Living a life of....service

We took some of the Youth to Christmas Candy lane the other night. Let me tell you it was cold....I mean really cold. Well I can only tell you second hand from what everyone was telling me because I came prepared and was actually quite toasty. But everyone else said it was cold. Especially my buddy Malachi. He didn't come totally prepared. I mean he did dress for cold weather, he wasn't wearing shorts like others we saw. But he didn't bring a heavy coat or hat and gloves, he said we was a man and could stand the cold.

Part way through the night, when Malachi's testosterone started wavering, I offered him my warm hat, which he took. Then one of the girls who came along didn't have any gloves, so I gave her mine. I was fine for the rest of the night till we got back to the car. By that time my ears and hands were a bit chilled. When Malachi gave my hat back someone had said, "Why'd you give him your hat," to which I said, "he was cold!" makes sense right?

I was reflecting on this a bit later and came to some interesting conclusions. If one of those students had not brought a coat, I would have given mine willingly. Why? you may ask. Because I am a servant to these students. It's not my job to parent them or whatever it's my job to serve them.

One of the students who has been coming to youth group recently moved. Before the move it was easy for them because they live right in the Church's backyard but now they have to get a ride to come. Their parents said that if they want to keep coming they have to find a ride because they won't take the 3 minutes out of their not-busy schedule to drive them .2 miles down the road to the Church. So every Wednesday we go and pick them up. Is that wrong? You better believe it. Does it make me angry at the parents for their lack of parenting, of course. But because I am a servant to these kids I put aside my feelings and drive every Wednesday and get them.

Jesus never called us to a lifestyle of comfort and luxury, he called us to a life of service. In Luke he says if anyone will come after him they must deny themselves (what they think or feel) and pick up their cross (make the ultimate sacrifice) and follow him. Paul says to offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

Do you get the picture, I could list more, but for our purposes right here I think that says a lot. We who are followers of Christ are to be servants to other believers and non believers a like. Why do you think Jesus wash the disciples feet? They all wanted to be counted as number 1, be top dog. Jesus says that is not the point of this life. Service the where the heart of God is at. Take this advent season, it's all about God making the sacrifice of sending His son to earth for our benefit.

Day 13-Unfortunately I have come down with a cold...the joys of being a parent and am unable to fast as I would like too. I am still taking the time to pray for the students but had to eat lunch to keep my body strength up. Please pray for me, I need my voice back in full swing by Thursday to sing in the Christmas Eve service on Friday. I know God will heal me completely, I have no doubt whatsoever.

May our LORD be with you

Fasting Day 7-When a sacrifice become "Legal"

I have a funny story to tell you. Actually it's more of a story showing just how much of an idiot I really am. I am currently filling in down in the lower East Wing of the Capital whilst...that's right whilst the staff of the lower East Wing has there Christmas party.

So I'm sitting here and the Supervisor named Pat Rhoades, who is the sweetest older lady, comes to me and brings me a huge plate of food from the party. When I say huge...I mean HUGE!!!!! Being the good follower of Christ what do I do? Keep in mind that just 15 min earlier I was thanking God for this experience and the awesome prayer times that I've been having when I would normally be eating.

So what do I do? I totally forgot about my fast and started chowing down. I know what you are thinking, what an idiot. I know that because I had the same thought about....oh....3 minutes into eating this plate of wonderful food. By the way if anyone from the lower East Wing staff reads this, the food was good.

BUT!!! right in the middle of my eating I realize I just made a huge mistake. I feel right back into the habit of having lunch. Needless to say I felt like the kid who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I spoke to God and began to tell him how sorry I am and how stupid of me it was, when I was interrupted...by God.

He told me to read Matthew 6:16-18, which is the part in the sermon on the mount where Jesus talks about Fasting. He says that fasting is something between you and God. He says look normal when you fast, don't put on a miserable face to let people know that you are fasting. I realize that what God was saying is that it was okay for me to graciously except the food from Ms. Rhoads because that was an act of kindness that she was doing for me.

Imagine, if she would have come to give me the food and I would have said...No I can't take that because I'm fasting (add in a pious, haughty voice when you read that line). How would that have looked? Now in this situation I know that she knows that I'm a believer. I also know that she is not. So the point is, it would have done more damage for the Kingdom (in terms of her view on Christ and his followers) than good if I would have declined the food.

If I would have said no, that would turn my fast into a legalistic ritual, than a sacrifice to God. I'm still going to have my time of prayer for the students and tomorrow I'm going to pick up right where I left off.

Keep the big picture in mind. The Pharisees made it their job to let people know that they were not as religious as they were (the Pharisees). To shoot down her act of kindness because of religiosity would have been wrong and damaging.

When fasting don't let this beautiful sacrifice to get closer to God and pray for whatever it is you are praying for become a legalistic thing that binds you rather than sets you free. Through this experience I feel closer to Jesus than I have in years. THAT!! my friends is the reward of this, not so others can see and know what you are doing so they could say or think, you are soooooo spiritual. The reason for doing this was not so I wouldn't eat everyday, the point is to take the time I would normally eat and pray and study and get closer to my Savior. The minute my sacrifice become an obligation rather than a willing offering, it become legalistic and wrong. It was worth it to break the fast for this moment so I could show God's love to someone who needs it and learn this really valuable lesson.

If you are joining me or are enjoying reading about this experience I hope that you as well are finding a sweeter walk or in my case a stumbling dance with Jesus.

May our LORD be with you

Fasting Day 2

On Wednesday my buddy Malachai poked fun at me for this, calling me a Pharisee. I know he was joking but he actually really hit on a topic concerning fasting. The Pharisees used to stand in the middle of the street and pray outloud about the pains they felt in their stomachs because they were fasting. they felt they were so much better than everyone else because they would publicly be followers of God.

While fasting we really aren't suppose to make a big deal about it because then the reward for this discipline become the recognition we recieve rather than the spiritual benefits we gain from taking the time out to pray and seek the LORD's face.

I have been reminded of a truth that I forgot but should have seen coming. when you make a declaration that you are doing something to grow coloser to God the enemy really hits you hard trying to knock you down. I have really felt the the attacks of the enemy during even the first two days of this. I am glad I made this know to people so I can be held accountable.

Something to keep in mind though when fasting is your motives. What are you really doing this for, when you start make that clear to yourself and the LORD.

I am really expecting the LORD to do some amazing things in the lives of these students.

May our LORD be with you

The times they are a-changing

It is hard to think about, but this January will be the start of my fifth year at Eberly’s Mill as the Youth Pastor. It makes me chuckle to think of all that we have experienced at the Youth Group. There have been times of 3 student every Wednesday and now up to 15 or more. It’s been a roller coaster ride for me and I can’t speak for them but I’m sure Abby, Dan, Dana and Katie would say the same. We’ve seen good time and not so good times.

Right now we face a bit of a challenge; I’m really not sure how we are going to turn out on the other side of this but I know I’m not going to sit on the side lines in the middle of what I am faithfully praying will be a wicked awesome harvest.

As of last Wednesday we had 16 students, can you guess how many of them come from a home that is not broken. One. 1/16 student’s parents are still together. Out of those 15 some of them are working on 2nd or 3rd marriages. Now this statistic may not strike a chord with you but to think about this brings tears to my eyes.

These students are broken. They face some of the most challenging situations a human could ever come up against. I won’t give you specific names because some of them read this blog, so I don’t want to embarrass them but I will give you situations as examples.

A student’s parents are splitting up because from what I can tell they just can’t get over themselves and won’t work on their problems so they are taking the easy way out. What I don’t think they realize is that their selfishness is crushing their children’s thought of what a proper home should be.
Another student gets blamed for everything, always being told they are no good and a liar. The mother doesn’t show them any love and the situation at home is so confusing with such conflicting messages they can’t tell right from wrong.
Another student’s parents, who are split up, can’t agree on anything. One is trying to do the right thing and actually being a parent, disciplining their children while the other just let’s them run ramped. The second parent blames everything on the first not taking any responsibility so the student is being blinded not seeing what is best for them, only what seems easy.
Yet another longs for their father’s love and wants so desperately for him to stop using.

I could keep going but I think you get the picture. We face a rough time and I for one am going to take action right now and I ask that you join me.

For the next 40 days I am going to fast during the day. From sun up to sun down I will not eat but pray for these students, that God would radically change their lives.

Now I know that Jesus says in the Word that we should not make a public spectacle of our fasting like the Pharisees did. So I want you to understand I am not making this public to be a spectacle but to ask you to join me in this and for all of you to help keep me accountable. Fasting is a hard discipline of the faith but one that yield tremendous results.

