Pull Up A Chair

When I was young my step father would sometimes cook steak on the grill. It was probably the best steak I'd ever eaten, even to this day. I would cut off small pieces and just suck on them in my mouth before chewing and swallowing. Even the fat would get sucked on for a few minutes before throwing it away. Some foods do that for me, and what is interesting is that God would like for us to sample Him in that manner! David wrote in Ps 34:8 "O taste and see that the LORD is good" I think the church has lost it's ability to truly have an appetite for the things of God. I remember reading one time where Jesus told His disciples that in order to walk with Him they must eat His body and drink His blood (John 6). Of course He didn't mean literally to eat Him, but what happens when we figuratively do so? I asked Him one day what that scripture meant, and I remember Him saying to me quite clearly, "when you eat something it is absorbed into your blood, it becomes part of you, when you learn to eat my flesh and drink of my blood it becomes part of you, you become one with me. I am the Word of Life, and when you read and meditate on my word, you are partaking of me." The more I spend alone with Him in His Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to breath through me, I'm partaking of Him. I'm wanting to get to that place, where every day I pull up a chair at His table and partake of Him. It can and must be developed with in us, it must be our desire to want this. John Piper wrote in the book, A Hunger For God, "If you don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened." And that my friends is the reality of it!

When Our Light Effects Others

I noticed my new Christmas lights I had just hung around my house after Thanksgiving had a section of lights out. After checking every bulb I noticed the problem was a spliced wire, and set about repairing it. In checking the bulbs though I noticed something that made me think. When I removed a lit bulb from a different area of lights, I'd lose about eight strings of lights along the side of my house. That one light I would pull out would cause about 30 other lights to go out too. I thought this is what its like when a Christian fails or has problems. It doesn't cause everyone in the Body of Christ to be effected, but it does effect those immediately around that person. Jesus said in Matt 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." If they can't see our good works do to something in our life that effects the light, then that will effect others. I remember the large number of Christians that were hurt when Jimmy Swaggart failed, I was enrolled in his college at that time, and I remember walking out of the sanctuary, crying and upset that someone I had put so much trust in had failed. When his light went out, so did a lot of others unfortunately. I recovered though, but how sad that many others to this day refuse to go back to church. I realize we're not to allow the actions of others to effect us, but I believe it is part of being human. None of my friends or relatives died in the World Trade Center, but I remember it deeply impacted me. Had I been given the opportunity to fight those responsible I would have. When God asked Cain where his brother Abel was, Cain replied, "Am I my brothers keeper?" God didn't bother to answer Cain, but we know the answer can be found in the New Testament when Paul wrote in Heb 10:24 "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works." I believe we need to keep that in mind, our light does effect others. And that my friends is the reality of it!

The Best Time Of Year

Yesterday Thanksgiving, and soon Christmas, oh I love the Holidays! This is definitely my favorite time of year. I love the look of Christmas, with all the decorations and smells and despite the bad attitude of many, there are many more who allow the spirit of Christmas to effect them in a positive way. The smiles on the faces of adults and kids alike, and the Christmas music being played, yes this is the best time of year! But the best part of all, isn't buying my kids or wife gifts, its not the food, its not even the decorations, of which I go all out at our house. And as much as I love to watch our children open their gifts and laugh with delight, what really gives me joy is what our church does during this time for the many children we pick up on our church buses. Many of them only receive presents because of the generous and loving people of our church. Nothing compares to watching the faces of those little children as we pull up in our buses and begin unloading presents. Many times parents, and even some of the children will break down in tears while we're there. It makes everything worth it. You see I believe we get a small taste of what the Father must of felt when He in His infinite wisdom planned the greatest gift of all when He decided to give us His son. The tears we shed when we accept Him, and when we worship Him makes it all worth it for Him! So during this Christmas season, in the midst of bad attitudes, and crazy shoppers, remember Christ, and His gift. And that my friends is the reality of it.

