Christmas, yeah, yeah, yeah, I am actually following suit and doing a Christmas blog. But this one may seem a bit different then what we might think when we consider Christmas from a Christian point of view. But I think it is where we need to start, let’s start at the beginning.
In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth (Genesis 1:1), and in the beginning was Jesus (John1:1) but more than just being there we see that Jesus is one with God and that through Him all things were made and without Him nothing has ever been made (John1:3) in Him is Life and that life was the light of men (John1:4). Jesus was and is and will be the reason all things ever exist. Romans says (Romans 11:36) For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. He is the former, he is the potter, He is the word that brought everything from nothing and He is the one through whom all things exist. Here is where your brain might start hurting…
The Psalmist David wrote this directed towards the creator (Psalms 139:13) “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” I do not believe it is a stretch to say that this verse applies to every human being ever. So here is an interesting thought. Jesus, took the womb of a lady about 15 to 18 years before he himself would be born, and started a wonderful work as he does miraculously every day, he started to form and create the most beautiful thing, a human. This human was like any other human. Jesus knit together in the womb the human daughter of Eve, that even though sinful from conception, would be the home and entry point of his own human form. Yes Jesus himself knit together the womb and body of his own mother who would be the womb that he himself would willingly go into humbling himself and taking the form of man (Philippians2:8). Imagine the humanity of Christ, he knit cells, created trees, formed stars and holds the cosmos in place by his word. And just moments (in comparison to eternity) before he would take on humanity, he finished knitting together his own mother. And then that child born on straw, perfect, without blemish or without spot entered into a world that was filled with hatred and sin and evil, the likes of which sought out his death just moments after his birth. A helpless child that through cries and babbling and cooing held together the very fiber of all that existed, including the cells that held his mother and fathers body but also his own, think about that, Jesus is the only being to ever actually have total control of his own cells.
So in the joy of Christmas as we see nativity scenes on corners and sitting on our fireplace hearths let’s not forget as sweet and tender as that night must have been, the other side is the mighty, glorious, incomprehendible huge picture of what that meant, it was the coming of the savior, the hero, the one whom all creation, ALL CREATION was and is and has been longing for. He came as a man to save men, and he will come again as the warrior to finally claim his kingdom, may all the glory and honor and power and dominion be unto him as it is rightfully his as he has laid claim to it from the moment he created it.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Poems
not sure why my mind is thinking in poems, i have never really done poems before and that seems to be the way i am writing these days, so forgive the lack of poetic structure, i know hardly anything about poems but these are the words that have come out. so enjoy...or don't...it all depends on how good they are i guess. :)
Form that is
Suspicious, hopeless form that is
Never moving only growing.
Wrought from evil, wrought from sin.
Oh what a precarious line we walk,
When we debate the origin.
And who allows such pain to form
To blend and break this curs’d structure.
From evil fashioned years ago
We hunt and cry and stumble bellow.
To be present on the day long ago,
When such evil was brought upon the world.
To hunt and curse this wretched sin,
As if to say I would do it better again.
To think that my selfish pride would mold a different outcome
From ashes and dust I was brought to be
From dirt and mud my actions do bring
So be a prideful wondering minstrel
Who plays songs of glorious looking within
To sow a soul filled with hope,
filled with pride and filled with glee.
So I will not fret or bring hope to its knees
I keep a place of assurance buried inside
For my heart is secure on what it knows
From truth it was built and truth it will know.
I am not of this world all though it can seem.
I am freed from death by the man who paid with his life.
My body will war and fight for control.
Though death may rise,
Though hearts may cry,
Though pride is growing,
Though pain is flowing,
Though tears will fall,
Though minds will crawl.
Jesus my savior and hope shall He be.
Never moving only growing.
Wrought from evil, wrought from sin.
Oh what a precarious line we walk,
When we debate the origin.
And who allows such pain to form
To blend and break this curs’d structure.
From evil fashioned years ago
We hunt and cry and stumble bellow.
To be present on the day long ago,
When such evil was brought upon the world.
To hunt and curse this wretched sin,
As if to say I would do it better again.
To think that my selfish pride would mold a different outcome
From ashes and dust I was brought to be
From dirt and mud my actions do bring
So be a prideful wondering minstrel
Who plays songs of glorious looking within
To sow a soul filled with hope,
filled with pride and filled with glee.