Consequently my blogs for the next 40 days will reflect this activity, perhaps giving updates, talking about proper fasting methods. There is a good way to do this that honors God and then there is a way of doing this that doesn’t honor God.

I truly hope that you will join me in praying for these students over the next 40 days, I am excited to see what God does in their lives.

May our LORD be with you

Living a life of Sacrifice

This past weekend Abby and I went up to the Poconos for our anniversary. We had a very lovely time but something totally out of place happened that I will never forget. You would think that being our anniversary weekend we would not watch TV at all. Well in most cases that is probably true but you see with Zion we don’t get to just sit together and relax a whole lot. Plus, we don’t have cable so being able to have more than 4 channels as an option was really exciting for us.

Anyway one of the channels we could watch was a Christian station and on Saturday night they had a broadcast of Billy Graham preaching from back in the 1960’s. We could tell because it was in black and white. He was doing his thing, telling the gospel like it is but he said something that even though it was 1960 when he said it, it is still a problem today. He said if church going Christians were really followers of Jesus, crime would cease to exist, divorce in America would be a distant memory and the race problem would be no more.

You know I have to agree with him. I look at the church worldwide today and I have to say to myself, is this really what God intended for His people to be like. We have become so complacent in our comfortable little churches. We dare not go out into the world and mix it up with “those people” for fear something awful will happen.

Jesus said we are the salt of the earth but I fear that we have lost our saltiness; we are not very effective anymore. He also said that if we are neither hot nor cold; lukewarm he will vomit us out of his mouth. We need to break out of this comfortable mold we are in and start getting out hands dirty reaching the lost. We can turn things around and be the light of the world that God has called us to be.

God never called us to a life of comfort; He called us to a life of sacrifice. Romans 12:1 says to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. That doesn’t sound like a life of comfort to me. Abby and I are on a campaign right now to simplify our lives. We have really come to a place where we just don’t feel right have so much excess when people in our very state, let alone the world don’t have anything. So we have tried to downsize and live with what we need instead of what we want. We got rid of all the clothes we don’t need or wear, changed our phones to have only what we need instead of a big fancy phone we really don’t use, and we are trying to give more monetarily to organizations, like Bethesda Mission, that help the poor and homeless. Now I’m not saying this to brag, in fact we tried to keep it pretty secret but I’m saying this now because in the midst of sacrificing all this stuff sometimes we hit...we’ll say roadblocks. But every time we get frustrated with our cheaper phones or we feel a financial pinch we’ve started saying to ourselves and each other, “It’s not a sacrifice if it doesn’t hurt.”

When we live a life of sacrifice other’s benefit and through that we bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. What Billy Graham said is true, if we, who claim to follow Jesus, would start living as though we are followers of Jesus things will change drastically.

If you don’t believe me listen to this story from the second century. The Gospel exploded around the Mediterranean Sea because of a plague that hit the area. People were throwing family members out into the street if they were affected by the plague, in order to save themselves. Can you believe it throwing your own brother out into the street to die, just to save yourself from this disease? But just as fast as these affected people were tossed out, the Christians in the town would come and collect them, bring them into their own homes and care for them. A lot of the time curing the affected person, just to get the disease themselves.

People saw the love of Jesus come alive through his followers, embracing death and disease with open arms just to show a person how much God loves them and to share Jesus with them.

Now we might not have a plague per say but we have plenty hurting people to reach with the love of Christ. If you don’t believe me come spend a Wednesday night at my Youth Group. We have kids who come from broken homes, with parents being totally selfish and self absorbed; they face a lot of mature things for such a young age. They are hurting and need God’s love and that is just one example.

What crazy thing is God calling you to do, or to give up. Don’t be afraid to live a life of sacrifice, you may suffer here on earth but remember this is not our permanent home.

Peace on Earth

Can I be honest with you? I really used to hate the Christmas Season. This time of year make people go a little crazy and it is all in the name of buying their kid something they can’t really even afford. It really grinds my gears. Forget about driving between the dates of November 26 and December 28. If you even wait a second after the light turns green people will honk at you and give you that gesture that tells you that you are number 1 in their book. You might be laughing right now but only because you know I’m right.

Mostly what bothered me about this season was the music. This is a problem because I work in a church and one of the special things about the advent season is the music. But I would grimace at the thought of singing and playing those carols with the band. I put a smile on my face and lead the people in those songs but inside I scowled.

Call me Scrooge if you want because that is really what I was. I did not enjoy anything about the Christmas season. The sad part was I couldn’t figure out why. It could have been that the music was boring or the people bowing down to the “mighty consumer dollar.” But I think it went deeper than that.

Then a few years ago I heard a song that changed my whole perspective on the Christmas season. You probably know what I’m going to say because every Christmas season I blog about this at least once. But the story is just so amazing that I feel the need for the repetition.

My parents had bought concert tickets for me and Abby to go see Casting Crowns on their Christmas tour. Of course my reaction was blasé. I didn’t like Christmas or the music so I was not excited about this event. But during the concert they played one of the songs off their album, “I heard the bells” by the poet Henry Longfellow. Before the song the Lead singer told the story behind the song.

Henry Longfellow wrote the poem “Christmas Bells” on Christmas Day during the Civil War after he heard the news about his son being mortally wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church in Virginia. Two years before that his wife had died in an accidental fire that was collateral damage of the Civil War. So on Christmas Day he hears these church bells ringing the tune, Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men. At this point after all that has happened he is a little bitter. He thought to himself, there is no peace on earth. Hate is running ramped and mocks this thought that peace can live on the earth.

That is exactly what I was feeling. In a season that is all about giving to other people, in a time of year where we are suppose to consider others and live in peace, all anyone can do is gesture inappropriately when I don’t step on the gas at the exact moment they want me to so I can get out of their way, in order for them to go spend more money they don’t have. Christmas had totally lost its meaning for me. I looked around at the world surrounding me and all I could see was what this season had turned into not what it really was.

As Longfellow stood listening to those bells chime he realized their message was not affected by the world around him. All the evil he was surrounded by did not negate the simple message the bells were ringing out. That God has brought peace to the earth in the form of his gift, the baby Jesus Christ.

I realized that what this season had turned into was not the same thing as what God meant it for and furthermore that had not changed at all. Christmas is not about the traffic or the shopping or even the music. Christmas is about God bringing peace to mankind through Jesus Christ his son. We can shop till we drop dead, or gesture to everyone on the road but The MESSAGE DOES NOT CHANGE!!!

Then rang the bells more loud and deep
GOD IS NOT DEAD, NOR DOES HE SLEEP
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men

I love this time of year now.... the music....everything. Because I realize that my attitude toward the season was just buying into what people are making Christmas out to be. But as a follower of Jesus, this time of year is to celebrate God gift. He totally changed my perspective about this holiday and if you feel the same way i felt, I encourage you to come to the same realization. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that no matter what happens now, God’s Peace reigns through Jesus Christ. So I can forgive the person who yells at me or is rude because I want them to see through my lifestyle and my attitude what Christmas was really meant to be.

Let’s celebrate the birth of our Savior and the gift of Peace God gave us

Berean Jews

I have this app on my iPad called a scripture shaker. It gives me a random scripture to read, then I shake it and another pops up. It's really neat. This morning I forgot my bible here at work, so I decided to use this app. I came across a verse in Act 17, that just struck me the right way.

Acts 17 talks about Paul during one of his missionary trips around the Roman Empire. In verse 11 the author makes a statement that I think we can and should learn something. It goes like this:

--Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.--

I love the phrase "more noble". It really says a lot about these Jews.

Let me ask you something, yesterday when the minister in your church got up to do his thing, what was your reaction. Were you excited? Bored? Indifferent? I remember one time sitting in the second service at my church, during the summer, and when the Pastor got up to speak, the women in front of me whispered,"Ugh! here we go!"

I could not believe it!!! I felt like tapping that lady on the shoulder and saying, look if you don't want to be here to hear this you can leave.

Do we have the same reaction to hearing the Word of God as the Berean Jews? Here was a guy they had never meet before, Paul, bringing a message and they were glad to hear it. Or do we react like that typical church goer, Ugh! here we go? Take note that she knew that Pastor quite well. How come the Berean Jews were so more excited about a guy they had never met and we receive our Pastor's message with contempt.

Now don't get me wrong I am not saying that all believers react like that typical church goer, but do we have the reaction of the Berean Jews, excited and eager to hear the word? You know, we all have extremely busy lives, I don't need to expound on that. I don't have the time I would like to sit and study God's Word, I do my best with the time that I carve out for me and God but I never feel like it's enough. But the Pastor, it is his job to study the scriptures and study them to the point that he or she can give a message on Sunday morning. So I appreciate the message that the Pastor brings, but I pray that God would give me the spirit of the Berean Jews to receive that message with eagerness and excitement.

