Tuesday February 1, 2011
Recently in my Quiet Time Devotions I ran across a saying by Max Lucado; “Faith is a desperate dive out of the sinking boat of human effort and a prayer that Jesus will be there to pull you out of the water.” Of course it fit in pretty neatly with where I was reading, Matthew chapter 14. I was thinking about being afraid or embarrassed about doing something and failing...actually worried about what people would think of me...imagine that or maybe you have.
People often get embarrassed when they don’t know much about a specific subject. As soon as you start hanging out with people who are knowledgeable in an area you’re not, there are many opportunities for embarrassment. Sometimes that fear of embarrassment keeps us from going deeper. It’s easier to pretend that we’re not interested in something instead of admitting that we are new, untrained and unlearned.
There are several stories in the Bible that cause me to believe the apostle Peter can completely relate to that kind of embarrassment. The passage that I was reading from, Matthew 14, tells us about the time when Peter thought walking on water sounded like a great idea. A few moments later, he was gurgling Jesus’ name and crying out for help. Just several hours before this, Jesus had instructed the disciples to take their boat and go out to sea, but He didn’t go with them at the time. Later, when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water towards them, they grew afraid thinking that He was a ghost. When Jesus identified Himself and told them not to be afraid, Peter said, “Jesus, if it’s really You, then tell me to come to You on the water.” What Peter was really asking is, “Jesus, does Your power work through me? Can I do what You do?” And if you think about it, the fact that Jesus told Peter to come didn’t really prove anything to Peter and the disciples. Anyone could have told Peter to try walking on water. It was only when Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water and did not sink that they knew—this is the Son of God. And while stepping out in faith and saying you need help is never easy and can sometimes be a little embarrassing, it’s always worth it. Peter was the only disciple who actually walked on water.
When Jesus was on earth, He did something incredible that I’ve recently begun to fully understand. Although He impacted thousands of lives directly through His preaching, teaching and healing, He chose only 12 men to disciple. There is a world of difference between teaching someone and discipling someone. Discipling is so much more. It involves teaching by example, leading through life circumstances and, in the end, helping to completely transform someone’s life.
The writer in Hebrews tells us all that we need to grow in our faith and addresses it this way in chapter 5 verses 12–14: “You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.” As followers of Jesus, it’s not enough to simply attend church on a weekly basis and assume that you’re experiencing everything God has in store for you. While experiencing church with the Body of Christ is absolutely a part of a healthy Christian life, God wants to disciple you through study of the Word, prayer and godly relationships. In turn, you will find that your influence in the lives of others will begin to grow. God’s influence on you will start to have an impact that runs deep and leads not only you but others to spiritual maturity.
Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus told His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19–20). Jesus was explaining to the disciples that because of the baptism of the Holy Spirit they would soon receive, He would always be there for them. He would be there to continue training them, He would be there to continue guiding them, and He would be there to continue loving them. And because of His Holy Spirit within them, they were qualified to go and make other disciples. Here is a nugget for you that I have learned:. Jesus is still here to train us, guide us and to love us. That is what qualifies us to learn and grow in our walk with Christ, and then to go and make disciples.
Books Currently Reading: The Forgotten Ways … by Alan Hirsch
Current Bible Readings / Studies: Genesis 1 -11 with my small group
Devotions: Reading through the Book of Ezra and Matthew
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Recently in my devotional time with God I read in Matthew that we are to be a light unto the world. In other wards we are to let our light that God has put in us to shine so others will be attracted to it. Some of my thoughts are included below but the inspiration was taken from a devotional I am following online. I modified it some but the theme is the same. Enjoy.
Jesus says in Matthew, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don’t hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:14–16). In this passage, Jesus gives believers a wonderful challenge. He exhorts us not to hide (which we may be inclined to do in this dark world) but to live as light. We are to shine, to illuminate … to glow. And how do we glow? By our good deeds. Jesus tells us that what we do and the way we live is a bridge to helping others praise, glorify and worship our heavenly Father. Our actions and lifestyle are significant catalysts in moving others towards salvation.
