Dearest few and faithful readers,
I've decided to start a different blog. I know, I know... I barely started this one. For reasons listed in my first blog post on the new site, I am moving on to greener blog pages with broader subject matters. For those of you who are so dissapointed in me that you refuse to venture to the far reaches of a weblink, I am adding the post here as well in the text that follows. Thanks for your comments and encouragement. I hope to see you all on...
http://mycurrentthought.blogspot.com/
New Blog
I still think blogs are weird. I don't understand them. I don't know why we make or read them; but I really enjoy them. This new blog won't be much different than my old blog. In fact, the only reason I'm starting this blog is that I felt to tied down in subject matter by the previous blogs title. The title, in my opinion, was also a little too negative sounding - and since I was hoping to encourage people through it, it seemed a bit too unwelcoming. Although I like to read things that are a bit controversial from time to time, I probably wouldn't read a book entitled: Let me tell you why you're a bad person (actually, I probably would). Anyway, here are my current thoughts - I hope they encourage, challenge, uplift, and frighten you in appropriate amounts.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Thursday, November 18, 2010
What if Christians actually were living sacrifices.
I am sitting in what is probably my favorite coffee place in the world (I haven't been many places), and I think I'm starting to get something. Maybe if we are really going to be able to live lives of worship, where we give everything we have to God, we should be more concerned, at least at first, with doing as much as we can, instead of the best we can.
Let me clarify - I think we should all strive to be great and do great things for Gods glory by His strength, but we, as individuals, will never fully arrive or be made perfect in anything. If we are always waiting to reach a certain level of authority or skill before stepping out - we will miss out on so much.
I think we (and by we I mean me and probably at least someone else) get too bogged down by giving only our best, instead of really living a sacrificial life. God deserves our best, this is absolutely true, but he also deserves our all. There are times when all of us don't try because we're just not sure how it will turn out.
If I only attempt to serve God when I'm at my best, I will probably live a semi-useless life. The truth is I am a perfectionist, and in my desire to make things perfect in my own strength I forget that it's not about what I can do anyway. God does the work through me.
Maybe I should really try to make the most of every opportunity, instead of trying to make a few opportunities as exceptional as I can. And maybe I have it all wrong, I haven't spent years studying this subject - but I would rather try and fail than not try.
Let me clarify - I think we should all strive to be great and do great things for Gods glory by His strength, but we, as individuals, will never fully arrive or be made perfect in anything. If we are always waiting to reach a certain level of authority or skill before stepping out - we will miss out on so much.
I think we (and by we I mean me and probably at least someone else) get too bogged down by giving only our best, instead of really living a sacrificial life. God deserves our best, this is absolutely true, but he also deserves our all. There are times when all of us don't try because we're just not sure how it will turn out.
If I only attempt to serve God when I'm at my best, I will probably live a semi-useless life. The truth is I am a perfectionist, and in my desire to make things perfect in my own strength I forget that it's not about what I can do anyway. God does the work through me.
Maybe I should really try to make the most of every opportunity, instead of trying to make a few opportunities as exceptional as I can. And maybe I have it all wrong, I haven't spent years studying this subject - but I would rather try and fail than not try.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
What if Christians actually were Samaritans?
1 Peter 4:9 - 10 "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms (NIV)."
If you're reading this blog odds are you know the story of the good Samaritan (odds are also good you are a close relative). In the story the only man willing to serve a nearly dead individual was his "social enemy." The good Samaritan is a hero.
What about us - are we using our gifts to serve our enemies? Are we even using them to serve our friends? I believe, that to some extent, most of us are serving in some way. The real question is it something that we have to force ourselves to do - or is it a natural outpouring of who we are. The Samaritan probably had other plans that day. There was probably other things that he was going to use his money for - but when the need arose he responded because he was a servant - not just a person who serves.
The most ironic part of us not serving more is that few things in life are more fulfilling. You rarely hear someone complaining about serving after it happens (unless of course it was government mandated). In fact, almost everyone I have talked to who has come back from a missions trip talk about how it has changed their life. Why? Because when we take our focus off of our selfish selves and set it on serving others, we are that much closer to living like Jesus did (See Phil 2:1-8). There has to be a way for us to set aside selfishness without paying for a plane ticket to see how others live. We need to live our lives with others' interests in mind (seriously read Phil 2:1-8).
The challenge this week is not serve someone (especially out of guilt) - but to spend some time studying what it means to be a servant from the biblical viewpoint, and then to pray that God will use you as a servant and not just in an occasional act of service.
If you're reading this blog odds are you know the story of the good Samaritan (odds are also good you are a close relative). In the story the only man willing to serve a nearly dead individual was his "social enemy." The good Samaritan is a hero.
