Just Wondering

If I were to suddenly gain the powers of Superman, would I use them responsibly or would it corrupt me?

If I had the ability to hear the thoughts of others, would I want to know what they really think of me?

If I had it to do over again, knowing what I know now, would I make different choices? Would it change who I am now?

If confronted with some real persecution, would I have the courage not to deny Christ Jesus?

If I were President of the United States, would I break under the pressure, or would I stand firm on the principles and precepts of God?

If I knew today were my last day on earth, how would I conduct myself?

Just some of the silly thoughts that run through my little brain.

Christmas

I heard a song that talked about Jesus. It talked about the religious scholars of His day. About who Jesus is and who it was that they expected. A phrase from that song sticks out in my mind. "Their wildest dreams simply weren't wild enough."

There is an adjective(thanks Jena)that I like to use when describing God: Unexpected.

It started way back in the garden. (Genesis 3:14-15, 3:21) Ever since the fall, the whole law and the prophets pointed to this one event. The most significant event in all of history. The arrival of our Messiah.

The prophet Isaiah told us who our Messiah would be. Immanuel. God with us.
(Isaiah 7:14)

People were expecting some great warrior king. The thought of a homeless guy who was thought to be crazy by even His own family never entered their minds. They were looking for a great leader. They got a humble servant. They were expecting a thunderous entrance and an overwhelming victory. They got a baby wrapped in swaddling bands laying in a manger surrounded by shepherds. (Luke 2:1-19)

Not what they expected at all.

So, who is He? According to the first chapter in John's gospel, He is the very Word of God wrapped in flesh.(John 1:1-14) Is that all? Is he simply the embodiment of all God had spoken? A walking bible?

He is WAY more than that. Read Colossians 1:13-17.

I would like to, if I may, share with you a poem I wrote a while back. It's based on what I call the Old Testament gospels. Messianic prophecies.


The Arm of Salvation (Isaiah 59)

The scene was so sad
His beloved gone wild
His people gone mad
Watching evil and condoning
Then wanting light
They find themselves groping and growling and moaning
Sins are known
So much they have sewn
Truth has stumbled in the street
Justice walks away in defeat
Righteousness watches from afar in shock
But God is here and made a way
That which stumbled is now a stumbling block
God said ‘No More’
He put on flesh
And dressed for war


Merry Christmas! Jesus, indeed, is the reason for the season! Let us join in giving thanks and praise to our great God and Savior, and looking forward to when He comes again...the way He was expected to the first time.

I wonder what Christmas II will be like in Heaven. :)

Thanksgiving

Here we are again. This year went by so fast. They say the older you get, the faster time goes by. It's starting to move by pretty quick for me these days.

This is the time of year we are supposed to stand back and kind of take stock. To look back and think of things for which we are thankful.

Here are a few of mine:

Wise and loving Father, Great and Mighty King, thank you:

for my salvation. I am secure in You forever.

for my wife. She has taught me how to trust again.

for my friends. It is good to be surrounded by people who make you feel loved.

for the children I have been privileged to watch grow into adults. We don't have children, so it is nice to have friends and family who do. We can worry about them, cheer for them, feel disappointed for them, pray for them and be very proud of them, as if they were our own.

for my dogs. It's good to feel like a rock star when I get home. :)

for the trials. I have learned from them, and have come to a deeper understanding of You through them.

for a job that I enjoy.

for the times that I can look back on and understand that it could ONLY have been Your hand moving. I am overwhelmed with emotion and a sense of awe when I look back.

for the sun sets and sun rises. So much beauty, such a work of art that You have created for us to enjoy, and cause us to burst into praises of You.

Thank you is not enough. But words are so clumsy. Thank you for the forms of art you have created within us that we might give it back to You with a thankful heart.

1 Chronicles 16:8, 16:34
Psalm 9:1, 28:7
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Overwhelming Redemption

God is so amazing. The expression of His love for us in Christ Jesus is almost too much to handle. It is impossible to wrap my brain around it.

I am a lot of things to a lot of people. The thing that I see myself as the most is a disappointment. I let people down. That's what I've always been best at. That's how I see it, anyway.

The one I think I have disappointed the most is God. I fall flat on my face every day. I deny Him with my actions. I honor Him with my lips, but often, my heart is far from Him (Matt. 15:7-9 & Isaiah 29:13-14). But it's not just me. It's all of us. We have all fallen short (Romans 3:23).

There is one person in the bible that I love to read about. Simon Peter. His story is so wonderful. His is the story that makes God's grace so real for me. Peter is the one who helps me accept that God does love me and that God's mercy's really are new every morning.