I have heard that in Bioluminescent Bay, Puerto Rico people travel from all over the world to see the mystical waters that shine like stars in the sea. Usually a tour guide will guide you on a kayak journey through a canal into the middle of the bay where as night begins to fall your paddle propelling you through the water will cause it to exude a beautiful blue-green light. In that moment you begin to realize how awesome our God is.
Once in the middle of the bay, the tour guide gathers the group together and begins to explain the bioluminescence. His story tells of thousands of dinoflagellates (microscopic plankton) per gallon of water in the bay that, when touched, emit a flash of blue light that creates this wonderful radiance. In essence, a touch triggers the glow.
I wonder if that isn’t God’s intention for us as well. Could it be that part of the reason why God has so graciously touched our life is so that we would glow? Is it possible you and I were saved, healed and set free so that people from all over the world living in darkness would see His light in our lives and be drawn to Him?
Peter and Paul thought so. Peter suggested that a believing wife could win an unbelieving husband to the Lord through her actions (1 Peter 3:1–2), and Paul told Titus to teach slaves (who functioned in that culture much like our modern-day employees do) the importance of being a shining light so they would make the gospel attractive (Titus 2:9–10). May we then, as a response to His saving touch, glow for the glory of God at home, at work, at school and wherever else our travels take us. Now go and be a "Glowbug"
Books Currently Reading: The Fire Within, by Thomas Dubai
Current Bible Readings / Studies: Genesis 1 -11
Devotions: Reading through the Book of Ezra and Matthew
Recently in my devotional time with God I read in Matthew that we are to be a light unto the world. In other wards we are to let our light that God has put in us to shine so others will be attracted to it. Some of my thoughts are included below but the inspiration was taken from a devotional I am following online. I modified it some but the theme is the same. Enjoy.
Jesus says in Matthew, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don’t hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:14–16). In this passage, Jesus gives believers a wonderful challenge. He exhorts us not to hide (which we may be inclined to do in this dark world) but to live as light. We are to shine, to illuminate … to glow. And how do we glow? By our good deeds. Jesus tells us that what we do and the way we live is a bridge to helping others praise, glorify and worship our heavenly Father. Our actions and lifestyle are significant catalysts in moving others towards salvation.
I have heard that in Bioluminescent Bay, Puerto Rico people travel from all over the world to see the mystical waters that shine like stars in the sea. Usually a tour guide will guide you on a kayak journey through a canal into the middle of the bay where as night begins to fall your paddle propelling you through the water will cause it to exude a beautiful blue-green light. In that moment you begin to realize how awesome our God is.
Once in the middle of the bay, the tour guide gathers the group together and begins to explain the bioluminescence. His story tells of thousands of dinoflagellates (microscopic plankton) per gallon of water in the bay that, when touched, emit a flash of blue light that creates this wonderful radiance. In essence, a touch triggers the glow.
I wonder if that isn’t God’s intention for us as well. Could it be that part of the reason why God has so graciously touched our life is so that we would glow? Is it possible you and I were saved, healed and set free so that people from all over the world living in darkness would see His light in our lives and be drawn to Him?
Peter and Paul thought so. Peter suggested that a believing wife could win an unbelieving husband to the Lord through her actions (1 Peter 3:1–2), and Paul told Titus to teach slaves (who functioned in that culture much like our modern-day employees do) the importance of being a shining light so they would make the gospel attractive (Titus 2:9–10). May we then, as a response to His saving touch, glow for the glory of God at home, at work, at school and wherever else our travels take us. Now go and be a "Glowbug"
Books Currently Reading: The Fire Within, by Thomas Dubai
Current Bible Readings / Studies: Genesis 1 -11
Devotions: Reading through the Book of Ezra and Matthew
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Tidbits from the life of a Pastoral Care Pastor
Wednesday January 5, 2011
It’s hard to believe that 2010 has ended and 2011 has started. Happy New Year to everyone! I trust and pray that 2011 will be even better than 2010 and that you prosper in all the things that God has for you to do, just be sure to listen for His voice. This year our small group will begin the year by studying the first 11 chapters of Genesis. In the very first verse in the book of Genesis, we are told that the world began as an undistinguishable wasteland of voided emptiness. There was chaos and so much happening, yet nothing. There was so much movement, yet no benefit, no profit, no purpose. Have you ever had a day like that? So much going on, yet nothing coming from it? Maybe you’re going through the motions and still feeling dead. That wasteful and lacking feeling is something God does not like. God was not content with "nothing" he was only satisfied and though of something as "good" when it was producing, and this principle echoes all throughout the New Testament. Do you ever have those days in which you keep yourself busy just to escape from everything? Nothing was thrown together here; the scriptures use the word, “divided” for God separating the light and dark, etc. The word divided comes from the Hebrew word, badal which means to distinguish with a purposeful intent. When God began to shape and create the world, he started to assign, separate and distinguish this chaotic expanse that existed. In this we see the first glimpse of the personality and attributes of God. I heard somewhere this quote:
“The simplicity of your destiny is that the starting line begins wherever you decide, and the finish line ends wherever you can make it to.” The boundaries and confides of life are stretched between our wants and cans. God finished his creating acts by handing us the baton, telling us to create and shape our lives and our world. This is a charge echoed by Jesus to us in some of his final days on the earth.