What about us - are we using our gifts to serve our enemies? Are we even using them to serve our friends? I believe, that to some extent, most of us are serving in some way. The real question is it something that we have to force ourselves to do - or is it a natural outpouring of who we are. The Samaritan probably had other plans that day. There was probably other things that he was going to use his money for - but when the need arose he responded because he was a servant - not just a person who serves.
The most ironic part of us not serving more is that few things in life are more fulfilling. You rarely hear someone complaining about serving after it happens (unless of course it was government mandated). In fact, almost everyone I have talked to who has come back from a missions trip talk about how it has changed their life. Why? Because when we take our focus off of our selfish selves and set it on serving others, we are that much closer to living like Jesus did (See Phil 2:1-8). There has to be a way for us to set aside selfishness without paying for a plane ticket to see how others live. We need to live our lives with others' interests in mind (seriously read Phil 2:1-8).
The challenge this week is not serve someone (especially out of guilt) - but to spend some time studying what it means to be a servant from the biblical viewpoint, and then to pray that God will use you as a servant and not just in an occasional act of service.
Monday, October 18, 2010
What if Christians were Lactose Intollerant
1 Corinthians 3: 1 - 3
"Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?" (NIV).
Human appetite is an interesting thing. There are certain things that I like to eat that I think I could eat every single day... forever. I even made the mistake once of saying to my wife and others: "I could probably live on beef jerky and diet coke for the rest of my life." Nothing says "I appreciate all the time and effort you put into making me meals" quite like "I could live on beef jerky and diet coke." My poor wife. I am so lucky she is gracious to me.
The truth is, we can often become satisfied with the way things are and never move on. Paul was yelling at the Corinthian church in these verses because they refused to put worldly things behind them and become mature in their faith. The problem with comfort is that it really does hold back necessary development. There is a process for maturing and each step is necessary. With humans we start on milk, and then there's the gross mashed up food, and ultimately... beef jerky and diet coke. If you have a new baby and jump strait to solid food bad things will happen. The same is true for Christians, there is a process to our growth.
What would happen if you tried to put a third grader in a college level psychology class? You're right, they would pay better attention - but they also wouldn't know what was going on. Now imagine the opposite - what if you're 21 and instead of going to economics at the community college you were still trying to pass your finger painting class? You wouldn't be content with where you are - and we shouldn't be content with where we are on our discipleship journey either. We need to be constantly making steps and growing and not stopping when we are satisfied with where things are.
My challenge for you is to make some practical step towards growth. Set bible study goals (notice I said study - check previous post), make prayer a priority at different times of your day, join a new bible study or small group - just do something to make sure that you aren't trying to coast your way up the narrow road. When we as God's children decide that we are no longer satisfied on our milk diet great things will happen. Don't be fooled by the hilarious commercials with milk mustaches (italics are the sarcasm of the type-written word), milk is only good for babies.
"Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?" (NIV).
Human appetite is an interesting thing. There are certain things that I like to eat that I think I could eat every single day... forever. I even made the mistake once of saying to my wife and others: "I could probably live on beef jerky and diet coke for the rest of my life." Nothing says "I appreciate all the time and effort you put into making me meals" quite like "I could live on beef jerky and diet coke." My poor wife. I am so lucky she is gracious to me.
The truth is, we can often become satisfied with the way things are and never move on. Paul was yelling at the Corinthian church in these verses because they refused to put worldly things behind them and become mature in their faith. The problem with comfort is that it really does hold back necessary development. There is a process for maturing and each step is necessary. With humans we start on milk, and then there's the gross mashed up food, and ultimately... beef jerky and diet coke. If you have a new baby and jump strait to solid food bad things will happen. The same is true for Christians, there is a process to our growth.
What would happen if you tried to put a third grader in a college level psychology class? You're right, they would pay better attention - but they also wouldn't know what was going on. Now imagine the opposite - what if you're 21 and instead of going to economics at the community college you were still trying to pass your finger painting class? You wouldn't be content with where you are - and we shouldn't be content with where we are on our discipleship journey either. We need to be constantly making steps and growing and not stopping when we are satisfied with where things are.
My challenge for you is to make some practical step towards growth. Set bible study goals (notice I said study - check previous post), make prayer a priority at different times of your day, join a new bible study or small group - just do something to make sure that you aren't trying to coast your way up the narrow road. When we as God's children decide that we are no longer satisfied on our milk diet great things will happen. Don't be fooled by the hilarious commercials with milk mustaches (italics are the sarcasm of the type-written word), milk is only good for babies.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
What if Christians actually lived ready?
