the church we attend has a lot to do with:
   1) The pastor - no one wants to sit and listen to a preacher that doesn't keep them
   interested. We "Need to be fed," because God forbid we have to study a little on
   our own time.
   2) The programs - what does the church have to offer me to do.
   3) The music - "I just don't like that new stuff." or "Those hymns are so dumb...who even talks
        like that?"

There are other factors that go into choosing which church we want to be a part of, but for the most part, those are the three big factors. Very seldom do you hear someone say they attend a church because the power of God is there. It's always "What's beneficial to me?" And quite frankly (while I'm being frank), when I have heard someone talk about attending our church because they "sense the Spirit" - I'm lucky to see them at more than one service a week. I'm a man who prides himself in common sense, so my question is this: if the Spirit of God is there, why wouldn't you want to be in that Church every time there is a light on? You're tired from work? You've had a hard week? Your son has a ballgame? There's a special singing that night, so it's OK if you miss?

The bottom line is this: "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve..."

Not who you're going to try to serve for the rest of your life. Not who you're going to serve tomorrow. Not who you served yesterday or last week.

Who are you serving today?

'Til Death Do Us Part.

2010-09-06T21:09:00.000-04:00

A woman clothed in white stares intently into the eyes of the man she has every intention of spending the rest of her life with. As a room full of witnesses quietly sits, she repeats the phrase, "'Til death do us part."

Because without death, there is no feeling of love.

That may sound a little strange, but don't hang up the phone just yet...

In the beginning, God created. 1 John 4:8 tells us "God is love." So in the beginning as God created and up until the fall of man, there was love. However, I don't think there was love as far as a feeling goes...it just was love. Imagine Adam and Eve in such a state of perfection that they didn't even experience love...they were simply living love. That's a pretty wierd thing to wrap your mind around but let me try and explain it this way. I was born a male, and I've been a male my entire life. I don't know how it feels to be a man, I just am one. I know how it feels to have certain experiences because I'm a man, but I can't compare those experiences to what a dog might feel in those same situations. As everything happens to me during my life, I don't say, "Because I'm a man, this happened or that happened..." I'm simply a man that experiences life. In sort of the same sense, I don't think Adam and Eve were people experiencing love in their lives. I believe they were just being a part of love - enjoying God's creation.

Let me back-track a little here and add something to what you just read. In saying that I can't know what a dog feels in certain situations, I would also say that I wouldn't know what a woman feels or even another man. We can examine reactions to certain events, but we can never fully understand someone else's emotions. The reason we can never fully understand is because of all the factors that are a part of shaping someone psychologically and emotionally. How I might react to someone cutting me off in traffic may differ from someone else. I see that person that cuts me off as a self-centered jerk that has no respect for anyone else on the road, but in reality, they may have just received a phone call that their son or mother or father or daughter may have just had a fatal car accident and they're trying everything within their power to get to the ones they love. My initial reaction is not to have compassion on the one that cuts me off, but someone who has been in that sort of situation may immediately begin to pray for that person that cut them off - that no one they know is seriously injured. Everything that happens in this life shapes us into what we are today. There is no one size fits all emotionally. This brings into play the importance of each individual in this world. God is Love. God is personal. Love in its purest form can't help but be personal. It can't not care about everyone.

Back to Adam and Eve. They had to understand God's love. They understood it so much that there was no question about it. They had no shame (Gen. 2:25). If it was always light outside, we would never question why the sun never set...we would simply enjoy life in the light.

That's why I say without death there is no feeling of love. When life is all there is, love is all there is.

There is no mention of the word love in the first 21 chapters of the Bible. But that doesn't mean it wasn't there. He was. This might interest you: the first mention of the word love in the Bible is Genesis 22:2.

Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."

The first time the word love is used is when God told Abraham to sacrifice his own son.

Death reveals our need for Love. Love brings life. More. Abundantly.

Salvation Is Not About You. (Part 2)

2010-07-28T14:40:00.009-04:00

[Click here to read Part 1 of this post.]

For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

These words, written by Paul to the Thessalonians, tell us a lot about our salvation. We are to "live together" with Christ in all we do, "whether we wake or sleep."

It's heartbreaking to see the amount of satisfaction and contentment in the lives of church members, at least in the "Bible Belt" anyway. I'll admit, while I've traveled to many cities up and down the east coast, I'm most familiar with mid to east TN. I write to challenge and encourage members of the body of Christ, but the ironic part of most of the articles on this blog is that even though it seems I'm writing to and about the church, it's me. Each of the questions and comments that are raised are to and about Brooks. It may seem that I'm hard on church members, but the reality of it is the Holy Spirit is being hard on me.

I'm happy with my house and wife and kids and our newly acquired boxer pup. I love the fact that I have cable TV, internet and a cell phone. As a music minister, I'm satisfied knowing that I have a career - though I'm never sure where it will lead.

I am the American Dream.

And that's what worries me.

Do I really believe that I'm to be "in the world" yet "not of it?" If so, why am I so attracted to the newest gadgets, the latest fads, the nicest ammenities? The problem is not necessarily in all those things, but herein lies the problem: I pursue those things which will all pass away, while rarely seeking eternal things. Salvation is not about me spoiling myself and my family, it's about the Kingdom of God. If I'm content that I make $25,000 / year and $24,000 of that goes toward myself, I'm afraid I might be missing the point.

I hate that there's so many social injustices in the world. But what if I am the social injustice?

I don't have enough MBs of storage on this website to get into all of the injustices that we face, but I hope that you see the direction I'm headed: Salvation that is satisfied in just coming to church, placing a little money in the offering plate, then eating with the family and taking a nap that afternoon isn't much to be excited about. I can make as many posts on this blog that talk about sacrificial living and put as many Bible verses on Facebook that I want, but it comes down to this -

Am I excited and ready to meet my Creator and Savior and tell him what I've been doing all this time I've been down here?

Salvation Is Not About You. (Part 1)

2010-07-27T07:44:00.007-04:00

As a child who attended church services religiously (pun intended), I always wondered why my parents made me dress up so fancy each Sunday morning. I hated wearing dress pants with tucked in shirts and shoes that would scuff gym floors - in my "Sunday Best." I remember one Sunday in particular. I was grouchy and really didn't want to wear the clothes that my mom picked out, so I asked her, "Why do I even have to dress up for church anyway?" The reply was simple. "It shows God respect and you need to give Him your best."

Even as a child this provoked a lot of questions in my mind: Why don't I wear this stuff on Sunday night or Wednesday night? Does He only deserve my respect and my best on Sunday morning? Wouldn't God be a little vain if my attire changed how pleased He was with me? Am I not just washing the outside of the cup while the inside is still dirty?

Ok, I didn't really ask that last question when I was young. But Jesus did ask that of the Pharisees (Matt. 23:26).

I'm not saying that it's wrong to dress up for church or that you shouldn't dress your family nicely before attending a worship service. However, I do find it ironic that we come to a building, celebrating a faith of action, talk about ministering to the poor, serving those around us, loving the unloved, and doing for the 'least of these' - but before we can do any of the work we talk about in our services week in and week out - we have to go home and change clothes.