So I will not fret or bring hope to its knees
I keep a place of assurance buried inside
For my heart is secure on what it knows
From truth it was built and truth it will know.
I am not of this world all though it can seem.
I am freed from death by the man who paid with his life.
My body will war and fight for control.
Though death may rise,
Though hearts may cry,
Though pride is growing,
Though pain is flowing,
Though tears will fall,
Though minds will crawl.
Jesus my savior and hope shall He be.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Side Show
Come look at the side show,
Mirrors of life and smoke of fun.
Enter in, all those who care to see
To see the adventures that wait for thee.
We have prizes and games,
Distractions abound,
Drop all your cares
Your burdens resound.
Fill your mind with thoughts of hope,
Thoughts of peace,
Thoughts joy
And thoughts of glee.
Care not for what ventures outside in the world,
You see inside here we have fun.
But if you are curious
Not blind to see
Slip through the crowd
And the laughter of youth
Enter the main stage
Where no ones aloof,
And here the cries of many,
All that go unseen
The attraction is hard
And course to the ears
The laughter is mixed
With crying and tears,
Half of the room wails
Out of fun
The other half screams
As life is undone.
So if you are distracted
Wanting happy fun tears
Then stick to the side show
With glorious cheer,
But if the truth
Is what thou dost seek
Then search!
Search for the small center stage,
The one that is hidden
Dark like a cave
Only few enter and know what abounds,
And many who enter
Are struck right down.
Struck with a lie
That entices them ‘ore
Or hit in the head
Lying beaten galore.
And there you will stay
For you have entered in
Either caught in the lie
And distraction within.
Or there you will stay
As a bloody one joined
Joined to those who cry
For they are the unseen.
Mirrors of life and smoke of fun.
Enter in, all those who care to see
To see the adventures that wait for thee.
We have prizes and games,
Distractions abound,
Drop all your cares
Your burdens resound.
Fill your mind with thoughts of hope,
Thoughts of peace,
Thoughts joy
And thoughts of glee.
Care not for what ventures outside in the world,
You see inside here we have fun.
But if you are curious
Not blind to see
Slip through the crowd
And the laughter of youth
Enter the main stage
Where no ones aloof,
And here the cries of many,
All that go unseen
The attraction is hard
And course to the ears
The laughter is mixed
With crying and tears,
Half of the room wails
Out of fun
The other half screams
As life is undone.
So if you are distracted
Wanting happy fun tears
Then stick to the side show
With glorious cheer,
But if the truth
Is what thou dost seek
Then search!
Search for the small center stage,
The one that is hidden
Dark like a cave
Only few enter and know what abounds,
And many who enter
Are struck right down.
Struck with a lie
That entices them ‘ore
Or hit in the head
Lying beaten galore.
And there you will stay
For you have entered in
Either caught in the lie
And distraction within.
Or there you will stay
As a bloody one joined
Joined to those who cry
For they are the unseen.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
King of kings vs. king of pop
It is a sad day when a 50 year old man dies leaving behind three kids, an estranged wife, sisters, brothers, both parents and tons of loving caring friends. A man of great influence, a man that helped shape peoples beliefs and opinions, a man that worked towards breaking down racial barriers and a man that gave millions towards charity.
It is a sad day when a 33 year old dies one of the most horrific deaths known to man, leaving behind sisters, brothers, parents and tons of friends who loved and cared for Him. A man of Great influence, a man that is totally responsible for shaping lives along with mountains, stars, and knitting together our very being, a man who is the only answer to breaking down racial barriers, a man that gave his life in the ultimate charity freedom from sin and a man that conquered death to prove his Lordship over all things including death.
It is another sad day when both are counted as kings and only one can actually stand as King, the king of pop is not dancing now, the king of pop is not singing now, the king of pop is realizing one thing and one thing only. He is no king; there is no other king but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The saddest thing of all is the fact that as the king of pop realizes he is nothing, as he confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord. Is that the millions who still idolize his life, have no clue what they are doing, and saying. There is only one king and Michael Jackson is not him. There is but one God and Jesus the Messiah is his name. There is but one man who can break down barriers, change the lives of billions, form the mountains, knit the cells in our body, create music from nothing, and dance on the stars, that Man is the word from before time, the King of ALL ages, the King of all ethnic bodies, the king of all countries, continents, Worlds, galaxies and universes, the King of music, the Lord of the dance, the King of the sun, moon and stars, the King from before the foundation of the world, the King of every government, every religion, every business. The King who will be declared LORD by every slave, peasant, lay person, politician, Businessman, CEO, king, president, false claiming deities, and all those who worship those false deities. JESUS. He is my KING OF KINGS and LORD of LORDS.
