Our highest pursuit

I've been converted. I am now an extreme environmentalist.

I don't think we should just strive to conserve resources and maintain current levels of pollution or damage to our planet. We should be working to return the Earth to its original state before man damaged it.

Of course this will never happen until Jesus returns. The Earth is damaged due to the Curse of Sin; it is impossible for the damage to be reversed until the Curse is lifted. Thankfully in Revelation it says that God will destroy the current Earth and a New Earth will be created, this one to be pure and undefiled as the current Earth once was, and to be our eternal dwelling place with God after the New Jerusalem comes down to rest on the New Earth.

Now don't get me wrong - I do believe that we should take care of this Earth. I know I started this post a bit tongue in check, but I am not slamming those who choose to focus their efforts on protecting the environment. After all, God appointed us as its stewards. It is a sorry steward that deliberately or even carelessly lets the item in their responsibility become damaged or through their own actions lessens the value of that item.

But as with everything else, the most important task set before us is to reach the world for Christ. It is not to influence the government, or to eliminate abortion, or to bring prayer back to schools, or to protect the environment, or to bring social justice to the world around us. It is only after He returns that all injustice will be set right, and all wrongdoers will be punished (and stopped), and all people will do the right things. And also only then will the Earth will be renewed.

There is nothing wrong with any of those pursuits I mentioned, or others that we strive for. Many of them are valid, and some may even be things that God calls individuals to do. But we cannot lose our focus of the world above.

Our constant pursuit above all else should be last words of Jesus: preach the word and make disciples. Our constant cry should be the cry at the end of Revelation: "Come quickly Lord Jesus".

The Fall of Saul

(Note: originally posted as guest blogger on Dallas First Assembly of God blog 10/25)

1 Samuel 15 tells a very poignant story.

It starts off with Saul the great King of Israel. Victorious in battle, slaughtering his enemies, he was the champion of God. The anointed. The chosen to lead God's people.


It ends with a heart-wrenching condemnation of Saul:
v35 Samuel never went to meet with Saul again, but he mourned constantly for him. And the Lord was sorry he had ever made Saul king of Israel.

How did Saul reach this point? How could he fall so far so fast? By doing something most of us do everyday.

My wife and I have been fighting this very thing in our 3 3/4 year old son Connor. There are times we tell Connor to not to do something and he goes ahead and does it anyway. Normal kid, right? But normal for us too. When I ask Connor why he did the thing I told him not to do, his reply is almost always: "But I wanted to ...". There is a direct conflict between his will and mine. He then makes the choice to obey or not.

We make that same choice everyday, probably even every minute. Do we obey God or not? Even in the smallest things that choice is there. It boils down to this: do I value God's commands higher than my desires? Or is what I want more important to me than what God wants?

Saul fell so fast. Don't fall with him.

v22-23 What is more pleasing to the Lord:
your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.

Praise God!!

(Note: originally posted as guest blogger on Dallas First Assembly of God blog 10/24)

I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. Psalm 9:2

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4

I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! Deuteronomy 32:3


Praise God!! Praise Him for the blessings He has given!

Praise God!! Give him praise for the calamities He has spared you!

Praise God!! Praise him for being the unbelievably, unspeakably, inconceivably awesome God that he is!


What, you are going through tough times and don't feel like praising?

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6-7


Through it all, in it all, because of it all - Give Him Praise!!!

He's not done yet

(Note: originally posted as guest blogger on Dallas First Assembly of God blog 10/22)

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1: 4-6

Not satisfied with where you are at? Not happy with the way things are going? Great! You are just where God wants you to be. He's not done with you yet.

We too often look at what we are today and think that is all we can ever be. But God still has new heights he wants to take us to, with new adventures just around the next bend. Just don't get comfortable where you are. One of the laws of physics states that an object at rest tends to stay at rest, while an object in motion tends to stay in motion. In other words it is easier to start doing something if you are already moving, harder to start if you are sitting still.

So you want God to do something big in your life? Get moving!! Find something to do, some way to press in deeper. Start something new, anything from a Bible Study or time of prayer to trying to apply a new virtue to your life. Maybe you could start being more friendly to waiters and cashiers, or finding a way to help around the church with some physical labor. Whatever it is, find a way to start something new. Anything to keep from getting comfortable with where you are now, or God may not be able to move you.

