What if discipleship occured?

This past weekend, for the second straight year, Sarah & I were able to get our niece & nephew (Alexis, 13 & Jordan, 11) to spend a few days with us. This is something I think we all enjoy, but I don't think the kids know how much we love this time with them.

With me having knee surgery, then Sarah being in the hospital for two weeks, I had reached a certain level of burn-out. I just wanted a day to completely relax and had not been able to achieve that at all during the Christmas holidays. I had it all planned out that Sunday would be my day. I took that day "off" from my church duties and had planned a full sabbath day of rest.

It turns out that Alexis and Jordan had gotten their own Bibles for Christmas and they brought them to our house because they wanted to take them to church. Side note, I'm glad we have a church going reputation. Once they told me this, I knew there was no-way I was going to take a sabbath day. I told Sarah that if they were anxious or hungry to go to church, then I wasn't going to stop them.

Well, as fate would have it, I got a stomach bug Sunday morning. However, thankfully, God had other plans. Sarah and I decided that we would just do a little devotional with them and share some stuff with them from our heart.

We had them read from Genesis 22 and then we discussed the story of Abraham and Isaac. We then told them that God said in Phillipians 4:19 that "God will supply all of our needs according to His riches in Glory".

We explained to them that God is rich in love, mercy, peace, joy, hope, healing, money, forgiveness, patience, and everything else we will ever need. Therefore, just as God met Abraham & Isaac's need, He will meet ours and He never disappoints.

We then explained some unique and exciting ways that God has personally met our needs. It was a great time for Sarah and I to reflect on God's blessings on our lives, but also, it was a great way to instill faith in Alexis and Jordan.

After we finished our discussion, we took the time to ask Alexis & Jordan what they wanted us to pray about. It was important to us to make sure that they knew that their needs were important to us and God. Too often, I think we ignore the "kid needs" and simply write them off as being "juvenile".

We then took turns praying out loud. It was a nice intimate time with them and the Lord. I truly felt the Lord's presence in the room with us. All of this was accomplished in 15-20 minutes.

So... the point of this post:

Later in the evening, we received a text message from the kids requesting prayer. We called them to discuss and remind them of our study. They had already opened their Bibles and were searching for the story that we had shared with them earlier in the day.

What Sarah and I, plus The Lord, had done earlier, was provide them with the tools that they needed to overcome the situation that they were facing. They were fully equipped for what they were facing. If parents would spend just thirty minutes, one evening a week doing this rather than watching their favorite sitcom, then the kids would have an incredible spiritual foundation. What is wrong with the parents? Why are we relying on Sunday school and children's church to disciple our children? Is it because some parents don't know how to disciple because they are still babies in the Lord as well?

If you are a parent, please, take the time to teach your child how to pray and how to scripturally approach their problems. I've done both and it doesn't take much effort.

Are we REALLY seeking God?

Are we REALLY God seekers? Are we REALLY pursuing God? I would like to challenge you to watch this short YouTube clip. It is from a preacher that I really respect and enjoy listening to. He is challenging us to be God seekers, people who passionately pursue God at all costs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8HP1Vbd9P0


If the thought of this clip annoys you, or if you are offended that it might suggest that you haven't been seeking God with all your heart, or if you are comfortable in your relationship with God, then this message is for you. This is what God wants, not church goers. God never wanted butts to sit in the pew or people to write tithe checks. He wanted people with hearts devoted to seeking Him.

I challenge you to honestly ask God if you have been seeking Him with all of your heart. I know I haven't been. Be honest with God and yourself. You know the truth. God requires us to passionately seek Him. He cannot be fooled. You can't convince God that you have been seeking Him wholeheartedly when you really haven't.

We must mature and grow up in the faith. No longer can we rely on others to feed us, but rather we should be feeding ourselves.

Another Thanksgiving

I wanted to sit down and write a quick blog about Thanksgiving, but I didn't want it to be a traditional thanksgiving type blog.

As I thought about what to write, I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to me. He was saying, "This is just another Thanksgiving". As I thought about that "Just another thanksgiving"? Then it hit me, this is just another of MANY thanksgivings that I will celebrate this year. I have so much to be thankful for that I can't funnel it all into one day of thanks. Every day for my redeemed, saved, forgiven life is a day of thanks. It thanksgiving every day.

As Sarah and I were doing our devotional before going to sleep last night, we were convicted as we realized that often times we focus on what we don't have rather than being thankful for what we do have. For example, I complain about my job sometimes, even though its a great job and my bills get paid every month. Sarah admitted to complaining about the quirks and malfunctions of her car rather than thanking God that she has a car to drive.

Our goal is to elminate the negativity in our lives and spend more time thanking God for all of our blessings.

God, thank you for everything. You promised to always meet ALL of our needs, and You have never broken that promise. I thank you for Your forgiveness, grace, mercy and abundant patience. I repent for the negativity and frustrations that I have voiced. Help me to see Your faithfulness and provision in every area of my life.

