Knowledge

I really love how the world is so connected these days. I can’t remember a time in which everyone in the world was a post or a tweet away. This is truly remarkable. Connectivity. I was trying to remember a time (from my historically challenged brain) when the world was so connected. Maybe when The Silk Road trade route was first completed and people had the ability to be interconnected. But still that had to take enormous amounts of time to get a message or a product from one end to another. Now it takes seconds. Love is just a second away, Hate is just a second away, Wisdom is just a second away, a long lost friend is just a second away. Connectivity. What a fabulous time to be alive, but how many of us take advantage of this? How many of us shoot out a word of hope or encouragement? How many of us click that button to electronically donate to help someone out in a time of need? Instead we immerse ourselves in our games and in our worlds of pornography and gossip. We take the time that we have been graciously blessed with and spend it away on unfruitfulness. I myself am most guilty of all. Instead of being fruitful or productive, I like to waste my time away with meaningless stuff. I love to feed my flesh and find it a struggle to feed my spirit. It’s so easy to feed your flesh and so hard to feed your spirit.

            All of this reminds me of Hosea 4. God says that his people are destroyed because of their lack of knowledge. I know that in the passage God appears to be talking about the knowledge of him and his law. But how much knowledge do we “waste” away everyday, and then in turn a part of ourselves gets destroyed. How much knowledge of good do we let slip by, how much opportunity do we waste, how much spiritual fruit do we ignore and in return become ignorant and eventually destroyed. I recently read Drops Like Stars by Rob Bell and in the book he had mentioned that in a time of imperfection we can BEGIN or END.

            In this New year, we will have our resolutions and our beginnings, our hopes and dreams and also our failures. Throughout it all though, let us choose to BEGIN. Let us choose to be knowledgeable of God and his word. Let us choose to be knowledgeable of our opportunities and circumstances. Let us choose to be fruitful and prosper because of our knowledge instead of being destroyed because of our lack of it.

            Adam and Eve ate from the Tree and cursed us all; and we still feel the sting of that curse everyday. But is there a blessing in that curse? Is there a ray of hope, an opportunity? I believe that there is, it was after all the Tree of the Knowledge of GOOD and Evil. There in lies our choice, which will we choose to be knowledgeable of?

Good or Evil

Life or Death

Creation or Destruction.

Easter Book Conversation

I follow a blog by a man named Winn Collier. Winn is a fantastic writer and has some of the greatest insight on God I have ever read. Throughout the rest of the Easter season Winn is having an Easter book conversation on his blog. I would like to invite anyone who reads my blog to participate in this as it should be fun, and it will also give you some fantastic insight on God and your relationship with him. The link below will take you to his blog where you can get all of the details.

http://blog.winncollier.com/2010/03/easter-book-conversation.html

Looking at The Great Commission

Last week at youth group we had an interesting discussion about missions and the act of “converting” people. Some students wanted to know why it was necessary to become a “Baptist” or a “Pentecostal” or some other denomination in order to serve God. They also wanted to know why it was necessary to parade around those names when we were doing the work of Christ.

            This was a great discussion and it has had me thinking and meditating all week. So with the meat of our conversation still left in my teeth I set out to find some answers to these questions.

            One person had brought up the Great Commission as a means to explain some of this. I agreed that this was a good place to start so I too looked into this verse.

(Matthew 28.16-20)

-Before I begin I just want to let everyone know that I am not bashing any denomination or sect. I am just simply stating my mind and you can do with my words what you please.-

As I looked in Matthew I noticed in verse 18 that Christ said something phenomenal. He said that ALL authority in Heaven and on Earth had been given to him. So right off the bat, Christ takes all power away from man and puts it upon himself. We have no authority to make up any law or rule or “way,” we can only do and follow what Christ has commanded and taught us.

            If we look at what Christ commanded us to GO and DO (verses 19-20) it was simply to make disciples, baptize people and teach people to obey what he said. I have not seen anywhere in the Bible where it says to go and make people; Baptists, or Assembly of God, or Catholics, or Mormons, or Methodists, or Calvinists, or Puritans, or Lutherans, or anything else for that matter. All that Christ said was to make disciples and baptize and teach people to obey what HE commanded.  