Expecting the Day of Noah

I'm reminded by recent events in our nation what Jesus said in Luke 17:26-27 "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all." When people think of the times we live in they immediately think of this scripture which speaks of the end times and the return of Christ. And in doing so they think of the judgement side of this scripture. Yet when you read of this account in the Old Testament you get the whole picture and you realize that living in the final days will be a time of expectation for God's people. Let's not forget that Noah and his family was spared, the rain wasn't judgement against them, it was judgement against fallen humanity. That will be the way it is in our time too. There will be churches and individuals who experience the rain of His Spirit in a positive, maturing way, and there will be those that will see the judgement side of that rain. A better picture of this is seen in the Gospel of Matthew where Christ said in verses 7:24-27 "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it". The foundation we stand upon will determine what becomes of us when the rain and the floods come. I remember a vivid dream I had some time back, I was standing with a large group of other people on what I thought was solid ground. Suddenly the ground began to wave and move, I was able to get over to what appeared to be a smooth area of rock and was able to see underneath where I had been standing. And what I saw scared me, there was nothing under the ground but a large cavern that was rapidly filling with water. I could see the ground moving violently and the people on top didn't seem to notice or care. I started yelling at them that the ground was unstable and they needed to move, but they didn't pay any attention to me. I believe that God is definitely preparing his people for great exploits. Every time He does we are assisted by the rain of His Spirit. Rather than focus on what's going on around me, I'm more determined to make sure the foundation I stand on will hold up during the coming flood. What will it be for you? Judgement or preparation for mighty things? And that my friends is the reality of it!

The Hard Road To Victory

A.W. Tozer wrote "In order to get to Resurrection one must first go through the Cross". He talked about how so many Christians want the Resurrection life but don't want to pay the price to get it, which is going through the Cross. Probably more than any other author, A.W. Tozer makes me think. And I've thought a lot of his statements this week. How I long for victory and resurrection life, yet one must be willing to embrace all that the cross represents. The Lord showed me one time that the Cross for the Christian represents both death and life. Death in that we must die to everything selfish and carnal, yet life also because in the Cross we can know the same kind of victorious life that Christ lived. It empowers us to live holy, just and separated lives. Yet because many Christians would rather control their own lives and destiny, few ever truly embrace the Cross, knowing that to do so means we give up our claims to ourselves and let God take control. Tonight at our cell group we talked about the suffering that Christ permits in our lives. I explained to the group that the good news is that the suffering or hard times we go through don't last forever. We are told in the Bible that weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Our light affliction is but for a moment we are told. God was letting us know, and confirms it today that difficult times don't last, that joy, happiness and resurrection life is always the end result of going through hard times when we let God have His way. I call this the hard road to victory, a place that few American Christians rarely travel, yet that road has been tread by every great man and woman of God both in the Old and New Testaments. Any Christian who has ever done, or is doing anything of worth for the Lord today has traveled that road, you can't have resurrection without first having the Cross, that's the hard road to victory. And that my friends is the reality of it!

Common Unity

Today the men of our church went to a college football game between the University of South Florida and Syracuse. I noticed something during that game that caused me to think. Each time our team scored everybody would high five each other, including total strangers. I didn't know the person sitting in front of me, but during a game it doesn't matter, we had common unity! That is true for everything, in order for there to be unity among people there first must be a commonality between them. For many of us today, that commonality was the desire to see our team win, which they did. Within the Christian community Christ is the common factor in which believers gather together to worship, praise and fellowship. But take that commonality away, whether it be among Christians, or people in the world and we no longer have unity. Many years ago after the L.A. riots, Rodney King asked, "can't we all just get along?" And the answer is no, not without some common ground on which to stand. Amos wrote in the book that bears his name, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?". The answer of course is no, they can't. When a couple can't walk together in agreement, then unity can't flourish, and the result will be separation or divorce. When nations can't agree, it often results in war. God puts much emphasis on unity, speaking of the benefits of it in Ps 133:1 "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" When you consider the alternative to not walking in unity, discord, anger and many times hardness, then who would want anything different? I caught a glimpse of the kind of unity that exists in the world today at a football game. If people in the world can come together and find common ground, how much more God's people? It is good and pleasant, and God's blessings await those who choose unity over discord. And that my friends is the reality of it!