So let us create! Let us dream! Using the principles found in the Creation week will lead to an amazing impact on our community but also in our own life. Let's strive together, to be tactful and create, assign and lead the way God did and don't forget to pass it on to someone else. I am looking forward to studying with my group the beginning of things as we start a new year together.
Books Currently Reading: The Fire Within, by Thomas Dubay
Current Bible Readings / Studies: Genesis 1 -11
Devotions: Reading through the Book of Ezra
It’s hard to believe that 2010 has ended and 2011 has started. Happy New Year to everyone! I trust and pray that 2011 will be even better than 2010 and that you prosper in all the things that God has for you to do, just be sure to listen for His voice. This year our small group will begin the year by studying the first 11 chapters of Genesis. In the very first verse in the book of Genesis, we are told that the world began as an undistinguishable wasteland of voided emptiness. There was chaos and so much happening, yet nothing. There was so much movement, yet no benefit, no profit, no purpose. Have you ever had a day like that? So much going on, yet nothing coming from it? Maybe you’re going through the motions and still feeling dead. That wasteful and lacking feeling is something God does not like. God was not content with "nothing" he was only satisfied and though of something as "good" when it was producing, and this principle echoes all throughout the New Testament. Do you ever have those days in which you keep yourself busy just to escape from everything? Nothing was thrown together here; the scriptures use the word, “divided” for God separating the light and dark, etc. The word divided comes from the Hebrew word, badal which means to distinguish with a purposeful intent. When God began to shape and create the world, he started to assign, separate and distinguish this chaotic expanse that existed. In this we see the first glimpse of the personality and attributes of God. I heard somewhere this quote:
“The simplicity of your destiny is that the starting line begins wherever you decide, and the finish line ends wherever you can make it to.” The boundaries and confides of life are stretched between our wants and cans. God finished his creating acts by handing us the baton, telling us to create and shape our lives and our world. This is a charge echoed by Jesus to us in some of his final days on the earth.
So let us create! Let us dream! Using the principles found in the Creation week will lead to an amazing impact on our community but also in our own life. Let's strive together, to be tactful and create, assign and lead the way God did and don't forget to pass it on to someone else. I am looking forward to studying with my group the beginning of things as we start a new year together.
Books Currently Reading: The Fire Within, by Thomas Dubay
Current Bible Readings / Studies: Genesis 1 -11
Devotions: Reading through the Book of Ezra
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Tidbits from the life of a Pastoral Care Pastor
Wednesday December 1, 2010
It’s hard to believe that the last month of the year starts today. Remember the phrase “time flys”, well it seems to go faster as you get older. There is still much work to do for our Lord. Recently in a bible study I was leading, I read again the passage in John 9: 35 where Jesus asks “do you believe in the Son of Man?” Of course everyone in the room raised their hand but when I followed up with this statement “not a superficial belief like “most Christians” but a belief that causes you to trust Him with every circumstance in your life…every word that He speaks to you, you do, without question. That kind of belief”…only a few hands started to go up before I said answer that deep in your heart. Each of us has to answer that question…myself and you. I trust you answer it correctly.