Also, take note at the last part of the verse, what did the Jews do? They examined the Scriptures and found what Paul was saying was true. Now I don't want to sound like I'm coming down on the church, I don't want the Daily Feast to turn into my ranting about how I feel about the church or whatever.

But I think this is something that is common. So many times I will be with friends talking about the scriptures or what we've been learning about in church and they repeat something the pastor said and it doesn't sit well with me. It doesn't match with what I've read in the Scripture.

Pastors are human too, they make mistakes, say the wrong thing, put something out of context. It's our job to take what they have said and examine it. Not only for our benefit, to make sure that it is Scripturly sound but for their benefit as well. The Bible says that iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. To go to a pastor and ask about something he or she said to get clarification, is not being a bad church goer. It actually makes you an excellent church goer.

The point is you can't just sit back and take whatever the pastor says as final word. Look at it for yourself. Be like the Berean Jews examine the scriptures and make sure the message was true and in line with the Scriptures.

I remember listening to the radio a while ago and the host of this show made a facebook page for Paul the apostle. It was a joke that he was doing as a fun thing for the fans of the show. He would make the status' things that Paul wrote in his letters but he wouldn't reference them. He made one of the status' a verse Paul wrote in Galatians about the law. I don't remember exactly what it was but it came right from scripture, I know because the host read the scripture on the air when a fan called in and said, he couldn't just make a statement like the one he did on Paul's page.

This guy, who claimed he was a believer since childhood, said the statement the host made, THAT CAME RIGHT FROM THE BIBLE, was false. The guy, who if I didn't mention it, claimed to be a believer, didn't even know what the scripture says. How sad is that?

We claim to love Jesus, to be followers and we don't even know what his word to us says.

I have been reading Crazy love lately and I love the statement the author makes. I want you to think about this for your life. We serve a God who pursues us with RELENTLESS LOVE, and what is your reaction, as a follower, to Him?

High Places

There are some very interesting objects that are found in the Old Testament, they are called High Places. These objects can be found first in the book of Joshua (best book if you ask me...haha). A High Place is defined as an elevated site, usually found on the top of a mountain or hill; most high places were Canaanite places of pagan worship. The average high place would have had an altar (2 Kings 21:3, 2 Chronicles 14:3), a carved wooden pole that depicted the female goddess of fertility (Asherah), a stone pillar symbolizing the male deity, other idols and some type of building. At these places of worship the people would sacrifice animal and sometimes children (Jer. 7:31). Incense would be burnt, sacrificial meals would take place and often rituals involving male and female prostitutes. Scripture speaks extremely in the negative about the high places though they played a huge role in the lives of most people who lived in Palestine before the land was conquered by Joshua and the Israelites.

When the Israelites enter Canaan, they were ordered to destroy all the high places so they would not be temped to worship the false gods (Numbers 33:52). There was a time where exceptions were made. The people were to worship God at Shiloh before the temple was built (Joshua 18:1-1Samuel 1:3). However Shiloh was destroyed by the Philistines and construction of the temple did not take place till Solomons time. During that time scripture says that Samuel worship in the city of Ramah at a high place dedicated to the worship of the one true God. A group of prophets worshiped at the "hill of God". David and Solomon worship at a high place in Gibeon where the tabernacle and altar were located. But not too many chapters later we read that Solomon built new high places for the gods of his foreign wives. After that it pretty much goes down hill till we get to the exile. The kingdoms divided and Judah began to worship Baal, and Israel worshiped two golden calves located in Dan and Bethel. The kings in 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles were evaluated by what they did with the high places. King Josiah was considered one of the best kings in Judah because he went all Rambo on the high places and the priests of the false gods (1 Kings 22-24).

So I only have one question; what are the High Places in your life? I know that this might sound corny or a stretch, but I think the concept is legitimate. Are there things in your life that you know you should get rid of, just like the Israelites were told to destroy the worship places of Canaanites, but you just can't let go of; sins, addictions, etc.

Jesus died so we could be free of sin, he gives us the power to destroy those things in our lives. Why hold onto them or try and defeat them ourselves.

Francis Chan says in Crazy Love that Lukewarm Christians have a tendency to want to be free from the penalty of their sins, but not the sin itself. Just like the Israelites, being God's people they thought they could get by still having these places in the Holy Land. The sins we hold onto keep us from fully giving ourselves to the Savior.

Will Worship

There is a condition for us Christians that I think needs to be brought to light. It is called “Will worship". Let me explain what I mean. A writer by the name of Heini Arnold once wrote, "As long as we think we can save ourselves by our own will power, we will only make the evil in us stronger than ever.". Another writer named Emmet Fox said, " As soon as you resist mentally any undesirable or unwanted circumstances, you thereby endow it with more power~power which it will use against you and you will have depleted your own resources to that exact extent."

You maybe a little confused at this point, let me expound what I'm getting at. Paul writes about this epidemic in Colossians 2:20-23. He is talking about handling sin on our own. He asks why we submit to regulations of the world, “do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.". Verse 23 he says these things have an appearance of wisdom for self made religion...but they are of no value in stopping the indulgences of the flesh.
Friends, in short, we will never be able to beat sin of our own accord. Sure we can say things like “I’m not going to do this or that at this time or that," but do you here the crux of that sentence, “I’m not going to...".

What Paul is talking about in this passage is will worship, what my will power can do and he says your will power can't. Your will power will never be able to handle sin, fight it off in the way that is needed. Will power will never succeed in dealing with the deeply ingrained habits of sin. However sometimes we make some head way and maybe stop a habit that has plagued us for a while. Now I'm not saying that doesn't happen and it is great when it does but is it really us doing the work? The moment we feel we can succeed or attain victory solely on our own will power, we begin to worship our will. Isn't it ironic that Paul looked at our best effort in the fight against sin and called it idolatry?
I knew a man who struggled with alcohol for years. Finally he stopped and started to get his life back on track, got into a program and everything. Six months later he went in to a bar for just one drink. Eight hours later he left right back where he started six months earlier.

Richard Foster said, “Our ordinary method of dealing with ingrained sin is a frontal attack. We rely on our willpower and determination. Whatever the issue for us is ~ anger, bitterness, gluttony, pride, sexual lust, alcohol, fear, we determine never to do it again; we fight against it, set our will against it. But it is all in vain and we find ourselves morally bankrupt or worse yet so proud of our external righteousness that "whitened sepulchers," is a mild description of our condition."

So what do we do it all seems hopeless, well on our own it is. Sin is in our nature so to not sin is literally going against our nature. But Jesus defeated sin on the cross, with his death sin died. When we face a situation we know temptation is going to come and sin will follow or for times that we are caught off guard, pray. The bible says that God will never give us more than we can handle but that with his help. So pray, say God help me out of this, I rely solely on the work that Christ already did on my behalf. God will give you want you need, whether it's a way out or strength or whatever. Paul also said in Corinthians to flee sin, so if that seems good to you do it with God's help.

I encourage you DO NOT rely on your own strength or will. Don't worship your own power because clearly Paul says we have none. When we stop trying to do it ourselves, we are open to a wonderful new realization: inner righteousness is a gift from God to be graciously received. The needed change within us is Gods work, not ours. The demand is for an inside job and only God can work from the inside. We cannot attain or earn this righteousness; it is a grace that is given.

Rely on God's power and worship the Savior.

May our LORD be with you

The Bread

I'm sure we can all think of a holiday we look forward too. Seeing family we don't normally see or eating food that we don't normally eat, it hold a special place in our hearts. For me it has to be Christmas Eve. My family on my mom's side gets together at my Grandmother's house. It's nice to see my uncle and aunt whom I don't get to see very often but I think the real reason we all gather on that night is the two pounds of shrimp that my grandma makes. She has this stainless steel bowl that is as big as a cauldron, it's huge. Every year it's filled to the top with those yummy crustaceans. She puts a bowl of melted butter at my place so I can peel them, plop them in there and let the butter do it's thing. It's delicious!! I'm drooling just thinking about it. I look forward to it every year.