Walk Humbly With Your God

(Note: originally posted as guest blogger on Dallas First Assembly of God blog 10/22)

Have you ever sat back and just watched people? Maybe at a mall or a sporting event, or even at church? I love doing it, just watching the stream of humanity as it flows past and observing all of the non-verbal cues to what a person is thinking.

It may be a group of giddy teenage girls, or the group of boys trying to impress them. It may be a couple that are obviously having problems in their marriage from the anger they show, or another couple that could not be more in love. Or the loner that is shuffling along wishing he belonged.

Or take the person who is so full of themselves and so puffed up I am tempted to find a needle and pop them like they were a balloon. He or she just struts along, their thoughts of being better than those around them so apparent. It is surprising they lowered themselves to even be around other people.

And then my thoughts turn to me ... what would others think of me as I walk down life's ways? Do I act lovingly to those around me? Do I treat others fairly or do I seek to take advantage? Do I seem like I think I am better than those around me, or do I come across as a friend to everyone? Do I act "Holier than thou", or do I accept everyone as they are?

Most of us like to think we are humble, fair and kind, but remember the old saying - actions speak louder than words. What do those around you think about you?

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 NIV

What are you seeking?

But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. Matthew 6:33 (Amplified)

So what are you seeking? What are you aiming at, or striving after? What are your goals in life?

Most of us in the American culture would have to say we strive after money, but our true goal is probably more for the comfort and prestige money can bring. Some are always looking for entertainment; they get bored fast and have to find the next fun thing. In the corporate world power and recognition is the reason for climbing the ladder.

On the social front many are always looking for a place to belong, or someone to love them, or friends they can connect with. Or just wanting everyone around them to envy them, or look up to them, or be the most popular in their crowd.

Everyone has something, or usually multiple things, they are searching for or striving after. What is it for you? A good way to figure it out is to decide what one thing you would make happen if you could. Would it be winning the lottery? Or becoming a celebrity? Or falling in love and getting married? Or becoming young again?

How many of us can truthfully say that one of the things we most desire the most is to see God? That we spend all day trying to figure out how to get closer to Him? That we sacrifice other areas of our lives in order to have time with Him? Is going to church a delight or a chore that you find excuses to not do?

So - can you honestly say you are seeking God above everything else? Why not start now.

Delight?

The BibleGateway verse of the day for today:
Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Do I delight in the Lord? I mean really delight in Him?

I can think of a few things I delight in - some of my favorites are the great smile Emma (my daughter) has when she first sees me when I get home from work, or when Connor (my son) is being loving and wants to give me a big hug out of the blue.

Those are great times, and my heart feels like it is about to burst from the pleasure of those moments. I would love those moments to never end, and keep happening.

But do I feel the same way about spending time with God? Do I ache if I have not talked to him in a bit, do I get excited about the opportunity to be with Him?

Emerging Church

Sam and I are having an interesting discussion on his blog about the "Emerging Church" theology. I just thought I would link to it in case anyone wanted to see. 2 posts:
Emerging Church
A Modest Reply


I do want to make a comment that it is important not to let discussions like this become divisive. We have more in common than we have differences, and we are all one family and are to be unified. Some will let differences drive wedges, but instead we should let our similarities pull us together.

Church and Society/Government

I've been thinking about this sort of topic for a few days now. Following Pastor's sermon on Sunday and some posts on Sam's blog (specifically this post, but previous ones also), I've been contemplating on what the role of the Church is when it comes to the government, and also to the society as a whole.

Things are great in a nation when the people are overwhelmingly following God, but this is exceedingly rare. I think it happens far less than we like to imagine it does. Most of the time the people of God are only a remnant, fighting against the flow of the society. Even in the "Good Old Days" that most of us like to look back to, I don't think things were as rosy as we think they were. We were not a nation full of God-followers, but rather a nation that was raised in a conservative manner and taught to follow certain rules that looked like doing the right thing. But as Pastor said in his sermon, it is not about doing, it is about being.

But back in those days when the majority tried to look right, the Church got very comfortable. There was very little difference between the way we looked and the way society looked. (Hopefully there was some difference inside.) And when it came to government, most of the laws passed followed the beliefs of society and maintained the standard of "right living".

