My new post since the hiatus. I will blog more frequently thus forth…
“Christianity uses ritual, but it is not ritual; it has beliefs, but it is not a belief; it has institutions, but it is not an institution. In its deepest meaning it is person giving itself Person, life to Life.”
-E. Stanley Jones
I just read something the other day that made me chuckle a bit.
How many times have you, or have you seen, people nod off during a sermon? Check this out…
“…Paul…prolonged his speech (sermon) until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead.” –Acts 20:7-9
Paul, was preaching up a storm. He was doing it because he was going to leave them the next day and wanting to tell them all he could. But, one well intended listener nodded off and actually feel out the window! View full article »
Acts 13:36 “For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation…”
I love this thought. It brings in some many little things. David served. We are called to serve. Our live is meant to be given away. Now, a good thought for us comes like this…we are to give ourselves away to others. True. But since we are sinners this becomes a bit hard, and not always motivating, right? But what if, we approached it from the idea of our service being geared at glorifying God? When we seek to Glorify God, we should in a natural sense, give our lives to others, because ultimately, what we do to others we do to Jesus. But we do it, to make God known, ultimately.
Notice the agenda of David’s service. It was God’s purposes. David sought to serve God’s agenda, his purpose, his drive, his dream. David strove to be faithful to bring God glory…that is why God called him a man after his own heart. View full article »
doxa (greek) = glory, majesty, fame (hebrew adds an element of weight, substance, and brilliance to the word)
This word is heavy. In fact, I believe it is one of those misused, misunderstood, and carelessly used words in the Christian vernacular. Give God the glory. I live for God’s glory. Glory to God. That was glorious. What does this mean? What does it mean to live for the Glory to God? How would this reform how we live?
Steven Hawthorne says it this way, “to glorify someone is to recognize their intrinsic worth and beauty, and to speak of that feature in a public way. To glorify God is to praise God or to speak of Him openly and truthfully.”
Think about what we say in the Lord’s prayer… “Hallowed be thy name” In other words, Father, lift up, single out, exalt, manifest, and reveal your name to everyone. Cause other’s to know you!
Hmmm…Worldwide fame…witnessing…evangelism? What is at the heart of evangelism? Guilt ridden obligation? A deep concern for those who don’t know Jesus? Or for God’s glory?
Acts 4:20, “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” They were glorifying God.
Simple thought…How can you change the desire in your life for God’s glory?
more to come on this…
What kind of question is that? Do I like God?
Think about this question for a bit. I want to encourage you to be honest about it. Do you really like God? What do we typically do to people/things we like? We desire to participate in them. We want to be with them. You get the idea. I like golf (wife would say love). Now, when I think about golf (probably too much), I don’t say to myself, “I really should go golfing”. That “should” is more of a guilt word, right? I should, because I normally don’t do it enough because I know that it is the right thing to do. Rather, I actually think about when I can go golfing and why I don’t do it more because I love it.
How often do we think about the “shoulds” with God? ”I know, I should really spend more time with Him…” You see what I mean? I should read my Bible. I should pray more. View full article »
“For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me.” Genesis 33:10
I can’t seem to get off of this verse. This phrase is extremely loaded. So much so, I had to write on it again.
Just to set the scene, this is Jacob saying this about his brother Esau. The background here is simply complex. Jacob deceived his dad and brother in order to get the older son blessing (Jacob was the youngest). He acted as Esau in order to get it. He also took advantage of Esau earlier to get his birth-rights to be the elder by provided food which Esau was famished. May not seem like a big deal, but it was back then. Esau, basically wanted to kill Jacob. So Jacob takes off to a relatives land and stays there for 14 plus years. He leaves that land to return to his home land. On his journey back home, he had to encounter his brother.
So, Jacob freaks out. He tries to buy or soften Esau’s anger by giving him luxurious gifts. Then after a night Jacob encounters his brother. What Esau did next was unexpected not only to Jacob, but to us readers. View full article »
Grace. It is a beautiful concept. It is one that we all love to receive and at the same time don’t. It is a concept that is hard to extend out to others, but yet our souls desire to do so. Grace literally can change the world. When was the last time you experienced grace? When was the last time it so moved you? Where is grace most experienced in your life?
I tend to understand Grace best in the context of relationships. Sure, I can say (and its true) that it is by God’s grace that I can breathe and even type a silly blog like this. Ya, that’s grace, because from a sin and holiness perspective, I (and you…really) don’t deserve life. But I experience and understand Grace best in the context of relationships. The more intimate the relationship, the more that grace is needed. Isn’t that true? Why? Because the more one knows you, the more likely they are going to realize that your poop stinks too and that you will more than likely hurt them. Its true and unfortunate (maybe its fortunate b/c we get to experience grace) that we tend to hurt the ones we love most.
Grace. Acceptance. Undeserved love. Where’s the twist? View full article »
I have been frustrated lately. This frustration has developed after striving after what I thought was something that God desired for my family. It is going to sound trite, but to us it isn’t. A house. It would be the perfect house (so we think) for us, our budget, ministry, and our family. I remember God, as far as I can tell, whisper to me that I will be in this town for awhile and that we should settle down. I know and trust that God is my provider (at least my mind knows that, my heart well…not always).
We have been in pursuit of this house since March. We signed the purchase agreement and started the whole process. After 45 days, no progress. We missed our closing date and the seller dropped us. We are back at square 1. We prayed. We asked. We striven after it. It still isn’t over, but what I am discovering in this process is quite interesting. View full article »
College is a beautiful time in one’s life. It is a time when you leave home and you embark on the next phase of your journey. You are now a budding adult living in a new context which offers you freedom to discover who you are, what you will do, and ultimately, what you believe. With this freedom, comes responsibility.
Freedom is one of the greatest gifts that we have. In America, we defend and fight for freedom. Freedom is the bedrock of our democracy, which enables all to have “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Declaration of Independence). We desire to be free in order to become who we are created to be. We seek to pursue the career of our choosing. View full article »
Perspective. If there is any on thing Jesus tried to show us, it was to “see” the truth. So much is wrapped up in that word, “see”. In fact seeing Jesus is seeing the exact representation of God the Father (hebrews 1:3). Jesus taught us about seeing the Kingdom of God at hand; in fact he stated that the Kingdom of God is within us. What? It is a perspective shift, or even better stated, a new paradigm. Time and time again we read the urgency in Scripture to “consider”, or to “fix your eyes…” or “fix your thoughts…” and so on. The apostle Paul taught us about a worldly and a spiritual point of view (2 Cor. 5:14-16). He also taught us that believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior means that we are a new creation! Talk about getting a new perspective (or life…)!
We are worldly. Then we are spiritual. We are sinners, but, somehow are now holy (after salvation). We are to commune with God, but we love ourselves too much. We want to commune with God (or are we deceiving ourselves?), but we do nothing about it. We want God, but we want this and that. We pray and explain to God how tired we are that there is still a distance between you and Him. View full article »
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