Well my alarm clock is back on track and trying to wake me each morning. Some mornings I try to ignore her and sleep more but she is persistent, thus causing me to get up and begin my day. I have noticed that sometimes she likes to sleep in as well…I guess old age creeps up on each of us…she is over 40 in dog years and starting to slow down…like me.
We are in our last month of reading through the bible. Hope you have enjoyed your reading. Here is a link to some Christmas readings that you can use each week. We call it Advent as we look forward to the coming birth of our savior. http://www.cfellowshipc.org/preparation Enjoy the readings and the songs as we move toward the day we have chosen to celebrate His birth. The Jewish season of Hanukkah began today, December 1st. This starts the 8 day festival of Lights where the Jewish people celebrate the re-dedication of the temple. Only enough oil for one day was found but it burned for 8 days thus giving the priest enough time to make more oil.
Books Currently Reading: The Fire Within, by Thomas Dubay
Current Bible Readings / Studies: Just finished Guilty by James and Patty Hutchens
Devotions: Still currently reading through the bible with a program that chronologically lays out the scriptures in the sequence they occurred or more likely to have occurred also following the Advent readings leading up to Christmas.
It’s hard to believe that the last month of the year starts today. Remember the phrase “time flys”, well it seems to go faster as you get older. There is still much work to do for our Lord. Recently in a bible study I was leading, I read again the passage in John 9: 35 where Jesus asks “do you believe in the Son of Man?” Of course everyone in the room raised their hand but when I followed up with this statement “not a superficial belief like “most Christians” but a belief that causes you to trust Him with every circumstance in your life…every word that He speaks to you, you do, without question. That kind of belief”…only a few hands started to go up before I said answer that deep in your heart. Each of us has to answer that question…myself and you. I trust you answer it correctly.
Well my alarm clock is back on track and trying to wake me each morning. Some mornings I try to ignore her and sleep more but she is persistent, thus causing me to get up and begin my day. I have noticed that sometimes she likes to sleep in as well…I guess old age creeps up on each of us…she is over 40 in dog years and starting to slow down…like me.
We are in our last month of reading through the bible. Hope you have enjoyed your reading. Here is a link to some Christmas readings that you can use each week. We call it Advent as we look forward to the coming birth of our savior. http://www.cfellowshipc.org/preparation Enjoy the readings and the songs as we move toward the day we have chosen to celebrate His birth. The Jewish season of Hanukkah began today, December 1st. This starts the 8 day festival of Lights where the Jewish people celebrate the re-dedication of the temple. Only enough oil for one day was found but it burned for 8 days thus giving the priest enough time to make more oil.
Books Currently Reading: The Fire Within, by Thomas Dubay
Current Bible Readings / Studies: Just finished Guilty by James and Patty Hutchens
Devotions: Still currently reading through the bible with a program that chronologically lays out the scriptures in the sequence they occurred or more likely to have occurred also following the Advent readings leading up to Christmas.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tidbits from the life of a Pastoral Care Pastor
Tidbits from the life of a Pastoral Care Pastor
Monday November 29, 2010
Well I am back to writing some for my blog. Sorry to those who have been following and have “gently” reminded me to be a little more consistent. For some who have been reading along daily in the bible we are close to finishing for the year…one more month. Hope you have enjoyed your reading. Here is a link to some Christmas readings that you can use each week. We call it Advent as we look forward to the coming birth of our savior. http://www.cfellowshipc.org/preparation. Enjoy the readings and the songs as we move toward the day we have chosen to celebrate His birth. The Jewish season of Hanukkah begins this coming Wednesday. This starts the 8 day festival of Lights where the Jewish people celebrate the re-dedication of the temple. Only enough oil for one day was found but it burned for 8 days thus giving the priest enough time to make more oil. I find an interesting correlation between advent and Hanukkah.