In Jesus' time the holiday that everyone looked forward too was Passover. It was a celebration with special foods, games and storytelling. The host of the meal sets up a tray with bitter herbs, a lamb bone, salt water, an egg and a yummy nutty apple mix, all symbolizing a part of the story of how God rescued the Jews out of slavery in Egypt. The children play a game where they take three pieces of matzo, put them all in a napkin, with the middle one broken. One of the parents will hide the middle piece somewhere in the house and all the children go and find it. The youngest child is suppose to ask at a certain time, "What's so special about this night?" This is a lead in for the host to tell the story of the Passover. Passover was the celebration of the final plague in Egypt. God told Moses that the first born child of every family would be taken unless their was lamb's blood smeared of the door posts of the house. If the blood was their the LORD would passover that house. An animal was sacrificed, blood had to be split, a life of one had to be taken in order to save the lives of many. This was the beginning of their sacrificial system. It was every Jew's favorite holiday.

This particular night in Luke 22 was a Passover meal. The disciples were very anxious and excited. They knew something big was about to happen and now they get to celebrate Passover together. Jesus being the master of the group led the meal. They went through the different cups, He told the story with the different symbols, it's was probably a really nice time.

Then toward the end of the celebration Jesus shifts gears. He has told the story of how God rescued His people out of Egypt, which is usually the end of it but it seemed like Jesus had more to say. As if being rescued from Egypt was not the end, there was something else. Jesus takes a piece of bread and gave thanks for it, then He ripped it apart and gave each of the disciples. He said, this is my body, which is broken for you, do this is remembrance of me. They would have immediately known what he was talking about. Jesus was saying I am now the sacrifice that will bring peace. This was the beginning of a new era, Jesus was taking something old and gave it a new meaning. The Last Supper is the completion of Passover because Jesus is the completion of God's plan, the final sacrifice for all men.

In my old church the communion table has the words carved into it, "Do this in remembrance of me". These words of Jesus mean not just to remember but to take yourself back and relive this event. Every time I see a jumbo shrimp I am transported to Christmas' past. That is what this means, when we partake of this meal we are to be transported back to remember the cross, the sacrifice that Christ made for us. How odd it is that we Christians need a reminder by this simple meal of the sacrifice that Jesus made through his broken body and blood. This bread symbolizes, reminds us that God Himself allowed his body to be ripped to pieces and his blood to be spilt for our freedom. When we partake in this Supper, remember what Christ did for you, through His love. He paid your ransom, so that you could be freed from sin. Through his broken body we have healing and peace.

May our LORD be with you

Being a Maker of Peace

This past weekend Abby and I went to our Sister's baby shower. It was a really great time however I was really uncomfortable. I have had a lot of things on my mind and this past weekend it was all crashing down upon us like a wave of uncertainty and despair. But beyond that I was still uncomfortable and I couldn't figure out why. Then I came into work and started reading this book that I got for Christmas. The book is the Bible Dictionary. I started paging through when I came across the section of peace and being a peacemaker. That is when I realized what was going on Saturday, I didn't have any peace. I know this may be confusing so let me explain and I will warn you I am going to be brutally honest.

There were so many groups of people at this shower. It seemed that all aspects of my life over the past 25 years were all meeting in one room (with the exception of High School, Thank you God!!) As I've grown up and gone through the different stages of my life I have collected a museum of hurts and wounds, some that people have inflicted on me and others that I have caused. Being in a house with all the people who either inflicted or were affected by my actions reminded me of those scars and that just filled me with a gambit of emotion. At times I was annoyed, angry, bitter, resentful and shameful toward everyone. Now hear me on this I am not pointing to one individual here. So please don't read this and think "Oh no is it me," cause it was not just one.

So when I came here Monday and started reading about peace it got me thinking about this whole situation. Peace is defined as a condition or sense of harmony, well-being and prosperity. The biblical concept means more than just the absence of hostility as this definition implies. The Hebrew word as is spelled in English is "salom" we say it "Shalom." It means to have peace or safety, yes but it is also taken a step further. This word talks about wholeness or intactness.

To have peace is to feel whole or intact. An important custom in biblical times was to wish someone peace. In other words to wish them a feeling of wholeness, safety and hoping that they have a focus on security.

Jesus takes it yet another step further in Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God." A peacemaker is defined as one who actively works to bring peace and reconciliation where there is hatred and enmity. God declares them His children and blesses them. Just break the word down, a maker of peace.

So what is it going to take for you to make peace? I want to start right now and make a stand. I want to obey My LORD and be a maker of peace. So right here and now I want to say, if I have ever done something to you that caused pain or strife, I am truly sorry. I apologize for whatever it was that I did and I ask you to forgive me. Likewise all those who I feel have burned me in some way I forgive you. We don't need to go through who did what to whom; I just want to forgive you and move on from here. I want to actively create peace between me and all whom I come in contact with. So I forgive you and the next time you see me I'm not going to hold feelings of anger or resentment toward you.

I encourage you to do whatever you need to do to be a maker of peace.

May our LORD be with you and may you have peace

The Endless Conversation

The other day I tried to call my mom on her work number. When I got her voicemail, I hung up and tried her cell phone. That didn't work either so I gave up and decided to talk to her later. But if I really needed to get a hold of her I could have kept going. I could have sent her a text or e-mail or facebook message or fax.

There are so many ways of communicating today, it's absolutely crazy. So that begs the question; How many different ways does God communicate with us?

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says "Pray without ceasing." In the middle of this shotgun list of basic activities believers should put into practice are these three little words that tell us what our communication to God should be. A believers communion with God so be so intimate that talking to Him is easy and natural.

So what is prayer? Is it talking at God and Him listening? NO!! It is so much more than that. Prayer as defined in the bible is a 2 way conversation. I think many times we feel that prayer in a monologue rather than a dialogue. But prayer is a conversation.

Now let's put this together. Logic says that if we are to pray without ceasing and prayer is a 2 way conversation. Then we can only come to the conclusion that God is speaking to us without ceasing.

So how does God communicate with us? First is through the Holy Spirit. As Packer says in "Knowing God," "the work of salvation is one in which all three act together, the Father purposing redemption, the Son securing it and the Spirit applying it." Or as Ephesians 1:13-14 says, "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of His glory."

If you know Jesus as LORD and Savior, you have the God's Spirit dwelling inside of you. So He can speak right to you. Those "tap on your shoulder" experiences you feel when you know something isn't right, that is God's Spirit. When He enters your life, things begin to change. He speaks to you telling you how to live more like His character.

Now I don't believe that God speaks to us through signs or circumstances but He does work within our everyday boring situations of life. Take Moses for example, he see a burning bush in the desert. That was something that part of his everyday life. God used that to speak to him. The other day I was at home and I watch Zion take a huge tumble and do a face plant right onto the kitchen floor. I rushed over to him and scooped him up in my arms. As he cried into my shoulder, I felt God says to me, that that is exactly what He does when I stumble and fall flat on my face. Did God make me a father so He could tell me that in that instance? Not exactly. We can never put God in a box. I believe he took my circumstance of being a father and loving my child enough to comfort him when he falls, and spoke to me through it. I did not have the full grasp of how God is a father to me until I myself became a father. Did God make Zion fall down so He could speak to me in that moment? Probably not, God took something that is very ordinary in our household and used it to communicate His love to me.

God also speaks to us through other believers. That's why accountability groups are so important. We all have the same Spirit so God work within each of us to speak to each of us. 1 Corinthians says that we all have the same Spirit and that messages of wisdom or knowledge or faith or healing can be given through us. If you don't have one I encourage you to find a small group of believers that you are comfortable with. That you can open up to completely and be totally honest with.

Listen don't give me that crap that you don't want to spell your deep dark secrets to others. Let us not look down on each other. Guess what we are all in the same boat, we are all sinners saved by grace through faith in Jesus. Find a group and let the Spirit moved in you and speak to you.

Finally God speaks to us through His word. 2 Timothy says that Scripture is God breathed. Also in Genesis it says that God breathed into man to give him life. So that goes to say, the Word of God, the Bible is alive. All that is needed is to read it. God has a lot to say to you, but this one you have to make a move.

May our LORD be with you

Knowing God

J.I. Packer makes a very interesting statement in his book, "Knowing God." If you've never read it, I highly recommend picking up a copy. Anyway, he says that, One can know a great deal about God without much knowledge of Him. I think that is very true. It is an intellectual crime of many Christians. We can study all about any subject of our choosing and become an expert but until we experience what we are studying we really know nothing.

I can study all I want about being a Rock Star. I can watch interviews of other Rock Stars and listen and take notes about their experiences on stage. I can study the different stage performances and become an expert on putting together the perfect rock show. But until I strap on my guitar and actually go out and play a gig in front of 20,000 screaming people, I will never know what it is like even with all my "expertise."