Oh King that is above all kings, oh Lord that is above all lords. Be magnified and lifted high as you claim the glory, as you are worshipped, as you are raised higher then any earthly king, as you are worshipped with song and dance more so then any other earthly or heavenly false king. Lord renew in all of us a right sense of who you are, a right attitude of worship and give us the strength to stand out above the crowed and sing your praise and sing glory to your name and lift your name above all names.
It is a sad day when a 33 year old dies one of the most horrific deaths known to man, leaving behind sisters, brothers, parents and tons of friends who loved and cared for Him. A man of Great influence, a man that is totally responsible for shaping lives along with mountains, stars, and knitting together our very being, a man who is the only answer to breaking down racial barriers, a man that gave his life in the ultimate charity freedom from sin and a man that conquered death to prove his Lordship over all things including death.
It is another sad day when both are counted as kings and only one can actually stand as King, the king of pop is not dancing now, the king of pop is not singing now, the king of pop is realizing one thing and one thing only. He is no king; there is no other king but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The saddest thing of all is the fact that as the king of pop realizes he is nothing, as he confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord. Is that the millions who still idolize his life, have no clue what they are doing, and saying. There is only one king and Michael Jackson is not him. There is but one God and Jesus the Messiah is his name. There is but one man who can break down barriers, change the lives of billions, form the mountains, knit the cells in our body, create music from nothing, and dance on the stars, that Man is the word from before time, the King of ALL ages, the King of all ethnic bodies, the king of all countries, continents, Worlds, galaxies and universes, the King of music, the Lord of the dance, the King of the sun, moon and stars, the King from before the foundation of the world, the King of every government, every religion, every business. The King who will be declared LORD by every slave, peasant, lay person, politician, Businessman, CEO, king, president, false claiming deities, and all those who worship those false deities. JESUS. He is my KING OF KINGS and LORD of LORDS.
Oh King that is above all kings, oh Lord that is above all lords. Be magnified and lifted high as you claim the glory, as you are worshipped, as you are raised higher then any earthly king, as you are worshipped with song and dance more so then any other earthly or heavenly false king. Lord renew in all of us a right sense of who you are, a right attitude of worship and give us the strength to stand out above the crowed and sing your praise and sing glory to your name and lift your name above all names.
Monday, May 4, 2009
"Holy Spirit"The least trusted one of the Trinity???
Do we fear the Holy Spirit or delight in its presence in our life. I was talking with a friend the other day about the Holy Spirit and it raised some questions in my mind and heart. If I walked into many mainstream biblically sound churches, or the churches elder meetings and shared about things I have seen the Spirit actively do in my life and others lives, I fear that I would be labeled a whack. So let us look at this. God the Father sent the Son, God the Son sent the Spirit and God the Holy Spirit is in our lives. What has the Spirit done for people through out history? Oh I don’t know lets see.
Healed the sick and killed the unfaithful. Caused the blind to see and blinded eyes of soldiers that would squelch the gospel. Resided in humans and cast demons out of humans. Caused hearts to melt and hearts to harden. Given prophesy of hope and given prophesy of damnation. Caused some to speak in other languages and caused others to be able to interpret others languages. Awakened hope of salvation in some and caused some to turn their heart against the hope of salvation.
Genesis 1 is widely used to describe the Trinity, but people usually only uses it to point to Christ being there at the beginning, if we hold to it being a verse to describe the Trinity then lets look at the Trinity. We hold the Trinity to be, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, equal yet not equal, 3 yet only 1. But the fact remains the Holy Spirit is one of the Trinity, THE ETERNAL TRINITY. So why is it hard to believe when we have a member of the almighty Trinity residing within us that we would not be able to speak in tongues, prophesy, heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead. It isn’t us doing it anyway, it is the Holy Spirit, and there is nothing in our humanness that can do any of that.
Now I know some people would agree with me but say “Wait a second Nathan, how can We know when it is the Spirit, or when it is a thought of our own or when it is nothing of God but only our humanness creeping in again.” My response is this. FAITH. We have the faith to move mountains, how can that happen when we don’t have the faith to trust the Holy Spirit in us to guide us and direct us.
