Bottoms Up

Bobble Head

Bite Me

Blind Ball

Revival

My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!

(Proverbs 119:25, ESV)

I love the Psalms! Reading through them has given me tons of ammunition for the battles I struggle with. So often I lose sight of what life is really all about. I'll get strayed from the path I know I should be on because shiny things tend to draw my attention so easily. Once I've been off the path for a short period of time, I then realize that I have strayed from the God who gives life...who is the Author of ALL life. Being disconnected from that Source tends to make my "life" not so lively. 

In Proverbs 119:25 the Psalmist first vividly describes the state of his soul: clinging to the dust. I imagine a huge desert with no water, no nourishment, no accompaniment, and hardly any life left in the soul whose been disconnected with the living God. The Psalmists soul is on it's last bit of strength, barely able to clench the ground, its face staring hopelessly off into the distance with nothing but heat waves emitting off the seemingly endless desert landscape. Its life is near the end. 

But the image the Psalmist gives doesn't stop there. Instead the Psalmist interjects the one thing he knows will revive even the most empty, lifeless, hopeless soul: God's word! God's word is nourishment for the weak soul. It is water for the thirsty soul. It strengthens it's will to fight another day. Because of the Word of God, his soul will live. 

I've been here before many times. Feeling like the life I live might as well be described as death. Like my soul, my most significant part of my being is laying lifeless in a barren desert. But there is always ONE thing that will bring life into my soul and that is Jesus Christ, the personification of the Word of God; the personification of God Himself; every command and incline of God illustrated with the flesh of man. He is my life. In fact, to live abundantly, I allow Him to live through me. This means that every one of my relationships - my wife, friends, family, acquaintances, co-workers, and even strangers I happen to come across - are submitted to God so that Christ Jesus can have His way in me and through me. 

To the one who was given life after the grave by the Father Himself be glory; great significance; the ultimate meaning; awe and wonder. And as I submit myself to Him and His will that life that conquered death will bring life into everything and everyone I come in contact with!

Overcomers!

It's amazing when you experience God's word without even knowing it until you read it! "For everyone who has been born of God has overcome the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith" (1 john 5:4).

Earlier today, I knew that there were grudges among some leaders in the youth group and it was killing me. I knew we had to squash the beef, so all of us met before youth group to get everything out on the table. But there was a twist. The communion table was set up for us and we read through 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, remembering Jesus sacrifice for us. We also remembered Jesus words in John 13:34 commanding us to love one another with the same love which Jesus loved us with.

Because we believe (have faith that) Jesus is who He said He is and believe that he sacrificed Himself for us, the world and all of it’s harmful attitudes were shattered! We could not think of sitting at the communion table with the sacraments ready and hold grudges against, be angry with, or dislike a brother or sister. Our faith overcomes the world!

Thoughts on 1 Kings 17

here's just some stuff that I'm gleaming from 1 Kings, y'all

Remember in Matthew 16:13 when Jesus asks his disciples who the people say he is? The disciples responded, "some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah..." I wonder if one of the reasons why they thought Jesus was Elijah was because Elijah was involved in raising a child from the dead. In 1 Kings 17, God tells Elijah to go to this widow's house and eat her food for a while (this is during a drought). The woman reluctantly agrees and God allowed what little flower and oil she had last for much longer than it should have while Elijah stayed with the widow and her child. Toward the end of Elijah's stay, her child became sick and she got ticked at Elijah (being a prophet, maybe he could have done something about it before hand?). But Elijah wasn't happy either. He took the child up into his room, prayed to God to revive the child's life...and He DID!

Once Elijah brought the child back down alive, the widow said, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth." Wow. The widow's basic needs for life (flower + oil = bread) were being met, but she didn't really believe that Elijah was a prophet of God until the unexplainable, the miraculous happened.

Could it be that meeting people's needs will give us a place to stay, but the unexplainable, the miraculous will open people's eyes and they will acknowledge the reality and power of God? If this is true, it may reveal why "ministry" just keeps people's attention rather than transforming their life...every Christian at one time or another relies on his/her own strength to reveal God to people. We reason with people, we serve them, we preach (which are all GREAT) but if we don't rely on GOD'S power to change peoples lives we are just keeping their attention/giving us "a place to stay" in their lives, but with no transformation.

Reasoning, serving, preaching, and everything else we can do to show people we love them are NECESSARY, but even MORE NECESSARY is that we PRAY for people to experience God and repent, be transformed, be given new life, and that we rely on God to do this.

What's nice about this is that it's no longer us who "fail" or "succeed," because God is in control. If we just do our part, what we know we can and should do (teach, love, serve) God will take care of the rest and take the burden of life transformation upon Himself.

So be free, do your part, and give the results up to God for Him to work out.