On my last blog entry I mentioned that a close friend's grandson was quite ill and needed an emergency heart operation. I am pleased to report that the baby is doing just fine. He is still in the Dallas Texas area as the doctors want to observe him for another month. Thanks for your prayers. During this last month several people have committed or re-committed their lives to Christ in my office and I would like to share with you one interesting story. One gentleman came into the church on a Tuesday and wanted to know if he could see a pastor right away. I took him into my office and he started confessing that he was on his way to commit a crime and saw our sign on the main road and he really felt that God was telling him to go and talk to a pastor before he did something he would regret. After talking with him for a little while he wanted God to forgive him and wanted to have a personal relationship with Jesus so that Jesus could direct his life, as he had already messed it up. We prayed, he asked Jesus to forgive him and to come in and lead his life from this time forward. I gave him a bible and some passages to read and he went his way. You might be wondering why I picked this story to tell you about…well remember I said he saw our sign on the main road…we do not have a sign on any road and we are “tucked away” in a business park and you really have to know where we are to find us…sign on the main road…not a chance…can God put signs in our life? Yes and in this case put a sign in this man’s path and he followed it so he could have an encounter with the living God, a God who cares about us and wants us to do the right thing. Be blessed from this story!
Also this morning I received an email with this link, follow it and be blessed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE
I finished reading the book, Radical, and gave one to my granddaughter for her 15th birthday. I finished a couple of others and have started reading a book entitled, “The Fire Within.” Very deep and very interesting readings on deeper prayer…more about it later in future blogs.
Books Currently Reading: The Fire Within, by Thomas Dubay
Current Bible Readings / Studies: Just finished Guilty by James and Patty Hutchens
Devotions: Still currently reading through the bible with a program that chronologically lays out the scriptures in the sequence they occurred or more likely to have occurred also following the Advent readings leading up to Christmas.
Monday November 29, 2010
Well I am back to writing some for my blog. Sorry to those who have been following and have “gently” reminded me to be a little more consistent. For some who have been reading along daily in the bible we are close to finishing for the year…one more month. Hope you have enjoyed your reading. Here is a link to some Christmas readings that you can use each week. We call it Advent as we look forward to the coming birth of our savior. http://www.cfellowshipc.org/preparation. Enjoy the readings and the songs as we move toward the day we have chosen to celebrate His birth. The Jewish season of Hanukkah begins this coming Wednesday. This starts the 8 day festival of Lights where the Jewish people celebrate the re-dedication of the temple. Only enough oil for one day was found but it burned for 8 days thus giving the priest enough time to make more oil. I find an interesting correlation between advent and Hanukkah.
On my last blog entry I mentioned that a close friend's grandson was quite ill and needed an emergency heart operation. I am pleased to report that the baby is doing just fine. He is still in the Dallas Texas area as the doctors want to observe him for another month. Thanks for your prayers. During this last month several people have committed or re-committed their lives to Christ in my office and I would like to share with you one interesting story. One gentleman came into the church on a Tuesday and wanted to know if he could see a pastor right away. I took him into my office and he started confessing that he was on his way to commit a crime and saw our sign on the main road and he really felt that God was telling him to go and talk to a pastor before he did something he would regret. After talking with him for a little while he wanted God to forgive him and wanted to have a personal relationship with Jesus so that Jesus could direct his life, as he had already messed it up. We prayed, he asked Jesus to forgive him and to come in and lead his life from this time forward. I gave him a bible and some passages to read and he went his way. You might be wondering why I picked this story to tell you about…well remember I said he saw our sign on the main road…we do not have a sign on any road and we are “tucked away” in a business park and you really have to know where we are to find us…sign on the main road…not a chance…can God put signs in our life? Yes and in this case put a sign in this man’s path and he followed it so he could have an encounter with the living God, a God who cares about us and wants us to do the right thing. Be blessed from this story!
Also this morning I received an email with this link, follow it and be blessed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE
I finished reading the book, Radical, and gave one to my granddaughter for her 15th birthday. I finished a couple of others and have started reading a book entitled, “The Fire Within.” Very deep and very interesting readings on deeper prayer…more about it later in future blogs.
Books Currently Reading: The Fire Within, by Thomas Dubay
Current Bible Readings / Studies: Just finished Guilty by James and Patty Hutchens
Devotions: Still currently reading through the bible with a program that chronologically lays out the scriptures in the sequence they occurred or more likely to have occurred also following the Advent readings leading up to Christmas.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Tidbits from the life of a Pastoral Care Pastor
Tidbits from the life of a Pastoral Care Pastor
Sunday October 17, 2010
I am sitting at home getting ready to watch my favorite professional sports team play in a Sunday night game on national TV. Go Skins!
