Control-Z

I was reading the Word this morning and read this:

2 Timothy 3:1-5 - You should also know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that.

I had this thought... When Jesus came to teach people how to live for God, he basically did 2 things... 1st he would teach them, 2nd they would then pass it on... by the way they lived. That is putting it simply. But that is what we should do. So I thought about the church today, specifically about people's view about the church... which generally isn't good. In my opinion, the original intent of learning to Live for God, then passing it on has become complicated. I would imagine that for years after Jesus dies & rose again, this worked well. The Apostles literally spent their life passing on the Truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ, and Scripture. The church grew, people got saved and there was a reproduction of Christ followers. Maybe with this growth came more false teachers, but there also came many opinions of the New Testament teachings, many of the "leaders" had greedy motives. There were disagreements which lead to divisions of the church (which the New Testament clearly warned us to avoid!). Politics and Bureaucracy infiltrated the church culture. And it seems to be like yeast in bread... it can't be removed! The it seems the view of the "church" today has been scarred badly, and I believe that my church (The Rock), and many other New Testament Christ-Following churches like it, have an interesting mission on their hands... to teach as Jesus taught, and the early apostles taught, and pass it on to others. And try to UNDO (Control-Z) what has been done by so many who have claimed to be Christians.

I also read this verse, which is so right on regarding the world we live in today:

1 Timothy 4:3-5 - For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to right teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever they want to hear. They will reject the truth and follow strange myths.
But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don't be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at bringing others to Christ. Complete the ministry God has given you.

Hmmm... we have some work to do!
Stay True...

Committed to the Cause

I came across this excerpt from a sermon online... it made me think:

"Two veteran pilots from WW II met and began comparing notes of their experiences in the war. One was an American pilot, the other flew for the Japanese. They discussed the capabilities of their aircraft, the types of munitions, the friends lost in battle. At last the American proudly related that he flew 350 missions. The Japanese pilot lowered his head and quietly said that he had flown 50. 'Fifty?' replied the American. 'Fifty is good, you shouldn't be ashamed that you only flew fifty.' 'Thank you, thank you,' answered the Japanese pilot, bowing his head. 'But I Kamikaze pilot.'

The Japanese pilot was not committed to the cause in which he signed up for. For me... that is a good reminder for me to take a look at my life. Am I committed to the cause in which I "signed up for", or better yet... that I have been called out for. Called out from a life that was once hopeless and littered with pain. God has pulled me from the muck and given me a reason to live... a cause to be committed to. Oh there is still pain, but when you know where you are going, the roughest of roads can't defeat you.

Another illustration of commitment is with the Chicken and the Pig:

"As they talked about the contributions there were going to be making soon on their farm, the Chicken said with a grin, "I feel like I can really make a difference here, the Farmer always needs eggs! Hey Pig, aren't you excited to help?", and with a heavy sigh the Pig glumly replied, "That is easy for you to say... you are just involved, but I am totally committed."

There is a difference about just being involved and committed. There is a price to pay with commitment... not like the Pig will pay, but I think you get the point. Commitment comes with sacrifice. The question is.. am I willing?

"As for me and my house, we will serve The Lord!" - Joshua 24:15

When Treadmills Attack - Next on Fox!

A co-worker sent out this link and I thought it was hilarious! I have never heard of the band, OKGO, but they are OK.. their video is great! The choreography must have been a little difficult... but it turned out well! I was trying to find a deeper meaning behind this video to Blog about... but I got nothing.

Open Mic @ God's Comedy Club

"Trusting a fool to convey a message is as foolish as cutting off one's feet and drinking poison!"

Proverbs 26:6

Call me twisted, but I laugh out loud everytime I read this Proverb! Which is usually on the 26th of the month... I try to read the "Proverb of the day"... 31 Proverbs in the Bible... usually 31 days in a month.. works out pretty good!

Anyway... I often think in vivid pictures... so to think of a person who would cut off their feet AND drink poison is outrageous!! One is bad enough.. but BOTH? Come on God! HE must be really trying to tell us something with this warning. I think about my own life... I often have opportunities to pass along a message... I think we all do. I need to make sure that I am not the fool to do so.. because if I didn't have feet, my socks would fit a little weird, and I would feel discouraged everytime I passed by Footlocker. And Flip-Flops... I guess they would really be Stump-Stumps.

I lost my point... oh yeah! I love how God will use the most obscure analogies & comparisons to grab our attention! It is so easy to glaze through the Bible.. if we read it. But every once in a while, God throws a zinger in there, that makes you really think!

I love my God! Because he uses broken offerings to get His message across!
Dan

Defect Replacement Program

Tonight was a very encouraging night for me. I have been really battling with discouragement lately. Thursday nights always seem to end very well. I was at the Celebrate Recovery meeting, and I was blessed with the opportunity to share a message on Forgiveness. Specifically 3 different area's of Forgiveness.

1) Accepting the Forgiveness from God, as demonstrated by Christ's work on the Cross. This is the 1st crucial part. And if we don't get this part, we are stuck. And if God didn't offer this forgiveness to us, heaven would be empty! Think about that... if there was not a sacrifice, if there was not blood shed for us by means of Jesus Christ, who paid the price for us.. we would be hopeless and doomed to live a life of nothingness. Praise the Lord!

2) Forgiving others... especially who have hurt us in some way. Another big one... but a tough one. I consider myself a very good resentment manager. I have a filing system in my head where I stash away all the little things people have said and done that have hurt me... I am constantly trying to throw out the files! It can be tough, when you think you have let something go you have against someone... then you run into them at church or at the store... and you get that knot in your gut, and you quickly pretend like you are occupied doing something, so you don't have to make eye contact with them.... that means you didn't let it go. You may have with one hand... but your other hand has white knuckles because you are holding on to it so tight! When we forgive others who have hurt us... we are then truly free. I can't afford to give someone free rent in my head.... it just makes me tired and bitter. We must forgive... even when it hurts.

