It was cold this morning so I decided to stop and get a hot chocolate. I pulled up to the drive through and ordered a large hot chocolate and was promptly told that the largest size they have is a medium. 'The largest size they have is a medium'. Does that sound odd to anyone else? How can you have a medium when you only have 2 sizes? There are things in this world that I just don't understand. As I was leaving with my 'medium' hot choclate I started thinking about an article I read yesterday in USA Today that puzzled me even more than the large/medium debate. The article was titled "More US Christians mix in 'Eastern', New Age beliefs". Now the title of the article is troubling enough for me. How can someone calling themself a Christian have 'New Age' beliefs? The article goes on to talk about how many americans change their religious affilitations many times during their lives, go from church to church trying to have their needs met, believe in reincarnation, believe hororscopes and that yoga is a spiritual experience. It gets worse! Toward the end of the article I read the following statement:
'Despite Americans' overwhelming allegiance to someone they call God (92%), in Pew's 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, 70% said "many religions can lead to eternal life," and 68% said "there's more than one true way to interpret the teachings of my religion."'
How can someone call themself a Christian and believe that there is more that one way to heaven? John 14:6 says, "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Now let me break that down for you, NO ONE goes to heaven without believing in and following Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ONLY way. People in this world will try to confuse us and try to get us to change our belifes to match theirs. We must stay alert and hold strong to what the Word of God says. We are not being intollerant when we say that Jesus is the only way. It would be more intolloerant to allow someone to go the Hell because you don't want to risk upsetting them with the truth. That is what Satan wants. He wants us to be afraid to stand up for our beliefs, he wants to confuse.
Ephesians 6:11
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ...
The Bible is God's Word. Jesus IS the only way.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Millions of Years - give me a break!
If I said I was going on vacation for 14 days, I’m sure no one would ask me, ‘Now, did you mean you’ll be back in two weeks, or are you speaking metaphorically, and you’ll actually be returning 14 years from now?’ Yet many people continue to question our all-knowing God when He says He created in six normal-length days and rested on the seventh, ‘Did you mean one week, or a few billion years?’
It drives me crazy when I hear someone say something is millions of years old. The earth is not millions of years old. Want proof? Visit the Answers in Genesis website and you will find all kinds of information on the age of the earth and a lot more stuff. Enjoy.
www.answersingenesis.org
It drives me crazy when I hear someone say something is millions of years old. The earth is not millions of years old. Want proof? Visit the Answers in Genesis website and you will find all kinds of information on the age of the earth and a lot more stuff. Enjoy.
www.answersingenesis.org
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Neighbors
I used to be in the habit of coming home from work, waving at my neighbor as I pull into my garage, close the garage behind me and go inside. But that was before Jake, my 4 year old, taught me what it means to be a neighbor. Jake doesn't let me or any of our neighbors just wave and go inside. He meets you at the car before you have time to get out. If you try to go inside he makes you promise to come back out. Then he waits on you to come back out. Jake loves his neighbors. He knows all their names and he likes to spend time with them.
Galatians 5:14
The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
We can't show love to our neighbors unless we spend time with them. What do you know about your neighbor? Do you know their name, their kids names, where they are from, what they do for a living, what their favorite football team is? If you know any of these you are doing well but to really show love to them we need to know what their spiritual lives are like. Do they go to church? Do they have a relationship with Christ? If we really love them, like Jesus tells us too, then we should care about where they spend eternity. I encourage you the next time you see your neighbor out when you come home, don't just wave and go inside; talk to them, invite them to church, tell them about Christ.
Romans 13:10
Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Galatians 5:14
The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
We can't show love to our neighbors unless we spend time with them. What do you know about your neighbor? Do you know their name, their kids names, where they are from, what they do for a living, what their favorite football team is? If you know any of these you are doing well but to really show love to them we need to know what their spiritual lives are like. Do they go to church? Do they have a relationship with Christ? If we really love them, like Jesus tells us too, then we should care about where they spend eternity. I encourage you the next time you see your neighbor out when you come home, don't just wave and go inside; talk to them, invite them to church, tell them about Christ.
Romans 13:10
Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
I Love Long Weekends
Luke 5:16 says, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Time is precious. I never seem to have enough of it so with Labor day a few days away and I get an extra day off, there is a lot of stuff I want to do. I want to sleep late, go fishing, hang out with Jen and Jake, work in the yard (well maybe I don’t want to do this but I need to), grill out hamburgers, catch up on my computer stuff, ride bikes with Jake, etc… I love long weekends because they give me a chance to do some of this stuff. But I can’t think of a time when a long weekend was coming up and I thought to myself, ‘Great, a day off, I get to spend more time with Jesus.’ Why not? Why don’t I think this way? Shouldn’t I? I tell God during the week, sorry Lord, I just didn’t have enough time today to talk with You, to read Your Word, to tell others about You. So when I get that extra day off I know I should spend more time with Jesus, but I DON'T. What is my excuse? Why don't I?
