Voting Christianity/Voting Morals

I have to say that I am a fan of Government enforced moral direction. We see it all the time. Laws against murder hate crimes, rape, incest, etc. Once we think so foolishly as to say that the Government can’t enforce morality we will begin a failure as a state/country that will begin to affect all areas of life.

Taking God out of school is a great example. Some could use the arguments for taking prayer out of school was ok because the government should not legislate religion or morals. But the consequences of those Christians who did not act is, in part, the moral corruption of or teens (pregnancy, shooting, violence, dropouts) all severally increased following the removal of God from School. This is just one example.

I believe God in my life means I must vote and lobby God in my government as well. What Jesus did was say Your Christian life must be in your ENTIRE life. The Government I serve and obey is a major part of My Life. That is why I do believe moral legislation is a moral responsibility for Christians.

Husbands Love Your Wives

Eph 5:25-33

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…

28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church- 30 for we are members of his body. 31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32 This is a profound mystery-but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

So isn’t this an interesting verse. A verse God has really been using to challenge me lately. I have been married for a little over 3 years now. And in these 3 years I have been learning so much about myself, my wife, and love. I think the concept about love form Corinthians might be a little easier to at least get then what this verse in Ephesians is doing. When Corinthians says love is Patient, kind etc. It makes since, love is this, but what about loving my wife like Christ loves the church? What did Christ do? He gave himself up for her. “Gave Himself up”. What a challenging phrase. You know I look at this verse and it continually challenges the husband to love the wife. And to love is to live toward her as Christ is toward me. Part of me says “dang” that is more then I want to do yet I can not move away from the challenge. The past few months I have been trying to live this and what I have learned is that I don’t really live it. It is very hard (at least for me) to continually love someone more then myself. That means doing what will bless her and doing what is not really what I want. Now the balance is to lead my home and my wife while also serving her and giving myself up for her. And once the leading part comes in this is even harder.

The challenge to myself has been every time I go to do something, go to say something, or even start thinking something I think how will this affect my wife. It might mean making sure I connect with her if I am not sure and making sure that my actions communicate love and that my heart REALLY is putting her above myself…

Good words to say but now that I am starting to live them I am finding how much more there is to do to be like Christ. I will love my wife and make her feel loved and I will make mistakes but at least for me it didn’t even start until I was real with myself about what God called me to has a husband and I chose to start living that way. I had to choose to start loving her and to give myself up for her.

The Heavy Heart

Prov 25:20
20 Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day,or like vinegar poured on soda, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart. NIV

I could easily be described as an optimistic person and intern could easily say that it is the best way to live. I have always thought that is the way to live but recently I have been seeing that maybe the optimistic side is not always the right way to go. I have been challenged by my wife (who is great at making me see what I could not see in my own) that trying to always be happy or find the positive might steal from a part of who God made us to be, human. What I mean is that our grieving, our hurt, our emotional pain are a part of who we are, and it molds us and makes us appreciate the good. But those things are so cliché. I am starting to see that there is so much more. The bible says that the “truth will set us free” and sometimes the truth and/or life just hurts. Even if the truth is right and in the long run good it can still hurt. I have found that when I try to find the good and ignore the negative or hurt this causes me to miss the truth and miss out living a life that encounters God in everything and allows our spirits to go through things God made us to.

The other thing I have been learning comes for directly from the verse mentioned above. I have realized that by trying to be optimistic when others are hurting (Singing a song to a heavy heart) I am making things worse and taking from them something they need to experience (takes away a garment on a cold day). This causes me to ask myself even deeper questions I can’t get into here: “Why do I have to “sing the songs to the heavy heart”? Why am I so uncomfortable with the pain of life? I am now trying to explore that area in my life but for now I look back and have to say that I was wrong so many times in my life when I was singing the songs instead of letting the heart be heavy. Although we can not live in sadness I am learning I must experience it. But in the end another Proverb rings out…

Prov 15:15
15 All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.

Along with this word from God…

Jer 31:13-14
I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.

In the end I want to let my God turn my morning (heavy heart) into gladness (singing the song), but still need to experience the heavy heart for a time as Ecclesiastes says…

Eccl 3:1-4
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: …
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance

The point is to let the heavey heart runs its God given course but then surrender that heavy heart to Father God and let him bring chear and experience that continual feast and in the long run, I love dancing!