When that persons face crosses your minds eye, when you wake up at 3am for no reason, when you hear a song and it makes you think of someone, when you see something in your minds eye while sleeping or awake, when you walk by someone and have a twinge, when you sense evil, when you look at someone and feel the pain they are in. when these things happen and we fail to follow through with Prayer, with Scripture, with witnessing, with laying on of hands, with responding in the Spirit, we are failing at Christianity. It is either another believer who needs encouragement or it is a lost soul that needs Christ, those are the two people in the world those washed by the blood and those going straight to Hell. Trust the Spirit, trust that twinge, trust that feeling, it isn’t going to hurt anything to stop and pray for someone, it won’t destroy your witness to pray for someone, either they are a believer and will be encouraged, or they are on there way to Hell and need prayer. I don’t believe there is a time in history where prayer was not needed or was not even the right thing to do, prayer will hurt nothing, so trust the Spirit, and trust the guidance of what you know to be true. The truth that the Spirit is in us and will guide us, have the faith that it will guide us in the right direction.
(disclaimer- I am in no way holding to a view that says faith is all about feelings, we have feelings and can use them but it is different to trust our feelings in everything and to trust our feelings in the Spirit, practice is the key here, knowing what is the feeling from the Spirit and what is a feeling of humanness.)
Healed the sick and killed the unfaithful. Caused the blind to see and blinded eyes of soldiers that would squelch the gospel. Resided in humans and cast demons out of humans. Caused hearts to melt and hearts to harden. Given prophesy of hope and given prophesy of damnation. Caused some to speak in other languages and caused others to be able to interpret others languages. Awakened hope of salvation in some and caused some to turn their heart against the hope of salvation.
Genesis 1 is widely used to describe the Trinity, but people usually only uses it to point to Christ being there at the beginning, if we hold to it being a verse to describe the Trinity then lets look at the Trinity. We hold the Trinity to be, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, equal yet not equal, 3 yet only 1. But the fact remains the Holy Spirit is one of the Trinity, THE ETERNAL TRINITY. So why is it hard to believe when we have a member of the almighty Trinity residing within us that we would not be able to speak in tongues, prophesy, heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead. It isn’t us doing it anyway, it is the Holy Spirit, and there is nothing in our humanness that can do any of that.
Now I know some people would agree with me but say “Wait a second Nathan, how can We know when it is the Spirit, or when it is a thought of our own or when it is nothing of God but only our humanness creeping in again.” My response is this. FAITH. We have the faith to move mountains, how can that happen when we don’t have the faith to trust the Holy Spirit in us to guide us and direct us.
When that persons face crosses your minds eye, when you wake up at 3am for no reason, when you hear a song and it makes you think of someone, when you see something in your minds eye while sleeping or awake, when you walk by someone and have a twinge, when you sense evil, when you look at someone and feel the pain they are in. when these things happen and we fail to follow through with Prayer, with Scripture, with witnessing, with laying on of hands, with responding in the Spirit, we are failing at Christianity. It is either another believer who needs encouragement or it is a lost soul that needs Christ, those are the two people in the world those washed by the blood and those going straight to Hell. Trust the Spirit, trust that twinge, trust that feeling, it isn’t going to hurt anything to stop and pray for someone, it won’t destroy your witness to pray for someone, either they are a believer and will be encouraged, or they are on there way to Hell and need prayer. I don’t believe there is a time in history where prayer was not needed or was not even the right thing to do, prayer will hurt nothing, so trust the Spirit, and trust the guidance of what you know to be true. The truth that the Spirit is in us and will guide us, have the faith that it will guide us in the right direction.
(disclaimer- I am in no way holding to a view that says faith is all about feelings, we have feelings and can use them but it is different to trust our feelings in everything and to trust our feelings in the Spirit, practice is the key here, knowing what is the feeling from the Spirit and what is a feeling of humanness.)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Lava Lamps and Whitewashed Tombs
Sitting in my office I have a beautiful lava lamp; it is an original one from the psychedelic days of old. I got it as a gift from my Aunt like 13 years ago, I though it was the coolest thing. Now that I am in youth ministry I figure why not have it in my office, teens think retro stuff is cool, right? The problem is it’s broken, the light bulb inside shattered during our move like 2 years ago and the whole electrical unit fell into the base. So I have a half melted ball of wax sitting in a jar that is sitting in a base that is nowhere close to being able to be used. Why do peoples spiritual walks end up like broken lava lamps? Looking beautiful, maybe even tricking people into thinking that we work with full functionality, when in fact we are broken. Inside we are torn to bits, glass everywhere; if someone were to reach in they would get cut to pieces. It is just like the white washed tombs that Jesus talked about
Matthew 23:27-28 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Now the thought that might run through your mind is “man those scribes and Pharisees, they were just so bad”.