Psalm 14:2
The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
Spending time with God is not something that we should have to find time for. It should be something that is always part of our lives.
So, how are you going to spend your long weekend?
Time is precious. I never seem to have enough of it so with Labor day a few days away and I get an extra day off, there is a lot of stuff I want to do. I want to sleep late, go fishing, hang out with Jen and Jake, work in the yard (well maybe I don’t want to do this but I need to), grill out hamburgers, catch up on my computer stuff, ride bikes with Jake, etc… I love long weekends because they give me a chance to do some of this stuff. But I can’t think of a time when a long weekend was coming up and I thought to myself, ‘Great, a day off, I get to spend more time with Jesus.’ Why not? Why don’t I think this way? Shouldn’t I? I tell God during the week, sorry Lord, I just didn’t have enough time today to talk with You, to read Your Word, to tell others about You. So when I get that extra day off I know I should spend more time with Jesus, but I DON'T. What is my excuse? Why don't I?
Psalm 14:2
The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
Spending time with God is not something that we should have to find time for. It should be something that is always part of our lives.
So, how are you going to spend your long weekend?
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Job's Wife
Job 2:9 – His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
It is easy to berate Job’s wife when we hear her seemingly insensitive words. But think about what she had just been through. All her children had just been killed and her husband was now inflicted with painful sores. Job was not the only one suffering, she was suffering as well. We are sometimes quick to make jokes about Job’s wife and how Satan spared her to torment Job. But she was in pain. She was hurting. I can imagine her asking why and not hearing a response. I can imagine her struggling to get up each day and carry on with life. I can imagine her looking at her husband, loving him but not able to comfort him and he not able to comfort her. She is not unlike a lot of us when we go through difficult times. We struggle with day to day activities, we sometimes get to the point that we don’t want to talk to anyone including God. Just like Job’s wife, we sometimes abandon our faith when times get difficult.
Job 2:10
10He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Job does a powerful thing in the midst of his hurt, he worships. Notice Job doesn’t ask the three questions we always ask when tragedy strikes.
1. WHY is this happening to me?
2. WHERE is God?
3. WHEN will my suffering end?
It’s not necessarily wrong to ask why, when He was suspended between heaven and earth on the cross Jesus asked, “why?”
Matt 27:46"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
But just as no answer came to Jesus on the cross we have no promise in God’s Word for the WHY, WHERE, and WHEN questions. Here is where we need to reword our question with HOW. HOW O Lord are you going to help me through this? How is this hurt going to strengthen my relationship with you? How are you going to work this out for my good?
Remember, God doesn’t always give us what we want but He always gives us what we need.
God had a purpose behind Job’s suffering, and the same is true for us.
It is easy to berate Job’s wife when we hear her seemingly insensitive words. But think about what she had just been through. All her children had just been killed and her husband was now inflicted with painful sores. Job was not the only one suffering, she was suffering as well. We are sometimes quick to make jokes about Job’s wife and how Satan spared her to torment Job. But she was in pain. She was hurting. I can imagine her asking why and not hearing a response. I can imagine her struggling to get up each day and carry on with life. I can imagine her looking at her husband, loving him but not able to comfort him and he not able to comfort her. She is not unlike a lot of us when we go through difficult times. We struggle with day to day activities, we sometimes get to the point that we don’t want to talk to anyone including God. Just like Job’s wife, we sometimes abandon our faith when times get difficult.
Job 2:10
10He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Job does a powerful thing in the midst of his hurt, he worships. Notice Job doesn’t ask the three questions we always ask when tragedy strikes.
1. WHY is this happening to me?
2. WHERE is God?
3. WHEN will my suffering end?
It’s not necessarily wrong to ask why, when He was suspended between heaven and earth on the cross Jesus asked, “why?”
Matt 27:46"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
But just as no answer came to Jesus on the cross we have no promise in God’s Word for the WHY, WHERE, and WHEN questions. Here is where we need to reword our question with HOW. HOW O Lord are you going to help me through this? How is this hurt going to strengthen my relationship with you? How are you going to work this out for my good?
Remember, God doesn’t always give us what we want but He always gives us what we need.