Servant of All?

Mark 9:35

35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

NIV

Although I have been serving in my church since I was a young kid if I was honest with myself I would questions rather I have a clue of what it means to be the servant of all. I love serving God and doing things for him but that is one of the reasons it seems so easy. I love it. What if I didn’t? When I step out of my body and watch myself I wonder if I have any clue on what it is to be last and be the servant of all. If I enjoy it so much then am I really being a servant? But if I walk away from what I am doing am I still serving God the way he wants me to?

I want to know what it means to be last, not so I can be first, but so I can find out what it means to be a servant of all.

“Strange Sight” – Confirmation After

Ex 3:10-12

10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."

NIV

So first God gets our attention and then we have are human moments of fear. Then we are confronted with the choice, do we go or not? Do we do whatever we think God is telling us to do? Again I do understand how scary this is, I have fear myself but I have seen that fear diminish a lot over the years and at the end of this I will tell you why, but back to Moses. So God says “Go Now” but Moses still was a little unsure (as we all are). And then God did something that surprised me, he gave Moses a sign so that Moses would know that it was God (yeah, we all want that) but Moses would not see that sign until AFTER he had obeyed. (Wait a minute!) The thing is even though God does know are frailty and fear he still wants us to act by faith, not by sight. Now we can see times in the Bible were God gave signs before to those he was calling to something but following all of those there was still the moment when they had to act on faith. To be a Christ follower we must be willing to hear God’s voice and obey by faith, even when we are not sure. Jesus said in John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Being a follower of Jesus is listening to the voice of God, letting him speak and acting, by faith, to see God do great things in us and through us. But we have a choice. Moses could have said “If you don’t give me the sign now then I won’t go”. God would have still done what He wanted but Moses might not have been the man.

I said I would tell you why I saw my fear diminish. Well it was because when I heard God, or thought I heard God. I started to step out and act on what I thought God was telling me. In that process I learned to know not only that God DOES speak but what his voice sounds like. It was a process and God used that “strange sight” many times to get my attention. But I learned to listen, and then learned to obey. If we choose to think God does not speak and we can just do whatever as long has it is not sin then I believe we will miss out on the great things God has for us. When God chooses me I want to GO, I don’t want my fear of the unknown or fear of even listening to Him speaking to stop me from being who God created me to be in everything He calls me to.

“Strange Sight” – Overcoming the Fear

Ex 3:4-6

4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"

And Moses said, "Here I am."

5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." 6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

NIV

So after God gets our attention you would think the hard part would be over. “We have now heard God and we now know what to do”. But I don’t see that as the case very often. Even once we hear God and God has made himself known to us we still have a tendency to react just like Moses did, in fear.

At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Now the things we are afraid of varies but fear is a pretty common, human response. Something that I am sure God knows to expect from us. Moses was afraid to look at God, maybe he felt unworthy, maybe he didn’t know God well enough so he was afraid of what God might do, and maybe he was afraid God would ask him to do something. All are very logical fears. One fear I see many times is the fear of, “Is this even God”, how can I know if this is God”. These to are very logical fears. But if we stop at our fear, if we stop listening because we are afraid of what will be said, what we will have to do with what is said, or I can’t know for sure this is God then we will miss out on callings God has for us. What would have happened if Moses had let his fear overtake him when God spoke? God would have probably still accomplished his will but Moses would have missed out on being a part of the big thing God was doing. I don’t want to be one that misses out on what God is doing...Do you?

"Strange Sight"

Exodus 3:1-4

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up."

When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"

And Moses said, "Here I am."

As I was reading these first few verses I noticed a phrase that I have never noticed before. The text says Moses saw the “strange sight” and then went over to look at it. Then it says that when God saw that Moses had gone to see the bush he called out to him. I wonder how many times God has tried this in my life. I tend to pride myself has someone who is always looking to see what God is trying to say to me. But if I was able to see my life from an out-siders view I wonder how many times I was not looking and God did something “strange” to get my attention. I have been so eager to claim to have a ear to God’s voice and maybe I do but yet still has I think back I am forced to recognized that ear was trained by God getting my attention from the “strange” things he was doing just to get my attention. WOW! It makes me feel a little more humble before my God and others and a lot more loved – I live under his Grace not my own deeds!