Yet another reason

Romans 5:7-8 (New International Reader's Version)

7 It is unusual for anyone to die for a godly person. Maybe someone would be willing to die for a good person. 8 But here is how God has shown his love for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Copyright © 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society)


I saw this while reading today. There are some people worth dying for. For example, parents wouldn't hesitate to lay their lives down for their children. But what has captured me this evening is that God knew that I was a sinner, yet Jesus still laid His life down for me. This would be the equivalent of you laying down your life for the worst that society has to offer.

Would you take the spot in the electric chair for the person that murdered your family member? Would you lay your life down for the person that raped you? How about a total stranger. If a robbery occurred while you were in the bank, would you become the hostage so someone else could go home to their family? Where would you draw the line? Would you go to jail in place of the person that molested your child? Where is your line?

Fortunately for us, God didn't draw the line. Romans 5:18 says : 18Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life forall men. (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

God didn't draw the line at my sin, your sin, or anyone's. He came and died and paid the price for our sins. These sins cover the smallest little sin all the way to the most heinous and cruel. As a matter of fact, all sins are considered equal in God's eyes, so really, the sin or sinner you hate the most is really no different than you and I are. Thats a tough pill to swallow, but we are born as sinners. Your sin, no matter how great or small is no different that anyone else's'. Your sin is equal to that of drug dealers, murderers, thieves, prostitutes, pornographers, etc...

Thankfully, I have received Christ's forgiveness for my sins. I no longer wear the labels of sin. I wear the spotless image of Christ. Hopefully, you have too.

God has proved His love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness for us. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us". There is no greater love. There is no greater act of love. This is yet another reason why I can't not worship Him.

Christian Men are still REAL Men

Tomorrow is the annual men's camping trip at our church. As I sat preparing some material to share, I was thinking about all the manly men in the Bible. These ordinary men accomplished extraordinary things when they allowed God to work through them.

I want to convey the message tomorrow that just because you are a Christian, that you don't have to stop being a real man. It seems that the unfortunate picture that has been painted of a Christian man is that of a "soft" man or a "sissy". We see the Sunday school bulletin boards of Jesus with long, wavy blond hair and blue eyes as He holds a sheep and is playing with children, but we forget that Jesus was a hard working carpenter, made a whip and drove the moneychangers & flee marketers out of the temple, stood up to and debated with the Pharisees, and then allowed His beaten, mutilated body to be murdered in public, on a tree.

Does being a Christian make you weak? No.
Does being the Godly leader of your family make you "soft"? No.
Do you have to stop having fun in order to serve God? No.
Do you have to be Mr. Nice Guy with a corporate haircut? No.

God created you like you are for a reason. There was a reason that Peter was outspoken, and there is a reason you were created like you were. Don't allow your manhood or personality to be watered down in order to fit into some preconceived notion that Christians aren't real men.

Why don't I respond?

This is something that has been bothering me for a while now. Why don't I respond to God's invitations? Why do I choose to ignore the wooing of the Holy Spirit?

This all came to head with me this past week. Sarah and I discussed it after our nightly devotionals and I was also troubled by it yesterday afternoon.

To put things in perspective, if Sarah Rae, my wife, was in the house calling for me, would I ignore her? If she was continually calling me on my cell phone, would I ignore the call? The answer to both questions is no. Sure, I may be busy or whatever, but I would answer her persistent calling. I would not be too busy to answer her. Would you ignore your screaming kid or persistent toddler?

Why then, do we do this to The Almighty God? Why do I put Him off when I know He is calling me? Its ridiculous. If the creator of the world, wants a minute with me, am I too important to sit with Him? Why do we ignore Him? Am I afraid of Him? Am I scared of what He might ask of me? Is my image of God so screwed up that I don't realize that all of His plans for me are good? What is the problem?

I am so thankful that Jesus wasn't too busy to answer the Father when He (God) asked Him (Jesus) to be betrayed and murdered for my sins. I'm glad God isn't too busy to hear my prayers and answer them in the manner He best sees fit. I'm glad the Holy Spirit isn't to prideful to deliver the words of God into my heart and spirit.

I hope that I am maturing in my faith. I hope that I'm better at responding that I used to be. Hopefully I'll be better at it tomorrow than I am today. I'm reminded of the following chorus. It is my prayer today that my family and all that read this, will embrace this and live this.

Father, I adore You
I lay my life before You
How I love You

Jesus, I adore You
I lay my life before You
How I love You

Spirit, I adore You
I lay my life before You
How I love You

Attacking the symptoms, not the source

I've been sick with some seasonal "bug". I didn't want to go to the doctor, but I finally relented. I tried to rationalize that I could beat it with over the counter medication. Thankfully, I listened to my wife and mother and went to the doctor so I could get a shot of antibiotics.

