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Have you ever been around someone who makes you feel excited about being a part of the kingdom of God? Just being near this person makes your spirit soar, and you can’t explain why? Maybe you have felt that way just being in the Lord’s presence, or reading His Word. I am excited. Every day is a chance to rejoice in the Lord for what He has done for us, and what He has given us. Guys, God is moving in so many ways right now, we honestly have no clue about all of the things he is working in the backgrounds of our lives right now. The most awesome times are when He gives us just a glimpse of what He is doing in our lives, or the lives of others, and whenever I get to experience that, I am always humbled at how great of a God we serve. My wife says that God is the ultimate multi-tasker. I believe that. It amazes me how He works, how is He is constantly wanting to be involved in every detail of our daily lives. He loves us that much!
He has brought about some things in my own life during the month of January, that I wasn’t aware of. He showed me how important obedience is (again), how that even when we fail, He loves us so much, that He is right there to pick us back up again, and put us on our feet. For months now I thought I had lost my mind. I want nothing more than to serve the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind. I want to reach out to those who are both in the church and outside the church, and bring the church to them. There are people out here in our community who may never step foot inside of a church for many different reasons. Maybe they’ve been hurt by a church, or others in a church. They may not understand this whole ‘Christianity’ thing. They might even think that there is no way that God could love them. There are so many people out there without the Hope and the Joy that the Lord gives us. It truly breaks my heart for them. We have an awesome responsibility to bring the church to these people, by living it out in front of them. The enemy has got most of us so busy with day to day things, church things, all of which are good things, but he’s kept us so busy doing good things, that we are too exhausted to even think about doing God things. By the end of the day we are beat. We feel as though we’ve done our part. I believe that God has so much more in store for our lives than what we are experiencing. Getting outside the doors of our church where we feel safe and comfortable and getting involved in the community around us, sharing the gospel with others, when sometimes that may mean we don’t even have to say a word. Loving those that others would consider unlovable. Serving the people that others don’t want to serve. Being the hands and feet of Jesus to those people outside the walls of our church.
You can call it a revolution of the heart if you want, but honestly it’s what God is already calling us to do. I love our church, and the relationships that we have built with others in it. But we are safe there, we are comfortable doing our time so to speak on Wednesdays and Sundays. God has so much more for us. The message series that Brother John has been teaching on about the Early Church and how those people lived is a biblical example of how we are all called to live as believers. I am so excited about what each day has for me, and I look forward to seeing how God is working each and every day. I’m excited about how he is changing lives every day, and ultimately drawing us closer to him. He has set us free! I feel like we are wasting so much time, and we are not living as though we’ve been set free. Satan was defeated over 2000 years ago at the cross! He may prowl about like a roaring lion, but in reality he has been de-clawed and de-fanged. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? I hope each of you has a blessed day!
1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?
9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?
In addition to these ten questions, here are twenty-one more to help you “Consider your ways.” Think on the entire list at one sitting, or answer one question each day for a month.
11. What’s the most important decision you need to make this year?
12. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what’s one way you could simplify in that area?
13. What’s the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?
14. What habit would you most like to establish this year?
15. Who do you most want to encourage this year?
16. What is your most important financial goal this year, and what is the most important step you can take toward achieving it?
17. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your work life this year?
18. What’s one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or to another who ministers to you) this year?
19. What’s one thing you could do this year to enrich the spiritual legacy you will leave to your children and grandchildren?
20. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?
21. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?
22. What single blessing from God do you want to seek most earnestly this year?
23. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?
24. What’s the most important trip you want to take this year?
25. What skill do you most want to learn or improve this year?
26. To what need or ministry will you try to give an unprecedented amount this year?
27. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your commute this year?
28. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?
29. If those who know you best gave you one piece of advice, what would they say? Would they be right? What will you do about it?
30. What’s the most important new item you want to buy this year?
31. In what area of your life do you most need change, and what will you do about it this year?
Science vs. God
“Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ.”
The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.
“You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?”
“Yes sir,” the student says.
“So you believe in God?”
“Absolutely.”
“Is God good?”
“Sure! God’s good.”
“Is God all-powerful?
Can God do anything?”
“Yes.”
“Are you good or evil?”
“The Bible says I’m evil.”
The professor grins knowingly. “Aha! The Bible!” He considers for a moment. “Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?”