Jesus had several conversations with His hard headed disciple Peter. There is one conversation that Peter would never forget. A memory that haunted Peter, yet one that he treasured.(Luke 22:31-32 & Matthew 26:31-34)
In my own words:
Jesus: "Peter, Satan wants to break you. I have prayed that you will be able to handle it and be even stronger when it's all said and done."
Peter: "I'm ready to take whatever comes. I'm following you no matter what no matter where."
Jesus: "Before the rooster crows, you will have denied me three times."
Peter: "Never happen."

Peter did deny that he even knew Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75). I can see in my mind's eye. That moment. That horrible moment. That eternal moment when time stood still. That moment after the third denial and the rooster crowing and our Sovereign Lord turning and looking right at Peter. That moment when their eyes locked, and they were the only two men on the planet. That moment....oh, that eternal agonizing moment. Defining. That is what I would call a moment like that.

But wait, there's more...

Jesus took up His life again (John 10:17-18) and when the women came to find the stone rolled away, an angel greeted them. He said to go tell the disciples and Peter. (Mark 16:1-7) Wow! ...and Peter. That is significant. That is something to chew on for a while. It is, for me, pregnant with meaning.

And then when two of the guys were leaving Jerusalem, they had an encounter with Jesus, and according to them, Jesus had appeared to Simon Peter. (Luke 24:34) I would love to know what was said in that conversation.

Oh, man! The gospels present us with such a wonderful picture of redemption in Simon Peter. We are forgiven! (Romans 3:24-25) Forgiven and clean before our God! (Romans 8:1)

Sorry to ramble so. It is just overwhelming to think about. I have failed so many times. I find it so hard to forgive myself for my failures. When I read about Peter, I am strengthened. I can once again take hold of the hope that is held out by our Great King. I can encourage others with this very story.

Standing Firm

I was hit with a thought today while I was discussing some of the news of the day with some co-workers over lunch.

We were talking about the current political climate. I don't mind saying that I am very much a conservative where politics are concerned. But I am a Christian first and foremost.

I began thinking that the United States may soon become a country where Christianity is not welcome. Christian views and literature are already banned from most public schools and government facilities. Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all surprised by this. Jesus said that the world would hate those of us who follow Him, because they hate Him. (John 15:18-21)

I have always told my wife that if the United States ever turned against Israel, we were going to move to Israel. The thought I was hit with today at lunch was that if our government in the United States does turn against Israel, we have an obligation to stay here. A duty to set aside our pride and political views for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. After all, that is where our true citizenship is.

We should stay and endure whatever we must endure for the sake of Christ Jesus, for the furthering of His Kingdom. Because of what the bible teaches about shining our light so that the ones who are groping in the darkness can see the hope that Jesus holds out. Because of what suffering accomplishes in us. (Romans 5:3-5)

There is a selfish reason that I had as well. When everything is said and done, and we are in Heaven, standing in abject awe of our King, we will hear the words from His mouth. "Well done" Wow!

There are some promises that He made as well. There will be an award ceremony.
Revelation 2:7, 2:11, 2:17,2:26, 3:5, 3:12, 3:21, and best of all 21:7. Take a few minutes and check those out. Very exciting!

God is AWESOME!

Forward This

Every once in a while, I'll get an email that tells a story that will really tug on my heart strings.

At the end of the story, there is a series of what I call 'Christian Cliches'. Then the phrase the irritates me more than almost anything else. (You've probably already guessed) "If you love God, you will forward this email." Or some variation thereof.

Before you forward that email, please stop and think for a second. King Jesus gave us a little bit different litmus test for whether we love Him or not. In John 14:15, He said that if we loved Him, we would obey His commands.

Before King Jesus made that statement, He issued a new commandment. In John 13:34-35, He commanded that we love one another as He has loved us, and that by our love for one another, people would know that we were His followers.

King Jesus said that the whole law and the prophets were tied to one thing; that we love the Lord our God with all our hearts, all our minds and all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Matthew 22:36-40)

I don't think forwarding an email will prove anything to God. I think all it proves is that there are some unrepentant pharisees out there who try to make us feel guilty for not making their email famous.

Matthew 11:29

The book of Job is such a beautiful and powerful work. God used the life of Job
to teach a lesson. He shows us that He is the mighty God, that He is sovereign (Isaiah 45:9-12) and that He is merciful (Jeremiah 32:37-41), and that He will restore His children (Job 42:10-17).

