While reviewing some pictures I took the other day I noticed that these Pinksters stamen are all reaching for heaven. They are beautiful in their complex simplicity. Naturally they reach for the sun. These flowers, not created in God's image, are doing exactly what they were created to do. We as humans, created in God's image, rebel, sin. I am so thankful for the parable of the Prodigal Son. Even in our sin, our Creator rejoices when we reach for Him. Reach for the Son!

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. Romans 8:19

Celebration

Usama Bin Laden is dead. I am sure you are all very aware of this current event. People are celebrating, chants of, "USA! USA!" can be heard on many news broadcasts. Americans seem to be pulling together once again (temporary to be sure), united under the death of this ''vile'' man who was responsible for the death of so many ''innocent'' people.

Celebrating that this man now believes in God, not allah. Celebrating that this man is finally getting what he deserves. Celebrating.

Under the eyes of a holy god, I am vile too. I deserve what Bin Laden got and you do too. What sin have I commited that any less damning then any other sin any other has committed?

So, yeah, go ahead and celebrate.

The Gospel. That is celebration! Many celebrated the death of Jesus. His death was different though. HE IS ALIVE! HE HAS RISEN! He is the sole reason any of us have to celebrate!

Resurrection Sunday, Just Around the Corner

OK, OK, this is a sunset not a sunrise but, while looking at this I could not help but think about Easter and the traditional sunrise service we use to celebrate the fact that we serve a risen Savior! Jesus is alive! I would like to share with you some lyrics from a rap or hip hop song that I have really come to appreciate! Enjoy!

Thank you Shai for being faithful.

Jesus Is Alive

written by shai linne

Chorus 1

Elvis is dead, Picasso is dead

Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin are dead

Marilyn Monroe is dead- however…

Jesus is Alive

Brando is dead, James Brown is dead

Princess Di and John Lennon are dead

Biggie and Pac are dead- however

Jesus is Alive

Verse 1

Give praise to King Jesus, the blessed Son

Victorious, glorious resurrected One

To Him belongs the power, glory and honor

Ascended where He sits at the right hand of the Father

At the cross He made atonement- His people He saved

After three days He was raised in defeat of the grave

By faith the elect behold Him, His scepter is golden

He must have been hot or slippery because death couldn’t hold Him

The spotlight is on today’s icons

In a thousand years, nobody will care- their light’s gone

But at that time, Christ will still shine bright

He’s not in the limelight- He IS the limelight

Criminal minded, you’ve been blinded

Looking for the body of Jesus? You won’t find it

We never lack spirit, letting you cats hear it

Because His tomb is empty like most secular rap lyrics

Chorus 2

Plato is dead, Socrates is dead

Aristotle and Immanuel Kant are dead

Neitzsche and Darwin are dead- however

Jesus is Alive

Buddha is dead, Mohammed is dead

Ghandi and Haile Selassie are dead

Elijah Mohammed is dead- however

Jesus is Alive

Verse 2

Throughout history there’s been mad religious leaders

Prophets, preachers, scholars, teachers

But when it came to the grave, no one could climb out

That’s where Jesus stands alone like taking a ‘timeout’

And don’t be mislead- I got a level head

No resurrection, Christianity would have never spread

The disciples weren’t stupid guys who would ruin their lives

And then choose to die for what they knew was a lie

That would be beyond ridiculous- Nah, the issue is

The risen Christ seen by 500 eye-witnesses

Imagine 500 people in a court of law

Each of them taking the stand reporting what they saw

If their stories lined up and made sense

The evidence would have to leave you convinced

But still it’s by faith that we trust and praise the Son

Who was raised for our justification

Chorus 3

Nero is dead, Constantine is dead

Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun are dead

Alexander the Great is dead- however

Jesus is Alive

Napoleon is dead, Lao Tzu is dead

Che Guevara and Henry VIII are dead

Saddam Hussein is dead- however

Jesus is Alive

Verse 3

Through faith in Christ, we’ve been saved from hell

Because He’s risen, it means we’ll be raised as well

In glorified bodies fit for the new earth

For now, we participate in the new birth

The universal reality of the true church

With resurrection power, watch the Spirit do work!

United with Christ, we reside in His light

Abide in His might, keep in stride as we fight

The pride in our life, the lies and the spite

We strive to be wise as He guides through the night

He’ll chide and He’ll slice- recognize that He’s right

His brightness inside lights our eyes and it’s tight

(He) decided to die to wash white all our strife

His life was the price to delight in His wife

He told death “sike” just to rise like a kite

All eyes on the Christ- let’s prize Him tonight

Chorus 4

Pharaoh is dead, Cyrus is dead

Darius and Sennacharib are dead

Nebuchadnezzar is dead- however

Jesus is Alive

Caesar is dead, Herod is dead

Annas, Caiaphas and Judas are dead

Pontius Pilate is dead- however

Jesus is Alive

My Fav Kid

I Just had to put this pic up. My boy.