These days however vastly more parts of society are less concerned with looking "Godly" but would rather follow their own path. As they should - that is what being apart from God is all about. But that causes 2 problems for the Church. First, too many Christians never learned how to maintain the separation from the world that we are called to. So now whatever is acceptable to society is fine with us. Forget holiness, forget being set apart. As the world declines in morality, so do we.

The second problem is how we respond to the political changes. Is it the Church's mission to force the nation to follow the rules we as Christian's should live by? Absolutely not. We are so quick to deplore governments that try to enforce Sharia law (Islamic religious laws) on the populace, but are we not trying to do the same thing when we want to force laws that are designed around Christian beliefs?

Please don't get me wrong, I am not against Christians in the political process - as citizens in a democracy it is our duty to voice our opinions - and I am also not saying we throw our hands up and let the society decay around us.

I think our problem comes when we expect the law and the government to cause people to live right. That is not the case. Only a true cleansing by God can cause a person to change and want to live according to God's way. Remember, the call is to BE, and then let the doing follow. There is definitely a way in which we are supposed to live, but that must flow from inside. If the inside part is not there we cannot live right. Trying to get others to do without being is legalism. It is also impossible.

We do not impact society by laws, or by votes, or by any other worldly means; we do it by following the Great Commission - make disciples.

Politics

I just responded to a friend's blog on a post that touched on the political realm, and it sparked some thoughts. Most I have had for awhile, just thought I would write them down.

What is the job of a politician? Most would probably respond that their job is to govern, to enact or enforce or interpret laws in the way that would best help the American people. And that is true, that is what they should be doing. But in looking at what their job is I tend to look at what got them the job in the first place and what they have to do to keep the job. In other words, what are they most concerned about on a day to day basis?

Most politicians' number one goal is to stay in office, to get re-elected, and in order to do that they have to get the voters to like them. Sure, this is basic stuff, Government 101. But what most of us overlook is that most politicians will say just about anything to get elected. Ok, we will usually acknowledge this, but only about the guy we don't like. But in reality even the person who you most strongly support is shaping his message in a way to get your support. Don't think so? Then why do they all have campaign managers, public relation groups and speech writers? So that they can make sure they say the right thing. Hit the right issues. Find out what the polls say and get the message across that I agree with you on the issues you think are important.

I'm not trying to say they are all liars and deceivers. What I am saying is we really don't know the thought of the politicians. We know their campaign promises, we know the way their PR person told them to respond to questions, and we can see their actions of the past, but we really don't know them.


And the problem is even worse when it come to the political parties. We all have the items we think are most important, and there is usually a party that comes closer to matching your ideas on those issues. The problem is when that translates to a blind following. A couple of examples I see today - on one side you have those who believe the promise that one party will get them more money, and so they blindly follow. On the other side you have those who believe this party is more religious and so blindly follow anything they say. Even if one side is totally correct on everything (which I don't believe), blind following is never a good thing.

I don't believe one party is inherently better than the other. You have to look at each issue one at a time and make up your own mind. That includes everything: abortion, prayer in school, immigration, terrorism, poverty/welfare, the environment, big business accountability, taxing fairly ... think about each one and decide your stance. Don't just spout the party line without having really thought it out.

I actually hate the two party system we have here in America. It seems to force everybody into the "us against them" mentality. If your values tend closer to what is normally considered a liberal stance you are hated and vilified by the conservatives. And a conservative is ridiculed and harrassed by the liberals. If you are more moderate both sides dislike you while at the same time trying to win you over.

I am by nature more conservative in my beliefs. I think a lot of it comes from the way I was raised and the environment I am surrounded by. But I have some friends who are much more liberal, and there have been many times in discussing issues that I have been challenged to rethink my reasons for a certain stance. And the same is true for them too. I have often found that both of us have not really thought out everything about an issue and the reasons for thinking a certain stance is right. When I approach that issue in a fresh light I am forced to decide if I was correct or not. Get input from both sides and weigh them, thinking it through from every angle. Even if I don't agree with the different opinions I find, there is usually validity to some part of their argument. Or maybe just some side to the issue that had never occurred to me.

Be willing to challenge your own preconceptions, and actually listen to those around you. Who knows, maybe they have a point.

