When I say I'm a Christian

I came across these this morning and wanted to share them with you and hope that they bless you like the blessed me!

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean livin'' I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.

'When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect, My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain.. I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say ... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou, I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Creation

I realize that this is not the best picture in the world. It is cloudy and raining, not the best picture taking weather to be sure. I just wanted to share some thoughts. The fall colors here are arguably the most beautiful I have ever seen. It is a very easy time to look up and praise God for His creation. No matter how beautiful this is though, it is important to remember that we are His masterpiece. We are the reason all of this is here. We are the reason He sacrificed His Son. We are made in His image. Not the trees, animals, not even angels! I praise you Father for you creation! I can't wait to see what you have in store for us in the new earth! These colors are nothing compared to that!

Ask it correctly

Has anyone ever asked you the question "How can a loving God allow bad things to happen"? That seems to be a very common position/excuse for many people who want nothing to do with God. That question can be a challenging one to answer for some of us too! I am reading a book by Piper and Taylor called "The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World". I am only about half way through it so I can't recommend it yet, but so far it has been a real blessing! There is a quote in this book that I just have to share with you! It tackles the above question in a very outstanding way!

The narration starts by asking the person who asks the above question to ask the qusstion properly. They obviously don't have a clue what you just said, and then you answer their question this way:

"Look me in the eyes and ask me this: "How on earth can a holy and righteous God know what I did and thought and said yesterday and not kill me in my sleep last night?" Ask it that way, and we can talk. But until you ask it like that, you do not understand the issue. Until you ask the question that way, you believe the problem is out there somewhere. Until you ask the question that way, you believe that there are some individuals who, in and of themselves, deserves something other then the wrath of Almighty God. When you ask the question that way-when you say, "Why is it that we are here today? Why has He not consumed and devoured each and everyone of us? Why? Why O God, does your judgment and wrath tarry?" -Then you truly understand the issue"

That answer to that question is the most complete and well thought out answer I have ever heard or read. Once you understand where you are positionally with Almighty God, you are better able to understand who that Almighty God is.

What hat do you wear?

I love hats. I have more hats then I can count. I have wool cowboy type hats, canvas hats, mad bomber hats, straw hats, fleece hats, knit hats, and baseball caps. I have hats that tell you what teams I like, my favorite nascar driver, what types of outdoor gear I like, and camo hats. Hats to keep me warm, hats to keep me cool and everything in between. It is safe to say I have more hats then the average person. You could say I am addicted to hats! I am always wearing a hat. When I am wearing a hat I am proclaiming to the world that I am a Yankees fan or that Dale Jr. is my favorite driver. A hat can say a lot of things about a person. When I wear some of my hats I want to be known by the emblem on the hat. I want to be known as a Yankees fan, I want to be known as someone who loves to hunt and fish. That is one of the reasons that I wear some of the hats I have. The one thing though that I truely want to be known most as is a Christian. That is the one thing that none of my hats say. I should not have to wear that on my hat though! That should be something that is easily recognizable by my actions, by what I do and say. I know that sometimes in my life my "hat of Christianity" is much more visible then it is at other times. I need that "hat" to stay on always and forever! Lord help me to wear that hat every minute of every day until I am with you forever! I pray that the world will not have any sway over me because I am yours, bought by the redeeming blood of you Holy Son. I am an alien here on this earth, help me to live like one! Help me to love others the way that you do and hate the sin in my life like you do too!

To my enemies! Beware!

Arise, O LORD!
Deliver me, O my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.

Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.

These are a couple of verses found in the earlier chapters of Psalms. They are followed by many chapters and many more verses that say very similar things. Strike my enemies, banish my enemies, rise up in rage against my enemies, etc, etc. I have been taught from when I was a child to "Love your enemies, Bless those who persecute you, Turn the other cheek." That is after all what the New Testament teaches. My question is, where do the above verses fit in with what the NT teaches? Am I just to disregard these verses? Am I to choose when to love and when to wish destruction? I don't think so. I think that these verses are meant to teach us. I think they are there for a reason. I have been wrestling with these verses for some time now and I believe that one of the reasons these verses are in scripture are to teach us just how much our Holy God hates sin, to help us hate sin more. These verses are never aimed at Christians, but at pagans. People who reject God and love sin. I don't believe that we are to think this was in today's society. We are to have a NT love for our enemies. I would love some of your input on why you believe God put those verses in the Psalms! Let us grow together in the Lord!

Blasts from the past

It has recently come to my attention that there are quite a few "kids" that I worked with as youth that are now in full time ministry! That is so encouraging to me! It is awesome to see people that I knew when they were just teenagers now working in full time ministry. I had the opportunity this summer to spend time with some of them, what a blessing. There are many folks that I went to WOLBI and LU with that are now in ministry too. I am so excited for them! Some of these are people I partied with. Who knew! God is so good. I say that often, but it is always true! God is GOOD!

Christian Service Brigade

Tonight was awesome. For the first time in years I am working with the brigade unit in my church. The leadership team consists of some familiar faces, men that I love and respect, men who love the Lord Jesus. It as such a blessing to me to be working with these man in this capacity again! There are also some new face. Men that I know but have never had the opportunity to minister with. I look forward to getting to know these men better as we minister together! It is such a blessing to work with young men again! For a number of years I have been working with a youth group of boys and girls. I do enjoy working in this type of ministry, but I believe I am better suited to minister to young men. The Lord has given me gifts, I believe this is one of them. I thank God for the chance to work in this capacity once again!