Then there are people who "believe the Bible - front to back," then drive to church in their $50,000 vehicles past streets with families that have trouble keeping their lights in their homes on. Is driving a $50,000 vehicle wrong? No. Is it if you only tithe $700 a year? You can be the judge of that. If you can't remember the last time you helped someone besides yourself out, yet you're indulging in pleasures of this earth (on someone else's or some bank's money), making it 'tight' for yourself each month, then I'm going to go ahead and say it. That's wrong.

My point is this: in my experience with local churches that I've attended and people that I've met throughout the years, there are a lot of confusing signals sent out. Now before anyone uses this article to bash the church and talk about how wrong it is and where it has messed up...that's not where I'm going with this. I believe that the local church, through the living power of the Holy Spirit, is the only hope of awakening. The reason is this - if local churches tap into the power of God and the work He's expecting of them, communities change. If communities change, states change. If states change, nations change. So, I hope that clears up any misunderstandings - I'm not bashing the church. I love the church.

Back to the confusing signals.

One of those confusing signals is salvation. I think it's become unclear what salvation really means in our culture. It's turned into a prayer that's supposedly changed many hearts, but it hasn't changed many lives. Which is very confusing, because with so many 'New-Testament' believers, we're not seeing many 'New-Testament' lives.

[Click here for Part 2 of this post.]

Think. Stupid.

2010-07-15T08:01:00.004-04:00

"If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking." - George S. Patton

Do you find yourself 'doing' a lot without 'thinking' about it? How many times throughout the day do you ask yourself, "Why am I doing this?" If you've been following the same routine for 10 years without questioning it - Go to work (or look for work), come home, watch the tele with the family, have fun Saturday, go to church Sunday, sprinkle in a few activities and vacations here and there - and even worse, if you can look back 30 or 40 years and say, "That's basically the way my family did it as I was growing up," stop.

Think for yourself stupid.

Making It All Add Up.

2010-05-24T11:02:00.013-04:00

Let's do some math...

There are 168 hours in a week. This is something we all share, no one person has more or less than another. We are all equally rich in time.

The 'average' sleep time for an adult is approximately 7.5 hours each night. Some of you may think, "I need lots more sleep than that!" Others - "I don't ever get to sleep that much!" So to be safe, we'll just go ahead and say 9 hours of sleep, and hopefully we'll cover most people. Nine hours per night for seven nights taken from the 168 hours we started with, leaves us with 105 hours. So, we are awake for more than 100 hours a week. If you happen to only require 6 hours of sleep per night, then you're awake for 126 hours a week.

Most people have to work for a living, and the average work week is 46 hours. Some may work less and some may work more - so again, let's take a large number and say 60 hours is what you work in a week. Most people that work 60 hours would probably be working Saturdays as well. For the sake of taking an average, we'll just say everyone has at least one day off per seven days from their paying job. Working sixty hours in 6 days means that you're putting in 10 hours per day (genius, I know). If you happen to be a rare breed and sleep 9 hours per night and still work 60 hours a week, you're left with 5 hours each work day of the week that you're awake...and you still have the one day off, which is 15 hours. So, add the five hours each day to the 15 hours on the day you have off and you're left with 45 waking hours each week. Now I know that some of you math whizzes are saying, "You circled the lake when you could have crossed the bridge!" but I wanted to show my work and give you an idea of the time you had each day.

Let's say it takes 2.5 hours for meal time in the evening. That includes preparation, eating, and clean-up (I know some food takes all day to cook or bake or whatever, but I'm only counting the time you're actually working on the food - not letting it sit in the crock pot or oven). I know some people take longer to prepare food and eat and cleanup than others, but remember...we're talking about someone that's working 60 hours a week and sleeping 9 hours a night - those people usually eat take-out! Breakfast usually takes up no more than one hour and lunch would be included in the working hours. So with all the time taken out for eating, sleeping and working (in an extreme situation with over-exaggerated averages) we are left with 1.5 hours per working day and 15 hours on the day off, which leaves us with a grand total of 24 hours.

A church service in America, on average, lasts around 78 minutes. Seventy-eight minutes translates to 1 hour and 18 minutes - we'll round up to 2 hours. If you happen to fall into the category that I described above and only attend church for the Sunday morning service, you're giving God less than ten percent of your 'leftover' time each week. You might be saying, "Yeah, but I read my bible everyday before I go to work!" - If you spend ten minutes in prayer and study each day, you're giving just over ten percent of your 'leftover' time each day.

Most Americans work 15-20 hours less than 60 hours a week and sleep 3-4 hours less than 9 hours per night. In those cases you could be left with 10 hours per work day and 100 hours each working week in which you aren't working, eating, or sleeping. In such cirumstances, if you spend less than one hour per working day seeking God through either prayer, bible study, or some other form of worship, you're in the same boat as the over-exaggerated example. If you spend 5 hours each week at your church during services (Sunday a.m. and p.m. and Wednesday p.m.) and have no personal quiet time in prayer and study, you're giving God approximately 2 percent of your time that's 'leftover'.

I know there are a lot more things that take up our time than just eating, sleeping, and working - such as getting ready in the morning, dropping the kids off at school, filling my car up with gas, paying my bills, mowing my yard, harvesting my garden, cleaning my house, going to my son's Teeball game, etc. But here's my point: when we offer God our firstfruits, everything else will take its place.

Don't try to fit a quiet time into your busy schedule, it will never happen. Do it and work everything else around your time with God. If you're already running excuses and daily plans through your head, STOP...you're headed down the same dead end street that's kept you from doing it for years.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Peace Out?

2010-04-17T21:14:00.007-04:00

My old television was a 27" Orion.

In November of 2008, my family and I moved into our newly built 1,500 sq. ft. home...we even have a basement now! We have hardwood floors and all new appliances. We upgraded from 2 bedrooms and 1 & 1/2 closets to 4 bedrooms and 5 closets. And we even have a basement! There's a big playset complete with 2 swings in our backyard with a nice new barb wire fence surrounding our property. And we have a basement! If you haven't noticed, I'm a male and I'm proud of my basement (a.k.a. 'man space').

That old television, remember the 27" Orion? Well, it was great in our previous residence where we sat about 7 feet from the screen. But in our new living room, we're about 16 ft away from the TV...which caused a problem. How do you see ESPN's BottomLine sitting 16 ft away from a 27" television? The solution: turn that 27" Orion into a 40" flatscreen. That's right, we got a brand spanking new flatscreen. And you know what......I love it! As a matter of fact, I'm typing this right now on a laptop computer with those 40 inches of radiant colors glowing in the background. I can now lay comfortably on my couch without squinting my eyes to see that little scrolling bar of sports knowledge pump my brain full of all the latest updates and scores.

What does all of that have to do with you? I'm on welfare and you paid for all of it! Not really, I'm just joking...I wanted to make sure you were still paying attention.

If you're reading this blog right now, you have a luxury. Many people never have the privilage to browse the internet or update their status on facebook. If we want a new TV to replace our old one (which still worked fine), or a basement to store all of our tools or toys or out of season clothes in, or even if we want fast-food because we had a late day at work and we don't feel like cooking....we can do all of those things. Some with a little more ease on the purse than others, but for the most part, if we really want something, we can get it at some point.