Shine Forth

Nature is so beautiful. I'm sitting here looking out my window, and was once again amazed at what God made. Unfortunately there is a building sitting right in my line of view that kind of ruins the picture. The man made structure, while a nice looking building, cannot compare.

Makes me think about the parts of my life. Which are God made, and which are man made? After a quick look it is pretty clear - the things of God are glorious, beyond compare. The things of man look shabby by comparison. Even if they are great by man's standards they pale when standing next to God's standard. The accomplishment I have achieved on my own may look great for a bit, but oh how glorious are those things that are undeniably purely of God!!

The childhood song about not hiding your light comes to mind - each part of my life that is touched by God becomes a small bit of light. If there is not much in our lives that is of God, there is nothing to shine, nothing to make us different from those around us. But if enough parts are lit up, the whole becomes a blazing beacon that shines forth.

Let the glory of God shine through, reflect off us, and illumine the world around.

Character Needed vs Second Chances

The big news this week in the Dallas sports world is the signing by the Dallas Cowboys of Terry "Tank" Johnson. Don't worry - I do not intend this to be a discussion of whether the Cowboys should have signed him or not. But I do find the discussions that I have heard about it to be very interesting because of the roots of the different arguments.

There are 2 camps out there - one is "he's a thug, we don't need that sort of troublemaker here." The other is "we need him as a player, who cares about his character." Ok, most from the later camp actually state it in a more acceptable manner, more like "everybody needs a second chance."

Setting the football world aside and looking at our lives ... which is it? Is established good character a prerequisite, or should we be given second chances? Probably a blend of both depending on what area of life you are looking at. Someone who has shady character or especially a criminal background should never be allowed to work in a children's ministry. An embezzler should never again be trusted with access to money. But we all fail in some ways, and in most areas we should be allowed to try again. What's the old saying ... "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." But how can we try again if we are not allowed to?

Or how about the way we treat our church family? Too often we dismiss those around us that don't reach some arbitrary level that we have decided is required. Maybe they are too arrogant, or immature, or "uncultured", or too whatever else rubs us the wrong way. If they ever grow enough and make it to an acceptable level, then we will decide they are worth our time.

Or maybe they really did mess up, and we can't let it go. We can't forgive.

All I can say is I am so grateful that God does not treat us like we treat each other. As Pastor is fond of saying - "God catches his fish before he cleans them." But the part we forget is that the cleaning process is not immediate, and should continue the rest of our lives.

So maybe we should be helping others grow instead of dismissing them, and who knows - maybe in the process we will grow a bit ourselves.

Taking Stock of the Small Things

Recently the company I work for relocated, moving from Hurst to Irving (TX). As part of this process we all had to pack all of our items up and prepare them for the movers. Even though I had limited area in my previous location, I was amazed at the amount of things I had. Having been with the company for over 5 years, I had accumulated more than I would have thought.

(Side note - to some people 5 years at a company may not sound like much, but these days that is actually a very long time at one place, especially in the IT industry.)

As I was going through everything I had at work and finding things I needed to keep 4 years ago but now had no need of and so discarded them, as well as packing up the items I did still need, taking special care with a few items that were either fragile or important to me, it prompted a thought - did my life have any parallels?

Are there things stuck back in a dusty corner that I no longer want in my life? Any attitudes, habits or ways of thinking that have hidden below my conscious awareness? Or are there treasured things that I have handled in a manner less than they deserve?

It is too easy to go through the daily routine without ever examining the little things. Oh sure, the big failures are impossible to ignore, but did I get a bad attitude towards a co-worker and never stop to realize that is what I did? Maybe once is no big deal, but has that once become a regular occurrence?

Attitudes and emotions are hardly ever examined until they get too big - a massive temper with a hair trigger is recognized as a bad trait that needs to be worked on, but a temper that has not reached that point is rationalized away.

But we have to be careful of the little things we allow in our lives. It is from the small things that the big things grew.

Song of Solomon 2:15 (NASB)
"Catch the foxes for us,
The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards,
While our vineyards are in blossom."

The state of the American Church - addon

After writing the last post I noticed my last line referenced "your spiritual life" as if it is separate from the rest. Yet another symptom of what the post was about. We segment our lives and box God and Church in a different area than everything else. I even talked about it that way when trying to make the point that we need to be plugged into God at all times. Our culture teaches us to do that.

