excuses

I have been a little bit under the weather the last few days. The reason for missing a couple of blogs. Should be back to normal, what ever normal is soon.

Silent Lies

 I ran across Galatians 1:10 today and to be honest I don't like it very much, it says:

Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

Here is why it bothers me. I work really hard at not telling any lies and overall I do a pretty good job. However this verse convicts me because sometimes by being silent I am not being honest and is not being honest any different than telling a lie?

Sometimes I tend to lean to the side of winning the approval of people when it comes to the truth. I think if I tell them the truth they won't like me, or they will think I'm off the deep end and then I will never have a chance. So I keep quite.

 What I need to keep reminding myself is if a blind person was walking towards a end of a cliff should I really care what they think if I were to warn them?

Now I also have to keep in mind that telling the truth about the Gospel has to be done in love, that I do have to listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and that I don't have to do it all myself. All I need to do is to keep in mind that in the end it's all up to God.

So why not do things for His approval and not man's?
Pleasing people instead of God in the end doesn't do anyone any good.
When it comes to the Gospel message being quite may not be a lie, but it's not the truth. Don't the people around you deserve the truth?

Is this all we really need?

^{This morning as I finished up Hebrews in chapter 13 verses 20 and 21 I found a prayer that in my head went ding, ding, ding, ding. If you stop and think about it what more could you possibly pray about for yourself, a family member, a friend, or a complete stranger.
20} Now may the God of peace—
      who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
   the great Shepherd of the sheep,
      and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
 ²¹ may he equip you with all you need
      for doing his will.   May he produce in you,^[e]
      through the power of Jesus Christ,
   every good thing that is pleasing to him.
      All glory to him forever and ever! Amen

If we are equipped to do his will and do it, and everything that we do is pleasing to Him really what else is there?
Something to really think about.

How to become a hero

Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

In reading Hebrews this morning I was struck by the fact that chapter 11 was the who's who of Old Testament Bible hero's. 17 people in all are listed by name, plus the people of Israel and all the prophets. The thing that really caught my attention was the three words in front of each of these names and the account of what they did was in fact the blue prints to become a hero ourselves. Those three words: IT WAS BY FAITH.
This exact phrase is used 16 times in the same chapter so it must be important.

Then Hebrews 12 follows up with a practical application on how to become a hero by keeping our eyes on Jesus.

 ¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.^[a] Because of the joy^[b] awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

Verse 2 is so cool. Jesus is the champion. He initiates and perfects our faith. Then the end of the verse is what should keep us going through the roughest times.
Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
All because of faith we too can become a hero and do great things, endure great hardships and most importantly have hope.

We are all a bunch of Gomer's

Today's blog is going to be short and sweet. I was reminded this week of the story of Hosea and Gomer.

What a picture of forgiveness and redemption. Gomer slept around, had kids by other men, took off and left Hosea. Then after she had her fun and was stripped of her beauty and no one wanted her. After she had hit what she thought had to be rock bottom she was then put for auction as a slave. But then Hosea steps in and out of love and grace he bought his own wife back. What a great love story, the stuff movies and romance novels are of.

But that is really not the story here. The story is that we are all a bunch of Gomers we have all prostituted ourselves to idols and in our sad condition when we are not worthy, when we are up on the auction block at the back of the room up goes Jesus' nail holes in his hand and he pays for us with his own blood because of his Grace.

Thank God for that.
Please take the time and read chapters 1-3 of Hosea today they are short and filled with love and redemption.

Ribs or bread?

I hate it when I convict myself. Well I know it's not really me. The other day I was sharing what I thought was a brilliant point with some people and I walked away feeling pretty good about myself. Then slowly as the hours passed I didn't feel so good, conviction started to set in.
We were talking about telling others about Christ even if they would not ever get it. Here is what I said that I have not stopped thinking a about since.

When I find a great place to eat I get all excited and tell everyone about it. Especially if it is a barbeque place. I bring it up in almost every conversation. I would tell someone about this great barbeque place not knowing that they may hate barbeque, but that does not stop me. Then if I find out later I think to my self oh well, I can't help it they don't like barbeque their loss.  Then go on and tell the next person.
Here is the rub (no pun intended). The thing that I have not been able to stop thinking about since. Am I as excited about Christ and what he has done for me as I am about Jethro's and Jimmy Jack's? I mean a person can get a good rack of ribs at these two places but what about the bread of life?
I should be talking more about the most important J. Not Jethro, Jimmy or Jack but Jesus.