We can read books of theological exposition and apologetics. We could dip into Christian history, and study the Christian creed. We can learn all there is to navigate our way through the Scriptures. We can speak in public, answer "Christian" questions, lead study groups, pay for the highest level of Christian education or write papers about God but that doesn't mean that you actually know God.

In the Psalms it says "Taste and See that the LORD is good." Notice the order of that statement. The Psalmist says "taste." There is no study in tasting only experience. Imagine if you were given a steak dinner. Would you spend the time looking at it, reading a book about it. I truly hope not. You would dive right into that sucker and savory every bite along the way.

That should be our approach to God, according to the Psalmist. Dive right into God and taste and savory all that He is.

After that comes the "see." The examination, the study, the intellectual part of the relationship.

I encourage you to take steps to know God with your heart before you know Him with your brain.

May our LORD be with you!

Legalism at it's best

I have big news for all of you, I heard it just this morning on the radio. All of you who think you are Christians may need to change your Facebook religion status because apparently you are not a Christian unless you sponsor a child in another country.

I'm not going to name names (though I really feel I should) but I heard a story on Word FM's morning show about an individual approaching a certain front man from a pretty well known Christian band. The individual told the Band man that he recently became a Christian, to which the front man responded, "what country does your child live in?" Then the hosts of the morning show telling this story proceeded to say that, "Really finding a church should not be the first priority for a person who just came to Christ. But the first thing they do should be to sponsor a Child."

Now I will admit that this really grinds my gears and if you can't tell already I am super fired up about this, so I will try to control myself and use sober judgment in writing this.
Please don't get me wrong, sponsoring a child is a wonderful, outstanding, beautiful, I can't say enough how great of a thing it is....but is it really so important that it needs to be the very first things a new believer does. Is it really important enough to be put on the list of things a person "must do" to be a proper Christian. I feel like the list of "must do's" to be a Christian is getting longer and longer with each generation.

It reminds me of what Peter said in Acts 15 when the counsel met. A group of Jewish believers were going around to all the Gentiles who were coming to Christ and telling them that in order to be a proper Christian they need to become Jewish first and follow all the Jewish commandments. I don't know if you know....but that was a pretty long list. Peter says in verse 10, "Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?"

Why, why, why do we make coming to Christ so complicated? Why must we create a yoke that we ourselves cannot bear. Imagine if you will (and I'm not saying this is how it happen...but let's pretend for a moment) that a non-believer happen to come to that radio station this morning searching for answers about God. He turns to this station and hears "When you come to Christ you really should sponsor a child and give $30 a month and even more." What is that person going to think? Probably what a lot of people think, that all Christianity is, is the Church or some other organization trying to get money.

Now as I said sponsoring a child is great and if you are able and feel called to do so please knock yourself out. But is it right to say that to be a proper Christian sponsoring a child is a must? Did Jesus die so I could sponsor a starving child in Bolivia. I don't think so. Sponsoring a child is a result of what Christ died on the cross for.

Jesus gave his life as a ransom for our sins so we cold be free. So we could have a relationship with the God who loves us more than we will ever know. Jesus died to bring heaven here to earth and a result of that is that we can give joyfully to help those in need.

So what am I saying here. I don't know if I even know. If you want to give to a starving child in Ethiopia or where ever, then do it and do it joyfully. God wants us to give but only.....but only if we do it with a generous and joyful heart. If I give my wife flowers just because or just for the reason that I thought about her and wanted to do it, it will mean a lot more than if I say "Oh, they were on sale," or "Oh I felt like I had to."

If you give because, "Oh I feel like I have to," then DON'T because God doesn't want a gift given out of obligation. He wants you to give because you want to give. Furthermore DON'T make it an obligation to others or look down on fellow believers who can't or don't give for whatever reason.

Remember the women who gave all she had because she wanted to, Jesus honored that women. But those rich men who were making a spectacle of their giving, Jesus wanted nothing to do with them. I would strongly encourage you to give to the LORD but do it out of joy and not obligation or because someone on the radio says, "you must sponsor a child in order to be a proper Christian."

Well, I hope I didn't fly off the handle too much. I really feel that these comments made on the radio and by that artist give into Legalistic Christianity. Jesus DID NOT sacrifice himself so we could follow the rules. His sacrifice goes so much deeper than that.

May our LORD be with you!

Building up the House

Haggai 1:2-5 & 7

Some of you may have heard me speak on this before, but that's okay I don't mind repeating myself when the message is a good one such as this. There is a lot of back story going on here that we have to understand in order to get a understanding of this passage. First this passage takes place after the exile from Israel to Babylon. Through King Cyrus of Persia some of the Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem. Their first job was to rebuild the temple, so they got all the materials and laid the foundation. Everything was going great until their enemies started intimidating them, telling them not to rebuild the temple (even though they had permission from the King to do so.) So the Jews became a bunch of sissies and stopped the rebuilding of the temple.

Now that was a seriously short version of what all took place but for our purposes today we will pick up the story there. So the Jews are in their city the foundation for the temple is laid and they are scared to do anymore. Through the prophet Haggai the LORD speaks to the people; he says to them, "you have built up your houses and yet my house lies in ruins". It's almost as if the LORD is saying to the people "Don't you trust me?". He already provided them passage back to Israel and I forgot to mention that all the materials for rebuilding were bought on Cyrus's dime! They don't even have to pay for it, all they have to do is build it! And the LORD comes to them and says, "Give careful thought to your ways." Now that phrase appears more than once in this book, so you have to know it's important.

What I want to say to you today is, "Give careful thought to your ways!" How many of us think that God would say to us, "You are living in a paneled house (which was a Hebrew-ism for a really nice solid house) while My house lies in ruins." I am hoping and assuming that those who read this have come to a relationship with Jesus Christ, (and if you haven't and would like to know more e-mail me and we can talk about that.) If that is a correct assumption, all of you have the foundation laid out for your "God's house." The foundation has been laid but what does the rest of the house look like? Have you built upon that foundation? Have you begun to grow your relationship with God beyond laying the foundation?

We spend so much time working on our "houses" (what we want to do) that we leave little time to work on "God's house". Believe me; I'm speaking to myself along with everyone else. So the question is then, what in your life gets in the way? Could it be your schedule, friends, jobs, working out, hanging out? What in your life would you consider "working on your house and not on God's house." Here may be a better question, what sins are you holding onto that hold you back from deepening your relationship with God? What do you struggle with that you haven't died to, that still has you in bondage, which holds you back from building up your relationship with God?

These people Haggai were scared to rebuild because of threats that is what held them back from building God's house. What holds you back? In chapter 2 of this book God says to the people in verse 4 & 5 "Be strong, all you people of the land,' declares the LORD 'and work. For I am with you, and my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear." God is with you always do not be afraid to take that next step and build upon your foundation. God desires to have a Father-child relationship with you. His love for you is so deep it drove him to the cross, and if you would ask Him, I know he would say you were worth dying for. My siblings, God loves you so much He sent Jesus into our broken, messed up, fallen world so you may have a relationship with Him, that you may live with Him always. From the minute you said "Jesus come into my life" through all eternity, He is with you and He loves you.

Let me give you some scripture for you to look up to find ways to build upon your foundation and continue to grow as one of God's beloved children. I pray that you may shine and be the light of the world so that others may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.

Philippians 4:8-9

Ephesians 4:26-5:2

Colossians 2:6-8/ 3:1-2/12-15

1 Thessalonians 5:15-18

May our LORD be with you

Get out of the desert

Moses!! What a basket case! Okay seriously, what an amazing story to read in the scriptures. The parting of the Red Sea aside, God did some incredible things through him. Leading the people through the desert, the Ten Commandments, the list goes on forever. But that's the end of the story, the beginning isn't so wonderful.

In the middle verses of Exodus Chapter 2 we see Moses all grown up and the scripture says he was watching over his people the Israelites. He catches sight of an Egyptian abusing a Hebrew. He gets really angry and intervenes, unfortunately killing the Egyptian. The next day Moses sees two Hebrews fighting amongst themselves. He tries to stop them and finds out that what he did is public knowledge, so he flees to the land of Midian.

Moses spends 20 years there in Midian. He gets married, has kids and lives a normal life. One day something unexpected happens. He is tending his flock beside the Mountain of God he sees a bush that has caught fire. Now for Moses seeing a bush aflame in the middle of the desert probably was a normal thing. I mean....it's the desert...it's hot...really hot....like things spontaneously catch on fire hot. But this bush wasn't being consumed by the fire, that wasn't normal. Then Moses hears a voice that changes his life forever, the voice of God. The LORD tells Moses that He has seen the suffering of His people and Moses was the guy to go into Egypt and free them.