This afternoon learned that a close friend had been staying with his grandson at a hospital in Dallas, TX. I knew his little grandson had been sick but not to the extent he needed to travel from Baton Rouge to Dallas and stay with him. My best friend and his wife live in the Dallas suburbs so I placed a call and they show up to show support. The body of Christ in action. We are praying that little Lane pulls through as he certainly is covered in prayer, especially those of a grandpa.
I am still reading from the book, Radical, that I mentioned in my last blog entry. I have read most of it but find myself going back several pages and re-reading. I don’t normally do that…maybe go back and read the book again but not like this time. Consider this statement “Do you know why God created you?” David lays out a two fold purpose…”we were created by God to enjoy His grace. Apart from everything else God created, we were made in his image. We alone have the capacity to enjoy God in intimate relationship with Him.” Also, “He not only created humankind to enjoy His grace in relationship to him, but also to extend his glory to the ends of the earth.” So, if I understand what he is saying we are to enjoy God’s grace and in doing so extend God’s glory to the uttermost parts of the world, after all we are created in His image. The author goes on to say that we live in a church culture that has a dangerous tendency to disconnect the grace of God from the Glory of God. In my next blog entry I will further delve into the disconnect that we have.
Books Currently Reading: Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Current Bible Readings / Studies: Just finished studying about the Fall Feasts of Israel.
Devotions: Still currently reading through the bible with a program that chronologically lays out the scriptures in the sequence they occurred or more likely to have occurred.
Sunday October 17, 2010
I am sitting at home getting ready to watch my favorite professional sports team play in a Sunday night game on national TV. Go Skins!
This afternoon learned that a close friend had been staying with his grandson at a hospital in Dallas, TX. I knew his little grandson had been sick but not to the extent he needed to travel from Baton Rouge to Dallas and stay with him. My best friend and his wife live in the Dallas suburbs so I placed a call and they show up to show support. The body of Christ in action. We are praying that little Lane pulls through as he certainly is covered in prayer, especially those of a grandpa.
I am still reading from the book, Radical, that I mentioned in my last blog entry. I have read most of it but find myself going back several pages and re-reading. I don’t normally do that…maybe go back and read the book again but not like this time. Consider this statement “Do you know why God created you?” David lays out a two fold purpose…”we were created by God to enjoy His grace. Apart from everything else God created, we were made in his image. We alone have the capacity to enjoy God in intimate relationship with Him.” Also, “He not only created humankind to enjoy His grace in relationship to him, but also to extend his glory to the ends of the earth.” So, if I understand what he is saying we are to enjoy God’s grace and in doing so extend God’s glory to the uttermost parts of the world, after all we are created in His image. The author goes on to say that we live in a church culture that has a dangerous tendency to disconnect the grace of God from the Glory of God. In my next blog entry I will further delve into the disconnect that we have.
Books Currently Reading: Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Current Bible Readings / Studies: Just finished studying about the Fall Feasts of Israel.
Devotions: Still currently reading through the bible with a program that chronologically lays out the scriptures in the sequence they occurred or more likely to have occurred.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Tidbits from the life of a Pastoral Care Pastor
Thursday September 16, 2010
Awoken this morning by the voice of my alarm clock saying “daddy I have to go out please get up”….at first I thought I was dreaming but no I finally came into reality and it was my little Silky Terrier, as usual waking me up so she could go outside to take care of some business. Since my last entry this same scenario has played out pretty much the same each day. She is my faithful alarm clock.
This past Sunday my wife and I got a phone call that no one wants to get…our son had a heart attack. They were flying him from the local hospital at his home to Lynchburg for an emergency operation. We alerted some friends who we knew would be praying and left immediately. Now the end of the story…God healed him on the medical flight. When he arrived in Lynchburg they did a small procedure where they could look inside at the heart…the doctor’s words were…sorry don’t see any evidence of a heart attack and your heart is doing fine. They kept him overnight and sent him home…our God is wonderful and merciful. We decided to come back home instead of staying…after all nothing was wrong. On the way home Pastor Kent called and when he heard the news rejoiced with us that God did a wonderful thing. Thank you Father for you healing touch!