Oh one last note that must be recognized… God may do many strange things to get our attention but it is not until we say “Here I am” that the action really starts!

I'm Back

Well I was having computer problems and got really busy with school but the computer works now and life is slowing down so now what...? I would love to know what topics would be good discussion items. My goal with this site was discussion about spiritual issues. So lets talk...But about what?

God’s Plan? – Part 3

So I guess talking about God’s Plan does not interest any body. But I am curious if there are no thoughts, comments, questions or ponders on this issue is it because those that saw the posts feel that it is an unanswerable issue or because you feel the issues is not worth addressing? I am seriously asking and this is my last attempt to get some thoughts on this issue. Seeking to know God’s plan for my life has driven me down every path that I have taken. I don’t consider it minor issue that is irrelevant to our lives. I read how God lead those that served him in both the Old and New Testament. He told them to stay, to leave, to go here and go there. I believe God would want to intentional and specifically lead us today if we would be willing to believe that he wants to speak to us about it.

God's Plan? - Part 2

What does this verse tell you as you go to find God’s leading or will in your life?

Isaiah 30:20-21
21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Please leave me your thoughts and interpretation and any reasons you have for that!
I see two options: 1 God will tell you which way he wants you to go when you get to the fork in road of life. 2 God is saying (because of context) that if you are walking with Me either way is good as long as you are walking with Me. Or there is a 3rd option.
What do you think?

God's Plan? - Part 1

God's Plan! I hear Christians and non Christians alike talking about God's plan or God's will, and this is a very challenging thing to talk about. Many are looking to know what God’s "plan" is for their lives. And when things go wrong many begin asking why God would let bad things happen. These are both difficult issues to address. One of the ever popular verses regarding these is the great verse from Jeremiah 29:11.

Jer 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

This is a great verse to read and a powerful one to hear in times of looking and wondering for answers about life. But it is easy to quote a verse and “claim it” and then wonder why thing don’t happen like the verse says it should. Many times when things don’t seem to be “prospering” and we are experiencing “harm” we start to question God and ask others why God would let bad things happen when he promises good. The way this verse is thrown out there as a simple answer is to misrepresent God and his word. God’s plan for our lives might be able to be summed up in this verse but a world that does not go according to plan can not. God says He has a plan but just by looking at the nation of Israel (to which whom this is written) it is obvious that they did not always prosper and we know that they did experience harm. So is God a liar? Do we just not have enough faith? Or do our actions or sin that go against God’s desire for our lives keep us from experiencing that plan quoted above?

The Emerging Church Part 3

I would like to say one last thing. I am for just about everything I have read that the Emerging Church wants to do. And I agree with just about everything they see as problems in many of our Church’s today. I know at some point many feel they can’t make a difference any more and separation is the only option. I know some like the argument that we have already been separating for hundreds of years, what’s a little more? But I do believe Jesus’ words when he said:
Mark 3:24-25
24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
And when he said:
Matt 16:18
I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Both of Jesus' words will ring true for all time. I have been part of a church for 10 years that I have “wanted to leave” many times but how would that have been edifying to the body, God’s church? I want to see change. I want to see the church become a powerful tool in our communities and in our world. The more that I have these desire the more I see that we, as a community of believes, both in our local churches and the world, will be ultimately more effective and powerful if we are all fighting the same fight. It does take more time if one is gathering a larger army but I believe it is time spent well if we can look back and see a church that is fighting together instead of fighting against each other.

I would say to the Emerging Church, which I would consider myself emerging with; Emerge within our churches and lead those churches into a place were they are more of what God desires His church to be. Lead them don't leave them. Make leaving the last option not the first.

The Emerging Church Part 2

Sadly I did not get the comments I was looking for after my first post, however I will still offer some of my thoughts in hope of others offering theirs. One thing is for certain. The Emerging church really has no true definition. Part of who they are is defined in their desire to not have a specific definition. However I have found common themes. The first is that they wish to be different then the Christian “church” cultures at which they live or grew up in become what the church is “supposed to be”. (I am in no way implying that this is a bad thing by using quotes. But I am saying that to try to become the way it is “supposed to be” is up to different interpretations and views.) The second is a desire to universally accept people and support them on their own spiritual journey, where ever that might lead. The third is to see the church take an active role in the lives of those they touch or are not directly touching through openness and advocating and living social justice.