We have cars to drive us to the nearest store so we can park in the closest parking space we can find (so we don't have to inconvenience ourselves with walking) to buy batteries for a Wii remote, or light bulb for a closet - you fill in the blank. We can get e-mails sent straight to our cell phones. A box that let's us have 879 channels instead of 124. We can get a free haircut if we make the beutician or barber feel bad for messing ours up. I can microwave a frozen pizza in 3 minutes. I can fly to NY in less than a few hours. I can even not opt to walk in a convenient store and pay for my gas right at the pump.

Life is so hard isn't it?

Here's what has been weighing on my mind: How is it that we can have all these things along with so much more, and still so many people have no peace? I direct this question to the church members. As a Christian, I know why lost are searching, but here's a bolder statement...is it even spiritually possible to be a depressed born-again believer? I know we all have bad days, but why does it seem like our church members who claim to know Christ are still searching? I mean, so many church members need so much counseling on spiritually irrelevant issues that it's almost ridiculous.

Americans have so many things at their disposal yet some people are never content. Not that they keep wanting more and more stuff, but that they lack purpose. With so many things to make life a little more convenient for "me" and to entertain "me", how come there's no more (perhaps less) peace? There's no more drive. There's no following through with commitments. There's no joy.

If we are the body of Christ, have you ever thought if you were His broken arm? You've let petty trappings of the enemy sink their claws into your heart. You're certain you've experienced the Love of a Holy God, but suddenly you realize that it's really not that big of a deal if you can't read the BottomLine. It's really not that important if Mrs. Jones enjoyed your macaroni salad at the fellowship meal. Sure you're a part of the body, but you're in a sling. Has that co-worker caused you to have angry or hateful thoughts toward them? Maybe you suddenly realize that you said 'Yes' to too many people and now all of the sudden you realize you're in over your head. Casted over, you've become useless.

Useless, that is, until you're healed.

If you've struggled to find peace or purpose, let me offer you this advice:

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:4-13

What time is it? (Part 2)

2010-04-04T17:00:00.000-04:00

In part one of this post, I discussed how through the eternal-ness of God, He is always present; in other words, He is who He says He was - "I AM."

The question is never "What is God going to do?" or the statement ever "I'm excited to see what God will do." Because throughout human history and until our time is no more, God is. Since God is outside of time, He is never waiting to do something, He is always just doing, because there is no time past nor time to come with God, there is only right now. It's very confusing to think about, but in short, our yesterday and our tomorrow is God's today. But even more so amazing, is that God's "today" has never replaced a yesterday and it never yields to a tomorrow. God is ever-present at any given time.

I ended the previous post by concluding how small, yet how significant my / your / our lives are in light of the mysteriousness and vastness of eternity. That may not mean much coming from me, but let me try to explain this so it grabs hold of your heart like it did mine:

The Bible tells us that because God loved man so much, He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins - He died so that we might spend eternity with Him. If eternity is ever-present, then that's not just saying that [through our faith in Christ] when we die and leave our earthly bodies we get the privilege of spending forever with God...that means God wants to be with us now - our eternity with Him begins here, at this very moment. An almighty God, who breathes creation, cares so much about me that He sees me right now, and is always fully focusing Himself on me. That doesn't mean that someone else is losing attention from God while He cares for me, because being outside of our realm of time, He is never cornered by deadlines. He is never distracted from those important moments in my life when it seems that I need Him most, He is always ready NOW...whenever NOW may be...for whomever NOW is for.

But that's not the end of it...or maybe I should say, the beginning...

If God has always been, that means there was no beginning to Him - He is the Alpha. And if God is the beginning, along with His perfect will, that means that He's always had me on His mind. All that makes sense when you think about a perfect Love.

In saying all of this, it's easy to see how small and irrelevant our lives could be. But at a deeper understanding, it's obvious to me how important we are to a perfect God with a perfect love - or rather - who is perfect love. Knowing that I've always been on the mind of an eternal, perfect, loving God brings a whole new sense of significance and meaning to my life than before the revelation of this knowledge.

We know that God came to earth in the life of Jesus Christ over 2,000 years ago. My prayer is that God continues to reveal the mysteries of who He is and the greatness about Him in a way that compels us to live as though we know He's present now...still 2,000 years later. But not just in the way that we've always been told, but in a way that revives our slumbering spirits. In a way that's personal. In a way that's undeniable. Our God - Eternal.

Think about it...

What time is it? (Part 1)

2010-04-03T09:50:00.005-04:00

What is time?

I don't mean time in a sense of 'a long time' or 'a short time' since something happened. Have you ever really stopped and thought about time in relation to eternity? I wish I could bring to light something new about a biblical story in this post, but this is just something to make you think a little deeper.

I don't like to take credit for things I didn't come up with, so I must tell you that most of these thoughts originated with St. Augustine's confessions...

We often speak of eternity as 'a long time past' or 'a long time to come.' Now let me stop here and get the wheels turning inside that head of yours. Though I can never fully comprehend the idea of spending eternity somewhere, the idea of eternity to come seems a lot easier to grasp than an eternal past. Think about it...this God we claim to know has no beginning. Which raises the question, "How does something come to be from something that never was?"

It's very hard to imagine a time forever - especially if you take away the aspect of time. I'll try to explain this more clearly than it seems in my head:

I often hear that eternity is a long time, but if you think about it...how can you even measure eternity by time? I believe God is eternal, which then raises even more and deeper questions: "What was God doing all that time before He created man?" I mean, if He's never had a beginning, He's always been. As Bible believers, we claim the earth had a beginning, from which God created it. If God created us, he had a long time before us (eternity past) to be doing nothing. But, if you believe that God was doing nothing before us, then just decided to create a man in His image, where did that will arise to want to create us? If God is eternal and His will perfect, it stands to reason that God's will is eternal, because how can something new arise out of something that always IS? To God, nothing is new. To man, everything God is is new.

If you're still with me, good...I lost myself there for a second.

Eternity, it seems to me, is always present. There is no eternity past, nor eternity to come...eternity is now. Sometimes I think that if I could fully grasp that, it would change dramatically every aspect of my life. Picture this: God sees Adam and Eve, Martin Luther, Adolf Hitler, you and your grandchildren's grandchildren...NOW. To even try to comprehend that brings a whole new smallness to my life...

...but at the same time, a whole new significance to it!

(to be cont'd)

Worship.

2010-02-04T10:50:00.004-05:00

What if we couldn't tell the difference between the way we work and the way we worship?

Stop and think about that statement before you read on.

What if there were no difference in our Sunday behavior and our Monday behavior?

What if church wasn't our weekly 'spiritual re-fueling station'? What if Christ became the source of our strength everyday, and we stopped waiting to hear a good sermon on Sunday morning to convince us to do something for God?

My Pastor, the infamous James Roberts, often says that 'Money shouldn't dictate our ministry, but ministry should dictate how our money is spent.' Let me take that a bit further and say this, 'Our ministries shouldn't dictate our worship, but our worship should dictate our ministries.' Allow me to explain...

Church members usually live in 2 extremes. Not always, but usually. One extreme doesn't like change. To them, nothing is better than the way that it's been done before - the tried and true and retried and reused ways of operating. The only hope for this generation is to get back to the way our grand-daddy's daddy used to do it. I consider myself somewhat of a conservative, but one problem with this viewpoint is...we don't live in grand-daddy's daddy's world anymore.