Purging His Bride

I read with heartache the news about Pastor Ted Haggard yesterday. It is always difficult when any man of God is found to be less than pure or upstanding in his life. I pray that the accusation against him will be nothing more than the rantings of a person with a vendetta against a man of God. But if they are found out to be true, we as the body of Christ need not judge, but show grace and a willingness to forgive and restore within a proper time frame. I know in my heart what God has done for me, and delivered me from. I also know that like any Christian, I still deal with things that I would never want broadcast to the world, let alone the church. Because of His grace towards me I can honestly say that if the men of God in my life, in my church ever stumbled, I'd be the first to offer a hand up, knowing that they aren't just my pastors, but they are my friends too, and we don't turn our backs on our friends, regardless of what they do or what others say about them. I heard the news about Ted Haggard yesterday afternoon, and a scripture I had read earlier came to mind, one that if we would follow it would help keep us out of trouble. The Apostle Paul wrote in Phil 3:17 "Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example". When I read that it made me stop and ask myself, how does my life compare to Paul's? When we read the Bible we get a pretty good idea of what type of person he was. He had no other desire or motive other than to preach Christ. He had no other pursuit than to get closer to the One whom he served. He was single minded in that pursuit, not caught up in titles or prestige or making a quick buck. Paul was a humble man who was even willing to spend eternity in Hell if it meant the salvation of Israel. He gave up everything he had worked for in his life for the purposes of God. And in the end, he even gave his own life for the gospel he enjoyed preaching. I'm praying God deliver me from the American mindset that says by its works more than its words that we shouldn't suffer for Christ, we shouldn't lack money or material things, we should only expect and receive the best, and God forbid if we face persecution, (which is next to impossible with the watered down messages we preach behind our pulpits). If we're to compare our lives to Paul's, then I've got a long way to go, but I'm willing to take that journey, because God is doing what He said He would do in the final days, He is purging His bride! And that my friends is the reality of it!

UFOs all around us

I was talking to my wife tonight and I made the comment that I often stand out among those that I"m going to school with. I've been working on getting my CDL Class A license the last two weeks and many of the students are hoping to soon be driving a big rig (semi-truck and trailer). I've got a job lined up with a Tampa food distributor so thankfully I'll be home every night! Unfortunately we live in a society that stereotypes everything and everyone. When I've told friends that I'm getting my license to drive semi's, some have found it amusing, saying that I don't look the trucker 'type'. I know most people's idea of a trucker is a large burly man, with lots of tattoos, and some teeth missing, but being in school, the majority of students don't look that way. I guess neither do I since I'm considered clean cut and of average height and build. Back in 1998 my company at that time sent me to Atlanta for some training. I was able to take my wife and we were in a section of town that was very affluent and wealthy, staying in a very nice hotel. During the day I was in training and had to wear a suit and tie, she got to relax and enjoy the benefits of a nice hotel. One night she met me in the lobby, dressed in jeans, and a cut off shirt. We got in the glass elevator with some wealthy ladies. What was amusing were the looks they kept giving my wife as she hung on my arm, her in her jeans and cut off shirt, me in my nice suit. At the time though she wasn't amused, because they thought she was a hooker! Isn't it amazing what people assume? It just goes to show that you can't always tell a book by its cover. And unfortunately we have a lot of that in the church and outside the church. People can't always tell what our beliefs are based solely on how we're dressed or our actions. Too many Christians are like UFOs, Unidentified Flying Objects! We should wear the badge of Christianity with honor, like many others before us have done. I'm determined that those I rub shoulders with on a consistent basis, will know what Christ means to me. And that my friends is the reality of it!