Wake up Christians, we all act like this. We are all sinning we are all trying to hide something, sure you may be at a point in your life where you are actually actively dealing with the dead bones. But we are all here at some point. If we don’t wake up, look around and say, “Wow there is a dead rotting corpse of lying, stealing, pride, lust, greed sitting in the corner over there, you know what I might want to take it out and clean up this place” if we don’t wake up every day looking at our life searching with the spot light of the scriptures in the corners of our heart we will slowly rot and stink. We will look pretty on the outside. But guess what? When you put enough dead bodies in one room, eventually the whole house smells, eventually when you open the door (your mouth) the poison gas spills out, and if it gets bad enough you just smell like dead rotting sinfulness. Or you end up looking like a beautiful lamp shiny and new, ready to shine light and bring some joy to other peoples lives and in fact all you have inside is broken pain.
I don’t know about you but I want to be clean, I want to love, I want to worship God not only in word but also in action. I want to have God search my heart and find NO lawlessness; I want to be able to teach the word of God without fear that what is coming out is the rotten stink of pride, lust and greed mixed with the sweet aroma of Grace and mercy. Grace and mercy deserve to be smelled fully and savored with all earnestness.
Search me Oh God, and know my heart, Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Matthew 23:27-28 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Now the thought that might run through your mind is “man those scribes and Pharisees, they were just so bad”.
Wake up Christians, we all act like this. We are all sinning we are all trying to hide something, sure you may be at a point in your life where you are actually actively dealing with the dead bones. But we are all here at some point. If we don’t wake up, look around and say, “Wow there is a dead rotting corpse of lying, stealing, pride, lust, greed sitting in the corner over there, you know what I might want to take it out and clean up this place” if we don’t wake up every day looking at our life searching with the spot light of the scriptures in the corners of our heart we will slowly rot and stink. We will look pretty on the outside. But guess what? When you put enough dead bodies in one room, eventually the whole house smells, eventually when you open the door (your mouth) the poison gas spills out, and if it gets bad enough you just smell like dead rotting sinfulness. Or you end up looking like a beautiful lamp shiny and new, ready to shine light and bring some joy to other peoples lives and in fact all you have inside is broken pain.
I don’t know about you but I want to be clean, I want to love, I want to worship God not only in word but also in action. I want to have God search my heart and find NO lawlessness; I want to be able to teach the word of God without fear that what is coming out is the rotten stink of pride, lust and greed mixed with the sweet aroma of Grace and mercy. Grace and mercy deserve to be smelled fully and savored with all earnestness.
Search me Oh God, and know my heart, Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Freedom
If the Son sets you free you are free indeed.
I was reading an article today about how the new tower that is to take the place of where the world trade center used to stand is going to have its name changed. The name originally was Freedom tower. Now they want to change it. And it has people in an uproar. It made me think… why? I don’t believe we really have freedom in this country. Well I guess we do have freedom but I am thinking about freedom. Go with me for a minute.
Freedom-“liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another”.
When I think of freedom I tend to go to idea that we some how have a God given right to do what ever we want when we want without consequences. But that is not what the Bible says. The Bible says that we are bought with a price. We are slaves to sin, and Jesus bought our freedom with his own blood. WE ARE FREE. Then why do we return to our old slave master. He treated us like crap, he hated us and had no desire to see us live to our fullest and yet Jesus came to give us life and to give it to us abundantly. Jesus gives us a life that it is far better then anything our old sinful master can give us. Yet why do we run back to our old master?
I believe it is because people (and I totally include myself in this) really do not believe we are free. What a devastating lie that Satan tells us. He tells us that we are not free. If we take the idea of slave and master and put ourselves there it would look like this. We are post 13th amendment, we know we are free, we know that we can go live on our own land, we can have a better life and yet we stay at our old masters house being beat half to death, and living in squalor. The only problem with this analogy is this. The 13th amendment doesn’t come close to describing what kind of freedom we have. We were not just given freedom, we were bought with Christ’s blood, the freedom we have is the freedom of a son of the master. We are adopted into the family of God. That’s Lord God almighty, creator of everything, master of all. We are his son. And yet we, for lack of a better word, whore ourselves back to sin.