            Why then, when we go on mission trips to help people in our country or abroad, do we parade around our denominations? Why can’t we simply go in the name of Christ? Why can’t we just simply go and help people and let our actions speak for us? I think people would be more interested in Christ and his commands if it were all about him and less about us and our denominations.

 

            What have we turned Christ into? A formula for saving souls, a way to increase our church numbers, a means by which to make ourselves look better? Have we taken ALL authority from him and placed it upon ourselves?

            When we are caring for the “least of these,” are we really doing it out of a heart of compassion and a love for Christ, or do we have ulterior motives?

Is it our Great Commission or Christ’s?

Food:

Matthew 28.16-20

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28:16-20&version=NIV

Matthew 25.31-46

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25:31-46&version=NIV

Disciple 

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/disciple

Just Like Me

You could easily accuse me of "over spiritualizing" situations at times, because I like to look for Gods finger prints everywhere. I can't help it, it's just a part of who I am. So... the following is one of those moments of noticing Gods fingerprints somewhere.

I recently watched the movie District 9 and was really moved by a scene in it. *SPOILER ALERT* It was when the little alien boy, was holding his arm up to the humans arm that had been grafted with an alien arm. He did it over and over and the alien boys father said "He likes you" and then the little alien boy said "Your just like me."

I kept thinking about that part for a while, and I am still thinking about it now. This human, whom to start with, was nothing at all like the aliens had been genetically changed to become like them. The little boy was just fascinated with the humans arm. Studying it, looking it over, analyzing it, wondering if it could in fact be real.

It made me wonder if thats how the Disciples were with Christ. Knowing he was God but yet he was wearing their flesh. I wonder if they pulled his skin or just sat back and analyzed in awe. I wonder if they watched him sleep to see if he slept or breathed differently then they did. I wonder if they sat next to him and compared arms or facial hair, or looked deeply into his eyes to see how "human" he really was. I wonder if they ever told him as they looked "your just like me."

Not of this world - Yet Human.
Light and Word - Yet Flesh
God - Yet Man

God became like me. I wonder if thats why the children flocked to him, because they could see the true nature of who he was. They could just sit there in his lap and call him abba God, and then also see that he was just like them.

God bled just like me. When he was beaten and when he bled, I wonder if the Disciples noticed and talked about how he bled like them as well.

A human that became an alien, what a strange concept.
Almost as strange as God becoming a man, just like me.


Food;

Philippians 2:5-11
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%202.5-11&version=NIV

John 1
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%201&version=NIV

The Good Gift

Recently a close friend of mine had to take their child to the emergency room. There was tension, fear, worry, and uncertainty. There was praying and crying, despair and hope. Such is the trial of being a parent. As I prayed I kept trying to put myself in his shoes, trying to relate so I could intercede for him. To a certain degree I was successful. I mean, I have taken my child to the dentist where they had to sedate him and that was scary, so I could relate with the tension/fear/worry part. There was one difference here though, I knew the outcome. Teeth had cavities and in the end, teeth would not have cavities and my pockets would have less coin. In my friends case the outcome was a mystery. Would his child be better? Would there be death? Would there be a life change? Was there a disease? This was all very troubling to me as I prayed and awaited the outcome. I could not imagine what he and his family were going through.

Uncertainty.

A couple of days later with this event still fresh on my mind, I began to think about God sending his Son to earth. After all, it is getting close to Christmas and that is the reason we celebrate it. I kept wondering what it must have been like to send your son to the wolves. I could never do what God did. I could never willingly bring upon myself all of the feelings and uncertainty mentioned above.

I would never willingly place my son in a situation were he would endanger himself.
I would willingly send him somewhere where he would be safe

I would never let my son be ridiculed publicly and not stand up for him.
I would willingly place him in front of people to be praised.

I would never stand by and watch someone beat my son and...do...nothing.
I would do anything to make sure that my son was comfortable and warm.

I would never watch my son get hurt and not run to him and help him and kiss it better.

I would never forsake my son in his time of need.

