The other day my wife and I decided to make a ginger bread Halloween house. We got one that came in a box were all you have to do is decorate. On the box the houses looked to amazing and the box said we could do it too. Being a sucker, I was very excited. Last year I made a Christmas house and it didn’t turn out as nice as the box, but I thought I could do it this time.
We got everything out and started to put the icing on the house pieces so the house would stand up. This is were it started to go bad. We did not line up pieces and put the wrong ones in different places. So we got through that and the house did not fall over. Then we began to decorate. The designs that looked so easy soon looked impossible. Nothing turned out like I thought it would and soon I abandoned trying to make it look amazing and just wanted to goof off. Here is how it turned out.
My wife had nothing to do with this side:
Our house did not turn out like I had hoped! It doesn’t look like the box or anything close. We did make a mess, but that can be cleaned up. Making this house reminded me of a quote that Joel Singleton told me about Christianity. Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, It has been found hard and left untried. Many times what we thing God is supposed to give us is not what we get. God doesn’t promise us money or everything we want. The entire book of Job is about the bad things that happened to him. Job had everyone and everything turn on him, but he would not stop believing in God. In Job 2:10 he says, “… Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” Job understood that everything would work out for the best if he trusted in God. He knew God wanted what was best for him and even if hard times come, God would help him through.
Let us start today focusing on God and realizing that He is always there. And even if thing don’t turn out the way we thought, God is still there and hasn’t left us.
In class on Sunday we talk about Jerimiah 17:9 ”The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” We talked about how we can lie to others and ourselves. The interesting thing is that when we lie to others, they know we are lying. But when we lie to ourselves, we convince ourselves that it is not a lie. Let me give you a few examples: I was talking to a youth minister friend and wanting to get the youth group things they need. One thing that I said they needed was a Wii. My friend looked at me and said, do you really think the youth group needs a Wii. I had to respond no, because the youth group doesn’t need a Wii. I just want one. I wanted a Wii, but so I didn’t sound conceited I came up with this lie that I was telling others, but it wasn’t the real reason.
Here is another example from the lesson. A man is spending a lot of time with this woman who is not his wife. He friend asks him why he is spending so much time with that woman. He answers, she needs a friend. Oh? His friend says well what about Bertha, she needs a friend. The man was telling himself and others a lie that he knew wasn’t true, but he convinced himself that it was true. He wasn’t spending time with her because she needs a friend and everyone knew it. And deep down so did he.
Jeremiah 17 tells us that our heart is deceitful. We don’t want to tell people the real reason we do things. The reason “because I want to” just doesn’t fly anymore since we are not kids. So we reach into our excuse box and pull out something that sounds good. It really doesn’t sound good, but we use it anyway. We are lying to ourselves and we know it, but we continue because we want to.
It’s as simple as that. We don’t want to tell people that because we sound selfish or greedy. So we come up with some reason that really doesn’t apply to make ourselves feel better. Its time we stop lying to ourselves and start living as God would want you to.
Today, I thought I would blog about my wife. She is absolutely amazing! She is smart, funny, crazy, adorable, goofy, zany, awesome, beautiful, wonderful, and the greatest wife ever! Lydia is always helping me and challenging me. She keeps me in check and helps me enjoy life. Each day is a new adventure and I just love spending time with her.
Recently she became a full time photographer. I love it. We get to spend more time together. It just doesn’t get better then that! Anyway, she is an amazing photographer! You can check out her website to see all her pictures at www.lydiashannon.com. Here is a picture of the two of us that a photographer friend took.
Ephesians 5:25 says 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. As a husband I need to love my wife like Jesus loved the church. That means loving her more than myself and putting her first. I want to impress upon husbands everywhere to start doing this. So many husbands treat their wives poorly and I have had enough of it.
On Monday, I went ot play frisbee golf or disc golf with some friends. We have been playing a lot and since none of us are very good, we have lost some discs. Frisbee golf is a really cheap sport, but you still hate losing your discs. So we decided to look for some that other people have lost. At this point I need to tell you that I have been playing at the Easterlin Course we were at for several years and I only found one disc in all that time. That one disc was at the top of a tree and it took me 30 minutes to knock it out.
So as we are playing and looking for discs, we found one. The disc had a name and number on it so we called. The guy was very nice and we told him we would leave it at the front office. He said he would get it later today. Then we found another disc with a name and number. Called him and left it in the office. We played the rest of the course, but didn’t find any more.