It drives me crazy when I hear politicians or news commentators questioning whether someone's beliefs should influence their vote or how they act if part of the government. Of course it should. If it does not then you must not really believe that. It is more of a convenient idea that feels good, but then you fall back to your true beliefs when called to act.

The state of the American Church

The typical American Christian lives a very shallow life. And I include myself in this. We have abandoned the rich depths of the Christian life that our spiritual ancestors experienced. We do not spend the time developing a relationship with God, growing our roots deep, sucking up the vital nutrients we need to feed our spirits.

Jesus called us to abide in him. The definition of the verb form of abide is:

1. To remain in a place.
2. To continue to be sure or firm; endure.
3. To dwell or sojourn.

How can we dwell or remain in Jesus if we barely spend any time with him? Can we expect the fruit of the Spirit if we don't drink in the Spirit? I like the picture of Jesus being the vine, and we are the branches. A branch cannot suck up nutrients once a week and then go about its way for the rest of the time. The branch has to be connected every moment of every day; any time away and it starts to wither. Same with us.

Are you wondering why you feel dry and withered in your spiritual life? Get connected back to the Source.

Love in the fast lane

I've recently been convinced, or you could say convicted, that I do not love others enough. No where near what we are called to. Oh, sure, I love my wife and kids, and show them that continually. And I am nice to my friends, try to be polite and friendly to co-workers. But love?

Jesus says in John that his disciples would be known by their love. And we are commanded to love our enemies. So what is love, and how do you recognize it? To put others first, to put as much value on the things they care about as I do to the things I care about.

I find lots of examples of issues when driving the highways everyday. So when the guy in the car next to me is being a jerk and very aggressive, and now he wants to pull over in front of me, what is my reaction? Normally I bristle up, thinking "No way am I letting you get your way", then drive aggressive back. Is this love? Ha - of course not. Wouldn't the correct response be to say - "oh you want in front of me? Sure, and have a nice day."?

I know, that runs so counter to my nature. Even writing this I can feel my body tighten up in the instinctual response to the imaginary scene in the car. Maybe that is a good indicator that I am not feeling the peace and love, but rather the conflict and discord.

We are instructed that if someone asks you for you jacket, to also give them your shirt. If you are forced (as the Roman soldiers did) to carry someone's belongings for a mile, go ahead and go for 2. So in other words go out of your way to exceed what others want from you, bend over backwards to prove the love you have. Do I do this?

I am reminded of a time months ago that we (wife, kids and I) had met at a food joint for a quick bite before Wednesday night church. It was raining, and much heavier was on its way. As we were leaving some guy stopped me asking for an umbrella. He looked like the type that you automatically ignore - not quite a homeless look, but the type that would be trying to make a fast buck off of you. So I lied and told him I did not have an umbrella, while I did have one in my car that I had not used for a long time. I could have very easily given it to him, and used the opportunity to plant a seed. If nothing else just show love. But no, I was selfish and suspicious, and failed the test. Not only did I say no, I actually lied about it. And all for an umbrella I never used and was at least 8 years old. I could have replaced it pretty cheap.

So, if an objective observer was to look at me and all my actions, would they say - "Wow, he is full of love!"? Or would they say "He shows love to those he cares about, but looks for his own advantage to everyone else."?

LORD, let your love grow inside me. Help me to display your love to all those around me.

Deep Thoughts - Spirit trapped in Flesh

Recently Pastor was talking about Jesus taking on the flesh, and some of his comments prompted some thoughts.

I generally have lots of run-away thoughts; I'll be thinking about some comment, and start thinking deeper about it and see where that takes me.

This time, I was thinking about the spirit trapped in flesh. I've said for awhile that to me the fact of Jesus becoming man was not a huge mystery to me. We as people are spirit beings that have been placed in a fleshly body, and so the same was true for Jesus. He existed prior to being in the body which I don't believe we did, but he gave up all deity or godly powers and "humbled himself in the form of a servant" to take upon him the fleshly body and limitations. All of Jesus's powers and miracles here on earth were nothing that normal humans totally surrendered to God could not do.

My thoughts on this subject (spirit trapped in flesh) ran this time to the lines of us being blinded from the spirit realm. We are spirit, but our spirit has been totally blinded to almost any input from the spirit realm. There is so much activity going on around us all the time that we are totally oblivious to. Obviously there is the occasional input when God speaks to our heart, or even demonic input to tempt us, but most of our lives are spent wandering around as if the spirit world does not exist.