I would never watch my son be condemned to death for doing nothing wrong and do nothing about it.
I would fight for my son and support him in his time of need!

I could never send my son to a place knowing he would die and then...watch...him...die.

Certainty.

God knew the outcome before it happened.
He knew he was sending his Son to a world full of sinners and ignorant mean people.
He knew his son would be laughed at and ridiculed and punched and whipped and bleed and...die.
He knew it all, before it happened. Such is the trial of being a parent.

God sent his Son as a Gift for us, a good gift.

He knew he was sending his Son to befriend the poor, the blind, the depressed, the outcast, the lost.
He knew he was sending his Son to kiss the wounds of the sick and mend the hearts of the broken.
He knew he was sending his Son to set the captives free, to save a people from their selves.
He knew he was sending his Son to be a hero, a savior.
He knew he was sending his Son to defeat death and to rise again.
He knew it all, before it happened. Such is the joy of being a parent.

He sent his son to be The Good Gift to all and he was certain that he would be.
The only uncertainty is us...
Will we accept The Good Gift.

Food;
Isaiah 53
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah%2053&version=NIV

Colossians 1:19-20
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=colossians%201.19-20&version=NIV

God seeking us

THIS IS A REPOST OF AN OLDER BLOG OF MINE FROM ANOTHER SITE.

I wanted to share this older blog on my new blog site because it got so many reads on my old one.

Enjoy, the date of this blog was – Feb.18-2008

I recently went to the Colbie Callait concert in SLC Utah and it was amazing. I heard a new artist there named Trevor Hall. This guy is GOOD so check him out. Hes got a song on his new EP titled "The Lime Tree". This song is very catchy and just gets stuck in your head, and as i was singing it this morning it led me to think about something. The song is about someone hiding and then someone finding them, so I was thinking about God finding us. I've heard my Pastor say that we don't find God, he finds us because we don't know where to begin to look for God. After all, we are the ones that are lost.

I think we also try to hide from God at certain times in our lives; like when we sin or when he is trying to get us to serve and we don't want to, etc. So as I was singing this song in my head I thought about Adam and Eve in Gen 3v10 and how they hid from God. I thought, If God is omniscient and omnipresent then why did he call out for Adam and ask where he was? If God is omniscient and omnipresent then God should already have known where Adam was and why Adam was hiding. So I thought deeper, why did God call out to Adam?

I then realized that the voice of God calling out wasn't for Gods benefit, it was for Adams.

Think about it.

When someone gets lost in the forest and another party is searching for them, they call out for the person. The people searching are not lost, they know where they are. They are calling for the person so that the person that is lost knows that someone is coming for them. This calling also gives the person that is lost; hope that there is help is coming. The calling also gives the person that is lost a point to go to for help and the person that is lost calling back gives the pursuer a place to go too as well.

So think about it again, there are much more benefits of a voice calling in the wilderness to the lost person than the lost person calling back. So God calling for Adam was Gods way of letting Adam know that he was coming to rescue him. God knew Adam and Eve were in trouble and his voice (even though it may have been frightening at first) was a welcome sound of hope in a time of trouble, and a beacon of truth to guide Adam and Eve back home.

Remember that when you are lost, God knows where you are.

Remember that when you are in trouble, God knows how to get you out of it and back on the right track.

Remember that when you hide from God, he still cares about you and is calling for you to be with him.

Listen for his voice, he’s calling for you to come to him and his voice is guiding you to the place where he is.


Food:
Genesis 3
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%203&version=NIV
Luke 15
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+15&version=NIV

Swine Flu Side Effects

In honor of the Swine Flu pandemic that is sweeping the nation I thought I would share some thoughts on one of the overlooked side effects that is not getting as much attention. ("run" on sentence intended)

Swinarrhea [swine-uh-ree-uh]

Yes this dastardly side effect can have some gruesome results if you are not prepared. I have heard horror stories of decimated pants and beds, this is no laughing matter. Some have even ejected themselves from the place where they had been sitting.

I have only one tip: if you smell bacon and you have not cooked bacon nor ate bacon within the last day - RUN!!!!