Matthew 24:44 "You also must be ready all the time. For the Son of Man will come when least expected."(NLT, emphasis added)
It's popular now-a-days to try to avoid "cliche"church things like saying "what would Jesus do" or "live every day like Jesus is coming" - but if we don't ask these questions or do these things we are ignoring what Jesus himself commands us to to in His word. Living a "ready" life is something that is often talked about an encouraged in church, but is hard to understand practically. I am, generally, never fully prepared for anything. I am a procrastinator. When you regularly struggle to be prepared for trash day, it's really hard to imagine being prepared for the second coming of the Messiah.
So how do we do live like Jesus is coming back today? Well, we have a choice. I think many people, if they were honest with themselves, would probably just do whatever they wanted if they knew Jesus was coming back today: call family, spend a crazy amount of money at restaurants, listen to some of Pastor Dave's past sermons online... If it were me, I would probably want to take my wife and daughter somewhere awesome and spend as much time showing them my love as I can - because that's what I love doing. However, I don't think I would allow myself to do only that - and I hope you wouldn't either. I love my family more than anything in this world, but if this is the last day I have on this earth I pray that I live it trying to get as many people as possible to see God's love and know His Son. I hope I would be like Isaiah who said: "Here I am, send me (Isa. 6:8)."
For the record - I in no way agree with those who neglect their families for their ministry - that isn't what God wants either, however if the Son of man is coming when we least expect it, we all need to make sure that as many people are ready as is possible.
My question to you is - did you live ready today? When you go about your day, from place to place, are you looking for opportunities or do you hope no interrupts you so you can do what you went there to do?
My challenge for you this week is to pull out that w.w.j.d bracelet that has been hiding in your sock drawer and realize that it's better to be cliche than to miss what God wants to do through you. (Then if you're like me, you will put the bracelet right back in the drawer.)
It's popular now-a-days to try to avoid "cliche"church things like saying "what would Jesus do" or "live every day like Jesus is coming" - but if we don't ask these questions or do these things we are ignoring what Jesus himself commands us to to in His word. Living a "ready" life is something that is often talked about an encouraged in church, but is hard to understand practically. I am, generally, never fully prepared for anything. I am a procrastinator. When you regularly struggle to be prepared for trash day, it's really hard to imagine being prepared for the second coming of the Messiah.
So how do we do live like Jesus is coming back today? Well, we have a choice. I think many people, if they were honest with themselves, would probably just do whatever they wanted if they knew Jesus was coming back today: call family, spend a crazy amount of money at restaurants, listen to some of Pastor Dave's past sermons online... If it were me, I would probably want to take my wife and daughter somewhere awesome and spend as much time showing them my love as I can - because that's what I love doing. However, I don't think I would allow myself to do only that - and I hope you wouldn't either. I love my family more than anything in this world, but if this is the last day I have on this earth I pray that I live it trying to get as many people as possible to see God's love and know His Son. I hope I would be like Isaiah who said: "Here I am, send me (Isa. 6:8)."
For the record - I in no way agree with those who neglect their families for their ministry - that isn't what God wants either, however if the Son of man is coming when we least expect it, we all need to make sure that as many people are ready as is possible.
My question to you is - did you live ready today? When you go about your day, from place to place, are you looking for opportunities or do you hope no interrupts you so you can do what you went there to do?
My challenge for you this week is to pull out that w.w.j.d bracelet that has been hiding in your sock drawer and realize that it's better to be cliche than to miss what God wants to do through you. (Then if you're like me, you will put the bracelet right back in the drawer.)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
What if Christians actually followed Jesus?
In the bible when Jesus said "Follow me" (Mt. 4:19, Mk 1:17, etc.) the people literally left what they were doing and physically followed Him. They didn't continue to fish with promises to act more like Jesus - they made the choice to ACTUALLY follow Jesus where He wanted to lead them.
I understand that you may think that this is impossible today. You might say: "Jesus is up in heaven sitting on his La -Z - Boy throne (do you think the King of Kings is sitting on an uncomfortable chair?) praying for us. How can I follow Him physically?" Well I'm glad you asked. You can ask Him where to go. You can ask Him what you should be doing. If you are doing the same things the same way you did them before Jesus came into your life - how are you following Him? Maybe you're just observing Him; maybe you are following Him in more of a "twitter sense." You occasionally check in to read His thoughts or see what He's up to. We can make Jesus more of a celebrity to be observed than a Master who we need to obey and follow. If we aren't intentionally following Jesus it's hard to stay on the narrow road, that we are told leads to life. If we do things the way we think we should and hope it lines up with God's purpose for us I think we'll be unpleasantly surprised. I think we'll be more like the people in the crowd who instead of really listening to Jesus, were just waiting to see Him do a miracle or ask Him to do something for us. We need to really follow Him.