I wonder what Adam and Eve would have been like before the Fall? Did they have more insight to spirit than they did after the fall? Or is it the case that we would be the same without the Fall, merely the fact of being in the fleshly prison is enough to limit us? After receiving glorified bodies I don't see that being the same - there seems to be enough evidence in Scripture that we will see things in the spirit realm, but I must admit that is not definitely stated.

But then if it is our flesh and the flesh alone that causes the blinding (not the sin nature that also separates us from God), then what about Jesus? Did he go through life separated from the spirit realm as fully as we are? Or was he more aware of it, and we could be too if we lived our lives focused on God and not so much on the world surrounding us?

Note: I just thought I better clarify - when I talk about being aware of the spirit world around us I am in no way meaning things like those who claim to be able to see angels or demons walking around. I do not think we can "see" the spirit world in that manner while in this world.

I do think that most of us walk around with the spirit realm having little to no impact on us, making no difference in our lives. That is true even for most Christians, even though our whole lives should now be centered around the spirit world.

How many of us can say that we know we heard from God today? How long has it been since you last felt God quickening your heart with some new thought or direction?

Jesus said that true worshipers are those who worship in spirit and truth. Does your worship involve the spirit, or is it at more of a flesh level?

There Were Two Trees In The Garden by Rick Joyner

The book for my growth that I am currently reading is There Were Two Trees In The Garden by Rick Joyner. It has been out for several years - I actually bought it quite some time back and it had just been sitting on my bookshelf. It just recently caught my eye and I decided to read it.

I am finding this book to be pretty challenging - some of the ideas are ones I've heard before, but then there ones I have never thought of, or at least not in that way. So here are my reactions to the book - not all of this stems straight from the book, but some are just the paths my thoughts took after reading it.

From the title you can probably guess that the main theme of the book has to do with the fact that there were 2 trees in the Garden of Eden that were specifically named - the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Hopefully anyone reading this will know the story of the Fall, how Eve and then Adam defied God's one command and ate from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

In the book Rick Joyner takes a different path than I am used to hearing about the results of them eating from the tree. Obviously the Fall, getting kicked out of the Garden, separation from God, and all of the other consequences. But the part he examines is the part about their eyes being opened. What was it opened to? The knowledge of Good and Evil. Most the time we focus on the part about now being able to do evil. But what about the Good?

Also, why were there 2 trees? We only are told details about the one, the other is a complete mystery. Rick uses the 2 trees to symbolize the 2 paths Christians take toward daily life. The Tree of Life = Jesus, or living our life focused on him. The Tree of the KOG&E = living a self-focused life.

All Christians have to deal daily with the struggle to correctly choose between the Good and the Evil. Some are stronger and find some struggles easier to win out of their own willpower, but most of us are of the weaker variety, and most struggles are more than we can handle on our own. But that struggle in our power is the problem - it comes from our knowledge of Good and Evil. If we did not have that knowledge, then what we are at the core would be displayed by every action. We would not struggle, because you can only struggle when you know there are 2 sides. We only struggle because we know our automatic reaction is "wrong"; so now we have to fight to react with the "right" action.

Most of us fight so hard to correct the outward behavior, but then we forget the inward reason for that behavior. We are so consumed with what those around us think of us that we want to have the right behavior, but then forget about God who sees the inner man. Why are we more concerned about what our friends think than about what God thinks? This is also what drives so many Christians to live different lives around different groups of friends. Do you have certain behavior with one group that you would never have with another? Do you tell certain jokes, but then have to watch it on Sunday that one doesn't slip out?

Our lives are for the most part self-focused. What do I want, why did this happen to me ... every part of our daily lives train us to think in a very me-centric way. But what if we could ever perfect the Jesus mindset - "Not my will, but yours be done"? Not that we can perfect it in our frail flesh, but what if we could? How would life be if we did not face the daily struggle to force our will to the correct path, but instead surrendered our will to his?

I can only pray that God will help me to surrender more completely to him. As John the Baptist said - "I must decrease so he may increase."

And this is only the first part of the book.