After the game, two of the guys deciced to wade in the water and look for discs. They found one without a name and number so we got to keep that one. And we found one more with a name and number. This was my favorite call. The disc belonged to a guy named Tim who is from Ohio and now lives in Florida. Tim could not beleive that we had call him to give him his disc back. He said people in Ohio do that all the time, but never down here. Tim even invited me to play frisbee golf with him sometime.
What hit me about talking to Tim is that I did what God would want me to do. Matthew 7:12 tell us to do to others as we would have them do to you. The reason I was so quick to call Tim and the other guys is because people have called about discs that I lost. When they call you feel so greatful and exited that they cared enough to call you. So many times in our lives we forget that we should treat people the way we want to be treated. Instead we want to be mean when we are upset or nasty if they do something to us. God would tell you to stop and treat that person they way you want to be treated. If someone offends you, we shouldn’t fly off the handle and let them have it. We should think about how we would want to be treated in this situation, because there are times we have done that same thing. When we say or do something that hurt’s someone we would want them to treat us as they would want to be treated.
Imagine if you treated everyone the way you wanted to be treated. There would not be yelling and fighting because no one like to be yelled at. No one likes to fight and be hurt. So let us start to today to treat others how we want to be treated. From opening a door to forgiving the person who cuts us off in traffic.
No, I am not moving. A couple of weeks ago I did help my friend move. She was moving from an apartment on the third floor to an apartment next door on the first floor. So it wasn’t to bad. The bad part came when only Lyd and our friends boyfriend showed up. This would not be a problem, but my friend had asked several of her really good friends to help her move. When they heard this everyone came up with some excuse. Some even just said no. I couldn’t believe my ears. One of their best friends just asked for help and they said no. Not, I am working, out of town, or some good excuse, but NO! I was so shocked.
At this point, let me tell you that I do not like moving people at all. It takes forever, I have to carry huge boxes, and I just don’t like it. However, when a friend needs help, I like moving. When someone needs help I would love to help them. Not because I am a super special person, but because I know that is what Jesus would do. Matthew 25 tells us that we should always help people if we are able to. Jesus says that whatever you do for people you do for me. There are plenty of times that I would rather not help someone because I am tired or I want to watch something, but I know that Jesus would go help them. Jesus knew what was important and what wasn’t. Watching tv or not help just because you don’t want to is a terrible reason not to help. And I might even say it is against the Bible.
Remember when friends need help, go help them. Treat them like you want to be treated (I think Jesus may have said that too). Help people you don’t know because that iswhat Jesus would do and don’t forget you might be entertaining angels (Hebrews 13:2).
Sunday in class we talked about the tongue. It was an interesting class, but I will get to that. We looked at several passages about the tongue. Lets look at two.
James 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
This passage stands out so much to me because of how it ends. It is interesting to me that James says our religion is worthless if we don’t control our tongue. The New King James says useless in stead of worthless. James is stomping on toes here. People like to say mean things because it make us feel better about ourselves. If you don’t believe me search your heart and you will see that I am right. Now look at what James says in Chapter 3.
James 3:3-12 3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
I really like the powerful words James uses. The tongue is a fire, a world of evil, it corrupts the whole person, it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison, it is set on fire by hell. James is not sugar coating it. The tongue is a powerful tool that can be used for good or bad. Just like the rudder of the ship, the tongue steers the body. Think of all the trouble people have been into because they couldn’t keep their mouth shut. Think of all the times you have been in trouble because you have not kept your mouth shut. Like the rudder, the tongue can do good and bad. We can get ourselves in trouble, but we can also get ourselves out of trouble. We can serve God or we can make him look bad. I know this is not easy, but we can do it with God.
This brings me to the why I said the class was interesting. During the class, the teens looked at me as if they were thinking, “but how do we do that.” This is a good and tough question. You have to start small. I had a problem with cursing in High School. I was able to stop pretty easily, but I didn’t stop thinking those words. That was a different story. It took time and I had to choose to reprogram my thinking. I stopped being around people who use those words and I stopped allowing my self to think them. I chose to use different words and most importantly I asked God for help.
Sometime, we need to just not say anything. If you can’t control your tongue start small. Simply saying nothing is a start. It will not be easy and it may take time, but with God’s help you can overcome ANYTHING.