The other extreme is always looking for the next big thing. For instance, the 'Piety Power' youth group down the street had some huge success doing sign language to 'Stairway to Heaven', so we should be doing that here with our youth. It worked for them, it has to work for us. There were people crying and getting in touch with God and a lot have been coming to the altar. We need to do what works. We need to follow suit. We shouldn't let the 'Grace Filled Holy Ghost Saturated Pentebaptodists' be the only church benefiting from this - But the problem with this viewpoint is this: God doesn't honor programs.

Let me pause here and say, there's nothing wrong with doing it the same (as long as the reasoning is not 'that's the way we've always done it') and there's nothing wrong with programs. We've just forgotten to keep our hearts in check. Like "Are we doing what's always been done because God wants it that way or because we don't like change?" Or, "Do we want this program because it's what God wants for these people in this community or because it's what worked at a mega-church in Texas?"

Apart from basic biblical truths - who cares if it's the way our ancestors did it? Who cares if we have the latest fad? If hymns and organ music or lights and smoke and blaring guitars are giving glory to God and ministering to people...does it really matter who thinks they're right? It seems that a lot of times, believers are looking to criticize other believers instead of reaching those that are outside the walls of the church.

Sound familiar...? It should.

In Mark 9:38-40 John said to Jesus these words: "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us." Jesus' response: "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side..."

We're so concerned with being right about our doctrine that our spiritual war has become a fight between denominations. It's become a fight over which genre of music God approves of. It's become a fight of immersion or sprinkling. To speak in tongues or not. To dance or not...and I can't help but picture a Father with His head bowed in disappointment. Wondering if any of His children are listening.

Until we begin to really understand that this whole Christian thing is not about us and what we want or like, we will never be united. We all have these ideas of who God is and how He works, and when someone comes along and says something that makes us think about what we've been taught for many years, we begin to throw up walls. Throwing up walls is not a bad thing, because sometimes that's a good way of defending our foundational beliefs. The problem lies in calling out the archers and rolling out the trebuchet and launching an all-out assault on the person we're defending ourselves against. We talk about how wrong their doctrinal stances are and question how they came to that conclusion from that particular verse; all because we rationalize, like John, and say, "...we forbade him because he does not follow us."

When we get our eyes off of Christ, we begin to focus more on what we want and we like and how we feel about this or that. In turn, it dictates how and whom we worship with. e.g. - "I enjoy the hymn classics and when they start to sing those contemporary songs, I just don't get anything out of it." And vice versa "Those old hymns are so boring and so...old. How can anyone worship with those songs?"

Our personal preferences should never define our worship.

True worship dictates everything we do.

"What's on your mind?"

2010-02-02T09:00:00.002-05:00

Facebook is an amazing tool...it's a great place to quickly and easily connect with friends. It's also a great way to see what goes on inside a lot of people's brains per the "What's on your mind?" status updates. One interesting thing that I've noticed is how much people tend to think of themselves. I'm aware that the status updates are a place to update what's going on in your personal life, but in a wierd, funny way it's almost become this type of scenario: 'Out of the abundance of the heart, facebook status updates.'

I notice updates about how bad a person's day has been or how aggravated they are with co-workers or how bleak everything looks at that particular moment in their life. These 'status updates' are usually a good look into what someone is really thinking, quite frankly because people generally put what they really are thinking. It's sort of like when you get caught up in the heat of a moment and blurt out something without thinking about it...with the ability to access the internet so easily with cell phones and what not, sometimes I wonder if people put things online without ever thinking about them. Things that people would never talk about before facebook now are just normal ramblings on the web. Everything that's shared is viewed by hundreds of so-called facebook friends...'friends' you've probably never been to lunch with, but this doesn't stop most people from letting everyone know about how pitiful their lives are that day. In the "good ole' days," if you had a bad day at work, you sucked it up and went on. Now all our facebook friends get to hear about it.

But this isn't about having to hear about bad days, this is about how self-centered we've become. We have things that happen to us, and instead of 'counting it all joy when we face various trials' we feel the need to let hundreds of friends know about what's going on. As a born-again believer, my first priority, surprisingly, is to give glory and honor to God in all that I do. When you stop and think about it, how is letting everyone know how bad I've got it giving glory to God? Basically, we're bringing pity to ourselves, which, unfortunately, is what I think some people like.

James tells us that we should be slow to speak and swift to hear. I think that covers facebook status updates as well. Maybe instead of immediately getting online after something happens to us, we should be asking, "Father, to Your glory, what can I learn from this?"

The main point in this whole subject is this: We all face hardships and trying situations on a daily basis, of course, some worse than others. When it comes time for your next status update, instead of just posting 'I hate my job! Some people need a knife to the knee-cap!' - think about this question...

What's in your heart?

Friends of the Enemy.

2010-02-02T08:24:00.003-05:00

John 15:18-20 If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

Does the world love you?

Strange.

2010-01-13T12:30:00.003-05:00

New Year's Eve afternoon 2009. I spent the day with my family and we decided to go to a Mexican restaurant for some lunch. There weren't a whole lot of people there at the time we sat down and ordered our meal but as we waited for our food to arrive, a couple sat down at the table next to us. We didn't know each other, but they were rather friendly so we begin to talk a little. After a couple minutes of small talk, out of nowhere this gray-haired gentlemen looks at me and asks, "Are you a preacher?" I've known a lot of preachers in my lifetime, and while most of them are very fine gentlemen, there are those that...well, let's just say they have stranger personality traits than I think they should probably have being men of God.

I wasn't quite sure what the premise of his question was, and wasn't sure if he was trying to complement me by asking if I was a preacher, so I politely responded, "Well, I'm not technically a preacher...I'm a music minister slash youth director." His response: "I thought you might be a preacher or something along those lines. You just have a certain 'glow' about you."

I don't tell this story to 'toot my own horn'...I bring it up because of this reason: While I was complemented by what he was saying, the more I thought about it, the stranger it became to me. I find it a bit unnerving to think that I may be looked at as a preacher of some sorts before I am thought of as a Christian.

The implications are the main thing that bothers me about that statement. My point being: Why was his question not "Are you a Christian?" It's almost as if he was saying, "Preachers are the only people that really 'stand out' in the Christian faith." I consider it a little scary to think that people expect Christians to not really be that different...only their pastors. I draw from this encounter at a Mexican restaurant a simple conclusion: People don't know Christ. And here is my theory...

I shared a statistic in an earlier blog that in 2008, 77% of Americans considered themselves to be Christians. That means that of the U.S. population in 2008, more than 234 million people thought they were Christians. By definition, a Christian (I would think) would be someone who followed the teachings of Jesus Christ. Now, just imagine what this country would look like if there were 234 million Christ-followers in it. I'm not talking about your perception of what a Christ-follower looks like, I'm talking biblically. What if there were 234,000,000 of the 12 disciples? What a thought! It speaks in Acts on multiple occasions of thousands of people being added to the kingdom through just one or two disciples! 1 or 2!!! How many are being added to the kingdom through our 234,000,000 so-called Christians? If 234 million of us were living like Christ, there wouldn't be people in the 'Bible Belt' of the United States that didn't know how to pray (which there are...not by my own accusations, but I have had people literally tell me, "I don't know how to pray.") If 234 million of us were living like Christ, people wouldn't say, "You have a certain 'pastor's glow'." They would be saying, "Something about you reminds me of that Jesus fellow..."