“Yes sir, I would.”
“So you’re good…!”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could.. But God doesn’t.”
The student does not answer, so the professor continues. “He doesn’t, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?”
The student remains silent.
“No, you can’t, can you?” the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.
“Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?”
“Er.yes,” the student says.
“Is Satan good?”
The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. “No.”
“Then where does Satan come from?”
The student : “From…God…”
“That’s right. God made Satan , didn’t he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?”
“Yes, sir. “
“Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?”
“Yes.”
“So who created evil?” The professor continued, “If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.”
Without allowing the student to answer, the professor continues: “Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?”
The student: “Yes.”
“So who created them?”
The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. “Who created them? There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.
“Tell me,” he continues onto another student. “Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?”
The student’s voice is confident: “Yes, professor, I do.”
The old man stops pacing. “Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?”
“No sir. I’ve never seen Him”
“Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?”
“No, sir, I have not.”
“Have you ever actually felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?”
“No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.”
“Yet you still believe in him?”
“Yes.”
“According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?”
“Nothing,” the student replies. “I only have my faith.”
“Yes, faith,” the professor repeats. “And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.”
The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of his own. “Professor, is there such thing as heat?”
“Yes,” the professor replies. “There’s heat.”
“And is there such a thing as cold?”
“Yes, son, there’s cold too.”
“No sir, there isn’t.”
The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain..
“You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat.
You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.”
Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.
“What about darkness, professor.. Is there such a thing as darkness?”
“Yes,” the professor replies without hesitation. “What is night if it isn’t darkness?”
“You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it’s called darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?”
The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. “So what point are you making, young man?”
“Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.”
The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time. “Flawed? Can you explain how?”
“You are working on the premise of duality,” the student explains. “You argue that there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it..”
“Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?”
” If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do”
“Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?”
The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.
“Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?”
The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.
“To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.”
The student looks around the room.. “Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?” The class breaks out into laughter.
“Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelled the professor’s brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir. So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?”
Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.
Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. “I guess you’ll have to take them on faith.”
“Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,” the student continues. “Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?”
Now uncertain, the professor responds, “Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world These manifestations are nothing else but evil.”
To this the student replied, “Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto it self. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God..
God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.”
The professor sat down.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been doing a study on our thought process. We are bombarded everyday with things hat can infiltrate our minds. Satan would like nothing better than to stop up our minds with the things of the world.
It time we get serious about what we allow to be absorbed. This can only happen with pursuing an intentional approach that causes us to examine our relationship with Christ.
We need to be able to recall and confess our shortcomings. This means everything. From who we talk about, what we talk about, as well as the heart we do this with. By doing this we can begin to fully receive all that is given to us through the Holy Spirit.
This can be achieved by spending more time in prayer. Yes, I said more time in Prayer. I know everyone says they don’t have a lot of extra time. That is simply not true!!!!!!! We can make time to watch our favorite TV show, enjoy our “ME” time or any another excuse we can come up with. Here is the deal, if you can live with that fact that you don’t have all that God has to offer, or that your heart is o.k. where it is at, than you can delete this now. If you choose to continue reading, hang on. I am going to pose some questions that will cause you to reflect on how radical or reckless you are willing to be. In order for us to experience a true relationship with God than we need to look at our thoughts and where they will takes.
Do lustful, unclean thoughts frequent your mind? We as men are well aware of what this question means!!!!
Are you conscious of these thoughts?
Do you have thoughts that you wouldn’t others to know?
Do your priorities line up with our calling?
WHEN AND THEY WILL, REPLACE THEM WITH A SCRIPTURE
These are just a few questions to get your wheels turning. Remember we need to saturate our minds daily with scripture this needs to become a daily habit, this is the only way we can fully over come the lies Satan tells. We need to be able to combat his lies with TRUTH!
All for now, hope you all have a Great Day!
Chad Hicks
Do not speak evil of one another, brethren.
James 4:11
Why is it so easy to point out the faults of others and gossip about them instead of encouraging them? Maybe it makes us feel better about our own shortcomings; perhaps we just enjoy hearing the “juice” about others. Whatever the reason, it is sin, yet many of us continue to do it.