Now notice Moses' response when God tells him his mission. It's the classic, "Here I am LORD, send someone else!" So my question is, why did God choose Moses if he didn't want to go? Moses makes every excuse in the book and still God tells him to go.

Why?!? Why didn't God pick someone else, someone who wanted to go? Someone who would say "You got it LORD whatever you say I will do!!" What is God doing here? Look back at the beginning of the story, what was the whole reason that Moses was in the desert tending sheep in the first place?

He killed an Egyptian.

But why did he kill the Egyptian?

His passion drove him to do it.

What do I mean?

As I pointed out earlier, scripture says that Moses went out and watched his own people at their labor. Moses knew he was not Egyptian; he was a Hebrew so he would watch his people as they worked. It must have torn him up inside to see the affliction they were going through. So much so that when he saw the slave master singling out the Hebrew and beating him, Moses just snapped. That is why God chose him.

Moses used every excuse in the book but in the end God knew that Moses had a burning passion to see his people liberated and that qualified him to be God's man in Egypt.

So the question now is, what are you passionate about? More importantly have you been making excuses why God can't use you in this area? When I was a senior in High School I wanted to be in Youth Ministry but after I found out how much Youth Ministry pays, I got scared and selfish. I made every excuse why I shouldn't do it but in then God knew I have a passion to see young people come to a relationship with Christ and Here I am!! I cannot get away from it and neither can you.

God wants to use you but He's not going to force you. God is the perfect gentleman, He will wait on you. He accommodated all of Moses excuses until he was satisfied and gave in, God did not force him. He put a passion in you to use for His glory and the advancement of His kingdom. Get out of the desert and let God use you and the passion He put inside you. Stop being like Moses in the early years and be like Moses in the later years. Whatever fires you up God put that in you and until you let Him utilize and unleash it for His glory you won't be satisfied, believe me I am speaking for experience. No matter what I did it wasn't good enough. Only when I finally gave into God's calling and started a Youth Bible study which lead to a job as a Youth Pastor was God able to make use of my passion. Through that He has shown me other areas that I'm passionate about and directed me into them.

I'm not saying the work of God won't get done without you, God doesn't have to us but he wants to. I'm saying the work God wants to do in you won't happen until you get out of your own way.

So......what are you passionate about? Don't hold it back, don't make excuses. Let God send you into Egypt, let Him use you and your passion. He will do amazing things in and through you.

May our LORD be with you!

The Evil Within

I'm going to be very open and honest with all of you in this Daily Feast. It may drive some of you away, which will make me sad but I believe this message to be true. This is my opinion; however I believe it also to be in line with the scriptures.

Okay so here it goes I am going to spill all my dark, "evil" secrets. I am a big fan of beer. I have my favorites and ones that I've tasted that I think are crap. Ben Franklin once said that Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. I think it would be awesome to be a beer critic or conasaur.

Every now and then I also like to enjoy a cigar. I really enjoy those times I've had with guy friends just hanging out having a smoke. There is a cigar shop in Strawberry Square near where I work, I love going in there and just looking around at the different brands, smelling the different aromas. I also have an Irish clay pipe that I will smoke every now and then or use when I'm backpacking (tobacco only of course.)

I really enjoy the Harry Potter series. I hated reading until I pick up a copy of the 4th book and I realized the imagination I could have envisioning the different worlds that reading provides. I also really enjoy the movies.

I love to play rock music. When the band has a gig, I can't wait to get on stage and just be as crazy as I can (without falling off.) We have a certain dress code that we follow. I know it sounds weird but we were told "if you are going to be a rock band you have to look like a rock band." So I have outfits that really enjoy wearing but I wouldn't under any other circumstances.

I think it would be really cool to get a tattoo.

I want to get my ears pierced.

I would like to own a hand gun.

I would like to someday own and ride a motorcycle.

I could go on and on but I think this list will suffice for my point.

Before you delete this and totally write me off let me ask you a question. What do all of these things have in common with one another? Seriously take a moment to think about the answer to the question.

All of these things can be/are considered evil in the eyes of some Christians. I've heard the old saying; Don't smoke, drink or chew or hang out with girls that do. But let me ask you a question; Are the objects in the above list evil or is the person using the objects evil? I believe it to be the latter. Remember the story in Acts where the followers of The Way have a counsel in Jerusalem to discuss the reality that non-Jews were coming to Christ and receiving the same Holy Spirit that Jew-Jews were. At the end of the meeting the counsel wrote a letter to Gentile believers asking them to abstain from a few things, one of them being food sacrificed to idols. Now the reason was not because the food was evil, though the act of man sacrificing the food to pagan gods was evil. The reason was for the sake of Jews who had not come to the Messiah yet. They believed that if a Jew saw a Gentile, claiming to be a follower of The Way, eating meat that was sacrificed to another god that would totally turn him away from Jesus. So for the sake of witnessing to fellow Jews, Gentiles were encouraged to abstain from "idol meat."

Now I bring that up to make a point. God had already taken care of the whole "some foods are evil don't even think about touching them thing," with Peter. God said plain and simple that through Jesus' sacrifice that the Mosaic laws about food no longer applies. So the food was not evil at all but the man giving the food up to false gods makes it evil. However it would also be the act of worship that makes the food evil. A Gentile believer may have been given some meat sacrificed to a false god, not knowing it, eaten the food cause he was hungry. There's no worship involved. If he would have eaten the food in worship to the false god, then it would be evil. But the point remains, it's not the object that is evil but the man using the object for evil, that is evil.

Paul says in Phillipians that we need to figure out our salvation, with fear and trembling. Let us consider the above list again. These are the things that others think are evil or maybe can’t handle. But I can handle them and don’t think they are evil. I believe God placed them here for our enjoyment. I think that beer is a pleasant beverage. I like that taste and I enjoy drinking it. Is there anything evil there? Not at all. Now I will say that I identify that if I abuse the drinking of beer that I will become drunk and sin enters the situation stage right. LET ME BE CLEAR HERE, I like beer but I NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER allow myself to lose control. I don’t even allow myself to come close. I know my limits and what my body can handle. I drink beer because I enjoy the taste of it not so I can become drunk and act like an idiot. I decided when I turned 21 that I was going to partake in drinking alcohol but I also decided that I was going to be responsible. That decision goes for the rest of that list as well. Some people can’t handle reading or watching the Potter series. I acknowledge there are things in those books that God says to stay away from but there are also values in there that God himself tells us to cling to. Things like friendship, love, courage, sacrifice; if all you see is the sorcery then I’m sorry but you’ve missed the entire story.

It's not the object but the man using the object that is evil.

Now I’m not saying that you too should start drinking beer, go buy a motorcycle or pick a copy of the Potter book. What I am saying is that we need to change our thinking here as followers of Christ. Don't look down on fellow believers if they enjoy a beverage or cigar every now and then, as long as they do it responsibly. Furthermore don’t immediately write something off as “evil.” God says that he looks at the heart not the outward appearance and it’s time we do the same.

Take tattoos as yet another example. You cannot make a case based on scripture (without abusing the language or taking something out of context) to speak against tattoos. The word that is used in Leviticus is nowhere near the word or process that was used in ancient times. God was saying to the Levites that he doesn't want to be worshiped with cutting and abusing the body. So getting a tattoo is not evil, it's when the tattoo becomes an idol to the person that evil come into the picture. Tattoos have the potential to draw attention to one self. Once it becomes all about me and what I can do, that is when the problem comes. But a believer could use a tattoo as a tool for witness.

I do want to bring this up; as I’ve said the object is not evil but the man abusing it. We need to be aware of fellow believers who are abusing certain thing and are harming either themselves or others by their actions. The bible says that we need to rebuke each other IN LOVE in order to build each other up. Obviously things like drugs or cigarettes harm the body and should be throw out right away. But if a fellow believer is abusing something, they need to be told about it.

If I were to let my fondness of beer go too far and I was abusing it I would want someone to rebuke me so repentance could take place and forgiveness given. Like I said that would never happen but just as an example.

Though it is not the object but the person, we need to remember what Jesus did for us to break down the evil within us. The power of his love and sacrifice made it possible for us to have God’s spirit in us so that we can become more godly and turn away from out sinful nature. Thank you Jesus for what you did for us!!!

I hope in reading this you have been blessed. My intention was not to divide us but rather to bring us together. This was particularly difficult to write because I know this can be a touchy subject but one I felt the LORD leading me to address.

May our LORD be with you!