My Fav Place

My parents house is one of my favorite places in the world. It's where I grew up doing all the things boys do as they mature (hopefully) into men who don't do those things anymore.

This shot was taken from parents back yard. I'm a sucker for sunsets as you will come to realize.

While beautiful, this picture just does not do the actual reality of this sunset justice. Kinda reminds me of 1 Cor. 2:9

"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him"—

Change needed!

Yeah, it's been a while! I have found that, in my world at least, blogging has been something of a struggle for me. I seem to have a hard time sticking with it. That being said I am going to (try to) start adding pictures every now and then. I love taking pictures. Sunsets, landscapes, critters, and even people! I want to add pics with the goal of bringing glory to our most high God.

Ps. 19:1- The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Rom. 1:20- For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Here's to a little change!

Mercy

Jesus is speaking to Mary in John 20:17, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

As I was reading this my heart leapt at this great truth! We as Christians share, SHARE!!! the same God and Father with our Lord Jesus!

Thank you Father for your mercy!

Enough Hate to Kill

I know that scripture makes much of turning the other cheek, and loving your neighbors as you love yourself, but it is not cheeks and neighbors that I want to talk about today, it is something much closer to home, something we must hate enough to kill.

I have come to love reading books written dead guys. The most recent read is ''The Mortification of Sin'' by John Owen. I would like to share some quotes with you. Convicting...

''The vigour, and power, and comfort of our spiritual life depends on the mortification of the deeds of the flesh.''

"...cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you."

"He that is appointed to kill and enemy, if he leave striking before the other ceases living, doth but half his work."

"Who can say that he had ever any thing to do with God or for God, that indwelling sin had not a hand in the corrupting of what he did?"

"Sin aims always at the utmost; every time it rises up to tempt of entice, might it have its own course, it would go to the utmost sin on that kind. Every unclean thought of glance would be adultery if it could, every covetous desire would be oppression, every thouth of unbelief would be atheism, might it grow to its head."

One more!

Let not that man think he makes any progress in holiness who walks not over the bellies of his lusts. He who doth not kill sin in this way takes no steps towards his journey's end. He who finds not opposition from it, and who sets not himself in every particular to its mortification, is at peace with it, not dying to it."

Sin. By God's grace and with the help of His Spirit, let us rise up and mortify this evil that separates us from our God! We cannot hate it enough!

Mans Wisdom?

[10:1] Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. [2] And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
(Leviticus 10:1-2 ESV)

[9] And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. [10] And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God.
(1 Chronicles 13:9-10 ESV)

Epic fail

A Very Christmas/Gospel Message

Christmas. The thought of this holiday brings many thoughts to mind. Family , frineds, food, lights, trees, angels, shepherds, a manger, and most importantly a baby, called Jesus, Emanuel, God with us. We creatures do not deserve this attention that God has bestowed upon us.


We often think of the baby Jesus this time of year and forget that this babe wrapped in rags is God. This Child who was placed in a food trough to sleep is the beginning of last chapter of the Gospel. This infant was born to die, to conquer sin and death for a broken humanity. Such humility as Philippians 2 explains so well.


Born to die a terrible death at the hands of man. Born to be placed in the hands of Satan to do his worst. Born to suffer the wrath of His Father for the sins of men. What kind of love is that?


It is easy to dwell on the suffering of Christ, but what about that of the Father? I am a father. I have a son. I love my son dearly, but no where near the perfect love that the Father and the Son shared. I could not bear to watch my son suffer and die for a dirty, rotten, selfish scoundrel. Yet this is what God did. For you. For me.

Let us remember not only the birth of Christ this season, let us contemplate the Gospel as it is taught throughout scripture. Let us remember that this Gospel is all about God and Him reaching out to dirty rotten selfish scoundrels that are not worthy of this Babe who was born to die so that we, his chosen, may live.

Peace and blessings

More from Hebrews

Read Hebrews 10 this morning. Here are verses 22-31. Either my copy paste feature is broken or I'm not smart enough to use it properly, thus I will be forced to type it out word for word. At least I don't have to write it by hand!

"...let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love the good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversafies. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son Of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of Grace? For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Soft gospel? Pray a prayer? Universalism? I think not.