One man found a way to combat this problem in his church. It was a formula he came up with that the members of the church had to apply before speaking to anyone. T.H.I.N.K.: T – is it True? H – is it Helpful? I – is it Inspiring? N – is it Necessary? K – is it Kind? If what they were about to say did not pass the above test, they were to keep their mouths shut. It worked!
Today, we need to pay attention to what we say to others. Are we gossiping and slandering or are we a source of encouragement? If we cannot honestly say we are the latter, we need to ask God to soften our heart and help us become an example of His encouraging love to those around us.
Last night doing our Men’s study this was a question we were presented with:
If you were stranded on a deserted island, and the only thing you had was a Bible to read, what conclusions would you come to about following Christ?
So if you were on this island, and you read this book every day, without commentaries, sermons about the chapters, or anyone else’s input, what conclusions would you have about what is required to become a follower of Christ?
That was pretty much the direction God has led me to focus on for this week. I’ve heard some people say that we shouldn’t take God’s word so literally. But I’m wondering why we aren’t. For instance, whenever I read this verse: Matthew 16: 24-25 says Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” I take that to mean that if we are to follow Christ, that we have to deny ourselves, our fleshly desires, our motives, our plans, all of the ‘stuff’ we have in our lives, and follow Him without any motive other than loving Him and wanting to know Him.
We are following so much of our own plans and desires, our motivations, our goals, that most of the time we don’t even take the time to ask God if it is what He wants for us. We just do what we ‘feel’ is best, and ask Him to bless it, without ever asking Him if it is what He wants for us. We question God sometimes and wonder why it is that He hasn’t moved us from where we are at yet, but we refuse to listen to Him whenever He asks us to submit to His Will. Or even worse, we pick and choose what we are submitting to Him. Because we let Him have a lot of the bigger things, but we refuse to let go of those small things that we are holding onto.
In Sunday School we are studying a very daunting word – obedience. How can we grow if we are not obedient to Him?
I encourage everyone this week to think about the question that I started off with. If you were on that island stranded with nothing but a Bible, what would your conclusion be about how we should follow Christ? Would our churches look like they do currently? Would our worship services feel different? How would it truly affect our hearts and attitudes? If we actually lived out how Christ has called us to live based on reading the Bible and taking the Word for what it is, how much different would our lives look? Would the lost look at us any differently? Would they want what we have?
Teenagers catch a lot of flack. They always have. For some reason, if you’re between twelve and twenty, you’re motives will always be questioned. Why is this?
Well our typical responses would look a lot more like this:
You drive too fast, you think too slow, you aren’t responsible, and you can’t be trusted. The music you listen to is obscene, the stuff you read is shallow or sleazy, the places you go are loud and low class. Your clothes are wrinkled, your room’s a wreck, your friends are cheap, your stereo’s too loud, and your work is sloppy. And dare I mention manners? You talk with your mouth full, you slump and slurp, you don’t look people in the eye, you treat your brother and sister like they are diseased, and you belch like there’s no tomorrow. You’re allergic to things like homework, dirty dishes, vacations with the family, hanging up the phone, saying “Thank you,” the “off” switch on the TV, getting up in the morning, and going to bed at night.
If you’ve got money, you’re probably dealing drugs, or stealing it. If you’re interested in church, it’s probably because there’s a hot guy or girl you’re lookin’ at. If you date a lot, you’re probably messing around. If you don’t come home when you said you would, you’re probably where you shouldn’t be. If you’re not thinking about your future, you probably have no ambition. And if you don’t get a job, you’re a slob. If you smile real big, you’re up to something. If you frown at times, you’ve got a rotten attitude. If you cough a lot, you’ve been smoking pot, and if you weave out of your lane, you’re obviously drunk.
Getting weary of all this? So are they.
It’s obvious that they feel like “I can’t win.” There are exceptions, I realize, but for the most part, the teens of today are loaded with talent, have incredible potential, and whenever they get motivated, can accomplish some amazing things.
I love our teenagers. With all their imperfections, I appreciate their gut-level honesty. (Have you noticed? They can spot a religious phony a block away.) I also admire their resilience in the middle of disillusioned parents who split up, and I applaud their effort to stay morally pure while wading through the cesspool of magazine racks, rock concerts, movies full of lust and profanity, and cable TV. What surprises me is that more aren’t delinquent.
