Deep

The last leg of the race, the final round, the 2 minute drill, the eleventh hour, the final push. This is what it all comes down to. This can make or break the outcome. If you watch a runner coming to the end of the race and the finish line is in sight, one of two things will happen. Either they will start kicking their legs higher and get a smoother, more aggressive stride or they won't and struggle to finish. There are some football teams that you don't want to be less than two touchdowns ahead of in the last few minutes of the game or they will come back and beat you. Finding that strength down deep to draw from is so important.
 I feel that this is where we the church is at today. I believe that we are in the final hours of this earth and real Christians will stand out more than ever. This is our chance to shine brighter than ever.
I remember a MASH show where a colonel or general had died of the flu or something simpler that a bullet or bomb. His man under him thought how wrong this was and decided to change the story. He found the place on the front where there was fighting and ordered a full out onslaught of bullets, bombs, and rockets. He packed his dead leader in a Jeep and sent him directly into the action to go out in a blaze of glory.
The church seems to have learned to live, build, and fight well. We have forgotten how to die well. What if, instead of dying in hospital beads, we decided to buy one way tickets to the places in need of God most and go out reaching as many unsaved as possible? Its time to dig deep to live and die like we mean what we believe.
Hebrews 12:1

Splinter

I remember one time when I was young, I was at my grandparents house and was playing outside with my cousins. Somehow I got a splinter. I went inside and my grandfather put me on his lap, pulled out his pocket knife and made me close my eyes. In seconds, (and almost painlessly) he had the splinter out. It was one of the best memories I have of my grandfather. He was tall, strong, had rough hands, but could be very gentle.
What is a splinter? It's what happens when something starts coming apart. It's usually small amounts and it's not considered good.
I've thought a lot lately how the church in America has been splintering. The true "American" is considered individualistic and independent. We pride ourselves in free thinking as well as pioneering. We want to be first, top of the heap, and world leaders. The church has taken on this exact replica. How little do we think of unification of our faith? How little we think of joining together with others that believe in the same God and focus on reaching people together? We have become splintered.
In Hebrews 10:24-25 it talks about we need to sharpen and build each other up. It says that we need to meet together more and more as the end draws near. Are you meeting up with Christians more or less lately? I feel if we don't meet up more, we will splinter even more. This is the goal of the enemy. The more divided we become, the more we splinter and hurt the Kingdom of God.

Wait

A scripture that I see on a lot of refrigerators and hung on walls is Isaiah 40:31. It's a great scripture on what waiting on God does for us. The problem is I don't like waiting. I'm impatient. A lot of people are like me. I can think of how popular the microwave has become and don't know how most people would live without one. Let's face it, our world is in a hurry.
One thing I've learned is that God is not in a hurry. 2Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." What I get from this is that God moves in His own time and He moves at His own pace.
The big problem is, I don't think we really know what waiting is. Most people can't stand being put on hold. Sitting and listening to music while waiting on someone to pick up the phone will drive you crazy. I recently was put on hold, but I found relief.  I put the phone on speaker and went about doing my work. After a while, the person picked up the other end and I was able to do the business that I was waiting on.
Do you feel like you've been put on hold by God? I think we should take the time that we are waiting and do some work. Focus on something that is in front of us and do it. Still keep what your waiting on God before you, but be willing to keep busy. God will work things out in the meantime and help you, but in His time, not yours. James 1:3-6 says that the trying of our faith works patience. If you feel like your faith is getting tried, (as a friend of mine would say) "hold steady". God is working on you and will give you the patience to see it through.

Weight

There was a popular thing growing up that people use to wear to help them gain more muscle and work out while they are doing their basic work. They are called ankle weights. I wanted some of these until I tried them on. They didn't feel good and made me want to sit down more than move around.
I feel we all can walk around like we have ankle weights on. The daily grind gets to us or even huge problems start weighing us down, making us feel like stopping. It can be a struggle to move around to do anything. Sure, I smile on the outside and my character is to optimistic, but inside there can be a struggle. Maybe it can be just certain people that I have to be around or a particular task that I have to do, but really it keeps me from moving forward.
Today, there was a change in my thoughts. Cast off the weight. It comes from Hebrews 12:1, where it says, "let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,". It is on my heart to cast off the things that hinder. Cast off the burden that would hold me back. Some people say they are trying to shake something. This casting off is more than just a shake. It is pulling it off and throwing it. 1Peter 5:7 says also to cast all of your cares on Christ.
You might ask what this looks like. I had that same question. Then there was a word in my prayer time that came to my heart in reference to this. Speak it! If there is one thing that God used throughout the Bible from creation to the very end is speaking. He spoke things into existence and in the end He will defeat our enemies with His words. In Romans 4:17 it says, "..He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." He also calls us to carry out things in the same way. In Matthew 21 and Mark 11 He tells us to speak to the mountain and it will be moved.
So today, I ask you to speak to your weight, your mountain, your struggle and cast it off. Throw it away. If you find it back on again, throw it again. Keep throwing it so that you can run.