Are any of these things wrong? Maybe not but I do fear the way in which it is being done, through leaving the current church and going out to start their own communities. I believe this is leading them down the same path for which they desire to move away from currently. Recognizing culture change is a very biblical thing to do to reach those around us with the message of Jesus, what worked 20 years ago may not work today and therefore it is valid to seek how to reach the cultural we are in. However in 20 years that cultural will change. Is it a good thing to see Christians have an exodus from the church every 20 years because people don’t believe in the current church any more? Or is it better to be unified, recognizing that Jesus said that the church is the hope of the world (that includes those that aren’t being culturally relevant) and work from within to bring about biblical changes. If there are changes to be made and problems to fix should we not use unity to strengthen, grow and change our communities instead of running and leaving those who love and worship the same God. The world sees how we act toward each other as much as they see the way we act toward them.

The Emerging Church Part 1

I have been reading and hearing more about what some call “The Emerging Church”. Larry King as talked about it, Newsweek did an article about it and many others both secular and Christian have been talking about it. Just about every time it is talked about the discussion opens with the question: “What is The Emerging Church?” I have some thought on it but I am curious about what you know, or think about his “new” thing. First of all I am not out to speak against it. I am curious about what others think about it. How do you define it? What is it to you? I am doing some more reading on it right now so my thoughts will come with my next post. But before I do, as part of my research let me know what it is to you or to those that you know. Have you ever been to or been apart of an Emerging Church? Let me know!

Money, The Church, and God

Money, the church, and God, one of the issues the church is most negatively known for. I grew up in the church and for the most part have not thought negatively about this issue but I know that many do. Even people that are very committed to the church seem to struggle with the issue of giving money to their church. I read something a few days ago: “Why is it that $20 seems like so little for dinner and a movie but seems like so much when we give it to the church.” One response to the question that I heard was that, as Americans, we are always being consumers. When we give $20 for dinner and a movie we see what we are getting back but when we give to the church we don’t see ourselves getting anything out of it or from it. How do you feel about this issue? If you regularly attend a church do you give to it? Do you follow the 10% approach or do you have your own. If you believe you are supposed to give to the church (to God) do you believe that there is a responsibility to give to your local church or is it up to you to whom you give it to?

Willing To See

I ended my last blog with this statement: “Can you truly defend a belief that has no evidence for existing therefore it is a belief that can come only by faith?” I would come back and say that I think this statement is only half true. Ultimately believing in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who came to earth and died to pay the price that our sin owed does come by faith. It is something I have no real proof for. However, when I read about what Jesus did I am compelled to wonder; “If this man really lived (which there historical evidence of) and really did the things written about him, then it seems compelling to say there might be reasons to believe in what he said.” Now I am not removing the faith element. I still believe that faith plays the strongest role in my relationship with Jesus but I can say that my faith has been confirmed by things I have experienced in my life. Again those are my own experiences and many would say that I choose to see things a certain way in order to confirm what I believe. Sometimes that might be true. But I have had things happen to me when I didn’t want them to or that I could not have created on my own that confirm my faith in a God that is real, alive, and active in my life. My faith believes in my God, Jesus Christ, but what has happened in my life reveals to me the truth and reality of my faith being real in the world around me.

Can You Defend Your Faith

“Defend your faith!" That was a statement I heard many times growing up in church and youth group. But I was thinking about that statement recently and was wondering what that really means. Can I truly defend my faith? I may have heard it growing up in a Christian environment but I don’t think that it is limited to there. I grew up next to a family that was Muslim and as kids playing together we didn’t really know the differences in our faiths until one day we talked about who Jesus was. Even as a 10 yr old we both felt compelled to “defend our faiths” and I tried, to whatever extent a 10yr old could interact with another one on that level, to defend my faith. But the very nature of the word faith implies a belief in something we can not prove. So if we each have our own faiths can we truly defend it? Do you believe you can truly defend your faith, whatever that might be? Even if you are an atheist you to must feel inclined to defend what you believe and since there is no proof that there is no God even someone who believes in nothing believes that by faith. So I ask the questions again hoping someone will tell me. Can you truly defend a belief that has no evidence for existing therefore it is a belief that can come only by faith?

Beginning

This is my first post thanks to my friend David Best. I look forward to more to come!