Don't Neglect Emotional Experiences...Only Don't Neglect Truth

I finally get it!

There have been a bunch of times that God just jacks me up when I’m worshiping him (most often at church singing or praying with others). What I mean by “jacks me up” is that I get overjoyed by His goodness, grace, and mercy and can hardly contain myself. It’s like His glory wraps me up in arms of crazy love. I want to jump, scream, holler, laugh, and cry all at the same time. These times make me more conscious of and sensitive to the reality of God and what He’s done. And I think that is exactly the point!

In 1 Kings 8 Solomon brings the arc into the newly finished Temple of God. Once the Priests & Levites bring the Arc of the Covenant into the Holy of Holies, “a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord” (1 Kings 8:10-11). This happened when all of Israel was present for the Festival of Booths (v. 2). Now, I can only imagine what all of Israel was thinking at this point. Because Israel certainly knew about the tabernacle which the priests and Levites carried with them everywhere they went...and that once all the workings of the tabernacle was completed and set up for the first time, “the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34-35).

Just imagine that you’re an Israelite, hearing all the stories of God’s mighty power, deliverance, grace, mercy, and everything He’s done for the people before you. You think about what it would’ve been like to cross the Red Sea, fleeing from Egyptian’s whole army. You imagine what the tabernacle looked like when it was filled with the glory of God the first time it was erected. The next thing you know, the very same story you’ve heard about all of your life about the tabernacle being filled with the glory of God, appearing like smoke is happening before your very eyes! “This is exactly what my forefathers spoke of,” you exclaim! Imagine what it would be like to know that the God who saved your forefathers; who said I am the same yesterday, today and forever; who wants to use your nation to reveal His glory to all mankind, IS ABSOLUTELY REAL! That all of the stories you’ve heard of aren’t just “stories,” but actual events in history. That the God who you’ve heard of for so long STILL reveals Himself as the lover of your soul!

These awesome emotional experiences with God are meant to point us toward the truth and reality of God. Those times when we experience God’s overwhelming love, peace, grace, mercy, and forgiveness are meant to further engage in the truth of His reality which we have in the Bible. Peter tells Christians to “supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge! Our faith is not based just on our experiences, but on the knowing the truth! A faith based only off of experience can become extremely dangerous because our experiences are subject to our own interpretation. We may feel great when we take a hit of reefer and assume that God loves it when we smoke pot. Clearly, this is wrong...but we know this only because of God’s Word. You see, God gives us truth (in the Bible) to interpret CORRECTLY our experiences.

Therefore, may you be richly blessed with real experiences of God, filled with joy, grace, and mercy that will drive you further into the truth of God. And may your digging deeper in God’s truth fill you with more real experiences with God.

Sophia

One of Jesus’ favorite topics to preach on was the Kingdom of God, which is funny cause for me (and I think many others) the Kingdom of God is one of the most foreign concepts in Christianity. But if Jesus was so preoccupied with teaching people about this kingdom, wouldn’t it probably be a good idea to get a grasp of this kingdom idea? I’d like to make at least one small contribution to this discussion. The only difference is that I’d like to start off in the Old Testament with a king named Solomon.

Solomon was the former King David’s son who became king after David. When Solomon was “crowned” king, David gave a familiar challenge to Solomon (Deuteronomy 17:19-20; 31:6; Joshua 1:6-7) saying, “Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn…” (1 Kings 2:2-3).

The beautiful thing is that Solomon actually believed that he had a Father in Heaven who has already proved His unending love for him and the people he is king over by taking them all out of Egypt, out of slavery, out of bondage, and out of oppression, and has taken them to a land “filled with milk and honey” (a wealthy land for farmers of all kinds), conquered thousands upon thousands of hostile enemies, and blessed the nation with wealth and prosperity. So Solomon had no problem with this challenge!

We see that he made sacrifice to God that were so huge, so honoring that God decided to meet Solomon personally…“At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, ‘Ask what I shall give you’ ” (3:5). And out of all the things Solomon could’ve asked for, he remembered the one thing that his dying father, David, challenged him to do: to keep the charge of the Lord, keep His ways, statues, commands, and testimonies so that he would be a success, and replies, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” (3:9)

Solomon’s response even surprised God! So God replied, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you” (3:11-12).

God has a soft spot for people who actually want to “be holy as our heavenly Father is holy.” Solomon certainly had tons of concerns, many of which the Scriptures he had at the time wouldn’t specifically cover. Meaning, all the laws of Moses wouldn’t speak into the particular situations and conflicts Solomon would face (such as the one immediately following this interaction with God in 1 Kings 3:16-28). Solomon knew that to walk blamelessly before his God, he needed extra wisdom.