Distractions

As we plan and proceed through our plans and daily life one of the most frustrating thing that can happen is distractions. They are annoying and can be a real inconvenience. People seem to forget that I have plans and responsibilities. The last thing I need is for someone to get in my way. Like when I have somewhere to go and an acquaintance stops me and has to tell me their life story. Or someone's bad day makes my day get worse.
Then I'm reading in Mark 5 when a ruler (Jairus) wanted Jesus to come heal his daughter. As Jesus was going with him, low and behold there was an interruption. Another women that needed a healing came up and grabbed Jesus' clothes to get healed. Jesus stopped and recognized her and how she got healed. You can imagine how Jairus was standing there saying; blah, blah, blah, yeah she got healed, now lets go take care of my daughter. Then the bad news got worse. The daughter was reported dead. So he stood there, I'm sure with his face buried in his hands while Jesus looked on. Jesus' was distracted and it caused his daughter her life.
If you think about it, when was Jesus not distracted? Jesus was going from one problem and concern after another. Did Jesus have a plan? Yes and it seems to me that He didn't have any problem getting distracted. He would go off by Himself to pray and people would follow and interrupt. There was only one time when He wouldn't be taken off course. It was when He was going up to Jerusalem to die. Even then, there were some distractions that slowed Him down.
What can we learn from this? Make plans, but let God bring distractions. Some of my best days are when I let God use an inconvenience to make a difference in someone's life. The unplanned miracles are when God really gets the glory.

Plans

I don't know about you, but I haven't been real good at making plans and even if I do make them, I'm not real good at following them. I was asked one time what my five year looks like? I had to admit, that I didn't have a five year. It was then that I started a few years ago making plans for each year with goals and ideas. I found out that I got more accomplished by doing so. I know some people live from day to day with no plans or very little idea of where they are going. Other people plan their life in detail. Which is better? 
As I ponder this question, I think of my friend who builds houses for a living. He knows how to build houses because his boss and others have shown him how to. They have all studied and learned from others how to as well. If my friend decided to build his houses the way he wanted to and not listen or learn from others, then the house probably wouldn't last for very long.
One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11. It says that God has plans for us. Good plans. Plans for success. I believe God 's plans are going to be better than my plans. I believe God knows what success is better than I do. Psalm 33:11 talks about God's plans standing forever,
Proverbs 29:18 says that without vision the people parish (KJV).  Proverbs 15:22 and 20:18 says that we need to be making plans with lots of advice.
So what can we learn from these scriptures and ideas? We need to make plans to live by. We need to seek Godly advice. We need to make sure our plans and advice line up with God's plans for us. I believe failure to do these things will keep us from fulfilling what God created us for.
So what are you doing today? How about for the next 6 months or even next year? What's your five year look like? Life is hard. Plan accordingly.

Command 2

In the last post I said that the first command is loving God. I know that the first commandment is to have no other God's before Him, but in Mark 12 a scribe asked Jesus what the greatest commandment is and He replied that loving God is. Then He added that one that is almost of equal importance is to love your neighbor as yourself.
Do you love people? I don't mean people that love you, I mean all people. People who you can't stand to listen to or be in the same room as. People who are liars, thieves, smell, have a different color of skin, wealthy or poor as dirt. Do you love these? It's easy to love someone that's like you or that you can get along with. What about those that are so different from you that you can't stand their sight?
As Mark 12 continues Jesus gave the parable about the good Samaritan. It's funny that it is called this, because to Jews at this time there was no such thing. They couldn't stand the half breeds. People who messed up and polluted the Jewish religion. The Samaritan people lived a culture totally different than the Jews and they hated them for it. Yet, Jesus made one of them the hero of the story. That's because God loves everyone and is not willing that anyone should parish, but all repent. (2Peter 3:9)
I have heard and have taken a verse out of context. This was pointed out to me recently. The verse is Mathew 5:45 and it says that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. I've heard pastors and others say that problems come on us all. If you read the verse in context though it is saying that God loves us all and gives good things to us all. Rain is a good thing. The verse before this is saying how we need to love our enemies and those that use us.  Jesus loved his enemies. In fact, he looked at the one that was about to betray him when he was just a few feet away and called him friend. On the cross, Jesus asks the Father to forgive the people cursing Him, beating Him and sticking nails through His hands. So now, the question is this, do you love your neighbor? Do you love him as yourself?