We see in the life of Job that God allows us to develop a deeply intimate
relationship with Him by trusting Him in all circumstances, especially in the adverse
circumstances. It's easier to trust Him when everything is going well, but when things take an ugly turn, trust isn't such a safe and simple word anymore. It becomes a complicated and terrifying concept.

It is my opinion that God calls on us to humble ourselves all through the bible so
that we will be able to trust Him more. When our circumstances get tough and
everything seems be falling apart, it is then that pride can become easily measured. Pride insists that there has got to be some way to fix whatever is wrong. Pride explains why it is silly to just trust God to provide the way out and why you have to do it yourself. Pride slowly drains away hope in an unending struggle to find the answer (Proverbs 16:18, Jeremiah 17:5-6).

Humility understands that circumstances are not in our control, and never were.
Trusting in the Lord is the ONLY way to stop the out of control downward spiral that we see in our lives from time to time. When we learn to trust in Him completely, what
seemed like absolute chaos and hopelessness before is now excitement and hope.

When we learn to trust in Him completely, we can relax and know that He is in complete control (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

Once we reach the point where we can humble ourselves enough to trust Him
completely, we have also come to the point where the Holy Spirit has something to work with. We can begin to grow in our relationship with Him and begin to learn the deeper things of God. We can say that before, we heard of Him, but now our eyes have seen Him.

GOD is AWESOME!!

Beyond All Reason

Sometimes when I think about what Jesus gave for us, it is overwhelming. When I think of why He gave His life for us, speaking for myself, it is simply mind blowing.
John 3:16 is a small verse in the bible, but has enormous meaning. It speaks volumes about God’s love for us. I have trouble thinking about God’s love for me sometimes. God loves me?!? How!!
The Messianic prophecies are pregnant with the very emotions of God. The depth of His love for us is amazing to me. Isaiah 53 says a lot about what Jesus went through for us.
It’s mind boggling! Again and again I slap Him in the face with my actions, again and again I betray Him with my conversations, again and again I stab at His heart with my thoughts. Over and over again, the sin in my life runs ramped! But He loves me. How can I be expected to understand?
I can only believe Him and accept His amazing gift of salvation. His love for me, for you, for all of us is, without a doubt....beyond all reason.

A Beautiful Person

Just a quick note about the person I married.

I don't know if she would want this story told or not, but I'm gonna.

My wife Cheryl came home and told me this story:

In the lady's room where she works, there is a spider web in one corner of the room. Every day, when she went in there, she would notice this spider tending to it's egg sack. She noticed this every day for several days.
One day, she walked in and saw the empty web and untended eggs. She looked down and saw the spider on the floor, dead.
She said that she felt so sad about that. She worried about the baby spiders. She said that she just wanted to weep for the poor spider that had worked so hard to protect the babies she would never see.

Her story moved me. I know it may sound silly to some. But it only reminded me of why I love her so much. My wife is a beautiful person inside and outside. She has such a loving and caring heart. She has a unique gift to feel pain for others. She genuinely mourns the loss with others, and has real compassion.....even for a dead spider.

I have been blessed to actually marry my soul mate.

I love you, Cheryl.

What More

I've been sitting here looking up some of the psalms. I think my favorite psalm is psalm 73.

In verse 22, Asaph says, "I was like a beast before You." I like that phrase. It creates such a great image in my mind. I see my dogs looking at me when I talk to them. They don't have the first clue.

I suppose it's that way for me much of the time when I try to lean on my own understanding. I am as a beast before Him.

My desire is for understanding. A meaningful understanding of the deeper things of God.

God is AWESOME!

Bad Things

My wife and I were talking the other night about why bad things sometimes happen, even when we are trying to be good.
We have been having some minor financial problems. Who hasn't, right?
We made some bad decisions, and are now suffering the consequences.
We were saying that it kind of sucks to be so broke.
I was asked why God would allow this kind of thing to happen.
I thought about how we have been invited to call Him Abba Father (Abba, literally translated is 'Daddy'). A cool metaphor formed in my mind. That of a loving father who, instead of shooing his child away from the hot stove, does not intervene and allows the child touch it once. The pain teaches the child to never do that again. Much more effective than just saying "No, no! Hot!"
Our wise and loving Father teaches us valuable life lessons through sometimes painful means. But sometimes that is the only way we can learn.