A Short Goodbye

I lost a friend this week. A friend who told everyone he knew about Jesus and many he didn't know too. He had a passion for sharing the Gospel with anyone who would listen. I just heard that the local secular school had a moment of silence in honor of this godly man. He touched the lives of many.

As a Christian, the loss hurts, but knowing the joy, the complete joy he is experiencing now is nothing short of Awesome. I look forward to that complete joy someday!

Peter, I will miss you but I will see you again!
Praise God you are with your Savior!

1 Peter 5:6-11

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by you brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Well, I have been thinking again. Concern and discouragement often cause that to happen.

I was raised very Arminian. I now praise God for the Doctrines of Grace that through His word and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, I know to be true. Scripture is the picture of God reaching out to man, not the other way around! If it were not for His Amazing Grace, I shudder to think of the state of fallen man. Were it not for his Sovereign omnipotence, or his infinite wisdom, where would we be?

I used to be a die hard 1 or 2 point Calvinist. I could not see myself as totally deprived, there had to be some good in there somewhere! Unconditional election? Come on! There is no way God picks and chooses! I had, what I thought to be a very biblical understanding of these things. I look back now and see that what I had, was a very man based understanding of what man had created to make him feel more comfortable with who he thinks he is.

OK, OK, so what does this have to do with the above scripture?

Many people have different theology then I do. This difference in theology often makes me uncomfortable. I guess you could say that I allow a ''barrier'' to be built between myself and anyone who may think differently then I do. I think it is safe to assume that there are others like me! I also think that we can agree that this is not a proper response to our differences, especially considering these are fellow believers! We need to humble ourselves, cast our cares on Him because he cares! (v6-7) We need to be sober-minded and watchful in order avoid the schemes of the devil, we need to resist him and be firm in our faith! (v8-9)Take that wall down and live the Gospel!

There can be an is great danger here without the Gospel. Differences whether theological, personality, gender, or color can all tear apart. This cannot be allowed to happen in the church of God!

I don't know that I could call this suffering, as verse 10 states, it is certainly concern though!

We are his children, we are His church. We are here for His glory, let us live that way.

None of this is to say that I have perfect theology, perfection is unobtainable here on earth. You show me through scripture that I am wrong, I will change. I am saying I am human and I struggle, like we all do, with sin. I do indeed look forward to being restored, confirmed, strengthened, and established by my God through Christ! (v10)

To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Lets Do Church

Part 1
I have been spending quite a bit of time lately thinking about how we do church. The worship. The offering. The Bible reading. The prayer. The songs. The evangelical outreach. We all have specific ways we like our church services to be run. You like traditional, you like contemporary, and you like a mix of both.


Why is it that we have these preferences? Are we not at church to commune with our God? Don't we go to church to glorify and magnify His name?

Seems to be lots of folks out there would prefer to glorify themselves. I want this or I want that. How about ''I want God. I am here for Him. I owe Him so much more then I could ever repay. I am here for my God, as much of him as he will allow, I am here for God.'' Everything else should pale.

Part 2
We are not needed by God to do his good works. There is no need for music playing softly in the background to convince sinners they need a savior. There is no need for ''every head bowed and every eye closed''. If God is going to save someone none of these things will help persuade them! It is not an eloquent delivery or a disarming smile. It is the Gospel.

I remember attending services as a young man where my emotions were played on. I remember making emotional decisions and promises that were not led by the Holy Spirit but by men, men who seemed to care a little too much about numbers and not enough about life altering decisions. It only takes a simple prayer, a secret look at the evangelist, the raise of a hand, or a quick jaunt down the Isle. Lifestyle afterwards? That matters little, see here, on this little card in the front of my dusty bible is the date the sinners prayer was prayed. It seems that there are many churches and Christian organizations out there who have these techniques down to a science.

All this stuff man thinks he has to do to get folks saved just gets in the way. God is sovereign. He chose each and every believer before the foundations of the world! (Eph. 1).

I can't find one instance in scripture where a musical prayer, or a raised hand was required for salvation. I don't remember Paul praying the sinners prayer and signing and dating a piece of paper for proof of salvation. What was (and is and always will be) needed? The Gospel, period.

Sorry about the rant folks. This is something I am passionate about. God can and does use these things to change peoples lives. They are not the means though. The Gospel is.

Devout and Righteous

We spent some time last night in church reading scriptures about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. I will admit that I had a hard time paying attention, and was easily distracted. I few things did sink in though. These things were not what was taught but things that stuck in my mind as Luke was being read. Two names-Simion and Anna the prophetess. Simion was described as devout and righteous. These are terms, in today's American churches, reserved for pastors elders and the like, not common folk. Anna, is what would be referred to today as a freak. Luke 1:37 says that she ''...did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer day and night''.