3) We must forgive ourselves.... "wait a minute! I can accept what Christ did... and I can forgive others.. but you don't know all the bad things I have done!" Well Christ does... and he for them ALL. "It is finished!" (John 19:30). Would you trust a dentist with horrible, rotten teethe and nasty dragon breath to do a root canal on you? No! Then how can you forgive others if you haven't forgiven yourself? Start at home... look in the mirror. I think this is where I fell short for so long.. I didn't get it. I thought I forgave and forgot, but it was superficial... :surface grace". I hadn't worked out my own identity in Christ. Once I grasped His forgiveness towards me... and I was able to be glad for who I was and forgave myself as He did... THEN I was able to forgive others.

Jeremiah said it best: "You can't heal a wound by saying it is not there" 6:14. If you slammed your thump in your car door (again) and said to yourself "that didn't really happen... it isn't really turning blue" it wouldn't help you heal. So we must come to God with desperate abandonment... and let Him heal out hurts.

As I drove a friend home after the meeting, we had a good conversation about forgiveness. God gave me this "A-ha" moment. When we come to Christ, and we accept what He did for us, we are saved.. by His grace and our faith. He will then reveal to us... through his Word and his servants who teach us His Word... the area's of our life we must let go of. Our defects that need to be thrown in the fire. Lust, dishonesty, anger.. the list goes on. But... here is the epiphany! God will replace the defect in our character, with a good character trait! So, anger & bitterness are replaced by forgiveness! But we can swap... we can slip back into bitterness again... but try to be angry and forgive someone at the same time.... it aint possible! It would be funny to see... but it is God's Defect Replacement program. But we must ALLOW HIM to point the things out... then like on garbage day... we must bring the crap to the curb of our life... where God will pick it up and it will be recycled.

So as you chug along in this life... and God reveals an area that is getting in the way of your relationship with Him... ask God to replace it.

Trudging the road to a happy destiny... Dan

Roman Graduation

I was reminded as I was talking with a friend the other day, he was have a rough day to say the least. And the Lord reminded me of encouragement I received from my good buddy Brad several years back. I have always loved the book of Romans. I think it is because of the level that Paul is writing from, he is so raw and real in that book of the Bible. I have always clung to Romans 7, versus 14-21. Paul is writing about our sinful nature, and how we do really try to do what is right, but we always seem to do what is wrong. That sums up most of my existence.

As I was sharing this with Brad, he challenged my thinking. He made the point about how we can tend to park ourselves on things in the Bible, and we don't read on to see where the passages are going. God had a plan when he used the lives of the writers of the Word.

So here was the point... I was embracing Romans 7 as a life verse, which is great, however... that chapter is Paul's writing about living in the flesh... the muck, what life is and will continue to be like when we let sin dictate our days... we easily give in to what feels good, the next thing that comes our way.

Well... my friend told me that I should decide whether I wanted to embrace Romans 7 or Romans 8. I needed to graduate to Romans 8... and make that my life verse... because it truly speaks about life as we live in the spirit of Christ. And claim victory in the Cross. Like I have said, I will continue to fall short as long as I live on this dirty rock called earth... but I can fight, and I can take courage in my King. We who know Jesus Christ have already won! (This is a great message on that topic by the way... we have victory!) So the freedom comes in a life described in Romans chapter 8. Go here to see both chapters, read them and see which one you choose to embrace.

The BIG point I want to make is that we... I... must remember that God is still speaking today, and he uses His Word, the Bible. So as we... I... read, we should ask God to reveal the whole story... "what do you want to teach me Lord", "how does this relate to my life". And my new favorite prayer... "Lord, surprise me today".

Still chilling in the crucible,
Dan

Tested By Fire

I find it interesting that in several places in the Word, it will compare the learning we must do to the way that Metal is purified by fire. Here are just a few:

• Proverbs 17:3 Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the LORD tests the heart.
• Proverbs 27:21 Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised.
• 1 Peter 1:7 These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

I love that last verse in 1 Peter, I think that lays it out. Of course there have been cultural changes since this was written... back in the days of Solomon, I am sure Gold was much more "precious" than it is today. But either way, it is a precious metal, that many people would LOVE to have on their body. It can symbolize royalty & someone of high importance. But it is clear that The Lord teaches us lessons through our trials.

I am becoming fascinated by the process of purifying Gold. They take a chunk of Gold that they have found in the earth, and put it in a Crucible (a really freakin' hot pot!). They can add in Lead, which, coupled with the heat, strip away much of the Gold's impurities. The impurities then rise to the top of the Crucible and form what is called "crud", the Goldsmith then skims the surface removing the "crud". This continues and more crud is removed until you have a pure piece of Gold that is now ready to be used to make precious jewels.

Now the thing that really interests me, is that in order for the Gold to become pure, you add a lesser metal... lead. This acts as the object that strips away the impurities, along with the heat. Now, look at your life. As I look at mine I now see that God has allowed people, places and things to come in my life to act as lead that will strip away some of my impurities. And He turns up the heat of my circumstances for sure! My tendency is to want to JUMP out of the crucible, but I will be extending whatever pain is in my life until I wait patiently on the Lord, and try to pull a lesson out of what I am going through.

I know that God is NOT done with me yet, and I have a LOT more crud to be skimmed off... just ask my wife!

Will you stay in the crucible? If so, I will probably see you there.