Changes

Life is weird. Here I am...a middle aged man. My life didn't turn out quite the way I had hoped it would.
But that doesn't really matter. I have a wife that I love and who loves me. I have a family that I love. I like my job and the people that I work with.
I have friends that I love and that I regret not keeping in touch with.
Most important, I have Jesus. With Him, no matter how turbulent life becomes, no matter who hurts me or who I hurt...He is there. The One that I know I can trust in all things. The only unshakable constant, a firm foundation.
Many of the people who lived the lives that we read about in the bible referred to Him as their fortress or their hiding place.
I've never been through what a lot of people in the world have. I've never been beaten for my faith or imprisoned for it. I've never even been threatened for it. I don't have to be in fear of my life to be afraid, or running from intense persecution to feel alone and small. Life happens.
My point is that I have experienced the peace that Jesus offers. The hope that He holds out. Pain and sorrow are a part of life. But Jesus gives me a place to run to. Somewhere to let the tears fall in peace.

Heroes

I love super heroes. I'm a Superman fan. Ask anyone who knows me.
Sometimes I even day dream about what it would be like to be able to do all the things that Superman can do. What it would be like to go soaring over the clouds, or travel faster than a fighter jet, or have that kind of strength.
I think about what I would do with that kind of power, how many people I could help. Wow.
I know a few people who wouldn't mind knowing Superman right now.

But that isn't reality. I understand that. (dang it)

It's fun to think about sometimes. But my focus should be on the real Superman. My Savior. King Jesus.

A lot of people are suffering. Going through unimaginable abuses. Children and women kidnapped and forced into a life of slavery or prostitution, people living under the cruelty of some crazy dictator, people caught in the middle of warring factions. Or maybe it's a woman married to an abusive husband, or children with abusive parents. The list goes on.

Thinking that if I were Superman, I could do something, that is just pride talking. It is sin against a Holy God. His sovereignty is absolute. He will handle the situation in His time. To think otherwise is to make the same mistake the enemy did. (Isaiah 14:13-14)

God asks us to do a hard thing. In Romans 12:18-20, we are asked to do what seems impossible. This is why humility is stressed throughout the bible.

Lord, thank You that You are Who You are. Thank You that You are in absolute control. Please help me to resist the temptation to take things into my own hands, and to not give the enemy a foot hold in my heart and mind. Thank you for the lesson You tried to get Cain to learn in Genesis 4:7. Help me to learn that very lesson.

Soul Scream

I saw one of those reality shows on TV. There was a part at the scene of an accident. Someone died.

I wasn't really paying that much attention, just kind of channel surfing....then I heard the screaming.

Someone who loved the person who died arrived. She must have loved him very much. She screamed. It startled me. I've heard screams before, but there was something about this one. It came from somewhere deep down inside...from the soul.

It was heart breaking. Then it struck me. Was that what the angels heard that day in the Garden?

Was it the same mournful screaming of the soul that was heard when Jesus knew His Father turned His back?

We all know pain and sadness. Those who have lost loved ones know it intimately. They have heard their own soul's screaming into the dark.

Another thought struck me. We cannot imagine the overwhelming joy of the great reunion. The day every tear will be wiped away.

The day we will see our loved ones again. The day we get to see with our own eyes....The King.

On that day,the air will be filled with laughter and songs of great joy! And the echoes of that horrible scream will cease.

Cotraversial Thoughts

Just a list of things I think about life.

1. Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven.

2. Alcoholism, drug addiction and the multitude of 'disorders' are called 'diseases' to excuse unacceptable behavior.

3. Abortion is wrong. It is not 'your body'. It is a whole other human being who has rights.

4. God does exist. Nature screams it. The heaven's declare His glory.

5. I am not better than anyone else. Neither are you.

6. It is not hypocritical to be against abortion and for the death penalty. An unborn baby hasn't hurt anyone yet. A murderer has. An unborn baby hasn't violated anyone's rights. A murderer/rapist/child molester has.

7. Guns, in fact, do not kill people. They are inanimate objects.

8. A southern accent does not equal stupidity or racism.

9. The word 'homophobia' doesn't make any sense. A phobia is an irrational fear of something. A difference of ideology or world views is a disagreement. Disagreeing with something is not the same as being afraid of something. That would make liberals 'conservaphobes' and conservatives 'libephobes'. Non-Christians 'Christophobes' See how silly that is?

10. Global warming is not caused by man. It is a cyclical solar cycle. If it is true that there were ice ages before man existed, what in the world caused the warming process to bring the ice ages to an end?

11. Nobody cares what Madonna thinks.

12. Rocky Road is the greatest ice cream flavor on the planet.

13. Humans are omnivores. We were designed to eat veggies AND meat.

14. Evolution is still just a theory.

15. I think the chicken came first.

Hidden

The church my wife and I attend has a men's group that meets once a month. We usually gather at someone's house and eat supper together, then have a devotional which is lead by one of the guys.