This is just like us today. We have tons of Scripture. But all even in all its worth, it still doesn’t specifically tell us what to do and how to handle situations that we come across...we need WISDOM! If we want to take the charge to obey God and be holy like He is holy seriously, we need to know His word AND ask for wisdom! James tells us, “if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously without reproach and it will be given him” (James 1:5)!

I sometimes wonder if we think that God is not actually for us. As if God is indifferent whether we grow in faith and love for Him. I don’t believe that this could be farther from the truth; like as opposite as black is from white! God sent His own Son to die so that we could grow in faith and love for God! It’s like our developing faith and love for Him is His biggest concern! And when we take steps that show Him our love, our faith, our dependence, He helps us take them! He gives us the power, the strength, the courage, the confidence to finish the task! This is God’s desire for us and He LOVES it when we’re pursuing Him in faith and love.

Remember that surprised response God gave Solomon? The one where God granted Solomon his request? Well, God wasn’t finished yet. God continued, “I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days” (3:13-14). Jesus tells us to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” I’ve got to be honest when I say that when Jesus said, “all these things,” he was referring to all of one’s NEEDS, not necessarily peoples material or emotional wants and desires, but our needs. Yet, on the other hand, Solomon sought after God’s kingdom before his own and look what God did for him. God is a loving Father who wants to see us succeed in absolutely everything. And when we use what God gives us for his glory He WILL continue to bless and give even more (Matthew 25:14-23).

Humility

I recently learned a lesson in humility, and after some theological reflection, it’s really sinking in.

First of all, I’ve realized that the biggest enemy of humility is an attitude of entitlement. If we think that we are entitled something then it will be impossible for us to be humble about it. This goes especially for how we are being treated by others. Too often we feel that everybody should treat us with 100% respect (which wouldn’t be bad if they did:). So, when we are treated with anything less, we often lose our cool and get ticked!

So, there’s two things that we must understand when dealing with people who treat us bad. First (and least of all) we must understand that we don’t treat everyone with 100% respect (although we ought to strive for it)! Think about it...if we don’t treat others with respect do we deserve to be respected by others? I’d say that’s a big fat NO! [We also see the “Golden Rule” coming into play here: treat others as you wish to be treated (Jesus in Matthew 7:12)].

Second, even if we do truly and honestly deserve 100% respect from everyone b/c we give it and we’re awesome ppl and we’ve never done anyone wrong in the least bit, we must remember God who is holy, who’s never done anything wrong throughout human history, who has angels worshiping, honoring, and glorifying Him continually, forever. One picture of Him in heaven was described like this: “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’ ” (Rev. 4:8). Isaiah 6:1-8 also give a crazy account of God’s holiness. This is describing a God who is worthy of ALL praise, ALL honor, and ALL respect. Yet, He humbled himself before us. He humbled Himself FOR us. When we didn’t deserve anything from him but eternal separation, He showed His great love for us. “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).

God humbled himself even when we did Him wrong.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-7).

God could have destroyed us b/c we don’t treat Him as He ought to be treated. Instead He humbled Himself, died for us, loves us, and now accepts us into His family.

So, when we’re in a situation where someone is disrespecting us we need to remember that to be humble IS to be godly. Paul said, “When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly” (1 Corinthians 4:12). This verse ought to sum up every relationship we have.

Thoughts on Servanthood w/ Wiersbe

Dang...it's been a while.

I've just started reading this book, "On Being A Servant Of God" by Wiersbe, an awesome dude, but this book looks ancient. Anyway, he's jacking me up! First, he's got a life-changing definition of ministry: Ministry is "when divine resources meet human needs through loving channels to the glory of God" (1993, p. 3). He then gives the example of the lame (crippled, not moron) dude in front of the temple in Acts 3, who was begging for cash. Peter & John acknowledged that they're poor, but what they do have, they give to him...and the lame dude was healed! Clearly, that was a divine resource (healing of a cripple) meeting a human need (need to be whole) through loving channels (Peter & John showed compassion) to the glory of God...as verse 9 puts it, "So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them-walking, leaping, and praising God.

What's frustrating in ministry is when we become what Wiersbe calls, manufactures instead of distributors. We must remember that it's God's power, strength, and might at work (especially in Acts 3). When we try to "do" ministry on our own power, we try to manufacture what only God can produce. We MUST rely on God's power to do anything and everything! Then, we can be diligent servants that distribute what God's made/done.

I find this true for me in Echo. When I try to manufacture righteousness in students or whatever, it flops. But recently, people have been stepping up in all kinds of leadership challenges...and it's not because of ME! God's just doing something and I'm doing my best to be a diligent servant, distributing what God's doing in the hearts and lives of these high schoolers...and it's AWESOME!!!