Lord help me to stay faithful to the truth that I am your son, bought with the blood of Christ, help me to keep in the forefront of my mind the weight of what that means, help me to fight the desire to run back to my vomit.
I was reading an article today about how the new tower that is to take the place of where the world trade center used to stand is going to have its name changed. The name originally was Freedom tower. Now they want to change it. And it has people in an uproar. It made me think… why? I don’t believe we really have freedom in this country. Well I guess we do have freedom but I am thinking about freedom. Go with me for a minute.
Freedom-“liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another”.
When I think of freedom I tend to go to idea that we some how have a God given right to do what ever we want when we want without consequences. But that is not what the Bible says. The Bible says that we are bought with a price. We are slaves to sin, and Jesus bought our freedom with his own blood. WE ARE FREE. Then why do we return to our old slave master. He treated us like crap, he hated us and had no desire to see us live to our fullest and yet Jesus came to give us life and to give it to us abundantly. Jesus gives us a life that it is far better then anything our old sinful master can give us. Yet why do we run back to our old master?
I believe it is because people (and I totally include myself in this) really do not believe we are free. What a devastating lie that Satan tells us. He tells us that we are not free. If we take the idea of slave and master and put ourselves there it would look like this. We are post 13th amendment, we know we are free, we know that we can go live on our own land, we can have a better life and yet we stay at our old masters house being beat half to death, and living in squalor. The only problem with this analogy is this. The 13th amendment doesn’t come close to describing what kind of freedom we have. We were not just given freedom, we were bought with Christ’s blood, the freedom we have is the freedom of a son of the master. We are adopted into the family of God. That’s Lord God almighty, creator of everything, master of all. We are his son. And yet we, for lack of a better word, whore ourselves back to sin.
Lord help me to stay faithful to the truth that I am your son, bought with the blood of Christ, help me to keep in the forefront of my mind the weight of what that means, help me to fight the desire to run back to my vomit.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Render to Caesar what is Caesars
Mark 12:17- And Jesus answering said to them, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's…
As I sit at my computer this fine Saturday afternoon I pour over the stack of papers sitting in front of me, hoping to some how see a miracle jump out of my Taxes. For the first time in my life I owe Taxes, not a problem if I was still making the same amount of money I was at the end of 2008. The problem… I am not. My income was cut by half since December and the costs of life have gone up. Not only do I owe Taxes. I owe a lot of taxes, close to a month’s paycheck.
The first thought after I saw that infamous RED word around a massive 4 digit monetary value saying OWE not REFUND, was what gives. Why me? Why now? Why not last year? Why not a 2 or 3 digit amount owed? And then I started to get pissed. Real pissed, I swore at my computer, I swore at my stupidity, I swore at our government and I swore at the situation.
So I went to the Lord, and I went to the Word. And the verse that came to mind was of course Mark 12:17. It says we are to give to our leaders the money owed to our leaders. I know at this point some people would start going into a rant over why should we give our taxes to a government that is using our money on things we don’t agree with, stem cell research, gay marriage rights, abortion, evolution classes in school etc. But that is not the fight that Jesus calls us to in this verse. This verse I believe isn’t even about paying taxes. This verse is about giving to God the things that are Gods. This verse is not an economical verse; this verse is a kick in the spiritual pants to give to God what is His, namely. PRAISE, HONOR AND GLORY.
How many people this time of year think about this verse and say “I guess I will give the government what they deserve” without even thinking about the meat of this verse. So you owe $2,300, praise the Lord. So the government is using your money to fund abortions, cry for those unborn children, weep for the sin of man, and praise the Lord. So the economy is in the pits and you lost your job, praise Lord. Praise the Lord oh my soul praise the Lord.
Prayer- May the words of mouth and meditations of my heart be pleasing to you Oh Lord. May I not boast in the ability of man to fix numbers. God grant me the eyes to see through the trials, the pits, the fog, the hardship, the momentary evil that will so easily strangle my faith. Lord help me. Help me to follow your precepts, to, yes, pay my taxes but pay knowing I am obeying. Help me to give cheerfully to my Church, help me to give you what is yours, cheerfully not out of duty but because I desire to praise you, I desire to see you lifted high, I desire to bring you glory.