I really enjoy these gatherings. The food is always good, and some of the men in the group are among those I most admire in life.

The latest meeting we had was very nice. As usual, the food was excellent, and the company even better. Our devotional was a short study from the book of Colossians. It was about putting away the old ways and putting on the new. We discussed ways we could improve and some spiritual disciplines we could practice more, or start practicing.

Of particular interest to me was a statement the Apostle Paul made in chapter 3 of Colossians. In verses 2 and 3, he said, "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."

My focus went directly to the word 'hidden'. ...your life is hidden with Christ in God. I kept turning that phrase over in my mind again and again.

My bible's commentary pointed to Colossians 2:3. So I checked it out.

In Colossians 2, Paul said that he wants our hearts to be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

My attention was drawn to that word again...hidden.

All these wonderful things. Understanding, assurance, love, knowledge. Hidden in Christ, hidden with Christ in God. And my life is hidden there too! Wow!

None of these things can be taken away from Christ because they are all in God! Even my/our life!

Eternal security in Christ Jesus. Our life cannot be separated from Him. It is hidden with Him in God. Along with understanding, knowledge, assurance. This makes us free to love one another and celebrate our common salvation. Celebrate the understanding of 'the mystery': Our Savior!

We are in Christ. We are part of Him, and he is part of us.

Thank you, Father, that our life is hidden in You with Christ. Help us to always remember that, and to always deny any desire or temptation to behave contrary to what we have become in You.

Shivered Timbers

When something big happens....really big...like the unexpected death of a loved one or the loss of a job in the midst of a financial crisis. Something that could shake someone's faith.

What do you say? How do you act?

I have never been good at this. I am emotionally clumsy. I have the gift of being able to fit my foot in my mouth at the most inopportune times.

I liked Job's friends initial approach. (Job 2:11-13) They just sat there with him in silence. I can do that. As long as I don't have to speak. I will have some very deep thoughts and some profound things come to mind, but I can't speak them. I can write them exactly how I think them. Something weird happens when I try to speak them. The thoughts get jumbled up and just clumsily fall out as incoherent babble.

Anyway, we are commanded to love one another (John 13:34-35/15:12-17) and to bear one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2). Thank God for His Holy Spirit. He can speak for us. He can be the one who comforts others through us when we have no idea what to say. He can also shut us up when we are about to say something that is not at all helpful.

The book of Job is one of my favorites. There are so many lessons in there. My favorite biblical quotes come from the book of Job. If you haven't read it, you should. Especially if you are going through something.

Something big happened to me once. My first wife left me. I don't have the words to describe what that felt like. It crushed my spirit. I had a long talk with my pastor. He suggested that I read Job. I did. It helped a lot!

Two of my favorite quotes come from Job: "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him" (Job 13:15a) And after Job had been through so much, on the other side of it, he told God: "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." (Job 42:5)

I guess that is why it is so important to love one another and humble ourselves and serve one another. In doing so, we can help our friends cling to God and experience His peace (Philippians 4:6-7) instead of having them feel that they are alone in what is happening and becoming angry and bitter toward God and those who were supposed to be there for them.

Thank you, Father for Your Holy Spirit. Forgive me for not acting when I knew I should and for speaking when I knew I shouldn't. Please teach me how to love and how to obey. Teach me how to help my beloved brothers and sisters bear their burdens. And to yield to Your Holy Spirit when He wants to speak. How to, as Job did, place my hand over my mouth. And, also as Job, to bless Your name...no matter what.

Just For This Moment

We are studying some of the great Old Testament characters on Sunday evenings at church. We have so far looked at Noah, and are currently taking a look at the life of Abraham.

One thing we have seen is that when God assigns a task, He is very specific about what He wants done. Once the task is complete, God gives further instruction which is equally as specific. Some things are huge, and others are small. Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jacob were chosen for some pretty big things.

Often times, we don't know what specifically it is that God has for us until it is time to do it. We do know, generally, what God has for us to do as His church. But as for a specific individual task, we don't know until God tells us to do it.

In John 9:1-3, we see someone with a specific purpose. A purpose he is completely unaware of until just the right moment.

How awesome is it to think about? Our wise Father has thought that far in advance. He has planned that far ahead. When He created you and me, He had a specific plan for us. Might be something big, might be something small. It might even be simply to teach someone else something just for that moment in time.

God is AWESOME!