"...You just have that glow."

Light.

2009-12-16T12:00:00.010-05:00

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The world was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

Genesis states that in the beginning, God created. In the voidness of the world, the first thing God did was speak. "Let there be light."

The first chapter of John restates the beginning of all things. John says that 'In the beginning was the Word..." We saw that in the first act of creation, God said, "Let there be light." So John acknowledges that in the beginning, God spoke. It was God's Word that created light. But John goes on about the Word...he states that that Word was God. That Word was life. That life was the light of men.

The first thing God said was "Let there be light."

One of the first things we see about Christ was that He was a Light in the darkness.

Because there is always darkness before Life.

Verse 5 in the first chapter of John says, "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." We're so blinded by our state of darkness that we cannot even comprehend fully the idea of a True Light. We're so used to seeing conditional love that we fail to see a Real Love. We've gotten accustomed to expecting less that we stop hoping that there's more.

Jesus said, "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness." If we follow Christ, we're no longer trapped in darkness. If we truly see Him as the Son of God - we've seen Real Love.

Imagine yourself in a cave with thirty of your closest friends. There is nothing but darkness. You happen to trip and when you fall, under your left hand is a flashlight. As soon as you realize what it is, you take the batteries out and throw them as far as you can. You then turn around and throw the flashlight as far as you can in the opposite direction. When we ignore the hungry, forget those without homes, look away from those with broken families, that is essentially what we're doing.

As Christmas fast approaches, I see all the toys that my children will be getting and I can't help but think about those children in my own community that will be getting far less, if anything, for gifts this year. As I write this, my heart is breaking. I make every effort to get my kids things that will make their childhood happier. I do it because I love them. Even though all the toys in the world could never show them how much I love them, it pleases me just to spoil them a little. I do all that I do for them because I love them unconditionally. Get ready for this...

To the mom and dad that can't afford to get their children anything but a 2 dollar gift this Christmas, my unconditional love for my children doesn't mean crap to them. It doesn't give them any light at all. Although I have an unconditional love for my kids, I've thrown the flashlight and left the needy families in the dark. If love, to me, means that I spoil my family and neglect the needy - maybe I really don't know what love is. Maybe I'm still abiding in darkness.

Everything Jesus did was for the needy. The sick needed healing. The pharisees needed humbling. The thirsty needed water. The disciples needed teaching. I needed a Savior.

What kind of love is this, that would trade heaven's throne for a cross...? A Real Love.

The Light came so that we wouldn't have to abide in darkness. So, wherever you go, whoever you meet, in whatever you're doing...'Let there be Light.'

God is Love.

2009-12-02T09:46:00.010-05:00

There are times in my life when I get discouraged. Not depressed, but discouraged. Maybe it's the phases of the moon or the CO2 in the atmosphere or simply because I'm human. It seems like no matter how much I have to be thankful for, something always seems to sneak in and knock the wind out of me. Nothing is exciting. I tend to be overly pessimistic about everything and every situation. The past few weeks have been such a time for me.

I can't get motivated, which is scary because it's probably the busiest time of the entire year for me. However, one thing I've come to learn in my short time on the earth is this: Through all the discouragement, doubt, and busy times of year...God is still speaking.

I recently sat down and read Psalm 86. Have you ever been convinced that you wrote a portion of the Bible? During this time at the moment I read it, I was sure these words were coming from MY heart:

Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to You. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in You. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to You all day long. Bring joy to Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to You. Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to You, for You will answer me. Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; no deeds can compare with Yours. All the nations You have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to Your name. For You are great and do marvelous deeds; You alone are God. Teach me Your way, O LORD, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever. For great is Your love towards me; You have delivered me from the depths of the grave.

As if reading those verses weren't enough to convince me, God was still speaking...

Yesterday I purchased Hillsong United's latest album (A_CROSS // The_EARTH: Tear Down the Walls) and if you haven't done it, it's some of the best worship music on the planet. Anyhow, one of the songs, 'Oh You Bring' just happened to be another instance that I knew...God cares. I've put the song on this blog post. If you happen to be in a discouraging time in your life...I encourage you to listen to it.

Oh You bring hope to the hopeless/And light to those in the darkness/And death to life/Now I'm alive/Oh You give peace to the restless/And joy to homes that are broken/I see You now/In You I'm found

And You opened the door for me/And You laid down Your life to set me free/All that I am will serve You Lord/And You opened my eyes to see/All the wonder and awe of Christ in me/Jesus You're everything I need

Oh You fill those who are empty/And rescue those in the valley/And through it all You calm my soul/Oh You find me in my weakness/And heal the wounds of my heartache/I worship You in spirit and truth

All honour/All glory/All praise to You

Somehow, for some reason, the God who holds everything together has an interest in me. He cares that I'm discouraged. He cares that I'm not motivated. He knows that I'm weary. And He's reaching out. He hasn't given up on my purpose.

God was. He is. And will always be. Love.

Love Big.

2009-11-30T11:08:00.001-05:00

Luke 7:47 - "...But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."

How do you love little? I think to answer that question, we need to answer, "How do you love big?"

Most everyone is familiar with 'The Love Chapter' in 1 Corinthians...we've heard it at almost every wedding we've ever attended. But, instead of quoting it word for word, I'm going to paraphrase. This is is no way trying to change God's Word, this is just how I interpret verses 4 through 8 in a simple-minded way:

Love puts up with annoyances, yet is still kind; love does not lust; love does not flaunt itself seeking men's applause; love is not vulgar, and is not self-centered; love does not react in anger, there is nothing evil in love; love does not put up with wrong, but rejoices in truth; it endures all things. LOVE NEVER FAILS.

That's a Big Love. That's a Real Love. But is that how we love? I would venture to say that for most of us, we don't make it past the first line.

I'm going to take this Big Love a bit further now. What about our time? What about our talents? What about our money? Are we loving big with all of these?

To me, here's the answer to our first question; here's how to love little:
-Give God ten dollars a week when we're making six-hundred dollars a week.
-Pass up a church service to watch a movie we've been waiting to see.
-Spend 10 minutes in prayer and reading God's Word but watch an hour long CSI episode.
-Never help those that are in need of things we possess.
-Don't feed the hungry because 'They should get a job.'

You get the idea. But here's the other side of the fence: Loving big doesn't mean you give God 500 dollars a week when you make 550 dollars a week. Loving big doesn't mean you are in church every time the doors are unlocked. Loving big isn't spending 20 hours a day with God. Loving big isn't paying our house off and giving it to a homeless person. That would be too easy.

Loving big means that all we do...we do it with kindness; we do it without seeking praise for ourselves; we give God our tithes not wondering how we're going to pay our bills this month, but rejoicing in the fact that even if we lose all we have, we had an opportunity to give a little bit back; we attend church without any reservations; we feed the hungry because we realize that could have just as easily been us sitting on that street.

'With great power comes great responsibility." Are we showing our share of responsibility?