John 6:35
Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

On sale vs. a good deal

I just wanted to go on record as saying I would rather get a good deal on something rather than buying it on sale. In today's marketing everything is on sale they mark it up, then mark it down and say it's on sale and then tell you how much you have saved. That just burns me for some reason. After shopping this weekend I want to tell you the different between a sale and a good deal.
Example 1
I went to a store and they had a dress shirt for $13 I thought that was what the shirt was worth to me. The catch was it was on sale for get this 75% off. It was on sale and I saved over $40, yea right.
Example 2
I went to another store and bought a pair of dress pants they were marked at $19 I thought that that was a fair, a good price the only things was do I get just one pair or two?  Then when I went to check out the pants rang up $10. Perhaps it was a mistake so I went back and got the black pair that had a different upc# and they also rang up for $10 also. Now that's a good deal,  much better than a sale.

So when ever someone tells me they got something on sale I just roll my eyes.
I would rather get a good deal on something than getting it on sale, a good deal is when you can bu something for significantly less than what you would be willing to pay for it at full price.

Just venting, my family is used to it.

Accountability is a word that we either don't hear much today, or is not really understood.
In our society today it seems like right and wrong is relative so that means is there a right or a wrong? But there is, and someday we will be taken to task for it. Hebrews 4:13 says:

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable."

If you stop and think about it you can not get by with anything. Even though you may think you can. If you drive at car you more than likely have driven one mile an hour over the speed limit. That makes you guilty of breaking the law even if you have not ever gotten a ticket for it.
If you have ever taken a breath you have broken one of God's laws and you are not going to get by with that. You will be held accountable to him.
It's a scary thought really. My advice is to find someone or even more than one person close to you and visit with them, study Gods word with them and help hold each other accountable now. Even though it is against what society teaches accountability will actually make your life better now and make judgement day go allot better.

What do a nine month old, bears, and cheese have in common?

The answer is focus:
This morning Teresa and I ventured out at 5:45 to go baby sit a nine month old. As we were there having fun it dawned on me for both of us that nothing else mattered. We were entirely focused on little Levi.
Then I thought about this weekend and all of the Bears, Packer stuff that was going around and how focused their respective fans were and of course it then dawned on me. What if we all took that focus and put it on Christ what would our lives look like?
Now don't get me wrong it is okay to like and do all of these other things but what if we did take the same focus put it some where that mattered.
Either the Bears or the Packers will lose on Sunday and one set of fans are going to be let down. If we focus too much on people they too will at some point let us down but not Christ he will never let us down.

Baby it's cold outside

These are the kind of days that will try a man's soul.
It's so cold to day that I heard Satan himself is wearing a sweater today.
It is colder than a well drillers foot in the Yukon and that is pretty cold.
It's so cold out that putting your keys in the ignition is like playing the slots you don't know if your going to hit or not.

Please share how cold you think it is.

Have you come to your senses?

I am still thinking about Luke 15:17 as I referenced earlier in the week. Again this is the story of the prodigal son who demanded his share of his fathers inheritance and went out and blew it. When it says "when he finally came to his senses" this is the part I am still thinking about. God knows who his children are long before they do and he will do what ever it takes to get us to come to our senses. If you have come to your senses thank God for that. If not what ever you are going through may be a God trying to get you to come to your senses. Like the younger son who was at the place of wishing he could eat with the pigs.
If you know someone who in a sense is eating with pigs today share with them the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 and see what happens.

Dining Guide

Last Friday night I actually had to wait for a table at a Costas here in Mount Pleasant. I have lived here for over 25 years now and that it the first time I can remember having to wait for a table. It is nice to see a place do well. I always say I do not like to eat out, that is somewhat of a lie. If it's good I don't mind at all.

This morning I thought I would share some of places that I do like to go. Keep in mind I don't get out much.