This week you should make an effort to pray and study God's word and seek out where God may be leading you. Also re-read prov. 3:5,6 - an important reminder that we need to follow Jesus.
I understand that you may think that this is impossible today. You might say: "Jesus is up in heaven sitting on his La -Z - Boy throne (do you think the King of Kings is sitting on an uncomfortable chair?) praying for us. How can I follow Him physically?" Well I'm glad you asked. You can ask Him where to go. You can ask Him what you should be doing. If you are doing the same things the same way you did them before Jesus came into your life - how are you following Him? Maybe you're just observing Him; maybe you are following Him in more of a "twitter sense." You occasionally check in to read His thoughts or see what He's up to. We can make Jesus more of a celebrity to be observed than a Master who we need to obey and follow. If we aren't intentionally following Jesus it's hard to stay on the narrow road, that we are told leads to life. If we do things the way we think we should and hope it lines up with God's purpose for us I think we'll be unpleasantly surprised. I think we'll be more like the people in the crowd who instead of really listening to Jesus, were just waiting to see Him do a miracle or ask Him to do something for us. We need to really follow Him.
This week you should make an effort to pray and study God's word and seek out where God may be leading you. Also re-read prov. 3:5,6 - an important reminder that we need to follow Jesus.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
What if Christians actually studied instead of skimming the cliff notes.
The other day I was on a website that had a brightly colored blinking banner that said something like "YOU'RE OUR 1,000,000 VISITOR, CLICK ON THIS TO COLLECT YOUR SWEET PRIZE." I of course, being the realist that I am, immediately clicked on the link and followed all of the directions to receive this prize. I'm not sure what happened - but for some reason I couldn't find out how to collect my prize. So I spend the next 5 hours on hold with customer service asking for money, and have sent at least 5 emails... it seems like more of a long shot now but I have high hopes.
These types of scams are nothing new, even before the Internet was a thing I can remember my parents and grandparents getting mail saying that they were contenders for $10,000. When we see things like this we know it's too good to be true; that there must be some catch. However, I know way to many Christians who read the Bible and believe things that may seem a little to good be true, without reading any of the fine print. "Give me all of the blessings with none of the consequences please!" Let me give you an example of two parallel verses from the gospels.
Matthew 7: 7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Luke 11: 9"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
11"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
When you look at these two verses, which both give an account of a particular teaching of Jesus, you notice that one says that God will give goods gifts, while the other says that He will give the Holy Spirit. Did one of these men write it down wrong? No. They both say the same thing, just differently. If Luke says the Holy Spirit, and Matthew says good gifts, isn't it possible that the good gifts Matthew mentions are in fact the gifts of the Holy Spirit? I think they are. Some people like to think the Matthew version gives them license to ask for nice things, I don't. Don't get me wrong, God does want to and has blessed us, me in particular - this doesn't mean I should be praying for a nicer house or golf clubs.
Whether or not you disagree with me about this particular example is not the point; the point is that we shouldn't just be reading (or listening to) the Bible, we should be studying, and actually trying to understand it's truth.
Maybe if we all really studied the Word of God, we could live our lives without the disspointment that comes when we feel like God has failed us. After all haven't we read somewhere that God can't fail?
These types of scams are nothing new, even before the Internet was a thing I can remember my parents and grandparents getting mail saying that they were contenders for $10,000. When we see things like this we know it's too good to be true; that there must be some catch. However, I know way to many Christians who read the Bible and believe things that may seem a little to good be true, without reading any of the fine print. "Give me all of the blessings with none of the consequences please!" Let me give you an example of two parallel verses from the gospels.
Matthew 7: 7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Luke 11: 9"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
11"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
When you look at these two verses, which both give an account of a particular teaching of Jesus, you notice that one says that God will give goods gifts, while the other says that He will give the Holy Spirit. Did one of these men write it down wrong? No. They both say the same thing, just differently. If Luke says the Holy Spirit, and Matthew says good gifts, isn't it possible that the good gifts Matthew mentions are in fact the gifts of the Holy Spirit? I think they are. Some people like to think the Matthew version gives them license to ask for nice things, I don't. Don't get me wrong, God does want to and has blessed us, me in particular - this doesn't mean I should be praying for a nicer house or golf clubs.
Whether or not you disagree with me about this particular example is not the point; the point is that we shouldn't just be reading (or listening to) the Bible, we should be studying, and actually trying to understand it's truth.
Maybe if we all really studied the Word of God, we could live our lives without the disspointment that comes when we feel like God has failed us. After all haven't we read somewhere that God can't fail?
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