The world is throwing so much at them, but lets look at where the root of the problem is. Who’s running Hollywood? The Music Scene? The News? TV? The adults are. Who is running the bars, and selling alcohol to minors? Adults, plain and simple. We are real quick to condemn our teenagers, and blame things on everything else, but who is in charge of ‘everything else’? The kids aren’t the ones putting this garbage out there. We (the adults) are.
So you might be thinking that why, is a better question, but for me, that is such a simple answer. Money. It sells. All this stuff makes them rich. Adults are buying into it just as much as the kids are.
How can these kids know what is right and wrong? It has to start at home. Kids that wander do it, because the parents do it. They start drinking and smoking because the parents do it. They overspend, they can’t manage money, because they see us living beyond our means. They watch all the garbage on tv, because we are right there, rooting it on! Kids are only doing what we are teaching them. I see more and more how it’s not the kids that aren’t delinquent, its the adults. As parents we’ve got to rise up against what this world has to offer, and show our kids that living a life for Christ is the only life to live. They won’t understand it, unless they see us living it. How can we live it, if we are knee deep in it too?
We have to start by coming before Christ, asking for forgiveness, and start praying that He will change our hearts. If we are sincere about it, and ask, He will do it. We are the examples that our kids will look to, whenever trouble comes. What better example could we possibly portray than that of Jesus?
Faith is not merely you holding on to God—it is God holding on to you. ~E. Stanley Jones
God can do all that we need. ~Juliana of Norwich
God calls each of us in secret to make certain sacrifices which always involve a risk, even though it may differ from person to person. He does not promise us success, or even final victory in this life. God does not promise that He will protect us from trials, from material cares, from sickness, from physical or moral suffering. He promises only that He will be with us in all these trials, and that He will sustain us if they remain faithful to Him. ~Paul Tournier
I was learning something important: we are most vulnerable to the piercing winds of doubt when we distance ourselves from the mission and fellowship to which Christ has called us. Our night of discouragement will seem endless and our task impossible, unless we recognize that He stands in our midst. ~Joni Eareckson Tada
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Another Declaration of Independence: Freedom in Christ
Mike Pohlman
Like millions of Americans this week, my mind is on the Fourth of July holiday and what it represents: our freedom as a nation. This freedom is a precious thing, bought with the sweat, toil and blood of countless Americans who initially fought to obtain it (Revolutionary War), as well as those who have fought to secure it in the centuries since that fateful day in 1776. Gratitude without measure wells up in my heart when I consider the brave men and women of the American military who, this Fourth of July, will be fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan to combat the tyranny of terrorism. These soldiers stand in the train of valiant warriors who fought in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and the first Gulf War. Each of these conflicts–while unique in themselves–shared the common goal of protecting American freedom. Today’s battles are no different. But even as I prize my freedom as an American, I am moved to consider a greater freedom–my freedom in Christ. It is the freedom that comes with being a disciple of Jesus Christ. “If you abide in my word,” our Lord declares, “you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). This statement was shocking to Jesus’ audience. These proud men thought they already had all the freedom they needed by virtue of being “offspring of Abraham” (8:33). Jesus proceeds to point them beyond any national, social or religious freedom they might enjoy to the freedom that comes through His person and work: “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin … So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (8:34,36). Contrary to what Jesus’ listeners thought, they were in bondage to sin and subject to the tyranny of it. Commenting on this passage of Scripture Leon Morris writes, “People do not always, or even usually, realize that they are in bondage. They tend to rest in some fancied position of privilege, national, social or religious. So these Jews, proud of their religion, did not even know their need to be free.” Even as Christians we can fall prey to the temptation to trust in other things for our freedom from the tyranny of sin: status, money, good works, associations, etc. But the true disciple finds freedom in Christ and Christ alone. What am I trusting in today? The Fourth of July is a wonderful time to consider our freedom–as Americans and as Christians. Our national freedom is precious, but our freedom in Christ is of infinite worth. The great hymn writer Charles Wesley was undoubtedly moved by his freedom in Christ when in 1738 he penned this stanza: Long my imprisoned spirit lay, May this “Declaration of Independence” be on my lips and in my heart this Fourth of July holiday. As you celebrate the Fourth of July, think of creative ways to make the “Declaration” of freedom in Christ to family and friends. How can this holiday be a bridge to our loved ones to share the gospel? Original publication date: July 3, 2008 |