The Greatest Stoy

My Father in Law is an amazing man. First of all he is 78 years old and still working. That by itself is incredible. But more than that when I think about his age and more importantly his life experience, I can't help but be blown away. Think about it if he is 78 that means he was born in the 30's. Imagine all he has lived through. WWII, the Cold War, Vietnam, Korea, Pearl Harbor, TMI, the bombing of Iwo Jima and Nagasaki he can remember where he was for all of these and more.

Furthermore I like to think of all the music he's lived through. The big bands of the 40's and 50's. The beginning of Rock and Roll, the metal era. He LIVED when bands like Led Zepplin, The Who, The Beatles, Rush and so many others all got there start and made their way to fame.

Think of all the cars he's lived through. Abby told me that he has owned every "classic" car, before they became classics.

The most amazing thing is the stories that he can tell. Before Abby and I got married He and I went to dinner a few times. I loved to just sit and listen to the stories he told. He would tell me tales of when he was a young man and worked on the railroad down outside of Enola. He told me one time that they used to make coffee in a huge pot. He and his coworkers would boil water and just put the grounds directly in the water. When it turned black they would kill the heat source and let the grounds settle. Then they just scoop it off the top and consume. He told me you could stay awake for 3 days on a cup of that joe. Take that McD's frappe crap.

Anyway, it's safe to say that he has seen and experienced some pretty amazing stuff. But you know what more amazing still? Of all the things he's lived through he would tell you that nothing compares to knowing Jesus Christ as his LORD and God as his Loving Father. Of all the awesome stuff he's lived through, he never truly lived until he came to realize that God the Father loves him with a love that spans across eternity and breaks through anything that stands in its way.

One of the many things I love about him is that he doesn't get all caught up in the dogmatic....stuff of Christianity. Denny Hall lives his life knowing that God loves him and that good enough for him.

When I was a kid, there was an autistic kid who lived in my neighborhood. He died several years ago from his condition. But a few years before he died he started going to a small church on the outskirts of our neighborhood. His funeral was held there and the pastor who gave the eulogy said something that will stick with me forever. He said that when Sean found out that God loves him just as he is, Sean immediately gave his life to Christ. That's all he needed to know. He didn't worry about whether Speaking in Tongues was still relevant to the church. Or if Calvin was right about pre-destination. ALL HE NEEDED TO KNOW IS THAT GOD LOVES HIM JUST AS HE IS.
Why can't we live just like that. Why do we let the...i'm going to say it....stupid dogmatic things of our faith get in the way of the simple truth that God loves us. God's love for us is so intense that He wouldn't even let death itself stop it. The Bible says that God dances over us with joy, quits us with His love and rejoices over us.

God loves you just as you are, this isn't a "I need to get in shape before I can go to the gym thing." God loves you just as you are, broken, messed up, He does his best work when He's working with broken clay.

Admittedly I don't know if I really have a point I'm coming to except this, God Loves You and you need to live life as though you know that fact. When you do, life is a whole lot simpler.

May our LORD be with you!!

The Words of our Mouthes

Daily Feast-The Words of Our Mouth

Last night at Youth Group we talked about profanity. First it was hilarious when I said, "We are going to talk about profanity," and the entire group said, "What's profanity?" I guess that our educational system needs to step it up a bit. Anyway, our discussion time was about the words of our mouth. Something really cool happened in the midst of our lesson time. I did what I could to prepare for the evening but right in the middle of our talk the Holy Spirit invaded my mind and showed me what HE really wanted to conveyed and I want to share that with you.

Our first scripture was James 3:4-5; "Look at ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things." James is saying here that our tongue, one of the smallest parts of our body has a giant effect on our lives.

I then proceeded to ask the students where in the bible is the list of words we should not say. If our language has such a huge effect on our lives, surely God must have given us a clear cut list of what too and not too say. The answers were hysterical. They were pulling things out of every page of scripture trying to come up an answer. The truth is there is no list of words that we can and cannot say. Now that doesn't mean that there aren't certain words that our society has labeled "foul," or "bad" language. That fact remains we as believers in Jesus Christ should stay far away from these certain words. As I told the students, what if you tell a friend you are a "churchy" person then go and use a whole bunch of expletives. What will that say to the person? I think we all know the answer to that.

The revelation (and i will admit maybe you knew this and it has just taken me a while to figure it out for myself) is that this goes so much deeper that just not saying "bad words." As Francis Chan says in his book “Crazy Love”, "Jesus didn't just die so we could try and not cuss." We were given to ability to speak for such a greater purpose.

Ephesians 4 says, "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for the edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear." We were given to ability to speak, so we could speak good things into each other's lives. You are able to talk to build up those around you.

So now the rubber meets the road, when you speak are you using your words for what they were meant for or not. We have several sets of siblings in our group and you should have seen the guilt on their faces. They totally gave themselves away. You could tell they were not. I have seen firsthand what they say to each other and they had every reason to be guilty.

There is a word in the bible that I think we all need to learn; slander. Slander is defined as ANYTHING negative you say about someone. Anything you say that is not meant for the building up or edification of others is considered slander. By the way gossiping is totally included in that.

God gave us the gift of speech, not so we could tear others down, but so we could build each other up. The next verse in Ephesians 4 says, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Using unwholesome words, filthiness, silly talk and coarse joking GRIEVE the Holy Spirit and have no place in a believer’s vocabulary.

Don't get me wrong I'm just as bad as the next person. I have said things and say things that are totally awful. We as believers in Jesus Christ need to start speaking as though we are believers in Jesus Christ. James says if we are able to tame the tongue we could bridle the whole body.

So I'm going to start right now and i encourage you to do the same. Say what is good for the building up of others. There is no magic formula or 5 step process I can give you. This depends on you and you alone. Be the change you long to see. Be slow to speak and when you do make sure it is for building up and not tearing down.

May our LORD be with you

All the Colors of the Rain-bow

Rainbows!! I love rainbows. Every time it rains if the sun even thinks about peaking through the clouds my eyes are glued to the skies looking for one. The sight of one is just so neat.

However some in our society have totally perverted the true meaning of this atmospheric phenomena. People claim it's the sign of the homosexual community or they make it into Irish folklore. Have you ever studied the origins of the Rainbow and what it truly means. It is a sign of a covenant. A covenant is a promise made, an oath swore, between two parties that can only be broken by the death of one of the for mentions parties.

Now when we read the account in Genesis of Noah and the flood we see that God destroyed the earth and all of mankind because of the evil and wickedness that was in man's hearts. He tells Noah to build the ark and two of every kind of animal came aboard for a 40 day tour and were all rescued. Noah, his family and all the smelly animals get off the ark onto dry ground. Noah sacrifices to the LORD and scripture says in 8:21 that the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart, "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, EVEN THOUGH every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done."

What God is saying is that man is so rooted in sin and evil that generation after generation it's only going to keep getting worse. If the earth and everything in it were to stay pure God would have to destroy each generation because of their sin.

This is where the covenant comes in, God is making a promise to the earth and mankind that He will never again destroy the earth with flood waters. Now in a covenant each party must promise to do something for the other. For example when David and Jonathan made a covenant the terms were to protect each other's family. That was the obligation of both Jonathan and David and in 2 Samuel 9 we see David fulfilling his part of the covenant with Jonathan.

So did you notice that God's covenant with man is kind of one sided. He promises never to destroy mankind again with flood waters (even though He Himself said that every generation is only going to get worse.) But what is our part of the covenant? What is our side or the earth's obligation in this covenant?

Nothing!!

Can we really give anything to God. Is there anything we have that God is in need of? The book of Job says who can give anything to God, who has anything that God needs? If you study the covenants god makes with mankind you will always see the God's covenants are one sided. He does all the work because He is the only one who can do the work.

This is reflected in the symbol of this covenant; the Rainbow. Sure it looks pretty in the sky, but it's a symbol of war and wrath. It is a BOW MADE FROM THE RAINS. Notice the way it appears in the sky. The arrow points away from us and toward God Himself. In this symbol He is foretelling us of the coming of Jesus to take our punishment. The wrath God has from generation after generation of sinful men, He points to Himself and takes in full measure.

The next time you see a rainbow, marvel at it beauty but let it also be a reminder to you. A reminder of what your Savior did for you. A reminder of how good God is that he would take the full brunt of the punishment meant for you and me. Let it remind you of God's love and grace.

May our LORD be with you.

