If at first you don't succeed...Read the Directions!

Lately there has been alot of talk about gay marriage among other issues in our culture. Folks debate about their rights and freedoms and way too often fail to consider the  long-term conseqences of their decisions. In my pride I often tackle a task such as assembling a Saturday morning project ( book shelf for the wife, rocking chair for the porch) and toss the instructions off to the side only to later realize that if I had followed the instructions the project would have worked properly and not have broken. I personally have two careers. As a carpenter a project is never started without referring to the blueprint. Failure to do so would result in a flawed, poorly built , unsafe structure. My second career is in security. As officers in that line of work we have "standards of procedures" that we follow to ensure that we are correctly and efficiently performing our duties required of us, straying from the proper procedures could result in a "leak" or weakness in security, and ultimately our job would be at stake. Our society also has gudelines that we live by, they are called laws. Failure to abide by them usually results in fines or inprisonment.
    It's no big mystery, most of us who are sane know, respect, and understand that if we neglect to follow the laws in life, there are consequences, whether its public laws, guidelines at school or on the job. A lot of people however seem to have forgotten that there is also Gods law, His blueprint for our lives. Don't go there..saying that the Bible is not real or irrelevant...Many  non-believers who have set out to PROVE the Bible is fantasy or fiction ( C.S. Lewis & Josh Mc Dowell for example), ultimately in their research and findings found that the Bible is exactly what it claims to be  ( I will spare you the thousands of findings and endless details which they discovered.)
   It comes down to this; just as we have laws in our land to keep us safe, protect us and to prevent total chaos, God has given us guidelines in the Bible that are there for our own good. Just as the engineer who designs the blueprints for buildings, God our engineer, out of His LOVE for us has given us guidelines in life to protect us, keep us safe and show us the road that, in the end will have the greatest return....eternity in Heaven as opposed to Hell.Think about it,this weeks tragedy in Conneticut for example, we wonder why we have guns in schools,something that was not an issue 25 years ago....It's because we have PUSHED GOD OUT! The absence of light is darknes,the absence of holiness is evil...plain and simple. So go ahead, dust it off and give it a read...you might just find that alot of problems in your life can be resolved after all! God shows us His life plan for OUR own good,not to make life more difficult. In His own words: "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:28-30)

A great resource!

http://livingontheedge.org/

Christianitys Suicide

Christianitys suicide...what do you mean!? Well, I'll tell you. I could write very extensively on the subject but I'll try to sum it up.Over the last several years, since most of us have been alive; Going to "church" has been something we do on Sundays. You know the drill, clean up real nice, put on your best threads and go spend the longest hour of the week sitting through singing 100 year old songs that we don't even know what they mean, and listening to a lecture (sermon) about how bad we are.When it's all over, we can walk out with the warm good feeling as if we've paid our dues for the week, now back to life! That is what it's all about is it not? A beautiful sanctury, pews, stained-glass windows, hymnals, steeples and suit jackets? Well, unfortunately, we the "church" (the people of God) have allowed ourselves to lead many astray by focusing on those irrelevant items that don't have anything to do with "church". First of all, church is not a place you go. It's a name for the followers of Christ.The belief we hold to is Christianity, which boils down to a personal relationship with Jesus.
When we get side-tracked; as we have been for a long time, we loose track of who we really are, we loose track of the gift and reward God has for us and we loose track of those all around us who are hurting and have a variety of needs that we are responsible to meet. God did not send us out to condemn the world, but to love those around us with His love. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Our call, friends is not to "do our time" on Sundays, rather our call is to completely die to our desires and let God have His way with our lives. On Sunday and everyday. And when we do, we will see God work in our lives and in our world in such a way that "church" will have a new, positive meaning in this love hungry world we live in!