Jethro's (DesMoines, Altoona)
Texas Road House
Jimmy Jacks (Iowa City)
The Royal Mile (DesMoines)
Wendy's (purely for value, and a frosty)

If  I have to eat around Mount Pleasant

Little Mexico
Rome (value)
Short Stop (New London) tenderloin only
Costas

And of course at least once a year Mount Hamil

A good home cooked meal is still pretty hard to beat and I am blessed by the fact that I married a great cook. Perhaps Teresa is to good and that is why I like to eat at home so much.

A mangy mutt

Rescued and transferred are two words that are common today.  For instance a puppy was rescued from a shelter, or money was transferred into your account. We hear these words all of the time, but today as I was reading Colossians 1 these words stood out to me. In verse 13 it says:

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,

Christ has rescued Christians from the kingdom of darkness. Just like the puppy had to rely on something bigger than it's self to get out of the pound because the puppy was not going to walk out on it's own. I'll be honest at one point in my life I was a mangy old mutt and I was not walking out of the kingdom of darkness on my own. The only way out was a rescue mission from Christ.

Not only does he rescue us which is great in it's own sense, but he transfers us to his Kingdom. Again when money is transferred someone else has to do it, money is not just going to magically appear in your account on it's own (although I wish that it would.)
but someone has to do it.

Our accounts were not only empty but had a negative balance. What Jesus did by his death on the cross made it possible for us to go from a negative balance to being transferred into His Kingdom.

I take four things away from this:
1. He didn't have to rescue me, but he did
2. Just getting me out of the kingdom of darkness was more than I deserved.
3. Transferring me to the His Kingdom is truly grace.
4. It is nothing I could have, or would have done on my own.

Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a mutt like me.

Golden Globe observations

These observations do have to do with the winners and losers from last night but not in the way that you might think.

Last night as I doing some reading and messing around on the computer Teresa was watching the Golden Globe awards. I was really taken back, yet not surprised at the attitudes and conduct of those who opened their mouths on TV. One of the very first interviews before the ceremony started was with the host of the event. The host was asked what are you going to do to push the envelope tonight? I think that says it all. The overall theme of this type of action is to make the immoral seem moral, to make something so outrageous that lesser things appear more normal, thus okay to the millions of Americans who watch this. Satan is so crafty.

 I could be very bitter and say that I was offended but instead I really felt sorry for them. I was reminded of a verse from Sunday's sermon about the prodigal son in Luke 15:17 where it says When he (the lost son) finally came to his senses. Perhaps some day some of these people will come to their senses or maybe not. That is not up to me.

One thing that I took away from this was why not work hard at making being a Christian look normal. If we worked as hard at it as the Hollywood elite did last night what a better place this would be.

Brace yourself

Just wanted to share one of my favorite verses in the Bible.

Job 38
¹ Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: ² “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? ³ Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. ⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.

This covers so many different aspects for me.
1. God's sovereignty
2. God's judgement
4. God's creativity
5. My humility

Then to stop and think what God told Satan in chapter 1. "He is is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”
When you put all of this in perspective with where we are in life what will your reaction be if God says brace yourself?

Iron man

 This morning as I write this I have an unusual number of people that are weighing heavy on my mind for various reasons. Some possible un-confessed sin, some who are truly seeking Jesus, and some who are possibly back sliding. As I finished up Proverbs today a couple of verses stood out to me.

21:2 People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.

28:13 People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

I thought wow, these verses would really be good for these people. (and they would) but it was Proverbs 27:17 that got me.

27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

As a friend what am I going to do to help sharpen these people that have been on my mind.
Today think about sharpening someone.

Little pig, little pig, let me in

This morning as I read Proverbs 10 I was reminded of the three little pigs.
Proverbs 10:25 says:
 ²⁵ When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away,
      but the godly have a lasting foundation.

It is so very important to have your house built (godly foundation) before the big bad wolf shows up. Even if you are building a brick house your odds are much better if it is built before the huffing and puffing starts.
Remember it's not if the storm comes it's when. Build that foundation now. The third little pig laid his foundation with bricks. Our foundation must be built with a relationship with Christ to withstand the storms.

Simple instructions

One of the better known, least followed sets of scripture in the Old Testament.