I saw this video and it made me think allot. We spend so much time on giving big gifts in my family. This has always been the custom, but seeing this video makes me want to reevaluate my priorities. Let me know what you think!
Yesterday in Class, we talked about the eyes. We started off talking about what are characteristics of role models that we like. The answers ranged from a hottie to humble and everything in between. It was interesting to see what the teens wanted in a role models because I did not limit them to a Christian role models, but just a role model. Then I asked what characeristic they appreciated the most and no one said anyting about physical characteristic, but things like trust, loving, funny, and smart. I found this interesting because we live in a world were the outer covering is so important and I thought at least one person would say it, but maybe they just thought it. Its still interesting.
Anyway, they I ask them why more people don’t have a role model. There were answers like, no one is good enough, but the one I think contributes the most is when a role model lets you down. When a role model lets you down a lot of things happen. The person you have put on a pedastal for all that time comes crashing down to your level. They no longer seem perfect, but remarkable flawed. All the bad things they have done that you were blinded to come crashing down on you. You see them for who they are. A sinner just like you. You are left wondering what you should do and I belive this leads many people not to have a role model.
From this transition point, we moved the lesson into who can we look up to to be our role model. And guess who we decided it should be. Thats right Jesus. Look at this passage from Hebrews 12:1-3
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
First, we looked at what the great cloud of witnesses was. This referred back to Hebrews 11 which is the great passage on Faith and how all these people believed and then lived a life for God. This shows we have many great example of what to do when we are having a tough time. Then the Hebrews writer steps on some toes. He says that we have to throw off all those things that hold us back from serving God. This is the hard and difficult part of Christianity. We want everything to be easy and to have God bless us by giving us things. That, however, it not what how it is. Christians have to get rid of all those things in our lives that lead us away from God. Whether it is that movie you shouldn’t have watched, those things you shouldn’t have said, or helping that person that you didn’t helped. Our own selfish desires are what get us in trouble because we don’t want to let go of the things we like, but know are wrong. The Hebrew writer tells us to get rid of those things and fill that space with Jesus because he was punished, cursed, beaten, and murdered for us. We need to fix our Eyes of Jesus because only with his help are we ever going to be saved. Only He can save us from ourselves.
Has anyone ever asked you if you are a Christian. What did you say? If you are like me you might say something simple like, Yes. That was a tough one. We might say yes, but think something with it. For example: Of course I am a Christian,
I go to church all the time
My parents are
I grew up in the church
I went forward at an awesome youth rally
etc.
We come up with these things that make us a Christian, when it is not these things that make us a Christian. satan tells us that we are “good” with God because we are marking off our spiritual check list, but the problem is that your heart is not in it. I grew up in the Church and when I became a Christian, I didn’t think that things were going to change much and that I didn’t need to change much. About a week after I was baptized, I was a church and was beating up this kid. Not really hurting him, but is wasn’t something I should have been doing. And what he told me is something I will never forget. He said, aren’t you a Christian now, you shouldn’t be beating me up. And I said something like, no I am good. What? What was wrong with me. I had just chosen to follow Jesus and now I am already complacent.
For some reason, Christian get to a point were we say that we are good with God. Sometimes, I will ask someone how their relationship with God is and they will say, we are good. No the problem is that you are not good with God. God does love you, but to say that you are good with God is a scary statement. It is a lie that satan tells you. A lie that brings you a sense of comfort. Not that your relationship with God shouldn’t be comfortable, but that your relationship with God should be an ever growing process. A lifelong journey to serve Him and serve others.
During class we talked about a young lady named Tish who was struggling with sex in her relationships. Whatever she did to stop this problem didn’t work. She would go to Bible studies, pray, set boundaries, but they all failed. One day she talked to a friend about what she was going through and her friend shared the story of Nicodemus in John 3:1-15. Let me share an excerpt from the passage.
31Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 3In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” 4“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” 5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. 10“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
The thing that Tish’s friend shared with her was that if Nicodemus could go through his entire life as a leader in the Jewish Church, but not have a relationship with God then so could she. Tish’s friend wasn’t being a jerk, but showing Tish that she was focusing on her spiritual check list and not her relationship with God.
We, as Christians, have to have a relationship with God first. Nothing else is going to help us or get us through tough times. A Check list is not going to change our lives, but a real encounter with God will change everything in a way that we could not ever imagine.
Posted by widebodys 
Posted by widebodys 
Posted by widebodys 