Command 1

I grew up in a christian home, went to a christian school, had almost exclusively 'christian' friends. I got saved at age 6 and called into ministry at age 13. I thought that I had a normal life and then when I grew up, I realized that it was anything but normal. I became a christian and decided to follow Christ because I knew it was right and I didn't want to go to hell. I remember telling a friend about Christ at age 11 and wondered how he had never heard the gospel. I now know that this world is unreached. I see today how many people don't know Christ and I wonder how come churches are not making changes to reach the world. I hear and see what churches are fighting over and think are we trying to arrange chairs on the deck of the sinking ship?
There's something deeper in my soul that is stirring. A question has come to my mind and a lot of other people over the years: why does the world not want to come to our churches? A lot of churches are taking this question and have made changes. Many today feel that the best way to get people into our churches is to make it better. I must admit that I have liked these changes. Better worship music and teams make going to church more attractive. Greeters at the doors, better preaching, and great things for kids are very attractive. I'm not saying any of these things are wrong. In fact, I think its a shame if we don't make church exciting. But there's still something missing. Is it people getting filled with the Holy Spirit and great preaching? Is it organized prayer and ministry teams?
I have said several times that I think the world is waiting for a church who says what they believe and live like it. They are wanting a church that has the faith and power that Christ promised. This is what God has laid on my heart: we need to keep the first and greatest commandment Deuteronomy 6:5. If we love God like we are suppose to, then there will be a lot less fighting in the church and more focus on our faith. If we keep this command, the world will see it. I know that there are a lot of sincere people that follow sincere belief systems, but that is still not following God. You can tell people everyday that Jesus or God loves them, but do you love God? That is the first and foremost question that we have to answer. If you do or don't, it will show.

Land Rush

In1889 there was a land that was owned by the Federal Government that was only in part being used by Indians as an Indian reserve. The government decided to sell the land not being used to anybody that wanted a piece. I'm not sure of all of the details of the Oklahoma land rush, but I know they had the land blocked off and everyone that wanted property bought a certain amount of flags for each set of acres. Then one morning they had everyone line up and at the sound of a canon, everyone took off to stake their claim of land. First come, first serve. (Unless you got shot over it) After making your claim, you set up house.
When I think of this event, I think of our calling in life. What area or what field has God called you to? In Joshua 14, Caleb comes to Joshua and tells him that when he spied out the land 45 years before this he had found the mountain that he wanted to live on and now he wanted to go take that mountain. I can't imagine getting up in the wilderness and going through every day for 45 years wanting a mountain, but Caleb did. He was now 85 years old and was ready to go get it. He had to fight off some pretty fierce opponents that lived there. He did everything he had to and God gave him that mountain.
So today, what mountain had God called you to take? Where is it that your going to stick your flag in the ground, declare that it's yours and defend it? It's time for God's people to have a land rush. 

Reliance

My mom had surgery the other day. Apparently it was pretty serious. The specialist looked at her last Thursday and cleared his calender so he could perform the surgery on Monday. I'm amazed at some peoples abilities. To know that people can study the human body and know how to cut them open, work on them and make them better. We call God the Great Physician and I've found a problem with that today. God isn't the Great Physician, He's the only physician.
In John 5 Jesus said that He could only do what He saw the Father doing. Then in John 15:5, Jesus calls us branches and Himself the vine. He finishes off the verse saying that without Him we can do nothing. I'm so guilty of thinking that I can do things on my own. I try to work as hard as I can to do things and make them happen. The truth is, if God's not doing it, then I can't do it. Jesus had to wait and watch what the Father did and then He did it. If He had to, then isn't that what we have to do. Look for what God is doing and then do it. That is reliance on Him. There's another part to this. When God gives you a task, there is a lot of work to do. The door He opens and the work He gives is bigger than we can do on our own. That's when we have to rely on Him some more to help us get it done. A phrase my friend says is "God outsources the possible and only does the impossible". If we are trying to do the impossible on our own, we will fail. Remember, if you follow Christ, you are only a branch and have to be plugged into the source to get it done. A lamp that's not plugged in is only a decoration.