Proverbs 3
 ⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
 ⁶ Seek his will in all you do,and he will show you which path to take.

If we could master this how much better would our lives be?

Why do good things happen to bad people?

A few years ago I wrote a sermon on why do bad things happen to good people. I am still happy with the content but the shootings in Arizona and other things that family and friends are going through even today got me thinking about this topic again. I have grown allot since that sermon and now realize the title should have been why to good things happen to bad people?
As humans our standard for good compared to Jesus' is so low a rock could jump over it.
As Paul says in Romans 8:23 no one does good not even one. When you realize how much of a sinner that you really are and that Christ who was sinless died for you. You then realize that you deserve nothing.
So now when some one says why did such a bad thing happen to such a good person? I think in our sinless state why does God allow anything good to happen to anyone.
But thankfully I know that answer. It is only by His grace, and we need to thank him for it everyday. Only by his grace is why good things happen to bad people.
I can't believe
I am going to do this but I am reminded of the words by Michael Jackson when he said.
 "You know I'm bad, I'm bad.
You know it, you know.
(Bad bad-really, really bad) "
Thank you God for your grace and how you can take what was intended by Satan for bad and turn it in to something good that will bring you glory.

Lost money won't crawl back into your pocket

I was reminded yesterday about the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. In Luke 15 Jesus tells three stories back to back to back about things that are lost.  When he does this I'm pretty sure he is trying to make a point. This time the story of the lost coin made me think the most.

The coin has no legs, is dead and there is absolutely no way it can do anything to aid in it's recovery. It just lays where ever it is, fat, dumb, and happy. After all it does not even know it's lost.

People are the same way. There is nothing that they can do to earn or even aid in their salvation. They are solely dependant on Jesus to pursue them, save them, and give them eternal life.

If he has recovered you thank him for it and if not ask him to come and pull you out from wherever you are hiding.

Romans 3:10-12
As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one. No one is truly wise;
      no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one

The eternal playoffs

As I was watching parts of the two NFL wild card playoff games yesterday I was taken by the fact that the two teams I thought would win did not. In the second game I was pulling for the Colts and it was a close game that went down to a last minute field goal that put the Colts ahead; and then a last second field goal for a Jets win. It made me think of what I had read in 1 John earlier that day which is at the end of this post.

Here is what I thought when the Colts went ahead with then than a minute left everyone on the team was very excited, the kicker was getting congratulated all around by his teammates and everyone in the crowd thought that they had won. But the game wasn't over, everything they thought they had faded quickly with a  long kickoff return. People today get comfortable with the things that they have, or have accomplished in their minds on their own and they don't realize that theses "things" will fade like a last second field goal.
I stayed up until 10:00 (really late for me) waiting to see if the Colts would win,would I have stayed up that late if I had known the Colts were going to lose? Of course not.

So why get all wrapped up in the things of the world, when in the end they fade away. When it's all said and done the (things) that most people think are important will be gone. The only thing that will matter in then is if you have a relationship with Christ.

If you have that relationship you don't have to wait up to see who will win you already know that in the end Christ wins. It's the "Gospel" truth and it's right there in the Bible. 

1 John 2:15-17
¹⁵ Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. ¹⁶ For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. ¹⁷ And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

The All Pizza team

We went to Iowa City for pizza last night. The pizza was great and I started thinking about the best pizza I have ever had. I realized even though it's all pizza they can be so different it's hard to compare so instead of picking a favorite here is my All Pizza Team.

1st Team  (in no particular order)

Pagliai's Pizza (Iowa City)
Pizano's Pizza (Chicago)
Wig and Pen (Iowa City)
Giordanos (Chicago)

2nd Team

Breadeaux (Mount Pleasant, IA only)
Torinos (Fairfield, IA)
Dino's (Washington, IA)
Mazzio's (Burlington, IA)
Costas (Mount Plesant, IA)

I am sure everyone has their own thoughts. Please share.

The Cross

A very simple observation about the cross from the book Doctrine.

The cross is something done by you.
The cross is something done for you.