Scripture is full of people like this. Men and women of whom this world is not worthy. Crazy folks who do not care what others think. The world looks at these people as being a few fries short of a happy meal. This is what real Christians are supposed to look like, never mind what the world or even those you attend church with might think.

Easy believeism will tell you all it takes is a prayer. Live however you want, you have your fire insurance! Easy believeism makes those folks who make fun of those who are devout and righteous.

These ''hero's'' of scripture were not easy believers. Theses were the bread and butter of what it means, what it looks like to be a real Christian. Remember, the gate is narrow and few there are that find it.

Make your calling and election sure. Examine yourselves. Let us be crazy freaks who are devout and righteous, because of all that God did for all of us who do not deserve anything other then the fires of hell.

Be Simion. Be Anna.

When Tempted

[The Temptation of Jesus]
[4:1] Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. [2] And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. [3] And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” [4] But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

[5] Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple [6] and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

[7] Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” [8] Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. [9] And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” [10] Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”

[11] Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
(Matthew 4:1-11 ESV)

I have a tendency to read this section of scripture and think to myself, "This is God being tempted here, how hard could it have been." God cannot be tempted, right? I tend to forget that this God who come to earth to destroy death and sin was also a man. I don't know about you but I have a hard time understanding what exactly the God\man is.

I am thankful (though not thankful enough) for what this God\man accomplished for me on the cross! I am thankful that He was tempted. I am thankful that He was victorious over sin, and temptation! I am thankful that He can relate to me!

[14] Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, [15] and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. [16] For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. [17] Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. [18] For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
(Hebrews 2:14-18 ESV)

The Very Word of God

Scripture. Breathed out by God so that we, men and women of God my be competent and equipped to do every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16.)

Scripture. Living, active, convicting, life altering, sharp, pointing, discerning. (Heb.4:12)

Scripture is God's very word to a world that is lost. It is the history of God reaching out to his people. It is the gospel, the good news that Jesus the God/man, lived, died, rose again to conquer sin and death!

Yet, we have a tendency to soften what it says. 1 Pet. 1:15b that we are to be holy in all of our conduct. I tend to think sometimes that I am OK in the area of holiness, especially when I use the world as a lens to interpret this scripture. When faced with a holy God who hates sin, my mind quickly turns to the wretch that I am!

How about Romans 13:14, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires". I don't know about you but sometimes I like to change that ''no provision" to ''a little provision is OK''. I know that is not what scripture says, I'm born again, how bad can a little provision be anyway!?

I have been singing to myself "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". I love that song just a little more then I hate it. "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love". That's me. Scripture comands me to be holy, to make no provision for the flesh. Fail, flee, hide.

Hebrews 2:1, "Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it."

We (I) need to pay closer attention to what scripture says and not so much to what the world says we (I) may or may not need.

Divine Parentheses

This morning as I was reading in Galations I was struck by a verse that is bookended by parentheses. "Odd.", I thought to myself. Usually, when I use parentheses, I use them to enclose an afterthought. I don't know if this is the proper use of them or not, I was never very good in English (just don't tell my son! (see, an afterthought)). I am not sure that the parentheses used here by Paul are an afterthought or not. I am sure that it does not matter because these parentheses are contained in the word of God and therefore, true.
I was very encouraged and excited once again to be spoken to by the word of God! Galations 2:8 says

(for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles).


That same ''he'' is also working in modern day believers! That same ''he'' is working in you Christian! Let us live that way! I praise God for his triune ministry to us as believers, for He who has began a good work in us WILL complete it! (Phil. 1:6)

A test we cannot fail

This week I finished 2 Corinthians.
13:5 says,
"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"

These are hard words for me to swallow sometimes. I find it much easier to look at others. My examination of them often makes me feel better about myself. "My sin isn't that bad!"

I know it's not true. My sin is that bad and worse. It is my sin that put Christ on the cross. It is my sin that I need to deal with. It is my sin that keeps me awake at night. It is me that I am told to examine.

Christianity is not easy. I praise God that he tells me that, His divine power has given me everything I need, and His grace is sufficient for me, and that I can do all things through Him!

It is this testing of ourselves that reveals to us who we really are. Let us not fail to meet the test!

Now That We Are Men (and Women!)

I was reading 1 Corinthians 13 this morning. I would like to share verses 11-13.
Often when reading the ''Love Chapter" I get so caught up in the first 10 verses that I miss all the rest. What a great promise!


When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Let us be men and live for that time when we will know fully and rejoice that have been, are and, always will be fully known.