I am reading a book recommend by a close friend and wanted to share a small portion that touched me and reminded me of what Jesus has done for us.
From the book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt. Published by Multnomah.
Our understanding of who God is and who we are drastically affects our understanding of who Christ is and why we need him. For example, if God is only a loving father who wants to help his people, then we will see Christ as a mere example of that love. We will view the cross as just a demonstration of God's love in which he allowed Roman soldiers to crucify his son so that sinful man would know how much he loves us.
But this picture of Christ and the cross is woefully inadequate, missing the entire point of the gospel. We are not saved from our sins because Jesus was falsely tried by Jewish and Roman officials and sentence by Pilate to die. Neither are we saved because Roman persecutors thrust nails into the hands and feet of Christ and hung him on the cross.
Do we really think that the false judgment of men heaped upon Christ to pay for the debt for all of humankind's sin? Do we really think that a crown of thorns and whips and nails and a wooden cross and all the other facets of the crucifixion that we glamorize are powerful enough to save us?
Picture Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. As he kneels before his father, drops of sweat and blood fall together from his head. Why is he in such agony and pain? The answer is not because he is afraid of crucifixion. He is not trembling because of what the Roman soldiers are about to do to him.
Since that day countless men and women in the history of Christianity have died for their faith. Some of them were not just on crosses; they were burned there. Many of them went to their crosses singing.
One Christian in India, while being skinned alive, look at his persecutors and said, "I thank you for this. Tear off my old garment, for I will soon put on Christ's garment of righteousness."
As he prepared to head to his execution, Christopher Love wrote a note to his wife, saying, "today they will sever me from my physical head, but they cannot sever me from my spiritual head, Christ." As he walked to his death, his wife applauded while he sang of glory.
Did these men and women in Christian history have more courage than Christ himself? Why was he trembling in that garden, weeping and full of anguish? We can rest assured that he was not a coward about to face Roman soldiers. Instead he was a Savior about to endure divine wrath.
Listen to his words: "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me." The "cup" is not a reference to a wooden cross; it is a reference to divine judgment. It is the cup of God's wrath.
This is what Jesus is recoiling from in the garden. All God's holy wrath and hatred toward sin and sinners, stored up since the beginning of the world, is about to be poured out on him, and he is sweating blood at the thought of it.
What happened at the cross was not primarily about nails being thrust into Jesus hands and feet, but about the wrath due your sin and my sin being thrust upon his soul. In that holy moment, all the righteous wrath and justice of God due us came rushing down like a torrent on Christ himself. Some say, "God looked down and could not bear to see the suffering that the soldiers were inflicting on Jesus, so he turned away." But this is not true. God turned away because he could not bear to see your sin and my sin on his Son.
One preacher described it as if you and I were standing a short hundred yards away from a dam of water 10,000 miles high and 10,000 miles wide. All of a sudden that dam was breached, and a torrential flood of water came crashing toward us. Right before it reached our feet, the ground in front of us opened up and swallowed it all. At the cross, Christ drank the full cup of the wrath of God, and when he had downed the last drop, he turned the cup over and cried out, "It is finished."
This is the gospel. The just and loving Creator of the universe has looked upon hopelessly sinful people and sent his son, God in the flesh, to bear his wrath against sin on the cross and to show his power over sin in the resurrection so that all who trust in him will be reconciled to God forever.
Books Currently Reading: Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Current Bible Readings / Studies: Currently studying more about the Fall Feasts’ of Israel.
Devotions: Still currently reading through the bible with a program that chronologically lays out the scriptures in the sequence they occurred or more likely to have occurred.
Awoken this morning by the voice of my alarm clock saying “daddy I have to go out please get up”….at first I thought I was dreaming but no I finally came into reality and it was my little Silky Terrier, as usual waking me up so she could go outside to take care of some business. Since my last entry this same scenario has played out pretty much the same each day. She is my faithful alarm clock.