Faith

Have you ever seen the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. If you haven’t put down what you are doing, go and rent it. After you’ve seen it come back and read the rest of this Daily Feast. For those who have seen it, do you remember the part toward the end where Indi is going through the tests to get the Holy Grail? The best one, in my opinion, is the last test. Indiana comes to this giant canyon, so deep the bottom is barely visible. He looks down at his Father’s journal and reads, “The path of God, only a leap from the Lion’s head will he prove his worth.” Then after a pause he says “it’s a leap of faith!” That phrase is so common in our Christian culture. Whenever we face a situation that seems impossible; when we come to that bottomless canyon with no visible bridge, we always say, “It’s a leap of faith!”

Faith is such a funny thing. If you remember back to the movie after Indi reads and realizes what he must do, he clutches his heart. Takes one last relaxing breath, sticks out his leg and takes the first step. That, my brothers and sisters, is faith. You see nothing but a bottomless pit, yet know that you must take a step, trusting and believing that you will land on an invisible path in front of you. Faith trusts and rests in the belief and hope that you will not fail.

This concept is all over the Bible believe it or not. Peter climbed out of a boat and walked on a surface that had never held him before. Abraham left his home, Hosea married a prostitute and David rejected Saul’s armor. Faith is a running theme in the Bible but there is one story that sticks out to me.

In the book of Acts the apostles were doing many signs and wonders. The people were amazed but feared them a little. Verse 15 of chapter 5 tells us that people were even bringing out the sick so that Peter’s shadow would pass over them and they would be healed. Now hold on just a minute. I understand that perhaps the people were afraid of the apostles because of what they were doing, but where does this shadow business come from? That’s a good question, I’m glad you asked it. This was actually a pagan healing practice. People would lay the sick outside and a pagan “witchdoctor” or “magician” would walk by and his shadow would supposedly heal the sick.

So now the question is why would these Jews (because remember they are in Jerusalem) be doing this pagan practice. I think the answer is because of faith. Think now, was it really Peter’s shadow doing the healing or was it the Holy Spirit using Peter’s shadow as the vessel which this gift was being given? These people believed that only if they could come into contact with some part of Peter they could be healed. That doesn’t say that Peter and the apostles approved or condoned this practice. They opposed a magical view to spiritual power. But verse 16 indicates that it was working, people were being healed by a simple shadow.

It’s like that story in the Gospels when the women touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. In Matthew 9:21 she says, “If I only touch His garment, I will get well.” So she does. Then Jesus says to her, “Daughter, take courage, your faith has made you well!” (Emphasis mine) Was it the touching of the garment that healed her? I don’t think so. Was it Peter’s shadow that healed those people? Not a chance. “Your Faith has made you well!!”

Faith is a funny thing, it make us take action in ways that seem totally illogical and idiotic to our intellect. There is no room for common sense when faith takes over. Faith is trusting that the LORD is in control, letting that knowledge fill you up and then resting in that hope and knowledge.

So what things in your life are holding you back from taking the leap? Where are you lacking faith? I’m not talking about your faith in Christ, but I am talking about those areas of your life that you haven’t given to God. Those areas where you still think you have control. The areas you’re holding back, not trusting God or letting Him in. Finances, sickness, whatever it is give it up to God. Stop denying Him the chance to show you His mercy and Bless You. Give it up, have faith.

Remember what happened to Dr. Jones. He believed, took that relaxing breath, made the leap and walked all the way to the other side. I know you’ll end up there too.

One more story and then I promise I’m done. I read an article some time ago about a preacher who was doing a weekend seminar out west. He wrote about a women who came up to him looking like she hadn’t slept in weeks mostly because she hadn’t. Her daughter was very sick and she stayed up day and night praying for her. She was asking this preacher to pray with her. He asked her why she was doing this to herself. She told him she wanted to have the faith for her to be healed. She thought if she stopped praying that would show a lack of faith and her daughter would die. He said to her, you of little faith, in the name of Jesus go home and sleep. God has heard your prayers now have faith that he will do it. God home and go to bed. The next day she awoke to a phone call from her completely healed daughter.

Faith trusts in God that He is in control and rests in that hope and knowledge.

May you have Great Faith!

Being a Wise Guy

Well this time I’d really done it, maybe you can relate. Have you ever had one of those “Put your foot in your mouth moments?” Last year I was with my family up at my grandfather’s cabin. Sunday evening just before dinner some of us were outside having a conversation about an event that was rapidly approaching. We were all giving our opinions on the matter, especially me, and eventually the conversation turned into a little bit of an argument. After dinner I recounted the scenario to my wife and in her kind, gentle way she eloquently told me how foolish that was. Of course it took some time for me to realize the same and later that evening I had to make an apology.

See during the time I was thinking about the whole situation, the LORD brought a verse to my head. Proverbs 21:23, which say “He who guards his mouth and his tongue, guards his soul from trouble.” To be honest I really crave wisdom. I want to be one of those guys whom people ask advice from. Consult on all matters. I want to be that old wise man that uses words to solve people’s problems like he was playing a game of chess. Giving them sound advice and wisdom, kind of like Mr. Miyagi or Professor Dumbledore. But that kind of wisdom only comes from God. And God’s wisdom says it’s best to keep your mouth shut. Honestly think about it, if we spent less time talking and more time thinking and listening how much hassle would we save ourselves? Guarding the mouth makes you look smarter because you’re not letting something stupid come out every other minute. I wasn’t sorry for what I had said, I was sorry that I said it. I should have been that wise guy I desire to be and not said anything because it wasn’t my place or business.

Now we come to the big question. How many times in your day can you relate to my story? I think this is one of the biggest things we believers struggle with; slander, gossip, harsh words, course joking. Paul says in Ephesians 4 and 5,

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth.”

“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and slander be put from you along with all malice.”

“and there must be no filthiness and silly talk or course jesting, which are not fitting, but rather give thanks.”

Call it divine whatever, Paul knew we would struggle with this. We love a juicy piece of gossip, a dirty joke..........but we shouldn’t. Our mouths are for edifying and building up each other. We were given speech for worship and praising. Not for what we use it for

Proverbs 21:23 “He who guards his mouth and his tongue, guards his soul from trouble.”

My cup overflows

I'm sure we all know the 23rd Psalm.

"The LORD is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

If not in church you've had to have heard it at a funeral or something. It's kinda like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song; we all know at least one line. Well if you are in my generation you know at least one line of that song. But I think you get my point. It's very familiar. However as familiar as it is I don't think we really grasp what David is saying here.

He writes and references several customs and aspects of a job that don't exist anymore. I don't want to bore you with all of them so I'm only going to focus on one. Three little words in v.5. My cup overflows.

When you read through this do you know what that means. In the whole of verse 5 David is talking about God being a gracious host and providing everything that he needs but those three little words take it to the next level.

See in those days people welcomed guests into their homes regularly. Now a days we don't even like to answer the door when someone approaches our house for something. We pretend like we are not home or can't hear the bell or knock outside. Back then however it was a complete disgrace not to invite a guest into your house and give them certain things. Because of the enviroment in which they lived, you would provide your guest with oil to put on their head, it acted like deodorant. In addition you would give them something to drink. Two cups would be set out for you and your guest along with a jug of whatever you were drinking; most likely wine. As long as you wanted your guest to stay you would keep refilling his or her cup but when you felt it was time for them to leave you stopped filling it up. When the cup was empty the guest would know it was time for them to leave.

I like that a lot better than what we do now. We are so worried about offending our friends that we try and give them subtle hints like yawning or saying something that alludes to wanted them to leave, I think this system works a lot better.

There was one other thing you could do and that is what David is talking about here. Three little words; My cup overflows. If you welcomed a guest into your home and you wanted to let them know that they could stay as long as they desired, the first time you filled their cup you would let it overflow. That was the symbol that they are welcome to stay indefinitly.

That is God's approach to us. This is David's most personal Psalm and when you read it you can make it personal as well. God has invited you into his house, prepared a table before you and filled your cup to overflowing; letting you know you are welcome to stay forever.

A few years ago Readers Digest did a survey asking people the three sentences they wanted to hear someone say to them. The results were as follows:
1. I love you!
2. I forgive you!
3. Dinner is ready!

Now the first two anyone could have guessed, but Dinner is ready? That seems completely out of place doesn't it? Not really. I believe it ties into the first two. We all want to be loved and forgiven but we also want to be included. Some of the best times a group of people could have is around the dinner table. It's all about fellowship, we yearn for it.

Through Jesus Christ, God has invied us to come and BE at his table but more than that we are invited to stay forever. God overflows your cup telling you, you are welcome to, as David says in verse 6, dwell in the house of the LORD forever!

God desires relationship with you more than you will ever know, this side of heaven. So BE with Him. Spend some time today just being with God. Talking to Him, worshiping Him, reading His word, whatever you have to do, do it.

Dwell with God and know that your cup is overflowing.