God had a purpose behind Job’s suffering, and the same is true for us.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A Day at the Beach
The beach is great. Getting to spend time with Jen & Jake, play in the pool and even get in the ocean makes for a great vacation. I don't know how someone could look out at the ocean and not know that there is a God. The view is great, especially from the 14th floor (man this is high). The one thing I don't like about the beach is the sand, go figure. It gets all over you and you just can't get it all off. Eventually it just starts to irriate, and if you have a sunburn, well you know how that feels. Satan is a lot like the sand, he can get all over you and cause all kinds of problems. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:7, ...there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. That is the way sand feels to me, after a while it just torments me. The best way I know to keep the sand from irritating is to stay out of it but that is hard to do when it is all around. So what should we do? How do we keep Satan from tormenting us like the sand does to me? Ephesians 6:11 says "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." Basically, we are to get into God's Word. By doing that, we can keep all that irritating & tormenting stuff away.
Hope you are having a good week. See you Sunday, I'm going to the pool now (no sand there). David
Monday, June 22, 2009
Jesus is Watching
-Late one night, a burglar broke into a house he thought was empty.
-He tiptoed through the living room but suddenly he froze in his tracks when he heard a loud voice say: "Jesus is watching you!"
-Silence returned to the house, so the burglar crept forward again.
-"Jesus is watching you," the voice boomed again.
-The burglar stopped dead again. He was frightened. Frantically, he looked all around. In a dark corner, he spotted a bird cage and in the cage was a parrot.
-He asked the parrot: "Was that you who said Jesus is watching me?"
-"Yes," said the parrot.
-The burglar breathed a sigh of relief, and asked the parrot: "What's your name?"
-"Clarence," said the bird.
-"That's a dumb name for a parrot," sneered the burglar. "What idiot named you Clarence?"
-The parrot said, "The same idiot who named the Rottweiller Jesus."
-He tiptoed through the living room but suddenly he froze in his tracks when he heard a loud voice say: "Jesus is watching you!"
-Silence returned to the house, so the burglar crept forward again.
-"Jesus is watching you," the voice boomed again.
-The burglar stopped dead again. He was frightened. Frantically, he looked all around. In a dark corner, he spotted a bird cage and in the cage was a parrot.
-He asked the parrot: "Was that you who said Jesus is watching me?"
-"Yes," said the parrot.
-The burglar breathed a sigh of relief, and asked the parrot: "What's your name?"
-"Clarence," said the bird.
-"That's a dumb name for a parrot," sneered the burglar. "What idiot named you Clarence?"
-The parrot said, "The same idiot who named the Rottweiller Jesus."
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Are you ready to serve?
Did you ever like having to sit out? I never wanted to come out of a game and didn't want to sit on the bench for 1 second. As Christians, we should be the same way. Don't be satisfied by sitting on the bench. Jesus wasn't! Jesus said in Matthew 20:28, 'just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,...' If we are going to follow after Jesus then we need to be ready to serve. We learn in the book of James that faith without works is dead (James 2:26). Not to say that we are saved by works, we are saved by the grace of God and only by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. What James is telling us is that we live out our faith by our actions. So are you ready? Where do we start? The best way to find your place of service is to discover your spiritual gifts. If you don't already know what your spiritual gifts are, get with me Sunday morning and I will have a survey that you can fill out that will help you find them. Let's get in the game and become more like Christ as we serve Him.
David
David
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Purpose of Parents
I posted this a couple of months ago but I wanted to post again in case you missed it.
Purpose of Parents
Deuteronomy 6:1-25
1. Parents must start with the task of learning. (1-6)
2. Parents are to teach the family what they have learned. (7-9)
3. Parents are to set the priorities for the family. (10-19)
4. Parents are to be a witness to the family for Jesus. (20-25)
Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Purpose of Parents
Deuteronomy 6:1-25
1. Parents must start with the task of learning. (1-6)
2. Parents are to teach the family what they have learned. (7-9)
3. Parents are to set the priorities for the family. (10-19)
4. Parents are to be a witness to the family for Jesus. (20-25)
Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
God's Timing
-A young man once asked God how long a million years was to him.
-God replied, "A million years to me is just like a single second to you."
-The young man asked God what a million dollars was to him.
-God replied, "A million dollars to me is just like a single penny to you."
-Then the young man got his courage up and asked, "God, could I have one of your pennies?"
-God smiled and replies, "Certainly, just a second."
-God replied, "A million years to me is just like a single second to you."
-The young man asked God what a million dollars was to him.
-God replied, "A million dollars to me is just like a single penny to you."
-Then the young man got his courage up and asked, "God, could I have one of your pennies?"
-God smiled and replies, "Certainly, just a second."
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Running Hurts My Knees!
I never liked running very much. Running while playing basketball was fine but just running to run always seemed boring. We now have the WI Fit and running is still not one of my favorite things to do, although it is better than the hula hoop (that is not a pretty sight). We can run for many different reasons; exercise, relaxation, or getting chased by a 4 year old. Running can sometimes make its way into our spiritual lives as well. We sometimes run from God. Read the book of Jonah and see how running from God can hurt you in your relationship with Christ.
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