As I sit at my computer this fine Saturday afternoon I pour over the stack of papers sitting in front of me, hoping to some how see a miracle jump out of my Taxes. For the first time in my life I owe Taxes, not a problem if I was still making the same amount of money I was at the end of 2008. The problem… I am not. My income was cut by half since December and the costs of life have gone up. Not only do I owe Taxes. I owe a lot of taxes, close to a month’s paycheck.
The first thought after I saw that infamous RED word around a massive 4 digit monetary value saying OWE not REFUND, was what gives. Why me? Why now? Why not last year? Why not a 2 or 3 digit amount owed? And then I started to get pissed. Real pissed, I swore at my computer, I swore at my stupidity, I swore at our government and I swore at the situation.
So I went to the Lord, and I went to the Word. And the verse that came to mind was of course Mark 12:17. It says we are to give to our leaders the money owed to our leaders. I know at this point some people would start going into a rant over why should we give our taxes to a government that is using our money on things we don’t agree with, stem cell research, gay marriage rights, abortion, evolution classes in school etc. But that is not the fight that Jesus calls us to in this verse. This verse I believe isn’t even about paying taxes. This verse is about giving to God the things that are Gods. This verse is not an economical verse; this verse is a kick in the spiritual pants to give to God what is His, namely. PRAISE, HONOR AND GLORY.
How many people this time of year think about this verse and say “I guess I will give the government what they deserve” without even thinking about the meat of this verse. So you owe $2,300, praise the Lord. So the government is using your money to fund abortions, cry for those unborn children, weep for the sin of man, and praise the Lord. So the economy is in the pits and you lost your job, praise Lord. Praise the Lord oh my soul praise the Lord.
Prayer- May the words of mouth and meditations of my heart be pleasing to you Oh Lord. May I not boast in the ability of man to fix numbers. God grant me the eyes to see through the trials, the pits, the fog, the hardship, the momentary evil that will so easily strangle my faith. Lord help me. Help me to follow your precepts, to, yes, pay my taxes but pay knowing I am obeying. Help me to give cheerfully to my Church, help me to give you what is yours, cheerfully not out of duty but because I desire to praise you, I desire to see you lifted high, I desire to bring you glory.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Why do we call it Ministry
It has been about 8 years since I started ministry on an official level, but I was thinking the other day. Why do I define it by years, why do I define it by months, why do I define it at all? Shouldn’t my every day life be a ministry, shouldn’t I be ministry in steed of weighing out the success and or failure of ministry by tangible measurements of time? But first I must define ministry. Webster says- “the office, duties, or functions of a minister”. Ok great, well what is a minister? Once again the glorious ever quoted; under appreciated, allusive Webster says that you can use the word agent to describe a minister I really like this because an agent is. – “one that acts or exerts power”.
For those who are in relationship with Jesus; and I’m not talking simple “smiles and giggles I love Jesus and wear a bracelet that says so kind of relationship”. I am talking about a relationship with Jesus where you fully trust him, but more importantly you offer your service to him. These people are the ones I am talk to. You have power,
2 Timothy 1:7- For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
So all of this to say that as an “agent” (minister) of Jesus I need to stop measuring success of ministry, success of being an agent to mere time. If I am to live for Christ in such a way that I can count my self as a true follower of Christ, I will be a minister, I will be an agent, because I have been given the spirit of power and I must exert that power to go boldly forward. (I could write for ever about what forward means, but for the sake of time I will merely say use your brain, you know what I mean by forward; up, greater, larger, more… anything that represents doing more.)
So to myself and others who count themselves as followers of Christ. STOP. Stop measuring success in ministry by time, numbers, followers, etc. and start measuring success by how you are acting or exerting power, and how you are doing it in such away that others want to join in on that wonderful gift of being a minister or agent of power, namely the power of God. (don’t worry I will go further with this one later)
For those who are in relationship with Jesus; and I’m not talking simple “smiles and giggles I love Jesus and wear a bracelet that says so kind of relationship”. I am talking about a relationship with Jesus where you fully trust him, but more importantly you offer your service to him. These people are the ones I am talk to. You have power,
2 Timothy 1:7- For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
So all of this to say that as an “agent” (minister) of Jesus I need to stop measuring success of ministry, success of being an agent to mere time. If I am to live for Christ in such a way that I can count my self as a true follower of Christ, I will be a minister, I will be an agent, because I have been given the spirit of power and I must exert that power to go boldly forward. (I could write for ever about what forward means, but for the sake of time I will merely say use your brain, you know what I mean by forward; up, greater, larger, more… anything that represents doing more.)