Have we only been forgiven of little? If you consider eternity small, then yes.

God gave a Big Love so that we could Love Big. Do we care enough about our Christ to do it?

35 Pet Peeves.

2009-11-18T08:35:00.007-05:00

In no particular order, here is a list of 35 of my pet peeves:

1) Stopping the microwave before it's done and not clearing the time left.

2) People that accelerate hard when going from a red light.

3) People that pass me, then slow down on the interstate.

4) Couples who sit on the same side of the booth when there is no one on the other side.

5) People who, no matter what you're talking about, relate to something you have done and try to "one up" you.

6) Noisy eaters.

7) Drivers who won't turn right on red.

8) People who cross the 11E bypass on the wrong side of the median.

9) Couples that own a dog together and call themselves mommy and daddy.

10) Celebrities claiming to be environmentalists.

11) The way people walk in flip flops.

12) Jerks who take up 2 parking spaces...if you can't park it, don't drive it.

13) When Christian radio stations don't play guitar solos.

14) When it's raining and I turn my truck off before I turn the wipers off, and they stop in the middle of the windshield. So I turn the truck back on, the wipers off, and then the truck off.

15) The creepers at red lights. You know, those people that start inching forward in their cars slowly until the light turns green.

16) People who don't know the difference between its/it's and they're/their/there.

17) People that while telling a story make a long pause, and I think they're done, so I try to break the awkward silence by saying something, only to have them cut me off after 2 words and continue the story they were telling.

18) People who smoke in front of entrances.

19) People who go the wrong way in a parking lot.

20) People who leave shopping carts in the parking lot instead of taking them back to the corral.

21) When I adjust the volume of the TV and the volume display blocks the subtitles during an important dialogue.

22) Suburban kids who think they are gangstas.

23) Hair strands left on shower walls.

24) People who are always late.

25) People that realize that a lane of traffic is backed up so they go into the next lane over because it is moving quicker and they go up to the front and expect someone to just let them back over in that lane.

26) People who say "Oh! You have to try this! It's the best thing ever!" And when I do try it...it sucks.

27) When people continue to stare after they ask a question, as if they need me to expand more on my answer.

28) When the tiolet paper roll is backwards.

29) Websites with horizontal scrolling.

30) When people call me but are talking to someone else when I answer and I have to wait till they stop talking for them to talk to me after they called me.

31) People who talk about their favorite sports team and say "WE" like they are a part of the team.

32) When commercials are way louder than the TV shows.

33) When I order a pizza and they don't cut the slices all the way and I have to tear the pizza apart.

34) Pee all over the place in public restrooms.

35) Things sticking out of drawers

The Fantasy of Church

2009-11-17T14:43:00.003-05:00

Everyone has opinions about government run programs. Some enjoy the benefits of 'government' money (if there is such a thing) while others steam over somebody else taking their tax money (sometimes dishonestly). I'm not here to argue either side of the equation, I'm here to discuss a big 'What if...'.

What if the church took literally Matthew 25:34-40...would there even be that great of a need for welfare or many other government-aiding agencies? Here's an interesting scenario: Suppose a homeless person came to you in need of a shower and some food. We might point him to the nearest homeless shelter and maybe even offer to drive him there. That's what a good Christian would do, right?

That might be what we do, but I'm beginning to seriously doubt if that's what God wants us to do. Keith Green wrote an amazing song entitled 'Asleep in the Light'. One of the lines in it says this:

"...He brings people to your door and you turn them away, as you smile and say, "God bless you. Be at peace," and all heaven just weeps. 'Cause Jesus came to your door and you've left Him out on the street."

Have we forgotten how to serve? It seems a lot easier to let some corporation do what they're set up to do, but Jesus never told us to do the easist thing.

I'm convinced that a lot of Americans are on board with the whole 'christian idea' because it's convenient. Yeah, I said it. It's become so watered down that anyone can be a Christian. Anyone can say they 'believe'. After all, we're covered by grace, so why bother with all that other stuff that takes up our time and money? "God's gifted other people to help the needy, I just can't do that kind of stuff...."

Welcome to the fantasy of the modern church.

According to a Gallup Poll in 2008, 77% of Americans consider themselves to be of the Christian religion. That's down considerably from 91% in 1948, but it's still over 3/4 of the country. Call me crazy, but if three-fourths of our country's population were really Christians, would there even be poverty in the U.S.? It was interesting in seeing these statistics, that the article on Gallup's website stated this (among other things):

It is important to note that basic religious identification says little about the relevance of that identity to the person's life. Identifying with a religion doesn't indicate how actively the individual practices the religion. It doesn't indicate whether the person rigorously adheres to that religion's beliefs. It simply states that the person has some connection to and some identity with a specific type of religion.

Words don't mean a whole lot, especially in the times we live in now. Of course it's novel and romantic to think we can believe in the God of the Bible and do as we please and still reap the benefits of a relationship that requests so much more than lip service. But the reality of it is, it doesn't work quite like that. Thomas Fuller said it best: "He does not believe who does not live according to his belief." What we as Christians believe isn't supposed to be a pretty story or a novel idea, it's real. It requires us to act. It requires us to obey. It demands commitment. It bears fruit.

James chapter one tells us to 'be doers of the word, and not hearers only.' Our faith produces works. Works of love. All that we embark on must stem from love and not selfish motives.

"If love is the soul of Christian existence, it must be at the heart of every other Christian virtue. Thus, for example, justice without love is legalism; faith without love is ideology; hope without love is self-centeredness; forgiveness without love is self-abasement; fortitude without love is recklessness; generosity without love is extravagance; care without love is mere duty; fidelity without love is servitude. Every virtue is an expression of love. No virtue is really a virtue unless it is permeated, or informed, by love ."

--Fr. Richard P. McBrien

past.NOW.future

2009-11-12T21:20:00.006-05:00

As humans trapped in time, it seems we spend most of our lives 'now.' But for some unknown reason, our minds are mostly 'then' or 'to come.' We don't really think about it much because we hardly ever think about what we're thinking about right now. I think.

From the time we're born to the time we die, we're alive today...so why do we worry with yesterday or look to tomorrow? You might be saying, "That's a pretty good point. I wish I wouldn't always do that." Thus, making my point. Instead of wishing we hadn't done it or hope we won't do it as much; Don't do it.

The Forgotten Lost.

2009-11-09T09:06:00.020-05:00

After being in a Roman prison for approximately two years, the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church in Philippi. This happened somewhere between one and seven years before Paul's death (he was be-headed). Just based on this knowledge, I could probably write about 14 pages on the first chapter alone of Philippians. However, for time and attention span's sake, I'll refrain.

One of the perks of being a Christian is the gift of eternal life. We have something to hope in when our time on earth is through. It can get exciting thinking about spending forever with our Maker, but Paul says something interesting in that first chapter. Something I don't think I've EVER heard anyone around me say.

21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

Did you catch that in verse 22? Paul had such a burden for ministering to others that he didn't know if he would rather go to his Savior's side or stay and 'work out his salvation' (Read on through chapter two) on earth. What's wrong with this guy? Here he is - almost 70 years old, chained up in a prison for two years, debating whether he would rather die or face more persecution while preaching to others. For most who believe in an Almighty God the answer would be simple...I want to see Jesus! Why suffer here when you can spend eternity pain and problem free with God? What would make him even start to debate which one he would choose? Maybe the answer is this: He believed what he preached.