Engage! Part 2

I referred in my last post to a second movie about engaging. It was in the movie Top Gun and the lead actor (Tom Cruise) had gone through the loss of his best friend and co-pilot. He was now back in the pilot seat and going against some bad guys, or at least his friends and fellow pilots were. The dog fight was pretty fierce and Tom pulls out of it from fear and struggling with the past. His commander at this point yells at him to engage.
I think we all struggle with past hurts and fears. It keeps us sometimes from moving forward or even stepping out. My wife and I had two miscarriages after Micah. It was some of the most discouraging time of our marriage. It's times like these that make you not want to carry on. Very few people gave us sympathy or seemed to even care. We struggled with the idea of having to go through it again. It kept us from trying again to have another baby. It was during this time that Teresa remembered a dream or more like a vision she had had. It was about her and I holding Micah and another baby. We knew that we were going to have another and it encouraged us to try again.
The pains and struggles of the past can either keep you from moving forward or you can move forward one step after another.Philippians 3:13 talks about forgetting the things that are behind. This forgetting is a continual act. Hebrews 12:1-2 talks about getting rid of the things that entangle us and the sin that sets us back. It's up to you to move forward. In Matthew 9:18-26; Mk 5:22-43; Lk 8:41-56 the Bible talks about a ruler came to Jesus and told Him that his daughter was dying. Before they could get very far, a servant came and told the man that his daughter had died. Jesus looked at the man and asked him to have faith. Jesus went with him and raised the girl up. I believe that if we stay engaged and keep doing what we are called to do, no matter the circumstances, the power of God will show up. My hope is that you engage and stay engaged.

Engage! Part 1

There are two moving I like that have the same word yelled loudly. The first is in the movie "The Incredibles". The dad (Mr. Incredible) is focused on his job and his daily struggles and forgets about what is happening right in front of him in his dining room. The kids are going crazy chasing each other and the mom is trying to get things in order. The mom finally yells out "engage", hoping he'll do something. Finally he does snap back to life and sets that back into place.
We get that way sometimes. We get so focused on our struggles and daily living that we ignore the life that is going on around us. I feel that this world is going to hell in a hand basket and many Christians are worried about the seating arrangement or the music being played. Luke 12:17-27 Jesus talked about a farmer that had a huge crop and he was worried what he was going to do with it. So he tore down barns and built bigger ones. Then the farmer is told he is a fool and that his soul would be required of him. What was so wrong with that? The farmer was more concerned about taking care of himself then the world around him. The next verses says "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat ; neither for the body, what ye shall put on." Our focus is to be on the Kingdom of God and not on the things of his world. So in the words of Mrs. Incredible: Engage!
I share about the other movie in the next post. Have a Kingdom minded day!

A billion dollars

I heard a commercial yesterday where a girl was singing how she wants a billion dollars so bad. I thought, how many people wish for that same thing? But my next thought was how sad it would be if they got it. What am I doing with what I have? That's the biggest and best question I can ask. Jesus once told a parable about a three guys. (Matthew 25) They were each given a certain amount of money. One that was given 5 talents made 5 more and the one given 2 talents made 2 more. But then there was this one guy given 1 talent. He sat on his. It didn't do him or anyone else any good. The leader who had given these men the money, told the first two that made more money that they had been faithful over a few things, they would be in charge of many things. The one who didn't do anything, what he had was taken away. This tells me that Jesus was a capitalist. This also tells me that He expects me to do something with what I've been given. In Luke 12:48, the Bible says that if we have been given much, there will be much required. This tells me that whatever we have been trusted with, we better have something to show for it. We have been given 24 hours a day and they same power that Jesus had. What will we have to show for it? Will we be faithful with what we are given? 1 Cor 4:2

Taking over

One of my Dad's favorite stories is about a shoe salesman sent to a small village on the other side of the world a long time ago. He didn't sell anything and telegraphed back that there was no need for him to be there since no one wore shoes. The company flew him back to the US and a couple of years went by when the company sent another salesman to the same area. The new salesman telegraphed back to send a whole warehouse full of shoes, because no one had shoes there.
Many Christian's perception is like the first salesman, in that, there are so many people around us that need Christ that we don't have anyone to share Him with. Our world is full of lost people that need Christ and are waiting for the real Christian to stand up. Our mission can be overwhelming. But we need God's vision.
I believe God has called me to this place to take over. He didn't call me to start a small ministry to sit around and stay small. A healthy organism grows and increases, gets stronger to reach it's full capacity, reproduces to make other healthy, strong, growing organisms to repeat the process. My pastor has a great statement: what multiplies takes over. Think of a cockroach. If you see one, you know there are many hiding. They will multiply and take over if they aren't stopped. Our vision should be to multiply ourselves until we take over the area. 2 Timothy 2:2 should be at the forefront of your ministry. Don't look at the lack of God around you as downfall. Take the opportunity to take over.