When you stop and think about it how simple and how true.
Yet do we really grasp how unjust Christ being crucified was? Or how much suffering he endured for us?
Did you know that the word excruciating was coined because of crucifixion? At that time there was no word to describe the pain that it caused.
Christ hung on the cross for you. Thank him today.

I remember

I remember when driving to DesMoines seemed like an all day affair. Now we drive there without even thinking about it.
I remember when I thought school would never end. Now I don't recall the name of my second grade teacher.
I remember when growing up I couldn't wait to get out of the house. Now I try to find more time to return home.
I remember when our girls were small. Now I look forward to someday being a grandparent.

I remember when I felt sorry for my parents when they became empty nester's and sat at home doing nothing. Now I look forward to being home doing nothing.

I remember when I thought I would never lose touch with pop music. Now I don't have a clue.

I remember when I heard people say "I remember when" I thought they were old.
Now I am old.

Are you looking for happiness? Don't.

Ran into something interesting this morning. Did you know that in the English Standard Version of the Bible in the New Testament the word happy is not there? Not once is it used. But the word joy is used 60 times. So should we be looking for happiness or joy and what is the difference? In my mind happiness is shallow, superficial, and fleeting. Where joy is deeper, long lasting, and can only be obtained through grace. I'll take joy over happiness any day and I came to that conclusion after being reminded of  Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 

If you have been looking for happiness and coming up short. Ask the LORD to give you joy. Between the two there is no contest.

Words mean things

I received an phone call from an dear friend yesterday who reminded me about the power of words and the fact that we need to choose our words carefully because they are powerful. After all God himself created everything around us with words, we are told that in Genesis 1. Then in James 3 it tells us that our tongue which we form words with can start vast fires. So we must decide if the words that we use will be used to glorify Christ or be used sin against him. In some situations no words at all are good and in others keeping quite can be a sin as well. Again that is why James 4:17 convicts me so much when is says Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

So the question becomes what will your words do today? Will they lift up the name of Christ or will they be used for something else?
For me when I couple this with what I heard in Sunday's sermon that we need to erase the boundaries we put up between our public life and our spiritual life this becomes a challenge.

Satan is more clever than Col. Klink

Galatians 3:22 says: But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.
Do we even realize the truth to these words. How sin enslaves us. There is no way out some of us treat our being held captive like the old TV show Hogan's Hero's where they could come and go as they pleased. Sin is not like that it does hold us more captive than we know. Only Jesus holds the key to our cells and only he can provide true freedom. True freedom is freedom in Christ.

Book Review - Dead or Alive

Just finished Tom Clancy's latest novel. It has been 10 years since  his last book. I think he was a little rusty but still a great writer. Some find horror movies and the such scary but I find the things Clancy writes about truly scary. As things that could really happen or has already happened. Dead or Alive was no different. Without giving anything away the things in this book may already be taking place. It covers some bad things in our government and it also covers somethings that behind the scenes our government could be doing right. (seems like a stretch I know) You won't have to have read the rest of Clancy's novel to enjoy this one but it does help.

Pleasing man or God.

I was reading Galations this morning and it struck me that if we would all forget about trying to please man and try more to please God what a much better place this would be.

 Galations 1:10
¹⁰For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying^(T) to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a^(U) servant^[b] of Christ.

Movie review

Just saw the Chronicles of Narnia the voyage of the Dawn Treader. Best movie I have seen all year. Wait this is 1/1/11. It's the only movie I have seen all year. I find it very interesting that C S Lewis in all of his theological wisdom makes all of his references to Jesus, Heaven, Satan, evil, regeneration, and Christianity so vague. I kept waiting for him to spell it out. I have never read this series perhaps it is clearer in the books. At one point in the movie Asland says we have a name in our world for him. I went to the edge of my seat just waiting for him to say Jesus but it did not happen.

One other note in all but one of the previews I was taken by the fact that all but one of the movies was humanizing animals.  A topic for further discussion.

New blogger in town

I have been told that I should start this blogging thing. If you choose to follow my blog it will have a definite theme to it. Jesus Christ first a foremost and other things that interest me or things that I find important. I hope you will find these things interesting and you will stop and think a bit.
They say we should never talk about religion or politics. Name me two things that effect your life more. These are two things that will come up in my blog as well.