Ouch!

What does that mean? I'm glad you asked. We all know that Paul was converted to the cause of Christ while on the road to Damascus. After that encounter, Paul was never the same. He knew that he had experienced something REAL. Something that others had to know about. And he was going to spend the rest of his life telling them about it. When I look at these verses, I see the epitome of unselfishness.

I'd rather not suffer, so I would rather go to heaven.

I'm most concerned with my comfort - even at the expense of another's salvation.

Wow! I've never said that...but is that what my attitude is saying?

Do I believe that this whole 'God' thing is real to everyone or is it just real to me?

If it's only real to me, is it even real at all?

Paul knew he was going to face more persecution because of what he was preaching; he even warned his readers that they were going to "suffer for His [Christ's] sake" - but he was still willing to put off his glorification for others' salvation. Has it been that real for me? Am I willing to sacrifice my comforts to further the message that I say I believe? If not, do I really believe what I'm preaching?

I can't recall anywhere in Scripture when Jesus told his disciples to take comfort in knowing they were going to spend eternity in heaven and get to those lost people when they had some free time. Being a Christian is not a hobby. It's not something we do in our spare time when we're not busy with work or school or hunting or vacation or whatever it is we do. When we give excuses for not doing the things of God (such as the ones stated in the previous sentence), what we're essentially saying is "Right now, God's in second place." Does it even matter if He's a close second? No. He's still second. Even if it's for an hour...He's still second.

Here comes the hard part of all this: We can read this, then with a click of a button browse to another web page to find something to entertain me. We can hear this in a sermon and swallow the lump in our throat, get up and walk out the doors of the church to a restaurant that I like. We can go home and turn the TV to my favorite channel, then fall asleep on the couch because I've had a rough week and it's already Monday again tomorrow...OR we can quit worrying about what's going to feed our desires for more than five minutes, and tell others about something REAL that we've encountered. Something that's more than being all about my wants. Something that's changed our lives.

Or has it?

I think Paul had a firm grasp on the reality that time on earth is short and life after is forever. Paul looked forward to his life after death, but at the same time, he knew that his time to labor for the Master was but a vapor. Unfortunately, we've let culture define a lot of our priorities and how we spend our time. We know that life on earth is short, but we've been convinced to live it up. We've forgotten the lost. We've forgotten our task as Christians. Think about this - how many weekends this year have you went to the movies or went shopping or just set aside 'me' time? How often have you set aside 'witness' time?

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

When we think of this song, we think of our worldy problems disappearing and having an unspeakable peace in Christ. But what if the things of earth that grew dim were the materialistic trappings of comfort and pleasure? What if the things that became more clear were the hurts and needs of others?

Christ have mercy.

Honestly...

2009-11-06T15:31:00.008-05:00

"When you see the best in me, it's mostly God."

When I deflect a praise from me towards God, I don't know if I really mean to give God credit, or if I just want it to seem that way so I can receive more praise. It's a vicious cycle, really. I mean, even if a small part of me enjoys the praise, does that mean that God doesn't get it all? But then, how do you not enjoy receiving praise every once in a while? Not that receiving praise is necessarily a bad thing...maybe I just don't know how to respond to it. But, unfortunately, I think it's habit a lot of times or maybe just what I think I should say when I reply, "It's not me, it's all GOD."

Is the first step admitting this? Or accepting this?

If one thing is for certain, I can't deny it.

Have I been genuine? Totally honest and transparent in this whole Christian thing? For the most part, I think that's what God wants. Honesty. Not just with Him, but with those that are on this journey with me. With us.

Why does pretending always seem like the best thing to do? Who are we trying to please? Is it because we don't want to 'hurt our witness'? Or is it that the judgment of others has become our God? Think about it.

It's hard to see an invisible God. That's a pretty common thought, I think. So, what if (somehow) all that we see has sadly become how we see God? In kind of an ironic, twisted way, our sight has limited our faith. The writer in Hebrews says that faith is the evidence of things not seen, the substance of things hoped for. What if somehow the things we see have destroyed the evidence of faith in our lives? Have we even seen real faith in our lifetime?

I take note of small things a lot of times. My wife would probably tell you differently, but I'm talking about things in church. People are tired a lot of times, I hear it quite often: at church on Sunday morning, at choir practice after Wednesday night service, at Christmas play practices. Someone is always ready to go home. Someone has always had a long day. My question is - Do they think everyone else just sat at home all day, waiting to get off their couch so they could come to church?

This brings me to a harsh conclusion: we're selfish, self-centered creatures. It's ALWAYS got to come back to us somehow. If it didn't, why would I be whining about how hard my day was? And on the other side of that coin: why would I care if people whined about how hard their day was? That selfishness soon leads to 'sharing' with some other church member about how frustrating it is that 'So and So' is always whining about getting home. Is me talking like that about 'So and So' really any better than their whining?

Think about this - How many times do you hear the words 'me' or 'I' at church? Or what about this conversation:

"Hi! How are you today?"

"I'm doing OK."

"Oh...just OK?"

"Well, I've had better days."

Better days? What does that even mean? You live in a country where you're free to get up, put on a $150 outfit, fix your hair up real nice, and come to worship an Almighty God. Why should there need to be a better day than that? ...Because we're selfish. Which leads me to another question:

Why vacation?

Vacations are not a bad thing at all, but I've heard it said on many occasions that 'Everybody needs a vacation...a little time just to get away.' Get away from what? A nice house with running water, electricity, a clean bathroom, and a kitchen full of food? Nobody needs a vacation, we just want vacations. Why do we always feel like we deserve something else? I mean, we get stressed out about our jobs and paying our bills, when there are lots of people that would love to even know what it's like to have to stress about that.

How pampered have we become that we feel like we need to get away from a place that some people only dream about?

Handcuffing Jesus

2009-11-02T09:28:00.012-05:00

It's amazing what a person can learn when they shut up and listen. What's even more amazing is what we can learn when we shut up and listen to God.

I've been referring back to the first chapter of Mark for a while now, and have been stuck on the 45th verse for quite some time. In context it reads like this:

40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." 41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." 42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. 43 And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." 45 However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

As I read these verses, I couldn't help but think, "How many times have I done something in complete disobedience to what Christ called me to do and left Him outside in deserted places?" I've probably read this Scripture thirty-seven times and never paid attention to the leper doing the exact opposite of what Jesus told Him to do. It's always exciting and intriguing when we see Jesus perform divine miracles, like healing the leper, but why would he then go out and do precisely what Jesus told him not to do?

Most times when we read in Scripture about a leper being healed, it's a brilliant picture of what we were like as sinners, and how Christ restored us to be made whole. But the ironic and scary part is, often times like the leper mentioned here, as Christians we go out and do precisely what Jesus tells us not to do. When we do those things, not only are we hindering our relationship with God by disobedience...but have you ever thought that you might be hindering someone else's relationship with God?