So to myself and others who count themselves as followers of Christ. STOP. Stop measuring success in ministry by time, numbers, followers, etc. and start measuring success by how you are acting or exerting power, and how you are doing it in such away that others want to join in on that wonderful gift of being a minister or agent of power, namely the power of God. (don’t worry I will go further with this one later)
Hitler changed Europe i don't think he fixed anything
this was a blog i wrote a while ago but thought i would share it anyways.
Since when has the word “change” been equal or greater to the definition of “fixing” something? And right now you may be thinking that I am going to talk about politics and as much as I would love to I will refrain, as much as I feel what I am saying can apply to the political bull crap that is going on I will not go there. What I want to know is why we use this idea of “changing”, as our approach to ministry as a fix? No doubt in my mind that the American Church has been failing regularly. What I have seen is a desire by many different groups to fix the problem of the Church; whatever that might be, each group picks something else that needs to change. But instead of fixing anything they just change things. They make church services more fun, less offensive, add a coffee shop, and remove the pews, thinking that changing these things is fixing the problems. Change has never unequivocally equaled fix. To fix something you must declare the wrong first and foremost, then stop the wrong, then start adding more of the good (you may ask what is good, and once again I will say use your brain, the antitheses of the wrong, the things that glorify God, the things of the Spirit not of the world Etc.). In this case READ THE BIBLE YOU DUMMIES. Where do the answers to life’s questions lie? The Holy God breathed Scripture that is without fault. You want to see lives changed and people devote their lives to God? “Psalm 119:9- How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” Oh taste and see that the Lord is good, and do so soaking up his teachings through reading his Holy powerful word.
Since when has the word “change” been equal or greater to the definition of “fixing” something? And right now you may be thinking that I am going to talk about politics and as much as I would love to I will refrain, as much as I feel what I am saying can apply to the political bull crap that is going on I will not go there. What I want to know is why we use this idea of “changing”, as our approach to ministry as a fix? No doubt in my mind that the American Church has been failing regularly. What I have seen is a desire by many different groups to fix the problem of the Church; whatever that might be, each group picks something else that needs to change. But instead of fixing anything they just change things. They make church services more fun, less offensive, add a coffee shop, and remove the pews, thinking that changing these things is fixing the problems. Change has never unequivocally equaled fix. To fix something you must declare the wrong first and foremost, then stop the wrong, then start adding more of the good (you may ask what is good, and once again I will say use your brain, the antitheses of the wrong, the things that glorify God, the things of the Spirit not of the world Etc.). In this case READ THE BIBLE YOU DUMMIES. Where do the answers to life’s questions lie? The Holy God breathed Scripture that is without fault. You want to see lives changed and people devote their lives to God? “Psalm 119:9- How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” Oh taste and see that the Lord is good, and do so soaking up his teachings through reading his Holy powerful word.
Blinders or Just blind
I was struck by the overwhelming desire to smack myself and about 300 million Americans upside the head this morning. As I sat at a coffee reading my bible and taking time to write in my journal, I started to people watch. What I noticed is, even in Minnesota (the supposed nicest, kindest, state in the country) people are rude, not just others but myself included. We walk around with these blinders on to anyone else. We open doors and walk through not even taking the time to look and see if there is even anyone else behind them that they might want to hold the door for. I saw three people walk in at the same time, none of them even thinking of holding the door for fear that they will have to wait a whopping 30 more seconds for there coffee. Then to see thing 1, thing 2 and thing 3 bolt in the door just to see thing 2 cut off thing 1, assumedly because he wasn’t walking fast enough. All of this to bring up a question. Are we walking around with blinders on or are we just blind?
Have we gotten to a point in our society that we no longer put blinders on because we have been doing it for so long that we are now actually blind to the others around us, blind to anyone else, and blind to any body else’s needs. I ask are we deliberately blocking others out of our lives, or have we done it for so long that it now comes so natural to us that we don’t even realize we are doing it?
Have we gotten to a point in our society that we no longer put blinders on because we have been doing it for so long that we are now actually blind to the others around us, blind to anyone else, and blind to any body else’s needs. I ask are we deliberately blocking others out of our lives, or have we done it for so long that it now comes so natural to us that we don’t even realize we are doing it?
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