Reading / Uncomfortable thoughts

I am a big reader - I always have at least one book I am reading, but sometimes even working through several at one time.

I have my reading for pleasure books - I love science fiction books, and that is the largest part of my pleasure reading. The part I love best about science fiction is the way it really encompasses all other genres of books, but usually in a setting that is different than the one we are used to. You can take just about any other story from any other genre and change the setting, and it now is a scifi book. I really enjoy the science fiction that uses those different settings to spur speculative thoughts. In every age since science fiction started, the leading authors are usually those who use their platform to call into question the injustices of that age in very subtle ways. As an example - way more blatant than normal, but one that most could understand at first glance - there is a reason why Star Trek back in the 60s had a black female on the bridge (command level people only), not to mention people of several different races (even a Russian - in the 60s!!), and even including an alien (Mr Spock). This was a call for embracing our diversity, a foresight that the future would see past the petty differences that at that time separated the nation.

I also enjoy a mystery, historical fiction, even occasionally a Christian romance book. Well, at least this one series my wife got me hooked on. (by Karen Kingsbury - starts with the Redemption series, continues with same characters with the Firstborn series, and now into the Sunrise series. Highly highly recommended. Wow.)

But not all my reading is for pleasure. Wait - I don't like how that sounds. My other reading is pleasurable, it just has different aims and goals. Mainly I like to pick up various Christian books to challenge myself, books to spur growth or facilitate new thoughts. I find these to be invaluable to my life as a Christian. Most of us tend to let our thinking get into common paths; we have our beliefs that we are comfortable with, and don't really want to push ourselves in ways that can be uncomfortable. In order to think new thoughts or find new paths we have to work at it. Not that every new thought is good of course - all must be weighed, examined against the TRUTH to determine their value. But if we do not challenge ourselves by some method to grow, then we stagnate. This is all too common in the church today - Christians who found their comfort level and stay there. Their life will be totally missing the dynamic element, the highs of the consuming passions, the lows of the heavy burdens, but above all they will be missing God.

If you have gotten comfortable with your routine, then how much work does it take for God to move you?

Hello and Welcome

I figured my first post has the be the obligatory "Welcome" message, so here we go.

Hello and Welcome!!

So .. my first blog post. Who would have thought?

For as long as the whole blogging world has been around, I've had mixed feelings about it. For some people I think it is a great way for them to share their thoughts and ideas, and many of their friends and family benefit greatly from the insights or even just random topics they decide to share. But then there are the vast majority of blogs that are little more than a waste of time, both the time of the blogger and the time of those who bother to read it. Not only do they have next to no content, what little they do have is not very appealing. Or at least not to me.

Most sites are probably little more than a good journaling exercise - very few people even know it exists, much less have any interest in reading it. Of course there are those bloggers that have exceptional content and somehow garner a large following from around the Internet world. I would bet that most of those bloggers are the types that are really fun to talk to in person and can carry on a conversation just about by themselves in whatever format that conversation takes. Not to mention that I've also thought that it takes a small bit of arrogance to think that everyone else out there wants to know my thoughts on everything.

That leads me to my attempt here at creating a blog. I never thought this day would come, me writing a blog. I have never viewed myself as having a lot to say. Of course I think I have really good insights and could have some good content, but then don't we all think that? I have never been the great conversationalist that would carry a crowd with my witty talk, but I have just come to the conclusion that none of that matters. I was looking at the newly rolled-out blog for my church, where you have the ability to add your own blog on the blog roll, and I was thinking, "yeah right. Like I would ever have a blog." Then some thoughts that were started with some books I am reading just jumped out at me, making me realize that I do have some content for a blog, and maybe someone would find it interesting, and maybe even useful.

My first reaction to learning a friend of mine has a blog would most likely be a neutral to borderline negative one, but in contemplating whether to start one myself or not I will have to say my preconceptions about blogs have been challenged. And if you have the same viewpoint or preconceptions I did - then maybe yours will be too.



I'm not going to be publishing this out to lots of lists or trying to push it - I am not the type to think that everybody needs to hear my views or to be aggressive in trying to get people to read them. Mainly this will be just my attempt at putting some of thoughts down (I was going to say on paper, but that won't work); whether anybody reads them or not is of secondary importance. But if you do somehow find your way here and have an opinion on my opinions, feel free to comment.