"Gloom and Doom" Christians

Have you ever been around someone who is always negative and never has anything good to say? I have, and it's especially bad when those people are supposedly fellow Christians! Well let me tell you,Christians have more reason than anybody to be positive and full of hope and cheer.This world may seem to be falling apart but you know,God never said this world would be perfect. God never said this life would be free of pain, hurtful people, death and lonliness.He did say however that this life is " just a vapor that is here today and gone tommorrow." It is common knowledge that as Christians,our whole goal is to look foreward to a new heaven and new earth that will be perfect,and take as many people with us as we possibly can.Point of the story...buck up ,smile, and move on,God has so much in store for you that you could not possibly comprehend,be excited about it! and don't ruin my day or disscourage a potential believer with your gloom and doom attitude!

What If...

I have always believed that the second chapter of Acts holds the best recorded example of the actions that took place during the "beginning" of the church.With that historical evidence,one can say that there is no excuse for what God expects of the church in todays world.If you read the text you will find that the early church had all things in common...they had unity.Church (Christianity and the furtherment of it ) was their sole priority in life.They met daily with fellow believers.They sold their possesions and gave to "all who had a need". Wow that kind of clashes with Americas whole "shop til you drop" "keeping up with the Joneses" philosophy does it not? They had vision."Vision"? Yes. They saw the things of this world as temporary and perishing..like they are, and grasped the reality that eternity holds a much more rewarding retirement plan than this world could ever offer. They saw hope in the power of the cross and witnessed the power of God. Wow, what if the church today took their walk with the Lord as serious as they did. "What if " we drew near to God and allowed Him to funnel his love through us to those around us and made an eternal possitive impact in our world?" What if " WE sold our possessions to meet the needs of the less fortunate? Is that not what God expects of His church today just as then? Actually it is. He says in His word that if our actions for Him are "luke warm" He will "spew" us from His mouth.It also says that we are to "take up our cross and follow Him." It is a reality, not a suggestion, God wants100% of our lives.Contrary to popular belief we are not to fit Jesus in to our busy lives; our lives are to rotate around Him.

Beyond the National day of Prayer...

Today is when our nation annually sets aside a day to focus on prayer for our country and prayer in general. Students will meet around flag poles at their schools.Towns will meet at local court houses.Church congregations will meet and all come together to pray.This is a great thing! What if we took the whole day of  prayer thing and instead of once a year,what if we did it daily? I've always believed that the 2nd chapter of Acts,which describes the roll- out of the church,sets the best example for how the church should act now, just as then. They met daily,in their homes to pray and share the good news.the book of James tells us that if we "draw near" to God and He will "draw near" to us. I have witnessed this multiple times in my life when I have set aside time to go to a quiet place and "draw near" I would like to challenge you to set aside fifteen minutes a day to focus on prayer and just see if God does'nt pay you a visit...you'll know what I mean,if you've ever been there!

Time will tell...

Many people claim to be Christians but when you examine their social lives and activities they are no different from the rest of the world.The bible tells us to "Love the Lord with all your heart,soul,mind and strength." but when we examine our schedules theres everything in them but God.If you factor in travel time to and from work we have 9 to 10 hours invested there.We sleep 8 to 9 hours (19) So that leaves five hours in the day,some of which involves chores and housework. The rest is either spent in front of the tv or taking little Bobby to baseball practice and Susie to piano lessons.
    Simply put.If God was GOD of our lives It would be reflected by what we do with our time. Take a minute and evaluate your twenty-four hours. How much Time is God getting today?

A note on Easter:

 Contrary to popular belief, "manliness" is not defined by how big his truck is,how big its pipes are, how loud its pipes are,how many cars are in his garage or how much money is in his bank account.
Anybody can play follow the leader.Real "men" are not afraid to go against the current,( "He who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd"). It takes guts and courage to do the right thing as opposed to the popular thing.Over 2000 years ago a man gave His life showing us the ultimate example of "manliness". He sacrificed his time for His neighbors. He helped the outcasts and diseased.He loved and cherished children,as opposed to abusing or neglecting them.He humbled himslf instead of exalting himself ("A man all wrapped up in himself makes a very small package.") He was'nt afraid to cry. Ultimately He gave His life for others out of love.Yea,the definition of a man has kind of gotten distorted over the years but on this day,Easter lets not forget the example of He who for the love of His Neighbors stretched out His arms to show us how much He loved us and was nailed to a tree.