Think about it this way: How many more people might Jesus have had the opportunity to change their lives - if it wasn't for that one leper? Because of his direct disobedience to instructions, Jesus was basically not welcome in the city anymore. He was left outside. Deserted. Because of the leper, people were forced to find Jesus and go to Him; Jesus was no longer free to go to people inside the city and find them in their weakness, they had to come outside to Him. The leper didn't really do any harm to himself; he had been healed, his problems were better, what did he have to be concerned about anymore? But he made it really hard for others to come to Christ and heal them.

What's even more surprising about this act of disobedience is that we read about it, and still do it 2,000 years later. When you look at it through the eyes of the leper, it doesn't seem like it's the wrong thing to do. I mean, if you were healed from a life threatening disease, wouldn't you go around telling everyone what had happened to you? I certainly know that I would. It was a miracle! Christ cleansed the leper - just by speaking to him!

This brings me to an important conclusion - Just because I might think it seems like the right thing to do...even if I think it's good for the Kingdom; I'd better be sure that it's what Christ has called me to do:

For my sake. And maybe, just maybe, for the souls of others.

James 1:19-20 says this:
19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

It's time that followers of Christ do as we're instructed. It's time for us to shut up and listen. It's time we stop doing what we think is right, and do what God tells us is right. It's time for us to stop handcuffing Jesus, and get out of the way, allowing Him to work freely in our lives and others' lives.

God With Us

2009-10-31T23:45:00.008-04:00

It was time for the kids to go to bed so Nichole and I began to get Maryah and Malachi ready for the night. As I was coersing my daughter to get her pajamas on, I heard a call from Malachi's room:

"Dad, come in here. And bring Maryah," my wife yelled out.

Earlier in the day Nichole had bought Malachi some new PJs. Not for any particular reason, other than him growing out of his clothes every eight minutes...just one of the perks of raising a 2 and 3 year old.

I walked to the room and flipped the light switch on, Maryah standing at my legs.

"Turn the light off," Nichole instructed me. So being the fantastic husband that I am, I did as my wife suggested. Then it happened...

Malachi's pajamas were glowing in the dark! Seriously! I didn't know they still made stuff like that anymore. I mean, with iPods, XBoxes, PS3s, the internet...who woulda thunk they still had time to make glow in the dark clothing? You've got to understand, when you're not expecting something like that, it's pretty amazing...even though it's small. So, I picked Maryah up and we went and laid on the bed with my wife and son. Here we were - all laughing and enjoying just being a family on a twin-sized bed. In the dark. With glowing pajamas.

Then it hit me...this is just too good. Whatever this is, I don't want it to end. I want this closeness, this feeling to be this real all the time.

A thought crossed my mind: This time. This place. This moment. Maybe it's all just a glimpse of God.

It seems that I'm always looking so hard to see God or hear a word from God or touch God, and I let moments like the 'glow-in-the-dark-PJ-incident' pass me by without a second thought. Those moments where everything seems to be right and in its place at its appointed time - maybe it's God. Of course, those moments aren't all God is, but perhaps this is what David meant in Psalm 46 when he wrote, "Be still and know that I am God." It's almost as if he were living in our culture today. Everything is always rushed. We're always looking forward to the next big point in our lives; our driver's license, the day we move out, the day our insurance premiums go down, the day we get a raise, the day we retire...and then we wish we had time to go back and really live, then it's too late.

And just maybe that's a picture of what true worship is; simply honoring and thanking God in everything - even the small, seemingly insignificant moments in life. We always hear about a 'lifestyle' of worship, but for the first time I understood what that meant outside of just behaving right. In a real, unpredictable, and pure way I could 'be still' and know God was somehow interested in being a part of my life.

We forget to take note of the small things in life. The small things that just might be more than what they seem. In those moments we need to be still, knowing that God is with us here...

In this moment.

In this place.

At this time.

And she served them...

2009-10-27T22:51:00.007-04:00

Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.

We like to hold on to our pasts. Whether it's pretty or not, we remember what's happened to us. Maybe it's because it's hard to erase something from our memory bank, or maybe it's because we like to hold on to it - because who knows when it might come in handy...

These verses in the first chapter of Mark are brief, but for some reason they caught my attention and have held me captive for a few days. If you put this in the 'miracle class', it's probably somewhere on the lower end of the spectrum simply because there's not much to it, and not a lot of time is spent talking about it. Basically, Peter's mother-in-law was sick with a fever...and Jesus made her better. Not really as exciting as walking on water, is it? The shocking thing that stood out to me, though, was not that Jesus just walked right in and lifted her out of bed and cured her fever, the shocking part of the story is the very last sentence: And she served them.

The reason this four word sentence took me by surprise was that those four words is all there is to it. Her fever left her, and she served them. So many times we let things that are in the past become excuses for our lack of obedience. Things that Jesus has lifted us from become a stumbling block to us. A lot of people have huge situations that they claim Christ has saved them from, yet there is still this emotional baggage.

Peter's mother-in-law didn't fumble around complaining about all the things that she missed while she was lying sick in her bed; she got up and she served. We like to get up, tell everyone how bad we've had it, then say, "I'd like to be able to do that, but I've had a rough few days...I need a little rest." This un-named lady whom Jesus cured could have just laid in bed and rode it out until the disciples had left, but she didn't. She served.

Many times we make the messages in the Bible a lot more difficult than they actually are. There have probably been great preachers deliver powerful sermons about this exact Scripture, but to me the meaning is quite simple and clear:

As believers, God has lifted us all up from our sick-bed.

Our disease has left us.

Will we serve Him?

If Ignorance is Bliss...

2009-10-26T23:41:00.007-04:00

If ignorance is bliss, Christians should be among some of the happiest people on earth. Often times we try to hide ourselves from the rest of the world while the Enemy strengthens his grip. We shut our door to the evils of the world and ignore the pain in our friends' and co-workers' lives. Why do we get mad when something bad happens to someone we know, yet we've done nothing to prevent it? Why do we all of the sudden care when someone that's been in emotional torment finally gives in and harms themselves or someone around them? For me, the answer is easy: It's tangible.

Ephesians chapter six states that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. We are warned that we are in a spiritual battle, yet we ignore the valuable truths in Scripture. Because we can't always see the war taking place, we forget that the Enemy is hard at work - seeking to destroy. In the verses directly following the previous one stated above, Paul instructs his listeners to put on the whole armor of God. This is very important when compared with Matthew 16:18. Jesus told His disciples that the 'gates of Hell' would not prevail against His church. During those days gates were used as a defensive structure. This principle is interesting because we always think in terms of defending ourselves against evil, but it's almost as if Jesus is calling us to attack the evils of the world...and they won't be able to stand against the power of Christ's Church.

Simply stated, we are to apply the whole armor of God and attack evil at its very source, because when left ignored, the Enemy will always sneak in and steal our joy. Whether we like it or not, Satan doesn't abide by any 'Rules of War'. He uses whatever he can to try and defeat us, including attacking the things and people that are closest to us. Unfortunately, he seems to be taking aim at our youth, and a lot of times he seems to be accomplishing most of the work that he intends.

Even more unfortunate is the fact that, as believers, we are sitting idly by as Satan expands his territory. We're boarding the windows and locking the doors of our churches and leaving those outside stranded in a fight they'll never win on their own. Is the solution to pray that those who are lost will hear the message of Christ? Or is it to get off our pews and tell them?