As I was thinking about it, how often do I attempt to attack the symptoms rather than the source of the problem? I was trying to attack stuffiness with symptom meds rather than the source of the stuffiness with the antibiotics.

Just today as I was back at the doctor to have an MRI on my knee, I thought to myself, "its not that bad, I could make it with regular pain meds. Tough it out. I have good days and bad days, I'll be alright". I don't want to have surgery on it again, but if that is what is best for me long term, then I guess that is what I'll do.

Once again, I was going to attack the symptom, (pain), rather than the source (tear, scar tissue, etc...).

With that being said, how many times do we do this in our spiritual walk? Our marriage? Our relationships? Our jobs? How often do we try to throw a little spiritual medicine at the issue rather than address the real problem?

This type of action is crazy:
It's putting a band-aid on a problem that needs surgery.
It's trying to candy coat a rotten apple hoping that it will taste better.
It's putting a coat on inside rather than turning off the air conditioner.
It's putting more gas in our vehicle rather than fixing the fuel leak.

We should allow God to heal our wounds. We need healing for all of the hurts, pain, torment, disappointments, and character flaws that we possess. Choking the issues down or burying them will not heal the problem, but will only temporarily help the symptoms, its also going to cause more damage long term to both you and your loved ones.

Father I pray that You reveal to us the area's where we need healing. I pray that You will heal the hurts, imperfections, ailments, disease, anguish, and more from our lives. Please be the great physician that we need. Please give us the courage to take these steps, let us not be ashamed. Please heal the source and remove the symptoms. Thank you that our testimonies will be used to help others.

Dinner with God

A few months before Sarah & I got married, we bought our first house. On my move-in day, her family and mine began to bring my stuff and make this new house a home. Sarah even brought a few things of hers that she wanted to leave so she would have less stuff to bring after the wedding.

After a long day of carrying & lifting furniture, I had a silent house to myself. It was a weird feeling. I was 27 years old and had never lived away from home. I had traveled the world, but always came back home to my parents house. I say again, it was a weird feeling. I looked around and saw things that reminded me of home and of my fiancee, but it was a strange feeling. This was my new home.

After preparing a quick dinner, I sat down at the table, and for the first time in my life, I sat, as the man of my house, at my table. I took up the seat at the end of the table and something happened.

I broke. I wept and sobbed like I haven't done in a long time. Tears streaming down my face, I thanked God for His awesome provision for me. I felt so blessed, yet so unworthy. I didn't feel like I deserved a brand new house or a fiancee or anything else. I was overwhelmed at God's goodness and favor towards me.

In the midst of my thankfulness I pushed my plate over to the vacant spot at the table and said, "Here Jesus, you take this plate, I'll fix me another one". So I did, sitting down with my plate, less food on it than the first one, and ate my meal with Jesus. I wish I could say that He physically consumed the food like this story in the scriptures, but He didn't. Nevertheless, I had a pure, holy time of worship with the Lord that night.

I know in that moment, my act of worship and thankfulness was worth more than a thousand offerings. What came from my heart that day, the crying, sobbing, thankfulness, and more was pure, un-defiled worship. It was spontaneous and un-rehearsed.

Somehow, although He didn't eat the food, I know He liked it. Want to know an awesome part about eating with Jesus?
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He always lets you eat His leftovers.


The question we must ask ourselves is this: How are you worshiping God? It doesn't have to be like I do, or how your parents do, or even like anyone else. How are you showing your love to God, our savior, creator, redeemer, friend, comforter, counselor, peace, hope, etc... In what ways are you showing your gratitude? Could God say today that "He/She worshiped me in "blank" manner today?

God was in Alabama today

So a friend calls me today totally excited. This person was completely blown away by God's Faithfulness towards his family today. My friend had a need. He needed God to move on his behalf. What blows me away is that my friend put himself in a position to experience God. He trusted God. He waited on God. He believed in God. Remember, Abraham's faith was counted as righteousness. My friend knew that God would act on his behalf. My friend, father of two, knew, he could count on his Heavenly Father to meet his need just as much as his family counts on him.

What happened? My friend had a financial need. He checked the mailbox daily. He knew something was going to happen. Today, as he reached in, he found a random check from his insurance company. Some would see it as chance, luck, or a coincidence. He saw the answer to his prayers.

"For The Eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him."
2 Chronicles 16:9 NKJV

As I was speaking to him, I remembered a story I heard a preacher tell. He said "Someone once asked me, "Preacher, blessings seem to always be falling in your lap"". His reply was "I just try to put my lap where blessings are falling".

The moral of the story is that you need to put yourself in position to receive from God. Posture yourself in that manner. Wait on The Lord. Don't be foolish and blow all your money and wait for God to bail you out, but rather, be obedient. Stand on His word. Wait for Him.

Some people experience God. Sadly, others never experience Him move on their behalf. They hear about God, but He never becomes real to Him. Which do you want?