This past Sunday my wife and I got a phone call that no one wants to get…our son had a heart attack. They were flying him from the local hospital at his home to Lynchburg for an emergency operation. We alerted some friends who we knew would be praying and left immediately. Now the end of the story…God healed him on the medical flight. When he arrived in Lynchburg they did a small procedure where they could look inside at the heart…the doctor’s words were…sorry don’t see any evidence of a heart attack and your heart is doing fine. They kept him overnight and sent him home…our God is wonderful and merciful. We decided to come back home instead of staying…after all nothing was wrong. On the way home Pastor Kent called and when he heard the news rejoiced with us that God did a wonderful thing. Thank you Father for you healing touch!
I am reading a book recommend by a close friend and wanted to share a small portion that touched me and reminded me of what Jesus has done for us.
From the book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt. Published by Multnomah.
Our understanding of who God is and who we are drastically affects our understanding of who Christ is and why we need him. For example, if God is only a loving father who wants to help his people, then we will see Christ as a mere example of that love. We will view the cross as just a demonstration of God's love in which he allowed Roman soldiers to crucify his son so that sinful man would know how much he loves us.
But this picture of Christ and the cross is woefully inadequate, missing the entire point of the gospel. We are not saved from our sins because Jesus was falsely tried by Jewish and Roman officials and sentence by Pilate to die. Neither are we saved because Roman persecutors thrust nails into the hands and feet of Christ and hung him on the cross.
Do we really think that the false judgment of men heaped upon Christ to pay for the debt for all of humankind's sin? Do we really think that a crown of thorns and whips and nails and a wooden cross and all the other facets of the crucifixion that we glamorize are powerful enough to save us?
Picture Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. As he kneels before his father, drops of sweat and blood fall together from his head. Why is he in such agony and pain? The answer is not because he is afraid of crucifixion. He is not trembling because of what the Roman soldiers are about to do to him.
Since that day countless men and women in the history of Christianity have died for their faith. Some of them were not just on crosses; they were burned there. Many of them went to their crosses singing.
One Christian in India, while being skinned alive, look at his persecutors and said, "I thank you for this. Tear off my old garment, for I will soon put on Christ's garment of righteousness."
As he prepared to head to his execution, Christopher Love wrote a note to his wife, saying, "today they will sever me from my physical head, but they cannot sever me from my spiritual head, Christ." As he walked to his death, his wife applauded while he sang of glory.
Did these men and women in Christian history have more courage than Christ himself? Why was he trembling in that garden, weeping and full of anguish? We can rest assured that he was not a coward about to face Roman soldiers. Instead he was a Savior about to endure divine wrath.
Listen to his words: "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me." The "cup" is not a reference to a wooden cross; it is a reference to divine judgment. It is the cup of God's wrath.
This is what Jesus is recoiling from in the garden. All God's holy wrath and hatred toward sin and sinners, stored up since the beginning of the world, is about to be poured out on him, and he is sweating blood at the thought of it.
What happened at the cross was not primarily about nails being thrust into Jesus hands and feet, but about the wrath due your sin and my sin being thrust upon his soul. In that holy moment, all the righteous wrath and justice of God due us came rushing down like a torrent on Christ himself. Some say, "God looked down and could not bear to see the suffering that the soldiers were inflicting on Jesus, so he turned away." But this is not true. God turned away because he could not bear to see your sin and my sin on his Son.
One preacher described it as if you and I were standing a short hundred yards away from a dam of water 10,000 miles high and 10,000 miles wide. All of a sudden that dam was breached, and a torrential flood of water came crashing toward us. Right before it reached our feet, the ground in front of us opened up and swallowed it all. At the cross, Christ drank the full cup of the wrath of God, and when he had downed the last drop, he turned the cup over and cried out, "It is finished."
This is the gospel. The just and loving Creator of the universe has looked upon hopelessly sinful people and sent his son, God in the flesh, to bear his wrath against sin on the cross and to show his power over sin in the resurrection so that all who trust in him will be reconciled to God forever.
Books Currently Reading: Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Current Bible Readings / Studies: Currently studying more about the Fall Feasts’ of Israel.
Devotions: Still currently reading through the bible with a program that chronologically lays out the scriptures in the sequence they occurred or more likely to have occurred.
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